A/N Hello, readers! So, I've been working on this one-shot for over a month and I've finally finished it, read it and let me know what you think. :D
Thanks to All Reviewers!
Disclaimer: I do not own Marlene, but I do (together with do i need a pen name) own Marlene's family members who we have created (1).
amorevolous: adj. Loving; kind; charitable (2)
Growing up in a family with five brothers wasn't easy. Marlene adored her brothers, don't misunderstand, but sometimes she just needed to be separate from them. When the desire to extricate herself from them became overwhelming she would visit her Grandpa. Marlene and her Grandpa had always had an amorevolous relationship. She was closer to him than any of her other family members.
One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove
"She's beautiful." Conroy Cassidy observed as his daughter transferred her newborn infant daughter into her father's arms.
"Her name's Marlene." Cathleen said softly.
"Beautiful, little 'Leney."
"That she is."
"It looks like she's inherited the Cassidy hair." He said indicating the ginger colored curls that already dotted the infants head. It had always been a source of amusement to the family that their last name meant curly-haired, in keeping with their own appearance.
"I know." Her mother proclaimed proudly.
Conroy waved his finger in front of Marlene's face and was rewarded when the infant went practically cross-eyed trying to keep her eyes on it. She finally lifted one tiny fist and clasped her fingers around his, holding it in place with a surprisingly firm grip. "Determined little thing, isn't she?" He mused, smiling fondly at his youngest grandchild. "You will do great things, my dear." He predicted.
Some of the world's best educators are grandparents.- Charles W. Shedd
"Come to Grandpa, 'Leney, come on." Conroy prompted his newest grandchild and only granddaughter. His own wife had given birth three sons and one daughter, all of which had gone on to have all boys excluding Marlene. His granddaughter was currently at that stage in between walking and crawling and he was in the process of convincing her to take her first steps. The little girl promptly decided to crawl over to her Grandpa. "No, no, 'Leney, walk to Grandpa."
The toddler frowned, obviously puzzled. She considered her grandpa for a few moments before reaching out and pulling herself up on the coffee table.
"That's right, Marlene. Now, walk over here."
She sucked in her lower lip, evidently in concentration and took a shaky step forward, when she didn't fall she attempted a second, and a third, finally tumbling in her Grandpa's arms on the forth step.
"Great job, Leney." He exclaimed. "You're such a smart little girl. I think such a big accomplishment deserves a new toy, don't you?" He cooed to Marlene.
Grandfathers are those who are like a piece of string-always easily wrapped around the fingers of a grandchild.-Byron Pulsifer
"Gwampa!" Marlene greeted, smiling up at her Grandpa after toppling headlong into his legs in welcome. He bent down to scoop up his only granddaughter, tugging lightly on one of her ginger curls in greeting.
"Where's your mommy?" He asked.
"Wif daddy and Marcas." She replied. "Mommy is always wif Marcas." She added sorrowfully. Marlene, used to being the youngest still had not grown entirely accustomed to her new brother.
"How about you and I go play with this new toy broom stick I bought you?" Conroy inquired.
"Yeah!" She seconded the move by clapping her hands enthusiastically.
To a small child, the perfect granddad is unafraid of big dogs and fierce storms but absolutely terrified of the word "boo." ~Robert Brault
"Monsta! Monsta!" Three year old Marlene squealed running out of her bedroom. "Gwampa, monsta! Monsta!" She exclaimed throwing herself headlong into him.
"What's the matter, Leney?" He inquired, lifting the little girl into his arms.
"There's a monsta!" She proclaimed.
"Oh, really?" He asked. Conroy and his wife Brianna were watching Marlene, Milo and Marcas for a few nights, as their mother and father were currently over at St. Mungo's, Cathleen having just given birth to their fifth child, Merric. Their eldest son Malcolm, currently a first year, was at Hogwarts.
"Yes!" She affirmed vehemently, moments after this a loud clap of thunder resounded through the room. "AH! Monsta!" She exclaimed, trembling violently.
"Shh, don't be scared, it's just thunder." He explained.
"What's that?" The little girl inquired looking at him with wide, blue eyes.
