The Hidden House

In the three weeks since introducing Narcissa to Grace, Sirius's life had fallen into a new pattern. He would work in the bookshop daily, Narcissa and Draco would have dinner with him and Grace every evening, and then he would find a new bar every night. Occasionally, Remus would join him after Narcissa returned with Draco. 

Sirius had tried and failed to convince Remus to move in with him in Inverness. He understood, of course. At James's house, Remus had a safe space for his transformations and more of a feeling of family. Still, Sirius missed him. They had been inseparable all through Hogwarts, and now that the war was over, he wanted that back. The nights out were a start, and he would take that for now. 

Every Sunday, Sirius would return to the house and spend time with his friends. Narcissa had blended into their family seamlessly, and it seemed that she became better friends with Lily every day. She had even agreed to accompany her to the Weasleys a handful of times so Draco and Harry could play with Molly's boys. A Malfoy willingly spending time with a Weasley was something he had never believed possible. He only hoped that she would stay around once her divorce was finalized and she had access to her inheritance. 

Sirius was half hoping he could convince her to come to Scotland when she moved out of the Potter home. He was pondering how to bring it up as he reshelved books at the shop. He didn't have to work today, but he didn't have anything better to do, so he found himself there anyway. He didn't have much interest in spending the day shopping for new clothes for Harry with Lily, James was at work, and Remus had a new project he was working on. 

Spending the entire day at a bar didn't sound like a great idea, and spending the day with his thoughts at home sounded even worse, so shelving books had won. It wasn't a huge step up, but Grace gave him a muggle music device. She had called it a "walking man" and gave him music from a band named Pink Floyd. He had already memorized every word to "Wish You Were Here" by the end of the first day. That had been a week ago. 

He was humming along to "Welcome to the Machine" when he stumbled across a customer curled up in one of the armchairs toward the back of the shop. "Curled up" was a loose term. She was lying on her back with her feet up the back of the armchair. A book was suspended above her head with magic, which was impressive, considering she was asleep. As he took a step to wake her up, she suddenly started sliding along the chair.

Sirius only had a moment to react before she slipped out of the chair toward the floor. He dove without thinking and caught her head before it could crack on the hardwood. The book fell as she did and landed hard on her gut, causing her to jolt forward and smack her head into his. Sirius fell back with a groan, cradling his head and trying to understand what had just happened. One glance showed that the witch was rolling on the ground doing the exact same thing. 

"Bloody hell!" She shouted in a shockingly familiar voice. Sirius looked closer and realized all at once who the witch was. On the ground in front of him was the same witch who had barged into his safe house months earlier and changed his life. 

"Victoria?" He asked, still not believing it was her. 

"Sirius? What the hell are you doing in fucking Scotland? I thought you were in London with the Potters?" It was her. All five feet three inches of her. 

"I could ask you the same thing! Why are you using magic in a muggle bookshop?" 

"How muggle can it be if you're here?" She had recovered enough to stand up and brush herself off. She at least had the sense to wear muggle clothes on this trip of hers. She wore tight black skinny jeans and an oversized, distressed band T with her hair teased. Black makeup was smudged around her eyes, and she looked like she had just come from a concert. It wasn't clear why she had decided to sleep on the armchair instead of finding a bed. 

"Merlin, woman. Where have you come from? Have you even slept?" Victoria looked at him incredulously. 

"Are you really going to pretend I don't look like an insanely hot muggle right now? Come on, be serious."

"I already am Sirius." He said with a wink. "Honestly, I have a place nearby if you need a couch to crash on. I reckon I owe you one." Victoria studied him for a moment, and he found himself squirming under her gaze. 

"Okay, that's fair. I'll take you up on the couch. I don't have any muggle money, and I am honestly not sure where I am." Sirius let out a little chuckle at her words. 

"I have to tell my boss that I am leaving. It's supposed to be my day off, so she won't mind." Victoria followed him as he walked through the store toward the front desk, where he knew Grace would be. 

"Wait, you work here?" 

"Was that not apparent from the name tag and the cart full of books?" Sirius asked, "Weren't you a member of the order? I would've thought you'd be more observant." He deserved the smack on the arm she gave him in response, only laughing at the mild violence.  

"What is a rich, elusive, eligible bachelor doing working in a bookshop in Scotland? Who are you, and what the hell have you done to Sirius Black? Shouldn't you be up to no good with Remus or James?" Sirius wasn't sure if he should be more flattered or offended by her words. 

