To Be Without Fault
by Alicia78
Summary: In the McKinnon's summer home in Messina, Italy, Charles McKinnon, his daughter, Marlene, Marlene's friend, Lily, are there to stay for the summer. Charles's good friends, Thomas and Katherine Potter, their son, James, their niece, Melanie, and James's friend, Sirius, come to stay as well. Lily knows James as a self-centred jerk who didn't date girls-he shagged them. James believes Lily to be an anal prick who believed she was too good to associate with any of the boys who attended Hogwarts. In an odd twist of things Sirius develops a fancy for Marlene. However, will Melanie's determination to get back together prevent Sirius and Marlene from being able to date without Melanie interfering? Based on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
Rating: PG-13 for language and some sex-related discussions
Disclaimer: I own neither the characters and thematic elements taken from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, nor do I own any plot aspects taken from William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
Chapter One: The Guests
As the warm Italian sun set on the horizon and the waves broke softly on the shore, night came upon the small town of Messina. Charles McKinnon sat at his long dining room table and stared out at the water through the oversized windows that lined the entire wall of the McKinnon's beach house dining room. It was a truly beautiful sight to behold. God, he loved spending summers here. The house had been passed down through his family for generations, and now, he was finally able to take his daughter and her friend here for the summer.
He cleared his throat suddenly and looked down the table at his daughter, Marlene, and her friend, Lily. "I'm not sure if I've told you this already, but we have a few more guests joining us here tomorrow. My esteemed friends Thomas and Katherine Potter, their son James, their niece Melanie, and James' friend Sirius."
Lily choked. "James Potter?" she asked, looking up from her guinea foul.
"Oh yes, I forgot you all must be acquainted from Hogwarts," he replied contently.
"You can hardly call us acquaintances," Lily laughed airily, "We took a few courses together and are in the same year, but we rarely speak outside of class."
Marlene shot Lily a questioning look, which she chose to ignore.
"Well," Charles said decisively, "this in an ideal way for you lot to get to know each other better."
Lily grimaced, and continued to eat her dinner.
"Lily doesn't care for James much," Marlene informed her father.
"And Marlene fancies Sirius," Lily replied quickly.
Marlene turned red and glared at Lily. "Why d'you have to go saying things like that?" she asked under her breath.
"Why do you have to go about telling your father I don't get on well with James?" Lily muttered in reply.
"Father, may we be excused?" Marlene asked, glancing back up at her father.
"Certainly," Charles replied, somewhat offhandedly, staring out the window yet again.
The two girls scurried up the two flights of stairs and into the large bedroom suite they shared. Their trunks lay still unpacked in a corner and clothes were scattered around each of their elaborately carved four-poster beds. The large walk-in closet was empty and unused, and their bathroom was a bit of a mess. Lily ran toward her bed and plopped down on it.
"I can't believe he'll be here for the entire summer," Lily moaned, staring up at her lacy canopy.
"It won't be so, so bad, Lily," Marlene replied encouragingly.
"He just makes me feel so uncomfortable and nervous!" Lily exclaimed.
"I think you like him," Marlene said knowingly.
Lily jolted and turned to her friend, "What gives you that idea?" she asked quickly.
"Just an inkling," Marlene replied, shrugging.
"Well, I don't!" Lily said defiantly.
"Alright, whatever you say."
"I seriously can't stand him!" Lily exclaimed.
"Sure you can't."
"What? I don't like him."
"If you say so."
Lily sighed, "I'm going to bed!" She then leaned over and tapped her wand once to turn of the light.
.*.*.*.
"Dad, can't we just rent our own place in Messina?" James Potter pleaded. "I hate staying with your friends. They always turn out to be anal pricks or boring as hell!"
"Why thank you, James. It's glad to hear that you approve of the people I have spent my entire life amongst," Mr. Potter replied.
"Err…sorry Dad, I didn't mean it like that," James replied quickly.
"Then how exactly did you mean it, son?" Thomas Potter asked. "Besides, this time there will be some people there you know. His daughter and her friend are in your year and house at Hogwarts. Your probably friends with them-Marlene McKinnon and Lily Potter."
James nodded and waited for his father to leave before turning to his friend Sirius and muttering "Oh yeah, they'll be anal pricks alright."
Sirius sniggered.
"So whatever happened with her?" Sirius asked, "Did you two ever shag?"
"No, and I believe I have you and Remus to blame for that. She never quite forgave you lot for teasing her when she liked me in 1st year."
