Sixth Year, Back To School
Wednesday September 1st 1976
Tripping and stumbling over her own feet, Lily pelted after Mary through the train corridor, following the scent of her rage. Lily was part anxious and part curious to see what was going to transpire. Either way, there was no part of her that considered missing out on it.
`Where the fuck is he?!` Mary snarled underneath her breath as she pushed past a group of first years who were crowding the walkway. `For goodness sake, move over! Ooh, if I get by hands on that boy…`
`I`m so sorry.` Lily said hurriedly, apologizing to the terrified looking students. This wasn`t a great look for her, especially with her silver prefect`s pin already pinned to the front of her robes. `Mary, maybe you should-`
`SIRIUS BLOODY BLACK, I COULD KILL YOU!` Mary shrieked before Lily had been able to finish her sentence. Mary had flung the carriage door wide open and was standing on the threshold, her hands placed threateningly on her hips.
Quietly, Lily slipped past Mary and sat down next Remus, smiling at him generously. Then she directed her attention back at the happy couple. Sirius` eyes had turned the size of saucers as he gaped up at Mary, who looked downright intimidating. In that moment, Lily was extremely grateful not to be standing in his shoes. It was no joke to be on the other end of Mary`s wrath; she didn`t often display her anger, but when she did, you could better run for cover.
`What have I done?!` Sirius blurted out, still gawking up at his girlfriend as if this had come as a total surprise.
Mary`s face twisted even more into one of absolute loathing and disgust, her curls a heated halo framing it. `You really don`t know, do you?!`
Apparently, Sirius was still not comprehending the situation; he blinked, nonplussed. Lily would have hexed him by now; Mary had a lot of self-restraint in that department.
`Diagon Alley?!` Mary tramped the heel of one of her boots on the floor of the train, shaking the carriage. Her golden earrings jangled, dark coal-rimmed eyes shooting daggers across the space.
Something finally seemed to click, making Sirius` eyes almost drop out of their sockets. `Bugger.`
`Fuck you, Black!` Mary cried and spun around, thundering out of the compartment, her heels screeching loudly against the floorboards. It was a proper miracle that the windows of the train hadn`t shattered.
Ineptly Sirius sprang up, running after her. `Oi, Mary, wait, I`m sorry…!` The rest of his pleading was lost to them.
`What did he do?` Remus asked, turning to Lily. He looked more tanned than usual; a healthy glow emanating from his skin. He looked happier, too.
Seeing as the boys were once again sitting in the same compartment, Lily assumed that they`d resolved their fight over the summer; she was pleased to see it.
Lily shook her head in amazement. `Forgot her birthday. Apparently they had a plan to meet in Diagon Alley and she waited for two hours…`
`Oh, bollocks,` James smacked a palm to his face. `I was supposed to remind him…`
Lily guffawed; how could boys possibly be this dense? `You`re as bad as each other.` She stared at James with pity, shaking her head. `Godric save the girls foolish enough to marry any of you.`
`Has anyone seen Desdemona?` Peter spoke up, breaking his silence, still glancing out the window. When none of them gave him a satisfactory answer, he stood up and left. `I`ll see you lot later…`
`Bloody hell…` James said, looking rather distraught. `What happened to the marauders?`
`Oi, I`m here.` Remus replied indignantly, burrowing his head into his book.
`My only true friend!` James grinned. `You`ll never leave me for a girl will you Moony?`
`No chance.` Remus turned a page.
Lily looked out the window, she wondered where Marlene was; they would be departing any moment now. Spending time with Prongs and Moony was all fine and dandy, but she would surely like it if Marlene was there with her. Suddenly something registered, and Lily gasped. `Wait,` she took Remus by his shoulder. `That`s why they call you Moony?!`
Remus smirked and shrugged lightly; Lily gaped back at him. Now she knew for certain that Remus was a werewolf, there wasn`t a day that went by in which she wasn`t absolutely amazed at her herself for not having seen the signs before. Had she truly been that naïve?
Over the summer, she`d tried to read up on the subject, but except from the school texts she had, and the rare book on lycanthropy, there was very little to find on the matter. It had actually quite shocked her to find out how demonised werewolves were, and how untrue it was; in Remus` case anyway.
`I can`t believe I didn`t work it out sooner!` Lily shook her head.
