Moons
Marlene followed James outside, leaving Mary to continue her nap on the sofa. Something really bad must've happened to have her leave school, perhaps it was the whole Sybill situation. Nonetheless, Marlene, Lily and James all stood outside the door as the moon rose into the sky above.
Lily leant her head on Marlene's shoulder, and James leant his back against the glass door. "Moons are boring." Marlene complained, and Lily shot her a death stare. She didn't want to be there at all, but it was better than sitting with a sleeping Mary, she guessed.
The silver orb continued to rise in the sky, before the full moon was staring at them in the face. Marlene felt her stomach tie in a knot, and a floating feeling overtook her. She felt light, and fluffy; cloud like. Marlene let a soft giggle escape her lips, as she looked over to Lily who seemed just as distorted as her. It felt like a different kind of high, not the kind from marijuana, it was like she was on a whole other planet.
Lily had come off of her shoulder and grabbed Marlene's hands, "Let's go to mako!" Lily exclaimed, and Marlene nodded eagerly, it sounded like an excellent idea.
An agitating voice from behind them screeched, "Uh, guys, are you alright?" James - the geeky guy who was there for some reason - said in a shaky voice.
"Go away James." Lily spat, her pouting making her look childish.
James looked offended, but Marlene didn't care, she just grabbed Lily by the wrist and ran inside, to where Mary was sleeping on the sofa. Lily jumped on Mary's lap as Marlene hovered over her head. "Get up Mars bar!" Lily squealed with a giggle, and Marlene began laughing as well.
After that, everything was somewhat of a blur to Marlene.
The next thing she knew she was lying on the floor, her head without a pillow and her body without a cover. She glanced around, rubbing her temple, only to notice that the sun was already high in the sky. Nobody else seemed to be awake, so she took the liberty of assessing the situation at hand.
She was still in a similar state from the previous night, but the others surely weren't. Lily had her same bottoms on, but she was also wearing Mary's grey hoodie. That reminded Marlene that football tryouts were soon, she'd have to become attack. Lily had her hair tied in a messy bun, drool remnants dried on her chin, James' glasses on her own face wonkily, and was snoring loudly. Cuddled up to her, Mary was in a similar state, her hair tied by a claw clip, though.
Marlene glanced around for James, who was nowhere to be seen. That was, until she went outside. "James?" She exclaimed, rushing over to his side. Marlene leapt into the pool, diving with her arms above her head before going inwards as a dolphin would. She transformed promptly and swam towards the other end of the pool, where James was sleeping on an inflatable chair.
She shook it a few times before James fell off the side, and he surfaced the freezing water in seconds, pushing his bangs out of his face and gasping for air. "What the fuck!" He exclaimed, blinking hard as he attempted to adjust his vision without his glasses. "Marls?"
"James what the actual hell happened last night?" She shouted, confused and afraid.
"Are the others up yet?" James asked, paddling over to the edge of the pool and pulling himself upwards, lifting himself off.
"Well I'm just a fish though arent I." Marlene said, distastefully and sarcastically.
James scoffed and reached down a soaking wet hand for her, which she graciously took. He sat next to her as she dried herself off with her abilities, and he clicked his tongue in return.
The pair walked back into the house, where Lily and Mary seemed to be just waking up. They blinked at each other before hurriedly getting off of the sofa, causing Lily to land onto the floor with a thud.
"God, if you keep acting suspicious I'm gonna think that you fucked." Marlene joked as she made her way towards the kitchen and grabbed herself an apple. When she returned and sat on the sofa, James stood in front of them and began explaining.
Marlene fumbled for a cigarette, but found that they were no where to be seen. It's fine, her pack only had two left anyway.
"Mary, your house has security cameras, right?" James asked, and Mary nodded, suspicious. She got off the sofa and walked towards her television, taking the remote and flicking through the settings before it showed one marked as CCTV. She clicked play for the following night, and they all sat in silence, hunched over and watching.
It cut to Mary and Sirius sat on the sofa, which caused Mary to hurry for the remote and skip ahead. It just showed them talking animatedly in ten times the regular speed, before Mary fell asleep on him. She stopped skipping as James instructed, when Lily, Marlene and him went outside the door.
She changed the footage to that on the porch, and the girls watched in amazement as Marlene and Lily's eyes went glassy, and their mouthed began gaping. "Girls?" The distorted voice of James asked, and the footage showed the two of them excitedly begging to go to Mako, before they rushed inside.
Marlene shifted uncomfortably, she thought this was a gift, but it seemed more like a curse, now. The footage cut once again to the living room, where the two under the moon's spell began to wake up Mary, which worked quite well as she was a light sleeper. Marlene watched how Mary's face changed the same way when she looked out the window and became tranced by the full moon's silver gaze.
Mary's stare lingered for longer than the others, and that was when everything got weird(er). After James denied them going to Mako, Lily used some of her powers, which caused James to be launched against the wall, somehow. Then, Marlene shot a burst of lightning at him, which missed by an inch. But when Mary began to use her ice, that was when James felt the need to outsmart them. He has rushed onto the porch, slammed the door shut, causing Mary's ice to freeze the hinges instead of him.
If they had been in their right minds, then maybe Mary could've melted it, but it wasn't as simple as that. They weren't themselves, it was as if their tails had taken over. Mary pressed the off button on the remote, and Marlene could hear her panting.
