Hi ~ welcome to another very late update, which isn't edited ...

But it's the 1st of February, just like I promised. 

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a fan of the way this one turned out, so sorry @secretwolf_701 but I hope you like it nonetheless. I was working through writer's block as I wrote this and I couldn't just keep staring at it so here it is. 

Just a warning, in this story you'll get a peek into how little I know about vehicles and mechanics in general ...  

____________________

The morning had been a regular Saturday morning, as regular as it could've been in my small town. The same small town where the handful of shops opened at the same time each morning and closed at the same time each evening, leaving the roads quiet and empty once 6 pm hit. In my sleep little town, once it was past 6, there was little to do - much to the irritation of the teenagers who roamed the streets - but it was home. It had always been home.

The townspeople made up of the same families that had lived here for generations, and the occasional stragglers who had sought to make it their home after falling in love with a slower life, were always the same. The familiar faces greeted me on my daily commute, they waved as I passed them and headed towards the narrow lane that housed my garage. Today was no exception. I passed the same group of parents on their daily walk, as they pushed the prams before them, the same group of young kids who had been let out of their homes as soon as breakfast was finished and now rushed off to seek their next adventure, and even the same elderly couple at the bus stop. Although, what was different was the man stood at the side of the road, standing beside an overturned motorbike.

My curious eyes settled on the dark-haired stranger as my car slowly approached him. From a distance, he stood tall as he paced irritatedly beside the bike. He stopped abruptly and let out a sharp curse. Pressing slowly on the brake pedal, I drew to a halt beside him in time to watch the stranger kick the bike in frustration. I probably should have known better than to draw the attention of a stranger - especially when so few actually found their way into our sleep streets - and yet there was a reason that the few strangers who had found their way, decided to make it into their new home. We were a friendly bunch, even when we shouldn't have been. Even when being friendly stopped us from getting to work on time.

Bringing my car to a stop, I put it into neutral and rolled my window down. My eyes followed the stranger who prodded at the motorbike with his shoe. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Lifting his head, and turning to face me, the traces of frustration eased out of the handsome stranger's features. Still, he let out a long breath and shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, love. But I don't think so. My bike's decided to stop working."

"Are you sure I can't help?" I asked again, this time all too easily noticing the dubious way he looked between me and the bike. Forcing myself not to sigh, I said shortly, "Look, I'm a mechanic. Do you want my help sorting your bike out, or not?"

Seemingly reassured that I actually would know what I was doing, the stranger stopped watching me dubiously. Rather, he crossed the short distance between us and approached my door with a thankful smile. Still, I had to give it to him, it usually took men longer to accept that by nature of my professional, I would know my way around a vehicle.

"Then you must be sent from heaven, sweetheart," the stranger said, turning his bright grey eyes onto mine. "Because right now I need all the help I can get."

"My name isn't sweetheart," I said pointedly.

"No, but you look like a sweetheart." His smile widened when I struggled and failed at holding back a laugh.

I leaned back from the window, considering him with assessing eyes. "And you look like trouble."

"Oh, I promise I don't just look like trouble. But you can just call me Sirius." Sirius leaned down slightly, bringing his face in line with my open window. "And as much as I'd like to keep flirting with you, I still need help with my bike."

"Then maybe you should stop looking at people like that."

"I have no idea what you mean," he denied, shaking his head in the portrait of mock innocence.

"Sure." Scoffing, I gestured for him to step away from my car. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll be back."

"It's no punishment to wait on a pretty woman."

Shaking my head with a scoff, I rolled my window up and shifted into first gear. Sirius, the newest stranger was no doubt a flirt and I knew better than to engage in that. But well, when someone had an easy manner as he seemingly had, how was I supposed to help myself? Especially when he had those beautiful dark curls and glorious eyes? Dismissing the thought from my mind, I continued the short journey to my garage. Once there, I made quick work of locking a trailer onto the back of my car and turning right back around to retrieve Sirius and his bike.

Sirius, still standing at the side of the road, waved me down as I drove down the road. Pulling up beside him, I turned my car off and opened the door in time to hear him say, "I didn't think you'd come back."

"I offered to help you, didn't I?" I asked as I clambered out of my car and made my way towards his abandoned bike. Gesturing towards the vehicle, I motioned for Sirius to come closer, "Come on, help me get this thing up and onto my trailer."

Sirius, eyeing me uncertainly, watched as I grasped the handles of his motorbike in preparation for lifting it off of his side. When I arched an eyebrow, he didn't say anything but took his position next to me. Together, we hoisted the bike onto its wheels and steered it onto the trailer. Releasing the handles, I secured the bike into position and stepped back. Propping my hands on my hips, I surveyed it with careful eyes. Satisfied that it wouldn't be going anywhere, I turned my attention back to its owner, only to find Sirius watching me with appraising eyes.

