of to do lists, stress, and dinner dates

[Claire Pierce]

words: six hundred fifty three tag: padfoot/sirius
notes: hopefully this is decent!

[/color][/font][/b][/center]

Claire Pierce’s Official To Do List, 9th of February:
- Finish updating the Auror files.
- Send a note to Magical Law Enforcement about the meeting this morning. check, spoke to them.
- Deal with the trainees: assign partners for their new assignment and explain their work check.
- Fill in all the various paperwork. now halfway done.
- Send a letter to Mungo’s with the question about basic healing training for the aurors. check. see below.
- Set up the meeting with Mungo’s

Claire Pierce’s Unofficial To Do List, 9th of February:
- Avoid screaming at the entire office. check (mostly).
- Not strangle Sirius for throwing paper across the desks at me. didn't strangle, but did threaten several times. success or not?
- Remind him that he is not a child anymore. check. multiple checks.
- Remember that Sirius wanted to make and have dinner together tonight. check.
- Remember to actually go home on time for that. check. managed it.

Claire Pierce’s Unofficial But Most Important To Do List, 9th of February:
- Finish the plans for Wednesday night’s meeting
- Talk over the plans with Sirius
- Avoid going crazy about Wednesday’s meeting. no check yet.



Everybody that knew her knew she liked organization. She had to organize her thoughts into neat little notes and plans into tidy clear details. The house wasn’t spotless, but it was clean enough that Claire didn’t go crazy. Sirius humored her by not spreading his tendency for messes into this house after moving in. Her desk at work was perfectly organized, as much as chaotic piles of things could be. And today, she was making lists. Literal, real lists – a bright sticky note stuck in plain sight – and mental reminders as she avoided letting them overwhelm her.

She was pleased with her success at a few of the things. By the end of the day, she had sent the letter to Mungo’s, finished more than half of the paperwork, spoken to the Magical Law Enforcement department like she had intended, and assigned work to the trainees. And, of course, she updated various things in the files. Claire Pierce liked files and reminders and records, after all, even though Sirius teased her as she worked feverishly.

It was a plus that the tedium of files, paperwork, and basic dealing with trainees and officials distracted her from the other more important causes of stress.

The two of them even managed to get home at six that night, something Claire was proud of after countless recent hours staying at the office late. Sirius had decided they should have a nice dinner that night; they couldn't really go out, but Sirius could cook and they could have their own date at home, as he explained it. She had rolled her eyes but had smiled and agreed. As Claire went up to change, slipping out of her work clothes and into a loose sweater and more comfortable pants, Sirius went into the kitchen to begin cooking. When she returned downstairs, her now bare feet hitting the cold floor, she glanced at the pile of papers on her desk, her mind sliding back to the anxiety of Order business. She was torn between wanting to work on it obsessively and never look at it again.

Pulling herself away from walking to her desk, she stepped into the kitchen and leaned against the counter as she observed Sirius in silence. His sleeves were pushed up, his shirt already coming a bit more untucked. She caught a glimpse of his profile and smiled absently. He was bent over a bowl on the counter, full of something she couldn’t see from here, as he made god knows what. It smelled heavenly already however, but she couldn’t resist teasing him from across the kitchen:

“Hey, Potter, I was promised a fantastic dinner for a date night,” she said, keeping her voice light, “so that better be amazing. I do have standards, you know.”

[/size]

[James Sirius Potter]

Back at work for a couple weeks at this point, things had finally started returning to normal for him and Claire. But in light of recent events both he and Claire had decided it was better to keep to the house more when not working. At least for the time being. They had been talking on and off about how they were going to go about starting up the Order of the Pheonix again and both their desks at home were piled with papers and drawings and whatever else might pertain to that or work. All day Sirius had been watching Claire meticulously make lists on sticky notes that she would periodically look at and check things off on.

At one point, he had been leaning back in his office chair with his legs up on his desk as he wrote on a piece of paper, then folded it up into an airplane and tossed it over to Claire's desk. Inside the paper said You, me, dinner. Tonight.. To this they ended up discussing that they had been working non stop and even if they end up talking about work, they were going to have a date tonight, and he was cooking, but it went something like, "Claire, we need dates. We don't have them. We're a couple now. It's practically, required."

