Unlikely Allies,
Chapter 34,
"Thank you," Marlene told the elf sincerely. Jackdaw nodded. He gave her a slight bow, then Apparated away without a word.
"Miss McKinnon? Good evening." Dumbledore cleared his throat as he glanced up from a magazine on his desk.
"Hi. That the Muggle actress again," Marlene wondered, giving him a cheerful smile.
"It is called People," Albus said.
"Yeah, and she's a person," Marlene noted sagely.
"Is there a particular reason for your visit," the Headmaster asked.
"Well, yeah," Marlene said after a moment of thought. "I was really drunk. I threw up, then Rabbit had Jackdaw Apparate me in here because he didn't want me walking across the grounds on my own all drunk. He's a real gentleman. Please don't take house points, Headmaster. I've probably displeased my friends enough and this entire situation was due to emotional issues. You know, those that come along with trying to help everyone."
A flicker of sadness and sympathy crossed Dumbledore's face and he sighed. "Though I cannot afford to get drunk, I do find myself relating, Miss McKinnon. No house points shall be lost. Just don't make a habit of this behavior. It is your final year and you are a good student who is truly doing a great deal to help others so I shall overlook your late and drunken return this one time. In fact, I would even give house points to Gryffindor for all you've done to save lives, but it could risk drawing the wrong attention to you."
Marlene nodded in understanding. "Yes, and we can't have that. Thank you, Headmaster." She smiled. "It's good to be appreciated, and that's enough." Her gaze wandered around the room a bit aimlessly until it landed on the chair across the desk from Dumbledore's own. As it looked quite comfortable and she wasn't nearly sober enough yet to return to her common room without gaining some unwanted notice from her housemates, she sank into it with a sigh. "I don't know that getting drunk helped," she admitted. "In fact, it may have made it worse."
Dumbledore nodded. "Such is often the case. It's a good thing that you discovered as much at an early age."
"Yes Sir," Marlene said, nodding back. "I threw up, and that was disgusting, then it made Bella throw up, then I told Rabbit that I loved him, and I probably really shouldn't have done that, then to make matters worse he said it back!" Dumbledore gave a confused frown, lifting his brows in a silent question at the same time. Was that normal? "It just really complicates matters," Marlene explained.
"How so? Is it because he's a Lestrange," Dumbledore asked. "You know I never believed they were as bad as everyone else did in spite of everything. When you said that you foresaw them turning on their lord, I wasn't at all surprised."
"No, not that," Marlene said. "I mean I'll probably lose friends over it, but oh well. If it has to be that way, it does. They won't have been my real friends."
Dumbledore smiled, nodding in approval. "Good on you. Such things do tend to put our real friends to the test, but that isn't always a bad thing."
"It's about my family being in danger if I uproot them to move to France just because I want to be with Rabbit. It feels selfish."
"We are talking about Rabastan, yes," Dumbledore queried and Marlene nodded.
"Yep. I don't know what to do, Headmaster. What do you suggest? Because I'll at least think about it."
"Well you can't be certain that your family shall remain out of danger no matter what you do, so you may wish to keep that in mind," Dumbledore said. "As for Rabastan, the reason I always believed that the Lestranges weren't truly evil is the simple fact that true evil can not love and they all love one another very fiercely. They are a tight knit group and clearly have as much love and family loyalty as anyone else. I believe if you choose him, Rabastan Lestrange will be very loyal to you."
Marlene smiled. "Bella held my hair and stayed with me while I was sick tonight so her too. She'll be a good sister. And Rod is a good older brother most of the time. He was a bit insensitive about the throwing up tonight, but Bella let him have it." She gave a fond chuckle at the memory. "My family, though. If anything happens to them, I can't live with that. I just wish I knew the safer action to take."
"Well how have you learned what was safe thus far? Have you looked?"
Marlene stared, feeling quite stupid. "No. Not really. I mean I haven't tried. I should do that." Then she realized why she hadn't. "Then again what if I can't see anything, but there is still something to see?" Panic suddenly rose in her chest at the thought. "I mean I'm not the best or anything, I've just started. What if I see something but it's wrong. What if..."
"What if you don't try and wish you had," Dumbledore interrupted gently. His steady blue eyes were kind and somehow they made Marlene trust in herself a bit more. A bit but not close to enough.
"But what if I look and see something wrong or don't see it at all, and do the wrong thing? What if I get people killed?" Her words poured out in a rush. "I could just stay here and if Rabbit and I are intended to be together, it will work out someday with my family remaining safely alive and out of all this crazy-madness."
"Why do you call him Rabbit?"
"You really don't want to know," Marlene assured firmly, and Dumbledore choked a little.
