Horace Slughorn, the Hogwarts Potions teacher, for as long as Marlene could remember, had always had a proclivity for talented students he deemed to be future leaders. She remembered the first time she'd heard about his esteemed "Slug Club" and wondering if she'd ever be invited. She had been. She was a McKinnon, after all, and if that wasn't good enough to get her in, she didn't know what else would. It wasn't until after her second meeting however, that she realized her older brother Wesley wasn't at the meetings. When she asked him why he never attended, he smirked, ruffling her hair. "Maybe I'll tell you when you're older," he answered, bopping her on the nose and strolling away.
It wasn't until her third year, however, that she found out where he really went during the Slug Club parties. There was a Slug Club party that night, and her last lesson of the day was Transfiguration. She had just exited the classroom, jabbering away with her best friend, Dorcas Meadowes, discussing what they were going to wear.
"Hmm, no, I wouldn't wear that…" Wes chimed in as Dorcas was describing her outfit. "I'd wear something more… sexy." Dorcas blushed.
"Bugger off, Wes," Marlene scolded. Their brother/sister relationship was constantly in limbo between best mates and annoyance.
He shrugged, throwing an arm around Dorcas's shoulders. Her eyes widened before furrowing, throwing a sideways glance of confusion at Marlene. "You would think, " he whispered roguishly in her ear, loud enough for his sister to overhear, "after nagging me for years about where I go during Slug Club meetings, she'd be less difficult when I try to tell her, don't you think?"
Marlene's head whipped around so fast her neck ached. "Where?" She whispered back, intrigued.
Wes shrugged. "Can't tell you… Don't get your knickers in a twist!" He added, eyeing his sister's mutinous expression. "Just… don't dress like you're actually going to Slughorn's. Head down to his office at the normal time. And that's all you need to know for now…" With that, he disappeared into a staircase hidden behind a tapestry.
Dorcas and Marlene exchanged looks, unsure what to make of his vague instructions. Nevertheless, they changed out of their robes and Marlene met Dorcas outside the Gryffindor Common Room at a quarter to eight. They headed in the direction of Slughorn's office, taking the long way there instead of their usual shortcuts.
They were only a floor away when they were accosted by none other than Sirius Black. He appeared seemingly out of nowhere, putting arm around each of them and steering them sideways into an abandoned classroom. Only the classroom was no longer abandoned. There were roughly twenty students inside, milling around, drinking, chatting, bobbing in time to the music that had been inaudible from the corridor.
"Welcome to the Horn Club," Sirius said nonchalantly before returning to the door, studying a piece of parchment intently. Before Marlene could get a closer look at the parchment, Gideon Prewett intercepted her.
"Little Lena!" He greeted, arms open wide. Gideon and his twin Fabian were two of her brother's best mates, even though they were a year ahead. She'd spent many a summer holidays with them, playing two aside Quidditch.
"It's Marlene," she reminded him for what felt like the thousandth time. The twins had dubbed her Lena upon their first visit to the McKinnon house, claiming it was shorter. She argued that it was the same number of syllables, but the nickname had stuck anyways.
"Whatever," he said with a grin. "Welcome to the Horn Club. We have, after much deliberation, decided you are worthy to join our exclusive Anti-Slug Club. Wes argued it would be cruel to induct you and leave your pretty friend here to suffer alone through Slug gatherings, so after close observation, we have decided she too is worthy on induction. So, prepare yourself for a long, grueling initiation."
"Shove off Gideon," Fabian said good-humoredly, strolling over with two butterbeers in hand. Gideon hit him playfully before wandering off to talk to Emmeline Vance. "Ready for your initiation?"
Dorcas, whose eyes had been following Gideon with interest, snapped to his twin. "I thought that was a joke…?"
Fabian smiled, steering them over to an empty corner. "It's no big deal, just a vow of silence saying not to spread around what we're doing. Here," he offered them both one of the butterbeers in his hand. They took them from him, but as they did so, he pulled a flask out of his back pocket. "Do you solemnly swear not to divulge the whereabouts or existence of the Horn Club?"
Dorcas and Marlene both muttered "I do."
"Alright then," he said, as if that settled the matter, taking a swig from his flask.
"That's it?" They said, again, in unison.
He smirked, looking back and forth between the pair. "Of course not. Now you drink." He held the flask out to them.
Marlene had never had anything stronger than butterbeer before, only trying it a month prior on her first Hogsmeade trip. She new Dorcas was thinking something similar. She glanced sideways at her friend, who was already looking at her. Marlene knew she would have to take the lead on this one. She looked at the flask, then up at Fabian, who was watching her through narrowed eyes. She reached out for the flask, and took a large swig, not breaking eye contact. It wasn't until she swallowed that she had to look away. Firewhiskey. It burned as it went down her throat, and she blinked repeatedly to keep her eyes from welling up. She coughed once and handed the flask to Dorcas.
