Common Room

Commotion

Looking back, she could not tell you how she got here. She remembered rushing to the common room to grab a textbook, but that simple plan had devolved into chaos.

A bang echoed to her left, and she spun around in time to witness the start of yet another duel—two third-years firing poorly cast spells at one another, eyes flaming and faces twisted into snarls. No one rushed to stop them. Everybody was already otherwise occupied. Spells flew left, right, and centre, some more vicious than others. A Muggle brawl broke out by the stairwell. Shouts and grunts rang through the Gryffindor common room as students did their best to inflict as much pain on one another as they could manage.

"Watch yourself, Marlene," shouted Sirius Black. He vaulted over a couch and tackled her to the ground, saving her from a wayward curse.

The spell sailed through the spot where her head had been and struck the mirror above the fireplace. Glass shattered and fell to the floor, forcing students to dive and stumble out of the way. Marlene watched, open-mouthed and wide-eyed, as the gilded frame teetered, one precarious sway after another before gravity dragged it down. She flinched as it crashed to the floor, but no one else paid it any mind.

"That was close." Sirius pushed himself onto his elbows to get a better look at the broken mirror. "Lucky I was—"

Marlene rolled onto him and pinned him to the ground, her fingers bruisingly tight around his wrists. He winced when his head hit the floor, but she didn't care. "What did you do?"

He struggled beneath her, but she held tight. "I didn't do anything!"

"Don't bloody lie to me, Black," she said, lifting his wrists only to give him a shake. "Whenever something happens, you're always in the middle of it. Now tell me what you did."

"It wasn't me!"

Something hit Marlene in the side hard enough to send her flying. The air whooshed from her lungs, and she crashed to the floor. Carole Byrne stood over her, holding a pillow as though it were a war hammer. "I can't believe you did this to me," she snarled, teeth bared. "You know how I feel about Benjy."

Marlene stared up at her dorm mate, shaking her head and rubbing the arm she'd landed on. "Carole, I—"

"Don't play coy now." Angry tears welled in Carole's eyes. "Polly saw the two of you in the Quidditch stands. You were all over him."

"What?" Marlene asked, but her brain caught up with the accusation. "No. I would never—"

"Liar!" Carole rushed forward, raising the pillow over her head for another blow. Marlene scrambled away, palms digging into the debris covered the floor.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius shouted.

Carole's arms and legs snapped together, and she fell to the ground, stiff as a board. Marlene winced at the impact. Sirius ran toward her, swerving around Carole, and held out his hand. Marlene stared from it to his face, sparing a glance for her dorm mate and the rest of the common room before grabbing on to him.

He pulled her to her feet. "Do you believe me now?" His eyes darted around the common room, wide and fever-bright. Sweat dampened his forehead, dark hair clinging to his skin. He looked just as panicked as she felt.

"I believe you." A shoe flew by her ear. She ducked and wrapped her fingers around Sirius's wrist, dragging him toward the portrait hole, which shone like a beacon, the only escape from the madhouse. "But if you didn't do this, who did?"

Sirius shook his head. "No idea. I've been in the library all day with Remus."

They both jumped to the side to avoid colliding with a chessboard thrown from across the room. "What about James and Peter?"

"Quidditch practice for James, and mandatory tutoring for Peter."

Two boys stumbled into their path, throwing punches at one another. The smaller boy's fist connected with the other one's nose with a sickening crunch, a splattering of blood, and an enraged howl before the heaving mass of fighting students swallowed both boys.

She caught Sirius's gaze and said, "We need to get Professor McGonagall."

"Couldn't agree with you more."

They barely made it a couple more steps when a fifth-year jumped in front of them, his wand aimed at Sirius's chest. "Did you tell Abby that I wet the bed?" he shouted.

Sirius's eyebrows furrowed and his mouth opened, but the fifth-year wasn't waiting for an answer. He lunged at Sirius, jabbing his wand and screaming an incantation. With a fell swoop, Sirius sent him flying with a Knockback Jinx. He paused, wand still raised.

"Who was that?" Marlene asked.

