So guys, don't kill me, I had the first half of this chapter all ready on my iPod, I was being so organised about it, planning a quick update, aaaaaaaand them my iPod broke and I lost all the stuff I'd written... Bummer. So sorry this took a while, I've got a lovely new iPod now never fear!

I do not own any of the characters or places that you recognise, they all belong to JK Rowling!

Chapter Eight - Rumour Has It

After a week of no Lily Evans, rumours were around school in no time. There were rumours saying she'd died in a tragic accident, rumours saying she was being interrogated by the Ministry, and rumours saying she was a Muggle spy that had been caught, and it aw really ridiculous. But the one rumour that everyone had listened to was the one that said she had been taken by Death Eaters. Everyone knew the Slytherins had started it, but no one knew which ones, and the teachers were at a loss to deny all wild tales with 'she's visits family'. People /wanted/ something dramatic to happen, and they wanted to think it had just happened.

The only people who weren't keeping a close ear out for the latest story were the girls and the Marauder. Mary, Emmeline, Marlene and Hestia had not been seen upset in the slightest in public, as Dumbledore had asked them to keep it under wraps to stop the school panicking, but they were mobbed with people asking what had happened to Lily. She was well known as a Prefect, and popular with the first and second years, as well as unmissable in a crowd with her shock of red hair, and when she was gone, you noticed. But behind closed doors, the girls had been wrecks, crying all over the place, crying over homework, crying themselves to sleep. Except Marlene. Her train of not talking was continuing, and although she now made the odd comment and answered questions in class, she never voluntarily made a contribution to conversations with anyone, and none around her family and close friends. Her eyes were still cold, and she had lost her spark. It wasn't that Lily was her only best friend, for the girls were all close knit, but everyone was side there was something else that had made this extra bad for Marlene. James especially was worried, knowing Marlene never bottled her feelings up, she was always the one raging and screaming a lot with him whenever anything had happened.

So when he managed to wrangle a detention with Sirius, he was determined to get Sirius to talk to her about it. He wasn't sure why Sirius could do any better, but James was at a loss, and to be fair to him, Sirius had made her talk the week before when she had gone through her 'completely silent' phase.

The said detention was gotten when a group of Slytherins had walked past James and Sirius on their way to Charms, and had muttered something under their breath about mud bloods getting what they deserve, but it was clearly meant to reach the boys, who lashed out immediately by punching Mulcibers squeal rely round the jaw. Wands never got involved, but a lot of bruises covered the six boys when McGonagall had stormed up and dragged them apart. Sirius had started to explain, but was cut off.

"I don't want to know, Mr Black," she said sharply.

"But Professor," James pleaded, "They started it!" This wasn't strictly true, /Sirius/ had thrown the first punch, but he wasn't going to question it.

McGonagall looked at his innocent expression with mistrust, "I don't believe you, Mr Potter. A week's worth of detention I think, and 10 pints from Gryffindor - each,"

Sirius and James had complained all the way to her classroom, where she confiscated their wands and pointed to buckets of soapy water and scrubbing brushes.

"You have two hours in which to completely clean the floor of this classroom, Black, Potter, after which I will return to see it has been done properly," McGonagall announced, locking the door and stalking off back to her office, face set. It wasn't that she didn't care about the boys, but she was overly harsh for a reason: if word got out that Names and Sirius had reacted like that, it would suggest something bad /had/ happened to Lily, and Dumbledore didn't want that spread around.

Sirius complained bitterly until her footsteps had long gone, then turned to James, "Nothing like a good fight to break the boredom, hey?"

"Yes, moron, but now we have all this cleaning to do..."

"No /we/ don't," Sirius grinned, checking the door again to see if anyone was around,

James scowled, grabbing a scrubbing brush, "What the hell do you mean, Pads?"

"I mean," he said slowly, "I have my wand! Did you honestly think I would let old Minnie take my wand? Merlin Prongs, seven years of prancing and you don't carry a fake wand?'l

James' bruised face split into a grin and he shook his head at Sirius, chuckling under his breath.

"Padfoot, mate, you are an evil genius."

He smirked, "I do my best. Now, scourgify!"

The floor was spotless in no time, and James acciod a pack of exploding snap cards through the window and they sat at their usual desk for Transfiguration at the back, playing. Once James was two games up on Sirius' one, he leant back on the chair and looked at his best friend.

"Pads, mate."

"Hmm yeah?"

"Got a favour."

"Oh really? And why should I do this favour for you?" Sirius laughed.

