It had been drizzling for hours. Lily shivered, blowing hot air onto her clasped hands every couple of seconds as she, Alice and Marlene hid, crouched behind bushes which lined the property where the boys were being kept. They had arrived before the rescue team, watching the entrance to the shelter for any sign of movement. That was their only target. Lily's heart was in her throat, her stomach a mess, anxiety ebbing and flowing like a storm inside of her, every sense overcome as she crouched there, waiting.

It took forty minutes until finally, there was movement on the other side of the property. Dark figures emerged and began approaching the manor slowly, too careful to be Death Eaters. With the team having arrived, the girls took their cue from Marlene who threw their plan into action.

"It's time."

Tightly packed together, they threw the invisibility cloak over themselves and began walking slowly along the perimeter of the property, towards the entrance of the bomb shelter. Barely breathing, they made their way to the entrance, a lock strung around the handle.

"Let me try," Alice whispered, wand at the ready. She leaned forward, whispering a spell Lily had never heard before.

"Where did you learn that?' Marlene gawked, she and Lily watching in awe as the lock slid off.

"Dorcas taught me," Alice explained. Inside there was a steep, dimly lit, metal stairwell. Crowded together underneath the invisibility cloak, it was a difficult journey downstairs, the three of them struggling to remain hidden in case any Death Eaters snuck up. Luckily, they seemed to be alone when they hit the bottom of the dim, concrete, and eerily quiet shelter. To their left there lay a long, narrow hallway which they slowly began to travel, Marlene and Alice (who led) the way had their wands held out in preparation.

Halfway down the corridor, they discovered a door - tall, heavy, metal and tightly locked.

"Open it," Marlene commanded, turning expectantly towards Alice.

"There could be Death Eaters in there," she replied hesitantly.

"If there were Death Eaters down here, we'd know by now." Marlene's eyes narrowed with stubborn determination and Alice gave in, whispering her spell once more.

The door clicked open and slowly swung aside to reveal a dank, lightless bunker. There was no furniture, no windows, only an empty, square, concrete space - with a person curled up in the corner.

Marlene used her wand to flash some light upon them, a head of long, stringy black hair becoming visible. Without warning, Marlene slipped out from underneath the invisibility cloak, not a thought in her mind for the consequences.

"Sirius?" she whispered, shaking him. He wouldn't move, he hadn't reacted at all so far …it seemed as if he were dead, until, as if by a miracle, he gasped for air, signalling life.

"Go get the others," Marlene commanded. "I'll get him out."

Lily wanted to argue – they shouldn't separate. Going at it alone was the worst idea, the most likely to get them all killed, but she had no choice. Alice started moving out of the room and Lily knew that if Sirius was here, James had to be nearby. She couldn't lose her chance to find him, not now.

The girls walked to the end of the narrow corridor, making a sharp turn to the left at which point, they spotted a second doorway. Alice drew out her wand at once.

"Whoever is inside, you get them out," she told Lily, gaze trained upon the door in front of her. "I'm going to go unlock the next door."

"Alice—"

"I'm the only one who can do it," she reminded Lily sharply. "Apparate to St. Mungo's, I'll meet you there." Hopefully, Lily thought, stomach sinking with fear, hopefully, they would see one another again. The door clicked, swinging open.

"Al…" Lily wanted to say something - I love you, don't die, you changed my life – but at that moment nothing came to mind.

"I know," Alice nodded and suddenly the invisibility cloak was drawn off of Lily and her friend disappeared.

The room behind the door was identical to the one they had found Sirius in – dark, empty, and dank. Lily stepped inside, her wand pointed ahead to light the way, and after a quick scan, she discovered a figure slouched against the side of the wall across the room from her. It was not until she was crouched on the ground before him, hands pressing into his cold skin, that she knew it was James.

"James," she shook him, as Marlene had Sirius, praying for the same positive results. Lily shook and shook until she had tears rolling down her cheeks. He wouldn't wake up, perhaps he never would again, she was too late. James was gone. "Please," Lily begged, leaning over her boyfriend, "please wake up."

She stayed there, sobbing, too distraught to so much as notice the approaching footsteps behind her until someone grabbed her roughly by the back of her jacket. Lily yelping.

"Thought you'd just sneak in here and save your loverboy, huh?" a gruff man's voice demanded, shoving her roughly against the wall behind them, her head hitting the concrete hard. Suddenly, the whole room was spinning and Lily struggle to remain centred.

