Aftermath
The three girls were walking around before classes, before they eventually stopped beside the lockers. Marlene noticed that Mary seemed especially jumpy and on edge, but maybe it was just the whole mermaid thing. "How was detention, Mars?" Lily teased, but Mary seemed to stiffen up slightly.
"It was fine, normal, whatever." The tenseness of her jaw made Marlene awfully suspicious, but she nonetheless ignored it. The second day of classes started in twenty minutes, so they were all just mindlessly chatting about homework, weekend plans, nothing too peculiar. That was until the devil reincarnated strutted towards them. Emma Vanity, her black curls falling down to her lower back were swinging in sync with her steps. Her outfit was a skin-tight black dress. Her caramel skin and perfect figure made her irresistible to girls and guys alike, she was so popular.
And such a mega bitch.
She handed Mary and Lily some small, pink cards of paper with writing on them which Marlene couldn't read. "Pool party at mine this Friday." She smiled at the other two, before turning to face Marlene with distaste on her face. "I guess you could come." Emma looked her up and down, face scrunched up. Marlene gave her the middle finger, then watched Emma as she strutted away.
"Well we obviously can't go." Mary stated, arms folded as she leaned against the locker.
"Why not? Everyone who's anyone is going to be there, we can't just avoid an invitation like this." Lily was rambling, she obviously wanted to go to this party. Lily's hair was tied in a low ponytail today, and as she gestured wildly it swung side to side.
"Lils, we'll turn into sushi." Marlene cut in, causing the other two girls to shoot her dirty looks that probably indicated for her to shut up. "Just the truth!" She said in her defense, causing Mary to sigh loudly and Lily to cross her arms and pout.
At that moment, four very familiar figures brushed passed their trio. The one nearest to them was Regulus Black. Sirius' younger brother, and an absolute judger. He shot Marlene a dirty look which was returned with a weird face from her side. Next to him was Dorcas Meadowes, who snickered and whispered something to Evan Rosier after seeing them. Mary looked like she was ready to punch her, but Lily held her back. Behind Evan was Barty Crouch, he was the argumentative person of their small group, but he didn't have any quippy remark as he walked past. Instead, something way weirder happened.
He was staring at Mary from the moment he spotted her, his mouth open slightly and his eyes glistening in a longing way. Once he walked passed her, he smiled at her sweetly, but weirdly enough, she returned these gestures the same way! Once those four were out of earshot, Marlene immediately turned to Mary, distraught. "What the fuck was that?" She reprimanded her.
"What?" Mary replied, dumbly.
"Oh don't get me started, since when are you cozy with Crouch?" Marlene asked, and Mary stammered slightly in response. "Shit, wasn't he in detention as well? Is that why you're being so weird?" Marlene was now very close to Mary, who looked small as a bunny compared to her, even though their height difference was barely noticeable.
"No, the reason he was in detention made me sympathies with him, so I'm trying to be nice." Mary lied so easily, but Marlene wasn't going to start anything. You best know that she's going to investigate this in great detail, though.
"Aw," Lily cooed from Mary's side, "That's so sweet. You know I think it's good that you're not being horrible with him anymore, everybody deserves a second chance." Lily smiled softly, clearly not picking up on Mary's lie. Mary made a small peep of agreement, and the girls began walking to their first lesson, form.
***
Marlene was leant against a pillar, smoking a cigarette whilst the courtyard was buzzing in excitement. Lily was once again, studying with James, whilst Mary said she had a detention. Marlene knew that Mary didn't have a detention, so she was watching over the fields where she knew Mary would make an appearance. How did she know this? Because Regulus, Evan, Dorcas and Barty would always lie down there.
Surely, the group came pouring in, firstly it was Evan and Regulus, chatting away with blank expressions on Regulus' faces contrasting an excited expression on Evan's. Trailing behind them, Dorcas was talking animatedly to her phone. The only words Marlene could make out was her saying, "You're fucking manipulative!" Before she hung up. Regulus and Evan turned around and waited for her to catch up before they all walked in a line.
The trio reached the other end of the field, nearby Marlene, and began gossiping. They were close enough that Marlene could hear and see them, but not so close that they noticed her eavesdropping. Surely, Barty jogged towards them a few minutes later, with a familiar figure in tow.
Behind Barty, was Mary, who was grinning widely and smiling with her teeth. Her hair was bouncing as she ran slightly slower than him, their fingers interlinked. Barty and Mary then sat with the trio, and Barty began to introduce Mary to all his friends. Mary sat on his lap, her arms wrapped around his shoulders embracing him in a hug whilst Barty smirked joyfully.