He shook off whatever thought had frozen him like a dog dispelling water. "No clue."

"So you didn't tell anyone that he wet the bed?" She wouldn't put it past him.

"I'm not twelve any more," he said with an indignant scrunch of his forehead. "I can think of better rumours to spread about people."

She rolled her eyes.

The way to the portrait hole cleared. They rushed toward it and dove through the opening.

Marlene's blood raced with adrenaline. She bent double to catch her breath, but a whisper of fabric had her snapping upright. She and Sirius were not alone. Others huddled in the hallway, taking refuge from the chaos, casting glances through the portrait hole and flinching away from the sounds of shouting and fighting.

Marlene frowned as she surveyed the small crowd. "What are you all doing here?"

Yaz, one of the sixth-year prefects, stepped forward. "Trying to get away from that," she said, tilting her head toward the common room, "but the torches at the end of the hallway have all gone out. It's too dark to see, and the Wand-Lighting Charm won't work."

At the other end of the short corridor, a pitch-black stain extended from floor to ceiling. Marlene blinked, frowned, and blinked again. It didn't look real. It was too dark, too unmarred. Its edges ran in perfectly straight lines like a giant black canvas set in the middle of the hallway. Sirius shook his hand and lit the tip of his wand without any noticeable difficulty.

"The charm's working fine for me," he said.

"Try walking into the shadow," said Yaz, nodding to the end of the corridor.

Sirius shrugged and did as was suggested. The moment he stepped into the darkness, he disappeared as though a black curtain had closed behind him. Eyes wide, Marlene ran forward but only got a couple of steps before Sirius cursed and stumbled back into sight.

Marlene rushed to his side. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, fine," he said. He glared into the shadows, but the steel in his eyes couldn't hide the trembling of his hands. "My wand light went out the moment I stepped into the dark. I couldn't see a thing."

"We've all tried," said Yaz. She glanced back at the younger students and lowered her voice. "What's going on?"

Sirius twirled his wand between his fingers and continued to glower at the darkness. "We haven't figured that out yet."

As Sirius looked ahead, Marlene's gaze caught on the students behind them. "How come you guys aren't acting crazy?"

Yaz shrugged. "I figured it was maybe a virus of some kind. Like Bendii Syndrome from Star Trek. And this"—she nodded toward the wall of shadows—"is the castle's way of quarantining us."

Sirius frowned. "What's Star Trek?"

"It's—" Yaz began, but Sirius's attention had already left her. "Never mind."

"The castle wouldn't act like this if it were quarantining us," said Marlene. Sirius couldn't look away from the darkness, but she could barely spare it a glance. It made her stomach wrench and her mind whirl as though it were trying to drag her into a weakened black hole. "It would use the staircases. This feels more like a spell."

Sirius's eyes widened. "Of course it's a spell!" He spun and gripped Marlene's arms. "This is a prank."

She narrowed her eyes on him. "I thought you said you weren't responsible."

He released her and turned back to face the dark, glee filling his gaze as he bounced onto his toes. "I'm not. Someone else did this. Someone who's trying to steal the Marauders' throne."

Yaz leaned in closer to Marlene, keeping a wary eye on Sirius and whispering, "Marauders?"

"It's what he and his friends call themselves because they're dorks." The last word came out louder than the rest, and Sirius whirled on her.

"Take that back."

She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. "No. You know why? Because all I'm getting from this situation is that our housemates are attacking one another, and you now think it's all a game."

He stood tall and jutted his chin. "No one's badly hurt."

"Yet."

His mouth opened, but he snapped it shut when another loud bang rang out from the common room. His tongue flicked over his lips and his Adam's apple bobbed. "We should find a way to get to Professor McGonagall."

The darkness didn't move, but Marlene imagined it creeping closer. "How?"

Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out a Muggle lighter. He grinned as he held it up. Marlene eyed it, and then him. "I didn't know you smoked."

"I don't." He flicked the lighter open, and a flame sprang to life. "It's for the aesthetic."

No one could ever accuse Sirius of lacking dramatic flare. "Of course it is."

