Chapter 13: Smash Into You

Gemma stared at her reflection in the tall mirror in her dorm and twisted her body from side to side. The pink and red floral summer top she had chosen to wear – courtesy of Mary's wardrobe – made her feel feminine and pretty; while it was fitted nicely around her chest and waist, it had beautiful excess material that draped over her arms and stomach and swished when she moved.

"Oh, Gemma." Mary grinned from behind her. "That looks amazing on you."

"Thanks." Gemma smiled. She felt amazing. She didn't usually bother with fancy clothes, especially when at school, but it was the last weekend of May and they were about to head out for their final Hogsmeade trip before they finished for the year. The sun was shining and Gemma had decided that she wanted to make an effort with her friends.

"It's so pretty." Lily said as she stepped into the room from the bathroom. "What do you girls think of this? Too much?"

Gemma studied her friend who was wearing a rich emerald green top that fell off her shoulders and wrapped around her slender figure. The colour did incredible things to Lily's eyes. "You look great, Lily. The colour is perfect on you."

Mary stepped over to Lily and adjusted the neckline slightly. "It really brings out your eyes. And your teeny tiny waist."

Mary started tickling Lily, who laughed. "Stop it." Lily tickled Mary back and they both stumbled onto the bed in a fit of giggles.

Alice stepped into the room and laughed. "Merlin, it's like being around my five year old cousins sometimes." She made her way over to Gemma at the mirror. "Look at you. Who are you making an effort for?"

Gemma rolled her eyes. "You lot, of course."

"Ah, well, I appreciate the effort, but I don't think I'm going to go to Hogsmeade anymore."

Lily and Mary stopped to turn to Alice, just as Gemma did. "Why not?"

"Frank has asked me to stay back so we can spend some time alone together. We've barely spoken this month because of his NEWTs and he leaves for Auror Training in six weeks and four of those will be spent here." Alice sighed. "I hope you don't mind. We're about to head into a whole year of being apart – two if I then get in next year – and I want to take every opportunity I can to be with him."

Gemma smiled at her friend. "Of course we don't mind. We completely understand."

"Thanks girls." Alice studied them all. "You all look lovely. Hogsmeade won't know what hit it."

They all finished getting ready then said goodbye to Alice and Frank before heading to Hogsmeade. It was a warm day and despite some of the shops being cool, it wasn't long before Mary suggested they get an ice cream from Honeydukes. Ordering to take away, the three of them headed onto the main village square and found a bench.

Lily and Mary began talking about their summer plans, but Gemma got distracted by a shadow in the trees opposite them. She was certain nothing was there, but the memory of her previous trip to Hogsmeade and her encounter with the beautiful large black dog jumped to her mind. She wondered if she would see it again, if she headed back to that quiet clearing.

"Gemma?" Gemma looked up to see Lily and Mary standing over her, both of them having finished their ice creams and being ready to move on. "We're heading to Gladrags; you coming?"

Gemma looked towards the copse of trees where she would need to walk through to get back to the clearing. She should go with her friends, but for some strange reason she really wanted to see the dog again. Even though the chances of it appearing were slim.

"I think I might go for a walk actually, head back to that clearing where I met that dog last time we were here."

"What dog?" Mary scrunched up her face. She wasn't a fan of animals.

"Last time we were here and I wandered off in the snow; I met this beautiful large black dog. I'd love to see it again."

"I remember." Lily said. "Do you really think you'll find it though? The forest is huge and it might not have even been local. Loads of people just visit for the day."

Gemma stood. "I know, but I'll regret it if I don't at least head in that direction. But I'll come find you after. Maybe we could meet at The Three Broomsticks for a drink before we head back?"

"Definitely."

"Ladies." Gemma and the others turned at the sound of James's voice as he and the others headed towards them. Gemma tried to ignore how good Sirius looked in his dark grey t-shirt. It seemed to cling to every muscle. "Enjoying the sunny weather?"

"Yes, thank you." Mary replied.

"Excellent." James looked at Lily and his eyes softened. "You look beautiful, Lily."

Gemma smiled at James's compliment of her friend, and noticed a blush creep onto Lily's cheeks. She'd noticed that James was starting to pay Lily more compliments recently; and it seemed to be working.

Sirius stared at Gemma. She looked different somehow; softer, sweeter. He liked it. His eyes were drawn to the outline of her figure draped in a pretty, frilly top, and he needed to force himself to look away. He didn't need his friends seeing him eyeing her up.

