The beginning of October was met with a frosty and bitter cold. The trees, now barren, lost their once masterful colours of autumn; the leaves had fallen from their graces and covered the earthly floor in a blanket of red, orange, and yellow hues.
The school was buzzing with excitement for the upcoming Quidditch match which would mark the beginning of the season. Marlene had always been an avid fan of the sport ever since she was introduced to it in her first year. The only downfall to her fascination was the fact that Marlene was not gifted with the coordination of flying a broomstick, a fact that she had discovered when they had their first flying lessons and her dream of trying out for the team was a complete burst.
Still, she thoroughly enjoyed watching the sport and was anticipating Saturday's match against Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
However, her excitement was stifled quickly as the week prior to the match proved to be extremely difficult. In potions, they had finally moved on from the Draught of Peace and were beginning to work on heavier research topics.
"Today's class," Professor Slughorn announced joyfully as he entered the room, "will be to continue work on your Chinese Chomping Cabbage diagram."
The entire room groaned and even Severus Snape's shoulders could be seen falling slightly in his disappointment. The task was not as simple as it had sounded when Slughorn had first announced the project and it was becoming unbearably clear that receiving an 'E' on her N.E.W.T.s next year would be difficult.
In addition to the failed vanishment spell, Transfiguration was continuing to be another challenging subject for Marlene. Not only was performing the spells increasingly more difficult, she was also suffering from finding an interest in the various spell definitions that they were working on along with a rather extensive essay on an advanced conjuring spell. Professor McGonagall was 'preparing them for their N.E.W.T.s' a fact that flabbergasted Marlene since they had barely begun sixth year.
In Charms, however, they had moved on to silencing. They first practiced with bullfrogs and, once mastering that, moved on to ravens. As much as she had struggled with her Potions and Transfigurations, Marlene had a much better time accomplishing this task; something that comforted her as she buried herself into the numerous other things that did not.
Just as quickly as she had been looking forward to the Quidditch match, Marlene realized that she was far too overwhelmed with the amount of homework that had crept up on her and concluded that she might have to forfeit in order to catch up.
She had modified her study schedule slightly so that she was getting up earlier and staying up later than Lily and Mary; something that Lily scorned her for quite harshly.
"If you don't get proper sleep Marlene McKinnon, you will run yourself down!"
"Lily," Marlene said tiredly, "While I appreciate the concern I am perfectly capable of handling this."
She could be found in all of her spare time studying in the library and promptly at eight o'clock Madam Pince would usher her out and she would move up to a quiet corner in the common room where she would continue until all hours of the night.
"Well, it's time for bed," Lily had announced as she put down her quill from the Charms essay she had been writing. This particular evening Lily and Mary had broken pattern and stayed up late to finish up the remnants of their homework before the weekend. The three girls were sitting comfortably around the fire in the deserted common room as the other students had already called it a night. "I trust that you will be joining shortly?" She was looking inquisitively at Marlene in a motherly concerned sort of way as she packed up her books slowly.
"Lily," Marlene smiled. "Don't I always?"
"Don't expect me to answer that honestly Marlene," Lily half-heartedly smiled back. As Lily was an extremely studious person, she would never argue back about putting time and energy into homework. Marlene was thankful for that much even though she knew that Lily had been right, she was exerting far too much into her studies for her own health.
Her normal classes were sailing smoothly and it didn't take her long to catch up on the majority of the homework that she had been assigned. She was still struggling with her Potions and Transfiguration though, and found that her extra hours were absorbed by re-reading the same sentences from lack of interest and understanding.
Lily and Mary had disappeared upstairs to bed and Marlene sighed. She twirled her quill between her fingers and bit her lip in contemplation.
She was struggling to complete the essay that Professor McGonagall had assigned well over two weeks ago. The majority of her problem was that she had left the essay to the last minute and the library was already closed for the evening. She had been working on her Inanimatus Conjurus essay for Transfiguration for well over an hour before she looked down at the parchment in front of her and frowned heavily with frustration.
