Marlene McKinnon

August had spent the afternoon in London. He had loved Hogsmede, but it was lacking a proper grocery. And he had no access to a garden, and always felt food he had magically conjured had tasted….well… not great. He had charmed his rucksack to maintain the integrity of anything placed in it, allowing him to travel to London, shop, and return home with still fresh and frozen foods, to be put away in his very very small kitchen. Maybe he could charm his cupboards too. 

He was making his way back home, when he realized exactly how hungry he was. Instead of stopping, he walked while unslinging his bag and digging through it to find a snack. When he had been glancing over the odd assortment of “candy” a kind nomaj had suggested that this yank try some winegums. He agreed, and now searched for the bag of gummys. When he felt his hand find purchase, he pulled his arm from the bag, just as he about collided with someone.

“Oh, I am so sorry” he said, dropping the bag of supposed sweets to the ground. “I really am a klutz, are you ok?” he said, quickly stooping down to grab the bag and throwing it back into his bag. “I should really watch were I am going, but I was so hungry for a snack I lost all sense” he chuckled, his eyes squinting a bit. 

***

“Honestly don’t worry about it,” Marlene chuckled, waving off the apology. “Snacks are a very valid distraction. I just wasn’t paying attention.” 

Unlike most people she encountered in Hogsmeade, the man in front of her wasn’t someone she recognised. With the combination of that and his accent, it felt reasonably safe to conclude that he wasn’t a Hogwarts alum. He seemed nice enough though, at least from her first impression of him; the hunger for sweets gave him a lot of points.

“I’m Marlene,” she smiled by way of introduction. “I went to school near here so I’m going to blame nostalgia for the lack of watching where I’m going.” 

It had taken a while, but Mary was finally starting to regain stock for the apothecary slowly. Dumbledore had been very generous to her, providing her with enough orders to make up for the losses. She had just finished making her most recent delivery, so she figured that she could treat herself to a quick visit to Hogsmeade. She considered potentially moving her shop to the village near the castle, but she knew that Marius would never allow it and she didn’t have enough funds to start all over again.

She was looking around the storefronts when she nearly ran into someone. “No worries,” she said chuckling before looking up to see the familiar face. Her face lit up as she saw who it was. “Marls! What are you doing here?” Mary asked.

***

Immediately the apologetic expression on Marlene’s face cleared, replaced instead with a bright grin as she reached out to greet her friend with a hug. With everyone having graduated and moved onto the next chapters of their lives, it wasn’t always easy to find time to meet up. Work, and in some cases families, kept them all so busy. Running into someone was therefore a very welcome surprise.

 “We got let out of work early!” she explained, still beaming as she stepped back from the embrace. “We’ve been doing a lot of overtime since the attack. Now that things are settling down and getting back on track, they decided we’d earned it. And I haven’t had the chance to come here for a while, figured it’d be a nice change of pace.” 

Lost in her memories she rounded a bend in the street to head towards the Three Broomsticks, and it was only her sharp reflexes which kept her from crashing into someone. “Sorry!” 

He chewed his tongue in annoyance. Avery wasn’t friendly at the best of times and he felt forced into this conversation by his damn over-excitable dog. “Two years. I’ve had him since he was a puppy. He thinks he’s still a puppy.” He repeated to Ash, now in a firmer voice, “Come on,” and the dog started to chase his tail, spoilt between Marlene’s pets and being with Avery. “Fucking hell.”

***

“Aww, you are a puppy, aren’t you boy?” she grinned, laughing as she watched the dog spin around after his tail. “Just a very overgrown one!” Still smiling she stood, pulling her gaze away from the dog to turn her attention to his owner. “I’ve always wanted a dog. Never really been in a position to have one though.” Well, not a real one, anyway. “Work always kept my parents too busy, and now it keeps me too busy.” 

Sometimes it was difficult for Sirius to fully accept that they were together, he had been years waiting, hoping that maybe one day…. And here they were, and as he had always known, Marlene was just about the only person who was able to lift his spirits when he was completely down.  She always had been, but in the past he hadn’t always felt like he should go to her all the time.  He let his eyes fall shut as he pressed another kiss to the top of her head, taking in Marlene’s scent, which was so familiar to him. 

