THC, Year 7, Round Two, Standard, Slytherin, HoH.

Prompt: [Negative Pairing] Marlene McKinnon and Remus Lupin.

Hogwarts, Assignment 2, Hufflepuff, Cryptology.

Prompt: Task 3: Write about someone unable to understand something, or struggling to do so.

Word count: 2300

Beta(s): Butterflies765, CupCakeyyy, Aurora, Arcane Illusions, Hope.

Raucous laughter filled the Gryffindor Common Room, reaching every corner of the large room. "You're serious?"

"Well," Sirius started while wiggling his eyebrows. "I actually am Sirius."

Marlene let out another laugh and struggled to breathe through it. She wouldn't have been able to talk if she'd tried. "James…" She took a deep breath. "...Actually sent Lily socks?"

Sirius' grin grew. "Yes, turns out James didn't understand that she joked about wanting socks. Personally, I thought it was a great present."

"I like socks as much as the next girl, but Valentine's Day is supposed to be something either cheesy or personal… not… practical," she replied, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I mean we aren't even dating and you bought me chocolate!"

"I'm just more of a romantic than he is."

"Clearly!" Marlene shook her head in disbelief and wondered why Lily hadn't informed her about James' stupidity. After all, Valentine's Day had been last week! Her thoughts split between Sirius and Lily, so she didn't notice Remus' arrival until he started to speak.

"At least he tried," he said quietly.

Marlene turned her attention to him and couldn't help the confusion that filled her. Who didn't try? It was Valentine's Day, after all. Everyone tried, it was just a question of succeeding.

"Don't be so negative, Rem! It's our last year!"

Marlene glanced at Sirius and tried to connect the dots before looking back at Remus. "Are you okay?"

Remus' glance turned into a glare as he looked at her. "I'm fine."

"Marley, just ignore him, he's been a grump lately," Sirius advised, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Clearing her throat, wondering why the usually sweet guy wasn't himself, she excused herself. "I'll catch up with you later. I need to find Lily…" she drifted off and shared a look with Sirius before she left. On the way out she heard Sirius reprimand Remus.

By the time Marlene had located Lily, her brain had come up with several reasons for Remus' behaviour and half of them resulted in the conclusion that he had some kind of problem with her. She couldn't work out what she had done wrong; had she forgotten to help him with something? Or accidentally ignored him during the day? Was he insulted by something she had said or done?

She approached Lily silently and sat down on the chair next to her, not even paying attention to James or the fact that they were in the library.

"Marlene? What's wrong?"

She looked up, directly into the eyes of her friend and asked, "Why does Remus hate me?" It didn't help her if she beat around the bush. The constant nagging feeling inside her filled her with anxiety.

Both Lily and James were taken aback at that question. "What? Remus doesn't hate you," Lily replied almost immediately, her homework suddenly abandoned, and her attention completely on her friend. She liked that about Lily. No matter what she was doing, whenever a friend needed her, she was there, lending an ear.

With a shake of her head, Marlene sighed. "It's true, Lils. He just treated me like I did something wrong and wouldn't tell me when I asked. He seemed so off and somewhat hostile!" She looked at her disbelieving friend. "So much so that Sirius told him off!"

"What?" Lily exclaimed, her expression shocked.

James stood up.

"James! What's going on?" Lily demanded.

James sheepishly collected his belongings. "Marlene, he doesn't hate you, I promise. He's going through a few things right now and Sirius is making it worse."

"What does that mean?" Marlene questioned as confusion washed over her once again. Unfortunately, she didn't get an answer. "Why are guys so complicated?" she wondered, turning to Lily.

Lily's attention was on her departing boyfriend, eyes narrowing slightly. "I'm not sure."

Marlene let out a sigh and looked over at Lily's books and parchment. This whole situation was frustrating. She wanted answers but how should she get them if nobody wanted to talk to her? She bit her lip and glared at the Transfiguration book that was lying on the table in front of her. Well, she clearly wasn't going to get any answers right now, so she might as well do some homework. "Can I borrow a quill and some parchment?"

"Sure."

Over the next few days, Marlene had noticed Remus being very weird around her, especially when she was with Sirius. She tried to put it to him going through something, but she knew there was something more.

She knew she should be studying. This was her final year. And yet, she was sitting alone in the Gryffindor Common Room, staring at the dwindling flames of the fire and tried to work out if she could help Remus in any way. She bit her lip. Why did things have to be so complicated? She had no idea how to get Remus to talk to her, but she knew that she couldn't just walk right up to him and demand answers. He'd just explode and yell at her, judging by the way he'd been behaving lately. No, first, she needed to know what was bothering him.

A chill ran down her back in shock as warm hands covered her eyes. "Guess who."

Marlene instinctively smiled as she turned her head. "Molly," she joked.

Sirius' face came into full view the second she heard his laugh and he plopped himself next to her. "Well, I do like tea," he replied in a high-pitched voice.

"Do you now?" she replied cheekily. Fingers instantly dug into her side as he began to tickle her. "Okay! Okay!" Her laughter continued for a few seconds until she had managed to push his annoying hands away. She was thinking about revenge when the couch on her other side dipped down. "Oh, hey, Pete."

"Hi, I'm not interrupting… right?" he asked, looking a bit awkward.

"Of course not!" Sirius replied confidently.

Marlene smiled and nodded in agreement. "The more the merrier!" she added which earnt her a small smile. Peter had gotten quieter lately, maybe that had something to do with Remus, too. She shook the thoughts from her brain and tried to just enjoy the moment. "What have you boys been up to?"

Sirius balanced his arm around the back of her shoulders. "Hitting buldgers towards James so he could practice his dodging."

"That… actually sounds like fun," she admitted with a small chuckle before looking at Peter.