"As for the rest," he hurried on, "Life is a risk, Miss McKinnon. You must resign yourself to that if you are to continue to live it. If you take no action at all, something else could happen and your family could still be in danger. Perhaps first you should look into what will happen if you remain behind, then go from there with looking into what will happen if you tell your family and leave with the Lestranges, bringing them along."
Marlene hesitated, but knowing he was right, she nodded, letting out a deep breath. "Okay but will you be there with me? I... I just don't know if I can do it alone. I don't even know why and that sounds stupid, but I start to freak out at the very thought... Like perhaps like I'll see something dreadful and I don't want to be alone for it."
Dumbledore nodded. "Of course I will."
He really was a nice guy, Marlene thought. And that wasn't just the drink talking either. Extending her hand, she conjured her ball, then realized that this may not have been the best idea in the world. Drunk conjuring could've very well concluded with a shattered crystal ball, which would've been rather vexing. She liked this ball and had gotten rather attached to it. She didn't really want to start over with another. Kreacher had picked out this ball, she recalled, cradling the round crystal in her palms where it seemed to nest perfectly.
Kreacher. She was almost fond of him at times, the insane little shit. Staring into the ball she silently asked what would happen if she remained behind. The stone swirled, or was that her eyes spinning? Suddenly, she felt her mind being drawn into the scene that unfolded within the crystal's depths.
Marlene joined the Order of the Phoenix to do what she could to help thin Voldemort's ranks. It would keep Rabbit and the rest safe. It at least went a step in that direction at any rate, and it kept her from going mad while she just waited. But something happened and Voldemort discovered that she'd once helped his favorites to realize what he was and escape him. He sent several Death Eaters to kill her and her entire family.
Letting out a cry, she felt the ball slipping from her hands. Dumbledore muttered a word as he leapt to his feet to catch her. Whatever the word was kept her precious ball floating in mid air so it didn't shatter on the floor. She hastily caught it as the Headmaster's hands on her shoulders righted her in her seat. "Sorry. I'm super drunk and what I saw really wasn't pretty. I joined the order and Voldemort killed my family anyway," she muttered miserably. "It's so ugly seeing things like that."
Dumbledore gave that complaint a sympathetic chuckle. "I can imagine, yes. Would you like some tea? A candy perhaps?"
She shook her head. "Nothing that simple is going to fix this, but thank you, Sir. I suppose I'd better look into talking to my family and going to France next." Did she feel like doing that right now after seeing something so dreadful? No. What if she saw something worse? Her mind was rather tired of self-inserted horror at the moment, but knowing that there was no choice, she went for it anyway. Staring into the ball, she asked to see what would happen if the McKinnon family went to France.
Everyone was happy. They laid low until Marlene's father got a job via an old school friend's family connections. It entailed working for an underground importing exporting organization and then the entire family got involved and began making a lot of money. The family included Rabbit's family because he and Marlene had gotten married. Regulus and Kreacher did a lot of traveling due to the importing and exporting, so they were able to live an independent life as they chose to live it without family interference.
Marlene felt much better as she lowered her crystal ball and smiled over at Dumbledore. "That one looks far better. And it gives me something good to tell my family about when it comes to why we should move. We're going to make a lot of money in France!" She chuckled. "My sister Mildred, who probably has the soul of a goblin, will especially love that bit."
And so it happened, Dear Reader, just as Marlene saw it unfold. They all moved to France and became rich and happy. Harry Potter grew up happily in Australia with two loving parents. One day he returned with an item more powerful than the Elder wand that he helped to craft and ended Voldemort once and for all with this weapon that destroyed a person and any Horcruxes that happened to be linked to them. This allowed for a better world with happier more sane Muggles so there was no Jegulus written.
It was indeed a better world for all, Muggles and wizards alike. It is a nice dream from the perspective of our own Marlene McKinnon, but all dreams must come to an end. For a more realistic though still vastly amusing take, why not visit our other stories also uploaded here and check out Diary of a Mad Man, narrated from the POV of Rodolphus Lestrange.
Sadly everything canon happens as Potter sees it at any rate, but everyone important somehow makes it out alive regardless including Marlene and the Lestranges. They do need a very good shrink, though and fortunately they have one. So to learn how Marlene didn't meet her end as the Order believed she did, check out Rod's story as every mad man needs a diary as well as good people to read it.
If you're more in the mood for novel length, you could start with Regulus's story, The Search Is Over, in which Marlene is mentioned, then follow it up with the Lestranges' interactions with The Cursed Child in their book, Bad Romance. Then Marlene reappears in the followup to that, Pure-blood Squared, The Heirs of House Black, currently in progress. These also keep to canon, at least as Harry Potter saw it, while fixing plot holes and expanding on some interesting concepts.