Omg, I really hope this chapter is decent lol I'm like, going crazy with school and work, but I can't leave you guys hanging!
"Seems like it was yesterday that I saw your face
You told me how proud you were, but I walked away
If only I knew what I know today.
I would tell you I was wrong
I would help you understand
Are you looking down upon me?
Are you proud of who I am?
There's nothing I wouldn't do to hear your voice again
Sometimes I wanna call you, and see you looking back
Oh, I'm sorry for blaming you
For everything I just couldn't do
And I hurt myself, by hurting you"
-Christina Aguilera
"Teddy, I cannot believe you pulled us all out of class! That's awesome!" Molly said happily. He really understood her enthusiasm considering the rarity of them being pulled out of class, but he wished they all weren't smiling at him so brightly. It would only make all of this harder.
"Seriously, you never take us out of a class we're in. What's going on?"
"Well, I have news for you-"
"Please don't say Vic is pregnant again. No offense, but you guys haven't even gotten on well with the first one."
"Just a tip, saying no offense doesn't make what you say any less offensive Fred."
"Noted." he tried to remember why he had called them here, instead of being annoyed by them "What are we here for then?"
"There's no easy way to say it, so I'm just going to come out with it. There's been an accident."
"An accident?" Rose asked, "Where?"
"At the ministry." He didn't know why it was so hard for him to say, but the looks on their faces were just too much. They were not a family that received bad news often, so they knew immediately that something was wrong.
"What happened?" Lily asked. "Did anyone get hurt?"
"There have been some extremely delicate cases within the Magical Law Department involving certain "uprisings" of people that still think purebloods are superior. One group in particular, has been causing an abnormal amount of disarray for the department."
"Uprisings?" James asked, "As in…wannabe death eaters?"
"Something like that, except everyone thought it was just a bunch of kids trying to get some attention. The Aurors and the people in the Magical Law Department have been working together to bring and end to it, or find a leader, and they thought they had found them, but it was a decoy."
"Seriously Teddy, this isn't an Auror debriefing, something bad happened didn't it?"
"One of the boys that they thought caused all of the uprisings was captured and brought in for trial today. It turns out, he was only a decoy to get as much of…our family as possible in one room at one time. From my understanding, everything happened so fast that not many people had time to react properly to the explosions, but almost everyone was evacuated safely."
"Almost everyone?" Rose asked, not missing a beat. "Who wasn't evacuated?"
"It was-." Teddy was trying to stay strong for them, but it was turning out to not be that easy. He didn't have to say much more, especially since all of the kids whose parents worked at the ministry had automatically tensed. Lily had formed tears in her eyes before she even knew who it was. "I'm so sorry, this is hard for me to do-"
"Just tell us Teddy," Rose begged tearfully. "Tell us, please!"
He couldn't believe he had to do this.
Al hated funerals. He had never even been to one before and he could tell that he hated them. The whole thing was extremely depressing and no one had been themselves since they received the news. Al had truly never seen the girls cry so hard in their lives, and even he could admit that he was choked up when Teddy told them. Al was old enough to understand that people didn't live forever, but he never would have imagined that something like this could happen. To make matters worse, they had decided to drive to the service, but in usual Potter fashion they were quite late, causing their dad to drive a little more aggressively than usual. It was all very nerve-wracking, not to mention the telecasting on every wizard run radio that seemed to be aiming to never let them forget what had happened.
"It's a tragic day for the wizarding world-"
"-jumped in front of the explosion and absorbed full impact-"
"said to have been killed instantly-
"-leaves behind children and family-
"Can you shut that thing off?" Al practically shouted.
"You ok buddy?" Their dad asked as they drove into the city.
"I just can't think with all that racket."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No." he answered quietly. Al just couldn't help but feel that this wasn't an accident. He didn't think it was just a bunch of kids fooling around, because that's not how kids tended to fool around. Secret society wishing ill on an entire group of people seemed a little extreme for a "bunch of kids fooling around." It all made him feel very suspicious. He had been raised to not judge others, but he couldn't help wondering if any of the kids at school had anything to do with it. There were plenty of kids that hated their family, and even more that had parents on the dark side during the war. There was a large popularity of kids at Hogwarts that Al hadn't even met, and the Slytherins did Merlin knows what down in those dungeons by themselves. And if there were a bunch of psycho kids trying to take over the Wizarding World, what did that mean for them? Would their be another war? Would they have to fight in it? They had no survival skills; most kids his age could barely stay awake during DADA, let alone defend themselves if it came to an attack. "Dad, I think you should teach me how to duel."
