in the cards | marlene mckinnon -- on hiatus

01. first meetings

Potter manor, Christmas eve 1976. 

Marlene McKinnon was a confident girl, outgoing and clever. There were few situations, social or other, in which she felt out of place. That's why it was such a shock to see Marlene McKinnon, of all people, standing alone in the crowded ballroom at Potter manor. 

She didn't look uncomfortable, and if she was, she hid it well. Lonely, was the only word that came to mind.

Her friends, Lily, Dorcas and Mary hadn't been able to accompany her to the Potter's annual Christmas ball, though they didn't seem very saddened by the fact. Lily more than likely got hives just thinking about going to James "toe-rag" Potter's house during the holidays, she got more than enough of him at school.

Marlene had put effort in her appearance, going as far as wearing a dress and heels. The shoes weren't worn by choice, her mother all but threatened to ground her if she didn't wear "sensible clothes", to depict their family positively. Luckily she managed to convince her mother to let her wear one of her leather jackets, claiming it was "too cold outside" to not wear one. 

In her defense, the leather jacket she wore didn't have a single hole in it. 

The party had only just begun, but thankfully the champagne had already started being poured. Marlene would pick standing alone, drunk on champagne, any day over standing alone whilst sober.

She was already on her fourth glass and finally hit the point of boredom where you stop caring. More specifically, you stop caring about the hosts' privacy and start snooping around the giant mansion of a house the Potters owned. 

Marlene walked as inconspicuously as she could out of the ballroom and into one of the vast hallways of the manor. She had been to the Potter's many times before, for social functions like these, yet the labyrinth of a house they owned never failed to confuse her. 

Her frustration was so palpable she could have sworn some of the paintings were laughing at her distress. Not wanting to be guilty of mutilating paintings for no good reason, she made her way outside, the same way she came. Had she tried to find another way out she would likely not have been found for days. 

The front porch was luckily deserted, the lights shining softly on the white banister. The Potter's looked like they had the picture perfect house, and the picture perfect life. The jealousy was bitter in her mouth, but it was nothing compared to the disdain she felt toward herself for feeling like that in the first place. 

She drowned out the melancholy with smoke filled lungs, which ironically enough, made her feel like she could breathe again. She liked how the smoke moved in the air, the patterns and curves her breath created. 

It could have been five minutes, or fifty, Marlene had completely lost track of time, but at some point the front door was thrown open and the calming silence was all but forgotten. Who could ever have guessed that the killers of tranquility were the infamous marauders. 

She did wonder why they had a group name, who does that?

The boys, evidently tipsy, stumbled outside noisily. James kicked the door closed behind him while balancing a half drunk bottle of fire whisky in his hand. 

Sirius' shirt was unbuttoned all too low and Peter couldn't stop giggling. The only one who seemed to have any sense left whatsoever was Remus, who, between hiccups, apologized to the pots and plants their rampage impacted. 

Marlene cringed at the mere thought that the most sensible one out of the four was talking to inanimate objects. The world was completely fucked.

"So, Marlene McKinnon," Sirius drawled, moving closer to her as he did so. He had put his best smoldering look whilst trying, and failing, to gracefully make his way beside her. "What would you be doing here, outside I mean?"