Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

Sirius Black sat down on the dirty hardwood floor of his newly purchased apartment. He pushed his shaggy black hair out of his eyes and looked around his new living quarters morosely. It was bleak, bland, and desolate. Though ten times better than his parents', it did not compare to the Potter's house. Even though James had offered he stay the summer again, he could no longer impose on his best friend's hospitality, especially when he had just received a large amount of inheritance money from his Uncle Alphard. He had moved in what little had, his clothes, spell books, and a trunk full of random junk he had accumulated at school. James had given him a spare mattress which was, at the moment, sitting in the small bedroom without a bed frame. He would have to go buy one of those when he got the chance.

He felt very alone sitting there by himself and wished James wasn't on vacation in Spain. What on earth was there to do in an apartment building filled with muggles? He had tried to tick his parents off as much as possible by moving into an almost entirely muggle community. It seemed like a stupid decision now. Sirius tended to make a lot of stupid decisions.

Taking his wand out of his pocket he began to absentmindedly flip it around in his fingers. He'd only been out of school for a little over a week and he was already bored out of his mind. He needed to get out of this dust hole!

Acting on impulse he left his apartment, taking only his wand and a little bit of muggle money he had with him. Normally he would not have any muggle money, but because he had to pay for his apartment with it he had a spare bit left over. Forty what-ever-they-were's to be exact. He found it strange that muggles used the flimsy parchment like stuff so often. It was easy to lose, not like the knuts and sickles he usually carried around with him.

As he walked aimlessly down the street with nowhere particular in mind he suddenly realized how hungry he was. What he wouldn't give for one of Mrs. Potter's homemade cinnamon rolls! He looked around for some kind of bakery.

_ Quixotic: Bakery and Café_ read a sign just visible from down the street. How convenient, thought Sirius smiling wryly to himself as he took off down the street.

* * *

Maira Benton snuck a glance at the clock behind her as she rang up the total for the customer standing in front of her. She had two hours left.

"Your total comes to three-seventy-five, sir." The customer dug around in his pockets and fished out the money. "You're coffee will be right out."

The man stepped aside and the next customer moved forward. Maira looked up from the register and her heart thudded loudly in her chest. The boy was seventeen at least and had a look of casual disarray. His shaggy black hair fell into his bright grey eyes and he smoothly brushed it aside.

"Do you have any cinnamon rolls?" he said brightly. She felt heat flash across her cheekbones. He chuckled in response. "It's okay if you don't."

"No, no." said Maira trying to compose herself. _This was so embarrassing. _"There's a fresh batch in the oven. You can wait if you'd like or else our brownies are very good!"

"I'll wait." said the boy. His smile was pressing against the outer corner of his face leaving creases. "So what's your name?" he asked leaning against the counter.

Maira knew how boys like him worked. He was trying to charm her by seeming interested in her life. His demeanor screamed trouble. She answered his question reluctantly.

"Maira."

"Why?" he asked. She was taken aback. _What did he want a reason for her name?_

"Um, well it was my grandmother's." She said slowly.

"I like it." _Of course he did. _"Don't worry I know all about strange names." He said misreading her expression. "My whole family is named after constellations. Oh, Merlin not that I think your name is strange! It's pretty really!" He ran his fingers through his hair. If Maira didn't know him better she would say he looked a bit nervous. _But Merlin? What the hell was that?_

"Yeah, thanks. Did you want anything to drink? Coffee or something?" asked Maira hoping to change the subject.

"Um, no thanks. I'm not a coffee drinker."

"You're kidding!" Maira said in surprise. She was an addict if there ever was one. "Have you even tried it?"

"Erm…no." said the handsome boy honestly.

"Well, don't shoot something down before you've tried it! What is your name, by the way?" asked Maira curiously.

"Sirius." _Ha! Yeah right!_

"Well Sirius, if you're a first time coffee drinker I would recommend something light, maybe a frappachino or a blended coffee?"

"Fine then, surprise me." He grinned at her, clearly pleased about something. He pulled a twenty out of his pocket and she rang up his order.

