First Blackinnon Fic.
Review!
December 19th 1980
It was snowing outside her window as she sat, crossed legged on her bed, pages of parchment strewn over the grey covers. Marlene's new room was small and she hated it, but then again, Marlene McKinnon hated everything. Yet, unsurprisingly, being shut up inside this house in Scotland no way helped her outlook on life. She'd only been here two weeks.
It was 1980, which meant the First Wizarding War was in full swing. Voldemort and his followers were strong, growing everyday in numbers and power as they swept the nation, killing men women and children, leaving nothing but a trail of blood in their wake.
It was said that no one lived once Voldemort had decided to kill them, and this was true. One of Marlene's closest friends had already been taken in the tides of war.
Dorcas Meadows her name was, a naturally beautiful girl with chocolate brown hair that fell below her shoulders and misty hazel eyes had died no less than four weeks ago. Of course news took it's time to travel in this world, but Marlene found out either way. She was an exceptionally bright witch, Dorcas, a halfblooded witch with a muggle mother and wizard father, and she was their greatest warrior. Voldemort had killed her personally.
Marlene was the next on his list.
She has just turned twenty years old, the second oldest of the McKinnon children with her elder brother, Brendan being twenty-four. Alex, her younger sister was sixteen, coming of age in just a few short months, and the youngest brothers, Declan – or Decky as he preferred – and Nate being nine and seven.
She was beautiful, Marlene, with her chest-length, light blonde hair and big blue-green eyes that sparkled with mischief. She was tall and slender, with legs that seemed to go on for miles and slight, yet noticeable curves. Her lips were full and pink, her pale skin dusted with a coating of freckles.
Marlene was a wild child; her grades weren't anything to shout about and her trail of lovers far outstretched those of women twice her age. She was sexy and she knew it, using her assets plainly to get what she wanted. She'd of course befriended many within her school years, being the Gryffindor Queen didn't come without its perks, girls her age were often jealous of her beauty and charm, the younger years idolising her as she grasped a hold of men's hearts left right and centre.
Her most prominent of friends remained the one and only Lily Evans, Gryffindor prefect, Head Girl and by all counts goody-two-shoes of their seventh year. She always had to rein Marlene in when the girl went too far. The two had met in first year, Marlene greeting Lily as she sat awkwardly down at the Gryffindor table, wasting no time in introducing not only herself, but her childhood best friend James Potter and her brother Brendan, a incredibly athletic Gryffindor fourth year at the time.
Marlene and her family had grown up next door to the Potters after James and his parents moved to their part of the Scottish countryside. From that moment on James and Marlene were practically inseparable, many thought that they would end up together, married with a family of their own, but James' heart had already been stolen in his third year by a certain red-head, and Marlene's remained too wild to be tied down by anyone for more than a week. That was until her fifth year.
Having grown up with James, Marlene saw no reason for them to part ways and so spent most of her time in Hogwarts causing mayhem with the infamous Marauders, somewhere along the way she'd even managed to capture the heart of wayward child Sirius Black, something everyone else had branded impossible. No one knowing that he had stolen hers in return.
It started as a one night stand, nothing short of what was expected of the two of them. They both seemed to have made their way around all the available interests within a two year radius, so it was only a matter of time before they ended up between the sheets together, but no one had expected it to become a regular thing, with stolen moments in broom cupboards and empty classrooms, even stumbling into the room of requirement once or twice.
More than once James had been awoken in the night by Marlene's footsteps against the stone floor as she snuck out, clothes in hand before retiring to her own dormitory, to her own bed. But after a few months of sneaking around, Marlene's morning presence once a week within the boy's dormitory became ordinary. They'd awake on Saturday's to see her and Sirius beneath the covers, Sirius shirtless and flat on his back, his strong arm wrapped around the slim, naked shoulders of Marlene as her arm was slung comfortably across his stomach, her head nestled in the crook of his neck.
Neither of them would admit it, but as their meetings became more frequent and their time at Hogwarts began to dwindle into a single year, Sirius and Marlene began to fall more and more in love with one another. He made her feel less angry, stopped her from hating the world so harshly with everyday, and in return she calmed his temper, cooling his burning hatred towards his past and family to cinders.
They'd both have other partners in their time, but there was something, some kind of connection that always pulled them back, usually before their previous relationships had even ended. And so their romance continued to grow.
Yet neither of them would either admit it.
The truth was they couldn't stand each other.
She couldn't stand his cocky arrogance and his overlarge ego, and he was infuriated by her sharp tongue and her bitterness when it came to anything remotely sentimental. He asked her out on a date to Hogsmede once in their sixth year, she was so horrified she'd snogged Remus at the quidditch party just to settle the score. Remus, of course, had apologised profusely to Sirius, explaining how he had been drinking, and wasn't in his right mind. Sirius's response had been 'Mate, it's Marlene; you'd have to be celibate to say no to a bird like that.' The two friends had not let it bother them since.
So despite the chip on her shoulder, and Sirius's pompous pride, the two of them still managed to end up in one or the others beds a few times a week. They were hooked, addicted to the ecstasy that was the other, both of them woven together by something so much deeper than lust. But Sirius was a notorious womaniser and Marlene locked her heart away, neither of them would ever say the words.
