Thanks so much for all your kind reviews and follows! This is it – the final chapter of Marian's fourth year. Stay tuned though, because I'm working on a follow-up. Warning – hormones are starting to run rampant so there's some slightly more mature content. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 26
They didn't feel like celebrating much over the course of the next week. Exam week had begun, and an unnatural hush fell over the castle as students holed themselves up to revise. Marian's first exam wasn't until Tuesday, so she and Murphy spent Monday in the grounds, revising Arithmancy and Charms, and trying not to get distracted by each other. This was more difficult than Marian had anticipated. If anything, the weather was even hotter, and they'd all given up wearing uniform when they weren't in class. Marian sauntered down to breakfast in a pair of shorts and a halter-neck top.
"Morning, Cursebreaker!" Andre grinned at her as she sat down opposite him and Murphy in the Great Hall. "All set for today?"
"No exams today!" Marian replied with relief. "I don't start til tomorrow. How about you?"
He groaned. "Divination at nine. I'm dreading it. I can't see a single thing with my inner eye."
"Just make it up," Talbott advised, sliding into a seat next to Marian. "That's what I do. And make it as gory and horrible as possible – Trelawney loves that stuff!"
"You're very quiet today!" Marian said to Murphy kicking him gently under the table.
He hadn't said a word, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open slightly. Andre chuckled. "He stopped speaking when he saw you in those shorts, Cursebreaker. I don't think he's quite recovered yet from the sight of your legs."
Marian blushed furiously, and so did Murphy, his cheeks pink. He opened and closed his mouth but still didn't say anything.
"Told you," Andre said, grinning.
He'd recovered by the end of breakfast, and he and Marian wandered out to the grounds together, deciding it was far too hot to sit in the sweltering library or common room. Their willow tree by the lake provided welcome relief from the sun and they lay down there with their arithmancy books, testing each other. Marian noticed that Murphy's eyes kept straying to her legs, though, as if he couldn't quite help himself. A pleasurable shiver travelled through her at the thought that he liked looking at her. After she noticed this happening for the third time, she decided to do something about it. She rolled over to lie on her front, eyes seemingly fixed on the book in her hands, her legs crossed in the air behind her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw his gaze travel over her body. She shivered a little again, despite the warmth of the day. They'd kissed – a lot. They'd let their hands wander over backs and arms, but never under clothes, and never anywhere lower than the waist. Turning her head, Marian caught Murphy staring at her bum, his mouth open a little.
"Murphy," she murmured, and he jumped, his cheeks flushing pink.
"Sorry!" he muttered quickly. "What were you saying?"
She scooted closer to him so that she was lying flush against him. He looked slightly confused. "Remember when I was crushing on your older self?"
He nodded, smirking a little. "Yes. How could I forget? Definitely my favourite potions lesson of all time."
She smiled, reaching between them to play with the buttons on his shirt. Her breath caught as she imagined undoing them, stroking the skin of his chest underneath, kissing down his body…
"Marian?" His voice brought her back to the present and she felt a hot blush sweep across her own face as she glanced up at him.
"I was just… just, er…" she stammered, suddenly not remembering any of the things she'd been about to say to him.
He chuckled huskily. "You were undressing me with your eyes, Cursebreaker."
"Well. Maybe." She tilted her head up to him defiantly. "It's not like you haven't been doing the same thing to me all morning!"
"I would never deny it," he replied, his eyes dark and very warm as he looked down at her. He reached out and laid one hand on her waist. "It's very hard not to when you've made it so much easier for me." Slowly, he trailed his hand down over her hip, down over the hem of her shorts and onto her thigh. She breathed in sharply at the feel of his fingers on her skin.
