Bets and Blondie
“Last chance to get your bets in, everyone!” James was calling out to the crowd of students streaming through the wide corridor to their last lesson of the day. He and Marlene stood on a ledge that stuck out from the stone wall, a prime position to make their voices heard.
“Don’t be pussies,” Marlene added.
“We’re meant to be encouraging them, not scaring them away,” James muttered through his teeth, smiling at two passersby, who turned to each other and giggled.
“You’re right,” she whispered back. “Don’t be pussies!” she repeated loudly, this time with five layers of fabricated enthusiasm. A Hufflepuff fifth year gave her an affronted look. James elbowed her, but snorted.
Someone cheered, “Hufflepuff better win me a Sneakoscope!”
Marlene raised an eyebrow. “That’s the spirit.” She sent him a thumbs up, and said to James under her breath, “Whoever bet on Hufflepuff is an idiot .”
He made a noise of agreement, then called out, “You know where you’ll find us! And if you don’t, it’s the Astronomy tower. Tallest place around. You can’t miss it!”
“Now you just sound desperate.” She patted his arm. “Shit, it’s McGonagall. Come on.”
They hopped off the ledge and dove into the crowd, becoming just two students amongst many. Naturally, McGonagall picked them out anyway.
They turned the corner, high-fiving themselves at their escape, and there she was, that good old face of stone settled into an expression that spoke of detentions. She and James exchanged a bewildered glance. How in Merlin’s rotting teeth had she gotten there before them?
“Professor!” James exclaimed, jumping in before she could start on them. “I was hoping to catch you. Marlene, weren’t we hoping to catch her?”
“Oh, yes,” she began with enthusiasm. “We were dying to hear all about… what were we dying to hear about, James?”
“Only Transfiguration, of course! It was that question… what was that question again? The one with the…?”
“Oh, gosh, I think I need to consult my notes. Don’t you think we need to check what it was?”
They began to sidle away quickly, avoiding McGonagall’s gaze.
“You’re right Marlene, how can we ask a question if we don’t even know what it is?”
“Exactly, James. Professor, we’ll catch you again when we remember!”
“Thanks for all your help!”
They were almost out the corridor.
“Potter and McKinnon!” McGonagall hardly had to raise her voice, and they sighed, stopped, and began walking back to her with heads hanging. Any other teacher and they would’ve gotten away, but McGonagall was McGonagall.
She watched their miserable return with narrowed eyes. They stopped in front of her, and she let the silence hang.
Then, to Marlene’s enormous surprise, she said, “Please do try to win the Quidditch Cup this year, you two, for both of our sakes. I hear there is much at stake.” She paused, and Marlene stopped her mouth from hanging open. “Now get to your lessons, before I give you detention for public harassment of students.”
“Thank you, Professor!”
“We won’t let you down!”
They sprinted away, laughing incredulously and hardly daring to believe their luck.
“ No running .”
“Sorry, Professor,” they called back in unison.
Marlene was pretty shocked to see Hufflepuff were winning. She knew how polished their team were when they moved as one, and how hard they worked to get like it, but she’d expected Slytherin to have at least a few tricks up their sleeve.
“Another ten points to Hufflepuff!” exclaimed the commentator, who Marlene was almost sure was a Hufflepuff herself. “What a day for the team, they’re a unit that can’t be - ooh.” The crowd was stunned into a shocked silence for a moment, before the Slytherin side of the stands went wild.
“Hufflepuff chaser Meyer has been knocked off his broom. Looks like Slytherin are making their comeback,” she continued, sounding slightly less enthused, “as chaser Meadowes and beater Rowell make a play for the Quaffle. And Meadowes scores. Ten points to Slytherin.”
Marlene winced at the commentator’s poorly-hidden resentment. Dorcas scored twice more within two minutes, and the green and silver section of the crowd started chanting her name.
“She’s not bad!” Peter declared. Marlene glared at him. “For a Slytherin,” he amended.
