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Chapter Thirty-Five: Worth Fighting For

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J U L Y 1979

"Look at you. Sirius Black, all grown up." Romina teased as she stepped through the doorway of his new flat. This was the first time she was able to come see it, when they were both free from other responsibilities.

She dropped her bag onto the tiny kitchen nook as she maneuver her way in. She turned to look at him with a grin. She was so proud of him, and while they had both been extremely busy for most of this month, she hoped he knew that.

"Certified adult, I am." He made sure to do a playful jig and bow before joining Romina in the kitchen. He grabbed two glasses and suggested a bottle of butterbeer, which Romina agreed to with an enthusiastic nod.

"How is it living alone?" She finally asked when they were seated at the table, her tongue farting out to clean up some of the leftover foam from her drink.

Sirius stayed silent as he watched her, the way her tongue ran across her lips sent all of his blood directly to one centralized location. He cleared his throat and shifted slightly in his seat, "It's nice. Can be a bit weird at times, though. I'm so used to James bursting into my room at odd hours to rant about Lily or whatever was bugging him that day."

"So, in other words, you can walk around naked without worrying about James catching you." Romina giggled, taking another sip of her butterbeer.

"Exactly," Sirius smirked, "I'm glad you get it!"

Romina rolled her eyes playfully, sipping her drink as silence once again took over. It was a comfortable silence though, and the pair continued to sip butterbeer and make eye contact with one another before looking away. It was silly, for Romina atleast, that she was feeling this way. This nervousness was certainly not welcomed, she hated this feeling. She knew Sirius, just as much as he knew her. Why was she feeling like she was on some kind of blind date with a man she had never met before?

"D'ya want a tour, maybe?" Sirius finally spoke up, his eyes meeting Romina's as he finished his drink. She smiled in return with an eager nod, pushing herself up from the bench to follow him through the rest of his flat.

There wasn't too much to see but everything about it screamed Sirius Black. He already had a record player in the far corner of the living room, just by the large window that overlooked the muggle street the building was located on. She noted that he had room darkening curtains, though they were open right now, and assumed it was for whenever he either had company over or when he wanted to utilize magic so nobody could see him.

"Bathroom, closet, blah blah," he paused, his hands waving around at each part of the flat he was showing her before he opened up the last door with a devilish smirk, "bedroom. You know-"

"Please don't say where the magic happens." Romina cut him off with giggles.

"How do you know that saying?" Sirius groaned.

"I watched a muggle movie with Lily the other day." Romina shrugged, walking up to him so she could peak in and take a look at his bedroom. Again, it screamed Sirius Black. Bed was unmade, and clothes were all over the floor. "It's interesting what muggles consider film. I mean, I felt very uncomfortable watching two people shagging. But Lily assured me it wasn't real. She said that was a thing, though, was something called-"

"Porn." Sirius cut her off with a devilish smirk again.

"Gross. Of course you already know that." She laughed, smacking his chest before she turned around and walked over to his record player. She hummed softly as she skimmed through the records he had, trying to find something she knew. Grinning wildly, she held up 'Rubber Soul' by The Beatles.

"Can we play this? I haven't listened to this one yet." Romina poured out her bottom lip, even though she knew she wouldn't have to beg him. Sirius smiled and nodded, walking up to her and taking the record gently.

"You remember how to work this thing?" He asked her, his voice coming out in a soft whisper as he stood close beside her.

"Kind of. Can you show me again?" Her voice matched the softness of his, her eyes trailing along his chest as she turned her head to meet his gaze. When she finally met it, they both smiled.

"Of course." Sirius nodded and gestured for her to turn around again. He took her hands in his and went through each step to get the record player on and working. He took his time explaining how gentle you needed to be with the record itself because they were easily scratched and then the music would be ruined. Romina stayed silent, absorbing all of the information incase she gets her own one day.

As the music started playing, she grinned. "These men have such beautiful voices. They go so well together, don't you think?" She started spinning around, dancing and humming along to the music as it echoed out in Sirius' flat.

"My voice is better. I could be a beatle." Sirius puffed out his chest, hands placed firmly on his hips as he watched her spin around.

"Sirius, you are no Paul McCarthy or John Lemon."

Sirius burst out into laughter, his eyes watering as he watched her stop and stare over at him. "What? What's so funny?" She hissed, her dark eyes narrowing at him as she stomped over to him.

"McCarthy and Lemon?" He continued to laugh, his shoulders shaking as he leaned forward on his knees.

"Yes, that's what I said. I don't understand, why are their names so funny?" Romina crossed her arms over her chest and began tapping her foot against the floor.

"Because that's not their names, love. It's Paul McCartney and John Lennon." Sirius stopped laughing as he noticed that her face fell into embarrassment. "It's an easy rookie mistake. You're still learning all of this!"

"You are so rude!" Romina slapped his chest with a huff as she walked past him, moving back into the kitchen. She grabbed herself another bottle of cold butterbeer, turning around to lean against the counter as she heard Sirius follow behind her.

He got himself a drink as well, moving for something a bit stronger than butterbeer. After putting the bottle of firewhiskey back in the cabinet, Sirius leaned on the counter adjacent to Romina. "It was really cute. I didn't mean to laugh so hard, I'm sorry."

Romina stayed silent, raising an eyebrow as she took him in. She finally rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic sigh, "Fine. I'm not angry at you. You did hurt my feelings a bit, but all is forgiven. John Lemon sounds like a cooler name, though. Maybe I should write to him, he could perform under that name if he wants to go solo."

Sirius grimaced, "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, Mina, but he's gone solo already. The Beatles broke up."

"What?" She cried loudly, setting her bottle down harshly as she shot up to stand straight. "Since when?"

