One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 24

Gwen is pushing through the drunk and sweaty teenagers, wincing when someone jumps on her foot.

She can see flashes of copper hair ahead and she's almost able to reach out and grasp her friends arm when someone wraps an arm around her waist and spins her around.

She looks up at Jonathan in surprise, grinning when he shouts over the music, "There you are! I've been looking for you all over!"

"Sorry," She yells back, "I'm on a mission."

He's looking down at her expectantly so she rolls her eyes and quickly stands on her toes, pecking his lips. He grins and tries to pull her in for more but she backs away, pushing his arm from her. His brows furrow and she can tell he's irritated, but she's busy.

"Sorry, Wood! I've gotta do something really quick. I'll meet you by the drinks, yeah?"

His smile returns and he nods, pressing a lingering kiss to her cheek before turning and making his way through the crowd. Gwen huffs irritably and turns back to where her friends are dancing, yelling over the music,

"Lily! I need your help!! It's James!"

The red head's eyes grow round and she nods, leaving Dorcas and Marlene before quickly following Gwen back through the crowd.

Gwen appears in front of the drunken boy with glasses first, winking dramatically and whispering, "Be cool, James."

Lily comes up behind her, her green eyes growing even bigger at the sight of James slumped over in the chair. She kneels at his feet and says kindly, "James? Are you alright?"

"No," He slurs. "Because you like Amos and you look very pretty. So no."

Remus slaps his hand to his forehead. Gwen spies a faint blush on Lily's cheeks however that makes her smile.

Sirius is on the opposite end of the common room, searching aimlessly for his friends. He spots Dorcas and Marlene, but no Gwen.

The girl sitting on his lap is whining in his ear about wanting to get out of the noisy room. Sirius furrows his brow, trying to remember her name. Elise? Marie? He was drawing blanks. He brushes it aside, lazily nodding every few seconds.

Then he sees her.

She's standing with Remus, throwing her head back and laughing at something he's said. Sirius can't hear it, but he wishes he could. He wants to know what makes that beautiful sound bubble up from her toes and fall from her soft lips. His eyes rake over her tattered clothes, her usually straight hair waved and unruly. His heart stops when he sees something dark around her eyes, making the pale blue glow brighter than should be normal. But she's not normal.

He stands quickly, spilling the girl from his lap.

"Hey!" She cries, looking up at him from the floor. He ignores her and starts walking, pushing through the crowd until he's close enough to hear her laughing and James slurring and Lily scolding.

Gwen looks up when a hand grasps her elbow, expecting Jonathan again. She grins when she meets silver eyes and a crooked smile.

"Sirius," She says simply, reaching out and grabbing his arm too. He bends down to say in her ear, not liking the idea of shouting at her,

"What are you supposed to be."

The makeup around her eyes is plum, he can tell now that they are close. His heart beats awkwardly when she laughs and says teasingly,

"You can't tell?"

He narrows his eyes, biting back a smile when she takes a step back and spins around. It suddenly dawns on him, and he can't fight his smile anymore than he can fight his laughter.

"Inferi?" He questions, shaking his head with mirth when she nods and gives him a thumbs up.

It's her turn to take in his black outfit, the same leather jacket he always wears over a tight tshirt that makes her stomach feel funny. Her eyes linger on the shoddy ears he has attached to his head. She grins knowingly and says,

"Padfoot."

He smirks, wondering sarcastically, "How did you guess?"

She just gently elbows his side, ignoring his question and asking one of her own, "Where have you been? James is a bloody disaster."

Sirius glances at where Lily is tentatively listening to his drunk friend, a chuckle escaping him as he says, "He looks alright to me. I got stuck with some Slytherin. I need my snogging secretary back."

Gwen scoffs and rolls her eyes. She hadn't been drinking, but there was a warm sensation in his chest that had him feeling dizzy. He rubs the back of his neck nervously. Maybe he needed a drink.

"Want me to grab you something?" He asks in her ear, nodding his head in the direction of the drinks. Gwen hesitates. She should go over there, Jonathan is waiting. But she likes it right here, with Remus and Sirius and Lily and James.

She nods, Sirius practically humming with excitement at the sight of her bashful smile. It was a new look, one that he definitely liked.

He winks and turns away from her, blowing out a harsh breath. Who would've thought three months ago that he'd be trying to buy more time to talk to Ninnie Whitlock.

He passes Peter making out very sloppily with some girl dressed as a barmaid, making him snicker quietly to himself as he pushes by and yells,

"Feeling lucky, Wormtail?"

Peter doesn't even pull away, just offers a thumbs up behind the back of the girl that has Sirius laughing harder.

He finally makes it to where the drinks are located and grabs two cups, pouring two small drinks of firewhiskey. He wasn't getting drunk tonight, not if it meant he wouldn't remember talking to her.

He's just about to turn around and walk back to the Veela when he hears something that stops him dead in his tracks.

"I definitely plan on fucking her tonight," Jonathan Wood boasts to Gilderoy Lockheart and some other bloke that Sirius doesn't recognize.

"She's a good snog, but I bet shagging her will give me luck for years. Who would've thought, Gwenyth Whitlock a magical slag."

Lockheart and the other lad just snicker and cheers Wood. He keeps going, keeps saying lewd disgusting things. But Sirius can't hear it over the roar of his blood boiling, his heart thumping in his ears.

Sirius whirls around and grabs the back of the quidditch captains shirt, not thinking twice before he connects his fist to the pricks nose. A strangled cry escapes the Ravenclaw and he swings at Sirius. But he's too pissed, too angry to even flinch when Wood lands a blow on his cheek.

He just keeps hitting.