The first time Sirius was caught sneaking out of the house, he got a warning. The second time, a lecture. But the third time his parents found him coming back almost in the morning, he got grounded. One month of not being allowed to leave the house unless it was a kind of emergency or because he was asked to run some errands. And no visitors were allowed.
Instead of days spent with his friends and rushing to the McKinnon Manor, in Scotland, in the middle of the night, Sirius was supposed to stick around and 'think about his actions' as Mr. Potter had said.
And that was what the dark haired boy was doing so greatly until he got an unexpected visitor one afternoon.
Sirius had been staring at the ceiling in his room when he heard a knock on the window.
Thinking it was James shoving his freedom down his throat, Black marched up to the other side of the room, promptly opening the window ready to curse his best friend.
Only his expectations were dead wrong: outside, hovering over the backyard and smiling at Sirius, was Marlene McKinnon on a broomstick.
Dumbstruck, the boy only kept staring right back at her.
"Are you going to let me in?" The blonde inquired, looking impatient.
Shaking his head, Sirius got out of the way and Marlene went in, putting her broom in a corner and sitting on Sirius' bed.
"What are you doing here?" He asked closing the window and going up to her.
"Oh, James told me you were grounded and couldn't leave the house." She waved her hands and smiled mockingly. "I had to see it for myself."
Sirius rolled his eyes and laid back. Of course she would make fun of such situation. She was Marlene McKinnon after all. She liked to play with his misery.
"You came all this way just to laugh at me, McKinnon?"
"Oh no, Black", she smiled. "I thought you could use some company."
There was no way to understand Marlene's statement unless the one she implied and Sirius knew that. He had been with her long enough to identify every single tone of malice in her voice.
"Yeah, that sounds fair", he replied and lost no time in kissing her full on the lips, bringing her down with him.
Marlene smiled at the boy's urgency. One week had been too much for him.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Mrs. Potter had been baking Sirius' favourite cookies. She knew she shouldn't spoil her sons so much, especially one who had been running to Scotland every night just see his girlfriend, but she couldn't help herself. It was in her nature to please others and get on their good side.
Getting the tray out of the oven and putting it aside, Mrs. Potter smiled and decided to go upstairs to call Sirius for cookies and milk. It doesn't matter how old you are, she used to say when the boys would complain they were 16 and didn't have the age to that anymore, if your mum brings you cookies and milk, you eat it.
"Sirius, honey, I made those cookies you like", Mrs. Potter said, knocking quickly on the boy's door and opening it right away.
She heard more than she saw. She heard a male voice scream "MUM!" and the sound of blankets being pulled and the bed creaking.
She saw a blonde figure trying to cover herself and murmur some profanities.
"What is happening here?" She asked, eyes wide open, now really seeing the messy bed, clothes everywhere and Sirius and Marlene hiding under the blankets.
"Does it help if I say it's not what you think?" The girl tried, her voice a tone lower.
"No, it doesn't." Mrs. Potter shot back, folding her arms in front of her chest and looking straight at the teenagers. "Sirius, you are grounded. You aren't allowed to have anyone over. Especially not for… what you're doing!" She finished, her face hot.
"Mum… I'm sorry", he mumbled.
"No, son, not this time", she sighed and shook her head. "You've got to understand that there are certain rules you need to follow. Especially in my house." She paused and walked back to the door. "Get dressed. I'll be waiting for you two downstairs. And you'll be going home in a few minutes, Marlene."
"Yes, ma'am."
With that, Mrs Potter turned her back on them and walked out of the room and out of that mess, leaving the two of them alone for the next few minutes.
"We're so fucked up", Sirius mumbled, turning his face to Marlene.
"She saw us, Black! Not heard, but saw. We're more than fucked up."