Chapter 2: Rise Up

Gemma breathed a sigh of relief as she opened her eyes after a great night's sleep. Week one; done.

Her eyes landed on the pile of books next to her bed and all the assignments she needed to complete before Monday. She sighed. Week one; not done.

Quickly getting washed and dressed, then grabbing the top two books – for Transfiguration and Charms – she headed to the library to write her paper on Animagi and start practicing her non-verbal spells. The library was a great place for that.

It turned out that while students were paired for classes, it was only advised that they work on assignments and practical studies together, but everyone still needed to complete their own work without copying from one another. Gemma and Sirius had agreed to do their own work, until one of them needed help.

Three hours later, with her hand starting to cramp, Gemma called it a morning. Her paper was written, although she would definitely need to read through it at least one more time – and ask Sirius to as well - and her non-verbal spells were coming along nicely. She had managed to rearrange an entire shelf of books in the library, until Madam Pince had scowled at her.

Starving from missing breakfast, Gemma went to the Great Hall where lunch was already being served. Piling her plate high with roast chicken and salad and a small slice of bread, she took the opportunity to gaze around the quiet room, reflecting on the last week.

Their professors were not holding back. Every day they were assigned more and more projects, until Gemma was certain she would need a whole month to get everything done. And she knew it wouldn't stop either. This was it. NEWT examinations were next year and they were already beginning to prepare.

Although it had only been a week, working with Sirius had been really enjoyable. He was more focused than Gemma had expected, and handled everything thrown at him with ease. She had been particularly impressed in Transfiguration.

As if the thought had summoned him, Sirius was suddenly there with James, Remus and Peter, all piling in around her. Sirius was practically sat on her lap, helping himself to her slice of bread which he added a generous amount of butter to.

"Oh sure. Help yourself."

"Phamnks." He replied, his mouth full and seemingly ignorant to her sarcasm. She inwardly rolled her eyes.

"Where have you been all morning, Gemma?" Remus asked, grabbing a plate of food for himself. "We've all been playing exploding snap. You missed Peter here almost lose an eyebrow." He nodded to Peter who was looking somewhat ruffled.

Gemma smiled. "I was in the library, working on my Animagi paper. I know it isn't due for a few days, but I wanted to get ahead." She turned to Sirius, who was now eating from his own plate of food. "Would you mind reading over it for me please? You are an expert, after all."

Sirius choked slightly, just about swallowing his mouthful. "What makes you say I'm an expert?" He asked, his voice seeming strained as he glanced over at James, Remus and Peter. Gemma glanced at them as well, and noticed they all looked nervous.

She frowned. "Well, you got every question right this week in class, and you shared some interesting facts with me during the lessons. I'm pretty sure that makes you an expert. Short of actually being an animagus of course."

Gemma was laughing. It was only a joke. Because obviously she didn't actually think he was an animagus. She didn't actually know.

He faked a laugh, and the others joined in. "Of course I'll look at your paper. More than happy to."

She smiled at him, accepting his answer and ignoring his momentary lapse of good sense. He breathed a small sigh of relief. "That's great. Thank you, Sirius."

Returning to his plate of food, he listened to Remus and Gemma talk about their non-verbal spell practices, with Gemma telling a funny story about how Madam Pince had nearly kicked her out of the library for rearranging an entire bookshelf. If she hadn't been doing it with the sole focus of improving her skills, he would think that a brilliant prank. In fact, he might do that himself one day.

She was now discussing Potions with James, scolding him for even jokingly suggesting he make a love potion for Lily. Sirius smiled. She was fierce when she wanted to be. He really didn't want to be James right now.

Finishing her lunch, she excused herself and he was left with his friends. Remus glanced around them, making sure they were alone, before he spoke. "I thought for a moment then that she knew."

Sirius agreed. "Me too. But she doesn't. She can't. We've been careful."

"Maybe stop showing off in class though." James added, his eyebrow raised. "If you give her too many details about what it feels like to transform into a dog and fight a raging werewolf, she might suspect something."

"Shut up. I hadn't told her anything like that. I just gave her some fun facts. Things that are probably written in a book somewhere."

James rolled his eyes, while Remus and Peter frowned. Maybe he should have been more careful, but he was certain he hadn't given too much away. He hadn't told her the truth. That he was, in fact, an illegal animagus.

Within their first year, Sirius, James and Peter had noticed the strange patterns of Remus's illnesses; they always coincided with a full moon. Deciding to face the issue head on, they cornered him one day and demanded the truth. He had admitted he was a werewolf, but then he had broken down in shame.

It had ripped Sirius's heart out to see his friend suffering, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. To believe himself unworthy of anything good because he had a monster living inside himself. Remus was the best of them, he just didn't see it.

