“After that, there wasn’t much to it really. Marlene translated what we needed to know. We followed the clues to Temair, where we found the Stone of Destiny. Just south of its original location we found the Mound of Hostages, which is where the manuscript was hidden,” Sirius continued nonchalantly as he took the last swig of his butterbeer. “Dumbledore’s got it now.”
“Were there any curses or spells on the manuscript, Padfoot?”
“Well, what do you think, Wormtail?” Sirius asked, but replied further when Peter continued staring, begging for further details. “Of course! Marlene and I located them, again with the use of the translated fake, and disengaged them. Simple as that, really.”
“Sounds like you two really had a good time, Sirius.”
Sirius wasn’t all together sure he liked the look Lily was giving him as she said that. It sounded like she knew something intimate of his and Marlene’s time together, though he had been careful not to let anything regarding his unexplored feelings for that particular person slip into conversation. So in reply he gave a noncommital shrug.
“So, you coming to the meeting tonight, or did Dumbledore give you this one off?” James inquired.
“Nah. I’ll be there. Where are they having it this time, anyway?”
“Elphias Doge’s place. Shouldn’t be hard to find, eh?”
Sirius laughed. “Not so much, seeing as he lives in the same neighbourhood as I do.”
Standing and finishing of his butterbeer, he bid his friends goodbye for the time being, promising to see them later at the meeting. As he strode toward the garden gate of the Potter’s residence he Disapparated with a faint pop.
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If Sirius had been at all forthcoming with his friends in regards to his feelings for Marlene, he would probably be with her right now. Lily would have certainly made it her mission to get them together. But Sirius wasn’t even sure that Marlene felt the same way about him. He had been turned down once or twice in the past by different girls due to his reputation and he didn’t want that to happen with her. She was special, Sirius could feel that much.
It had been nearly two weeks since he had last laid eyes on her: two weeks of not hearing her voice, two weeks without smelling her fragrance, and it was eating him up inside. She was the reason he was going to the meeting tonight. He figured if he could just see her, hear her, smell her once more, he could do without holding her, kissing her, loving her. All of this was for the best, or at least that’s what he had to keep telling himself, for her safety.
The run-in with Travers had opened his eyes to the danger his presence placed her in. With a family full of Death Eaters forever wanting to hex him into oblivion, he placed anyone he came into close contact with into danger. His friends knew this and had vowed to stand by him no matter. But Sirius couldn’t bring himself to ask the same of Marlene.
He sat around the cottage for the rest of the day, pacing through the barely lived-in rooms as his anticipation built. At a quarter till time for the meeting he almost backed out of going, afraid of what he might do at the sight of her. He threw back a shot of Ogden’s Best to remedy his nerves and walked out into the night to meet his colleagues.
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He stood talking to James and the others, joking about days gone by when the smell of fresh parchment and clean linens caressed his senses. Tiny sweat beads broke out on the back of his neck as he dared to look towards the open door. There she stood, an angel in his eyes. Her cheeks flushed from the cool night air, she was chatting with Dorcas Meadows, her golden eyes shining with enjoyment. Until she saw him.
Sadness creased her brow as she gave a small wave in Sirius’ direction, then grabbed a seat near the back of the meeting, turning away from him to continue her conversation with Dorcas. It was a small gesture, but Sirius felt his heart give a tug at the thought of her being sad to see him.
Standing at the back of the room, Sirius caught himself glancing at her often, drinking in as much of her as he could for the time being. He was torn between whether or not he should approach her and speak with her, afraid that she would reject even that much contact with him. Eventually his longing to hear her voice and the laugh that he had grown so accustomed to during their time together won out.
“Hey, how are you?”
“I’m fine. And you?” she answered awkwardly.
“Oh, couldn’t be better,” he smiled, hoping that it didn’t look as forced as it felt.
“That’s good to hear.” An awkward silence fell between them and after a minute or so Marlene broke it. “Well, I had better be going. Be seeing you,” she said and she touched his shoulder sending an electric shock through him.
Before he could recover, she had walked out the door and Disapparated. Sirius stood there for a split second before running after her. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do at that moment but he knew that he couldn’t just let her walk out of his life. With thoughts of her home in mind he turned on the spot and vanished unto himself, reappearing in front of a small country cottage.
Sirius hesitantly walked up the front steps, unsure of what he was going to say to her. He placed a hand on either side of the doorway and hung his head in desperation just as the door opened.
“S-Sirius… is everything okay?” she asked.
He looked up, looking for some courage from the golden eyes that had haunted his dreams for the past fortnight and saw Marlene’s tear-streaked face. Placing a hand on her right cheek he wiped away the trails as she looked inquisitively into his eyes. Before he knew what he was doing, he had wrapped his arms around her and was kissing her soft lips, her fragrance and touch assaulting his senses from all sides.
As they stood there in the doorway to her home, holding each other in a tight embrace, Sirius noted one thing: he was not the only one participating; Marlene was returning his kiss. The thought that she returned his feelings sent him into an elated sense of mind and he threw even more enthusiasm into the kiss as she pulled him further into the house.
Shutting the door behind them, Sirius finally broke the kiss. “Wait, wait… we need to talk some things through,” he said breathlessly.
“Okay. What about?” she devilishly inquired as she continued to trail kisses on his jaw line.
“Talking isn’t going to work so well with you distracting me like that. You know, you’re a bit of a minx,” he grinned and briefly kissed her again. “I just want to be sure that you know what you’re getting yourself into, the dangers that a relationship like this could unleash.”
Kissing him again squarely on the lips she giggled. “Sirius, you do know that I’m a member of the Order and already face that kind of danger on a daily basis. I’m not afraid of any perils you think there might be. I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” she finished as she began nibbling on his ear, one hand tangled in his hair and the other encircling his waist.
With that, he lost all the reserve he might have had before. Picking her up into his arms he made to find the bedroom, with or without her help.
