Second Year, Gryffindor v Slytherin
Thursday January 11th 1973
For the past couple of days Mary had been reading up on the Black family; scouring the shelves in the library, searching for books about ancient magical families. Apparently there were twenty-eight sacred families, those who were still untainted by muggle muddling; although apparently the Weasley family was considered a family of blood traitors and were rejected by the other magical pureblood families, despite being on the list. Mary had no idea what that actually entailed, however she guessed she didn`t want to know anyway. But, she did now have a very clear list of names she was supposed to stay clear of if she wanted to keep her head attached to her body.
The whole Black family was named after the night sky. Sirius` parents were called Orion and Walburga Black; and, to Mary`s utter horror, they were cousins. It was a miracle Sirius had come out so good-looking despite the incessant inbreeding, because there was a lot of it. Every pureblood family seemed to be interconnected and they didn`t shy away from marrying cousins off to each other. Sirius was the heir to the family, being the eldest son. He had a little brother, whom Mary had seen parading around Hogwarts with his creepy friend Barty Crouch. Regulus was only a year below Sirius and, despite being shorter and having a weaker chin, looked almost like an exact copy of his elder brother. Mary almost never saw the two of them together and wondered what the story was there.
Sirius had three cousins, two of which Mary already was already well acquainted with; Bellatrix and Narcissa. The pair of them had scared Mary half to death on multiple occasions last year. Though the eldest of the two had graduated the year before, the younger one -being Narcissa- was now parading the halls supporting a gleaming silver prefect`s badge. The third cousin was unfamiliar to Mary and to her surprise there had been very little to find about her, only that she had been disowned. However, after some digging around in the gossip column of the Witch Weekly, Mary had been able to find an article about how Andromeda Black had married muggle-born wizard Ted Tonks, under great protest of her parents, after which she had fled the family as a whole.
Bellatrix had married Rudolphus Lestrange the summer before and Narcissa was meant to wed Lucius Malfoy; though messages on that front had seized for some time now and the latest article Mary had been able to locate about their union stemmed from September last year.
The whole Black family had been in the house of Slytherin; that was, up until Siris got sorted into Gryffindor last year.
Having read up sufficiently on the Black family, Mary felt confident to at least have a base level of understanding to approach Sirius and pry out of him what had happened over Christmas. Because, though it wasn`t entirely impossible, Mary didn`t think Sirius` new haircut was just a fashion statement. There had to be something behind it and she felt determined to find out. Lily had laughed about her excessive research and had joked that if the entire curriculum was about boys Mary fancied she would come in top student.
Even days after the fact, people were still staring and pointing at Sirius as he walked by them in the hallways. The whole castle was buzzing with all sorts of rumours. But Mary knew better than to believe rumours and she would get to the source. She had been shadowing Sirius and had noticed him hiding out in the girls loos on the first floor. The bathroom was haunted by a rather whiny ghost and thus almost always abandoned.
Taking a deep breath, monstering up the courage, Mary pushed her way through the door of the girls loos, ready to initiate her plan.
`Oh, I`m sorry.` she mumbled as she spotted Sirius sitting against the tiled wall. `Didn`t know anyone was in here.`
Mary knew damn well that Sirius was in there, she had seen him go in there.
Sirius looked momentarily startled, but when he realised it was just Mary, he shrugged his shoulders and said. `S`ok.`
`Thanks.` Mary replied and walked over the basin, putting her make-up bag down on the ledge and taking out her mascara.
Cautiously she looked over at Sirius behind her in the mirror. He was engrossed in his History of Magic textbook, his eyes moving back and forth on the page. It seemed like the boy would just try to ignore her. Mary started to feel nervous and almost decided to abandon her plan al together.
There was the sound of splashing water followed by a high pitched giggle, `Back again are we Sirius? Oh, poor sad little boy.`
Mary turned around to see Moaning Myrtle glide out of one of the stalls, silver and translucent.
`Don`t leave on my accord.` Myrtle giggled. `I like the company.` The ghost batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.
`Piss off Myrtle.` Sirius groaned.
Mary looked at the both of them through the mirror and Myrtles eyes fell on Mary.
`Oh, I see.` the ghost huffed. `You`ve got a girlfriend.` Myrtle started howling loudly and with a giant swoop she disappeared into one of the basins, splashing water everywhere, spraying Mary.
`Just ignore her.` Sirius said, standing up and handing Mary a paper towel from the dispenser. `She`s extremely dramatic.`
Mary felt her cheeks grow hot and accepted the paper towel, cleaning off her robes. `It`s fine, I`m not bothered by it.` she shrugged.
