101 Ways to ditch the Date | SIRIUS BLACK

No. 62

Even though staying put was incredibly appealing, Ora didn't want to leave Sirius alone with her questioning father so emerged from hiding, only to find Sirius alone, lying casually on the bed, waiting patiently

"Sirius, I thought you were being questioned?"

"I was but I answered them," He replied, "He seemed to think I'd given you drugs or something because I look 'the sort' which was both flattering and a little rude."

"I was in quite a state," She agreed, closing the door behind her, "I'm sorry about that, I just got spooked... even though it wasn't her. I didn't mean to creep everyone out, I can go and firmly tell him you're not a drug dealer if that helps."

"Nah, it's fine," He replied, "It kind of suits the whole bad boy reputation I've created. Don't want to show my soft side to your father."

Ora smiled, taking a seat next to him bending over and gathering her hair into a ponytail, one of her legs dangling over the side of the bed. He watched silently for a few moments, wondering whether to speak up before deciding just to go for it; shying away from things had never been his strong point.

"Why were you so scared of your Mum?"

The question caught her by surprise, Ora momentarily freezing mid hair-tie before thawing, securing her ponytail and lying back on the bed.

"I'm not scared."

"You seemed to be a bit."

She paused before shaking her head, "I'm not scared ... I just don't want her around ever again. She's not nice, Sirius, she hurts people badly for fun."

After a pause, Sirius decided to continue, "Tell me about her."

"I ... I don't want to," She sighed, "She messed me up, you'll run for the hills. My Dad has a map if you're interested actually, you could, quite literally, run for the hills."

"Ora, you think I'll run, the guys who's literally slept with more people than I can count on my fingers?"

With a shrug, she replied, "Please don't run if I tell you?"

"I won't," He replied, as she took his hand in hers, "I'm just curious, you were really shaken up today."

For a few moments, she lay there in silence before jumping up and heading for the drawers, rifling around before producing a photograph. Without saying anything, she handed it to him before returning to her spot on the bed, resting her hand on his chest.

The woman in the photography had to be Miria, even if she wasn't the topic of the conversation, she looked too much like Ora for it to be anyone else. There were some subtle differences though, Miria's face being slightly rounder, her blonde hair fluffed up into a messy beehive and a strange smile which seemed to hide bizarre malice behind it.

"I thought it would help you visualise it better if you had a photo of her," Ora replied, "She's very pretty which explains why people like her so much despite the terrible things she did. Mu - Miria was always complicated, my Grandparents travelled a lot when she was little, I think it, well... gave her a taste for it, she never wanted to stay put. Then, Ora got sick so they stayed put after that in Bath and Mum hated it. She liked travelling, meeting strange men on the road who took a fancy to her, she loved the attention ... in some ways, I do too."

"Anyway, my Dad was doing Architecture at Bath Uni and they met in some skeazy bar. Grandpa never really liked him, he thought Mum was this responsible little angel and believed it was Dad who'd corrupted her, not the other way around. Anyway, they began to do crazy things, very selfish really, Grandpa always had to bail them out. I don't know the full extent of it, Dad won't tell me but there was a lot of sex, drugs and rock and roll involved. For a little bit, Dad was willing to travel with her although I think she cheated a lot even when they were on adventures and used to alter his memories so he forgot."