Story Title/Link: Movie Murder Mystery Killer
School and Theme: Ilvermorny and The Shrieking Shack
Special Rule: Incorporate the color white and the meaning behind it into your story: Innocence.
Main Prompt: (romantic pairing) Sirius/Marlene
Additional Prompts: (first line) Looking back, she could not tell you how she got here., and (word) revenge
Year: 2
Word count: 3,297 words (with 10% leeway)
Warning for character death and it's mentions. Also warning for Scream!AU/Horror!AU, Muggle!AU, and a bit out of character. Also, I've moved the year the Marauders's were in school and made it fit with the year the Scream movies first came out. I'd like to thank everyone who beta read this for me. You guys are awesome! Thank you so much Claude Amelia Song, Little Tee, and secretfanficlover!
Looking back, she could not tell you how she got here. Blue-grey eyes wide in horror at the sight before her. Racing over to Sirius's crumpled form, she felt for a pulse in his neck. Relief flooded her as she felt one.
If anyone would have told her putting on a musical of the movie Scream would have ended with Marlene and her friends running for their lives, she'd have laughed in their faces. Musicals never led to anyone dying before, that was just plain silly.
But as Sirius's eyes fluttered open and the cocking of a gun was heard, she couldn't help but wish she hadn't suggested the stupid idea in the first place.
It had been a bright sunny day and all of Hogwarts High School was buzzing about the upcoming winter musical. Everyone wanted to know what the drama department was going to pick as the theme for the show. Marlene, the president of the drama club, had been swamped with ideas from all sides.
Some of the ideas she had received were good, others, not so much. Her friend, Lily Evans, had suggested that maybe they should do a Christmas pageant this year—something that symbolized goodness in the world. 'Leave it to Lily to try to find good in a world where people take things and each other for granted.'
Her boyfriend, Sirius Black, looked over at her as they walked towards the Drama Club's usual meeting place in the quad. His face held a look of concern and Marlene knew exactly why. In Sirius's mind she put too much thought into the Drama Club and the musicals they usually put on.
But she didn't think she did; she just wanted to give her peers and their family something to take their minds away from the humdrum of everyday life. That was all. Just that and she wanted to do it in the most perfect way she could . Was that such a crime?
"You're thinking about it again, aren't you?" he asked gently, taking her hand and lacing his fingers with her own.
"They are expecting me to choose an idea for this musical sometime soon, Sirius," she told him. "So far I've got no ideas that stand out to me at all."
"What about Lily's idea? The Christmas pageant?"
"Not everyone was in agreement with it. Some of the group wanted to do something with more punch to it."
"More punch?" he frowned in confusion.
Marlene nodded, sending her curly blonde hair into a bouncing fit. "Something that isn't the usual cheery musical."
"I suppose you got an idea because you've been turning something over again and again in your mind."
"Peter Pettigrew gave me an idea. I just don't know if it's the right fit for the circumstances the world is under at the moment, if you know what I mean?" she inclined her head towards one of the posters on the wall warning people about terrorrism.
Recently, a new terrorist group—led by a man called Tom Riddle— had risen in the world, creating chaos everywhere. It was reported that he was integrating people in high school into his programs and brainwashing them.
"Well, what was Peter's idea and why wouldn't it be the right fit? What does Riddle and his pose of idiots have to do with anything?"
"The idea was to adapt a scary movie he'd seen recently into a musical form," Marlene told Sirius as they continued their way down the stark white halls of the school.
"Which movie?"
Marlene opened her mouth to answer, but her words were cut off when someone smashed into her from behind. Catching herself on the white tiled floor she sprang up and whirled on the rude person, ready to lash out that they should be careful where they were going. However, her words died in her mouth when she realised she knew the person who'd bumped into her. 'Peter'
"Watch it," he snapped, throwing a sharp glare at her before continuing on down the hall, not sparing her another glance.
When the chubby blond boy was out of sight and hearing range Marlene let out a sigh, checking over her hands to make sure they weren't too badly injured. Seeing she only had a couple of scraps, she continued to walk with Sirius.
