Prompt: Regulus takes Marlene to the hospital
Note: I'm actually quote proud of this, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!
For: Laura , Someone AKA Me. I hope you like it!
Red. Green. Black. Yellow. A myriad of colours flashed in Marlene's vision.
Screams. Cries. Pleas. Laughs. A cacophony of sounds echoed in Marlene's head.
The world was hazy, swarming in front of her half closed eyes. She wasn't fully aware of what was going on, all she knew is that an order mission had gone wrong and she got separated from the others.
She lifted her head slightly from where she was laying on the floor, and her face changed from confused to panicked in a heartbeat as she heard approaching footsteps. Part of her hoped it was one of the Order, but she knew it was most likely another Death Eater.
Running a hand as best she could down her battered body, Marlene assessed the damage. She was about 90% sure her leg was broken, and she could feel the blood soaking through her shirt on her left side. She knew she had to stem the bleeding, but her wand was gone and she couldn't call for help. Still, she pressed her hand into her wound, applying pressure in the hopes it at least slowed it down.
She was stuck; alone, in the middle of an open hallway, unable to move. Brilliant. She grimaced. Her best hope was to try and pull herself back against the wall and hope it was too dark to see.
She bit her tongue to hold back a groan as she used her arms to pull herself back. Pain tore through her leg and side, and she felt tears leak down her dirt stained face. She managed to move herself back a few inches before she collapsed, breathing hard. Panic started to fill her as she heard the footsteps getting louder. Desperately she made one last effort to pull herself back, relief flooding through her weak body as her back hit the wall. However the exertion was too much, and black spots started dancing before her eyes.
Marlene squeezed her eyes shut and waited. The footsteps had stopped, whoever it was had seen her. This was it. She dangerously slipped further into the realm of half consciousness, awaiting whatever what was to come.
A shadowy figure knelt down beside her, and placed two fingers on the side of her neck.
"Son of a bitch," the vaguely familiar voice hissed. "Merlin, McKinnon, how the hell do you get yourself into these situations?"
The voice was so familiar. She opened her eyes as much as she could to see who was kneeling next to her. The first thing she took in was the silvery eyes and the obvious look of concern on his aristocratic features. Marlene's first though was that Sirius had found her, but when she looked closer she noticed that the face did not belong to Sirius, but rather his younger brother Regulus.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you were hoping for Sirius," he spoke quietly, an undercurrent of bitterness was present. Then his lips twisted into a smile at Marlene's confused look. "I always could read you, Marlene. I knew exactly what you were thinking when you saw me. Now, do me a favour and stay conscious? Your Gryffindor buddies will have my head if I let you die."
Marlene gasped as she felt him press her hand into her wound. Her hand had slackened as she lost consciousness earlier. "I need you to keep pressing your wound. I know you're weak, and I know it hurts, but can you do that for me?"
Inhaling sharply, she managed a nod.
"Good. Now I'm going to pick you up, and apparate us to St. Mungo's. Your red haired friend is on shift tonight, isn't she?"
Marlene nodded again. It was true, Lily hadn't come on this mission as she was on shift at St. Mungo's. It had just been James, Marlene, Mary and Sirius, as well as some of the older members. Everyone else was either working like Lily, or doing more behind the scenes work for the Order.
"Right, well hold on because this is going to hurt. Once we're at Mungo's, I'll notify your mates. They're safe by the way. Your instructor, Moody, made them leave to a safe house. They know I was looking for you. You'll see Sirius and the other's again soon, okay, McKinnon? Just hold on. I swear to Merlin if you die on my watch I will resurrect you and kill you again myself, while hiding from my brother and the rest of those idiots you call friends who would no doubt skin me alive."
Marlene managed to muster a weak smile. He'd been distracting her, she hadn't realised he was lifting her because she was too busy listening to the sound of his voice. Like his brother, they both had that smooth, charismatic voice that you could listen to for hours.
"Stay with me, Marls. Do you remember when we were little? You and Sirius were thick as thieves, you caused trouble at every pureblood event that we ever went to. I used to follow you two around, I looked up to you, you know. I used to admire your nerve, both of you. I would never have dared pull half this stuff you did. The thing is, it was still a shock when you both were sorted into Gryffindor. I knew you were both brave, and you had nerve and daring…it just never occurred to me that there was any other place for us but in Slytherin. I honestly never imagined the three of us would be separated."
He chuckled, only a little bit bitter. "Yet here we are, fighting on opposite sides of the war. You're dating, or shagging whatever it is you call it, my brother, wearing stupid little Phoenix T shirts while I don black robes and a white mask. We're not those little kids running around wreaking havoc anymore are we? We're soldiers, fighting a stupid war that has no end in sight. What happened to us? I'm not evil, you know. I don't even know what I believe in anymore. I used to think we, purebloods, were superior but I never wanted Muggleborns dead. Yet here I am, part of the very organisation that exists to kill them."
He chuckled again, more darkly this time. His voice broke a little on his next sentence. "I don't know how much longer I can do this, Marls. Having to fire curses at you and Sirius and your friends and pretend like the guilt doesn't kill me when one of you gets hurt. I sincerely hope you aren't listening to this, I don't know why I'm telling you all this but if you can hear it, and you repeat it to anybody, I will kill you."
The black spots had nearly taken over her vision, but she clung to the sound of Regulus's voice. It was the only thing keeping her awake. She wasn't fully processing everything he said, it was taking everything she had just to stay awake.
Somehow they had arrived at Mungo's, where Lily was apparently waiting. The pain had taken over, and Marlene felt her body shake with exhaustion. She just wanted to give up, to sleep and end the pain. But she couldn't, she'd made it this far and she wasn't about to give up now. Regulus placed her on a stretcher Lily had conjured.
"Stay safe, McKinnon. I won't always be around to save your skinny little arse."
Marlene allowed herself one last smile, and whispered a faint thank you, before she finally succumbed to the darkness. Lily was here, she would take care of her. Marlene could finally sleep.