Second Year, Beginnings
Friday September 1st 1972
When Marlene burst through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¾ , she already spotted Lily and Mary standing next to the train, both accompanied by their parents. And, in Mary`s case, a whole bandwagon of siblings. Marlene had briefly met Lily`s parents in the Leaky Cauldron on Mary`s birthday a couple of weeks ago.
Lily`s dad was a tall and brawny man, with a large moustache plastered on a broad friendly face. He was the sort of man that was moderately handy, and wouldn`t turn his hand around to fix a banister or retile his own kitchen. He asked a lot of blunt or sudden questions, sometimes teetering on inappropriate. But, he came across as good-natured none the less. Her mother had Lily`s curls and a soft pillowy frame, her eyes crinkled when she smiled and she had immediately taken Marlene into a hug upon meeting her. While they stood on the platform, Lily`s mother had Lily pressed against her chest. Petunia was nowhere to be seen, Marlene had yet to meet her.
Leaning against her mother stood Mary. Marlene had never before met any of Mary`s family. Her mother wore brightly coloured clothes and her hair was wrapped up in a scarf on top of her head. She was nodding to something Lily`s mother was saying, while a toddler was perched on her hip, sleepily dozing against her chest. Mary`s dad stood a little to the back, he was a very thin man wearing glasses and stood somewhat slouched, as if trying to make himself appear smaller. Marlene didn`t get a good look at Mary`s siblings, because they kept racing around on the platform, attracting all attention from the wizards and witches waiting for the train.
Lily waved at Marlene across the platform, momentarily letting go of her mother`s hand. As Marlene looked back around she saw her own mum appear through the barrier. People told them they looked a lot alike. Just like Marlene, her mother had straight blonde hair and a willowy frame, she was tall, taller than most people, and had wideset bright blue eyes. It wasn`t uncommon for people to feel intimidated by her mum, since she could come across as rather cold. Her stepdad hadn`t come along, he had thought it too much of a faff. Her brother, Danny, also hadn`t been able to come along since he was supposed to play a quidditch match for the Chudley Cannons that morning.
They made their way across the platform, her mother`s patent leather shoes clicking on the ground and her robes swishing as she took lengthy strides. Marlene picked uncomfortably at her tights, she had been allowed to wear her own clothing for the whole summer and her school uniform made her feel itchy. Her skirt still fitted, but since she had grown quite a bit taller over the last couple of months, it was shorter on her than before and Marlene felt exposed.
`Stop fidgeting with your clothes.` her mum said quietly but demanding. `It`s not proper.`
The group of people spotted them approaching and stopped their conversation to look at them. Marlene saw the adults size her mother up, she supposed they hadn`t really met that much wizards or witches yet. Save for their own daughters obviously.
Lily beamed and enveloped Marlene in a hug, Lily was the best hugger. Most of the time Marlene didn`t really liked to be hugged, people either seemed too overzealous or entirely uncomfortable by the whole affair. However, Lily knew just how to apply the right amount of pressure, not in a bone-crushing way, but like she was sculpting the person she hugged.
`Did you make it here okay?` Lily asked as she pulled away.
Marlene nodded, `Aye. We took a portkey.`
`A portkey?` Mary asked, her face bemused and confused, prior to also hugging Marlene.
It struck her that she was now taller than both Lily and Mary as the latter`s hair tickled her chin. Still, the three of them were overshadowed by the adults that stood around them.
Marlene and her mum introduced themselves to Mary`s parents and her mum recoiled ever so slightly when Mary`s dad stuck out his hand for her to shake. It wasn`t common in the magical community to shake hands, and her mother had had an aversion to anything muggle related since her biological dad, who had been a muggle, had left them. Muggle artifacts were banned from the house, with as a result that Marlene had barely any knowledge of the muggle world at all. Luckily, it wasn`t that her mother hated muggles, or thought herself superior, she had just been hurt, she had been abandoned and was trying to avoid to relive that pain.
As Marlene regarded her mother, it struck her odd that even though her mum was the one in witches robes and the other parents were in muggle clothing, it was her mom that stood out like a sore thumb. Her almost-white hair pulled back in a tight bun, her back held straight and her hands almost unmoving. Her mom never fidgeted or slouched, and she reprimanded Marlene for doing so, it wasn`t ladylike, she said. Marlene could care less about what was considered ladylike. Sometimes she slouched even more, just to annoyed her mum.
`Is that your broom?` Lily asked, pointing at the elongated package Marlene was holding.
`Aye.` Marlene nodded grinning. Since they were now second years, she was allowed to bring her own broom.
`You better show it off as much as Potter does with his.` Mary said. `You know he`s already shown it off to us? Before we`ve even stepped foot on the train. The nerve of that boy.`
`Arrogant prick.` Marlene snorted and her mom shot her an almost unnoticeable reprimanding look.