Maira had to admit the whole conversation was endearing, but clearly see through. She grabbed a cup from the stack next to her and scribbled across it in marker, annoyed to find her handwriting was a little bit shaky.

"Here, Marcus!" she said, tossing the cup to the boy making the coffee.

"So is there anything cool to do around here?" Sirius asked her looking out the window.

"What like London or immediately in this vicinity?"

"Well relatively close." He answered.

"Um…there are lots of book shops around here and there's a theater a couple blocks over." Maira was glad there was no one else waiting in line. She had a feeling he would have stood there and taken up the counter anyway.

Just then Mr. Gregory the shop's owner brought the tray of freshly baked cinnamon buns out. He gave a reproachful look in Maira's direction, to which she tried to convey a 'there's-nothing-I-can-do' look.

"Alright, I get, I get it!" said Sirius throwing his hands up. "Just give me one of those cinnamon buns and I'll leave." He put on a hurt face.

"Oh I…well…" Maira tried to say something. She knew he was trying to get her to tell him he didn't have to go, but she didn't want to just say nothing. She felt her face turn red again and went over to put his cinnamon roll in a bag.

"Don't worry it takes a lot more than that to hurt my feelings!" he said taking the bag from her and turning toward the coffee machines. "Hey Marcus, you got my coffee?"

"Yup, here you go!" replied Marcus handing him his drink. Flustered she watched him swiftly head out the door. But before he left he turned around.

"Maybe I'll see you around." He smiled and it wasn't a question. Then he stepped out into the sunshine and turned left down the street.

"Hey! What was that?" joked Marcus, poking her in the side. "Someone has an admirer!"

"Aw, shut up!" said Maira stubbornly. "He's just some wise-ass boy who thinks he has control of the world!"

"Whatever you say!" Marcus laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Sirius Black was feeling quite good about himself at the moment. He loved making girls blush, and the one he had just turned his talents on was especially satisfying. He smiled to himself thinking of the way the blush had started in the apples of her cheeks and spread slowly. He let his mind wander, and as he strolled down the street he thought about her eyes, bright blue and almond shaped. He thought about the way the corners of her mouth had turned down as she tried not to smile at him. He thought about her deep brown hair which had been pulled halfway up and that one little sprig of hair in the front that had escaped her hair elastic. He thought about this for at least two blocks until he realized that he did not normally think like this, normally when he thought about girls he thought about, well different things than what he had just thought about Maira.

Maira. It was a pretty name. How stupid he had been to call it strange he had meant something more along the lines of distinctive, unique; anything but strange. It was not like him to mess up words in front of girls and he didn't like it. Suddenly his good mood had turned sour.

'_She wasn't trying not to smile because I was funny!' _he thought. '_She was trying not to laugh at me because I was an idiot!'_ He felt like an oblivious troll. Ahh! He wanted to curse something! His hand instinctively moved to the wand in his pocket. At school it had been so satisfying to be about to smash things, of course he repaired them right after, but still it was the sound he enjoyed.

This was silly though. He was in agony over a girl? All he had to do was look straight into the eyes of any girl who walked by and they'd be instantly his. He smiled smugly. Yes, this was not a problem at all. He would probably never see the chick again anyway.

Sirius turned around and headed back to the apartment. There he could eat his cinnamon roll and write James a lengthy letter.

* * *

Maira walked into her apartment exhausted and although she was glad her shift had ended she was not all that happy to be home. Her mom was working late at the hospital, like always, and the empty house made her feel quite lonely.

This was one very sucky reality that came from going to boarding school in another country. Firstly, all her friends lived far away and second tuition was expensive; and although she had a scholarship her mom still had to work a lot to make ends meet. Maira had offered to just attend public school when her father left, but her mother had insisted she continue to attend the school. So Maira works as many shifts as she can get at Quixotic in the hopes of both making money to help support herself and her mother, and trying to stay busy and out of the lonely apartment. It was a boring existence.

_'It's sad when the only exciting part of your life is school!'_ Maira thought to herself, grabbing some leftover pizza from the fridge and heating it in the microwave.

