chapter 6
Back in the modern day, Harry and Ginny sat at the breakfast nook discussing the war, but also necessary teenage crush conversations. Across the room, in front of the grand fire place, Marigold was reading a newspaper and eating an apple.
Remus and Sirius entered the room together, joking and teasing the way they always used to. They both agreed, it was tremendous to have a best friend back in their life.
Marigold turned her head over a shoulder to smile at them. She knew who they were before they even made it past the threshold, their boisterous laughs echoing down the hall.
Sirius caught her eye contact and swooned just a bit. He found her returned presses in his life too good to be true. To prove it to himself, he patted Remus’ shoulder as a goodbye and swaggered over to the old sofa. He sat down rather clumsily and peered over the woman to read with her.
She laughed and shifted to make it harder for him, only encouraging his invasion of her personal space. No words had been exchanged, just an air of goofiness between two old friends. The two were behaving positively juvenile, but Remus thought that was a good thing. The man sat down next to Harry to relax.
“Those two are even worse than you lot,” He winked at his sort of nephew.
“Sir?” Ginny blushed and dropped Harry’s hand.
“I don’t know if anyone ever told you before, but uh, your parents had considered naming both Sirius and Marigold as your godparents.”
“Truly?” Harry peered at the brunettes rather giggly across the room, Sirius taking a bite out of the lady’s apple in her hand.
“Marigold had her girls already of course by the time you were born, but your parents wanted a surrogate mother for you in case anything happened,” Remus spoke solemnly,.
“They didn’t think Sirius would ever marry?” Ginny’s nose scrunched.
“Not after Gold married her Henry, anyone could see Sirius was too in love with her,”
“Why did she marry another man then?” Harry pushed, not accusatory but curious.
“It was very complicated back then I’m afraid,” He sighed before continuing. “Ginny, boys that age are dumb, you see. Those two were truly in love…it was very disappointing to see how it all ended. It is not my story to tell, I try not to make it a habit airing out my friends’ business.”
Harry and Ginny looked at one another, knowing it was also Remus’ business.
In order to understand why it did end, it is important to first cover the moments that led up to the trio’s first romance advances and the situation that followed.
Sirius kissed Marigold first, then she kissed Remus, but it didn’t happen at the same time.
They had all spent Christmas break separate their fifth year, but once reunited for the second term it grew extremely uncommon to see the three separated. The girls began sitting next to the Marauders at meals, James was gaining progress on Lily, and Marlene adored flirting with the helpless Peter.
There were few chances for a moment alone for Marigold, not that she minded. The boys gave her this delicious feeling of teenage rebellion, and she felt invincible in her youth because of it. It was just fun all around, they all had very similar senses of humor, and they could discuss anything or nothing at all endlessly, just intoxicated by each other's presence.
The skies were growing even more cloudy than usual one week in mid-April. Surprisingly, however, the temperatures were steadily increasing. So much so, that Sirius had been itching to jump in the murky black lake.
“Come with me Goldie, please!” He held the girl in an embrace against his chest in a quiet hallway before supper.
“It’s way too cold out still!” She groaned in good humor.
“Alright, fine, I’ll grovel!” He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around her thighs.
“You’re so good at those puppy dog eyes, Siri, it’s incredible actually,” She grinned down at him.
“Is that a yes?” He smirked. She pretended to weigh her options. “I’m on my knees begging you baby!”
“Well if you call me baby again I might,” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear affectionately.
“I’ll fetch Remus and bring him, you get us some food to go from the great hall,” He stood up triumphantly, and winked before exiting. “Baby.”
Marigold did as she was instructed, quickly grabbing some finger food she thought the three might enjoy on their little picnic and going to meet them at the shore of the water. She arrived before they did, and decided to sit where her bare feet could adjust to the temperature, the rest of her body happily dry still.
“Hey,” Sirius’ voice was startlingly soft as it came from behind her, interrupting her thoughts of himself.
The wind was picking up, blowing through her hair and kissing her face red. The sun was setting behind the clouds now, bugs hummed in the distance, the castle lights twinkling to their right. Sirius thought she looked beautiful right there, completely serene and full of serotonin.
“Hey yourself, where’s Remy?” She hummed back, motioning for him to sit with her.
