Hey there everyone! This chapter is one people have been waiting for for a while: there's some more Blackinnon only scenes, bitchy Emmeline, Marauders, and - I hope - plenty of drama.

A massive shoutout to my amazing friend 'scribbled thoughts' (GO CHECK HER OUT NOW) who beta'd this for me in ultra quick time so I could upload this tonight. You all need to give her internet hugs.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from Harry Potter, I only own the OCs and the plot! Everything belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling!:D

Chapter 12 - Never Giving Up

It was about a week after the 'Avery Incident' - as Marlene privately called it - that Mary, Lily, Hestia and the Marauders started phase one of their mission to help Marlene. Their classes were finished for the weekend, and miraculously they hadn't got much homework, and the girls were all in the dorm, including Hestia, all trying to relax together; Marlene had been almost forced to stay, and Lily had been told to lie down as much as possible, but at least they were together. The obvious absence of Emmeline, who had avoided them all ever since the news of the McKinnons' deaths and the argument afterwards was putting a slight damper on the mood.

Mary, Lily and Hestia were sending incredibly (not) subtle glances at each other and at the door, however they were still surprised when the Marauders burst through the door, still levitating just above the floor from tricking the girls' staircase. Marlene jumped slightly and drew her knees closer to her chest as James bounded over and tackle hugged her, distracting her attention while Peter locked the door and Remus stood against it so Marlene couldn't leave.
"Get off me, James!"
She snapped, shoving him off her onto the floor.
He picked himself up from the carpet and dusted his trousers down casually, not ruffled at all from his undignified shove from the bed but an awkward silence enveloped the room. Hestia coughed and shrugged. James spoke again.
"Umm, Marlene, we're all kind of here to talk to you about something..."
Marlene looked around warily.
"Yeah, about how you've been acting," Lily piped up, encouraged by James.
"It's been going on too long and it isn't healthy," Hestia said firmly.
Peter squeaked out, prompted by Remus,
"We're all worried!" before a violent glare from Marlene almost paralysed him with fear, "Sorry..."
"Look, Marls, you're going to tell us what's been going on, and why you've been shutting us out," Mary said sternly, folding her arms across her chest.
Marlene's expression had grown steadily more dangerous as they spoke, moving from almost relaxed, to confused, to pissed off and finally to furious, and her lip quivered with anger. And maybe a little bit of guilt.
"I'm not going to talk to you," she said stubbornly.
"Fine, we'll talk to you then," Lily said without missing a beat, having foreseen that response,
"We all care about you so much, and are so scared for you. You've provoked a Death Eater," Marlene looked at Sirius sharply, thinking he'd told them about Avery but he shook his head ever so slightly and she breathed a sigh of relief,
"You were a big annoyance to them before, but now you're dancing around with a glowing target on your back! If they took you away like they took me... I would die, Marlene."
Lily didn't break eye contact with Marlene as Mary took over, looking sympathetically at her much taller friend. They had each prepared something to say to her and, thanks to Lily's perfectionist side, had an order and everything.
"Marls, when they took Lily, we had to stick together, but then you left too and it was so much harder. I need my best friend back, not this ghost of you walking around."
Marlene steadily avoided their gaze, but she couldn't block out the words completely and found her guilt for everything overwhelming her. One more, and she knew she'd crack.
"Marly?" James said nervously, seeing the warning signs straight away. He had a whole speech prepared but suddenly realised he didn't need it. Throwing his arms around her, he pulled her in for a bear hug, clinging to her.

It was too much for Marlene, and all the anger, confusion, pain and guilt she had bottled up in the days and weeks that had passed came spilling out as her worn-down self control broke. Sobbing angrily into James shoulder, she gripped the back of his shirt and shook, the cries wracking her frame. Mary, Lily (disobeying Madame Pomfrey's 'stay in bed' orders) and Hestia all gathered around Marlene, stroking her hair and patting her back, anything that might help their broken friend. There was the faint sound of shuffling from outside, but no one was paying it any attention.

