Hi all, I am going to keep this note short and sweet so here we are and I hope you enjoy.

Cyrus Greengrass is Astoria Grengrass's father, Lilibet Zabini is another OC of mine, no she is not Blaise's mother but she is his Aunt. I wrote these characters in because I do not subscribe to the notion that all of the Slytherin's were evil and all of the Gryffindor's were heroes. You just have to look at Peter Pettigrew to see that.

Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.

Please Read and Review.

On another note, I will not update between now and Xmas Eve. As some of you know I tend to do a multiple update Xmas Eve and maybe even New Years Eve so while I will carry on this story expect two or three chapters on that day.

The Beginning Of The End

Chapter 16-Tears Are Not Enough

Lily, James, Marlene, Sirius, Remus and Peter deal with the aftermath. But it is not over yet. Slowly the students whatever house they may be in have to deal with what has happened and what it means for the future.

They found Mary not long after.

Marlene was not aware of anything other than her friend being carried by McGonagall's wand. She had thought she had seen grief before when she had spent the night at James's after the funeral but she had realised she was just kidding herself because the look on the old woman's face as she had seen her student crumpled like a little doll on the floor where Remus had been forced to leave her and watching her hold her dead student aloft was going to stay with her for the rest of time.

She was aware of that.

She was not aware of much else.

Remus had broken down the second he had seen the body and Sirius had gone to his friend almost instantly tucking Remus under his arm as the man sobbed his heart out. Peter had dithered a little as if he was looking for instructions and then had stood there wringing his hands wand in his back pocket and Marlene had felt a surge of irritation towards him that she could not explain. It turned into full blown anger and she thought stupidly that that was good, because anger was enough. If she could hold onto her anger at Peter fucking Pettigrew for just a bit longer then she didn't have to think that Mary…

That Mary…

That Mary was dead.

Mary whose bed in the dorm room was still unmade, whose hairbrush was on Marlene's dressing table, whose scented her pillows with a lavender sleep spray she had gotten in a muggle store that she claimed helped her sleep. Mary who had been attacked last year and who had been in St Mungo's and who had come back her head held high even though her hands had shook.

Mary who was now dead.

At seventeen.

A baby.

Mary.

Shit. She was going she could feel it and she tried to keep her emotion back on anger. Lily next to her was stunned her green eyes blank with shock. James on the other side of Lily his arm around her waist to keep her standing looked older than she had ever seen him before in his life. And James had just buried his mother. A year before that he had just buried his father. And now he was going to have to bury a friend.

All around them students were watching the silent procession of Mary's body from McGonagall's wand. Even the Slytherins were quiet, some were stunned into silence, some genuinely surprised and the ones who were Death Eater wannabee's at the very least seem to have some sense that if they tried anything they'd get jumped before a teacher could stop them.

Merlin knows if Marlene thought that one of them was so much as fucking smirking…

There was a pause where she stood there and watched. Cyrus Greengrass who had been watching lit a cigarette. He caught her eye and jerked his head in what might have been acknowledgement and Marlene looked away. She hated that she was dying for a smoke and she hated the sympathy on his face. She missed it when the lines between good and evil were just that. Good and evil. Straight forward clean lines. Now everything was just blurred and she couldn't see. Even her vision was going blurry.

It took Marlene a second to register why and she wiped her thumb under her eyes getting rid of the tears before they could fall. She forced her lip between her teeth and she stretched the skin painfully. The pain grounded her and it got her under control. She thought that she was good. She was good. Standing here she was good.

Yeah. That was what she was going to tell herself until she couldn't tell herself that anymore.

She couldn't look at her Headmaster. The look on his face was…it was just beyond…anything.

And then there was another thundering noise and she saw Hagrid. Dumbledore put a hand on his massive arm and then Hagrid was taking Mary as tenderly as if she was a baby unicorn in his arms. His face was a picture of sadness but he took Mary back up to the castle and everyone watched.

It was common knowledge at Hogwarts that Dumbledore had a phoenix. Everyone knew it but very few had seen it and now Marlene heard the cry of the bird singing around them and she thought she saw a flash of red in the dark sky. The phoenix song was something…beyond what she had ever heard and she watched it for a second and her whole body was frozen.

And yet she could not cry.

She could not do it, though Remus had now stopped and with the phoenix song Lily had just started. She smiled at the sky though she didn't know why. Mary was dead and here Marlene was smiling.

God this was fucked up. She was so fucked up. There was no emotion in her that made sense but she was so, so fucked up in her emotions. Here she was smiling…here she was smiling…Mary was dead and here she was smiling.

"We will go back to school" Dumbledore said in a carrying voice. "I will address all the students tomorrow morning at seven. You do not need to be present, I will address all seventh years at eight privately. Classes will be cancelled for the rest of the week and you do not have to worry about revision. There is time"

Time…

Yeah there was time for exams, time for Quidditch matches, time for all of it.

But no more time for Mary.

No more time for her.

Lily was sobbing now her shoulders shaking and James pulled her close and Marlene watched as Severus Snape looked at her with utter heartbreak in his eyes and she didn't know what to make of it. Greengrass was still smoking but he was looking up the path where Hagrid had taken Mary. Nott was looking slightly stunned, Crabbe, Goyle…well…they had always been thick she supposed. Avery wasn't there thank Merlin because if he had been considering what he had done to Mary last year…well…

Things were better left unsaid.