"What are you ladies up to?" James, always the charmer, was clearly trying to get an invite to wherever Lily was going.

"Lily and I are heading to Gladrags." Mary responded. "Gemma has a date with a dog."

Sirius frowned and looked up at Gemma, just as she rolled her eyes. "I do not have a date with a dog. I met a dog in one of the clearings last time I was here…" Sirius felt James, Remus and Peter's eyes travel towards him. "…and I thought I would see if it was around again today." Gemma shrugged. "It's a long shot, but I want to check it out."

Sirius knew his friends were sliding suspicious glances at him; he hadn't told them about seeing Gemma as Padfoot and no doubt they had questions. And concerns.

James looked at Gemma. "What did the dog look like? Maybe we've seen him around."

"You'd definitely remember him. Or her. I don't know." She laughed. "But it was big – the same size as me – and it had thick black shaggy hair and it actually looked pretty scary, but deep down it was clearly a softie."

Sirius heard Peter snort at that comment. Idiot.

James smiled and nodded. "I think I know that dog. Definitely a big softie; kind of like a puppy. You know, follows you around, always looking for hugs and belly rubs." James glanced at Sirius. "Desperate for attention."

Sirius fought the urge to play-punch his friend. Gemma simply frowned. "Maybe."

"I'm bored." Mary suddenly said, grabbing Lily's arm. "Come on, Lily. Let's go shopping."

As Mary dragged an apologetic Lily away, Gemma turned towards the woods. "I'm going to go for my walk. I'll see you all later."

Sirius watched as Gemma walked away, then looked at his three friends. All of them were glaring at him. He was in trouble. Not so much about Gemma meeting Padfoot; more that Sirius hadn't ever told them about it. The Marauders never kept secrets from each other, especially when it was related to Remus and his secret.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "It was an accident." James raised his eyebrows in response and Sirius knew he needed to do better. He sighed. "She'd gone for a walk and I wanted to check on her. It was just after Mulciber had grabbed her in the hall, before she was attacked. I needed to make sure she was ok."

"Why did you have to do that as Padfoot?" Remus asked quietly. Sirius could tell he was concerned.

"I turned into Padfoot to find her. The woods are huge; she could have been anywhere. I found her, and I was about to transform back, I swear, but then I scented Mulciber."

"You told us about that." Peter said. "You told us you saw him wandering the woods alone."

Sirius nodded. "I did. And all of that was true, except I was Padfoot at the time and Gemma was there too. I didn't think; I just reacted and stepped into the clearing to chase him off. I thought he was going to hurt Gemma."

His friends were quiet for a moment, then Remus spoke. "I understand. I'd do the same. But you should have told us. You should have told me. If Gemma knows about Padfoot then others might as well and we don't want questions being asked."

"I know. I'm sorry." And he was. He knew the risks and he should have been more open with his friends.

"You're forgiven." Remus said. "And you better get going."

Sirius frowned, but his friends just laughed. James slapped him on the back. "Gemma's waiting for you mate. You've got a date to get to."

Gemma stood in the clearing and realised she had been silly to think she would see the dog again. She didn't even know its name, so she couldn't call for it.

Wandering around in a small circle, she admired the flowers that had grown since winter and plucked a small daisy from the ground to twist between her fingers.

Just as she made the decision to head back to the village, movement caught her eye. Looking through the copse of trees, Gemma squinted her eyes. A figure clocked in black was moving swiftly. Gemma frowned.

The figure suddenly turned direction and Gemma dropped to the ground, fortunately hidden by the bushes. But she had caught a glimpse of the person's face. Regulus Black; she was sure of it. What was he doing?

Deciding to follow and find out, Gemma drew her wand and kept herself low. He was moving faster than her though, and she was struggling to keep up. But she would keep moving. She could still see his dark cloak up ahead.

A small crack echoed behind her and Gemma whirled around. Lestrange stood directly in front of her, alone and with his wand raised. Gemma raised her wand higher.

"Easy, Arwin." Lestrange smirked. "I'm not here to fight." His eyes moved slowly over her body and Gemma felt sick from the memory of him touching her before.

"You're disgusting."

Lestrange laughed. "Come on; it'll be fun. I promise you'll enjoy it."

Gemma moved quickly and cast a stunning spell, but Lestrange jumped out of the way. He responded with a curse Gemma didn't know, but she managed to deflect.

