A/N: The chapter is named after an AMAZING tune by Olafur Arnalds which you should try listening to while you read. Enjoy!


It had become a tradition within the McKinnon family for Marlene's household to host an annual Christmas Party, each December 23rd. It allowed for those around the country to fly, apparat, and Floo in to reunite with everyone on a single evening. As a child, Marlene had found the whole thing quite exciting, her cousins coming to visit for a night, the house bustling with people and energy. This year though, she wanted to be anywhere but in her crowded house filled with nosy family members.

Marlene wore an itchy, red, sweater dress. She kept pulling at the turtleneck, the extra fabric around her neck making her feel stuffy. It was Sirius' fault she had to cover up her neck and also that she was so miserable that evening, plagued suddenly with doubt about her relationship with Henry, which felt non-existent.

Marlene was sitting on her couch, watching her cousin's children - ages four and six - playing with Amy on the carpet. Marlene's elder sister had been acting strange all night, paying more attention to the children than her sulking younger sister. Finally, once the game of Snakes and Ladders had come to an end, Amy turned her gaze towards Marlene, slumped in the middle of the couch.

"Come on, let's go out for a smoke." It was rare for her sister to indulge in her weaker habits. She must have had more to drink than Marlene had noticed. The pair snuck away, careful to avoid their mother, sliding out the back door. The McKinnon's back garden was in fact just a rather large piece of farmland - acres of empty field before the next property. Their mother and Raffi tended to the fruit and vegetable garden by the back deck, though it appeared minuscule against the vast green space.

None of that was visible now with nothing but the moonlight and a tiny gas lamp to illuminate their surroundings; Marlene was lucky to be able to make out the features of her sister's face, the pair sitting on the top step of the deck. Amy pulled a cigarette from her back pocket. She lit it, took a single puff, and handed it off to Marlene.

"You're in a mood tonight," she observed. "I thought James was going to join you?"

"He and Lily are fighting and he's in no mood to be in a crowd."

"What'd he do?"

Marlene glared at her sister. "What makes you so quick to assume he did it?"

"It's always the man's fault," Amy reasoned. Marlene couldn't argue with her there.

"Well, it wasn't really his fault. He claims that Lily's brother-in-law was insulting him all evening, he got a little defensive and the two had an argument."

"Well, that doesn't seem like the end of the world?"

"Apparently Lily blamed it all on James and the whole evening she barely spoke a word in his defence." Marlene had been shocked by the story James had shared the night before when he'd returned home in a sour mood and filled Sirius and Marlene in on his date.

"That can't be the reason for your mood," Amy challenged her. Marlene squirmed under the pressure, offering her sister the cigarette they were sharing to distract her. Amy ignored it. "Did something happen?"

"No...I mean, technically, yes, but, not what you're thinking…"

"What am I thinking?" Amy's dark eyebrows rose. They were a natural trait - black as night while her hair - like the rest of the family's - was golden as the sun. It was how many people distinguished the McKinnon sisters - the younger one and the one with the eyebrows.

"I shagged Sirius last night," Marlene blurted out, taking a long drag on the cigarette to calm her nerves.

"You said that was done with!" Amy was aghast - she'd never much cared for Sirius. She'd been a year behind his cousin, Narcissa Black, at Hogwarts and had seen the damage done in the name of house Black. Despite the fact that Sirius was nothing like his relatives, she was suspicious of him.

"It is done with," Marlene insisted defensively. "Or...it was, before last night."

"What happened last night?" Amy was horrified.

"He bought his first place, a flat for himself in Diagon Alley. I went over to see it..."

"Oh Merlin," Amy sighed, putting her head to her hand. "I thought you said he made you feel worthless? You told me that you were all in with Henry and now you're willing to throw that away for Sirius Black?"

"You don't have to say his name like that," Marlene rolled her eyes.

"He's no good for you," Amy declared once and for all. "He's selfish, vain, and terribly impulsive."

"You hardly know him!" Marlene could feel herself getting heated, her sister's ignorance showing. Amy was so quick to cast off someone who came from outside of her world. The McKinnons and the Blacks were on opposing sides and had been long before the arrival of Voldemort. For centuries, there'd been an unacknowledged divide amongst Pure Blooded families, those who believed in insulating the Wizarding community and those who wished to expand it.