"This is Mary," He started, and she shyly waved in return.
"We know who fucking Mary Macdonald is, why'd you bring her here?" Dorcas interrupted, her eyebrow twitching in anger. Marlene wanted to step in and square her in the jaw, knocking that fucking overgrown ego out of her. But, she didn't. Instead, Marlene just clenched the cigarette she was smoking tighter and stomped it into the pavement.
"We've gotten kind of close lately." Barty casually said, before Mary ducked a quick peck on his cheek. Marlene noticed something, though. Nobody else seemed to notice the way Evan Rosier had tended up, furrowed brows, was staring daggers and was ripping out the grass behind him aggressively. Evan was an artist, not a delicate and intricate one like Regulus, though. He splashed paint onto a canvas with all his anger and allowed his emotions to wash over him like a tidal wave, whilst Regulus drifted along the current with soft, wispy brush strokes.
Marlene was simply shocked, how could Mary be dating Barty Crouch Jr? Obviously she'd keep her discovery a secret, I mean, there's absolutely no way that Mary could find out that Marlene had stalked, spied and kept a secret from her.
Suddenly, Mary looked up from Marlene and met eyes with her. Her lips parted and there was a look of panic in her eyes. Marlene quickly turned on her heel and ducked behind the pillar, placing her palm on her pulsing chest in an attempt to calm her breathing.
Shit, Mary definitely saw her. Marlene darted away into the other direction, as quick as she could. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Mary Macdonald was dating Barty Crouch Jr, even whilst being airborne from running through the hallways at full speed. Marlene was sure that nobody was chasing her, but her legs were thinking quicker than her thoughts.
How the fuck is there this much drama on the first week back?
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
James was laughing heartedly with Lily, they were both clutching their stomachs in breathlessness. James carefully took off his glasses, placed them on the table in front of him and then wiped the tears from his eyes. There were books of various genres scattered across the desk, as Lily was helping him to study.
"Hey, random question." Lily suddenly said. James let out a breath and placed his glasses back on his face.
"Yeah?" He urged.
"Do you think you'd want to go to a pool party with me? You know, Emma's?" The question caught James off guard, of course. She'd definitely rather go with one of her other friends, probably Mary, and it would be quite out of character for Mary not to go.
"Shit," He muttered, before the librarian shot him a disappointed look. Lily looked a mix of hopeful and confused. "I mean, yeah, I can always go fishing after."
"Great! You got an invite, right?" Lily urged. James rummaged around in his pockets before pulling out a scrap piece of paper, which had a very obvious invitation on it.
Lucky you, you're invited to Emma Vanity's pool party on Friday. Be there at seven pm.
It was printed on pink paper and printed in sparkling, golden writing. James stifled a chuckle at the simplicity of it, before holding the invitation next to his head and waving it slightly to show Lily. She squealed in excitement and as if on queue, the bell rung loudly above, echoing in the vastness of the library.
"What lesson do you have?" Lily politely asked whilst she put her materials into her bag. There were only two periods left of the day, and James had a study hall of both.
"Study hall." He answered, honestly. Lily hummed as to show she was listening, before they began walking side by side in the hallway. James and Lily strolled down the dimly lit Hogwarts hallway, the subdued chatter of students echoing around them. The castle's stone walls exuded a timeless elegance, creating a serene atmosphere.
As they neared an intersection, Regulus Black emerged from a side corridor, his posture rigid. James' eyes met Regulus's for an ephemeral moment, and an unexpected sensation enveloped him. Lily noticed the subtle shift in James's demeanor as his heart seemed to skip a beat. Unbeknownst to her, a complex web of emotions surged within James at the sight of Regulus, a mix of curiosity, apprehension, and perhaps a trace of nostalgia.
The encounter left James momentarily entranced, his thoughts momentarily drifting into uncharted territories, before he resumed their walk as if nothing had happened. "Are we just going to ignore whatever that was?" Lily urged, but James' mind was clouded.
The sight of Regulus' sharp, silver gaze piercing through James' self-made wall of protection made his chest tighten. Before he could dwell on these thoughts, they had reached the near-empty classroom which James was assigned to. Sirius and Peter were sat at the back of the classroom, playing a game of wizards chess intensively.
"Hey Prongs!" Sirius called out, and at the sight of his same silver eyes, James knew that he had to bury whatever he felt in that moment outside deep inside him. So, James did as he always did, put on a happy face and charismatically strutted towards his friends.
