Chapter Text
Marlene McKinnon decided that NEWT-level potions was a bad decision almost immediately.
“C’mon! I don’t want to be alone with Severus!” Lily Evans, her best friend, had whined at the end of the previous year to her three roommates. They sat with their heads together, checking off which courses they wanted to continue after OWLs, if they achieved passing scores.
Marlene had sat back and rolled her eyes, checking off the box next to “Advanced Potions” carelessly.
She had attended her meeting with Minerva McGonagall, her Head of House, to discuss which courses to take to aid in her future endeavors, but it had been a joke. She had lied about an old ambition to be a Healer because, if she was honest, she hadn’t really thought about her future in a while. McGonagall had rattled off a list of classes Marlene should continue and she nodded vacantly and left.
When she sat with her friends and filled out the course paper for the next year, she just checked off the things she sometimes enjoyed and knew others were continuing in. Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Defense, Ancient Runes…and, apparently, Potions. Thanks, peer pressure.
NEWT-level Potions was different from the first five years of classes for multiple reasons. First of all, all four houses were in the same class, because so many students chose not to continue. This, of course, was not a big deal, in the grand scheme of things. But this led to the second change. Professor Slughorn had decided, in the spirit of inter-house friendship or something, he was going to pick Potions partners out of a bloody cauldron this year. That way, he explained, students could get to know new people.
Such bullshit.
This pissed Marlene off to no end because she and Mary had been Potions partners since first year, and she didn’t like change. She was also in a terribly bad mood because she had gotten a horrible night’s sleep the night before- her nightmares had been especially bad. Then again, they were hardly ever managable.
But Professor Slughorn obviously gave zero fucks.
So, in a truly dramatic fashion, each sixth-year Potions student’s name was written on a slip of parchment and deposited in a golden cauldron. Then, the professor drew partners two at a time.
Groans immediately ensued as students were paired with people they did not want to form a friendship with– Lily Evans with Dorcas Meadowes, Alice Fortescue with Severus Snape, Mary MacDonald with Gilderoy Lockheart, Peter Pettigrew with a Hufflepuff Marlene didn’t know.
Some got lucky. Two Ravenclaws got paired together, and to their utter delight, James Potter and Remus Lupin’s names were pulled at the same time. Of course, the looks they exchanged made Marlene worry about the pranks they were already forming. She made a mental note to avoid their workstation.
And then, Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black were called.
Marlene sighed. It could be a lot worse, she supposed. She could be in Alice’s situation–she glanced at her to see a look of utter disgust on her face. Though, she thought, Snape was a potions genius, so Alice would at least pass the class.
Sirius, on the other hand, did not take class–well–seriously. For the first five years of their schooling, Sirius had carefully developed his badass, class-clown persona, and often took it too far. It wasn’t that he was stupid–he was very intelligent. From what Marlene knew, he usually got 'Exceeds Expectations' or 'Outstanding's in most classes. But, he was unfocused, impulsive, selfish. Not a good personality for potions, which required a patient, practiced hand.
Plus, Marlene and Sirius had a history. They had tried dating in their third year, and he had been far from a gentleman about it. He had shown her some interest at the beginning of that year and she was flattered (he was definitely desired by the majority of the people in the school, with his good looks, high cheekbones, overconfidence, and bad-boy image). They snogged once in a broom closet and rumors flew (No, she did not allow him to rip off her shirt with his pocket knife.) He took her to Hogsmeade shortly after that, but dragged her around to all the things he wanted to do, getting supplies for his pranks and his broom, going on and on about how he hated Lily (her best friend!) for ignoring James, and barely paying her attention. At the end, he seemed comically shocked that she did not want a second date, nor did she want to revisit the closet. And that was that. They never argued and they stayed distant acquaintences, but she certainly lost some respect.
So, as Sirius walked over to place his bag at the same workstation as her, Marlene was a little shocked when he turned to her and said, “Hey McKinnon…I, erm…I know I’m probably not your first choice, but I promise to handle all the gross ingredients, yeah?”
Marlene blinked, but gave him a small smile. “Fair,” she agreed, shaking his hand.
They worked together during their first class to create a quick Shrinking Solution–this was far below NEWT level, but Slughorn called it “Teambuilding”- and Sirius kept to his word and handled anything that wriggled or oozed without complaint.
And by the end, Marlene was even more surprised to find that they had managed a potion that Slughorn pronounced “Fantastic!” She thought that maybe this wouldn’t be quite as bad as she initially believed.
Slughorn then told them they would be expected to brew more labor-intensive potions this year– a few of which they would have to check on after class hours to stir or add ingredients to. He told them their first of these would be an Everlasting Elixir, which they would start on Wednesday.
Most of the class groaned again, upset they would have to not only give up their evenings to making potions, but work with their partners outside of class. James even mumbled, “I’m not bloody missing Quidditch for this…” to which Remus lightly wacked him over the head. Though, Marlene privately agreed with him. She had finally made the Gryffindor Quidditch team last year as a Beater, and was not missing practice.
Slughorn then dismissed them, bidding them a good evening. Marlene gave Sirius a quick smile before heading towards Lily, Alice, and Mary.
“Well, guess Potions is my least favorite class now,” Alice grumbled as they headed towards the Great Hall for an early dinner. “Fucking Snape didn’t let me touch a single ingredient and told me to take notes on what he was doing instead. Of course, he was all for me coming after hours to stir the bloody things, though.”