"He's nothing like the rest of his family, he's proved that hasn't he? He gave up everything in the name of what he believed was right. He deserves some credit."

Amy shrugged. "I don't think he's a bad person, I just don't think he's the guy for you."

"Well it doesn't matter does it?" Marlene snapped, finishing the cigarette in two long drags. "He doesn't want me and it appears Henry doesn't either." Saying it out loud only made her feel worse, truth be told.

"I don't think that's true Marlie."

Marlene suddenly perked up. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Only that Henry Fawley is a good guy. I can't imagine him ever leading someone on for the fun of it."

"Maybe he met someone else," Marlene suggested, "after all, I'm a child in his eyes."

"No, I predict by the time you return to Hogwarts he'll have you head over heels. He's a romantic you know? All the girls loved him when we were in school. Including you," Amy teased her, Marlene's cheeks going red. "Honestly though darling, no one could possibly resist you." Amy wrapped her arm around Marlene, drawing her in with a motherly touch.

Suddenly, the back door slid open, their mother stepping out in her blue cocktail dress. "What're you two doing hiding out here?" she demanded, stepping forward, her nose turning up at the scent of smoke. The cigarette butt lay at their feet, both girls looking towards it guiltily.

"Amy Maureen I swear to Merlin if you've been smoking with your little sister-"

"Oh please," Amy protested, in the way only an adult could with their mother, "she's of age and is well-deserving of having a smoke after being pestered for hours about what it's like to be kidnapped by Death Eaters." Their mother had no argument to offer there, simply resorting to scowling at the pair.

"I'll make it up to you," Amy said, rising from the step to face their mother. She moved forward and whispered something in their mother's ear that Marlene could not make out, her mother's blue eyes rounding with shock.

"Really?"

"You can be the one to tell Nana," Amy said then, suddenly beaming, "no one else though."

"What's going on?" Marlene demanded, rising to her feet. Her mother's eyes were glassy with tears.

"Oh nothing," Amy smirked, "Mum has just found out she's going to be a Grandma."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, Marlene's jaw-dropping when they finally did, "Amy?" she gasped. "With Alex?" Alex Moureau and Amy had just begun dating when Marlene had visited her sister over the summer. Of course, he'd been mentioned in letters sent since but the seriousness of the relationship had not been made entirely clear.

"Yes, well, seeing as I am now technically Mrs Moureau I'd hope so…" their mother looked about ready to faint.

"I think I need a drink," she announced, turning back towards the house, her daughters following behind, giggling away.

"I'm going to be an auntie," Marlene mused in awe.

"And a great one at that."


Christmas Eve morning. It was a grey day, overcast and dreary, and Lily was sitting at her kitchen table, reading a week old edition of the Sunday Times. Petunia had spent the past two nights at Vernon's, calling the house to check in on their mother and inform them that she would be back Christmas morning.

"Good morning sweetheart." Her mother entered the kitchen in her purple dressing gown, pale and tired looking. She made for the stove to make herself a cup of tea but Lily stopped her.

"Sit down mum, I'll do it."

"Thank you, Lily." She settled into her chair, resting her head against the wall next to the table. Lily filled up the kettle, her back to the room.

"I know we haven't properly spoken about my illness yet," her mother began, voice shaky and frail. "If you have any questions…"

"I just want to know how I can help," Lily insisted, turning back to face her mother once she'd placed the kettle on a burner.

"Just knowing you're happy is good enough for me sweetheart." Her mother extended her arm out, eyes flooding with tears. "Are you happy Lily?" she asked as she drew her daughter in closer to her for a hug, her arms wrapping around Lily's middle.

"I'm trying to be." Who was ever really happy? Had someone asked her two weeks ago she might have said yes, despite the residual trauma from her abduction, because she was in love and with James it felt everything was easier. Now, she wasn't so sure.

"I'd like to meet this new lad of yours," her mother said, making a kind gesture with implications she could not foresee. Lily burst into tears, the kettle whistling just then with perfect timing.

