I didn't expect to ever see the Friends again, and I didn't for many years. But suddenly, one summer, Ms. Morgan Starr Killingham, now also an alumnus of Hogwarts, requested the use of the hall.
Claire Belbusti
Killingham's funeral was as beautiful as her wedding. There were
lilies everywhere and Robin refused to see black decorations. At 47,
Claire had been asked to follow a younger member of the Department of
Mysteries on a slightly dangerous information gathering mission.
Although she knew her way around, sometimes accidents are
unavoidable, and she met with a fatal one. Robin, just beginning to
grey at the ears, stood in the hall surrounded by his five children,
young Morgan only 21. They cried over their mother's casket as the
wizarding world mourned its loss as well. Soon, the other grievers
began to arrive. Very early on, Akir arrived tailed by a preteen son.
Alina and her husband arrived soon after with their twin daughters,
lovely, composed sixteen-year-olds. Those who knew Claire poured in
the door. Not the least of these was JB, with Eli, as he had always
been. They now shared a home, a life, and three small children out
near Eli's dragon herd. Eli was nearly holding his lover up, such was
her little brother's grief.
Dumbledore, now retired as
headmaster, arrived to preside over the service. Alina, Akir, Robin,
and JB all spoke about her. Alina tearfully recalled all of their
time together and enumerated her best friend's best qualities. Akir,
openly crying, spoke to her loyalty and bravado, calling her an
honorary Gryffindor. Robin spoke of her as the light of his life. He
named her an excellent mother and wife as well as a hard worker. JB
was barely able to speak, but the words he managed were all about her
loving nature and the example she set for others.
After the service, her open coffin was left out for a viewing. I distinctly heard Robin say "She always looked seventeen." Many of the mourners also commented that she didn't age. She had the timelessness of a model Ravenclaw.
She was interred, at Robin's request, on the Hogwarts grounds, at the far corner of the lake she spent so much of her youth in. If you wish, you could still visit her grave. Anthony, the eldest Killingham son, killed in his position with the Ministry some years later, is buried with her.
It is common knowledge that Robin left Claire's funeral and immediately began the process, through the Ministry, of becoming a dementor. It is difficult to tell, but it is said he still works at Azkaban. Akir played quidditch through retirement and Alina beat the survival rate for aurors by some thirty years. They stayed in touch even after Claire and Robin had departed. The Friendship never truly left Hogwarts though. Their antics echo through the halls year after year speaking of cooperation and interhouse love to every new generation of wizards.