A/N:

Hogwarts Auction
Day 11, Auction 13: James/Marlene

Word count: 1,847 words

The dormitory door slammed shut, and Marlene braced herself as she looked up to see Lily with her hair flying behind her as she stormed into the room. She threw her bag onto her bed and collapsed backwards onto it.

"I can't believe him. The nerve!" She hit the mattress with her fist.

Marlene sighed and moved to lean against her bedpost. She didn't have to ask who was on the receiving end of Lily's anger. It was always James. It had reached a point where she knew when to expect it. If a week had passed without James pissing her off, then it was only a question of whether he'd do it during dinner or class.

"How did he do it this time?" she asked, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Lily groaned and pressed her palms into her eyes. "The same as always really. It never changes. You'd really think that he'd get bored of it, but no, he keeps pestering me over and over. He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him, and when I said no, he made the same comment as always about how I'll come around eventually. How many times do I have to say no before he accepts that there's no 'eventually'?"

She groaned and threw her arms up in the air. Marlene was thankful that Lily was looking at the ceiling instead of at her. She tapped her fingers against her leg and tried to pretend like she wasn't fazed. This was normal, after all. She should be used to it by now.

"You'd think that he'd have given up years ago." The words came out sadder than Marlene had intended them to. She cringed when Lily sat up and looked at her with sympathy.

"I'm so sorry, Marlene." She moved to sit beside Marlene at the foot of her bed. Marlene came easily when Lily wrapped an arm around her, though she was mortified that Lily even knew what was wrong.

They'd never directly spoken about Marlene's feelings. She was too embarrassed to admit she had them when James was vocal about his affections for Lily, but she spent too much time with Lily for the other girl not to realize what was going on. Sometimes Marlene wondered if Lily was so loud about her dislike for James because of how Marlene felt.

"Why are you apologizing?" Marlene asked, doing her best to keep her expression neutral. "You haven't done anything wrong. It's James who needs to learn boundaries and stop bothering you."

Lily sighed and pushed her hair back from her eyes. "Yes, but it's still frustrating. I wish I knew what would make him stop."

Marlene's stomach tightened at the look on Lily's face. She wrapped her up in a hug. "It's not your fault," she promised. "I don't think there's anything else you could do. At some point, James just has to come to his senses and realize that you're not going to date him."

Lily laid her head on Marlene's shoulder with a huff. "You're right. I know that it's him, not me, but it's so frustrating that I can't do anything. Maybe you should talk to him."

She nudged Marlene in the side and smirked. Marlene's stomach dropped at the suggestion.

"Me? What on earth could I say that would make a difference. I can't…" She trailed off. If she couldn't admit her feelings out loud to Lily, how did she have any hope of explaining them to James?

"You don't have to," Lily said, giving her one last hug before she stood and went back to her own bed. She began organizing the books that had slipped out of her bag when she threw it down. "But if you did put yourself out there, I'd be completely behind you."

She offered Marlene a smile, but Marlene felt too sick to smile back.

Marlene spotted the Marauders and took a deep breath. It would take all the bravery she possessed to get through this encounter. It was enough to make her wonder how she'd been sorted into Gryffindor in the first place.

But she had been. That meant the courage was somewhere inside of her, and she would get through it.

The Marauders stopped talking amongst each other as she approached. She knew that she looked like she was about to be sick from her nerves, but she still resented the worry on their faces.

"I need to talk to you," she told James without bothering to greet any of them. "In private, please."

The four boys looked between each other, taken aback by such a request. She didn't blame them. While they'd been in classes together for years and Marlene would consider them at least casual friends, she didn't often speak to any of them alone, let alone seek them out for private conversations.

"We were going out to the grounds anyway," Remus said with a smile. "How about we meet you there, James?"

James nodded, looking a little lost about what was happening. Sirius hit him roughly on the shoulder as he passed and gave Marlene a smile that made her feel even sicker.

"What is it?" James asked. Knowing that the hope in his voice wasn't for her stung. "Is it about Lily?"

"No," she snapped. The question was enough to help her overcome her nerves, and she launched into what she'd wanted to say for a long time. "Actually, yes, it is about Lily, but it's not about her in the way that you want it to be about her."

