Year One: The Philosopher's Stone
There are two sides to every coin just as there are two sides to every story. A Slytherin to a Gryffindor. Behind every hero there's a villain. Then behind every villain there's a story. Marie Rogue is that story.
Chapter Nine-Of Flights and Dogs
School came back in full swing, occupying Marie with so much work that she had hardly the time to stay updated with the Gryffindor gossip, let alone maintain her letters to Remus. Speaking of Remus, her party attendance had been revealed on the front page of the Daily Prophet the next morning. Simple to say that their edition of the paper somehow vanished that day, with no reason whatsoever. How strange. Even though Marie knew that it was at the bottom of the trash that she took out immediately after hiding it.
On most days, she swiped an apple from the Great Hall at breakfast and turned to her books, double checking the homework from the night before. Her grades remained sky high as she worked every night at the table closest to the fire, most evenings she dozed off at her books, ink staining her fingertips.
So, she was quite surprised to see Marcus Flint approach her one Sunday morning at breakfast, apple just barely touching her lips. He lifted his chin when she saw him and said,
"Come on, Rogue. Lots to do today." Sharing a look of confusion with her friends, she got up from the table and quickly followed the much bigger upperclassman. She had to jog to keep pace with his brisk walk.
"Where are we going?" she asked. He gave a smirk, but didn't say anything, to her disappointment. Though time revealed the answer in just a few moments.
They stepped into the Slytherin locker room, which smelled of body odor making Marie's nose scrunch up in protest. The rest of the Quidditch team was already there, sitting on the benches and waiting for the captain. His hand clasped her shoulder, stilling her completely so that she remained front and center.
"So, you got permission then?" asked Bole, standing next to his fellow Beater, Derrick.
"Yes, Professor Snape gave us permission to start Marie's early training," explained Marcus, for the first year's benefit. "We don't get the same privileges as Potter, but we can at least get the time to train her for next season."
"Wait," spoke up Marie, taking another look around. "You want me for the House team?"
"A try-out period for lack of a better term," said Montague, Chaser. "Flint thinks you could be decent." She turned green eyes up at the fifth year.
"Really?" she whispered. He gave her a shove forward.
"Now, we should be able to dig out a uniform small enough for her. Or at least something close."
Only after much rummaging and spell alterations did they finally conjure up a proper uniform for the small built girl. She had just finished tying up her laces when everyone started to file out of the locker room, making her jog quickly to catch up. A riding broom was shoved into her hands, making Marie look up at Montague who leered down at her.
"You'll bench the first few rounds, so to get an idea of how we play. The only rule is that you can't go running off the field because we're scary or you get hurt. So no crying," he mocked. Her sharp eyes narrowed and her lips formed a tight line.
"I won't," she promised. He smirked before kicking off into the sky, spraying dust and snow into her face. She huffed and took a seat up on the highest bleacher in the stands, so to be as close as possible.
They were fast, she noticed immediately. And she could see how hard they played and sometimes she thought she could hear the impact when they clashed, making her flinch. A whirring sounded and she turned quickly to her left. Slowly, so slowly, she got to her feet with her broom in hand while the other gently reached out.
The golden Snitch fluttered before her, just a foot in front of her face, making her eyes widen in wonder. She had never seen the Snitch up close before, never saw the intricate designs that were etched on its surface.
"Wow..." she breathed. Her fingertips just barely grazed the cool surface when it darted off again, out of sight.
"Rogue! Front and center!" hollered Flint. She nodded and kicked off the bleacher, soaring into the sky as if she weighed nothing. "You ready?" She nodded and grinned.
"Yes sir!"
Beyond exhausted, Marie collapsed onto her bed, burying her face in her plush pillow. Her entire body throbbed loudly, making even the simple act of brushing her teeth seem like a tremendous chore. There would be bruises, that was for certain. Especially on her arms were she was determined to accept a pass from Montague, no matter how hard he threw the Quaffle at her. Which he did on purpose, she already knew that. Bludgers were scary too, she never really thought too much about them before that day. It really made her appreciate Bole and Derrick as the Beaters.
"It's probably just a kind of test," reasoned Millie, on the topic of Montague. "To see if you're tough enough to be on the team, because no one wants a weak player."
"And they are very strong players," swooned Pansy as she flipped through her Witch Weekly magazine. "Only reason I watch Quidditch, mm-hmm." Millie just rolled her eyes as Marie giggled. Pansy sent a sneaky look her way.
"You're really lucky, you know. Only girl member which means you get to see them in the locker room..." She buried her face in her pillow, to smother the blush.
"Please, like I want to see that," she mumbled.
As the next Quidditch match drew near, the Gryffindors grew restless. More glares were in their direction due to their House colors that they wore proudly. Snape was refereeing the next match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. If Gryffindor won, they could possibly overtake the Slytherins, but that most likely wouldn't happen with the new referee. If Marie learned anything from the practices, it was that Slytherin was good. The best, in her opinion.
"This match will be an interesting one," commented Millie. Draco was already strutting around and placing bets about Harry Potter and the game. Marie yawned widely as a response and her friend huffed.
"You better be in bed right after dinner," she chided. "You'll be no good in class or practice if you're too tired!" Marie nodded, eyes closed as her chin rested on her arms.
"Yes, mum," she mumbled. Draco came over with Crabbe and Goyle, as usual, and took a seat across from the girls.
"How about you two? Care to bet how long Potter can stay on his broom?" he offered. "I'm going to say ten minutes, at most."
"Gambling is an ugly habit to start, Draco," tutted Millie. The blonde boy formed a pout.
