Chapter 2.
“Hello?”
“Peteee, hiiiii!”
“Oh hello, very drunk friend.” Peter glanced at his watch. 1:38 am on a Saturday night. That explained it. “Did you guys have fun?”
“Ugh, yes, so much fun,” Marlene’s voice slurred over the phone. “Em did shots with a cute guy and Alice accidentally snorted her drink.”
There was muffled giggling and commotion, which made Peter smile. The girls had invited him to a few of their drinks nights and they were easily some of the wildest nights of his life. Every time he went he felt like he gained another 10 years.
“Requesting my taxi services I assume,” he asked, a fond grin on his face. The closest of their friends to the bar, Peter regularly offered rides home to his mates.
“Yes, hic- please,” Marlene mumbled. Then slightly brighter, “Unless you want to come and grab a round of drinks with us!”
“Marls if you drink more it sounds like it's gonna kill you,” Peter rolled his eyes at her comment, quite content to maintain reasonable levels of sanity this weekend.
“You’re a wise man Petey,” Emmaline shouted in the background.
“Thanks, Em, I’ll meet you outside the bar in 15 minutes Marls.”
“THANK YOU PETE, WE LOVE YOU!” They chorused into the phone before hanging up.
~~~~~
Sunday was a blur to Marlene. Groggy and tired she flopped around her kitchen for a while, scrolling through social media. By lunch, she was taking another nap on her couch.
She woke up at about 2:26 pm feeling much more refreshed, and upon glancing at the fridge, she determined she should probably go shopping.
Whilst walking through the cereal aisle she decided that this week was going to be good. Her shift on Monday would thankfully be a short one with Alice, she and Lily had signed up for a yoga class on Wednesday, and she may end up with a solution to the Snape problem by the end of the week. Standing in a supermarket aisle, dressed in a shirt she should’ve washed three days ago, with a cart consisting of peanut butter and salami sticks, Marlene was feeling optimistic.
~~~~~~
It was Thursday, and Marlene had just gotten off a facetime call with Alice. Alice had been getting ready for a date with her boyfriend Frank and she’d wanted Marlene’s opinion on her outfit options.
Four hours, an empty wardrobe, a breakdown and some words of encouragement later, they’d come to a decision. Alice was wearing a floral purple dress with silver heart earrings and green sneakers.
“You look stunning.” Marlene had gushed. “You’ll sweep him off his feet, he will be starstruck, gobsmacked. You’re like a literal goddess.”
“Thanks, Marls, I feel great,” Alice had smiled, twirling around.
“As you should. Frank had better keep an eye on his girl, because goddam you look hot.” Marlene grinned cheekily.
Alice rolled her eyes. “Ha ha, anyway thanks again and I’ll text you about it afterwards.”
“I shall obsessively check my phone until you do!”
Now Marlene was getting ready for her shift at 11:45. On the counter her phone started ringing and she got up confused.
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting your call for at least another few hours. Is everything all good?”
“Wait, what?” A very male voice responded. She glanced at her phone. Never mind that was definitely not Alice’s number.
“Sorry, my bad, I’m Marlene, who’s this?”
“My name is Remus, your friend Alice contacted my boss and she asked me to arrange a meeting with you to see what the situation is and how we can help.” Remus was being very careful with his words to not reveal too much information in case Marlene was the wrong person.
“Oh, that was quick. I have a shift soon but I get off at three thirty if you want to meet after that?”
“That sounds great. I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay thanks, see you then.”
It never occurred to Marlene that she didn’t tell Remus where she worked.
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Her shift went by quickly as she bounced around waiting for this mysterious man to show up. She was a little bit excited, to be honest. The prospect of seeing this group in action was thrilling. Marlene felt like she’d been caught up in some crime tv show. Here she was, waiting to meet with an associate. It could be any one of the people around her she realised. She had no idea what this Remus guy looked like and she scanned the customers floating around with interest. In hindsight, she should have spoken a bit more with Remus on the phone. Their conversation had been very brief and Marlene had no idea what would happen.
~~~
Remus POV:
In the far left corner, a tall, lanky man watched Marlene with a similar interest. He sipped his double espresso as she darted around wiping down tables. Marlene seemed like a very cheerful and extroverted person. Often she would stop and chat with customers. Now and then she would stop and scan the room. She had glanced at him several times, but with his curly brown hair, terrible posture and reading glasses, he gave a very unassuming figure. As the clock ticked over to three thirty she disappeared through a staff door. When she came back out he flicked her a text.
~~~
Marlene POV:
Unknown: back left table
Her phone lit up with the text. Glancing around the colourful array of tables her eyes landed on a man at the far left one. He had his glasses pushed up his nose and was reading a very old and worn-looking book. A briefcase lay by his feet and his white shirt was unbuttoned a few times. Sure, that guy looks like he could be a Remus, Marlene decided as she made her way over.
“Excuse me?”
The man looked up from his book and proceeded to tuck it back into his bag. Much closer she could the freckles covering his nose, they went rather nicely with the russet brown curls and darker brown eyes. She noticed a large scar running down the right side of his pale face. He had been sitting on an angle before, likely to make it less noticeable to people passing by. Not wanting to make him uncomfortable, she avoided staring at it or asking about it. From his posture, she figured it wasn’t something he liked to draw attention to. “Marlene, hello. Please, sit down.”
“Wait how’d you know it was me?” She sat down opposite him with a bemused look.
“Lucky guess,” he said with a slight smile. “Is here okay to talk? We can find a more private location if that makes you comfortable?”
Marlene scanned the cafe. They were seated in a secluded corner and everyone seemed to be bustling about their day, paying no attention to the two. “Here’s great.”
