So this is my second Marauder fic, purely because I'm getting a little obsessed by them.
Please review, and for the person who wanted me to post Marlene's letter to Sirius from You're In My Veins it should be up by the end of the week. :)
It was a peaceful Saturday morning in the Potter household, James was in his room, pondering on the ways in which he could ask Lily Evans out that year while he played absently with the snitch fluttering above his head, reaching out and grabbing it with lighting reflexes.
He had been dressed for hours, just lounging around in his room wearing blue jeans and grey T-shirt, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and his ever scruffy black hair sticking out every which way, the way it always did.
In was late August, only two days away until he'd once again be boarding the train at Platform 9 ¾ and returning to school for his sixth year to create all kinds of mischief. His trunk was packed, all his new books arranged as neatly as he could manage, his clothes piled in after them and his owl, Ignotus, sat contently in his cage.
Next door, James could hear the movement of his brother through the wall and looking at the clock the read 14:35 and knew it was about the time when Sirius would wake up.
"Boys!" James heard his mother shout from downstairs "It's time the two of you were awake, they'll be here soon!" she called again, but James didn't reply, she wouldn't expect him to. Snatching the snitch and putting it back into his pocket, James walked into the hall way. His house in Godric's Hollow wasn't especially large, with only four bedrooms – two for which were for guests before Sirius moved in last Christmas. Everything was clean and family pictures hung on every wall, the laughing and smiling faces looking at James kindly as he walked to the bedroom next to his own.
James didn't bother knocking; he never did, and instead just strolled straight into his brother room. To say the bedroom looked like a war zone was and understatement. Sirius had only been living here since the spring, yet he'd very quickly made himself at home. The floor was covered with clothing, some clean and folded, some not, the wardrobe having still not been used. The walls were a cream-white colour and currently coated in all manner of posters from Muggle motorbikes to posters of bikini-clad muggle women and posters of bands that James had never seen or heard of. None of the posters – James realised – were moving.
Looking across the bombsite of the room, his eyes fell upon the double bed in the centre of the room pushed back against the far wall and beneath the window that was obscured by such thick curtains that barely any sunlight managed to fight its way through.
Smirking lightly to himself, James grabbed the nearest thing to him and threw it at Sirius's head. Lucky for Sirius it was only a pillow. The other boy bolted awake, sitting up straight, his grey eyes wide and alert, the covers falling to show his toned naked chest.
"Do you ever sleep with clothes on, Pads?" James asked, trying not the laugh as Sirius scowled at him. Sirius was far from a morning bird, the only reason he ever woke up before noon was either for Quidditch or to sneak out of some girls bed before she woke up and begged him to stay.
"Fuck off, Prongs." He grumbled, rubbing his hands over his slightly stubbled face, pushing his shaggy black hair out of his eyes. Sirius, unlike James, seemed to have a careless handsomeness to him, the groggier he looked, the more women seemed to become interested. Perhaps it was the devil-may-care smirk or the rebellious attitude, but something made girls swoon over Sirius Black, most of them would sell their souls just for one night alone with him, and Sirius never was one to say no.
"Time to get up, we've got family round in a bit." He said, turning to leave the room, hearing several of Sirius's extensively colourful vocabulary as he went.
"Morning, James." His mother said, smiling kindly at him from beneath her glasses, "Or should I say afternoon?" she said, half hearting at being disapproving, but James heard his father laughing at the table and his mother's stern façade cracked. "Is Sirius up yet?" she asked, putting a plate of sandwiches onto the table, pushing her wild brown hair behind her ears as she did so.
"What do you think?" James asked, grabbing the first sandwich he saw, hardly fussy about what was inside it as his father laughed again and his mother rolled her eyes.
Elise and Richard Potter were the exact image of a perfect family. Elise was beautiful, even with age, with her long, black hair the same colour as James's falling down her back, perfectly straight and her soft grey-blue eyes. Aside from the black hair and need for glasses, James was the spitting image of his father, with his scruffy hair that didn't do anything you tried to made it do and his hazel eyes.
