A Marauder's Guide to Falling Forever
PART FOUR
Written by alliegrl
Chapter Ten
She hadn't been to the Leaky Cauldron since the previous summer when she and Sirius had purchased her school supplies. It looked the same as it always did. The little pub sat hidden from the Muggle eye on Charring Cross Road, still appearing as a broken-down old shop. The inside was small and dingy, but still had a welcoming feel to it. She had pulled Emmeline along with her, still afraid she might chicken out and bail on her plans to confront Patrick. But it didn't take much convincing on her part, Emmeline's eyes lit up at the prospect of the invitation.
"Oooooh, Colin might be there!" She had exclaimed, a dreamy sort of expression taking control of her face. Marlene didn't know who Colin was, but that likely had to do with the fact she had been away for six months.
The atmosphere in the pub was much different in the evening than it was during the day, and Marlene had to lean in to Emmeline's ear to yell, "Tell me if you see him."
Emmeline said something back but it was too loud. It sounded something like, "I'm going that way" which was only further supported by a hand gesture indicating the opposite side of the room. Then she slipped into the crowd and disappeared through the maze of bodies.
"Marlene!" Someone trilled, followed by an enigmatic squeal. She turned, then was momentarily blindsided by a bushel of brown hair. Her body stiffened as a pair of arms enclosed around her and drew her inwards.
"Mary?" Marlene asked dumbfounded when the girl pulled away and Marlene got a good look at her face. She hadn't seen Mary since – well, since Lily and James' wedding the previous fall. She had grown out her hair and was now sporting a pair of sleek glasses, but otherwise looked much the same as the last time she had seen her friend.
"Oh my goodness, it's so good to see you!" Mary squealed again and let out a soft hiccup.
"Are you drunk?" Marlene's eyes drifted downward to the half empty mug she held in her hands and then watched Mary wobble slightly.
"Oh, possibly," Mary giggled. "Okay, yes. I think so."
"What are you doing here?"
"Paul is here for work." Mary lifted the mug to her lips and took a large sip. Marlene reached out to steady her arm as she watched Mary swivel again, but her friend waved her off. "I'm fine. Don't try to help me."
"Okay," Marlene replied, stepping back. "I don't suppose you were going to let us know you were in town?"
"Just like you when you took off across Europe?" Mary glanced up from her mug to look pointedly at Marlene. Her lip puckered into a self-satisfying smirk. "I think I heard from Lily and Sirius at least a dozen times to see if I was keeping you locked prisoner in my basement." Another wobble. "No. I'm good. Really."
"Touche," Marlene said. Behind Mary she caught sight of her intended target and her body stiffened. The fear of confrontation she had been expecting did not come. Instead, his smiling face in the background made her feel angry again.
"I really want to stay and talk Mary, but I need to deal with something first." Marlene's gaze was still locked in on Patrick who was talking with some blonde woman she didn't recognize. Mary turned to look in the general direction.
"Yeah, okay. Come find me later!" Then she pulled Marlene in for another hug and Marlene inhaled the heavy scent of fire whiskey.
She approached Patrick with purpose. He must have sensed her incoming presence because his focus shifted from the woman to her torpedoing entity. Instead of looking fearful like Marlene would have liked, considering she was shooting daggers with her eyes, he looked elated. That only pissed her off more.
"Marlene!" Patrick's grin stretched a mile across his face. "What are you doing here?"
She cut to the chase. "So why did you think it was a good idea to ask Mathalda about me joining the Healer program again? I thought I explicitly told you I wasn't interested." She hadn't bothered to pull him away from his company, but she did try her best to convey a tone of passiveness so as not to make too large of a scene. But even to her own ears it sounded angry. His smile faltered; clearly he heard it too.
"Honestly? I thought maybe you were just a bit scared of rejection. I thought you'd be excited once you knew that it was a real possibility." He scratched at his head in a gesture of confusion, his eyes laced with it.
"Patrick," she groaned, "I told you I wasn't interested. You had no business meddling in my life like that! I'm perfectly capable of knowing what I do and do not want."
"I'm – " His eyes went wide and his mouth hung open, bobbing up and down like a fish blowing bubbles.
"Is my brother stirring the pot again?" A sweet voice, gentle but still commanding enough to project over the noise. Marlene swivelled in the direction from which it had come. It was the very beautiful blonde, smiling behind a set of glittering teeth. She was tall and lean, wearing a shimmering silver dress that almost made her seem to sparkle. Veela. Or at least part Veela, Marlene thought.
"Your brother?" Marlene knew she was impolitely staring but the woman standing a foot away was difficult to ignore. She hadn't been focused on her before, having eyes only set on Patrick. But now she was all Marlene could look at.
