For years he lies awake at night, her face weaving in and out of his dreams. Broken, bloody, and beautiful…always beautiful, Marlene McKinnon will not leave him.
Her eyes, empty and searching, stare up at him. In every mirror, every window, they're starting back at him.
Her hand, cold and lifeless, never leaves his cheek. Most nights he feels nothing but the bitter cold of her hand, always there.
She smiled, but soon it turned into a grimace. And this, this remains stuck in his mind.
But it is her dying words, whispered feverishly, that roll over in his mind. Repeating them over and over again.
"Sirius…"