Chapter 28 - A 'Convincing' Deal II

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A few days passed since then, and Sirius got busy writing down names and gathering information related to all the Death Eaters—their names, their families, and their locations. The next round of hunting was about to begin, and he felt this was going to be his magnum opus.

"Kreacher!" Sirius roared as soon as he returned home after his last round of spying.

With a snap, the old house elf appeared beside the recliner chair Sirius was resting on. "Master Sirius."

Sirius nonchalantly ordered him, "Prepare all of Regulus' favorite dishes when I return with him. He's going to graduate from the school tomorrow."

Kreacher's face lit up with an opportunity to serve. "Master Sirius commands, Kreacher obeys. Everything will be prepared perfectly. Kreacher serves, Kreacher pleases."

Sirius just nodded and closed his eyes, falling asleep in the recliner chair itself. With his beard slowly growing and becoming visible, and his hair somewhat unkempt, it wasn't hard to see he was tired.

Soon, the words of the oracle once again started to haunt him in the form of nightmares. He had gotten used to them as it was a regular thing. But still, they never failed to turn his body sweaty and his face paler.

Eventually, he saw himself die in the dream, and that woke him up with a jolt. He looked left and right at the empty hall of his big house. Kreacher wasn't too far from him, cleaning the chimney.

"How long was I asleep?"

"A whole night and a day, Master Sirius," Kreacher replied.

"Ugh." Sirius got up while rubbing his belly. "No wonder I feel hungry. Well, Regulus should be done with his boat ride by now. I'll take him to Hogsmeade for a few drinks."

"When should Kreacher make the food for Master Regulus?" Kreacher asked.

"Morning," Sirius replied and lazily dragged himself to the bathroom. He freshened up, changed his clothes, and then apparated away right to Hogsmeade railway station.

As he had expected, the platform was filled with graduates entering the train and bidding their last goodbye to the school. The steaming engine was already whistling in preparation to start the journey.

It was night already, but nowhere close to bedtime. So, Sirius walked into the train and looked for Regulus, quickly finding him sitting with a few other Slytherins. The boy had grown plenty by now, reaching Sirius' height already.

"Grab your bag. We're celebrating," Sirius said, leaving the train and waiting outside. He saw Hagrid not too far away, but for some reason, the big man walked away the moment their eyes met.

What's gotten to him now?

"Where are we going?" Regulus stepped out just then, a boxy bag in his hand.

"Hogsmeade," Sirius muttered and started walking away. Unlike Regulus, who was still in his school uniform, Sirius was casually dressed in jeans, a black jacket, and a shirt.

Following behind, Regulus looked at his elder brother, feeling a hint of concern from his current condition. "When did you last shave?"

"Probably a week ago," Sirius replied, strolling.

"You don't look well."

"Hunting down bloodthirsty Death Eaters is not easy. Who knew?" Sirius jokingly replied. "I'm fine and kicking ass, Regulus."

Regulus chuckled and soon followed him into the Three Broomsticks Inn. The place had no customers at that time of the day. The fear of Voldemort, it being dinner time, and Hogwarts staff being busy meant the fine establishment was all for the two brothers to enjoy.

"Ah, there's my favorite barmaid," Sirius cheekily barked as he sat on a high stool at the inn's bar. On the other side was the beautiful woman, the one he had flirted with so many times in the past, and made her laugh with James until she was out of breath back in the day.

The woman chuckled and set a shot of Firewhiskey for Sirius right away. "And here's the only two decent Blacks."

Sirius passed his shot of Firewhiskey to his brother instead. "Make it two today, Madam Rosmerta. He's no more a student—time to drink like a man."

The woman, a few years older than Sirius, chuckled and put up two more glasses instead, adding one for herself since the inn was empty. She was an attractive woman with wavy blonde hair and green eyes. A curvy body if one were to look in the right spots. She was tall and relatively easy to talk to, something Sirius and James had always liked about her.

