Disclaimer: All characters are J.K Rowling's' unless they're my OC's.
Chapter Two
"Marlene!" James yells, pulling me into a bone crushing hug. "You hardly wrote to me this summer! And you didn't visit." James pouts, "Mum missed you."
"Sorry, family stuff." I reply, giving him a look which meant I'd explain later when there were less people around.
James and I have known each other since we were little as our parents were friends; he's like a brother to me. James finally realizes me from his overly tight hug and goes to sit with Lily, his girlfriend as of last year.
"Can you believe it?" Sirius whispers in my ear, his eyes on James and Lily.
"I knew she'd finally see the light." I laugh lightly, smirking at Sirius. "Where's Remus?" I ask him.
A dark look passes over Sirius' face when I mention Remus but he quickly covers it up.
"Looking to do some fornicating of your own, are we McKinnon?" Sirius waggles his eyebrows suggestively at me.
"Oh shove off Black." I grimace, and get up to leave the compartment. Just as I'm about to open the door it's flung open by three squealing girls.
"Marlene!" They all yell, as they fall on top of me on the floor. I groan under their weight and I think James and Black are about to piss themselves from laughing too hard.
"There are better ways to greet someone then crushing them." I wheeze, shoving the girls off of me.
"Sorry." Alice Prewett giggles however there is not a trace of regret on her face. I pull each of the three girls in for a hug.
"You didn't write." Mary MacDonald pouts, taking a seat next to Lily.
"It seems McKinnon didn't write to anyone this holiday." Sirius grumbles.
"Are you just upset because you didn't get a love letter?" I reply, sticking my tongue out at the smirking boy. He simply leans forward and lightly bites my tongue.
I hang my mouth open in shock, "Did you... did you just bite my tongue?" I ask, astonished.
Sirius doesn't reply but just smirks coyly at me and slouches further down in his seat, "Anyone up for a game of exploding snap?" He announces.
"So, Marlene, was there any reason for you not contacting me for the entirety of the summer holidays?" Emmeline Vance asks, releasing her short, brown hair from its bun.
"I was busy... with my parents." I ask, avoiding eye contact. My parents told me during the summer not to tell anyone about the happenings with the death eaters and my mother's family. "Sorry Em."
Emmeline eyes me suspiciously but she drops the subject.
"So, how were your holidays?" I ask Mary.
The curly haired girl turns to face me and pouts a little bit, "Not great, we had to spend the majority of it with my mother's family so we couldn't use magic for anything."
I laugh at her pained expression and she throws her book at me. Remus and Peter choose that moment to appear in the doorway of the compartment.
"About bloody time." James exclaims, "Where the hell have you two been?"
"Nowhere in particular." Remus says casually, indicating for me to move up so he can sit down.
It's a pretty tight fit, especially now that we're in our seventh year, I remember in first year when James introduced me to the marauders for the first time. I used to have a massive crush on Sirius but I guess it's just faded away over the years. He gets plenty of attention from the female population of Hogwarts but he always ignores them. So, I gave up and let me tell you now, Marlene McKinnon does not give up easily.
"It's a bit cosy, isn't it Marls?" Sirius winks at me, sliding his arm around my shoulders.
"Oh shut it Black." I grumble but I don't move his arm.
The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful; apart from Peter singing his eyebrows during an intense game of exploding snap against yours truly.
"It's a bit cold for September isn't it Padfoot." James states, slinging an arm around his best friends shoulders and leading the way to a carriage.
Sirius grumbles something incoherently to James which makes him throw back his head and cackle evilly.
"Good one Padfoot." James laughs again, pushing his round glasses further up his nose.
I slowly follow the two boys towards the carriages, dragging my feet as I go.
"You alright?" Remus asks, nudging me slightly and running a hand through his light brown hair.
"It should be me asking you that." I reply, looking at the dark circles underneath his eyes. "Is it nearly..."
"Yeah." Remus grimaces, looking up at the almost full moon in the sky. I don't say anything, Remus hates being pitied.
I look forward again to see Sirius glance over his shoulder at the two of us and scowl darkly.
"What's up with Black?" I ask, "Looks like he's been sucking on a lemon."
Remus laughs lightly and smirks knowingly, "That's for me to know, and you to find out."
I huff indignantly and I have to jog slightly to keep up with the tall boys strides. Remus told me about his condition back in fourth year after I tried to follow the marauders on one of their monthly escapades to the shrieking shack. I wouldn't let up about where they were off to; I guess some people might call me stubborn.
I clamber into the carriage followed by Mary however there isn't enough room for everyone so Lily, Emmeline, Alice and Peter get into the carriage behind us.
"Why're you so glum?" Sirius jokes, nudging me with his foot. I just glare back but he doesn't look away like most people do, he just stares back with his bright, grey eyes fixated on my own.
"The sexual tension in here is stifling." James says, pretending to fan his face with his hands.
