Part Fourteen

Ailene woke with a start, and found that there were hundreds of tapping sounds coming from her living room in the flat. She felt around and realized that she was all alone.

"Marden?" No response. He had left.

She stumbled out of bed threw on her robe before venturing out to investigate. There were at least a dozen sets of bright eyes watching Ailene as she opened her window, a flutter of wings and feathers before they all landed on her coffee table. Ailene would be very content to never see another owl so long as she lived.

They all had letters tied to their little legs, and one by one, she untied them before they flew off into the still, night air. Marden's owl sat on the back of her sofa, watching her contentedly. Ailene examined each of these letters perfectly folded and sealed with wax. She started with the first, unraveling it and reading its contents.

Marden,

Although there is too much to say to you at this moment in time, I need to stress the importance of how disastrous it is for our family and for you to go forth with your plans to marry this muggle.

Muggles have destroyed the lives of millions of wizards since the dawn of our existence. They have persecuted us, burned us at the stake, enslaved us for their own benefit, and have been treacherous in their machinery of war. Muggles and Wizards are not to exist in the same realm, they are not allowed to associate with one another. There are laws put in place to protect ourselves from them. Surely, of all people, I would think you know this best considering your choice of career.

Again, I cannot stress to you how dangerous it is for you to have any dealings with this wench. Your life will only exist as a Muggle; squandering while your family and friends will exist above you. You have made an impeccable start to your life as an accomplished and successful wizard. You will throw everything away if you marry her. I will not be surprised if you are asked to leave your position at the Ministry.

You will not be accepted into this family; I can assure you that your parents will strip you of any inheritance you were once promised. You will be poor, you will be dirty, you will crawl at the feet of Wizard kind the same way that muggle crawls at our feet. Don't do this to yourself, and do not do this to your family, your ancestors have worked hard to instill purity and power.

Hopefully yours truly,

Your Uncle Lachlan

There was a long silence after Ailene finished the letter. She didn't know the extent to which Marden's family thought of Ailene or Muggles. Her hands were shaking, her head was pounding with anger, and she found it incredibly hard to breath.

Ailene was very confident in who she was. She was not dirty, despite her occasional untidiness. She was not poor as people might assume, she just didn't have an incredible amount of things and she was perfectly okay with it. Ailene never felt hatred in her heart for another person because of their religion or skin tone or sexual preference, or whatever it may be.

She stared at the rest of the letters that sat in front of her, wanting so bad to rip them all open and read all the other nasty things they wrote about her. However, she stopped herself. What good what that do?

Instead, she sat on her sofa in silence for a long time, looking at the pile of letters. Was this all really worth it? Should she be doing this to him? What if she was bringing him down, everything that he had worked hard for would be gone because of her? Ailene was starting to believe his uncle's words. She was truly ignorant to Wizard-kind, and perhaps it was best if she kept it that way.

Over the course of the morning, more owls came and tapped on her window with letters. She simply tossed them to the collection that piled up on her dining table.

After a particularly strong mug of tea, she went over to her tiny, unused desk in the corner and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen. She needed to speak to Marden as soon as possible. She needed to know everything, she needed to know exactly what was going to happen if they stay together any longer.

She folded her letter and sealed it before giving it to Marden's Owl and letting him slip out of the window undetected.

Unfortunately for Ailene, this was her only way of communication. She couldn't ring him on the telephone, seeing as Marden was quite confused by such a device. She had no idea where he lived, and there was no way she was going to use Wizarding transportation any time soon. All she could do is sit and wait for his owl to return.

But where did he run off to in the first place? They had a rather wonderful night despite the disastrous wedding.

Ailene's heart immediately sank to the pit of her stomach. She thought of Euphemia and Fleamont, and how they must absolutely hate her for making such a scene at their wedding, and possibly ruining it. She couldn't imagine having to face them again, what could she say to them?

'I'm so sorry for thinking it was a good idea to come to your wedding and announce my relationship to your brother in front of your family who absolutely despise people like me.'