Fabian wore an approving expression as he diverted his attention to Dorcas. She took a sizeable swallow, a shiver traveling down her body as it went down, warming her insides. He clapped her on the back, taking back his flask. "Congratulations, new members of the Horn."
"Which is so named because…?" Dorcas asked.
"Slughorn. The Slug Club and the Horn Club," Marlene answered, Fabian gave a noncommittal nod. Marlene narrowed her eyes, and the other half of the meaning came to her. "And because horn can also mean you've got the hots for someone. Horny. Am I right?" The Firewhiskey was making her bolder, and she took a sip of her butterbeer to hide her blush.
"Too right you are, Lena." Fabian said with a hint of surprise.
"It's Marlene," she reminded him.
"Whatever," he answered, waving her comment away. "Enjoy your first party." His smile was devious, and Marlene couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened at these parties. He'd only walked a few steps when he turned back. "Oh, and Lena, Wes said to make sure to not embarrass him," he added with a wink.
"It's Marlene!" she growled under her breath.
Dorcas turned to her, "Oh hush, it's cute. There are worse nicknames they could have given you. I wouldn't mind them acknowledging me," she remarked wistfully. "They're quite fit…" she trailed off, watching Gideon, who was now talking to James Potter.
"Mmm, yeah, positively dreamy," Sirius concurred, sidling up behind the pair.
Remus had taken up post by the door, huddled over the same piece of parchment Sirius had been examining. "What's on the parchment?" Marlene asked, pointing towards it with her bottle. "A list of members?"
Sirius followed her gaze before looking back at her. "Something like that." He smirked. Marlene was beginning to feel like smirking was a requirement for being in the club. Smiling was too commonplace. She didn't know much about Sirius other than what she'd overheard in the girls' lavatories.
"I could introduce you, Dorcas," Sirius offered, still smirking. Dorcas blushed. "C'mon, Frank and Alice need competition for Gryffindor power couple. I'd extend the offer to your friend here, but, y'know…" He mouthed the word Ravenclaw.
Dorcas giggled attractively while Marlene snorted into her butterbeer much less attractively. "Against inter-house dating, Black?" Dorcas asked.
"Not at all," he answered wiggling his eyebrows at Marlene, who rolled her eyes in return.
"What a pity," Marlene droned. She brushed past him and headed for Fabian, Firewhiskey still burning slightly in her core.
"Wrong one!" Sirius whispered as he stole past her.
Marlene ignored him. She could tell the twins apart—they weren't identical, after all. What a git. She tapped Fabian on the shoulder, and he turned from his conversation with her brother. "Is Gideon seeing anyone?" She was beginning to like the warm feeling of the Firewhiskey and the boldness that came with it.
Wes slapped a hand over is eyes. "Oh my Merlin, I don't want to know who you fancy, especially if it's my mate." With that, he stalked off to the other side of the room, which was filling up quickly with students of all ages.
Fabian watched him go before turning back to Marlene. "So, you got a thing for my brother? You know, we are twins."
"What? You are?" Marlene asked with mock surprise. He smiled at that. "Alas, no, Dorcas has her eye on him."
Fabian 'ahh'ed with comprehension, taking a swig from his flask. "So, naturally we have to take the most complicated route possible instead of her just talking to him herself."
Marlene took the flask from him, stealing a sip for herself. "Or I'm just a good mate, sparing her the humiliation of hitting on a guy who's taken."
He shrugged. "Well, believe it or not, but we don't really sit around braiding our hair and talking about feelings." Marlene fixed him with her most scathing look. She wasn't sure how effective it was as her face was beginning to feel numb. However, he added, "But… I do believe he has his sights set on someone at the moment."
"Thank you," her voice dripping with sarcasm. She made to give the flask back to him, but he pushed it back towards her. She knew it was a challenge. She put it to her lips but knew better than to take as large a gulp as her first. She turned it up but used her tongue to slow the flood of liquid. She swallowed, smacking her lips with feigned pleasure.
"You're an interesting bird, Lena." He remarked, tucking a hair behind her ear. She averted her eyes, unable to hide her blush behind her hair. He smiled, whispering into her exposed ear, "Your friend is looking for you." His lips brushed against her ear before he walked off. She shivered. He knew exactly what he was doing, and Marlene wasn't sure how she felt about it.
Dorcas found her then. "What are you doing?" she whispered urgently. Marlene exhaled, shaking her head slightly to clear it. She swapped her bottle with Dorcas's near empty one.
"Gideon's got eyes from some bird," she told her friend, empathetic.