`Hang on,` James furrow his brow. `Worked what out? It`s just an in joke, right, Remus? Some silly thing we came up with as kids, no big secret or any-`
`Prongs,` Remus cut in, chuckling. `It`s fine; she knows.`
Dark hazel eyes widening, James alternated his gawk between the both of them, confusing pouring out of every pore. Lily laughed and wiggled her eyebrows impishly at him. He looked like a startled owl, with his glasses on ever so slightly askew.
`You`re an idiot, Potter. But at least you can keep a secret.`
Lily was actually rather astonished at the fact that the marauders had been able to keep this to themselves for such a long time. It spoke greatly of their friendship. If it hadn`t been for Severus, she would still be in the dark herself.
`Well, of course.` James sat up straighter. `We`d all do anything for Moony.`
Lily was quite taken aback by James` honest display of loyalty to his friend. She surveyed him a little longer.
The door to their carriage slid open and Marlene appeared. It wasn`t a complete surprise, seeing as she`d already told her in a letter, but Lily was still startled at the sight of Marlene`s hair. It had been cut into a short neat bob; it suited her extremely well.
`Sirius and Mary are having a proper screaming match out there, it`s mental.` Marlene said, shaking her head. She looked at the three of them. `What have I missed?`
The odd thing about coming back to Hogwarts was the feeling as if they`d never even left. Every year the sorting ceremony got more boorish to attend, though, the feast itself was still utterly glorious.
`I still can`t get over your hair!` Mary said, eyeing Marlene. `It looks so mature!`
`Cheers.` Marlene gingerly touched her hair, flushing a deep red.
`I`m knackered.` James yawned, stretching, almost knocking into Lily in the process. `Early night tonight, eh, Marlene? Practice, first thing-`
`Oh, no you don`t, Potter, you`re coming with me.` Lily cut him off, rather pointedly. `We`ve got to lead the first years to bed – have you already forgotten you`re a prefect?!` She frowned at him.
`Oh shit, yeah—I mean bugger – I mean…whoops.` James held up his hands apologetically.
Lily rolled her eyes as she rose from the table. `We`ll work on your language, too. Come on.` Then, addressing the others, `Password`s `lion heart`.
The rest of their group walked away while Lily and James waited for the first years to assemble. Mary and Sirius were holding hands; they`d made up apparently. Marlene, Peter and Remus hurried out in front of them.
Getting the first years to the tower proved not to be an easy task.
`Potter!` Lily hollered over her shoulder as they guided the first years up the staircases. `You do need to keep up!`
James kept joking around with the younger students; provoking the moving paintings; shooting sparks out of his wand; showing off – as per usual. It waylaid the process terribly.
`Potter!` Lily called out again, now halting to let him catch up with her. `You are a prefect - you shouldn`t be the one who needs reprimanding.` She tapped her foot impatiently on the stairs, hands on her hips. `You know I can still give you detention?`
`Oh, but you won`t, Evans,` James wriggled his eyebrows, his glasses slipping slightly off his nose. `Because there need to be two prefects to do patrol. It`s very straightforward: you need me.`
`I don`t need you.` Lily tutted.
`Admit it. You need me.`
`I don`t need anybody.`
`Y`know, that`s what I like about you.` James grinned, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
Suddenly the staircase on which they were stood moved, completely changing the trajectory of their course.
`Oh for goodness sake,` Lily sighed exasperated. Now they would be later still. `This is all your fault Potter. You`re absolutely impossible.`
`You love me really.` James smirked and raked a hand through his already messy hair. What did he think he was accomplishing with looking like he hadn`t touched a hairbrush in a decade?
`Fix your hair Potter - I can`t take you seriously with that hair.` Lily marched ahead, eager to get to the tower.
`What`s wrong with my hair?!` James cried affronted, jogging behind her up the stairs. `I`ve got great hair!`
Lily shook her head; this was going to be a very long year.
***
Two hours. Two whole hours. That`s how long she had waited for him. At one point, the vendor of the ice-cream parlour had even taken pity on her and had given her an ice-cream free of charge. It had been good ice-cream, though, that had been the only good thing about the entire day.
Only when the stores in Diagon Alley had started to close down for the night, the street itself had begun to empty, and some sketchy looking men in dark robes had started to haunt the place, had she decided to give up and head back home.
Mary didn`t even know why she`d waited that long; she felt foolish looking back at it. After the first half an hour, she should have caught on that Sirius wasn`t going to show up anymore. However, part of her had deeply whished that he would have; that something unexpected had come up; that it`d had nothing to do with her.