* * *

Maira got to work 10 minutes early and was now sitting outside the café waiting for Mr. Gregory to arrive and open it up. The air was a little bit chilly still, but the sunlight beaming down on Maira's back was warm and friendly. She couldn't help but notice the way the dew drops that hung from the metal chairs outside the café caught the rays and cast tiny speckles of light on to the sidewalk. She was in a fairly cheerful mood this morning, considering her mother hadn't gotten home till around two last night. She sighed. Her mother had promised not to be later than midnight, but as usual something had come up at the hospital and they just couldn't let her leave. Maira tried not to be upset when this sort of thing happened. She knew her mother was doing the best she could but she couldn't help being disappointed whenever she came home or woke up there was no one for her to talk to. She had no one to talk to about that boy who came in yesterday afternoon.

Ah! That stupid boy! Why did he have to be so cute and charming? Now he had her thinking about him and she's probably never see him again! Her cheerful mood had come and gone very quickly.

"Good morning, Maira!" said Mr. Gregory strolling up the street. "You're here early aren't you?" Maira smiled at him and nodded. "Hope you don't think I'll let you leave early now do you?" He chuckled to himself, unlocking the door and letting Maira in.

"Oh no sir wouldn't even dream of it!" And that was the truth. The last thing Maira wanted to do was go home to her lonesome apartment.

She started putting down the chairs and wiping down the tables, still having a hard time getting that stupid boy out of her head.

* * *

Sirius awoke to light pouring through the dusty window and onto his mattress, which was, sadly, still missing its bed frame. He grumbled and rubbed his eyes, looking very much like a bear finally coming out of hibernation, a very handsome, shaggy haired bear. And just like a previously hibernating bear he was incredibly hungry. He hadn't really thought much about where he would get his food around here. Oh how he missed Hogwarts where he could just go down to the great hall and eat to his heart's content! The only place he noticed nearby that had anything to do with food was that bakery with that girl, Maira. But he couldn't go back there if she was still there. She might think he was stalking her or something, but then again he didn't want to roam all around town looking for a place to get breakfast. _Girls make things so difficult!_

After careful thought and consideration Sirius decided to go in his dog form, number one because then he could see if Maira was working this morning and number two because he figured he could have much more fun roving the streets in his dog form than in his human form which incidentally wasn't nearly as fast either. So he set off down the street with the morning sun beaming on his shaggy black coat.

When he arrived at the bakery he was surprised to see Maira sitting outside in one of the metal chairs reading a book. Her brown hair caught the light making it look lighter than it did the last time he saw her. Sirius watched safely from across the street for awhile, until his stomach reminded him how hungry he was.

He continued on, pausing only briefly when girls on the street commented on how cute he was. He smiled to himself thinking how unfortunate it was that James and Peter got stuck with animals that weren't quite as susceptible to ooing and ahhing from the female population. In the end he did find a grocery store not more than three blocks from his house but it was boring and he decided he would take a trip into Diagon Alley instead, maybe he would run into some people from school.

He quickly bounded into an alley and changed back into his normal self. Then he proceeded to stick his wand arm out towards the street calling on the night bus to give him a lift. Right on cue the bus barreled up the street causing trashcans and parked automobiles to leap out of the way. The bus stopped right in front of him and the doors opened revealing a short man with a bright green bowtie.

"Good afternoon, Sonny!" shouted the old man, who was obviously hard of hearing.

"Is it really afternoon?" asked Sirius confused. Did he really sleep that late?

"Didn't quite catch that, did you say you need to get going soon? 'Cause if you're in a rush I would recommend you hop on the bus and stop gibber jabbing away!" He laughed apparently finding himself funny and grabbed Sirius by the arm pulling him onto the bus. For an old man he was surprisingly strong. "Where to then, boy?" asked the conductor.

"Diagon Alley." said Sirius.

"What?!" shouted the old man.

"Diagon Alley!" Sirius shouted back.

"Right then, hold on tight!" And with that the bus was off again.


End file.