"Because it's a nice thing to do, maybe," James retorted, "Come on, you don't even know what it is!"

"If it's to get you on a date with Evans, it won't work."

"NO. That's not it, Sirius, be... For fuck's sake if you make the joke I'll kill you... Be serious," James snapped, the tension of the past week returning now they'd stopped messing around.

Sirius wanted to laugh, but James' scowl made him think twice, and he sighed. "What is it then?"

"Talk to Marlene for me?" he asked, looking at Siris carefully for any flicker in his eyes. In the true Marauder fashion of not keeping secrets - unless it was necessary - Remus had explained what him and Lily had discovered about their first DADA lesson, and why Sirius couldn't hex Marlene. He watched his friend's face carefully, but Sirius either didn't show any emotion or James missed it.

"Why? She's as responsive as a rock if you bring Lily up," he said quite fairly.

James just looked annoyed.

"Padfoot, please! You got her to talk last time, the worth a try isn't it?" he pleaded.

Sirius sighed deeply, more deeply that he needed to, seeing as he wasn't as annoyed about it as he was making out.

"I guess I could try," he said slowly, avoiding James' gaze, "You're talking to her first. She doesn't like me."

James rolled his eyes, "Course she does, Pads, she really likes you."

Sirius tried to hide his grin although he dorm know why he was so happy about that, because he didn't care if people liked him or not, excluding the Marauders. Definitely didn't care about McKinnon, nope.

They gave innocent looks to McGonagall at the end of the two hours, who was extremely suspicious of them, but the room was spotless, so she handed back their wands, warning them that if they fought again there would be much more serious consequences, and they nodded in the rich place and scarpered back to the Common Room, talking non stop about their next prank, and laughing the whole time. James said the password to the Fat Lady (Bumblebee) and pushed open the door to reveal a half full Common Room. Sirius nudged him, and pointed to the girls, who were talking quietly by the fire, and Marlene in an armchair set back, reading a heavy looking textbook. Sirius gave him an encouraging grin, and pushed James over to Marlene.

"Marls," James said, tapping the top of her book to get her attention.

She looked up and would normally have raised an eyebrow, hating it when people interrupted her reading, and it was a sign of her mood that she didn't make a comment. When he and her attention, James continued.

"Are you okay?" he asked warily, not liking the angry angle of her eyebrows. Marlene was his little sister in all but blood, and yet even he didn't know what as wrong with her at the moment, and was tiring of explaining that 'yes, they were close, no he didn't know what the matter was any more than anyone else'.

"Yes, James, I'm fine," Marlene said sharply, "I'm reading."

He sighed, "Not right this second, just, y'know, overall."

"Yes James, overall I'm good, I got an A on my last essay for NEWT level, you?"

"E, but that's not the point," James replied, trying to keep them on subject. Marlene knew him well enough to know that changing the subject was always the best tactic. Perhaps they knew each other a little /too/ well…

"The point is, you're not yourself. Ever since Lily was taken, you've been quiet and mopey, and - and /introverted/. And that's something you never are!" James said, starting to worry again.

Hey eyebrows were so high, you couldn't see them under her half fringe, "Maybe this is helping me."

James scowled, "How is pretending nothing's wrong helping you at all? I know you, Marls, you rage and shout and scream, you don't hide away any deny it all."

She pushed herself out of the armchair, her text book dropping to the floor with a thud, and pushed her hair out of her eyes, gaze locked on James.

"Just what are you trying to say?" Marlene asked angrily, voice getting louder and louder.

There wasn't many people in the Common Room now, but the people who were there were all watching the argument 'subtly' from behind books or by glancing over constantly. Sirius was rolling his eyes at James' tact - although he would never admit he would do just the same - and Mary and Emmeline were just a bit relieved that Marlene was doing something other than read for once. James took a step back as if her anger had physically pushed him back.

"I'm just saying that we've all cried, well Sirius hasn't but he never cries, and you always cry when stuff doesn't go your way; remember that time I cut your hair off to see how you would look with short hair and your mum couldn't grow it back straight away?" James tried to joke as Sirius snorted at the thought of Marlene with short hair. He stopped quite quickly when Marlene glared at him.

"That's entirely different, James, my best friend has been taken by Death Eaters and I am not crying? SO? I'm being brave, okay?" she said, not sounding brave, just defensive.

"Precisely!" James said eagerly, "Lily is your /best friend/, for Merlin's sake, and most people cry if someone they care about is being hurt!"

