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 Two: The Arrival
The following day, Thomas, Katherine, James and Melanie Potter, along with Sirius, reached the McKinnon's house in Messina. A warm breeze blew James's unkempt hair out of his face as he scurried up the stone steps leading to the elaborate front door.
"Good day to you good sirs and misses," the McKinnon's house elf, Fetch, greeted them. "Fetch thought you would be coming soon for Yappy has just arrived this morning."
"Perfect," replied Thomas Potter, "I'm glad to here he arrived here alright."
"But you didn't need to send him, sir, Fetch could handle the work all by himself, he has taken care of much more than eight guests before."
"Nonsense," James laughed airily, "what would Yappy do around the manor by himself if we weren't there. At least here he can be made useful."
As Fetch bowed in reply, James noticed Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans come up behind him.
"See, didn't I tell you they were here, Marlene?" Lily giggled, "I could recognize that arrogant tone from a mile away."
"Glad to see you're as observant as always, Evans," James remarked sarcastically.
"Is that supposed to insult me Potter?" Lily questioned, "For I have never viewed my cognizance as a vice."
"You wouldn't," James muttered, darkly.
"I've never understood why you mutter, Potter," Lily mused, "did you or did you not intend for me to hear what you said?"
"I only meant," James explained, "that your attentiveness to every particular detail of something, especially when it comes to sketching the character of a person you hardly know, is often mistaken for prying."
"Or possibly not so mistaken," Melanie added. It was common knowledge that Melanie and Lily did not get on well. While the two were so different in so many ways, they had one thing in common, their ambition. Both girls achieved the top marks in the year, were prefects in their house's and were the top two candidates for Head Girl next term.
Luckily, at that precise moment, Mr. McKinnon came down the hall to greet his long-time friend.
"Thomas, how are you?" Charles McKinnon asked, reaching out to shake Thomas Potter's hand.
"Fairly good, yourself?" Thomas Potter replied grasping Mr. McKinnon's outstretched hand.
"Oh not bad, you know," Charles considered.
"So this must be your beautiful daughter?" Thomas asked, gesturing towards Marlene.
"Yes," Charles replied proudly, "or so I am told, at least. She grows up so much every year that I hardly recognize her every time she comes home for summer holiday."
"I know the feeling," Katherine laughed. "It's good to see you again Charles."
"And you, Katherine," Charles said, reaching out to hug her. "But enough chit chat, come inside! Fetch will show you to your rooms."
.*.*.*.
"What did you think of the McKinnon girl?" Sirius asked James, lying back on his mahogany in one of the many guest suites of the McKinnon's summer home.
"To be honest, I didn't notice her much, I was more occupied with Evans's annoying remarks," James replied, waving his wand to make his clothes magically fly into his wardrobe.
"She was making eyes at me," Sirius explained.
"Then fuck her," James said, matter-of-factly.
"I don't just want to fuck her, as you so eloquently put it."
"You can't want to date her?" James asked, not daring to believe it.
"You were pretty keen about me going out with Melanie."
"Yeah, but that was different," James clarified.
"How so?"
"You and Melanie weren't exclusive," James replied.
"I was," Sirius said darkly.
"Really?" James asked, baffled.
Sirius nodded.
"That was a bit daft of you, eh?" James asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"Honestly, what's the point of calling something a relationship if you're not even going to have a real relationship?"
"You see, that's were you go wrong, Black," James said, "You need to realize to label it whatever she wants to label it-it doesn't matter. It's all for the sake of the shagging."
"What if she wants marriage?" Sirius asked.
"Merlin, mate! We're only seventeen! If she wants marriage she's a fucking loony. And please, never shag one of them, they're horrible in bed."
"No, I mean later," Sirius clarified, continuing with the serious topic of the conversation, not wanting to know how James new that insane people were horrible in bed. "When we're older, what if they want marriage then?"
"When were older, the rules will be altered, as fit. But for now those are the steps to elation. And if you want happiness, mate, you better damn well follow them," James explained absolutely.
.*.*.*.
A/N: Sorry it's kind of short, and sorry it took a bit longer (a week) than I expected for a new chapter. I've been extremely busy. But here's the new chapter (as promised). And to make it up to you, I will have a new chapter posted TOMORROW NIGHT, if I get at least 5 reviews on this chapter!