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“Marlene?”
The soft sound of Lily’s voice wasn’t entirely unexpected, but Marlene had hoped her friend would have simply accepted her excuse and continued to go down to Hogsmeade with the others. She should have known that wouldn’t be the case.
“Marlene, what’s going on?”
“I told you, I’m just not feeling well,” she shrugged, not bothering to look round from where she was sitting on one side of her bed. “Seriously, Lily, I’ll be fine. Go have fun, yeah?” Of course, Marlene didn’t hear the sound of the redhead leaving. What she head instead was the door being shut before soft footsteps padded over towards her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Lily said softly, sitting down beside Marlene who finally turned to look at her. It was half on her mind to continue to lie, to act as if she’d just come over nauseous or something. Yet something in Lily’s eyes stopped her from doing that, and instead she gave a defeated sigh, shaking her head slightly as her gaze dropped to the floor.
“I don't know, Lils,” she swallowed. “I mean I was fine, until...”
“Until you heard about Sirius having a date.” It wasn’t a question, and the certainty of Lily’s words had Marlene looking at her friend once more, brow creased and lips parted slightly in surprise and confusion. Lily laughed softly, but not unkindly. “It’s been pretty obvious for a while that you’ve got a crush on him.” Marlene stared, unable to do anything but blink. She had so many questions about that, but couldn’t form any of them into actual words. Thankfully Lily seemed happy enough to continue. “There’s just something about the way you light up when you’re around him, more so than you do with anyone else. I would have told you ages ago if I thought you’d actually listen to me.”
“Oh, you mean like you listen to me when I tell you that you fancy James?” Marlene pointed out, finally recovering her voice just a little.
“We’re not talking about me right now.” Lily rolled her eyes, eliciting a quiet chuckle from Marlene. Of course her best friend could sit there and tell Marlene how she felt, but be unwilling to listen when the tables were turned. Still she had a point, so Marlene shrugged in silent agreement to drop the subject. She would, however, be making a mental note of this to use at a later date. “You really had no idea?”
“None.” Well, now that she thought about it, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. It had come as a shock, yes, but maybe she’d just been ignoring how she felt. “I’ve always got on well with him, and we have a lot of fun when we’re hanging out together.” Of course the same could be said for her relationship with any of her friends. Getting on well and having fun didn’t mean there were deeper feelings there. “I guess I noticed how attractive he is that first day I met him on the train, but you can find people attractive without fancying them, can’t you?”
“Of course you can,” Lily nodded. “But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?” Marlene hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.
“That game we all played in fourth year... that was the first time we’d really talked. I mean we weren’t strangers or anything but... that was the first time it was just us, and that playboy attitude of his just... it wasn’t there. It was just him, and me.” Even the soft kiss they had shared, whilst certainly a highlight, wasn’t the most memorable thing about that time spent together. And more moments like that had followed over the years. They were few and far between, yes, but they had quickly learned they shared a fondness for the Astronomy Tower whenever they needed to clear their heads. They’d been there together on several occasions now, and Marlene knew now that it was those conversations which had caused her to feel the way she did for him. She’d been allowed to see a different side of him, and she in turn had let down some of her walls for him. “I just feel like we get each other, you know? I can’t really explain it, I just...”
“I know.” Marlene smiled gratefully at her friend, glad that she wasn’t going to keep pressing her. “Now, I know you’re not exactly keen to see him on a date with someone else, but I still think we should head down and join the others.” Seeing Marlene start to protest, Lily raised a hand to stop her. “Think about it, Marls. If he sees you while he’s on a date with someone else, it might just make him realise that he’d rather be with you.” It seemed unlikely, but Lily’s positivity was infectious.
“Alright,” Marlene nodded, managing a small smile. “Let’s go.”