Chapter 6 - Nervous Preparation

The next morning, after they had each stolen back to their respective common rooms, Renee sat downstairs, waiting for her dorm mates. Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, she turned expectantly towards the girls stairs. She was surprised, therefore, when Sirius plopped himself down next to her, with the other Marauders close behind him.
Grinning at the boys, she greeted them. "Morning, mates."

"Good morning," they chirped back to her; they had always gotten along rather well, due to her being teammates with James and Sirius.

Turning to address Sirius solely, she said, "Hey Sirius, I need to talk to you. It's rather important."
He looked surprised. "Can't you just tell me tonight, after dinner?"

Renee smiled sheepishly, embarrassed. "Well, see, I would, but I have detention with McGonogall tonight."

He laughed. "Really? Out of the two of us to break our routine for detention, I didn't figure it would be you. What'd you do that got Minnie all riled up?"

"I don't know why, but apparently she's not particularly fond of people sleeping in class. Who would've thought?" She said, full on grinning now.

His laugh echoed through the nearly empty Common Room, sounding oddly like a pack of dogs all barking to each other. "Rookie mistake, Renee."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Not my fault I don't have as much experience at sleeping in class as you do, Sirius."

Still grinning, he said, "All right, well I'm bloody starving, so why don't you sit with the boys and I for breakfast and we can talk then."

Figuring that she'd be safe from the fan girls now that Sirius and Tarin had been seen very publicly into each other, she agreed and they all went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
After they had all piled their plates with as much food as possible, she said, "Right, well, Sirius, Tarin and I had a sleepover last night and -" She stopped short when the boys stopped eating (miraculously) and stared at her.

"Were there pillow fights?" James asked excitedly.

"Erm, no?" She answered, confused.

"Did you play Truth or Dare?" Sirius demanded.

She scoffed. "Not since we were like eight."

"Ooh," Peter squealed, "Did you guys rub lotion on each other in your knickers?"

"Blimey, what in Merlin's name is wrong with you guys?" She demanded, completely confused.

Calmly buttering his toast, Remus answered her, the only picture of normal behavior in the group. "Unlike me, they don't have sisters and therefore aren't aware that stuff like that doesn't happen at real sleepovers."

Renee laughed, then laughed harder when Sirius exclaimed, "Blimey, Moony, I didn't know you had sisters. Are they fit?"

When she was able to stop laughing at Remus disapproving expression, she continued. "Anyway, Tarin and I had a sleepover, minus the pillow fights, truth or dare, and lotion, and she talked about you. A bloody lot."

James grinned. "Awh, I didn't know she cared."

Sirius scowled and threw his toast at him. "Sod off mate, this is important. What'd she say?"

"Well, mostly 'Oh Merlin, he's soooo sweet'," Renee said, rolling her eyes, "But she also mentioned some important stuff."

He interrupted, proudly sticking out his chest. "Excuse me, but that is very important."

She and the other Marauders snickered, as she said, "Yeah, because your ego isn't big enough already."

It was his turn to stick his tongue out at her. However, she continued. "Anyway, again, she's afraid that she's just a phase and that you'll move on in a week."

He was outraged. "What? Doesn't she know that -"

She rolled her eyes again. "That you're head over heels, she's special, you're completely insane, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I told her that. She's not convinced, though. She, you know, wants you to make it official."

Sirius visibly paled at the word 'official'. Renee was getting tired of rolling her eyes. "Really, Sirius? After all that talk about her being special, and making out on top of towers and what not, you still don't want to make her your girlfriend? You're such a wuss."

He glared at her. "I'm not a wuss. It's just that... Well, Sirius Black and 'official' don't really mesh well."

She returned his glare. "Well, Sirius Black better come up with a better explanation before Renee Gray beats his arse."

Remus snickered and intervened. "What that prat means is that, while he is thought to be promiscuous, he has, in truth, only had a few girlfriends. Or, a few compared to the number that circulates in rumours."

As Sirius elbowed him in the gut, she knew it was true. Her jaw dropped. She was absolutely dumbfounded. "Buh... But, I thought you'd been with like every girl in Hogwarts?"

"I have," he said, unashamedly, " I just never dated most of them. Unless you count a quickie in a broom closet as a date. Then I guess you could say I've been on a lot of dates."

She stared at him for a second, before bursting out in laughter. She was nearly crying as she said, "Merlin, you scared me for a second. I thought you had only been with a few girls."

He looked offended. "Please. Don't insult me by comparing me to these other gits."

She was confused. "How did I compare you to 'these other gits'"?

He sighed and explained. "Other blokes only get a few girls. Not Sirius Black. Don't insult my mad skills like that."

She snorted. "Whatever, mate, just whatever. Has anyone ever told you that you're overly fond of referring to yourself as 'Sirius Black'." Seeing the look on his face, she quickly went on. "Er, right. Let's get to class."
She hurried out of her seat before realizing, "Uhm, what exactly do we have?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "We have Potions. Peter has Divination."

After saying goodbye to Peter, they walked down to the dungeons. Along the way, Sirius held Renee back a few feet from James and Remus.

Giving him an odd look, Renee asked, "Can I help you?"

"Well, what if - and if you repeat this to anyone I will happily make your life hell," he threatened, "But what if she says no?"

Knowing he wouldn't ask unless he was genuinely worried, she resisted the urge to laugh and point out how impossible that was, because he was 'the Sirius Black'. "Sirius, I swear she won't say no. And if she does, then I guess you'll just have to get over it."

Oddly enough, he didn't look very reassured. She tried again. "Look, Sirius, you know how much you like her?"

He nodded.

She didn't want to lie and compare Tarin's feelings to his, so she kept it honest. "Well, she's pretty bonkers about you, too. So relax, she won't reject you. I mean, it's not exactly her forte to say no."

He looked slightly more at ease, so she pressed on. "All right, now I'm not going to tell you how to ask her, but I suggest you do soon. As in ask her to Hogsmeade this weekend, then ask her to be your girlfriend there."

He gulped, but nodded. "And for the rest of the week?"

Bemused at having to plan this out for him, she said, "Well, I'd ask her to Hogsmeade soon, before she gives up and says yes to some other bloke. Then, just talk to her like you did last week, but mention being excited about Hogsmeade. And before you ask, yes you can snog. But that's it!"

"Excellent, I can do that," he said with a grin.

AN:/ Another kind of filler chapter, but this one at least had some Marauder-goodness plus Sirius being all cute and nervous. Don't worry, the next chapter most definitely won't be filler. And I just decided it needs more Maraudery-yum in it, so I'll make sure to do that. Pleasepleaseplease review and you ever think any character gets too OOC or Mary-Sue-esque, PLEASE tell me. Please.

- Nikky