Mary could feel her sneakers slipping along the hospital's linoleum floor as she turned corners at rapid speed, rushing past patients and staff alike. When she reached the trauma room on the fourth floor, arms overflowing with supplies she'd been sent to fetch, she was struggling to get a full breath.

There were five Healers in the room, three of whom were superiors to Mary and Greer. It meant that they got to call the shots while the two girls simply offered support.

"We need to get her out of these clothes," Calvin announced from behind his scrub mask. Marlene was laid out across the stretcher she'd been placed on, still as a corpse. She might as well have been one with the state she was in.

Mary couldn't be certain what they'd done to her. The top of her head was soaked in blood, her beautiful blonde hair stained crimson. Her bottom lip was swollen. Her right leg twisted behind her in a position that made Mary cringe. There seemed to be blood everywhere. Her clothes were plastered to her in the mix of grime and sweat.

"Let's check for injuries first," Violet suggested. She was the oldest of the three Healers. She'd been at the hospital since World War II – which she brought up frequently to remind everyone that she had seen destruction like this before. Apparently, quite a few wizards had found themselves involved in the conflict.

Without a word, Mary passed her a tightly sealed plastic bag. Violet poured a handful of crystal-like white powder into her hand, swishing her wand above it. Slowly the powder floated towards Marlene's body, settling in the areas where she was injured, changing colour to alert them of what damage lay ahead.

"We've got a broken right leg and a punctured lung," Calvin announced, looking up at his colleagues in terror. Mary was struggling to keep her composure. It was impossible not to break into tears just at the sight of her old friend. Marlene. Smiling. Laughing. Cracking a joke. Flying high above the Quidditch Pitch. Her freckled skin in the summer. The smell of her lavender shampoo.

"Wilson, MacDonald, prep her for special care. We'll need to insert a tube to help with the pressure."

"I'll get the potions," Greer insisted, heading from the room at a sprint. They'd have to make sure Marlene didn't wake up as the Healers did their work.

"MacDonald?"

Mary's head popped up, staring at the three Healers in front of her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'll take care of it."

The three of them exited the room, leaving Mary alone for the first time all day. She stood there, quite still, at the side of Marlene's bed, and then, with the support of her wand, she began to slowly peel the clothes, covered in blood and dirt, from Marlene's body. Her friend lay bare, covered in bruises, as Mary transferred her into the hospital gown she'd been assigned.

It was hard to swallow back the lump that rested in her throat. She wondered whether she'd been scared. How it had felt being so far from everything and everyone who loved her and then, for one startling moment, Mary thought about what it might feel like to lose one of her oldest friends.

"Okay!" Greer came pounding into the room, gasping for air. "I got the good stuff."

Mary turned around, wiping the look of horror off her face. She nodded professionally, back into work mode, reaching out a hand for the bottle of potion Greer passed towards her. The two women worked together to get it safely down Marlene's throat.

Mary gathered the long strands of Marlene's curly hair and strung them back into a bun on top of her head.

"Okay," she nodded once she'd finished up, her eyes lingering on Marlene longer than they would any regular patient. "She's ready."

With a flick of Greer's wand, the stretcher Marlene was on began to float from the small hospital room she was in and out the door, Mary watching with dread as it swung shut behind her.

"The women down in reception were saying that the hospital in Paris sent her over," Greer began to explain, they way she would any normal hospital gossip. Usually, Mary would be listening with an air of uninvolved interest, now she clung to every piece of information for dear life.

"Apparently, when she was brought in she was still lucid and begging them to take her home."

"They didn't think to operate on her first?" Mary demanded furiously.

"They patched her up as much as they could and apparated her here with two Healers immediately. They claimed her lung hadn't collapsed when they checked her out."

Mary clenched her fists at her side, struggling to remain composed. How could she not be furious when she knew her best friend's life hung in the balance?


Lily cleared the plates from dinner, the sound of laughter and jokes echoing from the dining room as she slipped away. She'd decided to invite James and the rest of the boys over for the night – except for Remus, who was continuing to suck the last few hours out of his day off with Dorcas. Lily enjoyed the company. It was nice to hear the house filled with the sound of something other than her mother's moans of pain in the middle of the night.

