Marlene McKickass

Lioness. 7th Year. Pureblood

[sodoaesthetic]

“Your heart always will be mine. Untill the end of line.”

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

ludobitchbagman:

Ludovic snorted, giving Marlene a long, sideways look. “You only get caught when you want to get caught?” He repeated, before breaking out into laughter. He leaned forward a little bit, shoulders shaking with his chuckles, before shaking his head. “So all of those times we’ve had detention together?” He asked, “You wanted that to happen?” Both he and Marlene were adept at getting away with things without getting caught, but when you was as much of a troublemaker as the pair of them were, somehow, getting caught was inevitable. He pulled one leg up onto the bench, bringing his knee to his chest to wrap his arm around. “I’ll show you some time.” He commented, “Sounds like too much work to do right now.”

When Marlene rose up, Ludovic followed behind a split-second later. He wasn’t the most dependable sort of fellows, but when it came to things like this, you could always count on him to join in on any sort of wacky scheme. He was very tired of how heavy the air in the castle had felt, and he couldn’t think of anything better than taking to the skies. He nodded sharply, acting almost like the muggle soldiers he’d watched on his muggle grandfather’s television. “Yes, ma’am! Right now, it is.” He teetered back and forth, shifting his weight between both of his legs. This would be the most exciting thing he’d done in days, and he was antsy to get started. “I don’t have class,” He waved his hand, “And if I did, I’d skip it anyways.” He reached down for her hand, nodding in the direction of freedom. “Let’s go, shall we? You’ve got me all excited.”

“Yes, precisely. What would I be without my record breaking detention count? They have to catch me sometimes, otherwise what would I possibly be without my record?” Marlene continued on with the sarcastic, joking banter. Being that Ludovic was familiar with it by now, Marlene never had to explain when she was joking, or if she was not being totally serious. There was an authenticity in their conversations which lacked in most of her other day to day interactions. “And how else am I supposed to spend time with my favorite, albeit less sneaky, delinquent, hmm?” She teased, lifting her foot up to poke his now closer leg with the toe of her sneaker.  “Looking forward to it.” 

“We shall.” Smirk practically plastered to her face, Marlene slipped her hand into his, falling into step at Ludo’s side as they had mischievously done so many times before. “I’m sorry, it’s not my fault, I have a tendency to excite people.” With the heaviness of the previous days starting to move behind them, a hint of her frisky side simmered up to the surface, flashing a wink at her counterpart. It didn’t feel much of a true statement these days, any free time she had dedicated less towards pursuing a shag, and instead getting generally sloshed or high beyond recognition. 

Looking towards the blue sky, she already felt free. “So you thinking just a fly around? Or get some proper practice in? My arms could use a little bit of a workout.” It had felt too long since she had a true practice, sweat dripping from her brow.

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

amycxscxrrxw:

Amycus laughed again, the sound growing more high-pitched and manic by the minute. “A fair fight?!” He roared, throwing his head back in overenthusiastic laughter. “I don’t believe in fair fights, so spare me your high-and-mighty garbage.” He looked to the wand in his hand, rolling it down his palm, and then back up to the tips of his fingers. Marlene was speaking, and Amycus continued to laugh, amused by the sarcasm in her voice. “Have you ever heard of a giant falling?” He asked curiously. The laughter was beginning to die down, but even with it gone, there was an almost unsettling aura of amusement surrounding Amycus Carrow. “The bigger they are, the more likely they are to bring someone down with them.” He stepped closer to her, eyes alight with fire and fun, “Perhaps we ought to walk away from each other? It doesn’t seem very pretty, where you and I are headed.”

While Marlene never had a tendency to do anything all that viscous, the thought of ripping Amycus’s vocal chords out of his throat skipped through her mind as the cackle continued on. One day his voice would fall silent when he got too boastful and somebody else would want to silence it as well. “So you only fight when you have an unfair advantage. Interesting to see you don’t even think you can win a well matched fight.” She doubted he had every truly partaken in a duel with somebody he thought might beat him. Marlene was beginning to feel like she could take him more and more by the second. “Right, I forgot you don’t know how to read. Countless stories in history would have taught you just that.” Jaw clenched, teeth almost grinding against each other, they were clearly headed to a bad place, that much he was right about. “Right, because why Amycus Carrow is too afraid to get into a fight he can’t win. All talk, no game.”

