A U G U S T  1 9 7 6

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

IF CLARA WAS EVER ASKED whether or not she believed in soulmates, she would quickly say that Marlene was hers. The blonde, with her frizzy curls and vivacious attitude, was the only person on Earth who could bring out Clara's carefree and adventurous side. No one would believe that the typically uptight and serious girl had a single spontaneous bone in her body, but Marlene really brought out the best in her. She was her other half.

For the first time that summer, Marlene would finally be visiting Potter Manor. The two rarely got to spend much time together over the holidays, mostly because the blonde's family spent a majority of it travelling. But since her arrival at the Manor, she and Clara had been spending almost every waking moment of their time in Clara's room. The two had months of swapping secrets and sharing all the news they needed to catch up on – things that couldn't ever be properly conveyed in a letter.

But, as with each visit of her yearly visits to Potter Manor, Marlene had brought along a new record for Clara to enjoy. Being a half-blood witch meant she always made sure to stop in the record shop in the village her muggle grandparents lived to pick up something new for Clara. In her eyes, Marlene really did have the best taste in music. She's the one who introduced Clara to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Imagine her heartbreak to find out that the former had broken up before she and Marlene had even met. At least she still had The Stones.

But by far Clara's favourite artist she had been introduced to by Marlene was David Bowie. There wasn't a week that went by where she didn't listen to one of his albums beginning to end at least twice. However, as Marlene rummaged through her trunk, she assured Clara that she had really discovered the best album of all time.

"You're really building this up a lot, Mar. Besides, you told me last summer that The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds was the best album of all time." Clara said with a laugh.

"Well, this one is better! There's this one song specifically, I can't stop listening to it." she replied as she pulled the album from her bag.

While Clara couldn't get a good look at the cover, she could just barely make out a sepia toned photo of a man and woman standing close to one another. Pulling the record from the sleeve, Marlene set the vinyl onto Clara's old record player making sure to drop the needle on exactly the right spot. Soon the room was filled with the sounds of a guitar riff as 'Rhiannon' by Fleetwood Mac began to play. The blonde began swaying to the music immediately, but once the sound of a woman's beautiful and raspy voice started, she began singing loudly along to every word. The free-willed blonde urged Clara to join as she reached out to her. Laying a hand in Marlene's, Clara was pulled from her bed and whisked into an unexpected dance party.

A laugh fell from Clara's lips as Marlene sung along, loudly and rather out of tune. The blonde truly didn't have a care in the world. If there was one thing Clara admired most about her best friend, it was that she seemed to never give a single damn what anyone thought of her. Nothing but joy and music filled the room but after about a minute or so had passed, a loud knock came from Clara's bedroom door.

"Oi, Potter!"

With a groan, Clara turned around to pull the needle away from the record, banishing the sound of Stevie Nicks' voice from the room. Opening the door with a prominent scowl on her face, she saw Sirius leaning casually against the opposite wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Your face'll get stuck like that, you know." he said with a grin.

"What do you want?"

"Monty's in the study, so I can't sneak onto the roof." he informed her, pulling a carton of cigarettes from his pocket and shaking it lightly.

"Don't call my dad Monty."

"Well what should I call him then? Flea?" he asked with a laugh.

"I think Mr. Potter is the most appropriate and respectful option." she replied, pursing her lips.

"But Monty and I are thick and thieves, don't you think Mr. Potter is a bit too formal?"

"No, I don't."

Sirius slid past her, uninvited, and entered the room. As he made his way to the window he saw Marlene standing near the record player and stopped in his tracks.

"'Ello there, Mar." he greeted with a devilish grin.

Marlene raised an eyebrow at the boy, as if she were willing to accept whatever challenge he was preparing to send her way. Though they had met on the train years ago, the two rarely interacted with each other. She had never once been a target of the Maurader's embarrassing pranks. Instead, the blonde was usually just an innocent bystander to his torment of her best friend.

"I didn't invite you in." Clara interrupted from the doorway, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"You also didn't tell me you had company."

"Because it's not your business. Now would you please get out? Go smoke if that's what you're here for and leave us be." Clara ordered, marching over and pushing against Sirius' broad shoulders, steering him towards the window.

"Fine, fine, but you and I will talk later, yeah?" he said with a look towards Marlene, "I hear you've got good taste in music and James' record collection desperately needs updating. Care to help?"