“I forgot, he’s uh, indisposed for a few days,” Sirius glanced nervously up at the waxing moon, much to the girl's confusion.
“Should we make sure he’s alright? Does he need anything?” Her voice was laced with concern.
“No, he told me he wants a few days to himself,” Sirius shrugged weakly.
Marigold took this as a bad sign. A suggestion that Remus may be upset with her Sirius noticed her eyebrows stitch together, her disappointed pouted lips, the worry behind her eyes.
“Hey, it’s got nothing to do with either of us, alright?” He quickly wrapped an arm around her in comfort. “I know for certain he’ll be begging for your touch and attention in like three days tops!”
“Are you sure?“ She grimaced.
“Absolutely, in fact, he told me to give you this,”
“What?” Her eyebrows raised.
Sirius gulped and swiftly pecked her cheek, averting his eyes upon pulling back. He couldn’t describe it, the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, the way his cheeks rushed with heat when she complimented him or touched him. Whatever it was it wasn’t anything he’d felt before with another girl, even when he’d gained a reputation as a flirt the year before by chasing many women.
He’d even stopped paying his past flings any mind now that he and Remus had noticed Marigold right under their noses. A point of difference many pointed out, to which he shrugged off and smirked at Remus.
“You’re cute,” She giggled lightly at his shy demeanor. “And you know it, Sirius Black. Now come on, you brought our bathing suits at least,”
Sirius looked up at her again, shock evident on his face.
“Sirius?” She asked incredulously. “I thought you were grabbing them when you went to talk to Remus!”
“I forgot, Remus, distracted me with something,” He groaned and covered his face with his hands.
How could he forget the single most important object in the equation at hand? He felt silly and embarrassed, especially after kissing the girl's cheek in such a corny manner not moments before.
She pitied him in this state of adorable unconfidence. She smiled to herself and began shrugging off her cloak.
“Don’t beat yourself up, we came here to swim, so we’ll swim,” She nudged him with her nose.
He peaked at her between a crack in his fingers, noting her adoring eyes and inviting lips.
“In our uniforms?” He asked.
“Unless you’re not game enough to,” She sighed and sat back on her hands cooly.
“I’m more than game,” He stood instantly and dropped his cloak quickly.
“Good, the last one in has to do your charms essay!” She laughed mischievously, rushing knee-deep into the cold waves.
“Not fair, you said you’d help me last week, and you already had your shoes off!” He countered, kicking off his own in a hurry.
He chased her in, eliciting a shriek and encouraging her to jump in further. He reached once the water lapped against their chests, all but tackling her. She splashed him with some water as an escape tactic, but he countered it with an even bigger wave of his own.
They cackled with laughter, the broody weather overcome with their adolescent fun and budding emotions for one another.
Marigold, always a supporter of a bit of good intended roughhousing, pushed him under the water with her, fulling submerging their heads. When they pulled up for air the space between them seemed microscopic. Marigold had the most precious view of Sirius she'd ever had, and probably the closest as well. Much to her embarrassment, the boy actually had the power to make her knees go weak with his warm and affectionate gaze.
“How’s it compare to the Mediterranean?” He noticed but didn't scorn her. He instead offered her his arms to hold onto, like an olive branch extension, still giving her that earth-shattering look.
“Colder,” She smiled still, gripping his forearms at first, before moving up slightly to hold just above his elbows. “But you’re here, so better I suppose,”
“Is that so?” Sirius flirted, pulling his arms to his body so they were both closer.
“So about that charms essay…” She teased, casually wrapping her legs around his waist so she could run her arms around his shoulders. “I’ll help you out, but again, for a small price,”
“What price could that be?” He took a step closer back to land, his hands finding the flesh of her thighs just above her knee.
“Just call me baby again,” Her hooded eyes and wind-reddened lips were so close to his face now that he had to exhale shakily.
“Anything for you, baby,” He agreed with an eager nod, taking multiple steps backward now.
“Where are you taking me, Mr. Black?” She prodded playfully.
“To the shore, to dry off,” He offered shortly, selfishly unsure of how long he could refrain from kissing her.
“Already?”