Now was her chance, this was the opening she had been waiting for.
`So, why are you hiding out here anyway?` she asked. `You aren`t really one to be out of the centre of attention.` Mary started applying her lip-gloss, dabbing it on with her ring finger.
`Like you don`t know.` Sirius huffed.
`Hmm.` Mary hummed, looking at Sirius` shaved head, putting the cap on her lip-gloss. `I like it though. Kind of a thuggish look.` she said, feeling very bold.
`Think so?` Sirius rubbed his scalp, looking insecure. `I feel like everyone is staring at me.`
`Then why`d you do it?` Mary asked, trying to appear ignorant.
`I didn`t.` Sirius bit his lip. `This is my dear mother`s work.`
`Oh.` Mary replied, trying to hide her shock. What kind of mother would do that to her child. `Why though?`
`I pissed her off. `
`Wow.` Mary let out. `Must have been something big.`
`You have no idea.`
Evidentially Sirius wasn`t willing to let much loose about what had happened over the Christmas holidays. Mary had heard whisperings that Sirius had been staying at the Potter`s without his parents` permission and had been dragged home by his mother rather violently.
`You know she actually vanished my tongue for a couple of days.`
Mary swallowed, suddenly feeling very grateful for her own parents. By now she had completely abandoned her make-up endeavours.
Sirius sighed, leaning against the basin, `Sometimes I just get tired from constantly having to fight against them. It doesn`t matter what I do; I`ll always remain a Black.`
`That must be hard.`
`In the end my family has always got the upper hand. I`m just not stronger than they are. I don`t have anything left to give.` Sirius rubbed the short bristles on his scalp again.
`Oi!` Mary spoke up. `That doesn`t sound like you! Where`s Sirius-the-world-can-kiss-my-bare-arse-Black?`
Sirius snorted loudly at this and grinned widely at Mary; that damn grin.
`All I`m saying-` Mary spoked slowly. `Is that: don`t let one setback get you down. Play to your strengths. Do not let this break you. It would be a shame to see you lose this game.`
`Cheers, Mary.` Sirius looked at her through the mirror. He used her first name and not her surname, which made Mary`s stomach feel like a giant nest of butterflies had hatched in there.
`Anytime.` Mary replied, feeling her cheeks get hot again.
Swiftly, she picked her make-up bag from the basin and walked out of the bathroom, putting an extra swing in her step for if Sirius was looking after her.
Though she had not gotten all the answers she wanted, she had cleared some things up. And, as a pleasant by-product, she had had her first actual conversation with Sirius.
***
Saturday January 13th 1973
Though the days leading up to the Gryffindor v Slytherin match had been dreary and grey, matching the empty décor of the cold and deserted hallways of Hogwarts, the morning of the game, the whole caste woke up to find out it had snowed overnight. The entire grounds were covered in a thick blanket of velvety white down; bright and luminous in de aqueous morning sun.
Lily roused to find Marlene already out of bed, pacing back and forth the length of their dorm room, chewing on a strand of hair, but with a marvellous grin on her face. She was already clad in her flying kit, red robes and thick laced up boots.
Lily sprang out of her bed, running towards the window on bare feet over the cold hardwood floor. Though Lily didn`t approve of frivolous house pride, she was just as determined as everybody else to absolutely smash the Slytherins today. Hence, she felt disappointed to see the postcard-worthy world outside their window, white stretching as far as the eye could see.
`Oh!` she cried. `Does this mean you can`t play today?`
Marlene furrowed her brow,` You`re joking right? These are the perfect flying conditions!` her grin widened. `Look at the trees. They`re completely still. No wind whatsoever.`
`Really?` Lily looked confused at the snowed in quidditch pitch. But, Marlene was right, the trees on the Hogwarts grounds stood unmoving.
`Aye.` Marlene responded. `Just need to make sure I won`t freeze to death. But further than that; we couldn`t have asked for better weather conditions.`
`Oh, I`ve got something for that.`
Lily grabbed Marlene`s wrists, who first flinched at this, but eased her muscles as Lily told her to relax and pointed her wand at the middle of her palms.
`Calidum Vestimenta.` she muttered and immediately saw Marlene`s face turn into one of surprise.
`Better?` Lily asked.
`So much!` Marlene said happily. `Can you do my robes as well?`
`Nervous?` Lily asked, while applying the charm to Marlene`s flying kit. She knew Marlene was prone to get really anxious. All week long she had seen her friend push her palms into her eye sockets, a tell-tale sign she was having migraines again.
`Hmm.` Marlene hummed noncommittedly and bit her nails.
