Marlene was always amazed at how under even extraordinary circumstances things can become routine. In the weeks after "the attack" as it came to be known, everyone in the Potter house soon fell into a predictable pattern. What was strange, Marlene thought as she dried herself after getting out of the shower, was what the routines became. One would imagine that James would constantly be by Sirius's side and that he would constantly want to be near his best friend, and that Lily and Marlene would distract themselves until Sirius was mended well enough to join them all. What happened though was something very different.

Marlene's brow stayed furrowed in concentration as she dressed in a simple tank top and Holyhead Harpies sweatpants. As she walked downstairs, she tried to tame her tangled curly hair into a ponytail. When she reached the kitchen, she saw Lily enjoying a cup of tea at the table, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hey Lils."

"Oh, hey Mar." Lily snapped her head over to look at her friend, losing her train of thought.

"Tea still warm?"

"Yeah, help yourself, honey is on the table."

Marlene's eyes sparkled as she helped herself to the honey, sweetening her tea with it. Lily grinned at her friend's weakness for anything sweet. Yet, even while she enjoyed the simple presence of Marlene, it wasn't enough to completely set her at ease.

"Has James been to visit him yet?" Lily asked tepidly.

Marlene merely shook her head in reply.

"Merlin, what's going on? You'd think…I don't know." Lily rubbed her temples in confusion, her crimson hair threatening to fall in her eyes as she did so. "A month ago they were tied at the hip and now Sirius almost dies and he won't even see him."

"Yeah, Sirius has been asking about him." Marlene put her cup of tea down and folded her hands in front of her. "He thinks he made James mad or something. I haven't been able to get anything out of him though, not really."

"Yeah, James has been silent whenever I bring him up to. I think he blames himself for what happened." Lily thought out loud, "Do you think they had a row and that is what set Padfoot off?"

Marlene arched an eyebrow; it was amazing how Lily had embraced James and his friends once they showed they were maturing. First it was letting James actually take her on a date, now she was comfortable using their nicknames. If they weren't talking about such a serious topic she would have smiled at the transformation of Lily Evans.

"There is almost nothing in this world that would make Sirius go back to his blood family." Marlene said confidently. "I have no idea what happened beforehand, but I know it's probably driving both him and James up the wall."

"And as ever, it falls to the women in their lives to save them from themselves." Lily said with a sigh, looking at Marlene knowingly.

Marlene diplomatically passed over the implication Lily threw out, instead just nodding her head and agreeing with her.

"It has been nice though, in a way, spending all this time with James. We only ever went on one date before school was over, when he proved he wasn't a complete idiot." She smiled, "so this is nice, just taking things slowly. I just wish he would come clean about Sirius. How is he by the way?"

Marlene smiled despite herself; "he's getting back to his normal egotistical self. You know how he is Lily. He puts on this act of constantly making jokes and flirting and being in control. But, every once in a while I find him looking at me weirdly."

"What do you mean?" Lily leaned closer to Marlene across the table, fighting back a smile.

"Well, It's hard to describe." Marlene could feel a strange tightening feeling in her chest that she had begun to associate with Sirius for some reason. "You know how he usually looks and talks to me, he would treat me like he does you or Peter or anyone else right?"

Lily nodded her head enthusiastically, desperate to hear all of the delicious details.

"Well he acts really normal when he's around us or his friends right? Like he'll joke around but he'll kind of drop the dramatic stuff and be more down to earth around us yeah? Well, more down to earth for Sirius at least."

Again Lily nodded her head up and down and motioned with her hand for Marlene to go on.

"Every now and again, when I'm with him, I'll find him looking at me in a strange way, or he'll say something strange. Like, he'll actually be vulnerable Lils. And I've never seen him that way."

"So, what does he say, what does his looks look like?" Lily asked eagerly, already creating a plan in her head.

"Well you know that we have, um, had a bit of a past." Marlene suddenly blushed a little.

"Yeah you snogged a few times last year before you broke it off. You said he wasn't ready." Lily replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah well, when we did that, all I could see was lust in his eyes you know? But now, he just looks at me differently. Like, I'm important or something. And then the other day, when I turned to leave and get the potions he needs, he grabbed my hand, and asked where I was going. He sounded concerned almost, and when I told him what I was doing, he apologized, mumbled something, and then thanked me. You should have seen it Lily, I wish I had a camera, I would frame the picture and call it, "The First Time Sirius Black Ever Showed Sincere Gratitude."

A familiar smile began to spread over the face of Lily Evans. Marlene saw it grow, slowly at first, until it spread across her entire heart shaped face.

"Lilsy. Don't." Marlene commanded, staring with all the intensity she could manage while feeling a blush try and sneak into her cheeks.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lily suddenly feigned ignorance.

"You are not going to try and set Sirius and I up this year, do you understand?" Marlene pointed an accusing finger at Lily.

Lily for her part scooted back in her chair and raised both hands defensively. "I would never do that."

"Never do what?" James asked as he came into the kitchen. He was still half asleep and his hair was even messier than it normally was.

"Nothing." Marlene squeaked out before taking a quick swig from her tea.

"Just girl talk, we were talking about going to.." Lily trailed off.

"Diagon alley for some new dress robes. For the Yule Ball they are having this year." Marlene finished for her; Merlin Lily was awful at lying.

"Oh, well that sounds nice." James uttered sleepily. Marlene thanked her lucky stars that he was so tired, usually a lie that forced wouldn't fool James.

"Well if you're up that probably means Siri is too." Marlene said, getting up. "I'd better go check on him."

Lily only smiled at the use of a cute nickname like that while James seemed to be visibly pained by being reminded of his best friend.

"Mom said that her and dad would be back this weekend so, she can take care of him not you." James said uncomfortably.

"No it's fine, I'm actually beginning to like spending time with the cocky git." She walked over to him, gave him a hug, and walked behind Lily to give her one as well.

"Find out what is going on with James, and I'll find out from Sirius. You good with that?"

Lily didn't respond only nodded with a small almost silent giggle. And with that, Marlene disappeared up the stairs to Sirius's room.