Learning that Dumbledore was aware and had provided Remus with a safe place to wait out his transformation – the well-known shrieking shack in Hogsmeade, accessed via a tunnel under the Whomping Willow tree – was some comfort, but the three of them saw the impact it was having on their friend. Being restricted to the shack, the werewolf inside Remus got frustrated quickly, and he began to hurt himself. Remus was always withdrawn during those times, and often felt lonely. They wanted to help. To be there for him.

Eventually, a plan came together. They would become Animagi, giving them the ability to transform into animals whenever Remus transformed into a werewolf. It was illegal, and a huge risk, but they didn't care. Remus was their brother, and they would be there for him.

Despite it taking the best part of three years, it was the best decision they had ever made. In their fifth year, when they were finally able to transform, the four of them had headed out to the shrieking shack together. At first, the werewolf in Remus wasn't keen on having a dog, a stag and a rat for company, but they persisted and he began to recognise them. Not as friends – there was not enough of Remus's mind left inside for that – but certainly not enemies. Gradually they became bolder, venturing out of the shrieking shack and roaming the enchanted forest instead. Between them they kept an eye on Remus, making sure he didn't head towards the castle and students. It was a risk, but it was fun.

In the end, they made a game of it. They gave each other nicknames – to be used only when certain no one else was around – and those were their code names. Remus was Moony, due to his connection to the full moon. Sirius, who transformed into a dog, was Padfoot. James transformed into a stag, and was known as Prongs. And Peter, the smallest of the group, transformed into a rat. James had delighted in coming up with his nickname – Wormtail.

"I promise I haven't told her too much." Sirius said, not liking the look of worry on Remus's face. Sure, being exposed as an illegal animagus would be a pretty big deal, but being exposed as a werewolf... Sirius knew Remus would never forgive him. "And I'll be careful. I won't say anything else that isn't covered by what McGonagall teaches. I promise."

Looking slightly more relaxed, Remus nodded and they moved the conversation on to other things – most notably the paper on this exact topic that they all needed to write.

Sirius fist pumped the air. The day was finally here.

After five long weeks of theory only, Professor Seymour, their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, finally announced they would be dueling. And... in their assigned pairs.

Sirius had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Almost two years in fact. Ever since Gemma had beaten him in a duel back in fourth year. It was the first and only time they had been partnered to duel and he had been hoping for an opportunity ever since. But he had always ended up with James or someone else, and he wouldn't risk dueling her outside of class. Even though he really, really wanted to.

Turning to Gemma, Sirius grinned at her. He'd been winding her up for weeks about this, and while she always gave back as good as she got, he could tell she was starting to feel nervous. He'd been reading up on attacking spells during the summer break and had been getting every question right in the weeks leading up to this. Yeah, she must be nervous.

Then again, he was nervous himself. Regardless of how good he was, he knew Gemma would be just as good, probably better. She had Auror blood. She had real life experts at home and Sirius was pretty certain her father had been secretly training her since she got her first Hogwarts letter. Hell, probably since before that. But he was focused today. He was determined. And he was going to take her down.

Professor Seymour was reading out the rules while the rest of the class started to make space. Half the room would duel first, followed by the rest. Sirius and Gemma were in the second set, but that meant he could watch James take on Alice.

"This is going to be fun to watch." Gemma said, coming to stand next to him. "Alice has been desperate to attack James for weeks."

Sirius chuckled. "I think the feeling is mutual." James and Alice, as expected, hadn't been seeing eye-to-eye in their new pairing. The two of them just didn't click. "I think James will take it though. He's got additional motivation." He nodded in the direction of Lily, who was sneaking sly glances in James's direction. "Care to make it interesting?"

Gemma turned to him, a small furrow in her brow. "What do you mean?"

"A little wager. Not much. Two Galleons, perhaps?"

A small smile crept over Gemma's face, before she nodded her agreement. "You're on." She thrust her hand out, which he gladly accepted, and they shook on it.

Damn. She was going to lose. At least it was only two Galleons. Gemma held her breath as James threw a powerful attack, knocking Alice well and truly off her feet, before disarming her. Duel over.

Sirius turned to her, a big smile on his face, but before he had a chance to celebrate, they were called up to duel. Gemma steeled her spine. She may have lost that bet, but she wasn't about to lose this fight. She was in complete control here, and she had prepared for this. Her dad would often tell her stories of his escapades over the years, and she'd absorb as much information as possible, learn as many tactics as she could.

Sirius was bouncing on his toes. He was energetic, excited. Confident. Maybe too confident? He was going on the offence, she could tell. No doubt he'd learned some new attacking spells that he couldn't wait to try out. Well, her dad often said 'the hardest thing about being an Auror is having the patience to wait for the right moment'. So she would have patience. She would see what he threw at her. She would wait him out. And she would hit him at the exact moment it would hurt him the most. Figuratively, of course.

