A/N: This took so long to update because I had the disease known as 'Writers Block'. Hope you enjoy it, and please leave me an ickle review about what you think? More reviews, more feedback, means more chapters/updates! :-)

Chapter 22
Or,
Of Nicknames, Ultimatums and Magnets

"The last time I saw him, he was hooking up with McKinnon in the library."

Isabelle stood in the Common Room her bright blue eyes shining with tears. She thought she was breaking through Sirius' bad-boy shell, breaking into that side of him which was buried ridiculously deep. She thought she was breaking into the side of Sirius which talked about his feelings, addressed his problems, and most importantly, the Sirius that could love.

Apparently not.

She'd been looking for Sirius all day; she wanted to see if he'd sneak into Hogsmeade with her, get some drinks, head to Zonko's, just have a crazy day which she knew he'd love and be willing to participate, but she couldn't fine him. No wonder, if he had his tongue stuck down Marlene's throat. Isabelle thought to herself bitterly.

Isabelle furiously wiped away a tear that had unwillingly leaked from her eyes and she slumped down in the armchair and decided it would be better to forget the whole situation; Sirius wasn't going to change overnight, Isabelle knew it would be hard and she was going to get hurt if she failed, but she was certain she could change Sirius Black into something that she wasn't so certain he could be.

"That was close!" Marlene laughed as she reached the Fat Lady and collapsed against the wall trying to regain her breath.

Sirius caught up with her and let out a bark like laugh, "At least it wasn't Evans, she'd have us on the stake within minutes."

They both stopped laughing and fell silent, all that could be heard was their deep breathing from all the running they'd been doing. Josh had been patrolling the sixth floor, and upon hearing husky moans and giggles, had caught them locking lips (and doing other things) in an old storage cupboard.

Marlene's previously poker straight hair was wild and frizzy, her lipstick had come off completely and was smudged on Sirius' cheek, lips, neck and the collar of his previously pristine shirt. Sirius' hair was wild and his shirt was missing the top three buttons, revealing the start of his perfectly sculptured, quidditch trained chest.

Marlene turned and headed into the common room, after finally regaining her breath.

"That took you far too long to recover, McKinnon." Sirius teased as he followed her.

She turned around and stuck her finger up at him, "Fuck off, I'm not used to running away."

"Eh, what do you normally do?"

She winked, "Never you mind."

"Aw, come on Mars, tell me." There was a pout to his voice.

"Never!" She laughed, raising an eyebrow at him as they walked into the common room, "Did you just name me after a planet?"

Sirius grinned, "Yeah, well, you are out of this world."

She laughed and turned away from him, but he hopped closer to him and grabbed her hips, "Do you disagree with me, Mars?"

She couldn't help but squeal as he tickled her sides, "Sirius, get off me!"

Sirius smirked and then smiled when he saw Isabelle curled up in the chair reading a book; he dived over to her and onto her lap, "Alright, babs?"

"Babs?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow like Marlene had done.

"He's got a thing for giving people bizarre nicknames today." Marlene chuckled as she sat on the sofa.

Isabelle's eyebrow remained raised, "Oh?"

Sirius grinned, "Don't listen to Mars, she's just jealous."

Isabelle was about to reply, but Marlene spoke first, "Jealous? Of what?"

"That you don't have fabulous nickname creativity."

She rolled her eyes, "So, I'm jealous because I'm not a complete idiot, you mean?"

"Mars is a wonderful nickname!" Sirius exclaimed, shimmying off Isabelle to sit next to Marlene, slinging his arm around her shoulder, "C'mon Mars, you love it."

Marlene feigned innocence, "I love what?"

"When I'm creative." He smirked and Marlene laughed, jabbing his shoulder with her nail file.

"You're ridiculous, really really ridiculous."

"You wouldn't have me any other way."

It was Marlene's turn to smirk, "I'm pretty sure I could think of another way to have you."

James approached Lily, who hadn't moved from her spot against the wall and exhaled with relief, "Lily, thank God you're safe."

She noticed James moving towards her and she straightened up; she was vaguely aware that she'd cracked her head on the wall, and that she was bleeding. She was also certain she'd broken a couple of ribs from the impact of the curse- but it was nothing too bad.

"C'mon Lils, don't be afraid, I'll get you to the hospital wing." James said softly, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulder, but Lily shrugged it off.

"I'm not afraid." She snapped, glaring ahead of her.

"Alright, alright…" James said, continuing to talk to her in the same, soft tone, "But you better get to the wing, you're bleeding and walking funny."