"What?" I asked as I walked towards the driver's side. "Hop in, I'll get you to my garage."

"That was hot," Sirius said with an easy laugh as he climbed into the car. Buckling my seatbelt, I rolled my eyes and pointedly ignored his statement. I was right; Sirius was proving himself to be a massive flirt.

"Anyway, what brought you into town?"

"I was just supposed to be passing through, but now my bike's a wreck."

"It's not a wreck," I assured him, checking my mirrors before I pulled into the road. "I'll get it sorted for you."

The short drive back to my shop felt as if it was taking longer than it usually did. I put that down to the fact that I was driving slower than I normally did, keeping a listening ear out for any sounds that I could associate with Sirius's bike coming loose. But, it also could've had something to do with the man sitting in my passenger's seat, looking out of the window as I drove, one of his arms dangling out of the window to catch the wind. Sirius, as if he could feel my appraising eyes on him, he cast a glance over his shoulder and knowingly raised an eyebrow. Caught and trying to play it off, I turned to face the road again and pointedly kept my eyes locked on the road.

When we finally reached my shop, I turned the engine off and made quick work of removing the bike from the trailer and getting it set up for inspection. Sirius needed no prompting to help me, even if he did look at me for silent instruction. Not that it surprised me. One look at his hands, smooth and looking as if they had never known a day's worth of hard labour, was explanation enough.

Walking slowly around the bike, I inspected it with a critical eye. Crouching down to get a better look at the back wheel hub, I cast a glance at its owner who was standing off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched me. Sirius's eyes were warm as they easily found mine.

"It doesn't seem too bad," I assured him as I rose to my feet, "At the very least, your front tyre will need replacing. I'm going to have to look it over properly to see the full extent of work it'll need. So, what happened?"

Sirius staved off a wince as he explained, "I hit something when I was driving. The next thing I knew I went flying through the air."

I gave him a long assessing look, searching the man for any form of injury, but there was nothing to be found. And his bike certainly didn't appear to have taken that much damage to indicate that it had been sent flying. Dubiously, I asked, "You hit something whilst driving your bike?"

He nodded and was quick to assure me, "There's no need to look at me like that love, I know how to ride a bike."

"But you don't know how to look out for things on the road?" I asked dryly, turning my attention to the bike once more.

"My mind was just all over the place," Sirius said steadily. I could hear him moving from behind me, but I paid little attention. Rather, I was taking the time to study the vehicle in detail now.

Still, I absentmindedly pointed out, "That's probably not a good state of mind to be in while riding a motorcycle."

"Probably not," he conceded.

Neither of us spoke much after. Instead, we settled into a quiet, contemplative silence that was punctuated by the sounds of my working. Briefly, as I reached for a different tool, I cast a glance around the shop just to check that Sirius hadn't disappeared. He hadn't. Sirius had simply settled onto a nearby chair and made himself comfortable watching me work.

"There are some shops not far from here if you want to do some exploring. Probably about a 10-minute walk," I said. "You don't have to stick around and watch me."

"What if I want to watch you?" Sirius asked, taking me by surprise and bringing my attention resolutely back onto him. His knowing eyes searched my face, seemingly satisfied at having disrupted my progress. "You seem to like your job."

"I do," I confirmed, walking towards Sirius's perch. I snagged a cloth on my way towards him, wiping my hands clear of smudged grease. "Why do you ask?"

"You were humming," he said with a shrug as if that explained anything. "What made you get into being a mechanic?"

"I grew up seeing my family working on machines," I explained, studying my hand as I worked on cleaning away a stubborn patch of dirt. "Besides, machines have been the only thing I could ever focus on. My brain is too busy to concentrate on anything else."

When there was no response to my words, I lifted my eyes towards Sirius and met his appraising gaze. He made no reaction to being caught; he didn't avert his eyes or do anything to fill the silence. Rather, he kept his eyes on me, looking far too self-assured for his own good. I doubted that Sirius had ever taken a knock to that confidence, and if he had, that it had likely never stuck.

"You're a flirt," I said as if it was a fact. Failing to hold back a teasing smile, I asked, "Do you like what you see?"

He didn't look even the slightest bit thrown as his smile widened. "Absolutely."

Shaking my head with a soft laugh, I retraced my steps back towards his bike. "It should be done in a couple of hours and then it'll be ready to go."

"Already? I was just getting into appreciating you at work."

I rolled my eyes for him to see. "I guess you'll have to settle for doing more of that next time."

"You're either trying to curse me to have more accidents, or it's your roundabout way of saying you want to see me again." Sirius grinned when I shot him a look. "You'll have to help me figure out which it is."