The closest they ever got was after they had graduated. Sirius had wasted no time in getting his own flat in London when he was eighteen, spending his days smoking cheap cigarettes on the dingy sofa in his living room and listening to Muggle vinyl all day.
Marlene knew Sirius Black well enough to know that his door would always be unlocked for her, and so she'd traipse over to his flat on a Monday, neither of them seeming to have got good enough grades to get decent jobs, and they'd spend their day together, smoking a whole pack of cigarettes on the sofa like the smoke was the air they breathed.
Then once the sun had set and the stars had come out, they'd start on the alcohol, opening a bottle of whiskey or rum or tequila, anything to set their insides on fire, and not replacing the cap on the bottle once it had been removed.
It was like this that they were at their worst, they'd say things they'd never said before, Sirius would talk of his family and Marlene would voice her fears, then one of them would make a snide comment and the shouting would begin.
They could argue for hours, shouting insults and swearwords like they were everyday vocabulary (for them it was) and then before they knew it their clothes were gone and it would begin again, the rough, crazed sex that they both craved. The sheer need just to feel the other's body against their own.
Lily and James were off making their own family together in their new flat, Remus and Peter were flat sharing with Dorcas and spent all their time working (That's if Remus could get work) and so the two of them were left behind, the screw ups of their generation, the boy who despised his family and all they stood for, and the girl who'd never live up the her family's expectations. Whether that was forever living in the shadow of her successful older brother, the professional quidditch player, or being outrun by her incredibly intelligent younger sister who had already achieved NEWT level standards before she even began her OWLS.
One morning after one of their exceptionally heated nights that left Marlene awakening with aching limbs and numerous bite marks, Marlene began to explore Sirius's apartment as he slept. Having woken up beside him for the past four years she knew that a hurricane could hit the building and he would remain asleep through it.
It wasn't a very big apartment, only consisting of two rooms, one of which was a bathroom. Inside the main room, Sirius had crammed a double bed against the wall, a dingy sofa sat in the centre of the room facing the large window and the rest of the flat seemed to be filled with the clutter of drunken nights and lazy days.
She saw the empty bottles strewn across the floor, nudging them with her feet so as to clear some space, the glass clinked as it rolled across the floorboards. Empty cigarette packets lay scattered on most surfaces, CD cases and vinyl's covering what space was left.
Curious as she was, Marlene began rifling through papers, picking things out at random until she found something that stunned her. Atop the coffee table lay a vinyl case, plain black with no words upon it, but the edge of a piece of parchment was visible peeking out of the edge. Checking he was still asleep, breathing heavily as he usually did, Marlene tugged the corner of the parchment, holding it in her view so she could see it properly.
It was a picture of her, taken by a muggle camera so she remained frozen, the back of which was covered in cramped writing that she recognised easily as Sirius's scrawl. In the picture she was in a park, sat on one of the child's swings wearing ripped shorts and a leather jacket far too large for her, one she soon remembered to be Sirius'.
Lily had been on the one next to her, James pushing her, but that part of the photo had been ripped off so it was only her. She was looking at the floor, her long blonde hair falling like thick, wavy curtains over her face, but she could make out the expression of her freckled face clearly.
She was smiling, not smirking but genuinely smiling, a sweet kind smile one far too foreign for her usually cocky face. It was only after looking at it that she remembered why she was smiling. Sirius had said something to James, something sarcastic that made her laugh, but after the laughter had ebbed away she was left with a thought, the thought that Sirius was one of few people - other than James - that could make her actually laugh, not the snide scoff that was usually saved for other peoples jokes.
Flipping it quickly, so many thoughts running through her mind, she read the writing cramped into the space on the back. She recognised them immediately as lyrics from a song they'd listened to a few times.
A love like ours
Could never die
As long as I
Have you near me
Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the sky
I know this love of mine
Will never die
And I love her
Marlene felt a shiver shoot up her spine at the thought, how had he done this, got under her skin in such a way, and in such bad timing too. There was a war on, any of them could die any day and Marlene was far from ready to lose anyone of her friends forever, the thought alone was enough to make a lump rise in her throat, one too large to swallow.
At the thought of loosing Sirius she felt the stinging sensation behind her eyes, the idea of seeing his body cold and still, a laugh still etched on his frozen face. The tears became before she could stop them, trailing down her cheeks, slowly to begin with before the flood gates opened and she had to hold a hand over her mouth just to stop the sobs escaping her mouth despite them racking her body.
It was too much, everything was too much.
Grabbing her own clothes from the floor and pulling them on, discarding Sirius's shirt back onto the floor, Marlene went to leave the flat, grabbing her bag on the way out, but something stopped her.
Every wall in Sirius' apartment was covered by something, be it posters of muggle motorbikes, posters of half naked muggle women or vinyl's he'd decided weren't good enough to actually be played. Yet this one wall, right next to the bed and before the door was completely blank, nothing but the peeling, greying wallpaper.
She didn't know what made her do it, perhaps it was because she was emotional, perhaps she was angry because he had made her emotional, either way, she reached into her bag, pulling out a dark, plum coloured lipstick and uncapping it before writing across the blank walls in dark makeup before leaving the flat, slamming the door behind her.