"That was odd," Sirius murmured. "Peter isn't usually that…"
"Rude," Marlene finished for Sirius.
When they finally made it to the quad, the two of them could see Peter and a few of his 'new' friends whispering among the other members of the Drama Club. Maybe she should give in and let Peter have his way. She didn't have any other ideas and it wasn't worth the effort of him being mad at her.
"Marlene," Peter said, the same glare from the hallway present on his sharp features, "have you given anymore thought towards my idea for the musical?"
She nodded and let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "I have given it more thought than you think I have," she told him. "As much as I don't want to admit, it was a pretty good idea, Peter. So, if no one objects, we will be performing Scream the Musical before winter break."
A huge smile broke out over Peter's face at the news. Everyone else seemed to be on board with the idea; it seemed she'd made the right choice.
That night Marlene made the flyers to put around the school when and where the auditions for parts would be. She didn't expect a big turn out since she never usually got many people turning out for her musical auditions; most of the time she'd had to pull in students from detention. But, as she lay down to go to sleep that night, she prayed that the musical would be a success and that it would bring more people into the Drama Club than ever before.
The next few afternoons went by in a blur of horrible singing voices and interviews with potential 'stars' for her show. She'd already cast the lead role of Sydney, one of the killers, and Sydney's boyfriend, Billy Loomis. Those parts went to her and Sirius. But besides casting Lily as Tatum, she still had to find the rest of the cast.
The auditions were slow and she was starting to give up hope of ever finding the right people when Peter surprised her yet again. He'd plopped down in a chair next to her, on the final afternoon of casting and made his own suggestions.
"None of these people have tried out," Marlene told him. "We have to at least consider some of the people who did. It's only fair."
Peter turned a bright scarlet that contrasted with his white t-shirt. "It wouldn't be the first time you have forced people to join from detention," he threw out, which felt like a jab to the stomach for Marlene.
"But it would be the first time that we didn't need to force anyone to do something they didn't sign up for."
"I asked and everyone said that they'd be alright with it," Peter stated matter of factly, as though this settled things in some way.
Not feeling like arguing with him, Marlene quickly agreed to at least ask the people he suggested to try out. Looking back on it, she should have known something was wrong with the way Peter was being so insistent.
It wasn't until after the cast list had been compiled that the first deaths occurred. Marlene couldn't believe her eyes as she saw the black and white picture on the front of the newspaper that morning. The headline over top of it read 'Movie Murder Mystery', and she knew that everyone at school was going to talk about it.
Her phone started to ring loudly, breaking her out of her thoughts. Walking over and picking it up, she expected it to be a telemarketer, but found out it was her best friend, Lily instead.
"Did you see the front page of the newspaper today, Mar?" Lily asked, sounding dazed and not entirely like herself.
"I did, why?" she said , although Marlene had a pretty good idea just why Lily was asking
"Are you kidding? Did you see what they're calling it? The Movie Murder Mystery. More like Lucius and Narcissa pissed someone off and paid for it."
Marlene frowned;the way her friend talked...it wasn't like Lily at all. Something was definitely wrong with this picture and Marlene had to figure it out and soon. She didn't need this throwing any shade on her musical. Her musical!
"They aren't making us cancel practice for the musical because of this, are they?" she asked hurriedly.
"I don't know. But I heard from James who heard it from Peter that they might even go as far as postponing the show until after winter break if this case isn't solved soon."
The conversation ended cordially with a see you at school from both girls. But Marlene couldn't help but think that these deaths had something to do with her musical. She just couldn't put her finger on it. She puzzled and puzzled the entire walk to school. And yet she couldn't come up with any reason why her musical would have anything to do with these deaths or any deaths at all for that matter.
"Mar," Lily said, running over to her with the call sheet in her hand, "we need to recast Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve."
"Why?" Marlene frowned. Was she missing something? Something she forgot…
"Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy were playing those characters. I don't think they'll be able to perform their roles in their current state, do you?"
"Are you kidding me?" a haze form of memory came into her mind. She had forgotten. But how?