He closed the gap between them, his kiss slow, tongue sliding into her mouth to dance against hers. She felt like fireworks were exploding under her skin. She was melting, burning up. His fingertips were drawing little circles on her thigh and heat was spreading from there up through her body, pooling between her legs. She moaned into his mouth, curling one leg up and over his hip, pulling him closer, wanting to be nearer. Suddenly, she found herself on top of him as his other hand moved to her waist, rolling her over, and his hands were roaming over her body, making her tingle and gasp. She wanted to taste his skin, feel more of him under her fingers. She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt as her lips moved down his jawline, down his neck, and she heard him groan and pull her hips against his. Gasping at the sensation, she felt something digging into her stomach. Glancing down, she realised… it was him.
"Sorry!" he muttered, suddenly pushing her off him and rolling over on to his stomach, looking excruciatingly embarrassed. His face was bright red. "Sorry!"
Picking herself up from where he'd unceremoniously pushed her, she touched his arm tentatively. "Murphy – it's fine! It's normal, isn't it?"
He couldn't look at her. "Merlin, this is so awkward! I just…"
"It shows you like me," she murmured, sliding close to him again. "It'd be more concerning if you didn't have a hard-on right now, probably."
He glanced at her, then let out an explosive laugh. "'More concerning'? Cursebreaker, you are something else!" He did roll back over on to his back, though, and slipped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his side.
She lay her head on his chest with a sigh. "We're not doing a great job of revising, are we?"
"And whose fault is that, little miss seduction?" He dropped a kiss into her hair. "You were being very distracting."
"What, by having legs?" She snorted.
"By having very attractive legs," he replied, laughing. "And by trying to undress me in public. Most provocative."
"I don't know why you're bothering to revise for Arithmancy anyway," Marian huffed, sitting up and grabbing her book again. "You're a genius."
"And I don't know why you're bothering to revise Charms!" He sat up, and slid his arms around her waist, pulling him back to her. "Flitwick practically has kittens every time you lift your wand!"
"Well, we'll help each other then!" she said, wriggling out of his grasp. "Murph – concentrate!"
He groaned dramatically. "You're a hard taskmaster, Cursebreaker."
She smiled flirtatiously at him. "There might be a reward?"
He swallowed. "Oh?"
"I'll let you beat me at chess again." She giggled as he rolled his eyes, but he was grinning too.
"Come on then," he said, picking up the arithmancy book. "I'll test you."
And they managed to stay (mostly) focused until lunch. Their friends looked washed out and exhausted after their Divination exam, and Skye complained bitterly about having Muggle Studies that afternoon. "Couldn't they at least give us a break between them? My head is not ready for another exam yet! I've got bundiroot for brains!"
"What did you have to do?" Marian asked curiously. Divination had never held much appeal for her, but she was always interested in the other subjects she'd never taken at Hogwarts.
"Crystal ball," Skye replied, stuffing her mouth full of chicken pie and potatoes as she spoke. "Had to stare into it for a while and pretend we saw stuff."
"Is that it?" Murphy pulled a face. "Sounds like a waste of time."
Skye shrugged. "It is. But it sounds a lot easier to get an A in that than in Arithmancy! I don't even understand what that is!" She pointed at Marian's page of notes, mainly equations, with many crossings out from Murphy. Marian had always been good at maths at primary school, but Arithmancy was something else. She enjoyed it though – it was challenging. And with Murphy to help her, she was feeling relatively confident about the exam.
The first day of exams went well, she thought. She managed to complete the page of equations set by Professor Vector and calculated the probability of various events happening with ease. She grinned over at Murphy as she finished, to see him sitting back and relaxing, hands behind his head, a rather smug smirk on his face. Marian rolled her eyes. "Show-off!" She mouthed. In Charms, it was her turn to shine as she completed successful summoning, banishing, locking and scouring charms, all on the first attempt. Professor Flitwick wiped a tear from his eye. "Perfectly executed, Miss Baker!"
Skye groaned as she tried and failed to summon a feather from the other end of the room. Murphy was a little too exuberant with his banishing charm, accidentally smashing the paperweight he was supposed to be banishing into the wall at the back of the room. As they all traipsed back up to Ravenclaw Tower at the end of the day, Rowan sighed. "Tomorrow is the worst! Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions AND Astronomy, all in one day!"
