Chapter 16: Try

Gemma sat patiently in the Great Hall as she waited for her name to be called. They had been back at school for a week, and they were now learning how to apparate.

Gemma was excited and nervous. It was well known that while apparating was the fastest and most efficient form of travel – and a particularly useful skill for an Auror to have – it was also dangerous. Mr Twycross, the elderly Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor, had just shared some rather horrifying stories of witches and wizards splinching; it had done nothing to calm Gemma's nerves.

Given the importance of apparition, each student was required to sign a declaration that they wouldn't misuse their new found ability, and after the twelve week course, they would be rewarded with an apparition license.

"Miss Arwin." Professor McGonagall called Gemma up and directed her to stand on the central spot. All other seventh years were talking amongst themselves while they awaited their turn, but Gemma knew a few would be watching. Merlin she didn't want to mess this up.

Gemma handed her signed declaration over to Mr Twycross who reviewed it and then stamped it. Then he stood in front of her. His wiry blond hair stuck out at all angles and his sharp nose made him look like he permanently disapproved of her. Maybe he did. Gemma suspected he wasn't a fan of students in general.

"Please recall the three D's Miss Arwin."

Gemma took a steadying breath. "Destination, Determination and Deliberation."

"Very good." Mr Twycross turned and took five deliberate steps away from Gemma. Then he turned. "Now, apparate to here Miss Arwin." He pointed to the spot next to his feet.

Gemma took another deep breath and thought back to the start of their lesson where Mr Twycross had shown them the hand movement. She then focused on those three D's. She was determined; she was going to reach her destination and Merlin she would do it deliberately.

Gemma closed her eyes and focused. Then everything went black and she felt like she was being pressed hard in every direction. But almost as quickly as the darkness and compression had arrived, it disappeared and Gemma found herself standing back in the Great Hall.

She wavered slightly on her feet, then registered a few things. Mr Twycross was now standing next to her, not in front of her; a handful of students were clapping and cheering; and she felt… intact.

Gemma did an immediate sweep of her body and was relieved to see she still had all her limbs, skin and hair. Then she turned to her friends and saw them all standing up smiling at her. Merlin's Beard; she had done it.

"Very good, Miss Arwin." Mr Twycross said, pulling her attention back to him. "In a moment we'll work on a slightly further distance. But first, you should sit back down. You might feel queasy for a while."

Gemma nodded and moved back to her seat, suddenly registering that she did indeed feel quite sick. As she took her seat, Alice handed her a glass of water. "Well done, Gemma. I don't envy you being one of the first up."

Gemma smiled as she took a healthy gulp of water. "Thanks. The joys of having a surname beginning with A."

Lily and Mary both came over, followed by the guys, to ask her about the experience. As she explained the strange feeling of being compressed, Sirius was called up. Gemma kept talking to Lily and Mary, but kept one eye on Sirius. She really hoped everyone was able to do it without injury.

As the day slowly rolled on, each student made two attempts to apparate. First over a distance of five steps, then a second time over a distance of ten steps. No one in their year was severely injured, but some did splinch parts of their arms, legs and skin; all repairable though.

Sirius and Peter both splinched a finger on their second attempts, while Gemma left behind the bottom half of her hair. Apparently the shorter look had suited her, but she had still been very happy when it had been reattached. James, Remus and Alice all splinched some skin from various parts of their bodies, and Lily had an unfortunate incident where she lost some of her shirt. Thankfully the cold weather meant she was wearing a vest underneath. Mary had decided against the course after reading the declaration; she was happy to just travel by Floo or broom.

After an enjoyable first session, they all headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

"What do you all think about Professor Hyde?" Alice asked, as they walked past their Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom. Professor Seymour had left after just one year – continuing the belief that the job was cursed – and Professor Hyde had been a new recruit. "And does anyone know what happened to Seymour? Why he left?"

Gemma shook her head with the others. "No idea. I spoke to him on the last day of term and he seemed set to return."

"Well." Mary turned to them all. "I heard from Kelly that Jeff had said that Franklin had heard that he'd had a family emergency. Apparently Jane's dad – Jane being Franklin's girlfriend of course - works with Seymour's wife and he hadn't seen her all summer."