The blonde laughed with a roll of her eyes as Clara tried in vain to push against him, "Sure Sirius, whatever you want."

"Perfect." he grinned with a salute before finally giving in to the force of Clara shoving him and making his way out the window.

"Bloody nightmare, he is." Clara groaned as soon as he was out of ear shot.

"He seems alright." Marlene shrugged.

"Oh no, no, no. We've been over this. We do not fraternise with James' friends, least of all him." Clara shook her head as she sat on the side of her bed.

"Why do you two still not get along?" Marlene asked, nudging Clara's shoulder slightly to make room so she could sit next to her.

"Have you forgotten about the last five and a half years of torture I've endured? He turned my hair green that day when I was helping a Slytherin student study. Then there was the time he jinxed my slippers while I was studying for my O.W.L.s so they were stuck to the ground and to my feet. To this day I have no clue how he did it, but I had to sleep at that table in the common room that night and use my Potions textbook as a pillow. James was the one who felt guilty enough to rescue me, remember?" Clara recounted with a grimace, "So, I'm sorry that I find him a bit difficult to tolerate sometimes."

Marlene threw up her hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, you have a point. But things really haven't changed since he moved in?"

"No, not really. He's either with James in his room all day or finding an excuse to bother me. I found a flippin' spider the side of a plum in my shoe yesterday morning!" she relayed with a shudder.

Marlene couldn't help but laugh but laugh at her friend's misfortune, "I thought maybe it would have been different by now. I mean what you said in your letter was –"

The blonde was cut off  mid-sentence when Clara threw a finger up to her own lips and flicked her head towards the window that was sitting just barely ajar. Clara told Marlene just about everything – more than she even told James these days. But she didn't want Sirius to overhear their conversation. Her letter hadn't been highly detailed, but Marlene did know the important parts; Sirius ran away from home and was living with the Potters indefinitely. It wasn't really her business to share and deep down she knew that. But the letter to Marlene had also been Clara's only confession to anyone other than herself that she had started to reluctantly feel sympathy for the boy. That detail specifically was what Clara really didn't want Sirius to overhear.

"I know what I said, but he's still Sirius." Clara said sternly.

"Right...well why don't we just get back to the music, yeah?" Marlene suggested with a bright smile, jumping up and bringing the needle back down to fill the room with what she considered to be the best song of all time.

Clara was once again pulled up from the bed against her will and soon started dancing with Marlene again. Swaying and spinning, laughing and jumping, the two girls were acting as if there was nothing else in the world but them and this song. Losing her breath from both dancing and her uncontrollable laughter caused by Marlene's out of tune singing, she had nearly forgotten all about the boy who had been sitting on the roof just outside her window.At least that was until she spun around and saw him sitting on the sill watching them dance.

At first, she was certain he was watching Marlene, because of course he would be. Marlene was the most beautiful girl Clara knew. If it wasn't for her golden hair and honey brown eyes, then it was her sheer confidence and incandescent smile that made her so attractive. Although most everyone who knew Marlene would easily assume she wouldn't exactly be interested in Sirius – or any boy for that matter. Surely Sirius knew that as well. But Clara could still understand the desire to admire the blonde.

After a moment, Clara realised that wasn't the case at all. When she met his gaze, his dark eyes locked on hers instantly, causing her heart to skip a beat. A faint rouge was growing on her freckled cheeks, she could feel the heat of it rising in her chest. In an attempt to hide it, she quickly turned around to pause the music.

Had he been watching her for long? The thought alone caused the warm anxious feeling to crawl through her skin, tickling and taunting every inch of her body. The source of the worry was impossible for her to place. Was it embarrassment at being watched while dancing without care or was it the thought of Sirius' eyes being on her for an extended period of time, for any reason at all?

"Out." Clara ordered, still trying to hide the horrifying shade of crimson she knew was likely evident on her cheeks.

Sirius threw his arms up in surrender, "Whatever you say. But let me know if you ever want dance lessons, your form could use some improvement."

"Arse." Clara mumbled under her breath.

Sirius sauntered, carefree to the door before pausing and looking back over his shoulder towards Marlene, paying no further mind to Clara's presence in the room. Not that she cared. In fact, she was relieved. Perhaps it was his own form of mercy.

"Excellent taste in music, by the way." was all he had to say to Marlene before finally leaving Clara's bedroom.