Prank?
September 15th 1971
“You should have seen the way you fell,” James exclaimed, leaping around the common room, “YEAH!” Sirius added loudly, “You went like zoom, and then you kinda just,” he was waving his arm around for dramatic effect. Marlene snorted, she had just gotten back from the hospital wing that afternoon and James and Sirius had taken it upon themselves to fill her in on what happened.
Peter nodded, “YEAH! And don’t forget the part she went spinning around and I swear I thought you nearly died!” he continued, as Sirius would nod and try and add onto what Peter was saying. Marlene just sat and laughed as they explained a dramatised version of the events.
Lily sat a few chairs over with Mary partly listening to what they were saying. “You know,” Lily said, arching an eyebrow, James whipped his head over to her so fast, Marlene thought he must have given himself whiplash. Sirius snickered and she made a mental note to ask what he was laughing about later. “That is absolutely not what happened,” Sirius sighed, “Oh relax, Evans, we’re just having a bit of fun,” she flicked him on the knee to which he leapt back dramatically falling backwards on the ledge of the couch, then fainting onto the cushions.
Mary giggled, which made Sirius puff out his chest a little. Marlene rolled her eyes slightly, “What really did happen,” She said, curious about the real story of how she broke her arm. “Well, that Slytherin girl, Dorcas Meadowes…” Lily began, “I know this part. Lils skip to the part where my arm is broken,” Marlene cut in. Lily huffed a small, exasperated laugh, rolling her eyes she continued, “She went flying up too close to you and far too fast than what she should have, and you lost control of your broom, causing you to go spiralling out of control downwards,”
“My retelling was FAR better,” Sirius shook his head sighing, “Alright, Black, you keep telling yourself that,” Mary said from next to Lily, a grin on her face. Sirius flinched at the use of his last name, barely noticeable, but Marlene noticed, as did James, who shot Marlene a worried look. Before they could react any further Sirius had a sly grin spreading across his face, he rubbed his hands together as if he was forming a brilliant plan, “Whatever you're thinking,” Lily said, “Stop it, immediately.”
“Well spit it out, mate,” Peter exclaimed, “Yeah,” added James, “What brilliant plan have you come up with,” Sirius jumped up from his spot on the couch, “How about we get revenge Dorcas, and get the rest of the Slytherin’s, mainly Snape, in the process,” James smacked Sirius on the back, delight spread on Peter’s face and Marlene clapped her hands together in excitement. Lily, on the other hand, was less so excited by this thought, her cheeks heated up in frustration, “I think you should just leave Sev alone, you know if you lot weren't so mean to him maybe he would be nicer to you,” she defended. Sirius rolled his eyes, “Well he isn’t nice to us, Evans, so we aren’t going to be nice back! Besides, we won’t target him specifically, just the whole of the Slytherins in our year,” He added, shrugging his shoulders. “Still, you suggested the idea, with the thought that you would get Sev, and because he is my friend, I will not allow that to happen,” She stood up staring Sirius down, for a second Marlene thought he might back down. He shook his head and didn’t say anything back.
Lily packed up her books and left, followed closely by Mary who seemed disappointed to be leaving her comfy chair by the fire. Marlene looked at them slightly apologetically, “Don’t worry about her,” she started, “But you should probably not talk about Snape like that in front of her,” James didn’t look entirely convinced but he wasn’t one to argue with his friends so he kept quiet, Sirius on the other hand just nodded, “Alright well, if she doesn’t want to hear us talking about him, then why does she be around us then,” Peter shrugged, “It’s a wonder I hang out with you two sometimes, you are both exhausting,” he said, lightening the mood a bit. “And as for Sirius’ prank idea, I think we should start planning it this weekend,”
James nodded, agreeing, “We have detentions for the rest of the week for blowing up those dung bombs in the girls' third-floor bathrooms,” Sirius chuckled at the thought. “Alright then, I’ll see you guys Saturday. I’m going to go catch up with Lily and Mary,” She stood up from the large armchair, smiled goodbye to her friends, and went to her dorm room where she assumed her friends would be.
Walking up the stairs she was greeted by her cat Salem, Marlene picked him up, cuddling him to her chest. “Hello my baby,” she cooed to him. He began purring and Marlene kissed his forehead, carrying him on up the stairs to their shared room. Lily and Mary were sprawled over Mary's bed. Lily was writing something down out of Mary’s notes and Mary was not paying the slightest attention as she held a ‘Witches Weekly: Teens Edition’ magazine above her head, flipping through the pages.