Lily was stood at the sink, washing up muggle way, when she felt a pair of strong hands take her by the hips.

"Thanks for dinner," James whispered in her ear. A shiver travelled down Lily's spine as she stood there, her insides trembling with exhilaration. She turned her head just the slightest so her lips brushed against his. They kissed briefly, Lily pulling away with a smile on her rosy lips.

"Do you think we cheered him up?" she asked.

"Well, he doesn't stink of alcohol at the moment, so I suppose we'll find out."

Lily sighed heavily, plunging her hands into the warm and soapy water she had her dishes soaking in.

"I never expected Marlene of all people to pull something like this…"

"Lil…"

She and James had hardly discussed Marlene's sudden absence since the letter had arrived. Lily had made James come over immediately after Marlene's owl had flown away. She'd shared the news with him, her anger undisguisable. They'd shared a few short words on how shocked they were and that had been that. Lily hadn't yet got the opportunity to voice how truly furious she was with her friend.

"No, really. She just…disappears. She told us three months and then she just decided to leave. Not even a final goodbye. I mean…it's selfish. Just purely selfish."

"It wasn't about us," James explained to her. "Besides, do you know how long she spent taking care of all of us? Putting all her energy into everyone's happiness? To blame her for wanting to feel happy herself isn't right."

"James Potter, is that you?" Lily teased her fiancé. He smirked, running a hand through his floppy hair.

"Perhaps I've just grown up."

"Perhaps," Lily agreed, quirking an eyebrow.

"Where's that pudding I heard mentioned?" Sirius hollered from the dining room.

"I'm not your maid!" Lily bellowed back.

James laughed, swinging the freezer open to pull out the tub of ice cream Lily had stored in there for them.

"Come on," he urged her, the pair returning to the dining room.

"I can't promise a tip with this kind of service," Sirius joked, Lily sticking her tongue out at him.

"Any more complaints and I am going to have to kick you out of this family friendly establishment, Mr Black."

James served up the ice cream and Lily used her wand to flick the turntable on, starting up a record, filling the first floor with the sweet sound of Bob Dylan's raspy voice.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"The plan is to have you in your bed at a decent time," Peter announced. Sirius pouted. "I can't go out tonight anyway, I promised Aldora I'd come over."

"You two are getting pretty serious, Pete," James pointed out, grinning at his friend. "You've almost been together a year now."

"How come you never bring this bird around?" Sirius questioned his friend. "It feels like you two are always either hanging out at her place or with her friends." Peter squirmed in his seat, as if under the pressuring light of interrogation.

"It's not like you lot might be a little intimidating," Lily spoke up. She felt for Peter, panicking there in his seat. He'd always been the underdog of the group. She was sure it became difficult to share his personal life without fearing judgment.

"Hey, we are a very welcoming crowd," James gasped, as though her comment had truly offended him.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure everyone from Hogwarts would agree that you guys are without any intimidation."

"We only pranked people who truly deserved it," Sirius reminded her with a stern finger. Lily scoffed. It was hard for her mind not to drift towards Severus and that day by the water…that fateful day. What if it had never happened? What if James had never centred in on him as a target and Severus had never called Lily that horrible name. Would she still be sitting here today?

A loud knock, one which demanded attention, echoed through the house, causing a silence to wash over everyone at the table.

"Expecting company?" James asked.

"No…"

Lily stood up, her heart pounding as she approached the door. Something inside of her promised that whatever was waiting was not good. It was bad news. Another death. Another missing person. The group remained in the dining room, the only sound coming from the record player.

"Alice?" Lily asked with surprise.

"Are you alone?"

"James and the boys are here…"

"Can we speak outside?"

Lily stepped out slowly, closing the door behind her with caution. It was a chilly October evening; she wrapped the cardigan she had on tightly around her shoulders, inhaling sharply as she anticipated Alice's words.

"What's going on?"

"Marlene has been brought into St. Mungo's," Alice informed her quickly, the words streaming out of her mouth.

"What?"