"Merlin, I'm lost." Sirius muttered and Gemma smiled. She wasn't entirely sure she had followed that herself.

"Well, whatever the reason for Seymour leaving, Hyde seems nice." Lily said. "We've only had two classes with him though, so it's difficult to tell."

"I don't like him." James said.

Alice rolled her eyes and laughed. "That's because he told you off within the first ten seconds of being in class."

"No, it's because he ignored Smethyck being an absolute dick at the back of the class. He kept throwing little pieces of parchment at me like a child and Hyde ignored it."

"Hyde probably didn't see." Mary said.

"He saw." James scowled. "He was probably a Slytherin when he was here which means he's bad news."

Gemma laughed a little. "He was in Ravenclaw, actually."

Sirius turned to her. "How do you know that?"

"I asked him." Gemma had decided to properly introduce herself to the new Defence teacher, especially given the importance of her NEWT result for that class. She had wanted him to know her plans and that she would be grateful for any additional guidance. Seymour had always been willing to spend a little extra time with her. "Although I do agree with James that he seemed to let a few things slide in class. Garth was constantly talking to Snape during the lesson and Hyde didn't shut them up. It was really distracting."

"Maybe he's new to teaching and managing a class of difficult students." Lily said. "We're not always the easiest." She looked pointedly at James and Sirius who both pretended to be outraged.

James placed his hand on his chest. "Lily Evans, I am wounded. I'm Head Boy don't you know."

"Another mystery we'll never solve." Sirius muttered and they all laughed as James elbowed him.

When they arrived back at the common room, they each headed off to do their own thing. Gemma decided to get started on her latest Charms essay, so she headed over to a table by the fireplace.

After an hour or so, other students started to come back from class, so she left and went to the library. She took a seat next to Lily and Remus and worked through the rest of that essay, then made a start on her Potions one.

As with the start of their sixth year, Gemma was feeling the strain already. Classes were intense, assignments were being set after every lesson and typically with short deadlines, and they seemed to have one mock exam everyday. It had only been a week and Gemma was exhausted.

Sirius laid back on his bed and threw his cricket ball up in the air before catching it again. It had been a gift from Fleamont Potter; Fleamont loved the muggle sport and had tried to teach Sirius and James how to play it over the summer. The lessons hadn't gone well – they much preferred to be flying when playing games, not standing on the ground – but Fleamont had given Sirius a cricket ball regardless. Sirius liked the weight of it in his hand; he enjoyed throwing it up and catching it. It was therapeutic.

Remus sighed heavily, next to him. "I'm sorry, Peter. I know it's your birthday, but I really don't fancy being around so many people right now."

Peter leaned over and placed his hand on Remus's shoulder. "It's fine. I completely understand. We don't have to go downstairs. I'm happy up here, just the four of us."

It was Peter's birthday and usually they would play games in the common room and invite others to join. For all their birthdays, they typically became a mini party of sorts. But the full moon was closing in and Remus wasn't doing well. Sirius recognised the signs; Remus would withdraw, ask to be alone and then sit in darkness for hours, losing himself in his thoughts. While they never wanted to push Remus into an uncomfortable situation, they knew better than to leave him completely alone.

Remus shook his head. "You three go down. I'm ok on my own."

James stood up. "Nonsense. Us Marauders stay together, no matter what." Sirius sat up and nodded in agreement. James turned to Peter. "So, we play games up here. What do you fancy?"

Peter selected a few different games and the four of them played into the evening. It was almost midnight when they finished the final round of Magical Cribbage.

"That was fun." James said. "I haven't played it for years." They all nodded in agreement. James turned to Peter. "You having a good birthday?"

Peter smiled. "I am. Although I don't suppose you've got any cake hiding under your bed?" He laughed. "I missed out on pudding at dinner."

James looked at the time. "Damn. Too late to grab some from the Great Hall now."

"Could always grab something straight from the kitchen." Sirius suggested. He could eat some cake right now.

