A/N Hello, my lovely readers of the only story which I am not behind in updating! :P
Thanks to all reviewers!
Dedication: To Direwolfy whose review made me smile. :)
Disclaimer: I only own Marlene's relatives together with do i need a pen name. They were originally created under our joint account SiRiUsLyPiNkAnDgReEn.
Chapter 4:
"Marlene?" Max called weakly spotting his sister curled up in a chair next to his bed. She was awake, starring blankly into space lost in her own thoughts. She had slept for a few hours in a bed, before she could no longer do so haunted by images of her family members. She had then moved to his bedside taking up a vigil there. Sirius and Milo had also spent the night in the hospital wing, Milo to be close to Max and her and Sirius to be with her. They were both asleep still as it was maybe five in the morning.
"Max?" She sprung out of the chair and was by his side in an instant grabbing him in a fierce embrace causing him to wince slightly in pain. "I'm sorry." She said releasing him and settling for holding his hand.
"It's true then, isn't it?" He asked his eyes welling up slightly. "They're all dead aren't they?"
"Yes." Marlene admitted brokenly.
"Mac an donais!" (1) Max exclaimed.
"Tha fios agam." (2) Marlene replied softly.
"Some birthday, huh?" Her only remaining younger brother whispered bitterly.
"Tá brón orm." (3)
"What do we do now?" He asked, and he looked so small right then that Marlene was seized by the urge to comfort him like she had when he was six and thought Marcas had stolen his toy broom.
"We survive." Marlene replied grimly, squeezing his hand tightly. "As best we can."
"I miss them." He whispered.
"So do I."
"Will you lay with me?" He asked quietly reminding her of how he used to seek her out when he was little and had a nightmare. She nodded and he scooted over to make room for her. She lay down next to him and they remained that way silent for a little while.
"I'm pregnant." She whispered.
Max appeared to consider this for a few moments. "Does Sirius know?" He asked.
"No." Marlene replied. "Only you do, I've only just found out." She added.
"Congrats." Max murmured.
"I don't know what do." Marlene admitted. "I've always wanted children, and I'm happy to be having one, but it feels wrong to be happy after everything that's happened in the past few days."
"You deserve to be happy, deirfiúir (4)." Max stated. "They would've wanted you to."
"Go raibh maith agat (5)." Marlene whispered into the dark room.
"Ta' failte romhat (6)."
-Story Break-
"I think it's best that we get the three of you out of here as soon as possible, or four, if I'm correct in assuming that you will be joining them, Sirius?" Dumbledore announced.
Sirius nodded in reply from his spot leaning against the wall of the hospital wing a few feet to the left of Max's bed which Marlene was sitting on the edge of, while Milo leaned backwards on a chair.
"I want to say goodbye to everyone before we go." Marlene said. "We always have dinner at Lily and James' house every Sunday." She continued.
"I could go with Max first and Marlene could come with Sirius later on tonight." Milo suggested.
"If you insist upon doing this, I will make you a portkey which should transport you directly outside Lily and James' house. From there you should go directly to the Cassidy estate, alert me to your arrival immediately so I know you've made it there safely." Dumbledore conceded. "How is it you're planning to get there? Do you need Portkeys, or are you apparating?" He questioned.
"A portkey of sorts." Marlene replied extending her right hand and displaying a gold ring with her name scrawled across the front. "This ring is enchanted in several ways, that I won't elaborate on because it's supposed to be a family secret, but it also serves as a Portkey to our family estate (7)."
"I took the liberty of having your clothes packed up along with Max's." Dumbledore informed Marlene and the others.
"Thank you." Marlene said softly a sentiment which Max swiftly echoed, neither of them having wanted to return to the scene of their family's murder.
-Story Break-
"Mar, I'm so sorry." James Potter said extending his arms out and swiftly enveloping his old friend in a tight hug.
"So am I." Marlene replied as she and Sirius were ushered into the house. Sirius headed into the kitchen to say hello to Lily. "Can I talk to you about something?" Marlene asked.
"Of course," James answered. "What is it you want to talk about?"
"Can we go somewhere more private?" Marlene asked glancing anxiously toward the kitchen door where she could here Lily and Sirius talking.
"Follow me." James said leading the way upstairs to a small sitting room, he closed the door behind them. "Now, what is it you wanted to talk about?" He asked after she had sat down on the sofa.
"I'm pregnant." She said bluntly.
"Judging by your expression, I'm guessing that Sirius doesn't know yet." James said shrewdly.
"No." She replied her curls bouncing as she shook her head. "I don't know how to tell him."
"Well, I think you would do it the same way you just told me," James replied thoughtfully. "Of course I've never been pregnant nor will I ever be pregnant, so what do I know?"
"It's just it seems like such a bad time to be starting a family, when my whole family just died..." She trailed off, chewing on her lower lip as she thought.
"You will make a great mother, Marlene." James assured her. "And as for the less than ideal timing, circumstances are never going to be ideal, but I can guarantee that it will certainly be worth it when you say hello to your child for the first time."
