A/N
Hi everyone! Hope 2021 is treating you well so far.
Just a fluffyish chap before things start getting serious again next chapter.
As ever, please enjoy!
Things went back to normal in Cokeworth after the wedding, strange as it was to think. Petunia had been virtually moved out for months, and her absence wasn't the crushing hole it might have been had she actually had a decent relationship with the rest of the family. The Marauders were once again spread through the house, Rose's room returned to it's normal, non-magical size. Things were, she reflected as she laid back on her bed, actually going well for a change. James and Sirius still spent almost every given moment out in the garage with Jim - Rose learned that they were attempting to actually make the stupid bike fly, and that they might potentially achieve it - and she actually felt okay with that. She spent most of the final week of the holiday with Remus and the girls (Peter once again summoned against his will back to the attentions of his domineering mother), which gave the group of them some time to bond. Or perhaps bond was the wrong word, gossip might be closer to the truth. Even if Rose was currently taking a bit of a break from the insinuations, teasing and general irritation of the after-dinner, slightly giddy (interrogation) girl talk that Marlene deployed like MI5 hunting for the truth.
It was their final day in the Midlands, and Rose could tell that the socialisation was beginning to wear on her bookish best friend. Back at Hogwarts, Remus could - and did - just escape to the silence of the library whenever the interactions got to be too much for him to bear with equanimity. Here in Cokeworth, on the dreary, dismal spring Saturday that it was, Remus didn't have that luxury. Instead, he had holed himself up in Jim's den, stack of books in hand, and demanded not to be disturbed until the Knight Bus came for them in the morning. After the meltdown he had earlier in the week after Marlene thoughtlessly ate the last Fry's cream bar, nobody was willing to tell the werewolf that he couldn't do exactly as he pleased. Even Rose didn't begrudge him the need to unwind, they'd be back at Hogwarts tomorrow, back to the pranking regime, the belligerence to authority, the start of the surveillance of the Slytherins likely to be approached to fight on the losing side of the war. He needed a bit of Moony-time in preparation of that. Rose just wished that Marlene, Lily and Alice were as considerate of Rose's own need to relax a bit before beginning anew tomorrow.
Marlene rapped her knuckles perfunctorily against Rose's doorframe, strolling in like the royalty Rose could easily imagine her to be. Alice followed cheerfully after her, cherub innocent and already a little giggly (Rose suspected another letter from Frank to be the culprit but would wait for Alice to bring it up), and Lily trailed in the rear, offering a somewhat sheepish shrug to Rose as if saying there was really nothing she could have done to prevent this. Rose could well believe it. Marlene McKinnon was a force of nature, tenacious and stubborn, but she had a big heart that easily overpowered any annoyance that came from her tenacious approach to pretty much everything. Rose stretched languidly on the bed, trying to find it within herself to not begrudge them their right to be in here with her. Marlene smirked acknowledgement, strolling over to the turntable on Rose's dresser and ever so gently (Rose could and would hex anyone who didn't) removed the needle from her old Bach record (shockingly, Rose did actually listen to things that weren't Bowie records). Marlene appropriated Rose's armchair, humming a little under her breath. Dear, sweet Alice smiled apologetically and perched on the small couch, and Lily just flopped onto the bed beside Rose.
"So" Rose said preemptively. "What brings you three here at" she glanced at her watch "eight o'clock at night?"
"A final, proper girls night" Marlene announced, Alice pulling butterbeers from her robe pockets.
"Really, Lil?" Rose grinned, seeing her sister written all over this. "I'm fine. I told you all I'm fine. I really don't need all-"
"It's for me" Lily shrugged, knowing Rose wouldn't deny her anything she might need. Manipulative witch. A thought seemed to hit Lily as she stared around the room - visibly trying to avoid the Bowie posters and thus catching sight of the many Marauder photographs littered about the room. "Where's Remus?"
"Dad's den" Rose chuckled, shaking her head fondly. "After dinner, he grabbed a stack of books, told Dad he needed the room, and then locked the doors magically." She grinned at the remembrance. "Apparently we're not to disturb him until the Knight Bus comes tomorrow."
