Every Sunday morning students arrived late to the Great Hall for breakfast; everyone wanted to take the advantage and stay in bed as long as it was possible before Monday comes again, and they have no other choice but wake up in the earliest hours.

James Potter wasn't amongst them. He was always up early, and once he opened his eyes, there wasn't anything that could keep him on the sheets. He couldn't just stay in there and do nothing; no, he had way too much energy for that.

"You need a girlfriend, Prongs," Sirius said more than once after James dragged him out from under his blanket. As much as he wanted to leave the quiet dormitory, he didn't want to go down alone.

But no one ever was able to get Remus out of his bed. He either slept so deeply the whole castle could fall apart around him and he would just shift a little, pulling the blankets closer around himself. Or, when the others somehow managed to wake him up, he simply told them to fuck off and they knew it was better not to mess with him—unless they want to find themselves in the middle of a prank war. Again.

Peter was hard to wake up too, and even though he promised James he's coming, he's a wake, he fell back to sleep a half minute later.

It always took Sirius a long time to relax enough to sleep, and he would wake up at the smallest noises during the night. Sometimes he woke up late, sometimes he woke up early; either way, once he was up, he didn't like to go back to sleep again. When for long years the first and last thing you hear is your mother's shouts, you can't relax so easily even in your own bed, even when you don't have to hear her anymore. His sleeping schedule was a complete mess, and sometimes he couldn't see the end of it.

Sirius wasn't surprised when they found the hall nearly empty—only a few early birds were there to get some food. He glanced at his watch: 7:13.

They sat down to the Gryffindor table; James was constantly talking while Sirius just tried to wake himself up, yawning and drinking coffee. But soon enough, his mood got better as two girls joined to them—one from Gryffindor and someone from Ravenclaw. The girls talked and giggled a lot, but after a while, only Sirius entertained them, as James couldn't take his eyes off Marlene.

She walked into the Great Hall with one of her friend and as she looked into his direction, James waved to her, but he merely got a small nod in answer. Maybe she smiled too, but if she did, it was so tiny he couldn't even see from there. His thoughts immediately wandered back to yesterday, when they tried to cheer Marlene up…

"James? Are you listening to me?"

Slowly, James turned his head away from the Slytherins' table and looked at the blonde Ravenclaw on his right. "Yeah, sorry—what were you saying?"

The girl let out a small sigh, but went on anyway. "I was just asking if you… so I thought we could go Hogsmeade together next weekend."

James nodded. "Sure, Bonnie, good idea—"he started, but looked at Sirius across the table in the next moment, "What's wrong with Marlene?"

"Why? Do you like her?" Bonnie asked before Sirius could answer anything, but tried to hide the jealousy from her voice with a laugh, bumping her shoulder into his.

"Yeah, I do, she's my best friend."

She huffed at his serious tone, but also felt a rush of relief, as James referred to Marlene only as a friend. "Well, if you want to know, she and his boyfriend broke up."

James raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't know. What happened? Wait—how do you know?"

The girl next to Sirius chuckled. "Everyone knows. Collin broke up with her because Marlene said she never loved him and all she cared about sex. Poor Collin, he loved her so much!" she added with a sad frown.

"That makes no sense, Maggie," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Marlene broke up with Collin because she cheated on him with one of his best friends."

"Oh, because that makes so much sense!"

While the girls continued to argue about all the rumours they heard, trying to decide what the truth was, the boys exchanged a tired glance.

But soon, James turned around to see Marlene—even from across the room, he could tell she was still in a bad mood. Her forced smiles always betrayed her, and James was worrying about her. Seeing his concern, Sirius stood up from the table,

"Ladies, if you'll excuse, we need to go," he said and James immediately followed him, but Maggie quickly grabbed Sirius' arm.

"Can I see you later?"

Sirius swallowed hard, but chocked back a growl and smiled at the girl. "Sure. Three pm in the common room?"

The Gryffindor girl nodded happily, while Bonnie looked questioningly at James. Knowing what she wanted to ask, James quickly said, "Sorry, I have Quidditch practice. But it was good to see you."

They hurried out of the Great Hall, carefully avoiding each other's eyes. Only when they left the room Sirius looked at James with a grin, "You don't have Quidditch practice today."

"And you have detention from three."

Sirius let out a loud gasp and put his palm over his heart. "Oh, no! I guess I can't see her then, what a shame…"

James said nothing but laughed, shaking his head, so Sirius went on. "Seriously though, I have an excuse. I already slept with this girl. What's yours? I mean—Bonnie is one of the prettiest witches here. A dirty little minx," he grinned. "Why don't you go for it?"

They continued their walk up on a moving staircase and James adjusted his glasses before he shrugged, "I'm not interested."

