Chapter Text
Marlene McKinnon adjusted the strap of her tie after she exited the floo on platform nine and three quarters. Her parents had hugged her back at home before her father had hurried off to his job with her mother just bidding her goodbye with the normal reminders and expectations. Maybe she could be different at Hogwarts. Not the prim, proper Marlene at galas who already had a courtship with a fourteen-year-old to help two prestigious families (her own and the Parkinsons) but the quidditch enthusiast she knew she was.
Her trunk had a featherlight charm on it, but it would only last ten minutes as her family's recent struggles ensured that they had to buy a normal one, but other purebloods couldn't see that a prestigious daughter was struggling with something she shouldn't be struggling with. She shook herself to get rid of her morbid thoughts.
Hogwarts was famous for being the place to get rid of your boundaries, or any rigid expectations. She could thrive here. She would. Marlene set her shoulders rigidly and hurried towards the train, satchel bouncing on her hip painfully. Dammit, why did she put books in there!
Suddenly, before she could even register it, she climbed onto the train and yanked her trunk along with her into the train. A second later, she realised it was the visage of Parkinson that made her instinctively hide. New year new me wasn't really working well, but at least she avoided him. Hogwarts had to be much easier to hide at than at home where she had to spend time with him. He was a Ravenclaw, a house Marlene was praying to avoid, and she knew she would. She had to do whatever it took, even if right now she had zero idea of how someone even got sorted.
She would even bully the headmaster, the illustrious Albus Dumbledore into changing her house if she had to. She'd never done it before, but she'd seen people at galas slyly getting their way through charming words. Even the headmaster had to have some weak point or whatever, like hers was the stupid courtship.
Her mother had worked for the gossip column in some magazine in her youth, and maybe if she scrounged up some of her mother's work when she got to go back home in yule then maybe she'd find worthy material.
Of course, her first goal was to not go into Ravenclaw. Or Slytherin, which was the house Parkinson's stupid friends were in and she didn't want to deal with them either. Maybe Hufflepuff would be the best…
Quickly, Marlene put that from her mind when she peaked out of the train to see Parkinson walking in her direction. They made eye contact, and she hurriedly rushed through the corridors of compartments and came to a stop when the trunk suddenly seemed to sink. Ugh. Charm gone. She looked frantically at either of the compartments and pushed into the one on her left, breath frantic and hunched over, heart beating from having run with panic.
Three people around her age looked at her and blinked simultaneously. Marlene flushed but still pushed her trunk beneath one of the seats. One of the girls waved hesitantly, a questioning look on her face. "I am so sorry," Marlene said. "But I am sitting here." Right now was not the time for them to not let her sit there.
A blond boy sitting in the corner smiled and said, "It's fine! We had space for one more anyway. Are you okay?" His voice was soft, and hesitant, like he wasn't used to talking. Maybe to people his age anyway.
Marlene shrugged and the girl who hadn't spoken yet brought out a flask and offered it to her. She patted the seat next to herself and Marlene hesitantly sat down there and took the flask of water. "Thank you," she said, the cool water calming her down.
"No probs," the girl said. She had dark brown skin and black hair that was braided and reached a little beyond her shoulders. She was sitting pretty relaxed and had removed her feet from the seat pretty easily to let Marlene sit. Not sitting properly had already got to be a plus. "I'm Dorcas Meadowes, the guy across from me is Peter Pettigrew and the girl next to him is Mary MacDonald."
Marlene looked at all three of them. Peter was taking up very little space, and so was Mary, like they were both trying to squeeze someone else in with them. Weird. Mary had curly brown hair and fair skin with a mole on her jaw. She wore a hesitant smile and Marlene smiled back. The first train ride to Hogwarts was said to be very important.
"McKinnon, Marlene McKinnon," Marlene said, the proper way of introduction slipping off her tongue easily as she stretched her hand out for a handshake. Mary immediately grasped it and shook it exactly twice like she knew what to do, and so did the other two, but not in the crisp sharp and instinctive Mary had done. But… Marley was trying to change a little right? To start off? "But you can call me Marles I guess. My friends do."