"I'm a businesswoman," I reminded him. He appeared unconvinced. "Any money is appreciated."

"Oh ... about that," Sirius winced as he patted the pockets of his jacket. "I don't have my wallet with me."

"Don't worry about it." I waved his protests away. "You can pay me the next time I need to fix this bike."

"How do you make any money?"

"Leave my business to me."

I could hear Sirius take paces towards me as I crouched once more beside his bike. "You definitely want to see me again."

**********

Some moments tested my patience and stoked my admittedly short temper. Usually, I could take a breather and could redirect my attention away from whatever was aggravating me. And more often than not, if I was working and my hands were busy, it was even harder to get on my nerves. Yet - yet there were still occasions where even when I was working, a client was doing an intricate tap dance on the final string that was holding my temper together.

Clenching my fingers tightly around the handle of the wrench, I applied so much pressure that my knuckles turned white. They began to ache slightly, but I used the sensation to ground me and to force me to hold my tongue from biting off the head of the man who was hovering over me as I worked on his car. There was no need for the balding, middle-aged man, to trace my every step around the vehicle, or to give me instructions and prompts on what to do next. And yet, he did it all anyway. I was perfectly capable of completing the work on his car and I knew what I was doing. Still, that didn't stop his aggravating words or halt his scrutinising gaze.

Eventually, I straightened up so sharply that Mr Cooper had to dart away from me rapidly so he didn't find my shoulder rammed right into his chest. Not that doing so had been my intention. Turning my head towards him, I held his eyes as I set my wrench aside and reached for my rag. I made the pretence of cleaning my hands when I was wringing it through my fingers all whilst imaging myself reaching for the lapels of his jacket to give him a much-needed shake.

"Mr Cooper," I started steadily, silently commending myself on the control I have over my tone, "you brought your car to me for a reason. You knew I could carry out the work needed so why do you insist on hanging over me and trying to tell me how to do my job when, with all due respect, you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Miss Green," Mr Cooper started, spluttering and stumbling over his words. He struggled to finish his sentence, looking for something to say that didn't offend me since I wasn't finished working on his car. I didn't interject, letting him sit in the uncomfortable moment and hoping it taught him a much-needed lesson.

Eventually, just to save myself time, I said pointedly, "Your car will be ready for collection by the end of the day. You can come back to collect it then because if you insist on sticking around for even one minute longer, I won't be doing any more work on it."

"Of all the rude-"

The rest of Mr Cooper's words were lost to my ears, drowned out by the sound of an approaching motorcycle. Turning my attention from the older man, my eyes sought out the source of the sound, easily settling on the bike that drove into my shop. The dark-haired rider was easy to identify, even before he came to a still. I didn't bother to say another word to Mr Cooper as I headed towards Sirius.

He shot a pointed glance at the older man I'd left behind before turning his eyes back onto mine. Grinning cheekily, Sirius said, "Well, you don't play nice, do you?"

"I don't play nice when I'm annoyed," I admitted before pointing out, "You're not wearing a helmet and you didn't wear one yesterday, either."

Sirius accepted the remark with a short chuckle. He reached a hand up to his hair, rustling the curls that had been displaced and messed by the wind. His attempt to straighten them out did nothing for the windswept strands. "The helmet messes with my hair."

"And the wind doesn't?" I shot a pointed glance at his hair. He didn't disagree but rather continued to watch me with a cheeky smile. Unable to fight a matching grin, I acknowledged, "It is good hair."

"Thanks."

Casting my eyes over the bike, I searched it for any visual signs of damage but there was none to be found. Whatever reason Sirius had found his way back to my shop, I didn't immediately think it had something to do with his bike.

"The bike looks good; so what's brought you back here then?"

"2 things," Sirius explained.

Straightening up on the bike, Sirius reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and drew out a small bundle of cash. He outstretched it towards me, gesturing for me to take it. Accepting the money, I flickered through and totalled it up silently. I shot Sirius a questioning look.

"This is more than I quoted you."

"What can I say? I'm a generous tipper."

"Well, thanks." Folding the notes together again, I tucked them into the front pocket of my overalls. When I found a moment, I'd secure the money away in the till. For now, I was busy with the man who was rapidly becoming a non-stranger. "You said 2 things, what's the other thing?"

"I wanted to see you again," he confessed easily as he leaned forward in his seat to prop his folded arms on the motorcycle handlebar. "It's not every day that a man comes across a woman who's walked straight out of his fantasies."

Scoffing and laughing slightly, I swatted away his words. "Sure."

His eyes were playful as he asked, "You don't believe me? Do you want me to prove it to you?"

Rolling my eyes, I reached for my rag and rolled it tight. I released it in a sharp motion, swatting it against the sleeve of his jacket. "Disappear you, I have work I need to be getting to."

