#marlene001

When Sirius spotted Marlene’s face in the crowd he was surprisingly unsurprised. She always struck him as the sort to be reluctant to give up her old life, and at the few Order meetings he’d seen her at, she’d insisted it was necessary to retain good standing with her pureblood counterparts when he’d pushed her on it. He should’ve known she’d be here. He would have to be careful with her. She could expose him as being a member of the Order and bring his carefully built charade back down. Of course, to do that she’d have to expose herself. He hoped her desire for self-preservation was too strong to do that. 

For most of the gala he ignored her, instead focussing on people higher up the food chain, so to speak. When it felt appropriate to approach her, he did so with a welcoming smile on his face. “You’re an unexpected surprise. I haven’t seen you since school.” There, quickly establish the story they’ll both need to be going with in order for this to work. “Can I get you a drink?” 

Dorcas smiled at herself in the mirror, wrapping her coat around her shoulders as she left her flat in a breeze. Her wine-red coat blowing in the wind as she walked. The black turtle neck and skirt keeping her somewhat warm in the cold. All she could think about as she walked with her heels clicking the cobblestone was that she loved this normalcy. Just being able to walk down the road and forget about everything else happening in their world.   

Walking into the Leaky Cauldron, Dorcas felt the warmth of the all too familiar bar sink into her skin. The smell of pub food and the stench of alcohol filled her nostrils. Walking around the little pub, she grinned at all of the familiar faces that she saw. Common drunks, people she saw at the Ministry, or just random–- Dorcas felt at home in this run down building that had become a second home to so many people. She couldn’t deny that she had come with different intentions than just getting a drink. She was solely seeking out her best friend. Miss Marlene McKinnon and when she spotted the brunette behind the bar, Dorcas jumped over and placed herself at the end of the bar, furthest from where the girl was serving right then. 

“Um, excuse me, Miss. Can I get some service down here!” Dorcas yelled as she started waving her hand at Marlene, slapping it against the bar while biting down on her lip with a rather large grin. 

Snow had fallen outside Hogwarts on Saturday morning, and naturally, a bunch of students decided to head outside. The Marauders followed suit, and ventured out to the grounds after lunch. The snow had piled up throughout the beginning hours of the day, covering the grass in a thick layer of white flakes. Sirius walked alongside everyone else, all of them talking together about anything and everything they could think of. 

Suddenly, Sirius had an idea, and put on a mischievious smirk as he bent down to pick up a handful of snow, indiscreetly rolling it into a ball a ball and chucking it at his friends. “Snowball fight!” He exclaimed, grinning wildly. It didn’t take long for it to escalate into a full-fledged battle together, the boys throwing snow balls back and forth at each other. Sirius dodged an incoming one that he was pretty sure Peter threw, before grabbing some so he could get revenge. He hurled it towards where Peter had been standing, but realized he’d moved before Sirius could do anything. It was almost comical how the snowball soared past at full-speed (really, it had been a good throw), and smacked right into Marlene, who was standing to the side with Lily and Mary. Sirius couldn’t help but laugh at that as he called out, “All right there, Marls?!” 

Bilius Weasley hasn’t gone to the Three Broomsticks in a while. Especially not during the weekend when the students of Hogwarts were allowed to roam Hogsmeade freely. As long as they have their guardian’s permission, of course. But that was where Bilius found himself one Saturday afternoon. All to share lunch with an old friend. 

𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚂𝚃𝚁𝚈 𝙾𝙵 𝙼𝙰𝙶𝙸𝙲, 𝙿𝙴𝚁 𝚄𝚂𝚄𝙰𝙻, 𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝚄𝚉𝚉𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙽𝙾𝙸𝚂𝙴, and Narcissa is positively lost — she had needed to sort out a faulty Portkey ( how she must look with a dirty old boot in hand! ) with the Department of Magical Transportation, and sorely overwhelmed by the whizzing elevators and general business, she’d gotten mixed up.