After happily succeeding in getting Claire to agree to this, he spent the rest of the time there by filling out papers, reading reports and signing papers he had been neglecting. All the while he was thinking up what he would be making for dinner that night. Half an hour before they had planned to leave, Sirius decided he was done and the rest of his work could wait until the morning at which point, he started pacing around impatiently, pestering Claire until they left.

When they got home, Sirius skipped the usual go collapse on the couch, and relax and went straight to the kitchen while Claire went to change. He pushed the sleeves up on his shirt, ran a hand in his already messy hair and fixed himself a drink as he got started. He had a whole meal going by the time she came back to the kitchen. He was stirring a bowl of mashed potatos while everything else continued to cook. “Hey, Potter, I was promised a fantastic dinner for a date night,” Claire said, keeping her voice light, “so that better be amazing. I have do standards, you know.”

To this Sirius simply smiled and set down the bowl and spoon, sipped his drink and leaned on the counter, reaching out to put a hand on her waist. "Well, so far, I don't think you will be disappointed love. I almost had to go find a snack in the fridge because it's hard to wait when it smells so good." He lightly kissed her cheek, then turned back to the food and started throwing spices in everything, stirring things, and tasting things with a relaxed smile on his face. Even after the long day at work, his leg did not seem to be bothering him even if it was more him ignoring it because he was too focused on what he was doing, after all that was the reason he had started to cook in the first place.

"Sit down and relax Claire, I know that's hard for you but this wont be done for what will feel like forever." he said to her, though the last part was mostly the way his stomach was feeling about it. He did love cooking, but he loved eating even more and at this point, lunch seemed like it was yesterday to him. "And if you can't relax, then bounce thoughts off of me and I'll give you whatever ridiculous answer I can come up with." he said with a grin. After all, the point of this, was just to help Claire relax a little too. She needed it, she had been too stressed out ever since everything happened and even though it had been a while, and things were getting back to normal, she had still seemed more stressed out than before and Sirius hated to see that. So whatever was going to help, distracting her or making more lists, he was willing to help with that.


word count, 734
tags, Claire!
notes, kinda a crappy, rambly post. sorry. =/

[Claire Pierce]

words: seven hundred thirty tag: padfoot/sirius
notes: hopefully this is decent!

[/color][/font][/b][/center]

She had pleased to head into work with Sirius at her side a few weeks ago when he had finally been cleared for work again. He wasn’t supposed to go out on field work, which left him in the office, supposedly doing work. Of course, today he had spent time throwing notes at her, asking for a date that night. Being annoying, Claire had only responded to them with eye rolls and quick spoken comments and he had chosen to continue talking about the date in notes. The members of the office still didn’t know about them yet, making this strange conversation probably confusing to the aurors and more entertaining to Sirius, she was sure.

But she had agreed after all, then quickly finally snapped, “Sirius, stop throwing paper at me, or I’ll take back my agreement.” She imagined he had smirked at that but she had already bent over her work again, ignoring the idiot sitting across from her. That was the idiot she was best friends with. That was the idiot she was dating. Sometimes she didn’t understand it either, but it was the only thing she had given up trying to understand.

Added to Claire Pierce’s List of Reminders:
Remember that you do indeed love this idiot.
You really should resist the urge to punch him when he’s annoying.

Claire didn’t have to remind herself of that for once as she leaned against the counter, watching him without speaking. She knew he was aware that she was there now but didn’t say anything yet, looking at him intently preparing dinner. There was something cooking nearby as he stirred the contents of the bowl in front of him. Somehow, she noticed as her eyes traveled over his familiar face, the face she knew better than her own, he looked much more relaxed and calm. He had a drink out on the counter, which she worked to ignore. He was drinking it slowly, instead focusing on his cooking. For someone who was always so impatient for food, he managed to focus so well on the cooking when he was the one doing it.

