Interlude: After Maria leaves Lily's room in Chapter 15
Sirius jumped backwards and hid himself in a corner as he heard Maria move towards the door. "And I can take him too." There was a pause and the sound of footsteps. "Oh, and Evans? Tell my darling sister Claire I said hello."
Lily said something but Sirius didn't hear it.
Maria laughed coldly. "I don't talk to that filth," she said. She opened the door and slammed it shut behind her, leaning against it and shutting her eyes, a hand to her forehead, breathing deeply and swallowing hard.
"That was a very good thing you just did, Maria," Sirius said quietly.
Maria jumped and looked around before her eyes fastened on him. "I thought you were taking James to the Heads' rooms," she said accusingly, brushing past him and walking into the common room.
"I told Peter to take him."
Maria snorted. "You'll be lucky if they get half-way there. I suppose we'll have to follow them. Pettigrew couldn't keep up a Levitation Spell if his life depended on it. Not on James."
They left the common room and began the trek to the Heads' rooms. Maria didn't seem to care that she was only wearing a dressing gown.
"So why would you, Maria?"
Maria waved a hand at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."
It was Sirius's turn to snort. "Maria, I've known you for two years, and you didn't enchant James last night. He can resist you anyway."
Maria shrugged. "A matter of technicality. Besides, why would I tell Lily I'll try to take James from her if I'm trying to get them together?"
Sirius laughed. "We're very similar, you and I."
Maria raised an eyebrow and stopped walking. "Really? How similar are we?"
Sirius smiled wryly. "For one thing, we both have the same motto."
"And what's that?"
"Fuck and flee."
"Before and after Lily, you mean," Maria laughed; a real laugh that made Sirius shiver with delight from the sheer sound of it.
"Stop," he said sharply.
She glanced at him. "Stop what?"
"Sending out a vibe or whatever. Using your powers."
Maria's brow furrowed. "Interesting. I'm not using my powers."
Sirius didn't believe her. He shrugged. "Fine then. We both want to see Lily and James together. You're the one using reverse psychology. You wouldn't dream of telling Lily to back off for real. James would kill you."
Maria faltered and Sirius knew he had hit the nail on the proverbial head. "I know he would."
"You aren't…you aren't in love with him, are you?"
Maria was quiet for a moment. "I'm not in love with him. Although…he's the best man I've ever…had a relationship with."
Sirius couldn't help himself. "You called that a relationship?"
Maria's blue eyes snapped. "It was more than I've ever had before. I couldn't help myself back then, Sirius. Do you have any idea how powerful I am?"
"Not really."
"I have more Amoratical magic inside of me than the amount of every single trace in every single person in Great Britain combined. I could enchant Dumbledore if I wanted. And do you have any idea who the next most powerful Amoris is?"
Sirius shook his head.
"James. He has more than Patel has! But she didn't tell him and he won't use it unless he knows. It's like…it hasn't woken in him yet. It's latent. He thinks he has some traces. He has no idea…how powerful he could be. All he needs is to tap into it…"
Sirius filed this information away for future use.
"You know, you don't need to use your powers," he said quietly, looking her up and down. Maria turned to him and smirked.
"Oh, is that right?"
Sirius smirked and leaned closer to her. "Oh, it is right."
Before Sirius knew what was happening, Maria had dragged him into a room, which was fortunately empty, since most people were eating breakfast. But then he didn't have time to think, because her mouth was against his and her hands were wandering down his body. Her lips were slick with lip gloss and tasted like strawberries; her breath was fresh and clean.
Dazedly, he put his hands to her waist and began to untie her dressing gown. He slipped his hands under the heavy white cloth and ran his palms up her sides.
A shiver ran through her body and she moaned into his mouth. His hand moved higher and she gasped, her body going slack against his. He turned her around and pressed her to the wall.
She pulled away and he put his lips to the pale skin of her neck. She giggled softly and massaged his scalp gently with her hands, sending little darts of pleasure through his system.
"Mmm…what is it with Marauders and pinning me against walls? Are you all this good at sex?"
Sirius pulled away and studied her shadowed face. "You said James is, but that's because he's an Amoris. And I don't think Peter knows what shagging is."
Maria ran her palm down his arm. "And you?"
He fit his body even tighter against hers. "I'm just naturally gifted."
"And Remus?" she whispered hotly in his ear.
He sucked at her pulse point and she ran her hands through his hair again. "I think the werewolf in Remus makes him wild, but I wouldn't know, because contrary to popular belief, I don't play for that te…oh, fuck."
Maria was staring at him in abject shock. "What did you just say?"
"Oh, fuck. Maria, you didn't hear that."
"Remus is a-he's a-"
"He doesn't look it, does he?"
Maria shook her head. "It's too early for such startling information."
"You can't tell anyone, Maria."
"I won't. I won't. Now touch me, please."
He acquiesced, absently running his hands over her body, trying to determine whether she was sincere or not about Remus. She could see that his heart wasn't in it and she rubbed her hands against his pulse point. Unbelievable pleasure shot through him.
"Don't," he muttered.
"Don't what?" she asked back, her breath coming in short gasps and he tore off her dressing gown.
"Don't use your magic. Just let it be fucking natural, Maria."
She unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the ground. "And you just shag me, lover boy," she muttered, pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his.
Sirius complied.