Chapter 3
"Does it ever look to you like Doe and Remus should be a thing?" Mary asked
Lily and Marlene looked up from their respective books to see what she was talking about and noticed the pair of them sat very close together on a common room sofa discussing a book. Remus was grinning very widely and Dorcas was throwing her head back and laughing. The fire crackling in the background made for the perfect picture.
Lily looked at the pair of them and smirked.
Marlene's eyes widened. "No Lily stop it!" She said, "You cannot keep playing matchmaker!"
"But you have to agree they'd be so cute!"
As she spoke, James had joined them sitting on the floor by the settee Marlene was sat on. "Who'd be a cute couple?" he asked.
"Doe and Remus!" Lily said in a hushed whisper.
"Oh for goodness sake Lily." James looked slightly alarmed.
Sneaking up behind Marlene sitting promptly behind her and an arm around her waist, Sirius chimed in. "Lily's matchmaking again isn't she?" Everyone had gotten used to Sirius' 'comfortable' behaviour around Marlene over the years. No one aware that she of course reciprocated this behaviour from time to time.
Marlene jumped and glared at Sirius, causing him to smile sheepishly. "Sorry love." He rubbed her arm softly.
"Yes she is and I should've kept my mouth shut." Mary said.
"Lily I agree with you," Sirius started, "But just let it happen you know, naturally." He said.
She waved him off with a hand, "I'm just speeding up the process."
"Lily no offense, but this is worse than a bad idea." James said bluntly. "I mean c'mon, they're our friends. And Doe would kill you!" He pointed out.
Lily huffed, because she knew he was right and she always hated to admit that James Potter was right. "Fine. You all owe me a galleon when they get together!"
James feigned shock, "Did THE Lily Evans just make a bet? Now look at this immoral behaviour."
Sirius nodded seriously, "Think she deserves a detention for that James!"
Lily blushed slightly and then quickly recovered, "Oh shut up. It's just a fair little wager."
James scoffed and so did Sirius, loudly.
"Yeah real innocent Lils." Marlene said.
Lily lightly blushed under her smile. She stood taking her book, "I am going to bed!" She said and with a flounce she turned and walked up the stairs to the dormitory.
James grinned widely, "I think she's warming up to me."
Sirius and Marlene couldn't help but laugh loudly. "Yeah mate, because you're not bloody asking her out every single second of the day." Sirius said.
"And you grew up a little over summer." Marlene said, "You look older and you matured. Less of a wanker."
James' eyes narrowed at Marlene whilst Sirius laughed at his best friend. She turned to Sirius quickly, "Don't think you're not a wanker!"
"Me?!" Sirius exclaimed, "I'm a fucking charmer!"
Marlene shot him a look of disbelief, "You can be a bit of a wanker sometimes."
Before Sirius could ask when, Marlene was already shooting off examples, "Like that time you charmed those mandrakes, despite being potted, to scream whenever Professor Sprout said plant."
Sirius rolled his eyes, "All a bit of fun, princess." He said waving her example off.
James chuckled, "That was brilliant Padfoot. I thought she was going to go mental!" He said laughing high-fiving his best friend whilst Marlene narrowed her eyes at the both of them. James stood up before she could retaliate, "I'm going to bed, it's getting late," he said. It was only then that Marlene realised they were the only three in the common room, everyone having gone up to their dormitories.
"I'll catch up with you Prongs." Sirius said. James nodded at him, "Night Marls. Don't go to bed too late, we've got Quidditch trials tomorrow!" James said sternly and then trudged up the stairs, carefully being watched by Marlene and Sirius who were desperately waiting to hear the faint slam of the dormitory door shut.
Following the light 'thunk' made by the door, Sirius wasted no time enveloping his hands around Marlene's waist from his position of behind her and pressing firm kisses over her neck. "I thought they'd be here for fucking ever." He sighed.
Marlene let out a small laugh, pushed him away softly and turned to face him. He grinned widely at her still holding her waist so she couldn't escape. "Sirius," She groaned at him trying to pull away. "You heard James it's late!"
"First you call me a wanker and now this." He said with a pout.
She rolled her eyes, "You are a wanker." She said.
"You don't mind snogging a wanker then?" He said lowly, his lips trailing slowly around her collarbone, breathing softly but not quite touching.
Marlene laughed softly, "You're not always a wanker, sometimes you can be really nice and gentlemen-like. Usually when no one's looking."
"And sexy?" He asked cheekily.
She rolled her eyes once again. "You're looking happy to be back." She stated simply.
Sirius nodded, "I'm always happy to be back here." He looked away for a minute, "Feels more like home then home itself."
Marlene frowned at Sirius' change of tone. "You're always home with us you know? Whenever you want." She said firmly. Marlene had been to Number 12 Grimmauld Place and could confirm that it was definitely horrible. The summer previous, Sirius had snuck James and Marlene through a window when no one was home and the past summer, Sirius had snuck Marlene back in. The house was coated in dark furniture, Marlene had felt cold in that house even in the middle of summer. She yawned noisily, thinking about the creepy wallpaper and the brooding furniture.
Sirius rubbed Marlene's forearms in reassurance and looked up at her, his grey eyes wide sparkling and full of innocence. "I know." He said trying to ensure she wasn't worrying.
