Chapter Text
“Everyone thinks their own situation most tragic. I am no exception”
Marlene Mckinnon woke up sweating, even though she went to bed cold. Possibly because it was the middle of summer, but it might have been the fact she was sharing with 7 other teenage girls emulating heat. If she remembered right, she got into bed shivering, and after falling into the lake whilst kayaking, was sent to her dorm without dinner or a warm shower, with a firm telling off. Marlene wondered if Rudy had been told the same.
She looked up. If she squinted hard enough she thought she could make out the pale hand of Mabel on the top bunk, which was lying just outside the bed, as if Mabel had flung it out whilst sleeping. A dim light on the other side of the room told her that a couple of other girls were already up- getting a headstart on their final packing, but most were still enjoying the last sleep they would get without their parents nagging them to get up for the rest of the holidays.
Marlene knew for certain Rudy would be up by now- he always was an early riser. Rudy Campbell was Marlene’s best friend for as long as she could remember, his family being very close to hers, and they went to the same holiday camp every summer. Mabel Campbell, Rudy’s twin sister, was in the same dorm as Marlene was one of Marlene's closest friends, but she hung out with her own friends at Souls- and Marlene had Rudy. The girls and boys were separated at All Souls Summer Camp, so as not to “tempt” anyone, a stupid rule in her opinion, so she had to make her way quietly to the boys dormitory corridor to find him. She had to tiptoe through the large manor house, making sure to be extra silent near the adults bedrooms, and then knock just loud enough on the door to make sure she could enter the boys dorm without one of them getting changed.
“We’re decent, you can come in!” Marlene didn’t really recognise the male voice, but after being given the get go stepped in. Most of the boys were already up, and the frantic atmosphere was very different to the girls dormitory, as it usually was. Even though this was the last place on earth she wanted to be, she managed to avoid the flying socks and make it to Rudy’s bed. Who was missing. Marlene noticed the boy on the top bunk, and shouted so he could hear her over the loudness.
“David, where’s Rudy? No offence- but if I have to stay in this dorm any longer I’m gonna…”
“Gonna do what?”
Marlene turned around to find the speaker grinning and promptly grabbed his shirt and pulled him out of the chaotic room. Protesting at the start that he still needed to pack, she led a now defeated Rudy out of the house, through the green oak trees and to the campfire spot. They sat down on a patch of once green- but now burned black dry grass.
“You didn’t really have anything more to pack, did you?” Marlene asked.
“Nah, but I could have. And then you would have been making our whole coach late. Super insensitive.”
“I know you too well, Rudy, What can I say? And you are too organized for that to happen.” Marlene pulled out a long wooden object from her nearest pocket.
“Oi, what are you doing with that out. Do I have to remind you for the trillionth time we are in a muggle summer camp?”
“It’s too hot though Rudy, do you expect me to just die of thirst?”
Grinning, Rudy pulled out two clear water bottles, “Well, when you put it like that..” Marlene pointed her wand, magically pouring water in both to the brim. Often, when they had free time they just sat in that calm spot in silence listening to the chirping birds- silence was something they both rarely had at home.
Even though it technically was a muggle summer camp, both Rudy and Marlene felt fine using their wands, even if Rudy pretended otherwise. Hogwarts wouldn’t know if they were using magic outside of school because of Rudy’s family being homeschooled- which meant Hogwarts couldn’t control if Rudy used magic, only the ministry. From what Marlene knew, the ministry also couldn’t trace it accurately, so wouldn’t know if it wasn’t her big sister (who was a camp volunteer) doing the magic- not two underage wizards.
For two weeks every holiday since she had a memory, Marlene was sent by her parents to a non magical, christian summer camp near Norwich with her siblings. It was annoying to be away from her friends that she lived near, but actually having an extra 2 weeks of spending time with Rudy was worth it. Mrs Campbell and Marlene’s mother had gone to Hogwarts together, but Rudy’s mother had decided against sending her children to Hogwarts, in favour of a more religious based homeschooling- whilst her parents had wanted the social aspect for their children which Marlene had at her boarding school- Hogwarts.
After a while of pleasantly sitting in the heat and watching the trees swaying in the light August breeze, Rudy suggested the two went back up to the house for breakfast so as not to be told off, and they began the walk. The grounds of Souls were perfect in Marlene's eyes, with different areas for different activities that they did daily surrounding the large manor where the dorms, canteen and inside activities took place. Right now, the woods were Rudy and Marlene’s spot of choice- though one summer storm had caused them to relocate to the stables, something the teenagers that usually hung out there were not happy about.