"We got into a fight," Lily explained, turning to face the stove once more. "After the dinner with Petunia and Vernon."

"It didn't go so well I suppose?" Lily filled two mugs with tea and left them on the counter to brew for a few minutes.

"Vernon was a total showoff," she confessed, dropping down into the chair beside her mother, "and Tunney made a point of reminding me what an utter disappointment I am." Her mother frowned. "I was upset and I…I took it out on James. I was too hard on him and now I'm scared I've ruined it all." Lily's green eyes swarmed with fresh tears, her mother reaching out for her hands to hold.

"Darling, I'm sure he just needs to blow off some steam, all men do sometimes."

"James isn't like that," Lily insisted, shaking her head, "he's different."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," it took Lily no time to answer.

"You'll figure it out, Lily." Her mother squeezed her hands, smiling. "You've always figured it out. Ever since you were a little girl, you've been wise beyond your years. Your father always said you were born an old soul, ready to do everything too soon, for our comfort at least."

"I wish daddy were here now," Lily admitted, "he'd know what to do."

"You have that quality in you as well." Her mother wore a knowing look. "I've seen it in you since you were a little girl. Oh Lily," she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Lily's thin frame. "You'll always be my baby girl. My sweet Lily flower, filled with such joy and love from the moment you entered this world." Her mother's voice broke, "don't worry about me. That's the greatest gift you can give me. Just be happy."

Lily felt as though her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. She held on tightly to her mother, inhaling her familiar scent, memorizing the sound of her voice and the feeling of her breath against Lily's skin. Soon, all of it would be just a memory. It was impossible to wrap her head around and yet Lily knew that it was exactly what her mother was trying to say.

"I love you, momma." Lily gulped back her own pain, doing her best to stay strong for her mother, the way Petunia would. She tried not to think at that moment of how lonely she felt. Her father was dead, her mother ill, her sister hated her and James...for all Lily knew James was finished with her as well.

Lily had thrown James to the wolves at that dinner and then blamed him for trying to defend himself. The whole night all Lily had been able to do was imagine the medicine being pumped into her mother's body, the very stuff that made her violently ill and weaker than Lily had ever seen her before. It made her feel sick, even worse was the reminder that soon the only member of Lily's family left would be Petunia, the big sister who hated her.

The whole thing had been too much to bear and the failure of the dinner had simply been a result. Truthfully, part of Lily had hoped that James would show up on his best behaviour, that he'd put his desire to impress Lily's family above his own ego. Part of her was mad at him for failing to come through for her and yet, the other half knew that she bore some of the blame. She hadn't given him all the facts and she hadn't had her boyfriend's back when he'd needed it most…

"You know what I think we need?" Her mother announced out of the blue, "a day of rest and relaxation. What do you say? We can paint each other's nails like we used to and watch all the sappy Christmas films on the telly." Her mother smiled hopefully.

"I think it sounds like a perfect day," Lily agreed, and so for the rest of the day, the thought of James and all the turmoil in her life was shoved aside for some R&R with her mother.


Mary had returned home to Emmeline's apartment after lunch at her mother's and torn through the stack of letters she'd left with. The messages were brief in each, cards celebrating Mary's birthday up until she was fifteen when her father seemingly gave up on the one-sided communication. He used affectionate pet names Mary had long since forgotten: princess, sunshine, darling. He talked of places they "shared" and the memories he tried so desperately to keep alive.

The last card - sent two years ago - was the only address Mary had to work with and, with the possibility of seeing her father so close in grasp, she was wasted no time. Mary told Emmeline everything and, with a day of planning under their belt, the girls decided to journey to Gerry's home on Christmas Eve morning.

Emmeline had insisted on accompanying Mary for moral support. "Besides," she'd reasoned, "it'll be entirely too depressing to sit at home alone on Christmas Eve." Mary was grateful for the company. Emmeline would provide a buffer, being someone with no emotional stake in the matter in the case things got awkward.

They set out for Gerry McDonald's home - an apartment complex in Bristol - just after ten in the morning. The two girls apparated from behind their apartment building to a cafe in the city which Emmeline had once visited with her parents while following her father's Quidditch team on one of their various tours.

