A Marauder's Guide to Falling Together

Chapter Two

Godric's Hollow was a small village that was made up primarily of wizarding families but there were a few muggles that had taken up residence as well. The town was quite small and Marlene had only briefly gotten a glimpse of it when they had arrived back from King's Cross at the end of the school year. There was a post office and a pub with a handful of retail shops, a church, a small grocery store and a deli. Apart from that there were dozens of quaint little houses that lined the streets.

Marlene wandered down the lane quietly pondering her surroundings. She hadn't been brave enough to venture out yet so she wasn't entirely sure where the shops were located but due to the sheer size of the community she gathered that it wouldn't be hard to find her way.

It only took her about ten minutes to make her way into the village square and the deli was located conveniently on the corner beside the grocery store. When she entered in through the small shop door, her presence was indicated by a tiny tinkering bell and the rickety creak of the old wooden door closing behind her. The shop was filled with about a dozen patrons and even had an attractive patio that overlooked the bustling street.

"What can I get for you dear?" an elderly woman greeted her from the counter with a cheerful smile and Marlene was quick to notice that she was missing a couple of her front teeth.

"Er," Marlene looked around willfully and settled on a ham and cheese croissant with tea. The lady helping her was extremely friendly despite her less than welcoming appearance and as Marlene settled into one of the tables on the patio, she discovered that she made excellent food as well.

The tea was a welcomed change for Marlene as Uncle Tom's house rarely consisted of anything but water and fire whiskey. After she had finished her croissant she had finally deemed the tea cool enough to drink without scalding her lips and settled back into her chair to enjoy the view around her. Marlene spent her time watching the people passing by; shopping with their loved ones, children playing in the center fountain and even an elderly couple arguing about what type of bread they should have purchased.

"Good evening Mrs. Potter," a pleasant voice drifted into her ears and Marlene choked slightly on the mouthful of tea that she had brought to her lips. It spluttered out in front of her across the table and she looked around apologetically but nobody else within her vicinity seemed to have noticed.

"Good evening August," the unfamiliar voice of an older woman responded and Marlene whirled her head in the direction to which it had come.

There was an older lady standing outside the doors of the deli holding a couple of grocery bags but she seemed far older than what Marlene assumed to be James' mother. However, upon closer inspection she had the same twinkling brown eyes and very similar features to that of her son and despite the near greyness of her hair, Marlene could tell that it had once been the same jet black.

"Fleamont isn't helping you out this evening?" the man speaking with her appeared to be considerably years younger, but not much older than that of her Uncle Tom. He seemed quite pleasant, and had even ushered over to the deli door to hold it open for a mother holding her small infant in the midst of his conversation.

"Fleamont has other priorities," Mrs. Potter said humorously. She didn't seem annoyed at her husband's lack of presence but instead the twinkle in her eyes glistened further. "You know how he is when sports are on."

"Oh yes," the man nodded in agreement. "I forgot the Bulgaria match was on this evening."

Marlene could tell instantly that they were referring to Quidditch. To an ordinary muggle they probably wouldn't have picked up on the unusualness of their conversation, but Marlene knew better.