Chapter Two

Finding Home

"I don't see why we can't just use our wands. It'll be done quicker," Sirius said.

Marlene ignored him. After only an hour or so of cleaning, Sirius had gone back to his usual whiny self. He was probably right in that most of their tidying could be done with the use of their wands—it surely would have saved a lot of time dusting everything—but since finding the diary, Marlene found she revelled in the distraction that manually tidying up brought.

The bedroom door burst open, drawing both Marlene's attention to a red-faced and out-of-breath Gideon Prewett.

"Black, Marlene, you're needed downstairs," Gideon said. "Fabian and Frank are back."

"Finally, mission time," Sirius said, dropping the dirty sock he held. "Let me guess, they need some muscle on their mission."

Both Gideon and Marlene rolled their eyes, the former turning around and jogging back down the staircase. Marlene followed suit, Sirius not far behind, and entered the small living room. Her heart gave a jolt as she saw that Fabian and Frank had indeed returned, but not in the condition they had left three days earlier.

Fabian was sitting on the lounge, a handkerchief pressed to his nose. The blue checked material was slowly turning red at the same time the boy's face was growing white. Dorcas was bent down at his leg, winding a bandage around his ankle, Peter at the ready holding a tray of potion bottles.

Frank was no better off, sporting a black eye, a split lip, and what looked like a broken arm. Alice was fussing over it, adjusting the splint Dorcas must have concocted when they arrived.

"What happened?" Sirius asked, a hint of a grin on his face as he lightly punched Fabian on the shoulder. "Get into with a banshee again, mate?"

Fabian gave him a weak smile. "Deadd Eater ambush. Sbashed adkle. Sti a'ive," he said, closing his eyes. "Dodding I coud't—ouch—haddle."

Marlene saw Dorcas tug on the bandage with a little more force than necessary. "All done," she said, "You were lucky, that's what."

"Ambushed? How did that happen?" Marlene asked, looking from Fabian to Frank.

"That's what I'd like to know," Moody growled, walking into the room. "You weren't followed?"

Fabian opened his mouth to speak, but Dorcas tipped his head back, handing him another handkerchief. Frank shook off Alice's arm and sat up in his chair.

"Not that we know of. They were ready for us, though," he said, eyes narrowed.

Marlene felt a chill go down her spine. No one said anything, but a few dark looks were shared amongst those gathered in the room. It wasn't the first time that their plans had been compromised before they were even put into action. Someone was giving away information.

Moody was the first to speak again. "Remember, constant vigilance, everyone. I'm off to meet with Dumbledore, but we'll come back to this. Black, McKinnon, Meadowes, help Longbottom and Prewett get settled in. Alice, other Prewett, Pettigrew, send owls out; we'll be moving that meeting up for tomorrow night."

"What? You're not sending me out?" Sirius said, following Moody out of the room.

Marlene could hear the pair arguing about Sirius' unpredictability and Moody's lack of trust as she pulled Frank to his feet. She followed Dorcas and Gideon into one of the bedrooms on the first floor and helped lower Frank onto the bed.

"We've got it from here," Dorcas said, smiling at her. "You can get back to the room if you want."

"Sure, alright," Marlene said.

Whilst she wanted to help with Frank and Fabian, she wanted more to have a little time to herself. Judging by the fact that she could still hear Moody and Sirius arguing outside, going back upstairs would give her that time.

When she entered the room, she walked over to the bed and plopped down. Running a hand through her loose blonde hair, she tried to calm down. Fabian and Frank were lucky to have gotten away with the damage they had. She knew they were taking risks—they all were. It was what they had all signed up for when joining the Order of the Phoenix. Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from spending hours wondering whether or not she would see her friends again whenever they left for a mission, let alone from memorising their faces in case she didn't.

She wondered if that was how her parents felt. They hadn't been too thrilled when she had joined the Order, let alone when she had become an Auror. Her parents supported witches and wizards doing their share to stop He Who Must Not Be Named and his followers, as long as it didn't mean their daughter was directly in the line of fire. When Marlene had insisted she would do whatever it took to defeat him, she knew it broke her parents' hearts. It had been two months since she had moved into the Order's headquarters, and although she had since made up with them, she couldn't bring herself to return home.

Sighing, Marlene laid back onto the bed and closed her eyes. She should really try to connect with them. She should be happy that Frank and Fabian were ok, and that there hadn't been yet another loss for their side. Taking a deep breath, she settled onto the soft mattress.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as comfortable as she remembered, not when something was poking into her back.

