Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter
ALSO: I'm thinking about renaming this 'The Rain Will Fall' and doing a prequel and sequel, the prequel would be called 'Before the Storm' and the Sequel 'The Storm Will Pass'. Please let me know what you think!
"Don't want to let you down,
But, I am hell bound...
...Your eyes they shine so bright,
I wanna save that light,
I can't escape this now,
Unless you show me how."
-Imagine Dragons, Demons
Chapter Eight
Marlene's POV
I was sick with worry. Lily could lose her mind! She might go insane! And we wouldn't know until she woke up. And her stomach! Dumbledore had said it was the work of Dark Magic. I knew, better than most how Dark Magic could have lasting affects. My Father, had been an auror, two years ago, he had been hit by a curse that had damaged his spinal cord, beyond even magical repair. He was paralysed from the neck down, and confined to a muggle invention called a wheelchair. My Mother had to leave her job in the Department of International Magical Cooperation to care for him. I was terrified Lily might have chronic damage as well. What if she was unable to have kids! Or couldn't eat properly!
And as for mental damage, even if her brain remained functioning, and she suffered no memory loss, the trauma itself would have lasting effects. Madam Pomfrey had warned, Lily and James would both be paranoid, the slightest thing could scare them and she warned that some things might trigger memories of the incident, she said emotional stress, like feeling threatened, or scared or overwhelmed and visual triggers, like seeing their attackers could make them relive the pain. She said, that Lily would be especially prone to something called Chronic Pain Disorder, which was when your nerves send memories if the pain to your brain resulting in false pain messages. The thought that your own body could turn against you in this way made me shudder. How would you know what was real, what to believe?
Poor Sirius has been beating himself up over the incident he has a weird idea that he could have prevented the whole thing. The fact that his own brother was the one to inflict such pain only increases his guilt. My best friend, cousin and boyfriend are all hurt and it has been wearing me down. It has been six days since the attack and Sirius has refused to leave James' side. Worry lines were beginning to appear on Madam Pomfrey's face, we all knew that James at least should have woken already. After Sirius cried onto my shoulder, the bond between us has only strengthened, at first he was embarrassed, as if I would condemn him for showing weakness.
The visit to Dumbledore's office was awful, all six of the Slytherins who attacked our friends were sitting on one side of the room. I think it was only Dumbledore and McGonagall's presence as well as my tight grip on his hand, that stopped Sirius from leaping over and strangling his brother. After we had explained all we had seen, with Sirius offering his memories as proof, it was decided that without Lily and James' accounts nothing could be done. I wanted to hex the stupid self-satisfied arrogant smirk off Rosier's admittedly handsome face. Sirius had been furious, arguing heatedly with both Professors, he demanded to know where the justice in letting the Slytherins interact with more students was. Then when Dumbledore reminded him they would been disciplinary probation, until the full story could be put to the School Counselors, Sirius argued that Rosier and his brother should have their prefect roles taken away. At this Rosier argued hotly that they could not do that as their was no evidence to say they were even responsible. I lost it, screaming that my best friend had been tortured and that he was found at the scene, I used some language that my Mother would have been horrified to hear coming from my mouth. It was only when Mulciber began yelling back at me, his language even fouler than mine, that Sirius drew his wand:
"Say that again!" He had dared.
It had been Regulus who had responded, his words dripped with poison, the words that would cut Sirius' heart to shreds,
"Shut your mouth you fucking Bloodtraitor! You betrayed us! You betrayed your family! You should be one of us! But instead you befriend Mudloods and Bloodtraitor scum! What is wrong with you Sirius! You broke Mother's heart when you left! You left Sirius! Bella wants to kill you! You had everything, you could ever want! But you betrayed us!"
"Regulus..." Sirius sounded so broken, I wanted to take him in my arms and protect him, tell him everything would be ok, to tell him I loved him.
"SHUT UP!" Regulus roared, " You left us! You left me! You are filth! Scum! Unworthy to look upon us, let alone claim our name! You are not a Black! You are worse than the Mudblood Evans! And I hate you!" His face was twisted with anger and hate, but I could see a glimmer of pain in those oh-so familiar grey eyes.
Sirius' eyes showed all the pain and sorrow he felt, but his expression was one of cool anger, "You are no brother of mine. I am ashamed to share your blood! The Blood of the Most Noble Ancient House of Black!" He spat out the name, " In my eyes is dirtier than any Muggles! And I loathe having to bare that name!"
Regulus lunged at Sirius, his eyes flashing with fury. I had grabbed the back of his robes, trying to hurl him off and when that failed I clawed at any part of skin I could find, my fingernails leaving bloody scratches.
Before any of the other Slytherins could join the fray, Dumbledore separated the boys. McGonagall yelled at us for a while, before Dumbledore dismissed Sirius and Regulus to the Hospital Wing, with McGonagall as sporting a bloody lip and Regulus gashes on his left cheek, neck and arms.
Before the door swung shut behind them I thought I heard Sirius say,
"I can help you Reggie."
And I think I must have imagined the quiet response, Regulus gave,
"You're too late, you can't save me."