His hold around her tightened again for a moment, “Your off tomorrow right?” Sirius was definitely not the sort of guy that needed to have someone with him all the time, but right now he knew it was better to admit, to at least Marls that he needed someone, well actually he needed her. “Do we have a microwave?”  He asked suddenly, “Didn’t even think of that.” Although a laugh fell from his lips, he wasn’t quite ready to pull away because he knew that as soon as Marlene looked into his eyes, she would see his pain.  

***

“I was meant to be...” Marlene sighed, teeth worrying at her lower lip. She had taken the day off, wanting to be there for Sirius, but that was before the attack. “They want us all in early for an hour or so for a briefing.” It made sense. After what had happened, they needed to regroup and discuss what had happened. Who had been injured, or worse, and what the plan was going forwards. “I’ll be able to come home after that, though. I’m sorry.” Another sigh slipped from her as she rested her head against his chest. The life of an Auror was never going to be easy, but these moments, where she found herself torn between duty and heart, were some of the hardest. 

Pulling her head back just enough to look up at him she arched a brow, managing a small laugh despite the circumstances. “That big square thing in the kitchen? That would be the microwave,” she teased, a soft smile on her lips despite the concern written into the rest of her expression. “Come on. I’ll get dinner sorted if you want to pick some music?” 

“No, no, don’t you fucking—piç.”

There was nothing more annoying than when he had to bring his dog to the veterinarian. Usually, when Avery walked Ash, it was out on the isolated hills of the Isle of Harris and so he forgot just how friendly the labradane was with other people. In a way that made Ash a startling contrast to his owner. Avery continued to swear under his breath as the dog tore away from him to say hello to somebody new. “Just push him off. Ash, come on.”

​

“No, don’t worry, he’s fine!” Marlene laughed, bending down to give the dog a seemingly appreciated scratch behind his ears. “You’re just saying hello, aren’t you buddy?” Another laugh spilled from her before she glanced up to the man, a face she recognised from being a couple of years ahead of her at school but wasn’t overly familiar with. “He’s an awesome dog. Have you had him long?” 

Alice couldn’t imagine a world where hurting someone could make sense. At least, unprovoked. Sure, she could justify it if someone came after them, but this attack felt so aimless. Nothing more than to drive terror to society as a whole. Perhaps she was used to people getting along or seeing the good in the world. Being faced with the ugliness the world could be made her heart sink.

“I’m hopeful we can make a difference. I’m just worried about the people we are going to lose in the process,” she replied. “How many lives have to be taken or ruined before we can stop it? The kids who are affected by this? Who have to grow up with it?”

“We will,” Marlene nodded, her tone thankfully conveying more confidence than she really felt in that moment. While her belief in that never really waned, such incidents always made it falter slightly, if only for a moment or two. 

“I don’t know how long it’ll take. I wish I did but... I don’t.” The truth was, the war could extend beyond their lifetimes, even if they didn’t fall in battle. It wasn’t an appealing thought, but a war ongoing was better than a war lost, especially if the outcome resulted in as much suffering as this one would. “And we’ve been those kids growing up with it. This has been brewing since we were children, it was just easier for the adults to conceal it back then.” Now, with attacks more commonplace, it would be a different story. “Kids are surprisingly resilient, though. They’ll be okay, as long as they have the right people around them.” 

Sirius managed a playful sort of pout when Marls told him she hadn’t brought in any food.  It was pretty shocking that he didn’t have a chunkier frame, considering how much he would eat, at least when he did eat.  At this point, he hadn’t eaten since before the attack, it must have slipped his mind, he had also chosen sleep over it.  “Ahh the effort.”  Sirius said with a cheeky smile. Sometimes it was surprising, even to Sirius himself how easily he could appear to be just fine, when he was anything but. It was something that he and his cousins all had in common, hiding their true feelings well.   Though, with Marlene as company, he probably wouldn’t hold out as long as he would with anyone else. 

Feeling an instant sense of relief when Marls kissed him, he realised just how much he had needed it. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her into a hug, which he had also needed.  Ever since they were kids, even Marls’ scent gave Sirius comfort and he closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the smile fading from his lips.  There was really point in pretending, and honestly he didn’t really have the energy to do so.  Tightening his hold on her slightly, Sirius sighed, not quite ready for the hug to end. 

“Not great, but better after this, I really needed it.”

