A Pearl For Arrogance

Chapter 6 - Marlene McKinnon

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A/N: Marlene and Remus become close friends. Extracurricular activities have been introduced for First Years. Seedling of enemies to lovers, Dorlene.

TW - Snape

CW - Some actual warnings though...Misogynistic views are retold, some things that are said could potentially be triggering. It's at the very end of the flashback. If you want to skip it I put ** before and after that part.Marlene says she might be sick, at the very very end. There's no detail to someone physically being sick, it's just a hyperbole.

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First year - September

The dinner was delicious, like it was every other night. Conversations flowed easily amongst the group, mostly. Remus was ignoring Marlene. She knew why, it was because of the talk they were waiting to have. Remus was reserved and anxious by nature, as everyone had come to realise. But Marlene still felt a little put out because of it. Normally when Marlene spoke, Remus would listen with intent. A small smile here, a gentle nod there. Tonight? Nothing. Perhaps he was nervous, it wasn't unlikely. It was starting to unsettle her though.

"Remus, are you finished?"

"Um, yeah."

Maybe Marlene was right. She was almost certain that Remus had been overthinking this whole thing. Because without saying anything, Remus stood up from the table, and walked out with a quick goodbye to the rest of the group. Scarily in sync they all turned towards Marlene with a suspicious look etched on their faces.

"What?"

"Does this have anything to do with this morning?"

James asked pointedly, with a raised eyebrow. Marlene set her face in a defensive manner, lips pulled in, and eyes levelled. She was not going to take the blame for Remus' behaviour, even if it slightly was her fault, she was not responsible for his actions.

"Yes it is. Now if you don't mind, we need to have a little chat, me and Remus."

With that Marlene escaped the dining hall, setting off after Remus in a hurried fashion. They agreed to meet in the courtyard, just outside their dormitories. As she approached the open grounds, the sounds of leaves on trees drowned out the noise her shoes made against the pavement. Remus was hidden in the dark, pressed against a tree's bark, legs held tightly to his middle.

"Remus?"

When their eyes met, Marlene noticed the frightened look in the small boy's gaze.

"You know we don't have to talk about it. And it really isn't that bad, nothing to be scared of."

"I'm not scared."

Marlene muffled her laugh behind a quick cough.

"Alright, you're not scared, but believe me it really isn't bad. I couldn't say anything in the corridors because if a teacher heard me, I would get in trouble. It's weird though, because it's a normal thing to happen, and Madame Pomfrey will teach us about it next term anyway. I asked the Headmistress. So it's not anything really bad, ok? Just something that isn't considered an 'appropriate' topic of conversation."

"Can you tell me now?"

"I can. I'm not like, an adult , though. I can only tell you what I know. Which isn't all that much, but we'll learn more from Madame Pomfrey's lessons."

Remus nodded with understanding. His eyes held more curiosity than fright at this moment so Marlene took the chance to explain how babies are made.

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