He raised his arms in surrender. "Far be it from me to keep you from your work."

Waving my goodbye to Sirius, I turned my back to him and made my way towards Mr Cooper's car; its owner was thankfully nowhere to be found. Briefly, very briefly, once I'd heard the sound of Sirius's bike engine kick on again, I glanced over my shoulder to see him drive out of the shop. Of all the strangers that had so far made their way into our small town, he was easily the most charming.

**********

Sitting behind the front desk, I finished totalling up the money I had made today before securing it away in the safe. After the upcoming weekend, I'd have to hand my accounts over to my accountant for guidance on my taxes. Someone else could deal with the confusing numbers, I would focus all of my attention on the vehicles that made their way into my shop. But before that, the weekend was thankfully on the horizon and I could let myself relax in preparation for another week of manual labour.

After double checking the safe was locked, I checked the time. 18:00 on the dot.

Pushing away from the desk, I grabbed my keys from the way towards the open workshop doors. Closing the two large metal doors together, I fixed the security mechanisms in place and locked each of the padlocks. After checking them once more, I made my way into the back room to collect the bags that I'd abandoned at the start of the day.

Unzipping the top of my overalls, I pushed them down to around my waist and tied the arms together. My arms, confined throughout the working day, enjoyed the freedom granted by the t-shirt I wore underneath. Picking up my bags, I shrugged them over my shoulder and turned the light off on my way out.

Walking across the shop floor, I headed for the staff exit and walked out into the evening air. Shutting the door behind me, I locked it and turned to make my way towards my usual parking space. My progress was halted by the sight of the man standing beside my car, resting against his bike. Sirius stood with his arms crossed over his chest and smiled when our eyes met.

"If only you could see the look on your face." His teasing words carried themselves across the space between us, drawing me out of my surprise.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, adjusting the bag on my shoulder as I walked towards my car.

"Waiting for you," he said as if it was an obvious answer. And maybe it had been obvious.

Still, I asked him, "I thought you were passing through town, and yet here you are."

Sirius's eyes tracked my steps until I came to a stop beside him. It would have been easy to walk right past him and to my car, but for some reason, the prospect of being stood in front of Sirius and becoming even more familiar with his eyes seemed more appealing.

"Here I am," Sirius agreed softly, looking between my eyes, "waiting for a pretty girl to finish her work for the day."

With a playful smile, I made no attempt to hide the once-over I gave him. "You; you're trouble aren't you?"

He gave a non-committal hum, promising softly, "I don't have to be."

"No, I definitely think that you're a lot of trouble," I said unconvinced.

I watched as Sirius straightened up, and pushed away from his bike. He closed the small distance between us, coming to a still in front of me and forcing me to tilt my head back slightly to hold his waiting gaze. It would be so easy to reach out towards him, to brush my fingers against the surface of the silver chain I could see peeking out from under the sleeves of his leather jacket. I smothered the urge so completely, that it was as if it had never taken root in my brain.

"And does that put you off?" Sirius considered me with a tilted head.

"Never." My answer was so instantaneous that I couldn't stop it from slipping past my lips. But the moment it had, I didn't regret it. How could I when it had made Sirius's lips curl up into such an endearing smile that beckoned a companion on my face? Still, I felt the need to warn him, "I'm my own share of trouble."

"Now that should be a warning, but it sounds like you're daring me." Sirius, clearly making no attempts to resist any urges, reached a hand out to wind around the short hair that just reached the nape of my neck. "And I'm not one to refuse a dare."

I shook my head slightly, making his thumb stop the steady back-and-forth motion it had started against my skin. Winding my fingers into the dangling sleeves of my overalls, I forced myself to hold his eyes. "But what are you really doing here?"

"I thought I'd stay in town for a bit," Sirius eventually said, reluctantly drawing his hand back to his side. "It might just be what I need to clear my head for a bit."

"Well - there isn't much to do around town, but it's a nice place to take a break."

"Is that so? Well, do you fancy showing me around then?"

"Well, there are actual guides living in town and - "

"And you're the only person I know here," he parried easily. "So, what do you say Green?"

"Alright fine," I said as if it was majorly tasking. My words were softened easily by my smile. And my brain, tired as it was, overrode any control I had over my tongue. "Since you're looking to stick around for a bit, fancy coming back to mine?"

I cut myself off as abruptly as I had started to speak, realising how it had come out. And Sirius, grinning doggishly at me, wasn't the sort of person who would let it go so easily. I had only known him for a matter of days, and yet I was certain of it. Except, did I want to take it back? Even if my words could have been misconstrued, I did want to spend some more time with him this evening, and if that meant inviting him into my home as I started the process of unwinding after work, then so be it.