"Why?" his mom answered, looking like it was the craziest idea in the world.
"Because I don't know how; if there's another war I want to be able to defend myself."
"That won't happen, honey. I promise." His mom looked to his dad for affirmation, and he barely nodded. "What's got you thinking about this?"
"I guess I'm just in denial about all of this. I know that no one lives forever, but you all have already gone through so much and you guys got through it because you were so much tougher. Dad, you said a lot of what happened in the past was because of luc, right? What if this is different and your luck has run out?" He couldn't finish explaining himself because he got choked up for the millionth time since they got the bad news. Out of everyone, Al had probably cried the most. Lily had been the light in all of it, cheering everyone up and comforting them. She was a lot stronger than people gave her credit for, and somehow kept a smile on her face, which is exactly what everyone needed. James had taken a different approach than Al and Lily. He wasn't upset, nor did he have a positive light about him. He had been a complete shell of himself, only speaking when it was absolutely necessary. Al had never seen anything effect his older brother so much, and he thought that might be a part of the reason he was so emotional. None of it was fair, and Al would give anything to undo what had happened. "I'm sorry I'm acting like complete sap-"
"Don't apologize for how you feel Albus. We all grieve in our own ways." he mother comforted. She had been a rock through this too, though Al knew that was just a front so that the kids wouldn't see her break down. Al had heard her crying in the night though, and had to put a silencing charm around their parents door so Lily wouldn't hear. The situation had just brought so many bad thoughts to his mind, and he might as well tell his parents what had really been bothering him.
"This family has gone through so much, I just don't think we can survive much more. I don't ever want you guys to- I just can't imagine you all not being here. And if something were to ever happen you I might-"
"Seriously, Al?" James asked, speaking in a hollow voice that was nothing like his own. "That's what you choose to talk about right now while we're in this death machine? Our parents dying? Pull your shit together."
"Pardon me for trying to express myself. All of us can't just ignore all of our emotions every minute of our lives."
"Both of you, shut up." Lily added.
"All three of you need to calm down. Al, honey, your dad and I aren't going anywhere-"
"How can you say that mom? We're on our way to a funeral! You can't promise something like that."
"You're right. I cannot promise you that, but I can assure you that what happened was an accident. It could have happened to anyone, at any place, anytime, and you can replay the scenario over and over and come up with a million reasons for why it didn't have to happen that way, but it did. I want all three of you to remember that in life, there are things that happen that we don't want to accept, and people we can't live without that we have to let go. It's just a part of life that we have to come to terms with at some point in our lives. We grieve, we move on, but we never forget. You're the only one that has your memories, and as long as you cherish them, that person will always be with you."
Their mom was tearing up now, and turned away from them so that they wouldn't see the tears fall from her eyes. Al couldn't see now how it was ever possible to get over the death of a loved one, but his parents had lost many friends and family members, and they seemed to be doing ok.
"I just want you guys to know that I love you." Al said softly. "All of you."
"We love you too buddy." he dad responded. "Everything will be ok in the end, and if it's not ok, it's not the end."
Rose had no idea how she had become the only person in the family with any sense of punctuality. Not that she wanted the service to be over, she just found it disrespectful to show up late to something like this, or to anything for that matter. To her, being late meant that you felt your time was more important than the person's you were wasting by being late. Rose, her mother, and the majority of the other guests were patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin, and she was trying to do anything but look towards that coffin. It just sent her on an emotional roller coaster that she wasn't ready to deal with today. She had enough going on.
"Mom, what's taking so long? Should I go get everyone?"
"No. don't be rude."
"Me? They're holding up the entire ceremony. They're the ones being rude. I'll go get them." she said as she stood up from her seat. Her mom tried to stop her, but couldn't get a good enough grip on her skirt. The only thing that stopped her was the entire human being that she ran into when she tried to walk out of the row she'd been seated in. "Ow."
"Where are you going?" Zack asked, rubbing the spot where her forehead had hit the oen he had nestled in the pocket of his dress shirt.