From there, Mary performed a charm which would help guide them to the address, an orb of light floating ahead of them to show the girls the way - nothing but a trick of the eye to muggles passing by. They were silent, walking side by side through the chilled, grey morning. The streets were quiet, most residents likely home with family or using the holiday as an opportunity to sleep in. Gerry lived on the third level of the apartment complex, Flat 316. Emmeline and Mary climbed the exterior staircase, up to the third level, Mary's heart pounding in her chest as they grew closer.

"Are you ready?" Emmeline asked as they approached the front door.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"You don't have to do it right now," Emmeline reminded her, "not if you aren't ready. We can come back, as many times as you need, until you feel you can do it."

"If I leave now I'll never find the nerve to come back." She knew it was true. Mary could come up with a thousand reasons to put off finding her dad but none of that mattered now when she was so close to seeing him again. Mary took a deep breath and then knocked three times.

The two girls stood there, anxiously waiting for any sound of life from behind the door. Finally, Emmeline, impatient as ever, knocked again, and again.

"You'll wake half the complex off!" Mary scolded her friend, desperate not to make a scene. Before Emmeline could say anything they heard someone moving around within the apartment. They froze.

Slowly, the door opened a crack, the latch still on so that just a sliver of the face of a man could be seen. He had hazel eyes which he squinted at the girls standing on his doorstep. His was a sun marked and wrinkly face from what Mary could make out, nothing familiar about it.

"I'm not buying whatever it is you want to try and sell me," he snapped grumpily, clearly woken up by their knocking. "Waking people up at the crack of dawn on Christmas Eve, shame on you-"

"We aren't here to sell you anything," Emmeline interjected when Mary failed to find her voice. "We're looking for Gerry McDonald?"

"What do you want with him?" the man demanded. Perhaps the grumpy old man was simply her father's roommate, Mary thought hopefully.

"I'm his daughter," Mary announced, the man's face slipping from irritation to shock. He studied her suspiciously for a moment, realization dawning.

"Mary?" He gasped. She nodded. The door slammed shut, and the man undid the latch so that when he swung it open again they were face to face. He was tall, his hair thinning and white and a rough grey stubble covering his cheeks.

"I can't believe it's really you." He wore a stained white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. He didn't look as though he'd showered in days. Could this really be the same man Mary remembered running along the beach with? The same one who taught her to fly her first kite? "Will you come in?" Mary nodded, stepping gingerly over the threshold, Emmeline right behind her. She was grateful she hadn't come alone or worse, brought Patrick along to see what had become of the man they'd both once loved so dearly.

"I um, I would have tidied up a bit had I know to be expecting guests." He chuckled to himself, flashing his smile, a few of his back teeth missing. Mary tried not to look as horrified as she felt by the sudden turn in events. She hardly recognized the man standing before her, still half hoping he'd turn out to be n old family friend, an uncle maybe, but her hopes were squashed.

"Well? You certainly got my good looks," he joked, "and your mother's eyes. She always did have lovely eyes. Shall I fetch us all some drinks?"

"Sure..." Mary was simply desperate for a moment alone with Emmeline.

Gerry led them down the narrow entrance hall, the first door on the left opening up into the sitting room. It had an orange carpet that looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in months, empty beer bottles and old plates scattering the surfaces in the room. Mary and Emmeline sat cautiously on the leather couch against the wall, Gerry rushing off to "fix their drinks."

"Well, he seems...nice," Emmeline began hesitantly.

"Nice?" He's a drunk!"

"We don't know that for certain…"

"You're right, he must just be using whiskey flavoured toothpaste in the mornings. Perhaps the beer bottles are decorative." Mary rolled her eyes, searching the room for anything that felt the least bit familiar. No photographs, no memorabilia from what she could see. No one would ever know that Gerry McDonald was not a single man, that he had children somewhere who missed him terribly.

"We have to try and give him a chance," Emmeline insisted, seemingly desperate to stay positive. "Just talk to him."

Gerry returned into the sitting room, juggling three glasses. "Whiskey Sours," he announced to the girls, suggesting they cheers to the happy reunion.

