DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER BUT I DO OWN MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORYLINES.


Evelyn had never liked wearing an all-black outfit. She had always associated the colour black with sadness, loss and depression. She always was too afraid to wear it as she thought she would succumb to those feelings. So, she always preferred wearing lighter colours like yellow, light blue, white, red etc. It didn't help either that black was associated with funerals in her community and state.

Yet she found no trouble wearing black in the funeral of Loretta Suarez. Black was perfect to fit the mood of a loss her friend had experienced. Sure, Evelyn had been a bit uncomfortable with wearing an all-black outfit, but that discomfort slipped away as she entered the church and looked at the casket of Gabriela's mother.

She had never been to a funeral. She had never been in a church either. While she doubted she'd ever visit a church again, she was scared that she'd attend a lot of funerals in the near future.

A priest was speaking. Henrik had told her and Don that the priest was going to read a reading from the Old Testament and a psalm as well. He had mentioned that someone was going to do a eulogy (a speech that praised Loretta Suarez highly). It could either be the priest, a family member or a friend of Gabriela's mum.

As the priest continued to read, Evelyn drifted her gaze to where Gabriela was. She was sitting on the first row on the right, next to her dad. She was looking down and Evelyn wondered even if she was listening to the priest. Her friend seemed to be in another world.

After that, Evelyn looked around her. She and all her six best friends were sitting on the furthest rows possible. All of them were silent and listening to the priest. Mona was with them as well. Evelyn noticed the girl's eyes drift towards Gabriela several times. She guessed that she was worried about their friend. Evelyn didn't let her mind go where it shouldn't.

"Now, Loretta's husband, Roberto will be giving his eulogy for her."

Evelyn saw Gabriela's dad rise from the bench and walk towards the podium. He put the paper that he was holding down on the podium and cleared his throat.

"I met Loretta a few months after I turned twenty-three." He began to say and Evelyn turned to say. "I was travelling through South America for my job and decided to go to Uruguay, my birthplace. As I was walking the streets of Salto, I passed the Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist. I stopped before and I realized that I hadn't been in one since England." He gulped down and pressed his lips together. "I entered and there, I met her. I sat next to her and we both prayed. After we were done, the two of us chatted. As we were chatting, she asked me what I prayed for. I was a bit taken back, but I responded that I prayed for my work trip to go well and I asked her in return. I was shocked by her answer. It didn't take long enough to find out how caring Loretta was." He sniffed before taking a deep breath. "To this day, I have never met for a more caring person than her. She cared about everyone from family to plants. By the time I fell in love with her, I was sure that her caringness could never grow. I thought that it reached its limits, but I was wrong." Evelyn noticed him glance at Gabriela who was looking down. "Because when our daughter, Gabriela was born, I saw a kind of care in Loretta I never thought I would see. I think all of us who knew her though that too."

Evelyn looked around to see many people nod their heads, including the priest.

"Loretta would carry her most of the time, she would move when Gabriela was moving, she would do everything to make her smile and everything to stop her crying. She taught Gabriela everything from faith to numbers. I was afraid that when Gabriela went to Hogwarts, Loretta would not let her go. I brought my concerns with her and she told me that she would be upset and cry for days, but she also told me that a part of caring about someone is letting them grow away from you and that she could always care from distance."

The eulogy made Evelyn's chest ache. Not just because of the loss her friend had experienced or the words of it, but because it resonated with her. If there was someone who cared about her more than anything, it was her mum. Just the thought of losing her mum made Evelyn's whole body start trembling.

"Loretta was many things. She was a devout Catholic, a hard worker, an amazing wife, a great daughter, but what she wanted to be known as as a caring mother to our daughter, Gabriela." A tear slipped down Evelyn's cheeks as she glanced at Gabriela. Her friend, on the other hand, wasn't crying. Her facial expression was blank and she was staring at the casket with an intensity Evelyn had never seen in Gabriela. She looked away and focused her attention on Mr Suarez again. "Thank you."

He bowed his head and wiped a tear that had managed to fall from his eyes. He walked away from the podium and towards Gabriela.

Evelyn looked down as she wiped her own tear and hoped that both Gabriela and her dad would be okay.


As she looked at the photograph in the frame, Evelyn realized how much Gabriela looked like her mum. She had noticed it back on spring holidays when she first met her, but now, it was even more obvious. The two of them had the same curly brown hair, same sweet smile and same dark brown eyes. Even their noses and face shapes were similar. The only difference that she could spot was that Gabriela's lips were thinner than her mum's.

