THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT AN ATTACK TONIGHT!' roared Moody, eyes bulging.
'We don't even know if it is tonight!' retorted Marlene, her voice and temper rising.
Marlene was in a foul mood, and she knew it. She had been on her shift for an hour, and not a minute of it had gone according to plan. The three members of the Order of the Phoenix had been following suspected Death Eaters and trying to eavesdrop on their conversations – until a series of mishaps meant a hasty retreat to the middle of nowhere. To her right was Moody, displeased by their incompetence and irate knowing that he had wasted a chance to protect someone; beside him was James Potter, who stood exasperated, tired, and cold. Marlene stood a little way behind them, rubbing her cheeks that had turned dry and cold. She found herself unwittingly drawn into the tension of the night, and could feel herself getting more and more snappish every passing minute.
'Right,' snarled Moody, 'one of you slipped up on purpose.'
James sighed in frustration. 'Come off it, Moody, why would we?'
'You might not be James Potter at all,' grunted Moody.
'For the five-hundredth time, I am not Bellatrix Lestrange!' James shouted.
Marlene glared at him. 'It was your fault that the security question was so easy.'
James turned on her instead. 'Go on, then, ask me the new question. I'll prove I'm me.'
'Oh, shut up James,' Marlene said, scowling.
'Well, at least I wasn't the one who Apparated right in front of Travers!'
'I wonder why we didn't Disillusion ourselves in the first place?' Marlene slapped her forehead in mock realization. 'Oh, of course, Mr. James 'I have an invisibility cloak' Potter thought it would be all right!'
'So you're blaming me, are you? I could have expected that from a failed -'
Marlene drew in her breath sharply as James suddenly stopped himself. She felt the words failed and Auror hang in the air like dark clouds, just seconds away until the downpour begun.
Before she could do anything, however, Moody had stepped between them. 'For Merlin's sake,' he roared, 'will you two stop bickering! All right, we know that there will be an attack on an unknown Ministry official's family, tonight -'
'Surely we don't know that it is tonight,' interrupted James. 'In context, Wilton could have been saying that -'
'It is tonight!' barked Moody.
'All right, all right, I was just saying.'
'An attack on an unknown family, tonight,' continued Moody.
Marlene, still feeling sour after James's outburst, couldn't help but say: 'An attack on an unknown family - that happens every other night! We could have predicted that much even if we had a 'T' in Divination.'
'That's enough, young lady,' Moody said warningly, and Marlene slunk back behind them. 'Now, from what Potter heard Travers saying, it's unlikely that they're going to try and penetrate any protective charms or Anti-Apparition Jinxes. That means they'll either blast their way through the front door, or risk the Floo Network.'
'I thought those imbeciles at the Ministry had worked out a way of blocking the Death Eaters,' commented James.
'It's a job half-done,' grunted Moody, 'if you're determined enough, like those scumbags usually are, you can get through. Alice Longbottom thinks she's worked out a way to track them, and if we're lucky, the Death Eaters won't know that yet. Our job,' he added, 'is to narrow it down. Now, back to Headquarters.'
The three moved into a dark corner, away from streetlights, before Disapparating one by one.
Marlene was glad that she was on a night shift. The daytime was the worst, when you could see the clouded faces of every passing stranger. Even worse was when there were people in black robes, mourners with red rims around their eyes and dark shadows under them.
They entered Headquarters quietly and grimly, and sat down around the dining table. They began to pull out names, locations - but Marlene knew that their effort was futile; everyone was a target, and with no clues all they could do was speculate. She tried to shake off the feeling that she could do nothing to help, absolutely nothing at all. She was nothing without hope and Firewhisky, as she joked often to her friends. There was a small flask of Firewhisky in her pocket, and Marlene yearned for a sip as she thought about it. Moody, however, did not take kindly to drinking on the job, and so Marlene willed herself to concentrate on the lists in front of her.
Barely half an hour had passed when the Patronus of Elphias Doge appeared in the doorway and said: 'Attack. No survivors.' It was Elphias' job to keep an eye on Diagon Alley. Instinctively Marlene got to her feet.
'We'll go,' Marlene said quickly, gesturing at her and James. James nodded.
'All right,' Moody replied gruffly, 'I've got some business for Dumbledore myself.'
