Just The Way We Are - Blackinnon

Chapter 3 - Feelings Aside

Marlene felt her feet land firmly on the floorboards of a rather empty looking London flat. It was spacious - room for two and a child with possibly a cat in the mix. There were large window panes descending down every few feet of wall, showing a rather spectacular view of the city that was at least fifty floors below them.

Sirius was grinning proudly, stepping further into the room and extending his arms to show off his new home.

"Pretty great, huh?" He beamed. "This is possibly the only good thing that has come from my parents. Their money."

She nodded, loosely crossing her arms as she analysed the area. It really was amazing. The kitchen and living area were conjoined in a very ahead-of-its-time modern fashion, a large island being the only separation between the two. There was a short corridor leading to two bedrooms and a bathroom which she found herself eager to explore.

"I'm impressed, Black." Marlene hummed appreciatively, a small smile lingering on her lips.

He grinned at that and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. "Thought you would be."

Her eyes flickered up to him and she felt heat rise to her cheeks. Merlin, he looked good in leather. The smell of cigarettes and cologne seeped into her nostrils and she closed her eyes for a moment. Cedar wood and lavender? Shit, that was her favourite.

Sirius could see her melt and a smirk was instantly brought to his lips, rubbing his thumb over her jawline for a moment. For a short moment in time, his gaze turned soft, eyes trained on hers like a child to a lollipop. This girl was something else and he'd be a fucking fool to let her go. He was thankful that she had not yet gotten caught up in Order missions because, truthfully, Sirius wasn't sure if he could forgive himself if something happened to Marlene. Sure, their relationship was purely physical, but it had been going on for almost a year, and in that amount of time, emotional connections were bound to form - and for him, they certainly had.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Marlene questioned after a while, although she couldn't stop the idiotic smile forming on her lips.

"Er, I'm not, McKinnon. This isn't a bloody fairytale." He mumbled quickly in a lame attempt to save his arse, pulling back to take her to the bedroom. "Only piece of furniture I've got so far is a bed. In my eyes, it's the only thing I need," Sirius grinned.

"Typical," She breathed with a quiet chuckle.

Of course, he was quite right. A large bed lay against the wall of another spacious and open room, the only thing tarnishing the empty space being Sirius's (very worn, probably very dirty) clothes scattered across the floor.

"You should feel honoured to be the first girl I shag here."

"Excuse me?"

But before she could protest, Marlene was swept up in his arms and thrown onto the bed so he could make his statement true.