Suddenly, a girl's voice cut through the quiet. “Rudy! Marl! Gemma sent me to find you, because apparently they are not going to serve you food if you don’t get there in 5 minutes.” A pale girl with long blonde hair appeared in front of them.
“What! Why didn’t you grab some for us Mabel? If they don’t serve us and we have to go hungry on the coach I’m gonna blame you, you know.”
“Not my fault you didn’t pack a watch Rudy, mum told you to.” Mabel said, with a slightly smug look on her face.
“No time to argue, let's run!” Marlene took off, not minding if she looked like a complete idiot sprinting, but just wanted to get some toast. The other two followed her, Mabel slightly annoyed that she was being made to run early- especially when she had already had breakfast. Both Rudy and Mabel were different from Marlene in the fact that they despised all forms of sport- and couldn’t fathom why Marlene rose early for sunrise runs. They arrived at the canteen with 2 minutes to spare, and even though the dinner ladies gave them sour looks, they still let them through to get breakfast.
“Well, that was all very dramatic wasn’t it?” Rudy joked as he walked out eating his cornflakes.
“Shut up.” Mabel countered, “You guys made me run and I’ve lost my friends now.”
“Isn’t hanging out with your amazing twin brother enough?” Rudy pretended to be offended, but Marlene was too busy curiously looking through the dirty door window and seeing an older group of teens being turned away from the canteen- arriving too late.
She underhandedly pointed them out to Rudy and Mabel, who turned to look, “At least we got breakfast, they don’t seem as lucky.”
They slowly walked up the red carpeted stairs to the main, large dormitory corridor together, and then split off from Rudy when headed to the separate girls and boys corridor. Since Marlene and Mabel were around the same age, they were both in the 14-15 year olds room- everyone was going into their equivalent of year 11 the following year. Each room was divided into year groups, from year 1’s all the way up to year 13’s - and each had a dorm leader (who was usually a 20 year old who used to go to the camp and didn’t want to leave.) Marlene and Mabel's group leader was Marlene’s sister, Kathleen, who at that moment was standing outside their dorm with a register. Kathleen was the epitome of “perfect christian daughter”, but the age gap meant Marlene never got the chance to be close to her.
“Come on guys! I need you to get in this room so I can tick you off and do my own thing.”
Marlene rolled her eyes, “Wow, Kath, way to show you care!”
“Please just make sure your bags are packed and you get onto the right coach, Marlene. Bye Mabel!” Kathleen walked into a similar room down the corridor.
They stepped through their door and, compared to when she had left, the dorm was crazy. Many large, different coloured trunks were being loaded, and someone had stolen the record player from the girls common area and had put on an album that Marlene vaguely recognised as the one by the winner of Eurovision a couple of years ago. Her best friend from school, Mary Macdonald, really liked them and was trying to make Marlene a fan too.
Marlene packed her pjs and her toiletries into her backpack and then sat on her bed, stripped off her bedsheets and listened to the music until someone packed the vinyl they brought and eventually everyone was called to the senior hall for a dismissal. Marlene walked downstairs and looked around. Even though the place was slightly musty, she always missed it- and was sad that the two weeks were over so quickly. She loaded her bags into a van and watched the other girls meander into the hall. A few years ago, the camp decided it was better to get adults to load up the coaches with bags whilst everyone was in the hall rather than make the kids do it themselves, but Marlene always felt slightly worried it would accidentally go onto the wrong coach and end up in Manchester, so she watched it get taken to her coach.
“Marlene, there you are !” Christine Mckinnon made her way over to Marlene. Marlene had 3 older sisters, and Chris was the one closest in age to her. “Did you put your stuff in the right coach?”
“I hope so.” Marlene knew her mother would not be happy if she had to spend time retrieving her bags from somewhere else in the country. When she was younger, she made Chris, Kath or her other sister, Jo, put her bags onto the right coach- but now as a 15 year old her siblings felt she should handle it by herself.
“Chris, Marlene!” Marlene turned around and her sister Josephine came over to where they were standing, and put her bags on top of all the others heading south. “Chris, someone in your dorm is looking for you- something about finding a stick under your pillow?”
“Ah shit, that’ll be my wand- let me grab it before someone accidentally breaks it. See ya on the coach!” With that, Chris bound off towards the senior hall. Silently, Jo and Marlene started heading after her.
“It’s weird,” Jo started, “that after this I only have one more summer.” Jo was heading into her seventh year at Hogwarts, and would turn 18 in October.
“Yeah, but you’ll be back after that right? As a camp leader.”