"You know how when you have a party it's really loud?" Conroy asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, thunder and lightening happen when God is having a party, thunder is the music, and lightening is the flashing party lights."
"Wow." She said sounding awe-stricken. "I wanna go!" Marlene exclaimed. "It must be a really fun party. Can we go, pwease, Gwampa!"
For days after that, Marlene chattered about the parties in the sky and demanded that she be allowed to go to the next one to anyone that would listen. She generously agreed to bring her new baby brother along as well.
The reason grandchildren and grandparents get along so well is that they have a common enemy. ~Sam Levenson
"I want that dolly." The four year old screeched pointing to a china doll on display in a store window.
"You have many pretty dollies, Marlene." Her mother attempted to reason with her. Unfortunately, four year olds weren't known for being the most reasonable of people.
"I want that dolly." She repeated.
"Yeah, Cathleen, she wants that dolly." Conroy repeated looking amused at his daughter's struggles with her own daughter. Revenge, as they say, is all too sweet. Meanwhile, the windows on the shop were starting to vibrate ominously, a strong indicator of a magic-enhanced tantrum.
Cathleen looked from her all-too cheerful looking father, to her stubborn looking daughter and sighed before agreeing to buy Marlene the doll, which of course set up a cry amongst her other children all of whom demanded a new toy.
"I was never this bad." She informed her father, who merely chuckled to himself.
"I seem to recall a certain little girl throwing a tantrum in the middle of Muggle London over a cookie that ended up requiring a team of memory modifiers."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied, although she flushed at the memory.
Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley
"And then what happened?" The five year old inquired looking up at her Grandfather with an awe-stricken expression.
"So, I was desperately in need of a place to hide from your grandma because she was really upset with me for, er, accidentally turning her friend's hair purple..."
"Uh-huh?" She prompted.
"So, I was running up and down this hallway looking for a place to hide when all of a sudden a doorway appeared out of nowhere..."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," He confirmed. "So, I go in of course, and guess what I found?"
"What?" Marlene was utterly riveted by this tale of magical rooms.
"It looked sort of like the Gryffindor common room, there were big squishy armchairs, and a large fireplace, but the room also had Quidditch magazines and some of Honeydukes best chocolate, and other sweets. In short everything I needed to hide out in style."
"I can't wait to go to Hogwarts!" Marlene exclaimed excitedly. "Okay, now tell me the story about the magical unicorn who escapes from the evil monster..."
Grandpas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author Unknown
"Um, no?" The little orange haired girl asked more than stated in response to her Grandpa's question.
"Oh, really?" The man asked sounding amused. "You have absolutely no idea where those cookies disappeared to?" He reiterated raising an eyebrow at the six year old.
"Nope." She replied, looking at him with wide, innocent blue eyes. "It hurts me that you would suspect me of such a, such a...uh, umm..."
"Crime? Misdeed? Heinous affront against society?"
"Yeah, that, I would never do such a thing, Grandpa." The little girl exclaimed staring up at him with watery looking eyes.
"Then what's this I see?" He asked, indicating to a suspicious looking chocolate stain on her arm.
"Umm..." Marlene stalled. "Um, oh yeah! I remember what happened! An alien came, and uh, possessed me, and ordered me to steal the cookies, you gotta believe me Grandpa, I really tried to resist, I swear!"
"Did those mean aliens scare you, Leney?"
"It was awful." She affirmed, nodding her head vigorously causing her ginger curls to bounce frantically in every direction.
"We better get you an ice cream cone to make up for it." He said with a wink. "Let's get out of here before your parents catch us." He added offering his hand to Marlene and leading the way towards the door.
Do you know why grandchildren are always so full of energy? They suck it out of their grandparents. ~Gene Perret
It was currently summer vacation, and all was well in the McKinnon house...
"Marcas, stop pulling your sisters hair!" Cathleen McKinnon called through the open kitchen window. Her six children were all in the back yard 'playing,' (ie. fighting and creating such havoc as would cause any normal neighbors to call the police).
