Style // Sirius Black

Chapter XXX

Taking time away from a place sometimes is more influential or even valuable than taking time away from a person. The physical look of a site can cause stress or worry within people, especially if traumatic or anxiety-inducing events occur within said area. It can completely redefine the outlook someone has on life or the events currently transpiring. Going to a safe space helps heal those routinely opened wounds in the triggering area.

It's okay not to enjoy a place. Whether it be school, work, or even a place you call home. Not enjoying somewhere because of the feelings it brings you is a normal and healthy response. No one will come down from above and punish or penalize you because of a mental or physical reaction to a particular area. You are allowed to react to whatever life has thrown at you the way you see most helpful and beneficial for you.

Going to a place you feel safe can be described as a feeling of euphoria or bliss when leaving a significant stressor in the past. Having time away from whatever was causing turmoil and pain can even help you reevaluate your own outlook on life. It could heal strained relationships and even change your perspective on the aforementioned place.

It helps if the place you find safe is a sprawling manor.

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Summer of 1979. The war outside of the Potter manor wars felt like a topic of the past, something distant that couldn't touch the inhabitants within the home. There was no way to comprehend the blossoming and lush fields plagued by the blood and souls of those wounded, staining the white gardenias that sprouted at each corner of the lot. Even the darker vines and ivy that coated the brick walls seemed untouched by the nightmare of reality. The rabbits and mice that skidded through the forest just outside of the lot, and those within it, lived in ignorant heaven from the horrors that raged on just miles away.

Bliss was a word Lyra Potter knew well when Euphemia and Fleamont left for a week for business a few days after the returning of their twin children and the tagalong boy they had taken in. The elder twin had convinced the parents to give him the keys to their summer home for him and his lover, leaving the presumed single others home alone. An entire manor was empty and available for their leisure. Little to Euphemia, Fleamont, and even James's knowledge, the two had kept their love quiet for months, including the time they were home.

But there were no longer prying eyes and skeptical glances tossed towards Lyra Potter and Sirius Black, leaving them to their own devices – and their hormonal wiles. With no supervision, the two Gryffindor students took advantage and let the entire acreage know just who each other belonged to and the love they shared.

"Did you know that you make a squeaking noise before you orgasm?" Lyra razzed as she traced the tip of her finger across her boyfriend's chest.

"I do not!" Sirius scoffed, looking down at his slightly-drowsy partner, "I'm silent most of the time, asshole."

"Hardly," The blonde rebutted, resting her chin on his sternum and glancing upwards at the mock-offended boy, "If we weren't on a manor too big for my parent's own good, I think our neighbours would've heard you – actually! It wouldn't surprise me if they did."

"Your neighbours are over two miles away," Sirius reminded, lifting his ring-clad hands and running his knuckles down the girl's cheek, "You're a bit dramatic, y'know that blondie?"

"Says the man who refuses to take off his rings when shagging his girlfriend."

"They make it better."

"Not really."

Sirius rolled his eyes, and Lyra peeled her naked body off of his, throwing off her comforter and stepping down onto the hardwood floors beneath her. The man below her whined and gripped at her hips as she stood beside the bed, attempting to tug her back into the warm mattress. She winced slightly at the tapping of the bruises he had already left there, but her frown quickly turned into a smirk at the memory of the grip he had while she was beneath him. Sirius was nothing if not a generous lover and knew precisely how to give Lyra just what she needed in order to reach absolute delight. However, the blonde had told their lycanthrope friend they would meet him for dinner down in Godrics Hollow, and she had to shower and rinse away the sheen of sweat Sirius had elicited from her.