"I'm going to find my cousins, they're holding everything up."
"You in a rush or something?"
"A little. I mean, the ceremony did have a start time. Why give a time if you aren't going to follow it?"
"I'm sure they didn't count on losing one of their main guests, but things happen. Let's sit."
"No, I told you I'm going to get them!" she said, moving his hand from her forehead. The scene probably looked a little intimate, and she didn't want her mom asking a million questions later on tonight. "Get out of the way, Longbottom!"
"No, thank you. Just let them have their moment, everyone deals in their own way."
"Disappearing when your family is in a time of crisis is not a coping mechanism, it's a cop out."
"And this whole time conscious, insensitive, extra pushy thing? Is that your coping mechanism?"
"Get out of my way." It looked like he was goijng to move, but he only wrapped and arm around her waste and guided her back towards her seat. She tried to resist, but he was definitively stronger than she was, and she didn't want to cause a scene. To anyone else, it just looked like she was letting him console her, but she was pushing against him with every ounce of strength she had. Finally they got back to where her mom was and he kept his hand on her waste as they sat in their sets.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley. You look lovely."
"Thanks you Zachary. You are quite dashing yourself." she practically sang. Rose didn't disagree with her mom, but she didn't want to hear about how dashing he looked when he had completely won their little argument back there. She didn't know why she was upset. It wasn't like she had never lost an argument before, she had just never lost to a guy she liked. Or possibly liked. She didn't really care about the technicalities of their situation right now, though. The only other guy that she had ever felt anything for was Scorpius. They argued all of the time, and she always won. Even when he clearly had the upper hand, or better argument, she always won. He gave her whatever she wanted, without ever putting up much of a fight. Zack Longbottom made her earn the victory in every argument they had. If she was right, she was right, but if she was wrong, he wasn't the type to just bow down and say she was right to make her happy. It was infuriating, but at the same time it was oddly comforting. It was like he respected her enough to not give her an easy win.
"You need to relax." he whispered. He used his free arm to push down on her shoulders, releasing the tension she had forgotten she'd been holding there.
"I dislike funerals. I think that death is unfair, and selfish. It just takes who it wants when it wants, and doesn't care who is affected. How is that fair?"
"It's not, but there's little we can do about it."
"Little? What can we do about it at all?"
"We can really live while we're living. Say all the things you need to say to the people that need to hear it most, and do all you want to do with the people you love most. Don't take a single second of a single day for granted, because you never know how many you have left. All you can do is try to have no regrets."
"Sounds risky."
"You can't be afraid t take a few risks Rose. If you calculate every single thing, and plan everything out to a T, you'll miss out on those great moments that come when we least expect it, you know? You can't live in fear of actually living; that's not living at all." She had a tiny feeling that she knew what kind of risks he was talking about.
"Any suggestions?"
"Depends. Am I speaking as a friend, or as the guy that fancies you?" Rose could feel her mom tense up next to her, but she didn't say anything, or interrupt. "As a friend, I think you need to make a decision, and you know what decision I'm talking about. Don't worry about what other people think, choose whoever makes you happy."
"Easy for you to say. Why do you care? It's none of your business who I do or do not choose." He raised his eyebrows as if to say 'Like hell it isn't' but he didn't say anything. He just moved his arm from around left his seat. Now he was frustrated with her. She hadn't meant for it to come out that way. Of course it was his business whether or not she chose to be with him. Why wouldn't it be? He had been putting up with her indecisiveness for almost a year now, and hadn't pressured her in the least to make a decision. Not that there was much of a decision to be made, Zack had made his feeling very clear, and Scorpius had been about as clear as a foggy autumn day. She stood up from her seat, noting how rude it must look for everyone to keep getting up and sitting down at a funeral. When she caught up to him, he was walking slowly down the corridor. "I'm sorry."
"For?"
"For being so weird, for using you like some kind of crutch, for not paying attention to you more even though you've been here for me through all of this mess, for-"
"Rose, it's fine. I get it; you and Scorpius have this thing for each other and it's complicated. You don't have to explain yourself to me."
"That's just it though; I really do need to explain myself to you because you get it and you get me. I like you, and you've opened my eyes to new things and made me feel special, and I wish it was any other guy, but it's Scorpius. We've been dancing around the inevitable for years now, and he and I have gotten absolutely nowhere. If anything we are even farther apart than we used to be, which should make me want to just forget him, but I can't; not without saying we at least tried. I was just waiting for him to come to his senses, or for things to work themselves out on their own. But I just can't take waiting anymore. I realize that for someone that hates what I'm going through, I must be a real prick to put you through the exact same things. I don't want you to wait for me Zack; you never made me wait, you've always been here. Your feelings for me have been clear from the start and I thank you for that."
"It's no big deal." he said sounding sad. "You're an amazing girl."
"How can you even say that?" she asked, tearing up. "How can you be so nice and understanding? You're making this extremely difficult."
"We're friends Rose. Your preference in boyfriends won't change that, I swear. If he makes you happy, you deserve that." He wiped a tear from her face with a sad smile, and knew he was trying to keep his composure. "Scorpius is coming this way."
"Ok." She said as she hugged him. "Call we still met up on Sunday's for tutoring?"
"I don't think that's a good idea. Not that I don't enjoy the time with you, but I don't want to overstep any boundaries or anything."
"You don't even know if he'll want to be with me."
"He will. You better go." Zack walked back towards the ceremony and Rose tried to wipe the tears from her face so that she could look halfway presentable. She had probably just lost a friend, and that sucked, but she needed to do this now. She walked over towards Scorpius, feeling more and more confident with every step.
"Scorpius, wait!" she screamed, turning her confident walk into a brisk jog. "I need to tell you something."
"What?" he answered rather coldly.
"I love you." He didn't respond, but looked around like he was checking for anyone that could be listening to their conversation. She looked back at the place he was staring at, wondering what was so interesting that she couldn't have his full attention after saying she loved him. She thought she saw a flash of silver disappear into the funeral hall, but she probably imagined it.
"What'd you say?"
"Don't what me, you heard. I love you. I love you, and I'm not going to try and deny it any longer. I know you feel something Scorpius, and you've had plenty of time to figure it all out, and I know that like me, you overthink every single thing that happens in your life. I think about you constantly, I see you and I get butterflies just like I did when I was 11, you're the first person I want to tell things to and the last person on my mind. I've been waiting for you since I was ten years old, and I'm done. I'm not doing it anymore. Either we're together, right now, like we should have been years ago, or this is it. So, what do you want?"
"Rose, I- I don't know what to say. I- I feel-"
"You feel what?" she asked. He was finally about to tell her how he felt, something she hadn't expected to ever hear at the rate they were going.
"I don't think this is the best time to talk about this-"
"Well, this is the time we've got. I love you, Scorpius. I always have and I can't believe I didn't say anything before-"
"I don't feel the same." He blurted out, interrupting her speech.
"What?"
"I don't- I see you as just a friend, Rose. I'm sorry."
"No, don't apologize. I was stupid for coming up to you like this." she said, hoping she could get away from this conversation before she could start crying. She wasn't completely sure what had just happened. He didn't even seem the least bit remorseful about rejecting her. "I have to go, the ceremony is starting soon."
"Please don't walk away Rose, I don't want to lose you. I- Can we still be friends?" She didn't even dignify that with a response as she continued walking without looking back. She had meant what she said to him. Either they were together, or they were done. Realization hit her like a brick. He didn't want her. He didn't love her. He didn't even seem to care much about her anymore. She squeezed back into the row she was sitting in with her parents, brother and Zack. Her mom knew immediately that something was wrong, and went into concerned mother mode.
"Honey, are you ok? What's wrong?" She didn't feel like answering, so she didn't; she just shook her head and smiled enough that her mom would drop the subject. She turned away, which was a big mistake, considering she was now looking into Zack's concerned eyes. He didn't have to say anything to her for her to know what he was asking with his eyes. She didn't have to answer for him to know what had happened.
Lucy swore she could go another 50 years without anyone ever talking to her again. People had never been more annoying than they were today. They were all talking to her, asking her questions, wanting to know if she needed anything, when really she only wanted to be left alone. Surprisingly enough, James had been one of the only people that understood that. They never hung out when they saw each other, but today she had spent most of her time hanging around him and he had let her. They weren't talking or anything, they had just been there for each other silently, and that was all she really needed. Until of course, more people had tried to talk to her and James took that opportunity to find solace somewhere else, leaving her to deal with the ravenous funeral guests. She'd had to pretend to cry to get them to leave her alone, and snuck off into the nearest closet she could find. She was enjoying her new hiding spot, until of course, Louis found her. Like James, he didn't say much of anything, but he sat with her while she just took a moment to herself to think. They had to have been sitting there close to an hour, and she was surprised no one had come looking for them considering the ceremony was scheduled to start and hour and a half ago.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"I'd really prefer you didn't, Louis."
