Somewhere Only We Know - Part 2 - Sirius Black x OC

Chapter 10: High

Sirius stood, then turned and helped Gemma to stand as well. She brushed out her clothing one more time. "What are you doing now? Are you celebrating your birthday with the guys tonight?"

Sirius nodded and walked over to the railing. Gemma joined him. "Yep. A few games, maybe some drinks. Fleamont sent me a bottle of fire whiskey for me to 'celebrate my eighteenth in style'." Sirius laughed. "I don't know how he can drink so much of the stuff; the shot I have to do as a dare is bad enough!"

"Fleamont?" Gemma didn't know the name.

"Oh. James's dad. He insists I call him that." Sirius shrugged as if suddenly embarrassed.

Gemma smiled. "You must be close." She realised how obvious a statement that was. "I mean, I know you live with them and everything, but it sounds like you're really one of the family."

"Yeah."

Gemma couldn't read Sirius at that moment. He had agreed, but she could see a hesitation in him. She wondered if he really felt like part of the family, or if he felt like an outsider. She hoped not; everyone needed a family, even if not the one you were born with.

He turned to her suddenly. "Oh, I never told you; an uncle of mine died a few months ago, and he left me a load of money. I got the letter today. Now I'm eighteen I'm legally entitled to it."

Gemma hadn't been expecting that. "Oh wow. I'm sorry to hear about your uncle, but that's lovely he left you an inheritance."

"I know. I didn't even know him. He was cast out of the family years ago, so his face has always just been a black smudge on the family tree, but in the letter it says he heard about me getting sorted into Gryffindor and then leaving home, so he wanted me to have all his money. And it's a lot of money."

Sirius grinned and Gemma couldn't help but smile back. She didn't fully understand the comment about his uncle being a black smudge, but she loved seeing Sirius so happy. She knew he wasn't a shallow person; he had just had so little from his family, it was good that at least one person was looking out for him, even if they had never met. "That's awesome."

He nodded his head. "When I leave here, I won't have to worry about a job for a while. I can travel the world, maybe even buy a motorbike. I'd love a motorbike. I might charm it to fly as well."

Gemma smiled as she listened to Sirius talk about his plans after school; he wanted to head straight to America and explore the country, before travelling through Europe and Asia. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said he wanted to see the world. Gemma was almost envious.

"I guess it all depends on the war though." Sirius turned so his back was against the railing. "Reading the articles about the latest attacks, it's not just Aurors that are having to fight."

Gemma sighed. "I know. But hopefully the Ministry will get it under control soon. It's not right that people are having to fight. Most haven't had any sort of real training, and they can't arrest the death eaters. All they can do is defend and protect."

"We need more Aurors." Sirius smiled at her. "We need you."

Gemma grinned. "I'm working on it. My application went in – the very first, apparently - and I'm confident I'll be accepted. And not just because of who my parents are."

Gemma heard the bitter note in her voice and she cringed. She hadn't meant to say that. Unfortunately Sirius picked up on it. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing."

"Gemma."

She sighed. She knew that tone. "Fine. Alice made a comment the other day about how I'm obviously going to be accepted because I'm an Arwin." Gemma shrugged, the slight sting resurfacing. "I don't think she meant anything by it, but it just brought up some old memories."