Francis
Summary: We all know that the day Lily died Francis disappeared. This is the story of Horace realisation that his favourite student had died.
The day I realised that she was gone was on November 1st 1981, the air was cold and the floor even colder. I'd been awoken by an owl rattling on the window carrying a letter telling me of He Who Must Not Be Name's defeat.
The letter talked of how He had attacked a small house in Godric's Hollow, where He attempted to kill a small boy – no older than one year old. The Killing Curse had backfired and instead of killing the boy He had killed himself. No one knows what it was that had caused the spell to backfire, but whatever the reason was no one investigating it at this moment: everyone was too busy celebrating.
The letter had also stated that the boy's parents had died, but only a selected few were mourning their deaths: they were seen as small sacrifices in the defeat of You Know Who. The letter also sported the name of the boy: Harry Potter.
Potter. The name seemed familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on why.
Instead of dwelling on those lost I was downstairs getting some food to eat, before joining the Wizarding World in the celebration of the end of the war. That was when I remembered the name Potter. It was the name one of my favourite student's had married into.
Lily Evans. Lily Potter.
At first I didn't believe it, Lily couldn't be dead. She was so young, so beautiful, not yet reached her full potential.
I dropped everything and quickly went out to see Francis. However much to my despair my little fish wasn't there. Francis was gone, and so was the wonderful witch who gave him to me.
Lily Evans, she was gone and no one would know of her excellence. She would just be another name added to the list of those who gave their lives for the greater good.
After seeing that Francis was gone I didn't feel in the mood for celebrating anymore. Instead I joined the selected few that were mourning their deaths.
Yet at the same time, I couldn't believe that she was really gone. I wouldn't believe it.
I only did believe it years later when there was no other option but to believe. Lily Evans had died and I was responsible for it.