author's note: yet another point of difference? not all dialogue like the last one, set later in their timelines than the last one, but idk it's different to the first. they're all different? what a shock. i'm so sorry it's 12:08am on thursday morning and i've only had thirteen hours sleep since sunday morning 8am so i'm living a bit of a blur right now but HEY this is being posted because today (or well, yesterday, technically), i had my final exam and am now officially finished with high school! *cheers*
sirius/marlene -—i just want to see the stars with you (tfios, troye sivan)
let us touch the stars and set fire to our crimes
There is a war. But there is also life.
That's the thing that surprises Marlene the most—life has absolutely no regard for its circumstances. It is not constrained by the limitations of human expectations and refuses to define itself as such, preferring to deliver both harsh and happy circumstances without discrimination and regardless of the context.
Her life is a warzone, but it is also the life of a twenty-one year old woman with passion and fierce wit and the greatest group of friends anybody could ever ask for. Her life still features laughter and jokes and surprised kisses that taste like sherry and end in wide eyes and a rush of memories in the morning. Her life is still worth living.
x
She finds herself nestled between James and Remus as they gaze at the campfire in front of them, Mary curled into Remus' other side and Lily resting her head on James' shoulder. She begins to wonder when her existence became able to be defined as the "one without a boyfriend"; even Dorcas has Fabian, laying her head on his lap whilst she entwines her legs with Mary's, and Alice has Frank, and look incredibly sweet about it too. She begins looking around in earnest, trying to seek out someone who isn't currently attached to someone and can share in her plight—not Benjy, he's into her own sister, for Merlin's sake, and oh, no, Gideon's got that undefinable thing going on with Benjy's best mate Mundungus, and, oh my god, even Peter is locking lips with Joyce and when the hell did that happen—and her eyes fall upon Sirius, who looks like—okay, no, he's definitely laughing at her right now.
Having fun there? he mouths at her, laughter dancing in his eyes, and she's going to whack him or something, oh my god, and she gives him a patented unimpressed glare and gently disentangles herself from the pressure of the two surrounding Marauders, letting them crash shoulders with only an amused smile offered as apology.
"You suck," she says as she marches up to Sirius, fixing him with a disgruntled look.
"You love me," he teases, flicking her on the nose. "Besides, I didn't want to interfere with such a fun situation for you."
"Yeah, the highlight of my life is being crammed between two Marauders," she mutters. "Hey, at least they were my favourite Marauders. Tied with Peter, of course," she adds.
Sirius narrows his eyes. "Rude and also false," he loftily proclaims. "Everyone knows I am your favourite everything."
"Favourite punching bag, perhaps," she retorts, socking him in the shoulder and ignoring his yelp. She makes to punch him again but he captures her hand, gently holding her wrist, and somehow uses it as leverage to pull Marlene slightly more into him as he takes a half-step towards her.
"What do you want, Marly?" he asks, in a tone softer than she's ever associated with him, a slight smile playing on his lips like a secret that belongs to only them. There are a lot of things she wants to scream—this war to be over and to sleep under the stars and to sing around a fire with all my loved ones and never have good moments like that touched by desperation due to fear—but most of all, she wants to tell him the truth: you.
Instead, she looks him in the eyes and sends him a challenging smirk. "I want to touch the stars and burn down the opposition," she tells him, and it's not a lie, but it's not the truest thing she could have said either.
"I think I would settle for just looking at the stars, if you were there," Sirius says quietly, his words shrouded by moonlight and Marlene is finding it a little hard to breathe because of the sheer force of the hope rising in her chest. "Obviously," he tacks on, smirk adorning his handsome features, "because the rest of them"—he jerks his thumb back towards the group of their loved-up friends—"are disgusting."
"Despicable," Marlene agrees with a beam that feels like it's going to split her face in two. "Honestly. Can't take them anywhere."
Sirius lets out a bark of laughter. "C'mon, McKinnon," he says, sliding his hand from around her wrist to clasping her hand, "let's go watch some stars."
x
Marlene has always been fascinated by stars, particularly their seemingly-immortal quality: they seem endless, infinite in the way they shine and are never quenched, be they Sirius Black or the ones adorning the night sky.
No matter how infinite they may seem, the truth is this: even stars die.
author's note ii. yeah i know. i suck. last line. way to suck. soz.
anyway, if you've made it this far, i'd love a review—even a few words usually make my day, be they nice or concrit!—and if there was any part or line you had a particular opinion on, i always love hearing that! otherwise, i'd really appreciate it if you didn't favourite without reviewing xx