"I knew you were secretly rich. You carry yourself like an aristocrat." Grace's voice startled Sirius enough for him to let out a yelp. Victoria's roaring laugh did not allow him to recover his dignity. 

"Hullo, I'm Sirius's friend Victoria. I just popped by for a book and found Sirius here instead." Victoria offered, reaching out to shake hands with Grace while Sirius tried to calm the burning in his face. 

"I am gonna head out to catch up with Victoria if that's alright, Grace." He finally spat out. 

"Of course, you're not supposed to be here anyway. I am happy to hear you have a social life. I was starting to worry that books were your only friends." 

"Hey! That's not fair, you've met my friends!" he protested, still unsure how he had found himself in this new dynamic. 

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. Get out of here," Grace said, not unkindly. Sirius let out a small chuckle before grabbing Victoria's hand to drag her away from his surrogate mother before the situation could embarrass him further. 

"Hey!" She called out as he dragged her out of the store and into the neighboring alley. "Are you going to kill me here? I thought we were getting along so well! I liked that muggle woman." He could hear the laugh in her voice as she spoke. 

"You've figured out my dastardly plan. I brought you here to kill you. I can't bear to be indebted to someone." Sirius responded as he made his way up the stairs to his flat above the bookshelf. 

"I knew it," Victoria laughed. "You've hated me ever since I scored higher than you on that muggle studies quiz. You can't handle the fact that I am just smarter than you." Sirius laughed hard at that. She had cheated on that quiz, but so had he. At the time, he was more upset that she had cheated more successfully than he had. It had been a real motivator for him to study for the rest of the year since he couldn't cheat well enough. 

"Welcome to my humble abode," he said, gesturing to the flat as he led her inside. He suddenly felt self-conscious, letting her into his home like that. He hadn't expected company, so it wasn't as clean as he would like. Clothes were strewn about his room, books were scattered across his table, and Harry and Draco's backup toys were still on the floor where they had left them last week. 

He cast a quick cleaning spell as Victoria inspected the bookshelf. His motorbike was back in its miniature state on the shelf, and she looked at it closely, only taking a break to laugh at his cleaning spell. 

"Sirius, please tell me this is a real motorcycle." She said finally, her eyes sparking with mischief. 

"Of course, it's real. I take it out for a ride every weekend." A grin stretched its way across his face without him noticing. 

"Does Wednesday morning count as the weekend?" Victoria asked hopefully. 

"Sure, after you take a nap. I am not going to tell Arthur that I killed his sister by letting her fall asleep on the back of my bike." 

"Back of the bike? Who said I am letting you ride with me?" She laughed. She honestly had a fantastic laugh, Sirius thought to himself. He remembered why he had had so much fun in that class so many years ago. 

"Hey, I don't let anyone drive my bike. If you want a ride, that is one thing, but I am driving." He knew he wasn't coming across as stern as he wanted to, but it felt good to be silly for a while. 

"We will see how long that rule lasts," she said with a wink. "Is this me, then?" She was gesturing to the couch against the wall in the corner. 

"Yeah, let me get a blanket for you. Do you want a shower or food or anything?" He had defaulted into the host role that he had never been able to shake. Remus had teased him for it endlessly when they had moved into a flat together before the war separated them. 

"A shower? Are you trying to get me naked, Sirius? I guess all the rumors were true!" She wiggled her eyebrows at him aggressively as she spoke, and he fought hard not to crack a smile. 

"Of course, the rumors were true. I am clearly the sexiest man this side of Edinburgh." He was only half joking as he grinned at her and flashed her one of his trademark winks. 

"My, my. I see, you are in Scotland because you've run out of women in London and needed to start fresh. I should be grateful you didn't offer me the bed to nap on; who knows what tales it would tell?" She mimicked a scandalized face, and it was all it took for the two to break into laughter again. 

"Seriously though, what do you need?" He asked once he had composed himself, but it was the wrong thing to say, and it took several more minutes for them to calm themselves again, even as giggles still forced their way out. 

"A shower sounds lovely, though. You wouldn't happen to have anything to get this makeup off my face, too, would you?" Victoria asked once she had composed herself. She knew better than to ask if he had all the other products she needed. This was Sirius Black; of course, he would have the best soaps, shampoos, and conditioners. He may have changed since Hogwarts, but nobody changed that much. 