There. One thing done. Her parents would despise it.
"Hi Marles," Dorcas said. Peter and Mary echoed the statement and Peter picked up the book that had been sitting in his lap.
It looked like the History of Magic textbook for this year, by Bathilda Bagshot of course, which made Marlene feel a little ridiculus. She knew history, but should she have read the book earlier? Purebloods all knew this syllabus, but maybe other subjects? Herbology was considered undignified for women, but it was necessary for their first two years just for a rough understanding. Her mother of course had never let her deal with plants, so she should've gone through a book.
"Mary and Marles," Dorcas said, looking very interested in continuing the conversation. "Which subject are you looking forward to the most? Peter's is very obvious—" Ignoring Peter's frown and shove, she continued, "History of Magic, but you both?"
Mary shrugged a little and said, "Maybe charms? Or potions?"
"Definitely defense," Marlene said and the other three looked a little shocked, but accepted it. She couldn't blame them. Defense against the dark arts was only necessary till the end of fourth year for females and it wasn't taken all that often, forget actually liking it. She knew her parents would hate it. But here, she could like it. She was pretty sure parents dissuaded other girls too, but she'd see how to deal with that when she got there.
"Same!" Dorcas said, "though I love transfiguration too. I'm hoping for a competent defense teacher, I heard last year's one was weird."
Peter's interest was clearly piqued and he'd put his book down again when it was clear the conversation would continue. "What? But it's Hogwarts?"
"I know it's Hogwarts, but there's some weird thing with DADA professors apparently—"
"Why does everyone call it Hogwarts with so much pressure," Mary interrupted, the question loud like she'd meant to ask it for a while. Clearly, she'd been holding it in even before they were in the same compartment.
Peter looked at her, bewildered. "It's only because it's the best school in Wizarding history? And most of the graduating batch, who get at least five NEWTS get amazing placements in the ministry or amazing apprenticeships."
"What even are placements?" Marlene blurted out, feeling like there were floating question marks around her head. Peter seemed to know a lot but she had no idea what he was talking about.
Dorcas spoke before Peter could. "I'm surprised Peter knows, the term's mostly used in the muggle world. It just means good jobs. The Wizarding World has a really small number of jobs, especially Wizarding Britain, but since we're already at the best place ever, we don't need to worry about that." She grinned happily but Marlene knew this knowledge would be useless to her.
Or maybe not. Maybe in the future she'd use it. Hopefully.
"Are you guys really eleven,?" Mary asked. In the middle of the conversation she'd pulled out a notebook and her pen (ohhh, muggleborn, Marlene registered) flew across the page. "Dorcas and Peter, go be old somewhere else. I don't know what you're saying, and I don't want to." She yawned and the rest of them laughed a little.
"Okay, to give Mary a little break, which house do you think you'll be in?" Peter asked and Mary shoved him for the comment. He slammed against the train wall but laughed it off.
The compartment door opened before any of them could respond to his question. A boy stood there, face chubby enough that it was obvious he was in their year, but with dark circles that made Marlene place him in his fifties or something. She'd only seen those tired eyes on her father's face. This time, to make it less awkward, Marlene waved and Dorcas said, "Hi! Do you want to join us?"
"If you don't mind," the boy said hesitantly, sitting between Peter and Mary. "I got shoved out of my previous compartment." Noticing his shabby clothes, Marlene felt a little pity. It was probably rich purebloods who said it. Always was, if she'd ever gone to a gala with even a hair out of place. Shabby clothes like that would've made him the joke in less than five minutes. "I'm Remus Lupin," he said.
"Dorcas Meadowes," Dorcas introduced. "The girl's next to me's Marlene, the guy to your right—"
"Peter Pettigrew," Peter said. "And the girl to your left is Mary MacDonald."
"Nice to meet you all," Remus said quietly. "I'm sorry if I interrupted a conversation."
"It's fine," Marlene said. "The more the better." The more there were people who probably wouldn't be prim and proper the better, she thought.
