A/N: Thanks for your reviews and follows, friends. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Three: You can always count on Marlene
"She seems nice," Marlene said as she pulled her long auburn hair in to a ponytail on the top of her head. She then raised her arms over her head and started stretching.
"Yeah, she's all right. And she gets on with them," I said as I watched my friend jog on spot. I think just watching her exert herself made me feel out of breath.
Marlene made a face at me. "It didn't sound like she got on with them. It sounded like she was completely unimpressed. Do you want to come running with me?"
I stuck out my tongue. "Ew, no." Not even if Sirius Black was running alongside me, feeding me grapes. Okay, maybe then.
She laughed. "Quidditch Trials are on Friday, I have to be ready."
I nodded. "I'm sure you'll be brilliant. Just make sure you come back in by curfew, I don't want to have to bust you!"
"I can't even imagine you with an ounce of authority. Well – at least come down to the common room and save our seats for when I come back to work on the Potions essay."
I nodded and followed her down the stairs. Thankfully our seats by the window were free so after I waved Marlene away on her run, I settled down and looked out on to the Hogwarts grounds. I could just make out Potter flying around the Quidditch Pitch and I smiled, wondering if Sirius would join him later. It would be nice to have an excuse to go watch him at Quidditch practices if Marlene got on the team but I was careful not to tell her that. She might have decided not to try out in protest of that thought! I was just considering opening my Potions book when I heard someone clear her throat.
I looked up to see Lily Evans staring down at me for the second time that week.
"Hi Effie, can I sit?" she asked politely and I nodded. Surely I wouldn't have to patrol with her again tonight? How demanding were these Prefect schedules anyway?
"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I let all of my drama get in the way of your first night of rounds. It's never exactly fun but it didn't have to be as painful as last night," Lily said, tucking a long strand of red hair behind her ear. "I mean, it was bad enough running in to Sev but then Potter…oh, sorry – I'm being insane again."
I smiled at her. "You're not insane." Well, she wasn't totally insane.
She laughed. "You're very kind but I really am. Anyway, again – I'm really sorry."
I shook my head. "You don't have to be. It was quite an awkward situation."
"Right?" Lily said, shaking her head. "Well – I've had worse but..."
I watched as she looked out of the window, seeming to disappear in to her own world.
"What's wrong with her?"
Sirius Black was standing next to my table in his Quidditch robes, holding a broomstick over his shoulder and frowning at Lily and…he was talking to me. Me!
"Blerrrr," I said intelligently, looking up at him and trying not to swoon.
He gave me an odd look before clearing his throat. "Hey, Evans?"
She jumped and turned to look up at him "Oh, Black – hi."
He squinted and adorably raised an eyebrow at her. "All right?"
"Yeah, it's whatever," she shrugged. "Um, did you want something?"
"Yeah…" Sirius said, dragging a chair over from another table and sitting on it backwards, leaning his broomstick against the table. Sirius Black was sitting at my table. MINE. Sure, he was here to talk to Lily and I might as well have been invisible, but still - I could practically smell his aftershave! I leaned forward a little, trying to discreetly sniff the air.
"Do you happen to have notes from yesterday's Care of Magical Creatures lesson?" he continued, looking at Lily hopefully and thankfully not noticing my creepiness.
She furrowed her brow and nodded. "Yeah, I do. But – you were really good with the Hippogriffs. Why do you need them?"
He shrugged. "They're for Remus. He was ill and I er- forgot to take notes for him."
"Ill again? Poor bloke," Lily said shaking her head. "No problem, I'll give them to him in Transfiguration tomorrow morning."
Sirius broke in to a big, irresistible smile. "Thanks Evans – you're the best."
Even Lily, who seemed immune to the powers of the Marauders, smiled back at him. I fought not to drool.
"Well, see you," he said cheerfully, standing up and grabbing his broom. He winked at Lily and nodded (with what I was sure was intrigue and not simply politeness) at me before heading to the portrait hole and disappearing through it.
"You can replace your eyeballs now," Lily chuckled and I blushed deeply. She wasn't making fun of me the way most people did, but it was still embarrassing.
"Don't worry – you're not the first to swoon over that particular smile. He's very charming when he needs something. It's just too bad about his fat head."
I laughed with her as she stood. "Well Effie, see you around," she said leaving me there to stare out of the window until I saw the very small figure of Sirius join James up in the air on the Quidditch Pitch.
About an hour later, Marlene returned to the common room with Benjy Fenwick – he'd obviously joined her on their run because they were laughing together as they stretched and cooled down. After she'd waved goodbye to him, she came over and shrugged out of her jacket. She ignored a fourth year whistling at her midriff and stretched again, waving her hands in front of her face.
