Third Year, Boyfriends and Birthdays
Saturday January 5th 1974
`You`ve got a boyfriend?!` Marlene said breathlessly, staring wide-eyed at Mary in utter astonishment; too gobsmacked to feel any other emotion but confusion.
`Yup.` Mary nodded, grinning a smile that spread from one ear to the other.
`But…how…what?` Marlene stammered, still staring at Mary who was fixing her school tie, looking smug. They were doing boyfriends now?
Lily was also staring at Mary with a look on her face as if she had been slapped; though probably for different reasons as Marlene.
It was raining hard outside; a rhythmic tapping against the smudged window panes as the train carried them back to Hogwarts for yet another term. They had been discussing their winter break; filling eachother in on what they had been up to over the past two weeks. Marlene had been reluctant to tell too much about hers; afraid she would bring the mood down. To her utmost surprise, Mary had kept rather quiet – unlike usual - and had sat silently - almost visibly gloating - on the opposite bench. Finally, she had told them about her Christmas and had announced out of the blue – quite casually, as if she was telling them what she`d had for breakfast – that she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend, for Merlin`s sake!
`You have a boyfriend?!` Marlene repeated again; feeling like a broken record. Her mouth kept standing agape as she stared from the one to the other.
`Don`t look at me.` Lily put her hands up defiantly. `I know as little of this as you.`
Marlene redirected her stare at Mary, willing her to break her mysterious vow of silence, and fill them in on what had transpired over the holidays. The boyfriend she was talking about couldn`t possibly be Sirius, seeing as none of them had seen him since before Christmas. And besides Professor Ferox – who was an adult and a teacher – the only boys Mary had talked about before had been celebrities or fictional.
`Come on then,` Marlene pressed impatiently, feeling a mixture of anger and confusion, which she was skilfully able to disguise as excitement. `Spill it!`
`Yeah, I`m with Marls here.` Lily stood her by. `We need a little more to go off of.`
`Aright,` Mary`s eyes were twinkling, she adjusted her legs underneath her body and sat up straighter, opening herself up as if to invite them in on the conversation. `Well his name is Darren…we grew up on the same block – he lives in the flat opposite mine. He`s a year older – so fifteen – and well…` she sighed.
Mary went on to tell them all about this supposed Darren. How they`d met the summer before and then again this winter. How he had asked her out in the supermarket. About the dancehall they`d gone to and how he`d kissed her at the end of the night. That he had taken her to the pictures to see The Way We Were with Barbara Streisand and how incredibly romantic it had been. She gushed about how her mother loved him and her dad thought he was a good boy. Every fibre of Mary`s being seemed to emitting some sort of luminescent essence as she kept going on and on about him.
With every minute that passed, Marlene felt herself become smaller; sinking away in the beaten leather bench. She wondered if the others could actually see her visibly get shorter. Oh, how she wished Mary would speak of her like that. How good it would feel like to be able to tell people that Mary was the one you were able to call yours.
Over the break she`d barely had time to think about Mary; only every second of every day. It was as if her mind was laced with Mary, every crevice coated in a sweet layer of her.
Although, it had felt different than the way it had been at Hogwarts. Her feelings for Mary had felt more like a distant dream than anything else. Her problems at home had greatly overshadowed her then seemingly minute crush on her best friend. Sometimes it felt like her life existed on various different planes of existence. There was her life at home; her mother and her stepdad who scrutinised her for every move she made. There was a different life at home; the one Danny inhabited, which made it all the more sweet. There was her quidditch life; maybe the most pure of them all, since it manly consisted of the physicality`s of the world. Then, there was obviously her Hogwarts life; her friends and her courses. And, last but not least, there was the world inside her head; her thoughts and her feelings and…Mary – or whatever she stood for.
Sometimes it felt like so much all at once that Marlene didn`t feel like an actual person anymore. Like she was just playing the role of one; trying to remember in which version of the play she was. It made her head reel and her stomach churn in on itself. As if there was this constant ringing behind her eyes that made her want to gauge them out.
It didn`t take long before Mary started to go into gross detail about her snogging with Darren; how many times they`d done it, how they`d done it, where they`d done it. It sounded thus absurd that Marlene was momentarily able to disassociate Mary from the whole situation.
