One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 6

Sirius narrows his eyes as he watches a certain someone with silver hair and blue eyes. He hadn't spoken to Gwen since Hogsmead nearly a week ago.

She's embroiled in another one of those foolish magazines, her eyes flicking up as the boy next to her speaks rather quickly.

Jonathan Wood. He was a seventh year and the captain of Ravenclaw's quidditch team. He talks animatedly to Gwen despite her obvious boredom. Dorcas sits on the veela's other side, looking rather embarrassed on her friends behalf.

"Gwen," Dorcas hisses, Jonathan to busy gabbing to notice. "Talk to the poor bloke."

"He seems to be doing just fine on his own," She mutters lowly. She wasn't sure what brought the older boy down to their side of the table, but he'd barely taken a breath in between his rapid fire speaking.

Dorcas whispers furiously, "He's trying to flirt with you!"

Gwen looks up from her magazine in surprise, confusion making her furrow her brows. She sighs and turns to Jonathan, folding up her magazine and saying kindly,

"Would you want to go to the library to study? I'd love to keep listening but I have some homework."

Both Dorcas and The quidditch captain seem stunned by her offer. He stares at her blankly before nodding quickly, smiling sheepishly and asking,

"I'm not talking too much, am I?"

Gwen smiles and gently lays a hand on his arm before saying, "Of course not. I love quidditch."

A grin takes over the Scottish wizards face and he nods, helping her collect her things. Gwen sends a bored shrug to Dorcas. The brunette witch bites down on her cheek to stifle her laughter, watching in awe as her friend leaves with one of the most sought after boys in the school.

She's not the only one watching. Dorcas jumps in surprise when James and Sirius plop down on either side of her, her hand flying to her chest as she squawks,

"Bloody hell!!"

"Hello, Dorcas," Sirius grins, making the girl blush. For as much as the lads liked to bother Gwen, she didn't speak much to them. The Marauders were a part of castle lore now, practically legends. Not that she would tell them and inflate their egos.

"It seems that a certain quidditch captain has taken an interest in our Veela," James says cheekily, winking at the Ravenclaw.

Dorcas stutters, feeling her cheeks grow red, "Y-your Veela?"

"Well," Sirius starts. "No one knows Ninnie better than us, so yes. Our Veela."

Dorcas can't help it when an unflattering snort escapes her lips.

"You don't know anything about Gwen," She laughs, feeling more comfortable as the Marauders smiles deflate.

"Yes we do," James defends quickly. "She's Irish."

"She's French," Dorcas corrects. Sirius huffs, "Well give us an easier one, then!"

"Okay," She grins, mischief tugging at her brain. "How many boys have asked her out today?"

Sirius doesn't answer, his brow furrowing as James strokes his chin, thinking hard before he says confidently,

"2!"

Dorcas chuckles and shakes her head, glancing at Sirius as she says, "Try 8, Potter."

James let's out an indignant cry, "No way! No one gets to steal Ninnie!"

James yanks Sirius to his feet and the two go running off, leaving Dorcas to laugh quietly to herself.

Gwen and Jonathan are halfway to the library by now, and instead of just letting him talk, she finds herself contributing to the conversation.

"You don't like reading?" She asks, eyes wide as he grins and nods, admitting,

"I'm not sure why I was ever sorted into Ravenclaw. Maybe it's my good looks."

Gwen laughs, replying teasingly, "Don't they usually sort the good looking boys in Gryffindor?"

"Ouch!" Jonathan says cheekily. "That one hurts, Gwenyth. That really hurts."

She smiles before she can stop it, admittedly drawn to the boy. He was rather handsome, but something held her back. He'd not once shown interest in her before. Never spoke to her, never waved to her. Not until now. She hesitates, chewing on her lower lip before saying quietly,

"Gwen. You can call me—"

"NINNIE!!!!"

Her eyebrows shoot to her hairline at the sound. She peers over her shoulder and sees James and Sirius running at her full speed. She lets out a measley gasp of surprise at the initial impact, Sirius putting his shoulder down and throwing her over it. 

Still trying to recover from the wind knocked out of her she grabs onto the back of Sirius' shirt, feeling dangerously high up from her new position.

"Care to explain what's going on?" She wonders breathlessly, blinking at James as he laughs.

Sirius smirks at the frown on Jonathan's face, saying sympathetically,

"Sorry, Wood. She's busy."

Sirius whirls them around, taking them in the opposite direction of the library as she waves goodbye to the rather disappointed looking quidditch captain. James follows happily behind, a pep in his step as he says,

"We've been looking for you, Whitlock."

She groans, using her little upper body strength to prop herself up. Sirius winces when her bony elbow digs into his spine, grunting,

"Watch it up there!"

Gwen doesn't respond, just waves him off despite him not being able to see. She props her chin on her hand, leaving her elbow balanced a little more gently on his spine.

"May I ask where we are going?" She questions, smiling faintly as James nods.

"You can ask," He replies cheekily.

"Okay," She sighs. "Where are we going?"

"Top secret," He says firmly, miming zipping his mouth closed.

Sirius is silent below her, so she wriggles slightly in his grasp, trying to turn around. He chuckles loud enough for her to hear, especially when she says,

"I can walk you know."

"No way. You're not escaping us."

Gwen laughs, shaking her head as she wonders, "And what is it that I'm escaping from??"

James grins widely when Sirius stops short, pulling her down from her shoulder. She falls to the floor, her awkwardly gangly limbs sprawling out rather unflatteringly as the boys stand over her.

"Helping us," James starts.

Sirius grins at her curious look, finishing eagerly,

"With a prank."