"You're going down, Arwin." Sirius called, getting himself into starting position.

Gemma smiled to herself. Fighting talk. "Bring it on, Black."

As expected, Sirius went in hard and fast. Each attacking spell was strong, focused and getting too damn close to hitting her. She was impressed. The obvious response would have been to attack back, with bigger, stronger spells, but she kept her defence up, hitting him with smaller blasts that allowed her to conserve her energy while he slowly drained his.

She could tell she was confusing him. She wasn't reacting as he would have expected, and from the corner of her eye she could see they were drawing a crowd. But Sirius kept going, pushing and pushing and pushing.

Merlin, he was determined. If she hadn't been on the receiving end of his attack she'd have loved to watch him duel. His face was set in stern lines, giving his strong features a more aggressive but no less handsome look. His eyes had turned a sharp silver, almost burning a hole right through her. And the graceful way he moved his body. Breath-taking.

So breath-taking that Gemma almost missed a hit. Damn. She needed to pay more attention to the actual fight. He was tiring out, having gone full force so early. She needed to start her endgame.

Spotting a small gap in his attacks, Gemma pushed back with a more forceful spell. The element of surprise worked in her favour, as Sirius retaliated quickly rather than carefully, leaving her open to attack him again. And this time, she didn't stop. The switch in power left her in control, and she finally disarmed him, ending the duel.

She had won. For a whole second, she felt pure elation, before she spotted Sirius's face. He looked annoyed. Angry. Oh no, had she gone too far? Had she drawn it out too long, making it worse? Had she embarrassed him? Crap.

Fuck. He had lost. Again.

Sirius stood still for a moment and ignored the sounds from the class as everyone discussed their duels, commented on each other's and chatted away. He replayed the last ten minutes in his head. How had she won? He'd gone in strong, with direct hits that hadn't stopped. There was no way she should have won. But she had. And damn if he wasn't impressed by that.

Staring at her now, stood in front of him, holding his wand as if it was burning her hand, he realised she looked worried. Did she think he was angry at her? Blimey, he really hoped not. He was annoyed at himself, sure, but never at Gemma.

Stepping towards her, he offered her a genuine smile and took back his wand. "That was impressive. You're going to have to show me how you did some of that, because I really want to learn those clever tactics." And he meant it.

"You're not annoyed at me?" She asked tentatively, and he shook his head at her.

"Why would I be annoyed at you, Gem? It was a duel. One of us had to win and while I really hoped it would be me, I would never complain about coming second to you."

He saw her visibly relax, relief sweeping over her features. She was adorable sometimes. Adorable and tough. An unusual combination.

"Thanks, Sirius. You fought really well too. I was impressed, and definitely nervous back there." She paused slightly. "If you meant it, when you said you wanted to learn a few things, I'd be more than happy to share some of my tactics with you. I have to admit, I have learned a lot from my dad over the years." She shrugged slightly, as if embarrassed.

He smiled. "If I had a ready-made Auror a home, I'd steal some tips too. And I'd appreciate any help I can get. Anything that means I can one day, finally, take you down."

She laughed, a slight gleam in her eye. "In that case, maybe I'll just pretend to teach you but really I'm setting you up for an epic fail. I can't lose my reigning title, can I?"

He grinned back at her. "I don't remember you ever being so mischievous, Gemma Arwin."

"Maybe you're rubbing off on me." And with a huge smile on her face, she turned and walked away, heading over to Alice, Lily and Mary. Sirius watched her go, smiling and shaking his head slightly. He had created a monster.

He turned just as James, Remus and Peter headed his way. "Unlucky, man." James said, slapping his hand on his back. "Maybe next time."

Sirius nodded, then filled them in on his winning bet from James's duel – at least he had that – and together they all headed back to the common room.

When the weekend arrived, Sirius was exhausted. Assignments were piling up, and classes were intense. Almost every professor had decided to hold an impromptu exam, meaning his brain was well and truly fried. Thank Merlin it was Saturday and the first game of the Quidditch season.

"How are you feeling?" He asked James, as the Marauders all headed down for breakfast. James was a Gryffindor Chaser, so had been trying to fit in Quidditch practice over the last few weeks as well as everything else.

"Exhausted from the week, but physically and mentally prepared. I'm glad we're starting off against Ravenclaw though. Their new Beaters are average at best, and their Seeker is poor. No idea how he even got on the team."

Ravenclaw had been a strong team up until last year, but they had been mostly seventh years. Everyone had said they should have been looking for new talent years ago, but they were too busy riding the wave of success. Now it looked like they were going to crash hard this year. Their young new team was not up to scratch.