"Do you live here alone then?" Mary asked.

"Yes, I've always been better on my own."

"I can see that..." Emmeline gave her a discreet kick in the shin.

"How've you been?" Gerry inquired casually, as though they were simply two old friends catching up after years apart.

"Well, I go to boarding school," it was the simplest lie she could come up with. "Mom shipped me off the moment she could." Gerry scoffed.

"Sounds like Rose."

"Yeah, well, Thankfully, she kicked me out of that house."

"Did she now?" His thick eyebrows rose. "She still with Robert?"

"Bobby? Yeah. They've been married a while now, they have two girls together."

"I always hated that prick," Gerry sneered, "always on his high horse." Mary realized that Gerry seemed more preoccupied bashing Bobby than he did asking about her own wellbeing. He did not so much as ask whether she had a safe place to stay at night.

"Patrick is still stuck there you know," Mary reminded him, "he misses you..."

"Well..." Gerry squirmed uncomfortably. "I wish I could help but you can see I've not much room here myself."

"Right..."

"Besides, Patrick's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

"So this...is this all you've done since we left?" Mary couldn't help the rage which burned within her. "Did you even try?"

"Of course I tried," Gerry sighed, "but as I'm sure you know your mother is one stubborn son of a bitch-"

"You knew where we were all along. You could have seen us if you'd wanted too." It was an awful feeling, the realization that while she had spent years romanticizing in her head the man who'd raised her he'd barely given her a second thought. Seven years and he'd never so much as tried to see either of his children.

"I asked your mother for visits with you two. She wouldn't allow it."

"I wonder why," Mary replied harshly. She could barely look at the man.

"I was never cut out to be a father," Gerry admitted. "Your mum, she came from the same shithole neighbourhood that I did. We understood each other. You were born when we were kids, the same age you are now, and we fumbled our way through it all together. Until she met Robert that is and decided she was too good for me. They took you two, all high and mighty, and said I had no right ruining your lives with my presence. I knew though, I knew one day you'd come looking for me. This is where you're meant to be Mary, this is who you are, not one of those pompous pricks like Robert's lot."

"I think we should go," Mary announced, feeling sick. It'd been naive, a child's dream, to believe that a man who had abandoned his kids would ever be worth finding.

"So soon-"

"I think I've seen enough." Mary didn't mind if her words were harsh. "I really do hope you get the help you need Gerry, I do."

Mary made for the hall then, desperate to get her coat on as quickly as possible and get out of there. Her heart was pounding, Emmeline following in close tow, keeping her mouth shut. Mary couldn't determine whether she was relieved or infuriated by the fact that her father did not so much as try to stop her from leaving. The girls got out of his apartment without a word, both sighing with relief.

"Are you okay?" Emmeline asked once they were back on the ground level.

"I just want to forget that it even happened." Mary was speed walking ahead of Emmeline, stomach in knots. It had been a disaster. Not only did she have one heartless parent but two?

"Slow down," Emmeline shouted after her, "Mary!" Finally, she halted in her tracks, heart racing. Before she knew it, Mary had tears running down her flushed cheeks.

"I doubt he's so much as thought of us in years," Mary cried into Emmeline's suede coat. "All this time I thought she'd stolen us away because she was evil…" For the first time in her life, she could see that her mother had, in fact, tried to protect them - as best as she could.

"What does it say about me?" Mary snuffled, "that those are the people I come from."

"It says a lot about you," Emmeline said, rubbing circles into Mary's back. "It means that your kindness and your warmth are all the more extraordinary. Think of how much better your life already is? You have friends who love you and a promising future ahead of you. Where you come from isn't what defines you, Mary, it's who you become."

"I never want to be anything like them."

"You've already proven yourself to be made of better stuff."

Mary had dreamt the night before of returning to her mother's and packing up Patrick's things. They'd announce to the whole family that it was a Christmas miracle - their father had returned into their lives and he was rescuing Patrick from that god awful house. Instead, Mary had only discovered that their father was a heartless drunk who loved a bottle of whiskey more than he ever would either of his children. Had he always been that way? Mary wondered. Did my mind simply trick me into believing he was good?

