Marlene was trying to get out of tryouts on Wednesday but Rose was having none of it.
"Seriously Rose, I don't think I can do this. I'm not that good anyway!" Marlene excused, dragging her feet toward the quidditch pitch.
The normally outspoken and confident girl was a shy, self-deprecating mess.
"Mar, you're one of the best beaters here, I don't think you realize how good you are. Gryffindors stick together and today, I'm with you. So, let's get out there and you show these boys how good you are!" Rose told her, giving Marlene a side-hug. She rolled her eyes but appreciated the sentiment.
When the two girls arrived at the quidditch pitch the only other players there were James and Sirius. Rose may or may not have intentionally forgotten to tell them the exact time of the tryout.
She smiled devilishly at the boys, setting the trunk with all of the playing pieces down in the middle of the pitch.
"Why hello, boys. Nice to see you two could make it!" Rose teased, letting Marlene get to the change rooms as she set the supplies up.
"You're seriously making us try out?" James asked, his arms crossed.
"All members of the Gryffindor quidditch team need to be able to prove themselves," Rose replied, smirking.
She took out the quaffle and set it on the ground but left the other two balls inside the case. She didn't need a snitch and bludger flying around.
The boys huffed while the rest of the players trying out arrived.
Rose wouldn't admit it to the boys but she was never going to kick them off the team, they were by far the best players.
The open spots were one chaser and a beater. Phineas had been a chaser and graduated but their beater had been pulled out last year because he was a muggle-born.
Once all of the players for tryouts had gathered, 7 players in total, Rose made sure they had all properly signed up. After that, she had them do some flying warmups and rounds to see how each of them flew.
Because there were six of them, she had them all play a game, rotating keeper on one side to see everybody fly. She flew next to all of them, watching intently how they worked as a team.
Once she had an idea of the chasers, she unleashed the bludger and watched how the players went about it.
The tryout as a whole took about two hours and when they were finished, Rose knew exactly who she wanted on her team.
"Alright, that was great, everybody! Really happy with that and I think I've got the spots picked!" She announced to the tired players.
"So, for the keeper, I'm gonna stick with Malcolm, obviously," Rose said first, the boy smiled.
"For chasers, I'm going with James, Romaz, and Unoria," James looked relieved and slightly angry. Romaz was more excited, hugging and clapping hands with the others, Unoria pumped her arm in the air.
"And finally, for my two beaters, I want Sirius and Marlene!" Sirius smiled and gave James a fist bump as Marlene looked slightly surprised even though she was just as good as Sirius.
"What about seeker?" The last boy asked hopefully, looking around. Rose stopped for a moment before looking at him, an eyebrow raised.
"Uh... I am the seeker..." she confirmed, leaning down to put the quaffle back in the case.
"But you didn't even have to try out!" The boy argued, looking at her angrily.
"I'm the captain of the quidditch team. I don't have to try out. Now, if you ever want to make the quidditch team in the future, I suggest you stop talking now," Evans told the smaller boy, putting the bludger back into the case with a stasis spell.
The boy wasn't satisfied with her answer, so he grabbed her arm and pulled, forcing her to face him. "It's not fair! You don't just get to dictate this! You aren't even that good, how does a girl get to be the captain? Besides, you're just some mudblood," He raged.
Rose's hair turned bright red and her face hardened. James and Sirius looked worried and ready to step in but Marlene was smiling, her hands clasped together. "You boys are about to get a close-up look at what I call Thorns," she said excitedly.
"First of all, get your greasy, nasty little fingers off of me. Secondly, you have no right to talk to me like that, especially in fourth year. I could hex you as far as Mcbrinon was thrown from his broom in '74," Rose began, walking closer to the boy who had just insulted her. He gulped.
"There's no cure for being a terrible quidditch player, too bad, so sad. You can hide behind your status, pureblood and all, but I'm twice the wizard you'll ever be. Now get out of my sight!" She roared, watching as the cowardly boy ran away from her.
Rose had to take a deep breath to calm down and prevent herself from punching something. She always hated being called a mudblood but being talked down to because she was a girl, and by someone that bad at quidditch? Not a chance.
Slowly, the remaining Gryffindor's started clapping. She shot her head over to where they were standing. Marlene clapped and laughed, running over and putting her arms around Rose.
"Now that was fantastic! You should have seen him, screaming as he ran into the castle! Ooooh, this calls for a party," Mar said, leading Rose back to their common room as she blushed.
***
Marlene had taken it upon herself to tell everybody what happened on the pitch, taking a few creative liberties with the story.
"That's when Rose spun around and almost decked the kid! He was crying all the way to the castle!" She told everybody, they looked at her in shock.
"Yeah, yeah. Sure. But you and I have been tasked with getting the food for the first party of the year, c'mon, Mar," Rose commanded, pulling the vibrant girl along with her to the dungeons.
It was common for any house to host its own parties. As long as the head of house didn't have to hear about noise complaints, they didn't care.
The Hufflepuffs were the lucky ones, though, as the kitchen was right next to their common room. The other houses, especially Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, had to come down from their towers to get the food.
They couldn't be caught getting the food, though. It was against the rules for students to sneak food from the kitchens. But they did it anyway.
Marlene and Rose were walking down the kitchen hallway, laughing about something Marlene said. But they quit talking when they heard the voice of Mr. Filch coming towards them.
If Filch caught them, they would both surely go to detention and Rose wasn't having that today.
She looked around until she saw the suit of armour next to the large portrait. It was a well-known hiding spot among the sneakier kids at Hogwarts.
Rose ran over to the portrait and pulled it open. It hid a small closet that would hopefully keep them hidden from the caretaker.
Rose grabbed Marlene and pulled her inside, having to reach around the girl to pull the portrait closed.
When it did eventually closed, Rose realized the precarious situation she was in.
Marlene was backed against the portrait as Rose had her hands beside Mar's head, boxing her in.
They were so close their faces were almost touching. Neither of them said anything, fear of being heard or nerves, Rose didn't know.
The girl's locked eyes, Marlene's blue eyes met Rose's green ones. The world around them seemed to stop.
Is this actually happening? Rose thought, shocked her and her best friend were in this situation. Marlene never seemed the type, although, she never indulged in the talk about boys.
Rose leaned slightly into Marlene, who had a blush creeping up her cheeks. But she didn't say no, she didn't want to say no.
And just as Rose's lips were inches from Mar's, the portrait fell open.
Both girls tumbled out, letting out a groan as they hit the ground.
They stood up quickly, neither wanting to acknowledge what had just happened. And as they led their way to the fruit portrait, Rose could feel the ghost of Marlene's lips upon hers.
When they arrived at the portrait of the fruit, Rose tickled the pear. It laughed like usual and swung open, revealing the large kitchen of Hogwarts.
It was common knowledge to everyone who wasn't in first year how to get to the kitchens, the Hufflepuffs shared their secrets with the first years.
As the portrait swung open, Rose came knee-to-face with the usual house-elf named Twinky.
"Hello, Twinky! Could I get the usual for a Gryffindor party, please? Snacks, drinks, the lot?" She asked the elf nicely, who vigorously nodded and bowed.
The elf was gone for only a minute or two before giving the two girls everything they'd need. They said their thanks and ran back to the common room, trying to make sure they wouldn't get busted for being out and about.
Once the girls returned and the food was set out, a seventh year bewitched an old shoe, allowing it to play some muggle music.
With that all set up, the Gryffindors partied until the wee hours of the morning, using cleaning spelled to get the remains of a party sent away.
And as they all went to bed, Marlene and Rose failed to speak about the moment in the cupboard.