Thanks to Elizabeth (MoonytheMarauder1) for betaing this story!

Summary of this OS: Sirius has three days to make her forgive him.

Rating of this OS: K+

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, nothing belongs to me. I don't make any money out of this story.

.:.

Written for:

[HSWW] Assignment #7: Survival Studies: Survival Skills / Task #4: Write a fic set over three days - there must be a scene on each of the days

Other prompts listed at the end

Word count (without the A/N): 2,522 words


Three Days: Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon

"Three days, Prongs," Sirius sighed. "Three days. That's all she gave me to… Wait, I'm quoting now, 'prove I was worth it.'"

"Well, you did act like a jerk, Padfoot," James indicated. "What were you thinking, telling us all about your… Wait, what did she call it? Your 'private life.'"

He glared at his best friend and retorted, "You asked, Prongs. That's why I told you. And you didn't need to tell her that I told you."

"It's called honesty, Padfoot," Remus intervened, not looking at him but rather at the book he was reading.

"And now I'm dealing with the consequences of your honesty," Sirius grumbled and bowed his head, his fingers on his temple. "Seriously though, I am stuck. I have no idea how to make it up, and the truth is… I can't lose her."

This time, Remus looked up and stared at him, his green eyes wide. Peter and James were also looking at him, dumbfounded, and he realized what he had just said.

"What?" he asked. "It's not like you didn't know –"

"That you loved her? No, we didn't know she meant that much to you, Padfoot," James exclaimed, and then stood up from his bed and sat down on Sirius's. "It's amazing that you're finally letting someone else in," he added, a bright smile on his face.

"Yeah, but like I said…"

"You really have no idea of how to make it up?" Peter asked, his timid voice echoing through the boys' Gryffindor dormitory.

Sirius glanced at the other boys and saw that they were still asleep. He sighed with relief and glared at his friends.

"I have lots of ideas. Trouble is, most of them suck."

They all sniggered, and he laid back on his pillows, sighing again. His friends could be such discouraging men… But he actually needed to think of good ideas, and so he closed his eyes and decided to stop listening to the laughter of his friends.

"I know!" he suddenly exclaimed, and they all stared at him, waiting for him to explain.

A mischievous smile etched itself upon his lips and he stared at James, then Remus, and then Peter. He opened his mouth and told them his plan.


When Marlene woke up the next day, a scowl appeared on her lips as she remembered her argument with Sirius from the day before.

She felt like she had been childish. Maybe he shouldn't have told his friends what they had done the night before, but it was just for a game (that's what Potter had told her anyway). She shouldn't have screamed at him and she certainly shouldn't have dared him to make her forgive him in three days (if she was being honest with herself, she had already forgiven him).

She quickly put on her school uniform and then walked down the stairs… just to be welcomed by a picture of herself on a sticker glued on the wall. She walked into the Common Room, an incredulous look on her face… Especially when she saw the hundreds of stickers on the walls, some with a moving picture of her on it, some others with bronze letters painted on a red and gold background. The bronze letters were saying, "Marlene McKinnon, the best girl ever". She was so infuriated right now! This was so humiliating!

She heard voices coming from the staircase leading to the boys' dormitory and froze. It was… him! And his friends! This was certainly their doing!

"Promise me, Padfoot…" she heard Potter say. "Just don't freeze when you see her."

"What are you talking about? I never freeze," Sirius replied, and she could hear the grin in his voice.

She turned towards the opening and glared at it with all her might. And when Sirius walked through, he froze when he saw her looking so fiercely at him. A smirk painted itself on Marlene's lips, and she turned around and stormed out as rapidly as she could of the Common Room, without even waiting for her friend Lily.

And to think she had forgiven him this morning! She fumed as she walked down the stairs to go into the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Marlene!" she suddenly heard someone scream behind her.

She stopped and waited for Lily, but she didn't turn. She was too afraid that beside Lily would stand James, and beside James… She didn't want to see Sirius right now.

"Why did you run away?" Lily asked her when she finally joined her.

"It was so humiliating! I - I'm not the 'best girl ever' or anything. And where did he get that picture? It was -"

"Private, I know. Looks like it's a problem between the two of you, knowing what should stay private and what shouldn't."

"It's not a problem for me," she protested. "It is for him. How could he ever think that I would take that well?" She paused, and then continued, "I had forgiven him, you know. When I woke up, I… had decided to give him another chance, because I realized that I had acted childishly, and…"

She trailed off, and Lily intervened, "You look sad without him. You do know that, right?"

