Golden Years

“Do you think birds are confused by Quidditch? Cuz humans can’t fly, but sometimes we can, but then later we can’t, but then we can-“

“Marlene what the entire fuck.”

“I’m serious.” Marlene sat up from her place on the floor of the common room. “We can’t fly unless we’re on tiny fuckin trees, that’s gotta be weird. ‘Yeah, humans can’t fly unless they take apart our goddamn real estate, then they use the walls of our homes to propel themselves into the air for sport. Sorry it was your house this time, Gary.’ If I was a bird, I would be fucking pissed. I would attack every Quidditch player I saw. Like, honestly, fuck you for burning my house down to play a goddamn game. You think this is a game, you fucktrumpet? I’ll peck your eyes out, you piece of shit. I am Gary of the Sparrows, and I will have my fucking revenge.”

“Again I say; what the actual genuine fuck Marlene. Why is the bird named Gary? How high are you?” Lily asked from beside her. Saturday night common room sleepovers were a tradition they had, along with Sirius. He had passed out after drinking too much fire whiskey though.

“His parents named him Gary, not me. Are you insulting Gary of the Sparrows, Red? And also, not high, just drunk. Really drunk. That’s supposed to help, right? Help forget about shit?”

“What are you trying to forget?” Lily asked.

“That I don’t have a place to go back to for winter holidays. That the girl I like, maybe even love, is straight. Also possibly into a guy I know. A guy I’m friends with. And he has to go and be a decent fucking person so I can’t even be mad.”

“Fuck. You got some stuff happening, huh girl?” Lily asked sympathetically. Marlene just snorted, which woke Sirius.

“Wuz happenin?” He slurred his words, still a bit drunk. “I miss Remus.”

“Marlene is angsty cuz she’s homeless and in love with Dorcas.”

“Hey, I was like that last year,” Sirius replied. “Except I was into Remus.”

“Do you ever shut up about Remus? Also, I never said I was in love with Dorcas,” Marlene grumbled.

“You’re not denying it bitch,” Sirius answered. “And no I won’t shut up about Remus, he’s the stars in the sky, the sun that makes plants grow, the gentle rain that nourishes them. He is a colorful stained glass window, broken on the ground, but the sun shines through him and he’s still beautiful. He-“

“Shut up you worthless whore.”

“No, let him keep going, that was poetry. Continue, Sirius. What do you think about Remus’s eyes?” Lily asked.

“Oh my fucking Merlin-“

“Ugh. Not this again.”

————————————————————————————————————

“You three look...... alive,” Alice said as the three dumbasses (Sirius calls them The Gals and Greatness) settled in at the breakfast table. Lily grunted. Sirius and Marlene ignored her.

“What happened to you?” Alice asked.

“Common room sleepover,” Sirius answered with a groan.

“Ha, told you they were dumb enough to keep doing those,” Frank said. Alice stuck her tongue out like the mature young adult she was.

“Hey, those are an illustrious tradition starting all the way back in the beginning of fifth year,” Marlene answered indignantly.

“Ah yes, the illustrious tradition of getting drunk in the common room and falling asleep on top of each other. How honorable,” Dorcas teased as she entered and sat down next to Marlene, who blushed almost imperceptibly.

“Shut it, Meadowes. It’s too early for your snark.”

“Make me, McKinnon,” Dorcas dared. Marlene clenched her jaw for a few seconds, then turned back to her breakfast. Dorcas grinned smugly, then helped herself to some sausage from Lily’s plate.

“I wanna die,” Sirius pouted. “And my boyfriend’s in the library and refuses to comfort me.”

“Could that be because your pain is self-inflicted?” Alice said sarcastically.

“You know, that’s a possibility,” Sirius returned. Alice just rolled her eyes.

“Remus should comfort you, you spent an hour composing sonnets for him,” Lily teased. Sirius shoved at her shoulder.

“Shut it, Evans.”

“No way, I wish you had a video,” Alice laughed.

“Well, actually,” Lily said mischievously, pulling a camera from her robes. “It’s all on here.”

“Give me that camera, Red!” Sirius cried out, lunging for it. Lily hopped out of reach and laughed.