Sirius and I both break our staring match and glare at him.
"If looks could kill I'm sure you'd both be in Azkaban." James laughs, and joyfully jumps out of the carriage.
I climb out after him to see that he's gone to help Lily out, claiming that he needs to be a gentleman for his lady and Lily is blushing furiously but I know she loves it really.
My stomach rumbles loudly which makes Sirius laugh and I shove him- well i attempt to shove him but compared to my minuscule 5'6 he's a skyscraper and I doubt he even felt it.
"Nice try Marls." He laughs, ruffling my long, blonde hair.
"Oi, don't call me that!" I shout indignantly as he turns towards the school.
"Or you'll do what?" Sirius smirks, looking back at me over his shoulder. When he turns back around I run and jump onto his back however he doesn't fall over like I expect him too. Instead he just grabs my legs and readjusts me so that I'm in a more comfortable position.
"Black, what're you doing?" I say, resting my chin on the top of his head.
"Making the best out of your little attack." Sirius smirks. "Marls, you seriously thought that you could outsmart me?"
"Don't call me that!" I exclaim, trying to jump off of his back, however Sirius is a lot stronger that I am and he just readjusts his hands.
"Want to give Hogwarts something to talk about?" Sirius laughs, walking through the doors into the entrance hall.
"I have a great view of your arse from here." James calls.
"Fuck off!" I yell, flipping him my middle finger.
"James!" Lily exclaims.
"What?" James replies innocently, although the smirk on his face says it all. "You have a much better arse Lils."
"That is not what I meant." Lily replies, blushing furiously.
"Are you going to let me down Black?" I ask.
"Nope." He replies, popping the p.
We're dangerously close to entering the great hall and I really don't was the entire Hogwarts population seeing this. It isn't anything bad but this lot seem to have nothing better to talk about then the four bloody marauders.
If he was any other guy no one was give an owls dropping about it but because it's Sirius Black they'll think something is going on.
I raise my hand and wave at our head of house and I notice a hint of a smile on her face.
"We're making Minnie smile." I whisper in Sirius' ear, a hint of amusement in my voice.
Sirius unceremoniously dumps be onto the bench at the Gryffindor table and takes a seat next to me. James and Lily sit opposite us, followed by Peter, Emmeline, Mary and Alice.
Alice sighs when she sits down next to me and looks longingly over at the Ravenclaw table.
"What's up Alice?" I ask, nudging her with my elbow.
"Well, Frank graduated last year so I won't see him until Christmas." She sighs.
"You have me." I offer.
"Well unless you want to go find a broom closet-" Alice starts before I slap a hand over her mouth.
"Thanks for the offer but I'm alright." I laugh.
"Well, you have Sirius anyway." Alice replies nonchalantly.
"What?" I exclaim, spraying my pumpkin juice over James.
"Why thank you dear." James says sarcastically. "I really was in need of a good shower."
I can feel Sirius trying to control his laughter and I turn to glare at him. He holds his hands up in surrender however there's still a massive grin on his face.
"I- I just thought because on the train and just now..." Alice replies, "It was quite suspicious."
"Well it might be suspicious but it isn't true. If I ever date Black I'll swim naked in the black lake in the middle of winter." I scowl.
"And I would love to see that." Sirius smirks, waggling his eyebrows at me.
"Oh shut it." I reply, throwing a bread roll at his head.
"I think I'm going to die!" James moans, lying on the floor in the common room. "Lily, I love you but I think my stomach may explode, I'm sorry we never had kids."
The marauders, Lily, Mary and I are sitting around the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Emmeline and Alice have gone to do prefect duties and won't be back until later.
It seems that Sirius, Peter, Mary and I are the only ones who weren't picked to be prefects; apart from James and Lily who are head boy and girl.
I really don't know how James did it, sure I love him but it's James, Dumbledore must be losing it.
James eventually picks himself up off of the floor and plucks Lily out of her seat before whisking her out of the common room claiming that they have 'head duties'.
"I'll believe that when I see it." I scoff, Sirius laughs quietly and Mary stretches and says she's off for an early night.
Remus and Peter are playing a rather slow game of wizards chess so I decide the challenge Black to a game of exploding snap.
"Black." I say.
"Marls." He replies.
"I'm bored-" I start.
"That's nice." Sirius cuts me off.
"Do you want to place exploding snap or something?" I ask, pulling my long, blonde hair back into a messy bun.
"Or something sounds good." Sirius replies, winking at me.
I feel my cheeks heat up as he comes to sit next to me.
"I see the ice queen is melting." He laughs, poking my blushing cheek.
"Shut it Black." I say, but not unkindly.
"Seriously though, let's go somewhere else." Sirius says, "Go put on something warm."
"Black, where are we going?" I ask, looking round in the darkness.
Currently we're huddled under James' invisibility cloak whilst Sirius checks the map for filch or Mrs Norris.