"If you're so desperate to be together how about you stay here with him?" The man suggested, his sticky breath disgustingly close to Lily's face. She stayed still and submissive, letting him believe that he had caught her, until his grip loosened enough for Lily to retrieve her wand from the front pocket of her jacket, stunning him so that his heavy body slid with a thud across the concrete floor. She didn't waste another second, grabbing hold of James' limp body and apparating to the alleyway she was familiar with beside St. Mungo's hospital.

They landed on the ground in a puddle of rain and mud, Lily collapsing on top of James, still crying.

"What the hell?" came a weak voice, Lily perking up. "Where am I?"

"James?" She leaned over him, tears dripping down onto his dirty face. He could barely open his eyes.

"Is this a dream?"

"No," Lily promised, making a noise between a chuckle and a sob. "You're safe."

"Mm." James' eyes began to flutter shut again and Lily scrambled to her feet.

"I don't think so."

She crouched down behind him so she that she could help hoist James up by the back of his arms. He grunted though, thankfully, he did not resist her movement and slowly began leaning upon Lily as they limped towards the hospital's entrance.

"One day, you'll have to explain this all to me," James advised her, entirely delirious.

"I love you, James." Lily could hardly believe they had survived, nor that she had her boyfriend alive and, in her arms, safe again.

"Say that again…"

"I love you."


Marlene could hear Alice and Lily's footsteps descending down the hallway leaving her alone to handle Sirius. He was curled up in the fetal position, unmoving, snapping at her every time she tried to move him.

"Can you stand up?"

"Leave me alone!"

"Come on," Marlene insisted, well aware that the experience of apparition would be twice as uncomfortable if they had to do it with one of them lying down. Still, Sirius would not budge. Marlene leaned over him, stroking back his sweat-soaked hair. The tenderness of her action, surprising him, causing Sirius to slowly turn his head, squinting at her.

"Marls?"

"I'm rescuing you," she explained as if it weren't already obvious. "But I need you to stand up…"

"You shouldn't be here…" he was trembling, his clothing – the same he'd been wearing the last time she'd seen him (over a week ago) - practically in rags.

"Neither should you. I'm getting you out of here."

Sirius rolled over then, revealing to Marlene the totality of his injuries - his bruised face and swollen left eye visible. It was difficult not to gasp in horror just at the sight of him. Swallowing back her feelings, Marlene offered Sirius her hands, standing up so that she could help lift him onto his feet. They tried, unsuccessfully, and as he stumbled backwards, he pulled Marlene back down onto the ground with him.

"My leg, I think it's broken," Sirius groaned in pain, eyes clenched shut. They would need to try again, though she could see Sirius was in no state, still pale with pain. Marlene sat up, brushing herself off, when she heard footsteps, rushed footsteps, approaching their doorway. Her heart raced as darkly robed figures became visible, rushing past before finally, one paused, noticing Marlene.

"HERE!" he shouted, alerting the others. Before Marlene could so much as formulate a thought, she gripped her wand and grabbed ahold of Sirius, getting them out of there as quickly as possible - apparating to the first place she could think of.

They landed in the snow with a heavy thud, Sirius groaning in pain, eyes still clenched shut.

"We're safe," Marlene kept repeating as they lay there in the snow, both trembling in shock. "We're safe." At some point Sirius reached out, his weak and shaky hand finding Marlene's in the snow.

"It's…okay…" he spoke, teeth chattering. Marlene sat up, slowly coming back to reality, the shock wearing off. She stripped off her own coat and wrapped it around Sirius, ignoring the burning sensation of cold wind against her exposed flesh. They had come to the first place Marlene thought of when she was scared – home. They had landed just beyond the McKinnon's gated back garden – which Marlene would have to find a way to drag Sirius through so that they could reach the house for help.

"What…about you?" Sirius worried, noticing Marlene shaking in the cold, arms wrapped around herself as she tried to formulate a plan despite the circumstances.

"I'm fine," she promised, "I j-just want to get you to safety—"

"You already…saved me…" Sirius replied, eyes rolling back in his head.

"Sirius?" Marlene shook him, filled with fear. "Please, please wake up." His eyes were closed and for a moment he was still as a corpse. "You cannot leave me," she commanded, eyes glossing over. "Do you understand? I love you, Sirius. I love you."

"You love me?" he croaked, coming back to life.

"We have to try and get you up," Marlene insisted, taking her moment of consciousness while she still had it. Sirius grabbed her weakly by the wrist, stopping her from moving.

