The Plan of Black
Chapter 37 (I'm going to wrap this story up soon, my original idea had always been around 40 chapters but if people want to see more, I'm planning a sequel - title to be revealed in the next chapter. If people want me to continue please tell me and if they don't, I won't be offended:))
It had been three months since their meeting with Dumbledore and no one had heard anything more from him. The first few weeks had been mainly trying to get their heads around what the head-teacher had said to them and each person was handling the information differently. James started studying - something which shocked everyone as James had always boasted loudly that he didn't have to revise. Remus, who after days of brooding over the subject of the Order had finally given his answer as the affirmative and seemed much more cheerful than anyone else. Peter had been spending less and less time with them and Marlene worried about him; it was a dangerous time to isolate yourself from your friends. Sirius was also behaving very strangely, Marlene could only describe his actions as 'overprotective'. Whilst it was slightly irritating at times, Lily had pointed out early on that it was something he had to go through, so Marlene had let it go. She knew Sirius was feeling apprehensive - knowing that everything would change drastically in under 5 weeks. Their exams were almost upon them and none of them barely saw Lily at all anymore except from lessons, and even then, the look she would give them if anyone interrupted the teacher to talk to her was beyond dirty so people like James had eventually given up trying to talk to her and just joined her for silent study sessions in the library. To add to everyone's stress, the final Quidditch game of the season was upcoming at the weekend against Slytherin and James was working his team harder than he ever had before, determined that Gryffindor would walk away with the cup that year.
The group of friends were all sitting around on a Wednesday evening, most of them had stayed at Hogwarts over Easter to make use of the schools study facilities and now Marlene felt exhausted of revision.
"If I see one more textbook right now, I actually feel like I might throw up..." Sirius complained loudly and to nobody in particular. Most people just ignored him but Lily sent him a scowl over from her corner near the fire. Everyone seemed too tired to reply; Remus was sitting in his favourite armchair, head lolled back with his mouth open and an open book (not a textbook) in his lap. Marlene was dozing with her head resting against Sirius' shoulder. James was sitting leaned over the table with his nose almost pressed against the parchment which had little dots moving around it. Sirius thought it was the Marauder's Map at first then realised that it was Quidditch game tactics and immersed himself in watching Peter making a card castle for a while.
Remus awoke with a startled yelp and shook his head, looking blearily around at everyone before his eyes fixed on the window. "Is that an owl?" He asked, squinting at the dark glass.
Marlene jolted from her doze at his words, lifting her head blinking sleepily. "What?" She muttered and sat upright.
Everyone had looked around at the window and James stood up, "yeah it is. Should I let him in?"
"Don't be a wimp Prongs, it's an owl - it's not going to hurt you is it?" Sirius scoffed and James shot him a scowl and stepped the few paces to the window, unlocking it and pulling it open so the owl could hop inside.
Marlene seat up straighter, frowning in confusion. "That's my brother's owl!"
Everyone turned to look at her.
"I thought your brother was in a coma?" James said, earning himself a glare from Sirius at his lack of tact and subtlety concerning Marcus.
Marlene shook her head, "my other brother, Matt." She looked at the owl then stood up and strode over to James and untied the letter which was around the bird's leg. She opened the letter carefully, feeling everyone's gazes on her as she did, watching as her eyes darted back and forth along the page, reading it's contents. Seconds ticked by and Marlene's face drained of colour and her hand flew to her throat in shock.
"What is it?" Sirius asked into the silence.
Marlene didn't appear to hear him. She just continued to stare at the letter like she didn't believe what was written there.
"Marlene!" Sirius snapped and she looked up, face still stunned.
"What's wrong, Marlene?" Sirius asked again, sounding both irritated and concerned at his lack of response from her.
Marlene just shook her head, glancing down at the letter then back up at her friends. She gulped then opened her mouth, saying breathlessly, "he's woken up..."
Marlene forced a smile onto her face as she looked at her friends who stood in front of her, ready to see her off. Her and Max were returning home for a day or two at their mother's request to see their older brother who had just started to recover from his coma.
"I'll be back Friday evening," Marlene told them, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Lily smiled and stepped forwards to hug her tightly, "send my best to your parents and Matt and Marc," she said quietly. Marlene nodded and turned as James gave her a rough, one-armed hug. "You make it back for Saturday McKinnon, you hear me - both of you!" He added, indicating Max as well who nodded and gave his Quidditch captain a mock salute. James winked at him.
"Don't worry too much Marlene," Remus said in an undertone to her when he gave her a hug, "I'll keep James from baying after your blood if you miss Saturday."
"I'm not missing Saturday -" Marlene started but stopped as Remus was shouldered out of the way by Sirius who pretended to scowl at his friend, "hands off Moony!"
Remus shook his head but Sirius had already turned away to face Marlene.
