CHERRY // marlene mckinnon

-six

After lunch, Aurora went to the last of her classes and after dinner, she decided to end her day by going to the library to pick up a few books. She picked up a book about astronomy, since she'd always been astonished by it, and signed it out and headed to the astronomy tower.

She sat down and pulled out her case of cigarettes and lit one. She wasn't a  heavy smoker, but sometimes it helped to take some things off her mind. And did she say there reading her book. Just her, the book, and the stars.

It talked about the many constellations, stars, and other celestial bodies, but she stumbled upon Sirius. the brightest star in the night sky.

"You really fucked up, Sirius." She spoke to no one in particular. Him leaving had an effect on not only Aurora, but Regulus and the rest of her cousins too. No one was allowed to talk to him because of the 'great shame' that he had brought to their family. And her uncle Alphard had even been burned off the tapestry because he basically supported Sirius and his decision to leave.

But before Sirius, it was Andromeda. It all went downhill for her after she decided to marry a muggle. And just like that, she was disowned. Blasted from the family tree. And now, the same thing happened to Sirius. All because he had to be rebellious.

But as she continued thinking, she heard footsteps.

"W-Who's there? I've got my wand, I won't hesitate to hex you!" She said, while moving closer towards the entrance.

She felt slightly relieved that it was on Marlene.

"Oh, it's you." Aurora said. It wasn't intended to come off as rude, but it sounded like that to Marlene.

"I'll leave if you want." Marlene said, as she started to head out.

Then, Aurora suddenly blurted out "Wait. Stay." She didn't know what came over her, but she thought, it wouldn't be so bad to have some company. Even if it was from someone that had basically insulted her a few hours earlier.

"I-I'm sorry." Aurora said, while looking out into the night sky. "For snapping at you in Potions. And, I guess you were kind of right. I am rude, and even arrogant sometimes."

"I'm sure you're not. I don't really know you that well, so I'm also sorry for saying those things." Marlene said, as she walked closer to Aurora and sat next to her.

"So, how about we restart?" Aurora asked turning to face Marlene.

"I don't really think bumping into you again would be such a good idea." Marlene said, chuckling.

"Right. No, I meant how about we have a proper introduction of ourselves?" Aurora asked.

"Well alright. Hi, I'm Marlene Mckinnon. Nice to meet you!" Marlene said.

"Aurora Black. Nice to meet you too." Aurora replied. "Want a cigarette?"

Marlene thanked her as Aurora lit the cigarette with her small silver lighter. It was kind of fancy in a way since it had small flowers and butterflies engraved on it.

The two smoked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, looking at the stars scattered in the night sky. And then Marlene decided to say something.

"So, Black, huh? I don't know how I didn't put two and two together and notice this before. I mean you two even share the same eyes. You're Sirius' twin sister aren't you?"

Aurora tensed up a little at the mention on his name and and cleared her throat
before replying to her. "Yeah. But since he left last year, we haven't talked in a while."

"Oh right, I'm sorry." Marlene quietly said. She felt a bit guilty for mentioning Sirius. It must have been hard for her when he left. Marlene couldn't ever imagine leaving her younger brother. Yes, he was annoying at times, but in the end, she loved him regardless.

"It's fine, it's not your fault. I mean if anything, I would've took any chance to leave too. It's hard trying to please my parents all the time."

"Well, just know, he really does care about you and your younger brother. He was talking about you guys nonstop when he told us what happened." Marlene said.

"It doesn't matter now does it. He's probably having a blast with his new family." Aurora scoffed. It was one thing to get out of that household, but the fact that he stopped talking to her was more upsetting.

"He really wanted to get you two out of there-"

"Well he didn't did he? He wrote, what? Two, three times? Then he forgot about us and moved on. Just like that." Aurora snapped. "You know, I don't even know what I did wrong for him to ignore me like that." Her voice started to break, even though she tried her best to not break down in front of someone she had just met merely a day ago.

Marlene didn't know what else to do, so all of a sudden, she hugged her.

Aurora hadn't had a genuine hug ever since Sirius left, and her parents weren't really the affectionate type.

So, Aurora hugged her back.

And at that moment, there it was. Marlene's signature scent. Cherries.

They stayed like that for a while until Aurora pulled back.

"So, I should head back now. See you around, Mckinnon." Aurora said.

"Bye, see you, Black." Marlene replied.
As Aurora left, Marlene was in a deep
thought.

When they were in each other's embrace, her scent hit her. Aurora smelled of vanilla. Just like last time.