"Say it again."

"Sirius—"

"I might be dead in an hour—"

"You're not dying," Marlene stated quite clearly as if she could command fate. Sirius chuckled weakly.

"I love you too," he said, practically stopping Marlene's heart. "I always h-have…since we were just kids…"

"Please Sirius, you have to try and stand…"

"Will you kiss me?"

Marlene had half a mind to reject him and remind Sirius of the urgency of the moment, but the earnest expression he wore, and the desperate plea in his grey eyes for one final moment of intimacy between them broke any resolve she had. Marlene leaned down, finding Sirius' lips and kissed him – not thinking for a minute about her boyfriend or the vows she'd made to never again be persuaded by Sirius Black. None of that mattered in this one moment in which for the first time ever, both parties were completely honest with each other.

They pulled apart slowly, foreheads touching as Marlene demanded once more that Sirius use whatever strength he had left to get towards the house. Together, with Marlene bearing the brunt of their weight, they stumbled through the McKinnon's back garden, Marlene kicking open the gate as she practically dragged Sirius towards the house – his consciousness failing thanks to the pain in his leg.

He collapsed in a heap before the back door, Marlene pounding desperately against it, begging whoever was inside for help. It felt like hours before the kitchen light flickered on and then Amy's face, filled with shock, appeared in the window and the lock clicked.

"What in merlin's name are you doing here?"

"I rescued him," Marlene said, motioning to the unconscious heap in front of her. "Help me…"

"Alex!" Amy cried over her shoulder, unable to do anything in her condition. Quickly, a familiar-looking, curly-haired man padded into the kitchen, green eyes widening when he noticed Sirius on the ground.

"Ce qui se passe?" He looked towards Amy for answers.

"It's one of the boys who got kidnapped," she told Alex who nodded understandingly. Quickly, he moved forward and helped Marlene lift Sirius up, carrying him into the house and through to the living room. There, he was carefully laid across the couch while they tried to figure out a plan.

"He needs a doctor," Alex said with certainty. "I can take him—"

"I'm coming with you," Marlene declared. She couldn't leave Sirius' side, not now. She would need to see with her own eyes that he was safe.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Amy interjected, "you shouldn't even be out of the castle right now, you should wait here until we can get word to dad—"

"I'll accept whatever punishment you want to give me, but I am not leaving him." Marlene would not debate upon the point, blue eyes shifting towards Sirius, who lay pale and unconscious upon the couch, deteriorating by the minute.

"I will watch her," Alex promised his wife, "nothing bad will happen."

"You say that now," Amy groaned anxiously. Alex approached his wife, taking Amy's hands in his own.

"Mon amour," he spoke softly, drawing out a side of Amy that Marlene rarely ever saw. "You trust me?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Most of the time."

"You 'ave my word." He pressed his lips to her forehead and Amy immediately softened, nodding.

"You have to take my coat though," she told Marlene, rushing to the closet in the entryway as Alex threw Sirius over his shoulder. They used the Floo Network to reach St. Mungo's, Healers rushing to get Sirius onto a gurney the moment they laid eyes on him.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked, studying Marlene as Sirius floated away towards the emergency ward.

"I think so," she lied.

"Your boyfriend?"

"No," Marlene shook her head, tears building behind her blue eyes as she pictured how alone and terrified Sirius would feel when he woke up in a hospital bed without any friends around him. "He's a friend," she lied, "only a friend."

"Marlene!" she looked up, head-turning towards the waiting room where three familiar faces emerged. Emmeline, Mary and Frank rushed towards her and Alex, loaded with questions.

"Are you okay?" Mary worried. She took a hold of Marlene, searching for wounds. "Did they touch you?"

"No," she assured her friends, "I was lucky…how? How you guys here?"

"The minute we figured out what you three must have done we had to come. Remus, he told us how we could get out of the castle," Emmeline told her.

"Alice?" Frank inquired urgently. "where is Alice?"

"She and Lily left me to find the others…" Marlene's stomach knotted anxiously. If they had not yet arrived, it meant that they were still trapped in the underground shelter with a pack of Death Eaters.


It was pouring rain by the time that Alice and Peter landed in the alley beside St. Mungo's Hospital. Peter was whimpering in pain and losing consciousness by the second as the gash in his arm – received from a Death Eater's curse - oozed blood.

"We're almost there," Alice promised, again and again, sweat dripping down her back despite the frigid temperatures outside. She and Peter had just barely escaped death – finding themselves in a duel with two Death Eaters before they escaped.

