(a/n) obviously i don't own J.K. Rowling's works. i'd be a gazillionaire if i had.
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[A CUNNING DEMISE]
chapter one
the unexpected wedding
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The majestic doors swung backwards on its own and permitted entrance.
Marlene McKinnon shadowed her parents, staring down at her shiny grey snakeskin heels as they clicked against the marbled floor.
She frowned. A mere hour ago, she had been up in the air with her ash-blond hair whipping against the wind, shabby shoes swathed in mud as she had broomsticked around the Quidditch pitch. To her misfortune, her grubby clothing was now replaced with a deep emerald, off-shoulder silk dress and her hair had been magicked into an immaculate bun. According to her mother, this made her made her appear more 'lady like'. Either way, lady or not, Marlene would have preferred to spend the rest of her day playing Quidditch rather than attending the social event.
"Hello Diarmid and Zerlina."
There was a tall, pale-faced woman at the end of the hallway. Her sleek, black dress was outshone by the jewelled antique necklace that circled around her long neck, and the heavy, gemmed bracelets that adorned her wrists. From the woman's frail-looking physique, Marlene wondered how she had managed to stand poised, and not tumble over from the weight of her own accessories.
"Druella," Mr McKinnon greeted.
He kissed the back of her hand, following with Mrs McKinnon giving the woman a brief hug.
With lips pressed into a tight smile, the woman spoke, "It's a pleasure to have you here."
Although the woman appeared to be weak, the frostiness in her voice proved that she was anything but. Her grey eyes held no warmth when she had addressed Marlene's parents.
When Mrs McKinnon shot her daughter a glare, Marlene did a curtsy. "Good evening, Mrs Black."
"My, my, you've grown. The same age as my nephew, I presume?" Mrs Black said, surveying her with an unwavering gaze that made Marlene feel unsettled.
Marlene confirmed. "Yes, Mrs Black. He is in my year."
"Then it's time you be betrothed," Druella stated the obvious. When a witch, from a pure-blooded household, reached fourteen years of age the matchmaking naturally commence. "You should deliberate over Sirius. I'll raise the topic up with my sister-in-law. I'm sure she'll be beyond pleased to know that your daughter is a worthy candidate for my nephew, Zerlina."
Candidate?
Marlene felt like vomiting. It was not like she had anything against Sirius, as she did not know him all that well, but it was more to do with the fact that Mrs Black had spoken about her as if she was to be sacrificed as an offering.
Before Marlene could formulate a reply, another voice interrupted them. "She is favourable, but my ungrateful son will oppose of it."
Walburga Black had materialised.
She was true to her lineage, the epitome of the ruthlessness in the unwavering house of Black. She was slightly shorter than Druella Black and held a much more intimidating, stifling presence. From the rare occasion she had crossed paths with Walburga, Marlene gathered that she was not a woman to antagonise with.
Walburga continued in a livid tone, "I hold hopes in the Carrow's daughter, but I could consider your daughter as well. My son has the tendency to break up every betrothal I plan for him. If this continues, I may have to put him under the Imperius to get him wedded."
Druella darkly laughed, but the McKinnons didn't.
Marlene knew it wasn't a joke and the thought made her shudder. She felt her mother's hand touch her shoulder.
"I'll be letting Marlene decide on her own," Mrs McKinnon spoke up.
The comment had left the Black sisters rather unimpressed. Walburga had sent a cold glare at them, while Druella's laughter had subsided.
"Never give your daughter the option. She could, not that you would, decide on a Mudblood or a half-blood," Walburga seethed. "Zerlina, she is much too young to think for herself. She'll make the wrong decision."
"And betrothing her without gathering her opinion is a good decision too?" Mrs McKinnon replied, daringly.
That was what she liked about her parents. Despite being brought up in a Pure-blooded family, her parents had advised Marlene to think for herself. They wanted Marlene to decide what was right or wrong on her own terms, stating that knowledge was an important key rather than rashly following rules that had no supporting evidence. She was their only child and they wanted the best for her, even if it the McKinnons occasionally did challenge old teachings whenever needed to.
Mr McKinnon cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should make it to the ceremony hall?"
It was a wise move that her father had intervened. They were there for a wedding, not a bloody massacre.
The Blacks were powerful witches, but Marlene's mother was another species of her own. When enraged, Mrs McKinnon had a creative way of duelling due to her credible knowledge of various curses and hexes. Marlene knew this because she had experience with her mother's unshakable wrath, having dealt with the receiving end of her mother's wand on countless of occasions whenever she'd step out of line.
Much to the McKinnons relief, upon arrival to the hall the Blacks hastily left them.
Seats were conjured up, lined in perfect symmetrical precision. A long scarlet carpet was positioned from the top of the staircase, layering over the steps and stretching down the aisle to the very front of the alter. Blushing pink and cream peonies floated in midair, along with the golden shimmering candles that framed the ceiling and lighted up the hall.
