Sirius' Guide to Pissing off Parents

The Ministry Christmas Party

"Fuck, are you cold again?" Is the first thing Freia says when she exits the bathroom.

Sirius shivers beneath the duvet, looking at Freia fresh from the shower. Freia let him shower first and despite warming up beneath the spray he's cold again since leaving, snuggled in the bed.

Sirius only hums, knowing the trembling is telling enough. She swears under her breath once more before rummaging through cupboards and pulling out several more blankets. She throws them on top of him before climbing into the bed herself.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asks, jolted by the sudden feel of her hands on him. She just shuffles closer, pressing her body flush against his.

"Body heat," she says.

Sirius' heart beats harder in response. She takes his hands in her own and blows warm air onto them before pressing them against the bare skin at the base of her spine where her jumper has risen up.

"Are you wearing socks?" She asks.

He laughs a bit at that, "I'm fine. Don't worry, Freia."

She looks up at him, her head on his chest. Their faces are close together and Sirius feels a horrible sinking in the pit of his stomach. Her face holds a concern that makes him thaw from the inside. He'd never thought such genuine concern would affect him this way.

"I'm fine," he repeats, lifting one of his hands and tangling it in her freshly washed hair. She looks so beautiful. Her clean, bright skin, her worried eyes, the cluster of freckles on her cheeks and nose. He cards his fingers through her hair as the warm feeling in his chest grows.

She closes her eyes and leans into the sensations and, Merlin, the look of pleasure on her face, it's enough to make him want to clutch her hair in his fist and pull her lips to his own.

And fuck, James was right, wasn't he? He had a crush. It still didn't feel like a crush though, at least not how he assumed it would be.

Looking at Freia he can't help but feel that surely everyone feels this way with her. She is the most incredible person he's ever met. She's the closest to perfection the universe could think up. Surely everyone feels this pull, this desire to hold her, to be with her, to make her happy.

The Slytherins feel it. Their whole obsession and calling her sunshine, isn't that coming from the same feelings he has. So perhaps it isn't a crush that he's feeling, perhaps it is just a natural side effect of being with Freia.

A few minutes later, once he stops shivering and is beginning to feel warm again, Freia's breathing evens out. Sirius looks at her in amazement. She'd fallen asleep on his chest. And, oh Godric, it's too much. He thinks he might wake her up with the way his heart is hammering beneath her ear. He wants to call James. He needs to call James. But he's trapped.

He draws in ragged breaths and concentrates on the pressure of her against him. The feel of her skin and hair beneath his hands. It calms him, somehow.

There is a brief knock on the door and Sirius looks to Freia but she's still asleep.

"Come in," he says, directing his voice to the door so as not to wake her.

Sophia walks in carrying two plates of food. She pauses when she sees them, a complex series of emotions flickering across her face.

"I saved you food from dinner, you missed it," she says, quietly. She places them down on the bedside table and puts them under a charm to keep them warm.

"Sorry, we got... caught up," Sirius says, then flushes as he realises what that sounds like.

"Yes, mum said she caught you making out this morning. Well, actually, she said it multiple times."