After a few moments of duelling, Gemma managed to send Lestrange backward, but he twisted in mid-air and threw an attack back at her. It knocked her backwards, and she hit her head against a tree. Not letting it stop her though, Gemma recovered quickly and continued her attack.

Lestrange began to close the gap between them, stepping forward with every attack and deflecting everything she threw at him. He was fast. Gemma realised how fortunate she had been before when she had caught him off guard and stunned him quickly. Lestrange was a stronger fighter than both Mulciber and Avery.

He continued to move forward and Gemma stepped back to keep space between them. As she did, her foot caught on a tree root and she fell backwards. Lestrange seized the opportunity and disarmed her; her wand flew to the side and just out of reach.

As Gemma crawled to reach her wand, she felt a strong hand wrap around her ankle and pull her backwards. Her body scraped along the ground and something sharp dug into her stomach. Desperate to escape, Gemma frantically kicked out with her spare leg and relished the moment her foot connected with Lestrange's face.

Scrambling forwards again in a bid to escape, Gemma tried to stand, but Lestrange lunged and suddenly she felt her whole body pressed into the ground, the entire weight of him on her back. Gemma thrashed underneath him, desperate to claw her way out, but she couldn't escape.

She began to try and summon her wand, but suddenly an unbearable pain seared through her scalp as Lestrange gathered her hair in a tight, unrelenting grip, and pulled her head backwards.

Her neck was stretched and exposed, and she felt the tip of Lestrange's wand against her throat. "I could kill you, you know." His voice was cloaked in hatred. "I could rip this pretty little throat wide open and no one would dare stop me." Gemma focused on her breathing, focused on summoning her wand. "No one can stop the inevitable. The Dark Lord will rule us all and anyone who defies him will suffer the consequences."

Gemma fought against the hold, certain her scalp was bleeding as she tried to get out from under him.

But Lestrange only laughed and rubbed his hips against her. "Keep fighting, Arwin. I like it." She felt sick. She could feel him getting turned on.

A loud and menacing growl tore through the air and instantly Gemma was free. Her scalp was on fire and her stomach ached from being pressed into something sharp on the ground, but she found the strength to stand. Scrambling for her wand, she turned towards the commotion and raised her wand.

A large black dog – her large black dog – was fighting against Lestrange. Teeth bared and claws out, the dog charged and attacked. Lestrange stumbled as the dog sank its teeth into his bare skin on his arm, but he recovered quickly. Before Gemma could help, the dog was blasted backwards and it crashed into a tree.

Gemma moved quickly, ready to fight Lestrange again. And as Gemma kept him busy, the dog attacked once more. As it took a bite out of Lestrange's leg, Gemma tried to stun him again. Lestrange deflected, then once again hurtled a curse at the dog, who fell backwards.

A flash of pain struck Gemma's back and she hurtled forward, stumbled over shrubbery and landed on her knees. The scrapes and cuts she felt through her jeans were nothing compared to the sharp pain in her back and stomach.

She stood and turned, surprised to see Avery had joined the fight. He attacked again, and Gemma deflected, reacting quickly with an attack of her own. They duelled, and she became aware that the dog was now fighting Lestrange alone.

Gemma lost track of time. She could see Avery and Lestrange were both wounded; as was she. She suspected the dog was too, but its black shaggy coat hid any signs of injury.

A loud, pained cry echoed between them and Gemma and Avery both looked to Lestrange. The dog had his wand hand in its mouth, and was clamping down. Hard. Lestrange's wand snapped and Gemma was sure she had heard something else snap too.

Avery raised his wand towards the dog, so Gemma pointed her wand at Avery. "Don't even think about it."

Lestrange backed away, and clutched his hand, which Gemma could see was broken. The dog growled after him, obviously not wanting to let him go.

Avery glanced over at her. "Call off your pet, Arwin."

Gemma kept her wand aimed at Avery, but watched Lestrange from the corner of her eye. "No chance."

A moment passed before Avery spoke again. "Fine. How about we call it even, and we go our separate ways."

Gemma scoffed. "Try again."

Avery turned to look at her. "You really want to keep fighting? Fine. But we've got five other Slytherins in these woods, all waiting for the opportunity to take one of you Gryffindors out. How much back up have you got?"

Gemma hesitated. She didn't want to back away; she wanted Avery and Lestrange to pay. Especially Lestrange. But she knew Regulus was in the woods and wherever Lestrange went, Bellatrix was often close behind. Despite having never trusted a Slytherin, she actually believed Avery. And he obviously knew she had no back up.