`You`re going to crush them.` Lily replied, rubbing Marlene`s arm. She opened her mouth to say something else but was rudely interrupted by a voice hollering at them from down the stairs outside their dorm.
`Oi McKinnon! We`re having breakfast as a team. We need to talk tactics.`
Marlene`s head shot up, `Sorry, Lils, but I need to go.`
`Go, go.` Lily swatted at her friend. `Me and Mary will see you from the stands.`
`Aye.` with a swish Marlene disappeared out of the room, red robes fluttering behind her.
`Did you say my name?` Mary asked, appearing from underneath her duvet, eyes puffy and hair carefully tucked away in her bonnet.
Lily walked towards Mary and pulled the duvet off the fourposter bed, `Get your bum out of bed. We`re going to show the Slytherins who`s boss.`
`Oh, no.` Mary groaned. `Not you too. I can`t deal sharing a room with two quidditch fanatics. Marlene is bad enough.`
Not much later, Lily and Mary were walking into the Great Hall to take a seat at the Gryffindor table, both girls decked out in red and gold. Unapologetically boasting their house pride. Mary was dragging her feet on the flagstones, sighing grumpily, angry that Lily had dragged her out of bed against her will. Lily looked at the table to see who were already sitting there. Lily took a seat next to Remus, across from Peter, and Mary scooted in next to her, resting her head on the table.
`Where`s Sirius?` Lily yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. It wasn`t common curtesy to see the Gryffindor boys without their supreme leader. Or maybe James was their leader. Lily wasn`t sure.
`Dunno.` Remus yawned back, his hands clasped around a steaming mug of tea.
Lily thickly lathered two pieces of toast with butter, one she scooted on a plate towards Mary,e before biting into the other one.
`Sulking somewhere, probably.` Peter spoke, sounding bitter. Lily noticed Remus shooting him a dirty look. `What!? He calls me whiny all the time.` the blond boy huffed indignant.
Lily felt sorry for Peter, the smallest of the marauders seemed to be the bearer of all of Sirius` bad moods or annoyances. She felt like he should stick up more for himself and not let himself be dragged around so much by his peers. She shot him a small, reassuring smile across the table.
`He`ll be here.` Remus said, seemingly more to himself than to any of them. `He want to see us destroy the Slytherins.`
Lily had to agree with Remus on that one and she grinned. If there was one thing Sirius seemed to like, it was defying his family by boasting his Gryffindor house pride. Since the Christmas holidays, Lily had seen very little of Sirius. Though, Lily could hardly blame him; Mary had told them all about what apparently had happened to the boy over the break and if she were him, she also would keep to herself.
Arm in arm with Mary, Lily followed the two boys out to the quidditch pitch, boots sinking deep into the snow as they trudged along. Before going out, Lily had cast a warming spell on both herself and Mary. Not only did it warm their bodies, but it also appeared to warm Mary`s attitude towards having to watch a quidditch game.
`Oh, I do hope we win.` Mary whispered giddily as they took their seats in the spectator stands, which luckily had been rid of snow.
Their part of the spectator stands was decked out in red and gold streamers, as well as four large banners displaying the shimmering Gryffindor lion. Lily peered over at the quarter that was reserved for the Slytherins, ornately decorated in emerald and silver ornaments. She spotted Severus and waved frantically at her friend with her red and gold striped scarf, he returned a shy wave. Mulciber, sitting next to Severus, made a rude sign at her with his hand; Lily decided to ignore this.
They sat next to Remus and Peter, both of which were shivering violently and blowing frantically into their hands.
`Cold, Remus?` Lily asked, glancing at him.
`Just a bit.` he replied, squinting his eyes in mock.
`Here.` Lily pulled out her wand and grabbed Remus` hands to perform the spell on him. `Calidum Vestimenta.`
Instantly she saw Remus relax and the colour, that had been drained from his face, started flooding back, flushing his cheeks.
`How did you do that?!` Remus asked, staring at her, soft brown eyes wide and full of astonishment. `We`ve been trying all morning.`
Lily shrugged, feeling pleased. `I think it`s in the annunciation.` she replied casually. She liked it when she was able to impress Remus. He was such a clever boy, hence getting praise from him was sometimes better than getting a good mark on an assignment. Quickly, she also applied the spell to Remus` cloak and to Peter, who still sat shivering.
From the impatient tapping of her foot on the wooden boards that made up the spectators stands, it was evident that Mary was starting to get impatient. Craning her neck she peered out over the pitch, Lily followed her gaze; the two teams were marching onto the fields, leaving deep imprints in the snow. They formed two neat rows opposite each other, the red and emerald robes standing out stark against the fast white brightness.