"Oh sweetheart," Sirius said, drawing out the words slowly. His hand found its way easily onto my exposed neck once more, the warmth of his skin on mine shielding me from the cool evening breeze, "I thought you'd never ask."

Coming to my senses, I edged around Sirius and clambered into my car. Through the rearview mirror I watched as Sirius climbed onto his bike and when I started the short drive to my home, he followed behind me. Every so often, I peeked through the mirror to check that I hadn't lost him and sure enough, he was right there behind me at every turn. Finally reaching home, I parked the car on the street. By the time I made it out of the car, Sirius had turned off his engine and made it to my side. I still couldn't believe that I had gotten myself into this position, but it was too late to change anything about it. Besides, stranger danger didn't apply when the stranger was handsome, right?

Dismissing the thought, I made it to my front door and unlocked it. Stepping aside, I gestured Sirius to head in first and he took the prompt, glancing around as he did so. Following behind him, I closed the door behind us and kicked off my shoes. My guest followed suit, shadowing my steps through my home.

"Feel free to make yourself at home," I said, turning to find Sirius studying a framed photo hanging on the wall of my front room. "If you want anything to drink, the kitchen is just through that door. I'm going to go and shower."

He turned his face towards the photo, looking at me with raised eyebrows. "You're teasing me now, aren't you?"

Rolling my eyes with a surprised laugh, I just pointed to the kitchen door. "Kitchen's through there."

Leaving Sirius to his own devices, and silently praying that he didn't get up to any mischief, I walked into my bedroom. Gathering a fresh change of clothes, I headed into the bathroom and made quick work of showering away the remnants of my day. Towelling my hair until it was dry, I changed into my comfortable clothes and stepped into my slippers. By the time I returned to the front room, I found Sirius settled on the sofa, looking at my television as if it was the most fascinating thing he'd seen. From what I gathered, the programme on television was hardly the most interesting thing going.

"Any chance you've eaten?" I asked, coming up behind the sofa and resting my hands on the back.

He turned his head towards me, even as he kept his eyes on the screen. "Not yet."

"Fancy having dinner with me?" I was quick to temper his expectations. "I'm not a good cook, but I can manage to do the basics."

"Well," Sirius said, at last turning his eyes onto mine, "it's lucky for you that I can't cook so I won't be judging you. Besides, I can eat anything."

"You might change your mind after trying my cooking," I warned but he didn't seem fussed.

Rather, Sirius followed me into the kitchen, abandoning the programme that had fascinated him moments ago. He made himself comfortable in my small kitchen, propping his arms on the counter as I sought out a packet of pasta. When I was victorious in my search, I reached for a pot and filled it with water. Absentmindedly, I noticed that Sirius was looking around the room with the inquisitive eyes of a man who had very rarely set foot into a kitchen. Maybe he hadn't been lying about his lack of culinary skills, after all.

I set the salted pot of water on the stove to boil and reached for a jar of shop-bought pasta sauce. When I put the sauce on the counter in preparation, Sirius snagged the jar and studied it closely. I fought a smile; he was strange, in an endearing way.

"You said you'll be staying in town for a bit; where are you staying?" I asked, turning my back to the stove as I waited for the water the boil.

Sirius, realising that I was now addressing him, put the jar down and turned his attention back to me. "I'm booked into the bed and breakfast for a week."

"You're here for the week then?"

"Now why do you sound disappointed with that?" Sirius asked, pushing away from the counter with a sly smile. He approached me with relaxed steps, easily closing the distance between us. Meaningfully, he added, "I could be convinced to stick around for longer."

"Something tells me you're not a long term kind of guy," I said pointedly.

"Do you want me to be a long term kind of guy?" he asked again, in the same relaxed manner. He really had no reason to be looking down at me with those warm, mischievous eyes. And he certainly had no reason to have reached an arm out to grasp the countertop behind me.

"Am I wrong?" I lifted my chin, searching his eyes.

"You're not wrong," Sirius conceded, ducking his head down a little. "But let's not rush with all of that, why don't we just start with tonight and see how it goes?"

"What makes you think we'll start anything and see where anything goes?" I asked with an incredulous laugh.

"Won't we be starting anything?" he asked lowly.

"And what makes you think I want you?" My words came out lacking the strenght I wished they had. Even to my ears they sounded a little breathless. Especially when his other arm secured itself around my waist and drew me all too easily against the sturdy length of his form.

"Don't you?" he asked knowingly.

Sirius peered down at me with searching eyes, meeting and holding my gaze. My hands, fidgeting slightly for purchase, made themselves comfortable on his gently rising and falling chest. Still, he dind't move and rather continued to wawtch me. He waited patiently. Before I could second guess myself, I leaned up and pressed my mouth against his.

