A/N: I don't own the characters or the world, just some of the liberties I've taken.
The train ride was more than a little uncomfortable for Marlene. It didn't take her long at all to duck out of the compartment with Sirius and his friends, looking for Dorcas. She had to talk to someone about what had just happened.
Dorcas was sitting in a train compartment with a few other Ravenclaws, and she looked up when Marlene walked in. Marlene grabbed Dorcas by the hands and quickly pulled her out of the crowded compartment, grinning. "You're not going to believe this," Marlene said quickly when the compartment door had shut behind them.
"Hello. My summer was good, and yours?" Dorcas asked, smirking.
"Shut up. This is important. Sort of," Marlene laughed, feeling herself blush again. "I-oh, Merlin! You're not going to believe it, I-" she cut off, laughing again. "I just...Sirius Black just snogged me." Dorcas arched a brow at her giggling, overly giddy friend.
"You're surprised?" Dorcas asked, slowly. "Sirius would snog anything with a pulse and a set of breats. You know that, right?"
"But-but he's never even flirted with me," Marlene argued, deflated by her friend's lack of enthusiasm. "I mean, you know how long I've been waiting for that. And it's Sirius, and..."
"And...I think you're being overly enthusiastic about a certified womanizer because you don't get a lot of attention from boys," Dorcas admitted, spreading her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not trying to be a bitch or anything, but..."
"I-I dunno. What's wrong with liking snogging him? He's good at it," Marlene shrugged, ignoring Dorcas' rather fair assessment of Marlene's excitement. "I don't have a lot of fun, you know that. And it was fun."
Dorcas shrugged. "Well, then congratulations," she laughed a little. "I guess whatever you want is fine, then. How was it?"
"Yeah, but James kinda walked in on the incident," Marlene admitted, biting her bottom lip hard. "He was trying to be funny about it, I think. Absolutely humiliating. I was kind of...sitting on Sirius' lap, actually." Marlene scowled when Dorcas absolutely cackled at that.
"That's fantastic!" Dorcas exclaimed, grinning. "Just fantastic."
"Your excitement is at all the wrong places, you know that, right?" Marlene demanded, shoving some of the hair out of her face in exasperation. "But-yeah, alright? I had to tell someone about it, I suppose. And you're my best friend. So...thanks for listening."
"You're welcome, Marlene," Dorcas laughed a bit. "I'll be sure to let you know whenever I snog a complete git too. Now come on, let's sit down for the ride back in the compartment."
"I don't want to, those Ravenclaws are a bunch of swots. No offense to you, of course, but...but I'll go find somewhere else to sit for a while, I think. Thanks, though. It's always nice to have someone to talk to," Marlene added, smiling and waving a bit.
"So can we all address the hippogriff in the room?" James finally asked when the silence and stilted conversation became increasingly awkward between them.
Sirius ground his teeth together, glaring at James in response. "What's there to address, dear friend of mine? Lily, keep him in line, please?" he asked the redhead who was immersed in some book she was reading.
"I just think it's worth noting that you were snogging Marlene. You guys are friends...you don't think that's weird?" he asked Sirius, arching a brow.
"I think it just happened, and it was fun," Sirius snapped, irritated. "As if you haven't seen me snogging people before. It's not a big deal at all, and you're clearly overreacting."
"Just-don't take this the wrong way, but...but she's not the kind of girl you typically have your little trysts with, you know," James told Sirius, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, you're usually after the pretty...giggling ones."
"Marlene's pretty. And she giggles...sometimes," Sirius muttered, rolling his eyes. "Whatever, doesn't matter. I'm allowed to snog whoever I damn well please, and if I want to snog Marlene, then it's my decision, isn't it?"
"No one's accusing you," Lily interjected suddenly, looking up. "Are you, James?"
"Course not," James shrugged. "Sirius knows that. I'm just...commenting on his recent escapade."
"It's not even a bloody escapade!" Sirius exclaimed. "It was ten minutes of snogging! And it was brilliant, and it didn't mean anything."
"Maybe that's the point, though," Remus finally chimed in. "It didn't mean anything, and...you're friends with Marlene and meaningless snogging seems like a bad idea in that sort of situation."
Sirius hissed irritably and stood, storming out of the train compartment. He didn't need to listen to them condescend to him right now. Maybe they were right. Sirius didn't really know at the moment, but he had never thought about the repercussions of anything, and he wasn't about to start now.
It was quite the relief, though, when the train finally ground to a halt. Sirius was quickly off the train and headed toward the carriages. The Marauders eventually all found their way to the same carriage. "Sorry I was being a prat," Sirius muttered when they, and Lily, had found their way comfortably onto the carriage.