When Sirius awoke later that afternoon he was momentarily confused to see that there wasn't anyone next to him, but then he remembered who it was. Marlene wasn't a fan of sentiment, and anything that showed she had feelings or emotion like a normal human being was repulsive to her.
Clambering out of bed and ruffling his slightly scraggy hair with his hand Sirius took in the appearance of the flat, from the empty bottles to the discarded clothing. Finally his eyes fell on the previously blank wall and his jaw dropped.
Clearly this was either Marlene's idea of a joke, that or she had a very strange way of saying that she cared, because written across the wall in dark plum lipstick were six large words -'YOU'RE IN MY VEINS, YOU FUCK' - that for some strange reason, made Sirius smile.
After that Marlene and Sirius had developed some sort of a relationship. She would openly recognise her feeling for him when they were alone together and he wasted no time in mocking her for it, but their friends were happy. It was, after all, only a matter of time before they finally admitted the truth to one another, even if they didn't do it conventionally. They spent even more time that usual together, sometimes having sex, sometimes doing nothing at all, and just basking in one another's presence.
It was, therefore, a great shock for the two of them when they learnt of the danger Marlene was now in. Voldemort seemed to have picked her out as his next victim, whether it was because she was a threat or because she knew too much information, no one knew. But what they did know was that Voldemort was going to come after her and no one survived after that was decided.
So the McKinnon's went into hiding, all of them together in a small house in Scotland. It wasn't built to house a seven person family, maybe a four person family at best, but they were managing.
Marlene was sharing a room with her sister, Alex; her parents also shared a room with Nate while Brendan and Decky shared.
Her room was cramped, only a few square feet, but it was enough for her to have her single bed shoved into one corner, Alex's on the opposite side and a shared wardrobe in the other. They'd been living there long enough that the two girls had managed to personalise the room as their own. Alex had a bookshelf filled with textbooks so she could continue to study while being hidden, a few pictures of her friends on the wall by her bed.
Marlene's side of the room, however had vinyl records stuck to the walls, much like in Sirius' apartment, white fairy lights hung like drapes across the ceiling, making the room look magical and alive. Above the head board of her bed was plastered in photographs from her time with her friends both in and out of Hogwarts.
Some were moving, such as the one of Lily getting carried over James' shoulder while she kicked and screamed in protest, and the one of Dorcas' smiling face as she laughed so hard at something Remus said that lemonade spurted from her nose.
Other's, however, were frozen, such as the one Lily had taken of her and Sirius on a hill in Scotland. Sirius was lying on the grass, propped up by his elbows and wearing his notorious leather jacket with a white t-shirt and low riding black jeans. Marlene was sat atop of him, her legs straddling his waist wearing her ripped and frayed denim shorts and one of Sirius' black jumpers, the neckline so big that that fell off her shoulder, the sleeves hanging well over her hands.
There was even one of Sirius smiling in a terrified sort of way as he held his godson in his arms for the first time, James, Remus and Lily all looking down at him with proud smiling faces.
Running her fingers through her hair for what felt like the thousandth time, Marlene scanned over the parchment she had previously been writing on; sighing when what she'd written didn't portray what she had to say. Screwing up what had to be the sixth attempt; she picked up a quill and tried again.
Marlene hadn't heard from Sirius a lot since she had to go into hiding, he, of course, knew where she was and had snuck in once or twice to allow them to have a night together, but he was under close watch of Dumbledore at the moment, what with Lily and James having to go into Hiding soon as well with their newborn son, Harry.
It felt like hours had gone by when Marlene had finally become satisfied with what she'd written that she could fall back again the cushions on her bed, letting out a sigh of relief after finally putting her feeling onto parchment, something she was horrible at doing.
Her relief, however, was short lived. Just as she began to fold the letter, there was a crash heard from down the hallway, shortly followed by shouts and screams. Grabbing her wand from the side of the bed, Marlene threw herself out of the door, running headlong into someone in the doorway.
"Mar!" the girl shouted her big brown eyes wide and afraid behind her square glasses. "Mar, is it them? Are they here?" she asked, terrified, her short brown hair dishevelled as it swooped across her forehead.
"I don't know Alex, I really don't. I've got to go and help," she said, grabbing the girls' shoulders. "Where are Decky and Nate?" she asked, but Alex's slim body was shaking, her entire form trembling like a deer caught up in headlights. Marlene could hear shouts from down the stairs, some distinct, such as her father shouting 'Get Alex, Marlene and the boys and get out!" and some less distinct. "Alex, you have to find them, get to the vanishing cabinet and go! You can't stay here." Marlene said desperately to her sister, but Alex's eyes were staring at the stairs, flashes of coloured light illuminating the dark walls. "Alex, Go!" she shouted and watched as her sisters eyes came back into focus before the girl nodded at her sister, darting down the hall to the room Brendan and Decky shared, knowing the two little boys would be in their playing with toy soldiers.
Once she reached the top of the stairs, Marlene could hear the shouts more clearly.
"Where is the girl?" a thick, gravelly voice shouted, followed by the crack and shower of sparks that signalled a spell. "Give us the girl!"
"I'd rather die!" the voice said, a voice Marlene recognised instantly to be her mothers. Racing so fast down the stairs that she stumbled slightly, Marlene came face to face with the scene before her. The house was unrecognisable; walls were scorched and pictures smashed. The floor was scattered with shards of broken glass (problematic for Marlene, who'd not thought about getting any shoes) and material from the once comfy sofa's that now lay in tatters.
