1981 » The Marauders Era

five ; in trouble (again)

"Remind me how Frank Longbottom, of all people, could own a place like this," Sirius said, as himself, Lily, James, Remus and Peter walked up an old, stone staircase leading up to a magnificent grand house. It was time for the annual party that the graduating Hogwarts students of 1978 decided to throw. The year prior, Remus had taken the responsibility of throwing the party and Mrs Lupin's living room was never the same.

"I'm pretty sure Alice said it's Frank's uncle's house. He's the head of some kind of department at the Ministry." Lily replied to Sirius. She was holding onto James' arm as he lead the them into the house. The group had brushed up pretty nicely, the boys were dressed in matching suits and Lily wore a simple but flattering loose green dress, which complimented her eyes nicely.

They entered through the large glass doors at the front of the house, greeted by Alice. She smiled at them sweetly and hugged Lily tightly as she thanked them all for attending, especially after the news of the prophecy, which had spread to the others members of the Order in the last few weeks.

"Where's Frank?" Remus asked.
"Oh, he's off with some Ministry people," Alice replied, "He's trying to impress them, I think." She pointed to one of the many living areas in the house, where Frank was stood surrounded by six or seven middle aged men who definitely looked like the Ministry sort. It seemed that all was going well until they decided do a round of shots. Entertained, the Marauders (and co) watched as Frank burped so loudly that even they could hear it from the hallway. The proud Ministry men all looked away in disgust and muttered amongst themselves. The Marauders, Lily and Alice couldn't contain their laughter.

Marlene walked over to the group and smiled brightly. She was wearing a long silver dress with a deep v-neck. Sirius couldn't keep his eyes off of her, and she liked it very much. "Lily, want to go snoop around upstairs with me?" she offered.
"It would be a pleasure," Lily replied, linking arms with Marlene. "Stay out of trouble, boys." she said as they walked up the marble staircase. Sirius raised an eyebrow and Remus laughed.
"You know that's not possible!" James shouted to her as several people walking past stared at him.

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Lily and Marlene wandered the countless empty rooms of Frank's Uncle's house. They lost track of where they were as all the bedrooms were decorated with the same boring beige layout. Obviously there were way too many bedrooms for one house.

"What do you think about Sirius?" Marlene asked, suddenly. Lily looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Marlene rolled her eyes and replied, "You know what I mean."
Lily giggled, saying "Well, I think he's Sirius. Annoying and eccentric. Impulsive but considerate. He's really become a better person since Harry was born, James too."  Marlene nodded at what her friend said. "Are you two finally thinking of making things official?" Lily asked, smirking as she nudged Marlene with her elbow.
"I'm not sure what he want's to be honest." Marlene admitted.
Lily nodded, "I remember in our fifth year, when James and I were still getting to know each other and so were you and Sirius, when you had just tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I honestly don't know why you waited that long before you tried out and Sirius certainly thought the same. Anyway, James was trying to chat me up like usual, and Sirius came over. He had just watched you play for the first time, and his eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in shock," Lily said, making Marlene laugh. "If only you saw the way he looks at you when you aren't looking."

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A loud crash from downstairs, like glass breaking, made the girls jump. Multiple screams and shouts followed. They looked to the door of the bedroom they were in and then at each other.

More sounds of glass breaking echoed up the stairs and Lily and Marlene realised that it wasn't just drunk people dropping their drinks. Lily ran out of the room, quickly followed by Marlene, and onto the landing, at the top of the stairs. The front door had been blasted open, with it's remains shattered across the floor. Several figures, wearing black cloaks and eerie masks, marched past the staircase. Marlene and Lily ducked.

The screams and shouts continued, and the two girls could hear spells being made.

Confringo.
A blonde witch narrowly missed being hit, as she ran into another room. The bookcase beside her was less fortunate, as splinters and shredded pieces of paper flew everywhere.

Expulso.
A group of wizards in the kitchen, were thrown against a hard stone wall and fell to the floor, groaning as they attempted to get up again.

Reducto.
A small, wooden chair, which a large, shivering wizard crouched behind, exploded into particles in a matter of seconds.

Crucio.
A young woman with short, dark brown hair screamed in excruciating pain, as the figure attacking her laughed. "Alice!" cried a voice. Frank stumbled towards his wife.

Imperio.
His body twitched and shook as he tried with all he had to resist, he just wasn't strong enough.

One of the dark figures had made their way up the staircase and headed for Marlene and Lily. Both of the girls had tucked their wands away in their purses earlier, when they first entered the party. A shining blast shot out of the figure's wand, almost hitting them, luckily they had ducked just in time. Lily looked at the eerie mask the figure wore and wondered. Who was it? Why are they doing this? Then suddenly she thought. Where is James? Are the Marauders together? She hadn't heard their screams, though was that a good thing or a bad thing? A tear rolled down her cheek at the thought, when- Avada Kedavra.

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James ran up the staircase and immediately sat in front of him was Lily. Her hands were on the floor, holding her up, and her long, auburn ginger hair hid her crying face. "Lily are you hurt?" he asked, getting on the floor next to her. She didn't answer. "Lily? What happened? Did they hurt you?" he repeated, louder. He was desperate for her to say anything. She shook her head slowly and looked up at James. Her bright green eyes, full of tears, stared at him. The shock in her face was heartbreaking.

Luckily, shortly after the figure attacked Marlene and Lily, a wizard had attempted to aid them. He fought off the figure, but had quickly ran back downstairs to help others by the time Lily could realise what had happened.

"I can't hear her," Lily whispered to him. He held onto her hand. "I don't want to look. Is she- Is she dead?" she said shaking her head. James looked past Lily and saw Marlene's body. Time stopped for a minute as he observed her, laid on the floor, with her arms out either side and her big brown eyes open. He'd never seen her so still. Her platinum blonde hair was curled beside her face and a strand had stuck to her red lipstick. Sirius. He was downstairs helping others. What will he do when he sees Marlene? What will he do?

↠—↞

James carried Lily, who was shaking from the shock, downstairs and sat her on a chair. Remus and Peter came running over, when they saw. They desperately flooded her with offers and questions ("Are you hurt?", "Should I call a mediwizard?") but she simply couldn't answer them. James was also in shock from what he had seen upstairs.

Then, a panting Sirius ran over. You could tell by his heavy breathing and bloody hands, that he had also been helping other victims. "You alright, Evans?" he asked, genuinely concerned. Just before, Lily and Marlene were talking about him. How caring he had came to be. This was the most cruel and mocking example possible.

James walked over to his Sirius, putting his hand on his shoulder. He held his gaze, he didn't know what else to do or say to his friend. Sirius stepped back, disturbed. "What are you doing? Where's Marlene?" he said, his face dropped as he realised she was no where to be seen. "James..." he begged.

He ran upstairs, followed by Peter, and saw her. Lying there lifeless and lonely. There weren't two words that were more opposite of Marlene's personality. He fell down, unable to feel his body anymore and crawled to her. Peter put a hand over his mouth, his eyes prickled with tears. Sirius held Marlene's head on his lap and stroked her cold cheek. He rested his forehead on her's and sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."