Disclaimer: No I am not insanely rich, with adoring fans nor do I live in Britain. I am merely an insomniac 17 year old who is trying out writing. Hence, I am not the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
"Alright everyone, we need to raise 100 galleons by the end of this month if we want that Arabian Night themed Christmas Ball," James told the prefects with the same tone he used with his Quidditch team. "That gives us 27 days, so we need to get baking. For starters, we need to make sure the house elves don't make anything too nice for everyone, that way they'll all be craving something sweet. I can take care of that" He said with a glint in his eye. "And no Gordon, we can't just ask the house elves to make the food so we can sell it – I already asked Dumbledore." There was a collective laugh from the group.
After finishing up all the details of the prefect meeting James left the room in search of Lily who had to miss the meeting due to an urgent call home. She should be back soon, he thought. As James made his way around the corner he smirked, spotting Sirius arm-in-arm with a short black-haired girl with too much make up and too little clothing. By the look on Sirius' face he was getting increasingly tired of having to smile and agree with everything she was saying at top speed.
"Jamie boy!" Sirius said loudly, cutting off the girl's rant on the latest fashion. "I heard you wanted to discuss important news with me … Sorry – ah Megan was it? I'd better get going, it was nice meeting up" He finished with a large smile.
James' smirk widened as they continued walking, leaving the dejected looking girl behind. "What's wrong Padfoot? I thought getting girls to shut up was your speciality. Going rough around the edges are we?" He mocked. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I honestly tried everything, but as soon as we were done snogging she acted like we were going out or something" He said, exasperated. "Oh don't look at me like that Prongs, the birds should know by now that I don't do dating"
Shaking his head amusedly, James asked Sirius if he knew where Lily was.
"I don't know mate, although I did hear Mars and Meadows talking about her back in the common room – something about Evans having to stay longer at her place. They sounded upset." He replied.
"What?!" James yelped. "And you didn't think to mention this earlier? For all we know something terrible could've happened to Lily. When did you see them?"
"Woah woah Prongs, calm down. Lily can take care of herself. Check the map; they should still be in the common room." Sirius said slowly. If there was one thing certain, it was James' over protectiveness for Lily.
Making their way through the portrait hole, James saw Marlene and Dorcas by the fire, a pile of homework and library books between them. They looked up as the boys approached, who could tell that Dorcas had been crying. When he saw that Marlene was probably on the verge, James panicked. Marlene never cried.
"What happened to Lily?" He demanded loudly. Marley spoke up first, her voice only giving away a hint of helpless ness.
"We just got a letter from her. Her parents passed away James."
There was a stunned silence from both James and Sirius. Dorcas sniffed quietly.
"Wh – What?" Sirius asked. He couldn't think of a more horrific thing to happen to Lily, who was probably the kindest person he knew. Without warning, James strode up to the boys dormitories and came down with a lumpy bundle tucked in his arm.
"I'll be back in two weeks. Padfoot, tell Moony and Wormtail I'll see them soon." He quickly said, before kissing Marlene on her forehead, giving a comforting hug to Dorcas and slapping Sirius on the back. He was out the portrait hole before any of them could digest what had just happened.
Sirius blinked stupidly before resigning with a sigh. He sat down on the couch between the two girls and kicked his legs up on the table.
"Get your filthy shoes off the table Black," Marlene bit out, perhaps harsher than she'd intended. "We're trying to work." But by the amount of ink on her parchment, they hadn't got any done. Sirius ignored her and closed his eyes, trying to steady himself from the anger that was slowly building up. He wasn't going to take it out on his friends, who were barely holding it together. The Evans were the sweetest family albeit Petunia. Every year on September 1st without fail, Mrs Evans would bake a large plate of her famous brownies and the girls would all come early to share them, all the while complimenting Mrs Evans on out doing herself once again and joking around with Mr Evans. Sirius didn't know Lily's parents as well as her friends, but that didn't matter. Lily clearly loved them and the thought of her shaking body and whimpering screams sent a shiver as cold as ice through him.
A few moments of silence passed before the portrait hole opened once more and Remus and Peter strolled in laughing about something, their arms filled with cakes, tarts, pies, sweets and biscuits.
"Hey guys!" Peter greeted them jovially "We thought we should stock up on food because apparently James is going to convince the house elves to –". He abruptly stopped talking as he felt Remus's pointy elbow jab his ribs. Wincing, Peter realised that the small group in front of him looked as if they'd never be cheerful again.