"We should go" McGonagall said softly and then when she spoke again Marlene found that she was still looking up at the sky. She registered the use of their first names. From McGonagall it felt…odd…unnatural…she wanted the old McGonagall, she wanted the old world that had fallen to her feet in the space of three hours and yet she saw the phoenix swirl around the trees again and she knew that, that life was gone, that world was gone. Marlene's childhood was gone.

Mary's life was gone.

"James can you help with Lily. Peter, Remus, Sirius…let's go please and Marlene…Marlene?"

She felt the woman come out and touch her arm and Marlene tore her eyes away from the crimson bird and she watched as McGonagall looked at her. Marlene didn't know what she looked like but it was enough for the woman's composure to slip a little. The arm on her shoulder was suddenly tight and she leaned into the bruise breathing in and breathing out.

"I'm okay Professor" she said and she heard the words, she felt her mouth move, she felt Sirius pinning her down with his grey eyes and yet she felt totally outside her body.

"No your not dear" McGonagall said calmly. "I think your going into shock"

Marlene thought that she might be right. She could feel her whole body shake. She hoped it was cold but she didn't think that it was. She was so…she couldn't think…she couldn't get her brain to work.

The stars were in the sky tonight she thought.

And then she knew she was in shock.

"I can't move Professor" she whispered as James led Lily back towards Dumbledore and Sirius slung an arm around Remus. Peter followed not looking back.

"Yes you can Marlene" Professor McGonagall said and it was the conviction in her tone that made her believe her.

"Yes you can. You put one foot in front of the other. And you can make it work. We can get back to the castle and we can—"

"You wanna smoke McKinnon?"

They both turned.

"Sorry Professor"

Cyrus Greengrass was there watching her. The Slytherin's had all gone and only one, one of the Zabini girls known for their forwardness, looks and their ability to marry rich was waiting her dark hair in a messy bun.

"No apologies Cyrus"

Cyrus Greengrass raised one eyebrow a fraction at the use of the first names and then he lit a cigarette and passed it Marlene. She inhaled and the smoke went into the air. The hit of the nicotine calmed her and she noticed her hands stopped fully shaking. There was a tremor but she could finally put her wand away.

"Cyrus what happened to your arm?"

"Nothing professor, I got thrown back and into a glass door. Lilibet patched me up."

Now she was looking at him Marlene could see that his tie was tied around his arm as some kind of tourniquet.

"Lilibet" the older woman called and Lilibet Zabini pushed herself off the wall she was leaning against and came forwards. Marlene thought she still looked stunning even with ripped tights, a cut across her eyebrow and dust coating her face.

"Professor?"

"Take Greengrass—" here they all took stock of their surnames again and all three of them breathed a collective sigh of relief at the simple sign of normality.

"To the hospital wing as soon as you get back. I do not want to have to deal with another one of you bleeding out especially as you Greengrass still owe me a Transfiguration essay"

Greengrass grinned once showing a split lip, perfect teeth and dimples. For a Slytherin he was really not to bad. God knows he was one of the better looking ones.

"McKinnon let's go, now, all three of you"

Lilibet tucked herself closer to Cyrus's side and Marlene took another deep drag of the smoke before throwing it into the snow. She finally managed to move her feet and so the four of them, walked back to the castle.

"Greengrass?"

"Yeah Professor?"

"Put that cigarette out. Hogwarts has a non-smoking policy for a reason"

Cyrus Greengrass flashed Marlene a look as he did just that. Marlene looked back and thought that perhaps not all Slytherin's were evil.

Oh Dear Merlin she was clearly getting hysterical. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey had a potion that she could take? Anything would be better than this feeling that was clawing up the inside of her throat and threatening to engulf her. She took one more look at the sky as she stepped into the Hogwarts grounds and she saw another flash of red and it was that, that gave her the strength to walk back to the Common Room.

Gossip at Hogwarts travelled and this was the stuff of legend. Nearly everyone was awake when she followed Lily into the common room. She ignored them all following Lily up to the dorm room only Lily took a sharp turn and followed James into his room.

"Marlene?"

She turned. Tallulah had not been allowed to go but one look at her face said it all.

"I…I'm going to sleep with Rebecca tonight"

Marlene nodded. She had known…well that was an outright lie she had suspected that Marlene and Rebecca Rhodes were more than study partners and she was happy that her roommate had someone. She thought of the naked hatred on the face of the Death Eaters tonight and she thought that love was love and damn the consequences.

"I understand"

Tallulah tapped her on the arm and then left and…

"McKinnon?"

She turned dazed to see Declan Wood leaning against the wall looking at her. He was a sixth year on the Quidditch Team and one of the best keepers Marlene had ever seen.

"You need a place to crash tonight?"

"I…"

"If you do knock on, I don't mind kipping on the floor. But nobody should be alone tonight if they don't wanna be"

He was so kind that he reminded her of her brother and suddenly the longing to see her family was so strong it overrode her emotion for Mary.

"Thanks" she stuttered out. Declan nodded and then she was gone, up the stairs and into her room. Her back hit hard wood and she shrugged herself out of her coat suddenly too hot.

She was staring at Mary's unmade bed.

And then she was crying.

And Marlene knew that it would be a long time before she stopped.

Because Mary, her friend, was dead.

And the war had just begun, and tears…well…tears were not enough.

And there you go, see you next time for the multiple updates.

Next Chapter-The School attempts to recover but for the Seventh Years across all four houses it's a mixed baggage of emotions as James and Sirius learn that not all Slytherin's are evil.