22 June 1979

Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon seemed like the easiest people to describe. Yet, the persona that many thought was them, was just the tipping point of their complex personalities.

If you looked close enough, you would be able to tell that they both wore their hearts on their sleeves and would die to protect their friends. That's just how they were, but only few could really tell how deep those emotions ran.

So, as Marlene applied her bright red lipstick and Sirius slipped on his leather jacket, take it as a reminder that not everything that you see at first glance is true.

The rest of the world may think that Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon were some sort of delinquent, but they never stop to realize that the two were the farthest away from such a label.

"Sirius?" Marlene started as they walked on a blooming flower field.

"Yes, love?" He unhooked their arms to momentarily fall backwards into the flowers.

"What if the war never ends? What if we're always stuck in a time where we can't trust anyone?" She asked in a stressed manner.

It had been something that was worrying her for a while. She worried she would never get a chance to live a normal life outside of warfare. She didn't want to fight forever and more importantly, she couldn't.

As strong as she was, handling a war for so long was breaking her down. Marlene was supposed to be enjoying her younger years, but instead she was fighting against people that wanted to kill.

"I don't think we can worry about that right now," Sirius replied as Marlene sat in the flowers next to him.

"Why not?"

"It's one of our only days off, so it should be against the rules," he spoke like it was final.

"Since when do you follow rules?" Marlene challenged his logic.

"I, Sirius Black, never follow rules, but I'm not the one who's worrying right now, so technically-"

"Oh sod off."

...

1 July 1979

Marlene recounted her latest outing with Liz, Hayley, and Shacklebolt to Lily as they walked through muggle London.

They were on their own today as everyone else was either recovering from their Order training or was too tired to join them. Alice was occupied with auror training, as per usual.

Lily had decided that a shopping day was exactly what they needed, so they got dressed and ventured outside.

Dawdling about the town was quite easy for the two girls. They talked about anything and everything—they even spoke about how Annie and Julia would return to Hogwarts in two months even though it was really none of their concern.

"Let's get matching jean jackets!" Marlene practically squealed.

And so they did. Lily and Marlene picked out the jean jackets, but then got enthralled in the process of sewing patches onto the jackets in the same shop. At the end of the day, they wore their brand new jackets with patches of nearly every muggle band you could think of back home to their respective houses.

It had been a good day.

...

30 July 1979

James was irritated to say the least. He had ventured over to the marauders' flat in search of an adventure, which is exactly what he got. So, in hindsight, he was really asking for it whenever he went into unknown territory.

When he swung open the door—he still had his key—he found Sirius on the floor with a hand on his head and a whole in the wall behind him. There was also a muggle broom snapped in half, Remus laughing hysterically on the floor, and Peter could be heard laughing from the bathroom.

Being a marauder for such a long time had taught him not to question their actions—unless truly necessary—however, James was genuinely confused at what was going on. This meant that he had to at least ask one question.

"What the actual fuck?" James asked finally, breaking the sound of laughter.

"Well, Padfoot wanted to know if he could fly on a muggle broom, so I—"

"Don't tell me you levitated him around, Moony?" James raised his eyebrows at the usually sensible marauder.

"That is exactly what he did, and then he flung me around too quickly and I crashed into this wall here," Sirius further explained.

James tried not to break out into laughter—he really did—but seeing Sirius's annoyed look at Remus was enough to send anyone into hysterics.

"Oh, fuck you Potter."

...

The Sun Doesn't Always Shine
Poem #1: G O N E

I guess the best way to start
is to tell the story part by part.
yet, before I begin,
I just need to say,
some say it's a sin,
but I'm totally gay.

That may seem small,
but really, it's true,
and it's the best way to show why I'm blue.

I've been supported all my life,
although I did pass by strife,
all before finding him.

He was everything I've ever wanted,
the image of him I'll behold forever,
you see, that cannot be taken from me,
not like he was.

He was the one,
but now he's gone.
And it was just like that,
the love of my life slipped away.

...

14 August 1979

Seize the day.

Lily had always wanted to slap the faces of the people that said stuff like that. Three words weren't going to make her anymore motivated than she already was, but Mary showing up at her door with Julia in tow was enough to get her out of her house.

She found herself accompanying the two sisters into Diagon Alley as Julia needed to get her school supplies, but most of this was attempting to steer Julia away from Quality Quidditch Supplies. Granted, Lily thought the new broom looked cool too.

Just as they were going to head into Madam Malkin's—Julia had outgrown her previous set of robes to the annoyance to Mary—Lily ran into some familiar faces.

"Lily! We haven't seen you in ages!" Arthur walked over to her while Bill and Charlie tackled her into a hug.

"Bill! Charlie! You've both gotten so big!" She said cheerfully.