"I told you he was evil." Marlene screeched back darkly. The seven year old decided to take matters into her own hands when her brother ignored her mother's command, she turned to her brother, narrowed her eyes at him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Go dtachta an diabhal tu! (3)" She hissed at him in Gaelic.
"Marlene!" Cathleen exclaimed, sounding scandalized. "We do not talk like that. In English or otherwise." She added. "If I have to come out there you will be very sorry, young lady."
"Mom, make Max stop following me around." Merric exclaimed sounding exasperated.
"He's two, Merric." Malcolm butted in. "What do you expect her to do?"
"Fine, let him follow you around then."
"Oi, Malcolm are you going to practice with me or not?" Milo called from where he hovered several feet above the ground on his broomstick.
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
"I want to play!" Marlene exclaimed bounding after her two older brothers.
"I don't know about that, Mar." Malcolm looked down at his diminutive sister doubtfully.
"I can do it!" She exclaimed. "Please..." She looked up at her elder brothers with big, watery blue eyes. They inwardly cursed their inability to say no to her before nodding their assent. "Yes!" She exclaimed happily. "Um, what are we playing?" She asked after a pause. Her brothers rolled their eyes at her, and Milo reached out to ruffle her hair fondly.
"Quidditch." He replied.
"Two on Two if we can get a fourth player." Malcolm elaborated.
Luckily, their grandpa chose this moment to appear in their yard.
"Grandpa!" Marlene exclaimed bouncing over to him and enveloping him in a hug. "Play with us, please?" She enquired.
"I don't know..." He said teasingly. "I don't think I remember how to play this game."
It was a well known fact that Conroy Cassidy had played for the Irish Quidditch team when he was younger, and despite his, ah, advanced age he was still known to be a formidable opponent under the right circumstances.
"You can be my team!" Marlene exclaimed.
The four took to the air playing a modified game of Quidditch, the object was just to score the most points with the Quaffle, first team to one hundred won. The game was a close one, with Milo and Malcolm edging out a narrow victory at 100-90.
"Let's play again!" Marlene shouted eagerly.
"C'mon, Leney, give Grandpa a rest, huh?" Conroy requested. "Tell you what how about I take the lot of you out for ice cream?"
"Deal!" Marlene agreed.
When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window. ~Ogden Nash
"This is so lame." The eight year old Marlene muttered under her breath to Marcas.
"Miss McKinnon, could you please recite the basic properties of a polyjuice potion out loud?" Mr. McKenney asked levelling the girl with a stern glance.
Marlene and her siblings attended lessons everyday. They were taught by an assortment of tutors, Mr. McKenney instructed them in Potions, Herbology, and Gaelic (which her parents considered it important for them to master), Mr. Maloni instructed them in Latin (essential for all young witches and wizards), Charms, and Astronomy, Ms. Tiffman taught them Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and History of Magic, and Ms. Collins instructed them in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, and finally Mr. Rogers was engaged to teach them basic Muggle subjects such as mathematics and literature, which would not be essential to their magical education but their parents considered important for becoming well rounded individuals.
Marlene rattled off the ingredients in a monotone and then continued her goal of counting the number of cracks in the stone wall. They were currently residing in the McKinnon's ancestral house as they usually did during the summer months, the manor being very old was filled with interesting passageways that Marlene would much rather be exploring than listening to Mr. McKenney carry on a Potions lesson. Plus they hardly ever got to do any practical magic, as strictly speaking they weren't supposed to do magic outside of school. Although, it was a well known fact that the ministry couldn't tell who was performing magic and so in a pureblood household it was easy to get away with. Most pureblood families either sent their children to a magical grade school, or employed private tutors. A few families sent them to muggle schools but that was rare.
Milo and Malcolm were currently working on Transfiguration with Ms. Tiffman. It was a huge grievance amongst them that they were still forced to attend lessons over the summer despite the fact that they were already enrolled at Hogwarts. Marlene attended most lessons with Marcas, while Merric attended the majority of his classes with Maxwell. The two youngest McKinnons were currently enjoying the extremely riveting subject, History of Magic.