"Yeah," Peter agreed. "We were just wondering which house we'd be in."
A knock on the door interrupted them again and Peter groaned at the timing. Marlene giggled, before laughing, not the type of laughter she had when she was in galas. It was wilder, and for a really stupid reason. Peter getting interrupted twice should not have been that funny, but Dorcas was laughing too and Mary was giggling into her hand. Remus looked a bit confused but he seemed to understand too. Marlene, who thought it was better not to ignore the knock, slid open the compartment door and saw the trolley lady.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" she asked and the others, except Remus, sprang up in delight.
"Definitely," Dorcas said, clearly examining the candy carefully. Marlene got a packet of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans as it was ridiculously cheap and she didn't want to waste any of the money her mother had given her before she'd sent Marlene off. She decided at a whim that she'd buy a chocolate frog too. Chocolate frogs were too wild for her mom, so they'd be perfect. Peter got Licorice wands and Mary got a couple of pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes and Drooble's gum. Dorcas bought— a lot was the best word for it.
She then proceeded to offer more than half of it to Remus and them, though Marlene thought it was obvious it was for Remus' benefit that she was offering it to the other's as well. Or maybe she was blinded by how she viewed Remus right now. She'd heard that viewing someone through one light was bad, and that had to be one of the most important pieces of advice her father had given her. The only part not related to being a lady at least.
Remus was eating a chocolate frog and Marlene took one of the Berties and was delighted that it wasn't weird. Her grin made Dorcas grin too. "A good flavor? A surprise in itself." Marlene giggled. In the not ladylike way. Obviously.
"I'd be in Hufflepuff," Mary said, finally answering Peter's question. "I heard the people there are nice."
Marlene's dad had been in Hufflepuff. She wasn't sure most people would describe him as 'nice'. "I'm not sure, but I think maybe Gryffindor?" By process of elimination, mostly, but it also valued courage, which she thought she needed in spades.
"Maybe Gryffindor or Slytherin for me," Dorcas announced. "I can't decide which I'd like more. But Marlene, if you get in there, I definitely hope we share a room."
"Ravenclaw for me," Peter said.
"Yeah, clearly," Dorcas replied immediately, not even waiting a second. Mary started laughing at Peter's offended face and Marlene grinned. Dorcas' sharp remarks were fun. "You, Remus?"
"Maybe Ravenclaw too," Remus said hesitantly. "But I'd love to be in Gryffindor."
"Yes!" Dorcas cheered. "Gryffindor buddies!" Marlene gave her a high five when gestured to do so with a smile.
Another thing that was too informal for her parents.
Their group of five was increasingly getting more comfortable with each other the more they talked, and Marlene sunk into the conversation, every time she did something like laugh her mind ticked off an invisible box against her parents. It felt like ruling the world, for a bit. When the train came to a stop, Marlene seeing Parkinson didn't ruin her mood. She literally didn't care about him right now, not when she'd ticked off so many boxes so easily.
A tall man stood a short distance away, waving an enormous arm to beckon them. "First years, all first years ov'r h're!"
Dorcas pulled Marlene along and they clambered into a boat with Mary, Peter dragging Remus to find another. Their boat could only have four people, so it was good that Peter dragged Remus away. Choosing one of them would've been mean.
The air was chilly and Marlene shivered slightly. She looked at Mary next to her, who was calm and not shaky at all. "I think we'll be there soon," Mary said, noticing Marlene shivering.
"Yeah I sure hope so," Dorcas said, who's arm hair was very obviously standing up. "I'm going to freeze out here."
"Sue for attempted murder," Mary joked.
"Who's Sue?" Marlene asked.
Mary blinked at Marlene blankly. "What?"
"Don't worry about it," Dorcas said. "It's not really that popular in the Wizarding World and anyway we'll probably learn about it in History of Magic."
Marlene decided to pester them about it later the moment she saw the grand structure right in front of them.
"Holy shit," Mary said.
"Merlin," Marlene breathed out. The grand building— more like a castle, was hard to describe, so elegant she could barely breath, and while sensing magic was rare, and Marlene couldn't do it, she could practically feel magic wrapping around Hogwarts heavily. "Damn."
