the original sin

Marlene was silent again. She stared down at the ground below them, biting her lip. It was a stupid question: of course he was a target. If Bella knew that then Marlene’s suspicions were confirmed; Bella was definitely established on the opposite side of the war. Yet here they were, sitting beside each other. She sensed that Bella wasn’t quite reassured by her promise and in a way, Marlene couldn’t blame her. She’d been in the hospital wing more times this year than she had in the rest of her schooling life. She’d slacked off and she’d underestimated her opponents. But she realised that now and if she wanted any chance of being eligible for Auror training by the end of ehr seventh year, she needed to work her arse off.

Bella shifted uncomfortably. She knew well that she shouldn't be having this conversation. She knew that if it ever got back to anyone of importance she would pay dearly. And the brevity of it all hit her suddenly. It was the explanation for why those on the other side didn't see the war as any great importance. They had no force that was pushing them to obey, to adhere and enforce. Not yet, anyway.

Marlene blinked. She stared at Bellatrix for a couple seconds, waiting for the laugh or the ‘Hah! Got you’. But it never came; Bellatrix was being serious. Marlene never expected those words to come of of Bella’s mouth. Well, she'd actually had no idea what Bella was going to request from her, but it certainly wasn’t looking out for Sirius. Up until now, she was sure Bella despised her cousin. There was lots of things she used to assume about Bellatrix.

Bella felt no relief when Marlene's solemn promise fell. She was just a girl herself, weak and dumb. She was bold, and possessed a courage worthy of envy, but she was nothing compared to the forces she'd surely go against. Bella knew well how fickle Marlene could be; knew many of her weaknesses as well as she knew her own, and knew that that would play into her favor someday. When it came dow to it, she'd be no match for the death eaters. They'd wipe her out as if she'd never been there in the first place, wiping the blood from their hands with a satisfied smirk. If a little pure blood must be spilled to purify the future generations it would be worth it -- even if that included Marlene.

Marlene’s face sobered up. “We all have to die someday" she replied. She opened her mouth to disagree with Bella on the nature of Hogwarts, but then stopped. The reason she had a much more favourable opinion of the place was because for a few years it had been so much better than going to her own home. Winter Break was usually the only holiday she was happy to come home because over Christmas it wasn’t so bad. “Hogwarts has it’s downs, but I guess I don’t see it as bad because Hogwarts has been the only home I’ve known where it didn’t feel like I was intruding." she said after a moment, sticking the cigarette back in her mouth.. She wasn’t quite sure why she’d opened up to Bella like that. She’d long since accepted that there were more similarities than differences between the two of them but she didn’t think ‘friends’ was quite the right word to describe their relationship.

Her heart was tired. That was simply the best description at this point. She was exhausted. The last year had completely and utterly managed to drain nearly all of her emotion and had left her tired. In the last weeks of school, she'd sealed the last few deals and bargains she had, crossed her t's and dotted her i's. She had tied all of her loose ends. Except for one.

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