I'm here with another chapter! I actually tried to get this done last night and give you three updates in a day but I passed out about 5 AM. Hope you enjoy, keep reviewing I love all of them. I'm sure you'll all waiting to see what happens with Eddie, Gemma, and Sirius and it'll all start happening soon so I'm happy that you'll get to start knowing things I already do haha! Thanks for reading again guys, you make me happy to write!
-Ally
July was always such a hot month, the sun high in the sky over Cornwall as the people walked around with umbrellas and fanning themselves with their hands. Gemma felt like she was dripping in sweat as she walked down the street, four bags of grocery's hanging off her arms as she carried them back home. Peering out at the sea, she wished that she could run out and jump into it but knew her mum wouldn't be too happy with her if she showed up with spoiled milk.
Saying hello to a few neighbors, she arrived back at the cottage and went to drop off everything in the kitchen where her mother had three fans pointed at her as she read a magazine. Gemma laughed, pulling out her wand and casting a cooling charm over the room before she could notice. Two weeks since her birthday and it was the first spell she got to use. She'd been hoping it would've been something more exciting but why not a hidden cooling charm?
"Oh Gemma, you're back," her mother's head popped up when she coughed, the magazine obviously more interesting then hearing her come back in. "Did you get everything you need?"
"If I didn't, you left me enough money to cover it Mum, I'll be fine. You've gone and left me alone on longer trips before." She said honestly, putting things away in the freezer box and letting the cold air caress her stick skin through her tank top.
"I know, but I worry. Especially with that man off attacking people," she spoke of Voldemort as if he were some terrible cat burglar plaguing the neighborhood, "I don't like thinking of you alone."
"Though you may not want to acknowledge it, I have a wand that I can use to protect myself. Also, I highly doubt the Dark Lord is going to show up on the doorstep just because you've gone out of town. He just doesn't have a patience to wait for muggleborn's parents to leave the house before he kills them." She said sarcastically, her mother glaring at her a little as if upset that she was talking down to her.
"It's serious, Gemma."
"I know, Mum, I'm sorry. But honestly," she sighed, finishing with the groceries and turning back to her, "I'll be perfectly safe. I'll even call over Lily or Mary for a day, would that be alright?"
She looked uneasy, her mother having liked them both in the past but Gemma thought of more than one witch in her house while they were gone was likely to give her mum a stroke. "I suppose, but don't mention it to your father, alright?"
"We're not going to blow up the house, Mum, we'll probably just watch telly or sit in the garden. We're all muggles at heart anyway."
"I'm sure you won't, dear. But no boys over, alright? Wizard or otherwise," she made it a point, Eddie having called her house a few times since summer break began. She was amazed how loud he could yell over the phone but he still wasn't sure how to use it. "Though isn't your boyfriend a cricket player or something?"
Gemma snorted, walking over to grab the tea kettle for a spot of afternoon tea, filling it with water at the sink. "Quidditch player Mum, not a cricket player. I can't stand cricket." Going over to the stove she lit up a burner and set the kettle there to heat up. "And yes, he's the reserve seeker on a professional quidditch team. I feel quite grown up having a boyfriend with a job."
She smiled goofily, relaxing into a chair at the table with her mum who'd yet to notice the room was a great deal cooler. "How old is he?" Her mum asked, looking over at her carefully.
"He's eighteen, nineteen in September, why? Please Mum, I know I'm just barely seventeen but it's not that big of a deal." She sighed.
"I just wanted to know, that's all. Can't I want to know about these things? You're my daughter Gemma, I do have some interest in what goes on at that school of yours."
"I see Dad hasn't really warmed up to it though, has he? Did you even try and break the ice at all with him?"
The month that Gemma had been home, her father had spoken probably a little over two dozen words to her. He barely even got a 'Happy Birthday' out on her birthday but her mum elbowed him in the ribs enough times that he had to get it out or he'd have internal injuries. She wasn't sure how many times she'd written Sirius, Lily, or Mary about it but it definitely helped.