`But,` Lily asked - after what had felt like an eternity and she had evidently heard enough of it. `What about Sirius?`
`Oh, that…` Mary bit her lip. `Well...I was kind of hoping one of you would break the news to him….`
`Mary.` Lily rolled her eyes and sighed.
`I`ll do it.` Marlene sprang up. She would take any opportunity to make Sirius miserable; he`d done it enough times to her.
`Really?` Mary`s eyes widened. `Marls, you`re my hero!`
Marlene shrugged, ashamed that she was actually feeling a bit excited.
She hurried out of their compartment, along to corridor to where she knew the boys were residing. Quietly she tapped on the door and pocked her head into the already open compartment.
`Hiya, McKinnon.` James grinned at her. If only she could actually fancy him. `Evans with you?` Or not.
`Um…no.` she replied, nervously tugging at a strand of hair. `Sirius, can I talk to you?`
Looking confused, Sirius sat up from his slumped position. `Me? Er…what is it?`
`Mary um…Mary asked me to tell you something.`
`Tell me what?` a deep frown inhabited Sirius forehead.
`She`s…` Marlene glanced around the compartment. `I don`t think I was supposed to say it in front of this lot.` Though she`d really like to humiliate Sirius – petty as it was – she knew Mary wouldn`t like it. And she was trying to stay on her good side.
`Er…ok.` Sirius reluctantly got up and followed her out into the hallway.
`Well?` he asked when they were out of earshot.
`Mary`s breaking up with you. She wanted me to tell you.` Marlene said, it all coming out in a rush.
Sirius eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth, evidently not sure how to respond to this news. For once he appeared to be at a loss of words; which thrilled Marlene.
`She`s got a boyfriend.` Marlene nodded, satisfied to have brought this confusion on.
`Oh?` Sirius said, staring vacantly at her.
`Aye.`
They stood silently like that for a couple of seconds.
`Right, that was it.` Marlene said. `You`re free to go.`
She quickly stalked back along the corridor, leaving Sirius standing in astonishment. The rain kept clattering hard against the windows and Marlene almost felt like it was syncing up with her pulse.
`How`d he take it.` Mary asked, looking nervous as Marlene re-entered their carriage.
She shrugged. `He didn`t say all that much. I think he was confused.`
They didn`t talk about Darren or Sirius anymore during the entirety of the journey back to Hogwarts. It dawned on Marlene that maybe it wasn`t just so bad after all that Mary had a boyfriend outside of Hogwarts; it would certainly open up more time that she wasn`t spending with Sirius.
She smirked satisfactory, despite knowing that in reality this development didn`t mean that Mary would suddenly fall at her feet.
***
Sunday January 6th 1974
After two weeks of utter bliss, sauntering around South London in rose tinted glasses, it had been an excruciatingly hard task to return to Hogwarts. It already had been hard to leave her family behind at the start of a new term; this time, Mary had had even more the leave behind.
Following their initial date at the dancehall, Darren had asked her out again. Which – of course - had immensely delighted Mary. On their second date he`d taken her to see the pictures; The Way We Were. They`d held hands during the entirety of the movie, not letting go once. Every now and again they`d sneak curious glances at each other; only to look away the moment the other looked back. Afterwards they`d just wandered around, and Mary had felt an immense satisfaction at the fact that she had been able to make Darren come undone just by staring him in the eye long enough. He`d kissed her again in the dusk in the park. The first time had been incredibly unaccustomed; she`d had no idea where to put her hands, or what to think about. At some point she`d even got so aware of the fact that she was kissing someone, that she`d burst out in a fit of giggles.
But, just as with everything else, things gets better with practice, and by the third time Mary truly felt like she`d started to get the hang of it. Kissing Darren filled her with a light-headedness she didn`t know she could poses. Afterwards, it usually took her a couple of minutes before she felt like she could walk in a straight line again. She wondered if Darren was just an exceptionally good kisser, or if she`d just never kissed anyone before.
Obviously they`d not only been snogging for the entirety of the winter break. They`d talked for hours on end; wandering thought the neighbourhood in the rain, or sitting on the swings at the playground. After they`d said goodbye they would ring eachother on the phone, and just pick up right where they`d left off; much to the consternation of Abi – who wanted the phone all to herself – and her mother, who already saw the phone bills piling up. Fortunately, her parents seem to have gotten a soft spot for her ever since she barely spent any time at home anymore, and they`d invited Darren to join them for dinner one evening in early January.
