Joscelind Wadcock was a chaser on the Irish International team. Marlene, however, was of the opinion that the only reason the girl had gotten the spot was because of her famous mother, whom she was named after. Growing up in a family of Quidditch-obsessed boys, Marlene had heard Joscelind's name mentioned more than once over the years, and never for her (non-existent) Quidditch talent. As Marlene saw it, Joscelind was the perfect representation of the typical Beauxbatons student: totally and completely full of herself.
And after finally (unfortunately) meeting Joscelind, Marlene was willing to bet that the older girl had used more than her name to get her onto the Irish International team as well, if the way she had been flirting with Milo (to no avail) was anything to go off of.
Of course, now that Marlene really took the time to think about it, how in Merlin's name was Joscelind even on the Irish International team. Joscelind Wadcock certainly wasn't an Irish name, and she didn't look Irish. Being just about as Irish as it was possible to be, Marlene was quite sure of herself in those matters.
And what about where she had gone to school? Why choose to go to France and thus Beauxbatons if she really was Irish, as she obviously claimed to be due to her position on Ireland's Quidditch team.
Overall Marlene simply just didn't trust the older, blonde chaser. Nor did she like the effect the girl had on Marlene's best friend.
After that first initial meeting, Sirius had shown up at the McKinnon estate like clockwork every day, sometimes even without James. Under normal circumstances, Marlene would have been overjoyed about this. What better opportunity would she ever have to explain her true feelings to Sirius, and not in the presence of the bespectacled boy who was normally his other half? There would never be one. But Marlene would not get that chance.
It might seem like Sirius was always around, but that was probably because Marlene was known for sleeping through the morning. Marlene and morning did not mix, especially in the summer. But the Irish International Quidditch team practiced every single morning and had almost every single afternoon and/or evening off.
Thus, while Sirius seemed to be at the McKinnon's every day, Joscelind really was. Sometimes Milo was there, sometimes he wasn't. Occasionally the rest of the team was there, too. But one thing was certain: If Joscelind was there, then Sirius was there, too. Likewise, if Sirius was there, then Joscelind was there, too.
Marlene really hated Joscelind Wadcock.
Of course, there was the obvious reason that the older ahem girl was dating her best friend, whom Marlene had only recently discovered that she quite possibly liked as much more than a friend. But there was also the fact that Joscelind just seemed to have the strangest effect on Sirius. He was completely absorbed in her, even when she wasn't around, which was a rare occurrence these days. Marlene would almost call it infatuation. After all, she had observed enough of that with how James had carried on after Evans over the years.
Speaking of Evans…Marlene couldn't remember James mentioning her once the entire summer. How bizarre.
Clearly something was going on there, but Marlene really couldn't worry about that right now. She had bigger things to worry over; namely, how in Merlin's name was she supposed to get Sirius away from that…thing?
She's not a saint, and she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa
But she's better known for the things that she does on the mattress
Whoa
Soon she's gonna find stealing other peoples' toys on the playground won't make you many friends
She should keep in mind
She should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge
"Hey, 'Lene," Max said, poking his head through Marlene's doorway.
"Yeah?" She replied, breaking her gaze away from her ceiling, which she had been looking at with great intensity, and turning her attention to her brother. "What's up?"
"Mum wants you to know that she adores Sirius, but if she hears another word about how fabulous 'Jos' is, then she's going to either tear her hair out or cut all of Sirius' hair off because at this point she would much rather hear him moaning about the unfortunate loss of all of his beloved hair," Max got out all in one breath.
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Marlene demanded, returning to scrutinizing her ceiling.
"Come downstairs and entertain him while the team is still practicing so that she can go find the firewhiskey that Grandpa gave her last Christmas," Max replied promptly.
Marlene looked at her youngest brother dubiously. "Mum really said that to you?"
"Well…no," Max admitted. "She said she was going to go work in the garden, and you know how the gnomes frustrate her."
Marlene sighed. "Do I really have to go see him?"