They'd discovered the kitchens in their second year and it had changed their lives; the joy of being able to grab anything they wanted without having to wait for it to make its way upstairs. They had dined like kings for days before they'd gotten sick from overeating.

"Great idea." James turned and grabbed his invisibility cloak, then threw it at Sirius. "Off you go."

Sirius stared at James in shock as the others laughed. "Why am I going?"

"Your idea." James grinned.

Sirius threw the cloak back at him. "Your cloak."

James simply shrugged. "You don't have to take the cloak."

Sirius frowned. Damn. He couldn't ask Remus to go, nor Peter as it was his birthday. And James was clearly being a lazy arse this evening. "Fine."

Sirius grabbed the cloak and pulled it around himself. He became invisible immediately. He walked towards their dorm door and opened it.

"Cheesecake please." Peter called from behind him.

"Strawberry." Remus added.

"With cream on top." James grinned then laughed as Sirius stuck his hand out of the cloak, gave them all his middle finger, then slammed the door shut behind him. Bloody idiots.

Less than an hour later, Sirius stepped back into the common room. It was gone midnight, which meant no one was around, but he kept the cloak around himself. James had very strict rules when wearing the cloak.

He looked down at the lemon cheesecake in his hand. He'd managed one request. And given Peter was the birthday boy, his request was the most important.

Sirius smiled as he remembered the thrill of stepping into the kitchens and trying to avoid all the house-elves. They had been busily rushing around and he had momentarily wondered if they ever slept. But then he'd caught sight of one house-elf carrying a perfect cheesecake towards the refrigerator. Sirius had tracked the little guy, and woven his way through the bodies and counters to get to him.

After creating a tiny distraction involving a tomato sauce spillage, Sirius had grabbed the cheesecake and tucked it under the cloak.

He was looking forward to tucking…

Sirius felt the sudden impact of crashing into something and the cheesecake slipped in his hands. He stumbled and dropped to his knees. Damn. He hadn't been paying attention.

A feminine gasp drew his attention to the person he had bumped into and he almost laughed at the look of horror on Gemma's face. She was sitting on the floor too, having obviously fallen backward from the impact. He followed her gaze though, and realised why she looked so horrified. His leg – only his leg – was sticking out of the cloak, no longer invisible. Merlin, she probably thought someone had been splinched.

Sirius dropped the cheesecake and ripped off the cloak, hoping to calm her down. Instead her gaze flew to his, flew to the cloak, and then back to his. Her look of surprise quickly turned into outrage as she punched him in the arm.

"Merlin's Beard, Sirius." She growled at him. "I'm sick of you appearing out of thin air. I'm going to die of a flipping heart attack long before being an Auror kills me."

Sirius frowned at some of her words, but focused on calming her down. "Sorry, Gem. Are you ok? Did I hurt you?"

They both stood and Gemma brushed dust from her pyjamas. Pyjamas he could now see were quite small. She was wearing shorts which revealed most of her slim legs, and a small vest top that revealed a tiny strip of skin at her midriff. He also noticed she didn't have a bra on. Merlin, he was in trouble.

"I'm fine." Gemma looked up at him and he focused on her face. Even though he really wanted to look elsewhere again. "Is that what I think it is?" She pointed to the cloak.

He picked it up. "What do you think it is?"

"An invisibility cloak."

"Then, yes."

Gemma shook her head, a small look of surprise on her face. "Did you guys make that as well?"

Sirius smiled. While it was possible to make an invisibility cloak – through enchantments or invisible thread – James's cloak seemed to be an entirely different creation. James himself didn't even know the true story behind its creation, but apparently his dad had promised to share the story one day. When James was older. "No, we didn't." Sirius replied. "It's James's. A family heirloom."

"And he lets you borrow it?"

Sirius smiled at the surprise in Gemma's voice. She obviously recognised the value of such an item. "Not often. And probably not again after this. It's supposed to be a secret."

Gemma bit her lip and scrunched her nose. "Sorry. I promise I won't tell."

He shrugged. "It's ok. He'll get over it." He glanced down at the cheesecake which was sitting in a mess on the floor. "He won't get over that though."

Gemma laughed. "Why do you even have cheesecake?"

