Beating (Closed to Sirius and Avalon)

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

"Apology accepted, but only to a point. You still hurt a fellow student and as a teacher I can't let that slide. You can understand that, can't you?" She knew he could. He was a smart lad and he'd understand that he still had detention too. "In my office, of course." That was obvious, wasn't it? She didn't know because she was still getting used to be on the other side. From what she remember detentions were always played out with the professor who had assigned it. "You won't have to miss any of the games..." She faltered when he smiled at her. It didn't reach his eyes, but it still had quite an effect. It'd been awhile since she'd forgotten herself over a smile.

Looking at him closely, she had to admit, he was handsome. She realized with a gasp where her thoughts were headed and with an enormous effort, she reeled in her thoughts. "Or the practices, but you'll be doing detention for awhile. At least a month."

[Sirius Black]

"Yeah... sadly I do," he said. "But you have to admit, professor, he deserved it. He threw a projectile at a man carrying a bat. Definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed, that one." Without thinking, he reached down to help her up and then went with her to her office on the second floor. Good thing it wasn't too far of a walk. He was still a little sore. Closing the door behind him, he looked around her office. It wasn't like the other offices he'd been in, and he'd been in them all. This one didn't give off an air of heaviness. It was a comfortable room. He wondered what she was going to make him do. Write lines. Clean erasers. Whatever it was, he was sure he could handle it.

He begun undoing the ties on the scarlet robes and took it off, slinging it over the back of one of the chairs. Now he just wore the scarlet sweater and white pants that were part of the required quidditch uniform. He hadn't worn his arm pads today. They hadn't gotten too intense with beater practice, so he hadn't needed them. He had worn his knee pads and shin guards though. He would probably regret that later. "Nice office," he said. He looked back at her and was transfixed. Had she always been this good-looking? Wow, he must have really been angry not to notice.

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

Avalon headed for the door to the right and before going through told him to wait. "Don't touch anything either." Disappearing, she resurfaced in a cobalt blue wraparound skirt and a sheer peasant blouse of the same color. "Might as well get comfortable since I'm not going out tonight." She told him, explaining her change, "So much for a little time off and some fun. Sit down, Sirius, while I get what you're going to be working out." She headed for the trunk she kept in the corner and pulling her skirt up as she knelt, she focused on the locks. It didn't take long to pop the lid open and pull the files and the book she needed out.

Getting to her feet, she brought the things over and placed them on the desk. "They're in a different language so you'll need to use the book to translate them." Sitting down across from him, she pulled a stack of papers toward her. "I need them in alphabetical order and then by site." She didn't given him any further instructions as she bent to her own work. Honestly, she didn't want to spend too much time talking to him, afraid that what she'd thought on the stairs would arise again.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius looked at what she placed in front of him. He didn't complain. He just began to look over them. The first language he recognized straight away. His mother had taught him when he was young. Probably one of the only good things she'd done for him. He saw some Chinese and Arabic in there. Other languages he'd learned with James. Random shit he shouldn't know, but really... if they had time to become unregistered Animagi, they had time to learn at least five languages. He set the book that would help him translate aside and got to work.

Ten minutes passed in silence before he set a stack in front of her. "Machu Picchu done. It's all very interesting. Is that what you did before you came back to teach?" He waited for her answer as he moved to start sorting another site. "You do realize that you're going to have a hard time with most of the boys here? They're not used to having attractive professors. That's okay though. I'm more than willing to be your bodyguard," he said with a flirtatious smirk.

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

She was tempted to tell him that silence was required in her detentions, but she didn't feel like being the bitch he had earlier called her. Looking up from her papers reluctantly, she nodded. "It's what I do. That was the last site I worked on." She tapped the folder he had just set in front of her. Pulling it towards her, she opened the file and flipped through the pages quickly. "Not bad. Not bad at all, Black." Closing the folder, she was about to get back to her own work when she hesitated and ran her fingers over the folder she had just closed. "It's what I did." She murmured, making her answer past tense.

