WC: 1,206
A month and a half later and nothing had really happened for the group of fourth years. Marnie was going home for Christmas like she had for the last three years.
A few day before the start of Christmas holiday the first meeting of the Duelling Club took place in the Great Hall. Marnie went only because Atticus was a great duellist and she didn't want to miss Lockhart making a fool of himself; she was sure that he was not a good duelist at all. Also she wanted to see all the other girls, and unfortunately her sister was one of them, who would come only to try and impress him.
"Hey Marnie." Lee smiled at her.
"Hey Lee"
"I'm surprised you're here." He said.
"I could say the same thing for you, I'm just here to watch all the girls trying to impress him with their dueling."
Lee chuckled. At the same moment Lockhart cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention to him.
"Good evening! I am Professor Lockhart and I think you know my assistant, Professor Snape."
Most of the girls just sighed and glanced at him with stars in their eyes. Marnie chuckled to herself. Professor Snape? Assistant? That wasn't going to end well.
"Let's get this started, break into pairs." Lockhart instructed.
Marnie looked over to see Atticus had already paired with someone else.
"Do you want to be my partner Lee?" Marnie asked.
"Sure. I'll try to go easy on you, Jacobs." He answered.
"There's no need to go easy on me, Jordan." she smirked .
They got bowed to one another and started dueling.
"You're impressive, Jordan."
"I'm not just a pretty face." he replied, sending a jinx towards her.
Marnie easily dodged it.
"No need to be so cocky."
Then Lockhart decided to make himself some of the pairs and went and paired Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley, and at the same time Snape went and broke off Harry and Ron, pairing Harry with Malfoy and Ron with Seamus Finnigan.
A few minutes into the duel, Malfoy conjured a snake. Marnie felt herself freeze; she had been afraid of snakes ever since she was eight. She glanced over at Atticus but he couldn't see her
"Marnie! Are you alright?" Lee questioned her.
"It's nothing that concerns you, Jordan. I'm leaving."
"But…, wait!." he shouted after her, but she didn't hear him.
Marnie left the Great Hall and made her way towards the Hospital Wing for a calming draught.
"Hello Miss Jacobs, what can I do for you?" asked madam Pomfrey upon seeing her.
"May I have a calming draught?" said Marnie.
The matron nodded and bustled around for a phial of calming draught, while Marnie sat on the nearest cot waiting for the potion. When Madame Pomfrey handed her the potion , she steadily drank it.
As she finished, Atticus rushed in.
"I'm such a bad best friend."
"It's about time you got here, Quigley." Marnie chuckled as she downed the last few drops of the potion.
"You okay now?"
"Yes."
Atticus nodded and together left the Hospital Wing , Marnie thanking the matron for her help. They walked back to Ravenclaw Tower and as they entered the common room
Jaq asked.
"How was the Duelling Club?"
"Interesting. Harry and Malfoy dueled. Malfoy conjured a snake and it freaked me out so I had to get a calming draught." said Marnie sitting on the couch.
Jaq nodded.
"I paired off with Lee because Atticus paired off with someone else." said Marnie.
He smirked at her.
"Neither one of you seemed to mind though."
Marnie shrugged.
"He's a great dueller."
About an hour later the three of them went to bed.
-/-
It was the second to last day of term, also known as Atticus' fifteenth birthday and Marnie went to the boy's dorms to wake him up, as their usual routine on his birthday. Like in the Gryffindor Tower, the boys couldn't enter the girls' dorms but the girls could be in the boys' dorms. She's been waking him up on his birthday ever since their second year. The boys' dorms were exactly like the girls' dorms just more messy.
She jumped on his bed shouting. "Happy birthday Atticus!"
"Ugh, what time is it?" the birthday boy groaned.
"8:30am." answered Marnie, smiling at him.
"At least we don't have lessons today, but with that said we shouldn't have to wake up so early."
"It's your birthday! You cannot sleep in late. I'll see you down in the common room in thirty minutes."
The dark haired boy groaned in reply. Marnie got up and walked back to her dorm and soon Jaq woke up too.
"Did your usual routine with Atticus?" the other girl asked.
Marnie nodded and grabbed her clothes. Nixie still had separation anxiety especially since another student and the Gryffindor house ghost have been petrified the day after the first Duelling Club meeting. Though Marnie didn't understand how a ghost could be petrified.
She leaned down to pet Nixie and the cat meowed loudly. When she got home she would ask her father if there was a potion that could help Nixie.
She finished getting dressed, grabbed her gift for Atticus and walked down to the common room with Nixie hot on her heels.
"Morning Atticus, happy birthday," she said again, hugging her best friend.
"Thanks."
She handed him her gift and he grinned at her .It was a book about Ancient Runes, his favourite subject.
"Thank you, Marnie."
"You're welcome."
Jaq walked downstairs and wished him a happy birthday as well. The three of them started walking towards the Great Hall.
"Marnie!"
She turned to see Lee walking towards her, accompanied by Fred and George.
"Hey Lee."
She smiled at him.
"I just wanted to see if you were alright. You left so quickly that I hadn't had the chance to accompany you to see if you were okay. " he said
"I'm fine, thanks for asking."
"That's good, I was concerned."
Marnie nodded and they parted ways. His concern was touching When Owl Post arrived , Atticus received his traditional birthday gift from his mum 'Irish Chocolate Potato Cake'. Marnie had a soft spot for the dessert not only because it was chocolate but it was also what had sparked her friendship with Atticus in their first year.
Flashback December 20th, 1989
Marnie was sitting at the Ravenclaw table talking with Jaq when the owl post came and a large package landed in front of one of the boys in their year.
"Does anyone want some of my chocolate cake?" said boy asked.
She looked over at him and nodded. He handed her a piece of cake.
"It's delicious, isn't it?"
"It is. It's not filled with whip cream, what is it?"
The boy smirked.
"It's mashed potatoes actually."
"It's a weird combination but it works."
"It's a traditional Irish dessert, my mum always makes it for me on my birthday."
"That's sweet."
"I'm Atticus." he said.
"That's a name from one of my favourite muggle books, 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
Atticus nodded.
"It's also one of my mum's favourite books, she decided to name me after the father."
"I know. I'm Marnie."
"from the Alfred Hitchcock film 'Marnie'?
She nodded.
The two first years continued chatting together.
End of Flashback
It was three years later now and the two friends were as close as ever and they still shared his traditional birthday dessert.
