Marlene Mckinnion stood in front of her bathroom mirror studying her reflection. The bags under her eyes were proof of her sleepless night, and the many that had preceded it. She bit down of her bottom lip as she nervously ran a hand through her dark hair. She had very dark brown hair, so dark it was almost black with a slight reddish tint that was accentuated by small streaks of burgundy and blonde. Her eyes were puffy and red; she splashed her face with cold water as she tried to banish all remnants of the nightmare that had kept her up all night. Staring into the mirror she took in the delicately sculpted face; her high cheek bones, the small aristocratic looking nose, the clear pale skin. She examined herself and sneered. She hated her face, hated what it presented and what it betrayed. The only thing she liked were her pale green eyes, yet those weren't even hers. With one last look at her reflection, she walked into her room and collapsed on her bed.
She curled up on her side as she let herself dwell on what today was. The day she's been dreading, or waiting for, all summer. The day she starts at her new school, Hogwarts. Until recently Marlene lived in Boston, Massachusetts, in the U.S.A. With the stirrings and events in England, her dad had decided to move to London, to be nearer to the 'family'. She hated it, hated everything. It's so dreary here. Sure, Boston wasn't the warmest place, but there she had felt alive. Here, she felt drained. There was nothing here that resonated with her, just a constant feeling of being watched and being out of place. Though I wouldn't doubt it if I was being watched. She thought.
With a huff of aggravation she walked into the closet, she still couldn't think of anything here as 'hers'. The room didn't even look anything like her room at home. No paintings, no random scribbles of thought, no pictures, only the blank red to reflect what she was feeling. She sorted through the mass of clothing that spilled out of the trunk until she found the outfit she was seeking, jeans and her favorite tank top. She also grabbed her black hoodie. In a matter of minutes she was dressed and ready to go. She was never one to spend hours in front of the mirror fretting over her appearance. With one sweeping look she looked for anything she may have missed. Throwing everything into her trunk, she shrunk it along with her easel and case to a more manageable size. She put the miniature items into her pocket as she got the basket ready.
"Ochre! Come here darling, we have to go." She looked around and soon spotted who she was looking for. Her little black kitten was quietly pattering across the floor to where Marlene was sitting next to the basket. He rubbed himself against her leg as he purred his contentment. Marlene scooped him up and buried her face into his spotted coat. "We got a journey ahead of us, but we'll see it through won't we?" All Ochre could do was purr his agreement as Marlene settled him into the basket. Seeing that he was comfortable, she settled the cover on as she took one last look around.
Glad to be gone, she held the basket in her arms as she disappeared with a little POP!and next she was standing in front of the big scarlet Hogwarts Express.
She didn't bother looking around at the people milling around. She was already sick to her stomach; this was the last place she wanted to be. Without looking around she headed for the train. She climbed up the stairs dragging her trunk along, trying to attract as little attention to herself as possible. Upon entering the beautifully decorated corridor, she headed to the back of the train where she believed she could find an empty compartment. Finally she found one in the very back and quickly entered.
She settled Ochre onto one of the seats and let him out. He popped his head up and didn't seem to be startled by the change in scenery. "Always the brave one aren't you dear?" She murmured as she pet him between the eyes. Ochre responded with a louder purr as he snuggled into her hand. Marlene removed the objects from her pocket and returned them to their original size as she stowed them over head.
After everything was in place, Marlene zipped up her sweater as she settled across three of the seats and closed her eyes. Ochre quickly settled against her side as he too drifted into sleep.
Lily Evans quickly kissed her parents goodbye and ran off to catch up with her friend Dorcus Meadows. After a few minutes of running with her trunk slowing her down, she managed to grab her friends arm and huff out breathlessly,
"Dori! Didn't...You...Hear...Me...Yelling?"
"Oh my god! Lily!" Dori shouted. She's always been on the loud side, "I'm so sorry! I didn't hear you!" She hugged Lily while trying to maintain her handle on her trunk.
"It's o.k." Lily giggled as she returned the hug. "Let's just find Eli and find a compartment before you kill me haha"
"Wait! Don't you have to go to the prefects compartment?" Dorcus tried sounding offended.
"Hahaha Yes, I have to go there first, but I'm going to come back to meet you guys. You think I don't want to spend the train ride with you? How could you?" Lily said dramatically.
"Ok. Ok. Hahaha. Wait! I think I see... Yeah! Hey! ELI! ELIZABETH OVER HERE!" Dori waved her hands franticly. Elizabeth looked around for the source of the voice. She spotted them and quickly headed over.
"Lily! Dori! Oh my god i've missed you guys! " Elizabeth yelled as she ran to embrace the both of them.
"I've missed you too! But it's only been a week." Pointed out Dori.
"Haha Dori. Wow. Leave Eli alone. C'mon! Let's go find a compartment! The train's leaving soon!" Lily grabbed her trunk and hurried to the train. They walked down the corridor looking for an empty compartment. Finally Lily found one at the very end. They were taken aback to see a very pretty girl sprawled out across the seats. As they stood at a loss on what to do, the silence was broken as Dori accidently slammed the door shut and the sleeping person sprang up, frightened. The black kitten looked up sleepily as he tried to figure out why his sleep was disturbed. Marlene was startled to see three other girls standing in the compartment. She settled into one of the seats and gathered Ochre into her lap. She smiled hesitantly at the girls. Lily was the first to return the smile and introduce them.
"Hi, I'm sorry about that. I'm Lily Evans, this is Dorcus Meadows..."
Dori cut her off, "Call me Dori, I hate the name Dorcus."
"Yeah true. She's the clumsy one," Dori stuck her tongue out as Lily just continued on. "and this is Elizabeth Applewood, or Eli for short." Eli gave a little wave and ducked her head, she was always a little shy. "We were wondering if we could share this compartment, all the others are full." Lily explained.
"Um..Yeah. Sure. Oh Yeah, I'm Marlene Mckinnion." The girls beamed at here and settled into the compartment. After all the trunks were stowed, all the attention was back on Marlene. Lily was the first to break the ice.
"So..Marlene. I haven't seen you here before, what house are you in?" asked Lily.
"I don't know yet." Marlene answered. "I just transferred here from a school in Boston. Dumbledore doesn't usually accept new 6th year students, but he let me in cause I had good grades and stuff."
"Speaking of good grades," Eli broke in, "Lily, don't you have a prefect's meeting?"
"Oh, Shoot!" Lily Jumped up. "I got to go. Bye guys! I'll be back soon!" After the door slammed shut Marlene said,
"So that's...Lily? Right? She seems really nice."
"Yeah she's nice to everybody." Eli answered. "So this is your first time at Hogwarts?" Marlene nodded. "Wow. You got a lot to learn. Did your old school have 7 years and O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S?"
"Not exactly, but Dumbledore said it's not much different."
"Well just stick with us then, we'll help you out. Just stay away from the Slytherins. They're a nasty bunch."
Dori nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and don't forget the Marauders." Both Dori and Eli gave a little giggle.
"Um. Did i miss something?" Marlene asked. "Who are the Marauders?"
Dori smiled. "Well the Marauders are a bunch of guys from Gryffindor. There's James Potter, Peter Pettigrew..."
"Don't forget Remus!" Eli broke in.
"Yeah" Dori said with a slight smirk toward Eli. She slightly blushed. "Remus Lupin and Si.." Dori was interrupted by a loud BANGas someone slammed the compartment door open.
"Honey! I'm Hooome!"