There was no resistance from Marlene as Sirius pulled her closer, and she immediately melted into the embrace, feeling the remaining tension from the day slide away. “I know. Me too,” she admitted with a soft sigh, her head resting on his chest, more than content to remain that way for a while longer. Physical contact was never something she objected to, and after a day like this it was something she not only wanted but needed. He was real, and alive, and gave her something to hold onto in a world full of uncertainty and death. She could only hope that she was able to provide equal comfort for him.

“I’ll go and raid the cupboards in a minute,” she continued, still not pulling away quite yet. “I’m sure there’s something in there that won’t require too much effort to prepare! One of those Muggle microwave meals, maybe?” While the magical world was easier in a lot of ways, Muggles had certainly come up with a trick or two of their own which Marlene had taken a liking to. 

“I don’t understand how anyone can be so hateful, you know? Willing to hurt and…” she stopped short of saying the word kill. That was the one thing she could never understand. How someone could get angry and hateful enough over someone’s existence that they can kill anyone. No one of importance. Just someone at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Alice looked over to Marlene, but failed to let herself make any eye contact. “What if we can’t actually stop any of this, you know? We didn’t lose any of our friends this time, but…” She looked over to Marlene. Alice knew she had to try to be brave, but she would be lying if she wasn’t worried.

“Neither do I but... I guess in their twisted minds it somehow makes sense.” Or maybe it didn’t, at least not to all of them. While she was sure some had their reasons, ridiculous and misguided as they were, she had a feeling that some were simply sheep, blindly following the pack. 

“We can’t afford to think like that, Alice,” she sighed, teeth worrying at her lower lip for a moment. “We’ve got to believe that what we’re doing will make a difference. That all of this will be worth it in the end. If we don’t...” Trailing off, she shrugged. “I know it’s hard. But we have to keep our hope.” 

Sirius had spent all of his teenage years wishing that he could be good enough to be with Marlene, to believe that even if she felt the same he would be able to give her everything she deserved.  It had been almost a year now, since they had finally got together and he still spent a vast majority of their days together feeling like he was the luckiest guy that ever existed.  This past week was the first time that real life managed to sneak up on him and take that young and in love sensation and completely knock it on its head with something else. Almost like real life was saying, ‘i’m still here, and have some shit to prove it.’    Mind you, he still hadn’t quite managed to shake the feeling of his heart skipping a beat everytime he heard Marls come home.  It actually managed to evoke a small smile from him as he lay on the sofa. He had lost his brother, but he had Marlene. 

Though he hadn’t been injured severely enough to be worthy of a trip to St Mungo’s, his ribs still ached as he slowly moved to stand from his laying position. One of those hooded twats had chosen to fight Sirius without magic, which Sirius sometimes preferred if he was being honest and although he definitely won, the arsehole he had fought had managed to kick Sirius to the ground at one point.  Managing to stand just before Marls entered the living room, his face lit up just at the sight of her.  “Please tell me you’ve brought food.”  Sirius said with a playful grin as he slowly walked towards her.  He knew that she would see past his thinly veiled attempt to not talk about what was going on, but he would also need a prompt to start. 

As he got closely, his brown eyes started to scan her face, he had been so tired the night of the attacks he hadn’t managed to fully check her over.  “Are you alright? How was work? Moody is gonna punch me into next week if i miss another training session.”

“No,” she chuckled, shaking her head as she shrugged her jacket off and dropped it on the back of a chair. “There’s a lot of food in the cupboards.” Perhaps she could have done with getting something on her way home, if only so that they didn’t have to worry about cooking. But then that was one of the perks of magic; it didn’t take nearly as much time or effort as it did for muggles. “Plus I was more concerned with getting home to see you, so I wasn’t really thinking about food.” 

There was always a part of her that worried about Sirius in some way, just as anyone worried about a loved one in these times, but the news of Regulus’ death had given her cause to be more concerned than usual. No matter what had happened between the two brothers in years past, they were still brothers.

“I’m okay,” she assured him, arms looping up and around his neck as she pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Work was... fine, but long. There was a lot to do even after... well, you know. And there’ll still be more to do tomorrow.” That could wait until then, though. Now that she was home, all she wanted to do was switch off for a little and focus on better things. “How are you?” 

Perhaps if she thought with her brains instead of her heart Alice would realize that wallowing in a puddle of her own self-pity and tears was not productive. But, having a heart so big made it hard for her brain to take over. One of her first times out for training and there was nothing, but chaos. Sure, she realized what she was getting into when she signed up to be a part of Auror training. It did not make witnessing it any easier.