"You boys and your sleep." She said, busying herself with washing the knives she'd used to cut the bread from the loaf she'd made. Elise was a fantastic cook, whatever she made was exquisite, and people could hardly get enough of it. More than once she'd taken cakes to the Christmas fete at the church in Godric's Hollow, only to receive such praise she'd gone home to make even more.
Just then, Sirius stumbled into the kitchen, finally having managed to locate some proper clothing. His hair was wet, sticking out wildly from where he'd rubbed it with a towel to dry it quickly. If no one had known about Sirius Black, they could easily have passed him off for being one of the Potters, he had the same grey eyes as Elise only without the shades of blue and his thick, shaggy black hair resembled hers in quite a surreal way.
As it happened, Sirius Black was not apart of this family, at least not by blood. He'd grown up in one of the most notorious wizarding family's there was, with their pureblood supremacy and their tendency towards the dark arts. Sirius was the oldest of Walburga and Orion Black's sons, only to far from fit their standards. He was arrogant, but in a different, more approachable way, he was shady and mysterious but in a way that attracted you, not scared you away and above all, he was a Gryffindor, a lion locked in a house full of snakes. He never belonged there.
And so in the Easter holidays of last year, when the arguments, and in some cases duelling, had become far too much for Sirius he had run away into the cold world, leaving the bitter family that had shunned and abandoned him behind, and going to the one place he knew he belonged. He went to the Potters, the only place he had ever felt loved. Elise and Richard had welcomed the boy with open arms and had since forth treated him like he was their second son, and Sirius loved them for it.
"Someone had a late night." Elise said, looking as Sirius with a stern yet friendly look on her face, he looked at her with the charming apologetic smile he often used to worm his way out not doing his homework.
"You should know him well enough by now." Richard said, laughing slightly as he winked at Sirius from behind his copy of the Daily Prophet, Sirius grinned back.
"Well you could at least go and get dressed properly before the McKinnon's arrive." Elise said and James smirked into his sandwich.
"The McKinnon's?" Sirius enquired, grabbing a sandwich and taking a large bite.
"Yes, my sister Freya is coming over with her family so we can see them before they go to Hogwarts again. It's Drew's first year." Elise said proudly.
"So, you're Scottish?" Sirius asked curiously, looking at Elise who smiled down at him.
"Yes, I met Richard at school and then we moved here, I thought you knew this, Sirius?" Elise asked, slightly confused. Sirius just shook his head.
"It's not really my business." He said before eating the crust of his sandwich in one bite. "Great food, Elise." He praised "I'm going to get dressed." He said and disappeared up the stairs, Elise staring after him.
"What's up, Mum?" James asked, going for his fourth sandwich, still feeling far from full.
"Nothing, dear." She replied and turned back to look at her biological son. "I just wish he wouldn't hide away from us so much." And Richard nodded in agreement before returning to his paper and James was left with a thought, did he really know Sirius Black all that well.
"Lily, dear," She heard her mother say as she knocked on her door "Are you up yet, love?"
"Yes, Mum!" she called back, looking up from the Potions essay she had been writing, putting her quill back in the ink pot.
"Dad's left for work and I've got to go soon too, will you and Petunia be alright on your own?" Her mother said, poking her head around the door, her red hair pulled into a bun.
"I'll be fine, mum. " Lilt replied, smiling at her mother who returned it kindly.
"Okay," she said, looking at her fifteen year old daughter sat at her desk, her red hair falling around her shoulders, her big green eyes glistening.
"Oh, and there's a girl downstairs for you." She said before leaving. Lily had no idea who would be visiting her, she was back at Hogwarts in two days, and all of her friends would see her then. Lily Evans was a Muggle-born witch, someone without magical parents, something that certain witches and wizards frowned upon, but at large Lily was accepted. She was infact the best in her year and had been appointed the position of prefect for that year.
Not caring too much about her appearance, Lily walked down the stairs in her pyjamas, just as the front door shut, her mother leaving for work. Petunia was sat on the sofa in the living room, her blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail, her lips pressed into a firm line.
As Lily entered the room she saw Petunia scowl at her before huffing indignantly, looking pointedly away form the other sofa.