"She was doing some kind of undercover work in Paris, I really don't know the details."

"How do you even know—"

"We ran into Mary at the hospital. It's bad, Lily. Mary was in a panic. Frank has gone to tell her family…" Alice's gaze fell and Lily knew suddenly what she was thinking.

"Sirius…"

"I didn't want him to hear it from me, not like this. I'm hardly keeping it together…"

"Okay," Lily nodded, swallowing back the panic which rose in her throat. Her mind was struggling to process all the information being given. The idea of Marlene lying hurt and alone in a hospital bed while she'd seconds ago been complaining about how angry she was. All the wasted time…

"I'm going to get in touch with Remus and Dorcas," Alice told her.

"Right, of course."

"We'll meet at the hospital?" Lily nodded. Nothing was really sticking, as she watched Alice walk back down towards the street to apparate away. She stood there, shaking and dazed in the chilly evening.

"Lily?" The front door had opened without her even noticing. The redhead spun around, James standing at the door. "What's going on?"


They'd been sitting in the waiting room at St. Mungo's for nearly three hours. Mary kept slipping back and forth, carrying to them what little information she could, but nothing was enough. There was little to no detail on whether she would be okay, whether she was looking strong.

Sirius wished suddenly that he had more time. Time seemed to be the only thing of importance when it came to loss. More time to be with her. More time to hold her in his arms. More time to know she was safe. There was never enough goddamn time.

It was near one in the morning when Mary came from behind the trauma unit doors. She stood before them, a solemn look on her face, and for a moment Sirius was certain she was gone. He'd lost her. She was dead.

"She's stable," Mary informed them, everyone sighing with relief. "She can have a few people in the room at once." Sirius still had his head bowed, wrapping his mind around the fact that she wasn't lost.

"Sirius," Lily placed a hand on his back. "You go."

"She said a few of us—"

"She'd want to see you," Alice encouraged him. He sat there; still and silent, before slowly rising to his feet, following Mary down the hall.

"She doesn't look great," she warned him. "Her face is pretty badly beaten up, so don't be alarmed."

Mary stopped before the second last door on the hall, turning towards Sirius expectantly. "Are you nervous, Black?" she teased him.

Sirius took a deep breath, pushing the door open. The room was dark and alarmingly quiet. Marlene lay across a bed in the centre, wearing a hospital gown, a bandage wrapped around her head.

For a moment Sirius was certain she was asleep, until her head turned just the slightest, her sparkling blue eyes catching him.

"Sirius," her voice was rough as sandpaper. As though it hadn't been used in days. "I must be dreaming."

"No." Something about the scene gave Sirius deja vu. "I'm here."

"Am I dying?"

"No," Sirius answered quickly, as though he was commanding her not to. He stepped forward, inching closer towards the edge of her bed. "You are not going to die." She closed her eyes, staying very quiet for a few seconds, and when she opened them they were brimming with tears.

"It hurts," she told him, her voice shaking.

"You're going to be alright." Sirius pulled up a chair from the side of the room, sitting on the edge of her bed. For weeks he'd worked so hard – at his own destruction – to erase the image of her from his mind. Now here he sat, fighting to keep her present.

"Please don't leave me," she sobbed, her entire body shaking. Sirius reached out quickly, taking her hand in his.

"I'm right here," he promised. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Please make sure my family knows I love them."

"You're not dying."

"Tell everyone I'm sorry, I'm sorry for not coming back…Dumbledore asked…"

"MARY?" Sirius called over his shoulder towards the door. "MARY?" The door flung open, their friend rushing in.

"I think something is wrong with her."

"Make it stop," Marlene begged, placing a hand against her head. "Make it stop."

"I'll get the Healer," Mary promised, sprinting out of the room.

"You're going to be okay," Sirius, reminded her, squeezing her hand tightly. She turned to face him, her eyes glistening with tears.

"It was me," Marlene announced without clarification.

"What?"

"You weren't dreaming…I got you out of that house…it was real…" Sirius' mind was racing; filled with the memories he'd thought he designed for himself.

"I wanted you to know…"

Sirius didn't get a chance to respond. Not before Marlene broke into tears once more, smacking her hand against her head.

