One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 13

Gwen was alarmingly good at avoiding the Marauders. They knew, she realized. She'd figured it out as soon as she saw Remus looking at her sympathetically in the library.

Lily felt horrible, nearly in tears when she'd confessed that she'd told them that she was scared of water. That her mother was dead. Gwen wasn't mad, just uncomfortable. She didn't like people knowing more about her than they had too.

Sirius had tried desperately to talk to her, to even find her. But she was always busy chatting with someone else, teachers and students. She even chatted with the ghosts just so Sirius wouldn't speak to her. And that was when he could even find her.

He tried once to sneak into the Ravenclaw common room, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out the riddle the bronze bird asked him to get in. He'd finally given up on finding her. And as soon as that happened, she found him.

Having decided to channel his anger into something else, he randomly plucked a girl out of the crowded hallway and pulled her into the first floor bathroom.

She was a Hufflepuff, and a rather noisy kisser.

Sirius drags his lips across the girls neck, smirking when she moans from above him. He kisses over the purple marks he's decorated her skin with, grabbing desperately at the girl's hips to try and burn the thoughts of Gwenyth Whitlock from his mind. She pulls him back up to her mouth and kisses him rather aggressively, moving quickly in a direction that Sirius didn't mind. He pulls her in closer, slanting his mouth on hers and groaning quietly when she starts tugging at his tie and unbuttoning his school shirt.

"Oops! Sorry!"

He knew that voice. He tears his mouth away from the Hufflepuff he has pressed up against the sink and looks over his shoulder just in time to see silvery blonde hair as she turns to walk back out of the bathroom. He pulls out his wand and points it at her feet, saying hurriedly,

"Immobulus!"

Gwen freezes in place, sighing and closing her eyes. How unfortunate. Sirius untangles himself from the brunette that's still trying to reach his lips.

"Sorry, Pammy. Something has come up."

The girls bristles, saying angrily, "It's Penny."

"Close enough. Congrats on your snog with the hottest lad in school. If you don't mind I have some business to attend to." He says cheekily, grinning as the girl scoffs and quickly grabs her things before fleeing the bathroom.

Sirius steps forward, circling around Gwen so he can see her face. He smiles, saying firmly, "Whitlock, you've been avoiding me."

She stares at him blankly, her lips pressed into a tight line. She was not speaking to him. No way. But she grows apprehensive at the grin that keeps growing on his face.

"I don't recall charming your mouth shut. Don't make me tickle it out of you, Ninnie."

Her eyes widen just enough for him to notice.

"Rictusempra," He says cheekily, watching as the Veela starts laughing hysterically in front of him. She buckles from the laughter, tears springing to her eyes as she giggles loudly. Sirius can't help it, he starts laughing too, a warm feeling spreading through his chest at the sight of her so unhibited.

"Fine!" She shrieks, holding her sides, "I'll talk!"

Sirius chuckles and reverses the spells he's cast, biting back a smile when she hiccups loudly and wipes tears from her face. Her cheeks are pink and her eyes are twinkling with mirth.

"That was rude you know," She points out. He quirks a brow, taken by surprise when he realizes she's talking about his snogging partner, not the tickling.

"You should at least remember their names," She teases, smiling up at him faintly. He shrugs, replying easily, "You shouldn't be in the boys bathroom. Sounds like we both have things to work on."

The pair grow quiet, realizing that this is the closest they'd been since she'd slapped him for dunking her in the lake. She braces herself, expecting questions about her mother. Instead he wonders,

"What are you doing in here?"

Gwen blinks, responding simply, "Looking for Peeves."

Sirius furrows his brow, prompting her to explain further, "I told him I'd bring him an acid pop and talk to him while he swam in the toilets. I forgot what day he said though, so I've been checking."

He stares at her silently. It makes her nervous, so she asks, "Is that odd?"

Sirius snorts, chuckling deep from within his chest, "Yes, Ninnie. It's a bit odd."

"Oh. Well, he isn't here today anyway," She shrugs, looking around the bathroom. Sirius watches her, hesitating before he finally murmurs,

"Gwen, I—"

"Don't. I don't want to talk about it."

He's stunned by the firmness of her tone, the hint of residual anger in her pale eyes. He sighs, pressing slightly when he says,

"Can I at least apologize?"

She frowns slightly, looking away from him once again. He finds himself wishing that he could hear what she's thinking, read her the way she can read people so easily. The Veela finally sighs and mutters,

"People can already tell a lot about me just by looking at me, being around me. So I don't really like to offer up more. It...happened a long time ago."

She doesn't know why she tells him, why she's compelled to let him know that she doesn't like to divulge more information about herself. She doesn't know why she's caving and even mentioning the incident that spurred her hatred of water. But when she looks at him finally, there's a deep understanding in his eyes that immediately makes her relax. Maybe they had more in common than she thought.

"I'm really sorry," He murmurs, his eyes locking onto her hand that tucks her silver hair behind her ear. She smiles and shrugs, holding out her other hand. Sirius glances down and his lips twitch at what he sees. He takes one of the green wrapped sweets from her hand, following her lead and popping it into his mouth.

She smiles around the sour lolli and begins backing away towards the door. Sirius grins and calls out,

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Leaving before another one of your fan girls comes along. You better fix your tie," She teases, making his cheeks pink slightly.

He can't help it. He likes her, likes the mystery of her. He laughs and winks, saying playfully,

"Why don't you come fix it for me, Whitlock?"

He can hear her laughter as the bathroom door closes behind her, relief flooding his being as he reluctantly admits that he does in fact like Acid pops.