A/N: This double update is a bit chaotic, so make sure you understand what's going on in the first chapter before you move onto the next lol.

...

The day started with potential, as each day with a beautiful sunrise does. The colors stretched across the sky alerted James of the day's beginning, which meant just a few things for him and his friends.

James would attend an Order meeting with Harry at Potter Manor for the first time since his parents—well you get it. He had certainly been in the home before now, but going today would require him to completely detach his feelings from the place while working. Remus, Mary, and Pete joined him at the meeting.

Lily, Sirius, Craig, and Regulus had been employed to stroll—patrol—the corridors of Hogwarts. They, of course, took this job extremely siriusly, but they still had to sit through a lecture with McGonagall about the importance of the students' safety.

This would mark the first time for Lily being on Order business since she had had Harry. She had a right to be nervous because of the job she had, yet she wasn't too worried about it with the people who surrounded her being there for morale support. It was time though, since Harry was four months old.

Bouncing Harry on his hip—causing the baby to gurgle out of affection—James walked into the meeting, answering a security question casually, and sat down in his seat next to Remus.

"How's life?" Remus asked as other seats around the table started to be filled too.

"Depends how I want to look at it really," James stopped talking for a moment to readjust Harry in his lap. "I could tell myself that I've got the best wife ever and best son ever—siriusly, you're never gonna find a woman better than Lily—"

"Remember when I told you that in fifth year when she was mad as all hell at you?" Remus interrupted with an amused expression.

"How could I forget the 'Maturity Talk' from the man, Moony, himself?"

"I don't know, that's the gist of what I would've said if you'd forgotten," Remus had the final word before Dumbledore joined the table and caused a ripple of silence.

"I'm happy to see everyone's smiling faces here," he spoke serenely.

James nearly snorted—Remus had to elbow him in order to stop it—because as far as he could tell, nobody at the table was smiling. The war had wiped the smile off of everyone's faces.

Minnie and Moody sat on either side of Dumbledore with their upmost attention placed on him. Every McKinnon—minus Marlene as she was at Gringotts—sat in a line ending with Myles. He sat next to Dorcas, who held a sleeping Asher in her arms. It appeared like they couldn't find a babysitter either. Molly and Arthur sat next to Remus's other side.

It was funny how all the important people seemed to be out of Hogwarts that day.

Really funny...

...

The first time that Lily had roamed the corridors of Hogwarts she viewed them with the innocence of an eleven-year-old. Magic was a very fresh concept to her—still was sometimes—so at that age she would try to absorb every nick and cranny of the castle. Now, she was doing that very same thing, but she wasn't scanning to find something that wonder struck her. Instead, she was looking for anything that appeared to be out of the ordinary, anything sketchy.

She hadn't found anything yet, and she hoped not to, but one could never know for sure.

"I can't believe the Ministry won't allow actual aurors to come and protect Hogwarts," Regulus said, frustrated with the way everything was being handled.

"Well, they do need every auror they can get to fight the Death Eaters," Lily pointed out.

In another life, Regulus probably would've been one of the so-called Death Eaters the aurors needed to be fighting. He constantly needed to remind himself that he had, in fact, never become a Death Eater in the first place, so he didn't need to loathe himself like he had become one. Being related to people on the wrong side of the war felt like you were apart of the problem, part of the reason why other people were fighting and dying, but Regulus had Sirius to remind him not all of his family was bad. And he kept meaning to reach out to Andromeda—it had been so long though.

"I agree, Lils, but they need to protect the kids too," Sirius sighed.

"They're not gonna attack the school while Dumbledore is headmaster, that's just something that they can't do," Lily countered in a rushed manner, like if she didn't get the words out, then it wouldn't be true.

"Hate to be the one to point this out, but Doodledorf isn't at Hogwarts right now. This seems like the opportune time to-"

"I love ya, Craig, I really do, but that's not helping anyone's anxiety," Regulus interrupted as Lily's eyes grew wide.

...

