A little drabble to defeat a bout of writer's block. This idea came to me this morning during a rainy day snuggle fest with my dog. I hadn't ever considered writing Sirius/Marlene before, but I thought it worked. Nothing fancy, but here it is, for what it's worth.

Disclaimer: I am not (most unfortunately) making any money from this work and it all belongs to JKR.


A joyful bark greets him as he opens the door, followed by the sound of paws scampering on wood floors. Sirius stands in the doorway and swallows hard, taking in the familiar flat.

Laddie appears and the little black and white mutt wags his tail eagerly, wearing his best doggie smile, and peers around Sirius, as if to say, "Hello, Sirius! Nice to see you! Now where's Mum?"

Sirius bends down and gives the dog a pat. He feels a bit guilty that it has only just occurred to him to come get him. How long had he been alone? A day? Two? They aren't yet sure when exactly it had happened. Despite his overwhelming urge to never again set foot in this tiny hive of painful memories, he knows Marlene would have kneazles were he to leave Laddie abandoned.

It has to be him. There is no one else to do it. So here he is.

Taking a deep breath, Sirius stands and begins a walk through the flat with Laddie at his heels. He stops in the kitchen and gives the little dog fresh water and a big bowl of food. Laddie attacks the food with gusto, occasionally glancing at Sirius, who stands in the dark kitchen watching him, and giving him a short wag of his tail.

Sirius leaves Laddie to his meal and surveys the rest of the flat.

It is an organized mess, or so Marlene had often claimed, but nothing seems to be disturbed or more out of place than usual. They must have followed her to McKinnon House outside of Edinburgh. Better to get the whole family, all Order sympathizers (though Marlene was the only actual member), in one blow.

He continues on his tour and thinks of Marlene's laugh and her quip, "Who has time for housework? We're all going to die tomorrow."

He doesn't laugh along with her this time.

When Sirius reaches the tiny bedroom, he sits down on the unmade bed. Laddie hops up beside him and climbs into his lap. Laddie has no boundaries, Marlene always joked.

Everything was a joke to Marlene as of late. She told him once in private it was only laughter that kept her from constant tears at the state of things. And anyway, she had added, no one wants to work midnights with a grouch, unless it was Mad-Eye.

Sirius looks about the little room that is filled to the brim with her dark antique four poster bed and matching dresser. The closet door stands open. Clothes are strewn about, shoes haphazardly kicked off wherever she stood, makeup and jewelry scattered across the dresser. She had probably dressed in a hurry for dinner at her parents' home and then a much-anticipated night out with her sisters.

Sadness overwhelms Sirius as he thinks of how she probably danced to the wireless and laughed at herself in the full length mirror as she dressed and tried on three outfits before she settled on the right one. Marlene could make anything a good time.

Even being a fighter for what was starting to look like a hopeless cause.

It was why they got on so well, Marlene and Sirius. Neither of them was willing to take life too seriously, and that had been enough, for now.

Sirius buries his face in Laddie's soft coat and wills himself not to cry. As he distracts himself with the thought of how glad he is that James and Remus can't see him snuggled up with Marlene's fluffy little dog, he catches a whiff of her Muggle perfume on his fur, the only remaining trace of a final cuddle with her beloved canine before she set out for what would be her final trip home.

It is the odd thought that Laddie is now a war orphan that finally makes the hard-edged wizard in the leather jacket and motorbike boots cry.