"Peter's birthday. I snuck down to the kitchens to grab it for him." He lost the battle with himself and looked Gemma up and down. "What about you? What's got you out of bed so late?"

Gemma felt her cheeks heat as Sirius shamelessly looked at her in her pyjamas. Merlin, she was once again half naked in front of him.

Although in her defence, she had never expected to bump into anyone. She'd checked the common room before stepping around the corner and it had been empty. Or so she had thought. Damn them. They had an invisibility cloak too. Gemma was constantly amazed by those four guys.

"I left my book downstairs. Mary had started to feel ill so I helped her upstairs and she's only just stopped throwing up." Gemma was really worried about Mary. She'd gotten feverish straight after dinner, then had started coughing and eventually she'd thrown up. It had been a long evening in their dorm, with all of them telling her she needed to see Madam Pomfrey and Mary refusing. Gemma sighed. "I remembered while in bed that I'd left it down here and I didn't want anyone to take it. You know how first years are. They see something lying around and assume its fair game."

Sirius laughed then looked briefly around the room. "Let me guess; your Auror book."

Gemma smiled and stepped around him. "Yes." She grabbed it from the table and held it in front of her. It wasn't much of a shield from Sirius's gaze, but it gave her some protection. She turned back to him. "I should… head back upstairs."

Sirius nodded but neither of them moved. "You probably should."

For a long moment they stared at each other and Gemma shivered, but not from cold. She recognised the look in Sirius's eyes; she knew it from their encounter in the shack when he had kissed her. It was a dangerous look; full of heat and passion and desire. And suddenly, Gemma wanted to play with fire.

Pushing all her nerves and worries and inexperience aside, she closed the gap to Sirius, raised herself onto her toes, and kissed him.

It wasn't a good kiss. It was just her lips pressed against his. But she had no idea how to make it better. How to make it… exciting. His mouth remained shut and she still held her damn book in her arms which meant she couldn't reach out to him. Merlin, she had fucked this up.

As shame washed over her and she began to pull away, she felt Sirius move against her. His hands cupped her face, he turned her head and slanted his mouth over hers. He was taking control, and Gemma sighed in relief.

She felt the warm swipe of his tongue against her lips and she opened for him. He didn't hesitate. He probed inside her mouth, his tongue sliding against hers and a rush of heat washed over her. She moaned and pressed back with her own tongue.

Sirius responded immediately. One hand tightened around her nape while the other moved deliberately down her body. Gemma shivered as his hand brushed over her breast and her nipples tightened in anticipation. But he didn't linger. His hand kept moving until she felt her book being pulled from her hands. She let it go.

She heard the soft thud of it landing somewhere – the carpet; the sofa; she didn't care – then felt Sirius's hand return to her body. He wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her in to him.

He deepened the kiss. He reached every crevice of her mouth with his tongue as he held her still for his exploration. Gemma moved her hands, pressed them against his firm, muscled chest and felt the heat of him through his t-shirt. She ran her palms up his body to sit on his shoulders, then boldly ran her fingers through his hair. He groaned and she relished his response.

His lips left hers and she instantly missed the connection. Then he tilted her head up and pressed his mouth to her neck. Gemma gasped as new sensation ricocheted through her body. The warmth of his breath tickled against the sensitivity of her skin and liquid heat rushed to her core. She had never been so aroused.

Sirius continued to press hot, open-mouthed kisses down her neck and she held her breath as she felt his lips against her collarbone. She knew his destination, and while she was eager – desperate even – to know what it would feel like to have someone kiss her so intimately, the reality of her situation crashed through her mind.

They were in the common room. Anyone could come downstairs. Alice, who Gemma knew had still been awake when she had popped down for her book; any one of Sirius's friends, who were very likely still awake and waiting anxiously for their cheesecake.

"Sirius." She sounded out of breath. "Sirius, stop." She pushed against his neck and shoulders, and he slowly lifted his gaze to hers. Her knees wobbled at the intense stare of his piercing grey eyes.

Eyes which suddenly filled with concern. "Are you ok, Gem? Am I going too fast?"

