long live the reckless and the brave

If there were ever a pair not to commit any act of romance around, it was Jones and McKinnon. There was no telling who was worse, though Marlene’s laugh was rougher, but Gwen’s was sharper. “Not the only thing that one’s lacking.” She muttered, looping a slender arm around the blonde, and pulling Marlene and bit against her side. It wasn’t a romantic gesture of course, but more often than not, the ‘Puff was sprawled out across, or at the very least leaning against some girl or another. 

“No kidding,” Marlene muttered in response, eyeing the alcove the pair ducked into with unguarded distaste. At Gwen’s question, she nodded distractedly, before tearing her eyes from the alcove and rolling them at her friend. “Yeah, unfortunately,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, he didn’t get in, and with a tryout like that, he was never going to, but it was not an enjoyable morning on the day he came,” she recounted, remembering her complaining to Sirius on the day. 

“Full of innocence,” she said emphatically, eyes twinkling as she grinned. “Well, you’re a pretty majestic creature then, aren’t you?” she retorted, perfectly happy to continue down the line of thought that cast Peter as a hippogriff. “Tell me, would you like me to request raw meat for you at dinner?” Marlene shot him a wounded look. “I am not,” she said in a vaguely affronted tone. “I am far too fierce to be a kitten.” Her patronus was, after all, a tiger, and as much as she disliked the fact that it was still a form of fucking cat, it was far more badass than a kitten.

Someone asked what would be better, a threesome with Frankie Bear or to ride a dragon—I nominate a threesome with Frankie while riding a dragon. Go big—or long, as the case may be—or go home, really. Verdict? Also, bring me sugar. I think James or some other prat stole from my stash and all I want are sugar, cuddles and my laziness to be enabled. You should help me achieve my goals because I am fantastic despite my apparently terrible taste, and then we can tackle the threesome and dragon, yeah?

Sirius was already thrilled to be here; her enthusiasm at seeing him lifted his spirits every time, even if they weren’t low to begin with. He smoothed one hand over her mess of hair and kissed her forehead when she curled in to him. He laughed, just managing to keep it down for her dorm mates’ sakes, but it was hard. He wasn’t used to holding back with her and he wasn’t terribly inclined to start. This was already shaping up to be a wonderful morning just by nature of it being spent with Marlene. Fuck he felt so much for her and every time they were together now it only seemed to make it worse. He laughed again at the kisses she put all over him and returned them on her as best he could, but she wasn’t always the easiest to reach when in constant motion.

Marlene was extremely occupied with laughter and movement and cuddles and pecking kisses everywhere and receiving them in return, but she still managed to respond to Sirius with her usual speed, grinning as she did so. “I dunno, I reckon we could manage,” she teased, reclaiming her hands from wherever they were pinned between their torsos and miming swordplay. “My battle skills are just so stellar,” she continued brazenly, completely straight-faced, before glancing at him. “Yours are all right too, I guess,” she managed, aiming for a disaffected tone that ended in a smirk tugging at her lips.

“I feel like I have said ‘Peeves, no’ far too many times in my short life. That’s it. I am banning it from my list of vocabulary. That, along with ‘Peeves, please don’t’ and ‘Peeves, I swear’.” Ted grumbled quietly as he dusted off the sawdust from his clothes. He might be a peaceful guy, but Peeves certainly brought out the short temper in him. “Where did he even find sawdust anyway? Is he just grinding up logs of wood in an attic somewhere?”

Marlene snorted. “Y’know, banning yourself from saying that’s gonna get real old, real quick,” she informed him, swinging her legs from her perch on the ledge, smiling charmingly at the younger boy. The blonde let out a low whistle as she fully took in the extent of Peeves’ damage—it had been hard to survey while the mess was actually descending on them, but now that the dust had settled, for lack of a less clichéd description, it was easy to see the sheer volume of sawdust the poltergeist had managed to deposit. “Maybe he’s sawing through some class benches,” she suggested absentmindedly, before cocking her head to the side as she registered her own words. It was, unfortunately, a somewhat plausible suggestion, which wasn’t a pleasant thought. “It says something about what our lives have become ‘cause of Peeves that I’m actually rooting for the log in the attic theory, doesn’t it?” she said to Ted, lips pulled into a wry half-smile.

