Mulciber
Friday November 19, 1971
Lily had woken up her two roommates with a startle; the redhead’s muggle alarm hadn’t gone off, and breakfast was nearly halfway over. Marlene rushed up, and Mary tumbled off the bed as Lily sprinted to the bathroom to fix herself.
After they finished getting ready for the day, the three girls practically ran to the Great Hall. They sat for breakfast, Lily joining them, as it was apparent Severus Snape had already left the Great Hall.
Emmeline wasn’t at Hogwarts that day, after a long month of fasting, she was finally rewarded with a holiday; Eid al-Fitr. It was late October that Emmeline had come to breakfast, sat with them, and didn’t eat anything. When they had asked why, she’d told them it was Ramadan.
Ramadan was a month where Muslims woke up before sunrise to eat breakfast, and then didn’t eat or drink anything until the sunset, where they broke their fast. They did this to recognise those who weren’t as fortunate as them, to realise how lucky they were to have everything they had; there were also health benefits, too.
Emmeline didn’t just fast from food and water, but she also fasted from gossip, lying, swearing, arguing, talking badly about someone, and anything that could be considered a sin. This meant that Marlene had been left to use a silencing spell on Mary whenever Emmeline was around, which deeply irritated the dark skinned girl. Emmeline also read the Quran, her holy book, more frequently during the month. Marlene admired how dedicated Emmeline was to her religion.
As the times changed daily, Professor Flitwick had made arrangements for Emmeline to choose what she would like for her meals and have the house elves bring it up at the scheduled time.
Finally, the month was over, and Emmeline had left Hogwarts the day before to head home for Eid, where they celebrated the end of the month. That just left Marlene and Mary for the day, and then they’d see Emmeline tomorrow.
It wasn’t too difficult, Marlene supposed. She’d gone a few days without seeing Emmeline before, but truthfully, Marlene couldn’t recall a day since meeting Mary that she hadn’t seen her or spent the entire day with her. She didn’t even want to imagine how difficult Christmas break would be without her.
Finally, class was dismissed, and Marlene and Mary waited for the four Gryffindor boys to exit the room, and they followed behind them, giggling as they would sneak glances up at the four incendiaries.
There had been a situation a while ago, where all of the Slytherins were cursed with a horrible itch, coating their entire body. Marlene had found it quite funny, and Mary proposed that it was their fellow peers that committed the act.
“I bet it was them,” she’d said as the Great Hall watched the Slytherins uncomfortably twist themselves around to reach their itches. “Look how proud they look. Even more happy than the rest of us. Also, I heard them talking about how much they hated Slytherins.”
“So, what?” Marlene had asked, laughing as she watched Snape struggle immensely. Lily was scrambling towards him. “You want to snitch?”
“Obviously not, it’s bloody hilarious,” Mary replied, grinning at the scene. “Besides, we’re supposed to hate them, right?”
Marlene had shuffled uncomfortably and nodded.
Then a few weeks later, the four boys had been attacked in return, hair sprouting all over their bodies. This only confirmed Mary’s suspicion that it was surely the boys who had pranked the Slytherins, and that only made Mary swoon for Sirius more.
Marlene admired James for his bravery to pull that off, along with the other boys. She was certain that she wouldn’t have been brave enough to prank the entire house of malicious and prejudiced teenagers. It might’ve been different for them, though, for ¾ of the boys were Pureblood.
Marlene and Mary found themselves roaming the corridors, chatting idly about anything that they brought up. Currently, they were talking about Flitwick’s mustache, when suddenly, a boy appeared from the other side of the wall.
It was Mulciber. He stared at them, a malevolent smirk gracing his lips. He was blocking them from exiting, his body large and muscular. If Marlene and Mary would even try to get past, he would’ve pushed them to the ground with just his palm.
“Mulciber.” Mary greeted shortly, giving a curt nod of her head.
“Now, what’re you two doing over here?” Mulciber teased. Marlene slowly reached into her cloak and gripped her wand tightly. He was a predator playing with its prey, and Mary didn’t realize the amount of danger she was really in. “This is where the History of Magic class is, you know. What do you two need to learn about magic? It’s none of your business, is it?”
“It’s as much of our business as it is yours,” Marlene said, straightening her back and pointing her chin upwards. That had probably been the most courageous thing she’d ever said. “We’d like to get to class, now, Mulciber.”
“Yeah, but we appreciate the hello,” Mary continued, gripping Marlene’s arm and starting to pull her along. “Let’s go.”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Mulciber stopped them, stepping in front of the two girls. His eyes twinkled with venomous intent. They both took a large step back. “You aren’t going anywhere, girls.”
Marlene pulled out her wand suddenly, pointing it up and preparing to voice the disarming spell she had racked her brain for moments beforehand, but Mulciber beat her to it. He was too quick, and her wand went flying out of her hands and into his. Mary gasped, and pulled out her wand, but he just stepped forward and snatched it out of her hands. Marlene pulled her back.
“Give them back!” Mary shouted, and Marlene felt a pit of worry boil at the bottom of her gut. “You ugly, crude pig, give us our wands back!”
Mulciber scowled, and held up the two wands tauntingly. “These things? You don’t deserve them, mudbloods. Go back to the muggle world and leave the magic to the real wizards.”
Marlene felt her face fall and her heart drop. She turned to look at Mary, whose face held one of hurt. She could see water fill the brims of her eyes, and Marlene realized she had had enough.
“Give them back, you piece of shit!” She reached out, tackling him to the ground and pinning his arm to grab the wands back. “I’m not even muggle-born, you idiot!”
