Hello, a very quick update this time, because I was so bored over the weekend I wrote two new chapters... TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS! So I hope my reward is extra reviews... *flutters eyelashes*

A quick shout out to StephaniePotter7 for reviewing every single chapter (Wow, thank you!) and making me laugh, LOVE YOU TWINNY!

- PIAM 3

Chapter Five - Back to Quidditch

It was the second week of term, and everyone was already settled down into their routines and had become accustomed to the early mornings and long lessons. Already the homework was piling up but James had just shrugged that fact off and was focusing on Quidditch. Despite being only a sixth year, he had been made Quidditch captain and had made Sirius vice captain. Marlene had scowled at that - more of Sirius bossing people around was not what the world needed.

"Marlene, would you pin this notice up on the board in the Common Room, please? It's a note about Quidditch trials tomorrow morning. Seeing as it's a Saturday I thought it would be ideal," James explained handing her the parchment and pushing his glasses up his nose.

Marlene nodded, "I'll put it up now. Same team as last year right?"

"Yeah, but we need a new Seeker and Keeper now the Prewett twins have left, but you're still on the team, as well Sirius, obviously."

Marlene sneered, "Obviously Sirius would be."

James frowned, "Hey! He's just as good a player as you are, no need for that."

"Like he won't use his new power to boss people around even more! Like he won't use it to get more innocent girls into broom cupboards!"

He rolled his eyes and patted Marlene's head, "I, James Harold Potter, solemnly swear I will control my friend, Sirius Orion Black. There, that any better?"

"Fine," Marlene huffed before heading down the boys' stairs to the Common Room to pin up the notice.

Once she'd done that, she stood on the table and coughed loudly to get everyone's attention. Most people turned to her, guessing that it would be about Quidditch.

"Trials are tomorrow by order of our illustrious captain, James Potter. We need a Keeper and a Seeker, so we don't need anyone turning up with a bat okay? And please don't turn up if you can't fly either," Marlene hollered as people turned to listen, "Tomorrow morning at nine, don't be late!"

A voice came from behind her as she stepped down from the table awkwardly.

"Nice arse, McKinnon."

She sighed and turned around once she was standing normally, her arms folded, an unimpressed look on her face. Black, of course.

"I would say thank you, but coming from your sleazy mouth I'm not counting it as a compliment," she said cuttingly.

He shrugged and continued unperturbed, "You gonna be at practise tomorrow?"

She laughed, "Of course, I'm on the team aren't I?" Marlene raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but some of the others aren't going, so I wondered if you were or not, no need to bite my head off!"

Marlene knew she was being rude today, and not even Black's comment needed that much anger, even if he was seriously irritating. It was just that she still hasn't heard from her parents at all, and was starting to seriously worry. It wasn't like them to not keep in touch, and Mason always wrote to her, always. She bit her bottom lip and her blue eyes started to water.

"McKinnon, are you okay?" Sirius said with slight concern as he saw her normally bright eyes cloud over.

She nodded determinedly and turned around abruptly to return to her dorm to do some homework. That might take her mind off it, she thought. Sirius frowned - Marlene was never upset or down, she was like him, always laughing and joking, so what was up? He would ask James. Half running, half trying not to seem too concerned, he went up his stairs and threw open the door like he always did, making it bang against the stone wall behind with a loud thud.

"Prongs, mate, got any idea why McKinnon is upset?" he said laying on his bed casually, seemingly unconcerned.

James turned to him, running his hand through his hair, "I didn't even notice she was! Since when did you notice anything emotional?! What did you do, Sirius?" he sighed.

Sirius shrugged, "I just said that some of the team weren't going to the trials tomorrow and she got all teary, I didn't do a thing, I swear."

James bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to think of a reason that that comment might set Marlene off, but couldn't think of one. He might be one of Marlene's best friends, but he was a boy, a teenage boy at that, and never really understood why girls got upset over things. Boys would keep it in, or punch someone, but girls were a different story; they would bitch, and get teary, and pretend things were fine, and lie, and... James just didn't get them at all.

Marlene had escaped to her room and was trying to focus on a book she had to read for Care of Magical Creatures, but her mind wasn't really on it, her eyes looking through the pages not at them, and all she saw was a blur of white and black. Maybe Quidditch would help take her mind off it, she reasoned, after all Quidditch was relaxing. Then again, Black would be there. She scowled, and fell asleep sometime later, still in her school clothes, the book falling to the floor as her muscles relaxed.

