AN/ Hey guys. I hope you've had a great New Year. Sorry it's taken me so long to put this chapter up but I didn't want to dampen the mood. I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't want to kill me after it and that you still stick with me.

Bruises

"Oh my God!" Marigold ran into the kitchen, almost knocking James over. "Sorry, James! Lily!"

Lily was washing up at the sink and turned to stare at her friend, "Mari! How was yesterday?"

"Um I think a more important question is how did you get in, Goldie?" James asked.

"Oh I used Sirius' key," Marigold waved a hand. "Anyway, Lily, guess what Sirius did last night?"

"I don't know," Lily hid her smile so that Marigold wouldn't guess that she already knew. "What?"

"He asked me to marry him!" Marigold screamed at the top of her voice, jumping up and down.

"And you said yes?"

Marigold nodded, "Yes! Can you believe it? I'm getting married! Sirius is going to be my husband!"

"That's great!" Lily grinned and hugged her friend. "I am so pleased for you. Have you told your dad yet?"

"No, no," Marigold shook her head. "I've still got to do that but I thought I'd come round here first and say thank you for helping Sirius pick out the ring."

"I didn't help him."

"Yes you did," Marigold smiled. "Sirius would never have been able to pick out something as beautiful as this," Marigold lifted up her hand to show off the ring.

James frowned at it and then nodded, "Yeah, you are totally right, Goldie. Padfoot would never have chosen something like that."

"Wow," Sirius' voice came from the doorway. "You guys have so much faith in me."

"Aww," Marigold turned to him and gave him a quick kiss. "Don't worry, Sirius, we do have faith in you but you know there are some things which you just cannot do."

Sirius sighed dramatically, "I cannot believe that my own fiancé does not have faith in me."

Marigold laughed, "Come on, Padfoot," she took Sirius' arm. "We have to go tell my dad. We can celebrate properly tomorrow."

"Why can't we do tonight?" Lily asked as she and James followed them to the door.

"Oh I'm on duty with Fabian and Gideon. We're only doing a patrol, so we shouldn't run into any trouble. Aren't you also on tonight, Lily?"

"Oh yeah. It's a small stake out with James and Frank."

Marigold sighed, "Looks like you might get some action tonight then. I wish I was doing a stake out instead of a patrol. That is so much more exciting that patrolling."

"Yeah but at least you'll get an evening at home," Lily smiled. "James, Frank and I have to stay out no matter what happens."

"Well, then make sure you get sleep tomorrow and we'll celebrate all night," Marigold smiled. "Come on, Padfoot. We'll be able to have a small celebration at dad's."

Marigold and Sirius disappeared and James shook his head.

"We are going to need to sleep if Goldie and Padfoot want us to be up all night tomorrow as well."

"Hmm," Lily closed the door. "That is a good idea."

"What time do we start tonight anyway?" James asked as they walked into the living room.

"Eight. I told Frank we'd pick him up before we went."

"Great. Means I can sleep all day."

"Oh no," Lily shook her head. "We have got work to do."

"Aww, Lils," James groaned. "I didn't think you'd want to start reading the books today."

"Of course I do. You can sleep after lunch if you want to as long as you read some of the books with me."

James sighed; he knew it had been a mistake to buy the eight books and twenty or so different magazines. Not wanting an argument and wanting to get his afternoon sleep, James allowed Lily to place a pile of books in front of him and he started to read.

"Okay," Marigold tucked her wand into her pocket and turned to Sirius. "I will be back by twelve possibly a bit later. Gid and Fab might want to go out for a bit afterwards to get warm."

"That's fine," Sirius smiled and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll be waiting here. Maybe we'll even have a little nightcap."

"Sounds good," Marigold smiled. "Right, I love you, Padfoot."

"I know," Sirius grinned. Marigold snatched up a pillow and threw it at him. Sirius caught it before it hit his face. "Fine, I love you, Goldie."

"Thank you," Marigold grinned, blew him a kiss and left. She Apparated to The Burrow where Fabian and Gideon were waiting for her.

"Is the news true?" Fabian asked once they'd greeted each other.

"What news?"

"The news that you and Sirius are getting married," Gideon smiled. "Fab's disappointed. He hoped that the two of you would break up so that he could get you."