Shuffling by a crowd of people, she walks up to the closest person turned, tapping them on the shoulder, a courteous smile already locked onto her face. “Excuse me, would you mind telling me how to get to the Department of —” As soon as the woman faces her, Narcissa’s face falls. Marlene McKinnon. They’d been in the same year, a doe-eyed, peppy sort of girl who’d been in Gryffindor. Pureblood, but blood didn’t matter when one turned against their own kind. “The Department of Magical Transportation.” She finishes, but the amicable tone is all but erased from her voice; in place, a monotonous annoyance for having talked to a blood traitor. 

Order Meetings were the highlight of his week, but Merlin, could Professor Dumbledore talk a lot. It was all important stuff, and he knew that, but this week was void of anything interesting, and it almost felt like a lesson at school again. At least he had his mates to keep him amused. He’d spent most of the time making faces at Peter, and then trying not to laugh when Peter made faces back. He knew he ought to be paying better attention, but honestly, if they needed him, they would say his name. 

Besides, he could pay attention better next week. 

When the meeting finally came to a close, Sirius gave a salute to James and Peter before rushing off in the direction he saw Marlene go. It was a bit silly, his preoccupation with her, but he had always preferred the sillier things in life. 

“Hey, McKinnon!” He yelled, holding a hand up to catch her attention. “Wait up, will you!?”

No one could say the smell of scrambled eggs and fried mushrooms wasn’t absolutely delicious - nothing at the kitchen in that moment didn’t fit the description of tempting and inviting, which made sense considering Rosmerta cooked as if a work of art was in execution. She loved everything about the process, from picking the ingredients to making sure they were prepared at their best, for the best; the outcome later was always rewarding, with her stomach especially savouring every moment. At morning she fought no less than three minutes choosing what to try, and in some afternoons and evening the same thing repeated. Whenever Ivy was truly at home to do so, she enjoyed having at least one time of the day to truly focus on her kitchen. In other moments maybe not, perhaps she would scramble something fast and let things the way they were, allowing herself to enjoy other pleasures of life - it didn’t matter, as long as one meal fit perfection.

Today, she was also staring at Marlene’s favorite breakfast. Slowly, a smile flourished its way onto her cheeks - she’d just received notice her young friends would go there, which only made Ivy feel radiant. Few things gave her as much pleasure as seeing her friends, and even though the atmosphere of her pub was a great one to do so, having the freedom of nobody else hearing what they talked was also a blessing. Marlene understood that, of course; few people knew as much about her relation with the Three Broomsticks as Marlene. That is explained by a simply fact: in the past - and to these days, sometimes - Ivy tried her best to teach as much as she could to the younger girl. Competition wasn’t at all wanted, but truth be told they worked at different areas of the Wizarding World, and a lot more played into her decision.

For starters, she liked Marlene; there was something in the girl that gave her confidence, a sense that she was doing the right thing by offering to teach. Besides, she admired her fire. Ivy wasn’t like that, she wasn’t too interested in playing any part in the war, but Marlene? She used all of herself and jumped head first feet later. Ivy knew she try would her very best to learn better the art of bartending. And she did. Marlene learned everything, fantastically so. Some secrets, of course, Rosmerta kept for herself; but the things she taught? They were all absorbed, digested even, the way they were supposed to. She couldn’t be more proud.

Now, things weren’t about bartending and their relation with the Wizarding World anymore; at least not how it used to be in the past, before things took a turn for the darker, the worse. Ivy still remembered the days in which Marlene was kidnapped, how worried she had been, and the relief later when she came back alive. They’d both been at Aversio before, however she understood the change of hearts; and still Marlene was one of the few people she spoke to openly on the war. It was a trust relationship and no matter how many years the other girl was younger, she felt like she could trust her.

Which leads right back to that day: yes, usually they would speak of amenities too, normality and so, but also the war. It played an important part on their lives, after all. “Hey, Marl.” Smiling, she walked with two plates in her hands, leaving both in a table on the living room. They had already greeted each other, but it was necessary to finish cooking, of course, so Ivy lost a few minutes doing so. Sitting on the table was almost ritualistic, and it made her feel so good, just being there with her friend not actually worrying about what was going on in the world; or maybe worrying, but not acting on it just now. 

“Be honest, is this the best breakfast you ever had?” Chuckling, she watched as her friend stared at the plate, getting some bites of her own herself. Ivy was utterly confident, but it was always nice to make sure.