Chapter 8
"Time to get up Sirius!"
Sirius nearly fell out of bed. "Christ Prongs, what the fuck is the bleeding matter?!" He exclaimed getting back into the bed and shutting his eyes.
"We've got our Quidditch match against Ravenclaw today!" James said loudly, "How have you forgotten?"
"Lads," A groggy Peter started, "If you could please shut the fuck up it'd be great. Not all of us have a Quidditch match."
"Aren't you coming to the match?" James asked. At this point he was the only person out of their beds and dressed.
"Your match is at 10am and it's currently 7:30am so if you could not wreak havoc, it'd be much appreciated." A muffled voice from Remus' pillow said.
"It' 7:30?! Prongs I'll kill you."
"If you're late for this match Sirius I'll bench you!" Sirius flipped him off before going back to bed.
"Sirius!" A voice called, causing him to jerk awake. He looked up hazily to see Marlene standing above his bed.
He smirked as he looked up at her. "Well this a nice way to wake up in the morning."
Marlene was not amused, "Sirius you need to get up, it's 9:30."
Sirius' eyes grew wide with a creepy realisation, "Shit." He said and stumbled out of bed in nothing but his boxers as he ran to the bedroom.
"Nice bum by the way!" She called,
Sirius chuckled as he spat out the last of his toothpaste and got out of the bathroom. He went to his wardrobe and started pulling out clothes.
"There's no time for that!" Marlene said, "You need to get to the pitch and get changed now!"
Sirius pulled a puzzled look, "I can't put some bloody clothes on?"
Marlene shook her head and pointed to the broom next to her and Sirius finally understood what she meant. "Get on like that before you're even later than you are." She said with a smile.
Sirius smirked, "If you wanted me in my underwear McKinnon all you had to do was say so."
Marlene rolled her eyes and passed him a piece of toast, "Eat," She began to mount her broom and open the window. She got on the broom, followed by Sirius.
"Bloody hell it's freezing!" He exclaimed once he was outside on her broom.
"Should've gotten up earlier." Marlene said with a hint of amusement in her voice.
Marlene zoomed towards the pitch from the Gryffindor dorm room and she managed to get there in record time. She got off her broom and ushered Sirius into the rather large storage cupboard where the uniforms were kept.
She threw his uniform at him and he quickly got into his beater pants, "Thanks Marley." He said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes, "I didn't want to have to play with a reserve." She began to walk out of the room but Sirius pulled her back.
"Wait I haven't thanked you properly yet." He said with a grin.
"Sirius you're already so…" She said before he began to muffle whatever she was trying to say with his lips. Marlene gave in and went to put her arms on his still topless chest and reciprocated the kiss with happiness. Sirius squeezed her hips and held her tightly as he kissed her harder.
Sirius had just pushed Marlene, rather roughly, up against the wall, when the door of the storage cupboard opened, "Sirius you need to hurry,…SWEET MERLIN!" A voice said.
Sirius and Marlene quickly came apart and stared at Remus who was red in the face.
"For the love of the founders!" Remus exclaimed once again. Sirius and Marlene stared at him with apprehensive looks. "Never mind what the hell is going on here but you're late Sirius so I suggest you get the rest of your clothes on!"
Marlene nodded and grabbed her broom and scuttled out of the cupboard with her broom as Remus shut the door and left Sirius alone.
"Shit."
Sirius just made it to the team before the match was about to start.
"Thank God you're here!" James said with an exasperated sigh.
Sirius out of breath from running was doubled over and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm going to kill you one of these days Sirius." James said, resembling a stressed mother.
"You love me."
James grinned back and the voice of the commentator, Daniel Phillips a boisterous Quidditch supporter and one of the nicer Slytherins, interrupted them before they could carry on.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" His booming voice sounded, "Welcome to the first Quidditch game of the year. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!" Loud cheers blared throughout the stadium. Firstly the Ravenclaw team flew out onto the field followed by the Gryffindor team.
Madam Hooch was on the pitch, her whistle at the ready waiting for both teams to get themselves ready. James and the Ravenclaw captain, Meagan Sinclair, began to approach her. Her voice boomed throughout the whole stadium, "Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor! Captains shake hands!" James and Meagan, who got on rather well offered each other playful smirks, much to the chagrin to Lily, who watched the exchange with disdain from the stands, Sirius noticed. It probably didn't help that Remus and Dorcas were sat next to her, resembling love sick puppies.
Both the captains shook hands and flew back to their part of the pitch. Once the teams were ready, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch flew out and on to the pitch.
"The snitch is out!" Phillips said. "Look at the set of eyes on Potter and Roberts!"
