Mischief Managed

13: A Single Step

Perhaps love is the greatest mischief of all.

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It was only eleven in the morning, but the London heat was already sweltering. Sirius and I sat at a tiny cafe, munching on crumpets, while tourists striding past us fanned themselves with city maps.

"You ready to climb one of the Towers?" Sirius asked, crunching off the edges of his crumpet.

"As I'll ever be! I can't believe I haven't climbed the Tower Bridge before!" My excitement was genuine; I loved traveling, loved the rush of exhilaration I felt surrounded by things I'd never seen before, people I'd never met, opportunities not yet taken... My dad was from Italy, and for Christmas, my mom and I joined him for a proper family reunion in the Convelo's Tuscan villa. We usually made a few side trips before or after the reunion, to places like Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Madrid, (I loved big cities).

Now, finally getting to explore London with Sirius, I got that rush again, the rush of facing the unknown with nothing and no one holding me back.

"I haven't either. Never been out of England, actually," Sirius admitted.

"Really? Blimey!" I immediately felt guilty for my exclamation; of course Sirius hadn't traveled much, not with his family. Sirius never talked much about his home life, usually skirting around the topic, but James, Remus, Peter, and I had slowly pieced together a picture. And it wasn't pretty.

"If you could go anywhere, where'd you go?" I asked him in an attempt to cover my rudeness.

"Maybe a nice beach somewhere...South of Spain or Sicily. Somewhere dog-friendly." He winked.

"Sounds nice," I said, thinking wistfully of a paradise far from muggy London.

"I like London, though. Lots of freedom, tons of people so different you feel like you just-"

"Belong," I finished. That's why I loved big cities, I guess. All of a city's differences, its eccentricities, somehow knitted its people closer together, and that was just so...cool.

He grinned, then smoothly slid his sunglasses on as he winked at a pretty brunette walking by with her friends. The girl blushed, and I snickered.

"What?" Sirius asked, miffed. "You wish you were as cool as me."

"You think I'm jealous of you? I'm quite pleased with being the one who's winked at on the streets instead of the one doing the winking."

"Pfft," he scorned. "Pretty sure no bloke has given you a second glance today."

"Ouch," I said, feigning hurt.

He smirked, pleased with himself. My pride was boiling- I refused to be mocked by Sirius, of all people.

"Fine, let's play a game. We'll count the number of people who've given us 'second glances' or creepy winks, and, at the end, we'll see who's gotten the most."

Sirius leaned forward, intrigued. "What happens if we win?"

"Well, bragging rights for one thing. And...if I win, you have to ask out anyone I tell you to," I said, proud of my terms.

"Oo, I see." He grinned. "But if I win, you've got to write Dylan, telling him how much you love and miss him and beg him to take you back."

I wrinkled my nose. I definitely was not going to lose this game. "Deal," I confirmed.

Sirius looked slightly surprised, but agreed as well.

I pulled my sunglasses down, pulled a blonde strand of hair from my ballerina bun, stood up, fluffed the edges of my flowery dress, and said menacingly, "It's on."