A Marauder's Guide to Falling Apart

Chapter Three

Hey Marly,

See, I knew that you'd get in. Didn't I tell you that? Honestly, I'm just looking forward to having someone sane that I can share the lunch hour with. This place is rarely dull – always a bucket load of strange cases walking in through the door, but nobody ever seems the slightest bit interested in talking about them. Not sure if you've given thought about where you're planning to live once you move here but my old roommate moved out last month and I have an extra room. I mean, splitting the extra rent would be nice but having you for a roommate would just be a bonus. Think about it and tell me whatcha think.

Look forward to seeing you again soon!

Love Em

Marlene hadn't given much thought to her living arrangements until Emmeline's letter arrived. She supposed the offer was going to be her best option - Sirius hadn't suggested moving in together when she had shared her news. Not that she was entirely disappointed; she hadn't expected him to and she wasn't sure they were at that stage in their relationship anyways.

Although he didn't move in until September he insisted on showing her the outside of the building. She needed to pay a visit to Diagon Alley anyways to get the required books and supplies from her school list so they decided to make a day out of it. Despite her initial trepidation about his motorcycle, she allowed him the opportunity to provide the transport for their trip when he had promised to drive more carefully.

"If you just got your apparition license you wouldn't need to worry about this," he said wryly when he arrived to pick her up. Marlene doubted that he minded though; he was always looking for an excuse to drive the hideous machine.

"Would you stop bugging me about it," she sighed. "You know perfectly well why it's a horrible idea." In truth, she and Lily had been practicing it since the beginning of the summer. Lily had successfully passed her own test over Christmas and was more than happy to help Marlene practice for hers. Sirius had withdrawn on her after Mr. Potter's passing and she had never had ample opportunity to discuss it with him.

"You got an Outstanding in your Transfiguration N.E.W.T.," Sirius looked at her with skepticism. "Would you stop doubting yourself already?"

Marlene shrugged. Apparition was a completely different concept and she hadn't been doing well at it. "Can you just do me a favor and drive this time? I'm not overly fond of the whole flying bit."

"You sure?" he grinned.

"Positive," she looked at him with certainty. "I'd like to arrive in one piece."

The drive into London took a lot longer than she would have liked. This was probably due to the fact that she was anxious about being on the motorcycle. Instead of using the sidecar like she had last time, Sirius insisted that she sit on the back. "You won't have to look out if you don't want too," he had said. "Plus you can grip on to me if you'd like."

She doubted that he minded that she had clung to him for the majority of the drive. But as they entered into London and the heaviness of the traffic picked up he was forced to drive much slower and Marlene relaxed her hold on him a bit. They decided to swing by his building first.

It wasn't actually all that far from St. Mungo's Hospital and that was the only thing that seemed appealing about it to Marlene. When he pulled up alongside the curb and came to a halt she looked at the building he was pointing at with mild repugnance. It was an old and weathered building that looked as if it hadn't been properly looked after in years. One of the lower windows was smashed in with broken glass scattered along the pavement. Whether it had been a recent occurrence or not, it was obvious it hadn't been properly cleaned up.