THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

Whatever had happened after they had left, the girls weren't on board with it. Lily appeared outside of their dormitory later that day- they had all opted to stay at Hogwarts instead of making the trip down to Hogsmeade so late in the day.

She was on the verge of tears, so Dorcas ushered her in and patted her on the back. "What's wrong, love?" She asked, sending concerned looks towards the rest of the girls.

They crowded around Lily in the corner of the dorm where pillows of various shapes and sizes had piled up.

"Lily, why don't you tell us what's wrong?" Marlene said after an unbearable amount of silence.

"I ended it," Lily said softly, her voice cracked.

"Ended what?" Elle answered bluntly. Dorcas and Marlene swatted at her, but Lily sniffled and said, "It's fine. You have a right to know. I assume you all know anyways."

"Yes, of course we know. We can read you like a book, Lils. You've fancied him for weeks," Dorcas said. Elle and Marlene nodded simultaneously.

"I didn't even know!" A tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly. "I only realized after Halloween! I mean, there were signs, like when he fell during the first Quidditch game and… the chess games…"

"What happened?" Marlene asked, setting her hand on Lily's wrist.

"I told him- I told him that… that we couldn't be together. Because we're the Head Students."

Dorcas snorted. "You seriously believe that? Even the teachers are rooting for you. They wouldn't care!"

"Lily…" Elle said dreamily. Her almost purple eyes floated around the room before landing on the teary red head.

"Yeah?" Lily responded.

"Your hesitation towards having a relationship with James… could it possibly be because you don't want to cave in after all these years?"

"I- I don't know…"

"You realize that you're hurting yourself with this as well, don't you? You're separating yourself from something that you want, when you could take it anytime you want."

"Haven't you realized after all this time that he isn't a horrible person? If you like him, then what's really stopping you?"

"I don't… I don't know."

"Then you better figure it out," Dorcas said. She stood up and finished, "I'm going to the Quidditch Pitch."

Marlene patted Lily on the shoulder and stood as well. She slipped out of the dorm quietly, on her way to meet Sirius.

"Lily?" Elle said.

"Yes?"

"He's not going to hang around forever, you know?" Elle picked up an old faded book and flipped through the pages.

"I… I know," Lily responded. She stood up and moved over to the window seat. Snow fell softly outside and the world was bright, happy. It felt ironic.

Elle mumbled something under her breath about wrackspurts and wandered out of the room, nearly walking into a wall as she clutched her book close to her face.

"Hey, love," Sirius said sweetly to Marlene when she slipped from the portrait hole. He was leaning against the wall, having a languid conversation with a blushing Fat Lady. Marlene shook her head, laughing slightly.

"What?" He asked, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

"You even flirt with the Fat Lady!" She said.

"Of course I do! The Fat Lady and I are set to be wed soon, didn't you get the save-the-date card?"

"I'm surprised you even know what a save-the-date card is!" They both laughed as they made their way down the staircase towards the kitchens.

"You look lovely today, Mar," Sirius said.

"Aw, thank you. You do too," Marlene replied, reaching up to kiss the edge of his jaw. She wasn't much shorter than him, especially in her new heels she had purchased in Hogsmeade, but she still had to tilt her head to reach him.

"After you, m'lady," He tickled the pear on the painting and the painting swung away from the wall to reveal the kitchens.

"Thank you, kind sir," Marlene joked as she stepped into the wall.

The kitchens were warm and smelled of freshly baked bread and treacle tarts. Little house elves bustled around, whispering to each other in squeaky voices and dressed in little rags. One rebellious elf skipped over to the two teens and clapped her hands together.

"Mister Sirius and Miss Marlene!" Gilly cheeped, her larger-than-normal ears flopping happily. She was dressed in a pink doll's dress that was well-kept and wore a tiny pink bow around her head. Marlene had 'accidentally' freed her in her second year, for she had always hated the idea of house elves. Even though she was Pureblood, her family had long-forgotten the customs and rituals of Pureblooded wizards. They didn't own any house elves, but they did have two elderly elves who helped around the house on their own free will- Merry and Dilly.

Gilly had stayed around, however, and vowed to do so until Marlene left Hogwarts.

"Hi, Gilly," Marlene said, dropping to her knees to greet the elf. "How are you today?"

"Gilly is very well, thank you very much. Mara and Gilly just made ice cream, would Mister Sirius and Miss Marlene like some?"

"That would be perfect, thank you, Gilly." Sirius helped Marlene up, laughing at her antics.

A grumpy old elf with a hunched back- Mara- grunted and motioned them over to one of the long tables in the center of the kitchen.

Suddenly, Sirius grabbed Marlene's arm, and pulled her back. He reached for his wand and pointed it out at the table.

Severus Snape sat at the end of the table, eating a bowl of porridge as quickly as he could. He looked up and quickly grew defensive, grabbing his wand. "What do you want?" He asked, standing up.

"Sirius," Marlene said quietly. "Let's just go. We can come back later."

"He could come back later as well," Sirius said sharply.

"Let it go, darling."

"Oh, how sweet," Snape sneered. "Please, don't let me stand in the way of your romantic lunch." He swept out of the room, nearly tripping on the way out and Marlene slapped Sirius's arm so he wouldn't laugh.

"Don't be a git, he wasn't doing anything wrong."