**********

When morning broke on Saturday morning, I let myself sleep in for longer than I usually did. With the shop closed over the weekend, there was no need for me to wake up early and my body was always grateful for the extra rest. Still, I needed the help of an alarm to wake me or else I would spend the entire day wasting away in my bed and when that dreaded alarm rang, I turned face-first into my pillow. My groan was smothered into the pillow as I reached blindly for the offending sound and turned it off. Greeted by blissful silence, I gave myself to the count of 10 before forcing myself out of bed.

Finding my slippers, I rubbed the lingering sleep from my eyes as I made my way to the window. Wrenching the curtains open, I let the daylight fight away any chance of sleep finding me again. With a sigh, I grumbled under my breath about my resolution for the year about making my weekends more productive. First things first; I needed caffeine.

I made a quick detour to the bathroom to grab my toothbrush and started brushing my teeth on the way to the kitchen. Filling the kettle with one hand, I switched it on and opened the rest of the curtains to let some light in. There wasn't much to be seen at this time of year, but it would have to do. Tracing my steps back to the bathroom, I spat the toothpaste into the sink when the doorbell rang. Hurriedly washing my face, I reminded myself to be at least pleasant to whoever had the lack of sense to be ringing my doorbell at 8 am on a Saturday.

I opened the front door, only to be greeted by a smiling Sirius standing on my doorstep. His smile only got wider in the face of my surprise. Sirius Black - whose surname I had only discovered last night - stood so early outside of my home while I was dressed in my pyjamas of all things, whilst holding up a plastic carrier bag as if it was some sort of offering, My shock was so large that I only vaguely recognised the plastic bag as being from the only bakery in town.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, using the front door to shield my pyjama top from his eyes. It was a pointless effort; he'd seen the cartoon rabbit that decorated it anyway.

"We agreed to start from last night and see where things go," Sirius pointed out, gesturing to be let into my home. He squeezed in past me once I stepped aside. He shook the plastic bag for emphasis. "And this is me seeing where it goes."

"Honestly," I said around a scoff, giving up on saying anything remotely coherent without having had any caffeine.

Instead, I followed Sirius as he made his way into my kitchen, and set the bag down on the counter. Moving around him, I reached into the cabinet around the sink and drew out a pair of mugs.

"Tea or coffee?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder in time to see Sirius pulling out some pastries.

"Tea, please."

We settled into an amicable silence as I made our drinks and handed Sirius his mug of tea. Taking a long sip of my coffee, I wrapped my hands around the warm ceramic and rested against the counter. With the help of the caffeine in my system, I could now function.

"Is there any reason you turned up at my door so early in the morning?" I took another sip of my coffee and studied Sirius over the rim of my mug. "Maybe I judged you wrong, but I didn't take you for the morning type."

"It's not a wrong judgement, I'm usually not the morning type." He grinned cheekily, "You don't seem to be the morning type either."

I took a pointed sip of my coffee. "I'm not."

"Well, you promised to show me around today."

"I did?" I asked dubiously, watching as Sirius walked towards me with slow steps. "I don't remember that."

"Well I don't blame you," he started easily, drawing a strong arm around my waist as he came to a still in front of me. Peering down at me with teasing eyes, he moved me even closer with a hand splayed across the small of my back. "I did have my shirt off so I can see why you might have been distracted,"

I swatted him on the chest. "You really don't do things by halves, do you? I've only known you for a handful of days and you've already seen me in my pyjamas."

"We can make it even if you want," he offered, his tone was almost as dangerous as the look on his face when he tilted his chin down towards me. "Although, I should warn you that I only sleep in boxers."

Swatting him again on the shoulder, I warned, "Stop it you. Let me drink my coffee in peace,"

Reluctantly, he released me and held his arms up in surrender as he backed away from me. Turning my focus back to my waiting coffee, I accepted the croissant that Sirius held out towards me. At least he had the manners to turn up with baked goods to offset the ungodly time he'd turned up.

"So what did you want to do with the day then?" I asked.

Sirius's eyes locked onto mine, holding them effortlessly captive as he said, "Hey, I'm at your mercy here. Do whatever you want with me."

Heat rushed to my ears at his words, but I couldn't look away from Sirius. How could I when I knew, from the expression on his face alone, that he had intended to fluster me? And he had achieved his goal so effortlessly, that it was almost insulting. I refused to let him believe that he'd succeeded.

"So?" His tone was far too innocent as he cocked his head. "What are you going to do with me, then?"

**********

It took some effort to extract myself from Sirius's teasing long enough to get changed and to get ready for the day. And it looked like the day would involve me taking on a second job as a tour guide to show my acquaintance - was Sirius my acquaintance, except, that label didn't seem right - around the town which had always been my home.