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

the-fabianprewett:

Fabian couldn’t help but sit up at the sight of Marlene coming to visit him. He hadn’t had many visitors at all outside of Gideon popping in to check on him now and then due to the increased security measures around the castle. Occasionally one Order member or another would stop by with whispered updates and Fabian was eager for news at this point. He seriously doubted Marlene was here with news for him, but the look on her face suggested an interesting visit nonetheless. He watched her take the chair next to his bed easily and shared a grin with her at the mention of the charade they had been a part of in the Great Hall, before it quickly disappeared once more, his guilt at what happened to Glenda overtaking any joy he had in the memory.

“Yeah, I suppose I owe you thanks for that.” Fabian muttered, leaning back against the pillows on his bed and watching her sift through the items on his bedside table. “You can take a chocolate frog as a token of my gratitude.” He said half-heartedly, even more guilt weighing in on him how other students had sent him gifts and well wishes when for once in his life, he wasn’t actually sick. “Uh huh, the white.” He echoed with a nod, though it was hardly the color of the Hospital Wing that had him going mad. If anything, Fabian hardly noticed the monotonous design of the room anymore, having spent so much time in Hospital Wing that it was hardly noticeable to him anymore. Even just sitting alone for hours at a time hardly got to him anymore, but the fact he could hardly focus on a book or that every time he fell asleep he dreamt of what might have happened to Glenda was what truly weighed on him.

“What are friends for?” Marlene shot a wink his way, laden with unspoken words that said he had done his part splendidly, that he truly had been a good friend that day, despite everything that had gone wrong. Everybody who had been involved lived with the guilt now. In some part they were each responsible for what had happened to Glinda, but it was Marlene’s belief that they should try not feel so guilty. No one person was responsible for the mistake, and to wallow would only detract from the goal of finding her, of making things right in the world. Of course she knew that was hard for anybody to hear right now, so unless the topic was breached, Marlene kept her thoughts to herself, an unusual practice for her. “But yes, I think I will.” Popping up again she leaned over now with the permission to be a nosy snoop. “I’m missing Herpo the Foul, so hopefully you’ll be helping out.”

After plucking the familiar purple box from the pile, she sunk back down in the chair, fingers paused over the opening as she caught sight of Fabian’s face. “Well that, and everything else going on.” He looked like just about everybody else who had taken apart of that night, haunted by something. Marlene even fell victim to looking like half a person, the other part of her lost to that day. But she fought to stay present, to push forward. “Do they at least let you out of here for a walk now and then? I’d be happy to sneak you out if not.” She would offer to break the rules for far less than helping a friend in need.

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

missxmarymac:

Mary liked to be optimistic. It was getting hard, to be sure, but it helped her to think the best of the people around her - if she didn’t do that, she’d never feel safe in the castle, or trust anyone here. That wasn’t how she wanted to live her life. So she assumed the best, and trusted the aurors, and tried to be a light in the castle, even when it took all her energy to do so. “Well maybe you should just go give them advice and it’ll change things.” If anyone was going to change the world, she thought it would be Marlene.

Her eyes closed, taking immense comfort in the familiar weight of Marlene’s hand on her back. “I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t have something to do,” she murmured. It had been hard in the Great Hall, when she didn’t have a way to occupy herself other than comfort the little ones. And that was only so good, when she was such a mess herself. Things were better now though. “Mmm, I really hadn’t made any concrete plans yet. I want some tea, I think. We could go to the kitchens? It’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”

“I wish I had some good advice to give. Or that they would even listen to me. Who’s listening to a bunch of students?” And in a few words, Marlene was expressing her multiple layers of frustration, the first being there was no clear solution to the problems at hand. While they knew what was the right thing to do, what they wanted to fight for, there was no clear path towards the equality they sought. Her frustration continued that the people who were trained to stop the injustices, seemed just as lost as them. Finally, after the stunt they had pulled, who would ever trust them again?

Smiling over to Mary, in a soft way that not many people saw from the either boisterous or rigid Marlene, she nodded her head. “I don’t usually go for a tea, but I think that sounds kind of good about now. Certainly better than nothing.” Tea always reminded Marlene of her mom, who tried to show her how to drink it in just the proper way. She had always put in too much cream and sugar for her mother’s taste, and in part it was why Marlene still drank it that way today. 

