A Marauder's Guide to Falling Together

Chapter Twenty Seven

She found Sirius at one of the back tables in the common room after dinner. He and Peter were deep in discussion about the Invigoration Draught essay they had been assigned. He glanced up at her briefly as she approached the table but made no motion to cease his conversation.

"Well think about the opposite of invigorating then. You already know the benefits of the Potion so try and think about what the complete opposite would be," he sounded patronizing. "Really it should be quite simple. How do you feel when you have little energy?"

"Pretty blimey," Peter huffed and Sirius smirked.

"I'll say. You're quite the peach in the morning, Wormtail. Suppose you could benefit from paying a bit more attention in class. Then maybe you wouldn't have to leave assignments to the last minute and ask ridiculous questions that you should already know the answer to."

Peter had a sour look on his face as Sirius laughed. His eyes shifted to look at Marlene and he momentarily looked embarrassed at being caught in what Marlene assumed to be a rather humiliating moment. "Think I'll leave you two alone," he mumbled while gathering his belongings and hurrying from the table.

"That was a bit mean," Marlene said to Sirius as she watched Peter's retreating figure.

"What, that?" Sirius seemed surprised. "Peter's a bit daft. He knows I'm just messing with him."

Marlene was doubtful but said nothing. She knew that Sirius made a habit out of picking on Peter but he seemed to be completely blind to the effect it had over the poor boy. Not everyone could be brilliant in academia like he was; surely Marlene could understand that more than anyone.

"What do you want?" Sirius's tone had changed slightly. He was looking at Marlene expectantly and drumming his slender fingers along the table in front of him. Marlene recoiled slightly from the coolness in his tone but she knew that she wasn't deserving of a more receptive greeting.

"How's your face?" she asked quietly. There wasn't any noticeable marking on his face from where she had hit him but she was aware that the damage was likely more superficial than it was physical anyways.

"My face?" the surprise reached across his features. "What about my face?"

"Didn't I hit you?" Marlene sounded unsure. Had she imagined it?

"Oh, that." He laughed briefly. "I'm not that delicate, McKinnon. I get hit with bludgers in Quidditch, do you really think your tiny fists compare to that?"

"They seemed to make the mark on Avery," she mumbled. Even if he did have reason to be cross with her, his brush off of her strength was slightly irritating and uncalled for.

"I heard you broke his nose," Sirius continued with a smirk. "Slimey git deserved it."

"Good," she said simply. Sirius was still looking at her expectantly so she quietly added, "well sorry I hit your face then."

"That's it?" he said with a slight raise of his brows.

"What else were you expecting?" she had taken his brush off rather well but she couldn't mask the annoyance in her tone at his most recent comment.

"You've been acting funny for days now," he shrugged. "You know when you pick a fight and physically assault someone, even if it is a Slytherin, it shouldn't come as a shock to you when people question whether or not you've finally lost your marbles. Some people might be comfortable chalking it up to stress from N.E.W.T pressure, but I know you far better than that."

"So it's perfectly normal for you and Potter to act that way but when a girl –"

"Don't turn this into a sex thing," Sirius rolled his eyes. "This has nothing to do with you being a girl."