A Marauder's Guide to Falling Apart

Chapter Eleven

The rest of the week dragged by slowly. Marlene had to tuck her two way mirror from Sirius into the empty trunk that lay stowed away in her closet out of frustration. He was sure taking his time 'coming around' as Lily had taken to calling it and she wondered whether or not she was expected to make the first move.

Of course she wasn't prepared to put herself through the embarrassment of cornering him on the subject and as the days passed by she became even more agitated with the fact that he had decided to neglect her. It was later Friday evening when she was interrupted by a sharp knocking on the door of her shared apartment.

She was curled up on the couch, reading The Healer's Helpmate and trying desperately to remember the specific properties to wormwort. She hadn't been expecting company as Lily was visiting her family with James to announce their good news. She waited a moment for Emmeline to answer the door before remembering that she was working the evening shift. Sighing, she put her book face down on the seat next to her and pulled herself from the couch to answer the second, louder knock that had echoed through the tiny room.

She glanced at the clock as she neared the door: ten forty.

"A bit late don't you think?" she said with minor irritation when she opened it and found Sirius standing there, hand poised as though ready to knock for a third time.

"Sorry," he grumbled, looking embarrassed which she couldn't help but note that it was very uncharacteristic of him. He glanced downwards to the floor and kicked at something with his heel before peering upwards at her curiously through his long dark locks of hair. If she had been annoyed with him before, he was doing a decent job at causing her immense distraction. It was nearly impossible to ignore the eyes he was shooting at her.

"What do you want, Black?" she tried her best to maintain composure. She had to remind herself that she hadn't spoken to him in four days.

"Black?" he sounded confused. "You must be pretty mad if you're resorting to my surname."

She didn't dignify him with an answer.

"Are you going to invite me in or shall I just stand here all evening?"

She hesitated a moment before moving aside to allow him to pass inside. He wasted no time kicking off his shoes and roaming around the living room admiring things as though looking for another way to distract her from the unspoken tension.

"What do you want?" she asked him again, folding her arms across her chest defensively. Although she was finally happy he had decided to speak with her again, she was still annoyed over the entire ordeal.

He dropped into the couch where she had been previously sitting and patted the space next to him, indicating for her to join him. She hesitated at the doorway, unsure of whether or not she wanted to be so close. She moved across the room and planted herself into the chair opposite him and reveled in her own satisfaction as she observed the small scowl he omitted from her gesture.

"Look Mar," he started. "I'm really sorry about the other night."

She bit her tongue and waited for him to elaborate. When he didn't say anything more she sighed and leaned back into the chair. "Is that all? You could have just used the mirror. Or even better, just sent me an owl."

"I understand why you're frustrated – "

"Do you?" she shot forward to look at him. He was watching her with quiet observation. Behind the hard look in his eyes she could see the same look of worry that he adorned every time she was vulnerable. It was clear that Lily was right in her assessment that he did, indeed, care about her. However, she had a hard time accepting that his genuine concern came at the cost of being treated like a small child.