One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 44

Gwen sucks aimlessly on her acid pop, humming quietly as she moves down the hall.

She'd just finished divination and was exhausted from trying to see what the hell was in her tea leaves.
She was apparently good at it, though she found it rather tiring.

She was looking forward to a long nap in her dorm, her warm blue blankets practically calling her. She scoots past the students crowding the halls, bristling slightly when a hand clamps down on her wrist and yanks her into a far less crowded corridor.

"Hey!" She grumbles around her sweet, finally realizing who it is that has swept her into an alcove behind a statue.

Sirius glowers down at her, eyes narrowed. The only reason she knows he's not truly mad is the way his lips are twitching at the corners. She asks boredly,

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"You told Tessie to meet me in the first floor bathroom?"

Gwen can't help it. She grins at his incredulous tone, reaching up to pluck her acid pop from her mouth so she can speak normally,

"Her name is Tara. And yes, she said that she'd been trying to snog you for some time."

"You evil minx," Sirius mutters, finally smiling as he continues, "She scared the piss out of me. She practically tackled me."

"Did you enjoy?"

He wrinkles his nose, rolling his eyes as he grumbles, "No, I didn't enjoy you bloody Inferi. She's been following me all day. She thinks we're playing at some game."

He shudders at the thought, glaring when Gwen cracks up, leaning her head back against the stone behind them.

He takes the sweet from her hand and plops it into her mouth, promptly shutting her up. She scowls playfully, mumbling around the sour treat,

"You think it's bad for you? She's been up my arse asking me for weeks. She wouldn't leave me alone, so I told her I'd schedule her an appointment."

"Evil," Sirius insists. "Pure evil."

"Don't pretend you don't like it."

He grins, grasping the white stick from the lolli and pulling it away so he can kiss her. She's sweet and sour and it's the first chance he's really had to kiss her since their tryst in the quidditch tent a week ago. They'd been far more friendly since then, actually talking and getting into trouble in class. But they hadn't had many moments alone.

She lets out a quiet hum of approval and smiles against his lips, chuckling quietly when he bites her lower lip punishingly. He sighs and reluctantly pulls back, asking quietly,

"You busy?"

"Why?" She asks cheekily, grimacing when he takes her acid pop and puts it in his own mouth.

"That's disgusting," She says irritably, brow furrowed at her sweet that had been stolen.

Sirius rolls his eyes, replying, "How is that disgusting when I've literally had my tongue in your mouth."

"Well when you say it like that it makes kissing you sound disgusting too."

"You're impossible."

They stare at each other silently for a moment and then she grins, saying pointedly, "You never answered my question. Why do you want to know if I'm busy?"

"Because," He sighs around the sweet, smirking when he teases, "I want to do disgusting things with you."

"I believe you already have an appointment with someone for disgusting things."

Sirius barks out an exasperated laugh, torn between snogging her to oblivion and pulling out his hair over her wittiness.

She takes pity on him and finally answers, saying quietly, "I'm not busy. I was just going to take a nap."

His brow furrows and he brushes back some of her hair, tugging playfully before wondering gently, "Not sleep well?"

She shrugs, murmuring, "I slept ok. Just tired from classes. I had divination today."

He smiles slightly, tracing a line from her brow to her jaw with his pointer finger, asking, "And did your spooky intuition serve you well?"

"Of course. I'm practically a seer at this point," She gloats mockingly, reaching out to pinch his side when he snorts. He offers her the acid pop, rolling his eyes when she wrinkles her nose at it. Then she sighs and reluctantly takes it back, mumbling again, "Disgusting."

"You've snogged me. This is no more disgusting than that," He reminds her, smiling at her quiet laugh.

"Come on," He finally says, grabbing her bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Where are we going?" She asks passively, laughing louder when he pushes her out from behind the statue and swats her behind, grunting,

"You sound so unimpressed. We're going to nap."

She furrows her brow in confusion when he leads her in the opposite direction of Ravenclaw tower, realization suddenly hitting her. Her heart warms and her smile grows soft as she asks excitedly, "Are we going to my favorite chair?"

"Yes," He confirms, smiling at her liveliness. "I'm sure the portrait will be happy to see you."

"She loves me," Gwen says honestly. "I listen to her sing, even though I'd rather listen to Mrs. Norris yowl."

Gwen bumps shoulders with someone as they continue to walk, reaching out and saying a quick apology. The person clamps down on her wrist harshly, her eyes widening as she yelps,

"Ouch!"

She looks up, trying to tug her arm free and then freezing. She blinks, saying lamely,

"Hello, John."

Johnathan Wood scoffs, barely glancing at where Sirius is standing right behind her. Sirius scowls, his blood boiling as he grinds out,

"Let go of her, Wood."

"Piss off, Black. I'm just talking to her."

Gwen sighs, again trying to pull her arm free as she says, "Can we talk later? I'm a bit busy."

"Doing what?" He sneers angrily. "Fucking Black? I shouldn't even be surprised. I always knew you were a slag, even when I didn't know it's what you are practically made for. It's in your blood after all"

Sirius goes to push Gwen aside and get after the boy. But he's too late. He watches in awe as Gwen swings her fist, instantly recoiling when her hand smashes into his nose.

"Oh fucking hell!" She grumbles, shaking out her hand as Johnathan keels over, groaning loudly.

Sirius' eyes widen and he chokes out a laugh, quickly looking around to see a few students watching. He scoops her up and throws her over his shoulder saying hurriedly,

"Oi, we've gotta blast, Ninnie! I'm not trying to get a detention tonight!"

He laughs harder when she cries out over his shoulder as he runs, yelling angrily,

"Go fuck yourself, Wood! The only action you're ever getting from my slag blood is a fucking upper cut!"