Don't you dare look out your window,
Darlin' everything's on fire,
The war outside your door keeps raging on,
Hold on to this lullaby,
Even when the music's gone
- Taylor Swift, Safe and Sound
The fires were still raging through out the large, Yorkshire house, and as well as the destructive glow from the hungry flames, menacing flashes of green light illuminated the inside of the house, barely piercing through the think veil of suffocating smoke that was collection in the upper rooms. Pouring out of the now cracked windows and pluming into the indigo sky, it combined with the eerie, hovering skull intertwined with the snake winding its way through the night. The bedrooms were indistinguishable from each other now, as the furniture melted into unrecognisable lumps, and bodies of stunned or dead people littered the lower corridors.
It was 1980, and the First Wizarding War was well under way, the underprepared Order of the Phoenix operating from the shadows, Voldemort's Death Eaters slowly taking the defenders out one by one and burrowing deeper into the Ministry each day as the traitor revealed more and more information. You would go to bed wondering who would be murdered while you sleep, praying it wasn't your family or friends that night, that they might be spared for another few days. Increasing amounts of people were going into hibernation, retreating into safe houses clutching their few precious possessions only to be flushed out like foxes in their set, fire at one end, death at the other. Muggleborns either fled or fought, but all died the same death.
The McKinnons were a half-blood family, fairly well off for the time, law abiding, hard working people, but hunted: their glad one youngest daughter, Marlene, was an active member of the Order of the Phoenix, as a result the Death Eaters were determined to eliminate the blood traitors entirely. The family had a large country home in rural Yorkshire, far away from any large Muggle settlements and surrounded by rollin Moore, shrouded in fog and mist, springy and versatile heather bringing much needed bursts of colour to the beautiful, desolate landscape. But now the well kept garden was up in flames and the house itself collapsing in, the McKinnons trapped inside their own protective enchantments, the Death Eaters sealing them. Seeking them out like rats in a cage. Killing them like animals.
Sirius sat bolt upright in his double bed, sweat clinging to his clammy forehead and he breathed heavily. The nightmare was still so vivid in his mind, and he took a shaky breath, dragging a hand through his elegantly crumpled back hair, and wiped his forehead. As he so often did, he reached out to the other side of the bed, feeling around for Marlene's warmth to find nothing but cold sheets; the nightmare rebounded.
He needed to see her, to know that the images circulating round his head were just that - images - and to confirm she was still safe at her family home. Marlene was perfectly safe, there was no reason to suspect anything different, he told himself. Apart from the fact they were in the middle of a particularly violent war.
Sirius collapsed back against his pillows with a sigh, closing his eyes against the glare of the street lights outside: he could go in the morning, but now he needed to sleep. But soon he reopened his eyes when visions of Marlene lifeless on the floor haunted him.
Another half an hour of tossing and turning, restless pacing and trying and failing to get back to sleep again, Sirius got up, pulled on an unironed Muggle band top and some jeans off the floor, shook his hair out and rubbed his eyes free of what sleep there was. He didn't brush his hair, just shook it straight in an action reminiscent to that of a dog, and pocketed his wand before locking the flat. His flat, as another Order member's residence, was protected in a similar way to the McKinnons' so he had to walk out of the building before he could duck into a convenient alleyway and apparate out of London.
He reappeared seconds later about a mile out of the McKinnons' protective boundary and headed towards the house, down in a small valley rendering it invisible from where Sirius had appeared. He trudged through the long grass, early morning des clinging to the bottom of his trousers and soaking them. Sirius knew appearing in the house at two in the morning wouldn't guarantee him a particularly warm welcome, even from his girlfriend, but he also knew she wouldn't complain for too long if he asked to stay the night. He also knew he would never be able to sleep in this worked up state, and the only thing that could sate his fears was seeing Marlene alive and holding her close. Sirius reached the crest of the gently sloping hill and surveyed the valley below, eyes widening.
The sight that met his eyes was disturbingly familiar: there seemed to be an inferno of towering flames encircling the house, and the not ally invisible protective barrier was clouded and seemed to have a definite thickness to it. There were hooded figures apps dating from place to place and a few pyjama clad women screaming, and one little boy lay unmoving near the border, as if he had tried to run hi been struck down.
Sirius knew instantly what had happened so he pulled out his wand and started sprinting down the hill towards the bubble.
"Marlene!" he yelled desperately, "MARLENE!"
His voice was carried away in the bowling wind, not even reaching the dark walls of the house.
"Sirius!"
It was faint, but he'd heard it, and already he was pushing through bushes, last rubble and into the open again. Ducking under spells, he charged straight for the house, eyes wild with fear and anger.