He stepped into the darkness, waited a moment, then popped his head out. "It's still lit. You coming?"

She nodded and turned to Yaz. "We'll be back as soon as possible. Can you keep an eye on the common room in the meantime and make sure no one does any serious damage?"

"I can manage that," said Yaz with a wavering smile. "Good luck."

Sirius's head had disappeared, but he stuck his hand into the light. Marlene took it and stepped forward.

The darkness was absolute. She couldn't see the tip of her own nose, let alone anything else. Old fears prowled at the edge of her mind, snapping at her thoughts, fears of the dark and all that it hid. Sirius shifted, no longer blocking the lighter he held in his free hand. The flame felt tiny and insignificant and did little to disperse the darkness, which clung to the hallway like a heavy cloak. The hairs on the back of Marlene's neck stood on end as the shadows crept around her, coming alive only to escape the dim light. Her imagination conjured dark creatures lurking just beyond the firelight, and she edged closer to Sirius.

"Not scared of the dark, are you?" he asked. She couldn't see his face, but she could hear his smirk.

She elbowed him in the side but kept a firm hold on his hand, her only anchor other than that flimsy flame. "Shut up."

His chuckle echoed oddly around the unseen space, and he started swinging their hands back and forth like a five-year-old at the park. "The dark only has power if you give it some—that's what James says. Your fear feeds it, so it's up to you to decide not to be afraid any more."

"I didn't realise James ever talked about anything other than pranks, Quidditch, and Lily." She didn't mean it. James had repeatedly proven himself to be more than what met the eye. She'd gone from tolerating him to liking him over the past six years. Sirius snorted, bumping his shoulder with hers.

She added more quietly, "You can't control fear."

"Not with that attitude you can't," he said, sounding even louder than usual.

She shook her head but dropped the matter. There was no arguing with blind optimism.

They walked slowly, one careful step after the next to avoid bumping into anything. Marlene's eyes steadily started adapting to the gloom, and her death-grip on Sirius's hand lessened. "How come not everyone is infected?" she asked, her mind finally allowing itself to focus on something other than the shadows.

Sirius's arm jostled hers as he shrugged. "I wasn't in the common room when it started, so you tell me."

Marlene returned the shrug. "I only went in to grab a book. One minute everything was fine, then everyone went crazy, accusing people of one thing or another and starting fights and duels."

"What about during lunch?"

"I didn't go. The house-elves made Dorcas and me sandwiches. We've been studying outside all morning."

"Dorcas, huh?" he said.

Marlene's gaze snapped over to him, but he was little more than a disembodied hand holding a lighter. He carried on before she could think up a reply. "So whatever's happening, it probably started at lunchtime. Maybe with a potion slipped into the pumpkin juice or something. It would explain why not everyone is infected."

Marlene cleared her throat, forcing herself back on track and away from thoughts of Sirius taking that tone over her best friend. "You don't think it's a spell?"

"A spell affecting this many people? Unlikely. Plus, spells don't come with timers, but plenty of potions are slow-acting enough that the effects wouldn't have started up straight away."

She took his word for it; she wasn't about to argue the matter with someone who spent every free minute figuring out the best ways to inconvenience the greatest number of people.

"I hate this," she said, staring into the darkness. There was nothing to see and nothing to orient herself by other than Sirius's hand. She had no idea how far they'd walked or where they were, yet Sirius pulled her onward, walking with such confidence that she wanted to believe that he knew where they were going. Then again, since he did absolutely everything with confidence, she couldn't be sure.

"Whoever did this," she said, "they've got all the cards. All the power is in their hands. All the tricks, all the advantages. And we're left"—she gestured all around them—"stumbling in the dark."

"It makes it more of a challenge."

Marlene stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Sirius to a halt alongside her. "You still think this is just a game."

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, McKinnon," he said. He started walking again and dragged her with him. "Everything's a game. That's how life works. Your problem is that you associate games with fun."

She didn't have a dictionary at hand, but she was pretty sure that games were defined by fun. Pointing that out, though, seemed unwise because Sirius's voice had dropped, and tension ran through the fingers that held hers. There was a story behind his words, but she wasn't yet privy to it.