"Please make it stop," she repeated over and over. Everything inside of Sirius tensed up with horror. He wanted to fix whatever was wrong with her. To hold her in his arms and take away all her pain.

The door flung open and Mary came rushing in with a tall, sandy-haired man.

"Marlene?" he asked. He came to her bedside, hovering his wand over her head.

"We've got internal bleeding," he informed Mary, whose eyes lit up with terror.

"What does that mean?" Sirius demanded as two more Healers came rushing into the room. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm going to need to ask you to leave, sir."

"What's wrong with her—"

"Sirius," Mary spoke urgently. "We're not going to be able to help her if you're in the room."

Sirius looked down at Marlene, still shaking with pain. One of the Healers was trying to tip a bottle of potion into her mouth. Sirius could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He felt sick just watching her, as Mary slowly pushed him out of the room, shutting the door behind him.


It was late, long past curfew. James had gone down to the lake with Jennika to see the stars. They'd lain in the grass for a few hours, pointing out constellations and sharing stories. It had been nice, a relaxing few hours. James had particularly enjoyed the part where she'd let him grab her boobs.

He returned to Gryffindor Tower, earning himself a questionable look from the Fat Lady. It was hard to miss the little skip in his step as James strode inside, expecting to find the Common Room empty and dark. Yet, he caught sight of someone sitting on the couch. Quiet sniffles echoing from her, her head bowed and buried in her hands.

"Marlene?" James asked in shock. Her head shot up, her eyes red and bloodshot.

"Oh…I…"

"What happened?" James came around the couch, sitting down beside his friend.

"Nothing," she lied.

"Did someone hurt you?"

"It's my own fault, really James, I'm fine—"

"Mar, I've known you for fifteen years and never once have I seen you cry like this. I'm not leaving until you tell me what is going on." Marlene blinked, tears clinging to her long eyelashes. She looked up, facing James, her shoulders slack.

"It was just…promise me you won't judge me."

"I won't judge you," James promised, not wasting a minute.

"I slept with Bertram," Marlene admitted, looking incredibly guilty about the confession.

"Okay..." James cared little about who Marlene was sleeping with. What made his insides revelling with anger was the idea that something about this confession led to Marlene's midnight tears.

"I just…I didn't feel that comfortable with it and when I told him I wanted to wait before doing it again…" Marlene bowed her head once more, fresh tears spilling from her eyes.

"What did he do?" James demanded. He had his teeth clenched so tight the words barely escaped.

"I dealt with it," Marlene promised. The weakness in her voice didn't reassure him, though. It reminded James how much pain his friend was in.

"That fucking prick," he cursed.

"Please don't do anything, James."

"I'm going to knock his teeth into the back of his head is what I'm going to do."

James rarely found himself so angry but in the moment he couldn't control it. Who on Earth did Bertram Aubrey think he was? That stick of a guy…thinking he could make Marlene feel like this.

"He's just an idiot."

"You have every right to not want to do something until you're comfortable, you hear me?" James spoke to her. For the first time in the conversation, a slight smile broke across her face

"Thanks, big brother," Marlene teased him. James wrapped an arm around her, holding Marlene close. He'd never let anyone hurt her.

X

James woke up to the sound of someone groaning. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he panicked for a minute. The four walls of a St. Mungo's hospital room greeted him. He'd forgotten that this hadn't been just another bad dream.

He looked down at the bed he sat beside, Marlene's face pinched with pain. She had a hand pressed to her head, a pained sob escaping her lips.

"It hurts," she whimpered, her eyes clenched shut. "It hurts so much."

"It's okay," James promised, lunging forward to take her hand. "We're going to fix it."

"James?" Marlene asked. She squinted her eyes open, as though the action caused her great pain. Relief seemed to wash over her face when she realised it was him.

"Make it stop," she begged him. "Please make it stop."

James grabbed the bottle of sleeping draught that one of the Healers had left on the bedside table, advising him to give it to Marlene when she woke up. For twenty-four hours now they'd had her under the potion, making sure she was never awake for long. The Healers promised that she would heal faster if they made sure she got as much rest as possible.