Marigold laughed, "Don't worry, maybe we will break up before we can get married or maybe we'll have an affair if I get fed up of Sirius."

"Great," Fabian grinned. "I'll keep my hopes up that nothing works out between you."

"What about you Gid?" Marigold turned to the other man. "Are you hoping that Sirius and I break up?"

"No, I wouldn't be that mean. I hope that you and Sirius stay together. You and Fabian would never get on long enough to have a good relationship."

All three of them laughed and Disapparated.

"Okay," Fabian crossed his arms. "can I be one of the groomsmen?"

"I might be able to persuade Sirius to do that. As long as he wants Gid to be one as well."

"But I am so much better looking than him," Fabian sniffed. "Anyway, Gideon doesn't like dressing up in suits."

"Says you!" Gideon laughed. "I recall that you absolutely hated wearing a suit to Molly's wedding and she is our sister."

"Yeah well," Fabian shrugged. "I was younger then wasn't I? We were still at Hogwarts when she married Arthur."

"Oh," Gideon turned to Marigold. "Did we tell you that Molly is pregnant again?"

"No, how many months?"

"Oh several. Over five I think it is, not too sure. We haven't been there for a very long time; we've been too busy with the Order and work."

"Ahh, I must remember that and tell Lily and Alice later. Lily will definitely want to go round and see her. Maybe when Lily and Alice have had their babies they can all meet up."

Gideon nodded, "That would be good. We'll tell Molly about that idea when we next see her."

"We should probably go round once we've finished tonight," Fabian sighed. "I am dying for some of her food again."

"You should come round as well, Marigold. You can warm up at The Burrow and then go home."

"That sounds-" Marigold started but was interrupted by Fabian.

"Shh!" Fabian's hand flew over Marigold's mouth. "I heard something."

"What?" Gideon asked in a whisper.

"Shh!" Fabian removed his hand from Marigold's mouth and reached for his wand. Gideon and Marigold pulled theirs out as well. They stayed as quiet as they could, straining their ears. After a while Marigold shook her head, "I can't hear anything. You must have imagined it, Fab."

"Maybe," Fabian sighed.

"Must be tired," Gideon patted his brother on the back. "You should take a rest from doing jobs, Fab."

"I'll think about it," Fabian smiled. "Come on, let's move on."

They started walking, rounded a corner and found themselves face to face with a group of five Death Eaters. The two groups stared at each other for a second and then the spells started flying. Marigold found herself fighting Dolohov. The man smiled at her and Marigold wondered if he'd been one of the Death Eaters who'd killed her mother and brother. That thought made Marigold fight harder. She heard a cry and glanced quickly to her left. Gideon was lying on the floor after being hit by a spell which had caused him to trip over the curb. Fabian was fighting two Death Eaters at once and didn't have time to help his brother. Marigold shot a stunning spell towards Dolohov and then rushed to Gideon. His two Death Eaters were closing in on him as Marigold pulled him to his feet. Together they started duelling the men and Dolohov joined in.

"Marigold," Gideon panted. "Get out of here. Go and tell someone."

"No," Marigold gritted her teeth and ducked a killing curse. "I am staying!"

"Protago!" Gideon threw up a shield and grabbed Marigold's arm. "I'm serious, Marigold. Get out of here before something happens to you. Go back to Sirius."

"And leave you?" Marigold deflected a spell and pulled her arm away. "Forget it, Gid. I am not leaving!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The spell, performed by Dolohov, pulled Marigold's wand from her grip.

"Get behind me!" Gideon pushed Marigold behind him so that he could defend her from the oncoming spells. Marigold looked round desperately for her wand but she couldn't see it anywhere. Glancing round Gideon's back Marigold saw that Dolohov's eyes were fixed on her.

"Oh Merlin," Marigold whispered. She looked towards Fabian and saw that he was losing and she knew that Gideon wasn't going to be much better. He was fighting three Death Eaters and still had to protect her. It was going to take a miracle for them to survive this.

