"The little rat!" Marlene screeched as she watched the scene below her unfold. It had been nine months now since she'd died and life for her friends had moved on. Sirius's decent into depression had somewhat calmed, having him only drinking some nights of the week, Remus was drifting away from the others, their trust in one another faltering slightly and James and Lily were in hiding, living contently in their cottage in Godric's Hollow, the very same house Marlene and Dorcas were watching now as a shadowy figure approached the door. "He sold them out the bastard!"
"I can't watch this," Dorcas said, but her terrified eyes remained glued to the house that the shadowy figure had just entered. The cottage was a quaint little place, Tudor in appearance with the white exterior and dark panels. It was October now and everything was dark, the only light on the streets coming from two of the cottages windows. Through one was the silhouette of two people locked in one another's embrace, spinning and dancing happily, the joyous sound of their laughter filling the emptiness.
"They'll make it, Doe," Marlene said, her voice only half shaking, "They have to." She said and grabbed the other woman's tanned hand in her own pale and freckled one, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
There was a crash and the couple stopped moving, the taller of the two silhouettes pulled his wand from his pocket, gesturing for the other, a woman with a slim build with long hair falling down her back to remain still as he slowly left the view of the window. With bated breath the three women, two dead and one alive, stood motionless as they awaited the mans return only to be met with another crash and a definitive curse.
"Lily!" The man shouted, the woman gasping at the terror and exertion in his voice. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him!" The woman froze for a second before shouting back her voice thick with tears.
"James!" she shouted back desperately, moving slightly so as to follow after him.
"Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" he shouted and though the woman took a hesitant step forwards, she then turned, her hair flying around her as she disappeared from the windows sights.
"This is not happening, this is not happening." Dorcas said clutching her head in her hands as Marlene, ever the stronger one, held her, watching the scene unfold from afar. The woman, Lily, had reached the other lit window now and was bowed low over something out of the image while the man had entered the frame downstairs the couple had been dancing in only moments ago.
Marlene watched, her face baron of emotion as the duel commenced between the two silhouettes below them, one scruffy haired man and one figure obviously cloaked, the yellow light of the window flashing green and red every time another spell was performed. And then the flashes stopped, the two figures standing still for only a second, before the scruffy haired man fell to the floor like a marionette with it's strings cut.
"No," Marlene whispered and Dorcas's body shook uncontrollably in her arms, the girl sobbing agonisingly in Marlene's arms.
Behind her Marlene heard a distant, confused grumbling. Turning around she saw a tall, strongly built man with scruffy black hair pulling a grey t-shirt over his head before pushing his square glasses further up onto his nose. He was looking around, taking a few tentative steps with his bare feet and looking at his limbs like he hadn't seen them in years.
"James," Marlene breathed, and the man turned, his hazel eyes meeting hers before they widened greatly. He barely had a chance to say her name before she'd thrown herself at him, wrapping her slender arms around his neck and pulling him into the tightest hug she could manage, horrified that he was here and terrified that he might disappear again.
"Marlene, holy crap, it's really you," he said running a hand over the girls blonde hair.
"You shouldn't be here!" Marlene said shoving James away from her, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. "You're supposed to live and have hundred of babies and grow old with Lily!" she said, smacking his arm every few seconds, but James hardly reacted. He was far too busy marvelling at Marlene and the fact that she was there, talking and slapping the way she always used to. "You shouldn't be here."
"I know," he said hugging her again, the two people who were as close as siblings relishing in the others presences, too afraid to let go and lose them again. The moment only broke when a woman's voice shattered the air.
"Marlene! He's found her!" Dorcas shouted and Marlene pulled away, her face terrified as she grabbed James's hand and dragged him over to the edge of the platform.
"Marlene, what's happening?" he asked his eyes wide and his voice panicked as Marlene pointed over the edge of the platform to the silhouette of the woman in the cottages window. She was stood between the cloaked man and what Marlene knew to be a crib, a wand pointed at her chest as her anguished sobs filled the air around the station.
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-" she screamed, her arms gesturing wildly to her chest, her voice broken as she begged.
"This is my last warning-" said a cold, cruel voice that sent a cool sensation down Marlene's spine and Dorcas in her hysterical state visibly shook with horror.
"We have to help her!" James said, lunging forward, but both Marlene and Dorcas held him back.