"Hey, Lils!" The girl said smugly, sitting on the sofa opposite Petunia, her tight brown curls falling to her chin, her dark eyes filled with amusement. "I've just had the best chat with your darling sister." She said, indicating to Petunia who scowled at the girl before standing and approaching Lily.
"You being a freak is one thing," Petunia spat, "But now you're brining them here!" she said and Lily didn't quite know how to react.
"I didn't invite her here, Tunia," Lily said, trying to reason with her jealous sister, but she just huffed and stomped off up the stairs, slamming her bed room door at the top.
"Well she's even better than you'd told us." The girl said, standing up and hugging Lily tightly, her tanned skin a stark contrast to the pallor of Lily's.
"Dorcas, what on earth are you doing here?" Lily asked, taking in the appearance of her friend with her three quarter length white trousers and her black vest.
"I haven't seen you all summer!" Dorcas exclaimed "I feel like I've missed so much!"
"Dorcas, you were only in Spain for two weeks" Lily said, smiling brightly at her overdramatic friend. Dorcas Meadows was one of four other girls that Lily shared her dormitory with at Hogwarts and had done ever since she was eleven years old, along with Marlene McKinnon, Alice Cooper and Mary MacDonald. She was fierce and strong, tending to be a lot more boyish than the other girls in the dormitory. She was always wearing baggy jeans and long sleeves, never really branching out, but what she lacked in appearance, she made up for tenfold with the passion and fire in her personality. Long story short, Dorcas Meadows was not someone it would be fun to cross.
"Well its been long enough for Marlene and Gideon to get together!" She said, throwing her hand sup in exasperation.
"Gideon? With Marlene? Are you sure?" Lily asked, half excited, half apprehensive.
"The very same pair, I stopped by hers yesterday and they were - well, let's just say, I spent a lot of time banging my head against a wall afterwards." Dorcas said, seeming to shiver at the thought.
"Oh, Merlin," Lily said, her mouth opened wide "Does Sirius know?" she asked suddenly, the thought popping into her head.
"Sirius? Probably, why does it matter?"
"You know, him and Marlene," Lily said, letting the end of her sentence just hang in the air untill Dorcas, her eyebrow raised replied-
"Shagged two years ago? Yeah, I'm sure they're both set for life." She said sarcastically and Lily frowned "Come on, you know Marley, she doesn't want some big time commitment."
"Then why is she with Gideon?" Lily asked, generally confused. Marlene didn't tend to go for relationships, she was far more interested in teasing the opposite sex until they couldn't take it anymore, by which point she would have random, senseless sex with them and the two didn't tend to talk afterwards.
"He's older," Dorcas shrugged "He's a twin and he's experienced, plus he isn't that bad to look at." She said appreciatively. "Look, Lils," Dorcas began and Lily looked up at her "I know you just want Marlene to be happy, but do you honestly think she'll have that with Sirius?" she said reasonably and Lily shrugged.
"I don't know, they just have so much in common." She said "They both drink a lot, they both smoke a lot, the both have a lot of partners," Dorcas scoffed and Lily's awkwardness on the subject of sex "And they're both into similar things."
"You're just forgetting one tinie, tiny detail," Dorcas said with a sweet, sarcastic smile "They hate each other."
"They don't," Lily countered and Dorcas scoffed, actually scoffed.
"Puh-lease!" She said, throwing her head back to laugh slightly. "You spent as much with them as I do, then are they not at each others throats? And don't say that it's a cover up, you know as well as I do that they're not like that."
"Well, maybe you're right, but still, are her and Gideon really going to work out?" Lily asked, already feeling guilty for talking about one of her close friends in such a way. Dorcas shrugged.
"How should I know, it's Marlene, that girls a time bomb, you never know when she'd going to explode." She said and Lily nodded in agreement, laughing at how the three of them had been so close since they met, Lily, Dorcas and Marlene. They were a strange mix, but a strong one all the same.