"I'm going to die," Peter cried as Alice dragged him onto the street so that they could step into the crumbling red brick building which served as a front for St. Mungo's Hospital. Once inside, everything changed. Peter and Alice collapsed in a heap on the linoleum floor and a group of Healers quickly surrounded them. Before Alice could even explain what had happened, they lifted Peter onto a gurney, sending him off towards the emergency ward for treatment. The whole thing felt like a dream.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" One of the Healers asked, studying Alice with concern.

"Fine," she insisted, still lightheaded and in shock from the whole ordeal. Alice had not noticed the dried blood under her nose, received from a smack to the face until the Healer standing with her kneeled down and wiped it away carefully with a handkerchief. She offered Alice a hand, pulling her back up onto her feet.

For just one moment, things seemed to settle, and reality set in before Alice heard her name being called from across the room.

"Are you okay?" Frank worried, rushing to Alice's side. He gripped her by the shoulders and carefully studied her face and body for injuries.

"What are you doing here?" Alice had to be dreaming.

"I should be asking you that question," Frank replied, his voice heavy with emotion. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I couldn't let Marlene and Lily go alone." Truth be told, Alice hadn't really believed that she would make it out alive. Part of her had assumed that in the end, she would need to sacrifice herself to ensure her friends got out safely. The bargain seemed fair – who would miss Alice anyway? Her mother was dead, her father as good as, and she had no partner to worry about …

"You should have told me," Frank asserted, still holding onto her. "I could have helped you."

"You're too valuable to risk losing. Too many people love you—"

"What about you?" Frank demanded, catching Alice off guard. "You're valuable too. You're valuable to me." Without warning, Frank leaned in and kissed her with the love and gratitude he might have offered once when they were still a couple…

"You're with Cecily," Alice reminded him, pulling away. The last thing she wanted was to be responsible for destroying another relationship.

"I ended things with Cecily," Frank told her. "I don't love her, I love you."

"You love me?"

"Of course, I love you, I've always loved you, Alice."

"Even still? Even after all the horrible things I've done…" her head dropped shamefully.

"I don't want to live without you," Frank proclaimed, holding her hands. "I want to try and fix us."

"Oh, Frank…"

"Do you still love me?"

His brown eyes were filled with fear as if she might say anything to the contrary as if it were possible for Alice Griffith to love anyone in the world besides Frank Longbottom.

"Of course, I still love you." That was all it took. Once more, their lips met, this time with more passion, and they sealed their promise with a kiss. Perhaps this is heaven, Alice thought, maybe I am dead, and this is what eternal bliss looks like... it was a happy thought, a happy moment, but before Alice knew it, their bubble had burst. Whatever hopes she'd had of eternal bliss dissipated when the team of Aurors, whom the girls had dupped, entered the hospital lobby.


For a moment, everything was good. Marlene, Emmeline and Mary watched from afar as Alice and Frank reconciled, kissing in the middle of the hospital lobby. The sight was pure bliss for anyone who had been privy to the highs and lows of their relationship. It was exactly the slice of happiness Alice deserved.

"Soulmates," Emmeline enthused, watching the pair with envy. "Those two will be together forever."

"Everything in the universe is as it should be," Mary agreed, their joy-filled bubble settling for only a moment before it burst. Marlene looked up and spotted her father striding through the waiting room towards her, his cloak dripping from the rain. She slunk back into her chair like a child preparing for a scolding.

"What were you thinking?"

"We wanted to help—" Marlene tried to explain. She could come up with a thousand excuses for her actions, but nothing seemed worth arguing when she saw the scowl worn upon her father's face.

"We lost two people today because of the confusion you and your friends created." That was the last thing Marlene had ever wanted to hear.

"We never meant for anyone to get hurt…"

"It doesn't matter what you meant," her father spat. "This is the cost of meddling in things you do not understand." Never in her life had Marlene seen her father so angry. Her mother was the disciplinarian, the one who yelled and screamed and terrified Marlene and her siblings whenever they got in trouble.

"I'm sorry," she offered meekly, her father shaking his head with disbelief, turning away from his youngest daughter in disappointment. "I'm going to go visit your mother," he mumbled before stomping away, leaving Marlene behind in a state of shock. The only thing which kept her from breaking into pieces was the feeling of Mary's hand in her own.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. Marlene couldn't speak though. If she were to open her mouth, the only thing which would escape were tears. Emmeline switched seats, coming to Marlene's other side so that she could wrap her arms around her friend for comfort.