“Marls!” Lily said, noticing her, seemingly calmed down from the discussion about Snape before. “Here I was just getting today's notes together for you,” She gathered a dozen pieces of parchment and handed them to her. “Come on, Lils,” Mary said, putting her magazine down, “let the poor girl relax, there will be plenty of time for note copying later,” Marlene gave both of her friends a grateful smile, but took the notes anyway, walking over to her bed and putting them on her bedside table, “Hmm, Mary is right,” She yawned, suddenly feeling very tired, “I think I might shower and then go to sleep,” She grabbed a pair of pyjamas out of her drawers and closed the door to the bathroom before listening to either of her friends' response.
When she finished in the shower, she took her time to dry and brush her hair, putting her washing in the laundry basket at the end of her bed, she pulled back the covers and crawled in. Trying her hardest to avoid waking a sleeping Salem. Mary was in the bed next door, a quiet snore could be heard from her, and a faint glow came from Lily’s side of the room, where Marlene presumed she was reading a book. The notes were still sitting on her bedside table but she didn’t bother to read them, not tonight, she thought, I’ll do it in the morning.
Marlene allowed the last two days to catch up to her. She really couldn’t believe that she had let herself lose control of the broom that quickly, especially against Dorcas Meadowes, who had quickly become her rival in class, and by the looks of things would be her rival in Quidditch too.
This irked Marlene the more she thought about it. She rolled over in her bed, so her back now faced her friends, ‘god I’m so stupid for messing up that easily. I bet if Josh was here he would have been disappointed,’ She tried not to think herself dwell on the idea of her brother being disappointed in her, but when she started thinking this way the thoughts wouldn’t stop. She tried her hardest to fall asleep but the melancholy had seeped through her brain, and all she could think about was how absolutely stupid she was.
That night she had a restless sleep, tossing and turning all night. She dreamt of nothing tonight.
18th September 1971
“AHH,” Marlene yelped, waking up abruptly, something soft hit her head hard. She heard the giggles of her friends that seemed to be coming from the foot of her bed. Lifting what she assumed to have been a cushion, off of her face, she scowled at the two girls, who were still laughing at her. Salem scurried out of bed, shaking his head, irritated by being woken up so early. Marlene understood what the poor cat was feeling.
She propped herself up on her forearms and looked at her friends, the pair had mostly calmed down, and Lily looked like a strawberry with her green eyes and red flushed face. “Why on earth would you wake me up at this wretched time,” although the sun was shining brightly through the open curtains. “Come on,” Mary walked around so she now stood next to Marlene, “Get uppp,” She held onto Marlene’s arm yanking her out of bed. She allowed herself to be pulled along. “Where are we going,” she asked. “Did I not tell you yesterday?” Lily questioned, “Hagrid invited us down to his house this morning for breakfast,”
Marlene tried to stifle a groan, “He’s not gonna feed us rock cakes right?” Lily scowled at her, “Don’t be rude,” She said, “And no, he won’t,” Marlene let out a sigh, “Good,” she said, Mary seemed a little less convinced, Lily leaned over and flicked her on the arm, “Ow, Lils, that hurt,” Mary said, rubbing the side of her arm that her friend had flicked. “Oh relax, and besides, that's what you get,” Mary pouted, “But Marlene complained out loud,” Marlene giggled, “Fortunately for Marlene, I can’t reach her, now go get ready, quick! Or else we’re gonna be late!” With that Marlene hurried off to get ready.
She dressed in record time, not even taking in what she was wearing. She brushed her teeth and swished her hair into a ponytail and met Mary and Lily in the common room.
“Took you long enough,” Mary joked, Marlene shook her head, a smile on her lips. “Come on you two,” Lily said, she seemed to be looking forward to this visit, and she dragged them along behind her by their arms.
They made their way out of the common room and passed James, Sirius, Peter, and an unhappy Remus Lupin in the hall. Peter looked at her and mouthed if they were still up for tonight, she shot him a thumbs up, but before he could mouth anything back she was dragged down the arm by Lily, who was in far too much of a rush to notice them.
“Lils, I’m serious, how come you are in so much of a rush to see Hagrid,” Mary asked. Lily shrugged in response, “I have a question to ask him, I’ve been researching magical creatures!,” Mary and Marlene shared a curious look, “What one?” She asked, “An imp!” Lily exclaimed, “It's like a little pixie thing, and kind of looks like your cat Marls,” she shot her friend a smirking glance, mock offence written all over Marlene’s face. “Take that back!” Lily snorted, and the trio carried on down the millions of stairs.
