Genetics • Sirius Black

Chapter Fifty Two: Stubborn Idiot!

"I--" His jaw dropped, and he waved his hands to the smoking greenhouse. "You almost died."

Arms crossed, she watched him as he stood up. "I had it handled."

"Clearly!" Aggressively, he wiped off his pants.

"We always knew there was a risk." She countered defensively. "And that didn't stop you from buying me the aconite."

Throwing his arms in frustration, Sirius shouted. "Fat lot of good that's done me."

A cold burst of laughter escaped Freya's lips. "Oh, yes, please do tell me how stressful it was to pull the galleons out of your leather purse. Must have been hard on your delicate wrist." Red was pouring onto Sirius's face, and she tilted her chin up at him. "It's potions making. Things happen, you know that."

"It's different now."

"Pray tell." Her gaze pierced into him.

His mouth opened, but his mouth blanked. His gaze ran over her face, the black eyes, frizzy curls, and olive skin. "It's just different."

"Well put, Shakespeare."

Frustrated, Sirius's nostrils flared, and he pointed at her. "Cancel the project."

"I will not." She scoffed.

"Then I'm pulling funding."

"Why?" A sharp tone hit her word like he'd just announced he was planning to kill her whole family.

"Because I don't want you to bloody die, you stubborn idiot!" A silence fell between them, and Sirius's chest rose and fell harshly.

Lips firm together, she glared at him, then picked up a handful of leaves that covered the ground and tossed them at him in anger. "Don't call me a stubborn idiot."

"Don't throw leaves at me." The grey-eyed boy grabbed his own handful and threw it back at her.

A huff of air left her nose, and she grabbed more leaves.

***

Both Peter Pettigrew and James Potter came upon the duo after the second "stubborn idiot" but before the first "arrogant ass" was uttered. They watched both of them get progressively more covered with fallen leaves.

Map bunched in James's hand, he was having a hard time holding on to his initial anger as Sirius made an incredibly rude (but slightly spot-on) impression of Freya. Freya, on the other hand, James had only seen her this un-done when she had been rained on outside of his house and was sporting a mix of dirt and leaves in her hair.

"Should we do something?" Peter questioned.

James tilted his head. "Not yet."

"You don't get to work on the project by yourself," Sirius argued.

"It's my project. You weren't even supposed to be a part of it." Freya spat.

"I fund your stupid project, so it's half mine."

"I thought you donated it out of the goodness of your heart." Mocking his painfully Gryffindor statement, she stopped throwing leaves for a moment, and he flared his nostrils. "Guess you're an idiot and a liar."

"Beats being stupid, stubborn, and arrogant."

Before Freya could retort, James and Peter finally walked onto the scene. Peter piped up first. "Maybe we should calm down."

"She's being ridiculous," Sirius said instantly.

"He's being unreasonable." Freya shot back.

Hotly, Sirius turned to Freya. "Is it unreasonable to not want you to choke on toxic fumes?"