"Black and Potter been irritating him again?" Marlene wondered, arcing a butterbeer bottle cap into the bin.
Rose arched an eyebrow. "But of course." Her eyes twinkled merrily. "Rem doesn't like being teased about a certain Ravenclaw lady that shall remain nameless."
Alice scoffed in disbelief. "Tell me Lupin's not still trying to deny he fancies Raven Lovegood?"
"I'd tell you that, Alice" Rose said brightly. "But I'd be lying."
"He's friend zoned her, hasn't he?" Marlene guessed, and really that was a bit rich.
"Yes" Rose hummed agreeably. "Much like you and a certain Gryffindor named Benjy Fenwick, I dare say."
Marlene's jaw dropped momentarily open. It was more of a tell than the witch usually allowed, so Rose felt briefly, justifiably victorious. "I don't fancy Benjy Fenwick!"
"Oh please, Marley" Lily scoffed, swishing her feet in the air. "You've fancied Benjy Fenwick since fourth year and he lost that fight to the Venomous Tentacula in the greenhouses."
Rose snorted, both at Marlene's face and the memory. Poor Benjy had been innocently minding his own business, repotting some magical plants in their Herbology class, when out of nowhere the unusually vicious Venomous Tentacula began to snap at him. Instead of walking to a new spot like a normal person, Benjy decided to fight it - not with his wand, oh no! But with his fists. When Professor Sprout had finally realised (as if all the laughter from the students hadn't been a dead giveaway) and freed poor Benjy from the clutches of the Venomous Tentacula, the poor boy had looked like he'd been hung from a broom and flown through the Forbidden Forest. Needless to say, he avoided the Tentacula wherever possible now. But the thing that really clinched it, had been the casual way that Benjy had straightened up, adjusted his robes and then went about his day as though absolutely nothing had happened. It had been hilarious (not least of which because James might have baited the Tentacula into being grumpier than usual).
Marlene's stubborn, slightly annoyed, and way too loud voice interrupted Rose's reminiscences. "I do not fancy Benjy Fenwick!"
"Oh please" Alice groaned, feeling quite bold after half a butterbeer. "You only dated Black to piss him off and make him jealous. And you were the one pissed off when it didn't work."
"Well, Black only dated me because he thought he couldn't get Rose!" Marlene snapped, eyes flashing.
"Not really helping your case there, Marley" Rose commented idly, enjoying the way the lamplight cast dancing shadows around the room.
"I know that" Marlene growled, tossing back a mouthful of her drink. "I was hoping to get the conversation turned onto you and Black, but apparently that's not going to work."
"Nope" Alice agreed cheerily, winking at Rose. "We really don't need or want any details about what's going on with them. They're sickeningly happy and in love, just like me and Frank. It's obvious enough that nobody wants to hear about it, nor finds any mystery in it. You and Benjy on the other hand..." Alice let her voice trail off, not needing to finish her sentence to get her point across.
"There is no mystery about me and Benjy" Marlene announced, a hard undercurrent to her usually elegant voice. "Because there is no me and Benjy!" Her midnight eyes flashed for a second, suddenly filling with mischief that Rose just knew was going to cause trouble. "If you want mystery though, what about Lily and poor James Potter?"
Lily snorted inelegantly. "Just because Potter is a thick troll and doesn't understand the word no, that doesn't mean that I suddenly fancy him."
Rose bit back a mournful sigh - now she'd have to tell James he was ascending the ranks of idiotic trolldom again. He was going to sulk for a week.
Marlene smirked wickedly - she'd spent way too much time around Sirius to pick the expression up. "Me thinkest the lady doth protest too much."
