Marlene
Marlene looks out the window of her dorm, hating the way that the unusual September cold fogs up the glass. She misses the summer. Misses the way the heat felt on her shoulder, and the way lemonade felt so refreshing. She misses the way she could sit outside for hours, listening to music and sitting in the pool with her mother. She misses the late-night walks with her mum and dad and coming back home to have a bonfire and tell stories.
She despises the way the weather's right now. Hates the inability to sit comfortably outside when under layers of clothes, just so she doesn’t feel the slightest cold on her skin. She hates the way the ground is all yellow, instead of the beautiful shade of green it is in the summer. She groans to herself looking away from outside and trying her best to focus on the work that she desperately needs to finish before Lily bites her head off for slacking off.
Out of the corner of her eye, however, she spots a figure entering the Quidditch Pitch down below. This person flies in the air slowly, warming up a bit. Marlene watches as this person finally gets comfortable, as they begin flying so beautifully, so undeniably agile in their performance that Marlene can’t bring herself to look away. She is entranced in an instant, wishing she had the ability to look so graceful. Marlene is very headstrong, very driven to be the best at everything she attempts, and very eager to win. On the pitch, she’s not worried about looking any kind of way. Seeing this person slightly makes her wish that she had.
Marlene mindlessly finds herself throwing on a sweater and walking toward the pitch, flinching as the cold very suddenly hits her face, grateful that she threw on a sweater that’s able to keep her just a little bit warmer. Merlin, she fucking hates the cold. She hates that this person made her come out here, just by doing practically nothing.
She’s shivering as she jumps on her broom, flying up to join the person who still doesn’t even know that she’s there, who’s sitting on their broom, frozen as they watch something in the distance. She sneaks up behind this person, stealthily. Only when she’s too close to fly away, does Marlene realise that this person is the one and only Dorcas Meadowes. “Boo,” Marlene whispers, smiling when Dorcas whips her head around to stare at Marlene.
“What are you doing here?” She asks angrily, eyes narrowed at Marlene suspiciously, looking around them as if she thinks Marlene has something planned.
Marlene withers under her gaze, feeling every ounce of confidence drain out of her in an instant as she stares at Dorcas, dumbfounded at her beauty, reminded of her overflowing grace when she flies. “Practising?” Marlene finally finds herself responding, her voice uncertain.
Dorcas scoffs, looking away from Marlene, a sudden loss that Marlene wishes she could have back. Even though those stupid eyes never fail to make her seem like a fool. “Is that so?”
Marlene nods despite the fact that Dorcas can’t even see her. “Yeah. It’s, um, a nice night to…practise.”
“This is a horrible night to practise, McKinnon,” Dorcas responds dryly, circling around Marlene on her broom before landing in front of Marlene's face. “Go inside.”
“No,” Marlene tells her petulantly, feeling the need to defend herself. Especially against Dorcas, who has already shattered her once in her life. “I can be here if I want to be, Meadowes, you don’t own this pitch.”
Dorcas cocks her head to the side, evaluating Marlene before a wicked smile enters her face, unsettling Marlene and yet she finds that she already can’t get enough of it. “Why do you keep on following me?” Dorcas asks her suddenly, studying Marlene as she’s caught by surprise at the accusation.
Marlene can feel the way her face goes warm and can’t stop it from going red. “What–no–I am not following you.”
Dorcas scoffs at her stumbling, looking more unimpressed than Marlene has ever seen her before. “Sure you’re not.”
“Meadowes, I don’t–”
“Listen, McKinnon,” Dorcas says suddenly, interrupting her. Not that Marlene’s really able to speak, not when Dorcas stops right in front of her, staring very intently at her face, never breaking eye contact. “We both know it. I see you watching me, always conveniently at the same places I’m at. And now you’re here? I don’t care to hear your reasons why, it’s very clear that you’re desperate to see some of my Quidditch strategies just to report back to the stupid Gryffindors.”
Marlene furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “Wait what?”
“Oh, don’t be daft,” Dorcas snaps. “I see it.” she gets closer to Marlene and drops her voice to a whisper. “Do me a favour and fuck off, McKinnon. Even if you stole some of my best plays, you will never be as good as me.”
Marlene glares at her, feeling her eyes turn red in anger, clouding everything. Honestly. How dare she? “I don’t need to spy on you, Meadowes. I’m better than you in every sense of this game.”