Gemma shook her head. "No." She paused. "Well… yes. I just… I think we should stop."

Slowly Sirius untangled himself from her and Gemma hated the loss of his touch. "Sorry. I didn't mean to lose control."

"No, don't be sorry. I'm sorry. I was enjoying it, I just… I thought someone might come down and see us and… and I just… I thought we should… stop." Gemma frowned at herself. It seemed she could no longer string a sentence together.

Sirius smiled at her. "Ok. We stop. And you're right; the guys are probably wondering what's taking me so long."

Gemma nodded and turned to search for her book. She spotted it on the sofa, so she reached over to grab it and held it in front of herself again. Even though it was clearly a useless shield against her own crazy decisions. "I should go back upstairs."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. Me too." He bent and picked up the cheesecake, then raised it in the air. "The guys are going to hate me for this."

Gemma laughed a little. "They won't. And if they do, just tell them they should have gotten their own lazy arses out of bed to go get it themselves."

Sirius laughed loudly. "My exact thought earlier."

Gemma grinned then moved towards the stairs. "Goodnight, Sirius." She nodded towards the cheesecake. "Enjoy."

"Goodnight, Gem."

She headed up the stairs, her mind whirling over everything that had just happened. She had kissed Sirius; even though it had felt more like he had kissed her. But she had initiated it.

Her mind went back to their conversation at the top of the tower, before the summer holiday. He had made it sound so simple then, but could they really do this; kiss each other, then carry on being friends as if nothing had changed? And what if they took things further?

Gemma stepped into her dorm and climbed into bed. Her friends were asleep, thank Merlin, so she laid back and stared up into the darkness.

What had she gotten herself into?

The following afternoon, Gemma stepped into the Great Hall and was taken aback by the trampoline in the middle of the space. When Professor Flitwick had told them they would be learning Ascendio, Gemma hadn't expected this; she knew the charm involved flinging themselves high into the air, but she now wondered exactly how high they were expected to go.

"Come on, class." Professor Flitwick called from the front of the Great Hall. "Gather round. Gather round. Don't be shy."

They all moved forward and gathered themselves around the trampoline. Gemma stood next to Alice, who was bouncing on her toes.

"Frank told me about this last year. I thought he'd been exaggerating." Alice laughed quietly. "I can't wait!"

Gemma smiled, but couldn't respond as Flitwick started talking. "Ascendio is a powerful charm where the caster flings themselves high into the air. I hope you are all excited for a little bit of non-broom flying today." He chuckled and Gemma couldn't help but laugh with him. She'd never seen Flitwick so excited. "I will demonstrate, and then you will work in your pairs – without wands – to practice the motion and incantation. Then… you will fly!"

"Flitwick's excited isn't he?" Alice grinned.

"He really is."

Flitwick moved to the middle of the room, just in front of the trampoline, then raised his wand high. "Ascendio!" He suddenly propelled into the air and Gemma could see the glee on his face. He turned himself slightly, then fell back down and landed on the trampoline. "Simple." He called as he bounced.

They all cheered him as he climbed off the trampoline and made his way to the front of the room. Gemma could tell that everyone was excited to try. She didn't love flying, but this charm looked really fun.

"Now. In your pairs." Flitwick waved his hands at them. "I'll come round to each pair, one by one." He looked over at Peter. "Mr Pettigrew, please work with Mr Lupin and Miss Evans today." Mary was still unwell, so had stayed in bed.

"Have fun." Alice said over her shoulder as she bounced over to James. Sirius, who had been with James, started to make his way to her.

Gemma took a deep breath. They hadn't really spoken since last night – since their kiss – and she had no idea how awkward it was going to be. Sirius stopped in front of her and smiled. "James is already making bets on who can fling themselves the highest." He looked back over his shoulder and shook his head. "Idiot."

Gemma laughed. "Is he an idiot because he's making a bet, or an idiot because you're obviously going to fling yourself higher?"

Sirius grinned at her. "Good question. The latter, of course."

"Of course." Gemma smiled at him. "Come on, then. Let's practice."