Lily spotted Marlene`s pale blonde ponytail among the bunch, as well as Potter`s jet-black mop of hair. On the other team she noticed Narcissa Black, her sleek platinum hairdo hanging down her back against the emerald flying kit. They stood remarkably still and Lily was also starting to get impatient, wanting the match to kick off.
She decided to talk to Peter, who was looking rather glum. `So do you think we`ll win?` she asked him.
Peter looked up surprised, as if he wasn`t used to people asking him about his opinion. `Oh-` he stammered. `I do hope so. I mean, with the amount of practice that James has put into this match, they surely must.`
Lily nodded understandingly.
`Of course,` Peter went on. `We don`t actually need to win this one, we just need to keep our points up – as long as we finish with at least six goals then we stay at the top of the league. Black`s a brilliant seeker, but Slytherin overall are pretty poor. Especially when you look at James, having him is like having three chasers in one.`
As he blabbered on, Lily realised that Peter actually knew a great deal about quidditch; a lot more than his usual drawn back and adoring character led on.
The shrill sound of Madam Hooch blowing her whistle echoed over the field and the match had officially begun.
***
The flying conditions were perfect, absolutely sublime, not as much as the smallest gush of wind. And, thanks to Lily, Marlene wasn`t at all bothered by the cold, a pleasant warmth radiating in her robes.
It wasn`t the first match she had played for the team, though it did feel like there was a lot more at stake in this one, since they would be playing against Slytherin. Not that it would determine whether or not they would qualify for the Quidditch Cup this year, they were high up in the league, all they`d have to do was keep their points up and they`d be fine. Which, with James as their chaser, wasn`t their biggest concern.
The thing that made this match more heavy loaded than the ones they had played earlier in the school year, was the inter-house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Things that transpired between the two houses away from the quidditch pitch, were being brought along in the bristles of their brooms and the force at which bludgers were smacked through the air.
Marlene had been supporting a horrible migraine all week, a thudding dull ache behind her eyes, shooting up to the back of her skull. Her nerves never failed to make her feel physically ill. Luckily, today on the day of the match, thanks to the exuberant amount of adrenaline rushing through her bloodstream, her pain was being suppressed.
She`d been up since four o`clock this morning, staring at the ceiling of the canopy over her bed; imagining all sorts of horrific scenario`s that could happen during the game. Her mother always told her that worrying was like a rocking chair, it gave you something to do, but never got you anywhere. Surely that was easier said than done. No matter how hard she tried, she spiralled herself deeper and deeper into a web of her worrying. Did other people actually have the ability to just turn their anxious thoughts off? That must be nice.
Adil Deshmakh, their quidditch captain, had wanted them to eat breakfast together, to talk over some last tactics and lift their spirits by giving them a well-meant peptalk that had Marlene feel only more nauseous.
Now, their were lined up on the quidditch pitch, ankle deep in the snow, broom clutched in one hand, bat in the other. Marlene could feel her knees shake and glanced beside her at James. His calm face soothed her, it was as if mentally he had already won the game. Marlene envied James Potter.
Across from them stood the Slytherin team, clad in their emerald green flying kits, glaring at them. Narcissa Black, the team captain and seeker, had her nose far up in the air. It was evident that the snow underneath their feet wasn`t the only icy thing on the pitch.
Both teams were steadying themselves, waiting to hear the tell-tale high pitched whistle of Madam Hooch. Marlene almost forgot to breath and clutched her broom tight, ready to lift off.
And there it was, a shrill shriek echoed between the stands and they were off, the match had started. Both teams shot into the air like cannonballs as the crowd burst into cheers. Marlene had taken a while to get used to the noise that happened around her during a match. But, once she had her focus fixed on her goal, keeping the bludgers away from her teammates and directing them at the other team, she felt like the world was hers to conquer.
Within seconds of them being up in the air, James got a hold of the quaffle and in under a minute he had been able to score, throwing the ball skilfully through one of the hoops, surpassing the keeper.
Their housemates in the stands erupted in triumph, but Marlene almost lost balance when the cheers were quickly drowned out by an even louder noise.
`Rrrrrroooooaaaar!
Just in time, Marlene was able to whack a bludger out of her way. Her attention had been momentarily drawn away, for the lions on the Gryffindor banners had come to life and were lurking above the stands, roaring loudly.
However curious Marlene was to see what was going on and who the culprit was of this magnificent piece of magic, she had to keep her head in the game. Now was not the time to get distracted. Together with the other beater, she swivelled over the pitch, nimbly manoeuvring the bludgers through the air.