"Evans' parents died," Sirius said sounding almost bored, not bothering to sugar coat anything. This, Remus thought, was worse that screaming or crying. Sirius was bottling up his emotions and it would only end disastrously. Remus had had his fair share of experiences with death. His father had passed in his third year and his grandparents in the year before starting Hogwarts. Peter on the other hand, was looking baffled – as though death should be kept in the prophets or in novels. He couldn't quite comprehend the severity or the cruelty, having only his mother and cousins as family. His mother never married nor mentioned any father, and so Peter had lived his life with no sudden terrible news or fatalities.
"We need a distraction," He muttered, looking down. When no one responded, he took it as encouragement, "Lily will come back when she feels ready, and moping around won't be helping anyone. Moony was telling me about the Christmas Ball, and I think we should help Prongs and the prefects raise the gold." Peter's voice was growing more confident with each word. Remus and Dorcas were both looking at him as though he had turned into James himself, and Peter felt the warmth in his cheeks. This was one of the few times where he might have had a good idea. Marlene and Sirius however, continued to stare at the ground.
There was an awkward pause before Marlene spoke. "James left for Lily just before. He won't be back for a fortnight." Her voice sounded so dejected, Peter thought.
"All the more reason to help out," Remus said quietly. Peter let out a breath of relief. Remus could handle them now.
Sirius eyes suddenly flashed. "Moony, I honestly couldn't give a fuck about the stupid Ball right now." He crossed his arms and glared at Peter. Peter felt himself go red and shrank back, but Remus had placed his hand on Peter's shoulder bracingly.
"Sirius don't you realise, this is the perfect time for a ball. Lily doesn't know anything about it, because it was decided only two days ago. What better way to cheer Lily up if not throw a dance to get the school buzzing again? Everyone is going to hear about Lily sooner or later and we all know how it will make her feel to come to a school full of sympathy stares and whispers of false condolences from people who couldn't give a rats fart!" Remus finished with a huff. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marlene giving him a small nod.
"I agree," she said with a small smile to Peter. "Anyways, Lily loves dancing, and this would be able to get her mind of things for a bit." She turned towards Sirius now, who had gone back to burning holes in the carpet. "Sirius we need your help too." She said softly.
It seemed as though when Marlene said his name, Sirius' surprise caused him to look up at her, his hostile expression fading into one of indifference. Slowly he nodded and muttered "Okay".
Feeling a little more light hearted, the group reached in to the table where the food now lay, and began eating; laughing when the cream dripped down Peter's chin and Dorcas' guttural moan as she bit into chocolate éclairs. She giggled softly as a blush rose up her cheeks. Remus grinned and handed her another. After some silly banter and a much smaller pile of food, the five students decided to head to bed early; they had some planning to do the next day.
To everyone's surprise early next morning, Sirius bounded down the stairs to the common room with his usual smirk and twinkling eyes.
"Right, I'm going to go convince the house elves to hold back on the sugar. Moony old chap, I need you to tell the other prefects about Prongs. Mars and Meadows, some advertisements please? We need them around the castle. Ask Moony about prices and stuff, because I for one, don't know shit about that. Wormy, you're coming with me." Sirius had decided to take charge over this, as it was currently the only thing keeping him from punching somebody. Marlene had one eyebrow raised, and Sirius waited for her to correct him on the nickname she claimed she hated – but before she could, Dorcas pulled her away with an "Aye, aye Captain!"
Remus smirked slightly, muttered "Looks like our Marley convinced you pretty well, then" before sauntering away. Sirius started to wonder what Remus meant by that, but quickly remembered his own job. Dragging a slightly anxious Peter with him, Sirius walked with determination. He didn't know why, but Peter certainly had a way with house elves. Sirius knew how friendly the elves were, but couldn't help but be a little wary from his experience with Kreacher.
Convincing the house elves to stop making the food that the Hogwarts residents loved was harder than expected, but after assuring them that it was for a cause they agreed, on the condition that the kitchen would at least provide them with the ingredients – to which Peter and Sirius graciously accepted.
They came back into the common room to find Dorcas, Remus and Marlene sitting in a quiet corner with pastel colour papers surrounding them.