"Mary," Emmeline whispered, pulling Mary back towards reality, "let's go home." Home. For the first time in Mary's life, the word held some meaning. For once, she had a place to return to where she felt safe. Despite the events of the day, she couldn't help but feel relieved to take Emmeline's hand and apparate back into London with her. Whether or not her parents cared for her Mary had built a family of her own that loved her just right.


Lily couldn't manage to sleep that evening. While children around the world couldn't bear to close their eyes in case they might blink and miss Santa's arrival, Lily was torn up about the tension between her and James. She couldn't stand it. Fighting with him was unchartered territory. It was half-past ten when she gave in, throwing on comfy clothes to apparate into the night, landing in a parquette down the street from the Potters' manor.

Lily's heart was in her throat as she took the long walk up to the three-storey home. It towered before her, as daunting as it had been the first time she entered. Something stopped her from climbing the porch steps, her limbs locked. Part of her felt too proud to go forward and be the first to admit she'd been wrong.

"Lily?" She spun around, Sirius behind her carrying two bags of groceries. "I didn't know you were coming tonight?"

"I wasn't planning on it," she confessed, embarrassed to be caught in the act. "Now I'm beginning to wonder if it was a mistake..."

"Because you two are fighting?" she nodded. "He's pretty torn up about it all, the turn of events your dinner took."

"Me too."

"He's got too much pride for his own good is all," Sirius sighed, "and he's awful at admitting when he's wrong."

"I'm learning that…"

"You should come in," he told her, "I'm sure you two just need to talk everything through."

Lily's stomach knotted anxiously. Suddenly, she didn't know whether she was up for "hashing things out" especially not when her emotions were such a mess. She felt as though the world had begun crumbling in on her and she panicked every time she heard so much as a cough from her mother.

"Or you can wait," Sirius suggested when he saw the panic building in Lily's face. "Is everything alright, Evans? Besides, the couples spat?"

"Well…" Lily struggled with whether to admit to her pain or cover it up, in case Sirius should mention it to James before Lily had the chance. The last thing she wanted was for him to come crawling back out of sympathy rather than real love and respect. "My sister won't speak to me though I suppose that isn't that abnormal…" and my mum is dying, she thought, she'll be dead before the new year is through. Perhaps Sirius could sense it because he set the groceries down then, giving her his full attention.

"Has something happened?"

"No," Lily shook her head, a lump forming in the back of her throat. "Not yet at least."

"What does that mean?"

Lily wouldn't look him in the eye for she knew the moment she did that she'd simply burst into tears. Instead, she focused on her feet, shifting her shoes from left to right. "My mum is sick," she finally confessed.

"Sick? What do you mean?"

"She's dying Sirius." Lily's voice broke when she said it and suddenly tears were rolling down her cheeks. Sirius wrapped his arms around her, engulfing Lily in a big bear hug as she soaked his jacket in tears.

"Oh Lily," he sighed, "I'm so sorry." Lily knew he meant it too. She knew at that moment that if he could, Sirius would do anything to take the pain away. He couldn't of course, there was no cure for cancer, not even amongst wizards.

"James would want to know," Sirius told her once she'd calmed down.

"I can't tell him like this."

"No," Sirius agreed, "but how about I lend a hand? Try and soften him up a bit and send him your way?"

"Would you really?" Lily had never felt so grateful in her life. "I don't want to put you in the middle."

"No such thing," Sirius assured her, "you're one of us now Evans, don't you know that by now?" Lily felt just about ready for a fresh batch of tears.

"You're a good guy Sirius."

"Don't let me catch you saying that in public, I have a reputation to uphold." For the first time in days, Lily laughed.

"I won't say a word," she promised, "no one ever needs know about your kindly nature."

They hugged once more and Sirius reached into his grocery bag and produced a container of Cauldron Cakes for Lily to take home with her.

"Happy Christmas Evans," he shouted after her as she walked back down towards the street. For the first time that whole day, Lily could finally see a faint light at the end of the tunnel.


