Eunoia | Sirius Black

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Sorrento, south-western Italy, 1981
August 17th, Humid weather

Our next vacation arrives in August. At this point, Sirius and I have gotten so used to each other, I think we both have a bit of separation anxiety.

It was late at night when we made it home.

We were both absolutely knackered, tipsy and laughing like our lives depended on it.

Sirius' face was all blotchy from the wine we'd had and mine was so scarlet it looked like someone slapped me. It was probably because I was feeling so hot, the humidity here was - oh god.

Sirius loves architecture, he does that 'dad' thing where he'd go close to a random house, knock on the walls to see their build and then nod and make a face, complimenting the work or commenting on the improvements.

I'd nod alongside him, mimicking his antics and blabbering nonsense about how bad the bricks are when it's a tile wall and he'd roll his eyes and start to lecture me about the importance of a nicely engineered house.

I love that about him. He is so passionate, the kind that makes you have a mid-life crisis because you're just so unproductive. I also love it because he inspires me to go after the things that I want.

All day, we moved here and there and there and here between alleys and shops, drinking and laughing and screaming and singing and kissing and eating and having fun.

I love Italy. Mostly, the food here. Sirius and I had competitions of who could eat more bruschetta while we sat in a shabby culinary bar where there was such a herd, we could barely walk. The floors were swampy and we saw huge spiders on the floor. Walking.

He and I seem to have a knack for finding such places. No matter where we go, we'd end up standing in front of a weird-looking door that's barely hanging and smile at each other with a 'look what we found yay' glance, even though it's a place like that swampy shithole.

It started as a dare, we'd challenge each other to see who could find the worst-looking place in the best cities but then it became a thing. We'd get out of our hotel rooms with the sole purpose of finding a place where no one would know us. No one would judge us, and we'd just be Elena and Sirius, two strangers from a foreign country who were enjoying a typical vacation.

"GO, GO, GO!" The bartender, Alexei cheered us while we drank shot after shot.

"Still want to play?" I ask Sirius.

He just looks, a gleam in his grey-blue eyes as he winks at me and downs his next shot in one go, already starting with the next.

"I'm not one to back off a dare, Mrs Black. "

"Oh, I know," I tell him with a grin, "That's why I challenge you."

Now, we're both sitting in front of our room with our backs to each other after wasting an entire day and then coming home - you guessed it, wasted.

"You got the key?"

"I thought you had it."

I frown, "Sirius, I literally gave it to you before we entered the culinary bar!"

He laughs, "You don't even know that place's name."

"That is not the point," I snap, the vodka making me crabby.

"Look, I don't have it, alright?" He sighs, "Check your blackhole of a purse, maybe you didn't hand it over to me after all."

"I know I gave it to you," I say and try to get up, my heels twisting over and over again.