Disclaimer: I wouldn't own these things if I wanted to.
For Bex (DobbyRocksSocks) for GGE2015. I'm sorry I didn't do it last month, I feel awful. It took me awhile to come up with an idea and I was so busy with school, but inspiration struck tonight and I couldn't stop writing. I hope you like it!
A/N: This is a long time coming for Bex but a long time coming for me; I love these characters but I haven't written either in positively ages. I had so much fun writing this and it would mean a lot if you let me know what you thought :) Warnings for teen cursing and the like. Written for: GGE 2015 (Bex, Sirius/Marlene); magical creatures comp: flobberworms.
Flobberworms
Sirius Black looked down at the objects in his box in absolute disgust. "Kettleburn, you can't be bloody serious."
"I can and I will, Black, and that's Professor to you," came the short reply.
Sirius looked to his left at Marlene McKinnon and gave her a repulsive expression he expected her to sympathize with. Instead, she looked straight on to Professor Kettleburn, who was explaining further instructions that Sirius was zoning out. He didn't care to listen and she obviously didn't care to listen to him.
"This is detention. What you two did was rude and unnecessary, and you will fix it by caring for the most rude and unnecessary creatures in existence." Kettleburn had turned his back to the woods, apparently transfixed by the sight of trees. Did it matter? No, Sirius thought quite bluntly.
"McKinnon," Sirius whispered from the side of his mouth. He was ignored.
"Furthermore, you will understand how to properly take care of something because it has become apparent to me you hardly learn anything in my class. How you manage decent marks is beyond me."
"Mar," Sirius whispered harshly. "I hate this."
"So for the next two hours, you are to care for these worms. Anything it takes to keep them moving. You are then to collect the mucus – "
"Ugh," Sirius put in. Kettleburn turned around sharply.
"You are then to collect the mucus and I do not care how long it takes. If you try to joke about how this far too serious a punishment, you will care to know that this is a result of multiple, ignored offenses on both your parts due to my better faith in you. Clearly I should have listened to the rest of the school staff."
"Marleennnee," Sirius singsonged in a whisper. Sirius thought she probably hated how he hadn't gotten caught yet. Most do.
"And that mucus will be placed in jars and in my office. Are we clear?"
"Marly," Sirius whispered again, and she snapped.
"Shut up, Black!" The Professor looked appalled. Marlene colored when he looked at her. "Yes, we're clear."
"And Mister Black?" Sirius cleared his throat, embarrassed. "I'm clear, too."
"Good." With that, Professor Kettleburn turned around sharply and started towards the school. As soon as he was out of sight, Sirius turned to his work and ignored her completely.
Three hours later, Sirius couldn't hold it in anymore.
"What was all that about McKinnnon? Can't control yourself just once? You're the reason we're here, anyway."
Marlene looked at him with an anger that told him if looks could kill, he'd be in the seventh ring of Hell by now. She made a disbelieving noise in the back of her throat and turned, clearly repulsed by the sight of him.
Apparently Sirius didn't understand a look of clearly repulsed.
"I was just going along, pulling my prank, enjoying my day, and then you had to go and ruin it all." Marlene ignored him for a minute, so he walked over to her and poked her firmly on the shoulder. "Why did you have to ruin my fun, anyway?"
"Because you were pulling a prank on other students, dumbass!" Marlene exclaimed, clearly unable to hold it in anymore. She rounded on him sharply. "I won't stoop to their level, no matter how much I hate them. Besides, you scared off those bowtruckles we were working with today."
"The walking sticks? Why in Godric's name would you give two craps about that? Those things were boring, and they're hardly better than Rosier."
"Rosier is a bastard, but you're just as bad."
Sirius took a step back, deeply offended. "You'd compare me to Rosier?"
Marlene turned her attention to the flobberworm in the box before her and teared off some lettuce. As she was feeding it, she talked in an even tone, clearly trying to pretend he didn't exist.
"Why wouldn't I? He's a bastard, you're a bastard. He doesn't have to work hard, you don't have to work hard. You're an arse on the Quidditch Pitch and don't care about anyone around you. There's not a teacher in this school you give a semblance of respect too. I want to kick him in the bollocks, and you can rest assured I want to kick you in the bollocks."
Sirius looked at her for a minute, then looked down to the flobberworms in his box. It took a lot to make Sirius Black feel like shit, but there was the feeling, fresh and raw. What did she know, anyway? (But why did he care what she thought?) He took the flobberworms and stacked them on top of each other and then knocked them all done, wishing they would splat. They didn't, and Sirius looked up, incredibly angry.
"Who gave you the damn right to call me whatever you want? You think because I tease you I don't give two shits about you? I thought we were friends. I'm grateful for nearly ever Professor in this school and you damn well know that because you know what it was like at home for me and they took me away from that."
Marlene looked guilty for a moment, but then she turned and slapped his arm. "You're missing the point! So people treated you like shit; you've got no right to bully those who don't do anything wrong. You take everything way too far, even if I do know you're a decent guy underneath. Get your act together, and maybe we can stop acting like stuck up bitches together, because trust me, I know why I'm here too, so you don't have to list out my flaws."
"Doesn't feel good, does it?" Sirius couldn't help himself.
In that moment, she seemed madder than he'd ever seen. "Don't," she spat.
Sirius took a few deep breaths, listening to everything she'd said over and over in his head and calming himself down. He took a step closer to her and turned her by the arm so she would look at him. "I'm sorry," he said, but her eyes remained on the floor of the box. He tugged. "I'm sorry, Marly," he said again, and there was recognition in her eyes that he was sincere.
"I'm sorry, too." It came out in a whisper. Then, she gave a small smile. He returned it.
"You know," said Sirius, hoping to cheer her up, "I can tell the severe annoyance to all of my actions is a serious result of an unbelievable attraction to me." It was his favorite line, after all.
Marlene laughed out loud, but then something sparked in her eyes and she took a step closer. "You couldn't be more right," she said, and leaned in close. Before he knew it, Marlene was kissing him, and her lips were soft and warm, and he moved closer to wrap an arm around her.
That is, until, he felt a chilling sensation in his chest, and he looked down to where a flobberworm was literally crawling down his chest. It was tracing a path of slime down his shirt and the only thing that remained of Marlene was the ghost of her laugh and the taste of her lips.
"How was detention?" Remus Lupin and Mary MacDonald each asked their fellow classmates when they returned to the boys' and girls' dorms, respectively.
Marlene blushed and looked down. "Awful."
Sirius stripped off his shirt and headed toward the shower. "Bloody fantastic!" he called through the door.