Marlene felt suffocated even as she welcomed the comfort. She didn't want them to understand - they didn't - she wanted them to be idiots so she could yell and scream and release all this pent up anger on the world and watch it burn.
"Get off me," she protested, hurling them off and twisting away, "Get away from me!"
They all let go of her immediately and she scrambled to her feet, swiping furiously at the tears that were still falling freely. Her friends were shocked into silence as she started to speak.
"I don't want you babying me. I'm not okay, I'm not 'going to be fine'. Nothing is ever going to be fine again. There is a war going on outside, and I know it. There are people within this castle that will hurt us. I've been hurt too much to heal fully, don't even bother," she said angrily, "So stop it. Now. Leave me alone and focus on yourself. Get away from me andstay away. I don't want you guilt tripping me with your 'I love you's and 'we all missed you's. Don't touch me, leave me alone!"
"What?!" Lily stammered.
"You heard me!" she yelled, shaking James' hand off her wrist.
"Marlene please," said Hestia desperately, but Marlene ignored her and make a sudden break for the door, planning to hide somewhere in the school, maybe the Room of Requirement if she could find it. Though Marlene stumbled towards the door handle, there was no way she would get out of the dorm. Mary and Hestia looked quite scared at Marlene's reaction but both James and Lily had expected something like this. James had known Marlene long enough to know she never ever went quietly if she could make a fuss, and Lily had seen many of Marlene's raging fits in the six years they'd known each other. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her - kicking and screaming - away from the door. Peter looked shaken while Remus just had one more scratch on his arm, no different to the many he had accumulated from years of full moons, and infinitely less painful.

"Marlene what the hell!" James snapped, tightening his grip around her waist as she struggled, and turned his face away quickly when Marlene lashed out viciously. Lily stayed back, wary of her stitches which couldn't be ripped or there would be serious consequences, so Hestia was the one to help James restrain their hysteric friend.
"JAMES! Let me GO!" Marlene sobbed, her voice breaking as she pounded her fists against his chest.
Remus looked at her with a kind expression,
"Not a chance, I'm afraid."
She kept screaming, her whole sobbing shaking, but it was more angry crying than upset crying. She felt like if they only let her go she could punch them for a long long time without feeling any less furious. How dare they stage an intervention and accuse her of this shit? She had lost her parents and brother to Death Eaters, did they not understand? If she ever saw the Death Eaters they were going to die, she swore.
Marlene was still struggling against James' hold, and had successfully freed her arms, flailing around and hitting James in the jaw, memories of Avery's hands on her flooding back. It wasn't anything James was doing, but no one had held her like this since Avery, and she was freaking out. He yelped in pain and naturally let go of her, and Marlene bolted for the door like a spooked horse let free of its reins.
"Sirius grab her!" James cried as Marlene wrenched the old oak door open.
Sirius only just caught her wrist as she raced past and tugged her backwards gently, concern clear in his expression. He looked her dead in the eye, and smiled slightly.
"Woah, slow down McKinnon," he laughed hollowly, and she tugged pointlessly before giving up.
Lily and Remus - even amongst the drama - caught the other's eye and sent a knowing smile as Marlene all but collapsed into his arms in defeat. James sat up,
"Got her, Pads?"
"Yes Prongs, I've got her," he snapped in reply.
James raised his eyebrows at Sirius' defensive tone and sat on Marlene's bed. They all let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the various beds in the room. Sirius closed the door quietly again, before sitting cross legged on the floor, settling Marlene next to him. Now her anger was spent, she was shattered, and wanted nothing more than to sit curled up in Sirius' safe arms and sleep. It occurred to her fleetingly that she only felt safe when he was around: how many times had he helped her now? He'd stopped her crying, cheered her up, saved her from Regulus and stopped Avery going any further, and now, even though he was only sitting next to her now, he was more comforting than anyone else.

Lily drew her knees up to her chest, and tucked the covers back around herself, smiling at Marlene, who blinked back.
"Marls, I know you're not okay, I'm not going to coddle you," she started, voice shaking slightly, "But please, let us help you."
Mary and Hestia nodded, James gazed at Lily lovingly, Remus smiled and Peter looked for a way out.
"Okay," Marlene whispered, voice cracked and barely audible.
"Okay?" James gasped, "You'll talk to us? Tell us everything?"
Looking up sharply, she gulped, "Eventually, yes. But not everything yet."
He wasn't content with that, but didn't want to push it and freak her out again. James was intelligent, he had worked out that somehow the way he had grabbed her triggered a very bad reaction and he was determined to find out why. Also, he was not best pleased at the way Sirius was looking at her. Call him over-protective brother if you will, James cared about Marlene like she was a sister, and if Sirius was hitting on her he would have to kill him.
Which was unfortunate.

