Prompt: (word) Family

The Importance of Friendship

Marlene hugged Lily one last time. "I will see you next month, won't I?"

"Of course," Lily replied excitedly, pulling away. "Mum and Dad already told me I could visit my friends if I wanted to this summer. I'll write to let you know when I can stay."

Marlene waved goodbye as Lily ran to meet her parents. It was hard to believe that another year at Hogwarts had come and gone. She would be in her third year at the start of September. It was all going so quickly.

"Ready to go, Mar?" Marlene turned to see her father approaching her. "Your mum and sisters are at home waiting. They decided to make you a nice big meal to welcome you home."

Marlene smiled up at him. "Sure Dad, let's go." She'd just reached down to grab the bag she'd set on the ground when she heard raised voices coming from farther down the platform. She looked up again to see what was going on.

"How dare you ask me that!" a rather severe looking woman shrieked. "You may not visit that Potter boy! I'd rather you weren't friends with him at all, his family is disgraceful!"

"Why, because they're not one of the 'sacred twenty eight' that you obsess over?" Marlene recognized Sirius Black, one of the biggest pranksters in the school. She'd never really seen him angry before. He always seemed so laidback. "Who cares? Who cares what you think? Only five more years at Hogwarts and then I'll be gone. I'll never have to see you again."

Marlene flinched when Sirius's mother slapped him hard across the face. "You don't speak to me that way! I am your mother and a Black! I command respect!" She grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away, but he broke free and ran down the platform, past Marlene and her father. The few people left on the platform watched silently, apparently as shocked as Marlene by what had just happened.

"Just get his things, Kreacher," the woman commanded her house-elf coldly. "He knows where his home is, he'll find his way there." With that, she was gone.

Marlene stood frozen for a moment, trying to take it all in. She found Sirius and his group of friends to be annoying and troublesome, but she hadn't realized that Sirius was hiding such a horrible family life behind all of the laughter and pranks. She turned back to her father. "Dad, I -"

"Go on then," he replied, giving her a knowing look. "I'll wait for you."

Marlene walked quickly down the platform, looking for Sirius. She finally found him at the other end, sitting on a bench, staring down at his fists clenched in his lap. She quietly sat next to him, unsure of how to approach him when he was in such a mood.

He looked up at her after a minute or so, some of the anger in eyes dying away when he saw her. "What do you want, McKinnon?" He was trying to sound casual, but Marlene could hear the slight tremble in his voice.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," she said quietly.

"So, you saw all that then?" He looked back down at his fists.

"I did," she admitted. "I'm sorry, Sirius, I didn't realize-"

"I don't want your pity!" he protested, looking at her again. "I don't want anyone's pity. I just want everyone to understand that I'm not like my family. I may be a Black, but I don't think so highly of myself as to believe that I'm better than halfbloods and Muggleborns."

"You've never given me a reason to believe that," she said. "You may be an annoying, conceited troublemaker, but you're most definitely not a pureblood elitist. Why would you have the friends you do if you were?"

Sirius smiled at her. "Thanks for caring, even if I am conceited and annoying." Marlene cringed internally. When he put it like that, it sounded quite mean. "I'd better get going. The longer it takes me to get home, the worse the lecture will be." He stood and turned to leave, but Marlene grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Just...well, take care of yourself, will you? Hogwarts wouldn't be the same if I wasn't rolling my eyes everyday at your pranks."

He laughed. "No, but your life would be much more peaceful, I'm sure." His expression sobered. "I'd best be going. I'll see you in a few months then, Marlene."

She watched him as he walked away, until he was out of sight. He may be an annoying git, but deep down, I think he's really a nice guy. She sat there for so long, thinking about all that she had just learned, that her father had to come find her.

"Everything alright?" he asked as he sat next to her.

"Yeah," she said, putting an arm around him and leaning into him. "I just wish everyone had a family like mine. A family that actually loved them and wanted them to be happy."

"That's where having a good group of friends comes in handy." He put an arm around her as well. "Sometimes we have to choose our family if we aren't fortunate enough to be born into an ideal one. I hope he has friends who care as much as you do."

Marlene smiled fondly as she thought about Sirius's group of friends. They might all seem obnoxious to her and Lily, but they were Sirius's family now. She thought she could put up with their ridiculousness if he was happy.

It wasn't until she was nearly asleep that night that it occurred to her: Sirius had called her Marlene instead of McKinnon. The realization made her smile as she drifted off to sleep.