"Avada Kedavra," a voice cried from behind him, but Sirius rolled away and the spell hit another Death Eater, who was lit up for a second before crumbling to the ground.
"Sirius!"
There it was again, but where was it coming from?
He wheeled round, taking in the battle.
There was far less of the McKinnons than the Death Eaters, but they seemed to be holding out well.
Marlene's parents were duelling four Death Eaters nearby, her oldest brother, Mason was duelling two, but Sirius was almost sick when he saw the body by the edge was her youngest brother, Josh, who was just 15. Her other two sisters were no where to be seen, and nor was Marlene herself. Sirius didn't know whether to be worried or relieved.
It might have stayed more relieved, but a ear piercing scream ripped through the air, shattering the 'eye of the storm' feeling. This was very much real, and they were all in very much danger. He sent a few stunners into the fog, not being allowed to use Unforgivable when not on duty, and headed for the front doors. Normally, he had to wait on the porch until someone answered the door, but now the old mahogany doors were blasted off their hinges and lay in a charred like some way away, site marks round the door frame. Although the site was horrific, Sirius didn't have he time to look around, he had to find Marlene. And quickly; more Death Eaters were apparating in every second as more were taken down by the duelling members of the family.
"MARLENE?" he called, wand outstretched, ears straining for the slightest noise.
Another scream, more feminine this time, and most definitely Marlene's. He'd heard her scream once before, when the news about Dorcas Meadowes had come through, and it was a sound he swore he would never hear again. But here he was; such was war.
"SIRIUS PLEASE, HELP!" she cried, voice breaking.
"MARLENE I'M COMING, I'M COMING," he replied, des watering.
He blasted open the doors of each room, glancing round before moving on: nothing, nothing, blood, a body - one Death Eater, and Jade, Marlene's older sister, nothing. Finally, one that wouldn't open.
"MARLENE ARE YOU THERE?"
Her voice cake back much louder, then was cut off by a scream, "YES SIRI-"
He pounded on the door, kicking it, hitting it, casting spells, but nothing would budge it. Realising you needed a Dark Mark to open it, he cursed, and ran back to the other room, grabbed the body of the fallen Death Eater and used it to get through the shields.
Marlene was there, in front of him, bleeding heavily, with a nasty split lip and slashes across her chest and arms, the Death Eater stirring across from her, seemingly blasted into the wall.
"Sirius," she breathed, "You're here."
"Of course I am," he gulped, blinking away tears, "But now we have to go."
Marlene shook her head feebly, "Amelia, she's still alive... Jade is..."
"Dead, I'm sorry, and Josh, your parents are fine, Mason's still fighting," Sirius told her, remorse flooding through him.
"Jade," she repeated, staring at him in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, Marls, but you can't help them now."
"I'm no leaving," she insisted, "I can't!"
He didn't listen to her, and helped her up, cradling her in his arms.
"I don't care, please let me be selfish this once, let's look after us, not anyone else," Sirius pleaded, "Please!"
She closed her eyes, took a breath, and replied, "Fine, this once, for being my knight in shining armour."
He let out a small laugh, heading for the door, "Come on, you."
"I love you, Sirius," she murmured, eyes sliding shut, breathing steadying.
"I love-"
Green light engulfed her body, flickering like fire, lighting up the shadows of the room, the sound of those two words forever engraved in Sirius' memory. He cried out in horror, in pain, in anger, and turned back to see the Death Eater they had so foolishly ignored on his feet, wand outstretched. Their lapse in concentration, their slight slip of memory had given him time to recover, and he had finished the job he was sent to do: killing all the McKinnons.
Those words were to be Marlene's last, and she would never hear his reply again.
Sirius howled with grief, and killed the man without a second thought, extinguishing the spell straight afterwards as though it might kill him to sustain it. He'd killed someone, he'd killed someone.
But that person had killed Marlene.
She was dead. Gone. Forever.
He dropped to his knees and sobbed uncontrollably, not caring if anyone snuck up now, what was the point of stopping them? Marlene was dead. He crawled into the corner of the room, dragging her body with him, and curled up, to heartbroken to move and cradled her in his arms as the battle was fought around him, the sounds not reaching his ears, sights not reaching his eyes, he just saw Marlene.
James and Lily found him in that position four hours later, after the Order had arrived and searched the house for survivors. Sirius was the only one. All seven of the family had been slaughtered that night, none of them made it out. They dragged him kicking and screaming away from her body, and James took it out of sight while Lily hugged him close. It had been his turn that night, and no one ever knew who was next.
Next had been James and Lily, then Peter, then it was Azkaban, and then Sirius was alone.