"Don't sweat it mate, she's not even that hot," Sirius consoled, "What's McKinnon like though?"
James shrugged, "Never got to know her all that well. But she's best friends with Lily, so I'd assume she's just as contemptible."
"If I'm thinking of the right bint, she's bloody good-looking though."
"Yeah, she's pretty," James admitted, "but she never really says much."
"Isn't it best when they don't?" Sirius asked, winking.
James laughed, "Now I can't argue with that."
Seconds later James and Sirius heard a knock on the front door which echoed throughout the front hall of the Potter's Godric Hollow mansion. From the sitting room in which James and Sirius stood, they could hear their house elf, Yappy, say, in his loud, screechy voice, "Hello, again Miss Melanie. Master will be very happy to see you indeed."
Melanie laughed, "Thanks, Yappy. It's good to see you again!"
"And you, Miss Melanie," Yappy replied, bowing.
"Do you know where James is?" Melanie asked.
"On the third story, in the front hall sitting room, the one that faces the mountains, I believe," Yappy informed her.
"Thanks!" Melanie said smiling. With that she left Yappy and ran upstairs to the sitting room where James and Sirius were.
"Hey guys!" she called, smiling as she entered the drawing room.
"Hey cuz!" James replied, reaching out to hug his cousin.
Sirius merely smiled a half smile at her. The two of them had broken up at the end of last year, and it had not been a happy split. He had found out that she had cheated on him with the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Andrew Cole, and had immediately dumped her. Until now, he had managed to avoid any contact with her fairly well. However, she had continued to try and get back together with him ever since they had split up. Although he didn't voice this opinion, Sirius was almost certain that her soul purpose for joining them in Italy was to try once more to resume their relationship.
"Hey, Sirius, do I get a hug from you too?" she whined looking up at him and smiling slyly.
Sirius merely grunted in reply and reached out to hug her stiffly. She held onto him a few seconds after he had already let go.
"So," she said looking up at him, "how've you been?"
"Pretty good. Busy. How about yourself?" he asked impassively.
"Oh, I've been okay," she replied, sitting down and spreading her legs apart, "kinda lonely though."
Sirius didn't respond, but instead looked out the window. He had never told anyone this, but he had never really intended to go out with Melanie. Granted, she was incredibly good looking, but he had never wanted her for anything more than a good fuck. However, after they shagged, Melanie immediately told James that they were dating. James seemed so keen on the idea that Sirius just kept on going with her. In truth, he had been kinda relieved when she cheated on him-he had been looking for an excuse to finish it with her for months.
"So, Melanie," James said, trying to initiate some sort of conversation in the midst of the awkward silence, "What've you done so far this holiday?"
"Oh, nothing much. You know…" Melanie trailed off, "I sent you a letter earlier, Sirius. But I never got anything back."
"Oh, I never got it," Sirius lied quickly.
"Well, I assumed as much, so I sent another one," Melanie said, matter-of-factly, "Did you not get that one either?"
Oh, shit! He really hadn't gotten that one.
"No, I never got that one either," Sirius attempted, although he knew he sounded ridiculous now. He could feel James eying him suspiciously, but ignored him.
Melanie now felt hurt by Sirius's blatant disregard for her feelings-if he had even tried a little bit, he could've come up with a better excuse than that. After all, Sirius was the king of excuses. He had been known for being the only one ever to get out of writing one of McGonagall's papers.
A few moments later, Thomas and Katherine Potter came into the sitting room.
"Do you lot have your things together? We're going to leave in a few minutes, so James and Sirius, I need you two to bring your trunks downstairs," Thomas Potter directed.
James leaned his head back against the couch. His father's timing couldn't have been more perfect-he had grown tired of the awkward silences filling the drawing room.
"Melanie, darling!" Katherine Potter exclaimed. "How are you? Why don't you come with your Uncle Thomas and me into the living room and catch up?"
Melanie smiled gratefully and followed the Potters out of the room.
As soon as she left, Sirius sighed heavily and said, "Blimey, this is going to be one hell of a long summer."
"Cheer up mate," James encouraged, "We're going to be in Italy for Merlin's sake. There'll be plenty of hot bints to distract you. Besides, once Melanie catches you snogging some other girl, she'll give up."
"Yeah," Sirius replied, feigning agreement. However, he wasn't so sure Melanie would submit so easily, she could be quite determined.