Marlene felt underneath her back, but couldn't find the source. Sitting up, she saw that the mattress was as flat as any other mattress could be expected to be, no springs or coils sticking out. Frowning, she felt inside her robes before realising what had been poking her.

Pulling out Benjy's journal, she ran her hand over the cover as she had done earlier that day. In her hands was one of the few, non-school or clothing related items that Benjy had left behind. From what she had seen the first time, it was something that contained his very thoughts. His memories, his feelings…

Marlene stared at the journal, debating whether or not she should read it. Benjy hadn't exactly hidden it, but that didn't mean he would have wanted anyone to read it.

She could hear someone stomping up the staircase, and she heard them muttering, "Stupid May-Eye, thinking I can't do anything."

She felt the urge to shout something tasteless like, "At least you're still alive," and quickly opened the journal instead.

Benjy wouldn't mind if she read just one entry, would he? Not if it stopped her from starting an argument with Sirius, again.

Marlene flipped the pages open to the first entry, dated May 12th, 1971. It was fairly short, written when Benjy would have been about ten years old. Several lines were scribbled out and there were quite a few spelling mistakes. Nevertheless, Marlene began to lose herself in the untidy scrawl.

Dear diary. No, too sissy. Dear Journle.

I did not want to write in you at 1st but that felt rude. You are a present from my uncle but not the best present I got today. Let me tell you what hapened.

I was helping aunt Rita in the kitchen when uncle Marvin called me in. He looked a bit upset and I thougt he had bad news. I thought mum was trying to get me to live with her again. I did not want that. I even tryed to make a plan to run away if that is what he was going to say.

He had a bit of paper in his hands when I walked in though and a rapped up box and told me it was a present for me. I opend the present and it was this diary… you. No wunder he looked upset.

Rita came in the room then and was smiling and soon Marvin was smiling to. He then gave me a peace of paper. I am not sure what the paper means but uncle said it was that I was officially adopted by him. I am his kid!

I stuck the paper to this book at the back. I can't write how happy I am! It means no more bruzes, no more hiting from mum. It means that I have a dad now! I was so happy I even let aunt Rita give me a big kiss on the cheek (but don't tell anyone ok?). She was happy she culd finely have a kid. That was the best present.

Now I got to go ok by!

Marlene stopped reading as a tear plopped down onto the page, causing some of the ink to run. She quickly dabbed at it with the hem of her cloak, carefully ensuring that the entry was not permanently damaged. When she was sure it wasn't, she flipped to the back of the book, where a small enveloped had been glued to the book's back cover.

Sliding a finger under the flap, she opened the envelope and took out a piece of parchment. Sure enough, it was the document Benjy had written about. It looked official, proclaiming that Benjamin Simon Fenwick was now a son of Mr and Mrs Marvin Fenwick from the 11th May 1971. It also looked like it had been taken out and read over and over again. Several creases ran across the page at different angles from where it had been folded and opened and refolded again, and a few splotches of what looked like strawberry jam were on the bottom corner of the page.

Marlene tucked the document back into the envelope pocket and shut the journal, feeling more tears sliding down her face.

She hadn't known that Benjy had been adopted by his uncle. She had always assumed that Marvin Fenwick was Benjy's father, for he and Rita were the only relatives Benjy spoke—had spoken of. Marvin was always kind to him, acting like the perfect father, and supportive of his becoming an Auror. The wizard had even allowed the Order to use his home as their temporary headquarters, knowing that He Who Must Not Be Named and his followers would be unlikely to search for him in the middle of a Muggle village. It had always seemed Marvin would have done anything for Benjy, and now Marlene realised exactly how much.

Marlene slipped the journal back into her pocket, regretting having read it. She had thought it would distract her, but now she only felt worse about everything. Benjy was no longer happy, his uncle could no longer care for him, there was probably a traitor in their midst, Sirius—judging from the sound of a door slamming at that moment—still wanted to risk his life, and she was a lousy daughter.

A/N: Writing dialogue when a character has a broken/ bloody nose was harder than I thought. I hope Fabian's speech wasn't too confusing. I also hope his diary entry sounded like a ten-year-old's; I looked at my own writing back then and tried to copy similar speech and spelling patterns, since I can't remember how my students the same age would write.

This chapter focuses a little more on Marlene and the war than intended, and after planning out the next few chapters, I realise she might have a bit more of a storyline than just a fic about Benjy's life. I hope you enjoy it, nonetheless, and I'll be sure to get this beta'd ASAP. All suggestions are welcome, and a huge thank you to my reviewers and followers so far! :) Xx