chapter thirty five
“Do you want me to tell Tonks what happened that dreadful night?’ Remus asked, watching Marigold gulp as she finished. She nodded thankfully.
“So many people had died, Mrs. Potter had a stroke, Mr. Potter died of a broken heart shortly after, Lily and James had gotten married but Marigold was in labor so she missed it.” Remus began.
“I was living with Remus then as you may remember, squatting like the hobo I was, hiding from my family. But we’d go and visit them sometimes, and Marigold other times with Henry and their babies. Peter didn’t live far, but Marlene was always close. Mary and Dorcas had moved in together at Dragon Alley.” Sirius indulged.
“Well we got word from Snape of all people, the death eaters had been alerted of Marigold’s family spending a night at sea, trying to celebrate Cressida’s life on the boat named after her. Peter must have read a letter Marigold sent to Marlene before their break up.”
“They were going to attack at night, there was a storm brewing close to shore and it would provide cover from Muggles’ seeing the crimes. James, Lily, Mad Eye, and I volunteered to intercept them, it was personal. Sirius was out on another mission with the Longbottoms before we had gotten the news. The four of us found The Cressida some thirty miles offshore, the three death eaters had made it before we had. Mr. Apostolos was on the deck maneuvering the boat threw the outer parts of the storm, they had crucciod him immediately. Henry heard the noise and came up top to investigate, and they tortured him.
That’s when we got there, he was barely alive, and in excreting pain. James killed one of the death eaters, Mad Eye the other. Henry used his last breath to warn Lily that there was one more below deck, with his wife and kids. We hurried down, and I was able to cruccio the last one while his back was turned, but he had already gotten Mrs. Apostlos. She lay lifeless there in the bed, and tucked away in the far corner crying were Marigold and the twins.
Lily handed me Pip and Pralice to James. Mad Eye was confiscating information on the death eaters before dumping their bodies in the water. Lily was helping Marigold, she had been tortured by the last one. The ship was pretty badly damaged by the battle between James and Mad Eye against the other two, but Marigold refused to let her sink there in the sea with her loved ones aboard. She sailed the ship through the storm and only once we were back in the little cove, did she let us transport us all back to the Potters’.
We almost sunk out there, but she pulled it off somehow.” Remus's words hung in the air.
Marigold’s eyes were glazed over, remembering how she sobbed over her grandparents' bodies, and how Lily had to pry her off Henry’s bloodied chest before the boat succumbed to the dark water in the violent storm.
“By the time I was alerted, Marigold had gotten Pip and Pralice to sleep upstairs, and although I wanted so desperately to check on them and see their faces, I knew better. I saw Marigold and Lily on the couch though. James and Remus were in the kitchen recovering from the whole ordeal.”
“That was the last time I saw either of you for a very long time, wasn’t it?” Marigold came back to reality.
Sirius nodded, swallowing thickly, sharing a look with Remus. At least for Sirius, the sight of her that night would be burned into his memory forever. The sad and sullen look on her face, her wet hair stuck to those high cheekbones, the blood of her husband soiling her clothes and her face. She shook like a leaf but refused a change of clothes or something to eat.
Sirius had sat down in front of her on the ground, unable to muster a smile in the grave moment. The sun had begun to rise, and none of them had gotten any sleep, but the party didn’t think they would be able to now. He hurt so badly for her, watching her sob and knowing he could do nothing to comfort her. No words were exchanged, her mind was elsewhere and she was inconsolable. Sirius Bradley placed a palm on her cheek, brushing away some of her messy hair. The warmth was appreciated, but she couldn’t find the words to say it.
That was the sight Remus found as he entered. He had dragged Sirius home, telling him Marigold needed less stimulation. Sirius was assured as he was pulled away that Marigold wasn’t going anywhere, and that he could come back the next day and meet the twins.
The next evening, as he entered the Potters’ residence, Mary and Dorcas were there, but without a trace of Marigold’s presence. They told him she had left for London with the girls, trying to find Alexander and William or her father. He immediately spun around to aperate there.
“Wait, Sirius, you can’t go out! Deatheaters are everywhere!” Dorcas halted him.
“Especially with your parents’ house there, what if you’re recognized?” Mary nodded.
“I have to chase her, I need to help her!”
“Chasing Marigold?” Lily rushed down the staircase.
“Pads, when did you get in?” James’ head stuck out from the study.
“I won’t be the one running around, Padfoot will!”
“Sirius!” Dorcas protested.
“Do you even know where her flat is?” James questioned.
“No but I’ll find it, I will, I have to-“
“Her husband died not even twenty-four hours ago,” Lily rushed to him.
“I know but-“ He deflated. He wasn’t running after her to swoop in and take her out, his feelings and love for the woman could be shoved aside, he just needed to make sure she was safe.
“Padfoot, we’re telling you, give her time.” James had entered now too and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Sirius wanted to protest, he wanted to ignore their warnings and rush to her anyways. But as he searched all their eyes, he submitted. He’d give her some time alone, she would be safe with Alexander and William. They were young but both very quick and bright.
Not long after would Lily and Alice Longbottom find themselves both pregnant with boys, and the rest of Marigold’s family would die. She returned to Greece and cried in the garden, deeply missing her kin.
Dorcas, Mary, and Marlene would stop by, occasionally spending an odd night to just help out with the babies, but they too would all die after Harry’s birth. Sirius was named the godfather, after all, he seemed to be next of kin to both James and Lily.
In his first year of life, it was frequent that Harry and the twins would have playdates, despite the age gap. Marigold received a lot of help from those friends and paid them back with the produce from the small garden.
She had time now to take up that hobby, she lived off the small wealth she had inherited from her family, and put off a career for a while in favor of raising the girls. After the Potters’ and Longbottoms’ untimely deaths, she worried deeply for their boys. She hoped Harry had gone to a good home, but from the looks of it the night she snuck out in her bat form to Privette Drive, the girls safely tucked away in bed under the watch of Dandelion and a very strong protection spell.
She wept for all her loved ones lost and was crushed by the weight of survivor's guilt, even more so when Sirius was sentenced to Azkaban. She never once believed he was guilty of the crime, but she hadn’t been approved as a character witness for his trial.
When the twins eventually get old enough to go to school, she applied to the Ministry for a job. They placed her in the position of Muggle Student Ambassador for Hogwarts for her experience with both worlds. Marigold found great delight in the job, being able to help children through the process of finding the magic world. She hoped her grandmother was watching from above, proud of Marigold for getting that career she always wanted for her.
Pip and Pralice were her groundings, their sunshine smiles always reminding her she wasn’t alone in the world. They were funny and happy, despite the rather dark way their lives had started. Pralice adored the water, fascinated by her mother’s stories of it, but Pip preferred to scale up the olive tree in the garden and watch it from a distance.
Marigold had always feared Pip had some lasting trauma from that night, but she proved herself brave in regards to heights, asking to fly on her broom in the house. Marigold told them how their father rested beneath the waves with their great-grandparents and a boat named after their grandmother. That they should never fear the water, but respect it, as their father would do his best to protect them while they were in it.
The girls grew up tanned, hair bleached from constant sunshine, and faces freckled just like their mothers. They were just as silly as their father had been, and still, read one of their father's songs to each other every night before bed.
“I’m sorry we pulled those horrible memories out of you,” Tonks apologized, noting the far-off looks from the three involved in the stories.
“Oh it’s alright, I still get bouts of survivor's guilt, but I’m doing alright these days. Molly, a happy story? How did you meet Arthur?” Marigold shrugged it off, trying to appear nonchalant. It wasn’t often she recalled the worst night of her life in the company of others.