Unlikely Allies

Chapter 7

Marlene would've happily slept through dinner had Lily not woken her. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was. Even with Lily's initial prodding, she would've continued to sleep, but Lily wouldn't let up. "I'm too tired to get up. I'd rather sleep than eat," she muttered when Lily insisted it was time for dinner.

"But along with sleep, you also need food for strength, and you didn't eat enough after school at the lake to get you through to tomorrow without being depleted," Lily insisted.

Marlene sighed. "You aren't going away, are you?"

Lily patted her shoulder. "Afraid not."

She went down to the Great Hall with Lily in a haze, murmuring greetings to Dorcas and the other Gryffindor girls they hung with as she slumped into a chair. She focused her attention on her food, eating until she was full. When she was finished, she stood, ready to return to Gryffindor tower and go back to sleep.

"Do you want to help us research in the library," Lily asked, tugging at Marlene's sleeve. "We got a pass to the restricted section after you left. Remus used his prefect clout and claimed to need the pass for a research project."

Marlene shook her head. All that reading sounded tedious and boring. "I gave you the lead, and I'm leaving the rest to you." She yawned. "For now I am going back to sleep. Still so tired."

She promptly made her way back to her dorm room and no sooner was her head on the pillow than she returned to her dreamless sleep. In the morning, when she woke fully refreshed, Marlene was thankful not to have had unsettling dreams of Jegulus considering all she'd seen in Divination class. It was all certainly disturbing enough to provide plenty of nightmare fodder.

As soon as she was dressed and ready for the day, she headed directly for the Gryffindor common room, daring to hope the gang had had a bit of luck with their research. She must have gotten up earlier than she thought as not many students were milling about. The only one of their little group who was present was Peter. He hovered near the door, likely waiting for the other boys before heading down to breakfast.

"Was the restricted section worth your time," she asked and he shook his head.

"Not really. We didn't find anything that seemed to fit, but of course we didn't have time to go through everything. It's definitely got to be a work in progress."

Marlene nodded. That was disappointing if logical news. Without anything else to say, the two waited for the others in silence. Soon Lily and James entered through the common room door with Remus.

"Up researching already," Marlene asked and Lily nodded, covering a yawn.

"What with school work to attend to as well, we shall never get through it if we don't," she said.

"I would've helped if I knew you were going to the library this early," Peter said and James shrugged.

"We saw no reason to wake you."

Peter glanced away quickly, but Marlene thought she glimpsed a flicker of hurt in his eyes. "Sure, alright," he said, nodding.

Dorcas appeared then and Sirius wasn't far behind.

"He is always sleeping in," Remus chuckled, nodding at Sirius.

Grinning, Sirius shrugged. "Well did I miss anything?" When everyone shook their heads Sirius smirked. "My point is proven."

Peter smiled at Sirius, likely pleased that he wasn't the only one not to have been woken up to tag along.

Breakfast and morning classes were uneventful. When it came time for Divinations, though, Marlene felt her stomach beginning to flutter. Would she see something else again today? Did she even wish to? That was difficult to answer. While seeing was helpful, it could also be terrifying. Professor Trelawney already had the box of scrying balls set out on her desk when the class filed in.

"We had so much success with these yesterday, we MUST try again today," she enthused. "Perhaps Marlene will see something else important, and perhaps others of you shall as well!"

As she had done yesterday, Professor Trelawney put on hypnotic music with a tribal underlying drum beat that she said opened the mind to visions. The room was thick with the smoke of incense as each student came up to take a fist sized clear crystal ball from the box. In spite of her nervousness, Marlene felt the music and the incense calming her. She returned to her seat with ball in hand, taking slow deep breaths as the professor instructed.

"Breathe in, and see your third eye opening. It rests right between your brows and it sees all," Trelawney droned. "Open it and with it, gaze into the crystal."

"Should our other two eyes gaze too, Professor," Sirius wondered.

"Be silent, Mr. Black, and yes they should unless they wish to close instead," Trelawney replied. "There is no wrong way to see into the unknown."

As Marlene studied the ball with at least two of her eyes, perhaps three if the third one actually existed, she felt the room around her fading. She was taken over by a feeling of mild dizziness but it wasn't enough to disrupt her focus on what she was seeing in the crystal. She hadn't even consciously decided who to think about yet, but perhaps Sirius speaking up had brought Regulus to mind unbidden for he appeared in the crystal with Kreacher at his side. His mother floated before them because she was a ghost. A very enraged ghost, Marlene might add. Perhaps Mrs. Black was the reason ghosts were terrifying.

Kreacher looked a bit older, though oddly Regulus not so much.

"Men are all stupid," Mrs. Black screeched. "None of you thought to tell me! Had you told me, I could've solved everything because I would've actually been thinking! But no! You had to be big bad men and protect me by keeping me out of it and thus getting us all killed in the end. Do either of you idiots feel I am protected now?"

"No, Mum," Regulus murmured miserably.

Kreacher quivered and quailed at his side as he shook his head, covering his face. "No, Mistress!"

"I died of grief," Walburga screeched and Regulus looked utterly miserable.

"Shut up, Walburga." The tired voice belonged to a ghost that floated into Marlene's view at last, just on the edge of the ball as it were. He was tall and thin, elegant like Regulus but older. She knew him at once to be Regulus's father. "I have heard nothing but how stupid I am for ruining everything from the moment Walburga died and joined me in the spirit realm. I am tired of hearing it and these boys did not pay a necromancer to summon us here to hear it."

Mrs. Black's mouth worked silently for several seconds as she stared at her husband, but she remained shut up. Mr. Black smiled in satisfaction before turning back to Kreacher and Regulus. Marlene was actually interested in hearing the rest of that bit of intriguing family dysfunction but the image faded. She blinked in confusion. What was she supposed to take from that? Was she to tell Regulus not to leave his mum out of things so she could fix it? Yes that was likely it, actually.

When Marlene returned her focus to the scrying ball, no other images appeared unbidden, so she thought, as she had yesterday when all the visions had come, of Lily. The ball suddenly filled with image upon image of Lily and James's son. His name appeared to be Harry.

He looked an adorable mix of both of his parents as he grew, but he was utterly miserable. He lived with Lily's family who were unnecessarily, astonishingly mean to him. They seemed to hate him for having magic, but that was confusing.

"Why would your family hate your son for having magic, Lily? Isn't it kind of stupid to hate a wizard who's living with them? He's more powerful so if they anger him, they could be in for it. A wizard could be useful to them, but they don't even consider that! Wow." The vision had annoyed Marlene so much that she just couldn't help speaking aloud.

"See, I told you our families were the same," James said, turning to Lily. "They're both bigoted even if for different reasons."

Lily nodded, giving him a sad smile. "Yes, you did tell me that and you were right." Turning to Marlene she added, "My family has never been comfortable with the fact that I have magic, so it doesn't surprise me that they would be no better to my son after I am dead." She set her chin in grim determination. "Which just means that we can't die! Our son deserves better."

Marlene nodded. "Yes he does... And most importantly of all, we must keep Jegulus from happening!"

James nodded. "You are both right."