The Underground back home had been damp and stifling hot. She thoroughly disliked using the public transit in London, especially on her own; she always felt relieved whenever she made it out in one piece. The duration from Miles End to Charing Cross she always clutched her bag tightly, keeping her gaze directed at the floor, terrified to make eye contact with anybody.
Her mother had obviously sensed something was up when Mary practically took the door out of its hinges upon entering the flat. Yet, Mary had refused to badmouth Sirius. If she would, she was rather certain that her parents would forbid her to go out with him any longer, and despite the fact she absolutely loathed his guts, she didn`t want that to happen.
The rest of the summer holidays, she`d spend waiting for an apology, or an explanation at least. None had come. There wasn`t a single bone in her body that had even considered sending him a letter first; she had too much dignity still. She was angry, not desperate.
Aside from standing her up and ruining her seventeenth birthday in the process, Mary was still cross with Sirius for practically putting her out on the curb as a stray dog that day at the Potters. To not even speak of the fact that she`d lost her virginity to him the night before, which she was now starting to regret ever so slightly. It had supposed to have been special, but maybe that was just her Catholic guilt talking.
Sirius needed to do a lot of explaining did he wish to redeem himself.
`Oi, Mary, wait, I`m sorry…!`
The windows of the train rattled as Mary stormed through the corridor, pushing past clumps of other students.
`Mary, please!` Sirius pleaded. `I`m so, so sorry! I honestly, truly forgot about it!`
Mary spun around, her whole head reeling with rage. `Do you honestly think that you forgetting about it makes it any better!?`
`Well, I-` Sirius began.
`You stood me up, Black!` Mary put her hands on her hips. `Stood me up! On my birthday of all days! You don`t ditch your girlfriend on her bloody birthday!`
`But, I honestly forgot! It slipped my mind.`
`You don`t forget your girlfriend`s birthday, Black! Something like that doesn`t just slip your mind!` Mary stomped her boot on the floorboards.
`Why are you saying girlfriend like that?!`
`Because I am your girlfriend. Or have you forgotten that too?!` Mary snarled. `Because it damn sure seems like it! You forget my birthday; you don`t even write to me; you practically throw me out of your house!`
`That was- that was an emergency! You know I wouldn`t have done that if it wasn`t an absolute emergency.` Sirius was yelling now, too.
People were starting to look and point at them. Mary thought she saw Marlene passing by in her periphery, slipping past them soundlessly.
`Don`t you raise your voice at me Sirius Black!` Mary shrieked, pointing a finger at his chest, almost touching him, but not quite.
`Why can`t I yell?!` Sirius hollered back. `You`re yelling too, why can`t I?`
`Because I have every right to be angry!` Mary stomped her foot on the floor again. `You haven`t! I`m the one who`s allowed to be angry. You made me feel like a cheap fucking slag! Have you ever tried to put yourself in my shoes for once and considered how I felt after that night, huh?` She leaned forward, before answering herself. `No, I`m sure you haven`t, because you are too busy thinking about yourself all the bloody time!`
`Are you calling me selfish?!`
`Yeah, I`m calling you selfish!` Mary jutted out her chin and glared at him. It was that she didn`t want to make more of a scene, otherwise she`d have hexed him right then and there. She was seventeen, she was of age, she could do whatever she pleased. Sirius forgetting about her birthday didn`t erase that fact.
Their screaming match had attracted quite the show. Mary could already hear what her father would have to say about her making such a public display of her anger. Don`t let them see your rage; don`t prove them right. Anger was a powerful vehicle, though often misdirected.
`I`m leaving.` Mary announced, spinning on her heel, flipping her curls over her shoulder.
`Mary,` Sirius ran after her. `Mary, you can`t leave, you can`t just walk away, we`re on a bloody train. Let me fix this.`
`Well, I`m walking away from you,` Mary spat. `I don`t want to see your face!`
A couple of Slytherins chuckled amongst each other as she shoved herself past them. They probably hoped that they would finally break up. However, Mary wasn`t going to give them that satisfaction. She had no intention of breaking up with Sirius; not yet at least. There was still room for him to redeem himself; to prove himself worthy of her affections.
And prove himself he did. After about ten minutes, Sirius knocked on the door of the empty compartment Mary had found as her refuge. His face was soft and pleading as he asked to be let in. It seemed that he was truly feeling remorseful.