“At least your partner will make sure you don’t fail! Merlin knows Gilderoy just likes to take the credit for other people’s work! I’m going to end up doing everything!” Mary looked miserable.
“You know I’ll make sure none of us fail,” Lily assured them. She was also a potions genius, second only to Snape. “What if we come up with a schedule?” She sat at the end of the Gryffindor table and loaded her plate with mashed potatoes while looking at the other three thoughtfully. “S’not like Black will do shit either,” she almost gagged when she said Sirius’s name. It was no secret she wasn’t his biggest fan, “but we have the four of us, plus I think Dorcas Meadowes is pretty reliable. Why don’t we each take a night or two and just do the work on everyone’s potions?”
They all agreed this seemed like a good plan, though they still had to run it by Meadowes, who was a Slytherin. They weren’t close with her, but she seemed responsible enough to stir a spoon once a week. So, they figured they could continue their weekly Friday “study” sessions from last year (which consisted of about an hour of studying, then multiple hours of gossiping and drinking butterbeer) and work on the potions then. Lily offered to go on Saturday afternoons, since she had Prefect duty on varying evenings. Alice volunteered to do Sundays. Mary claimed Mondays and Marlene took Wednesdays. They figured they would give Dorcas her pick of Tuesdays or Thursdays, and then they could just switch off for the last day. They were pretty pleased with themselves by the end of dinner.
As she finished her pudding, Marlene looked around the Great Hall. It was still a bit jarring to eat dinner with Lily, Mary, and Alice again, after the habits she had picked up last year. By the end of the year, she had grown accustomed to either grabbing food and sneaking off, or skipping altogether. She realized how much she missed this time with her friends, and sighed to herself. She caught Lily’s gaze, and Lily raised her eyebrows at her, silently asking if she was ok. Marlene nodded and shot her a smile, kicking Lily under the table lightly. Lily smiled back and stuck her tongue out, scrunching her nose.
As they got up to leave, they passed the boys, who were just sitting down. James, of course, yelled to Lily, “Oi, Evans! Sorry you got stuck with Meadowes as your Potions partner! Wish it was the two of us, eh?”
Lily rolled her eyes and said, “I wouldn’t trust you to brew a simple cure for boils, Potter. I feel bad for Remus, stuck with you all year.”
Marlene, Mary, and Alice all laughed. Even the other Gryffindor boys chuckled.
Remus responded with a grin, “It’s ok, Evans, I’ll get by. I’m the brains of the partnership, Prongs is the beauty.”
Everyone fell into louder giggles as James gave Remus an indignant look.
Lily grinned, and the four girls exited the Great Hall together.
Two days later, Marlene showed up for potions still unsure about how she felt about the whole Sirius-potions-partner situation. But, she didn’t really get a chance to evaluate those emotions, because Sirius was decidedly absent from class, along with Remus. James and Peter were both there, but looking extremely tired. Marlene shot James a questioning look, but he kept his eyes trained studiously on the blackboard, avoiding her gaze.
So, Marlene started the Everlasting Elixir on her own, more than a little miffed that Sirius had left her to cut up bat spleen by herself, after he had promised to handle the gross ingredients. She got through class successfully, though, completing the first steps of the potion without mishap.
“Alright, sixth-years,” Slughorn called them to attention. He had just finished helping Mary and Lockheart change their potion from the dubious-looking green color it had been to the pale blue it was supposed to be. “Discuss with your partners who will be the one to return to your cauldrons tonight and tomorrow night. Each night, the potion needs to be stirred exactly once clockwise and thrice counter-clockwise. On the first night, it should turn a dull yellow. On the second night, it should turn a bright red color. After it does so, remember to put it in stasis for Friday morning! Questions? No? Alright, see you all Friday!” He clapped his hands, dismissing them.
Marlene hurriedly wrote these directions down, as she would be the one to stir four different potions that night, and she didn’t want to be the one to fuck them all up–the thought of letting her friends down made her stomach feel like lead. As she was scribbling, Mary, Alice, Lily, and Dorcas walked over to her. Marlene was briefly distracted by the long braids Dorcas must’ve had done recently. She had most of them pulled up into a bun, but a few framed her face in a way that drew Marlene’s gaze to her eyes. Marlene had never noticed how…nice they were. A beautiful, deep brown. Reassuring. Calming. Beautiful...
Focus, McKinnon.
“Meadowes said she could do Thursdays!” Lily chirped, snapping Marlene’s gaze away from Dorcas’s face.
“Yeah, works great with the Quidditch practice schedule.” Dorcas grinned easily. “It's a great idea, guys!”
“Lily!” Marlene almost choked out the other girl’s name before she could stop herself, blushing a bit as she realized how strange she seemed. Lily shot her a look. “Uh…it was Lily’s idea,” she amended.
“Well, then great idea, Evans!” Dorcas said, smiling first at Lily, then at Marlene.
The smile made Marlene’s heart jump as she was immediately taken by the confidence Dorcas exuded. She felt a swoop in her stomach, followed by a pang of fear. She remembered experiencing this enamored, captivated feeling once before. She quickly made an excuse to leave, and scurried out of the room.
Absolutely not. Not again.