Marlene and James quickly put their cloaks on again and rushed to the door.
'Marlene,' James said suddenly, 'what I nearly said earlier -'
Marlene was in no mood for apologies, but let it pass. 'It's all right,' she replied quickly.
There was an awkward silence as they Apparated to Diagon Alley together.
'Where are they?' asked James, looking around as they appeared in front of Gringotts.
Diagon Alley looked unfamiliar in the dark. The moon was nearly full and shone brightly, but there was nothing to reflect the light in the streets. All the windows had been boarded up, and the entire place seemed to swallow the moonlight.
'You don't think this is the attack Travers and Wilton were talking about?' Marlene asked nervously.
'No,' replied James, 'it's too soon.'
A shot of green light flew into the sky. 'Over there,' Marlene said, and rushed towards the source with James, turning into a narrow pathway.
The pathway became a clearing, and in front of a house on the corner stood Elphias Doge, shining in his wandlight. There were a few people around him, anxiously trying to peer through the doorframe – the door had been ripped off its hinges. Elphias was blocking the entrance and shooing away the people who had gathered.
'Over here!' he called. Marlene could see that his usual cheery face was wrinkled with anxiety. They quickly made their way over to the house as the neighbours began to head back to their homes.
'The Herring family,' he began. 'I haven't moved the bodies yet; they're a large family. And there was a - a,' - his voice faltered - 'werewolf involved.'
Marlene felt a tight knot form in her stomach, but firmly tried to push the feeling of queasiness away. 'Any idea why they were targets?' she asked, forcing herself not to think of the bodies.
Elphias shook his head. 'They run a small family business. I can only assume its – well, because of the children.' He grimaced, and looked at James and Marlene anxiously. 'It's a terrible sight – are you sure about this? Perhaps Alastor would be a better -'
'It's our job, and it's our shift,' James said flatly. Marlene forced herself to nod beside him.
'Very well,' replied Elphias, and motioned towards the door.
The three of them found themselves hesitating outside the doorway.
It was James who took the lead. 'Come on,' he said quietly, 'let's get this over and done with.'
They lit their wands and stepped into the house. Marlene took care not to tread on a shattered glass lamp as she stepped inside. She could see bloodstains.
'There were three bodies upstairs, and four down here,' Elphias told them.
'Right, Elphias, you go upstairs,' said James, 'Marlene, that room.' He pointed to the doorway at the far end of the corridor. 'I'll start here.' James jerked his head towards the room on his immediate right, where the trails of blood started.
Elphias nodded and went towards the stairs, and Marlene slowly. She shivered as she made her way through to the room; it was strange how she could almost feel the presence of death.
Like all of the others, the door was gone - all that was left was a few straggled pieces of wood hanging at the metal hinges. Marlene looked down. There was a limb, an elbow lying in front of her. She steadied herself and moved on, casting wandlight across the room. There were more limbs scattered about the place, more bloodstains, and Marlene felt sick. She pressed on, however, and found herself looking down at the remains of a child. Its small, white bones gleamed a pearl-ish white in her wandlight, bright against the crimson-stained flesh.
Marlene jerked her head sideways as she retched, and leaned against the wall, forehead first. She tried to steady herself, but her stomach heaved again. Her hand shook as she pointed her wand at the mess and tried to clear up her sick, and she closed her eyes tightly, drawing deep breaths.
'Marlene?' said a voice behind her. 'I heard - Merlin.' James swore as he entered the room, his face pale.
He quietly cleared her mess up for her, and then raised a hand to his forehead, blowing out his cheeks. 'You can go outside,' he told her, but Marlene shook her head.
'I want to do this' she said quietly.
James looked at her worriedly, and conjured a glass and filled it with water. 'Here.'
'Thanks,' Marlene replied gratefully accepting the glass. She rinsed her mouth and spat out the water. Her body had stopped shaking – for a while, at least. She splashed the rest of the water around her mouth and wiped with her sleeve; the chilly water made her shiver.
Marlene started to recover the body parts, and gently began to put them back together as if they were a puzzle. Some of the limbs were alike and frankly she didn't know what they were. Marlene didn't know which was worse: laying them in a heap or putting them in the wrong place. She went for the latter. The movement helped - it let her concentrate on her wandwork rather than the child's remains.
