The Handshake
A.N. This is a one-shot. It may not have happened, it may have happened, we may never know.
Disclaimer-Nope, sadly I will never own Harry Potter because I am more than ten years younger than the owner of Harry Potter!
Everyone was out shopping for Christmas presents for their friends, so was Marlene but she wasn't looking for an ordinary present. She was looking to save a life. A present her friend would never know she had been given. A tear slid down her cheek as she watched two children building a snowman. They were laughing, carefree and innocent. They weren't aware how close they were to death's clutches. She stood up and brushed the snow off her coat. The coat Lily had given her just last year. Thinking back, she wished she had made more of her Christmas's. She followed the footprints made early by herself as she took her last walk through Hogsmeade. She didn't smile at Alice when she waved at her nor return Frank's Merry Christmas. She was only aware of herself and the path she had yet to complete. When she reached the abandoned farm where she was to meet with him she took out a notebook she had got from Lily simply because she admired it. She wrote a letter to nobody on it.
Dear person reading this,
My name is Marlene McKinnon and I've just realised this is the last time I will write my name. No, I'm not changing it. I'm going to die today. Plain and simple, I'm not doing it for attention because I'm going to be dead when you read this and why would a dead girl want attention? She's dead for Merlin's sake! Where was I? Ah yes, Today I'm going to die at the hands of Severus Snape. Why? No, not suicide. I'm going to sacrifice my life for my best friend's. We made a deal, we even shook on it. He can't break it otherwise he dies...but he wouldn't really die. There is a horrible spell that the ancients used to execute criminals who had done extra evil things. It worked the same as a Dementor Kiss and the Cruciatus curse continuously except he's still alive. He could work in the Ministry as head of some department but he would be miserable. Still, he wouldn't back out, he couldn't. Now I know you're all yelling WHY! And I'll tell you why. If I die Lily won't. How? Snape hates me. He would love to kill me so in return for killing me he must make sure Lily stays safe. Now your proberly wondering how I could talk about not existing so calmly. I don't know the answer and I never will. See you in a few decades or so.
Marlene.
There were wet patches on the parchment where her tears had fallen and after she re-read it she took one deep breath and looked into the black eyes of her murderer.