Sirius scowled scanning through his letters.

"Hi Padfoot,

Um… I'm not sure what to tell you about Marlene. She once told me I was nice! Or was it nuts? That's all I got anyway…

Hey guess what! That hufflepuff girl sent me a letter it says-"

That's when Sirius stopped reading. He was really desperate to ask Peter for girl advice. Wormtail was practically paralysed in the presence of a female person. Maybe Remus has some enlightened information…

"Padfoot,

YOU'RE STUCK IN GRYFFINDOR TOWER BECAUSE OF JAMES! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME! AND POOR MARLY IS THERE WITH YOU! AND THEN HAZEL WROTE TO YOU! WHO'S HAZEL? AND YOU EXPLODED STINKSAP OVER SEVERUS! THEN MARLY GAVE YOU A BLACK EYE? Sweet Merlin.

Ok. Now THAT is out of my system I think you should consider apologising to her. Maybe tell her you actually do possess feelings? And that you have them for her?

Happy New Year

Mooney"

Sirius rolled his eyes. Remus' lectures lose something when they come by such a fluffy little owl. Breathing heavily he slid further down in his armchair. Prongs… his final hope… and the same girl had rejected him every day since first year. Sirius had no hope.

"Pads,

So you've messed it up.

Never fear! Prongs is here! First thing I'd do is get her somewhere that you can talk without interruption but in took care of that for you… You're welcome.

Next is to use frequent compliments at random intervals. Beware of trick questions! These will set you back a few months! Or years in some cases…

Tell jokes, girls like funny guys. And hug her! Everyone likes hugs! Even you do! Yeah. That's right. I know.

From the great, the brilliant, the incredible, the wonderful wizard who is amazing at quidditch,

Prongs."

Prongs actually had some decent advice in there. Sirius shivered with worry. He jumped at a quiet sigh behind him. Marlene was standing there looking out the window having not noticed him. Sirius took one last note of his letters before walking over to her. He breathed quietly before enveloping her into a hug.

"AH- WHAT THE!" Marlene shrieked kicking and screaming in shock. Sirius immediately let go and backed off arms raised in fear. Marlene fell on the floor in shock.

"Why on earth would you do that!" She gasped glaring at him. Sirius' eyes darted around in fear. Marlene clenched her jaw in anger.

"Never mind then I see you are incapable of speech." Marlene says irritably. Sirius is still frozen staring at her. She rolled her eyes and started to get off the floor.

"You look pretty today!" he squeaked in an alarmingly high pitched tone. She stared at him cautiously.

"I was ugly yesterday?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"NO! Of course not! I mean um- you're always pretty. I…err…no… Your hair looks great!" Sirius said all this without blinking and clearly floundering. Marlene laughed once.

"Thanks I grew it myself. What's wrong with you?" She tried to smile reassuringly but still looked sad. Sirius hung his head.

"I'm sorry." He muttered. Marlene's smile hardened. She stood there in silence looking out the window.

"That's not really important is it? I mean it's not like I really care about you having a girlfriend." She said in a low voice. Sirius stared at her with a look resembling a hurt puppy.

"I do not have a girlfriend. But you don't care? At all?" He asks quietly. She gives him a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"Of course not. We weren't even friends before this were we!" She says giving a hollow laugh. Sirius frowned at her.

"We were kind of friends." He shrugged. She snorted.

"As I recall last year we spoke at total of twice. Once when we were paired in charms and…" She trailed off grimacing.

"And?" Sirius pressed face contorted trying to remember.

"When you transfigured my ears to resemble that of a mouse." She giggled. A grin spread instantly over Sirius' face.

"Ha! I remember that! James said we should have given you a tail to match!" He barked happily. Marlene raised an eyebrow.

"I stopped him of course!" he said quickly. She raised her other eyebrow.

"Well… Remus stopped him." He tried. She coughed in disbelief.

"Stopped us…" He hung his head. She started chuckling again. He joined in nervously.

"Sorry about your eye." She apologised softly. Sirius instinctively touched before wincing in pain. She gave him a confused look.

"Is there any food?" She shrugged bemused. He wandered back to the sofa and pulled out an empty plate.

"Uh… no… Are you hungry?" He said.

"No… but I'm bored… Therefore I shall eat. I think I have a honeydukes bar left from Dorcas. I'm off to check. " She says running up the stairs. Sirius notices a small piece of parchment fly out of her pocket.

"Huh… so she wrote a letter too…" He murmured picking it up. Evidently it was the last page of a rather long letter.

"And it pulled off my sock too! Before you ask that did have relevance to your problem. I'm not sure how… Ask Lily.

Anyway just pretend like you don't care. You wouldn't have if it weren't for being stuck up there. Plus boys are easily distracted. Change the subject.

Go eat lots of chocolate. That's an order sergeant!

Alice xx"

Sirius smirked neatly folding it into his pocket. Marlene then hopped down the stairs, two at a time, waving a huge bar of honeydukes cherry flavour. Her face was slightly red and blotchy but before he could give it a second thought she started chattering.

"I found it! It's so great! I love this stuff! Do you like it? Have you ever had it before? I bet you have. Remus eats it religiously doesn't he? Ha ha! That's so funny! I've already had a bit. Can you tell?" She said all this without blinking. Sirius could smell the cherry chocolate on her breath.

"You can barely tell…" He said trying not to laugh in her face. She grinned and bit off a huge chunk of chocolate.

"This might be a stupid question but…" Sirius started looking at her face cautiously, but was interrupted by Marlene.

"There are no stupid questions… only stupid people."

"Marlene's words of wisdom everyone!" Sirius threw his arms in the air exasperated. Marlene stared at him.

"There's only us here Sirius…" she whispered gently. He shot her an amazed look.

"Just how much chocolate did you eat?" She giggled and leaned towards him like she was going to tell him a secret.

"This is my 3rd bar!" She giggled quietly before falling to the floor in peals of loud laughter. Sirius rolled his eyes and sank into the abandoned sofa watching her.

"And to think I used to think you were normal." He said smugly.

"Everyone's normal until you get to know them Sirius!" She grinned before raising an eyebrow and giving him a strange look.

"What?" He asked awkwardly. She turned her head sideways.

"I can see up your nose from this angle." She smirked. He climbed off the sofa and kneeled next to her.

"It's a great time to be alive." He smirked. She smiled but edged away from him slightly. Sirius frowned at her before regaining confidence.

"You just live in your own little world don't you?" He said softly pulling her hair gently.

"Yeah I suppose. But it's okay. They know me here" She shrugged pulling away from him again with a fake smile. Sirius felt his grin fade… Alice's letter hit home finally.

"She really is upset… She does care…" Sirius didn't know how to feel…

Authors note: Hi! Sorry I haven't updated recently but here you go! Couple of things. Uno, I am planning to take down my other fanfiction "marauders day" so if you haven't read it go now… HURRY! I'll be posting other stuff soon too. Dos, I have a poll on my profile that I would love you guys to take part in.

Thank you xx