One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 193

Gwen stands frozen despite the force of the curse, for just a moment she's still.

Standing.

With wide eyes and a perplexed expression taking over the almost bored look from before. She stirs to life, The Veela of Hogwarts takes a few stumbling steps forward, looking as calm as he'd seen her despite the rising horror that's trying to immobilize his legs. And Sirius watches, watches her slender fingers raise to her neck.

Watches them drip with red.

Red.

The legends, the rumors, even his own misconceived ideas built off of how magical she was to him were wrong.

Gwenyth Whitlock, a Veela, a being scorned by the Ministry and people Sirius Black had known his whole life. A Veela with blood just as pure and red and dark as his.

She blinks, her lips part.

And then she's falling, crumbling to the ground in an heap of limbs. His shout is a mangled cry of pain, a scream of despair amongst the curses and shouts. He runs the last few meters, sprints to get to her, skids across the dirt and debris until he's crouched by her side with scraped shins and wide eyes.

Blood.

His knees touch it, then his shaking hands. She's the palest he's ever seen her and he wants to scoop her up and apparate to the beach. Where the garden was waiting for them. Where she's safe. Where she can be warm and her skin can be kissed by the sun, where the simple wonders of life will pink her cheeks and quirk her lips and he'll pretend to hate her riddles and magazines and acid pops.

Even with the amount of blood leaving her small body, she remains inexpressive if not for her furrowed brow. Her chest rises and falls slowly, stuttered and wheezing, her fingers reach for her throat again as if she's confused.

She hadn't seen this coming. He hadn't seen this coming. He'd never seen a curse like that in his life. Dark magic. Magic he couldn't even speak of.

Sirius grabs her hand, pulls it away quickly so she won't feel the tear in her flesh from the purple curse, shuddering at the feeling of her blood warm on his own fingers. He's breathless from running, from the sound of her gurgling and coughing, the sight of her red stained teeth.

"Ninnie!" He says shakily. Her eyelids flutter and he's saying her name louder, shaking her shoulders as her blinks grow longer. "Ninnie! Stay awake! Stay awake, do you hear me?"

Tears slick his face, blurry gaze assessing the blood pooling from her neck. Merlin, her neck. Sirius lets out a hacking sob, shaking hands covering the wound to stop the bleeding.

Too much blood. This was too much blood.

"It's okay," Sirius soothes hurriedly, nodding his head to reassure himself. "You're gonna be okay." Gwen was staring up at him, still serene, still confused. Her pale eyes were growing lighter, glassy and now the color of the clouds that hung high over the ocean. Her mother's eyes had been white when Gwen found her, that much he knew. He'd never begged to see icy blue so hard in his life.

"You're fine," He insists, pleading to whoever is listening. Pleading for her silently to stay with him, to stay with him forever. "Keep your eyes open, Gwenyth. Look at me."

She stares at him and he wants to yell at her, wants to yell at himself. He shouldn't have said yes. He shouldn't have let her go. They should've stayed together. They're supposed to be together.

"Sirius! Sirius!"

His head whips up when James and Remus appear, covered in sweat and grime and looks of shared horror. James freezes, his feet planted as he looks down at his friend. Remus crouches immediately, digging through his bag and mumbling to himself while James just looks, looks at the Veela laying peacefully despite the chaos. Remus finally snaps, shouting, "James!"