They both did and found the whole thing incredibly easy. Gemma suspected the difficulty would come from being high in the air and needing to land on the trampoline, not on the hard wooden floor.

After laughing with each other – and their fellow Gryffindors – about how ridiculous they all looked just throwing their arm in the air and shouting 'ascendio', Flitwick finally came over to them. "Miss Arwin. Mr Black. Are you both ready?"

They nodded and followed Flitwick to the front of the trampoline. Gemma had watched a couple of students practice, but Sirius had kept her distracted with jokes and silly conversation, so she had missed most of it.

Flitwick turned to her and directed her to stand in a certain spot. "Miss Arwin, please."

Gemma stood where she was told, and got ready for flight. She took a steadying breath, threw a quick smile towards Sirius, then raised her wand high. "Ascendio!"

Gemma gasped as her whole body was quite literally flung high into the air. She experienced a quick moment of feeling like she was flying, like she did when outside on a broomstick, before she realised she was falling back down again. The sudden shift caused her to look around in alarm, and she was relieved to see the trampoline directly beneath her. Gemma embraced the fall, and bounced softly onto the mat.

"Well done, Miss Arwin." She heard Flitwick call up to her. "Please come down. You may try again in a moment."

Gemma shuffled to the edge and jumped down from the trampoline. Sirius grinned at her. "Good job, Gem."

"Thanks! Shame I didn't take that bet; I got really high." She looked up and reckoned she had made it to the tops of the windows. Easily.

Sirius laughed. "You didn't go that high."

She turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"You barely made it to the middle of the fireplace."

Gemma frowned and looked at the fireplace in question. It was a tall fireplace, but nothing compared to the tops of the windows. "Oh."

Sirius laughed again and nudged her arm. "Don't worry, you'll get another shot." Sirius quickly stepped into position in front of the trampoline and raised his wand. "Ascendio!"

Gemma watched in frustration as he flung himself high in the air – above the tops of the windows, damn him – then gracefully twisted and landed softly on the trampoline. He looked like he'd been doing it for years.

"Excellent, Mr Black." Flitwick jumped up and down in excitement and clapped his hands. "You have mastered it already. Well done."

Sirius grinned as he jumped down from the trampoline and Gemma fought the scowl she knew she was wearing. He just laughed at her. "You are such a sore loser."

"Shut up."

"Would you like to try again, Miss Arwin?" Flitwick invited her to stand in the same spot as before, so she moved into position.

She took another deep breath, ignored Sirius laughing at her, and raised her wand again. "Ascendio!" This time she knew she had gone higher. She felt it. She flung herself up and up and eventually, she felt herself fall. As she bounced and then stepped off the trampoline, she turned confidently to Sirius. "That was obviously better."

Sirius nodded but his smile told her everything. "Top of the fireplace."

"Fuck."

"Language, Miss Arwin." Flitwick frowned at her and she muttered an apology. Then he turned to Sirius. "Would you like to go again, Mr Black?"

Sirius paused for a moment, clearly considering the question. Which was stupid. Obviously he would go again. No one would miss the opportunity to keep trying; to keep improving. "No thanks." Sirius smiled smugly and Gemma knew that was aimed at her. "As you said, Professor; I've already mastered it."

Flitwick nodded. "Very well." Then he left to collect a second pair of students.

Gemma turned to Sirius who was looking far too pleased with himself. She folded her arms and stared at him, annoyed that he had not only managed to get so high the first time, but he had been so smug about it. And of course, a small part of her was impressed, but he could never know that. "I hate you." She was joking of course, and she knew he would know that too.

Sirius laughed loudly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, dragging her away from the trampoline and the next set of students. "I know you do, Gem. But now you know how I feel every time we duel."

Gemma smiled a little. She supposed she did beat him at a few other things. Maybe losing at this wasn't the worst thing. "Fine." She nudged into his side. "You can have this."

He laughed again. "Thanks. You're a very gracious loser."

It was late into the evening when Gemma suddenly realised that things between her and Sirius hadn't changed. Despite their heated kiss the evening before, they had carried on in lessons as usual and continued to be the close friends they were.

Gemma breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they could make it work after all.