"Ugh, I'm all sweaty," she said. "But that run was brilliant. Benjy and I even wandered into the Forbidden Forest for a bit."
I raised my eyebrows at her. "Is that why you're sweaty?"
Marlene laughed and her flushed cheeks glowed brighter. "Shut up, Effie. How's the Potions essay going?"
"Slowly. I can't remember a thing about the ingredients that go into the Draught of Peace."
"Oh well let me just run up and take a shower and we can tackle it together, okay?"
"Sure – I'll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs while I wait," I said, reclining in my chair and grinning at her.
"You could look it up in the textbook, you know…" Marlene said, shaking her head.
"Why do that when I can just copy off you later?" I laughed.
"You are hopeless!" she said, smacking me lightly over the head as she headed up to the dormitory.
I half-heartedly opened my textbook but after a few very boring minutes of reading, I decided to stretch my legs a bit and take Marlene's jacket up to the dormitory for her.
When I got to the door, which was open, ajar, I stopped. Peeking in, I noticed that Marlene was talking quite civilly with Wendelin and Florence. Since this happened so rarely, I listened rather than entering the room myself.
"But your stomach is so flat, is it just the running that does it?" Wendelin was asking Marlene.
"Nah, you've got to do crunches too."
"Oh, I can barely do those! They always hurt too much," Florence complained.
"You've just got to power through them. And make sure your neck is well supported, or you might pull something," Marlene shrugged.
"Can you show us?" Wendelin asked and she and Florence buzzed as Marlene demonstrated the exercise. They practiced with her for a moment and Marlene pointed out a few things to help. I was starting to feel very unsettled. I mean – I know it was only bloody exercise moves, but I really didn't think I could handle it if Marlene suddenly joined Wendelin's evil gang. Where would that leave me?
"Thanks Marlene! That's really helpful," Florence said as she jumped up and stretched.
"You see! We're always saying this about you – you could be so popular if you wanted to be. You're cool and smart, you've got this great body and if you just let your hair down sometimes, you would be a real stunner," Wendelin said, grabbing hold of a strand of Marlene's hair and smoothing it down.
Marlene just shrugged in response and began rummaging in her drawers for a towel. I wondered if I ought to go downstairs and pretend that I hadn't heard any of the conversation. Marlene would never be friends with them, would she?
"Absolutely! And Benjy Fenwick so fancies you! He's pretty fit, " Florence added.
"He is. I just don't understand why you're friends with Bottle-Specs – you could do so much better! You're more than welcome to hang around with me and Flo and Emmeline, you know! We're much more the kind of people you ought to be spending time with," Wendelin said, making me clench my fists. Thankfully, I needn't have doubted Marlene for a moment, because she slammed her drawer shut and turned around with her hands on her hips.
"Right. That is exactly why I don't want to be friends with you. You're so fickle. Let's just imagine for a moment that I could put aside the fact that you are the most shallow and self-absorbed girl I have had the displeasure of meeting, I still would never be able to forget the way you treated me in First Year when you all found out that my father was fired from the Auror office. The only person who didn't treat me like a pariah that month was Effie. And on top of that – what would you do when I suddenly flew in to a rage and you didn't think I was so cool anymore? Would you still be friends with me then? Because Effie is – and she's the only one who can calm me down anyway. AND she's kind and has interesting things to say and she makes me laugh. The only time you make me laugh is when I see you doing something spectacularly stupid. So don't for a second think that you are better for me than Effie Savage – because you're not even worth half of her!"
Wendelin and Florence had their mouths open, looking like goldfish and I punched the air in celebration. I could always count on Marlene.
"Whatever McKinnon," Wendelin finally spluttered. "Come on Flo."
The door flung open and Wendelin scowled when she saw me grinning.
"Get out of my way, Bottle-Specs!" she said as she and Florence pushed past me roughly. I said nothing but stuck my tongue out when they had their backs turned. I entered the dormitory quietly and put Marlene's jacket down on her bed without much fuss.
"I'm guessing you heard most of that?" Marlene asked, eyeing my expression warily.
"Oh no, nothing at all. I was too busy being kind and saying interesting things and making people laugh," I grinned.
"And that's when I actually wonder why I'm friends with you," Marlene sighed, grabbing her towel and heading to the bathroom.
"Because I'm worth twice of Wendelin!" I yelled, laughing as she flipped me off.
A/N: Good friends like Marlene are hard to find. Thanks for reading, please review!