"I should go to the wing? Because I obviously hadn't thought of that one." She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she walked down the corridor toward the hospital wing.

James frowned, "I know, I'm just worried about you. If I hadn't of got there…"

She abruptly stopped and stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?" James asked, looking around, "What is it?"

"If you hadn't of got there?!" She exclaimed, rage overtaking the fear she'd felt from the attack, "What would have happened? I'd have been beaten up? Killed? Is that what you're saying? The stupid little Mudblood wouldn't have been able to handle herself?"

James gasped, "No! Of course not!" He frowned, "And don't call yourself that."

"Stupid? Or Mudblood?" She inquired, tilting her head to the side.

"Both."

She laughed, "Well, I'm not stupid, but I am a Mudblood, and if your pretty pureblood status can't handle that, then tough." She shrugged and walked quickly down the corridor, pushing the hospital wing door open.

"Miss Evans!" Pomfrey shouted, "What the devil has happened to you?"

"I fell down the stairs on my patrols, Madam Pomfrey." She laughed and sat on the bed, "I should have been paying more attention."

Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes, "Yes, you should have. Now, let me get that head checked out…"

Pomfrey busied herself with Lily's injuries, fixing them up easily. She advised her to take it slowly so her ribs could heal correctly, but otherwise, Lily was free to go.

James was, unsurprisingly, standing at the door. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

He sighed, "Lily, what's wrong with you?"

"How did you find me?"

"What?"

"How did you find me tonight?"

James hesitated before asking, "Why were you on your own?"

She shrugged, "Josh and I decided to split the patrol."

"You willingly patrolled alone?"

"Yeah, what's the problem?" She countered, raising her eyebrow at him.

"You could have been seriously hurt."

"Josh being there wouldn't have stopped that. We're both Muggleborns."

"I don't give a fuck about Richards!" James snapped, "I'm going to fucking kill him."

"You will do no such thing." Lily warned.

"Why? Do you still have feelings for him?" He snapped, then immediately regretted his words, "Lily, I-"

"No, of course I don't have feelings for him." She rolled her eyes, "But you've got to stop protecting me."

"I'm your boyfriend." He replied simply.

"That means nothing. Just because you're my boyfriend, it does not mean you have the right to protect me and wrap me up in bubble wrap in case I fall and break a nail. You need to give me space, James. Don't get me wrong, you're helpful, you're lovely and I really do like being with you, but you cannot keep treating me like some sort of child that's going to break if you're not around. That's not what relationships are about."

James stared at Lily with a dumbfounded expression, he couldn't believe her words, "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"You didn't what? Think you were doing it? Or realise that it's fucking annoying?"

"Both, I guess." He muttered.

"Well you are, and it is. And it's going to stop."

"Or what?" He challenged with a glare; because James Potter cannot simply walk away from an argument, but at Lily's reply, he wished he had.

"Or it's over." She said simply, turning away from the shocked expression James was wearing.

James used the wall for support; he honestly didn't realise he'd been treating Lily that way. He thought he'd been a good boyfriend. A caring boyfriend. And now, Lily was providing him with an ultimatum; their relationship was on the line.

James didn't return to the common room that night, he instead spent the night strolling around Hogwarts, thinking about everything and everybody, before finally falling asleep in an alcove near Ravenclaw Tower.

"Lily!" Marlene called as her bruised friend limped into the common room, "What the hell happened to you?"

"I ran into a little bit of trouble on my patrols." She sighed, as Marlene hopped off the couch and came over, "No need to fuss, Marls, I'm fine."

"Lily, look at yourself-"

"I'm fine." Lily insisted, raising an eyebrow at Marlene, "Were you sat snuggling on the couch with Sirius?" She hissed.

"It was not snuggling."

"Didn't look that way to me."

"Shut up, we're just having fun."

"Yeah, I bet you are." Lily winked and Marlene slapped her on the shoulder, "Hey! Injured woman here!"

"Darling Lily Pad, where is Prongsie?"

"I don't know." She said stiffly.

Sirius apparently didn't notice Lily's change in tone, but Marlene did. "Lily, what's happened between you and James?"

"What's happened between you and Sirius?"

Marlene laughed slightly, shaking her head, "Snogging."

"Yeah, like that's the only thing that's happened." Lily drawled her tone harsh.

"Oi," Marlene snapped, "Just because something has happened between you and James doesn't mean you have the right to take that tone with me."

"You've been hooking up with Sirius Black."