"Well, who asked you?" He turned his attention to the sleepy Marie instead. "Hey Rogue, I finally got a chance to practice that Leg-Locker curse the other day. I bet Longbottom had to bunny hop all the way to his common room." Crabbe and Goyle laughed with Draco while Marie simply pursed her lips, irritated. Picking on Neville again, it ticked her off to be frank. The boy never did anything to deserve the bullying, especially from someone as snarky as Draco Malfoy.
"I'm going to go return my book to the library," she said, gathering her thick book into her arms. "See you at the game, Millie." There was a brief moment of silence and then rushed whispering, mostly Millie telling off the boys, explaining that their friend was exhausted and too tired to put up with their antics.
Students moved past Marie as she made her way up the staircase, her mind still in a sleepy state. She didn't even notice that the staircase was switching directions as it always did. Hugging the tome to herself she finished walking up the steps and shouldered open the nearest door, taking the memorized steps to the next door in the corridor.
There was a thunk as the door held shut, pulling Marie out of her sleepwalk. Her dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked around. Now that she was paying attention she could clearly see that she was in the wrong hall. Actually, she had never been in that particular hall before.
Curiosity pawed at her and she finished out her wand, smirk growing into a smile. If the lock was more complicated than a bolt, she would leave. If not...
"Alohomora."
The door swung open.
It was pitch black inside as Marie stepped forward. What kind of classroom is this? she wondered. With another swish and whisper the tip of her wand lit up with a soft glow.
After a couple of echoing steps, a puff of hot air hit her face. Raising her wand, the light illuminated a large black nose and a set of jaws filled with teeth, averaging the length of her arm. Low growling sounded and two other heads identical to the first drew near, sniffing the around her, the intruder.
While her mind was in a state of shock, her body reacted quickly, flying towards the door as the three-headed dog lunged forward, teeth chomping. It only took a few moments for her hands to bolt the door again and sprint out of the corridor. She didn't dare stop running or go back for her fallen library book. She'd take Madame Pince's rage over a mutant dog any day.
Already, Snape was favoring Hufflepuff. They were given a penalty shot due to Fred Weasley sending a Bludger Snape's way. The next one though, was for no apparent reason.
"What've I missed?" gasped Marie, out of breath. She squeezed into a spot between Millie and Goyle, Pansy on the taller girl's other side.
"Not much-" started Millie.
"Where've you been though?" asked Pansy, voice muffled through her thick scarf she had pulled up to her nose. Marie simply waved her hand and gulped for air, her heart still racing.
"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Her ears picked up Draco's snarky tone and she turned to see him talking to Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money- you should be up there Longbottom, you've got no brains." Marie narrowed her green eyes as Neville's face grew red, yet he turned around to face her Housemate.
"I-I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered. Though the boys laughed, Marie smiled in pride. Good, he needed to stand up for himself. Good work Neville, she thought.
Though Draco wasn't too impressed. "Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley here, and that's saying something."
"I'm warning you, Malfoy, one more word- " gritted Ron, only stopping due to Hermione grabbing his attention.
Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which caused Marie to gasp and others to cheer. Her fingers almost covered her eyes as he raced closer to the ground, a straight nose dive.
"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's spotted some money on the ground!" laughed Malfoy. Ron finally snapped, wrestling Draco to the ground before the blonde could react. Neville hesitated, but then clamored over his seat to help, followed by Crabbe and Goyle.
The Gryffindor Seeker pulled out of his steep dive and jumped onto the pitch, holding the golden Snitch over his head. The crowd roared with cheers as the students who were covered in scarlet and gold flooded the field. As the Slytherins booed and Snape spat bitterly, Marie put her worries on hold as she slipped beneath the stands to intervene with the fight.
The deafening cheers silenced the boys' yelling, making their lips move soundlessly. Draco's eye was already blackened while Ron was sporting a healthy bloody nose. Marie's small fists beat against Crabbe and Goyle, shoving them away from Neville who was already out cold. She yelled at them, pushing them back to the stands and once they were taken care of, she doubled back for Malfoy.
Her previous anger seemed to deflate as the boy cradled his eye, tears showing. She huffed and gave him a tight side hug, leading him back to their seats. So much for the valiant Gryffindors, resorting to brute Muggle force.
"Can't say you don't deserve it, but still," she said softly, "I wished there had been no fighting at all. Never liked fighting, that's for certain."
The hood completely covered his face as he made his way to the Forbidden Forest. Their meeting should go uninterrupted as everyone was at dinner, celebrating if they were Gryffindors. Rotten bunch, overconfident, supposedly noble and brave...
There was a crack of a twig and he calmly turned to face his guest. Professor Quirrell stood before him, shaking like a leaf. Severus smirked in greeting.
"How nice of you to join me here, Quirrell. I do hope this didn't inconvenience you in any way." The Dark Arts professor could hardly speak, his stutter was worse than ever.
"...d-d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, S-Severus..." He stepped closer and Quirrell flinched.
"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," he explained, tone icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after all."
"L-l-listen, S-Severus, if th-this is about wh-whatever Miss R-Rogue may have t-told you- " Snape crisply interrupted him.
"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"
"B-b-but Severus, I-" He took a step closer to the smaller man.
"You know perfectly well what I mean." He smirked dangerously. "Unless you'd rather show me your little bit of hocus pocus. I'm waiting."
"B-b-but I d-d-don't- "
"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lies." He threw his cloak over his head once more and strode out of the clearing, his voice carrying back to the petrified teacher.
"You may want to be careful of whose students you threaten next time, Quirrell. If there is a next time, I'll take care of it. Permanently."
Quirrell remained froze in his tracks as the night stretched on, starless.
REVIEW! Please, please, please! Just a few more to go before the first book's done! Then I get to start creating the next book for Marie! So excited!