Sirius threw his head back with a sigh. "And Lily isn't interested in you. Get over it. Half of the girls here would die for you. The other half is mine, and notice I was really generous—"

They almost reached the fourth floor when James suddenly turned on his heels and cut Sirius off, "I have to go back to talk to Marls."

"Wait, stop," Sirius grabbed James' shoulder to stop him, and started to talk before he could say anything, "She slept with Wallis on the other night and the next day, that asshole told everybody about it. And believe me, he didn't speak about her in the nicest way. I personally heard him saying to someone he doesn't understand why she tried to make him believe she was a virgin, when she obviously wasn't—she was, before you ask. I don't think she knows, but he lied a lot to her. I heard it from some girls. And she's also upset because her friends are being rude with her about it."

A few students walked past them as they were standing there in the middle of the staircase, while James stared him for a few seconds in silence. He leaned against the cold stone railings, before he shook his head, "Okay, but how would you know all of this? How do you know they aren't just rumours too?"

"Because Marlene told me."

"Yeah, sure," James laughed, but Sirius said nothing in answer, and silence settled between them. James' smile slowly disappeared and he shook his head, like he wasn't sure he heard him right, before he straightened up, "Marlene told yousomething so personal? To you. Marlene McKinnon. To you."

Now that he thought about it, Sirius didn't understand why Marlene were so open with him, even if she only told him a few things. But instead of voicing his confuse, he only rolled his eyes. "Yes, get over it."

They continued their way up on the stairs in silence. James still couldn't believe how that was that possible that Marlene, who never liked to talk about anything too personal to people who wasn't close enough to her, told something like this to Sirius. A couple months ago they couldn't even stay in the same room without ending up in a huge fight. What changed?

But there was something else that concerned him at the moment, and he felt as he was getting more and more angrier as he thought about it.

"I'm going to kick that prick off his broomstick our next game."

Sirius arched an eyebrow. "Why would you wait until then?"

A mischievous smile slowly hovered over James' lips as he stopped, "My friend, are you saying you have some plans?"

Sirius grinned back at him. "I always have some plans."

With that, they quickly changed their direction and ran down on the stairs.


The worst part wasn't the rumours, or that she needed to listen catcalling even more often than before; Marlene get used to them a long time ago. The worst part was that Collin acted like nothing ever happened between them. He kept flirting with other girls in front of her, carefully avoiding Marlene's eyes. In fact, he completely avoided her existence. He didn't say hello, he didn't even look at her while he walked past her.

As a Head Boy and the Slytherin seeker, Collin spent a lot of time outside of the common room for Marlene's relief; she knew it will be easier to move on when she didn't need to see his face every hour.

But she was still surprised when she didn't see him at any of their classes on Monday. Collin wasn't someone who just skipped a whole day, even when he got a little sick. She was suspicious, but she let it go soon, enjoying every minute she didn't have to see that disgusting smile of his.

After her classes, but before dinner, Marlene decided she'd go up to the Hospital Wing, checking if Madam Pomfrey needs any help. She was tired, but she didn't fancy the idea to go back to the common room, or her dormitory, that she shared with the two girls who looked at her with the most judging glances.

Saying she was shocked when she opened the door would be an understatement. The first thing that caught her eyes was as enormous elephant trunk, hanging next to one of the beds. Then her eyes wandered up, and she saw the owner of the snout: it was Collin, thought she could hardly see his head.

She stood frozen at the door, jaw dropped while she tried to process the image in front of her eyes. She barely took a step closer, when Madam Pomfrey hurried closer to her,

"Oh, dear, thank you for coming, but I don't think you can help here today," she said, throwing a worried glance at the boy behind her.

Slowly, a smile started to appear on Marlene's face. "Uhmm… what happened to him?"

"Don't even ask!" she waved her hands. "Three of his friends needed to carry him up here. I couldn't sleep all night because of the noises he made! Oh, just wait until I get my hands on those who did this! I've never seen anything like this before!"

At this point, Marlene needed to cover her mouth with her palm to hide her laugh. "That's really, so terrible."

"It is!" The matron yelled in disbelief. "I couldn't find any counter-spell to do this back! Now, Professor Slughorn is trying to make a potion, but I wouldn't build my hopes up—"

She was cut off by Collin's loud cry that echoed in the whole room, and Madam Pomfrey growled, turning around after she told Marlene it's better if she leaves now.

Marlene couldn't wipe the grin off her face while she left the wing and hurried down on the stairs, yet when she reached the Great Hall, she chocked back her laughs, trying to seem casual. She walked in; it was dinner time, hence the room was noisy, packed with students and teachers.

She walked past the Slytherin table and only stopped in front of James,

"Do you mind if I join you?"