Marlene looked at him and saw a multitude of conflicting emotions in his face. Most of the time she found him hard to read but now, all the feelings seemed to be overflowing into his facial expressions. Marlene didn't say anything, she just stepped towards him and using the front of his robes, pulled him down to her height to kiss him. It was a sweet, innocent kiss that only just disguised the desperation that each of them was feeling. Marlene knew he wanted to come with her but knew that he couldn't. Her parents knew nothing about him and she knew that this wouldn't be the time to tell them about their relationship.
"Love you," Sirius muttered, pulling back and pressing his forehead against hers.
Marlene slowly breathed out and smiled, "see you soon." She pulled herself away from him, noticing as she did so that everyone had been looking elsewhere to give them some privacy. Marlene smirked to herself slightly and stepped into the flames, clearly speaking the name of her parents house and disappearing in swirl of green fire.
After they had watched Max go the same way as Marlene, Remus turned away from the fireplace frowning. Something didn't feel quite right.
"I don't like that she's going," Sirius muttered, echoing Remus' thoughts. However he didn't want to worry Sirius even more so he kept quiet. The uneasiness of the group grew as they all remained silent, each one lost in his or her thoughts.
Marlene was spewed out of the fireplace, landing on her hands and knees on her parent's carpet.
She stood up and brushed herself down as Max came spinning into view. He stood up as well and looked around, "where is everyone?"
At that moment, footsteps were heard in the corridor outside. The door opened and the face of their older brother Matthew peered around the wooden frame. "Marley?" He asked, "Max?" He saw it was them and breathed out, "thank Merlin you're both here, mums been going mental with worry about you both."
Marlene hurried over to hug him, "when does she not worry?"
Matt sighed and gestured for them to follow him. "It's been worse since the attack and it just keeps declining."
Marlene took time to study his face carefully. The once young, sparkling eyes were rimmed with dark lines and his skin seemed especially pale for him. His blond hair lay untidily on his head and he didn't seem to care about it - which wasn't like him. Matt had always been know for his looks. When he was at Hogwarts, his reputation was like that of James or Sirius but now he looked more tired than Marlene had ever seen him. And had looked ill.
"Are you alright Matt?" She asked quietly as they came to a stop outside a door.
Her older brother turned to look at her and gave her a wan smile. "I'm fine Marley, just tired." He ran a hand through his dishevelled hair and opened the door.
"Marlene!" Was all Marlene heard, then she was blinded by white light from the open curtains and she felt herself being smothered by her mother.
Marlene could barely look away from Marcus for fear of him vanishing before her eyes. She couldn't believe that he was right in front of her, lying in his bed and sleeping, still weak from the coma but very much alive.
"I'm not going to leave you know," his voice startled her from her thoughts and made her jump. She blinked and focused see him looking at her, blue eyes half open but sparkling at the sight of her. "So you can give my hand a bit of slack eh Marls?"
Marlene looked down at her hand and realised that she was holding his in a vice like grip. She instantly dropped his hand and withdrew her own onto her lap but he reached out and took it again. "I didn't say let go, you dolt," he muttered, smiling at her.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, looking him over carefully.
Marcus shook his head, "I feel fine... But what about you Marley? Dad told me you were in an attack on Hogsmead?"
Marlene drew in a deep breath and started talking, filling him in on all the finer details of the last 7 months - leaving out the odd thing like the Order. When she had finished, Marcus sucked in, making a low whistle sound but in the end what he said was, "I dreamt about you coming to see me..." He paused whilst Marlene's eyes widened in disbelief then he added slyly, "you were with a boy."
He watched with amusement as Marlene's expression grew even more disbelieving. "You heard all that?" She asked, gobsmacked.
Marcus shook his head, chuckling, "not really, I just know." He didn't say how he knew and didn't seem to want to either. "Is he your boyfriend?"
Marlene muttered a "none of your business" feebly under her breath but Marcus heard and smiled, "I can always find out from Max anyway."
That got the reaction he had wanted; Marlene scowled and shrugged, "yeah, he's my boyfriend. So what?"
"Are you happy Marlene?"
The question caught her off-guard, mainly because he used her full name - something which any of her brothers ever did - and because nobody had ever asked her that question about a guy before. She nodded mutely before clearing her throat and saying quietly, "yeah, I am."
Marcus nodded, "so who is he then?"
Marlene had braced herself mentally for this, she was sure Marcus wouldn't care that Sirius was a member of the Black family but she was sure her father would flip when he found out. "It's um... Well it's Sirius Bla -"
But she was cut off as the door flew open to reveal their father, looking windswept and shaken.
Marlene stood up quickly, turning so she could face him. They looked at each other for a split second then her father glanced at Marcus and said, "quickly, we need to get you all out of here now!"