Marlene's furrowed brows stayed in place. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss on to Sirius' lips. Sirius couldn't help smiling softly at her and buried his face in her neck pulling her onto him on the couch.
It was 7 am in the morning and Marlene felt like death. She hurriedly made her way to the Quidditch field whilst she tried to gulp down the remnants of a cup of coffee before charming the cup back to the kitchen. Her unruly hair was being more unruly than most days which she silently blamed on Sirius. They spent a little while longer laying together on the common room couch until about 1 am in the morning when their eyes were drifting shut and they both promised they'd give it ten minutes before they went up to bed. Ten minutes turned into an hour and both were still fast asleep in each other's arms, Sirius holding Marlene tightly and Marlene allowing her hair to fan out over his chest whilst she found comfort and warmth in his chest. When the sun started shining through at 5 in the morning, Marlene awoke to her horror on Sirius' chest where the embers from the fire and Sirius' chest provided her with warmth.
"Sirius!" She whispered furiously. That did nothing except make him clutch her tighter.
She shook him slightly and his eyes peered open, "We need to go back to our dorm rooms before everyone wakes up and realises we haven't been up there!" She said.
Despite his tiredness, Sirius' eyes widened. "Shit."
Both of them fled to their dorm rooms. Marlene smiled a small smile before her head hit the pillow and she fell back to sleep.
A good hour or so later James was peering over Marlene as she tried to catch up on more sleep. How he even got into the girl's dormitory she had no idea, nor did she care at that early in the morning, but he was shaking her and she wanted to strangle him. "James Potter I'm going to fucking kill you." She said in a deathly quiet voice. "What the hell do you want it's 6:40 in the morning?"
"Quidditch is at 7 and you're not even dressed yet!" He all but shouted. "You're as bad as Sirius today!"
Marlene begrudgingly got up and brushed her teeth before putting her Quidditch gear on.
And now here she was, furiously trying to make her way to the Quidditch field before 7. James was on the field speaking to a range of students who she assumed were trying out. They were captivated by the speech he was making. James had a way of doing that, being serious as ever (especially when it came to Quidditch) yet managing to break down the seriousness and throw in a joke every now and then.
He saw her coming from a distance and turned. "Ah Marlene nice of you to join us!"
She glared at him, "Shut up Potter."
The younger kids giggled whilst the older kids smirked.
"Don't undermine my authority!"
Marlene raised an eyebrow, her lips pursed and James quickly backed down. "Never mind."
Sirius was then sprinting across the pitch, his hair also unruly. "I'm here." He said breathless.
James' façade of authority and leadership fell, "Well, you took your damn time!" He all but yelled.
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Shut up Potter, its 6:56 I'm on time." This resulted in more giggles from the younger children as James face palmed.
"Right we're starting now." James said facing everyone as they quieted down, some first years peering at James admiringly.
"Everyone who's been on the team before stand aside, the rest of you I want you to do three laps around the pitch. It's no race I just want to see if you can fly, alright go."
As the previous team members moved away as did James. "So what's your plan James?" Asked Marlene.
"Once I can see who can fly and who can't, I'll be threading out those who can play for the positions they want and who fit those positions the best. We'll probably play a couple short games. You're all pretty much guaranteed your positions anyways unless some Quidditch star tries out." James said.
"Don't be impartial now James." Called Tom Wood in a playful tone, who in previous years played the keeper.
"What can I say, you're good players." James chuckled.
When the rest of the players came in, James got rid of all of those who couldn't fly, who were mostly first years who were running out of stamina.
"We're going to be playing a few short games to see who would be the best in the positions. Alright divide up. Chasers over here, beaters over there, keepers on the left and seekers on the right, go!" James said with authority.
Sirius and Marlene made their way over to the beaters area, the damp grass from the morning mist making an uncomfortable noise beneath them. "You know when James told me he was Quidditch captain," Sirius whispered to Marlene, "I thought old Dumbledore had finally lost it. Looking at him now I think James was perfect for the job."
Marlene struggled to stifle her laughter, "Unlike you I had utmost faith that James would be a great captain. Now hush I need to get into the zone!" She said as Sirius threw her a bemused grin.
Game after game they played, Marlene was a force to be reckoned with. The bat in her right hand, she swung it so hard it may have split down the middle. She was focused, she thought of nothing else but swinging her bat. It was only when James' voice sounded, that she was brought back to the real world.
"Bring it in!" He said loudly. Everyone on the field flocked to the source of his voice. "You all played great today, I'll be putting up the Gryffindor team and reserve list soon. Good luck everybody."
Marlene wiped her forehead with her forearm and sighed a happy sigh. "Good playing McKinnon." James said with a smile, "You were a demon out there!"
Marlene couldn't help but smile widely, her eyes radiating, "Thanks Potter."
"OIi," A loud boisterous voice called, "What about me?" Marlene didn't have to turn around to picture the wicked grin on Sirius' face that went along with his question.
James snorted, "Yeah you were alright."
Marlene also didn't have to wait to hear Sirius' response to know that an argument was to follow, "As much as I would love to hear this, it is 8:30 in the morning, it's not even fully light, I am going to sleep for at least 2 more hours, bye lads!" And she began to walk off the field.
"You don't want breakfast?" James asked.
"I want sleep!"