A/N: It's been about ten years (figuratively) since I wrote anything, and even longer since I've done fanfiction. I've been wanted to return to my precious Marauders era and came up with this in about twenty minutes. Part of it is because I missed writing, another is that after searching the Marlene McKinnon tag on tumblr and for stories on , I realized she only exists in relation to Blackinnon. As always, feel free to leave comments and let me know of any errors. Enjoy!
The Girl Who Lost Everything
There was no doubt it was a war. At this point not one person had been left untouched by its horrors, no matter which side you were fighting on. It was supposed to be her day off.
You don't get a day off during a war.
She had gotten the notification too late. The Death Eaters were long gone now, only a ruined street and an eerie skull in the sky left in their wake.
Madness.
The girl's screams bounced off of crumbled houses and dead bodies. She couldn't be older than ten. Curly blond hair plastered onto her face and sad blue eyes dripping with tears. The sad sounds of a little who lost her parents. Only this girl's parents were lost forever.
That was life in a war.
She was so young.
It wasn't fair.
She was held back by two aurors wearing ripped and bloodied clothes. No one talked to her as her screams filled the streets with an oppressive air. They had waited for Marlene.
She knew it was her duty to help these people and she wanted to, but she kept asking herself, "Why me?" Selfish, she knew, when this little girl just lost everything.
It felt like hours until she finally reached the girl, staring at her tear stained face the entire time as she walked.
It wasn't fair.
Marlene sat down with the girl on a piece of fallen ruble and tried to shield her from the field of dead bodies about to be carried away. Her job was to fight, to help. How much help could a twenty year old Marlene McKinnon be to the girl who just lost everything?
She had talked to the girl for minutes before she was taken away.
"What are they going to do with her?" Marlene screamed. It was her turn to fill the oppressive air.
A hand rested on her shoulder. One of the senior aurors who had been doing this for years. "You can't save everyone, McKinnon. Now come help with the cleanup."
Her entire family was lying in the street.
In that time right before your death, when your life flashes before your eyes, she saw the girl. She was the girl. The blond haired blue eyed girl who lost everything. But Marlene was fortunate enough to be put out of her misery.
Maybe the biggest tragedy of war isn't the death. Maybe it's the hardened soldiers, parentless children, lost memories. Maybe death was a good thing, those people were being saved. Maybe.