A Marauder's Guide to Falling Forever
PART FOUR
Written by alliegrl
Chapter Twenty
The Aurors that were already stationed below took action immediately to begin working on a protective enchantment. Marlene yelled at a few healers that had fled from their units to see what was going on, instructing them to make their way to each wing and do the same. She could already see figures apparating into the lowest level of the building and knew instantly that keeping them out now would be futile. Their best hope was to seclude them away from the mass crowds of people within the hospital walls.
Realizing that she had yet to call for help, Marlene sent off a patronus of warning, hoping it would be received before too much damage had been inflicted. But she didn't have time to contemplate as she took the stairs downwards, pushing past the physical limits of her body.
Another explosion shook the building.
It was loud, unforgiving.
She fell sideways into the railing. Her hands grasped the metal bar to steady herself and then she continued to run down without a second thought.
Something hit her feet. Hard. She went crashing down, tumbling a good five feet down the hard edges of the staircase, the sudden surge of pain shooting up her spine. She was only momentarily dazed by the blow, likely the result of either a stun spell or a trip jinx.
Pushing the pain radiating in her lower back and ankle aside, she continued onward.
The chaos was beginning to form on the upper levels now as the rest of the hospital above became aware of the intrusive activity.
Screams of terror bounced off the walls, competing with unrelenting explosions.
Marlene screamed at a few more people that she passed by, trying to convey the importance of securing the building. But she couldn't stick around to see if they were listening.
They had covered lock down procedures in training so all she could do was hope that the remaining healers in the building would take procedural action quickly, and get security spells in place before the death eaters infiltrated the rest of the building.
That is, if they hadn't already.
She hit the fourth floor and helped a couple of the healers lock down their unit, the blast of another explosion ringing her ears as she took off to the next. By the time the fourth floor was secured she hit the staircase again to move down to the third.
If it had been chaos before, she had no words to describe the current state of the hospital as she tore down the staircase, deflecting a couple of different curses that shot out at her. The bodies fighting were greater in numbers and it was obvious that they were now fighting amongst one another.
It was clear that her patronus had delivered well.
The Order members had arrived.
She didn't have time to stop and engage in battle, or make observations of who was present. She hopped over the corpse of a woman slumped horizontally on the stairs and reached the third floor below. Trying to get into one of the units, she was unable to make it through the doors. Apparently the healers on the third floor had successfully secured one portion of the wing.
She only hoped that the occupants inside were safe.
Another burst of light grazed her cheek and she felt the raw sting of broken flesh. The trickle of blood rolled down the side of her face as she flung her body aside instinctively.
There were too many bodies moving around and it became difficult to decipher who she was supposed to be fighting. Though she would never grow accustomed to seeing the mass of dead bodies littering the ground, she was becoming quicker at repressing the emotion that came along with it. Instead she subconsciously tucked the emotions aside for her conscious mind to process later.
Then a jet of red light shot out at her.
"Protego!" she yelled with authority. The curse struck her invisible shield, bouncing backwards towards the castor.
"Flipendo," her attacker boomed in retaliation. She recognized the voice even before she caught sight of the long, billowing blonde hair. Marlene wasn't able to deflect it. It hit her chest and she went flying backwards, hitting the wall and then sinking down into the ground.
"Did you seriously think you were going to walk away from this?" Rose was leaning over her, no longer an image of beauty with her vicious sneer. Apparently the stun spell Patrick had put on her had worn off.
Marlene, slightly dazed, kicked at her leg and the blonde beast went tumbling to the ground next to her. "And you seriously thought it was that easy to kill me?" she barked back with more confidence than she felt. Truthfully she would already be dead if Patrick hadn't interfered.
The thought of Patrick's lifeless body back up on the fifth floor caused her stomach to churn. Was he still up there? Had Rose done something to him upon waking?
She didn't have time to stop and think about it. Marlene gripped her own wand and the two of them scrambled to standing. She regained her balance first and shot three more stun spells into her chest. Rose flew backwards, a string of expletives filling the air between them, and...right into the path of a death curse that had been meant for Sturgis Podmore.
She knew she was dead even before the weight of her body fell lifeless to the marbled floor. There was a loud, anguished cry from somewhere across the hall as her body crumpled gracefully into her death.
Like always, Marlene didn't stick around to process.
She fled.
A curse flew past her head and she threw herself sideways to steer clear of its path. Then she was running down another flight of stairs, into another unit, and then another. Monotonous in motion, the same mission every time. Make sure people were safely secured by protection spells, deflect any incoming curses.
Defend. Survive.
She shot at a few recognizable death eaters, hitting one with an impediment jinx which slowed him down long enough for her to disarm him. But she was immediately hit with another trip jinx and she went down face first; her nose smashed into the floor and the sudden gush of blood flooded into her mouth.
As she lay momentarily dazed, rolled onto her side she glimpsed James and Snape engaged in a heated battle on the opposite end of the hall. Snape shot another furious attack towards James and Marlene watched with horror as it struck him in the chest and he fell backwards to the ground, screaming in pain.
