Chapter 51: Alone
He buried them all and he hated that he had survived. If they were all dead, if his friends and the love of his life were all dead, then what right did he have to live? He stared at the graves in front of him. He wished it was him. He wished that he was six feet under and not them. He remembered that Karen was the first to go.
Sirius rushed into the room full of his best friends, his head turning wildly from side to side. There had been an attack near his apartment, and Remus had sent him a Patronus telling him about it. Karen had been home at the time of the attack and the worry showed on Sirius' face.
"Where is she?" he asked desperately.
"Sirius. . . . ." Remus couldn't finish his sentence as he looked away from his best friend, not being able to take telling him.
"No, no, not her," Sirius cried falling to his knees. "She can't be gone. Remus, please."
Remus' face contorted into a painful expression as he watched Sirius beg him to tell him it was all a joke. He looked away as James moved towards Sirius, kneeling down next to him. James pull Sirius into his side and let him cry into his shoulder. A few tears escaped James' eyes as he listened to his best friend's wailing.
Lily sat in the corner quietly crying as she watched the whole scene. It didn't feel real. It felt like a dream. Karen Moore couldn't be dead. She was so full of life and had so much to live for. Lily didn't know if her heart could break anymore than it already had.
"It's almost unreal, isn't it?" Lily whispered to Peter, who was standing next to her.
"Yeah," he muttered in response.
The next to go was Dorcas. Sweet, courageous Dorcas. She died right in front of him.
They stood before Voldemort as he surveyed them. The three of them had been out on a mission when they were caught by some Death Eaters. What they didn't know was that Voldemort himself was there as well. Dorcas had managed to send a Patronus before they were caught.
"I see we meet again, Ms. Meadowes," Voldemort said calmly.
"So it seems," Dorcas replied staring him straight in the face. "Would you like to come over here so I can spit in your face again?"
He chuckled. "No, but thank you for the offer. I'm quite sad you didn't take me up on my offer."
"You should have known I would never do that," Dorcas spit. "I don't even know why you asked."
"It's a shame though because now I'll have to kill you."
"No!" Remus shouted. "No! Don't you dare touch her! Take me instead! Please! Leave her alone!"
Sirius pulled against the person who was holding him back. He wouldn't watch her die. He couldn't let her die, not like Karen had. Dorcas was one of their best fighters, they needed her. She couldn't die, there was no way in hell he would let that happen.
Voldemort laughed harshly. "You think it's that simple? That you can just take her place and everything will be fine? It won't be."
He grabbed Dorcas' face and turned it toward Remus. "Look at her! You think she'll be fine without you? No, she'll simply blame herself, because you died instead of her. Besides, you think I'd let her live? She is one of the most deadly members of the Order. No, she shall die right away. But don't worry, half-blood, your time will come. Just not before hers."
"Please," Remus begged quietly. "Please, leave her be. I'll do anything. I'll give you everything. Don't kill her."
Remus' pleas fell on deaf ears, as Voldemort turned to Dorcas. The woman who was holding her pushed her onto her knees and pulled her hair so she could look at the man who was about to murder her.
"Don't I at least get one last word?" Dorcas asked him defiantly.
"If you must."
Dorcas turned to look at Remus. "It's not your fault. None of it is. You did your best, you always do, I don't blame you for any of it and no one else will either. I love you, Remus." She turned to Sirius as Remus stared at her in shock. "Do what you do best. Don't stop. Give them hell. Don't stop fighting, Si-"
The rest of her speech was cut off as the killing curse hit her in in the chest. Her body fell to the floor lifeless. Dorcas Meadowes was gone from this world. Remus cried out as if he had been wounded while tears slid down Sirius' face. There was nothing they could do to save her.
Voldemort turned to them with an evil smile, but before he could say anything there were cracks around the woods. Dumbledore came striding out of the trees. Fear filled Voldemort's face as he saw him. Without another word, he turned on the spot and Disappeared. The people who were holding Sirius and Remus let go when they saw that their master had disappeared.
Remus rushed to Dorcas' body pulling her into his arms. Her body was still warm and her eyes still open. Remus let the tears roll down his eyes as he reached down and closed her eyes. Even in death, she was still the most beautiful person in the world to him. He pulled her close to him and cried into her hair.
Suddenly someone touched his shoulder. He looked up to see Peter.
"Come on, Remus, we have to get out of here," Peter urged him.
Remus nodded. His hands slid under Dorcas' legs and he stood up with her in his arms. Peter looked at him with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm not leaving her here," Remus told him.
Sirius came running over. "We have to get out of here. The place is filling with Death Eaters. We can't hold them off for much longer."
Remus nodded and they Apparated out.
Lily and James were last. He remembered it as he stood before their graves.
He arrived at the ruined house. It was all rubble now. There was nothing left of the life that had once been there. Lily and James were no where to be seen. He didn't know if he could bare to go another step, but he had to. He had to be sure because Lily and James couldn't be gone. Not Lily and James.
He walked slowly toward the house making sure to look around, just in case they were alive. When he reached the house, James was lying on the floor, his glasses half off of his face. His eyes were still open. Leaning down, he closed James' eyes and righted his glasses. Making his way through the house he reached the nursery where Lily lay. He couldn't go any farther. He fell to his knees and cried.
Now Remus stood before their graves. He was the only one left. Sirius had killed Peter. Merlin, killed wasn't even the word for what happened to Peter. All they could find was his finger. Then he'd been dragged off to Azkaban for following the Dark Lord. Remus wished he could have seen Sirius before he was hauled away.
In the big wide world, Remus was left alone. There was no one left who meant anything to him. They were all gone. Remus Lupin was alone once again, except this time there was no one to pull him back from the depths of loneliness.
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to upload this! Life got in the way, you know how it is. Anyways, with RL out of the way, I've been able to finish this story and I'm going to work on my other one The Black Brothers. So tell me what you thought of the ending!
