A Marauder's Guide to Falling in Love

Chapter Eighteen

"I'm so glad to finally see you!" Lily exclaimed brightly. She had pulled open the curtains around Marlene's bed and crawled up next to her to give her a firm hug. Although she was extremely tired from her lack of sleep the night previously, Marlene couldn't help but smile at the welcoming greeting.

"It's so early Lily!" she half joked but a glance towards the clock told her otherwise. She got ready quickly but wasn't quite able to hide the partial dark circles that lined her eyes. She supposed nobody would bother to question her on it though, and she resigned to giving a deep sigh after staring dejectedly in the mirror before joining the girls for breakfast.

The great hall was packed with students by the time they got there and she was relieved to find that hardly anyone paid attention to her as they entered through. Her eyes automatically scanned the Gryffindor table and with a sinking heart, she spotted Sirius conversing with Peter and James somewhere in the middle. He either hadn't noticed their entry or he wouldn't be bothered to acknowledge it. Either way, Marlene felt her stomach knot as she recalled her cowardly exit last night and regretted acting so childish and rude.

At the recollection of last night's memory, she instinctively averted her gaze towards the Hufflepuff table to find Bert. He was sitting with his friends and talking animatedly about something but had also not appeared to have noticed her.

They were already half way to a few empty seats when Marlene had spotted him. She made a quick decision and excused herself from her friends.

"There's something I need to do," she said with a submissive sigh. Her friends gave a knowing look and offered their encouragement before she turned away from them and headed in the opposite direction towards the other table. She hadn't actually met his friends yet but they clearly knew who she was. She witnessed one of them jab Bert in the side as she approached and he quickly looked up to meet her gaze.

"Marlene!" he said quickly and with much surprise. She couldn't register whether or not he was happy to see her and she imagined that, had the roles been reversed, she probably wouldn't be completely thrilled to see him either. She had, after all, ignored him for weeks.

"Hey," she said nervously. Her hands fidgeted nervously at her side as she tried to ignore the piercing gaze that his peers were administering her. "Can I borrow you for a moment to, uh, talk outside?"

"Sure," he replied and quickly excused himself from the table. She led him out of the great hall into the main entrance where only a few students were slowly trickling out and off to their classes.

"Did you just get back?" he asked when they were out of ear shot of the great hall's noise. "I wrote you once but I didn't hear back. I wasn't entirely sure when I'd see you again."

"I got back last night," she said without allowing herself to feel too guilty over his comment. "I'm sorry I didn't write you, I've been dealing with ... a lot of stuff at the moment."

He nodded and moved closer towards her. She didn't miss the movement and she forced herself to take a quick step back from him.

"I need to talk to you," she said quickly. She could sense the look of surprise on his face and assumed that he had not missed her movement. "I think you're a great guy Bert and I really enjoyed getting to know you. Perhaps I've been a terrible person, leading you on all this time but I've just been so absorbed in my own world that I really didn't consider your feelings in all of this."

"Are you breaking up with me?" he interrupted her. She had momentarily felt annoyed that he hadn't let her finish but scolded herself inwardly for her selfishness.

"Yes," she didn't feel the need to elaborate any further. It was a completely honest answer to the question that he had asked her.

"Alright," he shrugged his shoulders at her and looked briefly confused before offering the smallest of smiles. "I really should have guessed. I just figured we were both busy you know, with N.E.W.T.s coming up and then, well, everything else. I just had hoped I was imagining it."