Defying Destiny

Chapter 4:

Did you ever get the feeling that you have made the biggest mistake of your life? Lily Evans-Potter felt that way as she entered the kissing gate of McKinnon Residence. It was rather modest, two storey house. The times Lily had visited the place in the past it always carried a homely air about it. The times she had spent in the place came back in flashes. The porch where she and Marlene spent the summer days getting a tan and reading cheesy romance novels, the living room which Alice, Marlene and Lily had literally destroyed after their attempt at fizzy cold-drinks (dancing and running around with it, was not a good idea). The sweet, happy memories hurt Lily. Her knees buckled as she realized that she could have prevented this from happening... She would have fallen if not for the arm that wound round her waist and held her to the place, slowly guiding her inside the house.

She silently looked around... The house was cold, the warm feeling gone. There was dried red blood stained on the living room floor, where once the orange remnants of cold-drink had been. The peach coloured walls were dark and the house seemed to have been destroyed. The crimson couch was ruined and torn into places. The chandelier which hung in the middle of the room was broken on the floor with shards of crystals spread everywhere. Lily felt a wave of nausea come over her as tears; tears that were currently clouding her vision escaped her eyes.
'You could have saved them.' A mocking voice chanted in her head.

Lily tried to ignore the voice. But her conscience did not allow her to. It repeatedly reminded her that she had the power, the ability, the knowledge to save her best friend's family but she didn't.

The voice was traumatizing, like the nails on a chalkboard.

"Are you alright, Lils?" James asked, his voice carrying the concern and love.

"I am fine... just..." Lily trailed off, having no idea how to explain James her guilt.

James nodded, apparently taking her guilt for sadness.

He silently guided her to the remnant of the dining room, where only Sirius stood with some of the Aurors and Marlene was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Marlene?" James asked Sirius as soon as they approached them.

"She is at my place, she could not... you know enter the house. After the few basic questioning they let her leave. So I dropped her to my place and gave her the Calming Draught and the Sleep Potion just like the trauma specialist had prescribed." Sirius explained.

"Oh..." James said, he had no idea how to deal with this situation. He was not good at dealing with deaths.

At his Uncle's funeral (the first ever funeral he attended) he was a mess. Soon after that, his parents had died. If not for Lily, Sirius and Remus... he... he honestly, might not have survived that day.

But tonight, Lily was not Lily. She was not being herself. James had not been close to the McKinnons, except for Marlene, so he had nothing appropriate to say.

He looked around the room; he realized he had not seen anyone else beside Sirius and the Aurors.

"Where are the bodies, Sirius?" He asked.

"Post-mortem..." Sirius replied.

James nodded and then after a silent moment asked, "What was it? Avada or..."

"Torture... terrible torture, James" Sirius answered, sadness evident in his voice. "Michael got it worse... He bled to death. It was terrible... to see his usual smiling and laughing face in all those torture injuries with a pained expression. Blood-traitior was written on the floor with his blood. Aurors think Voldemort personally came to this raid."

"Michael... Of what I have heard of him, he might have put up a good fight. He was solely responsible to take down many of Voldemort's Death Eaters." James said putting a hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture.

Sirius nodded slightly. James had not realized Sirius had gotten so close to the McKinnons. He felt guilty for being so wrapped up in his problems that he had not given any of his friends his time. With a silent promise to change that he asked, "Sirius, how are you?"

"I am fine, James..." Sirius said, "It is just that... since Marlene and I started dating..." he stopped looking around, the Aurors were out of hearing range and Lily was seated on the chair and didn't even seem to be in the room. Sirius did not blame her; she might have been in shock. He was surprised at himself, with the way he was dealing the situation, himself.

"Since the two of us started dating." He resumed, "I got close to her family. You know they were so like Aunt Dorea and Uncle Charlus sometimes... they seemed to be filling the void."

James nodded, he understood. His parents' death had left a void in his life.

Funny thing, you don't realize the importance of people in your life until they are gone. He had always taken his parents for granted. The void had been not completely filled but had become bearable by the news of Lily being pregnant with Harry.

"I am sorry guys, I asked you to come here so late at night and..." Sirius began but James cut him off, "You don't need to apologize for that." He said, "What are friends for? I will take Lily back home and meet you tomorrow at the funeral."

Sirius nodded and resumed talking to the Aurors.

