The Day with the Muggle Trend Chaser

                                    

                                          
Although they were out to James, Sirius and Remus still insisted on keeping it from the others which gave me the perfect opportunity to reach back out to Marlene. I wanted to talk to someone about two of my best friends moving out with her and I hadn't seen her since Dorcas's funeral. Glenn may not have been controlling our friendship from behind the scenes, but it felt like there was a wall between us, both of us blaming ourselves for the death of Dorcas but neither wanting to talk about it. I wanted to change that.
                          
Within a few letters, I discovered a few things had changed, mainly her address which she gave me via patronus to avoid another Glenn interception situation. Due to a late night Order shift, James was still asleep by lunch, passed out on the sofa whilst the rest of us tiptoed around him Before leaving, I kissed him on the forehead goodbye, glad that we now had at least one less secret between us.
                          
Marlene's new building was incredibly nice, the second floor of an old Victorian House in Camden. Her family were reasonably well off from what I could tell, which explained the new scenic house. I felt strangely normal as I buzzed in, just like every other muggle who had come here before me and it felt odd to hear Marlene's voice on the other end of the receiver, crackly and hard to hear, unlike the clarity of a patronus message.
                          
She already had the door slightly open, peeking around the side as I dashed up.
                          
"Marlene - " I began as she suddenly stuck her wand out of the door.
                          
"What food were we eating when we first spoke?"
                          
"What?"
                          
"Don't what me, answer the question, Lily," She continued, her dark eyes narrowed.
                          
"Um.. trifle?"
                          
Slowly, she pushed the door back, stuffing her wand back into the pocket of her cloak. Marlene was wearing an odd, yet stylish amalgamation of wizarding and muggle culture: a dark blue dress with a large black mid-section, with a shimmering, iridescent blue cloak over the top.
                          
"Sorry, I just... thought it was better to be safe," She said softly. I reached out to hug her again, but she jumped back a little, "Inside, then we can hug."
                          
"Oh... okay," I replied, feeling a little shaken by the bizarre arrival. Walking into her flat, it didn't feel like it was inhabited by wizards at all. Everything looked like it had been ripped out of a magazine, from the bare wood bookshelves to the yellow and brown sofa. Although she'd always been one to embrace muggle fashions, she'd always kept an element of magic to her which she retained in her clothes but from her house it was gone.
                          
Finally she stepped forward and put her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. 
                          
"I've missed you, Lily."
                          
"I've missed you too, Marlene," I replied, squeezing her so tight that it felt like I would never let go.
                          
"Marlene, was it her?" I looked up abruptly, furrowing my brow as I heard a male voice from one of the rooms.
                          
"Yep, don't worry, Love!" She explained quickly, "Mark."
                          
"You two live together?"
                          
She nodded, "Since ... we just didn't want to be alone."
                          
"I thought he was playing Quidditch in America," I replied, "And he apparated in, did he just give it up?"
                          
"Yeah, kind of," She replied, "He got an offer from Chudley Cannons, he apparates there now and it's a lot less effort. You know, one time, he drove there, in a muggle car, it was his Mum's."
                          
"Impressive," I replied.
                          
"Shall we go to the living room? You came at an odd time, we're having lunch in a little while but you're welcome to stay," She asked, holding out her hand towards the room where Mark was. I nodded and followed her into an equally stylish, living room/dining room/kitchen, very open plan and modern. Mark was behind the counter, chopping up some vegetables by hand, giving me a small smile as we walked in.