She would much prefer to be outside playing Quidditch or something equally fun than continuing in her current endeavor. Just as she was about to move from counting hte cracks in the wall to counting the number of flagstones on the ground the door to the room burst open to reveal her grandfather.
"I hope you don't mind, but we're going to have to cut lessons short for today." Conroy said trying to look like he was grieved by this dreadful interruption of his grandchildren's edification. "I need to take Marlene and Marcas to an, ah, appointment." He elaborated.
"Oh?" McKenney asked. "I was unaware that the children had anywhere else to go today, but I'm sure you know best." He added. "We'll pick up our discussion of the one hundred most popular potions tomorrow." He finished.
"Where are we going?" Marcas inquired as soon as they had escaped from their 'classroom.'
"I was thinking we'd go to Diagon Alley and look at the new broomstick models, perhaps stop for some ice cream as long as we're out." Their grandfather replied.
"Mum and Dad have no idea what we're doing, do they?" Marlene asked with a grin.
Conroy had the decency to pretend to look abashed. "No, no not exactly." He replied. "But I figured you two could use a break."
The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap. ~Author Unknown
"Tom ran away." Marlene said mournfully upon hearing her Grandpa enter the room.
Tom was Marlene's pet cat, the two had been inseparable since the nine year old had been around three or four.
"Níl aon tintéan mar do thintéan féin."
"There is no place like home." Marlene parroted back.
"That is correct." Conroy stated. "Tom will come back," He consoled her, pulling his granddaughter in to a hug.
Luckily, with the assistance of several Point-Me and other locater spells they were able to locate Tom the Cat within a few hours and return him to Marlene.
Grandparents are there to help the child get into mischief they haven't thought of yet. ~Gene Perret
Conroy entered his daughter and son-in-law's house and was welcomed by the sight of his grandchildren lined up military style facing their stern looking parents.
"What did I tell you about experimenting on the other children?" Martin asked the group in general. They were lined up in age order (minus Malcolm who was currently away at auror training and could not possibly be blamed for the day's events, at least so far as his parents could prove). Seventeen year old Milo stood next to ten year old Marlene, who had nine year old Marcas on her other side, seven year old Merric was next to him, and five year old Maxwell stood on the far right side.
"Um, don't?" Merric responded, though it came out as more a question than anything else.
"Shh." Marlene hissed around Marcas.
"Remember the phrase: plausible deniability, embrace it, learn to love it." Milo advised. "Speaking of which, can I go? I don't see how I can possibly be involved in this?"
Cathleen McKinnon snorted at her son, and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'please, we both know that you masterminded this, and if you didn't it's only because the devious hell-spawn on your immediate right beat you to it (devious hell-spawn being an affectionate (and accurate) term of endearment for her daughter).
"What exactly did they do?" Conroy inquired, barely managing to keep his amusement off his face.
"They were at the park playing with the other children, of course I figured it would be fine, because with Milo there to watch them what could they possibly try?" Cathleen asked hysterically.
"Murphy's Law, dear."
"They came home around a half an hour ago, and were in the door not five minutes when I get a call from the Flints informing me that my 'demonic harbingers of the apocalypse' had apparently caused their son to be trapped on a swing going at least thirty-five kilometers an hour, while their daughter found herself hanging by her hair from the monkey bars."
"Oh dear." Conroy murmured.
"Oh yes." Martin confirmed. "The Flints are not best pleased with us."
"They can't prove anything." Marcas put in. "...I mean, we're, uh, innocent."
Marlene glared at her brother to silence him.
"I am disappointed in you children." Conroy said sternly. His five grandchildren all stared at him incredulosly, scarcely believing that he could disagree with their supposed actions. "Trapping the boy on the swing is an old trick indeed, it would've been much better if you timed the swing to release him into the cranky old lady's favorite tree (there was bound to be a cranky old lady)."
"Dad!" Cathleen exclaimed sounding scandilized.
A grandpa is someone you never outgrow your need for.- Unknown
"Happy Birthday, Leney!" Conroy greeted his now eleven year old granddaughter.
Marlene looked up from her book and tucked a strand of curly hair behind her ear only to have it stubbornly rebound back in front. "Hi, Grandpa." She murmured.