"The Inanimatus Conjurus spell is an extremely difficult spell," a masculine voice from behind her read the first line off her paper out loud.
Marlene jumped slightly. She had been unaware that anyone else had been in the common room and was completely oblivious to the fact that someone had entered in through the portrait hole and was now standing directly behind her.
"Sorry," he chuckled lightly.
Marlene turned around and was flashed a dazzling smile from Sirius Black. She smiled feebly and turned back to face her essay. "Yes, well ... it's not very good, I can agree with you on that."
"How can you determine if it's any good?" He questioned jokingly. He moved around the sofa and sat down in the empty space next to her, leaning back slightly to a position of ease. His face was half illuminated by the glowing fire's magnificent embers and Marlene could see that he was smirking slightly. "You only have the one line."
She felt a slight flush of embarrassment. Of course, he was absolutely right. She only had the one line written down so far and she mentally kicked herself as she realized she had spent the better part of an hour on it.
"Yes, well ... "she mumbled in embarrassment.
"Did you need some help?" His offer was sincere and Marlene was taken aback for a brief moment. She turned to study his face which was looking quite intently at her. His greys eyes were sparkling and he had that same playful smile tugging at the corner of his lip.
"Don't you have better things to do?" She found the words coming out of her mouth without intending them too.
"Of course," he replied casually, "It really depends on what your definition of 'better things' is though. Since you look quite miserable, and I'm quite good at Transfiguration I thought it would be a good use of my time to offer some assistance, but if you're too proud ..."
He was smiling. It was a very egotistical and haughty smile that gave Marlene the urge to shake him senseless. He was very good at Transfiguration and both he and Marlene knew it. She would be silly if she didn't accept his offer.
"Proud?" She replied dryly, "If that's how you charm girls, Black, you are sorely uneducated on the matter."
"Charm?" his eyes lit up and he pulled out his wand, "Oh McKinnon, if I was trying to charm you I'd just do this." He pointed his wand at her – to which she flinched slightly – and whispered "Orchideous."
A beautiful bouquet of pink and yellow orchids and chrysanthemums sprouted from the tip of his wand and blossomed into a full and extravagant floral masterpiece right in front of her. Her brown eyes widened and she could feel her mouth hang open slightly as she stared down in amazement at the advanced magic he had just performed.
"Like I said," he was smirking again, "I thought it'd be a good use of my time but what do I know?" He moved the bouquet away from Marlene and the flowers suddenly shot back into the wand tip. Sirius stood up from the couch, winked casually, and turned to the direction of the boy's staircase.
"Wait!" Marlene found her voice and regained her composure.
Sirius turned to look at her and she stared into his eyes for a few moments. Although he still looked sincere, Marlene was fighting with the part of herself that told her not to trust him.
"How did you do that?" She demanded. "We aren't supposed to learn that until next year as its N.E.W.T. level?"
"I'm sorry," he ignored the question, "was that a 'Yes, Sirius, I would love for you to help me'?"
Marlene gritted her teeth slightly in agitation and Sirius continued to look at her expectantly.
"Yes, Sirius," she finally acknowledged, "I would love for you to help me."
With the unexpected help of Sirius Black, Marlene was able to swiftly move from her Transfiguration essay immediately on to the remaining research she needed to perform for her Potions diagram. Lily had been pleasantly surprised when Marlene informed her that she had completed the Transfiguration essay. Lily was even more surprised when she proof read the essay and noted the sheer excellence of the writing.
She didn't have the guts to tell Lily that she had received help and she was even more inclined to hide just who she had received the help from. Sirius Black caught on though, he had overheard the entire conversation and offered a wide grin to Marlene when she failed to acknowledge his part in the matter, something he seemed to be good at – listening in on private conversations, that is.
She felt wrong hiding such a trivial piece of information from her friends but it must have been what Black had said, she was too "proud" first off to even accept his help let alone make it public knowledge that she had.
Saturday, the day of the Quidditch match, arrived soon enough and Marlene was excited to find that she had completed all of her homework and was free to spend the day watching the match.