As they stepped out of their boats, a part of Marlene felt hesitant. Hogwarts seemed almost proper, like somewhere she'd have to be a lady, not like how books described actually being there. (They always said it was carefree, but Marlene didn't feel it.) It felt like she was being pressed down on, examined, to see if she was perfect, and that felt like the gaze her parents gave her. Maybe it was herself thinking that way, but Hogwarts too seemed to loom, like a mysterious figure, a silent judgement.
But she had to hope Hogwarts was good. Despite its structure. All of a sudden, she felt a deep determination to get into Gryffindor. It sounded the most carefree, and she'd need all of it to be able to set into Hogwarts. And she had to settle in, she'd been dreaming of this moment for ages.
Dorcas got her out of her thoughts by pushing her forward through the moving crowd, so they could gather with Peter and Remus in front of these big wide doors. A cheerful but judgmental looking man stood there wearing dark green robes. He introduced himself as Professor Slughorn, head of Slytherin House and deputy Headmaster.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" He announced. He then requested them to stay there and wait till the doors opened for their sorting.
Marlene stood stock still till the doors opened, even though Mary and Dorcas were muttering under their breath about how they would be sorted. There was some sort of ruckus at the back with two boys laughing, one having that sort of 'pureblood laugh' that was hard to explain to others but Marlene could recognize easily. Well she couldn't recognize the owner of the typical pureblood laugh because those types of high purebloods tended to not invite others outside of their very close circle.
She could recognize the other laugh though. They were sort of friends? He'd always been too much of an unruly boy for her mother though, who always told her that Parkinson was much better to spend time with than someone who didn't follow the proper manners. James Potter, obviously. She was rather surprised that he was spending time with a high society pureblood kid, since those families usually seemed to despise the Potters for probably the same reason as Marlene's mother.
Marlene didn't focus on them though. She could only focus on chanting constantly in her head 'Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor'. A girl's hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her chanting.
"Hey, are you okay? You look pale." A worried face inspected Marlene's and held her hand at Marlene's face for some reason.
"What are you doing?" Marlene muttered, confused.
"Oh I'm so sorry! I was just checking if you were sick. Are you nervous about the sorting?"
Marlene decided to ignore the question and said, "How's checking my forehead going to prove I'm sick?"
"Non magic thing," the girl quickly explained and Marlene calmed down a bit. Cool, so a random muggleborn kid was concerned. Weird, but no big deal. "I do hope you're okay though. I'm really nervous about the sorting, I hope my best friend and I are in the same house. Do you know how we get sorted? Sev didn't tell me."
Presumably Sev was one of this very rambly girl's friends. "No idea. Makes the wait better probably, and it's tradition."
"That sounds cool," the girl said.
The doors suddenly opened before the girl could ask more and Marlene instantly felt her spine become straighter as she saw hundreds of eyes, all looking at the group of first years. Marlene walked primly, trying to avoid looking around and only staring forward with determination. She belonged here after all. The straighter and more precisely she walked, the more confident but shaky she felt. She knew her place, but not exactly. There was no exact definition.
Finally, when they had all stepped into a magnificent hall (really grand, with floating candles and the night sky magicked onto the ceiling), Marlene realised that the really crunchy looking hat that was sitting on a small stool was going to sort them. Probably some really powerful magical instrument.
Hearing its song only confirmed that to Marlene. She wondered if this was the only time they'd interact. Maybe it'd give her some tips if it'd been working for so long. The founders probably gave it so much intelligence that it'd fix up all her problems easily.
But, she couldn't think about it too long because Professor Slughorn started calling out names. The first person, Jodiah Avery, was sorted into Ravenclaw.
A great start, of course.
Abbott, Henry was called next and as was customary for their family got sorted into Hufflepuff. Then, another kid called Johnas Smith got sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Black, Sirius" Slughorn said. Marlene looked up for a second. An obvious Slytherin. That entire family got sorted there and as far as she knew, there were at least four in Slytherin currently. A large number for sure.