Marlene stayed silent, just smiled ever so slightly at her three best friends, extremely grateful to them even if she couldn't say it just yet.
"Thank you."
Hestia frowned, and Marlene almost laughed.
"For staying even after everything. I-I don't deserve you."
"Everyone deserves to have friends," Sirius butted in, gazing down at Marlene in concern.
She shrugged, and James scowled at them, realising that Sirius still had his arm around her waist. Lily smiled calmly, and patted James' arm.
"Ja-Potter... Potter, don't interrupt them," she said, hastily correcting herself.
James' scowl lessened slightly as Lily's hand touched his arm gently,
"I wasn't planning on it, but... But... It's my best friend and my sister!"
"And they'll kill you if you ruin it," she grinned, "Leave them be."
Remus rolled his eyes at Marlene and Sirius, but knew Lily was right. He glanced over to where all the others were either watching them or James and Lily, and mouthed at Mary, "Let's leave them to it..."
She nodded, and poked Hestia, Lily and James, motioning for them to slip out of the room, and Remus poked Peter. Quietly, they tiptoed past the couple, even James, not wanting to ruin the moment. Leaving Marlene and Sirius in the opposite corner, Remus shut the door quietly, and laughed as he saw Lily grinning from ear to ear. After all this time, she just wanted to scream 'I TOLD YOU SO!' at them all but refrained from doing so meaning she could tell the others, who were a mixture of happy and a tiny bit worried. None of them knew about the Avery incident, and would probably be even more grateful to Sirius if they did.
"James, Remus, Peter! Hestia, Mary?!" Lily hissed once they were out and away, "Did you see that!"
James was looking wary still, but pleased she had called him by his first name, "Yeah, but I'm not sure I like it..."
Remus and Lily wore almost identical expressions of shock.
"Did you actually say that?!" Lily exclaimed, and Remus shook his head in disbelief.
"They are perfect for each other, what are you on about?" Mary added, and Hestia nodded.
"I don't care," James said stubbornly, folding his arms, "Can you honestly say he won't hurt her? Moony, Wormtail, can you honestly say Padfoot won't break her heart?"
Peter looked uncomfortable, and Remus shuffled awkwardly.
"No, but isn't it worth a shot?" Hestia laughed, supporting Lily who looked tired, and who should still have been lying down really.

Sirius and Marlene had luckily not heard any of what was being said on the other side of the room, and now the door, engrossed as they were in their muttered conversation.
"Hey, McKinnon, gonna tell me what happened there!" he asked quietly once the others had left the room. Sirius had caught the not-so-subtle glances towards Marlene and himself, but Marlene hadn't because her head was still resting against Sirius' shoulder, shoulders moving up and down as she sniffled miserably.

It was probably a good thing that James had made her cry, as weird as that sounded, because she could finally let everything out and also, a bonus for Sirius, she was holding herself right against him with no intention of moving while she sniffled.

"McKinnon," he repeated,
"Are you going to talk? Because we really have to stop meeting while you're crying, it's getting repetitive."
She let out a very small giggle which turned into a sob straight away, and she clung to him.
"See, I can always make you laugh! Cheer up for me?" he said, and leaned against her bed, cradling her in his arms, "Oh, and don't mind me, just soak my shirt with tears."
Marlene snorted again, and shuffled away from him to wipe her eyes.
"I won't, Black," she mumbled, sniffing again but pulling out a tissue and blowing her nose in a very unattractive way, not that Sirius cared.
"There you are!" and teased lightly, poking her shoulder. His voice was careless, but his eyes were loaded with worry, and they raked over her face carefully, making sure she wasn't going to bolt away again.
Marlene nodded, and bit her lip, gaze flickering up to meet his for half a second before she looked away swiftly,
"Here I am."
With his hands still round her waist, he sat back to get a better look at her and quirked one side of his mouth up into a small smirk.
Not smiling back, Marlene opened her mouth to say something,
"I'm fine now, you can go." She slid off his lap quickly, hyper aware that their position had been... interesting... and straightened her school skirt awkwardly, unsure of what to do now.
"I'm not going to leave you like this," Sirius insisted, "You're clearly not fine."
"I am!"
"You're not," he repeated, more firmly.
"Why do you even care about me?" Marlene snapped under her breath, face only a few inches from his, a small part of her brain knowing why he cared, another small part of her brain knowing she wanted him to care.
He raised an eyebrow, "Because one of us needs to."

The others, even though they were outside the dorm, were unashamedly listening in, and had abandoned discussing whether it was a good idea to let Sirius and Marlene fall in love - for that was what was happening, no one could deny it. Mary and Hestia had gone as far as pressing their ears to the crack at the bottom of the door in order to listen to the argument.

"I do care!" Marlene protested, blue eyes ablaze, "Just not about you." It was a bad lie, and she internally winced, avoiding his gaze.
"If you don't care about me, why are you still here?" Sirius challenged.
She inhaled sharply, forced into honesty when her heart took control of her mouth for a moment, "I want to care about you."

Looking at her again, head whipping round in surprise, he didn't notice that the dorm and their friends outside had fallen deathly silent, and that they were all waiting with bated breath for Sirius' response. He blinked, once, twice, opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. Silence. Deep breaths. A fearful look. Hestia was almost dying of impatience and Lily looked as of she might explode with happiness when Sirius finally spoke.
"Then care." he whispered, the sound so loud as the dreadful veil of silence was broken.

