One Step Ahead Part II | Sirius Black

Chapter 216

James purses his lips, pointing at himself as if he can't believe Regulus is accusing him of doing something to warrant the Veela's fire. Regulus settles in on the sofa behind the two, sighing as he takes a sip of his own tea. Gwen waits patiently, leaning back against the coffee table so she can face Regulus. James does the same, shifting around until he's perched on his favorite pillow. He begrudgingly admits, "I said she looked like a grindylow."

Regulus pins him with a silent, disapproving stare. His brows raise in surprise when Gwen offers simply, "It's not like it's far from the truth. For all wizardkind knows, I could be related to them, James."

James' eyes grow round, and Gwen bites back a laugh when he turns slowly to face her. It wasn't the first time such a subject had come up. James had harassed her endlessly at Hogwarts to dive into the black lake and talk to the merfolk. Sirius had put a stop to it, much to both James and Gwen's disappointment. 

Regulus speaks just as James does, the two struggling to be the first to ask questions, and Gwen hides her smile behind her cup when Regulus whisper yells, "Shut up, Potter!"

James sticks out his tongue at Regulus, insisting, "You shut up, Little! Ninnie is that--"

"Gwen, ignore him. For the love of Merlin, James!"

Gwen sets down her cup on the table when their meeting suddenly grows silent, the Veela peering wordlessly at the spectacled boy with too many questions and not enough words, and the ex-deatheater with an amusing smidge less Gryffindor outrageousness and a great deal of Slytherin shrewdness. 

She starts slowly, expecting an interruption, "Well there are a lot of theories--"

"What did your mum tell you?"

She feels a tiny prickle of surprise when her eyes land on Regulus. He liked puzzles too, maybe even more than she did. And yet he had never once asked about her upbringing. Maybe he was afraid of her answer. His parents had scarred him. Her mother had marked her too, just in a very different way. She carried the marks of love, not of hatred. Though that was probably scarier to someone like Regulus. It had certainly been scary for Sirius. 

Gwen leans back against the coffee table, shrugging slightly, "I don't think it's a popular theory. It's more a story. But I suppose that is the existence of beings. Fable."

Regulus studies her closely now, brows knit together in confusion. Gwen chances a glance at James, and he's smiling slightly. He's a little more used to her ambigous answers, or maybe he's just okay without one. At least that's what James had told her once, that she knew that sometimes there wasn't an answer. James seems earnest, almost as curious as Regulus, when he asks, "But do you believe it?"

She's not sure how to answer. She believes in a lot of things. So, instead she decides to tell him, 

"Mum used to tell me that her ancestors were from a descending line of the first sirens. Thats not an odd myth--Lots of people believe Veela and merpeople are kin," Regulus sits up, leaning in to hear Gwen's soft voice, "They were dropped from the sky, Sirens. Their wings were taken from them, and their skies turned into the ocean where they could soar for eternity. "

James scoots closer too, holding his cup and resting his forearms on his propped up knees. Gwen hated reading and writing, but she loved telling stories. She loves talking about her mum, even though it stings. She swallows past the lump in her throat and says gently,

"Mum told me that their only love was the Ocean, and that the only threat their love faced was humanity. Men would quarrel with the sea like sworn enemies, and instead of listening to the cries of their ships mourning the once serene Ocean, men thought it was the Ocean's fault. They would race it's current, abuse it's power, and belittle it as something put there for them to use. "