About halfway down the stairs, Mary plonked herself down on the stairs, “Arghh,” she groaned, “My feet hurt already,” Lily patted her friends arm, “Come on Mary, at least if we get to the great hall we can sit for a little bit,” Marlene extended her arms out to Mary, with her palms out, “Come on Mary, I’ll help you up,” She put her hands in her friends and allowed herself to be pulled up.
They carried on down the last flights of stairs and finally reached the ground floor, “I think,” Marlene started, “That we should learn a spell to float ourselves up to the common room,” Mary’s eyes twinkled with excitement, “That,” She exclaimed, gleefully, “Is the most genius thing I have ever heard anyone say,” Lily shook her head, “Maybe that isn’t the best idea, I mean we haven’t even learnt the basic levitation charms,” Marlene and Mary shared a sly look, “You’re right Lils, maybe we should just wait until afterwards, besides I’m sure Flitwick said we’d be learning it, next class,” she shrugged her shoulders, trying to seem as fake-nonchalant as possible.
The ginger sighed, rolled her eyes and carried on walking, “I’m sure we could look into something maybe? But it will most likely be out of our skill range,” Marlene and Mary high-fived each other behind Lily’s back, large smiles spread across their faces. They jogged to catch up with Lily, who had walked multiple paces ahead of them.
They had nearly reached Hagrid’s when it started to rain, Mary shrieked, quickly lifting her hands up to cover her head, “I knew I should have grabbed an umbrella,” Lily muttered to herself. Marlene lifted her jumper over her head and the three of them ran the rest of the way to Hagrid’s hut.
Rushing up the wooden stairs to the front door, Marlene smacked her hands on the door, hard. “Aye, aye,” Hagrid said, opening the door. The three girls stood at his front door looking like nearly drowned rats. “Quickly, come on inside, the fire’s going so you should warm up fast,” Lily shivered, leading the other two in, “Thanks Hagrid,” she smiled warmly at him.
Lily sat closest to the fire and held her jumper out to the fire. Marlene did the same, sitting on the other side of the fire and holding her jumper out. “Careful Marls,” Lily started, “I’d hate for your jumper to catch fire,” Marlene rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry Lils, it’ll be fine,” she smiled reassuringly, Lily, despite not buying it, didn’t say anything else.
Hagrid brought them hot tea and pumpkin pasties, and he handed one out to each of the girls. Marlene gobbled her pastie away quickly, leaving a few crumbs behind. Mary snorted, “Jeez Marls, you eat bloody fast,” the other girl huffed a laugh, “As opposed to you? The snail?” she raised her eyebrows, Mary shook her head, a smirk on her face.
Marlene took a big sip of her tea, slurping a little bit, “So, how has your week been?” Hagrid asked, from across the room, a few pumpkin pastie crumbs were in his beard. Marlene tried not to notice them. “Well,” she began, “During our first flying lesson I got my arm broken,” She said, sheepishly, as if embarrassed, “Blimey!” he half shouted, shocked, “Are you okay? I dear say Madame Pomfrey looked after you well?” She nodded, “Yup! She fixed my arm up nicely, although, I do forget how disgusting that Skele-gro potion is!” She shuddered at the thought, Hagrid nodded knowingly, “It truly is quite disgusting,” Lily nodded along, despite not knowing what the potion was like.
Mary elbowed Marlene in the side, readjusting, “Ow!” she said, spinning around sharply, knocking over her jumper and into the fire. The smell of burning wool and smoke quickly filled up the room. Marlene quickly leapt up and away from her spot next to the fire, grabbing Lily and holding her in front of her as if using the girl as a shield. “Marlene, let me go,” she sighed, mock offended, Hagrid took a pink umbrella that was hanging up by the front door and waved it, announcing “Aguamenti,” a stream of water shot out of the end of the umbrella, landing directly on top of the fire, that was Marlene’s jumper. The fire spluttered out, leaving the jumper with a large gaping hole in the side and missing most of a sleeve.
She sighed and picked up her jumper, shrugging, “Oh well, I didn’t really like that jumper anyway,” but folded it over her arm. “Don’t worry there Marlene, I have another spell for that, thought you three best not any mention any magic that I’ve done ‘cause I’m not really supposed to be able to,” Hagrid said seriously, then waving his wand-umbrella, he muttered a phrase, “Reparo.”
Right before her eyes, Marlene’s jumper knitted itself back together. The jumper looked brand new, with no burn marks left on it. Her face lit up, “Thanks, Hagrid,” She said grinning.
