"What happened Professor?"
"Something most unusual! Or perhaps, considering recent events, not that unusual, but definitely surprising! It is…it is truly a miracle…"
Harry was shocked at the emotion in McGonagall's voice and the tears in her eyes. In his whole life, he had only seen McGonagall choke up about something thrice in his life, once when she had spoken to him right after Dumbledore's demise, the second time when she had greeted him for the first time after Voldemort's defeat, and the third, when he had informed her of his parents' return, which made him conclude that someone had returned, and someone who McGonagall was very fond of.
The entered the Hospital Wing, just as McGonagall was wiping her eyes. There, in front of Madam Pomfrey, complaining violently as she checked him all over, was a tall red-haired figure, a figure very similar to his brother-in-law George's, the only difference being the left ear that George missed.
Harry stood there, unable to form any words, his eyes clouded with tears,
"F-Fred? I-Is that you?"
Her son had died.
He had actually been dead for a few minutes.
The reality of those memories hit Lily ten-fold, as she lay in her bed, wide awake. What mother would be able to sleep after witnessing their child's murder? His death? What mother would be able to suppress her sobs, to curb her tears, when her son's lifeless body flashed in her mind over and over again?
"Lils" James whispered. "Are you alright?" he asked, putting a hand on her shaking shoulder.
Lily shook her head, her sobs growing louder, and James pulled her into his arms, rubbing soothing circles onto her back.
It was only when something wet splashed on her cheek, that she realized that she wasn't the only one crying, and ran a calming hand through her husband's hair, as they both lay there in the night, trying to comfort one another.
"Remus? Are you alright?"
Remus sighed, as he turned to his wife. "No Dora, I'm not. Every time I close my eyes…..I see Harry dying…."
He sighed again, running a frustrated hand through his hair "I- he was like a son to me Dora, whether he know it or not. I still remember him when he was a baby…he meant the world to all of us..me, Sirius, James, Lily…"
Tonks listened silently, soothingly stroking his arm, her eyes fixed on her husband's tortured expression as he closed his eyes.
"He-I can't even imagine him dying…I-"
Tears leaked out of Tonks' eyes, triggered by both, her husband's pain, and her own grief at seeing the boy whom she would have protected with her life if necessary succumb to death.
"Damn it!" Sirius yelled, throwing a goblet on the ground.
He clutched his head, as in agony, as his mind was again plagued by the nightmares he had experienced since his imprisonment, only, they were worse. Way worse, because these nightmares now not only consisted of vivid scenes of the death of his best friend and his wife, but also contained his godson dying right in front of his eyes, as he stood there, unable to do anything. They also contained the motionless forms of Remus and his cousin, contained his godson's agonized screams as he bore the Cruciatus cast by Voldemort, an old memory that had resurfaced tonight. It was too much for him too bear, too much for him to see.
He fell down on his knees, sobs wracking through his body, as his demons surrounded him again, the demons which he had mistaken to have overcome, and engulfed him in their darkness again.