"I'd best be off now," Dorcas said quickly, grabbing her rucksack form the floor, "I promised I'd stop in and see Peter and Remus, plus I've still got to finish my school shopping. See you on the platform!" Dorcas shouted before jumping into the fireplace, throwing down a handful of powder and shouting for her destination, her body disappearing in the flames.
Marlene was in her room, still wrapped up in her bed as the sun filtered through the gap in the curtains warming her face slightly. Her light blonde hair was splayed across her pillow, the make up from the night before slightly smudged beneath her open eyes as she stared at the ceiling.
She was a beautiful girl, Marlene, with a tall slender frame and leg's that carried on for miles. Her body was pale and curved sexily in all the right places, a soft dusting of freckles were splattered over her nose and under her bright blue eyes.
"Morning," Said a deep voice, and Marlene turned to her side, expecting to see a random man in her bed like there usually was, instead he saw the scruffy red hair and brown eyes of Gideon Prewett, a now seventh year Gryffindor.
"Morning," She replied, her voice rather husky from sleep and she smiled against his lips as he kissed her softly. Slowly, but surely, the kiss deepened and before long, Marlene was sat onto of him, her legs straddling his waist as he sat up, the two of them locked at the lips, him without a shirt on and her wearing nothing but his white shirt that was so big on her that it fell off her shoulder and her pants.
"Marlene!" a voice shouted from down the stairs and Marlene groaned, smacking her head against Gideon's strong shoulder. "Will you get up already? We're leaving in an hour."
"You going somewhere?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow and she sighed dramatically in response.
"Family outing." She said rolling her eyes and climbing off of him, much to his disappointment. He loved the way that her body felt against his own, the silkiness of her skin and the taste of her lips. "Meaning you're going to have to go." She said, shrugging unapologetically and climbing of the bed, beginning to rummage around the floor, grabbing the first clothes she could find. "That means now." She said, as he just lay, with his back propped up against the head board of her bed, looking at her.
"But I could get used to this," he said, watching as Marlene began to get changed. She had no shame, most of the Gryffindor tower had already seen her in compromising positions or lounging around in just t-shirts, so she wasn't as bothered anymore as she used to be. She was sexy, and she had known it for a rather long time.
"Yes, but in about twenty minutes that doors going to open and my big brother going to storm in, and I'm not sure you want that." She said and Gideon sighed, remembering all to well the lecture he'd received from Marlene's eldest brother, Cameron, who had just turned twenty.
"Fine, fine, I'm going." He said and grabbed his trousers from the floor as Marlene passed back his shirt. "So I'll see you on the train?" he asked and she smirked.
"When you're done with your perfect duties." She replied and he laughed. Gideon and his twin Fabian were the schools pranksters, known second only to the Marauders and their trouble making antics. Gideon, as the more level headed of the two had been made a prefect in his fifth year, much to the amusement of his brother and congratulations' of his older sister, Molly.
"I'll see you then." He said giving her a quick, chaste kiss before apparating straight out of her bedroom.
Once she was sure he was gone, Marlene sighed. Not in the smitten kind of love struck way she should have been, more in relief. She'd spent nearly every day with Gideon for the past two weeks of the summer and quite frankly, it was becoming too much. Sure he was funny, and frankly, a great shag, but Marlene was beginning to get a little sick of it. He was a cuddler, and Marlene wasn't. He cared a lot about his studies, Marlene couldn't even remember which OWLS she had picked having copied what Lily Evans had put down, and above all, Gideon resented the fact that she smoked.
Pulling on her jeans and a weird sisters t-shirt far too big for her, Marlene ventured down the stairs, pulling her hair back into a scruffy bun as she did so. She was met at the bottom of the stairs by Cameron, clearly just about to come and get her. He looked up at her with his brown eyes and smiled, ruffling his short, yet untameable brown hair.
Marlene was the third child of Aubrey and Freya McKinnon, turning sixteen in December. Her eldest brother, Cameron was twenty, and then it was Ross who was eighteen. After Marlene were four younger siblings, two girls and two boys. Chrissy was a Ravenclaw third year and Drew was beginning his first year. Then there were the twins, Bonni and Rodric were the youngest, being only five years old and still having to be schooled at home by their mother while their father worked all day at the ministry.