"What should we say to her when she comes back?" Christina asked her.

The two of them and Diana were in Gabriela's room. They had all been invited to Gabriela's house after the funeral. The only one who couldn't stay longer was Mona. So, Gabriela went to say goodbye to her. The boys were also in the house, but they were downstairs.

"Ask her if she needs anything and console her," Diana answered and Evelyn turned her attention to her. "We shouldn't pressure her and should respect if she wants privacy."

Both of her and Christina nodded their heads. The two of them didn't have any experience with losing people. Christina had lost her maternal grandfather and paternal great grandfather, but she didn't remember it as she had been young. Evelyn had yet to lose someone she cared deeply in her life. At least, she knew that she was going to lose her godfather in two years. Of course, that didn't make the situation better at all. She was still going to lose him.

Diana had lost her maternal granddad when she had been nine. She had told Evelyn a few times that she had been close to him, closer than she had been with her other grandparents.

The door opened to reveal Gabriela. When she entered the room, she said nothing. She had barely spoken any word during the day. She kept looking down and seemed to be thinking about something all the time. Evelyn had noticed that she hadn't seen Gabriela cry at all. She didn't judge her friend, of course. People dealt with grief in different ways. Although, she was a bit worried as Gabriela had never been the one to resist crying.

"Is there something we can do to help you?" Diana asked Gabriela with the softest voice Evelyn had ever heard.

Gabriela stopped in her tracks. She fidgeted with the buttons of her pullover before she turned to look at them. "Yes, there is..." She trailed off and Evelyn raised an eyebrow. Before anyone could ask her what she wanted help with, Gabriela walked to her bed. Under her mattress, she pulled an envelope. "Can you burn this?"

Evelyn blinked a few times before she walked towards her friend. "A letter?" she noticed that there was a name on the letter, but she couldn't make it out whose name it was. "Who is it addressed to?"

"Me," Gabriela murmured and Evelyn raised her eyebrow. "It's from my mum."

Silence fell after Gabriela's answer. For a minute, Evelyn wondered if she really said that. When she looked at her other two friends, she noticed that their lips had parted. She hadn't heard wrong. Yet it didn't numb the shock of knowing what she wanted to do with the letter.

"Why do you want to burn it?"

"Didn't you hear my dad's eulogy?" Gabriela asked. "All he could talk about how much mum cared about me, how she gave her life to raise me and teach me about everything she could. How did I repay her? By going against the faith that she taught me and raised me in."

Evelyn's throat went dry. "Gabby..."

She handed the letter to Evelyn. "You need to find a way to get rid of the letter. I can't read it and pretend that my mum's opinion on me wouldn't have changed if she found out the truth."

"If there was anything made clear on your dad's eulogy, it's that your mum loved and cared for you unconditionally." Evelyn pointed out. "I think she would have loved you no matter what. Your dad did."

"Dad isn't as devout as my mum is...was." Evelyn shuddered at how Gabriela's voice cracked. She needed time to accept within herself that her mother was gone and was never coming back. Evelyn didn't even want to think how hard that could be.

"Where did you find this letter?"

Gabriela sat on her bed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I was looking to find her a dress to wear with my aunt. She told me to find shoes as well, so I went to find her favourite shoes. In the box, I found the letter. The ink was recently dried. So, I think she wrote it a few hours before she... she commit-" She struggled to end the sentence. "Before she passed away."

Evelyn looked down to the letter. She understood Gabriela's resistance to open the letter. Maybe she would have done the same if she was in her shoes. However, the thought of regret lingered in her mind. There was a chance that Gabriela would regret getting rid of this letter.

"Maybe you should think about it." She suggested and Gabriela looked up to her. "You might end up regretting this decision later on."

"Eve is right." Christina stepped next to her. "You don't have to read it today. You can read it tomorrow or in ten years. It's your choice. Getting rid of it can turn to deep regret, Gabby. You can't take the chances for that."

Gabriela didn't say anything. She just chewed on her lip and looked down on the floor.

Evelyn didn't know what to say to her friend. She didn't want to force her friend to read it or keep it. She also didn't want her friend to live with this regret. She wanted to help, but the situation in hand was too fragile and vulnerable.

"Remember the most important thing," Diana spoke up as she moved to stand beside Christina. "It's your choice. You can keep it or get rid of it. Both of those choices are right." Evelyn didn't agree. She thought that getting rid of it would bring a lot of regrets. Living a life with regrets was never a good idea. "So, do whatever you want."