Dumbledore warned the Slytherins that they would be closely watched from now on and that they were not allowed out of their Common Room except for classes and meals. Rosier would be suspended from Prefect rounds and some of the others from the Quidditch Team, while they were on probation. Also none of them were allowed to visit Hogsmede for the rest of the year. I reflected ruefully that James might consider the whole attack worth it since that took out almost all the Slytherin Team. Dumbledore then sent them to the Hospital Wing to be checked over. I felt distinctly uncomfortable under all the furious glares that were directed my way. When all the Slytherins had left Dumbledore told me to sit down. I did so, nervously perching on the edge of the seat.
"Miss McKinnon, I just wanted to commend you on your actions today, you and Mr Black responded to very emotionally trying circumstances with quick thinking and bravery. I was wondering what profession you have chosen to peruse after leaving Hogwarts?"
I felt tongue-tied, this was not what I had expected, "Er, thank you for that Sir, I haven't quite decided yet, I would love to play Quidditch, but with the war, I want to do something worthwhile, so I thought to go into the Ministry..." I trailed off uncomfortably.
Dumbledore folded his hands on the desk, his piercing eyes seemed to be scanning my mind and my soul,
"Have you considered," he said slowly, "going into the Auror department?"
"Oh, I-I w-well," I stuttered in shock, truthfully I had, but I never thought I would be good enough, you needed such high NEWTS, "I had, but I don't think I am capable enough Sir," I confessed.
"The quick thinking under pressure that you demonstrated, especially in such a personal situation is exactly what is looked for in an Auror. You should think on it Miss McKinnon, you would make a very fine Auror," he gave me a small smile.
"Thank you Sir, I will," I stood up to leave, and was almost at the door when Dumbledore's next words reached me, causing me to turn and look at the Headmaster,
"Marlene, be on your guard." His eyes bored into me, they showed how serisous he was, "And don't let Sirius or James do anything foolish. Make sure neither you, Miss Prewett, Mr Black, Lupin or Pettigrew go anywhere alone and make especially sure Mr Potter, Miss MacDonald and Miss Evans go with someone everywhere. These are dark times, especially for Muggle-borns and these events have proved that not even Hogwarts remains untouched, you must be alert. Make sure your wand is on you at all times. Pass my message on to your friends. And Marlene, look out for the younger students, many will become victims to the loss of family and I fear even within these walls they will not remain unaffected by Dark Magic."
"I will Professor. I want to fight these people, what they are doing...it is wrong and I won't sit back and let it happen."
"Thank you, I would no expect any less of you, now I won't keep you any longer, I suspect you will want to return to the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore looked thoughtful, but his eyes had regained their normal twinkle.
"Goodbye Professor."
Rubbing my tired eyes with my free hand, I adjusted my grip on the bag I was carrying. For the past few days I had fetched food from the kitchens for myself and Sirius as well as any of our other friends who were sitting in the Hospital Wing at the time. Sirius would not leave James' bed, not even for meals, so to make sure he kept eating I brought him food myself. Neither Sirius or I had been to a whole school meal or any classes since the incident, Alice had been to only a few classes and Mary and Remus only went because Lily would probably freak out about how much school she had missed, so they were taking notes for her. They were also our eyes and ears in the school, at dinner after the Hogsmede visit and the attack, Dumbledore had apparently spoken to the school, Mary said he had warned the students about the Dark forces that were building outside the school he had told them that they had to be on their guard at all times. The evening Curfew had been changed to an earlier time and all prefect rounds had been increased. From an hour and a half after the nine o'clock curfew the Professors would patrol the corridors and he informed them that being discovered out of your Common Room after hours could result in immediate suspension and possible expulsion. He had then said, that as much as he wished to ignore it he was aware that some of the students would eventually join the Dark forces and he had very calmly informed them that any acts of Dark magic in the school would not be tolerated and would result in grave punishment.
Sighing I started up the stairs of the Clock Tower, the atmosphere in the school was so tense, First Years scuttled around in huge packs and hardly spoke a word, most of the older students were pale faced and looked exhausted. Tension was so high, that most people walked around holding their wands in their hands. The Prefects especially looked ready to collapse, Remus diligently went to every class and took perfect notes before he rushed a hurried dinner and patrolled for three hours, then he hurried up to the hospital wing, where he stayed for half an our maximum, collected Mary and headed back to the Common Room to tackle the mountain of homework NEWT students were set. He really was amazing, but it was really taking its toll, his face was ashen except for the dark purple rings under his eyes. He constantly looked like he was going to collapse.