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

andrei-draganov:

He laughed a bit at her name-calling, not letting it bother him at all. If he got riled up over every single insult thrown at him, Andrei would have surely sent more than half the castle to the Hospital Wing at this point. Plus, it wasn’t as if they didn’t have any basis for what they called him. Right now he would try to be especially lenient over it as it probably made people feel better after the attacks and the exposure of his alliance. He knew that it was about time people would begin approaching him about it. He was just curious as to who would be the first, it would be more fun if it was Marlene. 

“Oh really? I’m surprised since most are to scared to even look at me.” That might’ve been because of a rumor about him, saying that he hexed any first year that looked at him. Though that was only on a few occasions when they’d deserved it. Although if questioned Andrei would probably say that all of them deserved it just for being idiotic first years. “You’ll have to let me know which one it was. It’s not nice of them to talk about their housemates like that.” He quirked an eyebrow. He knew that she was lying but figured he’d keep it going rather than call her out. 

Carefully he watched her face, looking for the slightest hint of annoyance or any sort of emotion. She was good, he’d have to give her that much credit. But so war he, as he teased her ever so much, pretending like he wasn’t affected by her hatred. It was better this way though, the attacks only proved this for him. His decision to cheat on her had worked out well to ensure that she wouldn’t be hurt purposely for him. Now he barely even thought of the girl most days, not even wanting to react at the mention of her or at the sound of her voice. It’d taken him a while to do so, something he’d started working at before they’d even broken up and was happy when he’d finally accomplished it. 

“Really? Then why bother talking to me right now?” He smirked. Andrei stepped closer to her, shrugging his shoulders carefree. It wasn’t that he was planning a fight with her today, although he was sure it would turn into one as most of their conversations did. “Why don’t you let me inside? I can take you back to the boys dorm, have some fun. You know, for old times sake.” He was sure that comment was at least going to earn him a slap in the face though. He didn’t mind much though, such things helped to keep him feeling alive. Plus it would be good to see her riled up, know that he was still able to effect her. 

The audacity he had to continue the banter was now making it nearly impossible for her not roll her eyes, although her efforts continued, hopefully not in vein. Perhaps it was the familiarity in how he rebutted her attacks, picking away at her sarcasm to reply with some of his own, a method very much like the one she would employ when faced with a foe. Except they hadn’t been foes, at least at one point, and it made this all worse some how. This was somebody who had known her in a vulnerable state, knew intimate details about her most never would, and while she would put up the facade it did not bother her at all, she hated him for it. 

“I’ll spare somebody the lecture I’m sure you’ll give.” Her hunch being the lecture would contain very little words and leave the first year scarred should they have existed. “But I was surprised too. With a face like yours, it’s bound to make anybody sick to their stomach. But guess that’s the Gryffindor courage most have and you seem to lack.” Looking at him surely made her feel some type of way, that feeling being somewhere between raw anger and total disgust, perhaps an unhealthy combination of both. 

At last he elicited from her an infamous Marlene McKinnon eye roll, one of her more lethal looks when paired with a viscous curse and some biting words. Hopefully she wouldn’t be pushed to that point but if anybody would do it, it would be Andrei. “Well when somebody talks to me that I think shouldn’t be allowed to speak about anything, at all, ever, I tend to want to put them back in their place.” The dramatics were quick to kick in, but the sentiments were authentic. She would be happy never hearing his voice again.

But suddenly, she was laughing. An echoing boom of a laugh at his preposterous suggestion. “As if there was ever any fun in our horrible mistake of an ‘old time’. If I wanted to be so poorly handled I’d go find a chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team.” Chest puffed up a bit, you could tell she was proud of that slight. “Not sure anybody will let you inside, of, well, anything really.” 

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

 andrei-draganov:

It’d been nearly two years since his and Marlene’s relationship had ended. Since then their conversations were usually filled with quick wit, violence and the usual banter. Most of these conversations led to one, maybe even both, of the in the hospital wing. Even their Professors knew better than to try and force the two to work together. For a while though after their break up he’d been quite sad over it. It wasn’t an amicable break up, but rather he’d purposely gotten caught cheating. It wasn’t his finest moment, but if he had to do it over again he might not of ever dated her to begin with. 

