Chapter 2

A/N: Well, here's chapter 2. This was actually the most random idea for a story, it just popped into my head in class one day so I wrote it down and now I need to finish it! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

"Marlene, wake up! Marlene… MARLENE!" Marlene woke with a start when she heard Lily bellowing in her ear.

"Merlin, what time is it Lily?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

"Well, you missed breakfast. I brought you some toast and your schedule." Lily handed her a piece of parchment and two pieces of toast. Marlene read her schedule as she munched on the buttery toast. She had no idea what she would do without Lily.

"Hurry up Marlene!" Lily chided.

Sighing Marlene got out of bed and put on her uniform and robes, grabbed her book bag and headed off to the first class of the day, Potions.

Because Marlene woke up late, the girls were the last ones to enter the Potion's chamber. Both girls moaned when they spotted the only open seats, one next to James, and one next to Sirius; both grinning like idiots.

"Black, why can't you just move to sit with James?" Marlene asked vehemently.

"Because, Marley, he wants to sit with Lily. And I, being the good mate that I am, decided to take the seat behind him to sit with you." He grinned at her.

"It's Marlene." She growled.

"Pardon, sorry Marley I didn't hear you."

"I said; it's Marlene." She said a bit louder. She knew he was just trying to get a rise out of her.

"So sorry, love, did you say you 'it's Marley?' Because that's what I call you anyways." Sirius smirked when he saw how much he was getting under her skin. As he opened his mouth to say something else, Professor Slughorn entered the classroom. Sirius shut his mouth quickly, he may be a troublemaker, but it was first day of classes after all.

Oooo

Marlene had no idea how she made it through everyone one of her classes that day. She sat in the same proximity as Sirius in every class. By the time the week was up she was pretty sure she was going to be sent to Azkaban for murder.

"Sirius Black! Leave me alone!" She all but screamed at him as he badgered her about his Charms essay in the Gryffindor common room one night. She got up and hauled all her things to another vacant table. To her dismay he followed her.

"But Marley, I need help. I don't know the theory behind a Patronus Charm!" Sirius whined.

"Black, you can produce a Patronus, how can you not know the theory?" She rolled her eyes at his whining.

"I have no idea, I'm more of a doer than a thinker I suppose." He answered.

"For once, I think we agree on something." Marlene laughed. Sirius scowled.

Oooo

It was almost Christmas holidays, Marlene opted for staying at the castle, and Lily was staying as well. And to both their misfortune, James and Sirius were also staying. On the first day of the holidays Marlene and Lily were making their way down from the Gryffindor tower to the library to get a head start on their homework, when they were ambushed.

"Padfoot, I've got Lily!"

"Good! I've got Marley! Run Prongs run!"

Marlene had been pushed into a broom cupboard with the door slammed shut. She had just been able to glimpse James tugging a protesting Lily into a mysterious room, she hadn't remembered ever seeing that door there before.

She was brought out of thought by the cupboard door creaking open; Sirius Black's face peered into the blackness at her.

"Marley…" he ventured hesitantly, not sure if she was going to hit him or not.

"Black, why did I just get shoved into a broom cupboard?" She asked rationally.

"Well, James wanted a chance to talk to Lily alone. He really thinks he has a chance now, and he sort of set up a surprise for her. But we knew she would never agree to go with him, so we ambushed you guys," Sirius smirked, clearly proud of his and James's plan.

"Hmm, well I hope it works, Lily is getting so annoying. She can't decide if he's really changed and she likes this new James, or if he's just being a prat." Marlene laughed, surprising Sirius.

"Well, I'm in charge of you today, Marley." Sirius took her hand and began pulling her down the hallway.

"Wait where are we going?" She ignored the stupid nickname; she had accepted it a while ago, no amount of her protesting could get Black to stop.

"Hogsmeade." Sirius stated. Marlene looked at him dubiously, it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend, and the school was under strict security because of the war raging outside of the school.

"Is that safe?" She inquired.