Sirius was almost so distracted by James looking for the snitch that he didn't see the bludger coming his way and went wide-eyed at how close that bludger was to hitting him. With a loud 'thwack' he sent the bludger flying away from him. "Look at Black hit that bludger!" Phillips said, "Miss McKinnon seems to be giving him a run for his money! Now that is one dangerous woman!"
True enough Marlene's face was distorted from one of usual sweetness to one of aggressiveness and anger.
"10 points to Ravenclaw! Miss Cho is on fire!" The Ravenclaws in the stadium erupted into loud cheers. "Oh, oh, but the Gryffindor's are hot on their heel! Great passing between Clearwater and Creevey for Finnigan to score Gryffindor's first ten points!"
Sirius let out a loud whoop along with the rest of the Gryffindors. "Rick tries to shoot again for Ravenclaw but OH! Sloane Clearwater will not let him score, she dodges that bludger and instead scores for Gryffindor! Gryffindor are now in the lead!"
Sirius continued to beat at the bludgers at the opposing team rather aggressively.
"Potter and Roberts have still not appeared to have spotted the snitch. But OH FINNIGAN TAKES A BLUDGER HIT TO HIS LEFT CALVE!" Sirius looked over to see Wesley grit his teeth in pain, slightly falter and hold his calve in pain but after a second he manages to recover and begins to play again.
"Wes!" Sirius called in concern, "You alright?"
Wesley nodded, "I'll survive. Let's finish the match!"
"OH and Boot's arm is slightly swollen now isn't it? Didn't see that stray bludger coming!"
The match went on for some time, most of both teams were slightly bruised, some more than others. Gryffindor were at 80 and Ravenclaw were at 70. And Sirius was dying for James to catch the snitch at this point.
Sirius heard a louder whack of a beater's bat than normal and turned just in time to see a bludger flying towards Marlene from a Ravenclaw beater Gerard Williams. Sirius vaguely remembered James telling him something about Gerard's beating style having a lack of control. "He'll end up hitting one slightly too hard one day and someone's going to hate being on the end of that!" And Sirius did not want it to be his Marlene that was on the receiving end of it.
"Marley!" He shouted. Sirius wasted no time to fly the short distance to Marlene at light speed barrelling towards her and grabbing her just in time. However not enough time for him to dodge the bludger himself which knocked on to his left arm and rattled his body.
"Oh Merlin Sirius!' Marlene said in concern, her voice laced with concern as she noticed a bone sticking out slightly.
Sirius groaned loudly at the pain and at this point Marlene was both trying to stay balanced on her broom and keep Sirius afloat. His right arm clutching Marlene. "Sirius you're going to be alright. Just hang on okay."
"Don't get Pomfrey!" He said. "We have to finish the match."
"Ooh Black has taken a rather painful bludger meant for McKinnon." Phillip's voice sounded, "That's going to hurt."
Marlene hit a bludger away from them and gave Sirius a look, "Are you barmy Sirius?"
Sirius shook his head, "Finish the match."
"Potter seems to have spotted the snitch!" Both Sirius and Marlene looked up to see James suddenly diving and rising mid-air followed closely by Bertram Roberts.
Sirius started to hold his broom lightly with his left arm and clutched his beater's bat in his right. He still managed to hit the bludgers rather hard although Marlene worked rather hard to ensure she attended to most of the bludgers.
"Potter's almost got it!" Phillips said. "And he has! GRYFFINDOR HAVE WON THE MATCH! 230 TO 70! WHAT A GREAT FIRST MATCH OF THE SEASON!" Sirius cheered, raising his un-damaged hand in the air.
The rest of the Gryffindor team celebrated just as happily and they all flew down to the pitch and Meagan and James shook hands once again. Marlene flew over to grab a hold of Sirius once again and help him fly down to the ground. "You always have to be such a hero all the time Sirius." Marlene said.
Sirius smiled weakly as his feet touched the ground. He winced as the pain in his arm increased. Marlene's expression furrowed as she looked at him wincing, still keeping a hold on him. She looked up at the rest of the team who, apart from James, were surrounding them with chatter and concerned looks. "Is everyone else alright?" She asked. They all gave nods and murmured replies of assurance, "Make sure you get some rest, you all took some hits." She commanded eyeing Sloane Clearwater who was slightly hobbling.
Gerard Williams was hobbling over, he too sporting some injuries, "Sirius shit I didn't mean to hit it that hard. And I didn't mean to hit it at you either Marlene!" He said rather apologetically.
Sirius grunted, "It's alright mate." And Marlene smiled at him appreciatively
Meagan and James had walked over, "Williams," She bellowed, "What'd I say about controlling your bloody beating?" She said. "Any harder and his arm would've fallen off!"
He blushed red, "Sorry captain. And sorry again Sirius."
"Good game Gryffindors!" Meagan said.
