Chapter One

Finding You

A/N: Many apologies if this first chapter is a bit boring and/ or very annoying to read. I'll get it beta'd as soon as I can, but as it is, this is very, very late. Whilst Benjy only comes into this chapter a little bit, as one of Cara's favourite characters, he will be featured as the main character of sorts in later chapters, as will Marlene and a few other characters.

This was written as a belated birthday gift to my ff bestie and fellow mod on The Golden Snitch, Cara (Lenore483). I hope you have an amazing year! Xx

"Junk. Junk. Oh, look, more junk!"

Marlene rolled her eyes, finding it harder and harder to control the urge to strangle Sirius. It seemed that the boy's idea of cleaning up the Order's headquarters involved tossing objects from one trunk into another. He was the reason the room was now littered with crumpled balls of newspaper that had not made it into the wastepaper basket.

"The quicker we do this, the quicker we can get out of here," Marlene said, rescuing a Transfiguration textbook from the trunk labelled 'Throw Out.'

She knew that whatever landed in the trunk would probably be set alight by Sirius and Peter, neither of whom seemed to be coping with not being sent on any dangerous missions that week. If the war ever ended and life went back to normal, she was sure some poor kid could use the textbook at Hogwarts.

"You know, we'd be done a lot faster if you would stop saving random junk," Sirius said, glaring over his shoulder at her.

"We'd be done a lot faster if you actually started to clean," she said, moving out of the way as Sirius tried to snatch the textbook from her arms. Swatting his hand away, she stood and placed the book on the small bookshelf lining the bedroom wall. "C'mon, just do what Moody asked and we can get out of each other's hair."

Sirius huffed. "I don't get why we have to clean up here. The room's tidy enough; Prongs and Evans won't mind a little dust here and there."

"James and Lily have a newborn, of course, they'll mind," Marlene said, nudging Sirius with her foot. "And we don't know for sure that's who is going to be staying here. This room is for anyone who needs protection, and it's our job to make sure they have somewhere nice to stay. Now get up off the floor and help or you'll be the one who needs protection."

Very slowly, Sirius stood up. Bending over and reaching into another trunk, he took out a small, leather bound book. "Journal—junk," he said with a smile, tossing it behind him into the 'Throw Out' trunk.

Marlene shoved past him, walking to the junk trunk and fishing out the journal. "Why don't you clear out under the bed?" she asked.

She ignored him as he walked over to the bed and plopped down on it, whistling a tune. Instead, she focused on the book. Running her hand over the soft cover for a moment, she opened it to the first page, wondering if she knew the owner and could return it to them before it was turned to ashes.

Immediately, she wished she hadn't. Marlene stared at the name written in messy black ink, her heart thudding against her chest. Her hands started shaking, and it was only that Sirius got off the bed and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder that she stopped.

"What is it?" he asked, trying to take the journal from her hands.

Marlene shook her head, pointing to the name. "It's Benjy's," she croaked out, her throat suddenly feeling constricted.

Part of her dreaded the moment Sirius would crack a joke about their former classmate having kept a journal, knowing that he might try to make light of the situation. An even bigger part of her, however, hoped that he would. When she turned to him, Marlene saw that his face had turned pale, no smirk on his face.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive."

Looking back to the journal, Marlene flicked through a few pages, her throat becoming more clogged as she began to recognise the writing. There were very few entries, the writing beginning very messy and growing neater—though only very slightly—in each entry. Stopping at the last, hurried scribble, she saw that the particular entry was dated December 1980, just two months earlier. Two months ago, when he was still alive. Two months ago, when he hadn't been att—

"Do we add it to the pile?" Sirius asked.

Marlene snapped the book shut and shook her head. "I—I'll take care of it," she said, tucking the small book into the inside pocket of her robes.

Sirius regarded her for a moment, his dark eyes piercing her own blue orbs. Marlene tried to fake a smile, but her eyes betrayed her. They begin to brim with tears and she turned away.

Sirius squeezed her shoulder, but rather than ask if she was ok, he changed the subject—something that almost made Marlene forget that she had previously wanted to strangle him. "Where do you want me to start?" he asked.