"Course, you'll be with me." Sirius smirked.

Marlene rolled her eyes and followed him.

Oooo

They arrived at the statue of the one-eyed witch and Sirius tapped it with his wand mumbling an incantation. They were then able to clamber into a tunnel through an opening.

"Where does this lead?" Marlene asked looking around warily.

"Honeydukes cellar." Sirius began trudging down the tunnel. Marlene followed him diligently.

They walked in silence, only slightly awkward, until Sirius suddenly stopped, and Marlene crashed into him. Scowling they two of them climbed up the trap door and found themselves in the Honeydukes cellar.

Sirius nicked a sugar quill and he walked up the stairs, he tossed a licorice wand at Marlene, who was not paying attention when a stick of licorice hit her square in the face.

"Sirius!" She complained.

"Shh." Sirius hushed her.

They nonchalantly walked into the store, joining the throng of customers, lucky for them it was a pretty busy day at Honeydukes.

"So, where should we start?" Sirius asked.

"The Three Broomsticks, I'm freezing!" Marlene chattered, she wasn't prepared to be outside, and the chilly December wind whipped around her. Sirius nodded agreeing with her, neither of them had on coats, just their uniforms and robes.

They grabbed a table for two, and waited for the barmaid to come take their order. Soon enough Madame Rosmerta came their way, "What can I get you?"

"Well, I think Marley and I will each have a butterbeer please." Sirius gave the barmaid a charming smile.

"Good try Sirius," She laughed as she walked away to grab their drinks.

After they had finished the drinks, and Sirius insisted on paying, the two headed out to brave the winter wind. They rushed along to the pet store; Marlene wanted to look at the owls. They walked inside and browsed the numerous owls that hung in cages from stands. Sirius suddenly yelped as a furry ball climbed up his leg and clung to his robes.

"Bloody hell," he cursed.

Marlene bent down and pried the fluff ball, which turned out to be a kitten, off of Sirius's leg. Cooing she stroked the kitten, which settled quickly in her arms. Sirius couldn't help the smile that crept across his face when he saw Marlene and the kitten.

"You should get the kitten, not an owl." He urged.

"But I have no need for a kitten, an owl is useful." Marlene argued, still cuddling the fluffy white and grey kitten.

Sirius rolled his eyes; he browsed some more while Marlene (still holding the kitten) looked at the owls.

Then there was an unexpected scream from outside the shop, abandoning everything Marlene and Sirius rushed outside. There they entered panic, death eaters, along with dementors, were swarming the streets, attacking innocent civilians.

"Run Marley, run!" Sirius yelled as he fired a hex at a masked figure. Instead Marlene spun around and pressed her back against Sirius's the two fought back-to-back for a short while until Sirius yelled at her, "We need to get back to school!" She nodded sharply. The two broke formation and began sprinting towards Honeydukes, but a dementor rose in front of them at the last minute.

Both of them raised their wands, "Expecto patronum!" a burst of silver left each wand tip, a large shaggy wolf-like dog rushed toward the dementor, followed by a smaller golden retriever. The patronus's ran off the dementor and Marlene pulled Sirius into Honeydukes, they rushed down the stairs and into the tunnel. They finally felt safe.

Marlene was trembling, "Are we safe here Sirius?"

It was the first time Sirius could remember her calling him by his first name, "Yeah, I don't think anyone knows about this passage." He took her hand and led her back to the castle.

All they could think of was how what in the world were the death eaters and dementors doing in Hogsmeade, the war must be faring far worse than they had thought.

As Marlene gripped Sirius's hand tightly she realized that they would be leaving Hogwarts soon, and they would be shoved into a world filled with war. This thought scared her, Marlene looked ahead at Sirius; he's face was blank, not showing any emotion. She sighed softly, she should really try to be nicer to him; the nickname Marley shouldn't be the only reason for her dislike of him. Marlene promised herself she would try to change, because when she left school, she would be needing all the friends she could get, including Sirius Black.