Her mother was immediately charmed by Darren`s good manners and the genuine respect that he showed towards Mary. After he`d left, her dad had confided in her that he thought Darren was a good boy and that Mary should praise herself lucky; which she did.
It had been unbearably difficult to say goodbye to Darren when Saturday had rolled around. Initially he`d wanted to come along to the station, but Mary had to persuade him not to. It would be impossible to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why her ticket said Platform 9 ¾ without breaking the statute of secrecy. For as far as Darren knew, Mary was attending a posh boarding school in the north of Scotland on a scholarship. He hadn`t looked entirely convinced; Mary hoped desperately that he didn`t think she was sent to an ESN school, the way her little brother had been threatened to.
Tarone seemed to be doing alright in the schooling programme set up by their church, though neither him nor her parents had appeared to be all that eager to discus the subject. Her sister, Gabi, seemed to be having a harder time doing her A-Levels. While she was excelling in the subjects she was taking, the social aspect of it all appeared to be once again getting in her way. Being the only black girl in her class, she didn`t only have a disadvantages due to bigotry, but also at making friends. Mary hoped her sister wasn`t getting too lonely; she`d looked worn out during Christmas.
Her eldest brother, Jayden, had only recently moved out of their flat to move in with a couple of his mates in a dingy apartment in Chinatown. During the holidays, she`d barely seen him around, though that could also have been a result of her new boyfriend occupation.
Abi had started Secondary school and she reminded Mary a lot of herself two years ago; constantly giggly. Ziggy was still in primary school and Shamar was too young to attend any sort of school; both still sweet and unblemished.
Every time Mary came home she made sure to spend some time with all of her siblings; just to check in with them, seeing as she saw so little of them. However, this time she felt she`d slightly neglected them due to Darren, and couldn`t help but feel guilty about that.
At this moment, there was very little she could do about it; being back at Hogwarts again. Prior to classes starting on Monday, there was still homework to be done. Mary had left all her assignments and reading to the last minute; for which she sort of chastised herself know.
They were sitting in front of the fireplace in the common room; keeping warm from the absolutely abysmal weather outside; Mary couldn`t wait for it to be spring again. Remus had joined them in their endeavours.
Mary was telling Remus all about Darren. Though she wasn`t all that sure if the boy was even interested, she felt that if she didn`t talk about him her mind might brim over.
`We grew up on the same block.` she chatted excitedly. `His flat`s just across from mine. I properly fancied Sirius, and he`s nice and everything, but…well he`s a bit posh. I don`t think he even knows what a council flat is.`
Remus snorted at that.
It was true; Mary had truly fancied Sirius. But, when you boiled it down, she had a lot more in common with Darren. Both with big families and little means. It was freeing to have someone who she didn`t have to rectify herself against; someone who just understood. The biggest problem with Sirius was that he had a bit of a tendency to be rather deluded when it came down to other people’s struggles. He didn`t seem to understand that his family and his own problems weren`t the only ones that existed. It was barely impossible to explain to him that not everybody swam in money; even if they might get disinherited.
Mary blabbered on about Darren, staring off into the flames as she practically could feel his hands on her face again. When she tore her gaze away from the fireplace she noticed that Marlene was plucking at the rug and yawning; looking terminally bored. Or sad; Mary couldn`t decide.
`Don`t be jealous, Marls.` Mary said, trying to cheer her friend up.
`I`m not.` Marlene furrowed her brow. `I just think you`re being horrible to Sirius.`
Mary`s eyebrows shot up confused. Usually Marlene expressed her hatred towards Sirius rather fervently and on the train she had not been like this at all. `What?!`
`Dumping him like that! You…you hurt his feelings!` Marlene`s face was red as she fumbled for words.
`No, she didn`t.` Remus snorted; which earned him an angry look from Lily and Mary.
`Oh my god!` Mary suddenly cried, thinking she understood why Marlene was lashing out. `Marlene, do you fancy Sirius?!` That would explain so much.
`No!` Marlene turned even redder, an angry uncharacteristic shade to her usually pale demeanour. `Oh, you`re such a bitch, Mary!` she spat.
Mary felt her insides turn cold and she glared after Marlene as the latter spurted away. She didn`t understand what her problem was and she didn`t think Marlene had ever called her a name like that.
`That wasn`t very nice.` Lily mulled.