He looked away from the food after a moment, messing with his hair and then reaching out to put a hand on her waist. She smiled reflexively, laughing a little at what he said next. "Well, so far, I don't think you will be disappointed love. I almost had to go find a snack in the fridge because it's hard to wait when it smells so good. Claire smirked, commenting, “You know how I feel about being disappointed, Potter, so that should be perfection.” He kissed her cheek before returning to cooking and she couldn’t help but smile at that simple action. It had been several months and she still smiled about some of the little things as if she was surprised.

After a long moment of Sirius stirring and tasting and adjusting the recipe while Claire continued to watch him in a way she hoped wasn’t creepy, he said, "Sit down and relax Claire, I know that's hard for you but this wont be done for what will feel like forever. And if you can't relax, then bounce thoughts off of me and I'll give you whatever ridiculous answer I can come up with." Claire rolled her eyes now, first saying, ”You’re the impatient one, especially when it comes to food.” She sighed, pulling herself away from the counter and starting to pace. “It’s the usual stuff. I’m just thinking about the Order and work,” she said, and paced around the kitchen for a minute before going back to the counter.

“Nah, I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it, really. I’m sick of thinking about it,” Claire said, then she smiled up at him angelically from where she leaned against the counter. “Anyways, this is supposed to be a date night for us, right? We’re supposed to be doing couple things, or something, according to you.” She stood up straight, cocking her head at him for a moment. And then she smirked, kissed him just a beat longer than a quick peck, and walked out of the kitchen as she said over her shoulder, “Better get that dinner right, or maybe I won’t be up for more of these ‘couple things’ that you're so insistent about.”

[/size]

[James Sirius Potter]

The charming smile Sirius had always been known for was on his face as he had his hand on Claire's waist, relaxed and half jokingly telling her how hungry he was. She reminded him in a mock threat that she did not enjoy disappointment, so this meal better be every thing she expected. To some, a conversation of this sort would not seem the usual for a couple, but for Sirius and Claire it was quite normal. Just because they were in a relationship now did not mean that they stopped being themselves at all. All Sirius did was laugh and say, "I can handle this, thank you."

Then he turned back to his cooking for a bit. As he checked on things he could feel Claire's eyes on him, and could see her out of his peripheral vision. He couldn't help but keep a relaxed smile on his face as he continued his work. Then he tried something he knew better than to try in the first place and asked Claire to relax it was going to be a while. ”You’re the impatient one, especially when it comes to food.” He sighed playfully and said, "I'm really trying to stay out of the fridge, love." Which was very true, it was hard for him to not eat while he was cooking. The good news for him was that he had always been a bottomless pit for a stomach, as well as the fact that he was still in pretty damn good shape considering all the harm he had put his body through since he was a little kid.

Then he noticed as Claire moved away and started to pace the kitchen as she spoke. She explained that it was only the usual things that were stressing her out, the Order, work, just life these days in general more or less it seemed. In the end she decided she just didn't want to think about it for once tonight, that she was finally just sick of thinking about all of it. To hearing this, Sirius did not even consider trying to disagree with her, happy for them both to get a real night off for once. Then she grinned at him in only the way Claire could, and said, “Anyways, this is supposed to be a date night for us, right? We’re supposed to be doing couple things, or something, according to you.” Then she gave him a look for a second, kissed him and then walked away playfully, calling over her soulder, “Better get that dinner right, or maybe I won’t be up for more of these ‘couple things’ that you're so insistent about.”

Sirius smirked, turned down the heat on everything and then turned away from the stove, picking up his drink as he did so and then sipped it. Then the smirk returned to his features and he followed her into the next room, limping only slightly. "So that's how it works is it? Everything rides on dinner?" he grinned and got closer until he reached out and pulled her closer to him, one hand on her lower back, the other on her shoulder. "And if you were to for some reason not love this amazing smelling and taking way too long to prepare meal, these things wouldn't even be considered? I find that unfair." He couldn't help but think to himself how nice it was to finally be at this point with Claire. And remembered again just how far things had come in the past years, and had that fiery feeling that he would do anything to make sure things stay this way, but then he looked at Claire again, and put all that on the back burner. Tonight was a night for them to relax, and do couple things. He could worry about all that another night.




words, 659
tags, Claire!
notes, not the best, but its a post! (:

[/size]

[Claire Pierce]

words: seven hundred forty seven tag: padfoot/sirius
notes: okay i hope this isn't too bad!