"Yes, this is Rose," Patrick said. He seemed to have regained his composure and he was smiling once again. "Rose, this is – "
"Marlene." She smiled, nodding her head. "Yes, she looks just like you described her."
If Marlene hadn't already been uncomfortable, she sure was now. She shifted her body weight onto the opposite foot and bit her lip. Rose didn't seem to miss the action because she grinned wider and said, "Oh I think I'm making you uncomfortable. I'm sorry. I've just heard many great things about you. I'm very glad to have the opportunity to put a face to the name."
"Uh," she faltered. "It's nice to meet you."
"Did I hear correctly that you've been meddling in Marlene's professional life?" Rose turned her attention to Patrick and the sudden charm she had been omitting turned cold. "What did I tell you about that?"
"I just thought – "
"No, no. You weren't thinking, were you?"
"Look, I'm sorry Marlene. I really thought that you'd change your mind," he said, turning away from his sister. "Come. Let me buy you a drink to make up for it."
"No thank you," Marlene said, tone still apathetic. "I just wanted to tell you that I don't appreciate what you did. You've been very nice to me in the past, but I don't think it's a good idea for us to be friends anymore."
"What - ?" His face twisted from slight confusion to full-blown panic. "Because of school?"
"No. Because you and I both know that whatever hostility you and Sirius have going on is always going to be a strain on our friendship. I like you Patrick, I'm rather angry at you in this moment, but I don't like you in the way that I think you want me to. Sirius is it for me" – inwardly Marlene's insides squirmed at the admission, considering they weren't currently together – "and being your friend just complicates that for me."
"Marlene," he sounded desperate, but Marlene felt no guilt. In fact, she felt a heavy burden lift off her shoulders that she hadn't known was weighing her down. "Come on Marlene. This isn't fair. I can't help it if there are feelings there. I haven't acted on them – come on, please don't shut me out for that. I won't meddle again, I promise. I'll make nice with Black if that's what it takes."
So he did like her. He admitted it. All this time it had been a suspicion, heavily suggested by Sirius but the fragments of her own suspicion had lingered. She should have felt bad for Patrick. But she didn't.
"I'm sorry Patrick," she said. "I really think things are better this way." Then Marlene turned to Rose, who had been watching their interaction with very little emotion. A momentary flare of embarrassment flitted over Marlene for having so publicly denounced Roses' brother, but then she composed herself and smiled. "It was nice to meet you, Rose. I hope you guys have a good evening."
She made to move but a cold hand grasped her upper arm, fingers digging with firm pressure. "So what you're just going to leave and not give me a chance to fix it?" Patrick sounded angry. He yanked on her arm and she spun around. He no longer looked confused.
"Let go of me," Marlene sneered, attempting to pull her arm away from his grasp. His hold only hardened causing her to wince in pain. "Patrick! Let go."
"You think I asked for this situation? When you showed up at the hospital I had no idea you were Black's girlfriend. If I had known then I wouldn't have bothered to get to know you in the beginning."
"Patrick." Roses' voice cut through the air like a knife. It was swift and commanding, giving him a warning.
"Let me go," Marlene insisted again.
"I think deep down you know that you have feelings for me to. Otherwise you and Black wouldn't be fighting about me all the time. You wouldn't have bothered to string me along all this time. You've been nothing but a tease!"
"I've done nothing to lead you on!" she shouted, not bothering to process whether or not it was a lie.
"Go ahead and tell yourself that. But I know better." Patrick yanked on her arm, bringing her closer. And then he kissed her. Lips hard, rough, almost cruel like a punishment. Marlene didn't respond to him, instead clenching her lips closed and struggling to pull away from him.
She didn't need to struggle long, because a pair of arms pulled them apart. She was half expecting Sirius, following her around wouldn't have surprised Marlene, but it wasn't him. Rose shoved Patrick backwards, her eyes flashing dangerously in his direction and he flinched.
"You were raised better than that," she hissed. Then to Marlene, her tone still cold, "I'm not trying to make excuses for my brother, but I do believe he's had a bit too much to drink. Won't you excuse us, Marlene? I'm terribly sorry for his behavior. He and I need to have a chat."
Marlene didn't linger. She took off, weaving her way through the bodies in an attempt to find Emmeline and the exit. She needed to leave and if she couldn't find her friend in the time it took her to reach the door, then Emmeline would just have to deal with abandonment again. Angry tears threatened to spill over but she refused to cry.
Then a body moved in front of her and she looked up just as he spoke, "Marlene?"
