Chapter 1: Bliss

I, Marlene McKinnon, am in a state of complete and utter bliss. Seriously. Why am I so happy? Let's see: I go to Hogwarts, the most fantastic wizarding school in the world, I have a goodly number of awesome friends, and the cutest guy in the year just asked me out. I'd say that that's a pretty hefty list right there.

Allow me to elaborate, lovely piece of parchment that I should be writing notes on right now. Actually, I'm positive that McGonagall is of the opinion that I'm diligently writing down her lecture word for word, otherwise she would have surely given me the Look by now. Yes, the Look. I've seen her use it, and I don't want to be on the receiving end. But enough about transfiguration. I'm happy, and I want to revel in my state of euphoria and write it all down. If I could bottle up this feeling and sell it, I'd make a fortune.

The first thing on my list: Hogwarts. I love learning about magic, and I'm pretty good at spells if I do say so myself. Not that I'm a straight-O student like my neurotic best friend Lily, but I never get lower than an A, and that was only once. I also love the amount of freedom I have here. My family is great, but there are so many of them that sometimes it's hard to get some time alone to breathe and just do what I want to do without interruptions.

Of course, school would be horrible if it wasn't for my friends. Lily is my best friend. She has lovely hair, thick and dark red, and her eyes are so green. Of course, she won't believe anything good about herself, and is always "Ugh. Look at my stupid eyes. They look like…pickle juice. Ew. And my hair…it's the color of dried blood and takes the shape of a giant puffball. Double ew!!" I swear it's her mantra, but I'm working on changing that. The other thing about Lily is that she has a temper. And that is why I have to hide this piece of paper well, so that she never finds out that I called her neurotic. Beware of the revenge of Lily.

I could go on for ages about Lily, but I have other friends too. Dorcas Meadowes is one of the most intimidating girls I know. In fact, when I first met her, I was a little scared, because she looked kind of evil. Another reason to burn this parchment, I don't want Dorcas finding out about that. But she does have a certain…dangerous look about her. She's pale, with dark wavy hair and dark eyes. Lately, she also taken to wearing copious amounts of black eyeliner and dark lipstick, making her look like Dracula's bride. She's an absolute genius at DADA, but other than that, she doesn't really seem to care about school.

And then, there's Emmeline Vance. She should be a model, because she has it all: very tall, with curling blonde hair and a killer figure. But don't be fooled by her appearance, because she is most certainly not a cotton candy princess. She's probably the most sarcastic person I know.

And now we get to the piece de resistance of my happiness: Sirius Black. He is the best-looking guy in the year, and maybe even in the entire school. He has black hair that falls perfectly into his dreamy gray eyes…and the best part is that he asked me to Hogsmeade! Me, Marlene McKinnon, the shy, nerdy klutz with less-than-average looks! I don't even know why he picked me, because I'm not a thing like his past girlfriends. They've all been blonde, busty and yet thin at the same time, and beautiful in a kind of slutty way. I, on the other hand, am kind of short, only 5'5", and I have plain, straight brown hair and blue eyes. I thank whatever omnipotent deity is out there for my eyes quite often, because without them I'd be even plainer than I am right now.

So, about my date…I'm so excited I can't sit still! And he was so romantic about asking me too! For a while now, I'd been noticing him around me in the halls, just looking at me and smiling. Then he somehow sat next to me the very day that we did partner work in Charms(poor Lily had to deal with his infatuated friend James Potter) and he seemed really nice. And the next afternoon, I was just lounging under a tree by the lake with Emmeline, enjoying the sunlight, when out of the corner of my eye I saw him walking in our direction, carrying, of all things, a rose. I was so sure that he was going to ask Em to Hogsmeade, but as he got nearer, he called out "Hey, Marlene!" I was a little confused. Actually, my first stupid idea was that he wanted me to deliver a message to Em, which would have been pointless because she was sitting right there(don't laugh, parchment, I don't think well in stressful situations). But I stood up all the same and walked over to meet him, and then he asked me to the village tomorrow! Just like that! He is the cutest, most-

Oh. Lily's just informed me that class ended two minutes ago, and wasn't I planning on eating lunch? Funny how fast that went. I guess I really did need to gush like a proper bimbo…

A/N: Okay, so this is my first fanfic. I'm not such a great writer, so pleeeeease tell me what I should fix. Flames are welcome, just don't swear at me.