"Why so glum?" He inquired. "I thought you were supposed to be happy on your birthday...?"
"I guess." She replied, forcing a smile on her face though it looked like more of a grimace than anything else. "Everything's gonna change, you know?"
"What do you mean?" He asked, taking a seat next to her on the bench beneath her bedroom window.
"Well, I'm eleven now, so I'll be going to Hogwarts next year, and don't get me wrong I'm real excited but it's gonna be different..." She said quietly. "We hardly see Malcolm anymore since he's away at the ministry, and now Milo is going to be gone all the time as well, did you hear the Irish have recruited him to play straight out of Hogwarts?" Milo and Marlene had always been very close.
"I heard." Conroy confirmed.
"I'm just going to miss everyone, you know?" Marlene muttered. "I'm not going to see you so much either." She added.
"We'll all miss you as well." He confirmed. "I had a hunch you might be feeling upset." He admitted. "What's say I give you your present now, hmm?"
"I never say no to presents." Marlene replied a ghost of a grin flitting across her face.
Conroy reached into his pocket, procuring a small white box and handing it to his granddaughter. "Open it." He urged. She pulled the lid on the box open and found a gold locket with the traditional Irish Claddagh symbol on the outside (4). She opened it and was greeted with a photograph of her grandfather on the right side, and a photo of herself on the left. She flipped it over to find 'Ná dearmad choíche rud ar fiú cuimhneamh air; ná cuimhnigh choíche ar rud is fearr a dhearmad,' engraved on the back in Gaelic.
"May you never forget what is worth remembering, or remember what is best forgotten." She murmured.
"Very good." He commended her on her grasp of the language. "I'll always be here for you."
"Thanks, Grandpa." Marlene exclaimed offering him the locket and gesturing for him to put it on her. "I'll never take it off." She vowed, solemnly.
Grandfathers are for loving and fixing things. ~Author Unknown
"I have a problem." Marlene noted.
"I can see that." Conroy observed in an amused tone. His granddaughter was currently hanging upside down, her feet glued to the ceiling a letter dangling loosely in her hand, her normally ginger colored curls had turned purple and were standing on end shooting out sparks in all directions.
"Help me." The twelve year old demanded.
"How exactly did you manage to get up there?" He asked, looking interested as he ignored her request acting though he had not heard her.
"Well, I may have jinxed Sirius' Christmas present so that he would be turned red and green striped, and he may have taken revenge on me for it..." Marlene exclaimed (5). "Now seriously, help me get down from here. The train is leaving in like three hours and mum will flip if I miss it."
"No need to worry about that, Merric somehow got his nose glued in one of his books, and your mum had to take him to St. Mungo's, and your dad is at work, so they asked me to take you to King's Cross."
"You can't just leave me here, Grandpa." Marlene bristled and her hair shot out more multi-colored sparks.
Conroy laughed at her discomfiture but dutifully took out his wand and tried to put an end to Sirius' spellwork. Unfortunately, Sirius Black never made things as easy as a simple Finite Incantum. "Your guy did quite a job on this spell."
"He's not my guy." Marlene emphasized with a glare. "And, of course he did. I expected nothing less."
Her grandfather hid a grin from his granddaughter as he tried out several other method's of getting her down. Sadly, for Marlene anyway, Sirius' spell seemed to be on a time-release and no amount of spellwork was going to undo it until the timer ran out. Therefore, Marlene was reduced to waiting upside down for over two hours until the spell holding her feet to the ground wore out and she was lowered to the ground, (at least Sirius didn't charm it to just drop her like he would've if it were anyone else). Unfortunately, her hair remained purple and continued to shoot multi-colored sparks into the air.
"I can't go into Muggle London like this." Marlene said with a scowl.
"I have a solution." Conroy waved his wand, and with a flourish Marlene's hair was covered by the most ridiculous looking hat she had ever seen. It was fuzzy and green with shamrocks dangling down obscuring her vision (6).
"Sometimes you take Irish pride too far." Marlene said with a frown.