But this was the first time he was seeing her since graduating from Hogwarts.

"Any new gossip?" Sirius asked, knowing Rosmerta's specialty.

The woman chuckled and kept on filling their shot glasses each time they drank. "People are terrified to come here these days, so not much chatter to be heard. The good ones are scared of the bad ones, and the bad ones are scared of you."

"Cheers to that." Sirius raised his glass and clinked it with hers before downing it. "Sadly, it's a double-edged sword. They're hiding so well now that hunting them has become hard."

"You're probably the only man who'd say something like that so casually," Rosmerta said, leaning forward on the bar counter. Her elbows were folded, and her palms supported her face as her gaze remained fixated on him. But she never stopped pouring him drinks.

Sirius grabbed the same bottle and poured her shots too. As for Regulus, it was his first time drinking Firewhiskey, so he was already getting tipsy.

Thud!

"And he's out," Sirius declared as Regulus slammed his face on the bar counter and started snoring in no time. "Lucky… I'll need many more shots for that kind of peace."

Rosmerta chuckled and stepped back, straightening her back. She turned around to take a few more bottles from the cabinet, her hips swaying as she moved around.

Sirius, sipping on the Firewhiskey now, silently stared at her curvy back. No wonder the Inn's popular.

"I've come up with a new drink." Rosmerta returned to the bar counter, moving her delicate hands quickly to make something new. Sirius had to lean over to look as the bar counter on his side was higher than the one on her side.

She looked up with a feminine, mischievous smirk and called him over. "Come to this side. Perhaps the famed Sirius Black can learn a thing or two about concocting drinks."

Sirius smiled and stood up. He took off his black leather jacket and walked around the bar counter to enter her side. "Who said I don't know a thing or two already?"

"Competing, are we?" she playfully asked and pushed a set of glasses toward him. "Then let's see who makes the best one. The more alcoholic, the better; the one with the least bitterness wins."

"Challenge taken, Madam Ros—"

"Just Rosmerta is fine," she interrupted him.

Sirius nodded and folded the sleeves of his white shirt, his tattoo-clad arms on full display. Then he began picking things from the cabinet as he liked, a few fruits, and then many more hard-hitting alcoholic brands.

Despite focusing on making the drinks, they continued to drink other things lying on the bar top. Pulling each other's leg here and there, or cursing any random Dark Wizard, or even the Ministry. They talked until well into the evening and finally finished concocting their drinks with the last sprinkle of magic with their wands.

Rosmerta showcased hers first. A tall glass with a wide mouth. Inside, it was a strikingly bright blue liquid, combined with cubes of ice, and steam coming off of it at the same time. "Behold, the Blue Lava."

Sirius stood impressed, wondering how it'd taste. But then he revealed his drink. It came in a simple, cylindrical glass. The contents inside appeared to be boiling with carbonated bubbles, its color deep red like blood. A straw was added to it, along with a garnish of an orange. "And I call this 'Fuck Me Up'."

Rosmerta's brows shot up at that name, wondering if it was really the name, or if Sirius was just flirting. "A name that raises expectations."

"A name that fits, I'd say," Sirius said and gently pushed the glass towards her, stepping closer to her side and taking the drink she had made. "Time to test."

She nodded and picked up Sirius' drink. She gave it a gentle sniff first, which made her eyes go wild with a jolt. But then she looked at Sirius and saw him already down with half the glass of her drink.

"Good, but could be better," Sirius assessed, putting the glass down and not drinking it whole. "But I liked how you tried to get rid of the bitterness with that sweet ice-trapped mist."

Not liking her drink being called just 'good', Rosmerta sipped the bloody red drink too. As soon as her lips touched the liquid, her eyes shot open wider than ever before. The insides of her mouth seemingly twitched from the strange, fizzy sensation.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed all of a sudden and took a bigger sip, filling up her mouth. "It's like… it has no alcohol. Where's the bitterness? But it packs a punch, sizzling hot right down your throat.."

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