“Is that why you’re out here too.” He smirked. Thanks to his sister he was quite good at making comebacks to anything thrown at him. Even when visiting him in the hospital wing Irina felt the need to attempt to belittle him in any way possible. Andrei walked a few steps closer so that he was now standing in front of her, “Admit is Marls, you’re happy I’m still around.” He purposely used her nickname, knowing it would strike a nerve. He was curious as to what awful name she would call him in response. 

Marlene put a little extra effort into not rolling her eyes heavily whenever Andrei spoke. Merlin forbid it look like he had any effect on her still, whatsoever, especially if it appeared he bothered her. Instead her jaw tensed slightly, tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth until she spoke again. “No, actually, some first year told me there was piece of shit outside the common room, had to go look for myself. Seems they were right.” Marlene shrugged lightly, not allowing much inflection into her voice at all.

It was hard to keep her composure, the seemingly constant fire in her veins putting her at risk to spark any moment. She hadn’t always been this way, so divisive. It was years of people proving how bad the world could be that caused her to have no trust or faith in those that hadn’t earned it. Andrei was certainly one of those reasons. “I’d have to think about you even the slightest bit to have any feelings about whether you were gone or not, and you never cross my mind, not ever.” She hated the amicable tone in his voice, uttering a name reserved only for close friends, an echo of their past. 

[robert-nash]

charmed rewatch →  5.05 witches in tights

[andrei-draganov-blog]

Who: Andrei Draganov & Anyone 

When: February 16th, after dinner

Where: Outside Gryffindor Common room 

Andrei wasn’t entirely sure why, but he felt awkward walking into his common room. It hadn’t been long since he’d been released from the hospital wing ad his injuries weren’t as severe as others. But, he also didn’t want to walk in there and suddenly be bombarded by questions from his housemates, which he was sure there would be a few. It wasn’t that he was scared, he’s just already gotten enough of an earful from his sister the day before and didn’t feel like dealing with anyone else’s bullshit. As if that wasn’t enough, it seemed as if the Fat Lady had changed the password to the common room. Which usually wasn’t an issue, but nobody had felt the need to tell him the new one. 

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” He sighed as he guessed wrong. It also seemed like the more he tried to persuade her into letting him in, the more adamant she got in keeping him out. That was when he decided his best bet was to just wait for someone else to come along and help him out. 

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

Marlene, in a rare set of circumstances, had been in the library from her last free class period through dinner, up until it turned dark outside. It had been a strongly worded letter from her mum that implied she had found out that Marlene had been shirking her school work recently which compelled the study period. She didn’t know which teacher they had an in with, Dumbledore probably, but it was times like this she hated just how many people her family knew. Already irritated from the work, thankfully finished but certainly not done to her best ability, Andrei was the last person she wanted to see loitering outside her favorite place in the castle. Her jaw tensed, and the usual churn of her stomach followed, even still to this day, her reaction the same every time. Still, when she had heard he had been one of the students that had been attacked her stomach had done the same thing.

Rolling her lips together, Marlene prepared for whatever words would be spat between them. “Oh look, you're back. I’ve see you’ve encountered our new protection policy. No asshats allowed inside.” Marlene tried not to laugh at her own joke, as she so often did, but she didn’t have to put much effort in this situation. It had been a long while since he had been able to put a smile on her face and it wasn’t about to change any time soon. He had, on multiple occasions, proven himself the vile human she had been daft enough not to see as she was charmed instead by some illusion of kindness she now figured him incapable of.

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

the-fabianprewett:

Who: Fabian Prewett & Anyone  When: February 17th, 1978.  Where: The Hospital Wing

After playing sick for a few days now, Fabian was anxious to get out of the Hospital Wing. Being cooped up in bed while his friends chased a murderous witch was much less fun than he had thought it would be. His episode had only created a brief distraction, and while he was glad to help, the hours of doing nothing but trying to keep up the act since had grown tiresome. He’d napped enough to last him weeks and he was much too anxious to read anything. Thankfully he’d had company now and then, but soon the whispers had grown less excited and more worried about what had become of the team to search for Charlotte.

Finding out Glenda had gone missing nearly ruined Fabian’s charade at playing ill. He’d been ready to jump straight out of bed and go running for the door to help find her, but he’d somehow managed to keep the secret just a bit longer knowing that there was nothing he could do to help her now. All he could do was wait, and he was getting bloody tired of it. His head turned at the sound of footsteps approaching his bed in the Hospital Wing, and Fabian felt himself perk up a bit at the prospect of good news, though he made himself settle back against the pillows just in case. “I’m not sleeping or anything.” He said, as the footsteps halted outside of the privacy screen, letting whoever it was know that it was alright to pull it aside. For all he knew, it could be an auror or professor, but Fabian was sick of playing sick. He’d made the decision to say he was on the mend and that his miracle cure was officially back to doing its work.