Dorcas did a victory lap, and Marlene thoroughly debated hexing her off her broom. She hadn’t made a bet herself, too busy sorting the rest of it out, but if she had, she would’ve made sure to bet against Dorcas. The cocky wanker.
Luckily, the chanting stopped after a minute or two, but Dorcas’s goals had put Slytherin in the lead by ten points. This was the game she’d expected, much as she loathed to admit it.
Even from her seat in the stands she could hear Dorcas calling out to the other chasers, the one called Crouch and the other, Jones, like she could anticipate exactly where the Quaffle was about to be, the precise moves they would all need to take to get it in their possession. It made Marlene hate her even more. She was just beginning to think about how she would go about beating Dorcas in the match, when James, who was standing beside her, nudged her arm.
“Can you feel it?” He was grinning from ear to ear. “Everyone’s absolutely buzzing; the match, the bets. Earlier someone tried to get me to rig the winnings for him, can you believe it? I almost said yes, just out of pure amazement at the size of his bloody balls.”
Marlene grinned with him. “Who knew we’d be the ones to create Hogwarts’s biggest betting ring?”
James turned his gaze back to the match, eyes lit up. Not long after, he spotted something and they narrowed.
“Sirius was right, he is smug,” he muttered. Marlene followed his line of vision to see Regulus surveying the pitch.
“I don’t see it.”
Mary leaned in from her other side to say, “All I can see are his cheekbones, because damn they’re fine.”
James and Marlene tilted their heads.
“You might be right,” he admitted, at the same time as Marlene replied, “I don’t see that either.”
As the three of them watched, Regulus’s gaze zeroed in on something they couldn’t see, and he wasted no time in leaning forward, urging his broom on.
“Looks like Regulus Black has seen the snitch!” the commentator gasped.
The Hufflepuff seeker caught up to him fast enough, and soon they were neck and neck. The Hufflepuff looked like she was edging in by just a glance ahead, when without warning Regulus pulled a ninety degrees turn and plucked something out of the air fifteen metres to his right.
For a moment, the pitch went silent.
Then, “Regulus Black has caught the snitch, and tricked Hufflepuff seeker Ali in the process.” The second half of the commentator’s sentence was barely heard over the roar of cheers from the Slytherins.
Marlene saw Hufflepuff’s seeker look bewildered, and then exasperated as she took in what had happened, but her gaze found the Slytherin team as they met on the ground to celebrate. To her horror, she saw Dorcas smiling, actually smiling, hugging her teammates like she was some kind of… person with feelings. But that was impossible.
“Fuck me,” Mary said. “Now we’re going to have to put up with Sirius complaining about his brother for the next two weeks. This is just bloody excellent.”
“Nah. He’ll probably get over it soon enough,” James replied.
“That bastard!” Sirius cried. “Do you know what he did today?”
Marlene raised her eyebrows. “No, but I feel like you’re going to tell us anyway. Go on.”
It was the day after the match, and she, Lily, Mary and Remus had been on their way to Hogsmeade before being ambushed by Sirius, closely followed by James. Peter had gone earlier with Sara Lozenge, after much disaster over what he should wear.
They came up to the village just as Sirius finished describing in intricate detail the horrors of being a sibling. Marlene hunched her shoulders against the autumnal chill in the air, relying on her scarf for warmth.
“Right, I reckon our first stop is Zonko’s,” Sirius said, looking hopeful again at the prospect of pranks. James immediately agreed, whereas Remus and Lily wanted to pop to Scrivenshaft’s. Mary scrunched her nose up and turned to Marlene.
“Fancy Honeydukes?”
“You know me too well.”
They all agreed to meet at the Three Broomsticks when they were finished, and set off without further dawdling. After four years of Hogsmeade visits, they were well-experienced with the logistics.
“Merlin, since when did it get so bloody cold? I miss the sun ,” Mary sighed, shivering.
“ You’re my sun, MacDonald.” Marlene pretended to throw herself at Mary, who pushed her away, cackling.
“Oh, shush. I’m just going to warn you, today is not a day to hold back at Honeydukes. I’m going all out.”