Pure-blooded families hailing from all over Britain were there. Compared to the last social gathering, Marlene observed that there were much more families missing from the crowd. The Potters, Prewetts and Bones were amongst the recent families who had been banished amongst the Pure-blooded society. It was a shame because Amelia Bones was a good friend of hers, and she enjoyed having a good joke with the Prewett brothers.
A deranged, high-pitched cackle disrupted her thoughts.
Marlene blinked, hoping she wasn't hearing things. Yet, her cobalt blue eyes didn't deceive her. She observed that the witch next to her happened to have black unruly, frizzy coils of hair that draped past her shoulders, stopping slightly above her lower back.
Bellatrix?
Yes, that was definitely her.
The witch held her head back, shrieking with laughter, "Why didn't you torture him more, Lestrange? Five seconds doesn't count as anything! You need to make them feel the pain to enjoy it."
Marlene panicked, but it wasn't from what the older witch was saying.
She was frightened that Bellatrix wasn't in a white dress.
"I thought Bellatrix was getting married?" Marlene casted a look at her father.
"No, Marlie," Mr McKinnon told her. "Andromeda is."
Her father had to be wrong; he had to be.
Marlene grabbed hold of the envelope from her mother's hand, eyes focusing onto the cursive handwritten names that it was addressed to.
Mr A & Mrs A Dolohov
"I'm taking this," Marlene said, bluntly. "I'll personally take it to the bride myself."
Her feet was moving before she could register what she was doing. She was feeling breathless. What the hell was happening? Her heart was pattering against her chest and she was quivering from the combination of anxiety and fury. Both parents yelled after her, but she did not turn back.
Marlene kept walking, head up and back straight. Getting quick-tempered wouldn't be beneficial for her cause. If she were to act in blind rage, she would ruin everything. Pure-bloods needed to keep their cool. It was what they were designed to do.
And then she saw him...
Besides the fireplace, Sirius Black leaned against the wall and he was by himself.
She found that Sirius on his own was an odd sight as she was used to people flocking around him. James Potter, nor the rest of the friends in their close-knit quartet, were there to keep Sirius company. Not to mention, Sirius' favourite cousin was also not present because she was getting frocked up in one of the rooms in the back, getting ready for her own fated wedding day.
Marlene wasn't surprised that Sirius was avoiding his other cousins and younger brother. Rumour had it that they had purposely left him out ever since he had been housed in Gryffindor.
The expression on Sirius' face was unreadable. Replacing Sirius' usual look of being attired in school robes, he was donned in dress robes and was effortlessly dashing in them. His grey eyes, that were often filled with bright amusement, were broodingly observing the surrounding in sharp distaste. Although he was there for the wedding, it appeared as if Sirius was attending a funeral instead.
Sirius finally caught Marlene staring as she briskly walked passed him. She gave him a weak smile and he gave her a short nod of acknowledgement.
They had never been friends, nor had they been enemies. As mere acquaintances, they recognised each other during trivial social events or greeted each other across the Hogwarts halls.
Marlene strode on.
Her shaking fingers grasped onto the envelope as she disappeared into the kitchen. She darted past the elves, that were thoroughly preparing for the banquet, and slipped into the family corridor. As a child, the Dolohovs had given the McKinnons a tour of the estate to boast and brag about their wealth. Marlene never knew that enduring the Dolohovs rave on about their property would come in handy until that day.
Reaching the bedroom quarters, she poked her head inside each room until she finally found a closed door.
Marlene rested her ear against the door, and ascertained that there was movement inside the room. Not thinking of the consequences, Marlene tried to turned the knob, but it wouldn't open.
"Alohomora," Marlene whispered under her breath.
The door was thrust open and there, standing before her, a wide-eyed bride gazed back in utter shock.
Andromeda's gown was already on. Expensive lace was intricately sewn onto the bodice, falling down the bride's waist and fading down into the train. The corset was tightly bowed up, making the gown fit snuggly against her body, even displaying a hint of cleavage.
Although Andromeda Black appeared similar to Bellatrix, both facially and in bodily characteristics, they were nothing alike. Andromeda's long hair was not black, but a dark chocolate brown, she had gentle eyes and, fortunately, did not possess the unbalanced personality or share the manic laugh that her older sister had.
"Marlene, you're not meant to be here." Andromeda stuttered out, recovering that she had actually searched for her.
"What is this?" Marlene scolded her. Instead of complimenting the bride, she went right up to her and waved the envelope to her face. "What about Tonks?"
Andromeda's eyes teared up. She bit onto her bottom lip. "This wasn't meant to happen."
"Then you should have not led him on," Marlene reasoned out. "He loves you and you were well aware of the tradition. Still, you kept dating him-"
The older girl shook her head. "Do you have your wand on you?"