Sirius sat down on the bench opposite her, hesitantly reaching for her hands. `I know…erm,` he said. `I can`t take back what happened.`
Mary huffed and looked away pointedly, not letting him take her hands.
`Even though I really wish I could. Honestly, ok? I really want to make it up to you.`
Mary directed her eyes at him then. He looked so much like a dog waiting with a bird at her door as a peace offering. It was almost spooky.
`I`ll treat you to a weekend in Hogsmeade as…erm, as soon as the opportunity arises. Alright?`
`Hm.` Mary grunted and sucked her teeth.
`Alright?` Sirius pressed, gazing at her with those large blue eyes and grinning shyly.
It was so hard to stay mad at Sirius for an extended period of time. He truly had this doglike quality that made it hard to be angry at him; like kicking a puppy.
`Alright.` Mary sighed and rolled her eyes. `I`ll go with you to Hogsmeade.`
`You won`t regret it.` Sirius said and bridged the gap between the two benches, kissing her on the lips. Mary let him.
The train ride went smoothly after that. It almost felt as though they had never been fighting in the first place. As the landscape got rougher and the weather drearier, they edged further and further away from the summer. The days she`d spend at the Potter`s already felt like a distant memory.
Seeing the way that James and Sirius lived when they weren`t at school, had made it all the more obvious how ostensibly different Mary`s life was from theirs. The contrast of being in Peckham and being at Hogwarts was so incredibly stark that it seemed as if they`d all stepped through a portal into an entirely different world. It was quite disorienting; as if she was entering a theater set, ready to play a part for the next couple of months again. After five years, it still left her with guilt; to make use of such lavish facilities. All the while the rest of her family was groveling to keep it together, hold onto their jobs, get through school, and pay their rent.
Not that Hogwarts was a perfect utopia, far from it actually, they were in the midst of a class war of all things. Though, they were British, when was something not about class?
***
Ostensibly, everyone seemed to have made up over the summer months. The boys were no longer avoiding eachother like the plague. Even Mary and Sirius, who`d been in a horrible screaming match on the train had reconciled and were once again hanging off of each other’s lips – annoyingly so.
Sirius had claimed the biggest couch in the common room as his chosen territory for the evening; Mary had nestled herself against him, propping her feet onto his lap as a docile cat. Remus was not far away, sitting in an armchair by the fire, reading, as per usual. James and Lily were both still out on prefect duty; at least, Marlene thought so. It had been their task to accompany the first years to the common room, but she hadn`t seen them come in yet. Hopefully nothing bad had happened in the meantime.
They were barely back at school and already Sirius was throwing up the ball of discussion concerning the date of their first party. Personally, Marlene was not really looking forward to another party. They always ended up in misery; for her at least.
`Our first match is in November.` she replied, halfheartedly, her head in the game of chess she was playing against Peter. `You can organize the victory party if you want, Black.`
`That`s aaages away.` Mary sulked, in response to Marlene. `Halloween?` she opted, turning back to Sirius. `Close to your birthday. We can do it after the feast.`
Feverishly, Marlene tried to find a way out of the victory she knew Peter was planning. It was not unknown that Peter was an absolute genius when it came to chess. He always knew which move would buy him an advancement, even if it seemed like he was sacrificing something important. There was no escaping being absolutely obliterated by him. He seemed to know which move Marlene was going to make, before she even knew it herself. It was absolutely infuriating.
Then, when you thought you had him, he won. Nobody ever saw it coming.
Marlene tuned out of the conversation; she had no interest in hearing them bang on about Sirius` birthday. He got enough attention as it was already. Her own birthday was only a week and a half away. They`d probably celebrate small, like they always did, just the three of them. She would be turning of age. Absolutely terrifying.
In all honesty, she couldn`t quite believe that Mary and Sirius had made up. If someone she cared about, or even loved, had forgotten about her, she would probably not have forgiven them that easily.
Sirius was an arrogant bastard anyway; thinking that he could just apologize and make everything alright again. Mary was miles too good for him. Marlene had not forgotten Mary`s birthday; she`d send her a present and everything. She would even have come to London if Mary hadn`t been bound up in other plans – Sirius.