"Glass houses, Marley" Lily warned, tone deceptively light. Unfortunately, Marlene had known just the right card to play to get the conversation away from her non-relationship with Benjy. If there was one relationship guaranteed to make the Hogwarts gossip mill spin, it was Lily and James. Most of Hogwarts (with the notable exception of the Slytherin house) wanted them to get together already (they'd even take snog at this point) just to put James out of his misery. There was only so many times they could watch him get shot down in flames before it stopped being funny and started being pathetic. Sirius was still waiting for that point, but the majority of the school (and several professors, if what Rose had overheard Flitwick say to McGonagall was true) already had reached the James Potter is now pathetic threshold.
"Actually, Lil" Alice began slowly, trying not to spook her much as one would a baby unicorn (not that Rose had ever had that problem, they loved her). "When are you going to put James out of his misery and just go out with him already?"
"Never" Lily said flatly, turning her 'James Potter is an ignorant toe rag and I would rather kiss the Giant Squid' glare on her friend. "Not even when hell freezes over. Not if he was the last wizard on the face of the planet and I the last witch. Not even if Merlin himself told me I had to do it. Not ever."
"So you've clearly thought about it" Rose remarked, inwardly promising never to tell James what Lily had just said. Lily buried her face in Rose's duvet and groaned loudly. Marlene shot a bright grin over at Rose, raising her bottle in silent congratulations.
"Seriously, Lily" Alice took it upon herself to say. "James really, honestly fancies you. He'd have to, to take the kind of rejection you've dealt out for the last three years. Never even a glimmer of hope and yet he still bounces after you like a puppy."
"He's just a spoiled brat who doesn't like being told no" Lily insisted, stubbornly refusing to listen to the evidence telling her that James was sincere and actually a good person. She'd always see him as the arrogant, slightly self obsessed quidditch star who had pranked Snape after the Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL.
"We've all changed a lot in the last six months, Lily" Rose said quietly. "I really wish you'd see that. You don't have to see the Marauders like I do, just give James and Sirius a fair chance. Try and forget how awful they were for the first five years of your acquaintance, and see how they are now. Believe it or not" Rose shrugged, offering her sister a conciliatory pat on the back. "They have matured a lot. Okay, yes, they still have the tendecy to hex everything in sight, and yes James still thinks he's Merlin's gift to quidditch, but aside from that - on the big issues - there's no one who has matured more than they have."
"What's the worst thing a Marauder can do?" Lily asked Rose shrewdly.
There was no hesitation at all. "Betray a friend."
"Exactly, Rosie" Lily said gently. "You're a Marauder. You see Potter as a Marauder (I'm not going to even touch Black in this conversation). Potter sees you as a Marauder and treats you as a Marauder. He's wonderful and mature and a good person to you and Black and Remus and Peter." Rose's eyes narrowed, she could see where Lily was going with this, and frankly she wasn't entirely wrong. "But Potter doesn't treat everyone that same way. Until he's mature and acts like the adult and leader he apparently is on the quidditch pitch and - I saw it - the battlefield, then he will still not be right for me." She smiled sadly - Lily had always been too nice to stand hurtjng people, even arrogant toerags like James. "I need to be able to respect anyone I would go out with. Until then, I would rather date the Giant Squid."
Rose physically felt the tension envelope the room, nobody quite sure what to do now that Lily had responded quite so seriously to their usual amicable teasing. A thought struck her and she bounced off the bed, strolling over to her shelves. "Hey, Marley, you still like Elton John?"
Marlene frowned over the rim of her bottle, pulled out of whatever thoughts had drawn her in. "Yes, of course" she grinned, seeing where Rose was going already. She tossed a random record over, trusting Marlene to deal with it. Traditionally, Marlene was the one who dealt with the musical accompaniment to their girls nights, and Rose didn't see any reason why that should change just because they were in Rose's room instead of the Gryffindor girls dormitory. The opening track of the Caribou album began to play, probably a bit too loud, but Rose didn't much care, and judging by the grin on Marlene's face, she didn't either.
"Most of the time, your mind is a scary, scary place Rose" Alice announced, pulling Lily to her feet. "But right now, I love the way you think."
"It's why I'm a Marauder" Rose laughed, watching the tension recede from Lily's eyes.