Dorcas looked up when she saw them approach. To answer her questioning look, Sirius nodded "All good." Dorcas smiled and handed him one of the posters. It was a pastel green colour and had a large picture of a pumpkin pasty. Underneath, it said in big bold writing 'Got a sweet craving? Or maybe a secret guilty pleasure that involves whipped cream? Come down to the entrance hall after dinner for cakes, biscuits, tarts and pies! Look out for the fittest group in the school (the 7th year Gryffindors of course) for your own at only 10 sickles each every day'
Sirius grinned down at the others. "Who wrote the whipped cream part?" He asked with a laugh. He got his answer when Marlene returned the laugh and winked, with a sparkle in her dark blue eyes. He looked around the floor again and saw at least 50 of the posters; all different colours, with a different desert on each. He nodded, impressed before pulling out his wand and flicking it while thinking of a spell. The posters winked up at him, now glittering faintly. Peter grinned at him appreciatively from his spot on the armchair as the foods now looked even more real.
"Are they done?" He asked. After Remus confirmed with a nod, Sirius waved his wand again, and watched as most of the posters disappeared with a pop. Two remained however; one flew up to the notice board and pinned itself up while the other hung itself up between the doors of the dormitory walls.
"Where did you send them?" Dorcas asked curiously.
"Two in each common room and staffroom. Seven in the great hall, three in the entrance hall, fifteen along the rails of all the staircases and fifteen in corridors. I've charmed them to stay till we decide to take them down" Sirius answered briskly, proud of himself. After all, he and James were the brightest students in the school. Dorcas gaped, and Remus rolled his eyes as if to say 'show off'. Sirius puffed his chest out and bowed deeply, eliciting a small giggle from Marlene. Se quietened down as soon as it had escaped but Sirius noted its presence smugly before it did.
Sirius was walking down to the kitchen feeling rather peckish. There was a roster of prefects who were making the cakes and pastries, plus Dorcas, Marlene and himself of course. It had been a week since the deserts had gone on sale, but at the rate they were going, it would take another month to raise the gold. They needed a little extra; something to really get the sales going. Sirius hummed quietly to himself thinking. His hand flicked to his pocket, where he had his pot. Smoking always did clear his head. Deciding that it wasn't worth getting confiscated, he left his hand in his pocket, still fingering the fancy box that held it.
Arriving at the portrait of the bowl of fruit, Sirius reached out and tickled the pear. The portrait swung open, revealing the large interior. The tables were at their usual places and the house elves were bustling around, probably preparing dinner. Walking in, Sirius was about to greet his favourite elf (Knobby) when he heard someone curse.
Smirking at the familiar voice he turned around. Marlene McKinnon had her back turned to him and was inspecting a large bowl. In one hand she had a large stained book and the other, which was making small movements, held her wand. Sirius hadn't bothered to figure out who was baking when, but evidently, Marlene had the Saturday evening block.
"Well well, are my eyes deceiving me or are you actually trying to cook?" Marlene snapped her head around when she heard him speak, and scowled even deeper at his sight.
"It's actually baking, Black. And you wouldn't know anyway, I doubt you've ever tried anything that doesn't involve alcohol or pranking."
"You wound me dearest Mars," Sirius said with an air of anguish, clutching his heart.
"Bite me," Marlene snapped, turning back to her book.
Dropping the façade, Sirius crept up from behind her and nipped her neck, his teeth pinching the smooth skin – and making sure to wrap his arms around hers to pin them to her sides. Marlene dropped her book and yelped. She might have castrated him if her arms were loose.
"SIRIUS! What are you doing? And don't answer that!" Marlene sure had a loud voice, Sirius was pleased to note. A smile crept up to his face as he imagined her screaming his name out loud in a very different situation. "Trust you to take something like that literally" She scoffed – most likely to herself. Suddenly she froze, having just realised that Sirius' arms were still around her. Her heart started beating faster, and the pulse point on her neck where he had bitten was throbbing, as if the vessel was threatening to burst open. Marlene's breaths grew raspy, and she felt his by her ear.
And then just as he'd grabbed her, Sirius let go. Marlene let out a shaky breath before composing her expression to one of annoyance. She was NOT about to let him see her feelings – feelings which were buried deep but had been creeping back up, unbeknownst to her. With a small sigh, Marlene bent down to pick up her book. Before she could however, Sirius had already brought it back up.
Settling down on the table, he propped open the book, frowned as if trying to decipher a complicated rune and closed it again. Marlene snickered.
