Marlene McKinnon
Marlene McKinnon POV: part one
Marlene McKinnon slid into the seat beside Remus Lupin in their potions class; he wasn’t a bother to her. She quite liked him, actually. Especially for a teenage boy; she wasn’t the biggest fan of them.
She turned her head, seeing the shape of somebody’s body; she could recognise them from a mile away, and she knew that smirk; Dorcas was quiet. Or she acted that way, causing every teacher to love her. But Marlene knew her. So arrogant, and relentless. She definitely didn’t think she was that talented. Maybe a little. But she would never admit this aloud—that Dorcas Meadowes was even close to her level.
She crossed one leg over the other, immediately beginning to copy down everything on the board, word by word. She had to act perfect. Especially in this class knowing Dorcas was in the Slug Club. Not that she wanted to be in the stupid Slug Club. She just wanted the world to know she’s better than Dorcas Meadowes.
Sirius sat in front of Remus, always taking every chance he could to apologise to him. Marlene felt embarrassment for Sirius; he was trying too hard. And she thought it served him right. Especially after Remus explained everything to Mary, Marlene and Lily. She questioned it at first; didn’t know what to think about one of her best friends since first year being a werewolf. But it wasn’t really his choice. So she was going to be there for him through it all.
“Hey,” Sirius twisted his body around, smirking. Of course he was going to act that way when James was beside him, as if James wasn’t checking his little brother out five minutes ago. “Do you want to partner up, Lupin?”
“No, I do not, Black.”
“Please Moony, I’m so sorry, I never meant to,” he leaned back in his chair, his smirk fading—Marlene remembered when Sirius ignored Remus back, acting callous towards him. He’d finally come to his senses. “It just happened, and… And I wasn’t thinking.”
“Don’t call me Moony,” he said, firmly. Marlene felt herself heating up, feeling awkward. Remus just needed to hit him in the face to let out all of the anger and sadness he was feeling towards Sirius. And she’s sure the aftermath of that will be less awkward than this. “Now just piss off, and do your work, wouldn’t want to fail Potions, would you?”
Marlene noticed the smallest grin of Sirius as he spun around. “No I definitely would, mother would be furious,” he whispered to James, though he said it loud enough for Remus to hear.
“McKinnon,” Dorcas hissed, leaning over her table. Barty was sitting beside her, copying down the writing from the board. Marlene turned around quickly. Too quickly. She felt herself wanting to stay in a hole until the end of time; she acted as if she’d been eager to talk to Dorcas. And she certainly was not.
“Meadowes, maybe try and just have five minutes of you not being absolutely, restlessly unpleasant,” She smiled, sarcastically.
“And yet I must be doing something right, because I was the one who got chosen for the Slug Club,” Dorcas leaned back in her chair, throwing her arms out smugly.
“Because you’re a suck up,” she mumbled, as she turned back around. Remus scoffed, shaking his head. “Have something to say?” She asked, as she stared at him.
“You clearly fancy her,” he leaned over, whispering quietly so Dorcas wouldn’t hear. She noticed the slight movement from somebody behind her, which happened to be Barty; so nosy that one, Marlene always thought. She turned around to face him.
“What do you want, Crouch? Is it hard to mind your own business?” She snapped.
“No,” he glared. “Just wanted to ask Lupin something.”
“You did?” Now Remus was turning around, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. She wasn’t sure what Remus thought of Barty, but she never expected it to be anything good.
“Yeah… Slughorn is throwing a Christmas party, would you like to come with me?” He asked.
Why am I always here for the most awkward moments? Marlene’s eyes locked onto Sirius, whose hand stopped moving; he was listening to their conversation now. Dorcas stopped, too, a grin spreading into her face. And Marlene wasn’t going to lie; she couldn’t help but smile too.
He had guts. Especially asking a guy. And especially, especially asking the guy everybody else wanted to.
“Oh?”
“As my date,” he clarified once more, nodding slowly; sheepishly. Marlene didn’t once look away from Sirius, who’s leg started bobbing under the table. Remus seemed to notice this.
“Yeah,” he said, finally, hearing relief from Barty. She knew that Remus wasn’t saying yes for the pleasure of going on a date with Barty Crouch; he was doing it to make Sirius Black angry. Go Remus, Marlene shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll go with you.”
“Ok,” he smiled. “Ok, yeah, cool.”
“Oh shit, I still haven’t found a date to that,” Dorcas sighed, curling one of her plaits around her finger.
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Marlene grunted, acting as if Remus was the only one who was supposed to hear it, knowing that’d provoke Dorcas more. Only a few seconds before she’d say something.
