Chapter 1 (Pitter-patter. Pit-pat.)

Pitter-patter. Pit-pat. Pitter-patter. Pit-pat.

Like music, the rain taps on my window. The rain: my natural love. Its calming melody drowns out my troubles. Troubles… like the sounds of my parents fighting, again; like the eerie voice of our special vistor, the Dark Lord, in the room below me; like the laughter of my younger, twin brothers jinxing my Hogwarts things. Hold on – my brothers jinxing my Hogwarts things? Crap!

I rose from my spot on the window seat in my bedroom, dropping my notebook. "Joey! Nate! If you think that I can't hear you, you're dead wrong! Not to mention just plain dead when I get my hands on you!" I screamed down the hall. I heard them galumphing down the stairs as they attempted to make a getaway. No such luck, kiddos. Focusing on the bottom of the flight of stairs, I whispered an incantation to bar the exit into the "grand foyer," as my parents like to call it (I just call it the entrance room). I laughed as I heard identical oomphs. Ah, the joys of being seventeen. Standing, at the top of the stairway, I smirked down at the mischief-makers. Both lay on their backs, ebony hair flung haphazardly across their foreheads, and dumbstruck looks on their faces. "Gotcha!" I yelled triumphantly.

"Marlene! What's going on up there?" Uh oh. The voice belonged to my mother, the bane of my existence. Okay, not quite, but she has made my life miserable since I was just a toddler all because I refuse to follow her insane "pureblood traditions." Ha! Traditions, my dirty school socks! I've met plenty of purebloods who don't go around torturing muggleborns and joining dark orders. The clip-clap of her heels against the wood floor grew nearer. I ran down the stairs, removed my spell, and pulled my brothers up by their collars as quickly as I could. I was straightening their button-up shirts as she came into view. "Marlene! What have I told you about making a racket when we have guests?" she demanded in her "you-better-know-or-you-will-be-grounded-for-life" voice. I really have to think of a better name for that: it's much too long.

"Not to." I hung my head for emphasis, hoping that for once she would let me off easy.

"That's right. And what were you doing?"

"I was in my room. It was Joey and Nate! They were jinxing my Hogwarts stuff!"

"Don't lie, Marlene! And I thought I told you that 'stuff' is not an acceptable word to use!"

"I'm not lying, Mother! I swear!"

"Very well. Since you're not telling me the truth, you're grounded for the rest of summer holidays and…" I held my breath. "All of winter holidays too! Now go to your room this minute, Marlene!"

"Mother!"

"Go."

She was so unfair! It was my brothers' fault, but no. I got blamed for everything and those little nuisances got off without even a spanking. All because they smile big and do whatever they're told to, and I don't. What else am I supposed to do when my heart is screaming at the injustice of her prejudices? Be a good little girl and smile as I watch tears well up in innocent eyes? I may be one of the biggest goody-two-shoes you'll ever meet, but I can't do that. I just wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. I flopped onto my bed and banged my fists against my pillow.

"Marley. Marley! I can hear you, Marley."

I raised my head from my pillow, wiping away tears that I hadn't realized had formed there. The little handheld mirror on my vanity was flashing red. I raced across the room, and picked the mirror, pressing a hidden button. "Sirius! Keep it down! I already got yelled at once for making too much noise," I whispered as the face of my best friend appeared in the glass. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to check up on my favorite girl," he whispered back.

I laughed. "Sirius, don't call me your girl. I'm not one of your little playthings."

"True, true," he chuckled. "But you are my best friend, and I had a feeling that things weren't going so well with you."

"You had 'a feeling'? I wouldn't be surprised if the whole neighborhood had 'a feeling.' My mother shrieks so loud."

Ignoring my jest, he replied, "What happened this time?"

"I heard Joey and Nate jinxing my Hogwarts stuff, so I yelled at them and made a barrier at the bottom of the steps to corner them. They of course made a ton of noise when they collided with it, and so Mother Dearest came to spit at me. Now I'm grounded for the rest of summer holidays and winter holidays," I sighed.

"That's not so bad. Before I… moved out-" He was still touchy about the night he ran away from his parents and went to live at James Potter's house. "I was grounded for practically the rest of my life." He forced a laugh, and I knew he was remembering that night. All he had told me was that it had been another fight about his refusal to become a Death Eater. I knew that it had to bigger than just that, because he wouldn't leave his brother, ReguIus, alone with their parents otherwise. I had pressed him for more information once or twice, but he never divulged more, and it was hard to see the pain in his eyes, so I hadn't asked since then.

For Siri's sake, I laughed along. "I guess it's not that bad, but it means that I can't see you."

"Your parents would never let you see me anyways. I'm 'a disgrace to the world of superior wizards.' My mother's words, of course."

"True. I guess I'm just going to have to live without you for the holidays. It'll be sooo hard." I made sure to cover my voice with sarcasm.

"Hey, now! You know you couldn't live without me for that long." I forced myself to look away from his puppy eyes because I knew that they'd ruin my carefully created illusion.

"Of course I could. Your ego is simply too big for you to accept it," I teased.

"Marls," he pleaded.

I giggled and gave in. "I'm just messing with you. This is still going to be hell." My face fell along with my pitch and my mood.

"Padfoot!" I heard in the background.

"Sorry, Marls. I have to go wreck some havoc. Best friends forever?"

"And ever," I finished our old ritual. I let out a self-depreciating chuckle. Who was I kidding? Sirius and I were slowly growing apart as his relationship with the rest of the 'Marauders' kept on growing tighter. We barely talked except when one of us was down. We weren't the same Siri and Marley as we were in our youth. We used to stay up 'til the sun rose, just talking together. We'd have campfires and sleepovers every weekend when we were still young. Sirius would have his adventures, which he always invited me on, and I always refused, and then he'd recount them to me in the most marvelous way. Now days, we'd talk for maybe an hour, and we never hung out at school. We still joked with each other easily, and I missed him like crazy when we didn't see each other for extended periods of time, but it just wasn't the same since he became friends with the Marauders.