Early Riser (Marlene)

[RODOLPHUS ROBERT LESTRANGE]

Rodolphus Lestrange had had yet another sleepless night.

It wasn't unusual for him to lay awake, unable to sleep. Sometimes he had nightmares, and sometimes he just couldn't switch his mind off. He thought about the upcoming war, about the dark wizard calling himself Lord Voldemort, and his followers, the pureblood elitists calling themselves the Death Eaters. Rodolphus wanted to join them as soon as he left Hogwarts. Until then it just wasn't an option, but if it had been... Rodolphus wanted to be a part of it, he wanted to do everything he could to further the cause his parents so believed in. His father, especially, would have been proud of him if he joined the Death Eaters, if he could make a difference.

But mostly he thought about why his father wasn't here now to join the Death Eaters himself. He thought about that night when he and his mother and father had been coming back from London, when they had been taken. He closed his eyes and saw them being tortured and killed.

Sometimes when he remembered that night, the scar on his chest tingled and itched as though it were still healing.

Finally he couldn't take it any more. It was early, but he got out of bed anyway, and got dressed. It was a weekend so no one else would be up for some time. Rodolphus picked up his bag and headed out of the Slytherin common room, making his way towards the library. When he couldn't switch off his mind he liked to work. It took his mind off everything.

Rodolphus walked into the empty library, and found a table in the corner. He got out his Defence Against the Dark arts book, a quill and a roll of parchment, and started to write.

[MARLENE ISOBEL MCKINNON]

Marlene McKinnon walked through the halls at the crack of dawn on a Saturday with a thick blanket wrapped around her, and her blonde hair sticking out at all kinds of angles. She wasn't wearing shoes and her feet were freezing against the tile floor, but she pressed on. It was still dark out, which meant she hadn't slept too late. And while she loved sleeping, she knew that September and October sunrises were some of the prettiest she'd ever seen, so she didn't want to miss this one. She exited the castle doors, immediately thankful for the blanket she'd dragged out of bed. She was surprised she hadn't woken Alice or Lily on the way out, or maybe she did. The castle doors thudded behind her, and she grinned before she walked out to the grounds, found a nice bench, and waited. And sure enough, like it rose every morning, she watched the sun creep up over the clouds, streaking the sky with light pinks and purples, the dawning of a new day. She grinned at the sight, wishing only that she was at the ocean instead of at Hogwarts. Those were the prettiest sunsets by far. And she was sure they always would be.

But, the problem with sunsets was that they were there and then they were gone. And Marlene was left alone, staring at a lit sky, which wasn't particularly interesting. But she couldn't exactly go back to bed. No, okay, that was a lie, she totally could go back to sleep, but she didn't want to. So, instead, she headed for one of her favorite places in Hogwarts, the library. And while Marlene did enjoy old books now and again, the books were definitely not why it was her favorite place in Hogwarts. It was her favorite place because of the piano. She grinned at the thought of her fingers pressing each key, getting lost in the music. She was never allowed to play during school hours because it was always so busy, and Pince would surely yell at her for being too loud. As if she herself wasn't loud enough already. But it was so early, and it was the weekend, nobody in their right mind would be awake this early.

And as she tore open the doors she found out she was right. As she tugged her blanket, which was still wrapped securely around her shoulders , in through the door her eyes fell upon one of the last people in the whoel world she would ever want to see (though if given the chance to really think about it that would really become a rather large list for Marlene). No one in their right mind was up at this hour - but Rodolphus Lestrange was. She stopped in her tracks as she stared at him, closing the door as quietly as she could behind her, hoping that he was too lost in whatever work he was doing to notice her sneaking by. She didn't stare at him any longer, but instead made a beeline for the nearest bookshelf and navigated her way to the piano in the back left corner of the large library.

She reached the piano safely, and as she lifted the door to reveal the keys underneath she forgot all about the other person in the library, but life was quick to remind her she wasn't alone as she dropped the door directly onto the keys, sending an incredibly unpleasant sound reverberating off of every wall in the library.

"Damn it, Mars," she muttered under her breath before lifting it right back up again and pushing it all the way in so the keys were completely revealed. She pushed the momentary mishap behind her, and she put her blanket down across the seat. And then she began to play, her fingers hitting the keys like it was an instinct. It was a soft tune and it echoed across the library, and she closed her eyes, losing herself in the music just like she wanted to.

ooc;; Time Regrets

[RODOLPHUS ROBERT LESTRANGE]

Rodophus didn't hear her come in- in bare feet, Marlene Mckinnon was eerily quiet- but he heard when she dropped the piano lid back down. It made what sounded like an almighty crash in the silence of the library, and Rodolphus jumped, immediately cursing himself for being so skittish.