"Have I just witnessed Sirius Black trying to read for the first time?"
"Shut it, you," He said immaturely. Throwing the book aside ("Hey – I was using that!") he rubbed his hands together with an excited expression. "So what are we cooking?" he asked.
"Baking," Marlene corrected him automatically. "I'm baking brownies, but I can't seem to get the batter right" She finished with a frustrated sigh. As if a switch flicked, her expression brightened "Oh I know! I'll write to Mrs Evans, she'll –". And as if that same switch was flicked again, Marlene's grin faded into a small cry. Her eyes widened and her hands began shaking. Without giving it much thought, Sirius leapt forward and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. In fact his grip was so strong that Marlene started laughing and choking simultaneously. He let go and placed both hands on her shoulder, steadying her small frame.
"Sorry," Sirius chuckled softly. He leaned back up against the table. Marlene nodded, and smiled faintly.
"She was a really happy woman, Mrs Evans; always mothering us, stuffing us with those god damn brownies. So was Mr Evans – happy I mean. They were happy. I spent most of my summers at Lily's place. Mine's always a little too full, you know." Marlene wasn't crying. But by the tone she was using, she might have just had five hours' worth of wailing and had finally calmed down. Sirius didn't say anything. He just watched her face. Her waist length blonde hair was tied back loosely, and strands of it were falling in her face, some dusted with sugar. She had a sort of tan complexion. Not enough to make it seem like she played a great deal of outdoor sport, but enough to give her a sunny glow. Her cheeks had lost all the rosy colour it held only last week and her lips were chapping. At first glance, Marlene didn't look like she was grieving. Hell, she seemed almost happy. But she wasn't, Sirius realised. She'd been hiding her emotions and fooling everyone else.
Marlene quickly shook herself and put both hands on her hip, tilting her head and tapping her foot. She brought one of her hands up to her chin and leaned forward into the bowl, eyebrows furrowed. Sirius shoved both his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do. His hands found the small stash of pot, and a slow smile was brought to his face. He pulled his hand out, this time with a little fancy box. He walked closer to Marlene and nudged her with his foot subtly. Marlene glanced up at him, her questioning expression turning wary at the look of his mischievous one.
Checking to make sure the elves were still busy with their own jobs, Sirius popped open the lid, revealing its contents. Marlene gasped, a smirk developing on her small lips. She looked up at him, this time with a wide grin.
"No" she whispered, her royal blue eyes matching his ash grey ones.
"Oh yes" Sirius said. "These will get everyone to keep on buying those brownies, no matter how awful they might taste." He got a light push on the chest for the jab at her baking skills, but otherwise, Marlene just raised her eyebrows.
"Please tell me you aren't planning on getting the whole school high on marijuana? Not saying that the sight won't be entertaining, but it's kind of illegal."
"Shhhh, not so loud Mars," Sirius said, glancing casually around to make sure they weren't heard. "And 'course not; just enough to give a slight buzz. You know as well as I do how addicting that feeling is" he winked. Marlene rolled her eyes and dipped two fingers into the box. She added a decently heaped pinch of the spliff into the large bowl, and began humming a tune that Sirius recognised from the popular wizarding band, the Confundus Calibrations. He swiftly closed the lid and stuffed the box back into his pocket. Marlene quickly stirred in the new ingredient, now with an innocent smile of her face. Only her eyes could tell the truth. Waving her wand one last time, the batter poured itself into a big tin and flew into the large oven.
With a satisfied sigh Marlene briskly dusted her hands and joined Sirius, who had been watching her the whole time. "This would technically be your fault if we get caught, you know." He noted. Marlene raised her eyebrows in obvious disbelief. "These were made in your time slot, so it would be traced back to the baker and as far as anyone's concerned you were down here all by your guilty self." He continued. Sirius was trying to hold back the laughter as Marlene's face became redder by the second.
"What – no, Black– the house elves – " She spluttered but Sirius cut her off casually.
"Yes, the house elves love me. I'm a regular visitor, you see"
Marlene gaped and her face started going a deep purple. Sirius' lips began twitching and before he could stop himself, burst out laughing. "Ah Mars, you insult my honour. Would you really think I'd blame it all on you and miss the opportunity to up Prongs in detention numbers? I'm devastated to find out you think so little of me," He said, wiping away an imaginary tear of mirth.