"This is my song!" Marlene yelled, swaying along to the beat.
"No complaints from us, McKinnon" Alice teased, diving onto the bed to kick her feet in the air. Marlene flipped her the v's, smirking at Alice's bright laugh. Rose grinned and danced with Lily - if dancing was really what you could call the typical bedroom dance of teenaged girls - allowing herself to be in the moment. It was just what she needed, a break from both the interrogation and from living in the near constant anticipation of the something Remus could feel coming, finally coming.
"You okay, Rosie-rose?" Lily asked, her smile bright and warm. Rose felt herself echo that smile. Really, with everything going perfectly for them right now, going back to Hogwarts tomorrow, Petunia's wedding going off mostly without any complications, their family safe and healthy - of course Rose was okay. She was better than okay. She nodded easily, the music and Alice's easy teasing of Marlene washing over her.
"Never better, Lily. Never better."
Marlene had just ferreted out Rose's copy of Don't Shoot Me I'm Just the Piano Player, her smile wide and carefree. Alice had been struck by the inspiration to write a (definitely not) short letter to Frank, even though they all knew they'd be spending some quality time together tomorrow when they all got back to Hogwarts. Lily rested lightly on the bed, tired by Marlene's impromptu imposition of a dance off, which Lily's innate competitiveness demanded she at least try to win. Marlene beat her, but she came second so Rose assumed her competitive pride didn't take too much of a hit. Rose hadn't cared much, her competitive spirit apparently only came out when it involved quidditch (Gryffindor had won the quidditch cup every year James, Sirius and Rose had been on the team) or pranking (the Marauders did enjoy a good game of prank idea one-upsmanship). Marlene, always too observant, dragged Rose over to a quiet corner of the room, using the loud music and Alice and Lily's distraction as her cover.
"James told us what happened at the wedding" she said quietly, not wanting to disturb Alice and Lily. "I would be a bit upset about it. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes" Rose sighed, resisting the temptation to scrub a hand over her face. What was it about her that made her friends incapable of believing her when she said she was fine after something that had upset her? "It wasn't exactly ideal, the way that Vernon and Marge found out about my gift from Bellatrix, in fact I would have preferred them never to have had to. But that doesn't mean I spend all night crying into my pillow about it."
"I know you don't, Rose" Marlene replied, ignoring the bitter sarcasm that had laced Rose's final sentence. "Like it or not, you're one of my friends. Perhaps we don't spend as much time together as I do with Lily and the others, or as you do with the Marauders, but we are friends. And as your friend, I worry about you." Blue eyes fixed intensely on her. "Nobody just bounces back from the things you've been through. I just" Marlene trailed off hopelessly. "I just wanted to make sure you were really okay."
Rose twisted her hands together, reminding herself that Marlene wasn't Petunia, she wasn't Marge, she was like Lily - she did actually mean what she said and cared about Rose and her well being. Perhaps Remus was right and she should try to open up with people who weren't her direct family or the Marauders (who were practically direct family to her anyway).
"Okay" she said softly, glancing away to make sure Lily and Alice were still otherwise occupied. They were. "I've been called a freak since I was five years old, and I accidentally made some of our toys fly around the room at school." She took a breath, wondering how to phrase it to someone who might not understand (although her Marauders had quite easily). "I wasn't always the best behaved child, I know that it's shocking considering how well behaved I've always been at Hogwarts." Marlene smirked, giving Rose that moment of levity. "But from the first time the entire school called Lily and I freaks, it changed something, you know? Lily was, well you already know about Lily, but I was rebellious. If they were going to call me a freak, I'd show them how freakish I could be. It didn't exactly do wonders for my relationship with Petunia, nor Lily really but she's my twin she understands me anyway."
"Petunia didn't like you?" Marlene prompted, easing the conversation along in her own inimitable way.