"I'm more than capable of handling myself, thank you very much." She glanced up at him sharply, just as she was getting back to work, and frowned. "You're too bold, Sirius Black. Don't make me add to your detention or ask another professor to take over this one." She didn't want to do that. Actually, with a pang she noted that it was probably for the best if she did hand over his detention.

[Sirius Black]

"Was it something I said," he chuckled, pulling out some more papers and handing her the second site. That one was in Chinese. "You've been all over, haven't you? I always wanted to travel. I plan on doing that after I get out of school... If there isn't a war," he added as a sad after thought. If there was a war, he would stay. He would have to stay in order to make sure that the events that he was warned about didn't come to pass. "You don't want to hand the detention over," he said confidently. "You'd miss me too much. Besides... Where else are you going to find a person to help you sort these that can actually read all of these languages?"

He started again on another Spanish one. "Perhaps I am too bold," he said slyly. "It's my worst fault, I've been told. You see... I never did well with staying away from things that were forbidden. The third floor... the forest... All play grounds for me. So what about your fruit, professor? Is it forbidden?"

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

"Yes, I have. Well, what do you know, your dreams were once mine." Tilting her head to the side, she smiled a little. "Don't think you're the only one who can handle the work you're doing, Sirius, because you're not. You're doing my man a favor and saving him the hassle of having to do it himself." What a load of crock! She hadn't had a boyfriend for over a year. Not that she hadn't been involved because she had -just not exclusively. Even with her lie, she couldn't help react to what he said. Who was she kidding, with his comment and the way she flushed, her lie just went out the window.

Closing her eyes for a brief second, she pushed back her chair and headed for the trunk again. She needed to do something with her hands and rummaging through papers seemed ideal. "Again, you're too bold, Black." She was blushing and thanking the heavens that he couldn't see that from where he was sitting. "I'm your professor and as such, I ask for respect." She couldn't believe he'd just said that. Grabbing another packet of papers, he tossed them onto the pile next to him. "And yes, not that it matters."

[Sirius Black]

He chuckled. "It was a double edged sword wasn't it. You say that your fruit isn't forbidden, and that means I can have it. You say it is... and that means that I want it. I can see the predicament you're in... I don't envy you at all for having to answer the question. But you answered the question... and that in itself is answer enough." He knew she had lied about the boyfriend, mostly because he'd been training with Occlumency. It was required for those going into the Auror Academy, which is what he told McGonagall he wanted to do. But even without it, he could have seen straight through her words.

"I do respect you," he said honestly. "Can I not respect you and appreciate you at the same time? It is possible you know." He decided to press his luck further. "Don't count me out," he said. Sirius had been with many older women before. Some even older than Avalon. Was it wrong? Yes. But girls his own age just couldn't cut it. He set another folder in front of her, his eyes locking with hers. "I know how to keep a secret."

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

"You have a way with words." She hadn't gone back to her seat yet and she took the opportunity to lean in close to him. It was a dangerous move since her nature was to sometimes do things without thinking them through. It was also dangerous because being this close to a student could cost her her job. "I'm going to say this once and only once," She leaned in a fraction of an inch more, "You aren't my type." She straightened, look down at him with a smile. "I'm sorry, but it's the truth."

"You're good with words, but I've learned that most men who are good with words are usually not very good with anything else." She tapped him gently on the shoulder before turning away and finding another bundle of papers in the trunk for him to sort.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius brow shot up and his smile grew. "That sounds like a direct attack on my manhood," he said. "At the very least, it was a challenge." He stood up and followed her to her trunk, his steps surprisingly quiet for a person his size. This was so wrong. He was surprised he wasn't more nervous or hesitant about what he was going to do. His hands went to her hips and he pulled her back against him, his hand going up to her stomach to make her stand up. Higher and higher it went until his finger tips were on her jaw and he tilted her lips towards his just before pressing his gently against hers.