Gabriela only gave a curt nod before she turned to look down. Evelyn glanced at her friend and quirked an eyebrow. Her friends shrugged. It seemed like none of them knew what to do next.


"So, she's thinking it over right now?" Don asked her as the two of them were in the house's backyard. Everyone, including their friends, was in the house. The two of them had gotten out for a breath of fresh air and to talk. "What do you think she'll do?"

"I don't know. She seemed really torn up about it. I don't think she'll decide soon. It's a heavy choice to make." Evelyn answered him as she wrapped her arms around herself. "The thing is she doesn't even know why her mum wrote it. However, I did hear one of her relatives say that her mum had been doing worse since Gabriela's Quinceañera."

Don sighed. "It must have been so hard for her."

"For Gabby?"

He shook his head as he put his hands in his pockets. "No, her mum." She glanced at him. "Living with an illness like that. It must have been awful." She shuddered at his words. "All illnesses are hard, but there is something about chronic illnesses that are just horrible. After all, you need to live with them every day. At least with terminal illnesses, you know you'll die." Evelyn tensed as she thought about her godfather and the sacrifices he had to make because of his ill fate. "I'm not saying that terminal illnesses are better, you know?" She realized that he had noticed her reaction. "I'm just saying living with an illness every day must be a trial not only for the ill but for the people around her."

"And let's not forget the stigmatization of people with mental illnesses." She spoke as her body shivered. "People are horrendous to them. Some don't take it seriously at all, some deny that it exists and some others think these people are crazy."

Evelyn thought of her cousin, Elena. While Elena had told her that she was doing better, her cousin was probably going to always struggle with her anorexia. Her cousin hid her struggle from everyone, including her family.

She should be considering herself lucky when it came to her health. If there was anything about her that was truly perfect was her health.

'What if it isn't?'

A voice in her head. No, her voice asked her that question. A question that made Evelyn shiver and look down to her hands. She expected to see them shake like they always did. They weren't shaking, they were normal.

"You know I think it would be easier handling people who don't take it seriously than handling people who think you're crazy." Evelyn bit her lip as Don started to talk. "Being considered crazy in your society standards is not easy for someone. One day, you might start thinking you're crazy yourself."

Evelyn felt her throat dry up and her chest ache. She frowned as to why it was happening. Was her conversation with Don bothering her? Why was it even bothering her? The two of them had more intense talks in their lives than this. Why was this conversation bothering her?

"Don't you remember Damian Avery calling Gabriela's mum that?" Don scoffed and she glanced at him. "Bloody prat. Pouring water on him was the best thing you did."

"Morally, it was a horrible thing to do."

Don rolled his eyes. "It's justified. He was an arse." She agreed that Avery was an arse. Every time, he ran into her he had to bother her. At times, she did think he deserved that, but what she did to him could potentially ruin her perfection. A perfect person needed to have perfect morals. "Gabriela almost cried that day."

"Do you think she thought of herself like that?" Evelyn wondered out loud. She looked behind her to see if anyone was around. "Do you think Gabriela's mum saw herself as crazy?"

"I don't know, but she wasn't. She was just sick and she ended up being born in one of the most prejudiced communities in the world." Evelyn nodded her head. "Before Gabriela's mum, I didn't even know schizophrenia existed."

Evelyn hadn't known either. She hadn't known eating disorders existed until she saw Elena lose weight and vomit. The only ones she had previously known were depression and psychopathy. The others were quite unknown to her.

"Me too." She answered. "It's because it's a muggle illness." She mocked the voice of an old wizard and Don smiled. "And it's not like we don't know only mental illnesses, we don't know many physical illnesses as well."

"It's because some wizards and witches believe our body is built differently from muggles." Don retorted.

"What a ridiculous notion." She muttered under her breath. She remembered Rabastan thinking so when she taught him about muggles in the second year. Her boyfriend had been taken back when she told him that they had the same organism. The only difference was that we could use magic."

"Maybe the day when you become a Wizengamot member, things would change." He told her.

Evelyn tilted her head as a hint of a smile. "Hopefully." She knew as soon as she got that seat, she would change the world for the better. She would use all of the knowledge she had and spread it. so their community and maybe even the world would change for better. She would do all that it took.

As she glanced down, she saw that her hands were shaking. Was it from the excitement of having a potentially fruitful career? Or was it from the nervousness of failing to achieve her dreams?

She had no idea, but she didn't want anyone to see. So, Evelyn clasped her hands together and turned to Don. "Should we go back inside?" She asked and he nodded his head.


