A Marauder's Guide to Falling Together

Chapter Nineteen

It was a little disorienting for Marlene when she awoke with a start and a small muffled scream sometime later. The strangeness of being back in Gryffindor tower was overwhelming at first and it took her a few moments to remember where she was. She could hear the other girls in the room moving around from the sudden disruption but none of them seemed to wake fully from her episode.

Despite her confidence that being back at school would help to subside the nightmares she was left reeling in disappointment at the most recent memories that plagued her. She attempted to push them into the back of her mind and settled back into the pillow. The damage was already done though; she tossed and turned for about thirty minutes before determining that her attempts were futile.

She wondered whether Sirius would have anticipated this outcome and was waiting up for her down in the common room. When she saw that it was nearing two in the morning she decided that getting her hopes up might not be in her best interest. She waited another fifteen minutes before deciding that, Sirius or no Sirius, she wasn't getting back to sleep anytime soon and she'd be better off taking her chances downstairs.

Nobody in the room stirred when she swung her legs out of bed, grabbed her wand from the stand beside her bed and walked swiftly through the room towards the door. She opened it quietly and slipped out into the darkness of the corridor, making sure to be extra cautious of the level of noise she omitted so as not to be disruptive like the girls she had heard earlier in the evening.

Sirius was not waiting up for her when she entered the common room. She felt hopelessly defeated as she had secretly hoped to see him again. The fire had long since died out, indicating that the room must have been deserted hours before. She let out a large sigh and made her way across the empty room.

"Incendio," she pointed her wand at the fireplace and instant flames erupted in the hearth; dancing around as if they had never died out. The room was cold and she squeezed herself into a ball in the nearest chair and waited for the glowing embers to warm her body.

It was a slightly odd feeling to be back; she had spent so long at St. Mungos that anything else felt unnatural now. Her eyes scanned lazily around the familiar room and even though her surroundings were dimly lit, she was still able to find traces of comfort in the familiar scenery she had grown accustomed to over the years. As her eyes refocused back to the flickering flames, her mind wandered off into nothing.

Sometime later the portrait swung open and a pair of hushed whispers met her ears. She tilted her head towards the opening and was less than surprised to see nothing there. Marlene knew better though; she wasn't unwise to the many secrets of Hogwarts most famous mischief makers. Sure enough, a few seconds later the invisibility cloak was yanked off by James and his and Sirius's figures were revealed.

"Fancy meeting you here," James said cheekily. "Muffin?"

"I'm good, thanks," Marlene offered a smile as she observed the half eaten muffin in his outstretched hand.

"Suit yourself," he said before stuffing the rest of it into his mouth. "Night Padfoot, McKinnon."

"See you tomorrow," Sirius replied casually but his eyes were still looking at Marlene. He didn't wait for James to exit the room before striding over to plop down in the chair across from where she was sitting. "Couldn't sleep?"

"You know me so well," Marlene said humorously. "I see you're still up to your late night adventures. How in Merlin's name do the two of you still fit under that thing together?"

"It's all about strategic positioning," his eyes were twinkling with amusement, "and might I add that you've chosen some real nice attire this evening, McKinnon."