The weather was mild for an October afternoon. What should have been a chilling breeze that nipped at the rosy cheeks and noses of witches and wizards, instead offered a welcome warmth as the sun beamed down on the lush Hogwarts grounds. It was here Marlene McKinnon found herself revelling in the comforting embrace that the sun provided, as it sought to warm her porcelain skin. She had sprawled herself out underneath her favourite oak tree while she gazed at the scenery. Trees of all shapes and sizes, with leaves of all different colours decorated the vast castle grounds, becoming more and more dense as they neared the border of the forbidden forest. The Black Lake, that supposedly harboured a Giant Squid, had taken on an almost ethereal quality as the rays of sunshine reflected along the water creating a shimmer that stretched as far as the eye could see. Giving no indication of the great beast that lurked just beneath the surface. Although Marlene had never seen the Squid personally she suspected it was a gentle creature that didn't wish to be bothered, as there had never been any real reports of it making an evening snack of any students brave enough to take a dip, despite the horrific tales told to the first years. She often pondered if the Squid was simply shy and had come to enjoy the peaceful serenity of solitude as she had.
Marlene had always been very tame and reserved compared to other members of her house, preferring to keep to herself or alternatively with her nose buried deep in the latest dusty old book she had acquired from the library. She often wonder as to why she hadn't been sorted into a house more befitting of her demure nature. Perhaps Ravenclaw or even Hufflepuff. Upon further reflection however, she had come to accept she wasn't quite as welcoming and carefree, to be amongst the chipper Hufflepuff's. Nor was she as academically inclined as the elite Ravenclaws. Despite enjoying the splendours the Hogwarts library had to offer she always gravitated to more fanciful tales of adventure and discoveries of great witches and wizards and less so the cirriculum reading material. She often found herself trying to live vicariously through the characters in her books. Perhaps it was this longing for excitement and adventure that had placed her in Gryffindor. Although her inability to act on such impulses had made her quite closed off from other members of her house. The other Gryffindors tended to be a strong willed often rambunctious group. With the supposed courage of the lion on their house sigil, and they were proud of it. While Marlene admired the traits associated with the red gold house, she found that she lacked them. She was neither courageous, nor strong willed. Perhaps she could be loyal if she had anything to offer her loyalty to. Eventually Marlene came to enjoy the quiet moments under her oak tree most rather than involve herself with her peers.
She closed her eyes as the wind caressed the wisps of hair that had fallen free from the sloppy bun that rested against the nape of her neck. She inhaled the crisp air of fall and the comforting scent of the pine trees scattered about. However her senses were soon assaulted by a rather unpleasant musty smell that burned her nose. Pulling herself to sit upright she peered around the base of the tree trunk seeing a pair of long legs outstretched, crossed over one another in a carefree manner as a trail of smoke wafted from their general direction. She was shocked to realize another person had joined her under her tree while she had been too immersed in her thoughts to notice. Immediately Marlene felt a resentment towards the unknown intruder who was now polluting the once pleasing breeze. Dusting herself off and fixing the baggy uniform that enveloped her tiny frame, she made to confront the culprit who had violated her small sanctuary with the putrid smell of cigarettes. Gathering her wits she plucked up all the courage she could muster and marched around the trunk of the tree only to be stopped right in her tracks as she came to know the identity of the long legged stranger. There leaning against her precious oak tree with his eyes closed, resting a cigarette in a lazy fashion between his teeth as he rested both of his hands behind his head, was none other than Sirius Black.
Sirius Black was something of an anomaly within the Gryffindor house, and perhaps all of Hogwarts. With his perfectly sculpted aristocratic features, steely grey eyes and long dark locks that often fell down in front of his face, so much so that you could often spot him running a hand through them strictly out of force of habit in an effort to tame the stubborn tresses. Needless to say many a female of Hogwarts had questioned whether or not they were just as soft as they looked. Taking the word of the lucky few that were pretty enough to warrant a broom closet romp, yes, they were. However, Sirius Black was not just a pretty face by any means. He happened to be one of the four members of the Gryffindor troop that referred to themselves as "The Marauders". The four boys were notorious pranksters; often targeting Slytherins, Mr. Filch the caretaker, the occasional batch of first years, Teachers, and just about anyone who was unlucky enough to walk into the various traps and jinxes they had set up around the castle. Marlene recalled being a victim of a particularly tricky sticking charm they had placed on the books in the library back in third year. However, despite their childish hi jinxes the Marauders were the Golden Boys of Gryffindor. Each of them were particularly gifted with magic and did not hesitate to remind the student body of it with their annual start of term prank. This year it had taken the teachers a full four hours to remove the comically over sized fangs and garish green skin pigment from the Slytherins.