Even then, once I had managed to get changed, it took more effort than I'd anticipated to force Sirius out of my home. He hadn't seemed like the sort of person who could spend so much time pouring over my childhood pictures, and yet he seemed to be absolutely fascinated by them. Not that I had known Sirius for very long at all to know what sort of person he seemed like. It was a fact that I had to keep reminding myself of, even as we walked through town with me pointing out various sights and places I had to remind myself that we'd known each other for less than a week. Even if it did strangely feel like I had known him for longer than that. Maybe that was just Sirius, someone who made other people comfortable.

As we walked through the streets towards our next location - lunch, if I had my way, I reached out to grab Sirius by the sleeve to steer him away from a pothole that only ever seemed to be growing. The local council really needed to get a move on with fixing it or else people who didn't know their way around our town, people like Sirius, would end up stumbling right into it. Once we passed the hole, I still kept my hold on the sleeve of Sirius's jacket, using it to move him around as I pleased. From the amused look, he sent my way, he didn't seem to mind being led around.

"Where are we off to next then?" he asked, matching my strides. "Not that I didn't find the town hall fascinating."

"The town hall is fascinating," I defended, throwing him a look. Sirius rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Hey! There isn't much to be showing you, and I'm trying my best here."

He drew his arm away from my grasp only to reach down and take my hand in his. I looked down at our intertwined hands in surprise. Before I could comment on it, he squeezed it and said, "Well, I can't hold it against you then."

Lifting my eyes to his waiting gaze, I read the silent question in them. Unable to answer it, I instead looked away from him and gestured across the road, "Come on, there might not be too many things to do around here, but Mrs Cooper's cafe has some of the best burgers going. I'm starving."

"If there's one thing I know, it's not to keep a lady hungry." He sounded far too amused.

Quickening my paces, I led Sirius across the road and towards the cafe. He didn't protest, and followed me easily, letting me guide him into the shop which was filled with some of its regular patrons. The patrons who, upon spying an unfamiliar face, looked up from their meals and considered Sirius with speculative eyes. Once they settled on me, they lost their interest and returned to their meals. It seemed like actual townsfolk were old news. Spying an empty table, I steered Sirius towards it. On the way, I snagged two menus from the counter.

Sirius took his seat across from me and accepted the menu I held out to him. I didn't bother opening mine; like all of the other regulars, I had my go-to order on the tip of my tongue. Instead, I drummed my fingers absentmindedly and waited for Sirius to decide what he wanted. Not that he even opened his menu. Instead, Sirius leaned back in his chair as he considered me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said with an easy shrug. "You've been here your whole life, huh?"

"Born and bred," I confirmed. "I never really saw a need to move away. I didn't want to either."

"I can get where you're coming from, it's cute here. Slow - soothing, almost." He reached a hand out towards mine, setting his palm on top of my hand and stopping my drumming. I offered him an apologetic smile.

"What about you then?" I straightened up in my seat but kept my hand right where it was, held easily under his. "Where did you grow up?"

Something complicated flickered across Sirius's features before I could even attempt to decipher it. He looked down at the menu then, studying the front page as he said in a voice that was just a tad too aloof, "I was 16 when I left my parent's home."

I certainly didn't need any other hint to leave well alone. I lowered my head in an attempt to catch his gaze, but he didn't lift his eyes. Softly, I assured him, "I won't probe."

"It's fine." Sirius glanced at me briefly, offering me a self-deprecating smile before returning his attention to the menu, "You'll just have to lure me on a few more dates before I trauma dump on you."

"More?" I asked pointedly.

He grinned then. "You heard me, more."

Before I could contest his words, although I wasn't sure if I wanted to, Mrs Cooper herself appeared at our table to take our order. She turned her warm eyes onto Sirius who returned the attention with so much charm that poor Mrs Cooper didn't stand a chance. And I was right; when facing the brunt of Sirius's endearing smile, Mrs Cooper smiled like a school girl with a crush.

"You've finally got yourself a man then," Mrs Cooper teased, turning her eyes onto me after exchanging pleasantries with Sirius.

"Well, no-"

Sirius cut me off before I could even complete my sentence. He threw me a wink. "I'm in the process of trying to convince her to keep me. I think I might need your help with that."

"Don't you worry, young man, we'll get her convinced in no time" Mrs Cooper assured Sirius, paying no attention to the look I threw her. He had no way of knowing that he'd just won over the most meddlesome mother hen in the entire town to his cause.

I was in trouble. But what else did I expect from a confessed troublemaker?