Marlene sighed and shook her head determinedly, before she climbed down the stairs and she entered the Great Hall, Lily trailing slowly behind her.


It was noon, and Sirius was watching Marlene anxiously from the other end of the Gryffindor table. The way she had reacted this morning… It wasn't what he had expected. Or maybe it was. He knew Marlene, and deep down, maybe he was aware that it was a bad idea.

But this wasn't really what he was worried about now. In a few seconds, the cake would appear before her, and he was sure that she wouldn't react well.

She was ignoring him, and he was starting to think that he shouldn't have done the thing with the stickers (although he meant it; she was the best girl he had ever known).

When the chocolate cake sent by the House Elves did appear in front of her, she squinted and frowned at it. Her name was engraved in it in a red and gold sugar topping, and she raised her head to look at him. Of course she would know it was him.

She rose from her seat and delicately took up the plate upon which the cake rested. She walked calmly towards him and he tensed. This was bad. This was really, really bad. She never walked calmly, she always bounced or strode around.

"Did you make this?" she asked him in an abnormally cold voice.

"Hum…" He hesitated. It was probably better to tell her the truth, and so he did. "No. The House Elves made it for me. But the intention was th-"

"If that's your apology then you can shove it! The only reason I'm not throwing it in your face is because it would be a shame to waste something made so caringly by the House Elves. But you can eat it by yourself, Black!"

She strided away and went out of the Great Hall, her calm fury leaving him and his friends speechless.

"I do have a question, Sirius," Remus exclaimed.

He grunted as a response and his friend continued. "Why do you insist on infuriating her so much?"

He didn't bother answering and glared at his friend instead. He watched the light catching on James's glasses as he threw back his head and burst out laughing, and for the second time in a few hours, he wondered why his friends were like this.


Marlene had felt her anger growing all day, and she was tired of it. She just wanted it to stop, she just wished she could rest in peace in her bed, and she couldn't bring herself to go back into the sticker-covered Common Room. She couldn't bring herself to find the courage to face Sirius once more.

She clenched her teeth together and hugged her pillow closer to her chest. She heard footsteps then, and deep down, she knew who it was.

"I just want to be alone right now, Lils," she mumbled, and she heard Lily scoff in response.

"Bullshit," her friend said coldly. "You have to stop, Marls. This is leading nowhere. You've been locked up here all day, you didn't go to class and didn't eat dinner in the Hall, and because of what?"

She didn't answer and turned her back to her friend more ostensibly.

"It's because of Sirius, isn't it?" Lily asked. "What was this stupid deal you made with him? Three days to make you forgive him… And you weren't even angry with him in the first place!"

"You're right, it was stupid," she whispered, and finally turned to face her red-haired friend.

Lily stood with her arms crossed next to her bed, but as soon as she saw the state in which she was, she sat down and a more gentle look crossed her face.

"Today was so humiliating…" Marlene complained again. "I mean, the stickers, that's fine, only the Gryffindors could see it, but the cake! The cake…"

She felt her eyes growing wetter by the second and she closed them. She didn't know why she was so over emotional today, but she was getting tired of it.

"Did you even eat dinner, Marlene?"

"No," she whispered, and Lily shook her head.

"I thought so. Come to the kitchens with me, maybe you can have a little something to -"

"I don't want to go down. Not now. I can survive a few more hours without eating, don't worry." She smiled at the end, just to reassure her friend.

Lily didn't seem convinced, but she got up anyways and a little smile appeared on her lips.

"Night, Marls," she exclaimed. "Sleep well!"

It was like these words were magical, because as soon as her friend left the dormitory, Marlene closed her eyes and fell asleep.


"D'you think she'll forgive me this time around?" Sirius asked the other Marauders.

They stayed silent. James took a deep breath and removed his glasses to put them on his bedside table before asking him, "You really think she won't forgive you?"

His piercing hazel eyes were fixed on him, and Sirius sighed, "I'm scared she won't, and if she hasn't in two days it will -"

"What?" Peter cut him off incredulously. "It's Marlene, Padfoot! Even if she doesn't forgive you in two days, she will eventually."

He looked up at his usually shy friend and saw him staring at him fiercely. For once, Peter wasn't the shy one between the two of them.

"You're sure about that?" he asked him.

"Of course. She loves you just like you love her."

"She doesn't love me," he tried to argue.

