A Marauder's Guide to Falling Apart

Chapter Twelve

By the time October rolled around Lily was in full wedding planning mode. Much like Alice and Frank, both James and Lily hadn't wanted to wait very long before tying the knot. It appeared that the fear of how little time they may actually have being married had instilled them to insist upon getting married within a matter of weeks.

When Marlene wasn't at the hospital working or at home studying she was usually over at the Evans' helping Lily and her mom with arrangements. Even though she and Sirius had reconciled after their quarrel they were quickly both consumed in other priorities and hadn't had much time for one another.

So it wasn't strange for her, on the weekend before the wedding, to arrive at the Potter's house to find that he wasn't hanging around with James. Her curiosity of his whereabouts diminished when Lily, excited, embraced her quickly at the threshold and ushered her back outside, in the direction from which she came.

"Lily, what - ?"

"I have a surprise for you," she urged. "James?"

James appeared in the hallway behind Lily, his mop of unruly black hair just as disheveled as usual. He gave Marlene an earnest, lopsided grin and then grabbed something off the small table that lined the wall.

He joined them on the front veranda and closed the door behind him. Both James and Lily entwined their hands with one another before moving forwards and beckoning for Marlene to follow. She wasn't quite sure what to expect as they led her through the small village in silence but she was content to follow without insisting for answers.

She hadn't been back in Godric's Hollow since she had moved away from it nearly six weeks prior. She was content to admire the beautiful hues of orange and yellow that embraced the trees lining the street that they were walking down. The scattered leaves at her feet were equally just as mesmerizing and she relished in the satisfactory crunch they omitted as her feet trampled over them.

They strolled up to a decent size cottage on the edge of the village. The stone hedge that surrounded the property was covered in thick ivy and a quaint little pathway swiveled from the path they were standing on, winding its way towards the house. It was almost as magnificent looking as the one the Potter's currently occupied.

She was aware that she was staring at the property with a mixture of envy and awe. It was apparent by the time that James swung open the front gate and led Lily inside that it belonged to them. She discovered that James had grabbed the key before leaving the house and he quickly turned it in the lock and pushed the front door open to allow Marlene inside.

"What do you think?" Lily asked eagerly. "James surprised me with it only last night." Marlene didn't want to give her honest answer; that it was glorious and she was envious it didn't belong to her and Sirius. But she smiled despite the raw jealously and congratulated them anyways.

"I think it'll be a little odd living so far away from mum," James said from behind her. She couldn't tell if he was joking or not. She was far too distracted admiring the rest of the house to pay him any more attention than that. Although it wasn't quite as large as the Potter mansion, it was just as beautiful on the inside as it was out.

"I was hoping that you'd stay for dinner," Lily encouraged her after they had concluded a tour of the house. "We invited quite a few others over to help us celebrate moving in. I sort of look at it as a pre-wedding celebration."

"Of course," Marlene smiled. She and Lily worked on some more wedding details for the remainder of the afternoon until Alice and Frank arrived shortly after three. They were joined after by Remus and Peter but there was still no sign of Sirius by the time six o'clock rolled around.