However, the next morning, she was feeling much cheerier and got into her Quidditch gear with a smile. A whole morning on a broom away from work and responsibilities, she thought with glee. And she would be with James and Emmy too. What more could one want?

At breakfast, Mary and Lily kept well away from Emmy and Marlene. Both of the other girls weren't fans of Quidditch and had learned to stay out of the way when you got Em and Marlene on the subject of the sport. In the same way James could go on for hours discussing tactics, the pair would discuss which players were hot for hours too.

"Black is really fit though Marls," Emmy was arguing, "Why would you snog Fenwick but not snog him?!"

Marlene sighed and rested her head on her hand, they had been through this every Quidditch match since forever, "Because he is an arrogant, self involved, slutty, irritating, stuck up, egotistical idiot," she said reeling off the long list of reasons she hated Sirius Black.

"But he's so fit!" Em protested, "Come on Marls, you can't say he isn't - just look at him!"

She rolled her eyes, "Any fool knows he's hot but my point is looks aren't everything."

Just then the Marauders entered the Hall, both Sirius and James in their Quidditch uniform causing quite a few girls to swoon. Walking behind the girls, Sirius smirked, "Why thank you, McKinnon, although I did know I was hot already it's always nice to get a compliment."

Marlene turned around with contempt, her hair flying in a blonde sheet behind her, "The fact that you've sunk so low as to sneak up on people to hear them say you're hot just proves my point."

"That I'm goddamn sexy?" Sirius smirked.

"ARGH! That you're an idiot!" Marlene fumed, and swung round to continue eating, ignoring the wink Sirius sent to Emmy.

James dragged Sirius off to sit at the other end of the table. "So much for a calm day," he remarked to Remus and Peter, who had sat down before the spat.

Remus looked up from his plate of bacon and eggs, "Hmm, Prongs?"

"This one," he said pointing to Sirius, "Decided waiting until after breakfast to piss Marlene off was boring, like he does most days, so just had to get her too frustrated to play Quidditch properly!"

Sirius just smirked and sat opposite Peter.

"Not funny Padfoot! The team might suffer now because of your ability to piss her off so completely," James said, getting worked up like he always did about 'the most noble of sports'.

"James, it really won't make a difference," Peter pointed out through a mouthful of toast, "In fact it might make her play better!"

James grumbled under his breath but conceded defeat and sat down to grab some breakfast, still giving Sirius sideways glares. He hated how Sirius irritated her - she obviously didn't like him, so why even bother? Then again, James hadn't followed that when it came to Lily. But that was different, because James liked Lily, and Sirius just loved to irritate Marlene.

However if Remus could've read James' thoughts, he would've disagreed. He had heard the exchange, and was the only one to notice the tone of Marlene's voice when she listed why she hated Sirius. It was similar to Lily's voice as she said why she wouldn't date James: all were perfectly true but just she didn't sound convinced. Marlene was the same. All of the things she had about Sirius were true, he was arrogant, slutty and irritating, but Marlene hadn't really sounded sure when she spoke them. Like she didn't want to believe that about Sirius. So Remus smirked - Lily would be interested to hear about that little thought of his. He could tell her while they watched the trials.

Sirius, James, Marlene and Emmy walked down together. The other remaining member of last year's team was Benjy Fenwick, a seventh year who genuinely didn't mind being older than James and not captain. The only problem was that everyone knew he fancied Marlene, which made things a little awkward. Marlene herself was oblivious, waving it off saying 'We're just team mates' but Gideon Prewett, who was captain the year before, was always telling Benjy off for focussing on her not on the Bludgers. On the way down, Marlene got Emmy to put her hair up into a tight ballerina bun, which was the only style that stayed in place while she was flying. Emmy's own wavy brown hair was simply plaited down her back, but Marlene's blonde hair rebelled against most forms of hair control, only liberal amounts of Sleak-easy holding it down when she wanted it completely straight. Sirius found himself staring at the back of Marlene's neck as they walked; it was very smooth and very pale, not a mark in sight, Sirius thought, perfect for kissing and - no. He did not want to kiss McKinnon. Not at all. Even if she was hot, she was James' little sister in all but blood, and Sirius knew never to break the whole 'don't date the sister' rule.

James nudged his friend as they arrived at the pitch, "Come on, let's talk tactics."

Sirius groaned, "You and talking tactics don't go well together."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you will talk tactics for hours!"

