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In her dreams, Marlene flies.
It’s not uncommon for her to dream about Quidditch. Sometimes it’s the games she’s already played. Re-plays from her school days. The ultimate matchup between Gryffindor and Slytherin in her seventh year.
Tonight, she soars above the pitch to the sound cheers and screams of her classmates, and the wind rushing around her.
“Marlene.”
She swoops, feeling her stomach plummet as she races closer to the ground-
“Marlene!
The pitch evaporates. The feeling lingers when she awakens, like she’s pulled up too hard on her broom and her stomach has lodged itself in her throat.
“W-what?”
“Get up.”
Someone feels around the wall until their fingers find the light switch, and then the room is flooded with light, causing Marlene to hiss and cover her eyes weakly.
“What the fuck-“
From the cracks in her fingers, she makes out Sirius’ form and considers leaping off the bed to gouge his eyes out. But then she catches sight of the state of him. There’s blood on his shirt, and his hands are shaking when he brings them up to wipe at his mouth. An anxious, useless gesture that has her straightening up in bed.
“What’s happened?”
“Lily was captured.”
This is what they know.
Lily was on a mission with Sirius and ten others when she was taken. It was supposed to be easy, in the same way that most are meant to be easy, or routine, and usually end up being miserable clusterfucks.
Moody and the other higher ups are engaged, and it’s three in the morning, which means there’s no hope of a search party until mid-morning at the earliest. Realistically, they won’t have enough intel, and bodies, until the afternoon, which does not work for Sirius, who’s nearly making himself sick with worry.
“James is on Harry duty tonight,” he babbles. “If we don’t get to her in time, I’ll-.”
“We’re bringing her back, Sirius,” Marlene says, firmly. As if saying it can will Lily back into the relative safety of their current location.
Backup arrives then in the form of Mary and a reluctant Emma Vanity. Marlene wants to go to Mary’s side, tuck her head into her neck and hide from the terrifying reality of the night, but she resists, telling herself that Sirius needs her more right now.
The Slytherin crosses her arms over her chest, taking in the three Gryffindors with a dark scowl.
“This is a suicide mission. You understand that don’t you?”
Mary, whose blonde bedhead has been pulled into a ponytail, her nightshirt tucked into a pair of wrinkled jeans, shoots an unimpressed look at the other woman.
“No one’s saying you have to come.”
“Who else knows the floor plan? None of you do, which means showing up with your wands out, hoping-“
“I don’t expect you to understand loyalty, Vanity,” Sirius growls, going from panicked to irate in a cool two seconds. “But if you could try-“
“How predictable, Black. Expecting me to help you, while insulting me off the bat. Well done.”
“Can we save the bickering for later?” Mary says, through clenched teeth. “Please. We have something more pressing to deal with.”
Mary’s gaze strays to Marlene. For just a moment they look at the other, eyes taking their fill before they charge into what amounts to certain death. It’s a fleeting, stolen moment. The kind that Marlene will keep close until the end.
“Right,” Mary continues briskly. “Emma, what’s the best way in?”
“Through the back. There’s decent cover if we go in in two lines. Any prisoners would most likely be kept below but-“
“That’s not a sure thing,” Sirius finishes for her, nodding.
“Right. We’ll go in assuming she’s below. If I remember correctly, the entrance we’re looking for will be five paces to the left. The trick,” she continues quietly, “is even making it to the door. As soon as we step onto their land, they’ll know.”
“Unless…” Marlene ponders aloud, laying out an addition to the plan that has Mary glaring daggers at her.
Once they reach an agreement, heavy silence blankets the group. Collectively, they give themselves a full minute to understand the fact that what they’re doing could kill them. It’s not a matter of if, with them storming, unprepared into a Death Eater stronghold.
It’s madness. And they allow themselves to be afraid. To be hopeful that Lily will be there, that she’s alive and able to come back in one piece, before they snap back to battle mode.
They have a plan, as shaky as it is. And best case scenario? They can look forward to a tongue lashing from Moody.
Because the worst case scenario is too grim to linger on.
“Be careful.”
“I always am.”
“You’re not, though. That’s the point,” Mary argues.
She grips the front of Marlene’s coat tightly between her fingers, tugging on it so Marlene crashes into her on unsteady legs. Their lips meet, teeth clicking together as they kiss, jittery and afraid.
“Everything will be fine. I’m fast, Mary, you know that.”
“Be faster.”
While the trio takes their place in the eastern woods, Marlene holds her broom in a white knuckled grip. It’s a cold night, windy, and she’s concentrating on her route. Mentally, she adjusts based on the fierce breeze, hoping that Emma’s memory is reliable, and won’t have her blowing off course and into a tree.
She silently counts out exactly five minutes, before taking a deep, measuring breath, and kicking off the ground. She flies straight and true. Through the cold and her intense focus, she feels the magic wash over her when she breaks the wards, signaling whoever’s inside that someone has crossed onto their land, unannounced.
Marlene hunches over her broom, clinging to it with one hand, while the other shoots a stream of curses into the night, the jets of light meant to capture their attention, and hold their focus while the others get inside.