"Ok. It's just that I-"
"My previous answer was the nice way of saying no. No questions. If you're going to talk, the door's right there; Feel free to talk to someone out there." He looked a little shocked by how rude she was being, but that was the only way she'd get him to shut up. She had not had time to process anything because everyone had wanted something from her, and she had no time to herself. This whole thing had just been way too much for her to handle, and she hadn't even gotten the chance to try and handle it yet.
"Lucy, the ceremony is about to start and they need you to come on. We've waited long enough." Lily said, peeking her head into the closet where she and Louis had been hiding from the chaos outside. She looked annoyingly happy, and was being very bubbly and positive. It was why Lucy had been avoiding her. All of their lives, Louis had been the one Lucy went to when she had a crisis. Mainly because he didn't talk much, and he was a realist. Lily was her best friend, but she will talk your ear off and try to use ridiculous sayings to make you feel better, and Lucy wasn't in the mood for aimless chatter. Lucy didn't know if Lily expected a response to her statement, but she didn't leave.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," she said, turning away and closing the door. It hadn't been a second before she swung the door wide open and barged in. "Are you ok? Seriously, don't give me some kind of general answer. I'm worried about you."
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I don't know why everyone's making a big bloody deal out of this."
"A big bloody deal? Lucy it's your-"
"Lily, she says she's fine. Lay off." Louis snapped. Lucy felt bad that he'd yelled at Lily, but she could be downright annoying at the worst possible times. She pursed her lips and let out a labored sigh before plastering on her Lily smile and walking out of the room. Lucy didn't understand why everyone was so sad. This was the circle of life, this is the way things happen. Today it was happening to Lucy, but one day it would happen to everyone else too. It wasn't something they could control, it was just… life. "You know, she's only trying to help, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"I'm here too, always, if you need to talk. Hugo's here too… somewhere; and while I prefer you talk to me, you can go to him if necessary. We're always here." She couldn't help but laugh at his naivety, but gave him a hug anyway.
"You won't always be anywhere Louis. Isn't that what today is all about?" she asked before exiting the room. She didn't need to be coddled, or lectured, or preached at. She was absolutely fine. She could hear Louis following behind, and they walked silently in to the huge Ministry ballroom. Lucy was surprised to see that so many people had shown up for this. She didn't even know half of these people, but they all held the same expression that Lucy had seen all week. She had thought that by being a little late she'd miss a little of the ceremony, but of course they had waited for her. She took her seat between her sister and grandmother, both weeping their eyes out. It couldn't be healthy to cry as much as Molly had in this past week. Lucy hadn't shed a single tear. She watched as Kingsley walked to the podium in the front of the room, and noticed that even he had a tear in his eye.
"Friends and family, we have come here today to lay one of our own, Percy Weasley, to rest." Lucy could barely hear the rest of Kingsley's speech because the sounds her mother was making were ringing through her ears from 2 seats away. She guessed, if anyone could really be sad it was her mom. She had loved and put up with the most difficult man on earth for the majority of her life. That sucked. "On behalf of the Weasley family, thank you for showing your ongoing love and support to a great man who died protecting his friends and family. And now, we will hear from Percy's youngest daughter, Lucy Weasley." If Lucy had never gone to WADA, the feeling of everyone's eyes turning to her would have made her die of embarrassment. (She realized it was too soon for funeral puns, even if it was only in her head.) Today she simply smiled and made the short walk to the podium where Kingsley, who had never shown her any sing of compassion before, gave her a hug. She didn't need anyone's sympathy. She was fine.
"Umm, hi-" she started, before dropping her note cards all over the floor. James laughed, which was refreshing, but Kingsley reached to pick them up, but she waved him off. "Leave them, they're blank anyway."
She had to stay very focused to not laugh, as James was smirking at her. No one had told her the proper way to give a eulogy, but at this moment she realized she probably could have written something down.
