Pairing: Blackinnon
Prompt: Marlene finds out Sirius is an animagus
For: jadedlights07 (tumblr)

Marlene snuggled into Sirius' side, enjoying the feel of his arms wrapped securely around her. They sat in silence in front of the fire, her head nestled into his shoulder and his hands idly toying with the ends of her hair. Her, Lily and the other Marauders were the only Gryffindors who had stayed at the castle for the holidays. She knew something was bothering him by the slight tenseness of his body. It wasn't obvious, he hid it well, but Marlene knew him better than anybody, second only to James.

She kissed his shoulder, and waited for him to start talking. When he still said nothing, she shifted so that she could look him in the eyes.

"Sirius?"

His lips quirked up into a small smile as he looked down at her. "Hmm?"

Marlene bit her lip as she debated whether or not to bring it up. Eventually she decided that if he wasn't going to talk freely about whatever it was that was eating him up, then she would prompt him.

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong, Mar?"

She chewed her lip again, eyes looking anywhere but his. Maybe she should have left it alone. Sirius furrowed his brow, confused. He used two fingers to gently lift her chin so she was looking him in the eye again.

She let out a breath. "You're all tense, and you've hardly said anything all night. Not that I'm opposed to sitting in silence, but you look like you've been thinking and we all know how dangerous that can be," she joked in an effort to lighten the mood again.

He laughed quietly, kissing the tip of her nose and resting his forehead against hers.

"I'm fine," he whispered. "I just…"

She waited for him to finish his sentence, and when he didn't she said, "Just what?"

He looked at her, long and hard as if he was assessing her. "We decided that it was time to tell you. James is telling Lily as we speak."

By 'we' she knew he was meaning himself and the rest of the marauders.

"Tell us what?"

He went quiet again. "Don't take this the wrong way, Mar, I would have told you earlier but it wasn't just my decision to make."

She had a feeling she knew exactly what he was talking about, but she said nothing. His hand came up to cup her face, fingers gently trailing down her pale cheeks, twirling her hair. He smiled again.

"You know I love your hair right?"

She gave him a look that said she knew exactly what he was trying to do, and she wasn't falling for it.

"Spit it out, Sirius, then you can tell me how much you admire my hair."

Despite his obvious attempts as diverting the subject, she still allowed her lips to quirk up slightly as he let out a breathy laugh.

"Damn, Mar, you caught me," he said, not letting go of her hair. The other hand twined his fingers with hers, before bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it.

She giggled slightly, fighting a blush. "That's not going to work, Black."

"Ooh, using last names are we McKinnon?"

"Sirius."

"Fine."

She couldn't help but smile at his childish pout when she removed his hand from her hair, and sat back so she was out of reach.

"Okay, there's no easy way to say this, but Remus is a werewolf." He said the words in a rush, like he feared if she heard them properly she would run, or worse.

He watched her intently, gauging her reaction. She could tell he was nervous as he couldn't stop fidgeting. She raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me something I don't know," she responded with a smile. He looked taken aback.

"You knew?"

Marlene smirked, just a little bit smug. "Mmmn, Lily and I figured it out last year. Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

Sirius looked stunned. "Um, most of it. So you know how Remus transforms every full moon….actually maybe it would be better to show you."

She watched curiously as he got off the couch, then curiosity changed to shock, and surprise as suddenly he morphed into a large black dog.

"So that's why they call you Padfoot," she breathed in realisation. Padfoot barked in response, and looked up at her in what could only be described as the dog's version of a grin. He jumped up on the couch and rested his head on her lap.

"Aww, you're so cute!" Marlene exclaimed, a silly grin on her face. He whined happily as she ran her fingers lightly through his fur. They stayed that way for a long while, contented with each other. Eventually Sirius fell asleep and Marlene just smiled.

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