eat all the things [marlene mckinnon]

[Sirius Black]

So far, fifth year was both exceeding and missing Sirius’ expectations. Sure, the gang of merry Marauders were already starting the year with a bang. Those Hufflepuffs hadn’t known what hit them... But they just weren’t spending enough time together, in Sirius’ opinion. James was off playing quidditch or mooning over Evans all the bloody time now. Remus had all those prefect duties, which now didn’t seem worth having a man on the inside. And who knew where Peter was. Studying, or so he said. It was OWL year, and he wanted good marks. Which was another problem. Homework. It was everywhere. Even Sirius, who only ever did the bare minimum to prevent himself from racking up detentions that cut into his social life, was finding himself swamped with charms essays and extra transfiguration time. He was an animagus, why did he need to turn a mouse into a teapot? He desperately wanted to shut McGonagall up by just transforming one day in the middle of class, but there was the whole illegal part. And Sirius didn’t find that he fancied Azkaban.

Sirius was feeling particularly hungry as he sat down at Gryffindor table for lunch on Saturday. Well, it was breakfast for Sirius, but lunch for almost everyone else. Sirius liked to keep night owl hours, which frequently meant that when he woke up on weekends he was alone in the dormitory. But usually someone interesting could be found. Usually in the common room, or outside by the lake at the very least. But Sirius had wandered the castle, then the grounds, for an hour before finally deciding his friends were in the library, and he was too hungry to go there. So, brunch it was! The dashing marauder sat down at the Gryffindor table and heaped his plate full of one, or two, or three, of absolutely everything. He was starved!

Words: 313
Tag: Marlene McKinnon
Notes: Sorry it took so long! <3

[hellbourne]

Marlene was having one of those mornings where there just wasn't any time to breathe. She'd already been to see her Arithmancy teacher about an essay, and Professor Slughorn had sought her out in the corridor for the next 'Slug Club' meeting. Needless to say that conversation wasn't a quick one. Her school satchel was feeling heavier than ever as she slumped down onto the bench at the half-empty Gryffindor table, ready to eat an early lunch. Her sixth year, so far, was not treating her kindly. With a small bump, she rested her forehead on the edge of the table and took in a few deep breaths.

The table began to fill up, not two minutes after she had sat down. She lifted her head off the side of the table and brushed her hair behind her ears. Gosh, she didn't want people to think that she was tired already, only two weeks into the school year. She felt the bench move beneath her as someone took the spot immediately to her right.

She watched with wide eyes as the boy filled his plate up with everything in reach. "Are you sure you're going to be able to eat all that?" she asked with a worried tone as he began to dig into his food. "That's an awful lot of food," she concluded.

Her eyes flicked over to his face, wondering if she recognised who it was sitting next to her. Of course, Sirius Black was well known amongst most - if not all - of the Gryffindors, and the rest of the school populace. But for what kind of reputation was debatable. However, the general conclusion was that he was one of the better looking people at the school; and he knew it.

Turning her attention back to the food, she grabbed what was left on the sparse plates and pulled it onto her own. A crossant, half a sandwich and some pumpkin juice would just have to do to sustain her for the rest of the day. Well, until dinner, anyway. She really wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day.

[/justify]

[Sirius Black]

“Yep.” Sirius grunted before adding another heaping of potatoes for good measure. He didn’t even bother to look at the person speaking to him, frankly didn’t even care who it was. Some nosy girl, probably Bertha Jorkins or Rita Skeeter. They were always underfoot. He had missed breakfast, what did she expect? Not that the girl could know that, unless she was a mind reader. Which was impossible, so obviously Sirius should cut her a bit of slack. Besides, it’s not like there was anyone else to chat to.

Tearing his eyes away from his food, Sirius glanced in the chatter’s direction. Most definitely not Jorkins or Skeeter. Marlene McKinnon, Gryffindor knockout. Sixth year, dated that Gudgeon moron. Oh, and her family was absolutely despised by his. Which meant that any McKinnon always got an extra friendly smile from Sirius Black. He offered Marlene a rather charming and lopsided grin, and a casual shrug. “Don’t worry about me McKinnon, I’m sure I’ll find some way to work it off later.” Sirius laughed to himself, because he knew that the full moon was coming soon, and that was always good for exercise. A month’s worth.