Marlene's gape of panic turned into one of embarrassment and she shut her mouth quickly. Reaching behind her, she rearranged her facial expression into a sultry smile. Moving closer to the still laughing Sirius she placed her free hand on his arm, causing him to look up and suddenly stop howling. His eyes widened as she leaned into his ear and whispered "Oh Black, I really am sorry about that. I don't know what came over me. Of course, you belong in Gryffindor – and practically reek of honour and loyalty. How silly of me! How will I ever make it up to you, hmm?"
He blinked a few times, still registering the implication of her words. Only missing a beat, Sirius smirked and turned his face slightly bringing his voice down to a whisper.
"Surprise me"
He saw Marlene cock an eyebrow teasingly – the next thing he saw was her shoulder moving until – splat. Wincing, Sirius's smirk turned into a grimace as Marlene lost her sly composure and bent over, laughing. Reaching up to his head which now felt slightly bruised, his fingers made contact with something wet and smooth; egg. Shaking the muck off his head violently, Sirius made a grab onto the nearest item of food, seeking revenge. Feeling something in his hand, he wasted no time in pivoting it towards Marlene. Landing right on target, she now looked as if she had aged 80 years. Marlene's laughing stopped abruptly. Shocked at first, she soon replaced her expression with a wide grin.
"You asked for it Black, this is war!" Marlene briskly took two steps, until she was about a foot away from Sirius. Leaning her head forward so she was looking directly at his feet, she mussed up her now white hair, causing the flour to migrate to his black 'Sex Pistols' t-shirt.
"Hey!" Sirius laughed, before bending over Marlene and wrapping his arms around her waist. With ease he picked her up, so her legs were in the air and her head near his knee.
"Put me down, Sirius!" She yelped, slapping his calf muscle hard. This only caused him to jump back in pain, his left foot getting caught in a large container of pumpkins nearby. With a great clang, the teenagers came crashing down, screaming and laughing simultaneously. Sirius landed square on Marlene, but she didn't seem to mind. Still laughing, Marlene seemed to be oblivious to the noise they had just made.
She also seemed to be oblivious to the look that Sirius was giving her. It was a thoughtful one. He looked curiously at her red face, seen under the light coat of white. Her mouth was open wide, eyes shut tightly and a small tear of mirth was escaping her right eye. She turned her head slightly, opening her eyes as she calmed down. Her pink lips formed an 'O' of shock but the happiness didn't leave her eyes. Turning around to follow her sight, Sirius spotted three small elves running to them, angry looks on their faces.
Scrambling to their feet as quickly as possible, Marlene and Sirius stumbled out apologies that didn't sound very sincere – probably because both were sporting Cheshire grins.
"Out!" screamed an elderly elf. "Miss and Master, Hokke is sorry but the house elves have lots of work to be getting on with, and Hokke cannot let youse make such a racket!" Hokke continued sternly. His accomplices helped him usher the two out the portrait, allowing Marlene to shout out a quick request for a house elf to remove the brownies in 30 minutes. After hearing a faint "Certainly Miss!" from Knobby, the portrait shut tightly.
There was a quiet moment between the two as they caught their breaths, until their eyes met and they dissolved into laughter once more.
"This war isn't over Black. You wait, I'll get you back!" Marlene weakly tried to threaten, leaning on the wall behind her. She tilted her head back and emitted a quiet laugh. After not receiving a response from Sirius, she looked back down, to find him coming closer. He was a mere two inches away from her when he leaned in with a smile. If Marlene wasn't paralysed with both excitement and fear, she might have noticed that this was one of the rare occasions where Sirius' smile was genuine. The corners of his lips were lifted as naturally as if he was unaware. The corners of his eyes crinkled and for moment his pupils seemed to dilate. But before she could be sure, the orbs of grey were covered and she felt his eyelashes caress her cheek.
His lips were softer than she might have imagined – gentler. But that might have been his way of asking permission, because when she quickly granted it by enveloping his bottom lip with both of hers, they felt a lot stronger. His body pressed up against hers, and she let a small moan escape as she brought her arms up to rest them on his shoulders. Sirius' hands found her hip bones and lightly kept one there, slowly bringing the other up to her small waist. Sliding it to the small of her back, he pulled Marlene even closer, all the while kissing her as though he'd been waiting to do so for a millennium.