"So? Am I not allowed to do that?"

"No."

Marlene looked shocked, "Why?"

"Isabelle likes him."

"Sirius doesn't like Isabelle."

"And how would you know? Does he tell you much? Oh wait, he can't when he's got his tongue down your throat."

Marlene glared at the smaller girl, "Sirius doesn't like anybody. This is Black we're talking about here. There are no feelings attached when you get involved with Sirius, just like there isn't when you're with me. We snog, a lot yes, I'll grant you that, but it means fuck all."

"Nice to know you care about me, McKinnon." Sirius remarked in a cold, unsteady voice from the stairway; he'd returned downstairs with the Marauder's Map in hand, looking for James.

Marlene shrugged, "You know it's true."

"What? Just because I snog some slag like you, I'm incapable of liking anybody?" He snapped harshly.

She flushed with anger, "I'm not some slag. I'm not this toy you can just play with whenever you choose. Hence, why I didn't let you fuck me last night when you came running. Because you don't always call the fucking shots, Black."

Lily looked shocked and Sirius faltered for a moment; he had nothing to reply to that, because Marlene was right. They didn't sleep together last night because Marlene had refused to be another piece for him to play with. But it bothered Sirius that Marlene was the girl refusing him. Why? Why was she so different to anybody else?

"Yeah. Exactly." Marlene said with a smug look, "You think you own it, you think you're Gods mother-fucking gift, but you're not."

"Neither are you." He retorted.

"I don't think I am." She shrugged.

"Alright." Lily coughed, "That's enough bickering."

"Why?" Sirius exclaimed, "She had no right to say that I'm incapable of liking people!"

"She didn't say that." Lily pointed out.

"Yes, she did-"

"No, I didn't." Marlene snapped, "I said that these… snogs meant nothing to you. Because they don't, do they?"

"No, they're just kisses."

"Exactly." Marlene replied and with a small shrug, she turned around and walked upstairs to her dorm; Sirius was right, they were just kisses, they were no emotions attached or conveyed in them, except for the fact they were both bored and up for some fun, but Marlene couldn't help but wonder why she kept going back to Sirius; she'd never went back to any other boy, so why him?

"Exactly." Sirius muttered, opening the map and spotting James' dot, "I'm going to find James."

"No you're not." Lily said sternly.

"And why not?" Sirius challenged.

"Because it's an hour after curfew, and as a prefect who has just been attacked by a possible Death Eater, I have the right- and the power- to make you stay here."

Sirius grumbled and stalked off upstairs without another word.

"Sirius?" Remus yawned, his tawny head sticking out behind the curtains surrounding his four poster bed.

"Mhm?"

"What are you doing up?"

"I don't know where Prongs is."

"Map?"

"No, I mean, I know where he is. But Evans won't let me out."

"Yeah, it is after curfew."

Sirius scowled at him, "James is in an alcove near Ravenclaw, Moony. Something is obviously up."

Remus frowned, "Where is the cloak?"

"Mate, you're a genius!" Sirius grinned and summoned the cloak from James' trunk, "You up for a little adventure?"

"As always." Remus grinned as Sirius slung the cloak over the pair of them, and they hurried from Gryffindor Tower and down to Ravenclaw to see James.

James, being a Marauder, had learnt how to tell when people were approaching- and Sirius had never been one for walking lightly.

"Who's there?" He asked, sitting up straight and drawing his wand, "Sirius?"

Sirius groaned and pulled the cloak off them, revealing himself and Remus, "Alright, mate? How did you know it was us?"

"You stomped down the corridor like an elephant." James said with a shrug.

"Told you to be quiet." Remus said with a look at Sirius, then he frowned at James, "Why are you down here?"

"Thinking."

"About?" Sirius pressed.

"Lily."

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Why? What's wrong?"

James sighed and launched into his explanation, "I was using the Map to find out where Lily was when I found her cornered by some slimy Slytherin, so I went to see her. He was attacking her and I saved her and she goes on as if I've just fucking killed a cat in front of her! She started snapping at me and we argued, she then told me if I didn't stop treating her like I am- all protective and shit- it was over."

Sirius looked confused, but Remus nodded, "She's right, James."

"What?!"

"Hey, hey, hear me out." Remus said, sitting next to James, "She's her own person, James. She's individual, she doesn't want or need help-"

"She was being attacked!" James interrupted him.