“Catch me if you can, Black.”

————————————————————————————————————

Later, after Sirius had been suitably teased following the showing of the video, Lily grabbed both Sirius and Marlene and pulled them into an empty classroom.

“Ok, so things were said last night and I want to make sure we’re all on the same page,” she said. The other two nodded.

“Marlene, you can stay with any one of us for as long as you need to, nobody would mind,” Lily said confidently.

“Yeah. James lives in a mansion, nobody would be upset if you needed a place to stay, there’s like 20 guest rooms,” Sirius said.

“Ok. Ok, yeah. Thank you. I just didn’t want to cause any trouble or anything, make you worry unnecessarily.” Marlene smiled faintly.

“Sure, Marly. Don’t worry, we got you. And uh, one more thing?” Lily asked.

“Um, ok?” Marlene responded.

“Dorcas, huh?” Sirius teased. Lily nodded as Marlene dropped her smile.

“Yeah. But I think she might be into James. Like for real,” Marlene answered.

“They have been kinda close recently. Dorcas was around quite a bit during the summer,” Sirius mused.

“Yeah, but who cares? You’re Marlene McKinnon, you could have anyone in this castle. Potter is a second-rate arrogant prat. If he’s your only competition, you’re sure to win,” Lily argued.

“He’s less arrogant lately,” Sirius said, “but Lily is right. Not about James, but about you. Have some fucking confidence you slut.”

“Thanks, future prostitute,” Marlene replied. “Dorcas is straight though. What am I supposed to do, seduce her away from James and into lesbianism?”

“Or bisexuality. Don’t be a fucking biphobe you dumbass,” Lily said.

“Damn, you guys are pouring on the love, huh?”

“Friends who swear are friends who care, Micks.”

“Whatever, Black. Hey, I wanted to ask you guys. Do you think it’d be ok if I came out to the group?” Marlene asked slightly nervously.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’d be fine. We’ve established that our group is pretty accepting,” Lily said.

“Yeah,” Sirius answered. “You’ll be alright.”

“Ok, good. Yeah, it’ll be fine. Yeah,” Marlene muttered nervously.

“Hey, we’ll be right there with you when you do, I promise. What’s the plan?” Lily asked, holding Marlene’s wrist. Sirius nodded.

“I figured I would say it during one of our practice sessions,” Marlene answered.

“That’s not a bad idea. Tell everyone all at once.” Sirius mused.

“Yeah. I can totally do this.”

————————————————————————————————————

“I can’t do this.”

Lily looked at her friend, who was almost on the verge of panic as the study session ended. They had been dueling for the past few minutes, putting their knowledge of defensive spells to the test.

“Hey, it’ll be ok Marly. If it’s not, I promise to hex everyone in here,” Lily said.

“Ok. Yeah. I got this, I got this. Totally,” Marlene said under her breath.

“Nice job, everyone. Today was really good. Peter, you’re definitely improving on the shield charm. Alice, you might want to work on wand movements a little. James, Sirius, stop messing around. I want to see what you’re actually capable of, not who can turn the others’ robes pink the fastest. Lily, you’ve improved on offensive spells, well done there. Frank and Marlene, I want you to to work on nonverbal spells, you seem a bit shaky on those. Anyone got anything to say?” Remus said. He was an excellent teacher, always managing to keep everyone in line but still having fun, the right amounts of encouraging and critical.

“Yes. Professor Lupin is really hot and I wouldn’t mind seeing him more often. Perhaps in bed-“

“Shut up Sirius.” Remus blushed. Everyone else snickered.

“Um, I actually have something I want to tell you guys. I’m kind of a private person, so this takes a lot, but here goes. I’m gay,” Marlene said nervously, not meeting anyone’s eyes, gazing at the floor instead. She glanced up when she finished, expecting to see confusion and disgust. Instead she was practically attacked by Alice in a hug.

“Still love you kiddo. Not gonna change that,” Alice said as she held her friend. Marlene smiled shakily.

“Cool,” James said. “We can talk about girls together now.” Marlene just laughed at that.

“That’s great Marlene,” Mary said kindly. “I’m glad you trust us enough to tell us.”

