One Step Ahead part I | Sirius Black

Chapter 195

Sirius whips his head up, his vision blurring from the force of the action.

No.

It couldn't be.

He stares at her face for a few long minutes, unmoving and peaceful still. No hint of the whispered words that flooded his hearing like a song. He's gone crazy. He's sure of it. Or maybe he's dead too, somehow this fucked up world had reunited them in a different plane of existence. That could be the only explanation for hearing her voice.

He sees it though, watches her soft lips slowly, painfully slow, twitch slightly.

He's suddenly on his feet, the chair cracking against the floor as it falls over and he just ignores it, too busy watching her face. He leans forward, hovers over her and demands, insists, pleads,

"Say it again."

Her lips twitch again, and then he hears it once more, watches her lips part slightly to whisper hoarsely,

"There you are."

Sirius' hands fly up to press into the pillow, his touch gentle. He's so scared, so scared that any rough movements will break this girl, rip her away from him again.

"Gwenyth."

He says her name forcefully, all too aware that he is being loud. He can't help it, can't help the unnamable emotion spreading through his chest and replacing the numbness from before. He was feeling.

Feeling.

Feeling awe when she slowly cracks open one eye and he gets to see that hint of blue. Blue, blue, blue. Merlin, he'd never love anything the way he loved her color.

"Told you I'd come back to you."

Her words are stuttered, exhausted. But cheeky and blasé all at once. It was her. She was alive. And he wants to respond with something equally cheeky, equally him. But he can't.

He sobs, choking and groaning on the cries that had wracked his chest for what felt like hours as he leans over her and gently frames her face with his shaking hands. Gwen blinks her other eye open and her lips curl into a tired smile

Merlin, that smile.

He doesn't recognize the mess of words, the desperate noises tearing from his chest. He'd almost lost her, he'd been convinced he'd lost her. Not this time.

She was alive. His thumbs stroke her cheeks, feel the warmth of her face and his tears that drip to her skin. Sirius leans his forehead against hers, still weeping as his glassy eyes search her face desperately. Alive. She was very much alive.

Her eyes are blue, not white. Her skin is untainted, free of the red that he saw when he closed his eyes. Her lips are smiling.

Gwen's eyes close for a brief moment, her face twinging at the flare of pain in her throat. Sirius flicked backwards, scared of hurting her, scared of causing her pain. But the Veela's eyes open and she shakes her head, weakly extending her hand up in an attempt to grab his.  Sirius catches it hurriedly, bringing her fingers to his lips and whispering brokenly, "There you are."

The Veela nods, just a slight jerk of her head. She looks tired, exhausted. But she's alive, her chest is rising and falling, her eyes glinting with stifled emotions. Sirius squeezes her hand, his eyes closing when her fingers gently brush over his cheek.