"Yeah, Remus talked me into trying eyeliner, so I got some makeup remover, too. It should all be behind the mirror in the bathroom. Help yourself to whatever you need." He was still wheezing and getting glasses of water for them both. 

"Accio, clean towel," Victoria said with a wink. "Accio glass of water." The full cup shot out of Sirius's hand and into hers. She carried the towel and water triumphantly into the bathroom, and Sirius only checked out her ass once. To be fair, it was the entire time that she walked, but Victoria knew he was looking and rewarded him with a very dramatic and exaggerated swinging of her hips as she walked. 

Victoria sifted through the bathroom. She didn't feel even the smallest amount of guilt over snooping. She discovered the makeup remover that Sirius had indicated, as well as a wide variety of potions and muggle skin care products. Of course, he was still as vain as she remembered. The thought brought a smile to her face. 

Her suspicions about his shower products were also proven, and she was sure that the shampoo, conditioner, and hair masks on the shower ledge were worth more than she would be comfortable thinking about. Other than the expensive products, the flat was decidedly average. It was not the type of place she had expected to find Sirius, not that she had expected to find him at all. 

She decided to take a long shower and use as many products as possible. She had already been in the shower for half an hour by the time she applied the hair mask and face mask. She was also attempting to cast the shaving spell without making a mess when she managed to knock off every product from the shower shelf. 

The crashing sound was so loud that she was pretty certain muggles three doors down had heard it. Sirius certainly had, if his crashing into the bathroom door while cursing loudly was anything to go by. Victoria was suddenly struck with relief that she had thought to cast an extra locking spell. She wasn't worried about Sirius trying anything, but the war wasn't long over, and some habits stuck. 

"Are you okay?" Sirius called through the door, still muttering curses under his breath. 

"I knocked down your fancy shampoo. Are you okay?" She called back, still cleaning up the shaving spell she had cast. 

"Merlin, you scared the living daylights out of me, woman! I thought you had passed out or something!" He didn't deign to answer the question about being okay after crashing into the door, choosing instead to make his way back to his room where he was ensuring that everything in his apartment was clean. 

Victoria heard his retreat and laughed to herself. It was another hour before she finally left the comfort of the shower. She smelled like Sirius's cologne, and her hair was softer than ever. That was why she felt zero regrets about having stolen his hair mask. It was hidden away in her jacket pocket. She had an undetectable extension charm, so she doubted he would notice. 

It was when she had finished drying her hair with a spell that she realized she needed a change of clothes to wear. The idea of putting on her clothes from the night before was not particularly appealing. She had gone to a muggle concert to get out of her own head and had had some drunken fun with a band member. The clothes smelled like death and cheap alcohol. 

"Hey, Sirius!" She called after taking a moment to gather some courage. 

"What do you need?" 

"Do you have a washing machine and also clothes?" She could feel her cheeks going pink as she spoke. 

"Let me guess, a muggle pub with live entertainment got a little too rowdy last night?" Victoria's cheeks only grew redder at his words. 

"How the hell did you know that?" She wasn't really angry, but she was in a decidedly vulnerable position. 

"One of the lads at the shop was at the show. I almost went myself. You're wearing the band on your shirt," he laughed. "I have a wash and clean clothes, give me a moment, and I'll grab some for you." 

Sirius had not exactly been celibate since moving into the flat, so there was an assortment of shirts that had been left behind. He grabbed a clean one from his drawer and a pair of boxers and passed them through the bathroom door to Victoria, taking her dirty clothes in return. He had just finished throwing her clothes in his washing machine when the door to the bathroom finally unlocked, and she appeared. 

"Does this belong to someone who will appear and hex me for being here?" Victoria asked, gesturing to the shirt he had given her. It was a black tank top that was tighter on Victoria than on the muggle woman who had left it behind. He decided not to think about the fact that she smelled like him and was wearing clothing he had given her.

"Come on now, I haven't changed that much," Sirius said with a grin. "Couch is all yours. I left a blanket and a fresh pillow on it for you. I also made lunch if you're hungry."

"Do you even remember the poor woman's name?" Victoria said with a small laugh. "I'm still a bit hungover from last night, but I'll steal some of your food when I wake up." 

"Like you stole my hair mask?" Sirius teased. She had no idea how he had noticed. 

"I'm not giving it back." 

"I didn't ask you to." With that, Victoria collapsed onto the couch and pulled the blanket over her head. Sirius was delighted to learn that she snored.