One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 35

Sirius stirs awake, his arm reaching out for the body that lays next to him.

He comes up empty, his hand only touching cold bedsheets. His heart leaps to his throat and he quickly sits up, tearing out of the Potter's guest room and hurtling into the one he and James share. His friend is still passed out, snoring quietly with his mouth open and drool on his chin.

"Prongs!"

Nothing. Sirius sighs and tries again, louder.

"Prongs!!!"

He rolls his eyes and yells, "Lily is here!"

James flounders in his sheets as he tries to sit up, tumbling to the floor in a pile of limbs and blankets.

"What?" He asks tiredly, rubbing his eyes before going to grab his glasses from his nightstand.

"Ninnie is gone," Sirius says worriedly. James' eyes widen and he flies to his feet. The boys hurry down the stairs, sprinting into the family room, and then the dining room. Empty. Sirius hurries to the kitchen, finding Fleamont sipping tea. He glances up from his newspaper, saying playfully,

"Morning, Sirius. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Sirius rushes out. "Did Gwen—"

"Outside."

Sirius ignores the man's smirk as he hurried to the window above the sink, his heart rate returning to normal. Gwen and Mia were smiling and talking, nodding and laughing as they walk throw the garden blanketed with snow.

He grins slightly when Mia turns and pulls the Veela into a bear hug. Gwen looks uncomfortable at first, he can tell even from where he's standing. But then she's hugging the older witch back, their shoulders both shaking from laughter.

"Ninnie!"

Gwen pulls back from Mia to see Sirius and James standing on the porch. Their still fresh out of bed, only in their pajama pants with their arms wrapped tight around their bare middles to try and stay warm. Gwen can help but smile at the sight.

"You and Sirius?" Mia asks quietly. Gwen quickly looks her way and murmurs, "Just friends."

"Forgive me," Mia snorts and loops their arms together as they begin to walk, "But I have a hard time believing that."

Gwen laughs and shakes her head, replying, "Please. We're usually mad at each other, he's usually snogging some girl that wants to murder me. If nothing else he's attracted to my allure, which I can't exactly help. But he'll grow bored and then..."

Mia smiles when the girls trails off, saying playfully, "Sounds to me like you're trying to convince yourself."

She must see when Gwen panics because she halts, pulling the Veela to a stop. Mia smiles down at her and wonders quietly,

"Would you allow an old woman to give you some advice?"

Gwen smiles slightly and nods, her heart growing warm as Mia says gently, "If you spend your life trying to keep all of the bad stuff out, trying to avoid more hurt or heartbreak or pain...you'll never let the good stuff in."

Gwen feels prickling behind her eyes. She wonders if her mum would've said something like that once Gwen started talking about boys. Mia tuts and gently wiped away a tear that's escaped, her voice so kind and warm it makes Gwen want to hug her and never let go,

"I'm glad you're joining us today, Gwen."

She expects to have to lie, to miss the beach and her house and her quiet Christmas morning. Instead, the Veela smiles before she can stop it and says softly,

"Me too."

They make their way up to where the boys are now shivering, Sirius saying grumpily,

"Who walks in the snow?!"

Gwen quirks a brow and says flatly, "You could put some clothes on. Perhaps you wouldn't be so cold."

"Don't pretend you don't like what you see, Ninnie," Sirius gloats, flexing his biceps. Gwen laughs and replies cheekily,

"I like what I see. James is looking quite fit."

Sirius' face falls and James cheers triumphantly, Mia trying desperately to not laugh as she heads in the house. Gwen goes to follow, but stops and gently touches Sirius' side as she passes. It's only a second, a brief caress that probably means nothing to her. But it makes his heart pound faster and his head spin and he decides that if no one were there he'd be pulling Ninnie Whitlock into his arms and snogging the hell out of her.

James snickers, muttering when the Veela slips inside of the house, "You fancy Ninnie."

"No I don't," Sirius barks, shoving past his cackling friend.

Gwen is already sitting patiently in the family room by the tree, a magazine in her hands. Sirius furrows his brow and asks incredulously,

"Where did you get that?"

She smiles faintly, not looking up from her page as she licks her finger to flip to the next one. His eyes zero in on the action, heart stopping momentarily until he shakes his head and demands, "Inferi, it's rude to ignore people."

Gwen laughs, still not looking at him, "Merlin, it bugs you when you don't have the answers to everything doesn't it?"

Sirius walks over and plucks the blasted thing from her hands, scowling down at her. His irritation is flared, combined with a weird twisty emotion that makes his heart hurt and feel good at the same time. Gwen sighs, finally looking up at him. She quirks a brow at his angry face, not missing the tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth. She frustrated him, that much she knew. But it made her stomach erupt in butterflies when she realized that Sirius Black had to try to not smile at her. That felt good.

"I get quite a lot done in the mornings, Padfoot," She teases, her lips turning up into a smile when a tiny dimple appears on his cheek at the nickname. Her eyes barely glance down at his taut abdomen, it's practically right in front of her. It looks warm, alarmingly inviting. She has the urge to run her knuckles along the clefts and swells of the musculature. Her hands are suddenly snatched up, immediately pressed to the hot skin in front of her.

Her eyes widen in surprise, and Sirius can't help but feel like he's won this exchange. Any time he can catch her off guard is a win for him and it doesn't happen often. She's always one step ahead.

He smirks, using her wrist to push her flat palm across his abdomen. He nearly sighs at the contact, wondering if anything will feel as good as this girl touching him. She's flushed pink, something that happens rarely and gives Sirius another rush of triumph. He mutters lowly, letting go of her wrist and watching as she quickly withdraws her hand,

"I can get quite a lot done in the mornings too, Gwenyth."