Christmas Eve had been spent, as it was every year, with extended family. Marlene's grandmother and Great-Aunt Mildred had both stayed the night and would remain until Boxing Day. Marlene felt suffocated surrounded by so many prying eyes, finding solitude only alone in her bedroom. Christmas Eve, she made sure to drink her fair share of wine and retired to her room fully prepared for a pleasant night's rest.

Not five minutes after Marlene had entered her room a pebble, the speed of a lightning bolt smashed through her window. Marlene ran towards it, shocked, expecting James perhaps, and found a sheepish looking Henry, bundled up in his coat and scarf. The pebble had pierced the pane of glass but, luckily, not shattered it. With a flick of Marlene's wand, the whole thing was fixed. She pulled the window up.

"Very smooth," she shouted down, as quietly as she could considering she had family downstairs.

"Sorry!" Henry cried back.

Marlene flicked her wand, a long rope ladder rolling down from the windowsill to the grass. She secured it inside and Henry hoisted himself up, rolling into her bedroom with the delicacy of an elephant. Marlene hoped to Merlin no one came to check on her.

"What're you doing here?" she asked him, the two of them sitting on her bedroom floor. Henry drew up the ladder.

"I realize that I have been terribly silent this past week."

"True," Marlene agreed, keeping her face straight.

Henry began unbundling his scarf and coat, his cheeks rosy from the cold. One of his brown curls slipped before his eyes and Marlene could not stop herself from reaching out to stroke it aside.

"You see, as I'm sure you've surmised, I don't lead a regular life. My job at Don's is...more a front than a real career, and the work I'm doing for the resistance is very classified."

"The resistance?" Marlene was mostly teasing him - she knew Henry was participating in the effort to defeat Voldemort in some form, though she had not a clue what the details were.

"I also have to be honest with you about the fact that I work with your parents."

"Well, I had to assume you were…" An Auror then? Marlene wondered.

"Not in the capacity you're thinking of perhaps it's...similar but I'm not an Auror," Henry attempted to clarify, looking nervous.

"So that's why you just disappeared off the face of the Earth for a week?"

"I wanted to give us both some time to think about the logistics of this all…"

"It's a little difficult for me to think when I don't have all the facts," Marlene retorted.

"I know." It was an honest conversation - she had to give him that. Better than anything she'd ever had with Sirius.

"I can tell you three things for certain, I really like you, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since our date and I'm really sorry about almost taking you out with that pebble." Marlene laughed, covering her mouth in fear she might draw attention to her room.

"I like you too," she confessed "and I've also been thinking about you non-stop." On the tip of her tongue, came the but. But, I had sex with Sirius. It was the truth, he deserved that having come all this way to do her the same courtesy. Yet, still, Marlene feared that he'd lose that doe-eyed look she craved so much, the one he was giving her right then…

"I'd like to give this an honest go," Henry told her, "I know that might seem like a big leap after one date, I'm not saying we have to label anything but I'd like to keep seeing you...if that's okay."

"Yeah," Marlene's heart was in her throat, "I want that too, I just want to be completely honest with you I…well...it wasn't really my plan but I ended up sleeping with Sirius a few days ago."

"Oh." Henry went stiff.

"It was just a very bad, substance-induced lack in judgement. There are all kinds of weird feelings there, between us, and not that long ago our entire relationship was based on the fact that we shagged each other."

"Is that something you want to keep doing?" Henry asked, not meeting her glance, "continue shagging each other?"

"No!" Marlene insisted, suddenly not caring who heard her. "I don't, I just didn't know what you wanted or where your head was at."

Henry nodded. "I know," he agreed, "I apologize for that."

Marlene went on to ask the question really weighing on her, "Knowing that, are you still...interested in seeing where this goes?"

"Yes," Henry said, smiling at her, "I do, as long as you're in."

"I'm in," Marlene assured him, reaching for his hands.

"And maybe we agree not to shag anyone else?"

"Agreed." For the first time in days, Marlene's spirits were lifted. Henry drew her in by the back of the neck and kissed her, reminding Marlene exactly why it'd been so impossible to stop thinking about Henry in the first place. They stayed like that for a while, embracing, lips never leaving each other for long and it felt as though suddenly, everything had fallen into place.