"I'm not quite sure why you find it so fascinating," Lily pondered at breakfast when Marlene asked her friends to join her for the game. "I think I'll pass today and read ahead for Potions class. Professor Slughorn informed me that we will be looking at Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts soon and we may even get to attempt them before the Christmas holidays."
Lily was part of Professor Slughorns 'Slug Club.' It was a club that Slughorn invited all of his promising students to attend and while Marlene had never been invited, she was always eager to find out what heads up information he would slip to Lily. Today, however, she was completely uninterested in what potential Potions they might be brewing in the future and opted to meet Lily in the library at the conclusion of the match.
Mary decided to join Marlene and she was fairly certain that it was largely in part due to the fact that Davey Gudgeon was a chaser on the Ravenclaw team. Although Mary had neglected to offer any more information on her relationship status with Davey, she could be found disappearing occasionally during study sessions with such lame excuses that even Lily couldn't buy them anymore.
It was a beautiful day outside; the sun was shining and, apart from the slight autumn breeze, it was warm enough to believe it was still September. Marlene and Mary followed the crowd out to the Quidditch pitch and settled into the bleachers to watch the commencement of the game.
Mary was slightly surprised when the four Marauder boys took the seats beside them. She offered a small glare to James when he inquired where Lily was but otherwise refused to acknowledge their presence. Remus offered a polite smile and wave which she was unable to ignore.
"Good morning Marlene," he said politely, "Mary."
"Good morning Remus," she replied.
Mary looked over at him and smiled before turning her attention back towards the field where the two teams were beginning to mount their brooms.
It had been an exciting first half hour and Ravenclaw was the sure favourite to win the game. They had been off to a good head start, managing to lead the score seventy to zero. Davey was undoubtedly showing off his talents and Marlene was left wondering whom he had been showing off to as seventh year Bertha Jorkins would giggle madly from three rows ahead every time he performed a loop. Mary was completely caught up in the excitement of things and failed to notice. She was constantly leaning over to whisper "isn't he wonderful?" or "he sure can fly, did you see what he just did there?"
James Potter was thoroughly amused by this. He began imitating Mary every time one of the players made an impervious move. Although his friends - and even Marlene at times - thought that his antics were quite amusing, Mary found them to be quite distasteful and excused herself after an hour to go sit with some of Davey's Ravenclaw friends.
"You're friends are so uptight," James leaned over to talk to Marlene, "do any of you guys know how to take a joke?"
Marlene gave him a blank look before turning back to watch the game. She supposed that to James Potter and the Marauders it would look like everyone else was born without a funny bone. Ever since their first year they had made an image for themselves that deemed them kings of Hogwarts tomfoolery. The trouble was that, although many of their pranks were in fact funny, more often than not they were hurtful to those that they were directed at. Of course Marlene would never tell them this and she was fairly certain that Lily's strong dislike for James revolved around the consequences of their behavior rather than their intent to get a laugh.
The game ended when a seventh year Hufflepuff named Amos Diggory caught the snitch hovering right above the Ravenclaw goalpost and he almost knocked the Ravenclaw keeper off his broom in the process.
"Diggory's gotten good since last season," James mused quite seriously to Black. Marlene could tell that their interest in the Quidditch match was more for spying tactics than general interest since both of them played on the Gryffindor team. It was the considerate musings between the two of them in between their jokes and the occasional taunts of students sitting around them that gave them away.
As the students began descending from the bleachers Marlene watched her friend Mary rushing towards the pitch no doubt in an effort to console an infuriated Davey who had just snapped his broom in half.
"That bloke sure has a temper," Peter mumbled just loudly enough for Marlene to hear. She turned around nodded her head in agreement at him.
"What does she see in him anyways?" Sirius asked quizzically. His eyes seemed to be focused on the couple but his bored tone indicated to Marlene that he didn't seem all that interested.
"Perhaps it's because he plays Quidditch," Marlene joked lightly and James face lit up almost instantly.
"I play Quidditch," he said happily, "don't suppose Evans has heard?"