They fell into silence. Whenever Marlene startled because a shadow flickered or the darkness tried to drown her, Sirius squeezed her hand, his palm warm and soft. After a while, she got used to the near blindness, only then did she notice that she could see the tip of her nose again. Slowly but surely, the blackness that surrounded them faded to grey and disappeared. She stared around wide-eyed, taking in the light and colours, which looked better than ever. A sigh escaped her, and she ran a couple of metres, dragging Sirius along with her, putting some extra distance between them and the darkness.

"That's weird," said Sirius, staring back into the shadows.

"What is?"

He tore his gaze away and settled it on her. "It wasn't boobytrapped."

She furrowed her brow. "Should it have been?"

"If you're going to put in that much effort to stop people from leaving their common room, you wouldn't have just one safety measure, would you?" He glanced over his shoulder. "I would have boobytrapped it."

"That's because you're a bad person," she said off-handedly, but her eyes darted down the path they'd come.

"True as that may be, this tells us something about our culprit." He grinned. "They're an amateur."

Marlene snorted, her mood lightening now that the darkness was no longer bearing down on her. "Or there was a boobytrap, but it was clever and discreet enough that neither of us has noticed it yet. Just because there weren't fireworks and an explosion doesn't mean that a trick wasn't played. Although I don't expect you to understand that."

"If you're suggesting that subtlety isn't my strong suit, there's no need. Remus has already beaten you to it today."

She cocked her brows at him as they started down the hall. "What did you do?"

"I was innocently stretching my legs in front of me, and he accused me of instigating salacious activities."

Her eyebrows shot further toward her hairline. "You were playing footsie with your friend in the library?"

"I was bored." He started rocking their hands again. "You should see Remus's expression when I do it. He's like the tired parent of a misbehaving teen."

"He is the tired parent of a misbehaving teen. Three misbehaving teens, actually."

Swinging to face her, he walked backwards and pointed a finger in her face. "See that there? That is Remus's greatest trick. He's got you all convinced that he's an innocent bystander, a civilian hero trying to tame the patented Marauder chaos. If you only knew the evil genius in his brain."

Swatting his finger to avoid going cross-eyed, she tried not to trip over her feet or his. "You're saying that Remus, the guy who apologises to inanimate objects when he walks into them, is your mastermind?"

He snapped his fingers and shifted to walk by her side again. "Like I said: evil genius. He's devised the perfect cover."

She wouldn't have believed him, but she knew for a fact that if he, James, or Peter were the group's mastermind, they would long since have taken credit for it, which left only one culprit. "Huh."

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p'. His tongue darted over his lips, and he frowned at the empty path ahead. "So you and Dorcas spent the morning together? Studying outside, having a little picnic by the lake, just the two of you?"

Tension tightened her shoulders. "Yes."

"Sounds platonic."

Pressing her lips together, she untangled their hands and wiped the feel of him off on her robes. "Dorcas is single."

"Ah. So what Carole said about you and Benji—"

She whirled on him, forcing him to stop nose to nose with her. "Carole has been in love with that dense fool for six years. I would never steal him from her."

One of Sirius's enviable eyebrows rose a centimetre higher than the other. "Several things wrong with that statement," he said, warm breath fanning over her face. "Firstly, Benji isn't that dense. He's self-conscious, and Carole has never told him how she feels. He won't make the first move because she's an eight—"

"She's a ten." Marlene had spent six years being jealous of Carole's looks.

Sirius shook his head. "She used to be a ten. Now she's a nine, at most. Blond hair doesn't suit her like it does you." He wrapped a finger around a strand of her hair and tugged on it to make his point. "Benji is a five—"

"He's not that low down."

"His ears are the size of my hand."

"You're exaggerating. He's cute."

He sighed and tugged on her hair again. "Fine. He's a six. Now quit interrupting me. My point is that if Carole wants to go out with him, she'll have to do the asking. Secondly, you can't steal him from her. He's a person, not an object, and I would have thought that a feminist like yourself would know better."