Dorcas smiles coldly at her as she flies away, “In your dreams,” she calls over her shoulder, causing Marlene’s jaw to clench. Marlene can add one more thing to the small list of things she hates. The cold and Dorcas Meadowes.
This time, Marlene isn’t going to act the same way she did all those many years ago when she had crumbled under Dorcas’ scrutiny. She’s going to be better this time. Marlene doesn’t know many things. But one thing that’s certain in her mind is her ability to be an amazing Quidditch player, and she knows she’s better than Dorcas.
Now, she’s determined to prove it.
Marlene angrily marches back into her dorm room, throwing her stupid sweater on the ground and taking off her stupid cloak. She changes into her pyjamas, aggressively throwing her old clothes into the dirty clothes bin, muttering under her breath before collapsing face-first on her bed.
“Alright there, Marls?” Lily asks her timidly, both girls watching her outburst out of the corner of their eyes.
She groans in response before sitting up in bed to face the girls. “Have I mentioned how much I can’t stand the Slytherins?”
Mary laughs and flips a page of her muggle magazine that Lily had brought for them. “Only a few thousand times,” she says with a small, teasing grin.
“Well, they suck,” Marlene tells both of them, meaning it entirely. “So much. I can’t stand any of them.”
Lily nods in agreement, taking her eyes away from her schoolwork to glance at Marlene. “Entirely right, Marlene, I get it. But, um, have you finished your Transfiguration essay yet? I need help–”
Marlene groans and throws her head back dramatically before sighing loudly. “No, Lily, I have not. I’ve barely even touched it”
Lily sighs. “Marls, it is extremely–”
“Important not to lose focus this early in a term,” Marlene finishes for her, a laugh creeping up on her. “I know Lily, I promise. I assure you I have plans to do it tomorrow.”
Lily shakes her head. “That’s what you–”
“Lily,” Mary cuts in suddenly, her voice a bit sharper than Marlene expects, “lay off a bit, yeah?” Lily looks away from Mary and gives a resigned nod. “Who’s got you all angry now, anyway?” Mary asks Marlene, despite the awkward silence that had filled the air.
Marlene wonders if she should tell them, and bounces the idea in her mind before deciding that she should. She needs to tell someone before she explodes in anger. “Dorcas Meadowes.” The two other girls look at each other for a second, but Marlene doesn’t pay it any mind, not when just saying Dorcas’ name fills her with undeniable irritation. “She thinks she’s better than me at Quidditch. Can you believe that shit?”
“Better than you?” Mary asks in disbelief. “She said that to you? Those exact words?”
Marlene nods with raised eyebrows, glad someone else sees that statement as stupid. “Basically.” Dorcas is good. She’s great, even. But not even close to being better than Marlene. “I just have to prove that I’m better. I have to.”
Lily grins and shakes her head at her. “I thought we all discussed and agreed that people’s opinions don’t matter. You were the one who actually made that statement.”
Marlene narrows her eyes at her. “Sure. But I need to prove that she’s just plain wrong,” she grumbles. “Just when it comes to something like this.”
“Well, I say go for it,” Lily tells her. “Prove that there’s no way she’s better than you, of all people.”
Marlene nods thoughtfully, determination filling her bones in an instant. “Should be easy,” Mary comments, making Marlene beam with pride.
“Plus, I bet James will be over the moon to see your sudden extra determination in training,” Lily adds.
Marlene frowns as she recounts her conversation with Dorcas. The anger. The sudden desire to prove. The way Dorcas looked into her eyes. The way her eyes had shone with a similar determination. “I don’t think I can get over it,” Marlene tells them honestly.
Lily laughs at her. “Marlene, I promise you it’ll be fine.” Her green eyes change into a glint of something serious and knowing. “Don’t take it too seriously, Marls, have fun with it. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“I will not,” Marlene reassures, wondering if she’s telling the truth when she says it.
“Promise?” Lily asks her.
“Promise,” she says softly. She stands up and stretches. “I think I need to tell James all of this now, see you two later.” The two girls glance at each other once again, but Marlene has had the same conversation too many times to let it bother her now.
“Later, Marlene,” Mary calls out as she disappears from their room.
Marlene walks slowly into the common room, disappointed to find that it’s empty. She collapses on the sofa and stares at the ceiling, thinking. She can’t help but think about Dorcas, she hates how much the other has already infested her mind. She wishes that she had it in her to hate Dorcas instead of being infatuated with her.
She hears someone walking down the stairs and blinks when she sees James standing above her, grinning down at her. “Hello, Marlene.”