Marlene pushed open the curtain at the sound of Fabian’s voice, the corner of her lip curving up into her usually mischievous smile. “Good. It’d be a lot more boring to come here if you were sleeping.” Marlene pointed out as she slid into a chair by the bed, eagerly placed out for whatever visitors were coming to see Fabian. “It’s also be a lot sadder if you were actually ill.” She whispered lightly with a wink before leaning over to his bed side table, casually looking through some of the things that people had brought him, the medication that had been left behind. Neither had anything she found herself wanting so she sat back in the chair, letting her legs stretch out in front of her.

“Thought it was about time I visit. Seeing as I did help get you the proper medical attention you needed the other day.” Marlene hadn’t been overwhelmingly happy with the part she played in it all, of course wishing she was out there fighting instead of playing the dramatic roll in it all. Since that day, she wondered just what her friends thought her capable of, what they trusted her to do, and she wasn’t quite sure of the answer. It was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, that she was pushing away with more cigarettes that she usually had. “I assume you’re going a bit mental in here. I would, just sitting with my thoughts all day, all the...white.” It really was rather bright in here, with all the linen and the windows. So clean.

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

itsjulietpeverell:

Juliet had begun to stride down the corridors, looking to get a way past the Aurors towards the Hospital Wing unnoticed because she desperately wanted to see her cousin who she hadn’t managed to properly see since the attacks. Taking a cautious gaze at those around her, she began to slowly make her way towards the Wing, slipping easily past all the younger and frightened students who seemed to not entirely feel safe considering what had happened. However as her eyes caught sight of a familiar Lion, her lips curled to a small understanding smile as she did agree with Marlene’s words if not completely.

“You’re not wrong, especially when the students don’t know the first thing about defending themselves.” She remarked, moving closer towards the girl.

“Yeah. Yeah my thoughts exactly.” Marlene nodded, gaze still a bit distant, but still managing to bring it around to Juliet. It was surprising really, how many people seemed to agree with that notion but nothing changed. At a certain point, the students were bound to have stuck together and tried to help themselves, and that’s exactly what had happened. But Marlene knew even if they were being trained to protect themselves, it wouldn’t change the notion of fighting for a just cause that so many of them had taken on. It was a part of them now, something they would live with. Or maybe even die. “It makes no sense, a few aurors, all these students, the math doesn’t work out. And so many people are just, I don’t know, helpless. Cute charms can only get you so far in life.” They needed to learn more.

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

benitocarlosortiz:

Benito was bored and irritated with this conversation before it had ever begun. He had never been known to be the socializing type, after all. He barely tolerated the presence of Bagman, and that was because he had learned that it wasn’t a good idea to be on his badside, considering the influence he held around the school. Plus, if he couldn’t buy weed from Ludovic, he’d have to buy it from Lorcan. Benito had never really been very comfortable around vampires, not after hearing all the muggle stories growing up. Like Marlene, he too glanced to the apple, but mostly because he was wondering if he might get away with knocking it from her hand. He was fairly certain that Marlene could beat him in a duel, but Benito was certain he could run away before it came to that. He wasn’t the school’s renowned thief for just any reason. Still, he would much prefer to rid himself of her presence point blank. However, she continued talking, and he found himself rising to challenge her.

He didn’t like the tone she used around ‘lady love’. He did have a lady-love, and he was extremely protective of her, even to those who weren’t actually referring to her. Not to mention that he and Imogen had been together for nearly five years. Since they were first years, practically. He rolled his eyes, “You really are as dumb as they say, McKinnon. I’m not one to listen to rumors, but that one was true.” 

Marlene had a right laugh at that. The attempt at a quip reminded Marlene of her cousins, younger boys that were always trying to fight her, but could never seemed to get past their usual insults. Something about her hair, or her deep voice, maybe about how dumb they thought she was, but the joke was on them when they found themselves hung up by their shoestrings, long before Marlene could control her magic. Something her had always been a fighter, never one to lie down and take what the world through at her, but to beat it. 