She stifled the strangled cry that had crept into her throat as Snape screamed "Crucio!" James' already fallen, beaten body began to convulse, shrieks of pain and torture rippling through his chest.
"Not so great now, are you Potter?!" Snape sneered. He advanced on James and stepped on his wand; the sound of cracking wood indicated it had broken. And then his own wand was pointed once again at his chest. "James Potter. Hot shot, king of Hogwarts. It will give me immense satisfaction to watch you die."
And before Marlene could even raise her wand, he went in for the kill.
But before the life-ending curse had left his lips, Snape was thrown off of James, driven fiercely by the bolt of red light that came from somewhere on the left.
She sensed him first, rather than saw or heard him. But she was certain it was him. And when he spoke, she melted with relief. "I don't think so Snivellus," Sirius barked. Though there had always been humor with the beloved nickname, there was no humor in his tone nor on his face as he raced into Marlene's view.
Snape was quick. He flicked his wand and Sirius's face whipped to one side; a large bloody gash immediately painted scarlet across his face. Sirius raised his wand again but was struck from behind and wheeled his attention elsewhere to avoid the second hex directed his way from some other Death Eater.
Marlene was still dazed, but she managed to scramble to her feet, ducking at another curse fired towards her. She started running for them. James would be no match against Snape without his wand, and Sirius was unable to defend him.
James was still lying on the floor, defenseless. He had managed to roll over and crawled forward towards where Snape was standing and he kicked his leg outwards to trip him. Snape crumpled immediately, falling on top of James who let out another piercing cry from the pain of the added weight on his body.
She watched as the two of them wrestled with each other, throwing punches and fighting to grasp hold of Snape's wand that had fallen with him.
Marlene was quick, but not quick enough. Snape grabbed hold of the wand, delivered an agonizing blow into James' chest with his elbow and climbed to his feet, wand pointing towards him once again. She was seconds away when his eyes snapped up towards her as she raised her wand to fire.
"Don't or I'll kill him now," Snape said dangerously. Marlene hadn't been fast enough to deflect him away from James' cowering and battered body. His wand was still trained at his chest, and she knew that his spell would succeed quicker than hers could even reach him.
"Severus, don't," Marlene pleaded. She had no other option but to grovel for her friends life.
"Drop your wand," he snapped. His own wand jabbed towards James threateningly. "Drop it or he dies."
"Don't do it," James insisted, spitting out blood. "He'll kill us both anyways."
"Think about Lily," she said softly, ignoring James and speaking to Snape. She started to lower her wand, hoping that his former friend might still have some pull over him. "This will only hurt Lily, Severus. You still care for her, don't you? Think about Lily." Surprisingly it appeared to work. The emotions seemed to compete for dominance, and she watched as his wand hand shake and then slowly began to lower.
But the surrender was short lived. Her peripheral vision caught sight of movement to the side of Snape and he must have sensed it too. His reflexes were fast and he fired off another curse in the direction of the moving body.
It missed Sirius by inches.
Now distracted by Sirius once again, his focus had freed from James and Marlene took advantage of it.
She raised her wand again and shot out a spectacular stun spell directly into Snape. She watched the flicker of surprise adorn his pale and sinister features for a fleeting moment, and then he fell to the floor.
She didn't linger on Snape long. Instead she rushed forward and fell to her knees beside James. There was blood running down his head from where he had hit the floor and his hands were wrapped around his midsection; grimacing.
"Are you okay?" she asked hurriedly.
"Maybe a few broken bones." He winced as he tried to sit.
"You need to leave," Marlene instructed him. "Get out of here now."
"I can't – "
"You don't have a wand. You can't help us here. Go!" Marlene stated firmly. "Go home to Lily before you can't go home at all."
She helped James to standing and they both ducked as a blasting curse whizzed over their heads and exploded into the wall beside them. James gaze was unreadable as he squeezed her hand. Then he disapparated, and an ear piercing scream echoed through the mezzanine from somewhere down below.
She realized quickly that Snape was already gone, she didn't know where he had gone or what had happened to him. But when she glanced around she could still see Sirius. He wasn't too far away and he was talking with his brother Regulus.
"You don't have to do this, Regulus." She heard Sirius talking calmly, his wand still armed in defense. "Just walk away. You can just walk away. Come home with us."
"Shut up Sirius!" Regulus yelled, his arm raised higher and he shot off another curse in Sirius's direction. But it hit the wall far behind Sirius, far enough away that he must have intended to miss. As much as she wanted to hear out their conversation, she quickly realized that she didn't have time to see the outcome. She continued onward with her previous task of searching the floors to make sure the occupants were safe.
She found a pair of children hiding under a bed in an abandoned wing. Their father had told them not to move and had disappeared into the chaos that at once flooded the hallways. Once it quieted they remained.
