autumn melodies [TAG! open]

[Marlene McKinnon]

&&marlene;;

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A young woman sat outside on a stone bench, the wind gently wiping her scarlet tresses. Her lanrge brown eyes followed the progress of her fellow students, and she was amazed that it was already school. This one place, was so safe, when every where else was so dangerous. Marlene's mind kept shifting, playing the voices of her family wishing her a good year. They'd be nowhere near as she was here, in the sanctuary called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The second day of school happened to be a saturday, so Marlene was content to sit and watch other's doing's, despite her incredible urge to do something. The ever present melody of autumn drifted into her ears, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and the wind rustling through branches laden with scarlet leaves. A small frown kept stuck determinedly to her leaves, as yet again, her mind strayed to loved ones not protected from the terror of the outside world."Buck up, Marlie. look at the world around you, there's gotta be something happy around." She instructed herself quietly, large brown eyes falling again on the flitting scenes of other's lives.

She sighed, pulling herself off the bench. She bit her lip as she glanced around for a friend, any friend. She needed someone to talk to. Surely she wasn't the only school age person that worried terribly about their family, about everyone else? Pulling her scarf tighter 'round her neck, she continued to search out the courtyard... Anyone would do at the moment. "C'mon, someone's I know has to be around here somewhere...?" she whispered.

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[james potter]

James, for lack of better words, was bored. That was kind of sad to admit, seeing as school hadn't been in session for many days so far and already he had a total lack of interest in it.

He figured it was because he was Head Boy and he was supposed to be being a good boy and all. Not stir up mischief or slack off or anything fun like that. No, he was supposed to go against everything he had lived for for the past six years and not get in trouble.

It was amazing how something so simple had proved to be so hard so far. Already McGonagall had yelled at him for having his shirt untucked and his tie loosened. That whole incident had reminded him of the Muggle shirt Sirius had given him once: it had said I'm out of bed and dressed, what more do you want? James hadn't ever worn it (he never really understood why Muggles liked to walk about in clothes with saying or brand names plastered across the front - did they want to look like a living and breathing advertisement?) but he knew he still had it... somewhere.

Knowing Sirius, he was off with some girl, Remus was studying, and Peter was probably watching Sirius or Remus - hopefully the latter. That was too bad; James would have welcomed any of them right now. But no, Sirius had to go back to slaying the ladies, Remus had his books, and Peter had... well, whatever Peter had, he still had.

James was unaccustomed to being alone. Usually he had at least one Marauder with him. That was just the way he rolled. But being alone, he was quiet and actually thoughtful. Okay, so his thoughts were mostly about how hot Evans was looking this year. So what?

But he needed entertainment. He could only fantasize about Lily in public for so long. So he looked around for someone he knew. Recognized, even.

Marlene. He knew her. She was a Gryffindor. He was pretty sure she didn't hate him. He was also almost positive he hadn't used her to make Lily jealous. So it was all good.

Of course, James being James, he had to walk over to her bench with his traditional swagger.

But halfway there she got off the bench. That was fine. More room on the bench for James. More room to shiver on the bench for James. Because it was cold already. Even though it was the beginning of September, it was cold.

Completing his journey, he took a seat on the bench.

"Hi," he said simply to Marlene.

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[Marlene McKinnon]

&&marlene;;

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An unexpected voice floated over to Marlene. She turned her head quickly to the source of the greeting. As her eyes landed on James a grin replaced her frown. Quickly though, her forehead creased in confusion. There was something missing. James was alone. No Marauders, no girls hanging on to his every movement, his every word. "Lost the entourage?" She asked, a hint of laughter in her voice.

She turned completely to him, and noticed his faint shiver. "It's awful cold for the beginning of September." She said absently, once again pulling her scarf tighter.

She continued to look at him, wondering where the other Marauders were. It was such a rare sight to see James alone that she almost had to double take, and think about who he was. Of course, she inwardly was wondring mostly about Sirius, when she opened her mouth again to ask; "Where's the rest of your little group?"

In Marlene's mind, it really was inconceivable to see a Marauder alone, they were such a tight knit group. If she needed to be extreme, the word elitest might come to mind.

Since she figured he'd be pretty much the only person around, she paced slowly back over to the bench she had previously abandoned, settling down next to him. Her grin faded ever so slightly, as her eyes continued to search out other familiar faces. Despite being in the smae house as James for the past several years, she wasn't exactly comfortable around him, nor any of the Marauders, for the exact reason stated above. They were elitist. The had their friends, and she wasn't really anyone's best friend, just the girl everyone knew.

(Meh. It sucks)
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[Lily Evans]

Lily Evans gently walked out the doors leading into the Entrance Hall and through the courtyard of Howgarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her soft, fiery ringlets slowly swaying away from her rosy cheeks in the chilly breeze sweeping through the grounds. Pulling her traditional Gryffindorf scarf tighter around her neck, she took a few more steps forward in her new black boots, her parka buttoned up nearly to the top. She felt as if she weren't there at the moment, almost as if she were soaring through the grounds, each step bringing her farther and farther from reality. News of murders and kidnappings were increasing with each waking minute in both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. It was utterly unbearable! How could on wizard posses so much hatred? It was terrifying, the way the killings were planned and conducted.... And yet in this one school, it was all different.... Almost as if they were living in a whole different world in which none of mayhem could ever occur. A world so different all else was nearly forgotten. And yet it wasn't; the Daily Prophets still arrived each morning, bearing with them the dread readying itself to linger about the students, there was a still a wide-spread worry for family members and relatives.... Although for some reason, all this clumped to the backs of minds just as chewing gum clumps to the bottom of tables. The students seemed to move on, finishing their studies in the Great Hall and common rooms, snogging about at the ends of corridors, gossiping about so-and-so as if nothing terrible really was occurring to the outside world. They knew about it, and yet they didn't. They payed little or not attention to the new at all, and yet they payed so much. It was strange. As if Hogwarts were a crab of some sort; hiding deep within its shell imagining up its own reality, and coming out to bear witness to the mayhem of what is known as Lord Voldemort.