Lily shook her head, face going whiter than Marlene had ever seen it go. The girl looked around her and leaned close to Marlene. "You don't think someone is murdering people from the musical, do you?" The fear shown fully on her face now. "It's not that I don't want to be in the musical or anything. It's just...look at this part here." She held out the script to Marlene. "Tatum dies."
"Your point is?"
"Casey and Steve die too. You didn't read the article at all, did you?" She shook her making red hair ripple like waves across a pond. "They say Lucius and Narcissa were killed just like in the movie our musical is based off."
"Lily, someone's trying to scare us," Marlene said patiently. "That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Just plain fear tactics."
"Well, it's working and I'm not the only one that it's working on either."
Which was true. As the day went on she had conversations with Fabian Prewett who played Cotton Weary, his brother Gideon, who played the principal of the school, and a few other students who all played minor roles. All had the same fears as Lily had. All wanting to postpone her work of art.
"Tell me we're not postponing," Peter said, as he plopped down in the chair next to her, with Sirius on her other side.
"We're not postponing," Marlene stated. "Someone is targeting this production and I won't let them stop us from performing."
An audible sigh sounded as Lily joined the three of them at the cafeteria table. "Isn't this getting to be just a little dangerous? Narcissa and Lucius are dead. Dead. Do you understand?."
"We'll ask for the police to get involved and keep everyone else in the musical safe, alright?" Marlene watched as Lily thought it over and then nodded resignedly. "I won't let anything happen to you, you know that, right? You're my best friend, Lils."
"You're my best friend too," Lily said, pulling Marlene into a hug.
"We might as well go present your idea to keep the cast of your musical safe to Principal Dumbledore," Sirius told Marlene.
When they approached the door to Principal Dumbledore's office, it was strangely enough open wide. Principal Dumbledore never left his office door open. Not even when he was in the office during school hours. Marlene wondered why he would have left it open now. She went to knock on the doorframe when a scent caught her nose.
"Do you smell that?" she asked the others, concern coloring her voice.
Lily's eyes widened as she pointed towards a red smear across the white tile floor in the hallway. It looked like a bloody handprint, but that was impossible. Marlene didn't want to believe it. The Movie Murder Mystery killer wasn't at their school. He couldn't be. That only ever happened in the movies; this was real life. In addition the area around the school was surrounded by cops on the lookout for anything suspicious.
"Mar, you stay here with Lily and I'll go in there and take a look around," Sirius said, trying to sound heroic, but managing to sound every inch the sixteen-year-old high schooler he was. He waited until she nodded in agreement and then headed into the Principal's office.
Marlene could hear Sirius's footsteps in the room as though she'd followed him, or maybe that was just the sound of her beating heart making her think she could hear Sirius's footsteps. Either way, she soon decided she would follow him into the room.
"Lily, stay here and wait for me," she said, realizing how much like Sirius she was sounding at that moment. "If we don't come back in a minute go find a phone and call the police."
Her friend nodded. She was just about to enter the room when they heard the sound of breaking glass, near the gym's entrance— most probably from one of the big windows. She and Lily shared a look as though silently asking each other what to do.
"Someone has to go check that," Marlene said. "It could be someone tr—"
"We shouldn't split up," Lily gasped. "Haven't you seen the movie your musical is based on? There are rules to horror movies and one of them is 'do not split up'."
"Lily, you're being ridiculous. Nothing bad is going to happen if we split up. You go check the entrance near the gym and I will go check on Sirius, okay? We'll meet up right back here in a few minutes."
Lily's luminous green eyes made her pale face look even whiter by contrast. "What if something bad is gonna happen? What if it already did?"
"Nevermind, just stay right here and I'll be right back," Marlene said, going to enter the room quietly.
"You just broke another rule," Lily called after her. "I hope you're right."
Marlene rolled her eyes as she scanned the area. Something weird was going on. There was no one in the principal's office. She was pretty sure she'd seen Sirius go inside and the office wasn't big enough for both Sirius and Principal Dumbledore to hide in there.