"There's not a lot of tactics you can talk about for a trial anyway," Marlene put in, "It's just a matter of finding someone to who fits in with the team."

James nodded, "True. Come on then, let's get this over with."

However, James being James, he still managed to find a way to have a prep talk even though it wasn't a match.

"Last year we lost to Slytherin. That is NOT happening again," James started vehemently once everyone was seated in the changing room, "Last year we had a good team. But it wasn't good enough enough. To be fair to us, the whole Slytherin team was bought new brooms, courtesy of Malfoy, which was a bit of a disadvantage, but that doesn't matter! This trial will determine our team for the whole of the year. This trial will determine whether Gryffindor wins like it should. This trial determines, in a round about way, our lives this year. I'm determined to win. Those creeps in Slytherin are NOT taking our crown again," James said fiercely.

Marlene, having sat through these talks even longer than Sirius had, having got them since the age of 8 when they practised with her brothers, knew this could take a while. The trial wasn't due to start for another half an hour and James would talk for that whole time. She shifted on the bench and dropped her head onto Benjy's shoulder with a yawn. It didn't help she had been woken by James hollering in her ear at 5 in the morning for a 'warm up session'. Benjy looked down and smirked, looking round the team with a triumphant expression. Sirius saw the look and glared back at Benjy, causing his smirk to widen into a sneer. Sirius growled under his breath and cursed Benjy. He knew Benjy was normally a very nice person, but he must've guessed that Sirius didn't like what was happening, and that tending to make boys a little bit smug. Marlene just sighed, once again completely oblivious, and waited for James to stop talking.

"James, mate, as noble as this is Marlene is already falling asleep, and it's kind of uncomfortable..." Benjy said, his words and his expression contrasting. He didn't mind at all that Marlene was falling asleep on his shoulder. James looked surprised, "How long was I talking for?"

Emmy looked at her Muggle watch, "About fifteen minutes..."

"Um, sorry guys. Let's go and get organised."

Marlene lifted her head and smiled at Benjy, "Your shoulder is a nice place to sleep, I shall have to sleep there next time." Benjy beamed. Sirius just rolled his eyes and followed James out of the changing rooms and onto the pitch. There was quite a few people in the stands by that point, a lot of friends of players, and a few random spectators. And to James' dismay, a whole load of Sirius' fangirls.

"Pads, mate, don't let them distract you," James sighed in a way that led Marlene to suspect they had had that conversation many many times before. She also guessed that Sirius also replied the same time.

"Of course not, when do I ever?" Sirius replied with an arrogant grin. James rolled his eyes.

She pursed her lips: yup, every time.

"Okay!" James clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, "First, I just need to check. All Gryffindors?"

The old team nodded, everyone there was Gryffindor. James turned to the new players, "And are all you lot Seekers and Keepers? We're not looking for any other players, sorry." All of them nodded.

"Good, then let's get started. Keepers, over to Marlene here, the tall blonde one," Marlene waved at them, "She'll test your skills with Benjy Fenwick, the black haired one." Benjy waved them over to the hoops while James continued, "Sirius and me will take the Seekers, and Emmy you can organise the others while they wait, alright?" Everyone nodded.

Sirius and James herded the first few Seekers to the other end of the pitch while Emmy started to organise the remainder.

"Right, first years over there please." A few shuffled off, there never were many.

"Second, third and fourth years in front of me," she continued. More broke off from the group and huddled together in the September cold.

"And finally, fifth, sixth and seventh years here," Emmy pointed to her right. When everyone was finished doing that, she deprecated them into Keepers and Seekers. She was a Chaser, and so couldn't do much use in testing the new ones, and had only been on the team one year unlike James, who had been on the team since third head and knew how each position should play. She glanced over at Benjy and Marlene, who were having trouble with a second year who was crying because she got hit in the face with a Quaffle.

"Hey, come with me and we'll get you a drink okay?" Emmy said escorting her off the pitch so they could continue.

After that incident, the trials continued smoothly until they had whittled it down to one Keeper, Rue MacDougall, a small but quick fifth year, very Scottish and very fierce, and a new Seeker, a surprisingly good third year called Jacob Ladbury, who knew some moves that even James didn't. So with the new members ready, James called a quick practise to see how well the players worked together.

Sirius and Benjy flew up with their bats at the ready, while Marlene and Emmy circled around with Jacob and Rue taking up their positions. James quickly released the balls, and play commenced. The Chasers and Seeker were trying to score points, while the Keeper and beaters were practising defending. After about half an hour, and only 30 points scored, James nodded in approval, "OKAY WE'RE MIXING THINGS UP. ONE BEATER ATTACKING AND ONE DEFENDING. SIRIUS, ATTACK, BENJY, DEFEND!"