"Hates is the better word" Rose replied, resigned to it by now. "I'm a witch and a freak and a Marauder. I'm different and I embrace it, instead of trying to fit in around here and be ordinary." Rose shuddered on the last word. Ordinary was the last thing she had ever wanted to be. "But on Saturday, Tuney was actually decent and nice for a change. We'd agreed to forget we were witches and she hated us for as much of the day as we could. Just be somewhat estranged sisters for Petunia's wedding." Marlene nodded her understanding, Lily had told her about it already. "I was already feeling a bit, I don't know, out of place at the wedding. Like I didn't fit anymore in that world - like I had taken polyjuice potion and was wearing someone else's skin - it didn't fit right."
"Much like decent purebloods forced into Puritan society" Marlene commented, her eyes heavy with shadows Rose knew they all carried in their own ways.
"Exactly" Rose agreed, unconsciously rubbing her arm. "When Marge grabbed my arm and started accusing me of insanity and general freakishness, I had never felt ashamed of myself or what happened at Hogsmeade until then. I felt ashamed of the choices I made and I didn't like it."
"And Petunia made it worse?" Marlene growled, looking about ready to floo to the Lake District to give Petunia a piece of her mind.
"Godric, no" Rose smiled, small and shaky. "She didn't say anything. Which is by far the kindest thing she could have done." She carded her hands through her hair. "But that didn't matter. I felt flayed and exposed and raw, and when everything was supposed to be going right, I still feel like something out there is coming for us and we can't escape it."
Marlene closed her eyes, silently processing what Rose had just effectively dumped on her young shoulders. "We all feel that way, Rosie. Helpless, waiting for the next piece of our lives to get torn away." She rested her hand gently on Rose's. "Hogsmeade changed everything. For you and the other Marauders of course the most, but we were all affected. We lost our innocence in one afternoon. The war had been brought to Hogsmeade, the one place aside from Hogwarts we should have been most safe, even when illegally skiving off from school." Something glittered in Marlene's eyes, familiar and yet not. "You faced down Death Eaters, proper inner-circle Death Eaters. Possibly only one or two, but nevertheless. You fought back. You told Voldemort that he couldn't just sow fear and terror into our lives with no repercussions. You proved that he could expect resistance, even and perhaps especially from the corner he didn't expect - sixteen year old Hogwarts students." Rose frowned, trying to understand what point Marlene was trying to make. "Voldemort doesn't strike me as the type to take such defeats lying down" Marlene stated flatly. Rose understood immediately. "You all did what was right and what you had to do, there's no blame nor fault in that. But he's not going to stand for it. There will be retaliation, Dumbledore expects it and so do we. The only question is, what can Voldemort do to us that he will consider appropriate revenge for the embarrassment of losing to four teenaged wizards?" Marlene shook her head, blonde curls bouncing lightly. "We all knew that the war had come for us, Rose. Now we're all waiting for the fight to be brought back to our doorstep. Voldemort won't wait too long before he strikes us right where we live."
"And as good as we all are" Alice piped up, face solemn. "We're not all ready to face down the best and darkest wizards and witches of our time. We're not equipped yet, and even if we all were - there's far too many underage and vulnerable students at Hogwarts to resist should Voldemort try anything there."
"Voldemort will, of course" Lily remarked, gaze as solemn as Alice. "It's an untapped resource, all those puritans, all that hatred and potential for him."
Alice inclined her head, they'd had this conversation before. "And then there's how secretive you lot are. Eavesdropping, spying on the Slytherins, probably even going down Knockturn to get some intelligence." Cornflower eyes fixed on Rose, not judging but proving they knew more than they'd let on. "We're not stupid, we know what you're up to. What Potter and Black are up to. You're already teaching us to fight properly, you might as well let us help in this too."
Rose opened her mouth, ready to object, but a graceful move from Marlene silenced her. "It's our fight too. Not just yours."