Dorcas giggled. "That's okay. I can still look can't I?" She smiled slyly, looping her arm through her friend's. "Besides," she began, squaring her shoulders, "that means he's still free to look too, eh? So let's give 'em something to look at…"
Marlene eyed her friend with interest. She'd been the one drinking Firewhiskey, not Dorcas. Not that she was complaining, Dorcas had been long overdue to overcome her shyness. Marlene sat her drink down, and guided her friend over to where others were dancing. She spun Dorcas around, and she laughed shrilly, Marlene joining in as she dusted the cobwebs off her best dance moves.
Marlene chuckled to herself as she walked down the corridor, remembering her first Horn party, flashes of other parties from the past two years following the first.
"What's so funny?" a voice asked.
She looked down to her left at Ava Meadowes, Dorcas's little sister, who was in Ravenclaw with Marlene. "Nothing," she answered distractedly, "I, er, just remembered, these shoes blister me something terrible. I'm going to go change, er, go on without me."
Ava studied her with her wide eyes, and Marlene feared for a second that she was going to offer to walk back with her. Thankfully, however, she went on without her. Marlene backtracked until she was safely around the corner and ducked into an empty classroom. She took off her cloak to reveal a much less school appropriate dress underneath. It was the Friday before Halloween, and she was not missing a Horn party for another stuffy Slug Club gathering. She stuffed her cloak into her bag, which she hid under a desk.
From there, she snuck down a flight of stairs to the next empty classroom. She knocked twice and heard the lock click. She slipped through the door and her senses were immediately assaulted. Her ears were affronted with loud music and her eyes strained to see through the foggy haze that engulfed the room. Before she had regained use of her senses, she felt an arm slip around her waist. She leaned back and inhaled the familiar scent—only it wasn't there. It had been replaced by the scent of Firewhiskey, still, she knew it was him. He spun her around, pressing their foreheads together.
She kissed him lightly on the lips before pulling back. The boys must have started early because Fabian's eyes were already starting to glaze over.
Marlene felt a hand on her shoulder—Wes. "Listen, I'm cool with you two, just not in front of me, okay?" He teased, waggling his finger at them.
"You're one to talk," Marlene countered. As if on cue, Dorcas appeared beside him, slipping her hand into his. She was right in thinking that they'd started early. Dorcas's cheeks were flushed in a way that wasn't fading away, and she'd stopped blushing constantly ages ago. Marlene had to admit that was due, in part, to her relationship with her brother, so she couldn't badger her about dating Wes. Likewise, Wes had stopped harassing Fabian and Marlene—mostly.
Wes shrugged, but dragged Fabian away to induct some new members that had just been unceremoniously dragged through the door by James Potter. Lily Evans, who had been inducted earlier that year watched on disapprovingly, but said nothing. Marlene took comfort in having another Prefect at these parties. (Other than Remus, but he hardly counted as he'd always been a Marauder.)
She waved, and Lily made a beeline for them. "So, you started without me?"
Dorcas giggled (a little longer than usual). "Only like an hour ago, but we were playing Never Have I Ever, so…"
Marlene took comfort in the fact that Dorcas was still fairly sober. She had no desire to know what Dorcas had and hadn't done with her older brother. She shuddered at the thought, but then paled. "Bloody hell, what did Fabian say?" Marlene rubbed her temples, feeling nauseous, torn between wanting a drink and fear of increasing her nausea.
Dorcas erupted into a fit of giggles, so it was Lily who answered. "He was very good." Marlene raised an eyebrow. Had she seen Fabian? Lily rolled her eyes, "Well, he didn't mention details. I'm sure you're not the only one he's guilty of things with."
Marlene pursed her lips. "That's so comforting, Lily." Lily smiled apologetically. Marlene shrugged it off. "I can't help noticing you're incredibly sober…" She arched an eyebrow.
"Oh don't look at me like that," she chided. "I didn't participate. Could you imagine the frenzy that would send Potter into?"
It was Marlene's turn to giggle. Relaxing, she took a sip out of Dorcas's cup. Her eyes widened with surprise. "Merlin, what is that? It's fucking delicious."
"RIGHT?" Dorcas exclaimed. "But deadly," her eyes widening to match her friend's. "Hence…" She gestured her own flushed face.
"Um, Marlene." Mary McDonald appeared beside Lily. She'd been inducted at the end of the previous year, and convinced the others that Lily could be trusted, Prefect status notwithstanding.
"Hmm?" she hummed, currently draining the last of Dorcas's cup.
She gestured across the room towards a certain redheaded boy who was whispering in the ear of a blonde girl he had pinned against the wall. "Isn't that your boyfriend?"
Marlene squinted. "Nope, definitely Gideon."
"Yeah, I don't think it's me either," Fabian said seriously, sidling up behind her and handing her a drink. He nuzzled his face in her hair, nibbling her ear affectionately.
