Chapter 13:

The weeks went by after the fallout between Lily and Snape. The Slytherin had tried to apologize nearly a week later after the incident, but had bitten onto granite by Lily.
She had cursed up a storm and had abruptly left him standing in the hallway and that was the not so glorious end of their friendship.

With the exams coming closer Marianne became a nervous wreck. She even snapped a few times at Sirius and one time at James, though she apologized as soon as she had realized that. Both Marauders had just watched her amused and told her that they liked that she showed some fire, but did it have to be about exams?

With the begin of June the weather finally got better and a lot of the groups free time was spent outside doing this or that. They still tried to keep Marianne's presence as inconspicuous as possible and so had more often than not privacy and notice me not charms around the group.

On June the 12th Marianne noticed the strange behavior of her fellow Hufflepuffs as well as the Marauders, all of them seemed to have one big secret and didn't think to include her into it.
Marianne pouted a bit over the fact but honestly she had other problems, after all she would have to pass her 4th year exams and she was more than nervous about that fact.

And so Marianne was completely taken by surprise when Lily led her into an empty classroom on the first level and all of her friends shouted "Happy Birthday" at her face.

She had completely forgotten that her new birthday was on the 12th of June instead of the 9th of July.
After some good natured teasing about her forgetting her own birthday she was finally allowed at the big pile of presents that had been stacked on one of the tables.

From Lily, James, Remus, Peter and Alice she received a professional Potioneer case with the newest version of Potion Ingredient Encyclopedia over which she squealed and shouted. As a thanks each one of them received a hug, even Peter although Marianne had to forcefully suppress the disgusted shiver.

Her Hufflepuff friends Kate, Matthew and Angela had also pooled their money and gotten her a brand new Rune carving set, along with a book that listed the most handy Rune sequences. She couldn't help but sent them a grateful look. Those three had bore the brunt of her frustration about the self assigned Rune project.

Sirius was the last to hand over his present. Marianne couldn't be too sure but he looked a bit nervous before James gave him a shove in the back and he suddenly stood a bit too close. It left the blonde Hufflepuff slightly breathless, he looked absolutely edible with his slightly windswept hair.

When she opened the palm sized package she couldn't help but smile. Inside were charms for her bracelet. Fondly she looked at the silver chain on her wrist, since she had received it at Christmas she hadn't taken that particular gift off.
Without another word she stretched her hand into Sirius direction to make him connect the new charms for her.
While he did what she wanted him to do Marianne took a closer look at the charms. The first one was an intricate book and quill charm with very fine details, the next one was a key charm and the last two ones wear gemstone tear drops. One was an Aquamarine while the other was a grey Moonstone; both stones were nearly the exact eye color of both of them.
Marianne's mind was reeling from the significance of this gesture and licked her bottom lip nervously while she tried not to read too much into Sirius present.

Said Black then gave her a rundown of the newest charms. The book charm would warn her from dark objects while the key charm was more of a homing in device. Its counterpart was Sirius earring and the two of them wouldn't have any problems at find the other anymore. Marianne had to smile at this, she could remember the incidents when both of them had searched for the respectively other and couldn't find them. In the background James snorted before Remus elbowed the Quidditch captain to shut him up.
The gemstones would serve as magical reserves and would activate when the charms sensed high danger to increase the strength of the shield.

Marianne thanked Sirius for the thoughtful present with a fierce hug that took a bit longer than the other ones and after that there was cake from the kitchens.

Marianne spent the rest of the day on a Birthday high and nothing could dampen her mood, not even learning for the exams. The pleasant buzz that she had felt the whole day only seemed to increase when she shortly before dinner also received presents from her father and brother.

The following day Marianne was back in her exam mood which just provoked amused glances and exasperated sighs from the group of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, but they let the topic drop for most of the time.

And then the exam week came around and nobody had any time or strength left to tease her about her nerves anymore.

After the last grueling practical exam had taken place Marianne relaxed for the first time in weeks and played some music for her friends and especially Lily who was relatively new to their group and had the same passion for music then herself.

Said Gryffindor prefect had started to become one of Marianne's closest friends since the library incident.
Lily in turn had introduced her to her cycle of friends; especially the maternal Alice Springs, Frank Longbottoms girlfriend had taken to her.

True to her word Lily now tolerated the Marauders even if she still was huffy if James showed off too much. Marianne counted this a tremendous progress because you couldn't have everything all the time.