He growled with anger under his breath. Who would be up at this time, and making a bloody racket at that? This was a library, it was supposed to be quiet, and at this hour he had thought silence would be guaranteed.

Rodolphus had looked up from his essay, which had been coming along rather nicely, and was looking around the library now. But he couldn't see them, whoever they were. Maybe it was Peeves, causing trouble as usual. He was sure he was the only student out of bed this early on a Saturday.

Turning back to his essay, Rodolphus picked up his wand and started to erase the blot of ink he had made when he had jumped. When it was completely gone he picked up his quill, and continued to scratch out the sentence he had been in the middle of writing, frowning slightly as he tried to pick up his train of thought. And then...

Music. Rodolphus looked up as he heard it floating through the library, scowling. This wasn't Peeves. The music was soft and calming, and spoke of memories... Rodolphus didn't want to think about memories right now. He wanted to work, and he couldn't focus, not with that bloody music. The music jarred with him. It was sweet, and softening, and Rodolphus wasn't soft.

"This is a library!" he shouted suddenly, his booming voice reverberating right up into the rafters. "Not a bloody music room!"

[MARLENE ISOBEL MCKINNON]

Marlene had been about to hit a note when his voice came booming back at her, slamming off of every wall just as loud, if not louder, than the piano had been. His words were harsh and angry, just like he was. She willed herself to keep playing, but she was so angry at him that she stopped. She sat there for a moment, glaring in the direction of where he was sitting. He hadn't even bothered to leave his bloody seat.

"Then why is there a bloody piano in here?!" she shouted back at him full force, silently wondering if he'd recognize her voice. She was loud, sure, but she couldn't count on one hand the amount of times she'd actually spoken to Rodolphus Lestrange about anything. She spoke with him on occasion during her fourth year when she dated Evan Rosier, but even that contact had been brief because she was never really fond of any Slytherins. It was no secret that the Lestranges were pureblood elitists, especially now... with... the war coming.


She stayed quiet for a moment, unsure of what was going to come next, so she did what she wanted to, and she continued to play. If Rodolphus truly had a problem with her playing then he could come find her and tell her so himself. She wasn't afraid of him, no matter how big and tough and full of hate he was. Marlene had experienced enough prejudice hate from Evan Rosier and his family to last her an entire lifetime, so Rodolphus Lestrange was practically a butterfly in her eyes. Most Slytherins were these days. Them and their pureblood elitist ways. They may have been pure of blood but they all held rotten hearts and that was what mattered most. It didn't matter what kind of blood you had if you were a horrible bloody person. Or, at least that's what Marlene thought anyway. She continued her playing and wondered what exactly Rodolphus Lestrange would do in response. Whatever it was, she was sure it wouldn't be good. But she was brave, and she was not afraid of him.

She smirked to herself as she pressed each key, growing more and more proud of herself by the second. She was sure most students in her position would have fled the library in an instant, but Marlene McKinnon was not most students, and she was a Gryffindor through and through, no matter how bad the situations she might have gotten herself into seemed to be. And the more the pride in her grew the more she wanted to egg him on, so she did.


"If you want me to stop Lestrange you're going to have to come make me!" she shouted her challenge, laughing slightly afterward, though her laughter echoed far less than the music she was playing.

[/blockquote]

[RODOLPHUS ROBERT LESTRANGE]

Rodolphus smiled slightly as his shout caused the music to stop abruptly. Hopefully whoever it was would get the message, and just leave. If they couldn't be quiet then they shouldn't be here in the first place.

But then they shouted back, a girls voice echoing as loudly as his had. Why was there a piano there? How would Rod know? He didn't care, either way. As long as the bloody thing stayed silent. And then the music started up again, and Rodolphus clenched his fist, squashing his quill. When he let it go it was all bent out of shape, but it didn't matter; he had more than enough spares.

The girl- Rodolphus had no idea who it was- shouted over her playing, saying that if he wanted her to stop he'd have to come and find her. She addressed him by his last name, which was telling. She had seen him when she came into the library, then, or else recognised his voice. It wasn't unusual that he would be recognised; Rodolphus was quite well known within the school. The fact that she used his last name suggested she wasn't a Slytherin. The fact that she addressed him at all rather than just shutting up suggested she was a seventh year, and a bold one at that. Rodolphus didn't think anyone younger than him would dare...

But that didn't narrow it down much. There were plenty of seventh year girls in the other three houses, and Rodolphus didn't care about any of them. He let out a derisive snort at her 'challenge', stood up, and walked about two rows down to where the music was coming from. He stepped around a book shelf and saw her there, playing away. Found her. That had been easy.