Gringotts, like Hogwarts, was a very complex structure. Gold detailing trimmed the edges of every counter, marble in every direction one could look, and a plethora of other things added to the very mystics of it.

Marlene often said that if she hadn't found something new she hadn't noticed before in the building by the time she left, then she hadn't been looking hard enough.

She had been given the job to put debt notices in envelopes while Liz and Hayley handled writing out the addresses on each one. The only reason they were there was because of the decrease in number of goblins available for jobs in the bank. Nicer goblins had told Marlene they fled because they had made certain wizards and witches angry.

As if thinking about the said witches and wizards triggered something, there was a loud explosion from one of the side walls. Marlene dove behind the check-in counter, landing right beside where Liz and Hayley had dove as well. Signaling to them to be quiet, Marlene peered around the counter and gulped at the sight in front of her.

She counted six Death Eaters in the building—who knew how many were outside the place—but the worst part was that she could name every single one. If you could name the Death Eaters by looking at them for just a few seconds, then you're probably facing the nastiest ones.

In the front was Bellatrix Lestrange, she walked with her nostrils flaring and a deadpan look upon her face. She wore the same black dress and corset combination she usually did, along with her black combat boots. On her one side was, her husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Yaxley. Walking next to her on her other side was, Mulciber, and the Carrows.

"What'd you see?" Liz asked anxiously.

Marlene didn't answer and instead bit her lip. She wasn't sure how they were going to make it out of this one unscathed.

"Marlene! What's going on out there?" Hayley asked as they heard threats being shouted.

"You want the truth?" Marlene shivered at the thought of facing the people in front of the counter.

"Obviously," they answered simultaneously.

"Well, Bellatrix Lestrange just led some Death Eaters that look absolutely murderous," Marlene whispered without blinking.

Liz and Hayley looked about ready to drop dead on the floor—rightfully so—after hearing the situation fully. It then struck Marlene, Liz and Hayley had never been in a combat Order mission. Doing work around Gringotts was the only Order work they had ever done.

Taking her chances, Marlene looked around the corner again. She saw Bellatrix with her wand pointed right at the goblin in charge.

"Where are the Order of the Phoenix members?" Bellatrix demanded.

"Oh Merlin," Marlene muttered under her breath.

"I do not know what you're talking about," the goblin responded. "I suggest you leave before we contact authorities."

"Do not talk to my wife that way," Rodolphus spoke up from behind Bellatrix.

"Quiet Rodolphus! I am the leader here," Bellatrix chided.

Marlene assessed the situation and it was clear to her what she had to do. Her main priority was not to let the Death Eaters kill any goblins because they were looking for her and her friends. Why they mattered so much was still unknown to her though.

Formulating the basis of a plan, Marlene decided that she also had to get Liz and Hayley to safety quickly. They didn't have much experience and Liz was not a very good dueler, which were two unfortunate circumstances that made Marlene's job even more difficult. Yet, she couldn't take on six Death Eaters by herself, so Hayley and Liz would have to hold their own until Marlene found a way out.

"You don't do what we ask and you die," Bellatrix said like it was all a game to her. "You comply and you live."

"It's really an easy decision if you wish to live," Lucius Malfoy stepped to be in line with Bellatrix as all the other Death Eaters did as well.

"You mean if I was a coward, like you," Beasley, the goblin, retorted.

"Yes, go Beasley!" Marlene whispered as she held hands with Liz and Hayley.

"Very well then, if that's really your decision, then we'll have no trouble following through in our promise," Bellatrix pressed her wand harder into the goblin.

It really was now or never. As mentioned before, Marlene couldn't take six Death Eaters on by herself, so she had to send out a message to the Order asking for backup. Once her patronus message was sent out, she realized that it had been a mistake.

They could see the patronus.

"Well, now we know they're here," Rodolphus remarked as they watched the patronus fly out of Gringotts.

"We knew that before, idiots, the Dark Lord already told us that," Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

Adrenaline started to kick in for all three of them. Marlene led them to a better position to see what was going on in order to further her plan.