"Marlene?" Her mother called from the kitchen "Is that you?"
"Yes!" Marlene shouted back and Cameron smiled up at her when she rolled her eyes.
"Come and help me get the food ready!" She called again and Marlene groaned, hitting her head against the picture on the wall.
"You think you've got it bad, apparently I haven't shaved properly." Cameron said, laughing slightly before pushing past her on the stairs and walking into the bathroom.
Walking into the kitchen, Marlene could see her mother dancing around, waving her wand and trying to ultimately do six things at once. Her blonde hair was curled and sat delicately above her shoulders, her brown eyes panicked and wide until the finally fell upon Marlene in the doorway.
"Marlene, about time! Can you-" but she froze, looking at Marlene with something that looked peculiarly like a sneer. "What are you wearing, love?" she asked, eyeing Marlene's ripped jeans and large t-shirt with obvious distaste.
"What's wrong with it?" Marlene asked, looking down at herself. Sure her hair hadn't been washed in about two days and her makeup was left on from the day before, but she hadn't thought she'd looked awful as she passed the mirror in the hallway.
"Well, we're visiting family and you just look a bit – well – trashy" her mother finished, looking half guilty, half
"Thank you for that." Marlene said coldly, eyeing her mother in her blue dress and matching low heeled shoes.
"Don't take offence, love, you know I don't mean it like that." Her mother reassured, flicking her wand towards a tray bake she'd made, the cake immediately cutting itself into even squares and floating into the open cake tin. "It's just, I'd like them to think we've made an effort and that I'm not dragging you against your will." She said reasonably and Marlene rolled her eyes.
"Mum, I doubt Auntie and Uncle will mind, and I can tell you James wont have made any effort." She said and her mother looked like she was biting her tongue from saying anything she'd later regret.
"Well, we've got about forty-five minutes, go have a shower atleast, and why don't you wear that nice blue dress I bought you-"
"You bought that five years ago." Marlene said, cutting her off, "I don't own any dresses anymore." She said
"A skirt then?" and Marlene shook her head, no. "Well, how about a nice top, something a little less casual. And why don't you do your hair up nicely." She said and the look in her eyes, Marlene knew she couldn't say no.
"Fine, fine! I'll change." She said, throwing her hands up and turning to leave, her mother shouting after her.
"Marlene, don't you dare start stropping!" her mother shouted, but Marlene had already entered the second bathroom and slammed the door before peeling her clothes off and jumping into the shower.
Things like this always happened, tiny little disagreements between Marlene and her mother. Most of the time it was fine and they could talk through the problem civilly, but other times it resulted in shouting and a lot of swearing on Marlene's part that she was later reprimanded for. It was petty most of the time, just disagreements over what Marlene was wearing or what she said, but other times it was stricter and hit Marlene a lot harder. Like the time they had argued over Marlene's grades at the end of last term, and how her mother said she was throwing her life away, and why couldn't she be a normal girl like Chrissy or be a good student like Ross or be successful like Cameron. Needless to say that Marlene had shouted back, practically screaming at the woman before retiring up to her room, only to sneak out of her window and walk around in the dark, a packet of cigarettes tucked into her pocket.
Forty minutes later, and Marlene was back downstairs, her hair cleaner and smelling of citrus fruits, her makeup redone but not excessive (Her mother would have a heart attack) and a white blouse on above her jeans as apposed to the band top she'd wanted to wear.
As they all stood around the fireplace, ready to floo over to the Potters, Marlene could tell her mother still disapproved of her clothing, but this time, to Marlene's relief, she didn't comment.
"Right, Cameron, you take Bonni through," Marlene's mother said, indicating to the little girl with big brown eyes and brown pigtails tied off with pink ribbon to match her pretty pink sundress. Marlene internally begged she'd never worn anything so ghastly. Nodding at his mother, Cameron bent down and picked up the little girl with ease before stepping into the fire and shouting clearly 'POTTER RESIDENCE' and disappearing with Bonni clinging onto him. "Now Ross, you take Rodric," she said and the boy with scruffy and slightly too long brown hair and twinkling blue eyes picked up the little boy before stepping into the fireplace and shouting again, disappearing into the flames. "Now, I'm going to take Drew through, and you two follow." She said, looking between Marlene and Chrissy, both of whom nodded before taking the hand of a blonde haired boy and stepping into the grate.