“Okay, fantastic. Now all I know about this is that you are concerned about a friend's boyfriend and their relationship correct?” At her nod, Remus continued. “Could you please tell me more about it?”
Long after her shift had ended, Marlene sat and talked to Remus about Lily and Severus. She told him about Severus’ obsession in high school and then Lily going to stay with him after getting kicked out. Then about their relationship at the moment and how he controls so much of her decisions and actions. It was a struggle to keep the anger from her voice when she told Remus of the fights and all the shit Severus kept spitting at Lily. Finally, she brought up the shady guys he hung out with and her feeling that he was involved in something dodgy. He asked a lot of questions and as she spoke he took notes on a laptop and a pad of paper. Marlene wasn’t quite sure why he needed both but she was far too busy talking to ask. They ordered another coffee at some point and she shook her head in horror at the abomination of a drink Remus got.
“It’s so bitter! Why is there no milk? Or sugar?” She had fake gagged when he took a sip.
Remus rolled his eyes at her dramatics. “How are you disgusted, you make coffees like this for a living.”
“Yes but I’ve never had to associate with the people who drink them before!”
Overall she was very pleased with their chat. Remus informed her that they had several options to pursue from here. He would take his notes back to his boss and she would reach out and arrange a time for Marlene to come to their office to choose how she would like to go forward and begin the case. She would likely meet some of the others in the organisation at the meeting, Remus had said. Finally, they had sorted out some legal stuff about her rights and stuff that was incredibly boring to Marlene but she supposed it was probably important.
They talked a bit more, getting to know one another. Marlene learned that he also enjoyed poetry, reading and English. When he was a kid he was in a car accident, which is how he got the scar. He likes dogs and had a pet frog as a kid. “Well not technically, there was just one living in the pond behind my house,” He clarified. And he doesn’t like sports but he did play volleyball for a few years in high school.
Marlene was mid-way through telling him about ‘The Great Chocolate Fountain Escapade’ when they were interrupted. “Well as my cousin was in the middle of his best man speech for my brother-”
“Why hello, is that the famed Ms McKinnon I hear?” A voice came from behind her. She spun around to see a very familiar figure. A red hoodie was rolled up his brown arms and his glasses were perched on his nose. But the dead giveaway was the crooked, warm smile that lit up his cheerful face.
“Jamie! Oh my god, I haven’t seen you in aaaaages! How are you? Did you get a haircut it looks different.” Marlene burst out of her seat to hug her friend. She and James had grown up together and been very close in high school and college. Due to there being a few hours' car ride between their houses though, they hadn’t had a chance to catch up much recently. He answered her questions with just as much enthusiasm before she stopped him. “Sorry, that’s rude of me. James this is Remus. Remus this is James.”
“Heya, Remus, nice to meet you.” James turned to the other man and offered his hand out. Remus took it with a pleasant smile.
“Nice to meet you too James.”
“Oh, where are you from? You sound like you have an accent. Sorry if that was a bit blunt. Hey, is that The Shinning?” James spoke with so much genuine interest. Remus blinked in surprise before letting out a laugh. Marlene laughed at that too. She and James were a pair.
“I do have a bit of an accent, I was born and raised in Wales. Haven’t been there for a few years though so it's not as strong as it used to be. And yeah it is The Shinning.” Remus picked up the book he’d been reading when she first saw him.
“Are you a fan of horror?” James asked, sliding into the chair Marlene had been sitting in. At her pointed cough, he shrugged his shoulders at her before turning back to Remus. Nerds, she sighed and grabbed a chair from a nearby table.
“Yeah I do,” Remus responded which launched a massive debate between the two that went on for what felt like hours. They were mostly in agreement if Marlene had to take a guess. Her only contributions to the conversations were questions like, “He did what now?” and “Who the fuck would name their child that.”
Truly tragically, they all had to go off to various other places. Her bed, in Marlene’s case. So they said their goodbyes. James and Remus promised to keep in contact with her and ended up exchanging numbers with each other as well. On their way out of the cafe, after Remus had left, James clapped her on the back.
“Marls, you need to start introducing me to more of your friends, what if they're all as cool as Remus.”
“Hmph,” she grumbled. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed your chat, though I feel very ignored. By you as well! My boy bestest friend!”
James laughed at the nickname she had used throughout their younger years. “I’m very very sorry. How can I possibly make it up to you?” He asked in a mocking voice.
“I don't think it’s possible. I have been truly wounded.” Marlene dabbed underneath her eyes and sniffed. “I fear I shall never forgive you.”
“Not even,” he paused for dramatic effect, “if I buy you three rounds of shots and get the gang round for a smoke sesh?”
“Wait for real!” Marlene squealed. She jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. “Jamie you're the best!”
“Anything for my girl bestest friend,” he giggled, swinging her around.
“Oh right.” She coughed, dropping back to the ground. “I suppose that shall be sufficient. You are officially forgiven.”
“Ah, thank god, I was beginning to worry for a moment there.”
They talked about when they might organise it and who they should drag along. Finally, Marlene got into her car and they said their final goodbyes.
“Who knows,” James said as he departed. “Maybe you can invite that Remus bloke along.”
She heard him laughing as he ran away. So she sent him a very angry text to tell him exactly what she thought about that comment.
Me: your forgiveness has been redacted until further notice you mouthy bitch
Dumbass: my most sincere apologies
Me: -_-
might invite him tho but you have to promise not to spend the whole night making out this time asshole
Dumbass: roger that and excuse me we were not making out!
well he was rather fit
…
im making no promises