Marlene's blue eyes narrowed to slits, and she clenched her fists, "So you're saying the reason I'm not crying is because I don't care about Lily?"

"No! No! That's not what I'm trying to say," James gaped, aghast at the accusation, "You've got the wrong end of the -"

"Thanks so much James," she spat, turning on her heels and stalking out of the Common Room, wide eyes following her exit. James stared after her, jaw hanging open in shock. He blinked and sank onto the sofa behind him, as the Gryffindors began to whisper, checking they had heard what actually had happened to Lily Evans.

Mary shook her head, "Hoo shit, that went down well…"

Emmeline sighed, "She really got the wrong idea didn't she?"

Sirius just sat there silently, while James let out a deep sigh.

"I didn't mean it like that, Pads," James said quietly.

"I know, Prongs, but birds are crazy, just… just leave her to cool down."

Emmeline rolled her eyes at the 'bird' comment.

"Do we have feathers? Do we lay eggs" she said, a feminist at heart.

"Whatever, Vance," Sirius laughed before turning to James. "Do you have the Map?"

James passed it to him cautiously, "Don't make her worse, will you?"

Sirius laughed again, "She can't get much worse…"

"Yes she can," Mary butted in, but Sirius covered her mouth with his hand.

"Shut it, MacDonald, not helping."

Sirius took the Map from James and set off towards the Portrait Hole smiling, "It'll be fine, Prongs, I have a way with girls, remember?"

James snorted, "That's debate=able. And no broom closets, okay? Now shove off."

Sirius saluted James, clicking his heels and marching out, "YESSIR!"

Mary looked at Emmeline with suspicion written all across her face, the across to James.

"I'll bet you five galleons that they kiss before the evening is out," Emmeline said to Mary.

"Nah, Marls is in a mood, there's no chance," she retorted, "It's a deal."

After she had stormed out of the Gryffindor Common Room, Marlene ran a hand through her hair, tugging it free of knots before pushing off and running as far away as she could. She ran and ran and ran, not stopping until she panted for breath and she had to slow to a walk. She looked around, and realising that she had no idea where she was in the castle, she sat down to catch her breath, panic bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Lily had been alone in a corridor when she was taken, and Marlene had an unwanted suspicion that someone was following her.

She looked around in the gloom and saw a gap behind a tapestry of a group of witches at a dance. Dragging herself over to it, she slipped into the small alcove behind it and let it swing back, covering her completely. Exhausted, she focussed on her breathing to calm herself down, and wrapped her arms around her knees to stop herself from shivering against the cold stone wall of the corridor. Marlene leaned her head back and pulled her hair over her shoulder, combing it with her fingers, admiring how blonde it was at the moment. She wasn't particularly vain, no more than any other girl, she just loved being outside, watching her hair grow lighter and lighter the more time she spent outside, and she was always happiest in Summer. Once her breathing had returned to normal, she closed her eyes and sighed, kicking herself mentally for how she had treated James. He hadn't been suggesting anything like that at all, she knew that now: her main flaw was always over reacting, and she was always taking things the wrong way, or reading too much into things, or getting angry over nothing. She sighed again.

Meanwhile, Sirius had been opening up the Marauder's Map and scanning it for the little blonde figure of Marlene McKinnon. He had checked the Library, the Great Hall, the empty classrooms, even hesitantly looking at the Hospital Wing, but discovering her in none of those places, he began to comb through the corridors. Eventually, he spotted her in an alcove off the fourth floor corridor, near the Ravencalaw Tower, and folded up the parts of the Map he didn't need as he hurried along. It was nearing curfew, and while he didn't care about detentions, he knew if he was caught he wouldn't be allowed to find Marlene, so he kept an eye on the Map where he was located to avoid being caught.

Sirius wasted some time when he had to make a ten minute detour to avoid Mrs Norris who was prowling around nearby, and he scowled when the patrolling Prefects cut him off, forcing him to hide in an empty classroom while they passed by. While it had taken Marlene 15 minutes to run to her spot, it had taken Sirius nearer to 40 by the time he turned onto the fourth floor corridor where Marlene was hiding. Folding up the Map, he headed along the corridor, pulling open the broom cupboards, looking behind every painting and tapestry, unaware that Marlene was huddled behind the tapestry, scared shitless as the footsteps grew closer, thinking it was someone who would take her like they had taken Lily. As he stopped outside her hiding place, she let out an involuntary whimper, before clapping her hands over her mouth a second too late. Sirius threw back the tapestry, causing the witches to fall out of their seats and slide out of view, and he knelt down in front of her.