"What?" Marlene said, incredulously. "What does me having my wand have to do with anything? This is about you and Tonks!"
"I know, I know...but do you have your wand?" Andromeda said. The edge in her voice sounded desperate as she wasn't retaining anything Marlene shouted at her.
"Why? What is going on?" Marlene exclaimed, but pulled out her wand from her dress pocket anyway. "Here."
Andromeda asked, "Can I borrow it? I need to lock the door. If somebody finds out that the door is unlocked, we'll both get into trouble."
"Where's yours?"
"They confiscated my wand."
"What?" Marlene said, raising an eyebrow. "But you're of age! Who took it away from you?"
"My parents," Andromeda grumbled. "Now, please, pass me your wand."
Marlene caved, "Fine."
The bride waved the wand and Marlene noticed the door lock itself up. Andromeda then progressed to murmuring a silence charm to prevent bystanders from listening in to their conversation.
"So...?"
Marlene waited for an explanation.
"I've been holed up in here since yesterday," Andromeda said, quietly. "My parents dragged me here as soon as I got out of the train. They knew that I was going to defect the family after I graduated from Hogwarts. It had been my plan all along, but Narcissa had found my diary..."
Marlene felt sick for the second time that night. Again, her sickness had been influenced by the Black family and their absurd ideas to preserve Pure-bloods. They had gone to the extent of kidnapping their own daughter, disarming and locking her up, and throwing an unexpected wedding ceremony for her.
She did think it was peculiar for the wedding to be held the second day of the school holidays as it was a rushed celebration. The Blacks and Dolohovs had only planned the wedding the last week of term. While at school, Mrs McKinnon had sent Marlene an owl to ensure that she save the date, but had failed to tell her which Black sister was in fact getting married.
"I don't know what to do," Andromeda spoke, defeated. "I've been thinking up every plan possible to get out of here, but all leads to disaster. I wanted to end things with the family on nice terms, but I don't think it's possible anymore."
"There has to be a way," Marlene persisted. "Can't you Apparate?"
"I can. I just don't think it would be safe for me to do it with a wand I'm not all that familiar with," Andromeda said. "I don't want to risk getting splinched."
"Portkeys? The Floo network?"
Andromeda replied, "They're monitored. I'm sure the adults would have casted a spell on all the fireplaces in this estate to ban me from leaving."
As Marlene was about to suggest if she knew anybody who made a good Polyjuice potion, there was a knock on the door.
"Andromeda?" A voice called out.
She shuddered. Marlene recognised that the voice belonged to the groom: Antonin Dolohov. She memorised his voice for its distinct coarseness because it reminded her of a fingernail scraping on a blackboard's surface.
Andromeda pushed Marlene into the wardrobe. "Promise me that you won't do anything."
A split second later, Marlene could hear the bedroom door creak open. Andromeda hadn't completely closed the wardrobe because Marlene could see them.
"They'll be here for you soon." Dolohov queried, "Were you speaking to somebody?"
Andromeda gave a light, but bitter laugh. "To myself. I'm nervous."
Dolohov ran his hand down Andromeda's wavy hair and Marlene caught her flinch.
"You look beautiful."
His hand played with her hair a bit longer before caressing her cheek. Andromeda turned her head away in defiance. He glowered, taking her reaction as a challenge. He took advantage of how Andromeda's gown hindered her movements. He lethally advanced towards her and with each step he took, Andromeda would step backwards until her legs were against the bed.
"I will make you listen to me," Dolohov stated. "Your duty is to serve me, Black."
Marlene watched as Dolohov roughly pushed the bride onto the bed. She had to clap a hand over her mouth as Dolohov hovered over Andromeda before straddling her. Marlene was tempted to throw a curse at him, but she had promised the bride that she wouldn't move.
Dolohov's mouth grazed against Andromeda's lips, hands slipping onto her waist.
"Stop touching me," Andromeda hissed.
Dolohov chuckled as he watched her attempt to shake him off. "You're mine. After tonight I can touch you as much as I want."
"I will never allow that to happen." Andromeda was trying to kick his body off from hers, fighting to no avail.
Then he kissed her.
"You bastard."
It didn't last long because Andromeda battled him off. Her hand connected against Dolohov's cheek, giving him a hard slap.
Marlene almost let out a sigh of relief until she heard a word that made her blood turn cold.
"Crucio."
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(a/n) I hope you've liked this chapter. :) I wasn't intending to write a chaptered story (or another Harry Potter fanfic, in fact), but this happened. Although Marlene x Sirius isn't a popular shipping, I've found myself drawn to them.
I'm nicknaming Marlene as 'Marlie' instead of Marly because, for some reason, I keep attaching 'Marly' to that dog movie (Marley & Me). Well, perhaps it's only fitting because Sirius is a dog too.
Anywho, thanks for reading!