A Marauder's Guide to Falling in Love

Chapter Thirteen

In the week leading up the Quidditch match, Marlene didn't get much time to spend with Bert except for their walks in between classes. He had taken it upon himself to wait for her outside the classroom in the period directly before lunch. They would walk together to the great hall before parting ways for the day.

She didn't have much time to dwell on this as she found herself once again engulfed in the never ending pile of homework and he fell into the usual pressuring that all Quidditch players faced in the wake of a match.

The tension seemed high as the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match loomed closer. Normally the teams seemed a bit on edge the week leading up to each match, no doubt a result of the insurmountable amount of extra practice they were required to put in and the exceedingly high expectation to win. Marlene had always been aware of this tension but it seemed that some members of the Gryffindor team were even more unbearable in the week leading up to the match than ever before.

Marlene became well aware of this during Potions class when Professor Slughorn announced that they would be switching up partners for their befuddlement draughts.

"Alright class," he announced loudly in his attempt to capture the class's attention. It took a few attempts before he was able to take hold of the class and begin his lecture.

"The last few classes we focused on Strengthening solutions and now I believe is as good a time as any to begin to attempt our skills at Befuddlement Draughts. Let's try some new pairings, shall we? Pettigrew and Snape."

Peter's eyes widened and Snape's lip curled with obvious disgust. Professor Slughorn continued on without noticing the unfriendly exchange that passed between the boys.

"MacDonald and Lupin."

Marlene felt her heart sink slightly. She knew that she wouldn't be lucky enough to be paired again with Remus but he had been an excellent partner and she was sad that they would not be working together.

"Black and McKinnon."

Marlene felt a new sense of panic as she realized that he had just paired her with Sirius. Sure, she had been getting along decently with him in the last few months and he had proven to her that he was completely capable of excelling in his studies, but she had never been paired with him in class before and he was famous for wasting his class coming up with pranks with James. Not to mention that her previous pairing with his best mate had been less than desirable. She groaned inwardly at the thought that the majority of their class would be spent trying to wrangle him into focus and she dreaded the thought of being caught in the middle of another failed prank.

Marlene hadn't spoken to Sirius since the morning she had grabbed her textbooks from him the previous week. He had seemed rather tense afterwards and made no attempt to pursue any sort of communication. She felt a different sense of apprehension as she observed the look on his face as their names were called out together.

Sirius didn't seem too pleased about the pairing. Of course, Marlene wasn't sure whether or not this had to do with the fact that he was irritable from Quidditch tension, or he genuinely was displeased with having her for a partner.

He didn't even look at her as he sunk down into the seat beside her. Marlene was instantly able to feel his irritation after she offered him a feeble smile and wasn't even offered a blink of the eye in return.

"And finally, Potter and Evans."

The classroom went quiet. Marlene quickly forgot about her thoughts on Sirius and her head swiveled to look at her friend on the other side of the classroom. Lily's face had paled slightly and her hand shot up into the air. James on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted.