Professor McGonagall forgot all about her previous rage when she received an urgent owl from St. Mungo's informing her of the Potters' demise. Clad as she was in her dressing gown and night slippers, and with her bun tied back in a net, she trotted straight up to the seventh years' dormitory and started to shake Sirius.
"Black, wake up," she whispered, prodding him with her wand. He had fallen asleep on top of his sheets, still fully clothed, and no doubt had only dozed off a little while before. Sirius didn't need any words to know why he had been woken up so rudely.
"Can I go to her, Professor?" he asked, somewhat pleadingly. "She needs me now, they both do."
First thing after breakfast, Sirius and Remus, with Peter dragging along behind, had stormed up to the topmost tower and demanded the permission to attend the funeral. Professor Dumbledore, looking shaken and subdued, immediately consented to accompany them.
It was a bit more than two weeks before the start of the N.E.W.T. and O.W.L. sessions, but no-one was thinking of exams. The news of James' parents raced through the school like wildfire and rumour had it that none of the Potters would be returning back to school.
"Absolute nonsense," Professor McGonagall assured Remus, as she checked through his dress robes to make sure they were in a decent enough shape for the funeral. "They're coming back to sit for their exams; they have to!"
Sirius felt a sense of foreboding as he climbed into the Muggle taxi that would take his friends and Professor Dumbledore to the funeral. The 5-seat taxi had been bewitched to accommodate both the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall, as well as the Marauders, Lily and Alice. There was a silence as the car made its way to Hounslow, where the service was taking place, and Alice in particular looked especially pale.
"Here we are," Professor McGonagall said as the car started to come to a halt. Without a word, they all scrambled out in an almost neatly fashion and stood awkwardly at the foot of the six steps leading to the hall. The outline of James could be seen at the door, greeting the guests as they made their way inside.
At least, it looked like James, physically. Sirius noted ruefully that there was no spark in his eyes, no colour in his face and that his actions were mechanical. Lizzie was nowhere to be seen, and he started to get slightly alarmed.
"Come on," Sirius motioned to Remus, making his way up the stairs. James' eyes glimmered for a split second when he caught sight of his friends, and his face relaxed marginally.
Sirius didn't know what to say to him, so he expressed himself in the best way he could; he grabbed hold of his dearest friend's shoulders and pulled him into a rough embrace that said more than a thousand words ever could. The embrace was brief, for the line of mourners behind them was growing, but just before Sirius entered the hall, James turned to him with a small, reassuring smile as though to say, "Don't worry about me. I know I'll be just fine."
Whilst his friends stayed with James and tried to engage him in some small talk, Sirius looked around him in search of his dearest brunette. The hall was full of people, mostly huddled in crowds whispering, and few had taken their seats. Lizzie was one of them; Sirius spotted her outline way up front in the second row, unmoving as though frozen in time. She didn't show any sign of recognition when Sirius walked up to her pew and slid down next to her, and she was so deeply lost in her trance that it seemed as though she didn't register the new presence by her side. Her face was deathly white, but her eyes were red, and Sirius could tell that she was fighting hard to contain her tears.
He picked up her cold hand gently, and brought it to his lips with a soft kiss. It was only then that she turned to look at him, and in her eyes he could read a sense of relief. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, and she returned her look back to the front of the hall, back to the large moving photograph of her uncle and aunt in happier times.
Sirius felt slightly worried as he noted the change in the girl sitting next to him. She was clad in a little black dress, and her long hair was lying loose around her shoulders. Though she was so pale, she had never looked so beautiful to him, but Sirius could sense that any remnants of the child Lizzie were gone forever; the one sitting next to him was now and forever totally a woman and, though he was ashamed for thinking so, the thought both frightened him and excited him at the same time. Now more than ever he felt a desperate need to protect her from any harm that would come her way, but at the same time, he felt distrust in himself and wondered if he was man enough to match up to her.
The ceremony was not very long, but it was very moving. A number of people in the hall were crying, and Professor McGonagall had her face constantly buried in her handkerchief. Lizzie and James both sat calm and composed at the front, neither of them shifting their gaze from the photograph, but both of them managing well to keep back their tears. Sirius kept his hand around his Lizzie's shoulder, and Remus sat next to James for support. Peter, Lily and Alice sat in the pew behind them, Alice looking very pale, and the others looking decidedly sad.
"Thank you for coming." Lizzie told Remus as she hugged him just before he left. "You have no idea how much I need a friend like you right now." She turned to speak to Alice but found that she was not there, and she suddenly felt rather cross. Alice had avoided her ever since she stepped into the hall, and Lizzie couldn't for the world understand why. She looked around the people and finally spotted her towards the back, having a rather agitated, whispered discussion with Frank.
"You are coming back to school, right?" Sirius asked from the top of her head when he pulled her into an embrace of his own. She was trembling in his arms, and he rather liked the feeling of being able to protect her. She raised her lovely eyes to him and nodded lightly.
"Of course. Bobby wants me to top all my O.W.L.s." she said with a smile, the unfallen tears threatening to make an appearance.
"I'm not really sure what we're going to do now, but we'll see you very soon," James reassured his friends before they boarded their taxi again. Professor Dumbledore had just finished offering them his condolences as well as assistance in the settling of unfinished matters.
They stood side by side on the pavement when the taxi had left, neither of them really knowing what to do. Then suddenly James, taking the lead, put his arms around Lizzie's shoulder and said, "I know it's hard Lizzie, but let's go home. We need to talk about certain things, and we have a mountain of things to sort out."
Lizzie nodded, looking rather dejected. In reality she was still thinking of the frightened look Alice had given her when she had come to say goodbye.
"Let's go," James motioned, grabbing her by the wrist. As they walked down the few metres to their home, Lizzie felt secure for the first time in days.
"Don't worry about us, James," she told her cousin with sincere honesty, "when all the mourning is over, we'll be just fine. You'll see."
A/N: Hope you like this.....watch out for chapter 29 because I think it might take you by surprise :)
I'm currently going through the opposite of a writer's block, in the sense that I have too much inspiration and too many leads as regards to the future plot of Dear Lizzie. If any kind soul out there wants to have a chat with me to hear my thoughts and provide opinions you'd be more than welcome. It would, however, ruin the ending of this fanfic for you soooo, you have been warned.
Keep the reviews coming please. And Merry Christmas to all :D