She was a Gryffindor, blonde, and Rod recognised her vaguely as someone Rosier used to date. He walked over to the piano, put his hand on the lid, and shut it, slowly and deliberately, closing it hard so a sharp sound rang once more through the library. He kept his hand on the wood, staring at the blonde girl. His eyes were ringed with dark circles, and he looked almost dangerous. Slowly, he brought a finger up to his lips, and pressed it against them in a gesture with universal meaning; shhhh...

Rodolphus didn't say anything, he just stared her down until he was sure she'd gotten the message. And then he removed his hand from the piano, and started to walk away. That would be the end of that, unless the girl was stupid enough to try and provoke him again, dumb enough to speak and say something insipid like most girls...

[MARLENE ISOBEL MCKINNON]

Marlene continued to play, and waited. She knew Rodolphus would come to find her, if only to shut her up. And she hit every note with pleasure until he appeared in front of her, slowly lowering the lid of the piano. His eyes had dark circles under them, and he was scruffy and unkempt as usual. He looked tired and he looked angry, but she stared at him, her green eyes boring into his as he slammed the lid of the piano down. He placed a finger to his mouth to tell her to be quiet, and she raised a brow at him, unimpressed. But he seemed to have thought it would do the job, since he was walking away. He didn't know her very well, did he? She smirked as she watched his retreating figure for a few seconds.

Part of her was undoubtedly angry, why did he even have to be in here? There were a million other places in the castle that were abandoned at this time of morning. Of course he had to study in the one place where it made sense to. There were tables in the Great Hall he could use, or even in an empty classroom, but there was only a piano here, and she wasn't about to let some pissed off, tired Slytherin take her fun away. He had no right to tell her to be quiet. She could do what she wanted. So she moved the bench back a little bit, the wood scraping against the floor. She knew that would get Rodolphus' attention, more than likely anyway, but she didn't care. She walked around the piano and placed the lid up properly once more, so the sound from the notes could echo freely as they were before. But she didn't sit back down, not yet. Instead she leaned up against the piano and stared at him.

"Just because you're tired doesn't give you the right to be a git about things. There are a million other places you could study," she said, her eyes narrowing. She knew she was pushing her luck, but she always had. Especially when it came to Slytherins. Particularly after she and Evan broke up. She knew how Rodolphus felt about people like her, about blood-traitors. But the way he interacted with her told her that... maybe he didn't recognize her. Maybe he didn't know who she was. He probably did, but... you never knew. Marlene left her comment hanging in the air and turned back to her piano, sitting on the piano bench and scooting it closer, the legs scraping unpleasantly against the floor. It wasn't the nicest sound, but the next few notes she played in the piano were more than pleasant enough to make up for it.

She played a few more notes, but her anger at the Slytherin wasn't dying down as quickly as she had hoped, so she did something that she always did when she was angry or upset - something that she knew would only get more on Rodolphus' nerves, but she didn't care about him - she started to play and sing at the same time. It was a song she'd practiced over and over with her cousins, and she was always the one who played the piano so she knew the words and the notes by heart.

"Kiss me once, kiss me twice.
Hold me close through the night
Goodnight..."

ooc;; Suspended (you only have to listen to the first 20 seconds or so xD

[RODOLPHUS ROBERT LESTRANGE]

Rodolphus rolled his eyes as the girl called after him. She couldn't just leave well enough alone, could she? She was just embarrassing herself. Her words didn't faze him. Let her bleat like a little lamb, he didn't care. As long as she shut up with the bloody music.

He didn't want to hear it. Rodolphus wanted silence. Cold, hard silence. He wanted to forget. He wanted to study till his brain hurt, write till his hand cramped up, read till his eyes blurred. Then maybe he'd go for a run, run laps around the lake until his muscles ached and his lungs felt like they were going to explode. He didn't want to think, he wanted to forget. He didn't want soft, sweet music.

And then, amazingly he heard the piano keys again. He spun around, fuming, and saw the blonde girl had opened the piano once more, and was sitting at it again. Her fingers brushed lightly over the keys and music filled the air, but it didn't stop there. She started to sing.

"Kiss me once, kiss me twice.
Hold me close through the night
Goodnight..."

"Silencio!"

Rodolphus had whipped out his wand and pointed it straight at the Gryffindor, performing the incantation with ease. It was a simple spell, and one he had mastered long ago. Immediately, she fell silent. He couldn't stand her singing. He couldn't stand her music. Instinctively Rodolphus lifted a hand and scratched the place where his scar was through his shirt, though it wasn't itching. Sometimes he just thought it was. When it had been healing it had sometimes itched.