"Go on." he mouthed.
"Ok, hi. I am here to speak on behalf of my father, Percy Weasley. If you're wondering why me and not Molly, then you're thinking the exact same thing I was when they told me I was to write this eulogy. My dad is, well was- I mean, he… this is all just very overwhelming, you know? Throughout this whole situation, there have just been a lot of people. People I've never seen before or heard of, but they all seem to know my dad so well. Everyone just keeps talking to me about my father as if the pleasantries are going to make any of this go away. Ugh, everyone's just talking and talking and talking. They're saying what a great man he was, and that he was a 'jokester' around the office, and that he was so understanding, and heroic, and all of these really things and I'm just really shocked. These people, I mean you people, can't be talking about my dad. I mean, people have been saying he was funny. Seriously? Here's something funny; he actually requested that I do this, which is pretty ironic. I mean, he wanted me to speak at his funeral, but for the last two years of my life he couldn't speak to me face-to-face. He was funny that way, I guess, if you look at it that way. All of these stories of him being a 'funny guy' at the office, being some kind of jokester or something; that all sounds like a load of crap to me." At this point she wasn't even trying to form a relatively poignant speech. She was just speaking from the heart. She and her dad hadn't spoken, so this was her chance to tell him exactly how she felt.
"Now he's some kind of hero because he threw himself in front of some creepy, new-age, magic spell bomb? Who does that? A very, very selfless person that cared about others, and that was most certainly not my father. I lived with the man for my entire life and I can't say a damned thing about him really. Nothing of substance at least. I know he liked his coffee black, and he didn't like to be bothered early in the mornings, and that he wasn't really one for expressing feelings. I know he loved my mom. He for sure loved her; she was the only one that could get him to see reason on anything. He loved my sister Molly; she was his pride and joy and he told everyone that every chance he could. He loved his parents, his brothers and sister, all of my cousins, the Potters' dog, my mom's cat, and his job. I guess all of that love for so many people could be why he never had any left for me. I guess the truth is that my dad was a loving guy to almost everyone else. When it came to me, Percy Weasley was judgmental, cold, distant, and never satisfied."
"Not once did he tell me I did good on anything, or congratulated me on anything. He saw me sing once, walked straight out of the room, and apparated away. I guess if I had to say something nice, I'd say that he really pushed me to do my best in everything I do. He hated that singing is what I do, and because of that, I decided to make it without him, and prove to him that it was worth something. Or… maybe I wanted to prove to him that I am something, and I think I have. I'm top of my class, one of the youngest advanced students at my school, and damn proud of it. So thank you dad. I couldn't have done it without you." She said as she walked away from the podium. People were staring at her like she'd just lost her mind, but she didn't care. She couldn't stand the crying coming from her mom, so she walked straight out of the ballroom. She didn't need to be at this funeral, because she'd had one for him in her mind months ago. He had been dead to her for a while now.
Molly could not believe her little sister right now. She didn't understand how someone could be so selfish and rude at their own father's funeral. Lucy had always been a drama queen, but this was too much. She stormed out of the room after her sister, and couldn't wait to scream her head off. She had let this bratty, self-loathing thing go on long enough. She wasn't a little girl anymore, and it was time she started acting like it.
"Lucy!" she screamed, through the halls. She had no idea where she could have gone, but it couldn't be far considering she couldn't apparate. "Lucy!" She saw a bunch of people that looked like waiters standing in front of the door to the room where the reception was supposed to take place. They were all banging on the door, so Molly figured she'd go see what the problem was. "Excuse me, what's going on here?"
"A little girl just ran in while we weren't looking and locked herself inside and put a silencing charm on the door. We weren't done setting up, and Percy was very specific in his will about how he wanted the day's events to pan out." That sounded like her dad. "We really need to get in there, we think she's-"
"Alohamora!" Molly shouted, unlocking the door. She wasn't sure why these grown-ups hadn't thought to do that, but she didn't have time to think about it. "Can you just give me a second alone with her?" She asked as she opened the door and locked it back. Once inside, she realized why her sister had put a silencing charm on the room in the first place. As soon as Molly walked in, all she could hear was Lucy cursing and glass breaking.