`Her problem, not mine.` Mary shrugged, deciding not to let Marlene ruin her mood. `Does she fancy Sirius?!`
`Does it matter?`
Remus stood up, sighing. `I`m going too.`
`Oh no, don`t go Remus.` Mary pleaded, she`d hate to chase him away. `We`ll stop talking about boys, I promise.`
`I`m tired. And I`ve finished mine. See you tomorrow.` Remus disappeared, taking his books with him.
Mary`s eyes widened and she stared at Lily. `Oh my god, maybe he fancies Marls!` she whispered urgently.
Lily`s face fell and Mary quickly shook her head. `No, never mind.` she said, reassuringly. `Lils, I`m sure I`m wrong. He must fancy you. Why else would he be sitting with you all the time?`
However, that didn`t seem to cheer Lily up one bit; Mary felt incredibly annoyed at herself for having angered both her friends in a matter of minutes.
***
Tuesday January 31st 1974
The morning of her fourteenth birthday, Lily wasn`t only awoken by Marlene and Mary piling on her bed, but also by thick downy flakes of snow patting against their widow. They hadn`t had snow that winter yet; the Christmas period having been a dreary grey one. However, Lily hadn`t given up on snow for that year, seeing as it wasn`t unusual to snow all the way up until Easter. And her patient waiting seemed to have paid off as the world outside tucked itself in in a cosy white duvet.
`We should skip classes today!` Mary said, pressing her hands against the glass as she peered outside at the still dusky Hogwarts grounds.
`No.` Lily frowned.
`But it`s your birthday.` Mary pleaded, batting her eyelashes the way she did when she wanted to get something done. `Be a little bit of a rebel!`
`Mary, you don`t even like snow.` Lily countered.
`Yeah, but you do!` Mary lifted her eyebrows teasingly. `Let`s skip classes.` she jumped on Lily`s bed again.
`Nope.` Lily climbed out from under her covers; the floor cold underneath her feet.
`You`re no fun.` Mary said poutingly.
`Mary drop it. It`s Lily`s birthday after all. She can do as she pleases.` Marlene said, picking up the cat that was now called Darren and no longer Cat on cutesy of Mary. Though both Marlene and Lily refused to call it so.
`Fine.` Mary jumped off the bed.
Lily had noticed some tension between Mary and Marlene ever since the Christmas holidays. It was odd seeing the two of them bicker so much, seeing as they had been best friends since their first evening here at Hogwarts.
`We can go out in the snow after classes.` Lily tried to bring the peace back to their dorm. `We won`t do homework until tomorrow. I think we can afford to take one afternoon off of revision.`
That seemed to somewhat appease Mary and they started getting ready for breakfast.
Her first lesson of the day was Ancient Runes; probably Lily`s favourite subject next to Charms, and maybe Potions. It was a shame that she didn`t share the class with her dormmates, but Remus always sat next to her.
`Alright.` he nodded as he plonked down in the seat next to hers, looking rumpled and tired in the way that Remus always looked rumpled and tired.
`Hiya.` Lily smiled; somewhat waiting for him to wish her a happy birthday. Surely he must know it was her birthday.
Remus had even sent her a gift at Christmas; it had been sweets and he had sent the same to both Mary and Marlene. But still, he had sent her something for Christmas; he`d thought about her too.
`Did you see the snow?` Remus asked, flipping his textbook open.
`Yep.` Lily nodded; still waiting, staring at Remus.
Remus kept his eyes fixed on the page, eyes darting from left to right, seemingly oblivious to Lily. Subtilty, Lily cleared her throat, fingering her notebook, the edges of the paper rustling.
Finally Remus looked up and frowned confused at Lily. `Something wrong?` There was no annoyance in his voice; it was irritatingly neutral.
`No.` Lily shook her head and decided to drop it. If Remus wasn`t going to realise it was her birthday she wouldn`t be the one to break the news to him.
However, she did feel slightly angry at him. How could he have forgotten her birthday? They`d spend enough time together by now for him to at least pay some attention to her. Wasn`t it some sort of moral obligation to remember your friends` birthdays? She didn`t exactly expect him to get her something or to even give it that much though. Just a `happy birthday, Lily` would have been nice enough.
All throughout Runes she kept feeling angry; barely talking to Remus; which wasn`t that much of a stance, seeing as their Professor did all the talking anyway.