"Nonsense." Her grandfather waved off her objection. "Besides, I fixed it, didn't I?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"Then there's nothing to complain about, now we better get going before you miss the train."
Grandfather-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandpas are short on criticism and long on love. Author Unknown
"Marlene, we are not done with this conversation." Cathleen McKinnon called after her thirteen year old daughter's back as she stormed toward the stairs.
"You may not be, but I most definitely am." Marlene called back.
"May I ask why you are yelling at my granddaughter?"
"I really wish you wouldn't interfere, Dad." She remarked warily.
"I'm sure whatever it is you're angry about wasn't that bad."
"She accused the Minister of Magic of taking bribes."
"...He does take bribes." Conroy Cassidy answered his daughter in a tone that implied that this explained everything.
"That hardly makes it acceptable for her to around announcing it in the middle of the ministry."
"I'm sure she had a reason. You shouldn't be so hard on her." He replied.
"You're always sure she had a reason."
"And, she usually does." He answered reasonably. "If you'll excuse me...?"
"Where are you going?" Cathleen asked.
"To talk to Leney, where else?" He asked heading towards the stairs his granddaughter had ascended moments earlier. "Knock, Knock." He called tapping on the door.
"Who's there?"
"Boo." He said letting himself into her bedroom. He found her curled up on her window bench, holding a throw pillow to her chest and staring out the window.
"Boo who?" She asked turning to look at him.
"There's no need to cry." He finished.
"Very funny." She said, although she looked less than amused.
"Don't be upset, Leney." He chided softly. "Suppose you tell your old Grandpa what's the matter?"
The thirteen year old chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip for a few moments obviously considering the matter. "Do you remember, Sirius?" She inquired.
Did he remember Sirius Black? How could he forget the boy? As far as his granddaughter was concerned the sun rose and set on Sirius Black. The two had been best friends ever since meeting at a Quidditch match several years ago. Conroy personally found the boy to be perfectly delightful, despite his own family's loud declamations of him (although Conroy found that to be more of a recommendation than anything else, the Black family was hardly one that he found particularly appealing). "Of course." He replied after a short pause.
"His parents, aren't the, er, nicest to him, I suppose you could say..." Marlene fudged. "His mum actually used a curse on him in the middle of the ministry, the minister was there and everything, and you know what happened?"
"What?" He asked even though he had a pretty strong notion of what occurred.
"Nothing. The minister just told everyone to go about their business and Sirius went home with his parents, and the next day the Minister received a hefty donation from Orion Black for his reelection campaign." She replied. "Can you believe that?"
Unfortunately, he could. "No, that's ludicrous." He said aloud.
"I know." She exclaimed. "And now mum's sore at me, just because I said he took bribes and he wouldn't know bravery or honor if they came up and kicked him in the behind." Marlene continued noticeably bristling.
"If it makes you feel any better, I think he deserved it."
Every child needs a grandfather to show them affection and love.-Byron Pulsifer
"This is so lame." Marlene punctuated her words with a sneezing fit which caused the balls of light which lit her room to flicker ominously for a few moments. She had contracted Wizard's Flu and been sent home from Hogwarts because they couldn't risk her spreading it to anyone else. She had been sent to stay with her grandparents because they had both had the illness, unlike her brother Max and her Dad.
"It is." Her Grandpa agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully. "But, it doesn't have to be."
"What'd you have in mind?" She looked curious and pitiful, her nose a bright shade of red from her illness.
"Well, nothing says fun like prank-mailing major pure blood families." He mentioned.
A slow smile spread across the fourteen year old's face as she pondered the possibilities. She grabbed her wand from the bedside table and summoned a sheaf of parchment, quills, and ink bottles from the bookshelf.
Several hours later, the Malfoys, Flints, Blacks, Notts, Goyles and several other pureblood families received anonymous letters displaying various messages.
The Malfoys were told that their son had been seen kissing a Muggleborn Hufflepuff.
The Goyles were informed that their son was a member of the Hogwarts Tea Party Society.
The Flints received a letter which when opened caused the recipient to speak in rhyme until such time as they developed an appreciation for Muggles. Needless, to say the Flints didn't like to talk much after that.