Almost as if she came out of her thoughts to fall upon the ground, Lily noticed she had come to a stop at the balconies of the courtyard which looked upon the Black Lake. It looked dead, just as many were already.... Her sparkling green eyes took it in, the lake reflecting into her own two eyes, almost giving her a rather ghostly, faint look. She turned her back to the lake as she leaned against the cold stone of which the courtyard was composed off to search the faces about for any familiar to her. There were quite a few younger students amidst many of her own year. There was also Potter, with Marlene McKinnon. A rather peculiar sight, seeing as Potter never left the company of his fellow 'Marauders.' She hadn't spoken to the two since the school year had begun, and seeing as she didn't plan on speaking to Potter so early into the school year, she made her way elegantly over the stone bench to see how Marlene was doing. She waltzed over to the bench rather elegantly, a book in one arm, her leather book bag strapped across her shoulder, her black skirt swaying along with the movement of her stocking-clad legs. She came to a half at Marlene's side, her eyes sparkling silently, as she spoke, "Hello Marlene," only giving Potter a quick glance of acknowledgment before asking Marlene, "How has your summer been?"

[james potter]

"Lost the entourage?"

James grinned, and decided to play along. There was nothing in his new rules about joking about with girls. "Well, you know, even us celebrities need a break sometimes."

It pleased him how it was so noticeable that he was alone. He loved being the center of attention with his exclusive group.

"It's awful cold for the beginning of September."

"I know," James agreed, shifting so he wasn't taking up quite so much room on the bench. "It's kind of... wrong." James hated the coldness. It made for harsh Quidditch conditions and less time to frolic about outside with his friends (when they weren't in their animagus forms). Besides that, he just hated being cold.

She kept looking at him. He wondered why. He knew he was pretty damn sexy, but that really wasn't the way she looked at him. More like she was contemplating things.

"Where's the rest of your little group?"

So that was why.

"You mean Sirius," he corrected matter-of-factly. He always assumed that if the girl didn't want him, she wanted Sirius - and usually he wasn't too far off. "And I dunno. He's probably off with something in a skirt. Or something out of the skirt." James' type of humor was blunt and raw. Girls usually weren't too amused by it.

Then he saw her.

This was the first time he had seen her, really seen her, in a long time. Yesterday he hadn't had much time to look at her, but seeing as she was walking over to where he was, he watched her (and made little effort to hide it) during her entire journey.

For one fleeting moment he thought that maybe she was coming to talk to him. But his hopes were gone when she basically ignored him.

As always, he didn't let it show that that effected him.

"Evans!" he said warmly, grinning. "Hey, babe. Rather cold out, don't you think? I could take care of that." He spread his arms, indicating that this was his method of making her less cold.

He wasn't sure why he called her by her surname. At first, it was just because she called him by his and he figured it was common courtesy. Now he figured it was pretty much for the same reason, except she was "Evans" to him now just as much as she was Lily. Besides, she seemed to like "Evans" more than "Lily" or "love", so it worked.

He braced himself to get turned down. Again.

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[ami frost.]

On cool, autumn days such as this one, some students preferred to take a nice, long walk. Others sat at the bases of trees with their friends. Most liked to sleep in, seeing as it was a Saturday.

Ami Frost instead happened to be hiding in a bush.

Now, if you knew Miss Frost personally, this wouldn't be that much of a surprise. But if you didn't...well, it still wouldn't be that much of a surprise. No, not at all. Stunningly short girls with bright pink hair hiding in bushes wouldn't be a strange sight at all, considering the fact that they were hiding. But stunningly short girls with bright pink hair attempting to hide in a bush but instead managing to get their hair tangled in one of the branches would seem slightly unusual. With one last tug of her head, Ami managed to pull herself free. She also managed to land on her rear, gain many little scratches on the palms of her hands, and have numerous leaves and twigs in her hair, looking as if they were attacking her artificially colored head. Again, not an unusual sight at all, coming from her. Though you'd probably be wondering why she was hiding in a bush.

The answer to that particular question, Ami could not answer, seeing as she didn't really know why she was attempting to blend in with the Hogwarts shrubbery herself. Well, maybe she did. And the answer would be that she was bored. And when bored, those born into the Frost family tended to do slightly peculiar things to entertain themselves.

Or at least, Ami did.

Moving on, her cinnamon brown eyes scanned the Hogwarts grounds for anyone, anything, that she knew. What turned up was a couple of first years, one group of Slytherins, the Hogwarts groundkeeper running around with his hands over his hand, and a trio of people that looked slightly familiar. Two redheads and a dark-haired boy. A closer look and she found them to be Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, and James Potter. And with that, Ami took off running.

Now, Ami wasn't exactly graceful, as opposed to her younger, very annoying sister. In fact, she could barely walk in a straight line. And running? That was out of the question. So of course, Emily tripped over her own feet, not to mention the feet of her peers, seeing as they were only a couple of yards away. Landing with a quiet "oomph!", she looked up to the faces of her friends and came up with a weak, "Hey, guys!"

ooc; i can't think of anything else.
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