Prologue:
My name is Marlene Mckinnon. This is my story. The story of how I lived. How I loved. And how I died.
I wish I could say that my story was all happy. It ends with my death though, so how can that be entirely happy? Sometimes I used to dream that things were different, that I wasn't Marlene Mckinnon, that I was normal. The thing is, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.
I was born into a war. As I grew older it kept getting worse. People kept dying all around. I was safe since I was a pureblood. Or at least, that's what my parents had thought.
That safety net fell when I was sorted into Gryffindor. For as long as it dates back, Mckinnons had always been in Ravenclaw. Sure there were a few Slytherins or Hufflepuffs married into the family, but never Gryffindor. Bravery may be admired in other families, but the Mckinnons liked to hide instead of participate in anything major. To say that I had suddenly become the black sheep of the family was an understatement. Hardly anyone would speak to me, not even my own parents.
To top it off, I befriended a muggleborn named Lily Evans. That sent my family through the roof. They believed that you must keep everything pure-from relationships to friendships. For their daughter to be a Gryffindor and a blood traitor was an outrage. I spent my holidays either at Hogwarts or locked away in my room, where no one would have to look at me.
Everything changed my seventh year at Hogwarts.