Elphias came downstairs, levitating the body of two young boys and an old woman. All of the bodies had limbs missing. The three lay the corpses without talking, and Elphias covered the family with a curtain that had been torn from the windows. He wiped his brow as he did so.
For half an hour the three searched the house for any clues or traces of magic, but they found two broken wands and nothing else.
'I'll call – who is it tonight?' asked Elphias. He meant the Order members who also worked at the Ministry; they did the official reports.
'Hestia,' said James quickly, and glanced down at his watch. 'Her shift's just started, so she should be at headquarters.'
Elphias sent his Patronus. 'I'll stay here, of course,' he told them. 'Good luck with the rest of your shifts, both of you.'
James and Marlene nodded, and bid him goodnight.
Marlene's hands started to shake again as they left the house and stood outside in silence. She sat down on the pavement. 'What an awful pastime,' she said out loud, more to herself than anything.
Potter raised his eyebrows as she slowly drew out a small flask of Firewhisky from her pocket. 'Whisky doesn't count as drinking,' she muttered, and took a long sip.
The Firewhisky slipped down inside her, searing her throat. It calmed and steadied her, like water steadying the diaphragm, and she felt better - in control.
***
It was a rare occurrence when Minerva lost concentration - but that night, Minerva decided, was one of them. She filled her teacup again, putting in some sugar and stirring briskly.
She was sitting in an armchair at the edge of the staff room, a few unmarked essays in her lap. Her eyes, however, kept darting to the window in front of her. It had rained heavily that afternoon, and the wind was still cold and blowing wildly. Minerva imagined Professor Sinistra and her students up at the Astronomy Tower, flocking out like birds and frantically marking down the places of the stars when the sky was clear, and huddling together and waiting patiently in the cold when clouds covered their view.
A copy of the day's Daily Prophet lay abandoned on the windowsill, bearing the headline: MINISTRY INTRODUCES EMERGENCY SCHEMES.
Minerva sipped her tea and glanced at the paper, frowning. Sometimes she wondered if the Ministry had given up all together, if the Order of the Phoenix was fighting a losing battle alone. She sighed, and wondered if she should retire for the night. She looked at the clock - it was nearing eleven and in this past hour she had barely marked one essay.
'Minerva?' said a soft, misty voice behind her, and Minerva turned around. She was surprised to see Sybill Trelawney, the newest addition to Hogwarts' teaching staff, gazing at her expectantly. Minerva had only talked to Sybill twice - once at a meeting before term begun, and at the feast at the beginning of the school year. After Sybill's predecessor had retired, Minerva had been expecting Divination to be abandoned altogether - but it was Albus (as it always was) who told her with a twinkle that Sybill Trelawney would be taking the post of Divination professor. As far as Minerva was concerned Divination was hardly an academic area of study, but to her surprise (and more-than-slight disapproval) Albus had been quite adamant about his decision.
'Yes, Sybill?' Minerva had already found herself with very little patience for Sybill, who had 'predicted' doom and death on both the occasions on which they met. It was hardly fitting, seeing as the only news the Daily Prophet had these days was about who had been found dead.
'I come to you tonight with terrible news,' Sybill started, wringing her hands, 'there will be a- '
Minerva cut her off irritably. 'If you are going to tell me that there will be a death, disaster, or some other kind of catastrophe, I would like to deal with it when it happens, rather than worry needlessly beforehand. You are aware that we have enough to worry about already.' She collected her things with a flick of her wand. This seemed as good a time to leave as any.
'Yes indeed! These are hard, dark times, my dear Minerva,' replied Sybill frantically, 'dark and - '
'We are at war, Sybill,' Minerva said impatiently, cutting her off again. 'Of course these are dark times - for Merlin's sake, don't you read the papers?' She stood up, wanting to shake Sybill off. 'Well, I'll turn in for the night, if you'll excuse me.'
Sybill ignored this comment, and carried on in her usual musing tones, eyes wide and gleaming. 'Minerva...do you dream at all?'
'No,' Minerva said automatically, and made to leave the room.
'Minerva!' Sybill grabbed her elbow to stop her.
'Yes, Sybill?' Minerva responded, sighing.