“I’m with you on that one. I’ll need at least three bags of sugar quills if I’m going to make it through the Autumn assessments.”
“What’s up with you and Potions at the minute, by the way? You’re more into it than Snape.”
“Please don’t compare me to him, ever again.” Marlene shuddered. “It’s really nothing. What’s up with you and Francis?”
“Is this deflection I see, Marls?”
“How dare you! It’s good-natured curiosity. And slight concern. You only ‘go all out’ at Honeydukes when a love interest is being a real prick.”
“Aren’t they all?” Mary sighed. “You’re right, though, Francis is well and truly gone. I thought his fancy French genes would pull through, but turns out he was just…” She thought for a moment.
“Just what?”
“A self-obsessed bastard who couldn’t get it up,” she answered matter-of-factly.
Marlene laughed in shock. “You’re joking? Please tell me you’re not joking .”
“I’ve never been more serious. Regrettably,” she added.
Marlene whistled. “Well, his loss.” She took Mary’s arm as the shopfront appeared in all its sparkling, gold and blue glory. “Come on, let’s empty our pockets.”
They were the first to make it to the Three Broomsticks, and ordered butterbeers immediately, their fingers already going numb from the cold.
Marlene relaxed back into the soft cushion of the corner booth and turned to take in the lively pub; the people dressed for business, those here to just meet friends, the Hogwarts students, the many different magical creatures that congregated here for a quick drink and chat.
Her gaze was drawn to the door as a group of students came in, and she turned back around immediately, her back to the blast of cold air that followed them in. It was Dorcas and her group of friends; Regulus, Pandora and two other boys who must’ve been the ones petting Goose that day. She couldn’t quite recall their names.
Mary noted her change in body language like she’d always been able to, and leaned over to see what had caught Marlene’s attention.
“Mary, don’t,” Marlene tried, but Mary had already gathered the information she seemed to require, and looked back to Marlene, a strange grin on her face.
“Why are you hiding from Regulus Black?”
Marlene frowned in confusion. “What?”
“As soon as he walked in you recoiled like you’d seen a snake or something.” Mary started to grin like she’d stumbled across a piece of gold embedded in rock. “Marlene, you’re blushing!” She gasped. “You don’t have a thing for Sirius’s brother, do you?”
The question was so absurd it made Marlene choke on her drink in shock.
Mary took this to mean the opposite. “Oh my god, Marlene!”
“ Mary! Fucking hell, don’t be ridiculous. I am not blushing, and for the love of god, I do not fancy Regulus bloody Black.”
Mary raised her eyebrows, smirking. “You’re good, I’ll give you that. But I know your secret.”
Marlene put her face into her hands. She could see no way out of this other than to tell Mary the truth.
“I wasn’t looking at him, you idiot.”
Mary’s face grew even more invested. “Can’t promise I’ll believe you, but go on.”
“For Merlin’s sake, it was that arrogant pisshead Dorcas Meadowes. She’s been bothering me since the start of term, and now I’ve been…” she searched for the words, “blackmailed into some kind of Potions rivalry with her. There. Happy?”
Mary sat back in her seat, but her gaze was latched onto something directly behind Marlene. Her eyes were wide in either delight or horror, Marlene couldn’t tell, but a sudden, creeping sense of dread began to work its way down her neck as she realised who Mary must be looking at.
“Fuck. She’s standing right behind me, isn’t she?” Marlene muttered. Mary scrunched her nose and nodded, looking like she was enjoying this far too much.
Before Marlene even turned around, Dorcas began, “I’m so pleased to know you think I’m a… what was it you said? An ‘arrogant pisshead’? Blimey, that’s cleared a lot of things up.”
Marlene gritted her teeth. “Merlin, did something finally get through that thick skull of yours? Took you long enough.”
Dorcas’s glare was piercing, which wasn’t helped by the fact that her whole table of friends was watching them from across the pub. Like always, she couldn’t read Regulus’s expression, but Pandora’s was faintly amused, and the other two just looked entertained.
