Written for The Houses Competition and the International Wizarding Championship

Story Title: Once Upon A Midnight Dreary

House: Slytherin

Position: Muggle Studies

Prompts: [Negative Pairing] Marlene McKinnon and Remus Lupin.

Drabble/Standard: Standard

School and Theme: Durmstrang - Prejudice

Special Rule: NONE

Word Count: 1538

Mandatory Prompt: [Emotion] Rage

Additional Prompt(s):NONE

Year:3Beta(s): CupCakeyyy, Hope, VanillaAshes,


Death was a tragedy of its own volition.

This irrefutable and inescapable rite of passage was known to all, and not even the strongest of people could escape it. Birth, marriage, reproduction, and death. Most people were able to experience those four truths, but for Remus Lupin, he knew it all too well. While he tried to come to terms with losing one of his best friends, his mind drifted to better times. A warmth unbeknownst to him crept along his spine. A sense of freedom and carelessness had been taken from him; he was no longer oblivious to the world, blind to the atrocities as he had been in his youth. As a grown man barely clinging onto life, he found himself contemplating life when he heard a knock on his chamber door.

"It's not him," he said to himself in a dreary voice. The creaks coming from the floorboards sent shivers down his spine as he unintentionally thought of the lost souls the Dark Lord had taken. Deep and echoing sounds burst like loud progressions of drums in the night, "Ghosts do not exist."

"Remus," a fluttering voice called. "It's not a ghost at your chamber door. You know who I am."

Marlene. Heart hammering inside of his chest, Remus paused for a moment as if to decipher whether or not the voice he had heard even belonged to Lily Potter's best friend.

Lily. Another soul stolen by the Dark Lord. Even though it had been three years since their death, it never got easier knowing they were gone.

"Go away," he whimpered, taking another swig of the firewhiskey. "Ghosts don't exist, go away."

This statement was not to remind him that his friends were dead, but to solidify a simple truth. It was impossible that she was here.

Death was inescapable, and he knew it.

Whoever it was interrupting his drunken state ought to know that it was rude to interrupt him.

"It's me, Marlene, I'm at your door."

Midnight arrived with an abominable tone, but Remus was not in the mood for such trickery. Over the last few months, he'd struggled with the ramifications of the war; the memories were sometimes too much to bear, and this figment of his imagination was only an extended hand of his own delirium. Drinking himself stupid only numbed the pain for a short time, and exacerbated it once his mind cleared up.

"Go away," he told her once more, rage rising in his voice. "I don't wish to speak to you!"

Before Remus could turn away from his door, it shot open. There stood the former best friend of Lily Evans and the woman he thought he'd never see again.

Marlene was naturally beautiful, with medium length, blonde locks. Her almond eyes were green with the slightest hint of blue; her nose was thin with a delicate tilt, and her cheekbones were enunciated with a fair tinge of blush. She was on the taller side for a girl, but nonetheless pretty. Through Remus' eyes, she appeared as a blurry ghost of the girl he had known back at Hogwarts. Even now, he didn't know whom to believe… his eyes, clouded by his drink, or his heart, broken down by pain and sorrow.

Finding her there with a face so forlorn wasn't something he'd ever expected; something told him, through his drunken stupor, that she was there for a reason. There was a sparkle in her eye that he'd never seen, but before he could speak, her disembodied voice called out to him.

"Look at you," she whispered, eyes glittering with tears. "You're nothing but an empty shell."

Remus' room was cluttered with newspaper clippings. Empty liquor bottles dotted the walls, barricading him in a tangible box of his own grief and misery. He stood there in a tattered t-shirt and pants; his hair was unkempt, and he knew he hadn't showered in days. Yes, life wasn't going so well for him. He hadn't gone so far off the road to not realize that. How could well-off individuals such as the Potters be targeted by such hatred? He had grappled with this question for months, knowing the answer wasn't so hard to find. He knew that death didn't discriminate, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

If the Dark Lord had not gained the power he had, his friends would still be alive.

What was real, and what was imagined?

In his intoxicated mind, Remus couldn't figure it out.

"Ghost or friend… I don't care, so long as you say what you want from me. If you cannot do that, then you're a ghost, and I ask you to leave. Now."

"I am not a ghost," she hissed through tears. "I've come to speak to you, if you would only listen."

"Then speak," he spat, throwing his hands about him, which caused some of his whiskey to spill out from the decanter.

Marlene stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Remus could sense there was something terribly wrong; otherwise, she wouldn't have sought out his company.

"I know we've never really gotten along. In fact, during our time at Hogwarts, I am ashamed to say that I didn't quite take a fancy to you as Lily had… but you're the only person I have right now that would be able to understand my predicament."

"If you don't fancy me even as an acquaintance, then why did you come to my place?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. "I'm nothing like Sirius Black… whatever he did to you-"

"They're saying he's the one who killed Lily and James, Remus," she finally spoke. The air between them grew incredibly tense in a matter of moments. He felt like all of his oxygen had been sucked from his body, and he found himself suddenly fighting for air. It was like being punched in the gut repeatedly with each word and he couldn't take it. "He was always around you and Potter, wasn't he? Who's to say you weren't part of the plot to kill them and those Muggles?"

Remus backed away from her and snarled, "How dare you."

Marlene pressed forward, "Drinking yourself to an early death as if your guilty conscience can't stand the thought of what you've done. It would make sense to me."

"Sirius is our best friend… he would never do anything like that."

"He killed them, and I have no doubt in my mind you're an accomplice."

"Go away!"

"Tell me it's all a lie, then," she cried. "Tell me that what they're saying isn't true!"

In his drunken rage, Remus threw the bottle he was holding against the nearest wall. The glass shattered into a million pieces, and he watched for a brief moment as the scene outside lit up with a flurry of iridescent light.

He hadn't realized it before, but it was pouring down rain. Marlene was soaked from head to toe. She carried an old umbrella and wore a dark purple trench coat. Her wand was tucked away in her front pocket. She was most certainly ready for a confrontation.

"Lily and James aren't dead," he said through gritted teeth.

"Remus…"

"I did not kill them, nor did Sirius." He ran a hand over his face.

Marlene shook her head, taking a step back as she did, "You're delusional."

"Sirius has his demons, as we all do," Remus started with a slight slur of his words. "He descends from a prominent Pureblood family. God knows the torment he went through knowing they expected him to act a certain way, but he is nothing like them. You know w-what, Marlene? To Hell with them. If the Dark Lord should execute entire beings from the earth, it should be the Purebloods. Erase them from our history books and burn them alive at the stake. Their ideals have only caused misery a-and destruction for the rest of us, so why should I waste anymore of my time? Sympathy is for those who deserve it."

Marlene stared at him, a range of emotions flashing in her sharp eyes.

"If I didn't know any better… I'd think you'd sympathize with them."

"No, I do not."

"There was something about you I just didn't like, and I knew to trust my intuitions the day I met you. I always knew you were not to be trusted. I was right because I'm finally able to see you as the monster you are. Perhaps, you didn't aid Sirius with murdering all those people, but I have reason to believe that you secretly wished ill-will toward them while you disappeared into the background."

And with a final glare his way, Marlene pulled her coat tighter around her body and turned around.

It was only then Remus noticed the vibrating edges of her form. Her body had been vibrant upon arrival, but had taken on a dull and feather-like appearance at her departure. Was he an awful person? Was drinking and wallowing in his own self-pity, instead of fighting for Sirius' innocence selfish? Was he disappearing into the background?

At this moment he realized that nothing was as it seemed as she was just a shadow of a dream.