**********

11 YEARS LATER

With business at the garage picking up, we had been able to make some much-needed extensions to the building. But now, as I looked around the busy shop floor, I was certain that we were either going to have to expand further or bring on more staff. Except, adding more people to our staff team had the added complication of needing an employee who knew their way around managing the tricky intersection of mechanics and magic. Not that I knew much about that either.

Closing the bonnet of the car that I had been working on, I heard the bell ringing to announce that more customers had walked into the waiting area. Leaving the car behind, I walked to the sink in the corner of the room and washed my hands. Wiping them dry on my overalls, I headed to the waiting area to greet the customers. In the seats by the door, two of my regulars sat, waiting to collect their cars and watching the unfamiliar people in their strange clothing who stood in front of the desk. Wizards and witches, I'd quickly learned, didn't listen, especially when you told them to dress in a way that would draw little attention from us Muggle folk. But no, they continued to turn up in their bloody robes.

"Hi there," I greeted the waiting wizards. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The man on the left, standing taller than his companion, looked at me with a pinched expression. Perfect, he was one of those. You would've thought that a wizard who had an issue with someone like me wouldn't see fit to turn up at my shop, and yet here they were.

"I'm looking for Black," he said in a tight voice.

Drawing my hands together behind my back, I said pointedly, "There's one standing right in front of you. Again, is there anything I can help you with?"

His companion put a hand on his chest, stopping him from speaking again. At least this one had the nerve to smile apologetically at me before stating, "We were looking to talk to Sirius about booking in a car?"

"Let me go and hunt him down for you." Reaching under the desk, I drew out a leaflet - one we'd specially designed for the magical customers, to remind them that our shop was a strictly no-magic zone - and outstretched a copy to the customers. The first wizard made no attempt to take it but his friend complied. I gestured to the pair of empty chairs directly opposite the townsfolk. "Take a seat."

Returning to the workshop floor, I crossed the room towards the ordinary door on the back wall. Opening the door without bothering to announce myself, I walked into an almost identical second workshop floor, only this one was strictly for the repair of magical vehicles. I made sure to shut the door behind me. Searching the room for my husband, I looked over the pair of wizards who were tinkering on a couple of cars with their wands held aloft before I found Sirius. He sat in the corner office, seated at the desk in front of the perspex window that looked into the workshop. He'd claimed that he would be studying, wanting to qualify so he could get his hands dirty with some of the repair work, but he didn't seem to be studying. Rather, it looked like he was lost in another daydream.

Giving the working wizards a wide berth, I returned their greetings and let myself into the office. Shutting the door behind me, I tried not to laugh when Sirius didn't so much as flinch; he was clearly too tired to be present. Making my way towards him, I sat myself on the desk and poked him on the shoulder. Only then did he startle out of his thoughts, looking at me in surprise.

"I thought you said you were tired of doing the business part of our work and you wanted to do the practical stuff?" I asked with a laugh as he turned in his chair to face me. Wrapping his arms around my waist, Sirius laid his cheek on my legs. "You don't seem to be studying to me."

"I didn't realise there'd be so much reading involved," he complained with a huff. "My brain is frazzled."

"Poor baby."

"You don't sound very sympathetic." He lifted his head to look at me with narrowed eyes. "Remind me again why we work 5 days a week."

"You know, I'm not too sure anymore." My confession had Sirius sighing again. "I think I'm too old for this now. Maybe we need to be getting some more young blood in to work on the vehicles."

Pushing his chair away from the desk, Sirius rose to his feet and stood over me. Pressing his palms flat against the surface under me, Sirius easily framed my body. He dropped a quick kiss to my expectant lips.

Drawing back a short distance, Sirius spoke teasingly against my lips, "You? Old? Never. You're ageing like fine wine."

Laughing against his lips, I grasped Sirius's face in both hands and drew him towards me. He eagerly returned the kiss, pressing closer to me and attempting to deepen it, as if we weren't a short distance from our employees who could have easily caught sight of us. Pulling away from Sirius, I laughed softly as I pressed a hand to his lips when they tried to chase mine.

"We're working," I reminded him quietly with an affectionate smile. "How are you still the same after all these years?"

Sirius's voice was steady as he looked between my eyes, "Because I love you."

"I love you too."

Dropping yet another peck to his waiting lips, I pressed my hands against his shoulders and pushed him back slightly. Hopping off of the desk, I straightened out my overalls and made a vague gesture in the direction of the waiting area.

"You've got wizards waiting for you."

"Just my luck," he grumbled under his breath, "I'm trying to make moves on my wife and there are wizards waiting for me." 

____________________

So ... let me know what you thought. Hopefully you liked it ~

As for the next one shot, history has shown that I can't stick to a deadline, so I'm not going to make any promises. But here are the hints: 

*  Pureblooded

* Only child 

* Played as a chaser on his house Quidditch team