Marlene storms out of the dormitory, clutching her face, and walking in are not only Lily, Dorcas, and Em, but also, to my very horror, James and Sirius. They must've levitated themselves above the sliding stairs.
They all look like they're at a loss for words, and I try to avoid all eye contact. Especially Sirius. God, what if he heard all of that?
"Let's talk about what happened, I suppose," I whisper.
===
Everybody sits around me, either on the floor or on a bed, looking at me expectantly.
"Okay, how much did you hear?" I sigh.
James, speaking for both him and Sirius, says, "Starting from the 'DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT' and from then on. So, not that much."
He tries to keep his tone light, but the atmosphere here is very tense.
That means James has to know who I'm talking about. Sirius, however, doesn't.
"Yeah, so, you said she and some bloke had never spoken until the second year, she said just accept it, she called you a jealous bitch, some crashing sound, you said 'Fuck you, McKinnon,' and yeah," says Sirius. Okay, so, he didn't question who we were talking about, although I think that it's obvious. I reckon Sirius is just denying the fact that I fancy him to make things less complicated.
"Well, what do you think of this? She's your girlfriend," I say, looking directly at Sirius. I really do feel terrible for putting him on the spot, but really, nobody else's opinion matters as much to me as Sirius' in this situation.
"Oh, uh... I dunno. I don't really know what it was about. She's my girlfriend. I've got to... Sorry."
Sirius, unusually flustered, quickly leaves without another word.
We all turn to James next, who looks just as confused as the rest of us.
"Don't look at me! Dunno why he's like that. But hey, what happened to your back?" James questions, gesturing at the blood on my back. Now that my focus is drawn to it, I begin to realize how much pain I'm in.
"Blasted me back into the bloody bed. My back hit the frame over there. Do you reckon I ought to go to the Hospital Wing?" I muse, lifting up my shirt slightly.
I hear Dorcas gasp lightly as Lily lets out a small scream.
"Merlin's Beard, go!" Em cries, helping me up. As I take my first step, I immediately wince in pain as I slowly sink to my knees. Eventually, we're left with James using Locomotor on me, in which he points his wand at me and levitates me wherever his wand points.
Since it's my back, I don't know what it looks like, but Madam Pomfrey, who does not bat an eyelash at broken bones or sticking-out-of-skin bones, even makes a small face.
"You may be here for a while. This isn't just a broken back. It's been affected by some sort of spell. Very unusual and out of control. Don't try to move around much," she says briskly, cleaning the blood off my back at the same time. Thankfully, she doesn't ask many questions, but I'm left with lying down on my stomach for a long time.
I have Lily, Em, Dorcas, and James to keep me company.
They're ushered away to go to sleep before curfew. Madam Pomfrey retreats into her office and leaves me in the Hospital Wing with nobody else in it. I don't suppose many people get injured by the second day back.
I lose track of time after a while, but I can't sleep. Firstly, I had some cold sort of cream applied to my back, and it made it very hard to be relaxed. Secondly, I'm just left with worrying about Marlene. I specifically didn't tell her of all this because I was afraid that she'd blab to other people.
After what must've been at least an hour, the door creaks upon. Quiet steps approach my bed, and fear rushes through me as the curtain is drawn apart slowly and carefully.
It's Sirius.
"I heard about your back. I wanted to visit you, but it was past curfew. That didn't stop me, obviously. How are you- Merlin's Beard!" Sirius exclaims in a hushed tone, his eyes finally landing on my back.
"For God's sake, what does it look like?" I groan.
I don't think Sirius is the squeamish type, but he gulps and in an even tone, he says, "Well, for starters, it's blue."
===
Sirius falls asleep, and when Madam Pomfrey finds him there in the morning, he claims that he had walked in after she'd open the doors. She doesn't believe him, but she doesn't kick him out either.
In the night, we'd talked and talked for hours. He asked exactly what had happened between Marlene and I, and I told him. I was fairly surprised when he handled the news maturely and didn't make fun of it.
"I'm gonna be honest, Rose," he had said. "I did ask her out, but I really didn't think it'd be such a big deal. I don't like her that much. If it really is going to cause this much trouble, I'll break up with her."
Oh Lord did I want him to, but that wasn't fair, no matter how angry I was with Marlene.
"If she makes you happy, then stay with her. Don't break up with her. It might even make matters worse."
At that moment, I had finally truly let go of Sirius Black, despite how much I truly liked him, I knew it wouldn't happen.
At least, that's what I thought.
--1976--
I was reading Quidditch Through the Ages, content with finally finishing my Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, when Lily burst into the dormitory, simultaneously sobbing and screaming. Dorcas and Em are behind her, both looking outraged.
Now my book is put down, and I'm trying to get at least a few words out of her. It's difficult, though, because she's currently completely out of control.
Marlene and I exchange worried glances. I had made up with Marlene, but it's still a little awkward between us at times. Still, she's dating Sirius though.
Finally, she tells us what happened.
"Wait... Snape called you a you-know-what?" I gasp, shocked to the core. Why would he do that? It's not as if I haven't heard him use that term on other muggle-borns before, because I have. I just don't mention it to Lily a lot, because it'd seem like I'm trying to get rid of him. But Lily? I wouldn't even dream of it happening.
Lily nods tearfully, wiping her nose every few seconds.
"Merlin's Beard, what an arse! Do you want me to curse him for you?" Marlene fumes menacingly, already reaching for her wand.
Lily's eyes narrow as she shakes her head. "No need. I bet Potter's already done a good enough job of that," she mutters bitterly.
Usually, Lily exaggerates when James is being a dickhead (which I have to admit is often) but this time, Em nods when I look at her.
"Excuse me, I have something to do," I say, slipping out of the dormitory.
"As do I," Marlene says, following me.
"We're looking for James and Sirius and murdering them, right?" she asks as walks with me out of the Common Room. I nod at her as we storm about the castle in search for the Marauders. I finally find them, lounging by the lake. Sirius and Remus are talking while Pettigrew watches James play with a Golden Snitch that he stole.
I approach James calmly and smack him on the head as Marlene does the same for Sirius.
"You arse!" I hiss.
"What was that for?" he whines.
"That bloody hurt, McKinnon," Sirius complains.
Our eyes nearly bulge out of our sockets.
"Are you joking? You utterly humiliate Snape when he's been doing absolutely nothing wrong and you piss off Lily and upset her so badly she's gotten almost no tears left to cry and you ask what's wrong?" I demand, hitting him again.
"When you put it that way, it sounds bad," Sirius says quietly, a small smirk on his face.
"No, it's bad either way. What has he ever done anything to you?" Marlene asks, glaring at them with her arms crossed.
"Well, he exists," says James, laughing. Sirius joins in on the laughter as Remus sighs and shakes his head at the side.
Marlene and I hit them yet another time. "This isn't a laughing matter! Sure, it's funny sometimes when you make fun of him behind his back, but when he hasn't done anything to provoke you and you embarrass him quite severely, you've crossed a line."
"Yeah, why do you do it anyway?" I inquire suddenly.
James and Sirius are amazingly at a loss for words.
"Hey, if this is just so you can impress Lily and get her attention, just stop. It's mean, and she hates you for it. If you want her to like you, just become more mature."
"If this happens again, I am dumping you," Marlene adds, looking straight at Sirius.
We turn and walk away without another word.