Sirius never missed a opportunity to chat with someone good looking, so in between bites he made an attempt to keep a conversation going. “So, how’s your cousin? Haven’t seen her around lately.” Sirius and Dorcas had dated very briefly [they were always brief with Sirius], but were still on rather friendly terms. Sirius quite liked Dorcas, she reminded Sirius of himself in some ways, and Sirius rather loved himself. “Holed up in the library with Evans?”

[hellbourne]

Marlene couldn't help but be slightly taken aback as Sirius looked up in her direction and gave her what could only be described as a contagious grin; one that made you want to smile back in return, and keep doing it until your face hurt. Grinning like an idiot, Marlene had no idea what to say back to him. Gosh, he sure was a flirt. Dorcas was right. Marlene could hardly forget when Dorcas and Sirius dated, even if it was only for a brief period of time. Marlene would receive letter upon letter where Dorcas would gush about the famous Sirius Black and how incredibly bewitching he was. Marlene could certainly see why, but, as all other good things, the relationship came to an end.

Marlene took a small sip of her Pumpkin juice, hardly able to keep her eyes off him. "Good question," she said, shrugging. "Probably. I've barely seen her. She's probably on the Quidditch Pitch, getting started for the upcoming season." Dorcas could usually be found with a broom in her hand. Or, in the broom closet with someone else.

Her eyes studied Sirius as he shovelled the food into his mouth, eating the giant proportions with ease. She could only guess that he'd been awake for less than half an hour, given the state of his hair. Weekends would do that to a person, but, fortunately for Marlene, she was an early riser. "Rough night last night, huh?" Her eyes looked over his hair and morning gruff, and smiled. Even with only a few hours sleep, Sirius did look incredibly good.

[/justify]

[Sirius Black]

Now that he thought about it, that Marlene McKinnon had a really nice smile. She was grinning ear to ear, and that only made Sirius’ own smile wider. While she was thinking about how contagious Sirius’ grin was, Sirius was thinking almost exactly the same thing. Where had McKinnon been all his life? So now they were two grinning idiots, until Sirius ducked his head to shovel another spoonful of potatoes into his mouth. McKinnon was pretty, but Sirius was starving.

“Quidditch pitch, huh? She’s probably met up with James then.” Sirius loathed organized anything. He didn’t care for the Slug Club, nor was he particularly smitten with quidditch. He went whenever James played, because that’s how their bromance rolled. He was also known to go whenever James wanted to scope out the enemy. Other than that, Sirius avoided the pitch unless he was going to snog someone in the changing rooms. He much preferred the broom closets in the castle though, something he had in common with Dorcas.

“I’m wounded, McKinnon,” Sirius drawled after gulping down a cup of coffee. “I’ll have you know that I got the full eight hours. Are you saying I’m ugly?” His tone was indignant, but Sirius was only teasing. Truthfully, he’d been up half the night avoiding prefects just because he wanted to see how vigilant the new set were. He had to give them props for being all right, they had chased him halfway around the castle. But then Sirius had escaped using a secret passageway. “It’s Saturday morning, Mac,” he shrugged off her comments further and added a new nickname for good measure. "If you’re not looking a little rough, you didn’t do your Friday right.” Sirius winked at her, grinning again. “I’d be more than happy to show you how, of course. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”

[hellbourne]

Out of all the times Marlene had seen Sirius, things had always been the same. They were always friendly to each other and spent a lot of time together before Quidditch games, as Sirius was usually there to support James. But today, sitting there next to him, there was something different about the whole thing. Marlene was only just starting to notice how much her head turned into mush whenever Sirius spoke, or looked at her.

"Yeah, probably," she said back, "although, I've borrowed James' broom for a bit, so that puts him out of action for a little while." James had offered to lend her his broom, as Marlene's dorky older brother had broken hers in the summer holidays. "But he's good enough without having to practice." She smiled sweetly, but let the Quidditch talk die. She knew that Sirius wasn't all too keen about Quidditch, but at least he turned up to the games to support James.

Marlene's cheeks flushed bright red. She knew he was kidding, but she still felt a bit mortified at her own choice of words. "Oh, what? No! Not ugly! You're quite handsome, really, not ugly at all - I mean, well, what I meant to say was.." Marlene mentally slapped herself on the forehead. Here she was, finally starting to notice Sirius, when all she could do was make a fool of herself. Her whole face had gone bright red and all she really wanted to do was sink down underneath her chair and not come out for the next couple of years. "Don't mind me," she said under her breath, unable to think of anything else to say.