"Nothing new," James laughed, punching Sirius' arm lightly. "Sorry if we irritated you," he added. Apologizing wasn't nearly so hard for James as it was for Sirius. Hell, James spent half his time after first year apologizing to Lily. He had sort of gotten used to the whole concept of being perpetually wrong.
James leaned over to talk to Sirius quietly, privately. "Honestly, I'd say you're pretty well off snogging Marlene. 'Cept for she's a Slytheirn," he laughed. "That's absolutely inexcusable."
"Eh, I guess that's a point," he chuckled. "Speaking of which, I'm going to go find Marlene before the feast starts," he added when the carriages all stopped in front of Hogwarts. He hopped out and was one of the first students through the doors of the building and into the Entrance Hall.
Sirius grinned as he waited. As quickly and surreptitiously as possible, he snagged hold of Marlene's arm and put a hand over her mouth to keep her from yelping as soon as he saw her. Quickly, he swung her around and into an alcove created by the trusses and architecture, pinning her against the wall. "Hi."
"That was a well-executed maneuver, Sirius," she told him, laughing a little and looking up at him curiously. "Hello," she added. It certainly wasn't lost on her how Sirius' hands were on her hips, and he was really, terribly, deliciously close to her. Marlene stretched up on her toes a little bit to kiss him. She wrapped her arms around his neck when he kissed her back.
Sirius gently ran his tongue over her bottom lip, waiting for her lips to part. When they did, Sirius responded eagerly, exploring her mouth, coaxing her to mimic him. The moan that came from the back of her throat made Sirius move his lips against hers with even greater fierceness. He pressed her hard against the wall behind them. He slid a hand from her hip around and down to cup her arse, pulling her up and against him.
Marlene inhaled sharply at the gesture, overwhelmed by the taste, smell, and feel of Sirius pressing in so tightly and completely against her. She breathed sharply, hands clutching at Sirius' robes desperately. "S-Sirius," she stuttered as she turned her lips from his. "We have to go to the Great Hall. Now. I'm a prefect," she gasped out. "They'll notice if I'm gone. Stop," she requested, groaning when his lips made a heated trail over her neck.
Reluctantly, Sirius let go of her. He wasn't one to snog and then let it go. He snogged. And snogged some more. And then snogged and shagged. And then everything inexplicably fell apart when Sirius wasn't looking for anything lasting with one of them.
"I'll see you after dinner," Sirius offered, a smile pulling up the corners of his lips. The wink that followed made Marlene flush from the roots of her hair to the base of her neck.
"Prefect," Marlene reminded him. "I have to show the firsties to their dorms and answer any of their questions. I can't see you again tonight. Sorry," she shrugged. Marlene straightened her shirt and robes out quickly. Sirius arched an eyebrow.
"There are other prefects, aren't there? Plenty of other prefects, as a matter of fact," Sirius told her. "I'm pretty sure no one will notice if you slip off for a while," he assured her.
"Listen, being a prefect means something to me, Sirius. I'm not going to skip out on them for a bit of snogging. I understand that I could, but I'd rather not tonight," Marlene shrugged. She gave Sirius' cheek a condescending little pat. "There are a dozen other girls that'll take you up on it. You're not that good at snogging," she teased. As she walked away, Sirius grinned, catching up with her.
"I might've mussed your hair a bit," Sirius told her before she could reach the entrance of the Great Hall where a few students were still trickling in. "Either that or all that hair of yours has finally developed sentience." Marlene gave him a withering glance and pushed her hair as close into place as it was going to go.
So, Marlene preferred prefect duties to snogging? Sirius shook his head, thoroughly bemused by her behavior. He never could understand those sort of things.
When Sirius sat down at the Gryffindor table, a few laughs and giggles sounded. He looked down the table and winked at a group of fourth year girls and then turned his attention to his friends. "Sirius," Remus began, smothering a laugh. "You've got a bit of lipstick on your face."
"A bit," Peter snorted, laughing as well. Slightly bronzed lipstick was smeared over Sirius' lips. Even Lily was giggling now.
Sirius locked eyes with Marlene across the room and saw a tell-tale smirk on her lips. That was the last time Sirius told her that her hair was a mess. She had left lipstick all over his face. Still, Sirius was grinning as he wiped it away with a napkin.
Alright, ya'll are killing me. C'mon! I'd love one review. Good or bad is fine, just let me know what you think. Also, I'd like to open a bit of a competition. This story will follow Remus. And, right now, I'm considering a romance with Dorcas Meadows, but I'm not sure. So, submit a character to me, and I'll consider her as a love interest opposite Remus. Either leave it in the review or PM it to me.