'I do not wish you to misunderstand me.'
'That would be a terrible thing indeed.' Minerva remarked sarcastically.
'I see much despair and destruction...horrors, terrible things,' Sybill continued, unaware of Minerva's snide tone, 'but although nothing can prevent what the Fates have decided, I still hope. For better times. Alas, life is fraught with unfortunate events, many of which I try to foresee...but I hope, Minerva, that life is not as grim as it may seem on the surface.'
Surprising even herself, Minerva found that she was smiling a small smile. 'Don't we all,' she said quietly, and left the staff room, amiably bidding Sybill goodnight.
***
An hour had passed since Potter had gone, and if anything, Marlene was feeling worse. Her shift was nearly over - she had spent the last hour of it doing crosswords, pointlessly colouring every white square black when she had completed it. Hestia was still at Diagon Alley, presumably, and Marlene had found Mundungus Fletcher asleep in an armchair in the entrance hall. Marlene had sneakily had another few sips of Firewhisky, but even alone she felt guilty about drinking on her shift, and each time she tucked the flask away quickly.
'Will somebody please do something about Fletcher!' Emmeline Vance's clear voice echoed throughout the house as she entered the dining room, taking off her cloak and draping it over the nearest chair.
'It's nice to be back in the warm,' said a voice behind Emmeline, and a moment later Hestia appeared.
'Is he still asleep' Marlene asked Emmeline, as Hestia reached for the teapot.
'Yes – he didn't even bother to check if we were being impersonated.'
Instinctively Marlene drew out her wand and pointed it at Emmeline and Hestia.
'Yes, because I'd say that if I were a Death Eater,' Emmeline commented dryly, promptly ignoring the wand and sitting down.
'Well, you weren't the one who saw Potter turn into Lestrange,' Marlene said with a scowl, feeling patronized.
Hestia gave a noise that was somewhere between a giggle and a groan. 'Hestia Jones – nicknamed Hestia the Harmful by James Potter after I crashed into him to stop him scoring in a Quidditch match,' she said obligingly.
'I always thought Potter needed to work on his vocabulary,' remarked Emmeline. 'Which Lestrange did he turn into, then?' she added with interest, but quickly said, 'Emmeline Matilda Vance, allergic to Gillyweed.' Marlene suspected Hestia had gestured for Emmeline to answer behind her back.
Hestia spoke over Marlene's shoulder. 'It was Bellatrix - you know, that time when Frank was injured,' she said, before adding, 'tea?'
Marlene pocketed her wand and yawned. The clock struck twelve, and with Emmeline's arrival she was free to go. She was relieved – she knew she couldn't take on another mission. 'My shift over, then. Now, that means -'
'Firewhisky,' Hestia finished for her, pouring Emmeline some tea, 'and my condolences to your future husband, who will inevitably spend his last few decades tending to a Scottish drunkard.'
Hestia smiled as she spoke, but Marlene wasn't in the mood. 'Oh, shut up,' she replied, gathering her things, 'it's virtually medicinal.'
Emmeline joined Hestia in the teasing. 'Not at the rate you're drinking it!'
Marlene felt herself snap. 'I won't care about my liver,' she muttered darkly, 'I'll either be dead or a woman so broken and tired that I'll need a drink to help me get up in the mornings.' She almost spat out the last sentence.
Emmeline looked up from her cup, startled. 'Marlene! Don't say that!'
Marlene buried her face in her hands as she spoke. It made her feel anonymous, and the situation less humiliating. 'But don't you wonder?' she started, 'when it will all end? When whatever's happening to us will stop? I'm becoming so bloody paranoid...I must have woken at least six times last night! It's no wonder I failed those aptitude tests - I don't just see those bastard Death Eaters when I close my eyes, it's those poor people!' She raised her head and tugged at her own hair in frustration. 'I saw a child ripped to pieces tonight. Tomorrow it could be one of you, or my family, or -'
'Stop it, Marlene,' Emmeline said quietly, 'don't -'
'I can't stand it! Worrying about who might not be there the next time there's a meeting, waiting in St. Mungo's for a Healer to tell me they did everything they could, having Veritaserum shoved down my throat by Moody - Merlin!' Marlene found herself almost hysterical, and then felt a sense of shame come over herself. 'Sorry,' she muttered, 'sorry. Long day.' She slumped backwards into her chair and looked at the floor.