Marlene was hardly ever like this! There was something about Sirius that had made Marlene's stomach do backflips. "I stayed up all night talking to James," she confessed, hoping that her cheeks were starting to go back to a normal colour. "So I guess that counts for something. But if you have other ideas for next Friday..." she hinted, shrugging slowly as she reached for her pumpkin juice, unable to quite meet Sirius' gaze. There was a thousand chances she would be rejected - a guy like Sirius would probably already have a date for next Friday night...

[/justify]

[Sirius Black]

“Borrowed it?” Sirius was visibly surprised. James never loaned out his broom. That thing was his baby. Sirius would put money down on James attempting to name any future children Comet or Nimbus. Here’s hoping Lily, because Sirius was sure that girl would be Mrs. Potter in the future, had enough of a backbone to say no. Of course, Sirius already knew she did. “He must really want to win,” Sirius laughed, because beating Slytherin out for the house cup, finally, was worth a few scratches in the old broom.

Sirius was relieved when talk finally shifted from quidditch. Gryffindor house was always jabbering on about the sport, and Sirius wasn’t exactly the jock type. He had the James Dean type covered for the magical world. Besides, it was a lot more fun to watch McKinnon blush and stammer as she tried to reassure Sirius that he was, indeed, handsome.

After letting Marlene go on for several seconds, Sirius finally decided to put her out of her misery. “Relax, Mac, I know what you meant.” He couldn’t help but laugh, she was adorable when flustered. Though he had long since finished his meal [chowing down like it might be his last tended to do that...], Sirius didn’t feel inclined to get up any time soon and resume his search for his errant friends.

“So...” Sirius drawled it out, a wicked grin spreading across his face as Marlene admitted to spending all night chatting with Jamesy. “That’s why you’ve got his broom... I guess someone’s already showed you the Friday fun, you don’t need me at all then!” Was Sirius jealous? Nah, of course not. Sirius wasn’t really the jealousy type, and Sirius knew James only had eyes for Lily. Of course, now that Sirius knew his bromate was off chatting to the other pretty ladies of Gryffindor, he was going to be mercilessly teased about it. For, oh, a little bit.

“But yeah, let’s see if I can top old Prongs on the Friday night fun. It’s a date.” Why not? McKinnon was pretty fit, and she had just all but asked Sirius out. “I’ll pencil you in, yeah?” Sirius winked at the lovely Marlene.

[hellbourne]

Marlene could feel her cheeks heat up once again. She knew just as well as Sirius that James never leant his broom to anyone. But, seeing as the Gryffindor team hadn't even started practicing yet, and the first match was in a little more than two weeks, it was imperative that Marlene got as much practice in as she could. And, seeing as her brother Angus had decided it was a good idea to break her bunch of twigs mid-flight, James' broom was going to be an amazing substitute.

"It's James Potter. Of course he wants to win," she smiled sheepishly, reaching for another sip of Pumpkin Juice. "The rest of the team is nearly as keen as he is," she started, "but, I don't think anyone really has quite the competitive nature of James Potter. Except perhaps Gwenog." The corners of her lips dipped into a frown. Last match against Ravenclaw, Gwenog had nearly thrown Marlene off her broom with her bare hands.

As if Marlene's cheeks weren't already getting much of a workout this morning, flustering anywhere between bright red and rosy pink, her face went bright red as Sirius chuckled. Thankfully, he had interrupted, making Marlene's imitation of an idiot seem a bit less fruitful. There was something about the way his eyes lit up as he laughed, only making his offer of a date all the more appealing.

"A date?" Marlene said, glad that Sirius had picked up on her hints. "That sounds lovely." She was almost lost for words. A date - with Sirius Black. Dorcas was going to be all over this one! Marlene beamed back as Sirius winked at her. The two of them sat in silence, simply staring at each other, before Marlene realised that she probably looked like an idiot.

"I should probably get going," she said finally, regretting the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. She had to se Dorcas, after all, and Dorcas would probably want to spend the whole day talking about it.

[/justify]

[ ooc: so I guess the next question is, do they get to go on their date, or do the Death Eater Attacks interfere with that? ]

[Sirius Black]

[[Is the attack the same night? If it is, I can have an open Sirius thread where he's waiting for her, but she doesn't show for obvious reasons, and then we could go from there?]]

[hellbourne]

(Yeah! Sounds good. After the DE thread winds down I'll make a thread for them in the Hospital Wing/St. Mungo's as well.)