Perfect.

Ailene sank deeper and deeper into her sofa as her mind raced with these thoughts. But she suddenly jumped to her feet when a knock came from the door instead of her window. Promptly, she opened the door, and when her eyes fell on Marden, her heart instantly shot back up to her chest. His hair was a perfectly disheveled mess, he threw on his trousers and dress shirt from he night before and his cloak.

"Hi."

"Hi."

He slowly took a step and gently placed a kiss on her lips.

"How are you?" He asked her.

"Fine." She replied, softly. "Not as hung-over as I thought I'd be."

"Yeah, that's quite a surprise. Fire whisky usually knocks first timers on their arse."

She nodded, not laughing at his joke and closed the door behind him as he strode over to the sofa and sat down.

"You know, I really hate it when I wake up and you're already gone."

"I'm sorry," He apologized. "I just needed some fresh air, clear my mind a bit."

Ailene reached into her robe and handed him Uncle Lachlan's letter. He sat for a few moments, his blue eyes glued to the folded parchment before slowly taking it from her, unfurling it and reading it slowly.

Marden smirked and shook his head in utter disappointment. "He was always a tosspot."

"There's more." Ailene nodded to the pile of letters behind them.

"Yeah, and they all say the same thing." He looked up at her and folded the letter finitely. Clearly this letter meant nothing to him.

"Marden..." Ailene started. "Maybe it's best..." She whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that they may be right. You'll lose everything. You'll lose your inheritance, your family, you might lose your job-"

"Ailene, there's no way-"

"No. Listen to me." Ailene said, using her teacher's voice to take dominance of the conversation. "I don't want to be the reason you lose all of this. I don't want to be the reason why your family cut ties with you. I don't want to be the reason why you have nothing. I love you, and I don't want any of this for you. I'm not worth it, I'm not worth the trouble. You deserve someone who will make you better, who will build you up, not tear you down."

"Ailene!" It was Marden's turn to be stern. "I won't let you talk about yourself like that!"

"I know my worth." She corrected him, sternly. "I know who I am, and I am happy with who I am. But I know that I will not bring you anything. I will only be taking things away from you. And I don't know if I can live with that."

For the first time in their short-lived romance, Marden was absolutely speechless. His eyes searched hers for any sign of resolve. "Ailene, you won't be taking anything away from me. All you've done was give me everything. I don't care if I lose my job, I don't care if I never seem my family again, I don't care if I'm poor. None of that will matter as long as I have you."

"But I do care. I care if those things happen to you." Ailene felt her throat tighten and her eyes began to water. She looked down at her hands in her lap. She felt that this was right, that it was the best thing to do.

"I'm sorry, Marden McKinnon."

"Ailene I want to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I can't be the reason you lose everything."

"You won't be, darling." His hands were now holding hers.

"Please, Marden."

"Will you marry me, Ailene?" Suddenly he reached into his pocket and there was a small black box.

"No, Marden!" Ailene yelled, placing her hands over his, holding the box closed.

Silence filled the small flat. Marden's eyes were wide in shock.

Ailene shook her hand and began to weep. "I'm so sorry, Marden." She then stood. "Please forgive me, but I can't do this anymore. I can't keep up with all the confusion, all of the new things of your world. It's all too overwhelming for me, and you deserve a woman of your kind. And that is my final word."

Again. Silence. Not even the owl made a noise. He simply sat and watched the two.

Marden stood quickly.

"Please, Ailene. Don't do this." He whispered, his voice broken. "After everything we've been through together, and you're going to end everything?"

"I'm sorry, I truly am, Marden. But there is nothing more I can do. I love you now, and I'll love you forever, but being together will only bring misfortune." And with that, Ailene stood and walked over to her door. She opened it.

"I need you to leave now." She whispered softly. Marden lingered on the spot, looking at her with tears in his eyes. He strode over slowly until he stood in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Ailene." He whispered before his eyes glanced down at her lips, but he couldn't bring himself to kiss her. It would be too painful.

"Goodbye."