The platform started to empty as students began clambering into the train carriages of the Hogwarts Express. Marlene kissed her mum goodbye and handed her trunk and broom off to be stored, prior to scaling the steps into the train, Lily and Mary following shortly.
Marlene felt a lump form in her throat as she shot one last look at her mum and waved at her. In the days leading up she had been so incredibly nervous, she had bit her nails down to little stumps and gnawed on the ends of her hair until they were soaking wet. This morning, before taking the portkey, she had almost thrown up from the nerves.
Luckily, Marlene wasn`t the only one feeling tearful, for Lily`s face was red and blotchy from crying. Mary wasn`t crying, her face was sombre, but there was no sign of tears.
They took a carriage all to themselves and pressed their hands up against the windows to wave goodbye to their parents. Mary`s parents were gathering her siblings around them, all of them were hooting loudly and waving enthusiastically at the three of them. Lily`s dad had a protective arm around her mother as she was waving at Lily with her handkerchief. Her own mum gave her a cordial wave before turning around and walking to the barrier, Marlene supposed it wasn`t that special for her anymore, not after sending Danny off to Hogwarts for seven years.
There was a loud whistle and the remaining students on the platform, mostly hesitant first years, started to hurry towards the train, hopping on at the last moment. The Hogwarts Express started to pull away from the station and the people waving them off got smaller and smaller until they were eventually enveloped in the thick steam of the engine.
The train started to gather speed and the landscape began to speed past. Marlene slouched down on the beaten leather train bench and bit her nails, tasting blood. Second year had started, there was no going back now.
***
`I still need a name for my cat.` Mary said, looking down at the little ball of fur that was skittering back and forth on floor between the benches of their train compartment, chasing a light beam Lily was shooting from the tip of her wand.
`You haven`t named it yet?` Lily asked.
Mary shook her head, she had wrecked her brains trying to come up with the perfect name, but none of them had seemed quite appropriate. She had just been calling it cat.
`What if you named it after one of our professors?` Marlene asked, legs folded underneath her body and gnawing on her nails.
`Why would I do that?` Mary asked, furrowing her brow, looking at the tiny kitten tripping over its own paws.
`Because it`s funny.` Marlene responded, dryly.
Lily snorted and momentarily lost the light beam she had been shooting from the tip of her wand, leaving the cat confused as to where it had gone.
`Well,` Mary replied, primly. `I, for one, wouldn`t like it when I woke up with Hagrid next to me in bed.`
`Oh, he isn`t that bad looking.` Lily replied, picking the kitten up from the floor and putting it on the bench next to her.
`Are you calling my cat ugly?` Mary asked, looking bemused at Lily.
`I wasn`t talking about your cat.` Lily responded cheekily.
`Lily!` Marlene gasped repulsed. `That`s gross.`
`He has kind eyes.` Lily shrugged defensively.
`Ok,` Mary giggled. `So, still a nameless cat.`
Her parents hadn`t been too pleased when Mary had come home from her birthday celebrations with the basket carrying her little bar of fur. They had reprimanded her for not having thought about the fact that, before she would return to Hogwarts, the cat needed to live in their tiny London flat. So, for the past couple of weeks Mary had been hypervigilant to make sure that nobody would step on the kitten, it wouldn`t accidentally slip out the front door or fall out of a window. It was a breath of fresh air to have the knowledge that, at Hogwarts, her cat would have a better place to live.
Mary started rummaging in her bag, pushing aside some of her school books, her quill and a well of ink. She had yet to do any of her summer assignments, or open her new books for that matter. It hadn`t been all that practical to do things for school at home. So she just hadn`t, pushing it out in front of her, trying not to think about the consequences. A heavy brick did drop in her stomach when she glanced over the cover of her second year Transfiguration book and realised she would have to open it at some point in the coming days.
`Aha!` she exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of scissors.
Lily, who had been munching on a pumpkin pasty, almost chocked and started coughing loudly while Marlene sprung up from the opposite bench and slapped her on the back, Lily gesturing wildly at her to stop.
`What are you going to do?` Lily heaved, her eyes red from tears.
`I`m going to hem my skirt.` Mary said proudly and got her school skirt also out of her bag.
`Why would you do that?` Marlene asked, sounding confused, as she sat down again and stared at Mary while the latter started cutting into her skirt.
`Because I`m not going to a convent.` Mary replied.
She had been gifted a new school uniform from the second-hand bin at Hogwarts, since she had outgrown the ones from last year. However, in her humble opinion, the length of the new skirt swamped her. She had begged her mother to hem it for her, but her mother had refused to do so, saying that the length of the skirt was fine, and that there was no need for Mary to show that much leg.