Marian nodded. "I'm not too worried about Potions, but what have we actually learned in Defence this year? I feel like the teachers get worse and worse every year!"
"You probably know more than all of them put together, Cursebreaker" Skye replied, grinning at her.
Marian snorted. "Hardly! Unless you mean knowing how to fall over backwards every time I get attacked."
The Potions exam, however, had unexpected benefits. Snape set them three potions to make during their three-hour exam: the pepperup potion, the wit-sharpening potion and the ageing potion. Marian couldn't help glancing at Murphy and blushing as Snape gave them their instructions, and he winked back at her. Again, Snape made them each test their three potions at the end of the exam. The hours between their Potions exam and their Astronomy exam (at midnight) were spent snogging furiously in a secluded part of the grounds. When they turned up for Astronomy, Marian felt so giddy and dazed with desire that she could hardly remember the names of any of Jupiter's moons.
"No need to ask what you two have been up to!" Skye teased them as they made their way to bed.
"Really, I would have thought you'd have been revising for Transfiguration!" Rowan scolded her. "Not kissing each other's faces off!"
Marian could feel her face on fire, but she wasn't sure if it was from Rowan's scolding or from the memory of Murphy's lips on hers and his hands skimming over the skin of her legs and back and arms and waist. As if he could guess what she was thinking, he smirked at her and caught her hand in his.
Thursday's exams were painful. The fourth years were all exhausted after their late-night Astronomy exam, but had to try and focus on transfiguring hedgehogs into pincushions, and guinea fowl into guinea pigs during their Transfiguration exam. Marian's guinea pig had still been emitting vague clucking noises occasionally, and Professor McGonagall had surveyed it with a stern expression as she swept around the class. Rowan's transfigurations were perfect, and Professor McGonagall rewarded her with a rare smile. Their herbology exam felt eternally long – it was baking hot in the greenhouses with the sun shining down full on them. Marian could feel herself sweating as she squeezed bubotuber pus into glass phials. There was a loud commotion from the other end of the greenhouse – looking over, Marian saw Tonks protesting apologetically to Professor Sprout.
"Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going! I didn't mean to drop it on him!"
As Tonks was ushered out of the way, Marian saw Murphy behind her, dripping with bubotuber pus, angry yellow boils springing up over his face and hands.
"Hospital Wing, McNully!" Professor Sprout cried. "You take him, Miss Tonks, since it is your carelessness that caused the situation!"
After the exam, Marian hurried up to the Hospital Wing, but Murphy looked less than pleased to see her, hiding his face in his hands. "I'm hideous!" He groaned through his fingers. "Don't look at me!"
Marian struggled not to laugh. "As dashingly handsome as you are, I do like you for other reasons than your looks, Murphy," she said, trying to prise his hands away.
"No! Go away! I look like a troll!"
She sighed, giving up. "What does Madame Pomfrey say?"
"It was undiluted so it'll take a couple of hours before the Murtlap Essence will do much," he replied thickly.
"Want me to read to you about goblin rebellions in the meantime?" Marian offered. "I promise to make it more interesting than Binns."
He snorted. "Wouldn't be difficult. OK. Go on then."
Marian took it upon herself to turn each of the rebellions into an epic story, complete with different voices for each of the goblins. Murphy chuckled each time she did this and, enjoying the attention, she'd soon left the source material behind altogether, turning it into a comedy. Murphy was in fits of laughter and had even forgotten to hide behind his fingers. Marian felt extremely pleased with herself – she always enjoyed making him laugh, particularly because she loved the sound of it. When Madame Pomfrey returned, she just handed the bowl of Murtlap Essence to Marian.
"You can do it, Miss Baker. You do seem to have an aptitude for nursing Mr. McNully."
Marian felt a little embarrassed. She shuffled up next to Murphy on the bed and dipped the cloth into the liquid. "Close your eyes," she murmured. He blinked at her for a moment, then let his eyelids flutter closed as she gently wiped the cloth over his face.
He groaned. "That feels so good."
