July, 31, 1981

Marlene Mckinnon returned to her flat in Paris from the hospital around five in the evening.

After eating the takeout dinner that she had bought on the way back, she sat down to write a letter to Lily and James to send with Harry's birthday gift.

Her godson had turned one today and as much as she wanted to be with him today, she knew that it won't be safe for them. So she decided to spoil him with a number of soft toys that she knew he would love to play with.

She completed that letter and tied it to the package that contained the shrunken stag and doe soft toys and sent the parcel to England with her owl, Adolf.

She kept staring out of the window; even when the owl became a tiny speck in the sky and then vanished completely; thinking about her day at the hospital, Pierre Bonaccord Hospital of Magical Injuries and Maladies, France.

Today she had completed two years of the three year healer training. Just one more year and she would be Healer Marlene McKinnon.

She thought back to the day when she had decided to leave everything in Britain and pursue her ambition to become a healer here, in France.

He father, Marcus McKinnon had completely denied to support her decision when she had first mentioned it to him just after her graduation. He had told her that going to France to study healing was a really stupid choice, which was probably true because even though France had a good healer training program, it wasn't better than the one provided in St. Mungo's. But a lot had happened during her last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that had made her realize that her friends and family were not going to be there for her all the time. She needed to learn to be on her own, to be independent. So she fought with her father and applied for the training. She gave the entrance exam and qualified it with flying colours. She even got a scholarship to fund her residential expenses along with a significant amount of stipend that she started getting from her second year. Her father was very proud after that and had agreed with her only when she promised that she would be careful all the time.

Marlene moved from the window and went to her room. She had to pack her stuff before leaving for home tomorrow. She had a 15 days vacation before she had to start her third year.

As much as she loved staying in France and being on her own, she had missed her friends and family and couldn't wait to be with them. But as soon as she opened her wardrobe, the pile of clothes that she had stuffed in it in hurry two days ago, fell on top her. Marlene groaned as she tumbled a little with the weight.

"Packing will have to wait, I guess," she scoffed. She kept the clothes on her bed and looked around her room. Marlene Mckinnon was the last person one would expect to keep her room clean and she really hated it at times like these i.e. when she had to clean it. But there was no use to stall it anymore. As soon as she could finish cleaning and complete her packing, she could go to bed. She hadn't slept last night so she really needed to sleep tonight before catching her early morning portkey tomorrow.

She sighed and started working.

After an hour or so, when she had almost completed her room and just had the lower shelf of her cupboard left, she found it. Her scrapbook. She had had it since her childhood and had pasted the pictures of all her friends and family in it but she hadn't worked on it since last year after Harry's birth.

She opened the first page to find an year old baby girl wrapped in her father's arm. She smiled looking at the picture. She loved her father a lot. Even though he disagreed with her at times, he loved her like no one else. And Marlene knew that her Dad was the best father in the world. He had told her that it was one of her first pictures as the wizarding photography was not very common at the time of her birth. Nevertheless, it was her most favourite.

She turned the page to find a picture with both of her parents. Her mother Grace McKinnon was a really beautiful women. Marlene loved her mother but she was never close to her. They rarely agreed on anything. And Grace's belief that Marlene should find friends just among girls and not boys was something that she could neither understand nor apply in her life.

Then there was one with her Uncle Simon, who was like a second father to her, even though he could never take her Dad's place in her life.

He never married but loved Marlene and her brothers just like his own children.

Next was a picture, with all her brothers. Marlene had three brothers, Jacob(26), Leo(24) and Miller(23). Leo was the coolest and her favourite. She liked Jacob too but she fought the most with Miller. But she loved all of them the same.

Then there was a picture of Marlene with Oliver and Remus just outside Remus' new cottage. She was five at that time.

Oliver Potter or Redfur or Ollie for Marlene was her childhood best friend and her fourth brother in all but blood. He was James Potter's cousin. His father Charlus Potter was her Dad's best friend and neighbor. Charlus was also an Auror. Being neighbors and the closest in age then any of their brothers and sisters, Oliver and Marlene had spent most of their childhood and Hogwarts years together. Just like Marlene, Oliver had also wanted to be a Healer but with the war growing and the need of the Aurors increasing everyday, he had opted to be a healer for the Auror Office. It was an extremely hard choice but Oliver was brilliant as well as hardworking so Marlene knew that he would ace it. His training was tougher than her's and he rarely got time these days. In fact she hadn't spoken to him in about a month, Marlene realised with a jolt.

I really need to visit home often. She sighed and turned the page.

Next was a picture of her, Meghan and James, which Euphemia Potter had clicked on Meghan's eleventh birthday party. Meghan Potter was James' elder sister. She was four years older than Marlene and was in Miller's year at Hogwarts. She was as much an elder sister to Marlene as she was to James. With all the boys in Marlene's life, it was a much needed change. Meghan now had a three year old daughter called Isabella who adored Marlene. Marlene loved dressing her up into fancy clothes whenever she got time.

Then there was a group picture of all the Potters, the Lupins and the Mckinnons. It was clicked on the New Years eve just before James and Remus went to Hogwarts at the party at Charlus and Dora Potter's place i.e. at the Potter Mansion. It had Hope, Dora, Grace and Euphemia sitting on the couch in the living room as their respective husbands stood behind them; Meghan and Marlene sat on the armrests; Miller, Leo, Oliver and Jacob occupied the floor in front of the ladies; James stood beside Marlene while Remus stood beside Meghan. Uncle Simon was not in the picture because he was the one who clicked it. It was a very rare occasion when the Lupins had joined them after a lot of cajoling from Uncle Simon. Everybody was very happy that day, Marlene remembered, with no war over their heads and Fleamont and Euphemia still alive.