"The coast is clear." Sirius announces and removed the cloak from us in a flourish.
"You didn't answer my question." I say, following the tall, dark haired boy down the staircase.
"Well, it's a surprise." He grins.
I roll my eyes but I can't keep the smile off of my face when he begins humming something and doing a little dance as he saunters down the staircase.
"C'mon Marls, hurry up." Sirius pouts from the bottom on the stairs.
I hurry after him and shiver at the coldness of the entrance hall. Sirius leads the way through the doors until we're outside.
The sky is clear and all the stars are visible tonight.
"Are you cold?" Sirius asks a note of worry in his voice.
We finally reach my favourite spot by the black lake and Sirius sits down, patting the spot next to him.
I cautiously sit down under the tree and bring my knees up to my chest.
"So..." I say, dragging out the o.
"Marls?" Sirius asks. "Why do you hate me?"
"I don't hate you." I reply incredulously. "Why would you think that?"
Sirius looks absolutely delighted when I say this.
"Well, you always call me by my last name ever though you know I don't like it and you've been quite cold with me since like January." Sirius confesses, twirling a blade of grass around in his hands.
He looks up at me through his dark lashes and his piercing grey eyes search my face for... Something.
"I'm sorry, I just I don't know. This last year hasn't been great for me and I guess I was frustrated because you couldn't see how much-" I stop myself before I say something I regret.
"How much?" Sirius asks a puzzled look on his face.
"Nothing. It's nothing don't worry." I smile; no way am I going to admit that I had a crush on this boy. His ego is already big enough.
It's silent for a while as we both just look out over the black lake.
"I ran away." Sirius says, breaking the silence.
"What?" I ask, completely lost.
"From home. I'm living with James now." Sirius says, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh." I reply, I don't really know what to say. "Sirius I'm-"
"You called me Sirius." He says, looking at me. "You've never called me Sirius." And then he smiles and I swear on Merlin's baggy y fronts that it's the most beautiful smile I've ever seen.
I don't reply but I just keep my eyes trained on his face; his messy black hair, his dark, grey eyes and then his pink lips...
Slowly, the dark haired boy leans towards me and brushes a strand of my blonde hair from my eyes.
"We better get going." He whispers, breaking the trance I'm in. I quickly lean back and let my hair fall forwards to hide my blushing cheeks from him.
Neither of us speak until we enter the silent Gryffindor common room; the last of the students have long retired to their dormitories.
"Good night Black." I whisper, brushing past him towards staircase to the girls dormitories.
"Night Marls." Sirius replies before throwing himself down onto one of the red sofas by the fireplace.
When I enter the seventh year girls dormitory Lily is wide awake and staring at the entrance to the room.
"Where in Merlin's name have you been?" Lily whispers in a harsh tone. "I was worried sick!"
"I'm sorry." I mumble, stripping off my clothes and chucking on an old quidditch top and some shorts. "I was with Black."
"Sirius?" Lily says incredulously. "But you've been so cold with him recently."
"Well, that's because of that thing that I told you." I say, glancing round at the other girls beds, all their curtains are drawn so they're probably asleep.
"What thing?" Lily almost yell.
"Shhh, don't wake up the others." I say, climbing into my bed and pulling the dark red covers up to my neck.
"Oh Merlin." Lily whispers, coming to sit next to me in my bed. "Are you and Sirius dating-"
"No!" I say rather loudly. Lily and I are quiet for a minute but none of the others stir so Lily continues talking.
"Then what's going on?" Lily asks, pulling her frizzy hair back into a pony tail. Her sparkling green eyes search my face for an answer however I don't let anything show.
"We just went for a walk." I reply, flicking my long hair behind my shoulders.
"And what's this thing you supposedly told me?" Lily asks, throwing her hands up in the air.
"About me kind of... liking Black." I say in a timid voice.
"What, the time you were convinced you were head over heels in love with him so you dated that prat Patrick Griffiths in Hufflepuff just to piss him off." Lily says.
"Well it didn't work, did it?" I grumble angrily.
Lily starts laughing and I turn to glare at her, raising one of my eyebrows.
"It didn't work?" Lily laughs again. "Mar, you should've seen how angry he was when he saw you two in Hogsmead! He punched the wall so hard he nearly broke his hand!" Lily says, laughing at me.
"I wondered how he got that." I mumble. "Anyway, that doesn't change the fact that he didn't do anything about his, uh... feelings."
"Neither did you." Lily exclaims. "Now get to sleep, we have lessons tomorrow."
"Yes mum." I say, sticking my tongue out when her green eyes narrow at me and a pillow is launched from her bed.
Laughing, I lay my head on my pillow and close my eyes. My last thought before I fall asleep is of a pair of piercing, grey eyes.
A/N: here's another chapter! As promised this is longer. What do you think of it so far? Remember to review and leave me positive or negative criticism; I'm open to both! Thank you :)