Pairing: GideonMarlene

We knew

The fire can't warm her, even though Lily does her best to keep it well-stocked. Alice's near, handing her tissues every moment or so. Marlene's long blond hair is dishevelled; her blue eyes are red-rimmed. She blows her nose yet again as she stares off into the distance.

"The worst," she says thickly, "the worst is that, damn, we knew. We knew the consequences of this bloody war, we knew not to get to close... We knew."

Little Harry and Neville are lying in their cots in the corner; Lily runs her fingers through Harry's tuft of black hair, so like James's, absentmindedly. It's unbelievable to Marlene that such things still exist; babies, happiness, motherly love; all she can think is Gideon, Gideon, Gideon.

Gideon Prewett is dead.

It was in the Daily Prophet, in the early morning; she saw when she read it during breakfast. She choked on her cereal; she sprayed milk from her nose. Gideon had left the previous night for a mission, top-secret even within the Order; it turned out that the Death Eaters had ambushed him and his brother.

After that, she feels numb. She's felt like that for most of the day, and then she begins crying.

She's Marlene McKinnon; she's not supposed to cry. She's above such things.

Yet, she's cried more than she's ever cried before, in this blasted war; and this is the first time she's cried for over two hours, hiccoughing and sobbing and sometimes even curled up in a ball.

Somehow, she feels that it's worth it, shedding so many tears over the lost Prewett brother.

Gideon Prewett wasn't just another guy; she's loved him for so long that she feels that she'd lost part of herself when he went.

She looks up finally; Lily and Alice, her loyal friends, are still awake, watching her silently. There are tears running down Alice's face as the shorter woman hugs one of her best friends tightly, as if she could lose Marlene, too, at any moment.

"You'll be fine, Marlene," Alice says softly.

Marlene jerks her head. "I loved him," she whispers, hisses, "I loved him, but I was too scared to say so. I was a coward."

"You're not," Alice and Lily say in unison.

She manages a tiny, grim smile. "You're nice, but I think I'm right." Getting up, she adds, "I'm going out now. It's pathetic of me to sit here crying over Gideon when I should be helping the Order more, getting my vengeance over those who killed him. Thanks for being there."

"Marlene-"

She doesn't listen. She doesn't listen to her friends; two weeks later, her and her family are killed by Death Eaters, led by Travers. It's all her fault; that's her last conscious thought. If she hadn't been out too late for the umpteenth night, she would've remembered to put up the protective spells. If she hadn't drunken all that Firewhiskey, she would've not been such an easy prey.

She shouldn't have immersed herself in the war effort, in her vengeance.

But really, Marlene McKinnon wasn't one for listening; needless to say, the consequences were dire. Not listening, her fatal flaw, cost her life.


So... No happily ever after much? :P Poor, poor Marlene...

Next up is AndromedaTed :)

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