"I'm trying Gemma, you know how he is. He's about as stubborn as you, and he's had a lot longer to practice it." She rolled her eyes, the same excuse as ever. He was stubborn, that's why he couldn't stand looking at her. Obviously. "He still loves you."
"Yeah, but when was the last time he said it? Or showed it?"
She honestly couldn't remember, her tea began to whistle as she stood and took it off the stove. Grabbing a Manchester United mug that she'd gotten for her fifth birthday, she turned it over to see her dad's messy scrawl from a marker he'd used it to write Love you pumpkin! She thought about it hard and realized he probably said it last on the day before her eleventh birthday. It just so happened Professor Dumbledore showed up late on her birthday with a small cake in hand and a simple few words that would change her world forever.
"You're a witch, Miss O'Malley, and I know you'll be a brilliant one."
That was all it took from her Headmaster for her dad to seemingly collapse in on himself, to regret having her as a child and to try and act like none of it existed. Like she never existed. It was terrifying going school supply shopping with your mum and a Professor when you're only eleven years old, but Professor McGonagall had been a great help.
"I think I'll take my tea to my room, Mum."
She didn't wait for a response, she just filled her mug and left the kitchen and headed towards the small staircase that led upstairs. Walking into her room, she sat on the edge of her bed and looked over at a sleeping Winnie and smiled. She had a big poster of the Wimbourne Wasps inside her closet, a place her dad wouldn't dare venture so she knew it was safe there. She had to write to James that it was almost too big, but she still thanked him greatly for remembering her birthday. Sirius had sent her a box of wizarding candy and a letter that made her smile. She went and looked at it still sitting on her desk as she sipped her warm herbal tea.
Miss Gemma O'Malley of some town far away near some water I think—
Guess where I'm writing from. Go on, guess. Don't tell me I'm stupid for expecting you to guess and say it aloud to a letter, just do it. Did you guess James's house? You did? I hate how smart you are sometimes, honestly O'Malley, it's embarrassing that I can never get anything past you. Anyway, that's not important, well it is, but I'm not writing to boast your ego.
I have officially dumped my parents! It was an ugly break up, there were many tears and sad words about keeping in touch and asking if we could still be friends, but I said no. I needed a good clean break, you know? My heart needs time to heal. They just need to move on and find a better, more Death Eater appropriate eldest son.
Truthfully though, my dad knocked some sense into me, literally. So I got on my flying motorbike and flew to the Potter's and have been here now for two weeks. It's quite nice, they have a duck pond you know. A pond! For ducks! How absurd is that? These people, using their money for such silly things. The rich O'Malley, you never know what they'll do next.
James has just informed me that it was already there and that they didn't actually buy the duck pond. Whatever, he's lying. He's trying to hide his wealth.
Anyway, I suppose I've written quite a bit, haven't I? This is longer than most essays I write at school, well not truthfully or I'd still be in first year. I'd be the sexiest first year of all time though, wouldn't I? I can see you nodding your head, don't deny it O'Malley. You'd want to rob the cradle.
Though I suppose I'd be a seventeen year old first year. Still older than you.
Oh yes, that's why I was writing. Well partially. Happy birthday O'Malley! You are a legal witch who can now go about cursing muggles on the street without them having a clue as to what's happening! I know that's what you've been waiting for, deep down inside. You're just dying to curse your dad.
So may it be brilliant, fun, exciting, whatever it is you want. I hope you have a party and if not the very least, a very delicious and scrumptious cake. I've sent some candy along and James said he bought you something as well, always trying to upstage me the rich bugger. I do hope you enjoy the candies, I tried to remember what you're always snacking on and picked them out accordingly.
Hope your summer has been well and you're getting a bit of color on that pasty arse of yours!
Your most sexy and brilliant of mates,
Sirius Black or your true best mate (admit it, I'm better than Evans)
P.S. If you are getting a bit of color on your arse, take pictures. I'm very lonely.
P.P.S. Well not that lonely, don't think I'm crying in a corner thinking about your arse O'Malley.
P.P.P.S. I mean it, stop thinking that.
