A/N: Written for
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)
Assignment 1 - Potions: Felix Felicis - write about someone having a perfect day. Extra prompts: 2. Dialogue: "But I'm so cute. Look how cute I am!" 3. Word: Dork 4. Quote: "In a room full of art, I'd still stare at you." 4. Character: Sirius.
Writing Club - Book Club: The Fault in Our Stars - Augustus Waters: (word) gorgeous; (object) cigarette; (action) making compliments
Gobstones Club - Red Stone: Summer. Extra Prompts: A1 (action) mopping, P4 (word) tightly, T19 (dialogue) "You're breaking my heart."
Song Lyrics Challenge - 14. One week in we let the story begin, we're going out on our first date
i. twist and shout
Marlene never thought that she would be doing this, as she walked through the muggle town, keeping an eye out for a boy with long black hair, and probably wearing a pair of black leather jacket.
She never did. Instead, it was him that found her.
"Hey," that familiar voice sounded behind her, still so annoying and smug.
Marlene spun around to see Sirius Black ducking away from her long hair as it almost hit him in the face. And then he straightened up, chuckling, his arms crossed over his chest, the cigarette that he was lighting fell to the ground. Sirius groaned at this. Marlene never liked the sight of him grinning at her like that, it was always making her feel annoyed.
Sirius was of course, riding his black muggle motorbike, which he had got in his sixth year, that he used magic to enhance and so now the motorcycle can fly, not that he flew it over to the muggle town, because that would mean an arrest and an hearing.
Which only made Marlene regret her decision of agreeing to come meet up with him in the middle of the summer holidays.
"Well, you got me here, what do you want to do?" asked Marlene.
"Honestly," said Sirius, cocking his head to one side and giving Marlene his best 'judging you' look, "Girls don't usually ask me this the minute that a date starts." Now it was Marlene's time to glare at him. "Who said this was a date? I only came just because I am now severely annoyed by my brothers and I need to get out of the house."
Black looked a little confused. "Then why don't you ask Evans for McDonald to hang out with you?"
"That's because Lily went on vacation to Whales with her family and Mary doesn't want to come out." Marlene explained. Sirius nodded, accepting this and also acknowledging the poor circumstance which lead to Marlene agreeing to hang out with him.
"What? Just one week into the summer holidays? Looks like your stuck with me for the day, McKinnon," said Sirius. He smirked and flicked his hair to the back of his neck, Marlene's eyebrows rose up and threatened to disappear into her hairline. Then he climbed on his motorbike. When he finished getting comfortable, he turned towards Marlene and looked at her, waiting for her to climb on behind him.
"Well come on. I'm not going to wait all day," said Sirius, beckoning her to come over.
Marlene shook her head. And then there was silence as Marlene stared at Sirius and Sirius stared at Marlene.
Then thinking that it'll be a lot better if someone broke the stalemate, Marlene sighed and climbed behind him. Sirius turned around to look at her, then grinned and teased, "Go on, wrap your arms around me, or you'll find yourself slipping off." Behind him, Marlene rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Sirius' torso. Once he made sure that he arms were secure around her, he started the engine and zoomed away through the muggle traffic.
The speed of the motorcycle was what made Marlene squeeze Sirius' torso tightly, and when she did, she could hear the low chuckle that came from his mouth, she ignored him.
Marlene had never been riding on any muggle transportation, and this was a first. Unfortunately, she didn't like it much. She was retching as she climbed from the seat to the cobbled stone path, and behind her Sirius was laughing as he muttered "Coloportus" and the motorcycle was tied to the lamppost.
"Don't," said Marlene, trying as hard as she can to calm herself, not even the first time that she dissaparated compared to riding behind a motorcycle. "Come near me. Give me a moment."
Sirius waited for her, his hands on his hips until Marlene finally came up, and was able to look at him in the eyes. And what she saw was him chuckling at her.
"So, is this a good first time for you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Marlene glared at him furiously, and shook her head.
Sirius very well got the hint that he should stop laughing. He reached forward and patted Marlene on the back, who continued to glower at him. Noticing this, he turned around and started to walk towards the building on the other side of the road.
When he realised that Marlene wasn't following him, he turned around to see her still trying to catch her breath.
"Well, come on, then." shouted Sirius.
Marlene rolled her eyes and followed him at a brisk pace, all the while shouting at him, "You know you didn't have to get me on a bike to get here, right?"
Sirius only turned around and smirked, "I know." He replied.
"So, where are you taking me?" asked Marlene, crossing the street, keeping the same pace as Sirius Black.
"You know how I hear you listening to the WWW everyday in your free time, but I've noticed that not all of the music in that little radio of yours are as good as the ones that muggles make," replied Sirius, and Marlene was pretty sure what he was making her do, at least, asking her and taking her to do, "So, I've decided that it should be good time to take you to listen to some."