After James had helped pour the contents of the bottle into Marlene's mouth she reached out in a panic, grabbing tightly to his hand. Her eyes widened, filled with fear.

"Don't leave me," she begged him. "Please, don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere," James promised her, willing to stay glued to his seat until she was perfectly healed. "I'm right here." Marlene kept her grip on him until her eyes began to droop and her breaths evened out. James sat very still, watching her like a hawk.

He wouldn't let anything hurt her. Not again. He couldn't fall asleep without imagining her terror as she was attacked, not sure if she'd make it out alive. The bravery that it took for her to go undercover like that, so far from all her friends and family.

The door to the hospital room opened, James looked behind him to see Maureen stepping into the room, his mother by her side.

"How is she doing?" Maureen asked, her face awash with worry. The McKinnons had been in and out of the hospital since Marlene's arrival. Danny was stuck at school and Amy and Alex had to take turns coming in due to Franny.

"Still in a lot of pain," James announced dejectedly. He wanted to assure Maureen that all was well. That Marlene was opening her blue eyes and smiling once again. He hated the look in her mother's eyes as she approached her daughter's bedside.

"You never stop worrying," Maureen announced, placing a hand against Marlene's arm. "No matter how old they get."

"I know," James heard his mother respond from behind him. She came up, giving James' shoulders a delicate squeeze. "They can be forty-three and they're still your baby."

Maureen settled into the chair on the other side of Marlene's bed, watching her daughter closely.

"Come on," James heard his mother whisper. "Let's go get something to eat."

It was hard for him to get himself out of the chair, afraid that in his absence Marlene might wake up again and need him. Slowly, though, Caroline guided him from the room and down the corridor towards the dining hall.

"Have you gone home yet?" his mother asked.

"No, I don't want to go until she's okay—"

"Exhausting yourself is not going to help anyone."

"She needs me," James told his mother, his mind wandering back to that helpless look in Marlene's eyes as she squirmed in pain.

"You won't be far, we'll call you back the minute she's awake—"

"I can't go, mum," James told his mother stubbornly. "I've failed her before I…I owe this to her. She needs me."

James gulped back the lump in his throat. While the rest of his friends had returned home early in the morning to catch a few winks of sleep before returning to their daily lives, James had been unable to move. He couldn't abandon Marlene when she was weakest. The last time she'd been like this he'd been unable to help her but he'd never let that happen again.

"She knows, sweetheart," his mother promised him as they entered the dining area, filling their plates with food that the hospital's house elves had prepared. Caroline led the way to a small table in the corner of the room, staring at her son with great concern.

"I'm okay," James promised, playing with his mashed potatoes instead of eating them.

"There is nothing you could have done to prevent this," his mother told him quite sternly. She knew, without any words, exactly what he was thinking. The guilt James felt for all the pain Marlene was left in her bed feeling.

"I should have told her to come home," James said, his shoulder slacking.

"She wouldn't have listened."

"It's my fault, mum," James announced, his voice cracking as he stared across the table at his mother. "If I'd kept myself out of it, whatever it was between her and Sirius, she would have never gotten into it with Henry. She would have never needed to make up for anything with some silly trip to Europe—"

"James Alec Potter, you look at me right now," his mother demanded, James meeting her glance with a heavy look in his eyes. "This is not your fault, do you understand me? You are not responsible for every bad thing that happens in Marlene's life because of one mistake."

"I put her in this position…"

"Oh, James, as much as I know you'd love to be the martyr you really aren't. You tried to protect someone, albeit foolishly, but what you did you did out of love, and no one on this Earth can fault you for that. Do you understand me? I never want to hear you blaming yourself again. Marlene wouldn't want you to. She'd be sitting here telling you the exact same thing and when she's all better, she will."

James wiped a loose tear from his cheek, taking a bite from his plate of food. He didn't realise how hungry he was until he'd actually tried eating something, his stomach grumbling for more.

"Better?" Caroline asked hopefully, knowing very well that she'd been right.

"Yeah," James smiled weakly. "Getting there."