"That's what you said last night," Marian whispered, feeling mischievous, remembering his groans as she'd trailed her fingernails lightly down the skin of his back under his shirt.
He smiled, his eyes still closed. "Marian Baker, are you really trying to flirt with me while I lie in bed, covered in boils?"
She giggled. "Apparently." She slapped the cloth back onto his face and he jumped.
"Just wait til I get out of this bed!" He growled at her.
"Promises, promises…!" She laughed, dabbing the liquid over his eyelids carefully. The boils were disappearing rapidly. After a few more minutes, they'd all vanished, and he was able to take the bowl from her and soak his hands in it.
Sitting up, his cheeks pink, he said, "Er… I can take it from here."
"What do you mean?" she asked, looking confused. "Aren't you done?"
He shook his head. "The pus – it soaked through my shirt and everything, so I'll… if you don't mind, I'll just…"
"Oh, you want me to leave so that you can get shirtless?" Marian grinned at him. "Do I have to?"
His cheeks flushed more brightly. "I'd prefer if the first time you saw me without a shirt on wasn't when my chest is covered in boils, Cursebreaker." He smiled back at her warmly. "I want to make a good impression."
Marian felt her own cheeks heat up with the suggestion in his voice. She wanted to see him without his shirt on. She wanted to trail her fingers over the muscles that she'd discovered through his clothes but not had the opportunity to explore fully yet. She wanted to…
"Just wipe that drool off your chin." His smirk was definitely cocky now as he obviously realised where her thoughts were. "Go on – I'll meet you at dinner."
She left the Hospital Wing silently, her throat dry. It wasn't the first time she'd felt desire for someone, but the intensity of it surprised her. It felt like every time she kissed Murphy, it just grew stronger. Every time she saw him, she wanted to kiss him, and every time he touched her, she just wanted more. But she didn't really know what she wanted more of… Well, she knew the basic idea, but she didn't exactly know how it all worked. It was time for some research, she decided. As soon as the exams were over.
"I think I might have put some of your story into the essay," Murphy said to her the next day after their History of Magic exam. "Do you think that'll count against me?"
They only had one exam left – Care of Magical Creatures. This one was easy for Marian, as all they had to do was look after a niffler for a couple of hours. She grinned – especially when she saw Merula struggling with a niffler who was trying to steal her earrings.
The whole castle seemed to be out enjoying the grounds that evening, celebrating the end of exams. Marian and her friends lay back, drinking ice-cold pumpkin juice and discussing how they thought they'd done, and laughing. Life felt very good just then, Marian thought to herself, lying back and staring up at the clear blue sky. Everything was perfect.
Well, almost everything. Despite herself, the memory of Jacob's voice in the vault was haunting her dreams, coming back to her when she was on the edge of sleep. He was in the next vault! He could be somewhere close to her now – a secret room in Hogwarts, or somewhere else hidden in the Forbidden Forest! How had he survived for so long by himself? Was he lonely? Scared? She shivered suddenly at the thought of her brother alone in some icy chamber for six years. Next year. As soon as she was back after the summer, she would work to find him, and she wouldn't stop until he was free.
"You all right?" She suddenly felt a hand trail through her hair. Glancing up, she met Murphy's blue eyes, gazing down at her. "You're not cold, are you?
She shook her head. "Just thinking about the vault. About Jacob." She sat up, staring across the lake towards the Forbidden Forest.
She felt him slide an arm around her waist, drawing her back against his chest. "Don't worry. We'll find him."
"We?" She craned her head back to look up at him.
"We," he replied, his face serious. "You're not alone, Cursebreaker. We're doing this together."
She snuggled back into his embrace, smiling. "Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?" he murmured into her ear, tickling her a little.
"For being… you. For… you're just a wonderful person, Murphy. I'm very glad I met you." She hugged his arms that were wrapped around her.
He chuckled. "I'm very glad I met you too, Cursebreaker."
