Marlene Elizabeth McKinnon

MARLENE ELIZABETH McKINNON

Full Name:      Marlene Elizabeth McKinnon Nicknames:      Mar, Marley, Marleney Date of Birth:      3 April, 1960 Hometown:      Aberdeen, Scotland Education:      Hufflepuff, Class of 1978 Blood Status:      Half-Blood Occupation:      Staff Writer, Home Affairs Employer:      The Daily Prophet Wand Type:      Cypress and Dragon Heartstring, 11 1/3 inches

APPEARANCE

Hair:
     A soft blonde that's naturally wavy and sometimes frizzy, but Marlene usually keeps it sleek with a few simple potions she keeps on her vanity table.
Eyes:
     Large, blue, and wide sey
Height:
     5'3"
Style:
     Marlene is fashionably inconsistent; one day she will be trendy and well-coiffed and the next she will be casual and relaxed. She likes her clothes to be functional and she has an on again, off again relationship with denim.
Etc.:
     Marlene is a pretty blonde girl with a curvaceous figure and a flirtatious grin. Because of this, she's been on a lot of first dates and has been largely underestimated for a good part of her life.

PERSONALITY

Erised:
     It's hard for Marlene to see all of her friends married with children, because she feels she'll never have what they have, and it is what she desperately wants.
Dementor:
     The night her family were killed.
Patronus:
     The first time she told someone she loved him and he said it back. (corporeal form is a fox)
Boggart:
     Knives, Death Eaters
Likes:
     Scotch, chai tea, cigarettes, old books, rainy afternoons, a certain men's aftershave, banoffee pie, Gabriel Dash, Margherita pizza, strawberry ice cream, snogging, red fingernail polish, the Rolling Stones, coffee
Disikes:
     People clipping their nails around her, knives or other sharp objects, secrets, malicious gossip, waking up in the morning, people talking to her before she can have her morning coffee, evasive behavior, sexism, ageism, most isms
Basic Personality:
     Marlene has always had a problem with romanticizing people, especially the men she's been involved with, overlooking their flaws in the hopes that they will do the same for her. She's got a massive superiority complex that she tries not to shove down people's throats, but since she feels inadequate nearly all of the time, she makes up for it by pretending like she's confident in everything she does.
     This leads to her being more than a little headstrong, but while not quick to admit she's wrong about something, she usually comes around and admits fault when it's due. She is a very friendly person who hates giving advice but does it anyway with the hope that she hasn't just ruined someone else's life, and she's fiercely loyal to the people she loves, and she loves a great deal of people.
     She's a lot less trusting since joining the Order of the Phoenix, especially since so many of her friends and family have lost their lives to this senseless war. Marlene aches for a sense of normalcy that she feels will never return, but is willing to grab onto what little happiness is within her grasp and hold on as if her life depended on it, which she feels it does.