Marlene smiled, even though she wasn't sure what she was getting into. "Well, aren't you all up on muggle culture?" she asked.
Sirius wiggled his eyebrows.
The building that Sirius and Marlene entered was dark and packed with people, mostly, Marlene saw, muggle teenagers about their age. There was also a strong stench of alcohol in the air. She understood that they were in a small pub, but where the bar was, she had no idea.
There was also a very loud noise coming from the middle of the crowd of teenagers, a sound almost masked by the screams and shrill yells, Marlene could almost hear music and singing, very loud singing coming from the crowd.
"Sirius! Where are we?" shouted Marlene over the crowd.
She looked to her left to see the black-haired boy smirking to her, then he replied, shouting even louder than she did, "This is a pub! And this!" He pointed towards the middle of the crowd, where multicoloured lights flashed. "Is a muggle music band! Good, eh?"
Before that she could give an answer, Sirius' hands found its way into hers, pulling her hand towards his chest. Marlene tried to pull away, but Sirius moved closer to her and whispered into her ears, "It'll do us good that you don't stray from me, I think it'll be rather hard for me to find you again if you get lost in the crowd." Marlene's heart clenched and stopped struggling against him.
Then like a fish in the middle of a crowed lake, he took her by the hand and the two of them waded through the muggles, until they were standing in front of the stage, in which there was a group of instruments and teenage muggle boys shrieking into their microphones.
"Is this what a live concert looks like?" Marlene turned towards Sirius and asked. Because, if it is, I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to go and see one anytime soon. She thought.
There was multiple things that were wrong with the five boys singing on the small platform.
First, was that the light was too bright, and Marlene had to squint. Second, she saw that most of the instruments were electrical, as she had been taught in muggle studies, and so the volume of the music and the singing was far too loud, it made Marlene's ears throb and her head ache. Third, she had no idea whatsoever the lead singer was shouting into the microphone. And fourth, she had no idea why the dozens of teenage girls was yelling and shrieking behind her and Sirius.
The music wasn't that bad, the singing was, but not the music. The instrumental music behind the voice of the boy was actually quite nice, a perfect catchy tune that Marlene would very much like to dance along, only without the singing, of course.
Well, shake it up baby now
Twist and shout
Come on, come on, come, come on baby now
Come on and work it all out
"It's called Twist and Shout, the band is covering a song by a muggle band called The Beatles. Ever heard of it, McKinnon?" asked Sirius, who was dancing along with the music. Marlene had to admit, the sight of him was actually kind of adorable.
"Maybe, once or twice," replied Marlene. "You dork." she then commented, nodding to Sirius.
Then chuckling, she swayed along to the music. Halfway through the song, Sirius took both of her hands in his, and the two of them danced along to the beat.
They stopped once the music stopped, and Sirius lead her to one of the bar tables, asked for some food, and they watched as the teenage girls dispersed and exited the bar.
"So, how is your summer going?" Marlene asked Sirius, over a glass of lemonade.
"Well..." Sirius trailed off, not looking up at Marlene. Marlene squinted her eyes and snapped, "Well, what Black? Well, what?" Sirius looked up and there was a small grin appearing on his face. "Well, I got a new house, and far away from my family as I can, although my uncle has been disowned thanks for aiding me in that. I think I'll miss bunking with James, but I still see him every week."
Marlene nodded. She didn't want to voice her jealousy of Sirius and James' relationship, theirs was a friendship for the ages, so she just drank in silence.
The silence continued for a while until a plate of goulash was presented to Sirius, and he dug in like a dog. Soon a plate of mashed potatoes and sausages was placed before Marlene.
Halfway through the food, Sirius looked up at Marlene.
"What?" she asked.
Sirius just smiled and said, "You look gorgeous."
Marlene rolled her eyes and continued to eat.
"No, really. In a room full of art, I'd still stare at you. Marlene McKinnon, I've wanted to go out with you since fifth year, so, is this a date or not?" asked Sirius. Marlene's fork clattered on the plate. She took some time to stare at the food, then she looked up at Sirius and shook her head.
Sirius pouted. "You're breaking my heart."
A muggle boy slipped passed them, mopping the floor, but just before he slinked away, he turned to Sirius and said with a wink, "I'm telling ya, I'd date ya."
Sirius gestured at him, a grin on his face. Marlene couldn't help but smile.
At first, Sirius thought he had won her over, but then Marlene shook her head again. Sirius looked shocked, and a hand to his chest he blabbered, "But I'm so cute. Look how cute I am!"
Marlene chuckled. Closed her eyes, then opened them after a brief period of silence. And when she did, she could still see Sirius looking at her hopefully. "Fine, okay. Let the story of Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon begin here." she said, holding up her glass of lemonade and smiling, knowing that she couldn't have ignored those puppy dog eyes for long. And besides, she might as well give this a try.
Sirius let out a cry of joy and pumped the air, "This is the best day ever!"