The little cabin she had taken refuge in was anything but home for her. She had become wary of the dark after everything that had happened, and no matter how many candles and lanterns she lit the cabin still felt dark. It was foreign and uncomfortable, and she was always cold. But it was better than the basement of Malfoy Manor where she had been for who knows how long.

Of course she knew how long. She was there for three months and eighteen days. She was released on November 2nd, 1981, two days after Voldemort's death, when the Malfoys decided that it was easier to just get rid of her than to explain her presence in their house to the Ministry officials who would come to investigate to see just how valid Lucius' claim was that he was Imperiused the whole time he was working with Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Did she believe it? Not in the slightest. It disgusted her how many Death Eaters were walking free after so many years of their torture towards Muggleborns, friends of Muggleborns, Muggles, Half-Bloods… anybody they deemed less than perfect.

That's why she'd taken it upon herself to do something about it on her own. If the Aurors weren't going to take them down, she would, or die trying.

She knew that the Aurors themselves had their hands tied by the law. She knew that there were certainly Aurors who would join her escapade if they were able to. Mad-Eye, for instance, would applaud her. He probably was, both silently and not-so-silently. He was always very crass and never hesitated to speak his mind. It was something she always admired about him.

She wondered how he was doing. She frequently wondered how they were all doing. Especially Sirius.

Sometimes she would consider writing to him, or trying to see him, but she knew it would be a horrible idea. Just look at her…

She stood in front of the dusty mirror above the sink, staring at her reflection. So many things had been done to her that she felt unrecognizable.

Her nose had become permanently crooked, thanks to Rodolphus Lestrange. He was offended that she had the nerve to talk back to Bellatrix early on in her stay at Malfoy Manor, and instead of using magic against her had just punched her in the face, breaking her nose and making her bleed everywhere. The Lestranges had laughed endlessly about it, and nobody ever fixed what was done to her. The closest anyone had come to caring for her was when Narcissa cleaned up her blood and made sure she ate food. She hadn't gone to St. Mungo's after she was let go, and she no longer cared enough to fix it herself.

Her left eye was scarred to the point that she could barely see out of it. That one was Bellatrix, who had cast a Cruciatus curse directly at her face and it had hit her square in the eye. Not to mention the broken glass that it had been exposed to over and over again.

Her hair was finally starting to grow back, but it was chunky. That one was Voldemort himself, who experimented on her with new spells he wanted to use. Some of them had their intended affects, like the one that made her lungs fill with blood, but some of them made her body react in ways that made the Dark Lord simply hum in disappointment and try again another time. The complete loss of her hair was one of those times, and it had never grown back.

She cried herself to sleep every night in the Manor, but that night was the worst. She had always been so proud of her hair. Curly and beautiful and the envy of all the girls in her year at Hogwarts. Sirius loved playing with it when they were alone together.

Sirius…

Sirius would never love her again. Not like before. She was too broken, too ugly, too far gone. Bellatrix had told her as much, for endless weeks while shoving her face into a broken mirror. She didn't want to believe her, but now she didn't see any way that Bellatrix could be wrong. She was indeed too broken, too ugly, and too far gone. She didn't have her gorgeous red hair, she didn't have her striking hazel eyes, and even her freckles didn't look the same.

She couldn't go back. She didn't deserve Sirius anymore. He didn't deserve what she had become.

Besides, does he even miss her?

"Sirius!"

Sirius was startled out of his nap by the loud sound of Frank bursting into his room. "Merlin's bloody trousers, Frank, what do you want?" He growled after stowing away the wand he reflexively pulled out.

"We found her!"

Any irritation Sirius had at the interruption was instantly gone. "Marlene?"

"We think so. We found where she's been, and we want you to come with when we go."

"Are we going right now?"

"Mad-Eye said whenever you want us to."

Sirius didn't even hesitate. "Right now."

"I thought so. We're already ready." Frank grinned.

A knock on her door almost sent her spiralling into a panic attack, but all her training under Mad-Eye, hoping like Sirius to become an Auror, instead sent her into her 'fight' mode, and she leapt towards the door from her uncomfortable chair with her wand drawn.

She figured that Death Eaters wouldn't just come knocking on her door. In fact, she was fairly certain it would not be Death Eaters. She feared more that it was the Ministry, or the Order, or…

"Marlene?"

A familiar voice called through the closed door, and she nearly vomited at the sound of it. "That's not my name!" She yelled in return.

There was a moment of silence before the voice responded. "Apologies. Maria?"

She hesitated before she blasted the door open with her wand, uncaring as to who she might hit with it.

The person on the other side seemed surprised enough to raise their eyebrows, but altogether unfazed by her choice to explode the door. "May I come in?" They asked calmly.

"What makes you think I want to talk to you?"

"I understand why you may not. But there are things we should discuss."

"Like what?" She snarled, but she took a step backwards.

The person took a step forwards towards her threshold. "Like your fiancé, Sirius Black?"

"What about him?" She took a step forwards instead, hoping to scare the person away, but they didn't budge. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say about him!"

"You will. He's been raising Harry, and with the help of Gellert Grindelwald."

"I read the news." She spat. "I don't care what he does."

"You would care to know that he's been brainwashed and Imperiused by Gellert into thinking that he's never done anything wrong, and that he's plotting against the Order. Now please, may I come in?"

She hesitated before lowering her wand. "Make it quick, Professor Dumbledore."

A/N: This is kind of a two-part chapter, so the other one will be up by the end of Sunday. Stay safe folks!