Marlene peers through the darkness as she adjusts her course. Flying, as Mary would put it, like a bat out of hell, she swoops down. Bracing against the rush of frigid air, she edges closer to the house, keeping her wand trained ahead of her for any sign of movement.
When she’s close enough, she blows out four of the upstairs windows. There’s a part of her, the very small part that she tucks away, to be felt later, that delights in the destruction. Revels in it.
Marlene hears the crunch of glass as she zips past, and is back to sending curses and loud whoops into the night around her. She’s beginning her second lap around the house when a flash of green comes straight at her from the bottom floor of the house.
Marlene lets out another shrill laugh, firing back as she angles her broom toward the ground, ready to engage.
“Sirius, grab her.”
“Lily,” Sirius falls to his knees, reaching out with gentle hands to stroke the redhead’s pale cheek. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
“S-Sirius?”
“Who else? Come on now, love. Up you go.”
“We have movement!” Emma hollers from the top of stairs.
And the mission goes completely to hell.
Mary thunders up the stairs as fast as her legs will carry her. She throws herself against the wall next to Emma, firing off a series of spells, ducking an instant before they return fire.
Duck and cover. Duck and cover, just like training.
“Sirius-“
“I got her!”
“Get up here,” Mary orders, raising her voice above the chaos. “When I tell you to, run out the back. Emma will follow, and I’ll be right behind.”
“Get to the tree line,” Emma adds. “Just fucking run, Black.”
The wall that Emma and Mary are using for cover explodes in a spray of plaster that rains down upon them, coating their hair and making it difficult to breathe. Unable to speak with her ears ringing, Mary grabs Emma’s coat and bodily shoves her in the direction of the door after Sirius, who’s already taken off with Lily in his arms.
With nothing to hide behind, Mary steps out into the open, knowing it’s only a matter of time before a Killing Curse finds her. She can only hope that Sirius makes it to the tree line. That Emma covers him, so they can get to safety.
And she….well, she’ll do what she can to hold them off from the inside, so they can’t spill out the door and pick off her friends one by one.
Mary feels someone grab at her coat from the back, tugging her toward the door. She loses her footing, trying to whip around at the same time she aims her wand, about to curse them to hell. As soon as her bum hits the floor, she’s being dragged to her feet, and she begins clawing, trying to get away, until she catches sight of Marlene’s face in the moonlight.
“Get on!”
Marlene releases Mary to mount her broom, kicking off the instant Mary’s weight settles behind her. She throws an arm around Marlene’s waist, grabbing the fabric of her coat in one fist so she can pivot to fire off spells over her shoulder.
Mary remains positioned that way, hanging on to Marlene for dear life with one hand, with her wand trained on the horizon. More than anything, she wants to slump against her girlfriend’s back. Rest her head, and let Marlene guide them home safely.
But this is war, and nothing is ever certain, so she remains poised to cover them, should the need arise. She keeps her wand up, pointed at nothing, even after they have landed. It takes Marlene stepping in front of her, so the tip of Mary’s wand juts into her middle, for her to lower it, with Marlene guiding her arm to her side.
“Can’t even begin to imagine what you lot were thinking! Best case scenario you reach Potter, and bring her home so she can attend your funerals! You have no idea…”
Mary slumps in the chair as Moody lays into her. She knows the speech she’s receiving is nothing compared to the verbal lashing Sirius got before her. She had listened from the hall, cringing when Moody’s voice boomed, placing the blame at his feet for sounding the alarm post-mission, instead of following the proper protocol, which meant notifying the Aurors, and most likely being kept out of the loop as it was handle however the Ministry saw fit.
Sirius had a few choice words to say about that, which only added fuel to Moody’s fire.
And now it’s her turn.
She’s already used up every drop of adrenaline to power through the night, so she lets the threats and warnings wash over her.
Two weeks suspension, effective as soon as Black’s is over.
She tries to look apologetic as she stumbles out of the room and down the hall, where Marlene is already in bed, arms crossed behind her head as she stares at the ceiling.
“How long’d you get?”
“Two weeks. You?”
“A month. Same as Sirius.”
Mary kicks off her shoes, tosses her wand on the nightstand. She leaves her trousers on, wishing for the millionth time that she was in her own bedroom, in her own flat, so she could place comfort above practicality.
She falls into bed beside Marlene, pressing her face into the pillow as she contemplates the likelihood of sleeping the day away. An uninterrupted eight hours sounds like heaven, but Mary is almost certain Moody will begin stomping around with the others in about two. His form of payback against the foursome that went rogue.
“Sleeping already, love?”
“Close.”
“Don’t suppose you’d be willing to indulge me in a cuddle.”
Mary smiles in the dark, instantly inching over until she meets Marlene’s open arms. The other woman pulls her firmly against her chest, and Mary swears she can’t remember the last time she felt this warm or safe.
“We did alright tonight, Mar.”
“I’d have to agree with you. Just don’t let Moody catch you saying it.”
“Merlin, no. I’d never hear the end of it.”