Lily's small wish had come true. Other members of the Order had raided a Death Eater hideout, and found Regulus's body. Although he had been missing for five weeks, it was obvious that he had been kidnapped and tortured for information, and then disposed of when they no longer needed him.
It was recommended that Lily should not be allowed to formally identify his body as he was not the way she remembered him. Sirius had taken that responsibility, and she had been grateful until he came back and vomited. Lily had apologised profusely to him, but he said that she did not have to, and that he was glad that she had been spared the sight of Regulus lying lifeless.
It was only at his funeral that she truly realised that Regulus was gone and never coming back. Lily had sobbed throughout the ceremony with Sirius holding her to him.
By the time it came to greet the mourners Lily had stopped sobbing, but the tears refused to stop. She had been mourning him, the wet pillow beneath her face every morning, and the ache in her heart every second.
Over the next few weeks, Lily returned to what she thought was normal. Everyone else around her disagreed. All they saw was a robot doing the same things day in and day out; getting up, getting dressed, doing chores and going back to bed. They saw that she had no life left in her, and wanted to help, but didn't know how.