She waited a minute. Looked up again. The entire hall was quiet now, the cheers from the previous sortings having faded away. Another minute.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"What?" Marlene blurted out. Maybe a muggleborn would be confused, and Mary and Dorcaus hundred percent were, but as a pureblood, having been raised with stories of power, and how the Blacks were known for Slytherin and their blood prejudice, Marlene could only stare in shock. No way in Morgana. That was— completely unprecedented. The entire hall was silent. Sirius Black had the widest grin on his face.
Then his companion— now figured out to be James Potter, shouted out support and Gryffindor broke out into faint cheers. The loudest still was James Potter, and Marlene decided to join in. Who cared anyway? The shock factor was one thing, but Sirius Black might've made a hell of a story for a reporter, but it was probably going to end there. She had to worry about her own sorting.
Other people were sorted, and then it reached 'Evans, Lily.' The girl next to Marlene walked up. Her sorting didn't take as long as Sirius Black's did and when the hat shouted 'Gryffindor' the girl shot a smile somewhere in the crowd of first years, probably at her friend 'Sev' wherever he was. Without the girl's oddly calming presence at her side, Marlene again grew anxious.
She had to be in Gryffindor. The house known for being unruly and rambunctious.
The next name she recognized well (not the normal pureblood names, those were common as families had grown ever since Dumbledore ended the war with Grindelwald) was Remus Lupin, who took a while but was sorted into Gryffindor, which had a 100% success rate for people she knew.
Marlene's name would come soon, and since everyone she actually knew a little was going there, that's where she was going to go too. Or hopefully something like that. She'd made a red bead bracelet at home in hope, though there'd been a yellow one too but she decided not to make one for Hufflepuff.
She needed Gryffindor. A lot.
Maybe she'd fit in Hufflepuff or something, but they all seemed like they were not wild. At all. She needed to let loose. Wanted to not pour into books and wanted to listen to gossip like they were fifty year old aunties sipping wine.
Mary was called when the 'M' surnames started, and Marlene clenched her fists as she realised her name was unbearably close. She stiffened her spine, let her hands loose, made her face neutral, but not so neutral it looked angry, and instantly felt some confidence seep into her and anxiety be pushed down. She was Marlene MacKinnon, daughter of Estelle and Cameron McKinnon, and she was someone who had gone to a lot of galas. She wasn't afraid of some stupid rumply hat just because it could decide her entire future and also determine whether or not she'd actually get to do things and live her life and not have to follow—
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat screamed and Marlene jerked out of her shock though she made sure her posture didn't change. 'Be a confident first year, be a Gryffindor,' Marlene chanted to herself while clapping for Mary.
"McKinnon, Marlene," Professor Slughorn said and Marlene approached the little stool. The professor picked up the Sorting Hat and put it on her head when she sat down.
"Eager for Gryffindor aren't you?"
Oh. The talking hat also talked inside her mind. Whatever.
"It's so much more interesting to talk to muggleborns than you lot. Can't appreciate a right bit of magic. Definitely not Ravenclaw for you."
Marlene protested even though she didn't want to be in that house. I'm not stupid you idiotic talking hat. Now, I would appreciate it if you get this over with and put me where I want to go.
There. Nice and direct. Just a few more seconds and they'd be done with this.
"Slytherin would suit you well, I suspect. Do you not wish to—"
No. Gryffindor. Or I'll burn you.
"You can't burn me but oh Gryffindor will love you. Better be GRYFFINDOR!"
He shouted the last word outloud and Professor Slughorn removed the hat from Marlene's head before she could even process it. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest, and a smile took over her face without her permission. She'd done it. Gotten into the house of the unruly, the exhuburent, the proud, the defiers. Maybe she'd find herself here.
As she sat on the table next to Mary, she spotted a girl wearing silver earrings and had two extra piercings on her right ear and hand covered with multiple rings. Her eyes popped with some kind of black paint and she didn't look proper. She looked artfully messy. Amazing.
Marlene could barely focus on the next sorting as she thought of the silver rings and black eye paint.