"Mum!" Marlene shouted, watching the woman deep within a duel with a large, burly man with a thick black beard and shaggy hair that hung limply from the hood of his robes, obscuring his face. Her outcry left her mother distracted, the woman turned, her blonde hair matted in places by blood. Her face was just like Marlene's, soft and curved with a dusting of freckles, but she had the same brown eyes as Alex, though hers were fierce and determined before they fell upon her daughter, by which point they turned horrified.
"Marlene! Run!" she shouted, her mouth moving to form words, but the plea to her daughter had lost her time, leaving a window open through which the death eater could fire the final curse. There was a flash of green light and Marlene's mother's body crumpled to the floor, laying still and lifeless at the death eaters feet.
"Hello darling." The man sneered, his twisted smile showing multiple black teeth as his dark eyes took in Marlene's appearance, from her tight ripped jeans to her over large jumper and bare feet, hungrily. "'Bout time you showed up." He raised his wand again, towards her this time just as she raised her own, but before either could utter a single spell, a flash of red light hit him in the back, knocking him to the floor, stunned. Yet the crashes and bangs still echoed around the house. The battle was still raging.
"Brendan!" she shouted, and ran at the form of her brother as he stood behind the fallen death eater, wand in hand. The tears falling thick down her face as her brother hugged her briefly, pushing her back quickly and looking into her eyes. "He killed her! He killed mum!"
"Where's Alex, and the boys?" he asked quickly, his eyes red from tears, his voice frantic as he looked no where but Marlene's eyes.
"I told her to run, I told her to get them out." Marlene replied quickly, avoiding looking at the crumpled body of her mother on the floor. "How many are there? Where's Dad?" she asked desperately.
"I've counted five; they came from all sides, Dads fighting two in the next room but I think he's loosing, I have to get back and help him. I think two are stunned, I don't know where the last is." He said, looking over his shoulder so often he looked as though he had a twitch. "Marlene, it's you they're after. Get the others, get upstairs and go, before they find-" but before he could finish, there was the sound of shattering before the sound tearing and Brendan fell to his knee's, his hands clutching onto the front of Marlene's jumper so tight his knuckles were the colour of ivory, his teeth clenched as he hissed in pain.
"Brendan?" she asked, horrified "Brendan!" she crouched next to him, listening to his harsh and ragged breathing. The window behind them had just shattered inwards, shards of glass slicing through the air, shredding the skin on Brendan's back, several large gashes embedded with shards of glass the size of Marlene's hands. His eyes were clenched shut in pain, small pieces of glass in his hair like snowflakes.
"Marlene, Go!" he shouted, and Marlene knew better than to refuse. This was a war, you didn't ask questions, you didn't try and act if the hero if your death would cause more trouble than good, and the information that Marlene held was as valuable to the order as many of its occupants. The Death eaters would waste no time torturing the truth out of her.
"I Love you," she said, kissing the top of his head, tears falling thick and fast down her cheeks before she got up from the floor, going to run for the stairs, but her path was blocked by a man, he wasn't a as tall as the first man, but just as stocky, his hood was down to reveal his pale, almost grey face and his hazel eyes, filled with horrific images that Marlene found repulsive.
"I've got her!" the man shouted, his voice booming through the house, silencing the cracks and bangs for only a second.
Knowing better than to try and fight, Marlene turned to run, knowing that if she didn't get out quickly, the others would arrive. She would have had no trouble fighting this one Death Eater, but even she wasn't strong enough to duel more than one wizard at once. If she could just get beyond the borders she could apparate away to the headquarters and warn the others, but she couldn't just leave her family like this.
"Grab her!" the man shouted and Marlene felt as two strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, holding her tightly in place, the stench of blood and wet dog filling her nose. Struggling feverously, kicking and shouting for release, Marlene could hardly pick up what the Death Eaters were saying to one another, until she heard two little words.
"…the others?" asked the man blocking the stairs, "Where are they, Greyback?" and Marlene immediately put a name to the arms holding her. Fenrir Greyback was at least ten years older than Marlene was herself. He was a dark, shadowy guy, with more muscle than brain cells, sorted into Slytherin and he was, to top all this off, a werewolf and, thanks to Sirius' drunken blabbering, Marlene knew him to be the very same werewolf to have bitten Remus when he was a child.
"They were caught trying to get into the attic," Greyback replied, his breath hot on the back of Marlene's head as she continued to struggle free while also listening to the conversations between the Death Eaters. "But I'm sure Black can handle a couple of snivelling kids." He sneered and the other man laughed, but Marlene's blood was beginning to freeze. Black. It was one of Sirius family members, in this very house to kill her.
"Black? Sure they're not gunna over power him?"
"I'm sure they're not." Said a voice from the stairs. Stopping her struggling just long enough to look, Marlene's eyes found the face of Regulus Black, Sirius's little brother, only partially hidden by the shadows of the upstairs. He had changed in the years since Marlene graduated, his hair was longer, and falling to just past his chin and riddled with grease. He was still skinny beneath his deatheaters robes, his black eyes unnervingly blank and empty.
