Disclaimer: Like I said, I am not JKR, and everything that's not hers it's mine...

Author's Note: 5th year, during the Christmas break. Sirius sees more than the Slytherin in Marlene Darkwood... Fans of Sirius Black, I hope you enjoy this. I surely enjoyed writing it... ;) Please consider this part and the other two I posted as a sort of trailer for the bigger fic, if you want... :P Reviews are welcomed and desired... ;) Enjoy! ;)

Marlene needed air. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. She couldn't even stand. She was supposed to have fun. The Christmas Ball at Hogwarts was a really incredible event. She, however, was far from having fun... Her hands still clutched the remains of the letter her eagle owl brought her. She still couldn't believe it... It had to be a lie... And yet, she knew it wasn't... The official seal and the curled writing made it all real... Too real for her to handle... Too real for her to comprehend... She was fifteen and suddenly alone... She gazed at the cursed letter, wishing she could make it a lie... Wishing she would have received other type of news...

"Esteemed Miss Darkwood,

It is with the deepest regret that we inform you of the death of your parents, Aurors Jane and Alexander Darkwood. They had died with honour, trying to save the lives of the Muggles the Death Eaters tried to slay. We regret having to trouble your Christmas vacation with such sad news, but it is our duty to inform you that their will shall be read to you in three days from now, before their funeral, which will be then held at 12 o'clock exactly. They shall receive the titles of Honorary Members of the Auror Squad and trophies for Services to the Ministry of Magic.

With regret,

Oswald Fudge,

Minister of Magic"

She sat down on the steps, not caring that the wind was cold, that the dress could get ruined, that she could catch a terrible cold… She just sat there and let the tears stain her face, washing away her makeup. She sat there crying, and she didn't notice the figure that was approaching.

Sirius felt like he was suffocating inside. He has something on his mind, and he just couldn't stay inside anymore… Peter was eating like a starved man, James was wishing Lily didn't dance with Snape, and Remus and Annie spent much too much time kissing. He felt somehow out of the loop… And what was really getting to his nerves was the way he felt at the sight of her… The cursed Marlene Darkwood dared look terrifyingly gorgeous that night, and he saw her, and he acknowledged that she did indeed look good. He had never noticed her before, since his only thought about her was how to knock her off her broom during the Quidditch matches. This year, however, he had worked with her, instead of against her, and he now tended to see her everywhere she was and even everywhere she was not, as he thought about her more and more.

Until that night, she had managed to remain just a Slytherin in his eyes, despite her attractive appearance. But now… Now she suddenly wasn't just a Slytherin anymore… She was a girl… And a damn good looking one, and, thinking back, a smart and kind one too… If he didn't know she could whack a Bludger with vicious force, he would have thought her harmless… But harmless she was not… She was dangerous…. Terribly dangerous. She was beautiful, smart and a very good Quidditch player. And he, Sirius Orion Black, was starting to appreciate her… What was worse, he was starting to like her… And even worse than that, he was falling for her… Falling for a Slytherin… Falling for the one he once called his "enemy"…

Suddenly, the queen of his heaven or his hell, depending on how he chose to look at it, was in front of him. She had no cloak, just the silky dress, and she was sitting on the steps, apparently… Crying?

'Marlene?' he asked, approaching her and sitting by her side.

'Sirius…' she said, whipping her tears away. Some of her mascara had left traces on her cheeks, but Sirius couldn't help thinking she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He mentally kicked himself for thinking that.

'What are you doing out here in the cold?' he gently asked, taking his cloak off and wrapping it around her shoulders.

'My parents died…' she simply said, throwing the letter at her feet.

'I'm sorry… I didn't know…' Sirius said, sincerely regretting the death of her parents, although he had never seen them. 'Do you want to be alone for a while?' he asked, ready to stand up and walk away.

'No!' she exclaimed, grasping his hand. 'Please… Stay with me… I don't want to be alone… I have no one left…' she softly said, tears running down her cheeks again…

'You'll always have me…' he said, before he could stop himself and wrapped her in a warm embrace… For a while, she tried to calm herself, cradled at his chest. He was gently stroking her back and was fighting the urges to kiss her and run away from her, both threatening to drive him crazy at the same time.

'What will I do, Sirius? I am not even of age…' she asked in barely more than a whisper.

'We'll be here for you… I'll be here…' he said, this time knowing for sure that he meant every word of it.

'Thank you… You are a true Gryffindor… One I sincerely like…' she said, a faint smile curling her lips.

'Please, don't… Don't speak of Houses… We're not Gryffindor and Slytherin now… We're just Sirius and Marlene, all right?' he gently said, looking into her deep grey eyes.

'All right… Sirius…' she said, smiling, this time for real. 'Thank you for being here for me… I don't understand, Sirius… Why them? They were Pure Bloods…'

'They opposed Voldemort… They hated him just as much as we all do… And they were too powerful for their own good… There is no other reason for him to spill Pure Blood…' Sirius bitterly answered.

'They were in Slytherin too…'

'Lily is right, Marlene… There are good Slytherins, and Voldemort doesn't care what House they belonged to, if they opposed him… Hell, maybe he'll finish me off too, alongside so many who try to fight him… But that will never stop me from trying to fight him…'

'I'll fight him too… Alongside you, James, Lily, Remus… I won't allow him to split more families…' she said.

'He still will, Marlene, but hopefully, we'll do our best to stop him…'

'I want to be an Auror, Sirius…'

'Me too… And we will… Just you wait… We'll be the best there are…'

'I'll hunt him down and feed him to the Dementors…'

'And I'll help you…'

'We make a good team you and I… Both on the Quidditch field and off it…' she said, gazing into his deep eyes.

'Best Beaters Hogwarts had ever seen, best Aurors the Ministry will ever know…'

She smiled again, and for a moment, she felt strong and ready to fight and win… She never knew he could make her feel safe… She gazed at him, wishing she had met him long ago… She couldn't believe that only a few weeks ago, she disliked the idea of teaming up with him.

He looked back at her and felt that he was ready to take a chance and like her, forgetting that she was a Slytherin. In the end, it didn't matter at all. He whiped a mascara trace from her cheek.

She bent her head, looking at the tips of her shoes. She was there, with Sirius Black at her side, and she actually felt good. She had known for some time now that she liked him despite him being in Gryffindor. She had to break eye contact… Otherwise, she'd do something really sweet and stupid at the same time and Slytherins weren't sweet, and they were definitely not stupid. But then again, did it matter? Not at all… He was in Gryffindor and made her world spin… She was in Slytherin and he comforted her nonetheless…

"Screw your rivalry, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin!" Sirius thought, and gently lifted her chin. Their eyes met again and this time Sirius knew he didn't care three straws about the damned Houses they belonged to. He pulled her closer and their lips met in a kiss he craved and she didn't expect, yet a kiss they knew would comfort them both more than any words they could ever utter.

They felt the sort of passion that simply drives you crazy, the undeniable, unstoppable passion that binds two hearts. As they kissed, they knew they were good together at pretty much everything. For him, it was the beginning of what James had pointed out to him since first year: the simple knowledge that it took less than a heartbeat to know the one you will love forever the moment you see her. For her it was the escape from sadness and loneliness and also the moment she realized that she might have been young but definitely in love… In love with the one she least expected and yet the one she always knew was right for her. It hit them both as they shared the fiery kiss: despite of the Houses they belonged to, despite of all the Quidditch games in which they tried to knock each other off their broom, they were in love… And they loved being in love.