"I think it'll take a lot more than playing Quidditch to win her heart," Marlene smiled lightly. "Keep dreaming Potter."
"Marlene!" Mary's voice echoed up from the bleachers below. The sudden sound caught Marlene off guard and her attention on Potter diminished almost immediately. She whirled around to look in the direction of her friend.
Mary was sobbing hysterically, her eyes were streaked with fresh tears and her blotchy red complexion was swollen. She looked quite helpless and Marlene instantly felt a surge of protective instinct when she saw the pleading look in her friend's eyes.
"Sorry boys," she said apologetically, "thanks for the chat."
She didn't even wait for a reply before dashing down to the lowest levels of the bleachers and enveloping Mary in a hug. Mary clung instantly to Marlene's school robes and buried her head into her shoulder deepening her pathetic sobs and crying freely into the fabric.
Marlene was unsure how long they sat on the bleachers of the Quidditch pitch before Mary's hysteria had calmed down enough for her to walk coherently back to the castle. Marlene guided her back, resting her arm across Mary's shoulders and offering encouraging words of support. She had still yet to discover the cause of Mary's breakdown but judging by the way Davey Gudgeon looked when they passed him in the hallway Marlene was quite certain there was a good chance that they had broken up yet again.
Lily came rushing towards them once they reached the second floor looking completely radical and out of breath.
"Oh my goodness," she panted lightly while throwing her arms around Mary, "It's going to be okay, Mary. Let's get you back to the dorm."
"How did you know?" Marlene asked Lily after they had gotten Mary back to the Gryffindor common room and up into their dormitory. Mary had flopped down on her bed and drawn the curtains around her wishing to be left alone. Marlene and Lily were happy to oblige as neither of them had eaten since breakfast and headed to the great hall for dinner.
"Potter came to let me know," Lily frowned slightly. "Probably one of the more decent things he's done lately." And that was the end of that discussion as Marlene knew better than to talk about James Potter.
They didn`t spend much time in the library after dinner, just long enough to read up on the Befuddlement Draughts that Lily had suspected they would be taking up next and grabbing some books that Lily thought might help Marlene with her Transfiguration practice.
"Not that you need it now," she had smiled, "you did such a fantastic job on that essay. I believe you're really getting a grasp of the topic now."
Marlene nodded her head; still in denial about admitting to Lily that Sirius Black had been the one to guide her through the basics.
Once Madam Pince had practically pushed them out of the library so that she could lock up, Lily and Marlene headed back to the Gryffindor common room where they were more than surprised to find Mary nestled into a chair in the corner reading a letter with a large smile on her face.
"Hey," Marlene said cheerfully, "How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm great," Mary bubbled happily as she pointed to her letter. She passed it off to Lily to read whose face contorted into anger only sentences in.
"You don't buy this crap, do you Mary?" Lily passed the parchment to Marlene and it was evident what she was referring to. It was a letter from Davey addressed to his 'one and only' and very sweetly written.
"What?" Mary frowned.
"You're better than this," Lily shook her head in distaste, "He obviously has a temper problem and you deserve better."
"Look who's talking," Mary said so defensively that she caught both Marlene and Lily off guard. "I really like Davey and he was really upset that he lost today's match. Everyone makes mistakes Lily, last time I checked friends were supposed to support each other."
Normally Lily and Mary got along rather well and this was the first time that Marlene had seen them cross with one another. Lily was trying to control her anger from what Marlene could see and Mary was looking completely and utterly furious. Mary snatched the letter from Marlene's hands and disappeared up the stairs to the girls dormitories.
"He's such a jerk!" Lily finally released an exasperated sigh after the sound of Mary's footsteps had died away from the winding staircase.
The next morning was slightly tense as Lily and Mary had opted out of speaking to one another. By the time the girls had headed down for breakfast they were on polite speaking terms only to ask small things such as "please pass the jam" and "thank you." This carried on all through the better half of the morning and by lunch time Mary had wandered off to meet up with Davey a matter in which Lily chose to keep her disapproval to herself. By dinner time Mary and Lily had completely gotten over their disagreement and the subject of Davey Gudgeon was buried in the back of their minds.