Setting it back down she giggled to herself, opening the box of candies she'd only made a small dent in and pulled out some treacle fudge. Laying back on her bed, she thought how much better summer was about to get now that she'd have the house to herself for a week and that her mates were coming to visit.
Summer was finally starting to look up.
"I'll be back in a few hours!" She called out from her bedroom, her mother down the hall in her own room as she finished getting ready.
Putting in some hoop earrings and making sure her ponytail was high and perky on her head, she fixed her t-shirt and then slipped on some sandals. Her mum handed her some cash before she went downstairs and she put it in her pocket for safe keeping and made sure she grabbed her wand and threw it in her bag before she left the house.
"Bye dad!" She called out in pure routine, not at all surprised when only silence followed her out the door.
Walking to the end of her block and waiting for a few minutes, she happily heard a few loud pops behind her and smiled widely when Lily and Mary stood there with grins of their own. They all hugged as if it'd been ages, starting their way down the road as the Friday night crowd began filing out into the street and her village began to wake up.
"So who's ready for a little Bond…James Bond?" Mary asked, all of them laughing at her poor Sean Connery impersonation.
"I like this Roger Moore bloke but I do miss Sean Connery, he was quite handsome," Lily giggled, the cinema up ahead of them with a small line outside already forming. "And that voice, so brilliant."
"Oh Lily, we all know who you really fancy," Gemma started as they stepped in the queue, "James Potter and his dreamy hazel eyes ring a bell?"
Lily turned red, clashing against her hair as she and Mary chuckled. "Last I checked, he's still dating Scarlet Aubrey."
"Oh my God!" Mary jumped, a few people turning to look at her as she kept bobbing up and down. "You didn't deny it! Gemma, she didn't deny it!"
"Happy day, Mary! She's finally opened her eyes and realized that James Potter has got it going on!" Gemma and Mary kept hopping like mad bunnies as Lily flushed deeper and giggled. "Thank the heavens."
"Thank Jesus, Merlin, and the Easter Bunny, I never thought it would happen. You're about as clueless as Gemma." Mary breathed, all of them getting their tickets from a spotty teenage boy with a maroon vest and sniffly nose. He smiled at them all like he won the lottery and they quickly moved along.
"Clueless about what?" Lily asked, Gemma making sure to stomp hard on Mary's foot before she went spreading things she didn't want spread. "You're still dating Eddie right?"
She nodded, now waiting in the queue for candy. "I was clueless about Eddie, that's all she was saying. Don't get any weird ideas Lily, I still very much fancy my boyfriend. Who is ever so far away." She joked, buying a box of her favorite movie candy and a soda before letting her mates get what they wanted. Looking around the cinema at all the muggles going about their nights, she wondered if any of them would even bat an eyelash if she pulled out her wand.
Probably would just think it's some silly teenager with a stick.
"Is he going to pop in anytime soon?" Lily asked, eating her Smarties as they walked down the corridor towards their theater. "You haven't seen him since the last day of school, right?"
She nodded, chewing on a Wine Gum when an usher opened the door for them and they gave him all thanks. "He told me before I left that he probably wouldn't be seeing me for a while. But he's never told me how long a while is and he hasn't returned any of my letters. The only time I do talk to him is when he screams over the phone at me and even then it's only about stupid fucking quidditch."
She hadn't really realized how angry she'd been about how Eddie was acting. If someone were to take a look at her stack of letters on her desk at home they'd most likely think her boyfriend was Sirius or Remus, not a single thing from Eddie. She'd even tried to tell him that she wanted to hear more from him but he said some nonsense about practices and newspaper interviews and ridiculous things she didn't give a crap about.
She didn't know if they'd last the summer and it upset her to think about it.
"Maybe you should dump his arse and move onto sexier things." Mary winked at her, Gemma rolling her eyes as they took their seats. Setting her bag on the floor she grabbed her wand and set it on her lap before trying to relax. "I'm sure sexier things are waiting for you."