"You bastard!" Marlene shouted, beginning to struggle again against her restrainers. "What have you done to them you fucking worm!"
"Oooo, she's fiery. Pretty too." The man in front of her said, eyeing her appreciatively, a dark, sinister glint in his eyes. Marlene spat at him.
"Fuck you!" she shouted, hissing the words, but he only snickered.
"The mouth on this one!" he boasted, reaching towards her, but she pulled her face briskly away.
"Black, you bastard, if you've hurt a hair on any of their heads-"
"They're alive." Regulus replied coolly, sounding almost bored. "For now at least. But unless you play along they wont be for much longer. Understand?" He asked and Marlene scowled, her eyes burning from both the tears and the dust that was floating around the room.
It was surreal how this boy, only a year younger than she was, could look so much like Sirius, but so different. Sirius was taller then Regulus, and bulkier too from being Gryffindor's beater from his second year onwards. Sirius's long-ish hair made him look carelessly handsome, where as Regulus just looked dirty and covered with grime. Whenever Sirius smiled, Marlene was filled with warmth and the overwhelming urge to smile back, but as Regulus smiled down at her now, cocky and arrogant, she felt a chill fall down her spine, and the urge to fall into a defensive stance. As it happened, however, she was helpless.
"Now then, tell us," He began, descending one step so his face was out of the shadows. "Where are the Potter's hiding?"
"Go fuck yourself!" Marlene snapped back, still fighting against the restraint that Greyback had over her. Regulus looked incredulous for a second, as though he wasn't used to being said no to, but the expression was gone in a second, replaced instead by smugness.
"Tut tut, McKinnon, you should learn to bite that tongue of yours. Or I could always get my friend to bite it for you. Fenrir, what do you say? Would you like to have a little nibble?" Marlene froze; Fenrir's mouth was so close to her ear she could hear each of his panting breaths, the scent of blood filling her nostrils as he stroked a yellow, claw-like fingernail down her cheek.
"I'd like that." Greyback said, using his filthy hands to pull Marlene's blonde hair away from her neck, she took this moment to stamp, very hard, on Greyback's foot. Maybe it was to make himself more animalistic, maybe he was stranger than Marlene had anticipated, but Greyback, thankfully, didn't seem to wear any shoes.
"You'll pay for that!" Greyback snarled, moving his arms so they instead rested against her throat, constricting her airwaves, but despite the lack of air, she smirked weakly at Regulus, receiving a confused glance.
"You told me to hold my tongue." she said, choking slightly.
"No wonder my brother fell for you." Regulus said in faux appreciation, looking at her like she was the least impressive thing he'd ever seen. "Sharp tongue, lack of self respect, and legs that'll open for any one, or so I've heard. You sound right up my brothers street."
"Leave him out of this!" Marlene demanded, her voice strained from the pressure on her throat. "He's a better man than you could ever be!"
"My brother is an abomination! He disgraces the Noble House of Black, and the honour of my family. He is a bloodtraitor, He discredits the name he holds. He is nothing compared to me!"
"For a moment there," she began, having to stop speaking halfway in order to gulp painful breaths through her constricted airwaves, each one hurting more than the last "I thought you were going to say something stupid and pompous."
"And here I was thinking you would be easy to reason." He said coldly, clearly not as achieved at shrugging off insults as Sirius was. "I guess you'll take some more convincing. "Fancy getting the children?" he said, turning to the unnamed Death eater who nodded, his eyes watching Marlene closely.
"No!" she shouted, struggling harder against Greyback.
"Take her wand, Greyback, it's by her feet." Regulus said, looking at Marlene as the tears began streaking down her flushed face again.
"No, no, not my family! Please!" She continued to scream, but Regulus paid her no mind. Her screams were soon joined by others, younger ones and a few seconds later the man returned, he had Decky over his shoulder, his legs limp, his other hand held Nate tightly by the scruff of his-shirt, lifting him slightly off the floor as he walked, his face red from crying and screaming like he was now.
There was a tumbling sound and Marlene watched as the man kicked the slim, limp body of Alex in the ribs, her body then proceeding to fall, tumbling down the staircase, landing with a pathetic thump at the base, face down. Marlene was relieved to hear her grunt in pain when she hit the floorboards. She may be in pain, but she was alive.
"Marley! Marley!" Nate screamed, struggling madly at the grip the man held.
"Nate!" she shouted back "Please don't do this!" she said, this time to Regulus, they're children!"
"Even this one?" Regulus said, kicking Alex's body so she rolled onto her back. Her glasses were gone, a trickle of blood running down from her hair line to her cheek. "She's pretty, I'll give her that. Ravenclaw if I remember rightly." he said, nudging her with his boot, Marlene was relieved to hear her groan when his foot touched her.
Weak, but still alive, Alex began to lift herself helplessly from the floor, leaning back on her elbows slightly for support.
"Mar." she said, her voice cracked and broken. "Don't tell them, whatever they do, you can't tell them." She said, ever the rational one.
"Alex, I'm so sorry." She said, tears streaming down her face. "But I have to."
"Don't you dare! Marlene, don't you even dare!" she shouted standing unsteadily on her feet, no sign of a wand in her hands.
"Decky, is he-" Marlene began, her sobs chocking her voice slightly, but Alex saved her the problem of finishing.