“No, you’re right, I’m the one with the thick skull. For a moment there, you almost had me convinced it was the other way around.”
Marlene made a face of mock concern. “I hate to be the one who had to break that to you.”
“Must have been something to do with the fourteen percent difference… Merlin, I think that was what really threw me off.”
Mary cleared her throat. “Sorry to break up this weird sarcasm stand-off, but Dorcas, I can’t believe we’ve never spoken before. I’m Mary.” Marlene glared a warning at her friend, but it was too late.
Dorcas turned to Mary as if for the first time, and said after a moment, “No, I do know you. You’re the one who slapped that Billy guy in sixth year in the Great Hall, aren’t you?”
Mary’s grin widened. “That was me! What a knob, honestly.”
“I know him; I duelled him in the corridor once. He landed on his arse and tried to curse me for weeks.”
“That was you?”
“Mm-hm. Must have bruised him pretty bad, he was limping around like he was on Polyjuice Potion. Pretty pathetic.”
Mary nodded approvingly.
Marlene couldn’t believe her ears. She was sitting in a state of actual, clinical shock, unable to comprehend the fact that Mary and Dorcas were right next to her, chatting like they’d known each other for years. Her best friend and her mortal enemy. Why wasn’t Mary hexing her? Why wasn’t Marlene hexing her? Why weren’t they all hexing each other by now?
“Anyway,” Mary was saying, “I know it’s a bit early, but Gryffindor has a Halloween party every year, and I think you and your friends should come. It’ll be fun, promise. It’s our last one, so we want to go out with a bit of a bang, you know?”
Dorcas raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t looked at Marlene once since she’d started talking to Mary, but now she glanced in her direction like she’d just sensed her stare.
Still looking at Marlene, she asked Mary, “I don’t know, do you reckon it’d annoy your friend, here?”
“Oh, almost definitely.”
“Then I’m in.” Of course she was. Dorcas turned back to Mary and smiled. “Nice meeting you, Mary.” Mary waved and Marlene glared at her retreating figure, but Dorcas didn’t look back as she carried on walking past their table, on the way to grab some straws.
As soon as she was sat back down at her table, Marlene rounded on Mary.
“What the fuck was that, MacDonald? We’re meant to be scaring her off, not inviting her to bloody Halloween parties!”
Mary just grinned knowingly. “She’s fun. I like her. I think you do, too.”
Marlene gagged. “Mary, take that back, or I can’t be your friend anymore. Please, take that back. I feel sick.”
“You’ll come around,” was all she replied. She was stopped from saying anything else at the arrival of James and Sirius, who spotted them and bounded over with eyes bright and pockets full of god-knows-what from Zonko’s.
“Hogwarts is in for chaos!” James exclaimed as he flopped onto the seat.
——————-
With the bet winnings organised and handed out, Marlene felt the buzz of the whole school’s excitement for the next Quidditch match. It wasn’t for a little while yet, but the success of the first one was an exhilaration even the suits of armour must have picked up on, and as for the people who came away with no winnings, it was clear they were just itching for another go.
Mid-October approached faster than the leaves could fall, and the Autumn assessments weren’t far behind. Most afternoons were spent whiling the hours away in the library with Remus and Lily, occasionally joined by Peter and Mary, but Sirius was a different matter whatsoever. Instead, he was almost always off setting pranks or causing some kind of trouble, like he’d made it his mission to create the most havoc possible whilst doing the very least amount of work. It wasn’t anything new, but it was their NEWTs year, after all. Even James started to seem a bit concerned as the deadlines for the assessments began to close in.
In the library, it was just them two, Marlene cramming Potions theory in the last fifteen minutes before her assessment, James gazing out the window pensively, an empty sheet of parchment and a full inkpot beside him, untouched. No matter how determined Marlene was to make Dorcas eat her words, she couldn’t let him carry on sitting there looking so lost. It just didn’t look right on him.
She put down her quill and cleared her throat. He didn’t seem to hear her. She stretched largely and tried again, louder. He snapped to attention.
“Alright?”
