One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 95

{{ask and you shall receive!}}

Sirius stares blankly at his breakfast, blinking every few seconds.

2 days. 2 whole days his girlfriend had avoided him. After she'd hightailed it out of the Great Hall before he could say a word, Sirius had locked himself in the boys dorm and tried to sort out his next move.

This was delicate. They were both strong, stubborn. But emotions were a hot button, a weakness. At least to him they were. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared, but he was also in love.

So, he spent a day and a half writing the same letter over and over and sending it to the same address. It was sappy and nerve wracking and entirely out of his comfort zone. Hopefully this would work. This had to work. This had to show her that if they were both scared, they could be scared together.

Gwen finally shows her face the morning three days after her confession. She clears her throat uncomfortably and takes her normal spot in Defense Against Dark Arts. She wished that they would be dueling today, that she could release some of the pent up anxiety running through her veins.

She smiles sheepishly at Remus and crinkles her nose at the weird look James is giving her. He shoots her a thumbs up and a cheeky grin before turning back to Lily and listening attentively to her lecture on curfews.

Dorcas and Marlene sit in front of her, both turning to smile encouragingly at her. And for a moment Gwen feels brave. But then Sirius slumps down into the chair next to her.

Awkwardness hangs between them, tense and uncomfortable. When she sees Sirius open his mouth out of the corner of her eye, she rushes out,

"I'm sorry."

She doesn't turn to face him. Her braveness has shriveled into cowardice and shame. She was still embarrassed, still doubtful. She swallows and continues in a whisper,

"Let's just...forget it."

Sirius doesn't say anything. Just sits for a moment. Gwen closes her eyes to take a few deep breaths. But even when she can't see him, she can feel him, smell him. Her heart hurts so badly she feels that she might just need to leave. Leave class, leave school. Maybe she should just die an old spinster maid in her beach house. Alone.

But then she hears movement. She opens her eyes and finds a brand new edition of Witch Weekly sitting on the desk in front of her. She hesitates, eyeing it like it's been cursed. But she looks up and sees his lips twitching slightly. Gwen smiles shyly and reaches out, slowly taking it into her hands and opening it.

And while Sirius doesn't rest his hand on her back or play with her hair, he smiles throughout the class. His eyes stay facing forward, only glancing at her every once in a while. She still has the tiny shy smile on her face that makes his heart wrench. If only she knew how nervous he was. Every time he glances down he sees what page she's on, counts down how many until she sees.

When the bell rings, he panics. She's still not finished with the gossip column. He wipes his palms on his pants and slowly stands, keeping his fingers crossed. He nearly weeps in relief when she stands too, but keeps her nose buried in the magazine, eyes soaking in the usual garbage she loves so much.

He guides the way for her like he always does, blocking students from mowing her down while she reads. Sirius smiles a little when he hears her hums of approval or scoffs of disbelief. It's only when the halls clear and it grows completely silent that he turns around.

Gwen blinks, brows furrowing as she reads the advice column. Her heart races and her jaw drops,

Dear WW,