“Once you get a girlfriend we can go on a double date,” Remus teased.

“Not happening Lupin,” Marlene answered.

“The girlfriend or the double date?” Sirius laughed. Marlene elbowed him.

“Well, no making moves on my girl,” Peter teased.

“I wouldn’t even if I wanted to Pete.” Marlene laughed.

“Dorcas? You’ve been kinda quiet,” James said, pulling everyone’s attention towards her as she fiddled with her wand.

“What? Oh, I mean, it’s great. It’s great. Sorry, I got distracted,” Dorcas said unconvincingly.

“Right,” Sirius drawled disbelievingly. “Distracted.”

“Yeah. But really, Marls, that’s great. I’m glad you trust us. I hope you realize nothing will change,” Dorcas said, gazing at Marlene. Marlene snorted.

“Yeah, nothing except my status as a McKinnon.”

“What do you mean?” James asked. Lily grabbed her friend’s wrist in support.

“My parents disowned me. I’m the next Sirius,” Marlene joked. Her eyes were devoid of humor, however.

“What the fuck!” Alice shouted, and began marching towards the door, no doubt on her way to murder the McKinnons. Frank caught her around the waist and lifted her on to a desk.

“You can’t be an Auror if you’re in Azkaban, Alice,” he said sternly.

“Bitch I hope they’re fucking running, because I will chase them down-“

“You can’t be an Auror if you’re in Azkaban,” Frank repeated slightly louder. Alice looked at him dubiously.

“I could try. I could give it a go and see how it went, and if it worked out, I’m in the clear-“

“Say it with me Alice. I can’t be an Auror if I’m in Azkaban.”

“I could.”

“Alice.”

“Ugh, fine. You win. I can’t be an Auror if I’m in Azkaban. Happy?” Alice said sarcastically as the others giggled.

“Depends, are you gonna ignore what I say?” Frank asked.

“Maybe.” Alice pouted.

Nobody noticed Dorcas and James slip away during the conversation. Nobody except Lily.

————————————————————————————————————

“Hey, Potter, wait up,” Lily called. Quidditch practice had ended, and she was waiting to get James alone so they could talk. He slowed down, clearly waiting for her to join him.

“Alright, Evans?” He asked. “I don’t recall doing anything awful as of late, so if you’re here to tell me off-“

“No, no, just...... wanted to talk, I guess,” Lily answered.

“Ok then. What’s up?”

“Are you and Dorcas dating?” She asked bluntly.

“What?” James laughed. “No, Evans. Of course not. What gave you that idea?”

“You two have seemed close lately, and you both snuck off after Marly’s coming out thing, and I guess it would just make sense.”

“We live near each other, so we hang out a bit. We’re not dating. And as for the sneaking off thing.......” James’s eyes lit up with mischief. “We hatched a brilliant plan.”

“Why?” Lily asked. “What for?”

“Well, obviously we’re all upset at the McKinnons, right?” James asked rhetorically, slinging an arm around Lily’s shoulders. She nodded.

“But Marly said we couldn’t go after them.”

“She did say that, yes,” James said. “But we’re not going after them. Rather, having a go at them.”

“Potter?” Lily ground out.

“Yes, Lily, dearest flower?”

“Just explain.”

————————————————————————————————————

“Anyone want to explain why my parents got nine Howlers yesterday?” Marlene asked as she walked into the common room where the rest of the group was.

“No clue.”

“Haven’t the foggiest.”

“Nine Howlers?”

“Never heard of a Howler.”

“Never heard of the number nine.”

“Perhaps they were selling drugs and some good samaritans exposed them.”

“What’s a parent?”

“I was busy solidifying my popularity with a prostitution ring. They’re remarkable people, sell their bodies and donate the profits to the environment-“

“What the fuck Sirius,” Lily exclaimed, throwing a piece of parchment at him. He just laughed.

“Look, if we knew something, and I’m not saying we do, perhaps your parents got Howlers because they insulted one of the best people to walk the earth,” James said kindly.

Marlene looked amused. “Thanks, guys.”

“What do you mean? We didn’t do anything,” Alice said brightly. Marlene laughed, and so life went on.

At least until the next Saturday.