"You did what you had to do," she reassured Marlene. "Eventually, everyone will see that too."

"Incoming," Mary announced, Marlene's head rising as Henry approached.

"Might I have a word?" His voice was strained, his gaze averted. Marlene swallowed back the lump in her throat and stood, certain that the conversation to follow would go no smoother than the one she had just finished with her father. She followed Henry down a long corridor, the pair stopping in a corner, near the cafeteria, where they found a little privacy.

"I don't even know where to begin," Henry started.

Marlene couldn't look him in the eye - not with the overwhelming guilt she felt for the cost of her betrayal.

"What I did…it was wrong," she admitted.

"Wrong?" Henry was incredulous. "What you did…" He was steaming with rage; the angriest Marlene had ever seen him, though she seemed to be getting that a lot today. "You took advantage of me, you betrayed me, you lied. Your actions today cost two people I cared about and you did it all for another guy…" Henry's voice nearly broke on the last part.

"No," Marlene swore, "that's not it. I never wanted to hurt you, Henry—"

"But you did," he snapped, Marlene's heartbreaking as she looked up to see tears flooding his soft green eyes. "You made a fool out of me today." There was nothing she could say to make it better, no excuse to ease the reality of the pain she had caused. Alice had tried to warn her, to remind Marlene of the consequences she would face if she followed through with her plan, but she hadn't cared. Not enough to protect Henry.

"I'm sorry," it was pathetic, the absolute least she could offer him, her voice cracking on the words. "I'm so sorry, Henry…"

"This," he motioned between them, "was a mistake. It has to end." Marlene had to bite down on her lip to keep from crying, head bowed. What could she say? There was nothing that would heal the rift she had created between them. No consolation she could offer, no plea which would call Henry back to her. Finally, in defeat, she nodded, barely meeting his gaze.

"Goodbye, Marlene."

That was it, all Henry said before he turned around and strode away from her as fast as his legs would carry him. Marlene watched as he disappeared down the corridor, blurring in and out of focus between her tears. She slid, slowly, down the wall, towards the blue and white tiled linoleum floor, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Are you alright?" a woman in a Healer's uniform inquired - a long, black braid hanging over her right shoulder. She crouched down before Marlene, studying her, perhaps for maladies to treat.

"I just…I need a moment," Marlene explained, using the back of her sweater sleeve to wipe the tears from her face. The woman nodded understandingly, rising back to her feet.

"How about a cup of tea?" she suggested after a moment's pause, head motioning towards the cafeteria doors. "Cuppa tea fixes a broken heart like no other."


Remus hadn't slept all night. He lay awake, petrified, well aware of the fact that Lily, Marlene and Alice had gone to try and rescue the other boys – a fool's errand in his mind – and Frank, Emmeline and Mary were trying to find them. Remus had never felt so useless, or weak, still recovering from his own injuries so that he was stuck, helpless, in bed all night, wondering what kind of danger his friends might be in.

The only consolation he had were the Prewett twins – who came up to their dorm room for rest but instead, found themselves engrossed in the drama at hand. Gideon was desperate to join the search, pale with concern, but Fabian was clearer headed.

"We'll only create more confusion," he told his brother. "It's better we stay put, wait for news to come to us."

"And if it doesn't?"

The very thought sent a shiver down Remus' spine. If no news came it meant that they had likely lost three more friends…

"We have to be patient."

The twins seemed to find patience easier than Remus did – both boys eventually falling asleep. The sound of snoring filled the room as Remus' mind went a mile a minute, every worst-case scenario playing out in his head, driving him mad. He gave up just before dawn, climbing out of bed to wander the castle in his pyjamas and plaid slippers.

Still sore from a week's worth of torture, Remus made a slow journey down the staircase, gripping onto the back of chairs for balance in the empty common room.

"Where are you headed off to at this hour?" the Fat Lady asked with a yawn when Remus stepped through the portrait hole.

"To clear my head."

He hoped, against reason, that if he wandered the castle, he might run into one of his friends – Frank or Mary – someone who could tell him what the hell was happening. Remus was sick to his stomach with concern, preparing himself for the worst (as he always did) convinced that he was clouded by darkness which had begun to engulf his friends now too. Nothing good ever happened to Remus, nothing.