“Did you even consider the bit where serenading seems to go better when ye have a nice voice?” Gwen called out, shaking her head. “Not that I’ve had a lot of experience.” If anyone else had tacked that last bit on, it would have sounded like they were disappointed, but Gwenog, Gwenog said it like it was a blessing, she said it in the same way her mother said grace before a meal, or the way that Potter murmured Lily’s name. She should have given the poor boy some credit, he could hardly do well with the two wild haired girls heckling him, but he really wasn’t well off to begin with. 

“Evidently not,” Marlene snarked in an undertone, responding to Gwen’s call to the idiot. “That would have required forethought, or at least some presence of mind, which he is clearly lacking.” Perhaps she was still holding a bit of a grudge about the boy’s try-out. Marlene was fairly certain that any feelings she had towards the boy, though, did not make her statement any less valid. At her friend’s addition, Marlene let out a bark of laughter reminiscent of Sirius. “And thank fuck for that,” Marlene agreed, echoing the brunette’s sentiment.

Insecurities at their Finest || closed

Sirius left Remus feeling guilty and ashamed and awful. He felt clogged up and very much not himself when he made his way down the stairs from his old dorm. He’d never been thrown out before, not like that. And he’d never been called a slag quite like that before with that level of contempt before. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he did what he always did. He went to see Marlene. 

Marlene was curled up on her bed, willfully ignoring the sheets of parchment beside her. She kicked her Transfiguration textbook onto the floor as she stretched out and was feeling so utterly unscholastic that she didn’t even summon it back. She was entirely not in the mood for essays, and she thought that she could have a class right now, but she wasn’t in any mood to care.

listen. i was made bad, and that’s the way i want you, too. i want our fingers to intertwine like willow branches, i want our fathers to flinch at the way we throw ourselves in. i want the neighbors eyebrows to skyrocket up their faces, i want them to hear me call your name so that they finally understand music. our hearts will become asteroids, and if you promise to be my moon, i will slam myself against you until i disintegrate into you. i want your hips and lips and spine and little gasps that play in the air like a fine red wine. and i want you gently, too. i want the earth to freeze in place while your hair spills across my pillow. i want that smile you get when you just woke up. i want our lives to tango together, your body in my shirts, my cooking on your plate. we’d become like summer nights, contented with each other’s yearning, a lazy warmth that settles in our breastplates until we forget how winter tastes. i want the gentle pecks before you head out the door, the hugs you give when you’re sick and your body is sore.  i want a life with you, is what i’m saying. i want more.

Someone asked what would be better, a threesome with Frankie Bear or to ride a dragon—I nominate a threesome with Frankie while riding a dragon. Go big—or long, as the case may be—or go home, really. Verdict? Also, bring me sugar. I think James or some other prat stole from my stash and all I want are sugar, cuddles and my laziness to be enabled. You should help me achieve my goals because I am fantastic despite my apparently terrible taste, and then we can tackle the threesome and dragon, yeah?

Marlene had sent the letter with a certain amount of self-satisfaction that she had felt was merited—her letters were majestic as fuck and nobody could convince her otherwise—but there hadn’t been a hell of a lot of expectation attached, which had led to her being even more delighted at Sirius’ quick arrival than she would have been usually. One of her dormmates let out a groan at the sound of the door opening and Sirius thudding onto her bed, but Marlene paid her no attention, so enraptured was she with Sirius and his collection. Anyway, the girl slept like a log, so Marlene was sure it would be fine.

“Of course it’s not a question,” Peter snickered. “Not a good one, at least. Herbology all the way.”

“Blasphemy,” she immediately parried with a mock-shocked expression, wishing Sirius was there because watching him struggle not to defend History was always vaguely hilarious. “I will be History’s valiant champion as you defend the evil subject that enables sentient vines to attack innocent little people.”

“Wh– wait. Oh. Yeah, are we sure about this? Are we sure no one’s gonna get in trouble, right? If not, then yes, I’m all on board.”

“Totally sure! All right, here’s the deal—I am wonderful at getting people out of trouble, just ask Cap and Franks, but in the unlikely situation that we do, in fact, end up confronted with possible consequences, I’ll totally take the trouble. I grew up with James, after all; I’m extremely accustomed to it. Feel free to let Jamesy know that marrying him as a child started my descent into mischief and magical creature adoration. But woohoo, I’m so glad you’re down!”

“Mhmm— no, I’m listening, yeah. Tell me more.”

“Oh, good, Pete said you’d be on board for helping us obtain a manticore! I know dragons are the true desire of my heart—and everyone’s, no matter what Jamesy says—but it looks like we have a better shot with manticores this year, which are almost as cool.”