"So she shouted at you?" Chrissy asked once their mother had disappeared. Chrissy didn't look like their mother or their father, she had long, straight black hair and stormy grey eyes hidden behind black rimmed glasses, just like their Auntie Elise, but Chrissy was intelligent beyond belief.
"You could say that." Marlene said, looking forwards, giving her mother time to get out of the grate.
"I'm sure she didn't mean what she said." Chrissy said, her big grey eyes looking up at her big sister. When they were younger, Chrissy had idolised Marlene, they'd spend hours together, Marlene plaiting her sister's hair and Chrissy reading aloud to her big sister, they were inseparable, but then Marlene left for Hogwarts, leaving Chrissy behind. When she'd come back that summer the two of them had never quite been the same.
"If you say so, Chris," Marlene scoffed and Chrissy rolled her eyes, stepping forward into the fireplace.
"We'd better go before mum has a seizure." She said and Marlene nodded, stepping into the fireplace with a handful of powder before shouting her destination.
The two girls stumbled out of the fireplace unceremoniously. Chrissy tripped on the way out and Marlene tripped over her foot, her vision bleary from the soot of her exit. The Potters never did clean their chimney. Knowing she was going to hit the floor, Marlene spun so she was facing upwards and shut her eyes, bracing herself for the impact, only for it not to come.
Cracking her eyes open she came face to face with no other than Sirius Black smirking down at her, his shaggy black hair fallen into his eyes, his jaw line dusted with short, black stubble.
"You've only just got here and you're already falling at my feet." He said with his notorious smirk.
"Piss off, Black." She replied, trying to wriggle out of his arms, but he didn't seem to be letting go. "Black, let me go." She said sternly and Black smirked again.
"As you wish," he said before moving his arms, dropping her ungracefully on the wooden floor of the Potter's living room.
"You're a bastard." She hissed, dragging herself to her feet.
"You love it," he replied and Marlene punched his arm, hard. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing is shoulder where her fist had hit him.
"Just thought I'd check you weren't delirious." She said with a shrug before walking towards the kitchen where voices were emitting. She distinctly heard Sirius grumble and insult behind her, but she had already walked away.
"Marley!" she heard someone shout before she felt herself lifted from the floor.
"James!" she shrieked as he began spinning her around in the air, both of them laughing and smiling. "James, put me down!" she screamed as he spun her faster.
"James, put Marlene down," Elise said and James did as he was told, placing her gently back on her feet where she swayed, slightly uneasy. "Marlene, it's great to see you," Elise said, enveloping Marlene in a hug that she gratefully returned.
"It's great to see you too Auntie," she said, smiling brightly at the older witch who then turned to Chrissy, telling her all about a book she'd read over the holidays. As greetings were shared and food was placed on the table, the adults all began to sit down around the table and tuck in. Marlene, James, Chrissy and Sirius however went back into the living room to talk to Drew about Hogwarts.
"You're going to love it, Drew!" Chrissy said excitedly, smiling at her younger brother. "The teachers are brilliant, the library is to die for and don't even get me started on the lessons!"
"No really, "Marlene said, nudging Chrissy forwards "Don't." she said and Chrissy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "And remember you want to be in Gryffindor, like me and Cameron" Marlene added, ruffling her brother blonde hair.
"No way!" Chrissy said indignantly "You want to be with me in Ravenclaw, just like Ross and I." she said and stuck her tongue out at Marlene, who then proceeded to push her off the sofa to cackles of laughter from all the boys of the room.
"No fair!" she shouted, getting up and leaving the room angrily, Marlene still laughing after her.
"Sorry, Chris" she shouted but didn't get a response and so continued to laugh.
"What if I'm in Slytherin?" Drew asked, his big brown eyes looking at his sister, who had stopped laughing.