"You were right to stay here," she encouraged them. She guessed that they were around four and six years old. "I'm going to place a protective charm around you, okay?" The older child nodded but she wasn't certain if he truly understood her or not.
She found a couple other patients hidden away in a bathroom, and a couple of healers defending a group of survivors behind the Healers desk. The sounds were beginning to dissipate from the outer hallways and Marlene rushed back after she had concluded that no more death eaters were lurking on the second floor.
It was when she exited the unit that the sharp sting of a blasting curse struck her arm and the instant pain that accompanied caused a strangled scream to creep up her throat.
"You bitch!" Marlene's head snapped towards the voice defensively armed and ready to fire. A Death Eater she recognized as Travers.
Before she could react, he sent another curse at her that slammed into her leg causing her to drop to her knees. She raised her wand and fired, but he deflected it with ease. Then he disarmed her. Marlene remained defenseless, kneeling in a growing pool of her own blood. She scowled at him, unafraid. This only seemed to agitate him.
"So this is the great Marlene McKinnon that Lennox wouldn't shut up about." His voice was low and calculated as he stalked towards her. Lennox. He knew Patrick. "There's nothing special about you, is there? Hardly attractive, and from what I've heard from my good friend Bellatrix, fairly useless too." Marlene shivered at the mention of Bellatrix's name but she remained strong and silent.
Travers was close now, close enough she could see the flickering flames of hatred and excitement in his eyes. He was enjoying this far too much. "You're going to pay for what you did to my wife," he snarled, wand still trained upon her. Standing less than a foot away, he took the tip of his wand and placed it under her chin, lifting it upwards and forcing her to look at him. Then he squatted down so that they were eye level. "I'm going to make it excruciatingly painful for you."
"I don't even know who your wife is, but if I did something to her then she probably deserved it," she hissed back. And then she lunged forward to smash her forehead against his. Sparks omitted from the tip of his wand just grazing her so that the smell of singed hair wafted around them.
Then Marlene was on top of him, and she pulled her fist back and drove it into his face. It rekindled the fond memory she had of breaking Avery's nose back in sixth year, and the satisfaction drove a second blow. But his hand shot upwards and enclosed her fist, twisting her arm and rolling her over so that he was on top of her, rendering her submissive to his enormous mass.
The hand that held her fist remained firm as he smashed it against the stone floor, and he used his other one to do the same with her other hand, pinning her hands beside her head. With no wand and no arms, Marlene felt completely helpless and the overwhelming sense of fear began crawling through her body.
"That's not very kind," he snarled, and angry flecks of saliva and blood sprayed her face.
But she wasn't willing to give him the satisfaction of murder. Marlene forced her pinned arms to drag upwards across the floor to stretch above her head and instinctively began thrashing her hips from side to side. The movement caused him to lose balance, and his grip loosened on one of her wrists in order to re-balance himself. She took the opportunity of her loose arm to strike upwards into his face and rolled him over again.
She pushed herself off of him and scrambled, reaching for the wand that had been forgotten in the struggle. Her outstretched fingers curled around it just as his hands grasped around her ankles, nails piercing her skin, and dragged her back towards him.
She twisted her body to fire one last curse at him.
And then there was screaming and his grip released.
Panting, Marlene rolled over onto her back and propped herself on her elbows to watch Travers body convulsing on the floor a few feet away.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Sirius's voice was fierce. He came running into view, firing off his own additional blow to the death eater. But it missed, and she watched as Travers shot her one more menacing look before disapperating from view.
And then Marlene realized everything was quiet. Apart from the thundering sound omitting from her chest, that is. She watched passively as a few Order members walked around the floor checking on the status of fallen bodies. It was evident that they were searching for survivors.
She let out a shaky breath of relief. The battle was ending.
"Are you okay?" Sirius was suddenly kneeling in front of her, hands cupping either side of her face, eyes searching into hers with intense concern. In her daze she had nearly forgotten he had been close by.
"I'm fine," she replied breathlessly. "Thanks."
He threw his arms around her, pulling her close. Marlene grasped the fabric of his sweater and she clenched her eyes closed in an attempt to relinquish all the horrendous images that suddenly began to fill her head.
"I can't leave you alone for more than a few hours without you attracting trouble." His body convulsed against her and she knew that he was crying.
"I'm stronger than you give me credit for." She smirked into his sweater, clinging to the fabric and smelling sweat and blood and smoke. Her own tears surprisingly kept at bay. At least, for the time being.
"After watching you take out Travers like that, I couldn't possibly question your strength." The smallest of chuckles vibrated from him and then his arms were crushing her again. Her hands tangled into his hair and pulled him forcefully into her lips. Desperate with a mixture of need and relief that they were both still alive.
In between kisses he choked out, "I love you Mar." He was still crying and she could taste his tears on his lips. She pulled away to look at him, then reached her hand up to wipe a fallen tear from his cheek.
In a time where everything was uncertain, he was only one thing that she was certain of. And there wasn't a shred of doubt in her body. "I love you too."