“Piss off, McKinnon, at least I got an invite to go,” she crossed her arms; There it was.
“And yet, you still have no date!” She smiled, innocently on the outside, meaning the words callously. “I wonder why.”
“Please, I could ask out anybody and they’d say yes.”
“Now now, you keep telling yourself that,” Marlene laughed, as she finished copying down the words. She reached for her cauldron, placing it onto the desk.
“Hey, why don’t you ask Marlene?” Remus asked, arm around her, as he winked at Barty, Her head snapped over, glaring at him. “She’s very lonely.”
“Oh yes, I know that,” Dorcas nodded. “And it’s always nice to donate to charity, and you are, after all, a charity case.”
“Very funny,” she said, sarcasm showing in her voice. “But Dorcas, it isn’t nice to talk to yourself like that.”
“Would you like to be my plus one, given that you will stay as far away from me as possible?” Dorcas asked, and Marlene was speechless . Speechless. She turned to Remus, scrunching her eyebrows, feeling herself wanting to say something. As if she was about to say something. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. Dorcas Meadowes was the one to leave her speechless. “Cat got your tongue?”
“McGonagall’s not here,” Remus forcing out an awkward laugh, attempting to make a joke. Sirius turned around, staring at him.
“Funny Lupin.”
“Shut the fuck up, Black, I wasn’t talking to you,” he rolled his eyes. “But Marlene would love to go, her answer is yes.”
“Well that’s just fantastic,” Dorcas sighed, walking past them, as the air began to smell like her perfume; an expensive one. Because Dorcas was the most expensive person she’d ever met. And one of the most traditional, greatest, richest wizarding families there was to that day. Next to the Black family that was. No wonder she and Regulus were friends.
Marlene stayed silent the rest of the lesson, partly angry at Remus, deciding he was dead to her for setting her up on a date with her arch nemesis, arch rival and arch enemy. All three of those in one. And she’d been going to a party with her, as her, as far as possible, date . Just the thought made her want to throw up.
She did pretty well in Potions that day; not messing anything up. Not that she messed up a lot; she just spoke back to Slughorn. She was never the biggest fan of him, not even in her first year at Hogwarts—he was a nutter, and just raved on about whatever. She’d hate to be in the same room with him if he was drunk; would make him ten times more of a nutter.
But today, he complimented her on how well she did as she walked out. Marlene gave Dorcas a smug look, brushing her shoulder, as she returned an eye roll, and the middle finger, once she knew Slughorn was looking away; of course, the teacher's pet.
“Hey Marls,” Sirius runs up to her, finding her as she stands in the corridor alone. Marlene told Mary, Lily and Remus to meet her in that spot so they could study in the library; Potions being their last class of the day. “Do you know how long until Remus will talk to me? And also, does he actually fancy that Crouch? I always thought the boy was a knob.”
“I don’t think he’ll ever forgive you,” she told him, firmly; harsh but honest. “You know what you did was horrible, right?”
“Yes, yes I know!” He threw his hands up. “ And! And I’ve apologised so many times!”
“Sometimes an apology doesn’t do it, mate.”
“There’s nothing else I can do. People apologise, and you forgive them, that’s how apologies work.”
“Well it doesn’t cut it this time,” she crossed her arms, their eyes at the same level, as she watched him frown. He ran his hands through his hair, looking frustrated.
“Marlene, my love!” Remus threw his arms in the air, running towards her; he’d either not seen Sirius talking to her, or he chose to ignore him, sure it was the second one. Because that was his thing now. Pretending as if Sirius didn’t exist the majority of the time. “What are you doing here, Black ?”
“I want to talk to you,” Sirius poked him in the chest. Marlene, again, went silent; she really hated conflict. She studied Remus. Though, she was really unable to place what he was feeling. “I’m so sorry, I really am, Remus, I’ll do anything to fix it.”
“No,” he replied, coldly. “No. I trusted you, Sirius. I really did. I used to let you help me at the full moon. Remember how much you had to beg for me to finally say yes?”
“Of course I do.”
“Exactly!” His hands balled into fists, attempting to hold whatever he was feeling inside. Barely able to, Marlene could tell. When she got nervous like this, she became too observant for her own liking. “I don't trust many people, Sirius, but I trusted you… but it turns out you’re exactly like the rest of your evil family.”
Sirius stepped back, his eyelids fluttering. His shoulders sunk into his body. Remus had taken it to the furthest he could. All of them in the friend group knew what Sirius’ family was to him. And as much as she hated it to admit it, she couldn’t help but be on Remus’ side; Sirius had also taken to the extreme, sending his enemy into the Whomping Willow.