“Are you alright?” she countered. “People don’t usually come to the library for the view of the grounds.”
“Hm? Oh.” He smiled as if on instinct, but Marlene wasn’t sure it really met his eyes. He seemed to register her scepticism. “I’m fine, don’t be daft.”
“Yeah, and I love brussels sprouts,” she countered, eyebrows raised. Marlene didn’t want to push him, but the idea of him sitting alone in misery just wouldn’t do.
“So that’s what’s been stinking up the library. And to think you almost had me fooled.”
“James, I mean it.”
“Sorry, the stench is getting to me, I can’t quite breathe.”
She folded her arms, stoically not allowing herself the small smile that arose at James’s usual antics.
“I won’t stop until you tell me what’s bothering you, and I do mean that. You know I won’t.”
He contemplated this, and finally seemed to decide it wasn’t worth holding out on her, sighing.
“I promise, it’s nothing. It’s just Sirius I’m worried about. I think he’s having a tough time of it, and he hasn’t come to talk about it like he usually does. That’s all.”
Marlene wasn’t much surprised by this. Sirius’s pranking had been off the rails recently, even for him.
“Have you tried talking to him?”
He frowned. “The thing is, I’ve never had to push him that hard about anything. At the end of the day, I know he likes having someone to talk it all out with, and I know he’ll always come to me when he’s ready. But with this, I’m just… a bit lost, really.”
Marlene waited until he began again.
“He hasn’t budged about it, he says nothing’s wrong. But I know there is. I know he wants Reg out of that house, but it’s like there’s something else he’s not telling me. I don’t know,” he trailed off. “It’s never really happened before.” He blew out a little breath, trying to make light of it. “Sorry, it’s fine, really. I’m sure it’ll all be fine.” He tried another smile, but it convinced neither of them.
“Don’t apologise,” she told him, firmly. “You know him better than maybe anyone. Either talk to him or wait for him to come to you, but he will come. I don’t think either of you could even try existing without the other.” She paused, frowning at his forlorn expression that he wasn’t hiding as well as he thought. “But James, remember it’s not just up to you, you know? We all want to help. It’s not something you have to sort alone. Have you talked to Remus, or Peter?”
He shook his head. “Neither of them. Moony’s always been able to get him out of his worst moods, though, Merlin only knows why.”
“Talk to him about it if you’re worried, and ask Remus to, as well. I mean it, Potter. Or I’ll storm the dorm and I won’t leave until he picks up a textbook.”
A real grin tugged at his mouth. “You might be right.”
“Don’t sound so bloody unnerved.”
“Shit! Marlene, your Potions!” he exclaimed, remembering.
“Bugger, fuck, fuck, fuck,” she muttered as she realised the time and shoved her textbooks into her bag, booking it for the stairs. “See you on the other side,” she called.
“It’s in the bag!”
She was already racing to the classroom, heart thudding. This was her chance to make Dorcas shove her 92% up her arse. Despite the somewhat distracting chat with James, though, she felt ready in a way she hadn’t felt for the first test. Her mind was stocked to the brim with a ridiculous amount of Potions theory and ingredients lists, and as she made it to the classroom as Slughorn was sending out the papers, she let the determination run its course. This would go well for her. It had to.
“Sorry I’m late, Professor,” she breathed as she made it to her desk. Dorcas raised one eyebrow from where she sat twirling her quill in her slender fingers. A ring on her thumb caught Marlene’s eye as she sat down; it was wired and twisted into a shape she couldn’t quite make out.
“Not to worry,” Slughorn was saying, airily, and Marlene’s attention was dragged back to the task at hand. “You all have one hour and fifteen minutes.” He smiled at them expectantly. “You may begin at your leisure.”
————————-
The questions had been ridiculously convoluted, and it hadn’t exactly passed without errors, but errors Marlene was surely used to by now. She bull-dozed through the questions she was unsure about, just filling the parchment with any and all knowledge that might score her some marks, forcing any hesitancy from creeping into her words. Perhaps it wasn’t the best technique, but she was past the point of caring.
