A Gift Fic for Gen for her fantastic work in Round 8 of the Houses Competition. I present to you, Sirius Black, the spy. And Marlene. His Friday-night love story.
I had so much fun writing this, so I really hope everyone enjoys reading it just as much!
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Sirius crept out of bed, moving the covers ever so slightly so that Marlene wouldn't wake up. She stirred, but didn't move enough to cause him concern. So, he continued on. He grabbed his jeans from the floor, underwear, and the t-shirt that had been strewn over her dresser last night. His converse were by the door, that much he knew. He remembered kicking them off last night, holding Marlene close to him, and then running upstairs.
Unfortunately, it was time for him to leave. He had a job to do.
His shucked jacket still had the glock inside, strapped into the back of it. Things were better this way, where Marlene didn't know about his life or his job, but only knew him on Fridays when he could finally get a day off. Fridays he could allow himself to be in love with her.
Outside, it was raining. The glimmer of the above streetlamps was enough to allow him a few feet of sight, but beyond that the world was cloaked in darkness. It was something he was used to, working for Secret Intelligence. Sometimes the best stake-outs were the ones in the pitch black of night, and the most interesting fights were the ones you might be blind for.
His watched buzzed, almost imperceptibly. Once, pause, twice, then a longer, drawn-out vibration. That meant that his partner, James, was close by. He was there to pick him and up and then they were catching a plane to Berlin - or so his most recent briefing had stated. It could change at any time, and both of them knew that. They had been partners long enough and knew things about each other that regular partners in the Secret Service wouldn't. Like how James' wife was called Ginny, and how Sirius was far in love with his Friday night Marlene. James also knew that Sirius was afraid of committing to her, because of the job he worked - the job she didn't know about.
A growling car engine sounded a little ways off. James would be there soon.
The thing was, he was miserable when he wasn't around Marlene. Weekends were wasted time, Mondays were blue, Tuesdays and Wednesdays grey, and Thursday - well, that was a different story altogether.
Sirius never wanted to leave her behind. He wished every day was Friday, and that he could allow himself every day to love her, and to care for her, and to… To just be with her. But it wouldn't work, not in his field of expertise. He was all about guns and fighting and espionage. He was lies. He was pain. He was everything that Marlene didn't deserve.
Inside the house, a light flicked on, catching his attention. He spun around and saw. The bedroom light. And a figure, inside, moving around the room, and then exiting. He heard her bound down the stairs, saw her caught in the pale moonlight behind the front door. She turned, then back again, and then she opened the door, stepping out into the cool night air.
"Sirius?" she asked in a whisper, shivering. "What are you doing?"
"Getting some air," he replied, hating himself for the instant lie.
"You're leaving, aren't you?"
He felt his stomach sink, lower than it had done before. Marlene was an all-new kind of torture. The aching pain of love, and the horror of lying to her. He hated doing this, and he hated doing it to her.
"Sirius, why do you always leave?" she asked, moving closer to him. "Always. Fridays. We have a wonderful time, you are so charming, and then you're gone when I wake up, every time, every week. The rest of the time, I have no idea where you are or what you're doing, and it confuses the hell out of me."
"I'm sorry," he said, wiping a hand over his face.
"And yet you'll do the same next week."
She sighed when there was no answer from him.
"If I'm just your Friday Night girl, you can tell me," she went on, throwing her hands up. "It's not going to hurt me to know. I just, I need to know what I am to you. I'm a person with feelings, and I have those feelings for you, and they're not going away anytime soon. I just need to know what's going on here. Who am I?"
Sirius could hear the car pulling up, halfway down the road. His watch vibrated again, a reminder of the deadline quickly approaching when he would have to leave and move onto the next mission. But Marlene… She was there, in front of him, begging for answers.
He had to go.
"Can we talk about it next week?" he asked. "Please. I have… I have to go. Meet me in Covent Garden, next Friday at 2pm. Please."
After pressing a swift kiss to her cheek, Sirius took off down the road, into the night, leaving Marlene to stand in the cold, alone.
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Thanks for reading!
