It All Fell Down | A Marauder's Story

Two

     "Trust, is a luxury." -r.m. Drake

     Charlotte Riggs occupying a seat next to Sirius Black was all it took to turn Marlene McKinnon's first day sour. She sat across the two of them wordlessly and began dumping a precise amount of milk into her coffee along with a half teaspoon of sugar. She blew at the steam that rose in pillars from the liquid and dared her first sip of the hot drink. It did its job of warming her insides, but the animated chatting coming from across the table chased away the warmth to replace it with cold.

     "What got your knickers in a twist this morning, Marls?" James asked, peering up from the Daily Prophet he had sprawled out beside his breakfast.

     "Shut it, Potter," she spat, pulling her knees onto the bench and closer to her chest as she sipped her coffee.

     Peter's eyes widened, and Remus was quick to retaliate with, "Merlin, Marlene. What is with you?"

     She unclenched her teeth and felt the muscles in her face and neck relax. "Sorry," she mumbled. 

     If Marlene were being honest with herself, she didn't have an answer for James. She truly didn't understand where her newfound hatred for Charlie had come from; she wasn't quick to voice her opinion aloud because the girl hadn't actually done anything to her. But, something about her presence as of late was causing Marlene's chest to tighten, and it was getting rather difficult to breathe.

     Marlene was about to put her head down, when she saw her redheaded best friend enter the great hall. Her body practically sagged in relief as Lily took a seat next to her.

     "Morning, Lil," Sirius greeted with a smile.

     Lily yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Mornin', Paddy."

     "Not a morning person?" Charlie asked with an amused grin, holding her mug of coffee close to her lips, her chipped, dark nail polish clashing vividly against the white of the cup.

     "You've shared a room with her for six years, and you're just now noticing?" The words flew from Marlene's mouth before she had a chance to clamp her lips together.

     Sirius and Lily gave her a look of concern. Charlie never lowered her gaze as she quirked an eyebrow. "My apologies for not having both of your sleep schedules memorized. How could I be so negligent?"

     Marlene forced a laugh, doing her best to lighten the mood, to seem as if she had been joking. "God, Charlie, I guess I can forgive you."

     Lily and Sirius let out small laughs summing up Marlene's cold words to it being misunderstood sarcasm or early morning grouchiness. Charlie, however, was not so convinced; she smirked nonetheless, but she could feel something between herself and Marlene. She had a feeling Marlene didn't particularly like her, but she couldn't figure out why. To her knowledge, Marlene and herself had always been friendly.

     Guilt pooled in Marlene's stomach as she watched Charlie continue her conversation with Sirius and Remus. She munched numbly on her blueberry muffin, afraid to linger on why the hell seeing Charlie and Sirius getting along was bothering her so much; that was a rabbit hole she would not be falling down any time soon.

     "What class does everyone have first?" Peter asked, his watery blue eyes scanning his schedule before flicking up to look at his friends.

     Marlene grabbed for her things, thankful for the distraction. She retrieved the stray piece of parchment that had been discarded to the depths of her bag the second it had touched her fingertips. "Alchemy," she answered, once she located the name of the class at the top of the parchment.