What didn't help was that ever since her own attack by Mulciber, Mary had been paranoid and prone to nervous break downs, she had finally been getting better, but this new attack on our friends had reawakened her fears. Unlike Sirius, who slept in the Hospital Wing, (much to Madam Pomfrey's dismay) I trudged back to my dorm and collapsed into my bed every night, only to be woken a few hours later by Mary's tortured screams. Alice and I would sit up with her, rubbing her back and telling her it was alright and it was just a dream. After three days of only two hours sleep, Alice and I began an unspoken roster. We would both be there when Mary woke, gasping, sweating and crying, then one of us would go back to bed, while the other one held her hand, until around three am when we would swap roles. As it was I still felt like I was a walking dead. The emotional stress and tense atmosphere was exhausting enough without two of your best friends unconscious and two others having nervous break downs. I felt like I was very close to one myself. Throughout all of it, Alice was the only constant, a tower of strength. Seeing Frank again had really boosted her spirits, she would make Mary smile, Remus give a tired laugh and even help smooth the lines on Sirius' face. She didn't escape the exhaustion we all faced, but rather channeled it into staying her positive, bubbly self. Whenever she thought no one was watching, her face would fall and her shoulders would sag. We couldn't keep going for much longer.
The sound of my name being called made me turn,
"Miss McKinnon!" Professor McGonagall was hurrying towards me.
"Hello Professor," even my voice sounded dead.
She stopped in front of me a look of maternal concern on her face,
"Marlene," she placed a hand on my shoulder, "You can't help anyone if you collapse from exhaustion," McGonagall had always been a motherly figure to both James and I, his Father and my Mother were siblings and our Mums and McGonagall had been best friends at Hogwarts, although James' Mum had been in Ravenclaw. In fact McGonagall was both James' and my older brother Aaron's godmother. I think I was starved for motherly love, my own Mother was always so consumed with my Father, the bag dropped from my hand and I wrapped my arms around her thin frame. Ever since her husband died Minerva had never been a huggy sort of person, but maybe she recognised my need, because she tentatively squeezed me back.
We stood silently for a moment, until I pulled away,
"I'm scared Minnie," I whispered, ashamed.
My uncle Charlus Potter had been the first one to come up with the nickname; from a young age James had seen that it annoyed Minerva and taken to calling her that all the time, it caught on.
She grasped my hand giving it a squeeze, "It's alright to be afraid Marlene, even Gryffindors are scared sometimes. Being a Gryffindor only means that even though you are frightened you stay strong for the people you love," she gave me a small sad smile, "You remind me so much of Charlotte, you really are your Mothers daughter."
This was high praise, especially from Minerva, she always acted so strict and severe, but I knew that underneath the hard shell, that had built up since El's, (her husband) death, she was kind and gentle. And being compared to my beautiful, elegant and regal Mother, with her porcelain skin and sheet of blonde hair that fell in soft curls, her aristocratic face structure and calm expression. When I normally had a tangle of wild blonde corkscrew locks and would much rather be out playing laying Quidditch with James and Aaron than organizing Dinner Parties, sitting up straight and pretending to be interested in standard cauldron thickness.
Minerva was still looking at me in concern her green eyes beseeching me to see reason,
"I will take this to Sirius, and I'll make sure he eats it, you go and sleep. And if anything happens to Lily or James I will make sure Alice wakes you up." She spoke gently, but her eyes flashed daring me to disagree.
I hesitated, it seemed selfish to go have a sleep and pretend everything was just dandy, but my bed sounded so nice...
"Marlene, you can't keep going like this, you're no good to anyone, not when you're this tired! Now go!" She picked the bag of food up from the ground and made shooing motions with her hand.
I walked in a daze back to the Common Room, then a small rare smile graced my lips, Sirius would never believe it, McGonagall with a maternal side. I shuffled through the relatively full Common Room, tiredly climbed the stairs and without bothering to remove my shoes, collapsed into my Four-Poster Bed. My eyes were shut and I was asleep in an instance.
When I woke up it was to Mary's screams of terror, dragging myself from my warm, comfortable bed, I hurried to her side.
"Shh Mary it's alright, it wasn't real," I said pulling her into my arms.
A sleepy eyed Alice perched on the edge of the bed, rubbing her back comfortingly.
"This time it was different," Mary gasped after a few minutes, "I think it was Voldemort, this man with deathly pale skin, horrible red eyes and snake slits for a nose, he was telling Lily to step aside. She was crying and begging, she looked a few years older and she was standing in front of a cot. She- she kept saying, "Not Harry, please not Harry!"." Mary choked on her tears, and was silent for a moment, then, "He told her to stand aside again, a-and then, and then, h-he k-k-killed her!" Mary wailed.
My blue eyes met Alice's grey ones, she looked just as shocked and scared as I felt.
"Shh, it was just a dream," I murmured, "Lily is alright."
But something about the dream, didn't feel right, I felt a odd sensation rising in me. Was it possible that Mary had seen the future? No. She can't have. Lily was fine, perfectly fine. Apart from being unconscious after being tortured, she was absolutely great. Wasn't she?
A.N. Thanks for reading and thanks to all the people who Followed/Favourited me or this story, you guys rock! Also an extra special thanks to all reviewers, especially Guest: Emmaline, I fixed up the spelling mistake you pointed out, a huge thanks for your awesome support!
This is sort of a shortish filler chapter, next one James will wake up! What did you think of McGonagall? I always thought she would have a maternal side. Please REVIEW! It really inspires me to write faster!
