A Marauder's Guide to Falling in Love

Chapter Twenty Two

"Are you dating Sirius Black?"

The question had startled Marlene from her concentration on the rather boring essay she had been working on for Potions class. She lifted her head up from the parchment to see who the shadow belonged to that was looming over her coursework. The dazzling smile of a Hufflepuff girl in her year that she knew to be Natasha Madley met her eyes.

"Er – yes," Marlene said hesitantly. She wasn't used to being openly confronted in the middle of the library about her personal relationships but she supposed that since Sirius and her had shared numerous displays of affection in the hallways that some people were bound to become curious.

"Oh that's fantastic!" she replied with fake enthusiasm and Marlene thought she was a terrible liar. "I've just never known him to actually date anyone before so of course I was naturally curious."

"Alright then," Marlene wasn't quite sure what else to say. She had never actually spoken to Natasha before but it was quite common knowledge that she had been pining after Sirius since their fifth year. It wasn't hard for Marlene to determine that her 'natural curiosity' was more than likely a way to confirm whether or not Sirius had been snatched off the market.

"You're such a lucky girl," Marlene was horrified that Natasha had intended to actually join her. She pulled out the chair beside her and settled into it while pulling out a large textbook, parchment and some quills. Marlene wasn't quite sure if she had managed to hide her perturbed surprise discreet or not but Natasha didn't let on if she had.

"Uh thanks," Marlene said simply. It was one thing to have this conversation with Lily or Mary but with a complete stranger was something new entirely. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the Hufflepuff's intentions but she didn't have a good feeling about it.

"You were dating Bertram Aubrey before, weren't you?" she smiled sweetly at Marlene while drumming her long manicured fingernails on the table in front of her. The soft tapping noise was actually quite annoying but she didn't seem to care too much that she was causing a distraction from Marlene's studying.

"Yes," Marlene could feel a little annoyed at the intrusion but she was trying her best to remain toneless in the hopes that Natasha was only meaning to be friendly.

"Yes I thought so," she continued on drumming her nails against the wood. "He went on and on about you for weeks in the common room. It was so sweet actually; anyone could tell that he liked you a lot."

"I'm sorry but are you friends with him?" Marlene asked dubiously. She really had no idea what Natasha was getting at but the conversation was starting to make her feel uncomfortable and she wished desperately for Lily and Mary to hurry up and join her so she would have an excuse to be done with the discussion.

"Oh goodness no," Natasha gave a light melodic laugh. She tossed her brown hair over her shoulder and offered a large smile, showing off a set of perfectly white teeth. "Like I said, he talked about you a lot in the common room. It would be hard for anyone not to have picked up on it."

"I see," Marlene attempted to divert her attention back towards her Potions essay in front of her. She hoped that perhaps Natasha would take a hint that she wanted to study but it seemed the girl was up for some more chit chat.

"I was just so surprised to hear you were dating Sirius when I knew you to be dating Bert – "

"Bert and I broke up before I started dating Sirius," Marlene said firmly. She flicked her eyes up at Natasha with annoyance; she could already tell that her first instincts were correct that she didn't have good intentions. Natasha's smile widened.

"I'm not quite sure Bert thinks that," she said innocently. "The poor boy was just devastated to learn of your new relationship."

"I really don't see how this is any of your business," she said rather harshly and Natasha's smile wavered slightly at her change of tone.