"Sexier things aren't going to happen." Lily sat between them with a confused look on her face and Gemma felt a little bad that she was hiding her fancy over Sirius from her. "It's nothing Lily, Mary just enjoys taking the piss out of me to the point where I want to kill her."
Lily just shrugged, taking a long sip from her soda. "Don't I know that well enough by now."
They all laughed, getting comfortable in their seats and cheering with the audience as the first film preview started. Gemma got settled in for one of her favorite pastimes, a part of her wondering if she'd ever bring a boy to the cinema.
When they got out after the movie they were all laughing and going over their favorite scenes, Mary trying to act like a dangerous spy as they walked down the road. Gemma tossed up a Wine Gum for Lily and she caught it expertly in her mouth before they found a bench and all took a seat together. Saying hello to an old couple as they passed, they all looked up in the night sky and let a nice light breeze waft over them.
"You both are coming back on Wednesday, right? Not going to leave me all alone?" She pouted out her bottom lip, both of them nodding.
"We'll be here to eat all your food and leave a giant disaster in your house before we run back home and make you clean it all alone." Mary grinned wildly, poking Gemma on the nose.
"It's what mates do." Lily agreed, sighing as they all saw a shooting star fly past.
"First to wish gets it!" They all shouted at the same time, three pairs of eyes shutting tight in a similar way of what they'd done since they were eleven. Only Marlene was missing from the tradition and Gemma knew just what to wish for.
Bring me who I want, please, let him come to me.
She woke up early the next day when her parents left, seeing them off and then locking the door behind them. As soon as she heard their car pull away and waited a few minutes to make sure they didn't forget something, she ran straight for the record player. Pulling out her favorite Beatles album, she put it on and turned it as loud as she possibly could before a bright smile graced her face.
She began with the living room, dusting, vacuuming, and reorganizing everything so it was tidy. It was something not many people knew about her but she absolutely loved cleaning as a way of therapy. If she didn't think of it as a chore or something she had to do, it became so relaxing to just make everything smell so lovely and fresh. Moving her way through the house, she ended up in her kitchen just after eleven p.m. and was still singing away in her pajamas.
Scrubbing plates with big, ugly rubber gloves and singing wildly to a song, she barely heard the knock at the door until probably the third or fourth time the person banged on it. Setting down the plate and using her wand to dim the volume of her music, she ran to the front door forgetting she was in a short pair of shorts and her tank top was big and loose over her sports bra. Opening the door, she smiled and then almost screamed at who was standing there.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She snapped, covering her mouth with a gloved hand as he smirked and looked over her skimpy pajamas.
"Nice to see you too, O'Malley. The gloves are pretty sexy, you should take them off before I seduce you over them." He teased, running a hand through his hair as he tried to look around her and into the house. "Are you going to invite me in?"
"No!" She shouted, a neighbor across the way giving her a weird look. She grabbed Sirius's arm and dragged him in before slamming the door shut behind him. "How? Why? I don't understand what you're doing in my house!"
He shrugged, looking around as they stood in the cramped entrance way. "You pulled me in and it's hot outside, I thought it would be a nice day to stop by and watch some of that footgame or whatever."
"Football Sirius, it's called football," she sighed, realizing again just exactly what she was wearing. Her cheeks brightly lit up and she pulled off the gloves and threw them on the table where they kept their keys. "Stay right here, okay? Right here. Don't move, don't even breathe. Just…stay."
"Okay."
She looked at him one more time as if she was still asleep and was dreaming he was in her house, but soon realized she was staring and ran off again. Getting up into her room she was quick to shuck off all her clothes and throw them in her closet. Replacing her ugly sports bra with the one Mary had given her, she threw on a plain white t-shirt, a pair of only slightly ripped jean shorts, and then ran to her mirror.
Her hair was bunched up into a bun atop her head that made her look similar to a pineapple. Pulling it down, she ran a brush quickly through it and then rubbed some gloss on her lips and then looked at herself again. Picking up the necklace she'd gotten from her nana for her birthday, she put the gold chain around her neck and welcomed the weight of the pocket watch locket that hung on the end against her chest. Having it tucked in her shirt and flush against her skin calmed her somewhat, as if reminding her that she was acting insane.