Jo only gave a noncommittal “mm” and Marlene didn’t bring it up again as they walked through the large wooden entrance door, and as they both took the left turn to the senior hall that Marlene had been doing for almost 5 years- since she moved from primary to secondary education. All the younger kids rushed to the right, and into the infants hall, knowing they had years and years left of camp to enjoy. The senior hall was much less busy, with about half the seats being filled and friendship groups sat all together before they got told to stop talking. Jo joined one of those, and squashed into the same chair as another girl to get in the circle of talking, casting marlene a lazy wave.
Trying to spot Rudy, Marlene accidentally caught eyes with Gemma, the camp leader for as long as she could remember. The old woman used this as an excuse to come up and talk, sliding uncomfortably past a row of chairs.
“Hello Marlene!” Knowing that there was nothing to do to escape talking, Marlene walked up to the camp leader.
“Hi Gemma.” Gemma had been the leader of Souls for longer than Marlene had been alive, but even so Marlene was not particularly fond of her. You could often find Gemma reprimanding the actions of a seven year old who did something ‘very unchristian’ rather than lovingly hugging children she had known since birth. Even so, avoiding her would have been more difficult so Marlene stayed.
“Any plans for the rest of the summer?” Gemma started, “Less lake swimming and more Sunday School I hope.”
“I promise I fell!” Marlene knew Gemma would have a go at her for something, and falling into the lake yesterday with Rudy was easy bait for her- especially because she was the one who caught them. Gemma was also under the impression that apart from summer camp, Marlene didn’t do anything religious- and so was urging her to go to church in the summer. Possibly because her mum couldn’t tell Gemma she started Hogwarts and so settled for a local school which was very not religious, or because Gemma always noticed weird happenings around Marlene that were in her eyes- the work of the devil.
“If your mother changes her mind about that comprehensive she sent you to, feel free to message me. I know a very good Catholic school near you that would be perfect.”
“Thank you, Gemma, but my mother is set on the school I go to. And I probably should be off and find my friends.”
“The Campbell boy. Word of the wise Marlene- try to socialise with more girls your age; otherwise people may get the wrong impression of you. Goodbye.” With that, Gemma walked off and Marlene watched her waddle over to another group of bored teenagers to start a conversation. Ignoring Gemma's uncalled for advice, Marlene kept looking for Rudy and saw him sat, relaxed, by his dorm mates near the wooden panels at the back of the large hall.
Marlene went over and plonked down on an empty chair next to him. “Rudy, you will never guess what old Gemma just said to me.”
“Something rude and unwarranted, I expect.” David chimed in.
“Bingo.”
Marlene double checked Gemma wasn’t near before telling Rudy and David about her unpleasant encounter.
“Well I guess that settles it, Bye Marlene!” David grinned widely, to which Rudy pretended to laugh at and then lightly pushed him away and turned back to Marlene, “Do you think people actually get the wrong impression of you because you hang out with me?”
Marlene shrugged, not caring. “Probably people like Gemma, but so what?” Glancing around for the woman herself again, she noticed she had somehow gotten to the hall balcony very quickly- still talking to bored looking 11 year olds who had to sit up there. By now even most of the hall was filled, people trying desperately to not sit on the front row and make awkward eye contact with the chaperones.
Just then a vicar stepped up to the stage and all the staff started shushing the crowd. Marlene, rather guiltily, was glad this was the last day of camp because as much as she enjoyed it, daily services and sermons were very boring. Even though in the summer holidays she still had to go to church, that was only on Sundays, rather than every day like she had been doing at camp. Marlene even found the sermons at home comforting as they were familiar and a break from her bedroom- but at Souls everyone was longing to be in nature rather than listening to a service about Merlin knows what. Plus, at home she knew all of the vicars and priests personally, but there seemed to be a different one every week at camp- the current one being a little bald man who gave the most irrelevant sermons.
He tapped the mic attached to the bible stand and began the service. A minute bird flew by the large window and Marlene watched it, bathing in the sun and chirping with the other birds and landing in far away trees. From one of the trees a red squirrel ran down, seemingly enjoying the time it had without any youngsters chasing it. Even the trees seemed to know the people who scaled them and swung from their branches would soon be gone, and the leaves swayed more calmly.
“The father, the son and the holy ghost, Amen.”
Marlene didn’t know what she had been thinking about for the past 15 minutes of the service, but the final sermon of the year was about to start and Marlene was oddly curious about the topic of it.