The girls spent the rest of the evening playing exploding snap and were surprised when the Marauder boys decided to join them. Luckily, Lily and James avoided each other, something everyone was thankful for and Marlene was happy to spend some quality time unwinding before the weekend ended.
She took a few moments to observe the peers around her. Lily was absorbed in the book that she had been talking about all summer, James was hunched over and scribbling furiously away at a piece of parchment that she suspected was a forgotten homework assignment and Peter was watching the current game with such intensity. Mary and Sirius were engaged in an extremely violent game of exploding snap and had barely uttered two words to each other all match; Sirius's face was molded in what appeared to be sheer concentration and Mary continued to make funny faces every time she contemplated her next move. Marlene's eyes landed on Remus and instantly felt pity for him as she looked at the swollen circles surrounding his eyes, briefly wondering whether he was having just as much luck with their workload as she was.
"So MacDonald," Sirius said casually as one of her cards exploded. "I hear you're dating that Gudgeon fellow from Ravenclaw?"
Mary looked defensive as she tilted her chin up slightly. "So what if I am?
Sirius laughed and looked skeptically at her.
Marlene inhaled sharply and looked nervously at an apprehensive Remus before looking at Mary. She looked quite furious and Marlene supposed that having to defend her boyfriend twice in a twenty four hour time period would probably be exhausting.
However, Mary chose not to say anything and proceeded to take out her frustration in the card game causing Sirius's cards to explode in his face three times in a row.
"Are we still ... you know?" Marlene caught Peter whispering to James, his eyes pointing towards the portrait hole.
"Shhh, Wormtail," James whispered back furiously. His eyes darted around to everyone else to check if anyone had been listening. Marlene looked away quickly as James's gaze passed over her and she assumed that she had been discovered as he refused to say anything further.
When the common room had emptied the girls decided it was time to go to bed and the four boys bid them goodnight but remained around the table insisting that they were going to play another round.
"See you tomorrow," Remus smiled sweetly causing Marlene to blush lightly at his kindness. She smiled politely to the other boys before heading over to the girl's staircase. As Lily and Mary climbed upwards, Marlene's curiosity got the better of herself and she hung back slightly and strained her ears towards the common room.
"Do you have the map?" Remus's voice was saying.
"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," that was James.
"Did you guys bring the cloak?" Peter piped in.
"Shhh Peter," Sirius hushed fiercely. "McKinnon's still in the staircase."
Marlene wasn't sure how they knew but she wasn't prepared to stick around to find out. She hurried up the staircase and proceeded into her dormitory where Mary and Lily were already getting settled into bed.
"Forgot something downstairs," she offered to their questioning looks before dashing into the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she settled into her large four poster bed her head nestled into the pillow comfortably and she closed her eyes to drift off into a restful sleep. When she realized that she wasn't even the slightest bit tired she tossed the blankets off of her and shuffled over to the window to gaze at the night sky.
It had always been something that brought her ease back at home and she had insisted on plastering the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling when she was six. As she sat on the ledge, her chin resting in her hand, she looked out over the peaceful Hogwarts grounds. The almost full moon was a sparkling reflection on the giant lake and it danced in the slight ripples of the water's current. Everything was quiet and she felt her mind slipping into a peaceful trance when a slight movement on the far corner of the grounds caught her attention.
It had only been a flicker and she strained her eyes to find where it had come from but was unable to pinpoint the source of movement. She turned her attention back towards the night sky when her peripherals caught a glimpse of movement once more. She turned her gaze quickly back towards the forest and noticed that the Whomping Willow had started frailing frantically as though defending itself.
Odd.
And quite suddenly it stopped moving, almost as though it had been frozen, and for one brief moment Marlene could have sworn she saw the figure of a person standing beneath the tree before it disappeared. Marlene blinked. As she looked out over the grounds she found them to be once more completely motionless and eerily quiet as though it had never been anything but.