"Shut up," he growled his voice low. The next time she struck another note, he'd blow that stupid piano to bits. The library was no place for a piano anyway. Stupid muggle contraption.

[MARLENE ISOBEL MCKINNON]

Marlene had clearly underestimated who she was dealing with, and she silently cursed herself for being so unprepared. She should have expected the silencio curse to come hurling at her, but she hadn't, and now she was stuck incapable of speaking. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to look at Lestrange. He told her to shut up, and she inhaled before whipping out her own wand. Two could play at this game, and Marlene didn't have to speak in order to do magic.

For a moment she considered pointing her wand at him, and starting this big huge battle that would likely end in a ruined library and one or both of them being injured. And while the thought of kicking Rodolphus Lestrange’s ass in a duel was incredibly appealing, she wasn’t sure how far Rod would go with his magic, and she wasn’t really in the mood to find out if he’d torture her or not.

So, she came up with a different plan. She stared at him for a moment before looking back at the piano, putting on her best downtrodden face and grabbing her blanket and wrapping it around herself again. It was comfy and one of her favorites, just being surrounded in it brought a smile to her face. Screw Rodolphus Lestrange and his bad attitude. And then she started walking. She walked right past him in her bare feet, ignoring the freezing cold library floor the best she could. Her feet were probably dirty, but that had never bothered her. She thought of the sunrise she'd seen earlier as she made a right and walked toward the table where Rabstan had been doing his essay. She stared at it for a moment before picking up his inkwell and dumping it on the paper and throwing it carelessly to the floor. If he was going to ruin her good time, she could ruin his good time as well.

And while she was at it, she grabbed his book as well before abandoning her blanket near the table and running somewhere else in the library as fast and silently as her bare feet would take here. Part of her was thankful for the silencio spell that was currently disabling her ability to vocalize anything; she was laughing so hard it would have been very easy for him to find her. She laughed silently to herself as she thought about how completely childish this all was, but she didn't particularly care. It was fun. Well, to a point. It was fun when she was playing the piano, but being a pain in Rodolphus Lestrange's ass definitely came in close second.

[/blockquote]

[RODOLPHUS ROBERT LESTRANGE]

Rodolphus was pleased with the effects of his silencing charm. Predictably, once she was unable to sing, she stopped playing too. He watched as she puffed up with anger, before she stood up, gathered a ratty looking blanket around her, and walked away from the piano. Well, thank fuck for that. It looked like she had finally gotten the message and decided to leave.

He noticed that she was in bare feet, and looked at her with some distaste. She hadn't even bothered to get dressed? The Gryffindor girl walked away from the piano... but not towards the door. Rodolphus followed her as she head towards his things.
"What are you doing?" he asked, angrily, raising his wand again thinking she was going to go for his bag... but instead she picked up his ink pot and emptied it onto his essay.

Rodolphus looked at her in shock. What in hell what she doing? He was furious, more at her action than its consequences. He could fix that no problem, he wouldn't have to write the essay again... but the fact that she had the nerve, the bare faced cheek. She was scruffy, bold as brass, and bleated at him annoyingly. At least he had stopped her bleating for now, but still, she was growing lower and lower in his esteem every passing second. And then she grabbed his book, and ran off with it.

Rodolphus reached his desk, and stared after her.
"Pathetic." He said, not caring whether she heard or not. "Accio," he said, pointing his wand in her direction, and his Defence Against the Dark Arts book came soaring into his hand. Then he turned his wand to his parchment, and started erasing the ink, as he had done when he'd blotted his work earlier, although this was taking longer.

[MARLENE ISOBEL MCKINNON]

Marlene heard Rodoolphus mutter that she was pathetic beore she felt the book go flying from her hands. Rodolphus probably thought he'd been so smart. He probably thought he'd won. He probably expected her to feel childish and embarrassed, but she didn't. Instead, she stopped in her running, turned around, and stared at Rodolphus for a second. She a raised a brow at him before pointing the wand at her through and thinking the reverse charm for silencio.

"Can't you do anything without magic?" she asked, a mixture of anger and amusement coming out in her voice. She probably shouldn't have found all of this as funny as she did, especially since Rodolphus Lestrange most certainly wanted nothing to do with her. But she wasn't about to leave. Try as he might, he would not break Marlene's spirit. She took a few. She closed the distance between them and gathered her blanket that she'd left abandoned and folded it across her arms before walking back in the direction of the piano, but she didn't disappear behind the shelves just yet. Instead, she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"Why are you even working on homework this early in the morning on a weekend anyway?" she asked, staring at the piece of parchment he was slowly clearing up. "And if I bother you so much, why don't you leave?"