"Thanks, Jamesie." Marlene said a ghost of a smile crossing her face.
"And, because you're sad I won't even complain about the nickname." James said generously. "Now, let's go see what the other's are up to shall we?"
-Story Break-
"Did you propose yet?" Lily inquired after exchanging hellos with her husband's best friend.
"No." Sirius replied running a hand through his hair in agitation.
"Why not?" The redhead demanded as she worked on the salad for dinner.
"Her family just died." Sirius replied in a tone that indicated he was seriously questioning Lily's sanity.
"I know." Lily replied her tone betraying her sadness over the event. She hadn't known Marlene's parents as well as Sirius did, but she had met them several times and was quite fond of them as well as Marlene's siblings. "That doesn't mean that you guys should let it stop you from being happy, with the current state of things we all need to grab hold of what happiness we can get wherever we can find it." She continued wisely. "Now if you would be so kind as to retrieve Harry for me...?" She said as the almost one year old's cries sounded from the direction of the living room where he had been napping in his playpen.
"I would love to spend some time with my darling godson." Sirius replied headed out of the kitchen in pursuit of said godson. He had just gotten Harry to cease crying, (as the little boy had decided that pulling on his godfather's hair was a much more enjoyable pastime), when Marlene and James returned from upstairs.
Harry immediately started reaching for his Auntie Marlene, because if there was one person who's hair he liked to pull more than his Uncle Padfoot's it was definitely hers, he had found that her orange curls bounced very satisfactorily when he yanked on them making them a very attractive plaything. Sirius who had already had several hairs pulled out was more than happy to oblige his godson.
Marlene veteran of five brothers, three of whom that were younger than her was used to having her hair pulled on and hardly noticed. She accepted Harry from her boyfriend and settled down with Harry on the couch. The infant gurgled at her happily as he tugged on a particularly bouncy looking curl.
A polite knocking sounded from the door in a way that was so quintessentially Remus and Dorcas, who comprised what was probably one of the politiest and yet most sarcastic couples ever to grace the planet, that there was no need to call out 'who's there." Sirius bounded over to the door and yanked it open waving Remus and Dorcas into the house.
"How many times to we have to tell you that there's no need to knock?" Lily, who had emerged from the kitchen at the sound asked her hands placed firmly on her hips as she sighed in exasperation.
"One more at least." Remus replied dryly.
Dorcas meanwhile had waved vaguely in greeting to the room at large before heading directly over to her best friend. "Are you okay, Marly?" Dorcas was the only one to ever call her that, just as Sirius called her Mars, her grandpa had called her Leney, and Milo often referred to her as Lene, pronounced lean. Needless to say, Marlene was quite used to having her name chopped up.
"I don't know." Marlene replied. Dorcas took that as her cue to seat herself next to her friend and await further elaboration. "Will you come to the funeral?" She asked in a small voice.
"Of course." Dorcas answered in a tone that implied she thought the question was entirely needless. At this point Sirius scooped up his godson and headed across the room to speak with the others leaving Marlene and Dorcas to talk.
"I have to go into hiding." Marlene announced.
"When?" Dorcas asked.
"Tonight. Dumbledore wanted me to go already, but I wanted to say goodbye." The ginger-haired witch replied. "Sirius is coming with me."
"Did you ever doubt that he would?" Dorcas asked. "He would follow you anywhere." The other witch noted.
"I feel like everything is changing, and there's nothing we can do to stop it." Marlene continued on a somewhat off-topic line of thought.
"Sometimes we just have to go where life takes us. Besides, there's one thing you can be sure of and that is that you will always have me as your very best friend, now let's go join the others, shall we?" Dorcas concluded sagely.
Marlene nodded in reply and allowed her friend to tug her off the sofa and across the room to were the rest of their group was crowded around. They were quickly informed that Peter was busy with something and unable to attend dinner that evening, so Marlene requested that they tell him she said goodbye and invite him to the wake to be held in two days, as well as the funeral which would take place the day after.
They spent the remainder of the evening enjoying each other's company for what would turn out to be the last time that they would all get together, of course they were unaware of that. Finally, Marlene and Sirius announced that they had better get to the Cassidy estate before Milo started worrying, something he had a tendency to do, but not nearly on the level that her oldest brother Malcolm had been known to do. They exchanged hugs and said their goodbyes before they headed just outside the wards surrounding Lily and James' house and Marlene instructed Sirius to hold her hand, allowing him to touch the ring, she murmured the activation phrase and they disappeared into the darkness.
A/N (1) "Mac an donais" means "Damn it."
(2) "Tha fios agam" means "I Know."
(3)"Tá brón orm." means "I'm sorry."
(4) "deirfiúir" means "sister"
(5) "Go raibh maith agat" means "Thank You."
(6) "Ta' failte romhat." means "You're welcome."
(7) For more information on Marlene's ring see my story "Amorevolous."
Also, currently in regards to Regulus' survival or lack thereof, currently the votes are 3-keep him alive vs. 1-let him die. I haven't made a decision yet regarding his fate, let me know how you guys feel about it.
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