[/color][/font][/b][/center]

“I can handle this, thank you,” he told her, laughing, but Claire smirked and raised an eyebrow as an unspoken question. “Oh, really?” she asked, and then said airily, “Getting sure of yourself again, aren’t you, Potter?” Their banter honestly never got old, or strange, or pointless. Claire supposed that when you had been best friends for your entire lives (and basically in love with each other for years), your banter couldn’t get old. And so they continued to have conversations that consisted of Claire seeming mean or annoying and Sirius appearing to be obnoxious or cocky, despite the fact that they were now dating at last. Claire continued to call him ‘Potter’ – or even ‘James,’ when she was feeling particularly obnoxious – and teased him relentlessly.

For them, that was love, she supposed.

Claire easily noticed the relaxed smile on his face as she observed his cooking; she couldn’t help it, but the corners of her mouth lifted up in a small smile at the sight. He was always telling her to relax, which she tended to scoff at, but she was pleased to note that he too was looking more relaxed. He didn’t seem to be in pain from his leg, which was always a good sign, and just generally seemed content in the kitchen. He broke the easy silence to playfully say, “I’m really trying to stay out of the fridge, love.” She rolled her eyes and commented, “There really wouldn’t be anything for you to eat from the fridge, you know, as we – and I mean mostly you – ate all of it.” She said it teasingly, as she often made fun of his habit of consuming all the food from the fridge and pantry.

“Remind me to go out and buy food, okay?” she asked as an afterthought, mentally adding “Go to the store as soon as possible so Sirius doesn’t go crazy” to the to do list in her head.

For a few minutes, she paced around the kitchen, before absently cleaning up after Sirius and charming the dishes from the morning and the current dinner preparations to be washed in the sink. She always liked to be kept busy, so when she was done with that, she pulled out a glass and poured herself water before finally returning to talk to Sirius, who hadn’t pushed her to talk about the Order, work, and everything else bugging her. They needed this night off, to not over think everything and get stressed out all over again. The thought alone made her grin a little wider.

When she glanced back at him, he had turned from the stove and was taking a sip of his drink; it was a mark of how good of a mood she was in right then that she didn’t even make a single comment – or even direct a pointed look at him – about what he was drinking. Then he smirked and followed her out of the kitchen. Glad to see that he was barely limping at the moment, she almost missed what he said. “So what’s how it works, is it? Everything rides on dinner?” he asked, before he pulled her closer. She rolled her eyes at this, muttering, “Oh, you’re not going to manipulate me into changing my mind by flirting and pulling me all close like this.”

Then he said, “And if you were to for some reason not love this amazing smelling and taking way too long to prepare meal, these things wouldn't even be considered? I find that unfair.” Claire smirked and replied, “Well, of course not. You have to get the first steps correct, obviously.” Then she kissed his cheek and pulled away with an evil grin, stepping away to charm the dishes into setting nicely on the table without her having to do it herself. She banished him back to the kitchen, thinking about how just about four months before, they wouldn’t be having these dinner dates, teasing each other across the kitchen in this way. Honestly, Claire had tended to obsess over her work to ignore the fact that Sirius living with her was causing some problems for her. They had dinner together, continued their friendship like normal, but she couldn’t help thinking about it.

But now Sirius was just feet away, making them dinner for a date (at home, but a date no less), and she couldn’t help but smile. Tonight wasn’t for them for stress and worry; they both needed this.

[/size]

[James Sirius Potter]

“Oh, really?” she asked, and then said airily, “Getting sure of yourself again, aren’t you, Potter?” To this he smirked a little. "I'm always confident, you know that." he said simply, which for the most part had always been true. There were very few times in his life where he hadn't been at least a little overly confident in whatever he was doing. Whether it be Quidditch, chatting up a girl, in later years in his career and just about everything else. Things like children, families, that sort of thing, where he could easily make the wrong move because there was more than one good way to do things, that was when he felt nervous. Also with Claire, because they had always been afraid to approach this very part of their friendship before. But the more time they spent together as a couple, the more natural and right it felt, leaving him feeling like his usual confident self.