Max merely grinned at his sister cheekily.
"You used to love it when Sirius came over," Max stated. "Did you and your boyfriend break up, 'Leney?"
And with a small giggle, he spun on his heel and ran off down the hall. In a flash, Marlene was on her feet, chasing after him.
"Come back here, you little…" Marlene hollered.
Due to the fact that Marlene was several years older and therefore still taller than the youngest McKinnon, she caught up to him in the entrance hall of the manor, and just managed to tackle the boy to the ground.
"Take it back, Maxwell," Marlene commanded.
"No way," Max replied, trying and failing to get his sister off of him.
"You asked for it, then," Marlene informed him, before beginning her attack.
Now, the McKinnon's were a large family, with six children. As such, those children were very close to each other, and therefore knew one another's secrets. All of them; no matter how well-hidden they might be. For example, Max's reference to Sirius being Marlene's boyfriend, while not technically a solid fact, was something her younger siblings had all seen as a very good possibility from an early age. More relevant at the moment, though, was the not-so-very well-kept secret that Maxwell McKinnon was quite possibly the most ticklish person on the entire planet. But then again, he'd had it coming for years.
"Do you surrender yet?" Marlene demanded, as Max gasped for breath in between uncontrollable spurts of laughter.
"Never," He managed to get out as his face slowly became redder due to his current lack of oxygen.
"Your loss," Marlene said with a shrug.
Unbeknownst to either of the two McKinnon's in question, whilst Marlene bestowed the traditional punishment upon Max, the Irish International team's practice had come to an end, and Cathleen McKinnon was thus no longer in need of rescue from her daughter's best friend. This, unfortunately, was a fact that Marlene and Max were about to discover.
"Would it be possible for you to not take up the entire hallway?" A snide voice questioned. "Some of us have places to be."
Marlene immediately ceased her attack on her brother, though she was still on top of him, and looked up to see Joscelind standing there, looking entirely too perfect for just having gotten out of practice. Not that Marlene would ever admit that. Either way, though, the image was ruined by the ugly scowl on the blonde's face as she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the two redheads before her.
"Well?" Joscelind demanded, tapping her foot against the marble floor impatiently.
Marlene merely glowered at her.
"It's our house," Max stated. "So we'll do as we please."
"Hmph," Came Joscelind's response. "And here I was believing all the good things Milo always had to say about you lot. Clearly he was wrong."
"I'll say," Marlene replied. "What with all the praise he gave you; a born pathological liar, that one."
"I much prefer your other siblings," Joscelind informed the pair. "They're much more…welcoming."
"You stay away from them," Marlene said fiercely. Nothing more could be said, however, because the sound of approaching footsteps reached their ears. A brief moment later, Sirius appeared in the hallway behind Joscelind.
"Hey, Jos," he said, slipping an arm around her waist smoothly. Immediately, her hostile expression was replaced with one of innocence. He then caught sight of Max and Marlene.
"What are you doing, Mars?" He asked her slowly.
"We're just hanging out," Max said immediately, "Some of us with a more impaired flow of oxygen than others."
"Just ignore them," Joscelind commanded, tugging on Sirius' arm. "C'mon, Siri, you said we were actually going to go somewhere fun today."
Marlene frowned as the pair walked away. Slowly, she stood up, and pulled Max up alongside her.
"The two of them together is just messed up," Max commented. "She's pure evil." He paused but continued on cautiously when his sister made no move to speak, and continued to stare unseeingly in the direction Sirius and Joscelind had disappeared in. "Now, don't attack me again, 'Lene, but I really do think you and Sirius are perfect for each other," the recently turned 13 year-old said with complete seriousness. "Jos is just a wacko."
Marlene nodded listlessly.