Marlene thought back to when Rodolphus had called her pathetic and her blood boiled slightly. Who did he have a right to call pathetic? Childish? Sure. Immature? Almost definitely, but pathetic was one thing Marlene McKinnon certainly wasn't.

Then again, Rodolphus Lestrange might not have even been talking about this particular instance. He may have just meant it generally. That wouldn't surprise her, either, and it made her even more angry to think about it. How Slytherins got away with being such bullies all the time was absolutely infuriating, and she would not Rodolphus win this little war. No matter how pathetic that made her. Her wand was out, so if he tried anything else she'd be ready for it. She was done playing games with him. Now she was just angry.

[/blockquote]

[RODOLPHUS ROBERT LESTRANGE]

She finally performed the counter charm to his silencing spell, and Rodolphus thought that she had waited an embarrassing long time to do it. If someone had done a spell on him he wouldn't have run around letting them take away his power of speech. But then again, he obviously had more dignity than she did.

She asked if he could do anything without magic, and he raised an eyebrow. That was exactly the sort of attitude he would expect from a muggle lover like her. Magic was what made wizards better than the muggles, and everything should be done the magical way whenever possible.

"Yes." he replied, simply, wondering why he bothered to give her a response at all. Then she asked what he was doing up so early, and why he didn't just leave if she annoyed him so much.

This time, he didn't bother to answer her first question. It was none of her business, and that was plainly clear. Her other question, however...

"I don't even know who you are," he said, scathingly, "do you think you're impressing me? Running around here like you don't have a shred of dignity," he looked her up and down, scowling. "Just leave. Stop chasing after me every time I try to shake you off. Shut up with your bloody music, and leave. You're impressing nobody."

Rodolphus sat back down at his desk, unable to completely wipe the look of disgust off of his face.

[MARLENE ISOBEL MCKINNON]

Rodolphus answered her first question with a simple yes, but she doubted that was true. Or perhaps he was just feeling particularly miserable and lazy that day. No, no, Marlene was sure Rodolphus Lestrange was undoubtedly this unpleasant every day. He never told her why he was there, and then he went on to attack the content of her character. She let out a sarcastic laugh as he asked her if she thought she was impressing him. But before she tackled the attack on her character, she supposed she should at least clear up who she was.

"Mars, last name's McKinnon," she said, her eyes narrowed at him, the look of utter disgust on his face still lingering there. "And trust me, Lestrange, impressing you is the last thing I'd want to spend my time doing. I'm actually just trying to show you you can't just push people around; not everyone's going to go quietly, no matter how much you might want them to."

After the words left her mouth she realized the hidden meaning they could have. The war was swift approaching and she knew Lestrange was probably in the thick of wanting to help out the Death Eaters. She'd heard what happened to his parents over the years at her parents parties. The Lestranges had been invited to a few over the years. They were one of the families Marlene hated. They thought muggleborns were filth. Marlene thought they were morons. And so was Rodolphus Lestrange.

She walked over to his table where he was sitting and sat down at a different desk a few feet away from his own. She waved her wand once a book came flying off of the shelf to rest in front of her.

"Just because you're a miserable person who thinks he's a badass doesn't mean people have to listen to you, asshole," she said, fuming, her eyes narrow.

[/blockquote]

[RODOLPHUS ROBERT LESTRANGE]

Rodolphus laughed coldly. She thought she had it all figured out, didn't she? She said that her name was 'Mars' Mckinnon, and he realised he had been right, she was the girl Rosier had dated. Why he had dated a Gryffindor in the first place was beyond him, and in the end she had shown her true colours as a blood traitor. That, as far as he knew, had ended it.

She said that he thought he could push people around, that he thought he was a bad ass. That was really rich. She clearly had her opinions set, and that was that. Nothing he did or said would make her see him any differently. Not that he wanted her to. Not that he cared. But the whole thing was ridiculous.

"You stupid little cow," he said, his voice low, dangerous, but almost amused. "I was sitting here working, then you come in and start making noise. In the library." He was working in the library, like it was meant for, not disturbing anyone. She had been the one making noise, thinking only of what she wanted. "But then you decide you want to make a racket, you decide not to shut up even when you know there's someone here working, then you try to ruin my essay, and run off with my book like a stupid little child. You're a spoiled little brat, who thinks she's bold and brave."

His disdain for her was evident in his voice. Rodolphus had no respect for the girl what so ever.
"If you're not trying to impress me," he said, coldly, "then leave."

He turned back to his essay, and started to write again, ignoring her completely.