"I've lost a whole four teeth," Charlie pointed to the gaps in his mouth.

She noticed that Arthur, although extremely happy, looked very worn out and tired. Maybe it was the war taking its toll on him, but whatever it was, Arthur looked like he desperately needed a proper break.
It didn't look like he was going to get one of those anytime soon, though. With five kids that was probably difficult to come by.

"How've you all been?" Lily wondered aloud.

"Busy, really busy, Molly is home with Perce and the twins—oh! Look at this picture of them!" Arthur spoke excitedly while fumbling with a muggle wallet.

He handed her a picture of two identical redhead boys, who had the same mischievous look in their eyes as the marauders when a particularly chaotic thought entered their brains. She could tell they would prove to be a handful sooner rather than later already.

"They're adorable! Tell Molly I said hello," Lily spoke while handing him back the picture carefully.

He took it gently—as if the picture would tear at the slightest movement—and slid it back into his wallet. Arthur seemed to do everything with care and thought, he really loved his children.

"She'll be thrilled we saw you," Arthur said right before they all headed their own ways.

Lily was nineteen, so she had time for children in the future—she and James had discussed this at length—but every time she saw the Weasleys, she forgot all about the war and wanted a child more than anything. She wanted to swaddle one with love and affection and she wanted to do it surrounded by people that she loved.

Summoning her from her thoughts, Annie tackled Lily into a hug, nearly knocking her to the ground in the process. She had been over at Mary's flat quite a bit, but Annie had not seen Lily at all, so this was quite the reunion.

"Are you taller than me?" Lily asked with wide eyes.

"It was bound to happen eventually, Lily, you are quite short," Annie reminded her.

"Oi! If you're just here to insult me, than you can bugger off," Lily spoke light-heartedly as they walked down the street.

Diagon Alley was emptier than it had been in past years. There weren't as many laughing children running the streets, or parents running after them. And, there had been a considerable number of stores close for one reason or another. Just another side effect of the war.

"Julia is in Malkin's, wanna come?" Lily said.

She watched a grin spread across the girl's face quickly. It was funny how just mentioning Julia's name could have an insurmountable effect on her.

"Is that even a fucking question?"

"So, you're taller and you swear now, anything else new?" Lily asked curiously.

"There is something, but I want to mention it to Jules first too and it's quite upsetting," Annie's mood turned downhill quickly.

Trying her best to fix Annie's mood just as quick as it had turned down, she moved the conversation onto a new subject.

"Any girls you've got your eye on? You're starting your fourth-year, which is when people start to couple up," Lily shimmied her shoulders to flourish the conversation.

Annie laughed shortly and the Potter grin returned to her face again.

"Actually, I've been writing back and forth with the quidditch captain—who's in sixth-year—so there might be something there. Who was the first person to ask you out?" Annie said casually.

Lily had been hoping that she would say she had a crush on Julia, but it seemed that was not going to happen today.

"James, in third-year," Lily snorted at the memory.

"Naturally."

Shortly after that they joined the two sisters in Madam Malkin's. Annie told Lily not to announce her presence as she wanted to surprise Julia—even though they had promised to meet up at some point that day.

Mary and Julia were checking out, so their attention was already focused upon handing the store clerk the right amount of money.

"Mary, we need one more galleon," Julia spoke impatiently.

Annie smiled at Lily before standing right beside Julia and waving a galleon in front of her face.

"Like this one?" Annie asked right before Julia hugged her.

Leaving the shop, they decided to grab a bite of ice cream before calling it a day and returning to their respective homes. Julia had been wanting to spend more time with Annie, but Mary didn't feel up for house guests and their flat was currently a right mess.

"I bet it's been pretty boring at home without me," Julia elbowed Annie as they ate their ice cream.

It seemed that Annie's mood from earlier had resurfaces at the mention of her home. She frowned slightly before choosing her words carefully.

"My dad's fallen ill, so there hasn't been much time for anything but speaking to healers," Annie said in an even tone. "My brothers and the healers seem pretty worried, which isn't a good sign."

"Well, I guess we just have to think positive for now, Annie," Mary spoke softly.

"I wrote to McG to ask if it was alright to go home on the weekends to check in and she agreed, as long as I got a signed paper from Dad," Annie continued to speak.

Lily couldn't help but remember Annie Potter's sad tone as the night drew to a close and she crawled into bed next to James. Hopefully, her dad would be alright because Lily knew what if felt like to lose your parents and it wasn't a good feeling in the slightest.

...

Author's Note:

Teddy refuses to give anything away other than the fact that the poems might have something to do with the plot and that you might want to read them carefully as time progresses.

Anyway...

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day/night! If you're not, then I hope this update was enough to cheer you up at least a little.

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy🍉