A/N: Sorry it's been so long... I hope you enjoy this special Thanksgiving- Sorry, Hufflepuff- edition of The Art of The Mess. And yes, today's date is somewhat significant to the plot. Though, of course, this is set in England, so not in the typical Thanksgiving special way. Er. Just read the story. Thanks.

The water flowed over her like magma- scorching liquid trails running down her body, leaving crooked patterns across her legs. The trivial things were forgotten for a moment, things such as washing her hair or shaving. Any traditional form of cleansing had been abandoned. That wasn't her purpose, at the moment. Her purpose at the moment was to stand, to allow the water to warm and overcome her. Maybe break through, thaw more than just her skin. It was her insides that were cold, anyway.

She tilted her head back to face the souce, allowing the shower fawcett to spitt hot water into her open eyes. It didn't hurt. Nothing quite hurt anymore. She was numb.

Her mother had loved hot showers, said they were the perfect remedy. Heartaches or headaches, cramps or hangovers- or all of them, as the case may be. It didn't matter. A hot shower would always help. Lily loved bubble baths, overdone, scented things. Soft music and candles and a romance novel. An hour, at least. Marlene had occassionally worried that she would fall asleep, but she never had.

Marlene, herself, had never seen the fuss over such things. She had always hated baths as a child, and while they had grown on her as a neccessary part of the day, they were never anything to look forward to. Nothing special. She took a shower when she was sweaty and disgusting, not when she was in emotional or physical anguish. Not when she wanted to treat herself. She wasn't the type.

This morning, though, she had woken up with Sirius in the tunnel with the most murderous headache she had ever encountered. Her conversation with Sirius was far from pleasent, as she had practically accused him of raping her, only to be informed that she had gotten hammered at the Hogs Head, carried on hysterically, and done something involving Sirius that he was unwilling to tell her about.He'd saved her.

Bloody hero. Just like him, of course, to swoop in whenever she was in any sort of danger. Carry her off and stay with her through the night. Be compeltely furious at her the moment she woke up. Because he was Sirius, and that was how he was. Heroic.

She had run out of the tunnel at top speed and had no idea where to go. Becuase she was Marlene, and that was how she was. Lost. Normally, she would have gone to the tunnel, but today that was the place she was running from. She would have gone to the Owlery, but people were there. The dormitory, but Lily was there, and she had no idea whether she and Lily were even on speaking terms. It was entirely possible that she had done something terrible to her that Sirius hadn't mentioned. It seemed as though there was a lot that he hadn't mentioned. There seemed to be only one place left to go, and she went quickly.

The bathroom. She hadn't the faintest idea why she was going to the bathroom, but it was to the bathroom she went. The prefect's bathroom, though she wasn't a prefect. Lily had given her the password and no one seemed to care who was in there anyway, so long as they had the password.

And so she took a shower. She took her clothes off and stepped in, turning the water temperature as high as it would go. And she stood, under the water, until she was throbbing with heat and soaked. She suddenly felt awkward and as though she needed to do something. She lifted a hand to her head. Her hair was tangled, and she summoned her own bag of toiletries from the dormitory. It was horribly prissy, as there were several dispensers for every sort of shower product imaginable, but she needed something of her own.

Ten minutes later, she turned the fawcett off and stepped out, into the waiting fluffy towel. This was one of the advantages offered by the prefect's bathroom. Stumbling slightly, she picked up her bag and walked slowly to the mirror, flinching at what she saw.

Her hair wasn't curly anymore. It hung wet and limp, and all the way to the small of her back. When had her hair gotten so long? Her collarbone jutted out of her chest, just above the towel, and her arms settled, an awkward gap between them and her body. Her cheekbones were too prominent, sucked in as though she was blowing a kiss. Her eyes were frightfully large and even more frightfully dull. She looked like a zombie. Expressionless. Emotionless. Empty.

She shuddered, but not because of what she had seen. Her mother and Lily were wrong- hot water had not done a thing to make her feel better. Her skin had gone from it's usual white to a roasted pink, her punishment for spending so much time under the shower head. Her head was throbbing- her entire body was throbbing. Her skeleton was shaking, bouncing under her skin.The usually-comforting scent of her shampoo was too strong, overcoming. It made her sick to her stomach. Her stomach...

and there was an odd, unfamiliar feeling. Not pain, but a type of discomfort. She had known it once, she realized, but couldn't quite place her finger on it. It was like those actors in Muggle films. She would recognize one from previous marathons at Lily's house, but she could never recall the name or the movie.