Marlene let out an extremely relieved breath, realising her hands had been shaking as she had waited. She wanted to care, she did, and it was obvious Sirius cared in return. Sirius' hands were still round her waist, and he tugged her forwards towards him in a quick movement, pressing his lips against hers without a moment's hesitation. Shocked, Marlene did the only thing she really wanted to do in that moment as kissed him back. Their bodies pressed against each other as Marlene responded and Sirius shifted his feet to compensate for Marlene pushing him up against the wall.

Remus whistled quietly, eyes wide, and James groaned, hitting his head against the door. The sudden silence emanating from the dorm, accompanied by tiny noises could only mean one thing to their listening friends, and Lily beamed happily, beckoning to Mary.
"Haha told you!" she crowed as Mary fished around in her pocket and drew out a galleon coin, throwing it to Lily.
"You were betting on this?" Hestia asked, amused.
Mary was also whacking her head quietly against the wall next to James, "Yes, I didn't believe Sirius would dare after Marlene flipped out. Stupid me..."
Ecstatic, Lily pocketed her money, patted Mary's head and motioned wildly towards the door, "Clearly you were wrong, Mare."
"Clearly," James repeated dryly.
Remus rolled his amber eyes at the girls' antics and headed quickly for the stairs, "Maybe we should leave them - our work here is done."
"And we don't want them catching us!" Peter added, looking hopefully at James to see if his comment was a good one.
They all complied, eager to leave the snogging couple behind them and Hestia covered a giggle.
"They have no self respect at all and if Padfoot hurts her I - Vance? What are you doing here?" James said angrily as he walked onto the stairs before flailing around and tripping over the 'banished' Gryffindor.
Emmeline looked flustered, and stood up, "Oh, nothing I was..."
"Listening in?" Hestia guessed accurately, her voice cold as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.
A few steps below her, Emmeline also narrowed her eyes, "No, I wasn't, I was trying to get into my dorm actually."
"Oh really?" Mary said, mimicking Hestia as the three Marauders shifted last the eminent cat fight to escape to the Common Room, silently levitating each other over the trick stairs.
"Yes, really," Emmeline said firmly, "I was. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
Pushing in between Hestia and Mary, she flicked her hair over one shoulder and rested her long fingernails on the handle of the door and turned around.
"Where's your little crying buddy?"
Lily smiled with glee, "In the dorm.
"With Sirius," Mary added sweetly.
"Snogging," Hestia finished.
The red-head smirked, "You're too late, Vance, sorry."
Emmeline stared at them agog for a short moment, before a dark, scary look settled on her face and she stalked into the room, leaving Mary, Hestia and Lily in the throes of uncontrollable laughter as they thought of Emmeline walking in on Sirius and Marlene making out. Leaning on each other for support, they managed somehow to get down the stairs, and collapsed onto the sofa crying with laughter, Lily holding her sides.
"My... My stitches..." She gasped, "I'm dying, oh Merlin!"
The boys looked confused, but James jumped up, "Your stitches? Are they okay? Are you hurting?"
Lily shook her head, tears of laughter streaming down her cheeks.
Hestia choked, and Mary curled up, laughing.
"Vance is, Vance is going into the dorm. Sirius, Marlene, Vance in there!" Hestia said through her chuckles, "Do you not find that funny?"
Remus cracked a smile, but Peter look confused and James just sighed.

Meanwhile, in the dorm, with Marlene and Sirius indeed still snogging, Emmeline stormed in and flatly refused to acknowledge the other occupants of the room. Grabbing her book of her bed side table before growling, she snatched up her essay as well so she didn't have to come back in that evening. When they broke apart, breathing heavily, she snarled.

"Do. You. Mind?" she said, looking at them with disgust.
They didn't have time to respond as she stormed out, slamming the heavy door behind her.
Sirius returned his gaze to Marlene, grinning,
"Do you think we pissed her off?
Giggling, Marlene looked up at him,
"Only a little bit..."
Jokes aside, Sirius was over the moon, with only one more question he needed to ask.
"So, do you care now?" he asked, voice quieter as his grin slipped away.
Marlene gazed at him nervously, and nodded while she played with the ends of her hair,
"Yeah, I think I do..."
"I'm very glad to hear it," he smiled, and kissed her softly, sure that they would go somewhere this time, not just back to where they started.
He really hoped not back to where they started.

Thank you for reading! Please review, you make little old me very happy indeed:3 Seriously though, this story has 27 followers which is amazing, but only a few of you review, which is not so amazing. I'll play a little game.

Number One: You review and I'll check out some of your work on here, and review it!

Number Two: You review and I will answer one question about the story you want to know, or a question about myself that doesn't give away personal information!

Next chapter is the funeral, and some more drama ;)