“No. No I’m not,” his voice cracking as he attempted to hold his ground. Marlene’s eyes started wandering around the hall; pretty much gazing at everything else besides the boys. “Remus, you’ve got to understand, it was his fault. He said something about my blood, and I just blacked out, and—“
“It was your fault. You almost killed him, and you fucking ruined everything!”
“I love you, Moony,” Sirius said, Marlene’s eyes widening in shock. Remus hesitated before he laughed. Not in a cute way. In an almost evil way. He sighed, exhaling loudly. He picked up his fist, swinging it across Sirius’ face, who immediately fell to the ground, as Remus shook his hand; probably hitting him so hard it hurt himself. Well then—that’ll bloody do it. “Bloody ‘ell, mate.”
She noticed the blood spilling from his nose, as he sat on the floor, his hand stained with red. Why do I always have to be here?! She would groan at that moment if there wasn’t so much tension.
“Yeah, it doesn't feel good, does it?” Remus said, crossing his arms. Marlene was sure she’d never seen Remus so livid, and she’d never seen anybody throw such a solid punch. Good on him.
“Oh holy shit!” Mary rushed over, dropping to the floor next to Sirius once she reached them. Lily ran after her, quickly, to see what happened. “What happened?” She asked.
“I punched him,” Remus told them, matter-of-factly, as Mary gaped at him, her gaze switching to Sirius.
“Eugh,” Lily threw her head back, groaning. “You are such a sook, Black,” she picked up her wand to her nose. “ Episkey!”
“Ouch!”
“Oh, get over it,” she rolled her eyes, brushing off her thighs as she stood up from the ground—only Lily Evans would help somebody, as kind as she was, and still act as if she was mean.
All of their attention turned to the end of the corridor, James and Peter running down to Sirius. Remus sighed, as Marlene noticed him shooting Lily a look. As if he didn’t want the two boys to know what he did. Although, there was no way Marlene could blame him for punching Sirius. Neither could Mary and Lily. They all agreed the other night that Sirius deserved to get some sense knocked into him; Marlene being one of his best friends.
“Merlin!” Peter shouted, looking as if he was examining Sirius. His bottom resting on his feet, as he leaned forward with his hands on his knees; that is probably the most interesting thing that happened to them this week. From Peter’s reaction; he’d never seen anything so legendary. “You look so cool!”
“Wormy!” James slapped him in the arm, as Peter sighed at this, if only I wasn’t the fucking rat! She heard him whisper. If Marlene was named Wormtail, she’d probably stop being friends with them, immediately. “He’s obviously hurt.”
“He just broke his nose,” Lily mumbled. “And I fixed it, so it’s fine.”
“You are absolutely brutal, Evans,” James looked at her, picking up Sirius from the fall, assisted by Peter.
“Ok, punch him instead, Remus,” she declared, crossing her arms.
“Would love to,” Remus jokes, smiling at James.
“And as much as that would be an absolute honour, Moons, please do not. Wouldn’t want me beautifully perfect face to be ruined,” he winked.
“Ok, let’s go,” Lily told the group, tugging on Mary’s shirt.
Marlene shrugged her shoulders, agreeing to leave. She turned around, spotting Dorcas walking into the library. Oh no. No. No. She can’t go into the library. Not whilst Dorcas is in there. Not after Potions. Curse you Remus Lupin, she thought in her head, imagining holding her fist in the air, and gazing intensely at the sky.
“Bye Moony,” James said; Marlene noticed after a while he didn’t feel the same around Sirius as he did before the Whomping Willow situation. He acted somewhat uncomfortable, and slightly lost; he didn’t know Sirius Black as well as he used to. He wasn’t the person he once knew before all of it.
“Bye James,” he waved, as the groups separated; one towards the library, and the other in the opposite. She also noticed that The Marauders seemed more quiet throughout the day. Less pranks, as if they’d lost their mastermind. And she didn’t doubt that Remus Lupin was their prankster mastermind.
“Anyway, Remus has a date,” Marlene threw her arm around him, one hand around his shoulder, the other ruffling his hair, as she attempted to distract herself from Dorcas. He rolled his eyes. “Barty Crouch.”
“Ooo,” Mary smiled, along with Lily, whose eyes were on her; Marlene often noticed Lily staring at Mary, as if nobody else in the world existed. Sometimes she wondered how Mary had no idea that Lily was absolutely in love with her. “He’s quite a fit bloke, and he’s not too bad like the other Slytherins.”
“Yeah, he hangs out with the good Slytherins too,” Lily added.