By the time Slughorn had marked the papers, almost two weeks had passed, and Halloween was just around the corner. Marlene wandered into the last Potions lesson of the week with Lily to see her paper sitting on her desk, marked with a loud green ink.
Her heart dropped without warning as she rushed to her seat, praying against hope all the studying had been enough.
She scanned it for the score, saw 86%, O, and her heart rose in delight. An Outstanding! She hadn’t even managed that in Charms this year. Her gaze shot up to search for Dorcas, but she wasn’t in the room yet. Lily came over amidst the other students milling around, who waited for others to arrive and exchanged scores.
“How’d it go? Are you happy?” she asked. Marlene held up her paper and Lily clutched it and gasped, before hugging Marlene quickly, with enthusiasm. “You genius .”
“Stop it!” she exclaimed, feigning embarrassment. “I’m kidding, please continue.”
“Wonderful, incredible, intelligence unheard of…”
Marlene grinned. “What about you?”
“I’m pretty happy!” She held up her paper, and Marlene saw 89%, O, written in proud green.
Marlene grabbed her arms and they both did a little jump, giggling. “The real mastermind, everyone, brains unequivocally unmatched.”
When Slughorn told everyone to settle down, and they returned to their seats, Marlene frowned as she realised Dorcas still hadn’t shown her face. And she’d missed her chance to sneak a look at her paper - Slughorn was summoning it back to him as he noticed her absence.
“Is anybody aware of the whereabouts of Miss Meadowes?” He addressed the class. No one gave up an answer.
Marlene simmered in silent frustration. She was over the moon about her O, obviously, but it meant so much less if she couldn’t rub Dorcas’s arrogant face in it.
The lesson passed without any sign of her, and so did all of Friday, until the day of the Halloween party arrived. Marlene had been hoping Dorcas would have forgotten about the invitation, or that she’d been lying when she said she would go, but now she was unsure.
James had told her he and Remus had both tried talking to Sirius, with varying levels of success. On James’s part, Sirius had told him he’d talk to Regulus again, which James suspected was just a move to placate him. Nevertheless, he’d told Marlene he was happy that they might be talking more. He thought it was good for Sirius.
The point was, Sirius had arrived back at the common room grinning like a maniac, and announced he’d invited his little brother and ‘all his little friends’ to the Halloween party that Saturday.
Marlene’s insides had sunk, however selfish that made her. It was only more incentive for Dorcas to come, even if it was without question she wanted Sirius and Regulus to be closer, for both their sakes.
Saturday rolled around in all its dreadful glory not a moment too late, much to Marlene’s slight chagrin. Parties she loved, had always loved; drinking into the night, dancing with Lily and Mary (and sometimes Remus, when he was sufficiently drunk), singing terrible karaoke with James. But she’d never felt such collective anticipation before. Maybe it was because it was their first party of the year, maybe it was the extensive invites to the other houses, maybe they were just happy the assessments were over, but they were all buzzing as the evening arrived.
By ten o'clock, the common room was alive with music and dancers and drinkers, people collapsed on sofas, others chatting by the windows, the whole crowd enraptured by that same rush of exhilaration at letting everything go for once.
Marlene was with Mary, both of them trying to convince James to switch The Clash off in favour of Fleetwood Mac, or at least Abba, but he was having none of it, guarding the record player whilst Remus had been pulled into conversation with a sixth year Marlene didn’t recognise.
“James, please! There’s only so many times I can listen to bloody ‘I Fought the Law’!”
“Marlene, Remus will murder me if I relinquish control, you know this!” He was standing in front of it, swaying slightly. It looked as though he was attempting to restrain himself from dancing, and doing a terrible job of it.
“Right, I will not stand for this authoritarian regime any longer. Mary, grab him!”
Mary screeched and lunged, almost knocking into a poor fifth year in the process, as she grabbed James’s arms and clamped them behind his back. She cackled and began to drag him away, James beginning to giggle as he gave up control to the alcohol.
