She looks beautiful in death.
It is after the funeral, after all the mourners are gone and Aberforth has broken his nose that Albus truly looks at the body of his little sister for the first time. As the eldest male, it is his task to light the fire that will burn away her mortal shell, a task that must be completed alone.
He knows that it is his fault she is dead. Even if he didn't cast the spell that did it – please Merlin let that be true – it was he who brought Gellert into their lives. He who ignored her, wanting only to hide her away. Him. All him.
It is fitting that it is he who must cremate her – completing the task he had unknowingly started so long ago.
Within the blink of an eye, he has destroyed everything. Their father left to protect her, their mother hid herself away to keep her with them. And he – he has shattered all their sacrifices into a million pieces.
He strokes her hair gently, like their mother used to, before conjuring a sprig of mint flowers to lay on her chest. They were her favourite, that much he remembers.
She had never hated the Muggle boys who had killed the vivacious child she once was. Unlike their father and him, she had always been the forgiving one.
As he raises his wand, a spell on his lips, he closes the door to the spring of hatred in his mind.
He was never the brother she deserved when she was alive – but he would be in her death.
For:
If You Dare Challenge, Prompt 73. Hearthstone
Character Diversity Bootcamp, Prompt 32. Tears
Musical Terms Challenge, Flebile
Latin Challenge, Lacrimo
Quidditch Positions Competition, Seeker
Snakes and Ladders Challenge