Not without struggle, and many breaks, he eventually got down to the third floor, exploring the corridor where the statue of the One-Eyed Witch stood. It was eerily quiet, nothing but the sound of his own footsteps as he crossed from the stone floor onto the carpet. The portraits hanging on the wall slept soundly, no one in the world awake except for Remus – or so he felt. That was, until he spied, from down the corridor, the statue's hump swinging aside so that Dorcas, Frank, Emmeline, Mary and Marlene emerged.

"Thank Merlin," he sighed with relief, rushing (as fast as he could) towards the group.

"Everyone is okay," Frank assured him when he spied Remus hobbling down the corridor. "At least, the girls are safe and so are James, Sirius and Peter."

"Well that's a bloody miracle isn't it?" Remus enthused, overjoyed to learn that nothing horrid had befallen the group during their mission despite his worst fears. His gaze drifted towards Dorcas who stood to the side, arms crossed, frowning at the lot of them. That was when Remus realized that something was off.

"Two people died," Frank explained as Mary and Emmeline began leading Marlene away, down the corridor, her head bowed. Remus' stomach sank, eyes darting anxiously between Frank and Dorcas for an explanation, immediately suspecting the worst.

"Was it Henry?" he asked, his voice hushed. They shook their heads.

"Colin and Fabia - Two new recruits," Dorcas told him. "They got hired this summer from the same program Frank and Alice were in. Now I have to go and tell their parents that they're dead."

Wearing a sombre expression, Frank began to walk away, following the girls in the direction of Gryffindor Tower before pausing, looking over his shoulder towards Remus expecting him to follow.

"I'll be right behind you," he assured his roommate, turning back to Dorcas, her face torn with pain. Remus' couldn't bear to leave her alone in distress.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he suggested, Dorcas' eyebrows raising curiously.

"I don't believe the Great Hall is open at this hour…"

"No," Remus smirked, "but, I have connections in the kitchen."

"You're pulling my leg."

"I'll show you."

They didn't talk much on the way down, ignoring the subject at hand. Despite having spent seven years as a student at Hogwarts, Dorcas was completely unaware of the hidden kitchen entrance, near the Hufflepuff Basement.

She was awestruck by the large, cavernous kitchen in which the castle's house-elves bustled about, working to get breakfast ready for the staff and students. Nearly half of them greeted Remus by name, a few inquiring to see if he'd brought gifts (as he usually did).

"You're a bloody rockstar in here," Dorcas quipped, her humour returning for the first time all morning.

"Only amongst this lot – oh, hello Pippin," Remus paused before a familiar house elf wearing a blue dress shirt which dragged on the ground behind her like a train.

"Cookies, sir?" Pippin asked, refusing to address Remus by his first name no matter how many times he asked.

"Yes please, and some tea if you can spare it."

Dorcas and Remus sat down on either side of the long, oaken table which filled the middle of the kitchen, a plate of empire biscuits and two steaming mugs of milky English breakfast tea coming to sit between them.

"So, Marlene?" Remus queried after a healthy amount of small talk.

"Henry dumped her," Dorcas confirmed, dipping a cookie into her tea. "He nearly got kicked off the team because of her. Merlin, you should have seen Alfred's face when he realized that Henry was the one who told Marlene about our meetings…"

"Merlin," Remus rubbed his brow woefully. "She must be heartbroken." He had known Marlene for seven years now and never had he seen her as happy as she was with Henry.

"Not sure how heartbroken she is," Dorcas casually stated, sipping from her mug of tea, Remus clueless as to her meaning.

"Sorry?"

She paused, staring at him as if waiting for Remus to admit he was joking before shaking her head and shrugging the whole thing off. "Never mind, it was a stupid thing to say—"

"What aren't you telling me?" Remus pushed, too intrigued to give up now.

"Well…just that…Henry seemed to suggest to Kingsley and me that the reason Marlene wanted so badly to be a part of the rescue mission was because of Sirius."

Remus nearly spat out his tea. "Sirius?" he repeated in shock. "What in merlin's name would make him think that?"

"I don't know, I assumed they must have dated in the past?"

"No," Remus was emphatic. "They're the last two people on earth I could ever imagine dating each other."

"Sounds like sexual tension to me."

Remus shook his head. "Marlene and Sirius' entire relationship revolves around James."

"Yeah, I know, the whole world seems to revolve around James Potter for you guys." There was no humour in Dorcas' last comment, eyes focused on the table. "I'd try and look at things from a different perspective if I were you," she suggested, "you just might find that not everything is as it seems."