Where did that come from?

A noise came from inside of her, a grunt or a rumbling. She stared at herself in the mirror and blinked in surprise.

She was hungry.

-x-x-x-

It felt strange, entering the dining hall with the intention of eating. She'd been to the dining hall hundreds of times in the past months, but never like this. To talk, to keep up appearences, to avoid going somewhere else- sure. Normal. But to eat?

She spotted Lily sitting with James and laughing. James' hand was cupped over hers, and she had a pretty sort of flush to her. Lily, she mused with a slight grin, you are head-over-heels for James Potter. Thought we might never see the day.

Lily's eyes flickered towards her quickly, flooding with concern. Marlene smiled reassuringly, and Lily grinned back. I think I'm in love. she mouthed, glowing with happiness. Marlene laughed and tried not to think of Remus. She sat down a few seats away- they could clearly use the time alone. She didn't want to take an ounce of Lily's attention away from James just yet.

It was time.

Breathing inward deeply, she grabbed a plate. This alone attracted several odd looks from the people surrounding her. Smiling to herself, she began to pile the plate with food. Every kind of food available, all the things she used to love. Steak and chicken dishes, carrots and string beans and potatoes.

God, how she loved potatoes. It was the Irish blood, she had always said to onlookers. She used to eat alot. Especially potatoes. Mashed, no gravy. Baked, piled with butter and pepper and salt. Scalloped. Chips. Smothered in cheese. She took every sort of potatoe available. When she had finally filled the plate to her satisfaction, she stared at it, the smile growing across her face.

"That's quite a load you've got there, Marley."

She looked up. She was no longer smiling- she was grinning from ear to ear, her eyes lit and sparkling.

"You know me, Fab." She said, contentedly, "Me and my potatoes."

Fabian Prewett. Decent, loyal, honest and handsome. Funny and charming and downright heroic. Fabian Prewett saved her, once. Probably not her life- but something else that she was just as keen about protecting. She was a first-year and Lucius Malfoy was harrassing her and probably would have done much more than he did if Fabian Prewett hadn't have shown up.

Fabian Prewett had been a third year with lovely red hair and eyes the color of coffee and one of the most beautiful smiles she had ever seen. She was in love with Tommy, of course, but she had developed quite the crush on Fabian Prewett. She saw him from across the room, looking decent and heroic as alway, and she caught his eye.

And he saved her. They were friends from that day on, though each had always had that bit of a crush. She never suspected that Fabian's was anything more.

She hadn't spoken to Fabian Prewett in seven months.

They talked for the rest of lunch, as Marlene dug into her plate, eating ferociously and enjoying every bit of it. She laughed at almost everything he said. She hadn't realized how much she missed Fabian Prewett. He was just so good, despite his being so adorably screwed up. His older sister Molly had once yelled at her for toying with his emotions, which had left her extremely confused. His brother Gideon was a golden boy if there ever was one. His father hated him, he had told her once, though she didn't believe it. There was no way on earth a person could hate Fabian Prewett.

The conversation went on for what must have been an hour, as the rest of the crowd gradually left the hall. They were the only two left when the voice came from behind her.

"Good food, Lena?"

She blinked slowly. Between the voice, the 'Lena', and the darkening expression on Fabian's face, there was no need to guess who was behind her.

She whirled around anyway, staring up blankly into his silver eyes. Surprising, he looked happy. This was both encouraging and terrifying.

"Delicious." she managed to croak, her throat suddenly dry and scratchy.

He nodded briskly, and appeared to be stifling a grin. "Prewett." he said finally, after a considerable silence.

"Black." Fabian replyed briskly. Fabian hated Sirius. The feeling was somewhat mutual. "Marly, I... I'm going to go."

"What?" she demanded, turning towards him. "Go where?" her voice pleaded with him. Please don't leave me alone with him, Fabe.

"I..." He seemed to be searching for an excuse. "I have to go to the owlery. To mail a letter to Molly. She, uh. She's just had a baby."

"A baby?" Marlene asked, surprised. And trying to delay his departure.

"A boy." He nodded. "William." She got the impression that he was addressing these things so that she wouldn't have to ask them. So he could leave.

"Oh." She paused. "Tell her congratulations, for me."

"Right. Well. It's been nice talking to you." he said quickly, turning to leave before she could say anything.

She was alone with Sirius, who had clearly unoticed her unequivocal attempts to avoid being alone with him. The grin he had been trying to stifle had spread across his face.

"Well, Lena." He said cheerfully, "I think it's time for a talk."