A Marauder's Guide to Falling in Love

Chapter Twenty Seven

"I suppose that you could say this is a bitter sweet moment," Marlene noted dolefully from her gaze out of the window of the Hogwarts Express. The last two weeks of term had passed by excruciatingly slow which was only intensified by the constant reminder that she was painfully missing Sirius. He was a constant occurrence in her thoughts which was only intensified after examinations had finished and she had nothing to distract herself from her thoughts of him.

After she had abandoned him in the hallway he had given up any effort to talk with her which only caused her more grief than she had hoped it would. Secretly, she had yearned for him to continue chasing after her but she knew that she was being selfish and even more so childish in wishing for such things. She knew that he had made an effort in reconciling on more than one occasion and she had selfishly pushed him away.

The only thing keeping her relatively sane from thinking too much about their disastrous relationship was the inevitable wait for their exam marks but even after they had received them in the first week of June, she still had yet another week of term to distract her from her miseries.

Lily and Mary had noticeably observed her sudden change in attitude. Believing that she was still hung up on the fact that he had cheated, they were confused as to why she was wasn't focusing on anger instead of the prolonging sadness that followed her around. She felt guilty for continuing to lie about it but she had promised that she would keep Remus's secret and there was no chance she could ever possibly explain what had transpired between Snape and Sirius without giving anything away.

But as their final day at Hogwarts had approached, it was with a heavy heart that she packed her belongings and made the familiar trek to the train platform in Hogsmeade for the long awaited ride to a home that she couldn't find joy to call her own.

"Mum and dad said you can stay as long as you'd like," Lily said happily from her space across the compartment from Marlene. "You know that you're always welcome in our house."

"Thanks," Marlene said wearily. In truth, she wasn't thrilled about the idea of being under the same roof as Lily's happy family. She knew that it was unfair but she couldn't help the pang of bitter jealousy that awakened at the thought of having the constant reminder that her parents were dead.

Uncle Tom's was not the most desirable place that she could call her home, but it was far better than the alternative when she considered that it could have just as easily been her Aunt Charis, Uncle Bernie and cousin Marjorie that had taken her in.

"How was the wedding?" the recollection had reminded her of a long forgotten thought. She had been so preoccupied with her own musings that she had forgotten completely about the prospect of her cousin's upcoming nuptials to Lily's sister.

"Mum said it went really well," Lily still sounded bitter and Marlene assumed that the wound was still fresh for her. "She hadn't been able to convince Petunia to reconsider waiting for the summer but I don't suppose it's all that much of a loss for me. She obviously want's nothing to do with me now so I should probably just learn to accept that."

"That's terrible," Mary said sadly from her place beside Lily. Marlene was inclined to agree silently. She knew how desperately Lily wanted to rekindle her relationship with her sister. Marlene could empathize; after having lost the only family she had, she would have given anything in the world to spend just one more minute with them.

"You know that James lives in Godric's Hollow, right?" Lily had changed the subject and Marlene continued to stare out the window at the passing poppy fields without much concern for the meaning behind the statement.

"No I didn't know that," she said with confusion. "Did you want to come see him or something when you visit?"

"No," Lily said firmly, "I mean that James live in Godric's Hollow. You know ... that place you now live?"