"We know that, Marlene" Rose huffed, backed into a corner. The thing is, Marlene (and Alice and Lily) was right. It wasn't just the Marauders' fight. The Order of the Phoenix (whatever in the name of Merlin's left you-know-what that was) was fighting this war too. She could already hear James and Sirius' protests; they were too young, they hadn't made enemies of the Death Eaters yet, Alice and Marlene were purebloods so they could technically never be involved in the war at all. But Rose had shared a dormitory with them for six years nearly, she knew what they were like. They couldn't stand to sit idly by and let the wizarding world - their world - fall to pieces around them. They had the skill and the ability and the capacity to choose to fight. And they had, nobody had forced them to make this decision (which it could be argued both Sirius' parents and the Hogsmeade skirmish had forced the Marauders into), by their own autonomy they had chosen this. Rose respected them for that decision. It was by far the least easy course of action, but it was the right one. They were Gryffindors, it was remarkable really that they had lasted this long before demanding their fair chance.
"You agree with us?" Lily asked, blinking her emerald eyes in surprise. "I didn't think you would."
"It would be hypocritical of me if I didn't" Rose shrugged, her tone saying she definitely didn't like it, but couldn't change it. "James and Siri, they have a tendency to try and protect Remus, Peter and I from the darker realities of the war. They won't normally tell us things until we sit down and metaphorically beat it out of them with sticks." Alice quirked the corner of her mouth in a smile. "But, very recently in fact, we agreed to a new policy. A three day rule, if you will."
"They have three days to tell you about anything they suspect?" Marlene questioned, getting it in one. Rose nodded, giving her the thumbs up. "What if it's within a shorter deadline?"
"They tell us immediately" Rose grinned, pleased with herself for that. "And we do the same." She worried her lip, knowing she was about to overstep the margins of Marauderness. "I can't promise anything, because I'm not the spokesperson of the Marauders-"
"That's James" Alice interrupted.
Rose nodded again. "Exactly. So, the best I can do is propose this to Remus and then the others when I have his cooperation."
"Sneaky" Marlene approved, hiding just a hint of a smirk. It was a serious conversation.
"Thank you."
"Hold on" Lily held up her hands, stalling the conversation. "What exactly are you going to propose to the other Marauders?"
"I don't quite know yet" Rose admitted, playing with the sleeve of her jumper. "Jamie usually has the ideas of how to turn our vague notions into workable plans."
"Okay, just tell us what your vague notion is" Alice offered, a soothing edge to her voice.
"Some kind of equal knowledge sharing" Rose mused, letting her thoughts fall off her tongue. "Not quite Marauder-level, because some things we do must and should remain just between the five of us. However, still very much equal. You girls can hear things that people might not say around Marauders, extensive as our knowledge base is, and we can warn you of things we suspect might be going on."
"A combined knowledge pool" Marlene guessed, frowning slightly. "That could work, Rose. But what about if it turns confrontational?"
Rose shook her head. "I don't know."
"Well" Lily suggested reasonably. "How about we all meet up, the whole informal duelling club - because Frank and Benjy and Caradoc deserve to have some choice in this, if they want it too - when we're back at Hogwarts, and we can talk it over, and get the input of Potter and Black, and Remus and Peter as well?" Now it was Rose's turn to blink in surprise. "I may not appreciate Potter's attempts at getting me to go out with him, but he's a fair leader, and he and Black have more experience of this fight than we do right now. It makes sense to combine our knowledge and not make any decisions until we're all together and able to make informed decisions as a group."
"I can live with that" Rose admitted, smiling at her genius sister.
"We can too" Marlene agreed, grinning broadly. "Now that that's settled, let's get back to having fun." She shuddered dramatically. "We're going back to school tomorrow."
"I know" Lily beamed in excitement. "Isn't it brilliant?!"
Rose laughed, her head shaking fondly. "If we didn't look almost identical, Lil, I would seriously doubt that we were even related." Lily just grinned mischievously, danced back to the turntable and switched the volume back up, Elton now singing about the Crocodile Rock. Rose spared a moment to admire the friends Lily had surrounded herself with, however by chance it might have been for all of them, and grinned. Dumbledore was right, they really were the most resilient students of their age - and she was certain that saying so was very nearly a compliment.
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