"He's alive." She said "Unconscious is all. Hit by a stunning spell."
"She's a clever one." Regulus said with faux admiration. "What was your name again?" he asked and Alex stood taller, ignoring the aches in her limbs and the blood falling down her face.
"Alex McKinnon" she said strongly, but her whole body was shaking in agony. "And you can torture me if you want, kill me if necessary, but you're leaving this house with no more information than what you came with."
"Alex-" Marlene began but her younger sister cut her off.
"They're going to kill us either way!" Alex pleaded, "Don't let it be in vain. Don't let others die for us, we're not going to survive anway." And Marlene could see the truth in her eyes. None of them were getting out of this, not even Decky, not even Nate.
"Clever, very clever." Regulus said and he smiled, flicking his wand so fast Alex didn't even notice until the green light struck her in the chest. Marlene screamed and Nate wailed louder than before, repeating his sisters name over and over again. "Shame." Regulus said. "I liked her,"
"You fucking bastard! She wasn't even seventeen!" Marlene screamed, kicking and screaming more than before, her feet colliding with Greyback's shins so many times he was grunting in annoyance, but not pain.
"You did this, McKinnon. All you have to do it tell me where the Potters are and all this will end."
"Fuck you!" Marlene spat angrily, her tears still streaming, but Nate's had stopped, he merely stood whimpering by the Death eaters side, his large blue eyes red and puffy from crying. "You'll kill us all either way. You can go and fuck yourself if you think I'm telling you anything!"
"Pity." He said with an evil smirk. She could feel Greyback laughing against her spine and could see the third Death eater smiling too, clearly they knew what was about to happen. "It appears, McKinnon, that you have signed the death warrant for your own family." He said calmly, as the other roared with laughter.
"No!" she shouted as Regulus turned towards the burly death eater.
"Would you like the honour of this one Rabastan?" he asked and the burly death eater, Rabastan smiled widely, the darkness clouding his face.
"Naturally," he said, dropping Decky unceremoniously on the stairs with a sickening crunch. His eyes were closed, his face peaceful despite the bloody lip and slowly purpling eye. He pointed his wand towards the child's body, the smile still on his face. "Anytime you want to tell us, little girl."
"No it's me you want! Leave them! You want me!" there was another flash of green light and Decky's body gave a horrific lurch before falling back, as still and lifeless as before, the gentle rise and fall of his chest absent. "Decky!" she screamed, crying helplessly at the situation, her throat raw and hoarse from the shouting.
"One to go," Regulus said, grabbing a hold of Nate's collar, pulling his roughly to his side before pointing his wand at the whimpering little boys head. "You're move McKinnon."
"Please, I'm begging you!" she screamed, begging and pleading strong in her cracked voice. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because you tore my family apart, you and your stupid gang of mudbloods and bloodtraitors. He broke my mother's heart and my father died of shame from his betrayal! He and the rest of your freaks destroyed my family, and I'm going to make sure all of your families perish. Starting with you - my brothers whore!"
"Please, don't do this, Regulus," she said softly, finally letting all her defences down, letting her fear, vulnerability and sorrow show across her face, a rare occurance for Marlene, but far from difficult after what she'd witnessed. "Take me – torture me, kill me, I don't care! Just spare him." Regulus appeared taken back for a second, like no one had ever asked something of him in such a way, begged, of course, people often begged for their lives from him, but never had they looked at him the way Marlene looked at him, with such pleading and helplessness.
"Wrong answer," he said coldly, but Marlene could hear the unease in his voice and see the confusion in his grey eyes. But with a flourish of his wrist, Nate's body fell to the floor, landing atop Alex's stomach face down like doll's thrown into a toy box.
She wanted to scream but it was gone, everything was gone, she had nothing, no one left to live for.
"Let her go, Greyback." Regulus said, and after a moments hesitation obliged, pushing her roughly to the floor, landing by her sibling's bodies. "That one there's not quite finished, take him out back and finish him as you wish." He said, indicating to Brendan's bloody, nearly lifeless form on the floor, watching as Marlene sat up on her knee's pulling Nate's body into her lap, kissing the boys freckled forehead and clutching onto the still child as thought she could instil some life into him. "Rabastan, go with him. Make sure he kills him. We can't have any survivors." Rabastan nodded stiffly before following the bloody trail left behind from where Greyback had dragged Brendan's body.
"How can you live with yourself?" Marlene spat, looking up at him, her blue-green eye's red and filled with loathing. "How can you carry on knowing what you've done, the lives you've taken."
"I've killed plenty of men, women and children. My conscience will manage." He said bluntly, not looking at her.
"Children. You've killed fucking children!" Marlene shouted, running her fingers through Nate's brown curls. "How can anyone handle that on their conscience?"
"Some people are born to die." He replied bluntly, repeating the words that were once spoken to him by a person he idolised.
"Then I guess it's my turn." Marlene spat, glaring up at him with murder in her eyes, but she didn't act on it. She didn't think she even had the strength to walk anymore, let alone attack someone while she was unarmed. Yet, she pulled herself to her feet. She stood up slowly, her entire body aching from both pain and exhaustion; she just wanted it all to end already. "Go ahead," she said "Take you're best shot, I'm wide open for you!"