Her cheeks warmed and her mouth opened, but Sirius raised a finger to silence her.

"Thirdly, the heart wants what it wants. Just because Carole loves him doesn't mean it will stop you from having feelings for him, too."

She waited, but he was done. "I don't love Benji."

He twirled the strand of her hair around his fingers, grey eyes unblinking. "Good."

With a flick of his fingers, he untangled them and waved his hand down the corridor, falling into step with Marlene as she started walking again. The door to Professor McGonagall's office stood at the end of the hallway, and Marlene upped the pace before Sirius could drop any more unexpected nuggets of wisdom. She knocked once, and then again, but no one answered. She was about to raise her fist a third time when a head popped through the solid door.

She jumped back with a shout, her heart trying desperately to beat its way from her chest.

Peeves cackled and floated into the hallway. "Did I give the little girl a fright?" he asked, feigning concern even as his orange eyes mocked her.

She resisted the urge to hex the bloody poltergeist as Sirius stepped forward. "Peeves, where's Professor McGonagall?"

Peeves flipped onto his back and floated through the air as though he were lounging in a pool. "Not here."

"Could you tell us where she is?"

"I could do that, yes."

Sirius and Marlene waited, but Peeves remained quiet. Sirius sighed and said, "I'll set off a Dungbomb in Filch's office if you tell us where we can find Professor McGonagall."

Peeves grinned, showing off crooked yellow teeth. "Staff meeting in the headmaster's office." Manic laughter followed him as he zoomed away like a deflating balloon.

Marlene turned to Sirius. "That's on the other side of the castle."

"We'd better get going then."

They headed down the corridor at a jog, which was unfortunate because Marlene was not naturally athletic and Hogwarts didn't offer many opportunities for her to improve her stamina. She huffed and panted, clutching her side when a stitch started stabbing away beneath her skin.

Sirius noticed her slowing down and pulled her to a stop. "You okay?"

That git hadn't even broken a sweat—constantly running away from trouble evidently had its advantages. "I'm fine. But maybe you should go ahead without me. I can wait for you here."

"And risk Carole catching up with you and bludgeoning you to death with a pillow?" he said. "Come on, McKinnon, no one gets left behind."

She sighed, but Sirius kept tugging on her hand, so she got moving again only to stop a moment later.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered, ears peeled, trying to catch the sound of sniggering. Perhaps Peeves was following them, but the poltergeist wasn't one for doing things quietly. He and Sirius had that in common.

Sirius's eyebrows bunched together. "What?"

She stood very still and this time heard a slight shuffling to her left. Sirius heard it, too. They spun and drew their wands, aiming at a dark alcove—an unnaturally dark alcove.

"Come out right now, or I will go in there and drag you out," Marlene warned.

A long moment passed. Marlene lowered her wand, prepared to make good on her threat, but before she could, Severus Snape stepped from the alcove, wand raised and pointed at Sirius.

Sirius didn't even flinch. "I should've known you were behind this."

"Behind what?" Snape asked smoothly, but there was a knowing glint in his eyes and a cruel twist to his lips.

Sirius opened his mouth, and Marlene saw their entire conversation playing out: the dramatic back-and-forth, the denials and accusations, the name-callings and insults. She didn't have the time for that, so she slammed into Snape and pinned him to the wall fast enough to catch him off guard. His wand clattered to the ground and his eyes widened as she pressed her own wand against his throat.

"Tell us what you did and how to stop it. Now."

His eyes narrowed to slits, and his lips twisted into a snarl, but she pressed her wand a little bit harder and glared right back.

"A potion," he finally spat, "named Pheme's Concoction, after the Greek goddess of rumour and gossip. It makes the drinker think and say all kinds of things"—his gaze flicked to Sirius—"revealing their deepest, darkest secrets."

"That's a bit elaborate for your first-ever prank, isn't it?" Marlene asked. She'd heard about that potion. Even for someone with Snape's skill, it would be a challenge to brew.

