One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 91

Gwen lazily doodles on her parchment, eyes nearly crossing from the droning tone of their Defense against Dark Arts teacher.

She missed their last one, the bloody curse that haunted the teachers meant they had a new one each year. A pity really. Sirius is too embroiled in his newspaper to really see what Gwen is doing, heart stopping.

Muggle family murdered

Men in dark robes, silver masks

Lord Voldemort

Half blood missing

Veela child missing

Sirius slams the paper shut, pushing it away like it will burn him. Too much. Too much. He takes a deep breath in, tries to focus on what the teacher is saying. But he feels ill, like he needs to be sick.

So he reaches out, snakes his arm behind Gwen's back and scoots closer, mumbling, "What are you doing?"

She quickly slides a hand over her doodles and shrugs, replying quietly, "Nothing. What are you doing, Snuffles?"

His lips twitch at the nickname coming from her mouth. If he wasn't in class he'd kiss her. He glances up to see the Professor turned to the chalkboard so he quick presses his lips to hers, over far too fast. It will tide him over though.

Gwen smiles wryly at the demonstration of affection, reluctantly moving her hand from her parchment. Sirius peers down at the ink drawings, his heart thumping faster. This girl.

"You're making star charts?" Sirius wonders softly, eyes tracing the pretty and familiar drawings. He grins when he sees Canis Major, Leo, Capricorn, Hydra.

She quirks a brow when Sirius plucks her quill from her fingers, drawing out another constellation for her map. Her heart warms as he scrawls below it 'Vela'

She hesitates before taking back her quill and writing at the top. Sirius wishes they weren't in class, because this intimacy felt different. Felt like a declaration. His heart pounds when she delicately writes Toujours Pur.

He swallows past the lump in his throat and whispers,

"Tu me rends dingue."
[You make me stupid]

Gwen bites back a laugh, leans into his side and replies nonchalantly,

"Tu me fais tourner la tête."
[you make my head spin.]

His eyes widen in surprise, his fingers snaking up to playfully and gently tug on the ends of her hair. She smiles slightly and turns back to her doodling, leaving him to recover from the weight of her words. Though these left him feeling far better than the ones in his newspaper. He hopes she sticks to her magazines and won't read the Prophet.

He leans forward to whisper, "What are you doing the rest of today?"

Gwen shrugs, smiling to herself and deciding to refuse to reply for now. It was too easy to rile him up. Sirius grunts and grumbles, "I'll find you, Whitlock."

"I doubt it," She quips. "You don't have your map back yet."

He tries to cover up his surprise. He shouldn't be surprised by anything she says. This girl and her bloody intuition. She glances at him knowingly, an idea suddenly popping into her head.

"Want me to get it back for you?" She wonders, hands still doodling constellations and labeling them on her parchment. Sirius grins slightly and teases, "And how exactly do you propose you will do that?"

Gwen smirks inwardly and shrugs, retorting boredly, "I suppose that's for me to know and you to figure out."

Sirius scoffs, going to say more just as the bell rings. Gwen stands and begins to gather her things, reaching for the parchment she was doodling on. Sirius grabs it before she can, quickly but carefully filing it away in his bag. Gwen quirks a brow and in turn grabs the newspaper he'd been reading. Sirius' heart drops, desperately wanting to keep her from seeing what was written amongst the pages. But her gentle smile told him everything he needed to know. He couldn't protect her. Not from this.

Gwen says gently, "Quit reading this stuff, Sirius."

He shakes his head, embarrassed by the emotion in his voice when he mumbles, "I have to, Ninnie. I have to know—"

"Okay," She interjects, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. "Then we'll read it together," She offers, smiling faintly.

Sirius blinks at her. Then he's tugging her out of the classroom, down the crowded corridor until they reach a nearly empty one. He pulls her behind a statue and crashes his mouth to hers. Maybe he was too scared to tell her that he loved her, but he could show her.

Gwen melts into his warmth, winds her fingers in his hair and tugs gently until he moans. She teases his lower lip with her tongue, parting her lips and giving herself to him. He needed this, she could tell. She could tell that he was emotional, maybe scared of the words smeared across the pages of the Daily Prophet.

And she needed this too, needed him to feel safe too. Sirius groans, winds his fingers in her soft hair and pulling hard enough to rip her lips from him, his mouth instantly sliding to her throat. She sighs beneath him, savors the feeling of his lips and teeth and tongue on her skin. Sirius pulls harder, bites more. The gentle noises coming from the back of her throat reassure him that she's here and that he's here with her.

"Um...Gwenyth? Gwenyth Whitlock?"

The Veela freezes, blinking her eyes open in confusion at the new voice. Sirius scowls and whips his head around the statue, glowering at a rather small boy in Hufflepuff robes. He's bright red, clearly embarrassed to be interrupting.

"Bugger off, kid," Sirius grunts irritably and hiding back behind the statue. Gwen laughs and pushes at his chest until she can poke her head around and ask gently, "What can I do for you?"

The Hufflepuff turns even more red at the sight of the Veela, his eyes growing wide. He stammers, "I-I Uh...I was supposed to— P-Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

Gwen frowns and the boy scurries away, leaving her to dwell on his words. She sighs when Sirius grabs her hips and pulls her back into their hiding place. He gently kisses her lips, slow and soft and familiar. Sirius sighs and pulls back, asking quietly, "When are you going to be able to tell me what it is you and Dumbledore are always talking about?"

Gwen frowns, but replies honestly, "I'm not sure." She pauses, considering for a brief moment before saying carefully, "With the way these attacks keep happening...soon."

Sirius' eyes widen slightly and the tiniest hint of what it was she and the wizard were up to. He immediately grows nervous. She was likely putting herself in danger, and he had no way to convince her to do otherwise. She'd already gotten hurt just by herself, her bandage still on her lower leg. Though at least that was by her own hands.

He sighs and mutters, "Go, he's waiting."

Gwen grins and stands on her toes, pressing a kiss to his cheek and murmuring, "I'll find you later, Snuffles."

Sirius chuckles as she begins backing out of their hiding place, teasing, "What if I hide?"

"I'll find you," She reassures, eyes twinkling with mischief. "I have my ways."

He nearly pulls her back to him, but then she's walking away, leaving the smell of jasmine in her wake. Sirius' heart clenches and he takes a moment to pray to whoever is listening that their Headmaster hasn't put his girlfriend in harms way.

Reluctantly he leaves the statue behind, wondering when Dumbledore had turned into such a cockblocker.