Mary blushed, looking away. "Sorry, I can't tell you two apart sober, much less after that game…"
Fabian chuckled. "S'okay. Happens all the time. We're twins, you know."
"I'm feeling as if I missed out on this game," Marlene pouted.
"Let's play again!" Dorcas suggested excitedly.
Fabian snorted, blowing Marlene's hair into her face. "Says the girl who was winning. I'm down to play again." He tickled Marlene on the stomach. "Though, preferably not with your brother…" he added as an afterthought.
"Hmm, yeah, that'd be preferable," she agreed.
Mary groaned. "Not tonight, please. I've had enough." She took a sip of her drink anyways.
Lily smirked. (James would be proud, Marlene thought.) "You just need more time to think of things you haven't done yet Mary."
They all laughed at the expression on Mary's face. She drew herself up to her full height, which was still rather short. "Well… Well, at least I've never hooked up in a Hogwarts Express bathroom!"
Marlene choked on her drink. "Who was that?" she asked, curiosity peaked. That was ballsy, she thought.
Everyone went silent, except Fabian who was laughing silently. Marlene looked around the group. Dorcas looked as if she wanted to drown in her cup, and looked up sheepishly. "Shit, Dorcas. Just… Holy shit. I need air."
Laughing, and slightly nauseous, she slipped away from Fabian, stepping out into much cleaner air in the corridor. Not wanting to be discovered by Filch or Mrs. Norris, she stole back up to the classroom where she'd stashed her cloak. She closed the door behind her, leaning her forehead against the cool stone walls, laughing to herself quietly.
"Alright there McKinnon?" Sirius Black. He was laying on a desk, head turned towards her, cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
Marlene gaped at him momentarily before composing herself. "I didn't know you smoked," she said slowly.
He sat up, shaking his hair back into place. (He did have really nice hair, she thought. It wasn't fair for a bloke to have such nice hair.) He ashed his fag before speaking. "Er, yeah. Just don't tell anyone, don't want the firsties following my lead."
He met her gaze. "I won't tell so long as you've got one for me."
It was Sirius's turn to be surprised. "You smoke?" His tone was disbelieving.
Marlene shuffled her feet. "Only when I'm stressed. Don't tell Wes."
The look he gave her was a mingling of approval and astonishment. "Sure thing." He reached in his pocket pulling out a lighter and a pack of cigs. He paused in the act of offering her one. "Hmm…" Marlene arched an eyebrow, reaching for the cigarette. He pulled it away from her. "Now when you say you smoke…"
She studied him for a moment before realizing his meaning. "I mean fags," she said, laughing.
"Pity," he said, taking a long drag off his own before lighting hers.
Marlene sat down on the desk with him and inhaled deeply. "Maybe some other time," she joked, exhaling out her nose.
"I will hold you to that ma'am." He nudged her gently. "So," he began, taking a hit off his cig before continuing. "Why are you stressing during a party?"
"Mmm," Marlene mimicked him, taking a long drag before speaking. "I found out some of the reasons why my brother and Dorcas had to drink during Never Have I Ever." Marlene shuddered. Sirius laughed. He rubbed her back as if to comfort her; she shrugged it off.
"I could tell you some of mine. You wouldn't feel near as bad." Marlene gagged theatrically. He shoved her again. "Don't be so high and mighty. Your boy was also playing. I'd be interested to know which ones of those were you…"
Marlene's eyes widened, and she began to hit every piece of Sirius Black she could reach. His bark-like laugh rang throughout the room as he jumped off the desk and out of range of her arms. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, wandering back towards her, studying her. "Hmm, feisty, violent… So that one time in the Quidditch changing room, was that—"
Before he could finish and Marlene's face could give her away, the door opened. Both of them froze, fearing the worst: Filch, a Prefect, a professor. Fortunately, it was only Fabian. Marlene hid her cig behind her back. Sirius noticed and casually took it from her as Fabian crossed the room.
"You're still smoking, Sirius? I thought you'd quit."
He shrugged. "Yeah, me too." He inhaled deeply from Marlene's cigarette, winking as Fabian turned to her.
"I was wondering where you'd wandered off to…" He drew her into him. "Missed you…"
Marlene could almost hear Sirius's eyes rolling behind her. She kissed her boyfriend on the jaw. "I just needed some air."
"Mmm yeah, the air's so fresh in here," Sirius drawled, exhaling his smoke in their direction to emphasize his point. What a prick. Still, he had covered her little habit for her.
"Shove off, Sirius."
He shrugged, murmuring something along the times of "here first."
Marlene pulled her boyfriend by the hand back towards the door. As she closed the door behind her she mouthed a "thank you" to Sirius, who saluted her briefly before the door had shut.
A/N: Please comment/review/critique! I get the characterizations down more the farther along I go so please stick around! 3