“Since this is the last day, I will be celebrating the new and old friendships made and maintained here every summer. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Two is better than… “
And Marlene had zoned back out, not that it was less interesting than what they usually got, but Marlene didn’t need to be reminded of what her friends mean to her. If you put a gun to Marlene’s head and asked her to choose one best friend, she would say pull the trigger. Rudy was her best friend, but so was her music friend Mary, not forgetting about Peter Pettigrew and James Potter. God also Lily Evans, though Lily did have Remus Lupin. All of which she missed dearly whilst at Souls, though she knew she would see Peter and James soon- being from the same part of London. She certainly didn’t need someone preaching to her about getting new friends- she was perfectly happy with the ones she already had.
It seemed quite a few other people in the hall didn’t need reminding of the “power” of friendships, as the noise levels had started to rise, and she could see people's eyes flitting to the windows, longing to leave. Usually this was not the case as most of the sermons happened in the big chapel attached to the manor house- and there were stained glass windows to disguise the outside weather. Marlene at least had the faint hope that once this was over she would have 3 hours of interrupted time just talking to Rudy.
“Strong Christian friendships are vital..”
Rudy looked over at Marlene and winked, to which Marlene laughed at. Marlene felt so lucky that her mum's best friend had Rudy as a son, she didn’t think friendships usually came as easy as just being born into the right family. Marlene wasn’t sure if their parents had planned to have children around the same age, but she was grateful for it.
As the service finished up, Gemma stepped onto the stage to give her final instructions. As usual, there were 2 coaches going north, 2 going to the midlands, 1 to the south west and another to the south east- where Rudy and Marlene were heading. The whole hall wished farewell to everyone who’s last year it was and row by row the hall was dismissed.
Grabbing Rudy’s sweating hand- Marlene pushed her way through the dense crowds to get to the place she had been longing for during the last half an hour. When the sun shone onto her eyes, finally a smile passed her face. This. This was what she sat through gruelling hours of boring assemblies for- with her best friend by her side she marched to her families rendezvous point. Kathleen was already under the largest and oldest tree near the house- carefully watching a young boy use a rope to swing back and forth under the largest branch, and impatiently waiting for the rest of her family to join her at the agreed spot.
When Marlene and Rudy strolled up she smiled- grateful for their promptness and accepting Rudy as an honorary member of the Mckinnon family. Marlene sat down under the oak in the shade, trying to avoid her brother Lawrence on the swing, stretching her legs out as Rudy did the same and she watched children and camp leaders running around, and saying goodbye to their friends. Marlene assumed this was what her siblings were doing.
Just as she had that thought, she heard someone leap out from behind the tree and shout, scaring Laurie off the swing.
“Mark! Honestly, do you have to scare your brother like that?”
“Sorry Kath”
“I warned him you’d be mad” Marlene heard a new voice say. Jo and Chris were walking up the hill and observing the rest of their siblings scattered around the tree.
“Don’t call me Kath”, Kathlene said, and then, “that’s all of us. Did they say what time our coach was going, Jo?”
“Quarter-to” Chris answered. Kathlene always seemed to trust Jo’s answers more than Chris’, possibly because she was older- but a year wasn’t a huge maturity difference. Marlene thought Kathlene just didn’t like Chris. Having seven siblings, Marlene had her favourites and least favourites and it was obvious her siblings did too. As the oldest girl, Kathlene babied the youngest three, and was stern with Marlene and Chris, but seemed to trust Jo even with their five year age difference.
“Ok we don’t have much time,” Kathlene remarked, checking her watch, “and Rudy- are Mabel, Dan and Tommy coming up here?”
“Err.. Mabel might meet us there- I think she’s with her friends. If Dan and Tommy don’t come, that’s probably what they are doing too.” Marlene saw Mabel with the other girls in her dorm so knew that part was true, but hadn’t seen Rudy’s brothers the whole day.
“Ok let’s hope that's… Stellar, here they are.”
Marlene turned around. Mabel was ascending the hill- waving, as the two boys ran around her.
Everyone picked themselves up, having no cases as they already gave them to be loaded on the coach and went to meet the newcomers.
Marlene, Mabel and Rudy amicably chatted on the walk to the coaches, where they all queued behind everyone else going south east. It felt crazy that another year had passed since the last camp, and it will be another whole year until the next one. As much as Marlene complained about it, since she was young they were always a highlight and seemed to blur to one. She saw two girls hugging each other with tears streaming from their faces- it was always the same at the end of the year, with the older girls who weren’t coming back to volunteer knowing this era of life was officially over. Screams from children running around the woods coming from the manor house also reminded Marlene that this was the first of many good summers for some of the kids. She was near the front of the line now, and took one look back at the trees and chaos until next summer before she followed Mabel onto the bus.