Marlene McKinnon rapped twice on the boys dormitory door and then immediately began to tap her foot in impatience. She checked her watch twice in the span of thirty seconds and was about to heave a dramatic sigh when the door swung open.
"Wha- Marlene?" Sirius Black wore bright yellow Whimbledon Wasps pajama bottoms and a look of confusion that absolutely disgusted the girl before him.
"Don't play stupid, Black. You, the common room, five minutes. Bring your boyfriend."
Marlene turned on her heel and stalked down the stairs, back to the dimly lit common room. It was well past midnight, and the central room of Gryffindor tower was empty save for Marlene, and her two companions, Lily Evans and Mary MacDonald.
Marlene seated herself next to Lily on the couch. The redhead shot her yet another look of disapproval.
"Whatever you're going to say, don't. They can't do this. It's not fair and you know it."
Lily harrumphed and crossed her arms. "I don't agree, and frankly, I don't see why I need to be here if I don't agree and I'm not on the team anyways."
"We need numbers, Lily!" Mary hissed from her seat on a nearby arm chair. Lily rolled her eyes.
"You're both being very cruel. I want nothing to do with this."
"Then go back upstairs," sighed Marlene, having had it with Lily's holier-than-thou attitude throughout the hole shenanigan. Lily looked ready to stand, but stopped when the boys emerged from the shadowy stairwell.
Sirius had donned a shirt, thankfully; Marlene found it difficult to be mad at him when he was so fit. Behind him trailed James, looking no less disheveled than he usually did, and notably, not wearing a shirt.
Lily sat back down and thankfully, shut her mouth.
"Wha's this all about?" yawned Sirius, pouring himself into a chair. James leaned against the back of it, putting his chin in his hand and using a finger to hold one eye open.
"Oi! Wake up, both of you!"
Sirius sat up a little straighter. "Alright, alright, I'm listening."
Marlene nodded, satisfied, and then looked to Mary. Mary looked back at her blankly.
"Well?" Marlene gestured to the space between them and the boys expectantly. "Mary?"
Mary looked bewildered. "What?"
"We agreed you would do the talking!"
"When did we say that? I don't remember that."
"Ugh, Mary, I told you, I'll get them down here, you explain to them why... never mind."
Marlene heaved one last exasperated sigh and stood.
"Black, Potter, you can't put Meadows on the team."
Silence, then, twin sighs.
"We've been over this, McKinnon," whined James.
"Yes, we have, but neither of you seem to grasp -"
"- the depth of your petulance?"
"You know what petulance means?" Lily cut in, raising a ginger eyebrow. James looked smug.
"I am not being petulant. Mary, tell them."
Mary smoothed the front of her paisley dressing gown and took a deep breath before linking her hands, much like an opera singer about to perform an aria. "Marlene and I have thought about this and while she undoubtedly outperformed Marlene in the tryouts -"
"Undoubtedly," Sirius cut in.
Mary faltered, but carried on. "Yes, she did very well in the tryouts but we don't feel that she's the right fit for the team. There's more being a part of the team than being able to use a beaters bat."
"Is there?" James sounded bored.
"Of course there is." Marlene crossed her arms and glared at James. He'd been nothing but self-satisfied and amused throughout the whole ordeal.
'The whole ordeal', the term Marlene herself had given it, referred to her replacement as first beater for the Gryffindor House team by Dorcas Meadows, who Marlene had previously regarded as the human equivalent of oat meal. The doughy girl had done nothing of interest for six school years running when suddenly, last week, she had shown up to try outs, mounted a broom, and absolutely floored Sirius and Potter by sending a live bludger whistling out of the pitch.
Marlene, who had been beater since her fourth year, hadn't managed any such impressing feet, as she had been hung over. She had barely hit the bludger, let alone sent it any impressive distance. Just the thought of that awful day was enough to make her squirm in her seat with rage.
"Please, enlighten me." Sirius gestured for her to continue.
"Well... there's... she's just... not like us."
"Not like us?"
"You know what I'm getting at, Black."
Sirius sighed and looked up at James, who had gone back to falling asleep with his head in his hand. "Prongs, you're team captain. What do you think?"
"I think I'd like to go to bed."
"Aside from that."
James made a show of straightening up and stretching. He shoved his hands into his pajama pockets and began to pace and look at the floor. He always paced before delivering a speech, a habit that made Marlene want to wring his scrawny neck.
"I've been thinking a lot about the team this past holiday, and I feel we've let our... personal ties cloud our view. If we want to win the cup this year, we need fresh faces. Marlene," he stopped his pacing and approached her, removing his hands from his pockets to clasp them behind his back, "you've been an admirable member of our team for a very good three years. But your performance yesterday on the pitch left... much to be desired."
Sirius scoffed. "She was hung over. She could barely stay on her broom. Don't beat around the bush, Prongs."
Marlene couldn't glare at both of them at the same time, so she settled for the space between them. If looks could kill, the carpet would be very dead.
"I know this isn't easy to hear, but as team captain and Head Boy-" he paused briefly to glance surreptitiously at Lily, who rolled her eyes, "- I've a duty to my team and my school. To push Meadows back to second string and put you on first wouldn't be fair, and furthermore, it wouldn't seem fair, do you take my meaning?"
Marlene blinked. The reality and the absolute injustice of it all was sinking in, and she found herself unable to express her deep rage through expressions or words. She was silent.
"This could be good for you!" Mary cut in once the silence had become awkward. "You can go to Hogsmeade on weekends now-"
"Alone. You'll all be practicing." Marlene cut in tonelessly.
"Lily could go with you!"
Mary gestured toward Lily to carry on. Lily, who had been on the cusp of drifting off on the sofa, sprung up and took a moment to regain her composure before doing so. "Oh, erm... yes. We could go to the Three Broomsticks?"
"And..." Mary moved her hand in a circular motion.
"And, erm... go to matches! Yeah, it's fun, really. You get all dressed up and cheer... I like to bring a mug of tea and a book for when things get a bit dull..."
"Dull?" James looked stricken. Lily tsk'd.
"It's not all action in the stands, Potter... but it is fun," Lily amended with a nod in Marlene's direction. Marlene remained impassive.
"And besides," Lily continued after a moment, "now you have time to focus on your grades!"
Marlene could take no more. Wordlessly, she stood, crossed the room, and took the stairs evenly and calmly back to her dormitory. No one followed. She slipped quietly into the warm darkness of the room and padded softly to her bed.
Meadows snored softly from the four poster beside her. Marlene drew the curtains and wondered how she had gone nearly seven years without ever noticing how irritating her neighbor was. The thought that perhaps this whole situation was some kind of sick, cosmic punishment for arrogance and indifference toward the girl passed through her mind, and her stomach clenched.