His mouth full, James only shook his head as a no, though he exchanged a small glance with Sirius, who sat next to him, while Marlene plopped down next to Remus. Piling some smashed potatoes on her plate, she finally spoke up,

"You know, I was just wondering," she started, pouring some juice into her goblet, "Do you have any idea why Collin is lying in the Hospital Wing with a giant elephant trunk on his face?"

Sirius swallowed back a laugh, while James said, "Merlin, no! What happened to him? Is he okay, though?"

Marlene rolled her eyes. "James, stop it. You're the worst liar."

"That's not true!" he argued with a mouthful of chicken, before Remus cleared his throat.

"Hey, James, is it true that you are you hopelessly in love with Lily Evans?"

James snorted. "No, it isn't. Who is Lily Evans anyway? Is he a new teacher—oh, shut up, you lot," he growled angrily and put his fork down, as everyone around him started to laugh.

"Madam Pomfrey is raging, you know," Marlene continued. "She and Slughorn together weren't enough to make that snout disappear yet."

"Nice job, Padfoot," Peter laughed, chewing on a slice of apple pie.

Marlene frowned hard and looked at Sirius immediately. "You did this?!"

Everyone looked at him, but Sirius only shrugged. "It's my spell. Couldn't risk and let Prongs to do it, yeah?"

Sirius continued his dinner like nothing happened, but Marlene stared him, awestruck by the fact… did he just… hexed someone? Because of her? It seemed surreal. Why would he do anything because of her?

"Anyway… how are you?" James asked in a more serious tone after a while, and even though Sirius still didn't look up, he was listening the conversation.

"I'm fine," Marlene lied, and James knew she was lying, but he also knew he couldn't make her tell the truth if she doesn't want to. "One thing for sure, I'll never date with a Head Boy again."

James let out a loud gasp. "But wait if I will be the Head Boy?"

Marlene chuckled, knowing he was only joking, but she went on with it anyway. "First of all: eww."

He extended his arms and looked down on himself, "Really? Eww?"

With a roll of her eyes, she went on, "Well, no offense, James, but chances you'll became a Head Boy are even lower than Sirius will ask someone out to a second date."

"Hey!" Sirius pointed his index finger at her. "Well, yeah, that's true."

They looked at each other for a second, before Marlene burst out into a loud laugh that she was trying to hold since she walked into the Great Hall. "Oh, you should've seen Collin's face."

"I have," Sirius said with a grin. "I even risked to get caught. Although, maybe one of his friends saw me there…"

Soon, it turned out he was right. Marlene, James, and Sirius stayed at the Great Hall long after they finished their dinner; talking and laughing. The three of them just left the Great Hall and stopped in the entrance hall, when they heard Madam Pomfrey's screech,

"Black! Potter!"

"Oh, man, we're trouble," James mumbled under his breath and ran his fingers through his hair, watching as the matron stormed closer and closer. "Ok, you talk."

"What?! Why me?" Sirius asked, but before James could give an answer, she already reached them. "Madam Pomfrey! What a pleasure to see—"

"Oh, don't give me that innocent smile of yours. Is it true that you and Mr Potter hexed Collin Wallis?"

"No, of course not!"

Madam Pomfrey sighed, her eyes throwing draggers. "Now, listen to me. You two sent more of my students in the Hospital Wing than everybody else before. But this – that is too much even from you!"

"Excuse me," Marlene stepped closer with a smile. "But they really couldn't do it this time. I spent the whole day with them yesterday. Surely I'd noticed if they hex him, don't you think?

She frowned. She liked Marlene, and she didn't see any reason she would lie—she heard her complain about James and Sirius multiple times. "Well… if you are truly sure."

"I am."

Madam Pomfrey took a last look at the boys. "I will keep an eye on you."

They didn't dare to say a word until she disappeared, only changed small glanced. When James was sure she was out of earshot, he asked,

"Did you just… save our ass?"

Marlene turned to him slowly. "I don't approve any kind of bully, James. But you hexed a Head Boy and none of the teachers knows the counter-spell. You were in big trouble."

"You saved our ass," James' grin widened, causing Marlene to roll her eyes.

"For the first and last time."

"By the way—why is that so special that he is a Head Boy? I'm a Qudditch captain, but I think Madam Pomfrey would be even happy if someone would finally hex me."

Marlene chuckled before she said, "Well, don't you worry about that. Besides Remus no one's got enough nerve to hex you."

"What about me?" Sirius asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"You're too in love with James to hurt him," she replied, and he only laughed with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, thank you for trying to cheer me up and all. I really appreciate it," this time she was talking to James, and only gave a mere second to look into Sirius' eyes before she said goodbye and left.

James watched her while she walked down on the staircase to the dungeon, then at Sirius, then back at Marlene before his hazel eyes finally stopped on Sirius, a silent gasp leaving his mouth, "You like her."

Sirius' eyes widened in surprise. "I don—no. I don't."

James' grin widened. "Merlin, you really like her!"

