A/N: This was written for the Blackinnon Competition. I used sunset for the prompt, and it has 390 words in it. Their seventh year will probably have a few chapters for it. It was also written for the unusual ships challenge. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.

Seventh year started off great, for Marlene and Sirius anyway. They finally were able to spend more time with each other, though they tried not to advertise their relationship too much in front of other people. Marlene always hated it when her friends talked about their boyfriends all the time, so she tried not to mention Sirius around hers.

Lily's year wasn't going so well though. "James is insufferable," Lily announced in the Great Hall one night, resting her head on the table. "How can you stand being with Sirius? He's just as bad."

"Sirius isn't so bad," Marlene answered, sneaking an affectionate look over at Sirius. Her heart leaped when she realized he was looking over at her at the same time. Relax, she scolded herself. This isn't a school girl crush. No…her eyes widened as she blushed at her next realization. It's much more than that. The realization nearly caused her to drop her fork.

Lily's head popped up as she stared at Marlene suspiciously. Marlene looked away from Sirius, but Lily's eyes followed to where hers were at. "Merlin… look at you. You love him," Lily breathed.

Marlene was certain that her cheeks were definitely red then. "No," Marlene denied sharply. "I couldn't love him. We've barely been in a real relationship long enough to know what love is… it's too soon."

"Love doesn't have a time frame," Lily said softly.

Marlene raised an eyebrow. "Are you speaking from experience?"

"No!" She said quickly. "I just meant… if you love him, you should tell him. The length of your relationship shouldn't matter if love is already there."

She swallowed nervously. "I'm just afraid that we might be rushing into things too quickly. Can't I just have fun with Sirius for a while instead?"

It was Lily's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You don't want to just have fun with Sirius though."

Marlene looked down. "No," she admitted quietly. She decided to change the subject. "You should give James a chance. I heard he's changed this year. Maybe you could finally be together?"

Lily sighed. "Now that is too bold," she noted dryly.

Marlene ended up dropping the subject and they ate in silence during the rest of the meal. Marlene was glad that there was a beautiful sunset to watch because it distracted her from the silence.