A Marauder's Guide to Falling Together

Chapter Three

Sirius had been right; Mrs.Potter was an excellent cook. Marlene had even helped herself to seconds, unable to get enough. It had been quite a while since she had last eaten a solid meal, and by the time she was finished her stomach was aching slightly from being too full.

She offered to help with cleanup after dinner but as she was no longer underage and the Potter's miraculously relied heavily on magic throughout their day, the task didn't take nearly as long as it would have had they done it the muggle way like she had been raised on.

She joined Sirius and James in the study after dinner to allow Mr. and Mrs.Potter their private tea time; something they liked to indulge themselves with in the courtyard after supper as their often hectic schedules prevented them from seeing each other often.

"So did Lily get head girl" James asked eagerly from the sofa he had been lounging on. He was tossing a golden snitch up into the air and catching it quickly with such reflex that Marlene wondered why he had decided to play the position of chaser on the Gryffindor team.

"She did," Marlene nodded at him. She was curled up in a large arm chair across from him with Sirius sitting in the opposite one beside her, fiddling idly with his wand.

"Excellent," James' face lit up brightly and he stopped playing with the snitch long enough to flash Marlene a glorious grin. She couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy by it, as though his mind was racing with the thought of some mischievous prank.

"Why exactly is that excellent for you?" Marlene asked out of curiosity. She didn't quite like the grin that had fallen upon James' face.

"Because he's head boy," Sirius said dully from beside her. He hadn't looked up and was still twirling his wand in his right hand, looking deep in thought about something.

Marlene laughed before realizing that Sirius wasn't joking.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" James' face had fallen slightly and Marlene quickly apologized for offending him.

"I just assumed it would be Remus," she said honestly. "To be frank Potter, you really don't seem to fit the typical description of Head Boy."

"That's what I said," Sirius grinned cheekily and James tossed the snitch in his direction as if to hit him, but Sirius had excellent reflexes and ducked in time for the snitch to go buzzing past his head.

"It's getting late," Marlene noted as her eyes had glanced over at the large grandfather clock that rested against the far wall. She hadn't intended to stay so long but she had lost track of time while enjoying the company of James and Sirius. Despite all that had happened, being in the same room as him seemed to have given her a high from an addiction she had been craving for weeks and she couldn't bring herself to step away.

"I'll walk you home," Sirius said quickly before shooting a glance towards James that Marlene did not miss. He smiled but his expression didn't offer much of an explanation to what the look passed between them had indicated.

"You don't have to," she said earnestly but she knew that Sirius would never allow her to walk, unaccompanied, so late after the sun had set. It appeared by James' lack of willingness to move from the couch that he was intending for Sirius to walk her home alone. Even though she secretly craved the chance to spend more time with him she knew that being alone with him left her far too vulnerable. This might be her only opportunity to let him know how she was feeling and the sinking feeling of being ill prepared had returned.

"Don't be silly," Sirius said pointedly. "Of course I have to."

"Bye Potter," she said with a small wave. "Please let your mom know how much I enjoyed her hospitality."