She sighs loudly as if she’s annoyed, even though that couldn’t have been further from the truth. “Hello, James. Good day, today?”
He shrugs as he moves to sit next to her. “It was okay today. Didn’t talk to Regulus all day today, or really he didn’t talk to me. Plus he’s my tutor now, so we’ll see how that goes next Tuesday.”
Marlene laughs at the way things always seem to work James. She’s happy for him, really. It’s harder for him in a way. Sirius is a tough bloke to mess with, especially with Regulus. James is a brave, reckless soul. “He’s your tutor? Merlin, aren’t you lucky?”
He lets out a bated breath. “I guess. He definitely hates me, probably hates having to be stuck with me. Probably hates that he’s forced to teach me something I’m so useless at. Hates–”
Marlene furrows her eyebrows at him in confusion. “What’s wrong, James, why are you so negative about yourself today?”
He looks at the ceiling. “I dunno. Sucks being so shit at something. Now I’m going to act like a complete idiot in front of him because I’m so bad at Potions and because he’ll be watching me.” He looks at Marlene with worry painted on his face. “What if he thinks I’m a complete idiot after it and doesn’t want to speak with me?”
Marlene smiles at him because she just can’t help it. As if anyone could find James a complete idiot. “If he really thought that poorly about you because of something like that, then he’s not worth it anyways.”
James just shrugs, “Guess so.” He turns his head to her and grins. “Anything interesting going on with you? Talk to her yet?”
Marlene scoffs and rolls her eyes when reminded of that conversation, even though it hasn’t really left her mind. “She told me that she thinks she’s better than me at Quidditch. She thinks I’ve been following her around and spying on her. The worst part about it is that she looked so beautiful when she accused me of such things.”
James laughs loudly, shaking his head before giving her a small frown. “Oh, we’ve got it bad, don’t we?” Marlene sighs and gives a nod. They really do, don’t they?
“Anything else new in your life?” Marlene asks instead, trying to drift away from Regulus and Dorcas, trying to make sure they don’t fall too deep before they know if they’re even pining for people actually obtainable.
James sighs. “I think Remus and Sirius are fighting.” He shrugs. “They’ve been weird around each other recently.”
Marlene gasps and sits up straighter. “I think the same about Lily and Mary! They’re very snippy and it’s like they’re walking on eggshells around each other.” She shrugs as well. “But Mary said that they got into this big argument over break, and that’s the reason why. I don’t think I believe her though.”
“Well, maybe she’s telling the truth. I mean, they’ve been friends for ages, they’re bound to get into a big fight or two,” he tells her.
“I guess.” She thinks about it for a moment. “I dunno, they never were the type to hold grudges. They bicker a lot, but it always was lighthearted. It all feels real now.”
“That’s how I feel about Sirius and Remus,” James points out. “It’s not as often, but when they snap at each other, they basically bite each other’s heads off,” he comments.
Marlene scoffs. “Merlin, Peter was right.” James looks at her in confusion. “He said me and you are mirrors of each other.” She grins and raises her eyebrows. “I guess we really are. Even more, than I initially thought, I guess.”
James frowns. “That offends me, actually. Don’t insult me like that ever again, Mars.”
Marlene’s smile drops as her mouth gapes open at James in offence. She moves to swat at the back of his head a few times, but James just laughs and tries to stop her. “That’s mean. You’re lucky to be a mirror of someone like me.”
James’ glasses are askew on his face as he holds his hands up in surrender. “You are completely right,” he tells her with a laugh.
“Say that you’re lucky,” Marlene urges, forcing the smile away from her face to no avail.
“What? Absolutely not,” James stands his ground until Marlene makes a sudden move to hit him again. “Fine! I’m so, so lucky to be your mirror, Marlene! I wouldn’t dream of being anyone else’s!”
Marlene grins triumphantly. “Thought so,” she comments lightly.
“You are a rotten, cruel person,” James mumbles as if he’s a child, rubbing the back of his head.
Marlene gives him a teasing pout, laughing maniacally when James turns his head to glare at her and tries and fails to hit her back. Marlene holds so much love for James and doesn’t think she can ever get over how lucky she is to have someone so close to her, someone, that she sees as a brother, someone she can tell everything to. Before Hogwarts, Marlene thought she wasn’t ever good for a friend like that, and never would she think she would have one now.
They sit in a comfortable silence, and Marlene lulls off to sleep on James’ shoulder, feeling happier than ever.