Though, she couldn`t help but shoot a quick glance down and she spotted a small figure at the bottom of the stands. Her mouth fell almost open, as under the golden wig and trailing lion`s tail, she recognised Sirius strutting up and down the length of the pitch, conducting their newfound mascots. The bloody bastard. Marlene grinned to herself and sped up her broom, keeping to the formatting they had practiced numerous of times.
The crowd was laughing loudly as they all seemed to understand what was going on. The Slytherin team did not look pleased at all; Narcissa`s face`s was contorted into a wry scowl.
James only seemed encouraged by the lions, as their team scored three more goals in quick succession; all followed by ear deafening roars.
`We are Gryffindor!` Sirius chanted, his voice loud and booming, no doubt magically amplified.
`Mighty Mighty Gryffindor.` the crowd hollered back.
The game went on, the players zooming about eachother like lightning bolts. Marlene kept her bat ready to aim, directing the bludgers away from their seeker and chasers; as well as aiming them nimbly at the other team, slugging the rogue cannonballs especially hard in Narcissa`s directing. The bat felt like an extension of her hand as she swung it, time and time again, her arm tingling from her fingers all the way up to where her arm connected in the socket of her shoulder.
However, it didn`t matter how many bludgers Marlene swung into the way of the other seeker`s direction, Narcissa had her eye set on the prize and had an unparalleled flying tactic; elegant and efficient as she moved through the air like water. Marlene could do nothing other but admire the mercilessness that Narcissa demonstrated.
They where ahead with a hundred points when Marlene heard the commentator announce that Narcissa had spotted the snitch. Her only job now was to bar her getting to it and make the path clear for their own seeker, who was hanging back uncertain.
Just at that moment, another goal was scored, this time by one of their other chasers, Maisy Jackson. They were well up in the lead and their housemates in the stands burst out in applause. The lions roared and in the corner of her periphery Marlene spotted them actually leaping out off the banners. She ducked her head as she they soared over top them, like golden iridescent shadows in the winter air.
Their seeker dodged and swivelled to avoid them.
Sirius` magnified voice boomed, `No, you idiot!`
Marlene jerked her head just in time to see Narcissa scoop up the snitch, a gratified smirk on her marble face. She flew laps around the other team, holding the snitch high up into the air. With a jolt Marlene felt her heart plummet to her stomach, they had only been ahead by a 110 point, their 130 against Slytherins 20, they had lost. They had totally and utterly lost. She tried to find the faces of her fellow teammates, but was distracted by the green and silver sparks that shot up from out of the Slytherin quarter of the stands.
`Black. Black. Black!` the Slytherins chanted.
The Gryffindors also started chanting, `Black. Black. Black!` only they were cheering for the other Black. Sirius that was.
Marlene`s face contorted into a scowl. Of course they were cheering him on. No matter that her team had just played a sublime game, that they would have won, if that gallus basturt hadn`t let his bloody lions loose over the pitch.
James swooped down towards his friend, Marlene could see him sinking down in the snow.
`Pot-ter! Pot-ter! Pot-ter!` the crowd chanted.
Leave it up to those boys to make every thing about themselves. Maybe Marlene had played the best she ever had; she hadn`t missed one bludger the entire game. But nobody was paying attention to that, nobody was chanting her name. Not that she would want them to, she`d die of embarrassment.
Slowly she lowered her broom to the ground, bat hanging slack in her hand. In the distance she saw Mary and Lily come hurrying towards her, their red and gold shimmering against the snow, waving frantically.
She didn`t feel the need to make haste and dragged her broom behind her, sweeping a clear pathway in the snow. A gasp went up from the group that was gathered around Sirius and when Marlene squinted her eyes, she noticed that he had taken of his golden mane and lush locks of his usual black hair were sprouting out of his head, flowing down his shoulders. Narcissa was standing opposite of her cousin, her wand pointed at his head.
`Marlene!` Lily called and picked up her pace, trudging through the snow.
`You were amazing!` Mary gushed as she flung her arms around Marlene`s neck, which made her feel warm inside despite her disappointment.
`We lost thought.` she shrugged, staring at her feet.
`Oi!` Lily spluttered. `Not thanks to you. You ate them alive!`
Marlene grinned shyly, moving her bat from hand to hand.
`Yea!` Mary smirked. `Black should be proper scared of you!`
Both Lily and Mary linked arms with Marlene, taking her in their middle, as they brought her along with them, off the pitch, ignoring the commotion around Sirius. If there were two people Marlene could always count on to be her biggest supporters, it were her dormmates.
///