Finally, she snatched the wands back, but her moment of success didn’t last long. Mulciber sneered and hit Marlene’s head backwards, her skull coming in contact with the stone floor. Mary shouted out, and Marlene felt the back of her head throbbing. He then stood up and kicked the side of Marlene’s stomach, his boot sharply hitting her side. She didn’t make any noise, but she gripped it tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. He looked up at Mary.
“Flipendo!” He shouted, and Mary was flung backwards. The jinx wasn’t strong enough for her to go flying at the wall, but Marlene could tell her it hurt when she landed on the ground roughly. Marlene stood up slowly, but Mulciber pushed her back down. “Stay down, mudbloods. If you tell anyone about this, I’ll use a curse to seal your mouth shut permanently.”
He dropped their wands at his feet and scrambled off, laughing at Mary as he passed by her. She was still laying on the ground, and Marlene picked up their wands and rushed towards her. She could now see the many streams of tears that stained Mary’s cheeks, and that more droplets proceeded to flow. Marlene embraced the girl in a hug.
“It’s okay,” Marlene reassured, holding the girl tightly as she sobbed into her arms. She pulled back slightly to look at her face and wipe the tears from her face. “It’ll be alright. Let’s just head back to the common room, yeah? We can skip out on classes for today.”
Mary nodded, and slowly, they trudged back to the common room, their pride and ecstasy destroyed. The common room was vacant, but they still headed up towards their room, just in case. Marlene layed next to Mary on her bed, closing her eyes tightly in an attempt to forget about the day's events. The silence was then interrupted as Mary spoke out.
“A mudblood,” Mary said, her words ringing through the air weirdly, as though it had left a weird taste on Mary’s tongue. Marlene winced at the words. “I’m guessing it’s a muggle-born, right? Like me?”
It was silent, before Marlene replied. “Yeah… like you.”
“It didn’t sound like a good word,” Mary said, her tone small. She sounded like a little girl who had just fallen, and Marlene had never seen or heard her like this. It was a slap in the face. “Is it supposed to be used in a rude context?”
Marlene nodded, and Mary inhaled a breath.
“So then, why’d they call you that?” Mary asked, sitting up and propped herself up on her elbow. “Your mum is a full witch. You’re a Half-blood.”
“People like them don’t care,” Marlene said, sighing. She felt like bursting out into tears. Mary’s innocence and ignorance of the topic of blood prejudice had now crumbled, and Marlene didn’t want Mary to change. She was so happy, so confident; she didn’t want this to tear her down. “As long as you have muggle blood, that’s what you are to them. They think we’re dirty, that we’re disgraceful. They say we aren’t real wizards.”
“And how come I never knew?” Mary asked, her accusatory eyes aimed at Marlene. Her heart nearly shattered. Just over a month ago, those eyes were used to indict Marlene for her crush on James. Now they were being used for something completely and utterly different. “How come you know all this, you’ve known all this time, about how they feel about us, and you never told me? Why didn’t you bother to say anything?”
“I didn’t think-“
“You didn’t think it would ever be brought up? That no one would ever say anything about me being a mudblood?” Mary asked sharply, and Marlene shut her eyes tightly. A tear rolled down her cheek. Oh no, she was about to lose the best friend she’d ever had. “This is something that doesn’t just affect you, but affects me, Emmeline, Lily, so many of our friends! And you just never bothered to tell me?!”
“I’m sorry, I-“ Marlene tried, but Mary cut her off again.
“This whole Gryffindor versus Slytherin thing, it wasn’t the complete truth, was it?” Mary questioned. She was crying, too. Marlene grew even more sad at this, and even more tears fell down her cheeks. “Slytherins hate us because we have muggle blood?”
Marlene hiccupped, and she tried to gather her words. Mary sat there, silent, watching her angrily. Marlene knew she had every right to be vexed.
“There are certain Pureblood families that think a certain way,” Marlene started carefully, her attempts to stifle her sobs growing more difficult. “They think they’re better than us because we have muggle blood, because a part of us doesn’t have magic- it’s stupid, I know. It’s mostly the Slytherin ones. They’re called Sacred Twenty Eight; I don’t know much about them, but the twenty eight families have pure magic blood, and they practically disown anyone who dares to rebel and mingle with someone who does have muggle blood. That’s why Sirius Black’s parents were so upset with him for being in Gryffindor, because they’re Sacred Twenty Eight.”
“But why Slytherin?” Mary asked, her arms crossed. She didn’t look at Marlene, but she knew that the girl was curious.
“The guy who created the Slytherin house was prejudiced, too,” Marlene continued. “And he said he only wanted Pureblood in his house. I swear, I didn’t want to hurt you or lie to you. I just- I didn’t want you to feel less than others for something you can’t control-“
“You think I don’t already feel that?” Mary asked, sniffing. Her face held fury. “Have you looked at me? I see girls who have blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, and they’re the most beautiful girls in the world. Sometimes, I don’t feel like I compare. I’m not like them. I’m not like you, Marlene. Not in that way. Even when I was younger I was singled out because of my looks. But when I catch myself degrading myself, I know I can bring myself back up. I know who I am. I could’ve handled it, Marlene.”
“I know,” Marlene agreed, nodding. “You’re the bravest girl I know, honestly. I admire you so much. I just didn’t want you to lose yourself, or feel less confident or less pretty. Because you’re so pretty! You’re one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever met! You’re also so nice, and you’re my best friend, and I just didn’t want anyone to hurt you or ruin you because of their stupid views.”
Mary stared at her with something she couldn't recognize. Marlene sniffed, and they were both still crying. It was a long moment, a moment where Marlene thought she had truly lost her best friend forever. But then Mary reached out and hugged Marlene so tightly, and Marlene felt everything in the world was right again.