"We can't, James!" Dorcas half screamed, her voice choked by tears as she tried desperately to restrain her friend.
"Not Harry!" they heard Lily scream and Marlene felt as James's muscles tensed in her grip, any moment now he was going to get through.
"James, please, you're not thinking this through!" Dorcas pleaded.
"No, you're not! I can help her, I can save her!" he shouted back.
"Have mercy! Not Harry!"
"Let me go!" he shouted, struggling against the two women who held him by either arm, knowing that if they let him go he'd be trapped.
"James, stop it! You can't do this!" Marlene was the one to try and reason with him now, fighting against the pull of the grunting man.
"I can do it!" he shouted, his face reddening in anger, the veins standing out prominently on his neck as he pulled harder and harder, Dorcas's feet dragging slightly on the clean platform floor.
"Please – I'll do anything" Lily pleaded before the curtains were illuminated green, her body falling to the floor with a dull thump as Harry's cries became the only sound.
James's body fell limp, his knees colliding with the platform floor as he clutched his head in his hands, letting out a desperate and anguished scream into the silence.
"James," Dorcas said, putting a hand on the mans shoulder but he didn't move,, he didn't even acknowledge her. "James, I'm so sorry."
"Why didn't you let me go?" he asked, his voice so broken and pitiful it made Marlene's eyes prickle slightly with unshed tears.
"I think you know why," Dorcas said consolingly, her voice so calm and warm, it wrapped its way around Marlene's heart, telling her it wasn't going to be so bad, even when she knew it was a lie.
"I could have saved her," He said quietly as Dorcas rubbed soothing patterns on his back, just between his shoulder blades.
"No you couldn't, James and you know that," Marlene said, her arms crossed over her chest, biting her lip so hard she was sure she'd rip the skin, trying feverously to withhold her tears, to be strong. "I'm sorry James," she said placing her hand on his shoulder, letting him grab a hold of it with his own.
"She shouldn't have died, if I'd just held him back longer, if I'd-"
"Will you stop punishing yourself?" Marlene exclaimed, grabbing his hand tighter and attempting to drag him to his feet so he was standing before her, his face red as the tears continued to fall. "You did what you had to do and now you're dead, I think that shows you did your best, don't you?"
"I guess-" James began, but was cut off by another voice.
"James!" the woman called, her voice thick with tears as James turned towards her.
"Lily!" he shouted back before he took off running across the platform, colliding with the young beautiful woman before him, wrapping her in his arms as she clung helplessly to his chest.
"I'm so sorry James, I tried, I really did but he just wouldn't listen." Lily sobbed as James stroked her fiery hair, whispering soothing words into her ear. "He's going to kill him, our little boy," she cried, her voice so anguished and broken that Marlene felt the tears pooling in her eyes threatening to spill over. She hadn't cried for months, not since she'd died. "Marlene!" the girl suddenly shouted and Marlene tore her gaze from the floor and looking into the terrified green eyes of her best friend.
"Hey, Lils," she said weakly before the redhead threw herself at her, colliding with her friend so that they both fell backwards painlessly onto the floor of the platform. "You really shouldn't be here," Marlene said clutching onto the slim girl in her arms, barely listening as James embraced Dorcas properly.
"And neither should you!" Lily said pushing the blonde girl slightly, her smile bright despite the tears falling down her face. "Wait, is this Kings Cross?" the red-head said, looking at the ceiling curiously before standing back to her feet, smoothing out her white blouse as she stood, her face almost the same shade as her hair. "Why on earth are we at a train station?"
The other shrugged, Marlene scrambling to try and stand back up again with he friends.
"I think it's purgatory," Dorcas said, tucking her wavy hair behind her ears as Lily stared at her with wide green eyes.
"Dorcas-" she started but the girl put a hand up to silence her, her tanned face tear stained and her smile watery as she looked at her old friend.
"We can move on if we want to, like Marlene's family, or we can stay here and wait, watch as others leave to go to wherever's next, it's up to us," she said looking around at the three friends around her. James had his arms around Lily, holding her to him as hard as he could without hurting her, kissing her head every few seconds making her smile, while Marlene stood with her arms wrapped around herself, tear tracks prominent on her pale face as she tried brushing them away.
