The Killing of the Phoenix

Chapter One: Marlene

Nineteen-year-old Lily Potter was bored. Extremely bored. She was so bored that she almost wished she was back in class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She grinned to herself. She wasn't that bored. Sighing, Lily got up from the couch that she had been laying on and wandered into the kitchen of the house she shared with her husband, James Potter. James and Lily were both Aurors for the Ministry of Magic. James was at the office- doing paperwork, no doubt, thought Lily- while she was at home being bored because she hadn't been feeling well that morning.

          Lily opened the refrigerator, trying to decide what to attempt to fix for dinner. She was no great shakes at cooking; most of her meals ended up burnt. There was a loud crack! behind her and Lily knew someone had Apparated in. She flew around, hoping to see James, but found Sirius Black standing there instead.

          "Oh, it's just you," Lily said, try her hardest not to sound too disappointed. After all, Sirius was her friend, so she shouldn't sound disappointed in seeing him.

          "Your lack of enthusiasm hurts, my dearest Lily," Sirius said, trying to sound hurt, but not succeeding. Lily just laughed.

          "I'm sorry I wasn't properly enthused, Padfoot, but I was hoping you'd be James. He didn't come home on his lunch break like he promised he would." Lily closed the door to the refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table. Sirius joined her, a sad look crossing his face.

          "There was another murder," he said. "And in broad daylight! We've been busy all day. My shift was supposed to end two hours ago!"
          "Who was it? Oh, I should have gone into work! My upset stomach got better around lunch," Lily moaned. She buried her head in her arms, feeling suddenly guilty.

          "It was the McKinnons." Sirius sighed heavily. He suddenly felt very, very tired and very, very old. Then in a soft voice he added, "There was nothing you could have done to save her, Lils."

          "Marlene?" Lily said, looking up with a look of horror on her face. Lily had gotten close to the older witch in the year she'd known her.

          "I'm sorry, Lils," Sirius whispered. "She'd been on duty late last night and got in at dawn. I guess she was too tired to remember to activate the wards. No one thought…in broad daylight!" Sirius hung his head and Lily knew he was trying his hardest not to cry. She reached over and put her arms around him. The tears had just started to fall for both of them when a crack! sounded. Lily jumped up and threw herself at James, who had just gotten there. Although it hadn't been a conscious thought, she had worried about him all day. James wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as she cried into his shoulder.

          "I'm assuming you told her about the McKinnons?" James asked tiredly. Sirius nodded and James mouthed thank you at him.  He'd been worried about telling her. Two more loud cracks! announced the arrival of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, both of whom looked pale and very shaken.

          The five friends had been members of the Order of the Phoenix for a year now. It had become ritual that every time an Order member died, the five friends would meet together and reminisce. Lily pulled away from James and hugged Remus and Peter.

          "Chinese or pizza?" Lily asked. Any desire to attempt to cook that she'd had earlier was gone.

          "Both! I'm starved!" Sirius said, his old grin coming back.

          "Remember the last Order meeting? When we ordered Chinese?" Remus asked, grinning.

          "Marlene sneaked some of the Chinese food onto Mad-Eye's plate after he had refused to eat any," Lily giggled.

          "Mad-Eye was furious with her!" Peter laughed.

          "Meetings won't be the same without her," Lily said sadly. An hour later, when the pizza and Chinese were brought back to the Potter's house, the friends settled themselves in the living room. Lily, who had been digging in the spare room for her photo albums, stopped dead in her tracks when she entered the living room. Her stomach gave a nasty lurch when she smelled the Chinese food. Dropping the albums into a nearby chair, Lily ran towards the nearest bathroom. James and Sirius exchanged a worried look before James hurried to the bathroom where his wife was getting sick.

          "Lils? Are you all right?"  he asked. She leaned back and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

          "I'm fine. The smell of the Chinese food just upset my stomach, that's all," Lily said. James stood up and helped her up.

          "Just like the bacon did this morning? Lils, please go to the doctor tomorrow. For me?" he asked. She sighed.

          "For you, James. But I'm only taking an hour or two off of work," she said. He hugged her.

          "I love you, Lils. I was so worried about you today when we found out about Marlene. He struck in broad daylight. I don't know what I'd do without you," James said in an uncharacteristic burst of sincerity.

          "I love you, too, James," Lily sniffed, the tears threatening to pour. James leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him. "Let me at least brush my teeth, will you?" Lily laughed when James looked disappointed.

        "I'll go make sure Sirius eats all the Chinese," James grinned. Lily reached for her tooth brush as James went back into the living room.

Disclaimer:  none of the characters, places, events, and etc. belong to me. They belong to JKR, Warner Brothers, Scholastic Books and other people, I'm sure.

Author's Note: and so ends chapter one. Coming in chapter two: Lily goes to the doctor and finds out exactly why she was having such an upset stomach. Thank you for reading. Please review.