"But she could of handled it. Look, I'm not saying you had no right to help, but you shouldn't have been looking for her on the Map; that isn't fair. You don't need to know where she is at all times, James. It's not necessary, that'll cause problems- it already has- because Lily doesn't want to be wrapped up and be protected by you."

"He's right." Sirius said after finally catching up with the problem, "You've got to give her space, mate."

"And what would you know about relationships?" James snapped at Sirius harshly.

"A lot, considering I'm not the one fucking up here and you are." He retorted with a glare.

"You wouldn't know what feelings were if they danced in front of you holding a flashing neon sign."

Sirius growled, "Why does everybody always fucking say that!"

"Because it's true." Remus said softly.

Sirius gaped at him, "What?"

"You don't show feelings for people."

"I do, for you, for James, for Peter…"

"Not girls, Sirius. You snog them, sleep with them, and leave."

Sirius sighed, it was true. He didn't care. He didn't want to care, either, judging by the way James was feeling.

"Back to the problem at hand…" Remus started, looking at James sternly, "You need to stop treating Lily like a possession, and I know you don't mean it like that, so don't fucking give me that glare, James. But that's how she sees it, so just sort it out and stop feeling sorry for yourself."

It was James' turn to gape at Remus, "Where did all that come from?"

"I hate to see you like this, moping and getting yourself angry and worked up. And you don't listen to me unless I'm being harsh."

James chuckled, "Fair point, mate. You're right, let's go back to the Common Room."

"Race you!" Sirius said, slinging the cloak over him before sprinting away.

"He needs help." Remus decided.

"Yeah, serious help." James agreed and the pair strolled after the invisible Sirius, before reaching the Common Room and falling asleep.

"McKinnon." Sirius hissed to the girl, who looked remarkably small and innocent curled up in a ball on the sofa in the common room, "McKinnon wake up."

Marlene, who was half asleep, half awake, emitted a strange, unpleasant sound and curled up tighter (providing it was possible to do so)

Sirius chuckled, "C'mon Mars, it's half three in the morning, you need to get to bed."

"'m in bed.." She mumbled.

"No, you're on the common room sofa."

"Bed…"

Sirius sighed, but with a smile and scooped the small girl up in his arms; she, in return, sleepily curled into his arms, throwing her arms around his neck for protection. He walked slowly up the dormitory stairs (after muttering the incantation the Marauder's had created to allow men to walk up the girls stairs, after the Marauder's themselves had initiated the male ban in the first place) and into the girls dorm.

He stopped in the doorway, trying to locate Marlene's bed; then he found it, the one furthest away from the door, surrounded with Quidditch Posters and Gryffindor banners. He smiled, Marlene was surprisingly tidy; her bed was made perfectly, no creases, the quilt spread out evenly covered with a silky gold throw to complement her red sheets. It was funny, out of all the girls in the dorm, Marlene was the last person Sirius expected to be tidy and organised. It just didn't seem like her.

"Sirius?" Marlene whispered, looking up through her lashes at him.

He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Why are we standing in the doorway?"

He chuckled, "I think you mean, why am I standing in the doorway. You're not standing at all."

She laughed softly, "Yep, that's what I meant. Why are you up here, anyway?"

"You're full of questions tonight." He shrugged and walked further into her dorm, pulled her covers back and set her down on the bed. Seeing her snuggle down into the bed with her eyes fluttering shut, Sirius smiled softly and tucked her in.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Sleep, Mars."

"I was, then you woke me up.." She reminded him, smiling at him.

"You shouldn't have been sleeping on the couch, why were you up so late, anyway?"

She yawned and turned on her side, curling into another ball, "You."

"Me?" He asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. I was thinking about you." She mumbled.

Sirius said nothing and watched until Marlene's breathing evened out and her soft snores filled the silence, then he pressed another kiss to her forehead, before turning and leaving for his own dorm to sleep.

Only he didn't sleep. And Sirius now knew how Marlene felt to be kept awake, by somebody who didn't know they were causing such insomnia. Sirius couldn't help but think about Marlene, especially what she'd said earlier in the day- how their snogs were nothing but, well, snogs. Sirius didn't exactly disagree, but he didn't agree either; where he usually would just skip from girl to girl, Marlene was like a magnet- she had her own force field and she was dragging Sirius toward her, and now, she was all he could think about.

But Sirius Black refused to acknowledge these feelings, he didn't even know what he was feeling for her, so he allowed himself to blame it on the fact that he only wanted Marlene McKinnon for sex, for she was the only girl to refuse him as of yet. And Sirius never took no for an answer.

Or did he?