"We'll wait," Lily said quickly, her voice quiet but strong as the others look at her questioningly. "He's in our home and there's no one else there to protect Harry. I am waiting for my son." The others nodded solemnly, Dorcas moving slightly over to the platform, followed by Marlene but James held Lily back.
"You don't want to watch this," he said but she pushed herself off her.
"Don't tell me what I want," she said and turned to follow her friends, grabbing Marlene's hand as she looked over the edge of the platform, a sob breaking out of her mouth as she saw the battered remains of her home.
"Shit," Marlene said, looking at the desolation left behind. "He didn't have the blow up the fucking house!" she exclaimed angrily but Lily, though crying, was looking confusedly around her.
"He's not here?" she said to questioning looks from the others. "That part of the house was his room and it's destroyed. Why isn't Harry here?" her eyes were panicked a she looked around but Marlene noticed the little spark of hope in them. As impossible as it seemed, Harry might not have died.
"It's Sirius!" James shouted, pointing frantically to the front of the house where a rugged looking young man with shaggy black hair and a dusting of stubble on his strong jaw was slowly dismounting a motorcycle. It only took a second before the man rushed into the house shouting for the people he loved.
"James! Lily! Where are you!" he was shouting and Marlene felt Lily's grip on her hand tighten. With most of the walls no longer present or with gaping holes the four adults could now see into the home. They watched helplessly as Sirius stumbled upon the body on the stairs, a choked sob breaking through him at the sight of his best friend lying still and lifeless on the floor. Stopping only quickly to shut the young mans hazel eyes, Sirius continued through the house, shouting for the other occupants, his voice broken. "Lily!" he shouted as he took the stairs three at a time, knocking over a pram as he stumbled onto the top landing, running straight for the room he knew to be Harry's.
He stumbled slightly at the sight; the sound of Lily's sobs filling Marlene's ears as they looked at her body. She was on her back, her arms spread out, her hair splayed like blood around her head, her green eyes open and empty.
"No," Sirius said, dropping to his knees by Lily's body, checking frantically for a pulse, Dorcas and Lily both crying helplessly either side of Marlene as she watched Sirius. Just as he'd shut Lily's eyes he started, there was someone still in the room, someone crying.
Turning around he saw the shattered remains of a crib, the blankets tattered and ripped, the crib itself nothing but splinters of wood. Amongst the debris was a baby, tiny in comparison to the desolated cot, his green eyes wide as he wailed, his black hair falling off of his forehead to reveal a thin, lighting shaped scar.
Lily gasped, grabbing James hand painfully as they watched Sirius rip off his leather jacket, carefully but quickly lifting the baby from the rubble and wrapping him in the thick material, shushing the child slightly as he rocked him.
"Come on, Harry," he said looking at Lily's body, "Let's get you some place safe," he said and left the house, trying his hardest not to look at James's body on the stairs, focusing all his attention instead on the crying bundle in his arms.
"He's alive!" Lily shouted, jumping up and throwing her arms around a stunned James's shoulders. "He's okay!" she screamed and the two adults began to laugh, James spinning Lily around and kissing her face. Their baby was alive, and Voldemort was gone, they had all the reason to celebrate.
"Hagrid's taken him," Dorcas said with a teary smile, as overjoyed as the married couple that the baby was alive and well, "He's taking him to Dumbledore," she said and Lily smiled wider than Marlene thought possible, her green eyes still red as she cried happily.
"What's Sirius doing now?" Marlene asked curiously, watching as he stared at the house before walking down the streets, apparating after a few steps and disappearing.
"Oh shit," James said, Lily slapping his arm slightly as the others gave him questioning looks. "He's going after Peter. Sirius will kill him for this."
"All this time, he thought it was Remus," Marlene said, looking down at the now empty street. "So is this it now?" Marlene asked, her eyes tearing up once again. "Are you two going over?"
"Of course not!" Lily said abashed by the question. "We said we'd wait for our son and we will." She said defiantly and James laughed.
"Well said, love," he said, kissing the top of her head. "We're not going anywhere."
"They're so happy." Dorcas said longingly, watching as Lily and James become enveloped in each others kiss.
"It's going to be a long few years," Marlene said, running a hand over her face while Dorcas ogled the couple, unable to get the image of Sirius's despair from her mind. He was going to do something rash, and it wasn't going to end well for anyone.