"Fine." Gemma said reluctantly. "We'll call it even, and walk away."

Avery nodded but Lestrange scowled at her. He spat on the ground. "I'll have you one day, Arwin. And I'll enjoy every fucking minute of it."

The dog growled and moved forward again, but Avery held out his hand. "Whoa, whoa." He looked to Lestrange. "Come on. Let's go."

Slowly they retreated, so Gemma did the same; she walked backwards slowly, and kept her eyes on both the Slytherins until they had vanished from sight. Gemma kept moving, until she noticed she was back in the clearing.

She breathed a sigh of relief, then took stock of her injuries. Her stomach and back ached; she had scrapes on her legs, back and arms, and her head was still sore from Lestrange's grip on her scalp. Fuck. She'd need to go visit Madam Pomfrey. Again.

She turned towards the dog who had come to her rescue; it was standing beside her, having walked back with her to the clearing. It had been so brave, fighting alongside her. She smiled and placed her hand on its head, but suddenly it fell to the ground, a soft whimper leaving its throat.

"No." Gemma sank to her knees and rolled the dog over slightly, horrified to feel a warm, wet substance covering its shaggy coat. Gemma pulled her hand away and stared at the blood on her hands. "No, no, no."

She grabbed her wand and tried to find the source of the wounds. If she could cast the healing spell, maybe she could save it. But she had no idea how bad its injuries were and its dark fur was preventing her from seeing clearly.

"It's ok." She said. "It's ok. I'm going to fix you. I promise. I'll make it better. I'll make it better."

Gemma wondered if she was trying to convince the dog, or herself.

Sirius was in agony. He'd never really fought as Padfoot before, except when he fought against Remus as a werewolf to prevent him from getting too close to the school grounds. But that had always been different; teeth against teeth; claws against claws.

Fighting Lestrange with a wand had been a new challenge. Whenever he had gotten close, Lestrange would curse or hex him and Sirius had no way to deflect. He wished he'd had time to transform back to himself.

But there had been no time. He'd arrived at the clearing, excited to see Gemma's reaction, and she hadn't been there. He'd scented her though, and had decided to follow the trail. He'd picked up the pace once he'd scented Lestrange too, and as soon as he'd seen her lying on the ground, Lestrange on top of her, his wand at her neck, Sirius had seen red. Especially as he somehow knew that Lestrange wasn't only after a kill. The sick bastard had wanted something else from Gemma first.

Gemma prodded his side and a sharp pain tore through him. He heard himself whimper. He needed to transform back; she couldn't see where his injuries were and he needed to get healed. He sighed. This was going to put Remus's secret at risk.

"Oh Merlin." Gemma whispered as she placed her wand to his side. Sirius could hear the panic and fear in her voice. "I'll get you healed. I promise. I'll get you healed."

He took a deep breath, then called upon all his strength and transformed himself back. Sprawled out on the grass, he heard Gemma's gasp of surprise and watched her face transform from worry to shock. She stared at him, eyes wide.

"Gem." He heard the strain in his voice as he lifted his hand to reach for hers. She looked down at his hand as it connected with hers and that seemed to pull her from her shock.

"Shit." She squeezed his hand. "It's ok, Sirius. You're going to be ok." He leaned back and closed his eyes as he felt her hands run over him, locating the wounds. "We need to get you back to Hogwarts, to Madam Pomfrey. I can heal a few of these but you need…"

Sirius shook his head. "No." He couldn't risk it. If he returned to the school, everyone would know he had been attacked. And Avery and Lestrange would easily work out that he was the dog they had fought. And that would put not just him at risk, but Remus too.

Gemma frowned at him. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I can't risk it. You need to heal me."

"Can't risk what? Being found out as an animagus?"

"Exactly."

"But Sirius…"

"No."

Gemma sighed. "Ok. I can heal you. It might not be pretty, but I promise you'll be ok, Sirius."

He smiled at her. "I know." She smiled back then looked back over his wounds. Sirius started to sit himself up. "The Shack."

"Huh?"

He pulled himself into sitting and ignored the twinge of pain. "It's close by. Help me up and we'll go there."

Gemma frowned at him. "Sirius, you can't walk."

"I can. Help me up."

He started to stand and Gemma stood with him, grabbing hold of his arm. "You're so stubborn." He almost laughed. Instead he allowed her to help him stand, then leaned heavily on her. They half-walked, half-stumbled to the Shack, neither saying a word. Sirius had no doubt that she had questions about him being an animagus. And he'd have to give her answers at some point.