Over the next few weeks, Sirius and Joscelind continued to spend all of their free time in each other's company. Not once did Marlene get even a second of alone time with Sirius, while her brief encounters with Joscelind got even nastier. James stopped coming around altogether. He said that he had to put up with Sirius simply talking about his girlfriend so much already that he might do something he'd later regret if he spent any more time with the two of them together. He invited Marlene over, offering her some relief from all of the insanity, as any good friend would, but Marlene couldn't bring herself to accept. Accepting James' invitation would be accepting defeat where Joscelind was concerned. And Marlene would not be defeated.
Except…was it even worth it anymore?
She knew beyond a doubt that was she felt about Sirius was real, but…were they even friends anymore? Friends actually spent time with each other, and Merlin only knew how much time Marlene and Sirius hadn't spent with each other in the past few weeks.
So where would that leave Marlene once they went back to Hogwarts?
If she and Sirius werent' really friends anymore, would she actually have to make an attempt to be more than passably civil with her dorm-mates?
Of course…they were girls, Marlene reasoned to herself, and they would probably have a better idea of how to handle this situation than she did. In any case, befriending Eva—no, it should be Lily if she was going to attempt friendship with them. But anyway, actually being friends with Lily was a safe bet to make sure that James didn't, for any reason whatsoever, follow his best friend's example and drop Marlene.
Accordingly, Marlene's trip back to Hogwarts for her seventh year was not the happy occasion it was meant to be. She really couldn't bear to hear another word about Joscelind and had instead followed through with her idea and sought out the other 7th year Gryffindor girls.
Dorcas Meadowes, while undeniably actually one of Marlene's closest friends, was also on good terms with her other dorm-mates and oftentimes preferred spending time with them rather than the often-rambunctious Marauders. Although, it had to be admitted, Marlene was convinced there was something going on between the blonde and Remus.
Then there were Alice Prewett, Lily Evans, and Mary MacDonald. Marlene was civil with all three, but they had never exactly been friends with each other. Now was as good a time as any to start, though…
Surprisingly, they accepted her appearance in their compartment with barely a word. Marlene suspected Dorcas had something to do with this, for which she was grateful. There was, however, a bigger reaction when James slipped into the compartment about halfway through the afternoon.
"What are you doing here, Potter?" Mary demanded.
"I came to talk to Marlene," He replied, before turning his attention to the aforementioned redhead. "Ev—Lily told me you were in here. Moony and I were concerned when you never showed up, earlier."
"Just you two?" Marlene couldn't help but ask, hating how bitter she sounded about it.
"Er…yes," James replied, looking uncomfortable. "Pete's been sleeping most of the trip and Sirius…well, he's been catching Moony up on his new girlfriend. Honestly, I don't think Sirius even noticed that I left the compartment, he's so busy talking about Joscelind." He paused here, looking uncertain. "Do you…Do you think that maybe I could stay here for a bit? I honestly can't take another second of Sirius talking about her."
Surprisingly, it was Lily who answered. "Sure, Po-James. We need to work on that patrol schedule anyway."
James smiled in relief, and Marlene couldn't help but crack the smallest possible smile as well. It was nice being around James again, even if he was acting insanely calm considering he was in the same compartment as Lily Evans. All the same, Marlene could clearly tell that James was not going to abandon her anytime soon like Sirius had.
James was by no means a replacement for Marlene's oldest friend. Rather, he was the closest connection he could find to what she was now considering to be her 'old' life, a life she missed terribly. Indeed, Marlene's newfound distance from Sirius caused her to realize how very much she needed him back.
She was pondering this very thing over lunch on the first Saturday of the new term. There had to be some way to get Sirius to see sense again, Marlene reasoned to herself, gazing out across the Great Hall. Just then, a dark-haired figure rose from the Slytherin table, school bag slung over his shoulder.
Marlene's eyes widened in realization as the boy made his way out of the Great Hall. She had the perfect way to get Sirius away from Joscelind…
She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list
She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it
I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling
She thinks I'm psycho cause I like to rhyme her name with things
But sophistication isn't what you wear or who you know
Or pushing people down to get you where you wanna go
They didn't teach you that in prep school so it's up to me
That no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity