"…and the Slytherins had to wear bright red and gold robes to the Quidditch match the next day!" Marlene laughed as Sirius finished telling his story.
"You and James were quite the troublemakers," she remarked. They were spending the evening in her flat. Sirius had come over for dinner and they'd settled down on her couch afterward. The Clash rang out from her Muggle record player.
"You haven't even heard a quarter of what we got up to!" he laughed. "I don't think any students ever caused Professor McGonagall as much grief as we did."
"I can only imagine," said Marlene.
Sirius grinned. For a fleeting moment he considered telling her about some of the other things he'd done, but the moment passed quickly. Not everyone in the Order knew that Remus was a werewolf, and that wasn't his secret to share. He learned his lesson about that.
He decided to change the subject. "What sort of things did you get up to at school?"
Marlene smiled. "Well, I didn't quite cause the amount of trouble that you and your friends did, but I was a naughty girl."
"Tell me something I don't know," quipped Sirius.
"I was in Ravenclaw," began Marlene, "but I liked to use the library for snogging more than studying."
"That's the best thing to use it for. Did you ever get caught?"
"A few times. Madam Pince wasn't very pleased."
"I only got caught once, by my brother. I happened to be with a Muggle-born at the time," Sirius explained.
"Your brother the Death Eater?"
"Yeah." A stabbing pain shot through Sirius at the thought of Regulus the Death Eater. He didn't like to think about what his brother had become.
"I hexed Narcissa once," Marlene was saying. "I remember she said something incredibly nasty to a Muggle-born friend of mine. She couldn't get the pimples off her face for weeks."
Sirius's face brightened. "That was you?"
"Yes it was."
"I've always known I have good taste in women."
Marlene smiled at him. "You really are quite the charmer, did you know that?"
"Of course."
She returned to the subject of their schooldays. "I got my share of detentions. I was rather quick to hex anyone I fought with."
Sirius had an image of school-aged Marlene hexing his cousins and their friends, most of whom were now Death Eaters. But then he was reminded of some of the times when he and James had hexed people who really didn't deserve it. He felt a little bit embarrassed about that now. "Did they always deserve it?" he asked.
Marlene was thoughtful. "I suppose not, but there were plenty of times when they did. There's something immensely satisfying about a particularly good hex."
"Especially if it's cast on a Death Eater,"said Sirius.
"Naturally. Personally I'm anxious for them to attack. It's been too quiet lately. I don't like it. They're probably planning something very nasty."
"You've got a point," Sirius replied. "I've been so on edge lately, just waiting to hear about an attack. Constant vigilance. Moody would be so proud."
She laughed. Sirius enjoyed the sound. She always laughed as if she really meant it. He leaned in a little closer to her. She made no movement other than to stroke his hair. Sirius closed his eyes slightly at the soothing gesture. "You like this very much, don't you?"
"You know I do," he said, perfectly content. He could stay that way for hours and not have any desire to move.
"Your hair is so soft," she murmured. "Soft and silky."
Sirius didn't say anything. He simply enjoyed the feeling of her fingers running through his hair. The silence continued for several more minutes. They were too caught up in savoring each other's presence to speak.
After what felt like entirely too short a time, Marlene stopped stroking Sirius's hair. He gave her an inquiring look, wondering why she'd stopped. She answered his question by kissing him. Heat flooded through his body at the touch of her lips on his. Memories of what else she'd done with those lips flashed in his mind. His hands rose to tangle themselves in her hair as his tongue brushed against hers.
They had scarcely paused for air when a silver cloud suddenly appeared in Marlene's flat. It solidified into the familiar form of James's stag Patronus. It looked directly at Sirius and spoke.
Sirius, it cried out in James's voice, Death Eater attack! The Badleys, just outside Hogsmeade! After delivering the message, the Patronus dissolved.
Sirius and Marlene sprang apart. He rushed to his feet and hastily pulled on his Chuck Taylors and leather jacket. Marlene followed suit, throwing on a jacket and shoes while silencing the record player with a flick of her wand. Both of them Disapparated.
Sirius vaguely recalled where the Badley house was located from previous visits to Hogsmeade. Mr. and Mrs. Badley were both Muggle-born and they had a couple of small children. Their Muggle-born status explained why the Death Eaters had chosen to attack them. He Apparated a short distance away from the house. Marlene appeared just a few feet away from him.
They were in a grove of trees, which gave them an opportunity to observe the scene before them. Marlene crept closer to the house and motioned for Sirius to follow her.
The doors had been blasted off the house, but the fighting was taking place in the yard. Mr. and Mrs. Badley were struggling to hold off three Death Eaters. Sirius saw two children cowering in fear behind their parents. James and Lily were battling another pair of Death Eaters. Sirius also noticed Caradoc Dearborn, Sturgis Podmore, and to his surprise Aberforth Dumbledore fighting fiercely. Marlene rushed to join the Badleys and Sirius moved to help James and Lily.
Normally Sirius wouldn't curse an opponent when his back was turned, but there were certain situations when you had to make use of every advantage you had. He snuck up behind James's Death Eater and cast a quick Stunner. The Death Eater dropped, and James noticed who was responsible. "Sirius! You made it!" he exclaimed.
"Of course I did," said Sirius with a grin. He and James joined Lily and together they made short work of her Death Eater. He fell to the ground beside his fellow.
Sirius glanced around the yard and saw Mr. Badley clutching a wound in his side. Marlene was trying her hardest to distract the Death Eaters, but they were bearing down on him. Mrs. Badley was trying with difficulty to protect both her husband and children. He had to give them a chance to escape. He charged forward, shooting a Stunner at the nearest Death Eater.
The Death Eater dodged it easily, which Sirius anticipated. He quickly cast a Full-Body Bind curse at him, followed by an Impediment jinx. The Death Eater blocked both with a Shield Charm. Sirius used the brief pause in action to get a look at his opponent's eyes through the slits of the Death Eater mask.
They were blue. Not Regulus. During every battle, he always feared that he might cross paths with his brother. As much as he'd rejected his family, he still felt sick at the thought of fighting Regulus.
The Death Eater was studying Sirius as much as Sirius was studying him. "What a shame. A boy like you from one of the oldest and greatest pureblood families, wasting your life fighting for filthy Mudbloods. What a loss to our cause."
Sirius's eyes narrowed and anger rose within him. He didn't recognize this Death Eater, but apparently the Death Eater recognized him. "I'd rather fight for what you call "filth" than be a proper member of the Bigoted and Most Inbred House of Black."
The Death Eater shot a spell at him, and Sirius barely managed to cast a Shield Charm in time to block it. "It's your loss, then," said the Death Eater. "It won't be long before the Dark Lord's in charge. Blood traitors will be next to go after Mudbloods."
Sirius took advantage of his opponent's momentary distraction to cast a pair of Stunners at him. He only just managed to dodge both spells, but he recovered quickly. The Death Eater fired spell after spell at Sirius, so fast that his wand was almost a blur. Sirius had all he could do to block and dodge the curses. He tried to get a few of his own in when he could, but none of them got through.
He heard Marlene give a cry of triumph and glanced over quickly. Her face recalled how she looked when they shagged. There was something very primal about her in those moments, as if she lived for love and war.
Sirius realized his mistake too late. The Death Eater got a curse past his Shield Charm. Jabs of pain like electrical shocks ripped through his body. He fell to his knees and cried out, overwhelmed by the pain. Desperately he struggled to fight back the blackness that overwhelmed his mind…
He heard the Death Eater laugh with glee, heard Marlene cry out his name, felt her fingers close around his arm…
He knew no more.