Remus Lupin, was the most tame of the bunch. However, he seemed to have a unruly appearance to him. Tall and lean with a messy mop of sandy hair and curious nicks and scars that were scattered about his face, yet his eyes were a warm inviting amber that softened his more abrasive features. He seemed to carry the more book oriented academics of the group and was a prefect in addition. He was obscenely book smart, but it was not without effort as he could be seen pouring over books in the library in his spare time when he was not out with his friends, turning a blind eye to their mischief. From what Marlene knew he seemed to be a very polite and genuinely nice person, and had even gone out of his way to make small conversation with her in some of his visits to the library. Poor boy had a terrible immune system though he was often missing regular lessons because of it.
Then there was Sirius Black's other half; James Potter. With his signature round spectacles and unruly hair, that never quite seemed to stay in one certain style, he was indeed a sight to behold. His impish, cocky nature that was the mastermind behind many a prank, combined with his natural aptitude for spell work, particularly transfiguration, astounded both teachers and peers alike. He had also recently obtained the coveted position of Captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and was dead set on ensuring that everyone was aware of it. Marlene thought him a tad pompous and arrogant at times but perhaps that was something he would grow out of in the future, though he had shown no signs of doing so as of late. Another thing that tended to define the existance of one James Potter was his obsession with Lily Evans. James had been carrying a torch for the pretty red headed prefect for over 5 years. Sadly for him, Lily had yet to reciprocate the feelings. It was common knowledge that Lily despised James Potter, as he had taken to tormenting her close friend Severus Snape. The feud between Potter and Snape for Lily's affections had been going on for years on end and sparked a strong ire between the two of them. However, Lily still remains oblivious to her friends affections and unimpressed by James' antics, but this does not seem to have deterred him in the slightest.
Finally, The last of the Marauders was Peter Pettigrew a relatively meek boy who resembled a rotund cherub. People often whispered that Peter was merely riding the coattails of the Marauders glory as he was not particularly smart or magically inclined. He assisted in pulling pranks and tagged along with the group but it remains a mystery how he came to fit in with the niche of pranksters. However, no one would dare say this to him lest they risk incurring the wrath of all the Marauders. They were a close knit group and when one was attacked all four of them retaliated. A formidable force to be dealt with. So it was there Marlene found herself frozen like a deer in headlights in front of one of the most intimidating boys at Hogwarts.
Seeming to sense her presence Sirius cracked an eye open to see who had come to interrupt his smoke break. He was rather surprised to see the tiny girl with wide doe eyes trembling before him.
Marlene was entirely unsure of what to do, she had gathered up enough courage to maybe tell some fourth year to buzz off, but she certainly did not have the sheer bravery needed to confront the Great Sirius Black. She began to panic as she felt his steely gaze on her, no doubt waiting to be addressed, and sputtered out the first thing she could.
"Th-Those'll kill you, ya know." she stammered. Mentally berating herself as she realized the redundancy of her statement.
Sirius Black seemed to be taken back for a moment by what she had blurted out. He repositioned himself underneath the tree; sitting up straighter and bringing his arms out from where he had tucked them behind his head. With a well practiced non chalance he plucked the cigarette from between his lips and brought it to the forefront of his gaze. He seemed to ponder the little white stick for a moment, as the grey smoke danced from the tip, before giving a small shrug and replacing it in his mouth taking a steady drag.
"Nah." He said with a tiny smirk resting on his handsome features. "That would be a much too boring way to go. If I'm going to kick the bucket I suspect it will be from a much more exciting event than death by cigarettes." It was almost comedic the casualway he spoke of his demise, as if he were discussing the weather.
Marlene felt slightly irked at the remark. Was he truly so arrogant he believed himself immune to the poisonous little sticks? Her annoyance grew as she watched him take another drag from the cigarette, the foul smoke drifting over to where she stood. Her nose scrunched up at the unpleasant odor. He may have enjoyed the toxic smoke filling his lungs, but that certainly didn't mean everyone did, the least he could do is show some form of consideration and leave. Before she could bite her tongue she found herself bodly letting him know just that.
"I suppose it would certainly be an ironic way to go after this conversation. However, not all of us are as immune to the effects, and smell, as you are. So if you wouldn't mind continuing your awful habit somewhere else." She said sharply glaring at the source of her ire resting gently between Sirius' fingers. However, her mind finally caught up to her mouth and registered exactly whom she had snapped at. A look over horror morphed onto her dainty features. Marlene had never been one to intiate confrontation by any means. But something about the self entitled Marauder currently situating himself underneath her tree, irritated her to a point she found herself making brash statements without considering the consquences.