/Scene break/

The day was grey and murky. The sun was hidden by the thick grey clouds. A tinge of sadness hung over the place as the burial ceremony of the three McKinnons proceeded. The relatives and friends of the family had gathered in the church of Godric's Hollow.

As Lily tried to comfort a distraught Marlene, her own heart was guilt ridden. She felt like she had betrayed her friend. She was grateful that Marlene was alive. She knew how difficult things got without Marlene, she knew how Sirius got without Marlene. But a part of her brain mockingly reminded her that she had the power to save them all and she should have saved them all.

Marlene did not know how to feel or what to say to all the comfort she was getting. Everyone be it strangers, acquaintances, close friends and family came to her and assure her everything will be alright. But to a girl who lost her parents and brother in one night, the thought of everything being alright seemed bizarre.

Lily assured her again and again that it will be okay. Thankfully, she never said that everything will be alright. She felt comforted by her words. Partly because Lily had gone through the pain she was feeling before, while she had been the one to assure everything will be alright. Now, she understood why Lily was so sure everything was not going to be alright. So, Lily knew the right thing to say. And Marlene was sure that her words will haunt her to the grave. She will never forget those words.

"The pain never goes" Lily said, "So, I will not assure you it will disappear, but I can assure you it lessens as time passes. The hollowness of loosing a someone will be there but it is filled by the new memories. You will never forget them but you will learn to live with it."

As the burial ceremony ended and people began to disperse, Lily and James offered to stay behind with Marlene and Sirius but Marlene said they should go and look after Harry. Sirius took Marlene to his house. She was yet to be able to enter her house. She had tried thrice since their deaths and every single time she was traumatized.

Honestly, it was a happy place full of memories, memories of her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. But now everything that the house represented was a place where her parents and brother were tortured and then brutally killed.

"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked as he sat her on the couch of his living room, handing her a glass of fire-whiskey.

"I don't know... I-I don't know, Sirius. I feel so awful that I can't describe it... Mum... Dad... Michael... We were supposed to have a family day today. Laze around and reminisce about the old days and... now... now it is all gone." Marlene said as silent tears flowed down her cheeks.

Sirius brushed off her tears with his thumb as and put his hand on her cheek and she closed her eyes trying to get comfort from the warmth in his hand, "Sometimes we can plan our whole life ahead and tomorrow seems certain but what will happen, no one knows. I intended to..." he stopped in mid-sentence, like he had said something which shouldn't have been said.

Marlene opened her eyes and brown orbs stared in grey ones, "What Sirius?" She asked.

Sirius looked at the opposite wall, guiltily. But Marlene was undeterred she pressed him once more and Sirius caved, "I was going to ask your father's permission to marry you yesterday and then propose you today... but then..." Sirius trailed off.

"Yes." she said after a long moment's silence.

"What?" Sirius said, looking up at her in surprise.

"I am saying yes to marry you and this is not just because I am vulnerable here. It is because I love you and you have seen the good and bad in me and even then you are ready to be with me." She refrained herself from adding just like my family. She looked up at him with an intense expression.

"You didn't even let me ask." Sirius pouted, in an attempt to make a joke, "But it is better than you proposing." He gave a sad smile.

Marlene smiled back and then stopped feeling guilty for smiling without her parents in this world.

"They wouldn't like you to stop smiling, Marls. They would want you to be happy forever." Sirius said softly as he pulled her into a hug and the controlled damn of tears began to flow without bounds.

Xoxo

"True love..." Kismet said looking at the couple hugging each other, "Sweet isn't it..."

"Don't mock it, Kismet." Destiny said, "Love changed Karma's mind. Love gave these Lily and James and now Marlene."

"You think I don't know that?" Kismet asked calmly, "Oh... Destiny trust me I know many things. Things you four don't think I am capable of. But what I don't know is why Karma is so interested in this family. I think there is more to it than this... prophecy."

"Hmm... Might be..." Destiny said, maintaining her neutrality on the topic.

"And you remember the last time Karma was interested in well-being someone?" Kismet asked.

Destiny kept quiet this time. The last time Karma was interested in something, Kismet (as usual) had wanted to show she could do it better. But the last time... it turned out to be completely wrong. It led to a death that even time could not reverse. But more than that it led to the Dark Days of Bulgaria.