This encounter was hardly a fight, more Marlene getting a rise out of somebody who already seemed on edge. Had it been a friend, she probably would have offered a cigarette, maybe split a joint she had rolled earlier, help him ease whatever was making him this way, but alas Benito was no true friend of hers.

“Right, right, how silly of me to assume anybody wants to touch your knickers.” Marlene smirked slightly, bringing the cigarette to her lips once more, taking a long, deep drag until her lungs burned a bit, strained by the lack of oxygen. Slowly she exhaled, the surprising chuckle that rolled over lips causing the smoke to putter out in small puffs. Marlene really did amuse herself more than anybody else, she was certain.

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

amycxscxrrxw:

Marlene McKinnon was fast with drawing her wand, almost so fast that he missed it, but that was exactly what he wanted. He wasn’t entirely confident that he could beat McKinnon in a duel– well, a fair one anyways. He was sure that if he used the skills Alecto and Bellatrix had taught him then he would crush her. However, after he finished crushing her, he would be promptly sent off to Azkaban and that was the last thing that he wanted. Amycus laughed, “I’ve never much cared for the opinions of others–” Only Alecto. “– so I think being a disappointment suits me.” If Marlene thought that he was concerned with the silly opinions of his father, of other wizards, and especially men everywhere, then she was most definitely mistaken. Amycus spun his wand in his hand, whistling a little. “And you think that you could have me unconscious on the floor, don’t you? Big words from such a small woman, don’t you think?”

Amycus’s laughter put her on edge, more than she already was, and that seemed to be her usual state these days. Or at least how she existed when she didn’t have a drink, some spliff, or cig in hand, which was quite frequently. How easier it was to go through the day not analyzing ever glance her way, searching for all the ways somebody might be pulling one over on her. But then, once thrust into moments such as these, her only instinct was to fight, and fight hard. “I’d believe that if you weren’t trying to prove yourself every time a child walks past you in the hall. Fair fight by the way, really shows some strength.” Sarcasm dripped from her words viciously, an extra bite in each syllable. “Big words said specially for a big oaf of a boy. But you know what they say, the bigger they are, they harder they fall.”

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

slriusblck:

Sirius had always been one to strike up a conversation with someone he didn’t know all that well ever since he got used to that being an option at Hogwarts in his first year. However, his real friends were a different story. He knew a lot of people and would say he had a lot of friends, but then there were the people who he was undoubtedly loyal too. The Marauders were always a part of that, but so was Marlene and her group of friends, Lily being the newest development in that. He nodded in agreement; in the unlikely scenario that Charlotte would appear at Hogwarts again, Sirius would be one of the first to volunteer to give her what she and that…man deserved. 

A smile spread across his face during the discussion of rule-breaking, this one much more genuine than many in the past few days. “Less rules are much better than more, you’re right, but getting past them? Not much of a challenge either.” Despite the tinge of lightheartedness, the conversation was still full of the solemn mood that’d overtaken the castle. “I’m with you. Out there in the woods,” He grimaced as he remembered not paying attention for a split second and then falling to the ground, his wand gone. “If I hadn’t gotten distracted for two seconds, maybe she wouldn’t have gotten away.” 

"Although they're trying to make it more challenging." Marlene nodded her head to where the auror had just past them. While other students may have seen them as extensions of the powers that be at Hogwarts, Marlene only saw discrete groups. There was little the aurors could do to make her want to follow any rules, and certainly to much they were doing to make her feel safer. At a certain point she had to question just what they were doing here if they too were taking shots in the dark. "Clearly we are quite able to evade them." She pointed out lightly in reference to the Order's plan that had gone mostly not to plan.

As Sirius began to elaborate on the evening that had gone so wrong. Each person that had been there, seemed to feel the same way: it was there fault. Everybody who had a part in this wished they could have done more, foreseen what was going to go wrong. Even Marlene who had been tasked with distracting instead of finding still felt she had been put in the wrong place, that she was meant for more than this. Besides all that, Marlene would say the same to each Order member that doubted themselves. "Sirius, you can't do that to yourself. Play the maybe game with yourself. Things could have been worse too you know. Clearly they could have been better, but we can't change what already happened, just what is going to happen."

