Chapter 1
July, 30, 1981
Marlene Mckinnon returned to her flat in London from the hospital around five in the evening.
After eating the takeout dinner that she had bought on the way back, she sat down to write a letter to Lily and James to send with Harry's birthday gift.
Her godson will turn one tomorrow and as much as she wanted to be with him on his first birthday , she knew that it won't be safe for them. So she decided to spoil him with a number of soft toys that she knew he would love to play with.
She completed that letter and tied it to the package that contained the shrunken stag and doe soft toys and sent the parcel with her owl, Adolf.
She kept staring out of the window; even when the owl became a tiny speck in the sky and then vanished completely; thinking about her day at the hospital, St. Mungo's Hospital of Magical Injuries and Maladies, London.
Today she had completed two years of the three year healer training program. Just one more year and she would be Healer Marlene McKinnon. She had goosebumps just thinking about it. She had wanted to become a healer for as long as she could remember. It was her childhood dream and she was just so close to making it a reality.
She thought back to the day, during her sixth year of Hogwarts, when she had almost given up on this dream of hers. She had just been through too much at that point especially after..the incident, her health had deteriorated and she had barely passed her final exams. She didn't think she had what it took to become a healer. She just wasn't strong enough. If she was, she would have fought back... but she didn't. She felt weak and her confidence was at an all time low. It plummeted even further when she didn't get into the summer internship program at St Mungos that year. This program, even though not obligatory, was very important for applying for the healer training program, the following year. She didn't have the energy to try anymore.. she just felt hopeless. That was when her father, Marcus Mckinnon had sat her down and gave her the tough talk. He reminded her why she wanted to become a healer in the first place, how she had always wanted to help people, how she still cared for everyone around her. He told her that even though she had been through alot, but she had survived it, she was home now, she was safe. She had a choice now, to let what happened to her affect the rest of her life and give up on her dreams or to fight back and work harder than ever to make a new life for herself.
Marlene was grateful she made the second choice and built a life and a career she was proud of. Healing people made her happy. According to her there was nothing more satisfying than the happy body ache she had after working a long shift.
Marlene moved from the window and went to her room. She had to pack her stuff before leaving for home tomorrow. She had a 2 weeks vacation before she had to start her third year. It was just in time for her parents anniversary, two days later, for which the whole clan was collecting at their family home in Scotland
As much as she loved staying in London and being on her own, she had missed her parents and her brothers . Marlene couldn't wait to be with them. But as soon as she opened her wardrobe, the pile of clothes that she had stuffed in it in hurry two days ago, fell on top of her. Marlene groaned as she tumbled a little with the weight.
"Packing will have to wait, I guess," she scoffed. She kept the clothes on her bed and looked around her room. Marlene Mckinnon was the last person one would expect to keep her room clean and she really hated it at times like these i.e. when she had to clean it. But there was no use to stalling it anymore. As soon as she could finish cleaning and complete her packing, she could go to bed. She hadn't slept last night so she really needed to sleep tonight before catching her early morning portkey tomorrow.
She sighed and started working.
After an hour or so, when she had almost completed her room and just had the lower shelf of her cupboard left, she found it. Her scrapbook. She had had it since her childhood and had pasted the pictures of all her friends and family in it but she hadn't had the time to work on it since last year after Harry's birth.
She opened the first page to find an year old baby girl wrapped in her father's arm. She smiled looking at the picture. She loved her father a lot. Even though he disagreed with her at times, he loved her like no one else. And Marlene knew that her Papa was the best father in the world. He had told her that it was one of her first pictures as the wizarding photography was not very common at the time of her birth. Nevertheless, it was her most favourite.
She turned the page to find a picture with both of her parents. Her mother Grace McKinnon was a really beautiful women. Marlene loved her mother but she was never too close to her. They rarely agreed on anything. Grace wanted to make Marlene's choices for her and Marlene was too much of a Gryffindor to let her do it. But after moving away from home, Marlene realised that it was just how her mother expressed her love. She understood her better now but their relationship still needed a lot of work. Marlene hoped, the two weeks at home would help her cause.
Then there was one with her Uncle Simon, who was like a second father to her, even though he could never take her Dad's place in her life. He never married but loved Marlene and her brothers just like his own children.
Next was a picture with all her brothers. Marlene had three brothers, Martin(28), Marvin(27) and Miller(24). Martin was the coolest and her favourite. She liked Marvin too but she fought the most with Miller. But she loved all of them the same.
Then there was a picture of Marlene with Oliver. She was five at that time.
Oliver Potter or Ollie for Marlene, was her childhood best friend and her fourth brother in all but blood. He was James Potter's cousin. His father Charlus Potter was her Dad's best friend and neighbor. They both worked together for the Auror department of the Ministry of Magic . Being neighbors and the closest in age than any of their brothers sister, Oliver and Marlene had spent most of their childhood and Hogwarts years together. Just like Marlene, Oliver had also wanted to be a Healer but with the war growing and the need of the Aurors increasing everyday, he had opted to be a healer for the Auror Office. It was an extremely hard choice but Oliver was brilliant as well as hardworking so Marlene knew that he would ace it. His training was tougher than her's and he rarely got time these days. In fact she hadn't spoken to him in about a month, Marlene realised with a jolt.
I really need to visit home more often. She sighed and turned the page.
Next was a picture of her, Meghan and James, which Euphemia Potter had clicked on Meghan's eleventh birthday party. Meghan Potter was Oliver's elder sister. She was four years older than Marlene and was in Miller's year at Hogwarts. She was as much an elder sister to Marlene as she was to Oliver. With all the boys in Marlene's life, it was a much needed change. Meghan now had a three year old daughter called Isabella who adored Marlene. Marlene loved dressing her up into fancy clothes whenever she got time.
Then there was a group picture of all the Potters, and the Mckinnons. It was clicked on the New Years eve just before James went to Hogwarts at the party at Charlus and Dora Potter's place i.e. at the Potter Mansion. It had Dora, Grace and Euphemia sitting on the couch in the living room as their respective husbands stood behind them; Meghan and Marlene sat on the armrests; Miller, Martin and James occupied the floor in front of the ladies; James stood beside Marlene while Marvin stood beside Meghan. Uncle Simon was not in the picture because he was the one who clicked it. Everybody was very happy that day, Marlene remembered, with no war over their heads and Fleamont and Euphemia still alive.