Lily opened her mouth to say something, but Mary interjected, `Please don’t tell me you read in your precious Hogwarts a History that Hogwarts used to be a convent and Professor McGonagall a nun.`
Marlene started to chuckle and almost scared the kitten away that had climbed onto her lap.
`I wasn`t!` Lily replied defensively. `I was going to say that I`ve got a spell to make the edges neater once your done. But, since you think I`m such a goody-goody, I might just keep it to myself.`
`I don`t think you`re a goody-goody! Please teach me the spell?`
Lily smiled and was about to respond when the door to their compartment opened and Severus Snape stood in the doorway. Mary was amazed at the fact that, despite they had had an entire summer behind them, Snape looked just as pale and vampiric as ever. She felt rather certain that one day it would come out that he was a real vampire, though he denied it.
`Hi Sev!` Lily beamed up at the boy.
`Lily.` Snape replied stiffly, his gaze skittering almost unnoticeable to herself and Marlene. Mary though she would never not think he was a creep.
Like an oversized greasy bat, Snape kept lingering in the doorway, looming over them. Starting to get impatient and feeling confused as to why the boy was there in the first place, Mary started to tap her foot as she continued cutting into her skirt.
`You promised you`d sit with me, Lily.` Snape said nasally.
`Oh, that`s right!` Lily sprang up.
Snape began walking away along the corridor and Lily shot an apologetic glance at her friends, whispering, `I`m sorry.` before following him.
When the door had slid shut again, Mary whispered, `What was that about?`
`Lily told me Severus is having a hard time at home.` Marlene answered. `Apparently his parents have been fighting all summer. He even stayed at her house for a while.`
`Oh.` Mary replied, snipping the final piece of fabric from her skirt. She almost felt sorry for the boy.
The trolley witch came by, trying to sell them something from her cart laden with sweets and pasties, but Mary didn`t have any wizard money on her. Still, Marlene bought them both a cauldron cake. Mary would really need to find a way to make some money of her own, so this wouldn`t keep happening time and time again. In Diagon Alley, Marlene also had paid for her ice-cream. To be fair, it had been Mary`s birthday, but it had made her feel guilty none the less.
Absentmindedly Mary stared out onto the hallway as she finished up her cauldron cake. Two boys came their way, the first one being Sirius, and the boy walking behind him could be none other than his younger brother. The two boys looked extremely alike, though it was undeniable that Sirius was the handsome one of the two. The older one of the brothers pushed a strand of hair out of his face and momentarily caught Mary`s gaze as he passed by their window, grinning as he did so. Mary could feel her cheeks get hot and she quickly looked away, pretending to laugh at something Marlene had said.
`What?` Marlene looked at her confused. `What`s funny?`
Mary just shook her head and picked her loudly miaowing kitten from the floor of the train carriage.
It was already dark outside when the train pulled into the station, wheels squeaking loudly as it came to a halt. Lily joined them again and they followed the others students out onto the platform. While the first years were anxiously glancing around them, all the years above were being ushered towards the carriages that would bring them to the castle. A Hufflepuff girl from their year, Dorcas Meadows, joined the three of them. Mary had seen her around, but had never talked to her. The girl was dark-skinned and tall, with neat cornrow braids, Dorcas smiled at her as she mounted the steps to the carriage.
To Mary`s surprise the carriages were not being pulled by anything. Yet, when she voiced this aloud, Lily told her they were being pulled by something, namely Testrals. Mary didn`t know what they were, but it made her feel uneasy none the less to know they were being transported by something she wasn`t able to see.
***
It had already been an incredibly long day, thus it didn`t make it any easier that Lily had forgotten how extremely verbose the sorting ceremony was. Last year, it had been unbelievably nerve-wracking and exciting. But apparently, when Lily was just a spectator, she seemed to lose her concentration after she`d seen the first dozen trembling students mount the rickety stool to get the mangy old hat thrust on top of their heads by a stern-faced professor McGonagall.
Lily stifled a yawn and propped her head up on her elbows, her hat slightly askew on her head, gazing at the podium.
The sorting hat loudly screeched, `HUFFLEPUFF!` After which, the terrified first year student stumbled to their appointed house table.
All morning long, Lily had tried to persuade Petunia to come along with their parents and drop her off at King`s Cross Station. After all, they wouldn`t see eachother until the winter holidays. However, her sister had told her she had better things to do, not telling her what these things were.
Secretly, Lily thought the real reason Petunia didn`t want to come along was because Severus was also riding along with them in the car. His parents were too preoccupied with arguing, to make sure their son got to the platform in time to catch the Hogwarts Express. Severus had spent the last couple weeks of the summer holidays mostly at Lily`s house, apologizing profusely for being such a nuisance. Lily felt sorry for him. His parents seemed to do nothing other but fight, and when they weren`t, they were freezing eachother out. Severus got caught in the middle a lot. She didn`t blame Severus for wanting to be away from them.
