A/N: Day four of Blackinnon Week 2020!

Prompt: Their first time telling someone about each other.

Pertinacious

She shouldn't be nervous. Marlene took a deep breath and squared her shoulders as the train pulled into the station.

Marlene hadn't originally intended to come home over the Easter hols, but when she realized that there were kids who might tell their parents who then might then tell her parents about her and Sirius and make it out to be something she was ashamed of, something that she'd be persuaded away from, Marlene determined that she needed to make sure that her family knew exactly where she stood with Sirius. So, she wrote to her parents and said she'd changed her mind and that she'd be home for the few days they had off.

She hadn't told Sirius this was what she was doing. She'd told him that her parents begged her to come home and that she felt like for their sake she should. He'd been supportive of it, told her she should go home, that she should be with her parents and sister.

That had been the end of it, at least their discussion of it.

But for Marlene, it had been the beginning, the beginning of all her worrying about what her parents would think, what they would do, and if maybe she might need to ask if the Potters wanted another unwanted child.

As she stepped off the train, Marlene instantly spotted her dad waiting for her near the Apparition point. She hitched her bag a little higher on her shoulder and with a deep breath moved to her dad's outstretched arms.

"We're so happy you changed your mind." He hugged her tightly. "I know how fun it can be to spend these days off at Hogwarts, but we miss you Marly."

"I miss you too," Marlene laughed, "And it feels ridiculous to ride a train all day when we live probably less than two hours away from the place."

"Maybe one day they'll realize that they need two trains, one that goes to Edinburgh and one to London." Her dad laughed. "But at least now you can Apparate home instead of hiring a car from the Leaky."

"That is a definite benefit," Marlene laughed as they took their turn to pop home.

"Marlene!" Catherine came running out of the front door as Marlene and her dad landed in front of the McKinnon's home.

"Catherine!" Marlene pulled her baby sister into her arms.

"Come on," Catherine grabbed her hand, "I want to show you the eggs I colored with the girls from Muggle school."

"It's called Primary, Cathy," their dad chuckled.

"I call it the right things when I'm with them," Catherine rolled her eyes, "But Marly's been in the magic world for years now and I'm sure she's forgotten it all."

"I'd love to see them, Cathy, but first I want to talk to Mum and Dad about something, alright?"

"Ok, I'll be in my room when you're ready." Cathy hugged her again in their entryway before running up the stairs.

"Is everything alright, Marly?" Marlene felt her dad's strong hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you and Mum about something."

"Mum is in the study. Why don't we talk about it there?"

Marlene nodded and followed her dad down the hall to the small bedroom that had been converted into the study when they moved into this home after Catherine was born.

"She didn't Splinch herself," Angus opened the door and grinned at Elspeth who was sitting at her desk.

Marlene laughed and hugged her mum.

"Welcome home, darling."

"She says she has something she'd like to talk to us about." Angus pulled out his chair.

"Is everything alright?" Elspeth summoned a chair for Marlene.

"I think it is," Marlene sat down. "I didn't want you finding out from someone else, but I'm sort of seeing someone."

"That's wonderful," her mum grabbed her hand and smiled. "What's the lucky boy's name?"

Marlene took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

"It's Sirius Black, and before you say anything, he's in Gryffindor, and he's nothing like his rotten parents and he's actually really amazing and I know you're probably worried but you need to know that I've made up my mind and I'm not going to stop seeing him because I know how good of a person he is and if you'll just give him a chance I know you'll see that he's amazing and…"

"Marlene," her dad laughed, "slow down. We're aware of Sirius' situation. You forget that we do spend time talking with Mia and Monty Potter rather frequently. And I for one am looking forward to meeting him."

"I am too," her mum squeezed her hand again.

Marlene stared at them with her mouth agape.

"I'm proud of you too, darling," Elspeth moved her hand to pat Marlene's leg. "I'm proud of you for looking past the surface to who Sirius really is, rather than looking at only what his family portrays and what others are saying about him."

"I'm proud of you too, Marly," her dad patted her shoulder. "Do you feel more at ease now?"

Marlene stared at them for a moment longer before she burst into laughter.

"I was being ridiculous, wasn't I?" She laughed.

"We all get a little ridiculous when it comes to the people we care about, dear." Elspeth pulled her into a hug. "Why don't we make a spot of dinner and you can tell us what Sirius is really like?"

"And you can take a few breaths in between your sentences as well." Angus chuckled.

"Dad," Marlene chuckled and smiled as she followed her parents out of the study. Maybe she'd underestimated her family. After all, it was her parents who taught her to look past someone's reputation to who they really were.

Now she just had to hope her dad didn't tell his dumb jokes when she introduced him to Sirius.