It wasn't that big of a deal that he was there, he was her mate. She should have expected him to show up at some point, right?
She didn't even dare thinking about her wish.
"You could have given me some warning!" She shouted as she came back down the steps, Sirius haven't moved and inch from where she left him. "Just showing up like that was uncalled for."
"You told me your parents were going out of town, and I figure you were telling the truth seeing as an angry man hasn't tried to kill me where I stand yet." He smirked, looking over her body again until she flushed.
"Stop looking at me like that."
His eyebrows rose. "Like what?"
"Never mind, just - stop it. Anyway, I guess I need to figure out what to do with you." She laughed, looking around her small cottage home and wondering exactly what he thought of it. "This definitely isn't what you're used to. No grand duck pond out back or house elves in the kitchen. Just me."
"That's fine with me." He grinned, making her heartbeat pick up in speed again.
"Would you like something to drink? I made fresh lemonade this morning," she started guiding him towards the kitchen, wishing she could have had time to finish cleaning.
"Sounds great, whatever you have is fine with me. This is a nice place you've got here Gemma," he said kindly, looking around the kitchen as she pushed all the dirty dinnerware into the side of the sink with all the sudsy soap. "It's really…charming."
"The rich snob is pouring off you right now, Sirius," she laughed, warming up to him after he called her Gemma, "Shall I don a maid's uniform and pour your tea?"
He smirked, pinching her hip before she walked over to the freezer box. "That's something I'd love to see."
"Well you won't, ever. So don't even imagine it, which it's too late for that now. Did you get my last letter?" She wondered, pouring them both two tall glasses of lemonade and then handed him one.
"Yeah, I did. So Bones made it on as the reserve, did he? That's pretty impressive for his age." Sirius smiled kindly, Gemma nodding as she hopped up on the counter and sat next to where he stood. "Is he excited about it?"
She nodded again, taking a small sip. "He seems to be, he's really keen on making it work. I haven't talked or heard from him much, it seems to be taking up a lot of time. But, you know, for obvious reasons."
"I'm sure he misses you like mad, up there with all those sweaty men. Probably needs a good snog by now," he joked, rubbing her knee for a minute as she smiled over at him.
"Don't try to cheer me up, you tosser. You're the one who's had the crazy summer." She rested her hand on top of his, wondering just how much he was hiding about leaving his home and moving in with the Potter's. He did say his dad had hurt him but sometimes she couldn't help imagining how badly and she always ended up on the verge of tears thinking about Sirius beaten to a pulp. "How have you been with everything?"
He shrugged, so very Sirius of him. "It's fine, nothing that exciting to report. Though, Mrs. Potter sure does know how to make a bloody delicious ham. You should try it sometime." He teased, his hand dropping from hers as he downed the rest of the lemonade and looked around her kitchen again. "Going to give me a grand tour, O'Malley? Or do I need to go searching around by myself?"
Jumping off the counter she shook her head and set their glasses next to the sink. Leading him out, she showed him the living room where, he was sad to notice, there was no hideous plaid chair as he had once thought. He asked why there weren't any pictures of her around and she shrugged and tried not to get upset about it as she took him out back into the garden.
"Just reminds my dad I'm alive when I'm at school I guess," she said as jokingly as she could possibly sound, "and we wouldn't want that. My mum has a few of me on her vanity, but it's better this way. I'm much happier not seeing my wee face with all those missing teeth."
Sirius laughed as he ran his hands against the flower bushes growing wildly in their garden. "I bet you were cute."
"Whatever Sirius, you don't need to see baby pictures of me anyway. So, that's basically my house, should be find a football match to watch? I think Manchester goes on in about half an hour," she walked back in with him still close behind her, whistling like he was having a good enough time.
That didn't stop her rampant nerves.
"You haven't shown be your bedroom, O'Malley," he teased, whispering close to her ear as she threw her arm back and whacked him in the side. "Come on, I promise not to make fun of it or anything, I just want to see where you live."