On the train, he had told her how the evening before, while he had been packing his trunk for Hogwarts, his father had come into his room, drunk and stumbling over Severus` school supplies. He had called Severus a coward for running away to Hogwarts; escaping reality with his foolish magic, just like his good-for-nothing mother. Before his father had slammed the door behind him, he had slurred something to the extend of regretting ever marrying Eileen and having his freak son. Severus had been really upset about it and had told Lily he was afraid his parents might split up, or his mother might bolt and leave them for good. Although Lily hadn`t voiced it to her friend, she did think it would maybe be for the best if his parents did split up.
From across the room, at the Slytherin table, Severus caught her eye and he gave her a cordial wave, Lily nodded back and smiled friendly.
`When is this going to be over?` Mary whispered. `I`m hungry.`
Marlene yawned and Lily shushed them both, although she was feeling rather hungry and bored herself. She almost put her head down on her arms just when Professor McGonagall called out another name.
`Black, Regulus.`
Lily looked up at the podium to see a boy with the same black hair, sharp bone structure and full lips as Sirius mount the stool. She shot a glance at Sirius and saw he was holding his breath as he stared up at his younger brother, who now had his head covered by the sorting hat.
`SLYTHERIN!` the hat shrieked after a second or two.
The Slytherin table burst out in applause and Lily saw Sirius exhale sharply. She wondered how she would feel if Petunia would get sorted into Slytherin and a shiver went up her spine. But Petunia would never get sorted into any house.
Regulus Black was received by his older cousin, Narcissa, who now was supporting a gleaming prefect batch, matching the colour of her long straight hair that fell in shimmering sheets down her back. It was odd seeing her without her older sister, Bellatrix, standing next to her. Last year, the two sisters seemed to have always come in a pair. Lily knew Bellatrix had married this summer, she couldn`t imagine getting married that young.
Severus also patted Regulus on the back and sneered at the Gryffindor table.
`What is his problem?` Peter sighed, who sat a couple of seats away from Lily. `You`d think he`d get over a few stupid pranks.`
Lily overheard him, yet decided to keep her mouth shut, but only because the food finally appeared in front of them and she could feel her stomach rumble loudly. She started talking to Marlene and Mary instead, ladling some mashed potato onto her plate.
`More like he needs to get over Evans.` she suddenly heard someone say and she spun around to see James talking. `Oh come on, it`s obvious.` the bespectacled boy grinned. `Ol` Severus is clearly madly in love with a certain carrot-topped Gryffindor.` James winked at her.
Lily looked back at him, disgusted, clearly that joke never got old. Severus was not in love with her, how many times would she need to say it. They were friends, nothing more, and also never would be. Promptly she turned back to Marlene and resumed their conversation, ignoring the boys. They could just sod off.
Feeling herself get sleepy from the warmth of the Great Hall and the food, she slowly lulled into a comfortable state of semi-awareness. She couldn`t describe how good it felt to once again be surrounded by magic. The thing Lily had missed the most over the summer holidays, save for her friends, had been the certain buzz that seemed to hang in the air in places with a lot of magic. It felt like this great well she could draw from. The only time she felt an energy similar to it was when she was with people she loved dearly. In this case, it was both.
The headmaster announced the feast to be over and the Great Hall started to empty, students streaming out through the large doors, up to their common rooms. The prefects began gathering the nervous first years around them and Lily slipped out behind them with Marlene and Mary following her.
They were lucky not to encounter any moving staircases up to the Gryffindor tower. There was a small crowd gathering in front of the portrait that hung in front of the entrance to the common roam. The lady in the portrait wasn`t letting them through, since apparently no one had paid enough attention to one of the prefects to catch the new password.
`Oh, move over.` Lily sighed and pushed her way past her fellow Gryffindors.
`Password?` the lady in the portrait asked her, looking utterly bored.
`Scallywag.` Lily responded promptly and the portrait swung open, letting them trough.
The three of them clambered in and immediately headed up to their dorm room, all three of them dead on their feet.
`Oh, I`ve missed this room.` Lily sighed as she plopped herself down on her bed, the feathery bedcoverings sinking underneath her body.
`You say that now,` Mary grumbled. `But tell me again when we`re once again knee deep in assignments.`
Lily rolled her eyes. Neither Mary or Marlene would ever understand that Lily didn`t mind the assignments at all. Sure, it was anxiety provoking at times and she wasn`t proud about the way she had behaved during the last exam period. But, all in all, she really loved every single bit of it.
The breeze of late summer blew into their dorm room as Marlene opened up the window and sat down in on the ledge, Mary and Lily joining her. They watched the sun sink further and further in the sky, the amber hues reflecting off the surface of the Great Lake. Second year like a empty piece of parchment stretched out in front of them, waiting to be written on.
///