First he brushed, his lips just feeling her velvet skin. And then he nipped at her bottom lip, his tongue running over it gently. Finally, he parted her lips, pouring his passion into the kiss while remaining gentle at the same time. His hand went into her hair, his fingers threading her wild curls as his other hand remained on her hip, keeping her pressed against him.

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

The kiss took her by surprise along with everything else she was feeling. Somewhere deep down she knew that she should be pushing him away. This wasn't right. She was his professor! She didn't even know whether he was of legal age which if he wasn't made all this even worse. Push him away. Yell at him! Instead she turned in his arms and pressed against him, allowing him to deepen the kiss. This was bad, very bad. Anyone could walk in... Or had he locked the door?

Finally listening to her inner voice, she pushed him away and slapped him. "How dare you. What were you thinking? You've crossed every line here, Black. I'm your professor and you're my student. What just happened was wrong. Very wrong and you were wrong to start it." She was babbling and she knew it. "Very, very wrong." But for kid, he was a great kisser.

[Sirius Black]

Oh Merlin, it was worth the slap. To feel her kiss him back, to have her body pressed against his. He didn't even feel the pain of it. Not until she started to speak. "I was thinking that you are beautiful and intriguing. Actually, I could compile a list of all that I was thinking," he said, his eyes not leaving hers. "I may have crossed every line, and I'd do it again, too," he said. "Now that I know you want me, too." He said it confidently, but not arrogantly. "You kissed me back, professor."

He stepped closer. "Relax, I'm not going to tell anybody," he said, as though that was common knowledge. "I'm not in the habit of kissing and telling, as they say." She didn't stop babbling. He reached out for her to hold her steady. "Professor, I promise you... it's going to be okay." He said it with such conviction that he left little room for argument. "Maybe it was wrong... but it didn't feel wrong," he admitted.

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

"Don't go there." She put her face in her hands and shook her head back and forth. "I know what I did, you don't have to tell me." She couldn't believe she hadn't stopped it the moment it had begun. She wasn't a good professor. A good professor would have shoved him away and yelled at him until his ears fell off. "Don't say that. I don't wa--" She couldn't say it. She couldn't lie to him. Somehow she knew that if she lied it would only make things worse. He'd see through her lies.. "It didn't mean anything. I shouldn't have kissed you back." She shouldn't have, she knew that.

"You're not going to tell anyone, you're right. This didn't happen. It never happened." Who was she kidding? She could still feel him pressed against her although there was at least six inches between them. "Please don't touc--" There. She couldn't bring herself to push him away completely. "Just don't, okay? How's this going to be okay?"

[Sirius Black]

"Oh, but it did," he insisted. God, he hadn't meant to make her break down. For the first time in his life, Sirius felt horrible. Without any expectations, he pulled her back and put his arms around her to comfort her. "You can't say it didn't happen," he said. "You can't run from it. I was wrong to do it, but..." But what? What could he say to make her understand? "I told you it would be okay. So it will be." He forced her to look into his calm, steady eyes. "You couldn't possibly get in trouble for two reasons. The first of which is that I'm not going to tell anybody. Not because it didn't happen, but because I don't want you to go anywhere. The second reason is because I'm legally independent. I declared myself independent a year ago," he told her. "So you won't have to worry about parents breathing down your neck either. I swear to you, professor... It's going to be all right."

[Avalon N. Gaurdian]

That solved one of her problems. He was legal. However, that still left one large problem on her plate, but as he assured her that nothing bad would come of what had just happened, she began to relax. She didn't understand why, but she trusted him. Not that she would ever tell him that. A part of her still thought that this was all very wrong. "I hope you're right." Calming down, she relaxed against him. It felt nice to be held by him. Another bad thought to push away. "Could you not call me professor. I think it makes me feel worse about the whole situation."