That's the Spirit!
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"Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryff -"
"Hey you Slytherin fans! Stand up and clap your hands! Go Snakes, go! Go Snakes, go! Hey you Slytherin fans! Now let's see you wave your hands! Go Snakes, go! Go Sna -"
"Y-E! L-L! Y-E! L-L! Everybody YELL! YELL! Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gooooo Lions!"
Marlene glares across the Great Hall at the red-and-gold idiot who is trying to out-chant her. Of course it's him, Regulus's older brother. She huffs in displeasure and boosts her efforts in leading the Slytherin spirit calls. Today is the first day of the best week of the entire year, and she absolutely refuses to let the Gryffindors take home the Quidditch Cup for the seventh time in a row at the end of Saturday's game.
"Hold this," she says curtly as she drops her school bag in her best friend's lap. She clambers up onto the bench seat and then onto the Slytherin tabletop.
"Mac, wait -" Regulus protests.
Marlene ignores him. When she is in spirit-mode, she is unstoppable. Her housemates catcall her and make a crazy fuss while she plants her feet and faces the Gryffindor table. All eyes in the Great Hall are on her, which is just the way Marlene likes it.
"Hey Gryffindors! Are you ready?" Marlene shouts. A few boos float her way, led by the charming Sirius Black of course, but her House drowns the negative response out with their own cheers of excitement and support for her and Slytherin. "Are you ready to see what we got? We're exploding with spirit and our squad is hot! With our silver and green we can't be beat! Slytherin is the number one team!"
The Slytherin table erupts into stomps and applause. Marlene grins. Her friends and housemates clap her on the back for her gutsy performance, and she basks in their attention.
Suddenly, a loud commotion on the other side of the hall draws Marlene's focus back to the Gryffindors. With great displeasure, she sees Black standing on top of his table as well. He cups his hands around his mouth and leans back as he yells: "V!"
"V!" the other Gryffindors shout back.
"V-I!"
"V-I!"
"V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! That's the Gryffindor battle cry!" He points at Marlene. "Remember the name, McKinnon, because the Lions are going to win Saturday night!" At the end of his chant, scarlet and gold confetti rains down from the ceiling, covering all of the students but most noticeably the Slytherin table. Black winks saucily at Marlene while she sneers in response.
The doors to the Great Hall bang open, immediately silencing the students. Professor McGonagall strides in. Her face is drawn up in displeasure as she takes inventory of the situation. "Miss McKinnon," she says in a pinched voice as her house colours get caught in her no-nonsense bun and robes. "Get down from your table at once. This is a school, not a barnyard."
"It's Spirit Week, Professor," Marlene answers defiantly as the other Slytherins start up a round of We've got spirit, yes we do. We've got spirit, how about you? We've got spirit, yes we do. We've got spirit, more than you! "Are we not allowed to express House pride at the breakfast table?"
The older woman purses her lips. "Save your spirit and cheek for the pitch, Miss McKinnon. Five points from Slytherin."
Marlene glowers but sits down. It doesn't escape her notice that Professor McGonagall does not reprimand Black nor dock points from her own House. "Fucking favoritism," Marlene says with a scowl in her bowl of porridge.
Regulus drapes an arm over her shoulders. "Don't worry. The match is the day after a full moon and my brother and Potter are always a bit worse for wear after a full moon."
Marlene can hear Black loud and clear as he chants back and forth with with his housemates in an original rendition of "What team? Lions! What team? Lions! What team? LIONS! GET'CHA HEAD IN THE GAME!"
She snorts and says, "Merlin, what if they were werewolves? That would explain their barbaric behaviour." Then she sobers up. "But the match doesn't depend on them. It's that goddamn fourth-year Seeker they have that Lestrange needs to beat in finding the Snitch. And I know the Quidditch Cup depends a lot on the match but Spirit Week is so much more than that, Reg! It's about the dress-up days and the pep rallies and Lost-and-Found fashion show and the student-professor game and - "
"Mac!" he interrupts, laughing.
"What?" she retorts. "Just because some people don't take Spirit Week seriously . . ." Marlene's spoon suddenly clatters onto the table. She's pointing an accusing finger at her best friend when he turns around to find the source of noise. "Where the hell is your red and gold?"
"Er . . ."
"Regulus! It's Monday! Mock the Opponent Monday! I told you yesterday the very least you could do is nick one of your brother's ties - "
"Yeah and I told you that dragging around a cut-up lion plushie was a bit overkill - "
"Nice pun," she interrupts. Marlene adjusts her safari hat and straightens her hunting vest. Four stuffed animal lions hang on her waistband in addition to the life-size lion pelt that trails behind her on a rope leash. "And really? I thought it was quite clever, actually."
"I like it," one of the Lestrange twins interject as he reaches across Marlene and Regulus for the marmalade.
"Thank you," Marlene says. To Regulus: "See? Rodolphus likes it."
Regulus rolls his eyes. He doesn't push the subject further. "Whatever. Just don't be surprised if you get hexed in the corridors on your way to class."
He grabs an apple and the two of them leave the Great Hall. On the way out, however, they have to pass the Gryffindor table. The older Black brother wastes no time in pouncing on the two Slytherins as they go by.
"Come to beg for mercy?" Black jeers.
Marlene smirks. "Bite me." She eyes his costume with disdain. He's dressed in a gaudy green that has fake snake puncture wounds and blood splattered all over it. "Halloween's not for a few more months, you know. Oh, wait. Sorry, that's your real face."
The Gryffindors titter with laughter but Sirius snaps back relatively fast. "Aw, how cute. The wittle snakes have decided they want to play with the big bad lions. Sorry, babe, but your insults are as weak as a newborn flobberworm. Come back when you think you can handle the heat." He leads his table into a new chant. "Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Let me hear you lions ROAR!"
The sound of all the Gryffindors cheering and jeering is deafening and serves to remind Marlene and Regulus that they are standing in enemy territory.
"Mac," Regulus hisses in her ear and tries to tug her away and back on their intended path out of the Great Hall. "Leave him be. They're not worth it."
Marlene, despite Regulus's pleas, jerks out of his grasp and strides over to Sirius. He's full of macho man swagger as he high-fives his mates. Displeased that his attention is no longer on her, she roughly grabs his shoulder and pushes him to pivot around on the bench so that they are facing one another.
"McKinnon, what - "
She cuts him off with a fierce kiss. Lips bruise as teeth nip and tongues soothe wounds but Marlene doesn't relent until he is the first to surrender. When they pause to catch their breath, Marlene dimly registers that the entire Hall has burst into shouts and whistles of encouragement. "That enough heat for you?" she smirks as he tries to get control of his breathing again.
"Hot damn," her boyfriend of three years replies. Sirius's pupils are fat with desire, and immediately he presses more kisses along her neck.
She pushes him away with a loud laugh. "Stop, stop! You know I love you, but you're currently number one on my shit list, babe. This year is going to be the year I out-spirit you, so you better watch your back. I hope you're prepared to get your ass kicked on Saturday."
Marlene leaves the Great Hall arm-in-arm with Regulus humming the Slytherin fight song.
Official score: Slytherin - 1. Gryffindor - 0.
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Author's Notes: haha please excuse my overabundance of exclamation points and school spirit. I'm just getting ready for tailgate season 2k15 woot woot :)
Written for the Blackinnon Competition: orange prompt - "game" (which has been interpreted as a synonym for "match.") Based on the tumblr prompt: It's Spirit Week at school and I'm determined to out-spirit you for once.
5 August 2015.