The results were in. Marian had done well in the exams – she'd achieved an Outstanding in Charms, Care of Magical Creatures and Potions, surprisingly, and Exceeds Expectations in everything else, even Astronomy. Even Skye had scraped an Acceptable in Charms, and she was over the moon. And now, here they were, sitting down to the End of Term Feast on their last evening at Hogwarts. Marian felt even more reluctant to leave Hogwarts than usual. Not that she didn't miss her mum – she did, but going home meant leaving behind quidditch, her friends… and Murphy. She knew she was going to miss him terribly. That afternoon, she'd lain wrapped up in his arms under the weeping willow tree and felt almost miserable at the thought that she wouldn't be able to do this again for two months.
"What is it?" he'd asked, sensing the change in her mood, his hands stilling as they stroked down her back.
She shook her head. "It's stupid."
He kissed her lightly on the nose. "Try me."
She sighed heavily. "It's just… I don't know… I'm… I really, really like you, Murph, and I just… I'm going to miss you. A lot." She looked down, feeling shy. She had a feeling that she cared more about him than she was willing to put into words to him yet.
"I know." She heard him sigh too, and she risked a glance up at him. He trailed a thumb across her cheek. "Two months feels like an eternity, doesn't it?"
She nodded.
"Marian, listen." His voice was low and quiet. "Just because we're apart, it doesn't mean I won't be thinking about you. I will – everyday. And I'll write to you – everyday, if you like?"
Marian smiled a little. "I would like. I'll write back. But I'll miss this – just being with you, I mean."
"I'll miss that smile of yours, Cursebreaker," he murmured, kissing the side of her mouth gently.
"I'll miss your laugh," she replied.
"Really?" He grinned. "Well, I'll miss your terrible chess-playing."
"And I'll miss your constant use of statistics. And your voice."
"My voice?" He leaned closer, his mouth to her ear. "I'll miss your legs, Cursebreaker."
Her breath hitched. "I – I'll miss your arms."
He kissed her passionately, then, and they tried to show each other just how much they would miss each other instead.
And now, as they sat at the End of Term Feast, Marian could feel her lips burning from his kisses. The goblet of pumpkin juice felt cool against them as she drank. She could feel his eyes on her, and she returned his gaze, her heart full. He shot her a little smile as if he knew exactly what she was trying to communicate without words.
"Well, once more we come to the end of a school year here at Hogwarts," Professor Dumbledore's voice rang out as he got to his feet, and Marian dragged her eyes away from Murphy's. "And what a year it has been. Another cursed vault was opened, and has now been closed." Marian felt heads turning to look at her, but she ignored them. "But, more importantly, the House Cup needs awarding. In fourth place, Hufflepuff with 598 points." Some polite applause broke out around the Hall. "In third place, Gryffindor with 652 points." More applause. "Second place, Slytherin with 670 points, meaning that Ravenclaw wins for the second year running, with 692 points." A storm of applause broke out from the Ravenclaw table at this announcement. Marian grinned – her winning 100 points from Dumbledore after entering the vault had certainly helped. The decorations in the Great Hall changed swiftly to blue and bronze. "Well done, Ravenclaw!"
That night, she gazed out of the window in their dormitory across to the mountains in the distance, still visible in the setting sun, although the peaks were hidden behind clouds. Two whole months before she slept in this bed again.
"Cheer up, Marian," Rowan said, glancing at her as she packed her trunk. "We'll still see each other! You can come and stay again!"
"Yeah," Skye added from across the room, where she was carefully wrapping up her broomstick. "I'll even write to you this year!"
Marian snorted. "Right. I'll believe that when it happens!"
"Maybe we can all meet up in Diagon Alley?" Rowan suggested tentatively, glancing at Skye. "I'll miss you both, you know?"
Skye looked slightly surprised, but pleased. "That'd be nice, Khanna. I'll even let you buy me an ice-cream."
Marian smiled at them. She was really glad that her two closest friends, other than Murphy, were friends too, finally.
Everyone's spirits were high on the Hogwarts Express the next day, however. Marian was caught up in the excitement of packing and waving goodbye to the castle. She and Murphy played chess twice on the train, and she even managed to persuade him to try a game of exploding snap, although she quickly regretted it as he won three times and she got burnt on the hand. She, Skye, Orion and Murphy discussed the quidditch league games taking place that summer.