"Why would you make me do that?" her sister asked no one, "You want to embarrass me one last good time? Show all of your friends why I was such a disappointment?" She knocked a vase onto the ground and stepped on it when it didn't break into a million tiny pieces like everything else she'd obviously thrown. "Well congratulations dad, everyone probably thinks I'm some kind of psycho, ungrateful brat. Now I'm the bad guy and you're the dead guy that everyone feels sorry for! Is that what you wanted?"
"Lucy?"
"Bastard!" she screamed, as she threw a plate on the ground furiously. "Fucking, bastard! I hate you! I hate you, you asshole!" With every word, another piece of dining ware was smashed. "Do you hear me? I hate you!" She was about to throw something else, but Molly rushed up to her and grabbed the plate from her hand before she could release it.
"Lucy, stop this! Have you gone mad?" she didn't answer, she just stared at Molly with a hollow look. "What are you doing in here?"
"I'm grieving." she said with a sick little smile. "Leave."
"No, I won't leave until you start acting like you have some sense! Is this how you were raised to behave? Do you want attention that badly?" Lucy only laughed in response, and now Molly was beginning to wonder if she needed psychiatric attention. She was and "artist", maybe this was her big diva meltdown.
"What exactly is so funny?"
"You! For the love of Merlin, you sound just like him!" she said, laughing as if she'd told the funniest joke in the world. The smile from her laughter disappeared quickly, and the angry look came back to her eye. "You're just like him. Get out! Get out, now!" She threw a cup at Molly, but luckily she moved out of the way before it hit her. Her sister went crazy, throwing anything in sight, and Molly was about to go get their Aunt Hermione and have Lucy sedated. She didn't want to leave her here alone though, so she just let her be for about five minutes. She had never seen her sister, who was so tiny and usually so polite, act so wild. She knew Lucy's relationship with their dad had been strained, but she didn't know she had been hurting this badly about it. Either she was running out of glassware, or was just too tired to throw anything else, but eventually the younger girl fell to her hands and knees, no doubt falling into a pile of broken glass. Molly ran up to her, and could tell she was crying by the way her shoulders were moving up and down. She wanted to give her a moment, but she knew that with every movement, glass was going deeper and deeper into her sister's skin. She used her feet to clear as much glass from around Lucy as she could before taking a seat in front of her. She reached out to smooth her sister's hair, but she flinched as soon as she touched her.
"Lucy, I don't want you to get hurt, I just want to help and I need you to sit up, sweetie. Is there glass in your hands?" she asked. Lucy stayed on her hands and knees with her head down, but nodded that there was glass in her hands, and probably in her knees and legs too. She scooted over so that she could pull her up by her arms, and sat her in her lap. She could see where glass had cut all over her legs and a good bit of her arms. It was so thick in her hands that the blood hadn't even begun to fall yet. Lucy clung to Molly so tight that she could feel her crying, and couldn't tell whose tears were falling down her neck. She just let Lucy cry as she tended to her cuts. She wasn't sure how to heal them, but she knew of a potion that had helped her Aunt and Uncles back during the second wizarding war. She figured since this was the ministry, they had to have some of it lying around somewhere. "Accio dittany!" she called. For a moment she thought that nothing would happen, but a tiny bottle came floating in the room a few seconds later and she caught it before it could add to the sea of glass already covering the room.
She began methodically dabbing it onto her sister's cuts, and they didn't go away completely, but the blood stopped flowing and the cuts closed up. She did this all over her legs, only having to pull out a few pieces of glass. Her knees were a little trickier, but she eventually got them cleared up as well. The real challenge was her hands, which had been impaled with many pieces of different sized glass. She knew she couldn't get them out without hurting her, but it wasn't safe for it to sit in her skin any longer. She decided to do a numbing spell on her hands, so that she wouldn't feel it when she began pulling the glass from her hands. She wasn't at all qualified to do this, but she didn't want her wiping her tears and accidentally scratching her face, either. Molly worked like a machine until all of the glass was gone, but her hands were practically red from all of the blood that she had lost. Molly wasn't great with blood, but she was even worse with seeing her little sister hurt, so she could ignore it for right now.
"Molly."
"Yeah?"
"My dad is dead. He's really, really gone."
"I know, honey. I know."
"I'm sorry. He's dead, and I think…I think it was my fault. I'm really, really sorry." She moved Lucy's head off of her shoulders so that she could look at her eyes. They were heavy and worn down with guilt and sadness. She really thought it was her fault.