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

ludobitchbagman:

To a lot of people – Ludovic would argue most people – Marlene McKinnon was combative, and hard to get to know beyond a surface level. Those people were right, but Ludovic was proud to say that he was an exception to the rule. Unlike most people, he was confident in saying that he knew Marlene, and he knew her well. She was like him in a lot of ways, and he believed that to be the key reason that they found it so easily to get alone. He, Marlene, and Emma Vanity were a trio, renowned around the school for their unparalleled skill in throwing wild parties. As he sat down, he thought sourly of how annoying it was that they were being deprived of an entire years worth of ragers simply because some crazy people couldn’t keep their murder outside of the school.

“It’s easy to smoke without getting caught,” Ludovic said with a snort, waving his hand. “I can show you a couple spots, if you want.”  He followed her gaze out of the window, sighing wistfully. At Marlene’s suggestion, a grin began to spread across his face. “A joy ride, eh?” He repeated, shifting in his seat as excitement began to boil within his belly. “I think we’d get in trouble, but not so much trouble that I’m not going to do it.” He laughed a little, “Let’s do it.”

"Well I haven't been caught yet. I'm extremely sneaky. I only get caught when I want to get caught." It was striking how just untrue that was, which Ludovic knew perfectly well, considering the countless times they had bent the rules together and definitely been caught in the act. The endless scroll she imagined was her record likely spoke to that. It wasn't that she went out of her way to try and break the rules, not some latent need to stick it to the people in charge, it was just that her idea of fun happened to align with so any activities the school deemed unacceptable. It was the frequency with which she pursued this feats that was the reason for her familiarity with detention. "I would entertain some new locations though."

"That's the attitude I want to hear." And in a moment, Marlene was on her feet, bag slung over her shoulder, and bounce in her step. It was easy for her to switch mindsets. To go from a bundle of sadness, anger, and frustration, to leaving it all behind her in pursuit of the skies. It wasn't denial, because Marlene was keenly aware of the workings of the world around her, but just her choice not to dwell. What good would it do anybody? It wouldn't was her definitive answer. "Let's go then. Right now. You don't have class right? Well, who cares anyway."

[thecheeziersnack-blog]

[mm-mckinnon-blog]

aurorjohndawlish:

Who: John Dawlish & Anyone  When: February 16th, 1978 Where: John Dawlish and Charlotte Fawley’s makeshift office 

John leafed through a pile of papers, pacing back and forth across the small, makeshift office space he had shared with his ex-partner, Charlotte Fawley, for months on assignment at Hogwarts. They’d joked about the broom closet they’d been stuck in at first, but over the many weeks cramped in that tight space together, the novelty had quickly worn off. How was it that John had spent so much time with her and yet never saw her betrayal coming? He knew what the others must think, that he was in on it the whole time, but he wasn’t. It was with a fury that he rummaged through her drawers and files, looking for something, anything that might point to why she had done this. It wasn’t likely that he would find anything, Charlotte was too clever and much too careful to leave evidence behind. But still, John searched.

Hearing a knock at the door, John glanced up and sighed. Whoever sought him out, he figured it couldn’t be good. The students would hardly trust him now, let alone his coworkers. If anything, he figured he faced further interrogation or accusation. “Door’s open” He called, setting Charlotte’s papers down on the surface of her desk, leaning against it, and crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

Marlene was more in her head than usual this week. With the general lack of discussion between friends and housemates, or at least nothing more than half-arsed small talk that everyone would hope make them feel better, she was left to conversations with herself. A constant stream of new questions tumbling through her head, wondering what would come next, how they could win this losing fight, and what her part was in all this. Ambling down the hall, already late enough to class where she could just skip it at that point, her eyes fell on the office which had previously been home to Charlotte Fawley...and the questions poured out even more. 

Curiosity would kill more Marlenes than it would cats, or it at least got her a good number of detentions over the years. Reason dictated not to step inside the office of the auror turned torturer, that it was more off limits that most things in her life, but it had never stopped her before. Knocking first, to announce her presence, she was almost surprised to find somebody else inside. Perhaps it made sense now, something she should have considered in her impulse decision, but trapped in her choice, Marlene pushed forward.

As she walked in, a chill ran down Marlene’s back just knowing she had been here, lurking and waiting. “Didn’t think anybody would be in here, surprised it was even open.” Crossing her arms, Marlene leaned in the doorway. “Was curious to see what everybody missed in all this. Or apparently who missed it.” From the anguish on his face, she could sense guilt.