"Good game to you guys too, you were hard to beat." Tom said.
"Sirius you need to get to the hospital wing!" James said eyeing his arm that looked more purple than anything.
Sirius nodded and got up, "Can he walk?" someone whispered not very quietly.
"Are you daft? He's injured an arm not his legs."
"You're lucky that bludger barely scraped you!" Madam Pomfrey bellowed.
"That was considered barely scraping?" Marlene asked.
Sirius was sprawled on a hospital bed with Madam Pomfrey fretting about at his bruised and bloodied arm. Marlene sat with him on a separate chair. James, Remus and Peter came to check in too but left to prepare for the Quidditch party they were throwing in the common room and Sirius with Marlene.
"That was a hard bludger Miss McKinnon!" Madam Pomfrey said, "Any harder and his arm would've fallen off!"
Marlene assumed she was being slightly dramatic and left her to it. She stirred around some ingredients in a cup and then passed it to Sirius to drink. "Drink this." Sirius smelt the suspicious liquid, "Just gulp it down boy." Sirius quickly drank the cup and his face scrunched up in displeasure. Immediately however he felt his arm start to mend and he could now move it without feeling large amounts of pain. He shook it up and down in satisfaction. Madam Pomfrey's expression softened, "Not too hard now. It'll take a couple days before it heals fully but just make sure you're not putting a lot of pressure on it. The bruising won't heal as fast however." She turned to look at Marlene, "Make sure he doesn't do anything...extravagant. And wait a moment I need to give you a pain relief potion." She bustled out of the room.
Marlene turned to smile at Sirius, "You know you didn't have to jump in front of that for me Sirius."
Sirius leant up and put his palm on Marlene's cheek affectionately, "Can't have you breaking now can I? Who's going to help me with my homework otherwise?" He said with a grin.
Marlene rolled her eyes at Sirius and he laughed and leant in to kiss her. Marlene pulled away after a moment, "But really…thank you." She said, a light blush tinting her cheeks.
Sirius smiled a smile he only reserved for Marlene. It was a small smile but it reached his eyes, "Anything for you Marls." He kissed her again.
"Oh sweet Merlin not again." Remus' voice sounded as he walked in.
Marlene quickly pulled away from Sirius a deep crimson blush soaking her cheeks.
"Moony, you have to ruin all my fun."
"I thought you had a party to help out with?" Marlene asked Remus, desperately trying to change the subject.
"I did, but I snuck away to come see you two." Remus said pulling up a chair. "And find out what the hell is this." He said waving his hands violently. "So what the hell is this?"
Marlene looked away, avoiding eye contact.
"Well," Sirius said, "Good question."
Remus' eyes suddenly lit up as if a lightbulb just exploded, "So this is why you've not been hooking up with other girls. No offence Marlene but I didn't think you'd stoop so low as to partake in a…little fling." Remus said.
"Hey!" Sirius said offended whilst Marlene nodded in an understanding manner.
"Everyone says that." She replied in humour.
"Everyone?" Sirius said in surprise, "Who else knows?"
Marlene winced at her slip up, "Um, Lily."
"And how'd she find out?" Remus questioned. "Did she walk in on you two swapping saliva too?"
"Well, I told her." Marlene explained. "The guilt was eating me up! I didn't know how long I could keep it from her!"
Sirius waved his hand dismissively, "It's ok Marls. Not that big of a deal."
"Well whatever this is," Remus said, "You need to figure it out and tell James because he's not going to take it as well as me."
"Okay well if we're all confessing our sins," Sirius retorted, "What's going on with you and Dorcas? She storms out and you go running after her and now everything looks like its happy days what's going on?"
"Oooh, good question." Marlene said, "I give it three more days before Lily cracks and makes her tell us so you may as well give it up." Sirius nodded at Remus.
"The pair of you are a nightmare." Remus muttered under his breath. Sirius high-fived Marlene. "Fine, I'll admit it. I'm crazy about Doe." He said begrudgingly.
"About fuckin time." Sirius said slightly exasperated. "We all thought you'd blown it when you sat there like a fish whilst she basically asked you out."
"Sirius!"
"Well it's true." Sirius said, "You should've just kissed her right then and there. That's what I would've done. Made sure everyone knew she was mine."
"Well who knew you were such a romantic." Remus retorted sarcastically.
"Bloody hell Sirius," Marlene giggled, "That was soppy as fuck." Sirius glared at the pair, "I'm glad you and Dorcas are okay." She said.
Remus nodded with a distant smile, "We're just taking it slow. I'm going to take her on a date over Christmas break."
"Well look at you go, Moony." Sirius said reaching over from where he was laying on the bed to put an arm around his friend, "You're all grown up!"
Remus scoffed and pushed Sirius off whilst Marlene laughed at the pair.