Wasting Time

31

I heard the others arriving in the living room from the shower. I ran out wrapped in a towel and threw my arms around Lily, before huffing the rest of them. James looked stunned.

"Marlene, this flat is bigger than my entire house," he said, looking around.

"Well, my parents had six kids, James. Though, there are only four bedrooms, so you lot will have to double up, someone might still have to take the couch. Two of the rooms have two beds, two don't. Sirius and I took the master, so you guys can go pick while I get dressed if you'd like." They all nodded and dispersed.

I walked back to our room, where Sirius was laying on the bed.

"You didn't want to say hi?" I asked.

"I don't have any clothes on, McKinnon." I rolled my eyes.

"Neither did I," I pointed out.

I opened the closet and grabbed a flowy blue dress. I dried my hair before adding a few braids and putting on the dress.

"Do I have to get up?" Sirius groaned as I picked shoes. I laughed and threw one at him.

"Yes, you do. Everyone just got here. We should go get breakfast." His stomach grumbled as I said it.   "See? Get up."

"You're so mean to me McKinnon," he pouted. I put my hands on my hips and pouted back.

"Oh poor me, I'm Sirius, and my girlfriend won't let me starve," I mocked in a baby voice.

By the time I got him back out to the sitting room, everyone had chosen bedroom and were sitting on the couches.

"Sorry it took so long," I said. "Someone didn't want to get out of bed."

"I'd love to tell you I'm surprised Marlene," Remus said and Sirius made a rude hand gesture at him.

"Do you guys want to go get breakfast?" I asked.

"I'm starving," James and Peter said at the same time.

We walked down the stairs and out the front door of the building. As we walked, I slipped away from Sirius and linked my arm with Remus.

"You don't mind that Emmeline is here, do you? I know she's your ex, I should have asked."

He looked surprised. "N, Marlene. I'm just happy you guys are talking again, she was really broken up that you two fell out."

I scrunched my nose but didn't say anything.

We did eventually find breakfast, and we took it down near the river to sit and eat. Mary, Lily, and i sat on the grass while the others wandered and messed around.

"So, Mary," I started. "What's going on with you and Edgar Bones?"

She spit out the water in her mouth and turned a shade of red that almost put Lily's hair to shame. "What do you mean?" She replies hurriedly.

"Pump the breaks. All I meant was that Sirius, Doe, and i saw you with him in the common room the last night before we left. You literally walked right past us, did you not see us?"

"Oh," she relaxed.

"No, not oh," Lily said. "Clearly there's something more going on than flirting in the common room. Spill."

"Fine," Mary sighed. "We've been like on and off for a few months now, and it's just exhausting."

"A few months?" I almost shouted.

"Mar, you've just had so much stuff going on, and it's been so complicated, I didn't want to bother you."

"Mary, I always have time for you. You're not bothering me, you're my friend. Now spill."

"It's just such a mess you guys. Like everytime we hang out it feels like we break up. Like he wants to break up, so we do, and then he says it's a mistake, so we make up. And then we make out and he freaks out and it starts all over again. Like when he's sober, he says we move to fast and then he has a drink and he wants to come over. I'm so tired. I just wish it was easy like it was for you guys."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You think it's been easy for me and Sirius?" I wasn't annoyed, just surprised.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I mean like you guys are soulmates, and you know you're soulmates. And same with Lily and James. But I just don't know about me and Edgar, you know?"

Lily and I exchanged looks.

"Can you do something for me? Just humour me," I said. She nodded. "Ok, try to imagine your life without him. How do you feel? That's how I know I love Sirius, because I can't possibly imagine my life without him. He's my whole world, he's...doing something dumb with James," I trailed off, watching him over Lily's shoulder.

"That's not important, Marlene. Mary, what do you feel when you imagine life without Edgar?"

"I don't know. I feel like I should feel sad and I do, but not like an overwhelming sad, you know? Because it's not like he's consistently in my life now. I do care about him, but I'm exhausted."

"Here's what you need to do," I said. "You need to give him an ultimatum. In or out, that easy. It's not fair for him to act like that."

"Aren't ultimatums a little ... extreme?"

"No, ultimatums are great. That's why Sirius and I have been so good since we got back together. Ultimatum." Lily snorted as I spoke.

"Or because Sirius is so whipped he's still expecting you to dump him again," she said.

"You wanna talk about whipped, Evans?" She made a face as I spoke. "Yeah I didn't think so."

"I'll think about it," Mary said.

"Or don't think about it," I told her. "That's why we're in Paris, to not think about stuff."

Dorcas ran over to us. "Do you want to go to the Louvre Marls? The boys don't want to, but I know you do, and the boys never say no to you."

I laughed. "Yes, Doe, I would love to go to the Louvre." I put my arm around her when I stood up and we started walking. "Do you have any secrets you haven't been telling me because my life is a mess?"