"She does," Remus intervened. "It's obvious, even to me. You're the only ones who can't see it, and that's a shame. Maybe you should tell her if you haven't already, and it will all work out in the end."

He considered his friend and then nodded briefly. Maybe that was the way out of this mess.

"I'll work on the big finale though, if you plan to tell her tomorrow," James exclaimed and picked up his glasses again. "It has to be something big!"

"Merlin's beard!" Sirius swore and glared at his friend. "There will be no big finale! Do you really want to get me killed?"

James just winked at him through his glasses and quickly got out of the boys' dormitory, ignoring his friends' cries of "But it's night time!" and "We're supposed to be in bed!"

"By Merlin," Sirius grunted. "I am so screwed."


It was just before dinner on the day after that, and everyone was already seated at their respective tables. The light of the sun had already gone out. Marlene was sitting at the table and was beginning to worry about the Marauders, who hadn't shown up in class or at meal time that day.

Just as she was about to ask Lily about Potter and the others, she heard a gigantic explosion and she jumped from her seat (as did everyone in the Great Hall). Light suddenly illuminated the Hall, and she raised her head. There were red and gold fireworks exploding in the sky, and the sparks were forming a letter. M. And when another set of fireworks went off, she already knew what would be written in the stars. The letter A. She watched as her name appeared in red and gold letters in the sky, and she was torn between being furious and being amazed.

A few minutes later, after the show was over, the Marauders appeared and she instantly saw that Sirius looked more guilty than anything else. It was James who seemed the most excited about his precious show.

She strode towards them, her long legs working below her without her consent.

"Marlene," Sirius started before she could say or do anything. "I'm sorry about this, I wasn't intending to -"

"I know that wasn't your idea," she cut him off coldly. "But it doesn't change the fact that you agreed and that I am humiliated again in front of everyone!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and suddenly she saw him as a shy young man, and not as the exuberant boy she had fallen in love with.

Fallen in love with, she realized. She loved him, and why did she have to realize that just as she was about to…?

"And I love you," he continued, his voice clearer than before. "I know I'm like, your least favourite person in the universe right now, but I love you."

Her eyes widened. Had he truly said that?

"W - What?" she stammered, and she looked around.

Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew had gone back to their seats, but everyone was looking at them. And for once, she didn't feel ashamed in the slightest.

"I love you," he repeated.

It was stupid. She had been ashamed for far less than that in the past two days, but she kissed him suddenly. Full on the mouth. In front of everyone. He was surprised, she could feel it, but she didn't stop. She continued to kiss him until he responded and pulled her closer, in front of students and teachers alike.

When he pulled away (she usually did first), he smirked and the exuberant boy was back again. "I take it you forgive me?" he asked her jokingly.

"You know what they say," she responded with a smirk as well. "All's fair in love and punches."

"I don't think that's how that goes," he disagreed.

"It will go like that if you don't shut up, Black."

"All right, McKinnon," he answered with a bright smile that lit up his face.

She smacked his arm but took his hand and led him to the seat next to hers on the bench, choosing to ignore the still on-going round of applause. And for the first time in a few days, the smile on Sirius's face was mirrored by one of her own.


Also written for:

[HSWW] Yearly Events:

365 Prompts: 134. Forgive

Insane Prompt Challenge: 259. (dialogue) "I know I'm like, your least favourite person in the universe right now, but I love you."

Yearly Scavenger Hunt: 96. Write a fic about a fanon pairing

[HSWW] Herbology Hangout: (item) stickers; (colour) bronze

[HSWW] Writing Club - April:

Showtime (Oliver!) - 3. I Shall Scream: (action) kiss

Amber's Attic: 13. "I have lots of ideas. Trouble is, most of them suck."

Bex's Basement - King T'challa / The Black Panther: 3. (dialogue) "Just don't freeze when you see her." / "What are you talking about? I never freeze."

[HSWW] Seasonal Challenges - Spring:

Days of the Year - 18th June (International Panic Day): Write about someone panicking about something

Seasonal Challenge - Spring: 6. (word) growing

Seasonal Challenge - Birthstones: 2. Emerald - (dialogue) "All's fair in love and punches." / "I don't think that's how that goes."

Elemental Challenge - Earth: Earth Prompt #20. (dialogue) "Why do you insist on infuriating her so much?"

[HSWW] Hogwarts Easter Funfair - Working Bees: Dialogue Bee #18 ("If that's your apology then you can shove it."); Character Bee #4 (Marlene McKinnon)