"Where's Moony?" James asked, glancing around the classroom for their other friend who usually had his head hurried in a book. Peter and Sirius looked equally as confused, though. They all shrugged in unison before James swung a chair next to Peter and began watching the chess match play out. Peter won, of course. He always did.
After around twenty minutes of joking around, prank planning (which wasn't very productive without Remus) and a few more losses at chess on Sirius' side, their tall friend walked in with smile lines. Next to him, Amelia Bones, the girl he was tutoring, had the corners of her lips turned upwards slightly. "Who's that?" Sirius asked, dumbly. James noticed a subtle hint of jealousy in his voice?
"Amelia Bones, idiot." James answered, before slapping Sirius on the forehead. Sirius whined and rubbed the place where James had hit whilst Remus and Amelia sat down. When Amelia was nearby other people, she tensed up slightly, her smile dropping and her guard rising. Come to think of it, James had never heard her talk. She was just, there. Always lurking, chasing after her neglecting tutor like a moth to a flame. Amelia's hair was tied into a messy bun today, a few loose strands falling in front of her ears whilst her glasses were propped up against her nose.
"I've been quite the bad tutor, so I was making it up to Amelia here." Remus said with a laugh, as he playfully punched Amelia on the arm.
"I didn't even notice you were gone." Sirius pouted, giving those same puppy dog eyes that earned him his nickname of 'Padfoot'. "In fact, it was the most fun I've ever had when you were out." Sirius was angry, but nobody knew why, James thought, at least. Remus' face dropped, and he silently picked up his bag and threw it lazily over his shoulder before mumbling his apologies.
Amelia awkwardly fiddled with her pencil as everybody else sat there in a tense silence which was just begging to be broken. "Why the fuck would you say that?" James spat at his friend. That was completely uncalled for, Remus didn't do anything wrong.
"He had it coming!" Sirius shouted, luckily the only other people in the classroom were Amelia's older brother, Edgar Bones, and a girl in their year called Charity Burbage. Unfortunately, both of them were intently staring at James and Sirius, now.
"No he didn't." Amelia said in an almost-whisper. The three boys turned in unison to face her.
"This doesn't involve you, piss off!" Sirius shouted, his harshness piercing the deafening silence. Everybody had just expected Amelia to sit there and take it, she didn't seem like the argumentative type at all. Instead, she slammed her hands on the desk and stood up, not to walk away, though. She leant forward so that she was eye-to-eye with Sirius, now.
"No, I'm sick of being treated like shit!" Her voice broke as she screeched. On the other side of the room, her brother and Charity looked equally shocked by this outburst. "I have no friends, my family doesn't care about me, and the only person who talks to me I push away! So no, I'm not going to piss off, not until you admit your fucking feelings for Remus and apologise to him because he's been through hell and back and I won't let you treat him like I've been treated my whole life. Listen up rich boy, you're privileged." The silence afterwards was intense, more so than this whole talk had been before. Sirius was pale, more than he usually was, and he was shaking.
Amelia's brother looked like he was going to shout at her, hug her and kill her all at once, whilst Charity looked like she wanted to cheer for her. Which she did. "You tell him Amelia!" She shouted, whilst Amelia packed away her things and gave James a challenging look. James was absolutely flabbergasted, not only was this the first time he'd ever heard Amelia speak, but it was the first time that Sirius had been humbled.
"Fine, I'll say I'm sorry." Sirius said, quietly. Amelia sunk back in her seat, slightly flushed from what James assumed to be embarrassment. "You can piss off now." Sirius said, rather rudely. Amelia gave a small nod and hurried out the classroom, ignoring her brother and Charity on her way out. In fact, it seemed like she was purposely avoiding eye contact.
"She seems really depressed." Peter quipped under his breath, causing Sirius to cackle.
"Where's that apology then?" James asked, ignoring the disrespectfulness from that comment which Peter made. Sirius gave James a confused look, as if he was speaking a foreign language. "Grow up Sirius, you promised you'd apologise, now go do it." James only used Sirius' real name when he was angry, and Sirius straightened up because of him, proving it had the desired affect. James didn't bring up how Amelia had mentioned Sirius having supposed feelings for Remus, these implied feelings were probably just a desire to keep the friendship.
Sirius sighed and untucked his chair, before walking out the classroom with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Edgar Bones and Charity gave him unimpressed looks on his way out, but soon after Sirius had left everything was back to normal. Edgar and Charity were back to writing whatever they were writing before.
After ten more minutes, Sirius and Remus walked back in. They were chatting casually, well, Sirius was. Remus was staring at his lips as he talked, like the good listener he is.
The marauders were back to normal, it seemed.