Ever since that first date, Marlene and Sirius became inseparable. They saw each other almost every day. He introduced her to his cousin Andromeda and to his Uncle Alphard, the only members of his family that he actually liked.

Sirius met Marlene's family as well and they were all really nice to him. It was strange at first because he wasn't used to nice families but eventually he fit in perfectly.

A full year passed since they started dating. Marlene graduated from University and started working as a curator in an important art gallery and she couldn't be happier. She still painted from time to time, but her job took most of her time.

After the sixth month of dating, they both had emergency keys of the other's apartment. They didn't stay for the night because they weren't supposed to, but they certainly spent most of the time with the together.

"Oh, Mr. Black, thank you so much for fixing my sink last week… did Marlene gave you the cake that I baked for you?" Marlene's old neighbor, Mrs. Williamson, called him just when he was about to enter Marlene's apartment.

Jesus fucking Christ, not now.

"Good evening, Mr. Williamson… yes she did, it was exquisite, thank you so much… how did you know that I liked chocolate cake with whipped cream?"

The woman smiled pleased and rather flattered. "Marley told me about it… I must confess I found it quite odd at first, but after what you did for my kitchen it was the least that I could do".

"Don't mention it… I'm glad I could help" he said politely but hoping for her to leave. Sirius just wanted to be with Marlene, he had a very special plan.

"She's such a nice girl, and it's very lucky to have you, her old fiancée was nice but quite useless, if you ask me"

That was something that he didn't like. Sirius hated being compared to other people. His mother used to compare him to his brother Regulus all the time and so did his father. He certainly didn't need nor want to be compared to Marlene's dead fiancée.

Sirius shook his head, "please Mr. Williamson there's no need for comparisons… now if you excuse me, Marlene is expecting me… if you need help with your house please let me know". After saying that, he opened the door and closed it before the old lady could reply.

Good Lord! What an old hag!

The apartment was quiet, which was strange because Marlene always had the radio on. During the past weeks, she had developed a fervent interest on the situation in Germany.

Sirius removed his hat and hanged it with his jacket and started wandering around. She wasn't in the kitchen or in the living room, where she used to paint on her free time. Finally, he checked on the bedroom. His lips curved into a small smile: she was taking a nap and couldn't look more adorable.

Marlene was bundled up on her blankets and clenching to a pillow and some strings of her blonde hair were covering her face. Sirius noticed how her chest went up and down slowly; she looked so peaceful that he didn't have it on him to wake her up. Next to her were more pillows and an opened newspaper.

He decided to remove his shoes and lie down next to her. Sirius grabbed the paper and rested his back against the bed header. It seemed that Marlene was reading something about the German's troops occupying Austria.

It was an interesting article and he already knew that Marlene would probably start ranting about it during dinner. His eyes traveled through the lines and his concern about the international situation only grew bigger. It was bad, really bad indeed. Not only this mad man was invading countries but his followers were burning synagogues and destroying Jewish businesses.

Sirius was so focused on the article that flinched slightly when he felt Marlene's arm wrapping him and snuggling closer. She buried her face on his ribs and her grip on him tightened a little. After relaxing, his instant reaction was to smile. He folded the newspaper and put it aside before starting to play with her hair tenderly.

"Good morning" he said teasingly.

Marlene grunted and snuggled even closer.

"Ah, nothing better than your cheerful mood for this gloomy day" he smirked playfully. "I ran into Mrs. Williamson… she loves me".

"Everyone loves you… you're like a savior in this building" she replied with her voice muffled.

"That's understandable… I'm loveable"

Marlene pulled away and gave him a bad look. She still had a sleepy face that only made Sirius laugh loudly and leaned forward to kiss her. If there was something he was sure, was that he would never, ever, get tired of kissing her. He cupped her cheeks with both hands as she moved to place herself on top of him.

He smirked against her lips and deepened the kiss. Good Lord, how wonderful it was! His hands went to her back and started going down: her waist, her lower back and finally, her ass. Sirius squeezed it gently and his hands kept on with their journey until they made the final stop: her thighs.

She gasped against his lips and Marlene couldn't help to grab his woolen vest tightly as she felt his hands running through the length of her legs. Marlene moved one of her hands to his hair and buried his fingers there.

"Mar…" he breathed with excitement.

"Yes?" she asked teasingly, moving to kiss his jawline tenderly.

Marlene loved those steamy snogging sessions that they had and sometimes even wondered what would happen if she let things go farther. She knew she was supposed to save her virginity for the wedding night but, with Sirius, it was so damn hard to do that. He was an exceptional kisser who knew exactly what she wanted and how she wanted.

"I bloody love you" he gasped and kissed her roughly.

She couldn't help to stop rather abruptly. Marlene pulled away and looked at him stunned. The only person who had ever said 'I love you' to her was her father before he went to war. Not even her brothers or her mother and definitely not even Andrew. Sure, they were really into each other and he was a nice and kind person whom she cared deeply, but 'love'?

Marlene blinked several times before whispering rather shyly, "you do?"

He looked at her confused. "Of course I do… I thought it was pretty obvious".

She felt the fire on her cheeks and her first instinct was to look away and bit her lower lip. He loved her. Sirius Black loved her. Her heart was beating wildly, clashing furiously against her ribs. What was her stand on that issue? Marlene certainly liked and cared about him a lot. But love? Did she love him? How could she know if she was in love?

"You don't have to say that you love me back, you know that, right?" Sirius said kindly.

"How do you know?" she asked, not paying attention to what he had just said.

"I don't know" he shrugged and started thinking. "I guess it has something to do with me not wanting to be apart from you or, when we don't see each other it's like my day is… dull and kind of sad" Sirius explained casually, playing with a string of her hair. "But it also has to do with your personality… I love your silly puns about my name, or the way you glare at me when I say something stupid to piss you off… or how you face lights up when you laugh… or you cute dimples… I don't know, I guess it's a combination of those things and some others too like your eyes… bloody hell Marlene, your eyes are the most breathtaking thing that I have ever seen… your eyes and your smile".

She didn't know what to say, so instead, she just listened to him carefully as her cheeks reached a surprisingly amount of redness not ever seen before. When Sirius finished talking, she took a deep breath and looked at him. Marlene looked into his deep grey eyes and thought of what he had just said. Did all those things applied to her? Did she felt all those things about him?

Marlene didn't have to think it too much because the answer was quite obvious: hell yes.

"I… I love you too" she replied shyly and immediately buried her face on the crook of his neck, just like she always did when she was embarrassed.

He smiled quite surprised and kissed her head. "Marry me" he whispered again with his lips pressed against her blonde hair.

Her heart stopped for a moment and then started beating again so violently that she was sure he could hear it. Marlene placed a tender kiss on his neck before pulling away.

"What have you done to me?" she asked amazed.

He didn't know what to say so instead he shrugged and placed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "What do you say, would you marry me? I was supposed to ask you tonight in a fancy restaurant after drinking expensive champagne, but I couldn't wait".

Marlene smiled widely and then bursted into laughter. "Always spoiling everything, Black" she chuckled teasingly and then kissed him again. It was a short but passionate kiss, "yes, I do want to marry you".

"You are amazing" he said marveled and then half smiled smugly, "now I believe that we were in the middle of a pleasant snogging session".

She let out a soft chuckle and pressed her lips against his one more time.