Sirius looked up at the moon through the barred windows of his cell. The tiny slits barely gave him a view of the full moon that was up above Azkaban. It was the first time that he had gotten a glimpse of something beautiful since he'd been thrown in here. He'd lost count of how long he'd been in here. It was pointless to keep track. He would be in here until the day that he died.
Staring up at the moon, he begged for one last chance. One last day with those that he loved. He wanted one last memory to cling to as he died here. That was all he asked for as he closed his eyes.
"Do you plan on sleeping the day away?" A voice awoke him from his slumber.
Lying next to him was Marlene Mckinnon. Her long curly blonde hair surrounding her face like an angle. She stared at him with hazel eyes that could look right through him. A soft smile was on her lips as she looked at him.
"Marls?" he questioned, wondering what sort of insanity this was.
"Bad dream?" she rests a hand on his cheek.
He leans into her touch. "Yeah, you could say that."
Whatever this was, he was just going to let it be. Sirius hadn't seen Marlene in a year and a half. She had died alongside her entire family two weeks after the Order had taken their first official photo. After she had died, Sirius spiraled out of control. He didn't care how reckless he was. He wanted all Death Eaters to suffer and die, just as she had.
"Can we have everyone over tonight?" he asks her.
"What's the occasion?"
He pulled her close to him. "I just want everyone together."
Marlene snuggled into his chest. "Does this have to do with your dream?"
"Yeah, it does." Sirius kissed her forehead.
She turned, kissing him softly. She didn't ask about his dream, she didn't need to. The things that they had seen were enough to give anyone nightmares. It was a good assumption that something they had seen was haunting him. They were in the middle of a war. Pretty things were a dime a dozen whereas death was all around them.
"You don't expect me to make dinner tonight do you?" Marlene asked, freezing.
Sirius laughs at this. There were many things that you could ask Marlene Mckinnon, but asking her to cook wasn't one of them. "Nah, I just figured we could order pizza."
Marlene Mckinnon had a lot of good qualities. Her curvy body easily high up on the list. Her cooking skills was one of the rare things that made it on the con list. She couldn't cook to save her life. Sirius had attempted to choke down some of the things she had cooked, which resulted in him having food poisoning. After the fifth time, she stopped trying to cook all together. It was safer for everyone that way, especially Sirius who couldn't say no to her.
"You know that I love you right?" Sirius asked her, holding her face in his hands.
"Yeah, I do." She kissed him. "I love you too."
They came together, their bodies becoming one. It was something that was so familiar to Sirius. That was how he and Marlene had always connected. It was the solution to all their problems, or at least that's what they thought. As broken as both of them were, they felt whole when they were together.
Later that day, Marlene was straightening up their flat as they waited for the first of their guests to arrive. Without even bothering to knock on the door, James and Lily strolled through the door. Fast asleep, was a small baby with wild black hair in his mother's arms.
"Look at him!" Marlene squealed quietly, taking the sleeping baby from Lily's arms.
Sirius jumped James, hugging him tightly.
"Get off me, Padfoot," James said, throwing his best friend off his back.
"What? Gettin' old, Prongs?" Sirius teased.
"That's it!" James grinned, tackling him to the ground.
The two wrestled around for a bit. Ignoring their immaturity, Marlene and Lily went into the kitchen to get some privacy. Lily poured herself a glass of wine while Marlene rocked baby Harry back and forth in her arms.
"So when will you and Sirius have one of your own?" Lily asks.
Marlene shakes her head. "Now's not the time for us to have one. Besides, who said we would make good parents?"
"I dunno about Sirius, but you could probably be a good mum." Remus said. "Now that you've matured up a bit since school."
She laughed. "I help Sirius and James with a prank once and I'll never hear the end of it."
"Moony!" Sirius cheered, jumping on his back.
Remus laughed. "What's brought all this on?"
Marlene shrugged. "Dunno, he's been like this all day."
Sirius bit his lip before speaking. "Look with how the war has been going lately, you never know when it's gonna be the last time we see each other. So we might as well make every day count like it would be our last together."
"Beautifully spoken. Tell me, when did your period begin?" James teased only to receive a punch in the arm from Sirius.
Marlene kissed his cheek. "Well I thought it was beautiful."
"What did I miss?" Came the voice of Peter Pettigrew.
"Get the hell out," Sirius snarled at him.
Marlene put a hand on his chest. "Sirius, he's your friend too."
"Not anymore."
She grabbed his hand, pulling them towards his bedroom. He allowed her to do so, wanting to get away from that traitor.
"What the hell is going on with you?" she asks. "Peter is one of your best friends."
"He's a lying bastard." Sirius seethed.
"Look, whatever he did let it go. It's no good to hold petty things over someone's head. Life is short, don't waste good friendships over stupid arguments." she says.
"You don't even know what he did. He betra-"
She cut him off. "Just let it go, at least for tonight. Let us all be together one last time."
Together they were. Sirius took his girlfriend's advice. He let things be with Peter, pretending that everything was fine. It was like they were all kids again. The six of them were together, joking around. Laughter filled the room.
Sirius smiled at all of his friends.
James Potter, his best friend in the entire world. He had taken him in when he'd run away from home. James was the brother that he had wished Regulas had been. There wasn't anything in the world that James wouldn't do for Sirius, that went the other way around as well. The two were a troublesome dynamic duo. The pair rarely argued, but when they did it was explosive.
Lily was the girl that Sirius had spent years helping James trying to get. She was kind and smart. She stood up for her friends and what she believed in. No was the word that he had heard most spoken from her. Somehow, she had finally fallen for James and fallen hard for him.
Remus Lupin was the brains of their group. Sure all of the Marauders were secretly smart, but he was the brilliant one. They had gone to lengths to prove their friendship to him, even becoming Animagus to help him out on the full moon. He tried his best to keep them out of trouble, saving their hides more than once.
Peter Pettigrew was someone that Sirius had thought was one of their friends. Sure he was the weakest of the group, but they didn't treat him any different. Why he would betray him was beyond belief. He was their friend. How could he do such a thing?
Last but not least was Marlene Mckinnon. Oh, her laugh alone could light up the entire room. He'd been in love with her since their third year. They didn't get together until their sixth year due mainly to their own stupidity. They were fire and ice together. Both of them were reckless and opinionated. Most of their time together was spent arguing. They loved each other though, there wasn't anyone in the world who could deny that.
This, this was how Sirius Black wanted to remember his friends. Laughing and smiling. They were so carefree in that moment, all shoved up together around the small table. Timeless.
Sirius awoke with a start. It had all been a dream. A dream that he would cherish until his dying breath. That was his last chance. The last chance of a memory that he could have with those that he loved. He took it, not wanting to lose a minute of it.