The doorbell ringing woke Lily and James the next day but neither of them tried to get out of bed. If it was someone important they could send a Patronus. It was only when they heard the key scrap in the lock that James got up. There was only one person who had a key and that was Sirius. James pulled on a t-shirt and hurried down stairs. The front door had closed again but Sirius wasn't in the hallway.

"Padfoot?" James asked as he walked into the living room.

"Prongs," Sirius' voice was hoarse and came from the corner. James turned and saw that his friend was pale.

"Padfoot, what's wrong?"

"Goldie hasn't come home."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Goldie isn't back," Sirius looked up at his friend. "She should have been back by midnight but she wasn't."

"Who was she out with?" James asked. "Maybe she's with them. If she was supposed to finish at midnight then she might have stayed at someone else's house."

"Prongs, it's eleven o'clock!" Sirius moaned. "She should have been back ages ago!"

"I'm sure there's a very good explanation for it," James ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, she was out with Fab and Gid last night, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then the first place we should look is their house and then The Burrow. I'll come and help you look."

"Really?" Sirius looked up.

"Really," James nodded. "We won't tell Lily anything; she'll get too worried."

"Won't she wonder what you're doing?"

James shook his head, "No, she'll be asleep. Yesterday tired her out. She'll sleep till past midday. I'll just get changed quickly."

"Okay," Sirius nodded. "Thanks, Prongs."

James ran upstairs to the bedroom. Lily's eyes fluttered open as he came in.

"Wasup?"

"Nothing, Sweetheart," James sat on the bed. "I'm just going out for a bit. I should be back in about two hours."

"What are you doing?"

"That is a secret," James whispered and kissed her forehead. "Go back to sleep and rest."

"Okay," Lily murmured and was instantly asleep again. James quickly changed into fresh clothes and joined Sirius downstairs.

"Let's go, Padfoot. I've got two hours or so before Lily will wonder where I am."

Hours later the two friends returned to the cottage without success. None of the Weasley's had seen Fabian or Gideon for weeks. They'd also gone past the flat that the boys lived in but the neighbours said that they hadn't seen them since the night before. The smell of sausages filled the air as James opened the door.

"Lily?" he called out. "Lils? You up?"

"Kitchen!"

Sirius frowned, "That didn't sound like Lily-Petal's voice."

"Yeah, sounds more like Frank's," James strode straight into the kitchen and came face to face with Frank. "Oh hey, where's Lily?"

"Living room," Frank reached out and took James' arm as he moved off. "Er James? Alice is in there too."

"And?"

Frank bit his lip, "They got some news a few minutes ago. Um have you seen Sirius?"

"He's right behind me."

"Hey," Sirius nodded. "You haven't seen Goldie have you?"

"Errr," Frank's eyes flickered towards the living room.

"Is she in there?" Sirius' eyes lit up and without waiting for an answer, he ran into the living room.

"James," Frank's grip tightened on his arm. "Marigold isn't in there."

"What do you mean?"

Frank sighed, "The news that the girls got wasn't good. Dumbledore came round to speak to Alice and," Frank too a breath. "and it seems as if Marigold and the Prewetts were attacked last night."

"No," James breathed. "No, Frank, don't say it."

"They were attacked by five people and Mad-Eye got there just as the Death Eaters were leaving."

James closed his eyes, "Frank, do not say it!"

Frank's voice shook slightly, "There was nothing Mad-Eye could do, James. The Death Eaters had tortured them."

"No!" James slid to the floor.

Frank continued, "Mad-Eye was able to stun one of the Death Eaters though. Dolohov; he's in Azkaban now."

"And-" James was cut off by a howl from the living room.

"NO!"

He forced himself to his feet and ran into the next room. Lily and Alice were clinging to each other on the sofa but there was no sign of Sirius. The front door banged open and James caught a flash of black hair.

"Padfoot!" he shouted and ran after his friend. He reached the street and saw a shaggy, black haired dog racing down the street towards the edge of the village. James followed. He waited until he was out of the village before he transformed. He needed to catch Sirius up before he did anything stupid. Summoning up his energy James increased his speed, hoping that Sirius would tire soon.

AN/ SORRY! I know some of you might hate me for what I've done but Marigold isn't in the real story and I'm not going to change it. I hated killing her off and almost cried while I wrote it. Please stick with me!