They didn't know how long they were there; licking, sucking, pecking and biting. Sirius felt his head throb as his heart worked double time. He could feel Marlene's fingers laced through his hair as he let his teeth graze over the same spot he'd playfully bitten not two hours ago. Feeling the patch of skin quiver in slight pain, Sirius let his tongue trace a circle before sucking hard. That was going to leave a mark, he smirked with satisfaction.
Her small frame was trembling in anticipation when Sirius inched his hand up her skirt. He traced patterns on her inner thigh as his lips followed the path of her collar bone. She pulled his face back up and began kissing his jaw, her hands clutching onto the neck on his shirt, encouraged by the stiffness that was rubbing against her stomach.
"I can't bloody wait till you get me back, McKinnon." Sirius said huskily, licking his lips. Marlene could feel his breath in her ear as she giggled quietly and allowed him to pull on her ear. She wrapped her arms around his neck tighter, before both heard the unmistakable sound of heels clicking against the stone floor, down at the end corridor. With a quiet gasp Marlene snapped her head around to the direction of the noise.
"Fuck," Sirius angrily swore before grabbing her hand and taking them both down the opposite way, as fast as possible away from the clicking which was now at a higher frequency. Finding a spot on the wall nearby Sirius brought out his wand out and tapped it twice. A small alcove opened up with enough space for the two to cram in. Just as the wall closed back around them, Marlene caught a glimpse of a disbelieved, make-up filled face, before groaning internally and dropping her head on her companion's shoulder in defeat. There was a small window in the alcove that let a small amount of moonlight through. It was then Marlene and Sirius realised how late it must be. Marlene couldn't help the blush rise at the thought of how long they'd been making out, and turned her face away from the light. She noticed that Sirius' hand was still clamped tightly over her own, and the other was at her head, tucking a stray strand of blonde-white hair behind her ear. She glanced up at his eyes and found them to be curious once more. His thumb traced along her jawline, pausing at a small freckle. His eyes flicked back up to her eyes, his own face still unsmiling.
"Do you know who that was?" He asked quietly. Marlene nodded her head.
"Rita Skeeter"
"Well fuck. The whole school is going to find out." Sirius definitely looked angry now.
"What, ashamed to be seen with me Black? Well I'll have you know that it's just as embarrassing for – " He swiftly cut her off with a look. Marlene rolled her eyes. When was she becoming the immature one? Luckily, Sirius decided to ignore the defensiveness she'd sent from her own insecurities and instead spoke quietly, eyes staring at the crescent moon.
"Mars, I don't know what to do right now, but if there's one thing that I know for sure is that you deserve so much more than a player." He sighed in defeat.
"You're right. I do deserve more." Marlene said surely. "But correct me if I'm wrong Sirius – I'm more to you than some cheap girl to fuck with. I'm your friend, no matter how much we bicker; you wouldn't be doing this with a friend – unless there's something James isn't telling me" Sirius let out a weak chuckle but let her continue. "I personally couldn't care less how many girls can brag about how good you are in bed. I know I'm better than all of them, and you do too." She finished with a grim smile. Sirius had to admire the confidence she radiated. She positively glowed with it. And perhaps that was why it was so easy for him to fall for her, he realised. He'd been attracted to Marlene since third year, but it taken him another four years to see the woman she'd grown into. He locked eyes with her again, ash grey with royal blue.
"Okay." Was all he said. Marlene smiled and leaned her head on his chest as they slid down the wall. The thing Marlene loved about Sirius was that he challenged her. She loved him as a friend, but lately she'd begun to fall in love with him. He wasn't her prince charming, and she sure as hell didn't need one. She needed a companion. Someone who wouldn't take away all her pain and obstacles, but would tell her that she could handle it – believe that she was capable of taking on the world with her own two hands because that was just the kind of woman she was. She needed to be loved without the attached feeling of ownership. She didn't know it yet, but Sirius ticked all the boxes and more.
He was still holding her hand, and it felt good. It felt right. Not constricting, but comfortable. They stayed there way past curfew, and sometime after midnight, Marlene kissed the corner of Sirius's mouth and suggested they shower and go to bed.
"Want to join me?" Sirius asked teasingly.
"The shower or the bed?" Marlene asked innocently before flouncing away with a quiet laugh. Sirius grinned. This was why they would work, he thought. She could take a god damn joke. She could play the good girl, but come out as the cunning vixen within 3 seconds. She was brilliant, and beautiful and imperfect; which ironically made her perfect for Sirius.