For Mary

Along with Regulus and the other students, Mary took one of the shuffle buses. It didn`t take long to arrive at school, Mary felt it was all too sudden. She was glad at least Regulus was with her, even though he wasn`t saying much.

They got off and Mary would have put her stuff down to admire the tall building covered in ivy, if I hadn`t been absolutely pouring.

Everyone was running around, dragging their baggage with them, trying to get inside as quickly as possible. Some people were laughing, others were cursing. The rain carried on regardless.

Mary felt the water clinging to her hair and clothes and turned to look for Regulus, but he was already getting to the entrance hall. He wasn`t running, but it was clear he was annoyed.

“Well? Are you coming?” he said, already walking.

She quickly caught up with him and together they entered the entrance hall.

It was immediately warmer inside and Mary could finally breathe out. Mary turned to look Regulus and tried not to laugh. He looked like an angry, wet cat. His hair clung to his face that was scrunched up in disgust.

“Wow, it is raining cats and dogs out there. Glad were inside now, aren`t we, Moony?” someone said, sarcasm dripping from their voice. Mary turned to see it was Regulus` brother again. It had sounded like there was something behind the joke, but Mary couldn`t seem to find the punchline, so she shrugged it off. The guy next to him seemed to get it though. Still, he was as amused as Mary. Regulus`s brother wiggled his eyebrows like an idiot at him, but `Moony`, as he had called him, only elbowed him in response.

This made his smile only grew wider.

Mary and Regulus agreed to leave before they could discover Regulus. Secretly, Mary suspected they wouldn`t notice anyone, even if they came up to the two.

They walked along the cloisters to get to the main building. Regulus broke his silence for once and described the buildings and the history. Though Mary had informed herself of the different buildings fairly well, Regulus told her about things she would have found in any book. His eyes lit up as he described why the lime stones where exactly this shade, why only certain types of flowers grew in the gardens. He told her about the history of the different houses and the dormitories.

After Mary had found out that she would have to share a room, she had considered taking it all back. Her mum had called her dramatic and maybe she had been, but Mary really didn`t like it. The idea of roommates scared her. It wasn`t that she hadn`t had friends in her hometown, she did. They always knew how to make Mary laugh and chase the boredom out of their town. Chasing from one party to another till the cops came, though Mary`s parents didn`t allow it. She liked hanging out with her friends, but she couldn`t imagine living with them for a whole year, it just wouldn`t work. And if she couldn`t imagine it with her friends, how could she do it with strangers?

Mary felt bad for zoning out and focused on Regulus again.

“What house are you in?” he asked.

“Gryffindor,” she said, and his face twitched a bit.

“Ok, what was that?”

“What?” his face was neutral again, but Mary had noticed.

“You really know how to assure someone on their first day, you know? What`s wrong with Gryffindor?”

“What? I just feel sorry for you,” he now said bluntly.

“Ok, so what house are you in?”

“Slytherin.” “And how`s that better?”

“It isn`t. Yours is just worse. You`ll see,” he said and continued walking.

Mary found it less amusing and more concerning now, but she didn`t want to ask any more questions.

Regulus took a right turn and came to a halt before the stairs to the Gryffindor dormitories. This was it. Mary could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest now. She wasn`t ready for this. She smiled at Regulus one more time, hopefully not too tightly and thanked him for the help. He hesitated for a moment, looking between her and the stairs. He nodded at her and was gone, leaving Mary to contemplate whether she had just imagined their whole interaction.

Before Mary could change her mind, she went up the stairs and to the common room.

The room was surprisingly warm. Though it had stopped raining a while ago, it was still dark outside. It wasn`t dark inside though. The fireplace was lit, and a few people were sitting around it. Some were talking to their friends and warming up. A girl that had been reading a book stood up as Mary entered the room and introduced herself as the head girl. Her name was Alice.

“I would give you a tour, but I heard Regulus has already taken care of it. He`s great at showing new students around. If you have any questions though, just ask.” She smiled at her, which made her brown eyes look even warmer.

“Yeah, I uh- yes,” Mary stuttered. She felt her cheeks go warmer. There was the shyness again.

Before she could embarrass herself more, someone else came down the stairs to welcome her.

“You`re Mary, right? I`m Emmeline. Marlene is upstairs.” The girl smiled at Mary. Her voice was soft, and Mary automatically leant in a bit. She recognized the names from the letter she had gotten. Mary smiled at Emmeline and introduced herself, this time with less stuttering.

“I like your barrettes,” she said and pointed to the little barrettes shaped as stars in Emmeline’s hair.

“Thank you,” Emmeline tucked at her hair and blushed. See? Wasn`t that bad. Mary tried to relax her tense shoulders a bit.

“I can show you our room, if you want,” she said, and Mary nodded. Emmeline took her suitcase and Mary followed her upstairs. Even before they entered, Mary could hear noises from inside.

“-Where the fuck is it?”

As Emmeline opened the door, all kinds of clothes were being thrown around the room. They entered and Mary was welcomed with a top landing on her head, covering her eyes. Emmeline quickly took it off her with an apologising look. Mary just shrugged. The top did look nice.

Her eyes landed on the girl sitting in a pile of clothes that still hadn`t noticed them. Her fringe looked a bit messy, and her eyeliner was smudged, but Mary thought it only made the girl look cooler. This must be Marlene. Emmeline cleared her throat and Marlene turned around to look at them.

“There you are,” she said, eyes flicking around the room and landing on the wardrobe behind her.

She took aim while Mary sent Emmeline a questioning look. She shrugged.

“Right, I think it may be behind this wardrobe, if you guys could just…” Marlene struggled to move the wardrobe and gestured Emmeline and Mary to grab the other side. They both went to help her, Mary still frowning.

“Ha! Knew I still had it,” she said and raised her hand over head in triumph to reveal-

“-an umbrella? It stopped raining half an hour ago and we`re inside,” Mary said.

“That`s exactly what I said!” Marlene pointed at her with the umbrella, eyes wide like a mad man. She was pacing around the room now.

“But this is just back-up. The real plan is something else. And I need your help,” she said.

“Is this about the boys again?” Emmeline asked and Marlene scoffed.

“What boys?” Mary asked. Emmeline grinned slightly. Marlene sighed. Emmeline breathed in to say something, but Marlene interrupted.

“No time for gossip, this isn`t about them,” Marlene said, and Emmeline let out a laugh.

“But they are all you talk about!” Emmeline protested.

“But this isn`t about them, it`s about not being about them! This is about… ngh” Marlene dropped her arms with which she had tried to translate her thoughts.

“I have a plan to get the boys back from always pranking us. It`s time they got a taste of their medicine.” Emmeline sighed. She looked a bit defeated. Still, there was affection in her eyes. “Pranking them does sound fun…” she admitted, and Marlene clapped her hands together.

“Knew I could count on you, Em.” She grinned at her. Her eyes turned to Mary. She automatically took a step back.

“Now, Mary, what about you?” she looked at Mary expectantly. Mary looked between the two of them.

“I mean, I don`t even know who you`re- “

“-You don`t have to, all you need to know is their assholes.”

“-and I don`t think the principal will- “

“-oh, bugger off, she will be happy to see them getting their ass kicked, waiting for their downfall is all she does. And I mean, it`s- “

“-Fine!” Mary said and again she cursed herself for speaking before thinking. Her parents wouldn`t like this. What was she doing? “Fine, I`ll do it,” she said.

Right on cue, there was the stupid grin again.