"Alright, we've got to stay extremely quiet for this to work," Marlene said as if they hadn't known that already. "You two are going to go help those goblins over there," she pointed to a group of cowering goblins behind another set of counters, "get out of here safely."

"Won't the Death Eaters see us?" Liz asked.

"We can use disillusionment charms," Hayley offered and Marlene nodded in agreement.

Marlene stayed put as they disappeared from her sight and went on their mission. She gave herself the task of disrupting the Death Eaters, which was easier said then done.

The first idea that popped into her head was a simple muggle prank that Marcus had told her about when she was little. He had said that if you untie a person's shoes and then tie the shoelaces on opposite shoes together, then they would trip and fall. This had to be enough to make the Death Eaters delayed for at least thirty seconds.

She started by untying Malfoy's shoes first. As she got the hang of it, she was able to work much faster, and she got through five out of six Death Eaters fairly quickly. The only one she was missing was Bellatrix's.

"I've had enough of watching the goblin be tortured," Liz whispered before casting a levitation charm on the goblin and trying to get it as far away as possible.

Marlene had to keep herself from laughing hysterically when five Death Eaters turned around to run after the goblin and tripped and fell instead. She compared it to bowling, and as far as she was concerned, she scored a strike.

"Idiots!" Bellatrix screeched.

"So, now all we have to do is get ourselves out of here," Hayley sighed.

...

James had mostly been paying attention to Harry when Moody had taken the floor to speak about war statistics. Every once and a while, Remus would elbow James when Harry giggled too loudly.

However, when Marlene's patronus came marching in, warning alarms were set off in his head. Like a bomb went off in the room, each person stood as still as a statue, awaiting whatever message was about to grace them.

"Death Eaters at Gringotts, send help," Marlene's voice rang out, sending fear to everyone in the room.

Dumbledore abruptly stood up, Minnie following suit, causing the whole table to get up from their seats too.

"Kingsley, Minerva, Darwin, and Eve," Dumbledore started to speak quickly, "head to Hogwarts."

They did not need to be told twice. As soon as Dumbledore moved his eyes to the next group of people, those four rushed out the door to get in an area where they could apparate into Hogsmeade.

"Dorcas and Molly, lead an effort to create a healing space for the injured," Dumbledore said before turning to face the McKinnon boys. "You two are coming with me to Gringotts. Everyone else can stay put."

Dumbledore and the McKinnon brothers walked out in a rushed manner before apparating away shortly after. James was left wondering why he hadn't been chosen to go with Dumbledore, and the obvious answer was sitting right in front of him.

Panic set in as Peter and Mary helped the two mothers gather healing supplies. Remus held Asher for Dorcas while James bounced Harry on his hip anxiously.

"I'm going to Gringotts," James said, locking eyes with Remus.

"Didn't Dumbles just tell you to stay put?" Remus pointed out.

Disregarding what Remus had just said, James held out Harry for him to take. When Remus took a deep breath and did, now having two babies to hold, James turned to reply.

"I've never been one to follow Doodle's rules anyway," James said, looking extra determined.

"Whatever you do, don't die, Lily would kill me," Remus said completely serious.

"I'll try my best," James winked and ran out the door.

...

"One time I got a detention with Remus because I slid down this staircase into a first-year," Sirius said casually as they walked down another staircase.

"I remember that actually. James was pestering me more than usual because he didn't have anyone to babysit him," Lily replied while laughing lightly.

"I wanna see this in action," Regulus challenged.

Against both Lily and Craig's advisory against it—Regulus was still egging him on—Sirius got back up to the top of the staircase while Craig, Lily, and Regulus stood at the bottom.

"Watch and learn," Sirius yelled louder than Lily was comfortable with in a castle full of children.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed a blinking light that sped up rapidly on the staircase. Before she could process what that could be, the room was blown to smithereens.

...