"You're willing to die?" Regulus said, confused.
"You said yourself. Some people are born to die and I've got no fucking thing left to live for!" she said, surprised that no tears were falling down her cheeks as she stood looking at him, her gaze hard for him to hold.
"What about Sirius?" he asked warily, and Marlene laughed. It was a rather chilled laugh, but snide all the same.
"Don't act as thought you care about him now." Marlene hissed "And there wont be much of me left to go back to him anyway." She said coldly "I'm already dead."
Seeming less confident than before, Regulus raised his wand, his hand shaking slightly as he tried to point it at the brave woman before him. Grabbing the end of the wand, Marlene held it to her chest, just over her heart, her blue-green eyes burning with bravery and strength not leaving his for a second.
"Go ahead." She said strongly and Regulus looked at her, truly looked at her. This girl, this impossibly brave girl, who would have sacrifice for her family, who was dying in her friend's name, just to keep them safe, who still, in her last moment would not admit her love to someone, remind Regulus painfully of his brother. How could he possibly kill her now?
"Look away." He said, the intestity in her glare too much for him. But felt as though she was boring into his soul, reading his thoughts and emotions, picking her way through him, unravelling him like a loose thread. He couldn't see the light leaving those eyes.
"No."
"Look away!" he shouted, but still she discredited his command.
"No, I want you to remember this. I want you to remember me, and how I died at your hand. You may have killed dozens of people, but I'll bet you've never looked them in the eye while you've done It." she said and he didn't respond because she was right. If he didn't look at them, if he didn't watch the life fall out of them, it was a lot less real for him, a lot easier to manage, but this girl saw straight through him. Regulus wondered if she could read Sirius this plainly, and if so, how could he stand it? "Then I'll be the first, I'll make sure you remember my face."
"Tell me where they are and I promise," Regulus said, his voice slightly hushed as he looked at the beautiful girl before him, the ferocity in her eyes blazing like a fire as she stared at him. "I'll let you go."
"Go fuck yourself." She replied bravely without hesitation, without thought, with nothing but bitter resent and pride.
"I can see why Sirius loved you." Regulus said quietly, but Marlene heard him. Instead of filling her with pity, she was filled with rage. How dare he say such a thing, this cowardly boy, who hid behind the bigger child on the playground, who did whatever he could to make his parents love him more than his brother, how dare he say Sirius name, given what he was about to.
"You disgust me." She said, looking, unwaveringly into his grey eyes, so similar to Sirius' but far too heavy with the weight of all they'd seen. "Sirius is ten times the man you'll ever be." And then there was a flash of green light blinding her before everything fell into darkness.
It was two days before anyone found the McKinnon's, and that person was Albus Dumbledore himself. The Order had gone over twenty-four hours without word from their home, which was always a sign of trouble. The old wizard had taken it upon himself, without telling the rest of the Order what he'd assumed, to visit the house in the Scottish countryside to see for himself if anything was wrong.
He walked through the front door, everything seeming perfect and tranquil from the outside, but as soon as he crossed the threshold he saw the destruction for himself. Photo-frames were smashed, their pictures ripped and singed. The furniture was in ruins, sofa reduced to fabric and stuffing, the tables and other wooden ornaments smashed into splinters. He found Marlene's mother first, her body lay crumpled, yet untouched in the hallway, her brown eyes open, her blonde curls matted with blood in places was splayed across the wooden floor. Stopping only to close the witches eyes, Albus Dumbledore continued his investigation of the lower levels.
He found the children first. Declan's body was lying face up on the stairs, his eyes already closed, like he was merely sleeping, his scruffy brown hair stuck to his temple from long since dried blood.
Alex, the middle child, the girl who had never reached her graduation lay on her back, her brown eyes wide open, her lips parted slightly. There was a thin stream of dried blood leading from Alex's temple, merging with the stream from her mouth before disappearing into her short hair. Atop her lay the youngest McKinnon, Nathaniel, face down and pathetic, lying on his sister's stomach like a morbid family embrace.
Sighing painfully, Dumbledore levitated the boys body off his sister, lying him instead next to her before doing the same with Declan's body and their mothers, letting them all lying side by side. After searching the downstairs, Albus came across the body of Marlene's father. His limbs were all bent at awkward angles, his spine bent at a right angle, a clear result of a bone breaking cure. Dumbledore managed to realign some of the bones before laying the father next to his wife, managing to make the image a little less sickening.
Outside, soaked from the previous nights night, Albus Dumbledore found the blood stained and tattered remains of the eldest McKinnon, Brendan, the professional quidditch player who had given up his entire livelihood, his passion and dreams to protect his younger sister. The boy looked as though he had been mauled; there were deep gashes in his skin, any visible skin painted red.
Only after lying each McKinnon side by side, each of their bodies clean and respectable, ready to be lain to rest, did Dumbledore realise what was wrong with the image. Marlene was missing. Only after searching the entire ground floor again did Dumbledore finally begin to ascend the small staircase.
The upstairs looked a lot les of a battle field, with the walls baron of blood or scorch marks and nothing but large, black boot prints to show anyone had even entered. Only after searching each room individually did Dumbledore find Marlene.