'Marlene,' Hestia said softly, exchanging a worried glance with Emmeline.
'I - forget it.'
Hestia made her way over to Marlene and hugged her; Marlene felt like she didn't deserve it, but let herself be held in her friend's warm arms, enveloped by the scent of tea and soap. 'We all think that,' she murmured quietly, 'we all hate it...it's not your fault.'
Emmeline reached over and patted her on the shoulder. 'You'll be needing that Firewhisky, then,' she said, smiling slightly. Marlene managed a weak smile back.
'It's awful, it really is,' Hestia continued, 'but when it's over, we'll be able to rebuild. You're only eighteen, Marlene. Life isn't over, yet.' She spoke with so much sincerity that Marlene hugged her again, grateful for her warm presence.
Hestia stood up straight and smiled at Marlene. 'You're wrong, you know. You're going to grow old and have a house near a lake in the Highlands, with a rotting liver.'
'And a grumpy husband,' added Emmeline.
Marlene felt her mood slowly starting to lift, despite herself. 'Blah,' she replied, 'I don't need a husband. When I'm wrinkly I'll be a hermit in Inverness, with a little kelpie in the lake for company.' She gave a short laugh at the ridiculousness of the thought.
'What would you do before, though?' asked Hestia curiously. 'When this is over?'
For the first time in months, Marlene found herself contemplating a future that was neither three hours nor three decades away. 'I don't know,' she said slowly, 'I think I want to travel. Study more. Do something exciting and fun, like Curse-Breaking.'
'You could go back to Auror Training,' Emmeline chipped in, 'once Moody's retired, Frank and Alice will want new blood.'
'Frank and Alice,' said Hestia, sighing, 'I can see them having lots of children - whom Frank will absolutely dote on, of course - and get Order of Merlins, both of them. And their children, too,' she added, 'with Frank and Alice as parents, you can't go wrong.'
'Oh dear,' commented Emmeline dryly, 'here we go again.'
Marlene, however, couldn't help but smile at the prospect of miniature Franks and Alices running around. 'What about you then?' she asked Emmeline.
Hestia answered instead. 'In her old age, dear old Emmeline will probably be able to communicate only through the medium of sarcasm.'
'Like that hasn't happened already,' said Marlene, snorting.
Emmeline ignored these comments. 'Personally, I might go into teaching. I want to try my hand at that Defence Against the Dark Arts post.'
'The cursed one?' Hestia raised her eyebrows. 'I heard Dumbledore asking Peter Pettigrew if he'd give it a try.'
'Pettigrew? Dumbledore must be desperate.' Emmeline laughed.
'I know,' replied Hestia, 'but you could do worse. Apparently Dumbledore also asked James Potter.'
'Absolute chaos,' remarked Emmeline.
They laughed at the idea of James teaching for a few moments, before trailing off into silence again. Marlene propped up her elbows on the table and rested her chin. She wished she could stay like this for just a while longer, basking in the lingering laughter and warmth.
'Well, I better get going,' she said finally, standing up.
'Sleep tight,' said Emmeline. 'Are you on for another hour, then?' she asked Hestia.
'Yes, then Black's coming to take my place.'
'Wonderful,' said Emmeline sarcastically, 'Sirius Black.'
Marlene laughed. 'At least he's on his own tonight - I can't stand it when he's with Potter.' She picked up her cloak. 'Thanks,' she told them, 'for...everything.' Marlene felt herself blushing at the memory of her outburst, but smiled appreciatively.
'Take care - of your liver,' Emmeline said with a wink.
'And yourself,' Hestia added.
Marlene grinned at them one last time before pulling on her cloak and making her way to the front door. She gave Mundungus a poke in the ribs as she passed by him in the hall, but he snored on lazily. She smiled, shaking her head, and stepped out into the night.
My liver be damned, she thought to herself, and then laughed out loud, like an afterthought. The night air was chilly, but he moon that had shone so brightly in Diagon Alley was nowhere to be seen; there were dark clouds covering the sky. Inadvertently thinking of Dementors, Marlene sighed, and pulled the cloak around her more comfortably. Firewhisky it was.