Peter moved his bishop, attacking her from both sides now, seemingly planning an attack on her queen. Undecidedly, Marlene picked at her nails. Her own pieces were shouting at her to make a move, or they would make one on their own - quite a disadvantage of wizard chess. None of the chess pieces seemed to like her; the knights particularly tended to annoy her with their incessant whining. She didn`t blame them all that much; she wouldn`t like it either if she kept being knocked down by the opponent.
Neither she nor Peter talked as they went on with their game. That was one of the reasons Marlene liked to play games with her friends; it was an opportunity to spend some quality time with them, without actually having to engage in conversation.
Except for the shrill voices of the chess pieces, the crackling fire in the hearth, and the murmurs of Mary and Sirius, it was remarkably quiet in the common room. Most people had already gone up to their dorms. One of the benefits of being sixth years, and having quite a reputation as a group, was that nobody tended to send them up to bed anymore, not even the head boy and head girl.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash and agitated voices in front of the portrait entrance. Marlene jerked up, alarmed. The voices were unmistakably from Lily and James. Everybody jumped up, save for Remus who was seemingly dozing away behind his book.
Soon, it became evident that her panic had been completely unnecessary. James seemed to be performing a very complicated Irish jig, legs flailing about frantically, his glasses slipping off his nose. Lily was simultaneously trying to pull him into the common room with a stern look on her face, while also evidently trying to contain her laughter, her mouth twitching deceivingly.
`Stay still Potter!` Lily cried.
`I`m trying!` James yelped.
Mary had come off the couch and was standing next to Lily, her hands placed on her hips as she gawked at James. Peter had burst into giggles, contaminating Marlene, who also couldn`t contain her laughter anymore. They both rolled around on the rug; their chess pieces still shouting at them to continue. Remus had woken up.
`What happened?` Mary asked.
`Silly prat was showing off, as per usual.` Lily frowned. `His hex hit a suit of armour and backfired.` She let out a snort as she tried to push James into a corner to keep him situated.
Sirius had been watching from the couch and now approached them, sauntering leisurely across the room. `Who were you trying to hex?` he asked.
`Bloody Mulciber.` James let out, heaving with the effort of his impressive dance moves.
Raising his eyebrows and looking bored, Sirius pointed his wand directly at James. `Petrificus Totalus.` he yawned.
`Black!` Lily tutted, looking at James as he plummeted down as a heavy log, hitting the ground with a marvellous thud.
`What?!` Sirius cocked an eyebrow. `I was only trying to help.`
`Unfreeze him.` Lily demanded, tapping her foot.
`I could, but he`d just start dancing again.` Sirius frowned. `Do you want him to dance again?`
`No, I don`t want him to dance again.` Lily snipped, rolling her eyes. `But we can`t just leave him laying here.`
Marlene crawled over the rug towards them. Peter was still rolling around, unable to regain his composure, cackling loudly. Remus had gone up to the dorms apparently.
`Can`t we just preform the counter jinx first?` Mary opted, gazing down at James, whose eyes were darting around in alarm.
`But how will we know it has worked if he`s still frozen?`
`We could combine them.` Sirius shrugged.
`We haven`t done spell combining yet, though. He might just explode.`
James` eyes widened even further, and it looked like he was trying to shake his head with all his might. Poor lad.
`I have.` Sirius smirked. `With that raincloud and Snivellus.`
`Oh, yes because that was such a success!` Lily rolled her eyes.
`Or we could just leave him like this.` Sirius said, shrugging. `Wait till morning. Might be nice to have a quiet night for once.`
Mary started laughing.
`We are not going to leave him like this!` Lily was starting to turn red in the face with annoyance.
They kept arguing for a little while longer. Marlene sat nearby, watching in amusement. Peter had joined the heated discussion by then, though, all of his comments and suggestions were pretty much ignored by Sirius.
In the end, they decided to unfreeze him first while Peter and Sirius pinned him down to the floor. Meanwhile, Lily would be able to perform the counter spell to stop him from performing his jig.
Mary sat down next to Marlene, both giggling as they watched the three struggling boys on the floor.
`Sometimes I marvel at the absolute foolishness of all of this.` Mary sighed, shaking her head. `I mean…won`t you look at that.` She chuckled as James kicked Sirius accidentally in the face.
`Wormy, you need to sit on him!`
`And then to think that these are the same lads that are going to have to win the war for us.` Marlene said, letting out a snort; surprising even herself with it.
`Oh my God. We`re doomed.`
They both shook their heads, laughing.
///