At some point, Marlene had lost sight of the Death Eaters, all except Bellatrix. The leader had sent out her minions to find her, Liz, and Hayley, while she sat on the floor looking bored.

Marlene wanted so badly to take on Bellatrix right that second, but Liz and Hayley suggested they just stay put for the time being and wait for a reply from the patronus message.

As time ticked on, Marlene got to thinking about how Voldemort could know Order members were working at Gringotts. The goblins had been sworn into secrecy by Dumbledore, she was sure of it. So, the only people who knew were the highest ranking goblins and Order members.

Getting on the good side of Dumbledore was difficult to do—in Marlene's opinion. He had to see something in you from the start, and not everyone had what he was looking for.

Why would the goblins risk losing his trust when they had just come to an agreement?

Marlene had also just seen the highest goblin in Gringotts—at the moment—deny even knowing about Order members working there. So, if they could pass information on to the Dark Lord, then why wouldn't they just give up the three girls without hesitation to Voldemort's most famous henchmen?

This question led Marlene to the other group of people that knew about them working at the bank. If you earned Dumbledore's trust, then if you were stealth enough, you could get away with anything you wanted. That was exactly how the marauders had gotten away with as much as they did while they were at Hogwarts.

But why would someone in the Order sell them out to Voldemort?

Perhaps, the person didn't like what they were seeing from this side of the war and they wished to switch half way through. Maybe Voldemort offered more rewards than Dumbledore did, or maybe they were just a coward.

Whatever the case, Marlene was sure of one thing. There was a spy in the Order.

Just as quickly as her epiphany came, she felt a stick get pressed to the back of her head. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have listened to Liz and Hayley because if she could have snuck around Bellatrix, then all three of them could've left.

"You move a muscle I don't tel you to move, Missy, and it's all over," a deep voice threatened from behind her.

So, the stick was definitely a wand. Looking to her sides, she could see that Hayley and Liz were in the same situation as her.

"Missy isn't my name," Marlene spoke up stupidly.

Gruffly, the man picked her up off the floor by her bicep to land her in a standing position. She was now eye to eye with Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Alright, princess, didn't you ever learn to keep your mouth shut, or do you wanna dig a deeper hole?" He clenched his jaw.

"Well, if you're addressing me as royalty now, I think you ought to be politer," Marlene smiled sarcastically.

Apparently, Rodolphus had had enough cheek. He moved his hand from around her bicep to her throat and threw her against the wall behind them.

"The shoelaces was you then, wasn't it?" Rodolphus questioned her.

It's not as if Marlene could answer, Rodolphus had her pinned against the wall by her throat. She would be lucky to breathe, let alone speak. Hayley and Liz were in similar situations with Lucius Malfoy and Antonin Dolohov.

"Let her get some oxygen, I wish to talk with her," Bellatrix disguised the demand as a request.

As Bellatrix walked towards Marlene, it was like a lion stalking it's prey. Marlene was looked at with calculated cold eyes, the same shade as Sirius's, but when she looked into them, there were no feelings of warmth. There were no feelings that swept her off her feet, or made her second guess every moral she had ever set in her head. Instead, she was brought waves of discomfort, enough to make her want to squirm in place.

"Clear out! I want this between me and Miss McKinnon here," Bellatrix twiddled her wand between her fingers and stopped walking to where she was only three feet in front of Marlene.

"You know my name?" Marlene found her voice again.

"How could I not? You're one of the most famous blood-traitors there are," she said without hesitation.  "And are you not in love with Sirius Black, a disgrace to my family's name?"

How could she know that?

"How do you know that?" Marlene asked like she would die without that information. "Who told you that?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you, but then again, I will anyway," Bellatrix laughed wickedly.

"Why are you here?" Marlene looked at her with rage filled eyes.

"I need to get some information, of course, and I hear you can give it to me," Bellatrix shrugged, "so it's quite simple really."

"Funny how you people keep saying that, but being a coward doesn't get any easier," Marlene challenged.