“Aww,” someone says suddenly, loudly from in front of Marlene, startling her awake. Her eyes immediately land on Regulus Black, staring at her with a question hidden in his eyes and a curious smile on his face. “Cute,” he mutters as his eyes flick between the two.
“What are you doing here?” She asks him suddenly, lifting her head off James’ shoulder, trying to wake up James as best as she can without Regulus noticing. It’s too bad that James is the heaviest bloody sleeper ever and could sleep through a whole storm if it was right outside his window.
Regulus steps back and sighs, looking bored as he looks around their common room. “My brother asked me to be here. Said he wanted to talk to me about something.” His eyes land back on Marlene and he lifts an eyebrow. “Have any clue as to why?”
Marlene racks her brain trying to find an answer, feeling overwhelmed with so much thinking this early in the morning. “Um, no. Sorry, I have no idea–” She’s interrupted by a soft groan from James as he lays his head back on Marlene’s shoulder.
She looks at Regulus, who stares at James for a moment before nodding slowly and looking at Marlene. “Sorry to interrupt, then,” he tells her, smirking at the two.
“There’s, um.” She squeezes her eyes shut in embarrassment before opening them again. “There’s really nothing here to interrupt.”
“Looks like it,” Regulus points out, eyes drifting to where James' head is on her shoulder. And, yes, Marlene is very well aware that it looks like something...more. Marlene elbows James in the side harshly, desperately needing him to wake up at the moment.
“Ow, fuck Marlene, why would–” Regulus clears his throat and it’s almost comical in the way James slowly turns his head to look at who joined them, in the way his eyes widen as he quickly moves as far away from Marlene as he can get. “Regulus,” he says quickly, voice a few octaves too high.
Regulus raises an eyebrow before rolling his eyes and looking away. “Potter.”
Footsteps from the stairs silence anything that James is about to say as Sirius comes barreling down the stairs. He grins at James and Marlene before awkwardly throwing a glance at Regulus. “Hey, Regulus. You can, um, just follow me.”
Regulus nods. “Sorry for interrupting such a private moment,” he tells the two on the sofa, making Sirius halt and run back to them. "That was my bad."
“Excuse me?” He asks Regulus, eyes shining and practically bouncing on his toes as he looks at Marlene and James. “What did you interrupt?” He asks Regulus in excitement.
“I should go,” Marlene says quickly as she panics, darting up to her dorm room as quickly as she possibly can. She changes into workout gear, grabs her broom, and finds herself sprinting to the one place that’s certain to take her mind off of everything that invades her mind. She runs around the Quidditch pitch, thankful that it’s early enough for it to be empty.
After lightly jogging, she mounts her broom, circling the pitch a few times, relishing in and simultaneously hating the way the wind cruelly slaps her face. She isn’t taking this time alone too seriously, just trying to enjoy the silence and solitude that she’s rarely granted. So, she has fun just flying around with no real finesse to it.
She flies back down to the grass to endure some more running when she spots a familiar face waiting for her. Dorcas. Once again. And her face only brings a running irritation through Marlene, but her face also draws Marlene closer, making her unable to leave once she's seen her. Dorcas gives a slow clap. “Wow, you know, I really liked the way you did the same thing over and over again.”
Marlene glares at her and walks up to Dorcas. “Look who’s spying now.”
Dorcas laughs. “Oh, that’s hilarious.” She gives Marlene a condescending look. “I would only spy on you if I needed help trying to lose.”
Marlene rolls her eyes. “Don’t go lying to yourself, Meadowes.”
Dorcas smiles wickedly and shakes her head. “It’s cute when you get all defensive.”
“We’re going to win,” Marlene tells her through gritted teeth even though she knows her face is red. She’s just hoping that Dorcas can’t tell.
“Your confidence is respectable, at least.” Dorcas shrugs. “I’d like to see you try.”
“I’m going to win. I’m going to prove that I’m better than you, and trust me when I say it’s not going to be difficult,” Marlene tells her, trying not to pay attention to the way Dorcas falters only slightly as Marlene speaks.
“Only time will tell, then.”
It’s Marlene’s turn to smile wickedly. “I don’t need time to tell me that I’m better than you.” She leans closer and lowers her voice, just like Dorcas did to her the other night. “I already know.” Dorcas doesn’t respond, but Marlene can just tell that she’s wishing she had the right words.
Marlene shrugs at her and walks back into the building, smiling to herself when Dorcas can’t see her.
This is going to be fun.