Never had she been so happy to see Sirius' handsome face, and she let out a breath she had been holding for a while. Sirius laughed at her relieved expression.

"Who did you think I was, some nasty Death Eater?" he teased.

Marlene promptly slapped his knee and shook her head, apparently incapable of speech. He squeezed in beside her, letting go of the fabric, plunging them both into darkness, only the edge of the tapestry letting light in, illuminating only a strip of Marlene's blonde hair and a line across Sirius' face where his eyes were. He licked his lips nervously.

"You… You know James didn't mean it like that?" he started.

Marlene nodded quickly, a little laugh escaping past her lips, and Sirius mailed at the sound.

"I just, it doesn't seem real, I don't want it to be real," she said, barely audible despite their closeness, "I'm not coping, James is right, but this with Lily, and with my… No…" he said, stopping the slow of words suddenly, looking down.

Sirius frowned slightly, "Your what?"

"Nothing," she sighed, "Nothing."

This wasn't Sirius' area of expertise at all, he was the one who led girls along, snogged them then left them. He didn't know how to deal with the shivering, upset girl next to him. But this wasn't any old girl, this was /Marlene/, so he had to try. He pulled his arm up from his side with difficulty in the tiny space and put it around Marlene's smaller shoulders, pulling her closer against him.

"Hey," he said nervously, biting the inside of his cheek and feeling very uncomfortable yet comfortable at the same time, "It'll be alright, whatever it is, I know it will."

Her turquoise eyes welled up at his optimistic words, and a single year ran her down her cheek, soaking into the material of his shirt. Then another one fell, then another, then another, and soon his shirt's shoulder was soaked with tears. For the first time, she allowed herself to cry, and Sirius' vaguely sweet attempts to comfort her only made her cry more, and she clung to him desperately.

"You're not supposed to be nice to me," she mumbled, head still resting in the crook of his neck.

He chuckled quietly, still feeling a little out of his depth, "I'm always nice to you."

Marlene giggled, a slightly hysterical giggle, but a giggle nonetheless, "No you're not, you're not nice to anyone except James, Remus and Peter."

She sat up, the beam of light widening slightly as she stretched her legs out, so her eyes and fringe were visible again, but her hand still rested on top of Sirius'.

"I resent that!" Sirius smiled, trying to ignore the fact that goosebumps had appeared where her hand was. He put it down to the chill in the corridor.

The corner of her mouth twitched in amusement and she wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve.

"I bet you even secretly thought Snog Spin was nice," he teased, reminding himself of how much she didn't like him, and how much of a bad idea sitting here was. She giggled again, less hysterically.

"Nah it wasn't," Marlene insisted, shuffling around uncomfortably as she avoided Sirius' gaze.

"You sure about that?" he asked again, staring at her and wondering why she wouldn't meet his eye.

Marlene nodded, "Sure as sure can be."

"So I can't change your mind about that one?" Sirius asked, a trace of disappointment lingering in his tone he looked at her.

Her hair was sill knotted, despite her efforts, there were still tear tracks down her cheeks and the area around her eyes was red and blotchy, but although he had been looking at her for a while, Sirius didn't see that. He only saw her eyes, which had been flat for days now shining again, the redness of her skin only making them seem even more blue in contrast. He only saw her small smile at his joke, and the way her mouth twitched when he leaned a little closer. He only saw the blindingly obvious fact that he fancied her.

Marlene's breath hitched in her throat when she saw his close he was, and bit her lip lightly.

"You can't change my mind about that one, but you can always kiss me again," she whispered, finally making eye contact with him.

She didn't notice the way his steel grey eyes, the polar opposites of here, lightened when she said that, the curve of his lips when she laughed or the way he shivered when she touched him. She only saw he the tilt of his shoulders when he turned to kiss her. She only saw her hand on his and realised she hadn't moved it since he had found her. She only saw the fact that if he kissed her now, she wouldn't care in the slightest.

Then there was silence as Sirius pressed his lips against hers, and Marlene finally moved her other hand to wrap them both around his neck as she kissed him back.

"Back beat, word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out,

I'm sure you've heard it all before but you've never really had a doubt,

I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do,

About you now."

Wonderwall - Oasis

So I thought I'd end on that little quote from Oasis there which I thought for the chapter very well.

A few things:

• Thank you you lovely reviewers because they make my day, keep going please!

• A special shout out to TheFeatheredQuill for her shout out to me;) and because Blackinnon ASDFGHJKL.

• Review? :3

- PIAM 3