Snape didn't even look at her. He merely threw a cold smile at Sirius. "Mediocrity isn't for everyone. Rumours and secrets have more power than most will ever admit." A mocking glint entered his eyes, one far cruller than Peeves could ever manage. "It's such a pity that Remus couldn't make it to lunch."

Sirius's face contorted, handsome features turning monstrous. "You little—"

"Sirius, not now," Marlene snapped. The boys could get back to their stupid rivalry later, but right now, she had bigger concerns. "How do we reverse the effects?"

"It should wear off soon," said Snape, but his gaze didn't leave Sirius.

Marlene slammed him harder against the wall. "How soon?"

Snape winced and tried to hide it by directing his glare at Marlene. "There's a vial in my pocket, an antidote. So long as you haven't broken it."

"Why do you have the cure in your pocket?" asked Sirius.

"Because when I realised that the intended target wasn't infected, I knew that I had to reverse the effects."

"Out of the goodness of your heart?"

"To avoid getting caught."

"Always a coward." Sirius reached into Snape's pocket and pulled out a large flask. He tugged Marlene away from the other boy but kept his wand at the ready, throwing Snape a look of pure loathing. "Piss off."

Snape glowered but didn't need telling twice. He scooped his wand up, and he ran.

Marlene watched him go. "Shouldn't we—"

"Let me worry about Snape." His gaze softened as he turned to her, a smile playing on his thin lips. "I can't believe you body-checked him."

"Our housemates don't have time for you two to be arguing," she said, pocketing her wand. She eyed the antidote. "How are we going to get everyone to drink that?"

"One at a time?" He shrugged. "We'll figure it out."

Nodding, her gaze caught on the dark alcove, and she pursed her lips. "I guess this confirms it." She faced Sirius's frown. "Remus really is the Marauder's mastermind. That's why Snape wanted to infect him, right? Because he figured it out and wanted payback?"

Sirius blinked, once, twice, and shrugged again. "Who knows what that git was thinking?" The vial disappeared into the pocket of his robes. "Maybe he was lying about Remus and was actually hoping to get a love confession out Evans."

Marlene snorted. "He's dead out of luck on that front."

Humming, Sirius threw her a grin and asked, "How about James?"

Raising her chin and keeping her friend's secret, Marlene shook her head. "No. I don't think Snape would get a love confession out of him either."

Laughter sprang from Sirius like a bark. His head fell back and starlight filled his eyes when he looked at Marlene. "And what about you, McKinnon? Got any love confessions to share?"

The air left her lungs, and he rocked on his heels. "I'm not Benji," he said. "I do tend to realise when people are crushing on me."

She sucked on her bottom lip, giving it a hard nip to force her brain into gear. This was all right. This was fine. She could handle this. "Good for you. Don't be an arse about it."

His eyebrows shot up. "An arse?" A chuckle rumbled through him. "Now who's the dense fool?"

Her forehead wrinkled and her cheeks burned, but she shook it off. Her developing feelings for Sirius hadn't hindered their interactions before, and they wouldn't now. She wouldn't let them. "We should get back to the common room."

She made it a step before he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "They'll survive another few minutes."

Irritation rose, and arguments lined up in her mind, but they all vanished when he pressed his lips to hers. She blinked, her brain stalling for half a second before melting. Her eyes flagged shut and her arms wrapped around his neck while his went to her waist, his fingers warm against her back. She'd kissed people before, but Sirius made her wonder if she'd been doing it wrong all those times.

When he broke away from her, she bit back a sound that would have mortally wounded her pride.

He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. "Come on. It's not often that I get to save the day, but once we've put everything to right, you and I are going to find a quiet spot, and you can tell me all about this crush you have on me."

She sputtered, her skin burning. "I will not."

Lacing their fingers, he shrugged and tugged her down the hallway. "Fine. In that case, I'll just have to wax poetic about my crush on you. Oh, and McKinnon?" He grinned at her over his shoulder. "Want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

"There isn't a Hogsmeade trip scheduled this month."

His grin widened. "So?"

A list of reasons why this was a bad idea ran through her head, but she ignored them all. "I'll think about it."

He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, and together, they ran back to the common room.