The Notts were told that their daughter was cavorting with Gryffindors.
Orion and Walburga Black received a very special gift indeed, when they opened the letter they were chased throughout the house by books, their walls of their house were turned Gryffindor Red, a giant Gryffindor lion statue was erected in front of their house and glued to the ground with a permanent sticking charm.
Sometimes, Marlene mused, being sick wasn't so bad after all.
A grandfather is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend. -Author Unknown
"Listen up, I am about to teach you lot the most important lesson you will ever learn." Conroy exclaimed. He sat in an armchair facing his McKinnon grandchildren, from left to right sat: fourteen year old Marcas, twelve year old Merric, eleven year old Maxwell, twenty-three year old Malcolm, twenty-two year old Milo, and perched on the arm of the sofa sat fifteen year old Marlene."
"Does Dad know it?" Max demanded, he tended to judge the difficulty of spells based upon whether their father knew it.
"Nope." Conroy replied.
Now his four grandchildren looked rather intrigued instead of their previous mildly bored expressions. They leaned toward him from their position on the couch.
"Tell us!" Marlene exclaimed, she had never been one for patience.
"I am going to teach you the use of an old Irish spell, you must promise never to teach it to any of your friends, you can show Milo and Malcolm though. It is an old Cassidy family secret." He cautioned.
"What is it?" Merric asked, always eager to earn new information.
"It's a bond spell, you place it on an object, such as these," Conroy said, pulling out a small box which contained six gold rings and passed it to Marlene who was the closest to him.
"This looks like your ring." She said pointing to a simple gold ring which he wore on the index finger of his left hand.
"It's the same." He said. "These rings are made from gold found in a mine on the Cassidy land in Ireland, now take a ring out and pass it down." Marlene did so, and noted that once she placed it on her finger it shrunk to fit her hand and her name appeared in curling script across the front. The Cassidy Crest was engraved on the back. "Now," He began once all of his grandchildren had acquired a ring. "Take out your wands hold it to the ring and repeat radharc ceangal (7)."
"What does it do?" Milo asked, voicing the question that was resounding in all their heads.
"It allows you to see and hear whatever another person who shares the bond is doing, you can also hear their thoughts." He said. "When you tap your ring with your wand and repeat Conas tá tú followed by the name of the person you want to contact (8), when you say it their ring will glow and if they repeat ceart go leor the spell will activate (9). It can be used in dangerous situations or just for the purpose of planning pranks through silent conversation."
"Sweet!" Marcas exclaimed. This seemed to be the general consensus as each of his grandchildren started testing it on each other.
"Thanks for teaching it to us, Grandpa." Marlene said softly.
Grandfathers are not just a relative. Grandfathers are those special men who know how to cherish, nourish, help, cuddle, and advise their grandchild.-Byron Pulsifer
"Can I tell you a secret?" Marlene asked her grandfather.
"Of course." Conroy replied looking up from the copy of the Daily Prophet he had been reading up until that point.
"I-I like someone." Marlene muttered quietly turning red enough to put the brightest tomato to shame.
"Oh?"
"I like mmgmhsirhjd..." Marlene muttered the name of the person in such a jumbled way that it was quite impossible to understand her.
"I'm sorry, Leney, I didn't quite catch that."
"IlikeSirius." She repeated in a rush, but this time he was able to understand her.
"That, my dear, has been rather obvious for quite awhile now." Conroy said.
"Do you think he knows?" Marlene demanded, twirling a curl of her hair as she did whenever she became nervous.
Conroy pondered that for a few moments. "No. That boy is not known for his perception skills." He answered. "No offense." He added in case she was affronted by the comment against her friend.
"That's true." On the contrary, the sixteen year old snickered as she thought of how dense Sirius could be on certain subjects. "What should I do?" She said after a pause.
"Ask him out."
"Elephants and grandchildren never forget." -Andy Rooney
"You promised." Marlene whispered as she stood next to the coffin. Sirius stood next to her, completely silent for once. Tears poured down her cheaks and dripped onto the wooden surface of the casket. "You said that you'd never leave me." She continued.