In the afternoon, after classes, she bundled up in her thickest jumper and winter attire to go outside. If Mary wasn`t enjoying the snow, she was concealing it surprisingly well; both her and Marlene grinning widely as they walked out onto the snow covered courtyard.
Evidently they weren`t the only ones who had had the brilliant idea to go outside; the Hogwarts grounds were littered with excitedly squealing students. The snow was still coming down, only no longer in thick flakes, but in miniature crystals that caught the light as they fluttered down.
Initially Lily still felt somewhat grump, but at the sight of the fairytalelike surroundings she felt the gritty edge of her annoyance melt away.
Marlene had already started to roll a large ball from the snow; pushing it out in front of her, face strained in exertion.
`Wee bit of help might be appreciated.` she huffed, her back braced against the snowball that was almost up to her middle.
Mary and Lily hurried over to help her, rolling the ball all the way towards the edge of the courtyard, where they perched it against the wall. They knew they could easily have done it by using magic, but it was a lot more rewarding to do it by hand. Next, they started on the second ball for what would become their snowman.
`There.` Mary said satisfied as she placed her own knitted hat on the third and final snowball; wiping her hands clean.
Lily was still busy making a face out of pebbles and Marlene had found some twigs to make arms out of.
`Can we use your broom for it to hold?` Mary asked Marlene teasingly.
`Oh, yeah sure,` Marlene squinted at Mary. `And we`ll use your wand as its nose.` She raised her eyebrows sarcastically.
Satisfied, Lily looked at the snowman they had been able to produce. Twilight was already starting to set and the torches that were mounted to the walls went on, their flames reflecting off the vast white of the snow.
The three of them turned around as there was suddenly a lot of ruckus on the other side of the courtyard. Only to see the marauders stumbling out of the castle; James and Sirius pelting eachother with snowballs. Remus sauntered behind them, his hands thrust deep into his pockets, ears hiked up to his ears. Peter was forming snowballs and handing them one by one to James, grinning widely, nose red from the cold.
`Oi, Evans!` James spotted them and waved frantically. `Happy birthday!`
Lily rolled her eyes, of course he had remembered her birthday. `Thanks!` she shouted back, despite her annoyance, if only to spite Remus.
Remus looked up from his feet, squinting over at Lily, a blank expression on his face. Well, at least he know knew it was her birthday. Lily turned around to adjust the hat on their snowman, face contorted into a scowl.
`What`s wrong?` Mary asked upon seeing her face.
`Remus forgot my birthday.` Lily huffed.
`Prick.`
Lily raised her eyebrows, but remained impassive otherwise. At that point she couldn`t care less about whether Remus did or did not remember her birthday.
`I know something.` Mary raised her eyebrows conspicuously. `Something that`ll teach him not to forget your birthday again.`
`Please, don`t make a big deal out of it.` Lily replied. `It`s nothing really. I don`t care.`
`You obviously do.` Marlene said, her arms crossed over her chest. `I`m with Mary here.`
`Fine.` Lily sighed, readjusting her scarf. `Just don`t…don`t anger him or something.` She would hate to put Remus up against her, even if he had annoyed her.
Mary started grinning widely and pulled out her wand; Lily waited anxiously for what her friend had planned. Resolutely Mary pointed her raised wand at the snowman.
`Piertotum Locomotor.`
Instantly the snowman seemed to spring to live and started swaying its branch-arms.
`Merlin.` Marlene`s eyes widened in surprise.
Lily had to say that she was rather impressed by Mary`s use of magic; she truly was so much more clever than she led on. Her style of magic was playful and intuitive; which gave her an advantage at times like these.
Nimbly, Mary directed the snowman to the middle of the courtyard, its round body gathering more snow as it rolled on. Other students started to point at it; surprised cries of glee or anguish erupting. The boys stared at it in astonishment as it neared them, gathering speed.
At first Sirius started laughing and James was practically bent over from hysterics. But when the boys realized it was indeed headed for them, they started to run away, the snowman following them.
`Get it to chase Remus.` Lily whispered and Mary redirected her wand. Meanwhile, Marlene was wheezing with laughter.
Remus` face went from surprise, to shock, to fear in a matter of seconds as the ever growing snowman started going after him. Despite feeling a bit sorry for him, Lily started giggling. It was such a silly sight and that was what he got for forgetting her birthday.
///