When they arrived, he leaned against the front gate as Gemma rushed to the door and opened it. Then she returned for him, took him into one of the front rooms, and pushed him down onto a stool.

"Sit." She demanded. He smiled. She clearly wasn't happy about him moving. "I need to get to your wounds. You might…" She hesitated. "You might need to take off your t-shirt."

Sirius wanted to laugh at the little blush that crept over her cheeks, but the pain was setting in again. So he grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it up. He gritted his teeth against the strain, then felt Gemma's hands join his as she helped him remove it.

Gemma moved quickly. She knelt on the floor in front of him and used his t-shirt to wipe the blood from one of his largest wounds on his stomach. "Sorry. I'll clean it after." He laughed, then grimaced at the pain. She glanced up at him, her face a picture of worry. "Sorry."

"I'm ok."

She looked back down, then dabbed at his wound before placing the tip of her wand to his cut. She took a deep breath. "Vulnera Sanentur." She repeated the spell and he could see her hand shaking. The wound was closing, the line ever so slightly wonky. "Shit. I'm sorry. I haven't done this before except when we practice in class."

"It's ok."

"I don't want you to scar."

"I don't care."

She finished closing the wound then looked up at him. "I care. It was me you were saving."

Before he could respond, she stood and moved around him, studying his other wounds. He could see others on his chest and stomach, but he felt her at his back, dabbing another with his t-shirt. He knew it was another bad one based on the pain.

She repeated the spell and healed the cut in silence. Then she moved on to the smaller cuts, using the Episkey charm. He heard her take a deep breath. "So, you're an animagus."

He chuckled slightly. "Noticed that did you?"

"Certainly took me by surprise." He groaned as she touched a sore spot on his lower back. "Sorry." She whispered. "So, how long have you been one?"

"Just over a year."

"How did you do it? Why did you do it?"

Sirius answered carefully. "I did it the usual way. Took me three years." He paused. "I can't tell you why."

He felt her pause behind him, before she continued again. "Ok. Is it just you, or are James, Remus and…" She trailed off and he felt her stop again. "You did it for Remus."

Sirius tensed. He needed to be careful. He trusted Gemma, and he wanted her to know his secret, but Remus hadn't agreed to this. "What do you mean?"

There was a moment's hesitation before Gemma stepped around him and looked at him. "I don't know anything for certain. And I've never, ever, shared my suspicions with anyone other than you, right now. You need to know that." She knelt back down in front of him and started working on the cuts on his arm. "But I think you became an animagus because your friend was suffering and you didn't want him to be lonely. Because you care about him and knew that every now and then, he really, really needed a friend." Sirius didn't say anything, he just watched her work. She moved to his chest. "And if that's all true, then I think it's the most admirable thing anyone has ever done. Remus is one of the kindest, most loyal and most genuine people out there, and he deserves goodness. He deserves a friend who stands by him no matter what."

Sirius smiled and relaxed. He should have known Gemma wouldn't judge Remus differently. He believed her when she had said she hadn't shared her suspicions. And she clearly didn't see Remus as anything but the man he was.

It also made him happy that she admired him for what he had done. He looked down at her. "Gem." She looked up. "Thank you."

He saw a blush creep over her cheeks before she looked away and back to his chest. He realised then he was no longer hurting; she had healed him. Studying his chest, he saw smudges of blood and thick lines where the wounds were healing. He'd need to keep an eye on those. Maybe ask Remus to check them for him later. But they were good enough for now. Gemma had done well.

He noticed her hand was still resting on his chest and he looked at her face. She was staring at his body. He smirked. Was this the first time Gemma had seen a naked male chest? He hoped so. He always did his best to stay in shape and he could tell she was appreciative of it. His cock reacted instantly.

But it softened as soon as she stood and he saw the grimace on her face. She was in pain. Of course. Merlin's Beard, he had been so selfish. Getting her to heal all of his wounds when she had been badly injured herself. She had been attacked first, held down by Lestrange who had threatened Merlin only knew what. He felt like the worst sort of person.

He jumped out of his seat, gently grabbed her around the waist and pushed her to sit on the stool. "I'm sorry, Gem. You should have told me you were in pain. I need to heal you."

Gemma pushed his hands away. "I'm ok. Nowhere near as bad as you."

"Nonsense." He ignored her protest and reached for the bottom of her top. He could see one cut was bleeding still. "I had one, maybe two bad wounds. The rest could have waited." He lifted her top higher and she gritted her teeth. "I need to see this properly, Gem. The wound looks dirty." He hesitated. "You may need to take your top off."