"Oh… Me? I…" he stumbled over his words. "I was just walking around Hogwarts alone… you know… to remember the good times."

A soft smile made its way to her lips. "That sounds like a great idea!"

"It does?" Peter and Sirius asked simultaneously, each with different expressions.

"Yes! After this year it's likely that we're never going to come back here, it's the perfect moment to walk around aimlessly and think about all of the memories you have and all the fun you've experienced within these walls." She turned to Sirius. "I don't want to forget a thing."

His half-smile grew as he leant closer and dropped a chaste kiss onto her lips. Her eyes blinked closed as the soft warm lips against hers.

Peter made a gagging sound. "Get a room."

Marlene felt herself brush and embarrassment fill her until somebody added grumpily, "Please." Marlene looked up to a dissatisfied Remus who had walked in sometime in the last few seconds. "This is a Common Room and that sort of behaviour isn't appropriate."

The tension in the room grew exponentially. Not even a knife could cut through it. "It was just a-"

"Five points from Gryffindor," Remus added firmly. Could he do that?

Sirius stood up, practically pulling her to her feet without warning. "Let's take their advice and get a room."

Marlene almost stumbled over her feet as she let Sirius lead her out of the Common Room rather suddenly, Remus' glance - glare - following them out. "What did I do?" she asked as they reached the corridor.

"Ignore him, he's being…" Sirius drifted off for a moment and wrapped one arm around her as he came to a stop. "It's nothing to do with you, I promise. It's me he's annoyed at."

She nodded, wanting to ask more questions, but with the look in his eyes, she knew it was best not to. "Just let me know if I can help, okay?"

Sirius dropped a kiss to her cheek before continuing to lead her away from the Common Room. "Just being you is enough."

Marlene found herself wandering the halls of Hogwarts, just taking in the surroundings and memorising as much as she could, knowing she would soon have to leave the beloved castle. Though it was still February, she felt the heavy responsibilities that would be added to her and her friends once they graduated. She was excited about the new adventure, true, but it was also incredibly scary and nerve-wracking; even more so with the war currently going on.

A chill passed through her spine. It was cold in this part of the castle, overlooking the nearly empty courtyard. Only three very familiar figures were standing huddled underneath the lone tree, gesturing wildly. Marlene felt herself frown. Sirius and Remus were clearly arguing and poor Peter looked even more lost now. What in the name of Merlin was going on lately? Remus was definitely acting weird and confrontational, Sirius had a sadness in his eyes, Peter had gotten even quieter, and James… well… Marlene didn't actually notice anything different with him, though he had clearly been worried about it all.

The seventeen-year-old still hadn't worked out why there was so much tension between the two of them, but the one thing she had worked out over the last week was that it was something to do with her. It just had to do something with her as this whole mess had started back in the Common Room, hadn't it? So there wasn't another explanation for it. Even with Sirius telling her otherwise, she knew that was just to protect her feelings.

This wasn't how she wanted her last year at Hogwarts to go, and she definitely didn't want Sirius to be unhappy. Marlene's heart constricted as she watched, almost as if in slow motion, Sirius turned his back on his friend and walked away, with Remus looking deflated as he was left behind, and Peter seeming torn about what to do.

Now was her chance. Time to find out what she had done and fix it. Marlene quickly headed to the nearest stairs leading down to the courtyard, taking two at a time, and rushed to where she had last seen Remus. In her haste, her foot hit a rock and she almost went flying into Peter. "Sorry!" she exclaimed as she turned towards Remus who was entering the castle. "I want to talk to you!" she said loudly.

Remus had stopped and looked at her. He looked exhausted and seemed to look past her.

Marlene barely glanced behind her but quickly turned straight back to him. "Why are you being such a dick?"

"Excuse me?" he asked, completely taken aback.

"You heard me," she replied confidently. "You've been treating me as if I have wronged you in some way! And I want to know why."

Remus moved down the hallway, with her hot on his tail. "I don't know what you're talking about."

A scoff left her before she had even fully registered his words. "You don't know what I'm talking about?" She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm to stop him from walking away any more. "You're arguing with Sirius, James is concerned, Peter is lost. Anybody can see that something is wrong with you right now. But what I want to know is why you hate me."

He looked her straight in the eyes. "Yes, things are going on. But it's none of your business. Just leave me alone, McKinnon."

Stunned into momentary silence, she watched him step away from her. However, before he left her sight, she shouted afterwards. "I don't understand why you've suddenly become a jerk!"

He graced her with a glance before turning the corner.

Marlene huffed, ran a hand through her hair, and turned to Peter who hadn't moved to follow his friend yet. "What's going on?"

"Don't take it personally, he's been a jerk to everybody lately," Peter muttered sadly.

"But why?" she asked looking at him, her frustration dissipating into sadness. "Just… why?"

Peter looked a bit nervous. "He likes somebody who doesn't reciprocate."

"What does that have to do with me though?"

The shuffling of Peter's feet and the looking over his shoulder made Marlene concerned for his wellbeing. "Well… Sirius likes you."

Marlene released a breath. Was Peter even making sense right now? He's just listing facts, what would who Sirius likes have anything to do with… wait… "Remus likes Sirius?"

Peter nodded.

Her mouth opened but no words came out. Instantly; guilt washed over her as she realised that he didn't hate her because of anything she had done, but because he hated the situation and it was all out of his control. Nothing she could do right now would help him like her until he worked out his feelings and how to deal with them.

"Thanks, Peter," she finally managed to reply, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll leave him alone so he can deal with things without the constant reminder."

Peter nodded. "Just do me a favour?"

"What's that?"

"Don't avoid Sirius because of it; he really does like you."

Marlene smiled. "I wouldn't dream of it." Even if he had suggested to stay away from Sirius, she didn't think she'd be able to. Not now, not ever.