“There really wouldn’t be anything for you to eat from the fridge, you know, as we – and I mean mostly you – ate all of it.” Sirius rolled his eyes at this comment. "I could find something if I tried, I guarentee it." that was a truth, if he was really hungry, he would eat just about anything that was edible. But for now he was keeping himself to making sure their meal came out perfect. “Remind me to go out and buy food, okay?” He chuckled, "Like I need to remind you of anything, you wont forget. You don't forget anything.

While he cooked and things were silent for a moment between them, he noticed Claire picking up after his cooking mess and getting the dishes to clean themselves. That was one thing about Claire, and the reason he knew better than to tell her to relax, she wasn't capable. Whether it was cleaning, pacing, reading, thinking, there was no way for her to just sit down and relax. At least not without a long, long day before it. He thought that may be one of the reasons that she never really was able to sleep well.

“Oh, you’re not going to manipulate me into changing my mind by flirting and pulling me all close like this.” Grinning, he kissed her before speaking again. “Well, of course not. You have to get the first steps correct, obviously.” Then she placed a kiss on his cheek and walked away to the kitchen, preparing the table for their dinner. Sirius returned to his place to put a few finishing touches on dinner, then used magic to get everything in bowls and on plates to place on the table for them, so that it looked brilliant.

He couldn't help but think to himself once again how nice this was. To be able to be open and honest about how they felt. To have actual dates. Over the years, Sirius had gone on lots of dates, whether with a random girl in school or his late wife. But so far, he thought perhaps, this stay at home date, was more enjoyable in a way. He always had dates in resturaunts and bars, but it seemed better here. More personal, not surrounded by people and other things and life. Just him and Claire. So far, it seemed they were both having a better time than they could have anywhere else, where there is always the paranoia that someone is just waiting to start trouble. This way, they could truely relax and enjoy their night.



words, 609
tags, Claire!
notes, not the best, but here it is!

[/size]

[Claire Pierce]

words: four hundred fifty three tag: padfoot/sirius
notes: ugh sorry this sucks!

[/color][/font][/b][/center]

Claire and Sirius were both a weird mix of confidence and nerves. Sirius tended to find more ease with social situations and work; he had always been easy going and didn’t stress too much about work. He knew he was good at these things. Claire, on the other hand, could be cocky like Sirius. Definitely. But dealing with people? Lots of stress? Not so much. And with Sirius, she was a strange combination of self-assurance and a complete lack of it. They spoke and joked and laughed, worked and fought and spent time together so easily that she was confident about it. But she had been terrified of losing him when she realized how she felt about him.

And so for a long, long time – years, really – the top of her reminders list was to ignore how she felt.

Yet now they were standing here, Sirius saying, “I’m always confident, you know that,” as she waited while he cooked. “Of course I know that. I’ve always made fun of you for it.” She grinned and said breezily, “Oh, I also have that long mental list of your idiocy. Your tendency to be overconfident definitely makes that list in so many places.” Oh, she would never stop being mean to him.

“Hmm, I wonder what the weirdest thing you’ve eaten while being so hungry and there was nothing normal to eat…” Claire trailed off, actually letting herself linger on that and consider it as he worked. “Like I need to remind you of anything, you wont forget. You don't forget anything.” She shrugged. “You never know… Everything’s pretty crazy right now. I might not remember the normal things,” she said, before saying sarcastically, “I already forget to sleep, you know.” She finished cleaning up the counters, eyeing the mess that Sirius had left behind on his desk past the table. Her desk was controlled chaos; Sirius’s was a disaster zone. Sometimes she wondered if he did it just to annoy her – his desk at work earned him comments every single day, and he smirked every single time.

He gave her a last kiss before she stepped away to set up the table, before he then sent everything to set itself up. It looked perfect, she decided as she studied the table with a small smile. It smelled wonderful, it appeared wonderful (Sirius was wonderful too, which she didn’t voice out loud, choosing to be obnoxious instead). “Well, I would say good effort,” she said, adopting a know it all tone. “You’re certainly getting there. I’ll have to try it, of course, and judge it. I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

Honestly, she was so much more annoying when she was surprisingly pleased like this.

[/size]