In turn he seemed also slightly shocked by her abrasive request to remove himself from her presence. Very few people had ever told Sirius Black to more or less piss off. And even fewer had gotten away unscathed in doing so. He gazed at her with an incredulous look as he seemed to process the remark. Marlene contemplated running away then and there. She was positive people had been hexed for far less indiscretions against one of the Mauraders. Oak tree be damned!
However, instead of reaching for his wand to hex her into oblivion, he let an impish grin come across his features that made him resemble a child who had just gotten caught elbow deep in the biscuit jar. To Marlene's utter shock and relief he threw his head back and let out a barking laughter although made no move to vacate from his spot under her tree.
"Yeah I guess it would be pretty ironic if I were to drop dead from the little bastards now." He chuckled. "But why do I have to leave their are plenty of other trees for you to sit under and I happen to like this spot very much." The challenge in his tone was clear to Marlene as he grinned at her from his place against the tree base. He was toying with her now and Marlene McKinnon didn't appreciate it one little bit. She doubted he had grown incredibly attached to the oak tree in all of the five or so minutes he had been there. But for Marlene, this was her place, her sanctuary. She had laughed, and she had cried all under this very tree. It was special to her and despite her unsteady resolve and quaking knees she refused to let it become Sirius Blacks personal ash tray.
Sucking a deep breath into her shaky lungs she met his challenging gaze with a stubborn look of her own. "This is my spot." She squeaked, wincing as she realized she sounded like a three year old who hadn't gotten their way.
His barkish laugh returned at her words. "Your spot?! And what pray tell makes this your spot?" He said grinning devilishly at her once again.
"I-I've been coming here since first year." Marlene spoke stumbling over her words. "I think I'm somewhat entitled to this spot by now. It's quiet here. It lets me think." she mumbled softly as an after thought lowering her gaze to study the small scuffs along her shoes.
The grin had slowly faded from Sirius' face as he pondered the meek girl infront of him. One could clearly see she was more than a little intimidated by his presence which he found to be pretty amusing. Truthfully Sirius couldn't care less about where he enjoyed his cigarette, he was merely curious to see how far she might go if he pushed her a little. He half expected her to run away or simply faint on the spot, so he was more than intrigued when she stood her ground, despite her knobby little knees knocking together. Now, Sirius didn't consider himself to be a bully, only showing any true spite towards students he deemed had earned it. Clearly this place meant quite a bit to the girl and he could respect her standing her ground. Perhaps it was why she had been placed in Gryffindor like himself, he thought as he pondered her red and gold tie that had been haphazardly tossed around her scrawny neck. Although despite his best efforts he could not recall her name. He had seemed to vaguely remember having a class or two with her in previous years at Hogwarts. Had possibly seen her around the common room once or twice with her nose burried in a book. Yet her identity escaped him.
"What's your name?" He asked with his steely eyes penatrating her own doe like orbs. The sound of his voice making her jump slightly as it tore through the previous silence.
"M-Marlene. Marlene McKinnon." She answered in a breathy tone. Her name seemed to surprise him as his eyes flashed with breif recognition. He gave a small chuckle, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair pushing it back from his face. His impish grin once again returning to his features.
"So you're Marlene." He said with a cheeky look as he gave her a once over. Marlene nodded her head dumbly, oblivious to the meaning behind his words.
"Well I suppose it makes sense all things considered." Sirius contemplated out loud to himself, as he made to stand. Flicking his cigarette in another direction, which had burnt down to the nub in his neglect.
"Well it was good talking to you McKinnon, thanks for letting me share your spot." He said with a wink as he turned and made his way back to the castle. Only to stop breifly in his tracks before whirling around to face her once more. "By the way, I'm Sirius Black." He said with a wolfish grin before turning back to once again resume his journey towards the castle.
"Maybe we will be seeing more of each other." He called back to her in a jovial tone not looking back to where Marlene stood rooted to the ground trying to decipher the meaning of his words. Completely dumbfounded, her mind working a mile a minute to process the encounter. Slowly she came to slump against the tree as she peered back at his figure casually waltzing over to the three other figures that had just emerged from the castle in the distance.
'That confrontation certainly could have gone much worse' she thought with a sigh of releif. Sirius Black was certainly a strange bloke, but never the less she was happy to have her little peice of Hogwarts back to herself. Yet a strange feeling of anticipation was settling into her stomach. Perhaps for Marlene, this year would be an adventure.