"I wish I could see a proper game!" Marian whinged.
Murphy shook his head. "It's a crime that you've never been!"
"And you can't ride your broom all holiday!" Skye looked like she couldn't even imagine anything worse. "Don't worry, Marian. I'll talk to my parents – I bet they'd love to have you for a week! We can train together, and maybe we can even go and see the Wigtown Wanderers practising!" Her eyes lit up suddenly. "Maybe you can all come! Rowan, we can teach you how to play! And Murphy can do the commentary! And Orion can provide all the balance we could need!"
Marian laughed. "Rowan would need a lot of balance."
Rowan nodded with feeling. "I'd rather stay with both feet on the ground, thanks. But I'll watch you. Well. I might watch you. Or I might just read."
Murphy was struggling not to laugh at the outrage on Skye's face. "Quality time together, Cursebreaker?" he whispered. "Sounds good to me."
It felt like no time until the train was pulling into Platform 9 ¾ and they were all tumbling out onto the crowded platform. Marian could see her mum near the barrier, talking to a middle-aged blonde witch with sparkling blue eyes – a little bit like Murphy's, Marian thought.
"Mum!" she cried as she drew near.
"Darling!" Mrs. Baker hugged her tightly. "Oh, you've grown again! And I haven't had any owls from Professor Dumbledore so you can't have got into too much trouble!"
Her voice was drowned out by a loud cry of, "McNully!" from beside them – the blonde witch dived forwards to throw her arms around Murphy's neck. His cheeks went slightly pink but he just chuckled and hugged his mother tightly back, winking at Marian. She tried not to laugh at the realisation that his own mother called him by his surname.
"Hello, Mum!" he said.
Mrs. Baker smiled slyly at Marian. "So this is the famous Murphy McNully I've heard so much about?"
Mrs. McNully released Murphy and turned back to face Marian and Mrs. Baker. Murphy flashed his most charming smile at Marian's mum. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Baker," he said warmly. "I hope Marian's only told you good things about me? Like my…"
"Impeccably coiffed hair, your genius for statistics, your dashingly handsome visage and…" Marian teased him, pretending to list off her fingers.
He caught her hands, grinning. "You forgot 'chess champion'."
"Well." Mrs. Baker cleared her throat a little to get their attention. "It's very nice to meet you, Murphy."
"Oh, call him 'McNully'." Mrs. McNully spoke up, smiling. "He prefers that."
"But Marian calls me Murphy," he said quickly.
Marian blushed a little as his mother's eyes swept over her. "It's an honour to meet you, Mrs. McNully," she said shyly. "Murphy talks about you a lot. He said you're his favourite witch."
"Merlin! I can't believe you told her that!" Murphy shook his head. "Now she'll get big-headed."
Mrs. McNully's eyes crinkled and she laughed a laugh very similar to Murphy's. "I like you already!" she said to Marian. "Right, come on, McNully! We have a portkey to get to!" She turned to say goodbye to Mrs. Baker.
Murphy still held onto Marian's hands. "I guess this is goodbye, then, Cursebreaker," he said softly.
She wanted to kiss him, but not in front of their mothers. She settled for leaning over and hugging him tightly, her lips grazing his ear. "I love you," she whispered before pulling away.
He gaped at her. "What?"
She hadn't meant to say it, although she'd been wanting to say it for weeks – it had been on the tip of her tongue the evening before, in the grounds. Biting her lip, she gazed at him. Slowly, a beaming smile spread across his face. Glancing at his mum, who was waiting and watching, smiling indulgently at him, he held out his arms once more and she leaned forward to hug him again. "I love you too, Cursebreaker," he whispered, kissing her ear before letting her go.
"See you in eight weeks." Marian couldn't stop her smile. He loved her! Murphy McNully loved her, and she loved him, and even though she wouldn't see him for a while, she knew the next year was going to be wonderful.