Sirius and Benjy nodded to say they understood and glared at each other. Now it was just Benjy and Rue stopping goals, and the other five trying to score. Marlene was soon passed the ball by James and sped up, trying to get around Jacob, who was getting in the way of play. Sirius, who was meant to be defending, was spending more time admiring the way Marlene's hair was defying every Muggle hair grip known to mankind to free itself from the bun, when he heard a sickening thud and the sound of six people crying out.

"MARLENE!" James shouted as he watched her start to plummet towards the floor 30ft below.

On reflection, it was a damn good thing Jacob had been in the way because he was close enough to swoop down at top speed and catch Marlene before she hit the floor. Ow her bun was completely ruined, but Sirius wasn't looking anymore, he was already fling over to see whether she was alright, like everyone else.

"Marlene! Are you okay? I'm really sorry, I didn't think it would hit you that hard!" Benjy apologised profusely.

She grinned, "At least we know we've got a good Beater, right?" He breathed a sigh of relief, while James turned to Jacob.

"Nice flying, mate, you did well."

Jacob flushed, "Glad I could help."

Jacob set Marlene down so she could collect herself, and they all landed after James called a time out. But Marlene wasn't timing out.

She stormed over to where Sirius was hovering, and poked him in the chest, knocking him off, "And where were you when I was being hit? Floating around daydreaming about your little fangirls?"

Emmy blushed but Marlene didn't notice, raging on, "In a match that could've been someone more important like Jacob and Rue, or James, so start paying attention you arrogant, narcissistic prick! You don't think about anyone but yourself! I bet even if Remus was in trouble you wouldn't help him." She was very satisfied to see Sirius wincing at her harsh tone but really, he deserved it!

"And if you hadn't been staring off into space, I wouldn't have fallen off. In a match that could cost us the game! Did you not listen to a word James said at the start?" Sirius recovered and retorted, "If I remember correctly, /you/ were the one falling asleep!"

James rolled his eyes at the pair.

"SHUT UP BLACK! That is not the point, and you know it! Honestly, you think ours so amazing, but you can't even play Quidditch - any old idiot can do that!"

Sirius snorted, "You do realise Lily dearest can't play Quidditch? Do you want me to tell her you think she's worse than an idiot?"

"Argh you are insufferable!" Marlene said, turning on her heel and storming off towards the changing rooms.

"Ummm... Practise over..." James said in the stunned silence that followed Marlene's departure. He helped Sirius up off the floor and drifted into the changing rooms.

Marlene and Emmy were getting changed back into their normal clothes and Marlene was ranting about Sirius, "I mean, what if I was higher up? I could've hurt myself even if someone had caught me! And he just waltzes down and APOLOGISES like I'd forgive him at a bat of his stupid eyelashes!" She laughed coldly, "He's a fucking idiot."

Emmy widened her eyes, "No, he's not that bad!"

"Why the sudden change of heart, Em? Have you become another fangirl that lawns over him every second of the day? Has he snogged you into believing him?" Marlene retorted, offended. The girls had all agreed that Sirius was irritating and that they would never date him if he was the last person left alive, so why was Emmy defending him?

Emmeline looked guilty and shuffled towards the door.

"Wait... He has, hasn't he? He's snogged you!" Marlene spat.

Emmy nodded reluctantly, "Yeahh... But Marlene, that doesn't change anything!"

"HA! Of course it does! You won't hear a word against him, you'll leave us to snog him and what for? A broken heart at the end of it! He'll leave you for someone new, someone better." There it was again, that feeling if abandonment. Her parents had left her too, still no word from them. They promised, Marlene told herself, they will write, but they still hadn't. So she was uncharacteristically harsh with Emmy, "Just go snog the man whore, don't mind me..."

Emmy muttered an apology and sidled out.

Marlene tore at her hair: that whole conversation had just left her even more frustrated than before, and close to tears as well. It seemed everyone was leaving her at the moment. Her parents weren't writing, nor was Mason, her younger brother Jake was ignoring her around school and now Emmy had chosen /Sirius Black/ over her. Any mention of someone not being there seemed to set her off at the moment, and she hated herself for being so weak. She sat down, her legs unable to hold her, her head in her hands and began to cry, the sobs wracking her body.