Rolling her eyes, she huffed and then let him walk upstairs with her and led her down the hall towards her bedroom. Hoping nothing embarrassing was lying around, she opened the door and let the first boy who wasn't related to her into her bedroom. The thought of what a boy in her room meant didn't pass slowly in her head, she always thought if she were alone with one they'd be on her bed snogging.
Her cheeks burned as Sirius looked around and then noticed her quilt.
"Plaid!" He shouted, picking it up off her bed and holding it up as if she didn't know she had a plaid quilt. Sighing, she ripped it from his hands and threw it back on her bed. "I knew you liked plaid."
"Would you shut it about the plaid? It's just a pattern for Christ's sake," she felt irritated, watching as he walked over and looked at all the letters on her desk. She hoped he didn't think anything of his still laying open there as he fingered through them. She didn't really care that he was looking, it wasn't like she had anything to hide.
"Where's that poster Prongs sent you?" He asked suddenly, Gemma walking over and opening her closet to show it there on the back of the door. Players flew in and out of the picture as they tossed the quaffle and the crowd cheered around them. "Hiding it I see."
"My dad would lose it if he saw it, I don't want to take the risk. Plus if he actually walked into my room again I don't think I'd want him running as soon as he saw it either." She said honestly, closing the door as Sirius sat down on her bed and picked up her stuffed teddy bear. He looked at it and then up at her and then back down at it.
"This isn't a very girly room, O'Malley. I expected more pink and flowers or something. It's so very…"he looked around at the bookcases and the Irish flag above her window, "you."
Shrugging, she sat down next to him and busied herself with picking at her nail. "I'm not a girly person, Sirius, it wasn't as if you would walk in here and see princess posters and unicorns or something. Did you really expect to?"
"No, I never saw unicorns when I pictured your bedroom," he laughed, laying back on her bed now as she became even more uncomfortable.
"You've pictured my bedroom?"
"What? You've never pictured mine? Come on O'Malley, I bet you have," he winked, still holding onto her teddy bear.
Sighing, she gave in. "I figured a huge four poster bed, posters of half naked girls everywhere, and a few quidditch ones. Maybe a band or two, and then just general male filth everywhere." She told him honestly, because yes, she had pictured his bedroom. In fact she'd dreamt of his bedroom.
"That's amazingly spot on. I figured more books and maybe a canopy in here but otherwise I was close," he smiled.
"I fear what you think about sometimes."
"It's only natural to. This bed is pretty comfortable though, maybe I should take a nap." She grabbed her teddy and smacked him in the face with it until he sat up. "Or not."
"No sleeping in my bed, mister." She stood but didn't get far until he grabbed her and pulled her down next to him.
"Not even if we sleep together?"
Her cheeks had never burned so badly. "Stop messing around Sirius, you didn't come here to take a nap and I'm not about to let you do that either."
He laughed, sitting up and stretching his arms. "Okay then, if we can't sleep together, why don't we go watch some football? I know how badly you've been waiting for me to watch this thing."
Taking a deep breath, she sat her bear up by her pillows again and grabbed his wrist to pull him back downstairs with her and to make sure he didn't wander. Dragging him back into the living room and then walking over to her telly to get it to the right station, she sat down next to him on the couch as the pregame began.
"This is going to sound terribly girly and stupid," she sighed, "but I've missed you Black."
He looked down at her and tore his eyes away from the telly. "I've missed you too O'Malley."
"Have you really?" She grinned, biting back a laugh.
"Why is it okay when you say it but I get laughed at? How is that fair exactly?" He asked exasperatedly, pushing her shoulder and knocking her to the side lightly. "I hate you."
"Mmhmm, you love me Sirius. You missed meeeee." She teased, poking him in the stomach as he wrapped his arm around her and trapped her under it as he mussed up her hair. "Let me go you arse."
"Nope, we're watching this weird box thing just like this. I hope you're comfortable."
She smiled, her face squished against his chest. "Oh I'm peachy."
"Shh, O'Malley, it's starting."