"I'll disown you," she said jokily and Drew smiled.
"Can we go play Quidditch in the garden?" he asked excitedly and Marlene was sure she saw Sirius's ears prick up.
"Absolutely!" he replied, jumping to his feet, "I dibs captain one!"
"I dibs captain two!" they heard Cameron shout from the kitchen where he had abandoned his food in excitement to play the game.
"No chance," Sirius said plainly, "You're going to be a professional soon; I'm having you on my team."
And so they all ran into the garden to play the sport. Elise and Freya were sat on the patio furniture with Bonni and Rodric sat in each of their laps as the others picked teams before heading to the skies.
Marlene was chosen for Cameron's team along with Chrissy and her Uncle Richard who'd insisted he got to play. On Sirius's team were James, Ross and Drew. Each team had one keeper, one chaser, one seeker and one beater, the aim was to get the most points while Elise kept a running score going from the ground.
An hour later and they all touched back down, Chrissy proudly holding James's snitch in her hand and smiling widely at her siblings and cousins.
"I am far too old for this," Richard said, touching the ground and holding his back. "I think I'm going to go and have a sit down." He said and the others left as he walked awkwardly back into the house. They all turned to one another and began laughing about James's dad before they heard a shout from behind them and James groaned, knowing it could only be on thing.
"We did not cheat!" they all heard Marlene shout, followed by barking laugh that James knew to associate with Sirius.
"Bullshit! You had Cameron and he's practically a pro, how else would you have won?" he said and James could see the anger boiling in Marlene's face.
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps the fact that we're better players you than you were had something to do with it!" She shouted and everyone winced as her Scottish accent shone through. The McKinnon's were a Scottish family having always lived deep in the countryside, but due to being schooled at Hogwarts, most of them had learned to quell their accent slightly, including Marlene. But the second Marlene got extremely angry or even when she was nervous her accent shone through like the moon in the night, bright, shinning and obvious.
"Oh, I don't know." Sirius mocked, badly impersonating her accent as she clenched her fists at her side.
"Fuck you, Black!" she said and stormed off towards the house, throwing the borrowed broomstick down by the door on the way.
"You just had to wind her up, didn't you?" James said, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. Ross however, was laughing. "What's so funny?" James asked, but Ross just shook her head.
"I'll go talk to her," Cameron offered, and looked at Sirius, a protective look in his eyes. "You stay here." He said and began walking back to the house. Sirius made and obscene hand gesture towards the oldest McKinnon while he wasn't looking, receiving sniggers from the others, only to fall flat on his back, much to Ross's amusement, when Cameron flicked his wand toward him.
"Piss off, James." Sirius said, standing back up on his feet rubbing his aching backside with his hand and staring towards the house that Marlene had just disappeared. "She started it," Sirius said pointing at the back door as the rest of the McKinnon's began to walk through it.
"You say that every time you guys fight, Pads." James said, picking his broomstick up from the floor and throwing it over his shoulder.
"Well it's usually true." He said defensively, but James just laughed. "What?" Sirius asked.
"You two," he replied "You're practically the same person, no wonder you hate each other." He said, beginning to walk away.
"Yes, we do." Sirius said, glad James could finally see what was happening between him and Marlene, not misjudging it like other people did.
"Then you wont mind that she's currently dating Gideon Prewett." Sirius stopped for a moment and just ogled at James like he'd gone insane.
"She's doing what?" he asked, disbelieving.
"Gideon, according to Dorcas anyway." James replied.
"Just 'cause she's dating him, it doesn't mean she's 'doing' him." Sirius said, scoffing as he carried his broomstick towards the back door where the others had left theirs.
"That's what I said to Dorcas, but she's adamant they're having sex." James said, opening the door.
"And whys that?" Sirius said, laughing at how absurd Dorcas's accusations of Marlene were.
"She saw them." James said before running into the house, leaving Sirius frozen outside on the patio for a second before he seemed to regain his senses.
"What did you just say, Prongs?" he shouted, but he was already back inside the house. "Prongs? James! Get your arse over here and explain this now!"