Conroy Cassidy was no longer of this world. He had been killed in a Death Eater raid less than a week ago. The death eaters had been wreaking havoc in Muggle London and had been just about to turn their killing spree on an orphanage. Marlene's grandfather had stepped in and managed to take down several death eaters and hold back the attack until ministry officials arrived on the scene, unfortunately when all was sad and done he was no more.
Marlene could not get the moment she learned of his death out of her head, the scene played over and over again in her mind like she was trapped in a pensieve memory that kept playing over and over.
"Excuse me, Professor Slughorn, I need Miss McKinnon." Professor McGonnagall informed her colleague.
The other professor nodded his permission and Marlene stood up exchanging a puzzled look with her friends.
"Grab your stuff, you won't be coming back to class." The transfiguration mistress said.
The ginger-haired witch dutifully packed up her stuff and followed her teacher out the door. When she reached the Headmaster's office she found Marcas, Merric, and Maxwell already seated in chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"Sit down, Miss McKinnon." Dumbledore said to her in a kind voice. Marlene took the available seat next to Marcas. "There's been an incident. I'm sorry, your grandfather was killed."
Marlene heard a roaring in her ears and was vaguely aware of a stifled sob coming from Max. She felt Marcas reach out for her hand and squeeze it gently. She could feel his hand shake in her own and when she hazarded a glance at him she saw that he had turned paler than snow, Merric was staring down at the floor, obviously fighting a losing battle with his tears.
"Your brother, Milo is coming to pick you up, we're releasing you from school for two weeks." The headmaster continued to speak but Marlene heard only every other word at best. "I'm sorry." He repeated finally.
She clutched at Sirius' hand as the rapidity of her tears increased and she was unable to see. "You promised." She repeated her words ending in a sob. She wrenched her hand away from her boyfriend and fled the room. Sirius seemed like he was going to go after her but was stopped when Milo got up and followed his little sister from the room.
"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay. Because I know you're not." Milo's voice sounded from behind her, and Marlene made know motion to acknowledge that she'd heard him. He strode over to his sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"He gave me this you know." Marlene said holding her necklace up from where it had rested against the neckline of her simple black dress. "He gave it to me and said that he'd always be there, but where is he now?"
"He will always be there." Milo said after a pause. "Just because you can't see him doesn't mean he's left you, he'll always be watching over you."
"Ná dearmad choíche rud ar fiú cuimhneamh air; ná cuimhnigh choíche ar rud is fearr a dhearmad." Marlene murmured.
"You won't." Milo assured her. "Now, let's go back inside."
You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.-Irish Saying
Marlene joined the Order of the Phoenix as soon as she graduated from Hogwarts, she would fight for the Light, the same as her Grandfather. She would continue to protect the people that he had died for.
A/N
(1) For more on the McKinnon relatives see the stories co-authored by do i need a pen name and I under the pen name siriuslypinkandgreen.
(2) amorevolous-The website savethewords . org is for obscure English words that are dying out. By registering for the site and adopting words you pledge to keep them in use. I adopted the word amorevolous among several others and will be writing several stories based around them. I encourage you all to join and help keep the words alive.
(3) Go dtachta an diabhal tu-May the Devil Choke You
(4) http : // www . thingsremembered. com / webapp / wcs / stores / servlet / product _ 10001 _ 9951 _ 652416 _ -1 _1 fcref = bz product 652416 & srccode = cii _ 10043468& cpncode =18-54834557-2
Simply remove the spaces to see the necklace that Marlene's Grandpa gave her.
(5) For more information on Sirius red and green striped-ness see the story Si Festici Nega, If You Did it Deny It, co-authored by do i need a pen name and myself under the pen name siriuslypinkandgreen.
(6) https : // www . webhats . com / Catalog / Product Details . aspx ? id = 1460&category = 54
Simply Remove the spaces to see the hat Marlene's grandpa gave her.
(7) radharc ceangal-sight bond
(8)Conas tá tú-How are you, (insert name here)?
(9) ceart go leor-alright
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