James frowned, and Marlene growled in frustration and stomped her foot against the ground.

"Do you know how mad you drive her? Do you really think that asking her out over and over will make her suddenly want to date you? It doesn't. It just makes her hate you even more. Whatever you're going for, it's not working, and you need to stop because you're driving everyone else bonkers."

James blinked at her, his face impossible to read. Marlene breathed deeply as she tried to calm herself down before she actually exploded. Her heart was still racing, and she hadn't gotten to the terrifying part yet.

"You're a star Quidditch player. You're funny. You even do well in school. You're the best in the year at Transfiguration. Yet you insist on constantly bothering the one person who doesn't want to date you and ignoring all the people who would be interested if you bothered to give them a chance."

She bit her lip. Her hands shook, so she clenched them into fists. Though she hadn't actually admitted anything yet, she felt like she'd put herself on display.

James laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "While I'm flattered by the compliment, I don't think tons of people are secretly dying to date me."

There was a glimmer of self-consciousness that Marlene rarely saw from him, and it made her heart tighten. Her anger simmered down into something sympathetic.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "At least one person does."

James stared at her while Marlene stared at the floor. She hadn't thought far enough ahead. Confessing had been so daunting that she'd been half-sure that she wouldn't be able to do it. She hadn't dared think about what came next. James, it seemed, didn't know either.

"Are you—" He tugged at his hair. "Do you like me, Marlene?"

She sighed and nodded, shifting her gaze to the wall behind him. There was a long moment of silence where Marlene debated turning around and leaving. She'd said what she wanted to say, but as she turned to go, James touched her elbow. Marlene whirled around, eyes wide.

"Wait." He hesitated, looking far more nervous than she'd ever seen him while talking to Lily. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

Marlene's anger returned as if it had never left. She tugged her elbow from his grip and rounded on him, forgetting her previous embarrassment.

"I didn't tell you all that so I could be your rebound," she said, feeling proud of herself when she saw the regret in his eyes. "All I ask is that you back off with Lily, okay? You would both be a lot happier if you moved on."

When she turned, he didn't try to stop her again.

Marlene had her head tilted back to enjoy the nice spring breeze when Lily hit her on the arm.

"Ow!" She rubbed at her arm and glared until she noticed that Lily was staring wide-eyed at someone. Marlene gasped when she realized that it was James coming towards them.

"What do you think he wants?" Lily whispered. "He hasn't bothered me in months."

She was right. Something Marlene had said must have gotten through to him because he hadn't asked Lily out since she'd laid into him. In the months that had gone by, he'd been perfectly polite to both of them, but that was it. Marlene's heart raced as he came to a stop in front of them and began tugging at his hair.

"Uh, hi," he said. "Could I talk to Marlene alone for a minute?"

Lily gasped. Marlene clutched her hands together in her lap to keep them from trembling. This was not at all how she'd expected her relaxing Saturday to go. Lily gave her a questioning look, and Marlene tried to give her an encouraging smile in return despite feeling a little sick. "I'll be fine," she promised.

Lily gave her a smile and nodded at James before disappearing. No matter what happened next, Marlene knew that she'd have a lot of explaining to do when she saw her again. She looked at James expectantly and tried not to get her hopes up.

He took a deep breath and began pacing.

"Before I…" He sighed and started over. "I've thought a lot about what you said, and I want you to know, before anything else, that I'm not asking you this because you're a rebound or anything like that. You're smart, and you're kind. I was so stupid before and so oblivious to everything, but if you're still willing to give me a chance, I'd love it if you'd go to Hogsmeade with me next time."

She stared at him, amazed at how bashful he appeared after all the bravado he'd shown over the years. Her heart raced, and she was half-convinced she was dreaming.

"That would be nice," she said.

He smiled at her, and she smiled back, unsure what to do next. He ran his fingers through his hair again, and Marlene wanted to laugh from sheer giddiness.

"Right," he said. "I guess I'll talk to you later then."

Marlene watched him go, fighting down a large smile. He looked back at her several times before he disappeared. Marlene leaned back against the stone. She was going to need a lot of time to process what had just happened before she went looking for Lily.