Sirius didn't understand his friend, and didn't even want to as he let out huge sigh, "Listen, Prongs. I know you really want this to happen. I am your friend. She is your friend. But—for a fuck's sake, stop grinning at me like this!"

He bit back his smile and raised his palms defensively. "You don't have to lie to me, Pads."

"Just because I don't hate her so much, it doesn't mean I like her."

"Yeah, sure, mate," James said with a nod and patted Sirius' shoulder, trying not to laugh while Sirius still looked him with a shocked expression. What was wrong with him, he didn't understand. He didn't like Marlene, he never did, and he was sure he never will. They were just too different.


It took her a little while to move on, but after a couple months Marlene finally only saw his ex-boyfriend as a bad memory. It was also comforting to know from this summer, she never have to see him ever again, as it was Collin's last year at Hogwarts.

The first week of June was sunny, hot but windy, and everyone wished they could just leave the school and finally go home. Instead of this, students still needed to sit between the cold walls of castle and study for their exams, only watching the nice weather from the window.

Sirius woke up late. He almost never slept through the whole morning, but the past few days were just too long with the full moon and his exams; he spent a whole night with roaming the woods before he went straight to his Transfiguration exam—and passed with Outstanding. He decided he deserves some good, deep sleep after this.

After he grabbed some lunch but found his friends nowhere, he went up to the Hospital Wing to visit Remus. The last full moon was tough for him, and he ended up with too many scars and other injuries, yet he completely forget about this when his grey eyes stopped on Marlene.

She was sitting next to a bed, applying bandages on a kid's forearm—probably a first year judging by his look and his shy smile. He stood in the middle of the room, trying to put two and two together, before Marlene finally stood up, and his grey eyes met her blue ones. Then he walked closer, following her as she went to the sink to wash her hands.

"What are you doing here?"

His voice wasn't friendly but suspicious, almost commanding, and Marlene let out a loud sigh, ignoring his question. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to visit my friend," he answered and gestured towards Remus, who could barely be seen under his blankets. "And you…?"

Marlene looked him in silence for a while, drying her hands with a small towel. "I just help around here."

"Why? Are you in detention?"

With a growl, she walked away from him. "No, I'm not."

She crossed the room in a fast pace, but Sirius was on her heels. "So you're here of your own, free will?"

Marlene stopped next to a girl with a roll of her eyes, asking if she was okay, before straightened up again, but nearly bumped into Sirius as he was so close to her.

"Ever heard of personal space?"

"I just don't understand," Sirius said with an honest surprise on his face. "Do you get something for this? Money? Extra credits?"

Sirius saw as anger flashed through her blue eyes and he took a small step back, whilst Marlene crossed her arms across her chest. "Do you seriously think I'd only help to others if I could get something back in return?"

"Well, I mean, I just—"

"Listen, just get the hell out of here and leave me alone," she cut him off and turned around, but he followed her again.

"You can't throw me out of the Hospital Wing, McKinnon," Sirius snorted, and Marlene looked at him with a sweet smile that always told others how wrong they were.

"Actually, I can. Since I'm officially helping here and you're distracting me—"

"Ok, ok," Sirius cut her off and raised his arms defensively. "I just want to see Remus, so…"

He'd already turned on his heels, but Marlene grabbed his upper arm and pulled him back. It caught him off guard and he almost fall against her, but she quickly stepped back. "What—"

"Listen. He's in pain. He was awake all night, and he just fell asleep like an hour ago. So please, leave him alone now."

She looked with so much intensity into his eyes Sirius couldn't look away for long seconds, until her hand left his arm. Then he glanced at Remus, then back at Marlene, who seemed she was still angry at him. Considering this, he only spoke up in a low voice, "So… you know… that he's—"

"Yes, I know."

"And you know that me… and James…"

"What?" she asked with a frown again.

"Never mind," Sirius shook his head, figuring out she probably doesn't knew about their little secret.

Marlene left him once again and walked to the back of the room, putting some potions back in their place into a cupboard, but she barely started it when she heard Sirius' voice again, "So…"

She turned around with a sigh. "What?"

"Can I ask again why you are here without you wanting to chop my head off?"

Marlene shifted a bit and looked around the room, fighting an internal battle with herself about whether if she should talk with him about these things or not. Then, before she could stop herself, she just started to talk. "I was on detention here at the start of the year. It was only two weeks, but… I don't know," she shrugged. "I kind of stuck here. It's really rewarding, you know? I mean, I know it isn't like life depends on me, but still… I can make these people feel better."

"That's nice," Sirius said but then cleared his throat. "I mean, considering it's you…"

Marlene rolled her eyes and turned around, but couldn't refrain a smile. "Now get out of here before I transfigure you into a bedpan."

Sirius left with a smile on his lips, and he was sure he has never been so confused in his life.