“You were right, it was too cold a night for such an activity-“
“You’re being weird, what’s the matter?” She confronted, they had reached water so shallow the pathetic waves lapped lazily at Sirius’ ankles.
He grew all too aware of the way her wet eyelashes batted, the way her white uniform shirt grew see-through from the dampness, the way her skirt rode up from their suggestive position, the way she’d taken the liberty to not wear tights that day, the way her skin pebbled with goosebumps as the cool breeze hit their wet bodies.
“Fuck, it’s cold,” Was the only response he could offer.
“Here, let’s hide from the wind under that tree!” She let herself down from his grasp and pulled him by the hand to the canopy of a large nearby tree. Sirius picked up their cloaks on the way but was too rushed to grab their shoes.
“I should have listened to you, why did you let me talk you into this?” He shivered, placing her cloak over her shoulders before putting his on.
“I can never deny you,” She smiled, shivering uncontrollably. Sirius felt horrible for the situation but found her uncontrollably adorable standing there looking up at him with wet hair and that sweet emotion written all over her face.
“Once we stop dripping we can make a run for the castle,” He sat down against the trunk. She followed.
“You know what Sirius?” She looked over at him after a second of them both shuddering and releasing labored breaths. He only had enough motivation to hum and turn his head to her. “Maybe we’d feel warmer if we got closer? You know, like body heat?”
Sirius blinked once. They’d shared a bed before, albeit Remus was always there too. They’d hugged as if their lives depended on it, he’d given her piggyback rides, and she’d sat on his lap before, but this was secluded and somehow more intimate.
He nodded swiftly and opened his arms, she instantly crawled into his chest and he wrapped his cloaked arms around her back. With how tight he’d had his legs pulled to his chest not only had she ended up extremely close, but he also naturally laid back to better accommodate her comfort.
She laid down on his chest in turn, and that’s how they ended up laying on one another in the grass underneath a tree at the Black Lake. Neither of them said anything for quite a while, the sound of the breeze through the canopy and the splashing of the waves provided the perfect acoustic background noise.
All either of them could focus on was the way the other body provided the warmth they craved so much, but also how natural it came to them, being this close. Their hearts may have been beating at a million-per-minute pace, and their stomachs were undoubtedly bothered by the sensation of butterflies, but it was also the most comforting thing, being there together.
Marigold gazed down at Sirius with hooded eyes, a gentle smile, and all her dazzling charm. She brushed a wet strand of hair stuck to his forehead back against his scalp. He gulped against his will, and his deep eyes flickered down to her perfect lips.
Without much thought, only instinct and the overwhelming heady romance growing in the air, he leaned forward and caught her lips in his. She didn’t pull away or exclaim in shock, she only smiled against him.
He pulled back a few moments later, blinking rapidly, lips parted. He studied her face, grinning back sheepishly at her beam. No words were exchanged, they knew exactly what the other was feeling. Sirius ventured a hand to cup her jaw and dove back in for a second kiss, this one much more greedy and open-mouthed.
They must have spent at least an hour out there in the cold, lip locked and laying on the ground. They clutched each other for survival in the cold, but also because to be separated felt sacrilegious at this point.
When the temperature was evidently only dropping further, Marigold pulled back to breathe, a shiver running down her spine.
“Come on Siri, we need to get back inside,”
“No, just a moment longer, please, you’re so warm!” He protested, tightening his arms around her.
“I promise I’ll spend the entire weekend in front of the fire with you doing your charms essay,” She bargained.
He begrudgingly agreed, and so the two ran towards the castle, hand in hand. Their other hands held their shoes, as they stumbled over each other, shuddering and laughing and kissing quick pecks.
Sirius had been pretty busy with stuff the following day, the only time she’d been able to see him was in classes. All the marauders seemed to be either mentally absent or physically absent in Remus’ case. Sometimes this happened, Marigold seemed to notice, but she’d yet to figure out exactly what was going on with one of her favorite boys on the planet.
She figured if Remus wanted or need her, he’d let her know, but as for right now she’d better not push boundaries. Especially not after her night with Sirius, which she was having conflicted feelings about. On one hand, she was positively stricken with adoration for the long-haired boy, but she felt guilt chipping away at her when her mind drifted to Remus. Was it fair what she was doing to either of the boys?