She frowned and pushed his hands away. "I can wait until I'm back at Hogwarts."

He put his hands back. "No, you can't."

"Yes, I can."

Sirius lost his patience. Stubborn girl. "For fuck sake, Gem, I'm not arguing with you on this."

"And I'm not getting half naked in front of you."

Sirius pulled back and stared at her. Her cheeks were red and she wasn't looking at him. He sighed. "You really think I'm going to be looking at you like that? While you're bleeding? Come on, Gem. You know me better than that."

At least, he hoped she did. He may have had sexual thoughts about Gemma in the last weeks and months – hell, in the last ten minutes – but he wasn't a complete pig. She was wounded and needed healing. That was his priority; not getting a glimpse of her damn bra.

Gemma relaxed and looked suitably chastised. Good.

"Fine." She lifted her top but needed help, so he joined her and pulled it over her head. She kept hold of it though, and held it tight to her chest. He would have laughed had he not been distracted by her wound.

"Shit. I need to clean this." He grabbed his wand and started to wash the wound. It had obviously been caused by something in the woods, rather than a curse. Sirius glanced at Gemma. Her eyes were closed, her fists clenched and her leg was tapping. She was obviously in pain. "Sorry."

Gemma focused on her breathing. "It's ok."

"What did this, Gemma?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him. He still had his t-shirt off and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't turned on by the sight of him kneeling in front of her, his broad shoulders, muscular arms and perfectly formed chest on show. She'd never seen anyone naked before – except in films – and she felt a rush of liquid to her core as she took him in.

She immediately felt guilty. She had been quick to judge him when he had told her to take off her top, and he had only been helping her. Yet here she was, eyeing him like a piece of meat.

"Gem?" Sirius nudged her. "What did this? Because it wasn't a curse or a hex."

"No. This was courtesy of Lestrange when he grabbed me." She looked down at her stomach and saw it was mostly healed. "Something caught me when he pulled me back. Then it dug in when he... when he held me down."

Sirius stood up then moved around her, studying her. She knew what he was doing. He was finding the worst cuts to heal first, as she had done with him.

She suddenly felt his fingers on her bra strap and she jolted. "What are you doing?"

"You have a cut here. I need to move this out of the way to get to it. That's all. I promise."

Gemma nodded and let him lower her strap. Merlin, she was shaken.

Sirius's fingertips lightly danced over her skin as he healed her wounds. "What did Lestrange want, Gem?"

Gemma looked over her shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Did he want to hurt you? Kill you?" Sirius paused and looked up at her. "Or did he want something else?"

Gemma looked away and closed her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it." And she really didn't. Lestrange had been far stronger than she had expected and the thought of him… She shuddered and shut that thought down.

Sirius placed his hand on her shoulder. "Sorry. I won't ask any more questions." He stood and moved to her side, lifting her arm so he could access one of her cuts. Gemma pulled her bra strap back into place.

After a few more moments, Sirius returned to her front and knelt down again. He touched her leg to look at a cut on her thigh, visible through a tear in her jeans. Gemma jolted. Sensation ran from the place his fingertips held her leg, all the way to her core.

He smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'm going to rip your jeans a little further rather than ask you to take them off." He pulled at the material and Gemma watched in fascination as he flexed his arms and ripped the tear wider, revealing half of her thigh and the cut.

She blushed. His fingers danced along her bare skin as he concentrated on healing her, but she couldn't think of anything other than what it would feel like to have his hand move higher up her leg. Her nipples tightened and she held her top more firmly against herself.

"There. All done." Sirius sat back and looked up at her. "You ok?"

She nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yes. Thank you."

Sirius suddenly leaned forward and pressed himself between her legs. His face was inches from hers and Gemma felt her heart speed up. What was he doing?

As if hearing her thought, Sirius ran his finger over her forehead. "One last cut."

He raised his wand and Gemma watched his mouth as he spoke the incantation to heal her. He had such a nice mouth. His lips were full and firm and she wondered – again – what it would be like to be kissed by Sirius. Would he kiss her slowly and softly, taking his time? Or would he kiss her hard and fast until they both became breathless?

Sirius pulled his wand away but he didn't pull back. For a long moment they just stared at each other and Gemma felt her heart beat faster and faster.

Sirius's eyes dropped to her lips, and that was the only warning she got before he leaned forward and took her mouth with his.