"1970."

"1970?" Romina screeched, her eyes wide in confusion as Sirius clamped a hand over her mouth, hushing her. "Why wasn't anyone going to tell me this?"

"I thought you were more a Meatloaf gal." Sirius teased, his hand had fallen away from her mouth as he sipped at his firewhiskey. Romina quickly replaced his glass with her bottle, snatching away the harder liquor before downing the remaining liquid in one large gulp.

A small dribble of the amber liquid slipped between her lips, curling around and over the corner of her mouth as she pulled the glass away. Before her tongue could dart out to catch the alcohol, Sirius cupped her cheeks in his hands and pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth. He pulled back, smiling down at Romina before they both leaned back in to start another kiss.

The butterflies in her stomach erupted into cheers as she parted her lips against Sirius' so their tongues could meet. Her hands slipped along his arms before wrapping around his wrists to hold him in the same position, close to her. The heat radiating between them was intense and before Romina could think her next thought, Sirius had pressed her back into the counter roughly.

She pulled her lips from his to let out a hiss of pain, but the stinging in her lower back was drowned out by the line of warmth left on the skin of her neck by his soft lips. His tongue had darted out to taste her, groaning slightly at the natural taste of her skin. They were driving eachother mad and before Sirius tried to take it any further, Romina pushed at his chest.

He immediately stopped, pulling up to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry, I think I might have gotten carried away." He apologized, his hands releasing her face as he leaned them on either side of her against the counter.

"You don't need to apologize." Romina shook her head, her hands finding their way on either side of his neck. They stayed like this for a while, Sirius leaning his forehead against hers as their breathing slowly evened out. "I'm just not... I'm not ready." Her cheeks turned bright red as Sirius blinked, slowly understand what she was talking about.

"I would never force you to do something you're not comfortable with, Romina. Please tell me you know that." Sirius felt dread, his legs as heavy as a pair of anvils as he stood there before her, praying that she didn't think he was the type of guy to take advantage of anyone.

"No!" She quickly responded, shaking her head. She pressed one open palm to the side of his face, her thumb brushing against his cheekbone before she leaned up and pecked his lips softly. She wanted to reassure him she didn't think about him like that. "I know you're not that kind of guy, Sirius. I promise."

Sirius smiled against her lips even though the kiss was quick. He leaned his head down into the crook of her neck, his body pressing against hers in an embrace. Her touch brought him relief, calming his nerves and relaxing his muscles. Her nails scratched slowly against his neck before she moved down his chest and to his abdomen, "I like you a lot, Sirius, you know. I'm scared, though, because I'm not going to be around so much with my training. I don't want you to feel like you're being handcuffed to the bed, unable to experience what you want with other people."

Sirius shook his head, his lips gently brushing against her neck which inadvertently sent chills down her spine causing her to shiver and press into him more. "Handcuffed to the bed?" He questioned, his lips pressing into her neck once more with a soft kiss.

"I guess that was the wrong thing to say." Romina sighed out happily at the feeling of his lips against her skin. "I don't want to string you along."

"Are you?" Sirius pulled back and tilted his head to the side, watching her. "Stringing me along, I mean?"

"No, of course not. But you... you're a man. You have needs. Certain needs that I'm not ready to help you with." Romina admitted sheepishly, her cheeks burning bright, though the blush could have very well been from his touch and kisses rather than her embarrassment.

"My needs are that I want to just be with you. In any way that you are willing to give me. A hug. A kiss. Sure, I have experience in the bedroom. But I would never force you into something you're not ready for. I care about you, too, Romina. I want to do this right." Sirius pecked her lips quickly, "I want to do right by you."

Romina wasn't sure if it was how sincere Sirius was being, or if it was her hormones, but her eyes began to fill up quickly with tears and with one blink they began to steam down her cheeks.

"No, no, no. Please don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry." He whispered, moving his hands to either side of her face as he tried his best to wipe away the tears as they continued to fall. They stayed this way until Romina stopped crying, the only sound that could be heard was the record playing softly in the background.

"Well, I can assure you that they are happy tears." She sniffled, though soon a soft laugh escaped from behind her lips as she looked up at him. "You must think I'm mad."

Sirius shook his head, "No. and even if you were, we're all a little mad, love. So you wouldn't be alone." He offered her a reassuring smile before he leaned down to capture her lips in another kiss.

This one was short and sweet compared to the first one they had shared earlier. Romina was the one to break the connection, the corners of her lips tugging up into a smile. "So, what does this all mean?"

"It means that I want to give us a go. Yeah?" Sirius pulled further away, his hands moved away from her face as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "What say you, Romina Lestrange?"

Romina pressed her lips together in a firm line, playfully tapping her finger on her chin as though she were deep in thought. She could only keep the charade up for so long, though, and she let out a laugh. "I want to give us a go, too." Her arms wrapped around his neck, "and I'm not saying that I think this will be easy. But I just think that you're worth fighting for, Sirius Black."

They leaned forward and connected in another lip lock, immediately fighting for dominance in the kiss as the adrenaline of making their relationship official sending them into a tizzy. They stayed intertwined together against the kitchen counter for a while, Romina found herself losing track of time and gasping when they finally parted.

"Sirius! I have to go!" She pushed at his chest, her face still flush and lips plump from their heated snogging session. "I start my training tomorrow. And early, I need to sleep!"

"Sleep? Ugh, come on Mina." Sirius pouted out his bottom lip, dragging out the last syllable of her name as he clasped his hands together to beg. "Just stay a little bit longer."

"Siri..." she sighed, slipping her arms back around his neck as she leaned up to peck his lips softly. "I have a long ways to travel."

"What do you mean?" He kissed her back.

"My training is in Egypt."