“Ooo,” Mary said, eyes lighting up and quickly swallowing the mouthful of tea she had, “Lily what was that thing that you wanted to ask Hagrid?” Lily’s green eyes shone, and she turned to face Hagrid better, “Hagrid, do you think I can get a pet Imp and bring him here, to Hogwarts with me?” Hagrid looked pleased to be asked something about the creatures, “I don’t see why not, I’m sure I could ask Dumbledor about it! Why were you hoping to get one?” He asked, Lily, nodded, “Yes! I was doing some reading about magical creatures and I stumbled across them and I just wanted one! They are cute, in an ugly sort of way, like Marlene’s cat,” She added the last part with a sly smile, “Hey!” Marlene retorted, “Salem is very cute thank you very much,”
Lily carried on chatting away to Hagrid, listing off all the things she had learned about Imps. Hagrid nodded and would add in little bits of information that he had about them.
“Where is Magnus,” Mary interjected, abruptly, “Hmm? Oh, he hasn’t been feeling his best so a friend of mine in Hogsmeade has been looking after him. She’s got a bigger fire and stuff. It’s safer for him and all.” he seemed lost without the little salamander running around causing mischief. Lily patted his arm giving him a reassuring smile, Hagrid wiped away a tear that had fallen onto his cheek, “I’m sure Magnus is in great hands,” she reassured him. Hagrid nodded his head and sniffed deeply, he shook his head and brightened himself up, smiling. He slapped his knees and stood up, “Right, well, you three best be heading back up to the castle, and I have a few things that I need to sort out!”
With that, they bid their goodbyes and trudged their way back to the castle. Finally inside the warmth of the castle, Lily shrugged off her jacket, she hugged it to her chest as the trio continued walking, “Lils, how do you plan on acquiring an imp?” Mary asked, “I haven’t decided yet, but I’m sure if I ask Hagrid he could find me one,” She brightly chirped, “Though, I do worry how my parents may think if I bring one home, they might make me set it free,” her face fell a little, “Oh well, I guess I’ll find out then,”
“Ow!” Marlene yelped, jumping back, Lily and Mary stopped and turned to give their friend a weird look. Dorcas stopped her conversation with her friend and spun around to face Marlene, annoyance written all over her face, “Watch where you’re going, Mckinnon,” She sneered, Marlene looked at her, mouth agape, “I- uh,” Dorcas gave her a look waving her arms to signal for her to carry on. “Spit it out,” Marlene got her bearings together, “Sorry,” she said, perplexed, “I didn’t mean to walk into you,” Dorcas lifted her chin, “Well watch where you’re going next time, m’kay,” She said, Mary was annoyed now, “It was just an accident, Meadowes, relax,” she defended her friend. “I don’t care if it was an accident, she should be watching where she’s walking,” Dorcas, seemingly done with the conversation, looped her arm into her friends and stomped away. The other girl threw an apologetic look over her shoulder.
“Well that was uncalled for,” Mary said, rolling her eyes, Lily nodded in agreement, “She is so rude that girl, and it’s not like walked into her on purpose,” she added. Marlene furrowed her brows, she had thought that the two were on better terms after joking together the other night, and Dorcas seemed to sincerely apologise to her. Not wanting to think about it too hard right at this second she stepped forward to meet her friends, “She was nice the other night, Madame Volare got her to apologise to me about my arm, clearly, I misread the situation,” “You never bloody know with Slytherin’s,” Mary nodded. The trio began walking again, making their way back to the Gryffindor tower. Marlene had already begun planning how she was going to get Dorcas back.
Later that night Marlene met James, Peter, and Sirius in their dorm room. Remus was there too, but he mostly ignored their rowdy conversation. “First order of business,” James said leading the group, “We need to figure out how we’re going to get back at Dorcas, and then the rest of the Slytherins,” He brought out a parchment and a quill and wrote ‘Prank Planning’ at the top. Sirius clapped his hands together gleefully, “We could change the colour of their robes and ties so they were gold and red?” he suggested, Peter shook his head, “Nah, that just incriminates us, although, what are a few more detentions,” he shrugged. James wrote the idea down anyway, then wrote a question mark next to it.
“What else,” Peter’s eyes lit up, “You know what we could do?” he said, mischief gleaming in his eyes, “What Pete, come on spit it out,” James said, the suspense was killing all three of them, “We could transform their tongues into snakes so they hiss,” Marlene’s eyes gleamed, thinking about her conversation, if you could even call it that, with Dorcas previously. “Brilliant idea, but the question now is, how do we do that,” Peter nodded, she could see the cogs turning in his brain, “There is no way we would be able to hex them all at the same time,” he brainstormed allowed, Remus from the other side of the room cleared his throat, “You know, you could probably get to the kitchens early in the morning and put something in the butter or something,”