"Of course it wasn't your fault, how could it have been?"
"I think the universe was trying to teach me a lesson. The last time I saw him, I told him he was out of my life for good and that I'd never let him back. I said those horrible things, but I didn't mean them Molly, I swear I didn't want him to die! I was just saying those things because I was angry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to kill him." she sobbed.
"You did not kill him Lucy," she said as firmly as she could. "It was an accident." No girl should feel like they killed their father, and she didn't want Lucy to drive herself crazy with those kinds of thoughts.
"But, you don't understand. The last memory I have of him is him leaving me, and now he's gone. I can't apologize, or explain why I was so mad, or tell him that somehow, even though he didn't feel the same, that I love him."
"Dad loved you Lucy, and more than that he admired you. You may not have seen it, but he did. You and he were nothing alike, and I think that's what he loved most about you."
"But-"
"You're so strong, and confident, and you stand behind the things you believe no matter who decides to stand with you. Something it took me years to figure out. You don't buckle under pressure, and you sure as hell don't blindly follow others. You are everything that Percy Weasley was not when he went to Hogwarts, and I don't think he knew how to verbalize that to you without making you feel like it was a bad thing. I do know that he loved you, and I don't ever want you to doubt it, or forget it ok?"
"Ok."
"I mean it. He loved you and is proud of you. And nobody thinks you killed him, that isn't even a remote possibility, so don't torture yourself with that. You're my only sister, I love you more than anything is this world, and if you hurt, I hurt. So either we're miserable together, or we can get through this together, as sisters. Either way, I'm with you. I'll even transfer to WADA if you want; we can start a fashion department together." This made Lucy smile, which Molly was glad to see.
"You'd really do that for me? With only a month left at Hogwarts?"
"I'd do anything for you, Luce. So what's it gonna be? Are we gonna mope or cope?"
"Cope."
"Good choice." Moments like this reminded Molly of how much her sister trusted her. She really wished they could spend more time together, but she could see that being on her own had really helped Lucy come into her own. She removed the numbing spell from her hands ripped her scarf in half so that she could use them as bandages. She wrapped both hands tightly and brushed away the strands of hair that had stuck to her face with tears. "Does that feel better?"
"Much better. You'd make a good Healer."
"Me? No way. I just did this on instinct."
"Exactly. That's why you'd be good at it. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're kind of gentle and…maternal."
"Maternal?" She had received many compliments in her day, and maternal certainly hadn't been one of them. Years ago she would have been offended, pissed even. But hearing it now made her feel proud. In light of why they were here or what had happened, she felt like she had really grown up. "Do we have to go back into that ceremony?"
"Yes. I think that you and dad need a moment, now that you've said what you're really feeling out loud. You can say goodbye properly, ok?"
"Ok." the two girls stood up and Molly grabbed her sister's hand lightly as they walked back into the ceremony. Their Aunt Ginny was in the middle of a tearful speech, but stopped when the girls came through the door. Everyone watched as Molly Lucy walk down the aisle; Molly covered in Lucy's blood, and Lucy covered in cuts and with bandages wrapped on her hands. None of that was important though as they approached the coffin. It was closed, because of the way that their father had passed, but that was fine for what Lucy needed to do.
"Go ahead, Lucy. Tell him what you want to say." she whispered.
"I'm really sorry, dad. I didn't mean those things I said and I never wanted you out of my life. I just wanted- I wanted you to want me in yours. Please, forgive me. I love you." She kissed the coffin, and that was enough to send Molly over the edge. "Goodbye, daddy." The two of them tearfully walked back to their seats and the ceremony continued. Molly knew what people really thought of her dad, and that most of them were right. He wasn't upfront with his feelings, he wasn't wasteful when it came to compliments or praise, and he didn't smile much. But what they didn't know, was how much he loved his girls, and how much what Lucy said would have warmed his heart if that were possible. She knew her dad was proud, and that he was smiling that rare smile, wherever he was.
A/N: A lot going on in this chapter. Nothing against Percy, I just wanted to give Lucy a bit more depth. Also, don't hate me with Rose and Scorpius. Let's just think of them as a modern day Vic and Teddy. You guys know I like to make these characters work for what they want :-)
-Jazz