Hi all! Hope you are enjoying this story so far. Just clarifying, this chapter will mark the end of Sirius and Marlene's first year. The next one begins in their second year.

Thanks to Raven that flies at night for reviewing and favouriting, and Tingting26021996 for following. And a special thanks to Kalavinka for another lovely review. Love you all :)

Disclaimer: Owning Harry Potter? Only in my dreams.

Enjoy :)

Friends

17th June, 1972

"Sirius!" she called, skidding round the corner to chase him down the corridor.

Her legs were so much shorter than his; they couldn't carry her fast enough, and she was already out of breath. He wasn't even running like she was, only taking long strides, and yet he was so much ahead of her.

"Sirius, wait up!"

Her footsteps echoed loudly on the stone floor, ringing through the vacant corridor. His, on the other hand, were quiet, giving no indication of his presence; she would have missed him had she not actually seeing him walking ahead. And my, he was walking fast. Was that boy an athlete or what?

He kept going faster and faster, ignoring her calls; she was steadily losing him. She rounded a corner towards the way he had gone, and came to a standstill. The entire length of the corridor was empty. He was nowhere to be seen. She looked left, right , and left again, but Sirius Black had disappeared into thin air.

"Oh dear..."

She screamed suddenly as someone covered her eyes from the back. She tried to shake the hands covering her vision off, but the person's grip was firm. Moments later, her vision had cleared, and she found herself looking at the snickering face of Sirius Idiot Black.

"Did I scare you?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"What did you do that for?" she all but snapped at him. He raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Hey, no need to get huffy. I was only trying to surprise you."

"Yeah, congrats then, because you were certainly successful."

She frowned, but her lips twitched as she looked at him. He was such a dear, it was impossible to remain angry with him. Just looking at the way he was pouting, looking at her with that extremely adorable lost puppy face, she felt her annoyance wash off her in a second.

"Why were you running away from me?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted saying them, because his cheery expression slipped off his face like a mask. He sighed, his dark hair falling into his face as his head lowered, and began walking away from her. Merlin, what was the matter with him?

"Hey!" She caught up with him this time, and took hold of his sleeve. Not letting go of you this time, Sirius Black!

He turned towards her reluctantly, exasperation and mild irritation evident in those grey eyes.

"What?" he asked wearily.

"Talk to me," she instructed.

He sighed again, which was really odd; he looked like a lovelorn young man to Marlene. All she had ever seen of him was a cheery, almost hyperactive boy who could make her laugh anytime; this down-in-the-dumps variety of Sirius Black was alien to her. She wished he would just tell her what was wrong; his strange demeanour was making her nervous.

"Today is the last day of our first year," he said at last.

"I know that," she said, not knowing what he meant to explain by that.

"I don't want to go home."

She didn't ask why; one of the many things she had found about Sirius ever since she met him was the rule 'don't ask too many questions'. If he wanted to tell you something, he would say it on his own, otherwise, no amount of coaxing was going to make him. And anyway, Marlene had a fair idea why he didn't want to go home; his parents didn't seem to be the nicest people — the series of howlers which they had sent after he got sorted to Gryffindor was enough proof of that. So she silently waited for him to speak again. He did.

"Will things be the same when we come back next year?" he all but whispered.

Her eyebrows rose; Sirius being insecure? She had never seen him like that.

"Of course they will, you idiot," she laughed. "You lot will still be the Marauders (it was a rather ridiculous, but interesting name which the four first year Gryffindor boys had taken to calling themselves) and play loads of pranks and get detention from McGonagall , James will still annoy the hell out of Lily, and we will all have fun together. Just like this year, maybe even more, hmm?"

He smiled slightly, but still looked uncertain.

"Will you still be my friend? I've been a bit of an idiot sometimes."

"'A bit' and 'sometimes'?" She laughed. "That would be the understatement of the century."

"I know," he said, the little confidence left in him squashed out like a pricked balloon. "Evans is a much better friend —"

But before he could finish his sentence, her eyes softened, and she pulled him into a hug.

"Oh, Sirius, of course I will be you friend," she said. "You'll never have to worry about that. I was only teasing you."

He smiled, a big smile this time, still wrapped in her embrace.

"Thanks Mar," he said, surprising her; no one had ever called her that. "You mean a lot to me."

Her breath caught for a second; did that mean that she was as close a friend to him as James, Remus and Peter? On second thoughts, she didn't know why his words delighted her so much, but they undeniably made her smile wider.

"That's strange coming from you," she teased. "Don't you think girls are prissy?"

"Oh, yeah," he played along. "What came over me to have been talking to you, McKinnon? I must go see James. Your company will ruin me."

They laughed, both his uncertainties and her concerns vanishing into the air. He tugged at her hand.

"Come on, Marls, let's go down to the Quidditch pitch! I'd like a last fly before we go to the feast."

She let him pull her away, grinning as they rushed to the Quidditch lockers to nick a couple of Shooting Stars. If he was worried about going home, she would ensure that he had a fun last day.

The next day, when the students filed up on the station to board the London bound Hogwarts Express, Marlene couldn't suppress a smile when she saw Sirius laughing with James, Remus and Peter, his face bright, his hands moving about animatedly, none of his fears of the previous day visible on his face.

Yes, she thought, that was her friend. That was Sirius Black.

So hopefully I haven't disappointed you. Oh, and please, please review. It's just pressing that little button and typing a few words for you, but a whole bunch of inspiration to me :)

Until next time, folks. So long.