"Sirius, if you're joking around with me, now isn't the right time," Marlene called out frantically. She looked towards where the scent of fresh air was coming from. Principal Dumbledore's window was wide open and there were signs of struggle. Marlene walked towards the window and found herself slipping and falling on something wet and sticky. Pushing herself up with her hands she noticed that they were covered in something red.
"Lily, call the police!" she screamed frantically, as she scanned the room for any other occupants. An ear-piercing scream left her throat as she finally saw Principal Dumbledore laying there dead.
She ran to the door expecting to find her friend there waiting for her but there was no sign of Lily at all. She must have decided to go look into that noise at the window, after all, Marlene thought as she raced towards the entrance of the gym. She knew there was a payphone there and that she could call the cops then..
"Marlene, run!" a weak voice sounded near her feet as she drew nearer to the gym entrance.
She looked down in shock to find her redheaded best friend laying on the floor, hand-pressed to her stomach to stop the flow of blood. The white of her shirt already stained through with a good amount of red.
"Lily," Marlene gasped, kneeling down next to her friend.
"It's him—it's Peter… you gotta run… before it's too late, please run..."
Marlene didn't know what to do anymore. What had she originally been trying to do?'Oh yes, call the police.'Looking up she spotted the payphone. She just had to reach it and everything would be alright. She just had to reach the payphone and then she could call the police.
She got up and raced over to the phone. But before she could pick it up she heard a gun cocking and a choked voice calling out to her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Peter Pettigrew's venomous voice sent shivers down her spine. He sounded so different from his usual self, like he was possessed."Wouldn't want anything bad to happen to yourself, or Sirius here, now would you?"
"Peter, why are you doing this?" Marlene asked. "Why are you killing people who are your friends?"
Peter laughed a cold, hard laugh. One that shouldn't have been coming from a teenage boy, at all. His cold steel grey eyes bore into her own blue-grey ones and she could see nothing but darkness.
"My friends?" Peter's voice was filled with hatred now. "Are any of you really my friends? I can tell Lucius and Narcissa weren't. They made my life a living hell and you, Lily, and Sirius did nothing to stop them. You were just as bad as they were."
"But what about Principal Dumbledore? He never did anything bad to you and he always stood up for his students."
"Collateral damage. Couldn't be helped."
"You can't expect me to believe you did all this by yourself. You aren't that—"
"Shut up!" screamed Peter angrily.
The next few minutes happened as though in a blur. The gun in Peter's hand went off into Sirius's shoulder, making him scream in pain. Peter stared at what he'd done. It was clear he hadn't meant to hurt Sirius. The gun cocked once more, but Marlene only had eyes for her boyfriend. She raced over him, trying frantically to feel a pulse on his neck. Once she found one, Marlene looked up at Peter; he had the gun pointed towards himself this time. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth; she had to try and talk him out of taking his own life. The shake in his hands told her he was more afraid than he let on and that perhaps, there was still something inside left of the friend he'd once had been.
Heart hammering in her ears as minutes turned into eternity, she prayed that they'd get out of there somehow. Then the outside doors to the gym flew open and sunlight poured in.
"Drop the gun, son," came an authoritative voice from the doorway. The man it belonged to was Sirius's best friend's father, Fleamont Potter. Officer Potter stood framed in the doorway surrounded by several other police officers.
As the police took Peter away and the ambulances started pulling up, Marlene couldn't think of a better answer to her prayers. James had been concerned when they hadn't met up with him at the quad and had called his father. She couldn't help but think she had never been more thankful for concerned friends ever in her life as she followed the paramedics pushing Sirius and Lily's unconscious forms into the ambulances and to safety.
Also for some challenges over on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well.
Floristry: The Meaninf of...assignment Task 10 - Write about a character solving a mystery.
Insane Prompt List: 518 (genre) tragedy
Wacky Wandmakers: Ash Wood Wand (genre) mystery, and Thunderbird Tail Feather Core (character) Lily Evans
Supernatural Fanclub Merfolk: Oona (scenario) holding a grudge