The Death Eaters that had vacated the room came charging in again with what Marlene hoped was an unconscious Hayley and horror stricken Liz. Bellatrix's look of fury was transferred from Marlene's to her husband's.

"What are you fools doing out here? I told you to go away," she shrieked.

"Yeah, that was before Dumbledore showed up!" Malfoy shouted back. "We've got to leave right now!"

"Not without doing some damage first," Rodolphus locked eyes with Bellatrix, which was never a good sign.

"You're insane! You're all insane!" Malfoy shouted before apparating away on the spot.

"You're just learning that now?" Marlene muttered under her breath as the Lestranges started to wreck havoc.

It was all she could do to dive behind debris before Bellatrix threw Liz and Hayley against a wall. Marlene watched as Liz lost her consciousness and the other Lestrange laughed as if he was winning his favorite board game.

"If Dumbles is here, then where the hell is he?" Marlene asked to no one except herself.

Without her wand, she was powerless against the others' wands. She had her self defense skills, but Marlene would only use those if absolutely necessary.

Deciding he wanted some action too, Rodolphus inflamed a portion of a wall opposite of Marlene into what she would assume was Fiendfyre as it took shape of a serpent.

"Marlene!" A voice she recognized whisper-shouted from behind her.

She turned to find James reaching out for her hand with a grim expression. The sadness aged his face years. Her and Lily always joked about liking older men, but this is not what they meant by that.

"We have to get Liz and Hayley! Bellatrix has them!" Marlene pointed to where the Death Eater was still tormenting the two girls.

"We can't! This place will go into flames in minutes if Lestrange is as stupid as I think he is! We've got to go now!" James still reached for Marlene, but she had drawn back completely to stop apparition.

"They're my friends, James! We can't just leave them here!" Marlene shouted now over the chaos enveloping them.

"Dumbledore will have the best chance at saving them! We can't stay any longer," James coughed as the smoke formed large dark clouds.

With a moment of hesitation from Marlene, James dove to hug her around the waste and apparated away from the burning atmosphere. Soon, they were panting on a familiar lawn with completely clean air.

"I'm gonna kill you! You left Liz and Hayley there!" Marlene charged James the moment they stood up from the ground.

"Dumbledore has a better-"

"Fuck Dumbledore! You left them there to die!" Marlene sounded near hysterics now.

"What was I supposed to do, Marls?" James creased his eyebrows as Marlene stood six inches from him with a murderous expression. "How could I have taken on Bellatrix fucking Lestrange by myself? Would you rather I die?"

"No, of course not," Marlene said without hesitation. "But, I don't want to have to choose who lives and who dies."

"Well, good thing you didn't have to do that today," James turned away from Marlene and marched into Potter Manor.

Marlene huffed a frustrated breath before chasing after him into the building. She didn't seem to know much these days, but if her intuition told her anything, it was that even if she was out of Gringotts,
today's battle wasn't over.

As she walked into Potter Manor, Marlene was ushered into the healing center by Dorcas and Molly. She let them take her into their company, although she kept Remus and James in her sight at all times, that was, until Mary rushed over to her and took all of her attention.

"Are you okay? Remus said there was an explosion," Mary's thoughtful eyes scanned her face, taking in every little scrape that now resided there.

"Shaken most definitely, where's Sirius?" Marlene asked as she had not seen him or Lily. Suddenly, it clicked. "Fuck, what's happening at Hogwarts?"

"We don't know yet, but Minnie is supposed to get into contact with us at some point from there-"

"Oi James! Where're you going?" Marlene yelled as James left Remus in the company of Harry yet again.

"Hogwarts," he answered simply.

"Promise me you'll be safe?"

"I promise."

...

Author's Note:

Just a short little note before you read the second half of this double update. I suppose you could call it an intermission.

James is playing superhero again, and Remus is silently disapproving, as always. And Marlene sure is smart.

The second part is far shorter than this one was, but I don't feel like splitting them equally at the current moment. Maybe that's a project for future Teddy.

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy😵‍💫