"I think he was the best of a bad bunch." Remus added, taking a seat next to Sirius. "I watched some of their trials at the end of last year. Half of them couldn't even fly."

"They just shouldn't have left it so late." Peter added, shaking his head. "Isn't our team already looking for your replacement?" He glanced at James.

James nodded, biting into a slice of toast. "Yep. And good job too. We've got some decent up and coming talent, but they need time to embed into the team." He swallowed hard. "It's Slytherin I'm most worried about. They've got some new team members who are actually pretty good."

"You mean they got on the team because of talent, not because their parents demanded it." Remus added dryly. Sirius held back a retort. No doubt the parents still had something to do with it. He would know. He was the son of Slytherin parents.

"Exactly." James replied. "And they don't seem to just be bullying their way through the game either. When the team and I snuck in to watch their practices, they looked really strong."

"I guess we'll see tomorrow when they play Hufflepuff." Peter said, downing his orange juice. "Although Hufflepuff aren't exactly tough competition."

"The test will be whether Hufflepuff lose by a little or lose by a lot." Sirius said, laughing.

Finishing their breakfasts and continuing their review of each team, they discussed potential game tactics and offered James their unwavering support. He disappeared to get ready, so the three of them returned to the common room to grab their jackets and scarves, before heading down to the pitch.

"Peter! Over here!"

Sirius looked up to see Mary waving frantically at Peter, pushing some younger Gryffindors aside to make room for him. According to Gemma, Mary had been uncertain about partnering with Peter because he was so quiet. Peter hadn't really cared, but apparently the two of them were getting on well. Mary was a chatterbox, but Peter was happy to listen. Sirius didn't know how he did it. He was often exhausted after spending just one hour with Mary.

Pushing their way through the crowd, they joined Mary, Lily, Alice and Gemma. Peter stood next to Mary, and Sirius could already hear her launching into a story about one of the Ravenclaw Chasers. Remus paused between Lily and Alice, asking Lily a question about one of their assignments. Sirius rolled his eyes as they began discussing class. At a Quidditch match, for Merlin's sake.

Wanting to avoid getting dragged into that conversation, he worked his way to the other side of Gemma. She smiled up at him quickly before turning her gaze back to the pitch. She looked cold. She was rubbing her gloved hands together, jumping side to side on her feet, her face half hidden by a woolly hat and thick scarf. Merlin's Beard. It was only October.

"How are you that cold already?" He asked, slightly amused.

She frowned at him. "Because it's freezing. Even you're wearing a scarf."

"Yes, but I don't really need it. I'm only wearing it because it's a Gryffindor one." She clearly didn't have a reply, as she just scrunched up her face at him and turned away. Then she shivered.

Inwardly cringing at his need to be a gentleman – yuck – he took off his scarf and wrapped it around her shoulders like a shawl. She looked up at him, startled and confused, and he gave her a small smile.

"Your shivering is annoying." He explained. It was partly true.

"Thanks." She grabbed the edges and held them tightly around her. "Are you sure you don't need it? You won't get too cold?"

He laughed. "My body is always pretty warm. I promise I won't get cold."

She mumbled something about 'ok' and 'thanks' as she looked away, focusing intently on the pitch.

Merlin's Beard, the intoxicating scent of Sirius was all around her. It was only a scarf, but heavens; she was drowning in an earthy fragrance of fresh cut grass and cedar wood. It wasn't overpowering, or cloying though. It was… delicious.

Shaking herself of that weird thought, Gemma focused her attention on the pitch and the players now making their way out. James was near the front, looking confident. The whole team looked confident, and she felt the instant 'first game of the season' buzz. The Gryffindor crowd around her started to rumble in excitement, and she joined in. Cheering and clapping and shouting her encouragement, she watched as the team captains shook hands, and Madam Hooch prepared to begin. The whistle blew, and the game begun.

Gryffindor took an early lead, with James scoring fifty points within the first twenty minutes. Ravenclaw were not playing well as a team. They had some individuals doing a good job and creating chances, but they kept letting each other down. Gemma was confident Gryffindor were going to win.

Keeping one eye on the Seeker, who was high above the ground, Gemma followed James around the pitch. He was always impressive when he flew, and today he was magnificent. Gemma wondered if he was the best Chaser Hogwarts had ever seen.

Still watching the game, it took her a little while to hear the murmur in the crowd behind her. Sirius nudged her side and pointed up. Their Seeker was on the move. Gemma held her breath as she watched him maneuver himself left and right, up and down, until eventually he threw his arm out. He had the snitch.

The crowd around them roared in celebration and Gemma jumped up and down, grabbing Alice for a quick hug before being pulled into a hug by Sirius. It felt good to win.