“Dorcas isn’t a good Slytherin,” Marlene grunted. “You know how annoying, absolutely relentless, arrogant—“
“And Marls has a date with Dorcas for the Christmas party, too,” Remus interrupted her, a smirk spreading onto his face, as she softly pushed him away from her.
“What?!” Mary and Lily said in unison, gasping and, stopping dead in their tracks—Lily was going to the Christmas party too. Marlene wondered who she was going to ask.
“No,” Marlene shook her head, quickly. “No, Remus was the one who suggested it, but let’s go back to the fact he’s going out with Barty!”
“No,” Remus laughed. “Marls, we’re talking about you, and your girlfriend, Mrs Dorcas McKinnon.”
She groaned. “She’s not my girlfriend! And you! You have finally found somebody other than y’know. So what do we think about him?!” She asked, shooting looks at both Mary and Lily.
“Oh actually,” Lily grinned that usual bright grin when she was happy for her friends; so painfully, and uncommonly kind, as Mary would put it. “Yeah, are you excited, love?”
“Er,” he thought for a second. “I… I’m going to admit something to you, alright?” They nodded. “I kind of… Well I hate Sirius with absolutely every single bone in my body, but I miss him . Or maybe I miss it, I don’t know. I miss the person he was before he sent Snivellus—“
“Hey!”
“Before he sent Snape into the Whomping Willow.”
Lily, Mary and Marlene began shouting at him at the same time, although Marlene was unable to hear the other two over her own voice.
“Remus John Lupin! Él te traicionó y lo vas a extrañar?! ¿Lo extrañas? ¿Has perdido la maldita trama? Maldito idiota. Te romperé la nariz, como le hiciste a él. Como deberías, obviamente, pero Merlín, LO EXTRAÑAS, nunca había escuchado esas tonterías. I’m literally going to tackle you!”
Remus John Lupin! He betrayed you and you're going to miss him?! Miss him? Have you lost the damn plot? Bloody idiot. I'll break your nose, like you did to him. As you should, obviously, but Merlin, MISS HIM, I've never heard such bollocks.
She stopped yelling, reluctantly turning her head towards Mary, Lily and Remus, who stared at her, as if she’d gone completely mental. Maybe they’d stopped shouting as she continued to do so. Would’ve been nice if they told her sooner.
“You know, I’d actually like to see that,” Mary nodded, finally You can count on Mary to be the one to speak first; always making it less awkward. That’s why she’d always thought Mary was her twin flame; her best friend. She’d never think of snogging her, or getting with her. She loved being around Mary. Would probably consider her like her sister—especially growing up with three other brothers, it was nice to have a girl.
Dorcas walked out of the library, a smile spread on her face, as she waved to whoever it was she was waving to. She laughed, and at that moment, Marlene wasn’t thinking about Christmas, or Remus, or the girls; her mind was solely on Dorcas. So beautiful, as she flicked her hair behind her shoulder. Marlene couldn’t think about anything else, but the feel of Dorcas’ lips on hers.
Then the most disgusting thought turned up in her mind, as if what was already in it wasn’t the most disgusting. It got worse—something she despised if she’d ever feel it. And yet, she still did.
She fancied Dorcas Meadowes.
A complete tosser—arsehole of the century.
Gormless—so simple, unable to recognise the appropriate moment to create a challenge, yet Marlene didn’t have a single problem with it. She found she never really had.
Lazy—but unfortunately perfect at all times, yet Marlene had no clue whether Dorcas really tried in all her classes. Always wondered how a person could exceed in everything, effortlessly; a natural.
And definitely , certainly not the most fit woman she’d ever laid eyes on—she’s met more attractive women in her life. Maybe Mary. Dorcas . No , not Dorcas. Lily. Alice Fortescue. Pandora Black.
But yet every single thought of another girl led back to Dorcas.
No matter how disgusting, and unappealing as the thought seemed to her; she fancied Dorcas Meadowes.
The so unfortunately clever Dorcas Meadowes. And not even close to intelligent, because she even exceeded that. Easily the best chaser they’d had on the Slytherin Quidditch Team; so good that they had to put her on the team. The Slytherins never did that; let a girl into the team.
And how excruciatingly beautiful she was.
It wasn’t the sort of unfair that Marlene would envy. It was not fair how easy it was to fall for someone she despised.
After all, she’d seen and acknowledged every single one of her flaws; her obvious arrogance, rightfully earned, yet still annoying. And annoying. Oh Merlin, she was the most annoying person to exist. And not to mention her persistence. How frustrating that was at times. Marlene could go on and on for hours about every single flaw that Dorcas had.
And yet, Dorcas Meadowes had Marlene McKinnon falling for her.
All of these feelings because of a smile.
That damned smile.