FAMILY HISTORY

Parents:
     Robert McKinnon (9 February, 1935 - 14 July, 1981) and Myrna McKinnon née Childress (25 September, 1935 - 14 July, 1981)
Siblings:
     Stuart McKinnon (19 July, 1956 - 14 July, 1981)
Significant Other:
     Remus Lupin
Children:
     N/A
Other Family:
     Sophie Dabrowski née Childress, maiden aunt, 39; Andros Dabrowski, uncle, 42; Amelia Dabrowski, cousin, 3
Pets:
     Leo, a barred owl who is unusually quiet, so much so that Marlene often fears that he's gone off somewhere to die.
Sally, a ragamuffin cat who follows her around wherever she goes
Nina, an English bulldog who barks loudly whenever someone's at the door or whenever she hears firecrackers on Bonfire night and New Year's Day.
Biography:
     Marlene McKinnon had an easy childhood. She grew up in a safe neighborhood in Aberdeen with two attentive and loving parents, an older brother who always stuck up for her, and a little sister she loved more than anyone else.
     At Hogwarts, it took her a year or two to come out of her shell and spend time with people outside of her dormitory (but in fairness, Marlene's shell was never that small). She made a lot of great friends, fell in love with a lot of boys, and managed to break a few hearts of her own before graduation. She developed a reputation for being quite a party girl, and while Marlene did love a party, she was never tardy to class and was only late with two assignments, both of which were towards the end of her seventh year when all she wanted to do was sleep.
     During her seventh year, Marlene started dating Remus Lupin. They had always been good friends, but until then their relationship had consisted of flirtatious banter and rather awkward pauses in conversation. Their honeymoon period didn't last as long as she would have liked, for soon Remus started acting moody and distant. She accused him of avoiding her and he accused her of being paranoid. Marlene was surprised he didn't give her detention when she started throwing books at him. Perhaps he knew he deserved it.
     They were cordial to each other afterwards and even took a picture together at graduation, but their paths didn't cross much until they both started working in Diagon Alley. Marlene had landed a job as a staff writer for The Daily Prophet and Remus was a clerk for Flourish and Blotts. They often ran into each other during their lunch breaks and after work in the evening, and eventually the magnetic pull that had brought them together in the first place became undeniable. They pretended like it was just physical for a long time, but life got hard and complicated. After their romantic relationship dissolved, Marlene started dating a junior photographer who'd fancied her since they both started working at the Prophet. She didn't want to hurt Remus by shoving it in his face, so she stopped talking to him. It is one of the biggest regrets she has to date.
     They were both brought together again when they were invited to join the Order of the Phoenix. Marlene didn't have to think twice about joining; it was the right thing to do. She was terrified - she didn't like to fight if she could avoid it - but she knew that whatever needed to be done to bring down Voldemort and his followers, she would be amongst those who were doing it. She and her friends had many run ins with Death Eaters. It became hard to trust people, even people within the Order.
     Sirius kept insinuating that he believed there was a spy in their midst but Marlene didn't believe him until she started seeing signs. The Death Eaters began anticipating their moves, they knew where members of the Order would be and when. Benjy was the first of the Order to die. Marlene took the news of his death poorly, and terror and misery threatened to drive her mad when she learned of more and more deaths: Edgar Bones and nearly his entire family, Caradoc Dearborn, the Prewetts, the Keanes... Marlene feared every day that she would be next, but she worried more about those closest to her. Remus kept missing meetings and wouldn't answer her letters or the door whenever she or James, Sirius, or Lily went by his place to check on him. She didn't know how to help him, but with Remus she found herself angrier than anything else.
     On July 14, 1981, the McKinnons were going to bed after a family dinner when they were suddenly attacked by a pair of Death Eaters. Stuart was the first to die. Marlene can still hear the sound of her mother screaming as her father's body fell with a thud against the steps in the next room, but Myrna McKinnon's screams were quickly silenced and Marlene and Deirdre were left to fight the remaining Death Eaters on their own. With them, the Death Eaters didn't have surprise at their advantage, so the girls were not easy targets. Marlene fired the most powerful stinging hex she'd ever fired at one of their assailants. Deirdre suffered from a powerful curse that left her highly disoriented for days, but she managed to knock her attacker unconscious. The Death Eaters retreated and Marlene clung to Deirdre for the longest time before sending her patronus to Dumbledore.
     The Order met and Marlene recounted the details of the attack. Fear and panic were high during this time, as the Potters had gone into hiding and nearly half of the Order had been captured, tortured, or killed. Remus finally crawled out the woodwork and their relationship, though at a rocky point, resumed to where they were seeing more of each other.
     It wasn't until the attack on the Potters, Peter's death, and the news that You-Know-Who had been defeated that they finally had the confrontation that was inevitable. Remus finally told her a secret that only few knew - he was a werewolf.

PLAYER INFORMATION

Name:
     Becks
Payment:
     Lawl
Comments:
     Update!