One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 59

Mia nervously dusts off Sirius' shoulders, asking hurriedly,  "Are you sure you don't want me to apparate with you? Just in—"

"I'll be fine, Mum," Sirius replies, grinning and pulling her into a big bear hug. Mia tears up, her lip quivering as she hugs him back. Mum. She squeezes him tighter and scolds,

"For the love of Merlin, I'm not ready to be a grandmother so—"

Sirius quickly rears back and clamps his hands over his ears, scowling as James guffaws off to the side. Mia rolls her eyes and grabs his wrists to tug his hands away, saying reluctantly,

"Go on. And give Gwen our best."

Sirius flushes slightly, embarrassed by the excitement running through his veins. He says a quick goodbye and then he's gone with a loud 'pop,' leaving Mia and James to gossip about the teens about to reunite.

When Sirius lands, he's stunned by how different the beach looks. He expects it to be just grass and sand, the same earth tones he'd seen in the winter. It had only gotten more beautiful.

It takes him a moment to orient himself, peering at the cliffs and rolling dunes behind him before he turns around and finally sees the ocean. He'd landed relatively close to where he had last time, Gwen's cottage up to his left in the distance. He tears his eyes away from it and peers out across the sand.

There were small yellow and purple flowers on vines that wound around the base of the fresh green grasses. The sand was white, pristine. Seagulls circled over head in even greater numbers. It was warmer too, the sun already beating down and warming him from the inside out. The same. But better.

He quickly looks over at the garden, eyes tracing the small fence. He frowns, expecting her to be where he'd found her last time. But then his heart does a funny lurch in his chest, not because she's there. But because the bulbs that they had planted had bloomed into beautiful tulips. Yellow and pink and orange and white. He'd never seen such a variety of color in a flower.

Sirius contemplates going up to the house, but then something catches his eye. A spec of pearly blonde on the shore in the distance. His heart races. He sees her. Finally. Her back is to him, though he guesses she already knows he's there. He leaves his bag by the garden and kicks off his shoes before he starts walking down the driftwood path. As he approaches he notes the red folding chair she's sitting in, her feet buried under some sand. The waves are loud, crashing violently against the shore and then fading back to sea with a gentle 'woosh.'

Her blonde hair is piled up on her head in an unceremonious knot, her skin shining and tanned. When he peeps the tiny white top she's wearing he nearly falls to his knees. This girl would be his undoing.

He finally makes it to her, close enough that he can see her pink cheeks and the witch weekly magazine she insists on reading.

The Veela looks up when a shadow suddenly falls over her, drawing her attention away from the gossip column she's currently invested in. Her heart sings at the sight of familiar grey eyes.

Sirius.

Gwen grins, slowly pushing her sunglasses up to balance on her head. Sirius' heart is practically in his throat, choking out any potential words he wants to say. Her icy eyes peer up at him. She crosses her legs, tilting her head and saying simply,

"There you are."

Sirius laughs, reaching down to grab her magazine still delicately grasped between her fingers, tossing it aside. He pulls her up to him by her wrists, throwing his arms around her and pressing his forehead to hers. He's not sure what's louder, the ocean or his beating heart. She's warm from the sun, her eyes full of nothing but serenity as he stares down at her. She looks good, happy. Relief sings in his bones. He smirks and mumbles,

"I've been looking for you."

She laughs, the sound just as perfect as it was 6 weeks ago.

Then she's kissing him, her arms thrown aimlessly around his neck as she slides her lips across his so sweetly in makes him want to drag her down to the sand and stay there forever. He'd never admit it, but Gwen initiating anything was a gift he would always savor. She consistently had him second guessing himself, wondering if she too felt something weird in her heart when they were together.

Sirius groans when she starts to pull back, quickly cupping the nape of her neck and pulling her back in so he can nibble at her lips that he'd been dreaming about. He smirks when her hands grab onto the back of his shirt and her breathing hitches. He loved getting a reaction out of her.

When she pulls back and the wind whips her hair, he wonders how he hadn't done this last time. Kissed her on the beach. She smiles knowingly and asks,

"You didn't bring James with you?"

Sirius frowns slightly and shakes his head, nervousness pinching his gut until she grins and says with a sigh, "Good. He's rather chatty."

He laughs, the sound coming from deep within his chest and Gwen feels a dizzying sensation that starts in her toes and works its way up until she's leaning into him to steady herself. She'd missed him. More than she'd care to admit.

She swallows past the lump in her throat and asks playfully, "So that's it? No prank for me, Black? I was expecting a dungbomb or something."

He smirks and winks before mumbling, "Don't act so smug. I'll get you, Whitlock. If it's the last bloody thing I do."

He pushes back some of her stray hairs, savoring the feeling of them gently brushing his fingers. The sun reflects off the water, making her eyes glow. She was otherworldly, that much he was certain of. But nothing compared to her wit. That's what reeled him in the first place.

The need to push her, see how she can think both so hard and so simply at the same time. Even now, he can see her lips twitching as she formulates her reply. Something that is sure to knock him off his feet. She always does.

He grins when she whispers,

"I'm looking forward to it."