“Someone, anyone, come and get this man!” Mary was shouting. “Don’t let his massive ego get in your way, I promise it’s deflated a bit!”
Wasting no more time with the unattended record player, she seized the first Abba vinyl she saw, but something caught her eye. It was ‘One Way or Another, one of her absolute favourites, one she hadn’t heard since being back at Hogwarts. Excitement tugging at her lips, she knew what she had to do.
When the first blast of electric guitar blared through the record player’s magically amplified speakers, Marlene was alive.
She slammed her drink down and turned, searching for the one person who loved this song as much as she did.
“Where the fuck is Sirius Black?”
Faces turned as Sirius sprang from the group of Ravenclaw seventh years he was with, his face split in two by a massive grin as he bounded over, a space clearing around them as they started to dance around each other, taking on the steps they knew so well.
Marlene shouted in laughter as they spun and stepped, rocking her head back and forth as Sirius shook his shoulders with vigour when the chorus blasted through again. As soon as this song had come out, they’d taken it upon themselves to make it their own, drunkenly coming up with a stupid but entertaining little dance that they performed every time it came on. Marlene loved it.
They swerved each other and drew back in again, getting close and laughing at how blatantly suggestive it was, knowing it was all lies. There was a reason that sixth-year rumour that they were dating existed, she supposed, no matter the absurdity of it. They twisted and spun around again, a ridiculous but perfect duet where no one could exist but them and Blondie.
She threw her head back as it finished, the room tilting by a little as she did so. Firewhisky was a quick worker.
“Still got it!” Sirius declared as they slammed their palms together in victory, breathless and giggling, aware of the whoops and scattered, drunken cat-calls and not caring in the slightest.
Marlene turned and saw a figure near the entrance to the common room. She was standing alone with her arms folded, shaking her head in Marlene’s direction. She wore all black, a solid and unmistakable contrast to the primary, blocky colours of the clothes around her. They all did seem a bit tacky, now that Marlene thought about it. The only flash of colour was in the violets woven into her hair.
Across the room, their eyes met.
Marlene swept into a dramatic bow, and her legs began to push her forward of their own accord. Surely if she was sober she would have stopped them, would have glared at the girl who stood not ten metres away, but as of now, there was a cloud called Firewhisky fogging her mind, and she only delighted in watching Dorcas’s expression grow darker as she got closer.
“Did you make that up all by yourself?” Dorcas asked as Marlene stopped in front of her.
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether you hated it. Because if you did, then yes, I came up with it, and I loved every minute.”
“In that case, I loved it.”
Marlene gasped, sarcastically. “Did you?”
“It brought me so much joy.”
“I can teach you.”
Dorcas paused for the first time. It might have been the only time Marlene had ever seen her pause. Her brain caught up to the fact that she’d crossed a bit of a line. They weren’t actually friends, their dynamic was ice tinged red with malice. They despised each other. And here Marlene was: a bit drunk and offering to teach her to dance, in a tone that had been a bit too genuine to ignore. Bloody Firewhisky, changing my brain layout, she thought to herself.
“You hesitated! Don’t tell me you actually wanted to learn it,” Marlene said quickly, layering on the scorn.
“Don’t tell me your ego’s that big,” Dorcas countered. She rolled her eyes as Marlene clutched her heart. “I’m getting a drink. Please let me avoid you in peace for the rest of the night, I’m only here for Regulus.”
It was Marlene’s turn to roll her eyes as that familiar irritation took its place amongst the alcohol in her mind. She mock-saluted.
“Right you are, Meadowes. Please, get out of my sight. And good riddance!”
Dorcas was already stalking away, joining her friends, who Marlene hadn’t seen walk in. As she left, Marlene scanned the room for where she’d left her own drink. Yes, it was by the record player.
Reaching it, she took another sip, and glanced back to watch Dorcas with her friends, the way the smile that rested on her lips seemed so bizarre for her to see, the unexpectedness of her carefree demeanour. Or maybe the alcohol was just working its magic.
“Oi, Marlene, put on Abba, will you?”