***TW: descriptions of murder; major character death.
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Ch 44 - The Pearl in the Embers
Remus sent three patronuses straightaway: one to Mad-Eye, one to Peter, and one to James and Lily. James was there within minutes (probably against Dumbledore's wishes), and a team of Ministry aurors led by Alastor arrived within the hour. Peter straggled in sometime after the aurors arrived.
The McKinnons' beautiful, Edwardian home was reduced to a blackened skeleton of its former glory. Once the fire had been extinguished, the aurors got to work searching the ruins for any sign of the family. No less than four aurors had to be assigned to corral Sirius, who continually tried to dive into the wreckage to find Marlene himself. James had the task of holding him back from a brawl with the investigators. When he wasn't doing this, he stuck faithfully by Sirius' side with his arm around his shoulders and tried to remain composed. Remus paced behind them, giving Sirius space. He and Sirius hadn't been close lately, and he wasn't sure that he was wanted. Peter sat by himself in the grass and stared at the ground.
Emmeline, still covered in soot from the fire in Godric's Hollow, had been pulled aside by a stern looking auror in a gray cloak.
"And you're positive you heard Lucius Malfoy's name?" she asked, peering up at Emmeline from her notes.
"Yes," Emmeline insisted, having been asked some version of this question twice already. "I heard them say Malfoy." She began to pick at the bandage Remus had cast over her burn.
"But you didn't hear Lucius, just the surname Malfoy," the auror clarified, scribbling something else down.
"Considering that Marlene…" She choked back her tears. "...three days ago, we were involved in an operation which resulted in Lucius getting summoned for an inquiry at the Ministry. I'm going to assume they were talking about him and not his second cousin twice removed, yes," she retorted, beginning to lose what little temper she had left.
"Implicating someone in this is a serious matter, so I just want to be sure you have your facts straight."
Emmeline's frustration grew past the point of restraint.
"My facts?"
"I'm only trying to say-"
"Don't you dare- If you'd just been through the morning I had, you-!"
"Easy, Vance," snapped Alastor, who had been listening nearby. He hobbled up alongside her and laid a hand on her shoulder, softening his tone. "You've had quite the day. Easy does it." He then turned to the auror and got very close to her face. "This young woman has fought off more death eaters than both you and I can count on all our fingers and toes, so I suggest you show her some respect, McCoy."
"Y-yes, sir."
"Take a walk. She'll answer your questions later."
McCoy looked as if she wanted to say something apologetic, but decided against it and went to help with the search in the house.
Alastor turned back to Emmeline, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "How're you holding up?"
She thought she would cry again if she tried to answer him, so she ignored his question. "Have they found anything?"
"Not yet. They've just cleared away the fallen debris, so-"
"Moody," another auror called as he approached. He was holding a folded handkerchief and some wooden fragments. Emmeline recognized the auror as Kingsley Shacklebolt, a Hufflepuff four years her senior at Hogwarts.
"Vance, go wait over there with Lupin."
"No," she said firmly. "I want to hear this." Alastor's brow furrowed at her disobedience, but he did not push her.
"Four bodies," Shacklebolt reported remorsefully. "Their wands were mostly destroyed, but we have some pieces that may be identifiable."
Emmeline tried to stand strong to hear the rest of what he had to say, but felt herself beginning to unravel. Including Marlene, there were four members of the McKinnon family. Angus was sixteen years old.
"The bodies," Alastor began, equally anxious to find out the family's fate. "Are they recognizable at all?"
"No, they're...too burned." Kingsley's eyes flashed sympathetically to Emmeline. "The healer determined there were two men and two women, likely dead before the fire started. We recovered these:" he said, unfolding the handkerchief. Inside the cloth lay two gold wedding bands, and a delicate necklace bearing a single, soot-covered, freshwater pearl.
Emmeline's hand flew to her mouth to muffle an agonized sob.
That was Marley's necklace.
Marlene was dead.
And Emmeline had been the reason they were spotted in Knockturn Alley.
She'd sealed Marlene's fate.
She might as well have been the one who lit the fire.
Oh my God, her family.
She'd gotten their entire family killed.
As soon as he saw her react to the necklace, Moody gripped Emmeline tightly in a sudden hug, holding her head against his shoulder so that she wouldn't see him shed a tear himself. Emmeline hung limp in his arms, retreating into shock.
This was entirely her fault.
Alastor released her from the hug and steadied her, then gently lifted the necklace from the handkerchief and held it out to her. "You should be the one to tell him."
"No, I shouldn't," she thought, unaware of herself as she took the pearl in her shaking hands. She was the last person who should have the right to inform Sirius; yet somehow, without her prompting, her feet carried her toward him.
When Sirius saw her approaching, he threw his body towards the blockade of aurors once again. James wasn't quick enough to catch him this time. "Pad, wait-!"
"LET ME THROUGH-"
"Settle down, or I'll make you settle down!"
"Let him pass," Alastor called, watching from a distance. Warily, the aurors let go of Sirius, who shoved them off of himself before racing up to Emmeline with James and Remus close behind. Peter stayed behind the line of aurors, watching.
Wide-eyed and mute, Emmeline remained petrified where she stood as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. When Sirius reached her, his face flushed and tear-stained, he was not really looking at her, but looking past her, waiting for the moment Marlene might miraculously emerge from the rubble.
"Where is she, Emmie?" he softly implored.
Emmeline stared into his eyes, her mouth moving up and down in silence. How could she tell him? How could she possibly explain that she'd killed her?
"Em-...Emmie, where-..." Sirius' voice broke, and he grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her gently. "Where's Marley?"
But Emmeline's voice had been stolen by grief and regret. She could only shake her head.
It hit James before it hit Sirius. His hands flew to his head like he was about to rip out his hair, and he shuddered as he began to cry. He had been holding onto hope that Marlene wasn't among the dead. Remus had known; he knew she was gone when he saw the dark mark, yet even now, he broke down into tears. Sirius simply stared at Emmeline in disbelief.
"N-...Don't tell me that," he begged, barely above a whisper. "Don't tell me that…"
Slowly, Emmeline reached for Sirius' hand, and with as much care as she would have afforded the crown jewels, lay the pearl necklace in his palm.
As Sirius stared down at the pearl in horror, his tears came back with a vengeance. He began to scream so forcefully that everyone in the vicinity's stomach dropped. The weight of his heart breaking inside of his ribcage was too much to carry; it dragged Sirius down to his knees where his whole body shook with roaring sobs. James flew to his side and threw his arms around him.
In her mind, Emmeline began spewing words - telling Sirius that she was to blame, that he should take out his wand and kill her right now as recompense. In reality, none of these things made it all the way to her mouth, and she was as silent as before. Remus trudged up to her and brought her into his arms.
"I should have been here with them!" Sirius moaned.
"No," James cried, grabbing Sirius' face in his hands. "Marley wouldn't've wanted that. You hear me? Don't you say that..."
But Sirius only repeated it, over and over. "I should have been here, I should have been here…"
Emmeline understood that Lily had to be home with Harry, and for that she was thankful. She couldn't face her. Not after this. The only thing keeping her from crumbling were Remus' arms.
It was all too much for Remus - They had lost so many people close to them at this point that he was ashamed to admit he had almost grown numb to it all. But this was different; Marlene was one of Remus' very best friends. His mind played images of her behind his eyes as the tears fell. Watching Sirius break apart tugged at Remus' heart, and he wanted very badly to get down on the ground and put his arms around him like James had.
But he decided against inserting himself in Sirius' grief where he thought he didn't belong, and instead tended to Emmeline's.
Several feet away, Peter cried silently to himself.