She was in her bedroom, her body laid atop the covers of her bed, her hands lying across her stomach. Her face was pale, her freckles standing out prominently against the stark ivory skin. Her clothing bore clear signs of the battle, stains of grime and blood, her skin coated in a thin layer of dust. Dumbledore could easily see the shards of broken glass sparkling like diamonds in her golden hair that lay splayed around her angelic face like a halo. Her eyes were already closed.
Sighing solemnly, Dumbledore shut the door to the bedroom, ignoring each of the smiling faces on the walls as they watched him leave. He apparated just outside of the house's borders, ready to break the news to the order, knowing the shocked faces, the tears and the outburst he was about to bestow upon them all.
No one knew who had caused the McKinnon massacre, but the story soon spread throughout the wizarding world. Sirius found out the same day Dumbledore had, the old wizard having arrived at his apartment later that evening to report the news.
Sirius had laughed at first, clearly believing this all to be one of Marlene's sick and twisted jokes, some way for her to pass the time in her isolation, to liven her day slightly. But when Dumbledore said nothing, just looked pitifully at the still young man, Sirius had been filled with a rage like nothing he'd ever experienced before.
He'd shouted, he'd cried, he'd tried tearing his own hair out as he screamed into thin air. Dumbledore left at some point, said Sirius needed time to cope and that the order still needed to be informed. After that, Sirius did the only thing he knew how to do, he drank.
He drank alone in his flat, staring into nothingness until the anger consumed him again. He didn't shout this time, instead he grabbed what ever he could and threw it, shattering glasses, flipping his sofa, ripping down posters and snapping CD's all to fill the void, the make some noise to fill the silence.
He finally collapsed beside his bed, holding onto the post for support as he sat with his back against the wall, crying and screaming as the sun slipped below the horizon.
Sirius went to her home only once, when the bodies had been removed and buried, but he never touched anything that was hers. The most he ever took was a letter, a letter addressed to him that lay discarded on her bedroom floor.
Sirius never found out who had killed Marlene and her family. He never found out that it was his only brother that had ripped his love from the world. Yet he never found out how her death had been the tipping point for Regulus, that taking her life away had somehow relit the humanity in his own. Something had sparked, something unexplainable had happened and Regulus had seen the horrific things he'd done and worse still, the things he was going to do.
After laying her down on her bed, making her look like she was merely asleep, Regulus apparated home, back to London, where he slowly began his descent into the Dark Lord's downfall. He found out Voldemort's weakness and the terrible things he had done and planned to put an end to it all. He died three months later in early April of 1980.
Everyone knew of the lives Marlene had touched in her time. She was mourned by many and missed by all.
Not a day went by where James Potter wouldn't remember the way she would rant. Every day he awoke desperate to receive an owl from his 'sister' awaiting him on the windowsill, the letter spilling with the shared trauma of being lock inside, away from the action.
Not a day went by the Lily Potter didn't remember her bravery and the way she had died for them. Every day she would rock her child to sleep with the story of her best friend, telling her infant son of the wonder that was Marlene, of the strength and determination, and that if Harry was ever to find a girl, he was to fine one like her. Sure, it would infuriate him at times, and sometimes she'd say spiteful things, but she would be somebody who would love him with all she had, her heart, soul, mind and body, even if she'd never in her life admit it.
Not a day went by that Remus wouldn't remember her stubbornness, the adamant feeling that she was always doing the right thing, even, and possibly especially so, when she knew she was doing something wrong. Like the time she had coerced them all to camp out in the forbidden forest in their fifth year, only to be chased out by a herd of very angry sounding centaurs. Remus distinctly remembered it being the result of a bet she'd arranged with Sirius.
And never in the next sixteen years did a day go by that Sirius didn't remember her, the way she would laugh snidely at a joke, pretending she didn't find it funny, only to smile to herself afterwards so no one would see. Never could he forget the way she could drink him under the table or smoke like a chimney, not to mention her colourful vocabulary.
Or the way she'd wake up next to him in the mornings and smile, forgetting momentarily that she was supposed to be angry and hating the world.
Not to mention the way she'd run outside during storms, dancing around in the rain, splashing in puddles and getting thoroughly soaked before she'd begin shouting how she was alive and how she could feel and how she was one hundred percent human.
He'd never forget her passion and her spirit, her reckless brokenness that made her different, that made her addictive.
He'd never forget her body, the way he knew it inside out, each freckle and every scar, how it worked, what made her click and how she fit in his arms perfectly, or the muggle tattoo's that she had adorned over the years, all hidden so her parents wouldn't see.
But most of all, Sirius would never forget her mind, the complexity of the way she thought and all the secrets she still held, like how she loved him with all she had, or how her final words and thoughts had been of him.
And so, Sirius spent most of his days from then on drunk, so much so he couldn't remember his own name, setting his insides on fire just to numb the pain, only to feel it tenfold when he finally regained his senses. He'd stumble and he'd fall, he'd get into fights and sleep with random women in their homes, never taken them to his, none of them working the way she did, none of whose names he would remember.
And every day he would fall asleep alone in his flat, a bottle in his hand, a cigarette he'd passed out before he could light between his lips, a scrunched up letter signed with her signature on his lap and his exact feeling that was running through his mind scrawled across the wall above his head in her dark plum lipstick.
' YOU'RE IN MY VEINS, YOU FUCK