"We need to delete this." Lily exclaimed, standing up from the sofa.
Marlene, instinctively, stood up as well. "No shit!" She ran her fingers through her silky, blonde hair, stressed.
"James, are you okay?" Mary asked, concerned. James nodded, reassuringly. Lily rushed over to his side and enveloped him in a tight hug, causing Mary to turn away. The hug lasted for a solid five seconds before Lily broke away, rushing back to where she was sat and returning James' glasses to him. They'd been thrown off when he was slammed into the wall.
There was no physical damage, not any of them nor the building itself. After Mary erased the footage, everything should've been back to normal.
Should've.
"How did Sybill know?" Lily suddenly said, breaking the silence.
"What?" Mary asked.
"You heard me."
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Amelia climbed out of her bed bright and early, following her usual routine. She would slide on her pink, fluffy slippers which were always next to her bed, and then make her way towards her private bathroom. She brushed her teeth, rinsed, washed her face, had a shower, dried off, and then began on her hair and makeup.
Her routine consisted of brushing through her curls, then applying mouse to ensure that they didn’t look hideous. Every brush pulled on her scalp, making her wince in pain. Afterwards, she applied a few coats of mascara, but never enough to make it lumpy. Then she would put on some lip balm, and head downstairs.
She was in her black, silk satin pyjama set. It had golden details woven intricately into it, showing off the luxury brand in which it came from. She greeted her family formally downstairs, as she took her seat at the breakfast table.
“How has school been treating you?” Her mother asked Edgar, as she poured herself a cup of scolding hot tea. The china teapot lid slammed shakily against the pot itself, creating an annoying noise.
“Good.” Edgar replied, as he cut into his fried egg, the yolk breaking. He dipped the whites into a blob of ketchup, dragging the condiment across the plate. Amelia was overly aware of this, and she struggled to keep her composure when she began to notice these things. “Thomas dropped out.” He added on sloppily, his mouth full.
“That’s unfortunate,” Their mother began, her voice unnerved as always. “You’re slouching Amelia.” She scolded, and Amelia fixed her posture immediately. She’d had enough,though. Ever since she stood up to the Marauders, she had a newfound confidence within herself.
“Thomas was a lazy prick.” Amelia said to her brother, making chilling yet unafraid eye contact.
“Shut up Amelia,” Her brother started, his voice beginning to fill with rage. Their mother had stopped at the doorway, staring at the two of them with eyes of pure disgust.
“No, Thomas didn’t work for shit. I’ve spent my whole fucking life studying and where have I ended up?” She retorted back, slamming her clenched fists onto the table and untucking her chair, standing up. Edgar also stood up, and soon enough they were inches apart.
“Nowhere, you’re a nobody and always will be.” Edgar said, spit particles flying from his mouth and onto Amelia’s face. She wiped her eyes, smudging her mascara and making herself look mad. She smiled manically, as tears welled up in her eyes, before she spat in her dear brothers face. He gasped in shock, and as did their mother from behind them.
The sound of glass shattering was the last thing that Amelia heard before her mother stormed over there and slapped her across the cheek. There was an echo of the noise, and Amelia opened her eyes to a face of pure disgust.
As the tension crackled in the air, the mother's eyes flared with fury, her voice a thunderous roar that echoed through the house. "How dare you!" Her words sliced through the silence like a knife, each syllable dripping with rage. The daughter recoiled, her heart racing as she faced the full force of her mother's wrath.
With trembling hands and tear-filled eyes, Amelia watched as her mother's face contorted with anger. "You are a disgrace!" The words hung heavy in the air, suffocating any hope of reconciliation. The mother's voice rose to a crescendo, each word laced with venom as she unleashed a torrent of accusations.
In a moment of impulsive retaliation, Amelia had spat in her brother's face, a reckless act born out of frustration and anger. But now, as she faced her mother's wrath, she realized the gravity of her actions. The mother's voice cut through the air like a whip, condemning Amelia’s behaviour with every syllable.
With a final, chilling scream, the mother's patience snapped like a brittle twig, her resolve shattering beneath the weight of her anger. "Get out of my house!" The words hung in the air, a damning verdict that sent a chill down the daughter's spine. In that moment, she knew she had crossed a line that could never be uncrossed.
As Amelia stumbled upstairs, her mother's screams still ringing in her ears, she felt a profound sense of emptiness wash over her. In her reckless act of defiance, she had lost more than just her temper. She had lost the one person who had always been there for her, the one person she had thought she could rely on no matter what; her brother. And now, as she stood alone in the darkness, she realized just how deep the wounds of her actions ran.
She began recklessly throwing her belongings into the first suitcase she saw, but she felt the need for one more act of defiance before leaving permanently. Amelia ran into the bathroom, closed the lid of the toilet and stood on top of it. From there, she undid a loose marble ceiling tile and brought it down onto the floor carefully. She reached into the void above the ceiling, before her hands recognised a familiar box.
Bringing it down, she dug through the contents of it, placing a pair of scissors along with some red hair dye. She’d bought it a few days ago, and was planning to surprise her mother with it before running away, but now this was Amelia’s only chance.
She swallowed harshly, before she brought the scissors up towards the side of her head, and snip.