She poked her lunch absentmindedly with a fork. Alice thought out loud to herself, “No one should have died.” After a second or two, she corrected herself, “No one needed to die. Not for whatever this is.”

​

“I know,” Marlene sighed, her own lunch sitting untouched in front of her almost as if it was a prop rather than actual food. The attack had hardly been the first she had participated in, but that didn’t really make it easier to cope with. Yes, she was less shaken than she used to be, but she was still affected.

“That’s why we’re doing this though, right?” she shrugged, jaw set tight with determination. “So that one day this stuff doesn’t happen? So no more lives have to be lost for something that shouldn’t even be a point of contention?”

It was late by the time Marlene finally called it a night. Well, more accurately she was told to call it a night. There were still things that would need doing tomorrow, her supervisor had said, and she would be far more capable of helping with those things efficiently if she’d had some rest. 

The initial reluctance she had felt at leaving dissipated whilst she was on her way home, as thoughts of the attack and its aftermath shifted aside to make way for other thoughts. Specifically, thoughts of Sirius. He would be at hers, she was certain of that, and her pace quickened a little until she reached one of the apparition points. Moments later she was standing outside her front door, turning the key in the lock and stepping inside.

“Sirius?” she called out, locking the door behind her and dropping the keys on the nearby table. “I’m home.”

- Has their allegiance changed or has it grown stronger?

Every day that Marlene sees how the actions of the Death Eaters are affecting innocent people, it strengthens her determination to put a stop to them.

- What has led them to be on the side they’re on?  (familial ties, personal choice etc)

Despite being purebloods, Marlene’s family never cared for pureblood supremacy and as such those values were never instilled into her. She was taught that who people are matters a lot more than their blood status. 

- Where do they see themselves after the war?

With Sirius. That’s the one thing she’s sure of right now. 

- What does your character hope to achieve during the war?

She’s not so naive as to believe that stopping the war will suddenly end all prejudices. She knows that there will always be people who see purebloods as superior, but she hopes that the condemnation will at least be lessened. 

- If your character could speak to a younger version of themselves, what do you think they would say?

Stay true to yourself. 

- What are some new or unshared head canons you have for your character?

It was funny how time could pass so slowly yet so quickly. It hardly seemed like yesterday that she and Sirius had finally admitted how they felt about each other, yet at the same time it felt like they had been together for years. Perhaps that’s because, in a way, they had. The closeness between them had always existed, and adding things such as kissing into the mix just felt natural. As did making pancakes in the morning after Sirius had spent the night, though then again that had been something that happened even when they were just friends. Sort of. Back then, she wouldn’t have been wearing one of Sirius’ shirts which was practically a dress on her.

“I need to remember to grab some more flour later,” she chuckled, glancing over her shoulder as she prepared the batter. “According to my cupboards, we’ve been using a lot of it!”

“Yeah, I think they both would…” Trailing off as he couldn’t help but laugh, because he knew that not even a week ago, he was doing exactly the same thing, denying any and all feelings.  “But if we can work out, I’m pretty confident that they will too, you know…eventually….after alot of denial and pretending.” Another easy laugh left his lips as he shook his head.  “I don’t really understand why they aren’t together honestly.”

“Listen, I’m not saying it’s not going to be effective…. I was just wondering.”  His smirk widening slightly as he spoke. Tilting his head slightly, as he raised a hand to brush the hair from Marlene’s face with his palm.  “As much as I want to keep this just for us for a while, I also can’t wait to tell people who my girlfriend is.”  Sirius knew that they would have to put up with all the told you so’s and we knew it, but for now it was nice to just be.  

“They will,” Marlene nodded confidently. “I mean they’ve done better than us, right? At least admitted that there was something there for a bit even if they’re back in the denial phase?” Unlike her and Sirius who had evidently spent the last few years just dancing around each other, each thinking their feelings were unrequited. “They’ll be okay. It’s just a matter of time, and I’m sure we can try and prod things along in the right direction.” 

She chuckled, blushing lightly at the way Sirius brushed her hair from her face. “Yeah. This is nice for now but it’s gonna be pretty great when everyone finally knows. We don’t have to find ways to try and sneak off without making anyone suspicious.” Though she had to admit, it did bring a certain element of fun to the whole thing. 

“Oh, did you... did you send me flowers today?” It seemed like a very un-Sirius thing to do, but she wanted to make sure before she said anything else.