"Just existing is wrong," Sirius grumbled. Marlene giggled her light, ethereal laugh and sat down at the end of one of the tables. As she engaged Gilly in a conversation, Sirius was overcome by a feeling in his stomach. It couldn't be butterflies, because the great Sirius Black, one of the most well-known womanizers of Hogwarts, didn't get butterflies. Then again, he didn't date and yet here he was; overcome with a feeling that he couldn't name.

"Aren't you going to sit?" Marlene asked. Sirius nodded, quiet for once in his life. With Marlene, he didn't need to shout to be heard. With Marlene, he wasn't required to be anyone but himself.

After a while, Marlene laughed awkwardly. "What're you staring at, Sirius?"

"You," He said, looking lovingly at her.

"Whatever for?"

"You're beautiful."

"You flatter me too much. I'm going to get a big head." She blushed.

"I think you're entitled to having a big head, considering who you're dating."

"Oh, so my boyfriend gets to decide if I have a big head or not?"

"I didn't say that. And your head is not big. It is a perfect size."

Marlene laughed again. Her mind, however, was freaking out. Though it had been nearly three months, they had not established that fine line between 'dating' and 'boyfriend/girlfriend'. Sirius, being the unobservant half-wit he was, didn't seem to catch Marlene's little slip-up.

"Gilly has brought ice cream galore!" Gilly squeaked, and at least fifteen tubs of different types of ice cream landed on the table between them. Marlene laughed at Gilly's willingness to serve and grabbed a spoon. She pulled a tub of regular strawberry ice cream towards her and began to eat.

If Sirius knew anything about Marlene, it was that she loved ice cream. More than anything, probably. Any type of ice cream really, but perhaps she loved strawberry above all else.

"Your birthday is over winter break, shall we do anything special?" Marlene asked, piling whipped cream onto her ice cream.

Sirius's eyes darkened. He didn't celebrate his birthday. A birthday in Grimmauld Place meant one more year closer to pledging yourself to the Dark Lord. A birthday in the Black Family was not a celebrated event. "I don't celebrate my birthday."

Marlene looked confused. "Whyever not?"

"It doesn't matter. I just don't."

"I don't accept that," She said softly, shaking her head. "If you don't want to celebrate your birthday then we don't have to, but I'd appreciate a reason."

"I just don't! Birthdays were not a good thing in my family! The older I got, the more likely my mother was to smash my face in!" He ran a hand through his hair and breathed heavily. Marlene leapt from her seat and came around to his side of the table, holding his head against her chest.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. "I should've let it be. I'm sorry."

Sirius focused on her hands that brushed his hair away from his face and held his temple firmly. Her nails were light pink and her right thumbnail was chipped from where she nibbled on it when she was thinking.

After he calmed down, Marlene squeezed onto the end of the bench beside him and Sirius had that feeling again. The butterflies.

"You have a right to know. If this-" He motioned between them- "is going to continue, then I'll tell you. Just not like this."

"You don't have to, you know?"

"You deserve to know."

"Okay. But Sirius…"

"Yeah?"

"What happened there… it's not going to happen again. I know it will never be easy to forget it, but why would you give them the satisfaction of ruining the rest of your life?"

"I… I don't…"

"I won't push it anymore, but just think about it, please?"

"Okay." He leaned over and kissed her head and she smiled- softly and sadly.

"So…" Marlene said a few minutes later. She pushed her bowl of ice cream away from her and looked deviously at Sirius,

"Yes?" He asked, brushing her hair out of her face.

"What did James tell you about him and Lily?"

"Merlin, you love your gossip, don't you?"

"No, I want my friends to be happy. This is not gossiping, it's… plotting."

"Plotting? I don't want to be part of your scheme."

"Come on!"

"Fine. Prongs said she had a fit last night… something about Marie Kensington. I think I read something about her parents dying. He stayed with her and they fell asleep. She woke up the next morning and kissed her… and I guess you know the rest. He said she looked genuinely heartbroken that she couldn't start something up with him. She's barmy, is what I think."

"Don't call her barmy! She hasn't a clue what's going on either!"

"Well, he's moving out of the Head Dorms tonight. He'll be gone before she gets back." He grabbed a spoonful of ice cream and ate it while Marlene looked at him quizzically.

"So you're telling me… that the famous James Potter is giving up? The famously stubborn and persistent James Potter is giving up on the woman he loves?" She said slowly, sitting back. She was suddenly angry at him, though she knew it wasn't all his fault.

"He needs a break. The bird's mental, she is. When she finally admits to fancying him, she pushes him away."

"She's a seventeen-year-old girl! Who fancies a guy she hates! And she also seems to be dealing with a ton of shite from some Pureblooded racists! Pardon me if she hasn't got her life sorted out! And I can't believe you'd let him give up like that. I'm disappointed in you, Sirius Black," Marlene spat. She stood up and collected her handbag.

"Oi! What did I do!" He asked, standing as well.

"You think long and hard about that one, Black." She stormed away, but stopped shortly when she heard Sirius mutter, "Bloody barmy bird."

"Pardon me?" She asked, turning around.

"I said, 'bloody barmy bird'! And I don't regret it!"

"Go to hell, Black," She said before stomping towards the portrait hole.

Sirius ran his hand through his hair again. This constant running-of-hands-through-hair was probably the cause of his widow's peak. That girl, Sirius thought. That girl is going to be the death of me.