Don and Evelyn entered the house. As soon as they did, Christina spotted them and walked up to them. She noticed that she was the only one of their friends around.

"Where are the others?"

"Oh, Dee and the boys went upstairs with Gabby. She was getting a bit overwhelmed by how many people are here." It didn't surprise her. Gabriela not only hated to be the centre of attention, but she was extremely shy. "I talked to Gabby's dad and he seemed very worried about her. Apparently, she has barely eaten since her mum passed away."

"What?" She and Don said in sync. Five days had passed since her mum had passed away.

"And she has to be forced to eat," Christina added. "Her dad is worried about her since he has to go back to work soon and the rest of her family will leave in a few days. So, I asked him if I could stay with them until summer is over."

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "What did he say?"

"He seemed grateful that I suggested. He asked me if it was okay with me several times and I assured him." Christina's amber eyes moved to focus on her. "So, I'm going to your house with you to gather my things and then coming back here to stay with Gabriela."

"So, you're not going back to Japan or South Korea as you planned?" Evelyn asked her and Christina shook her head. Since Evelyn was going to go to America in two weeks, Christina had planned to go to her family. She was still deciding which country, but it seemed like she didn't have to decide at all. "Okay. That sounds like a great idea. Gabby needs all the support she can get."

Christina sighed. "I hope I can give her support. I'm not good at these things."

"Your presence is probably going to help her more than you think," Don assured Christina. "Your only job is not to force anyone to play Quidditch."

"Most definitely. Gabriela hates playing Quidditch more than I do." She pointed out and Christina hummed. She knew that Christina was going to struggle not playing Quidditch every day, but she also knew that her friend would prioritize Gabriela's current state.

A few seconds later, Edrick walked up to them and looked around. "Gabby has decided to open the letter." He informed them and all of their eyes opened wide.

"What?" Evelyn had thought that this decision would take longer to make. Whether it was weeks, months or even years. She didn't expect her friend to decide in a matter of minutes. "Did someone convince her?"

"No, we were just hanging in her room with her. She was quiet for a few minutes. Out of sudden, she said that she wanted to read the letter." Edrick explained to the three of them. "She also said that she wants you three to be there."

"Of course," Christina mumbled. Edrick led the way to Gabriela's room while the three of them followed him.

When Edrick opened the door, Gabriela was sitting on the be, clutching the letter. Diana was standing at the end of the bed while Carter and Henrik were next to the window. All of their eyes were on Gabriela who was staring at the letter.

Evelyn and Christina moved closer to Gabriela while Edrick and Don stood next to the door. When Don closed the door, it was the last noise to be heard in the room for a while. Everyone was silent for the longest time. The only slight noise was Gabriela's breathing that could be missed if you opened the door.

Her friend didn't do anything for the longest time. She just stared at the letter on her hands as she gripped as tight as she could. There was a moment of concern from Evelyn as she thought that she was going to rip it apart. The way that she was clutching the letter made it seem likely.

Soon enough, Gabriela shook her head before raising it. "I can't read it." She declared it.

"Yeh don't want it now?" Henrik questioned her.

"No, I want to hear what it says, but I can't read it." Gabriela turned to Evelyn herself. She was standing closest to everyone else. "Can you read it?"

Evelyn's initial reaction would have been no. She didn't want to be burdened with reading a private letter from a mother to her daughter. More so knowing that the mother wrote this letter before she took her own life. When she met Gabriela's eyes that had never been filled with such despair, Evelyn knew that she should be the perfect friend. Not because it was the role she was meant to play, but because her friend needed it.

"Of course," Evelyn muttered. She picked the envelope from Gabriela's hand.

Her hands began to shake, her body started to feel warm while she started to feel a bit lightheaded. A part of her brain was telling her that she shouldn't be doing this. Evelyn ignored it alongside with the trembling, rise in temperature and the lightheadedness.

She opened the envelope as she could feel the eyes of her friends. After discarding the envelope to the nearest table, she unfolded the letter. She took a deep breath and lowered her eyes.

Evelyn froze when she saw what it was written in the letter. She couldn't read the letter and neither could the others. Only Gabriela could.

"I can't read this." She announced.

Christina frowned. "Why?"

"Because it's in Spanish," Evelyn answered as she looked down at the letter again. After that, her eyes drifted to Gabriela who sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "What are we going to do now?"

Gabriela exhaled and inhaled. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before she raised her hand. "I'm going to try reading it myself." She declared.

Evelyn handed her the letter. As soon as she did, Gabriela started to read it.

They all looked at her as her eyes scanned each word written in the letter. Soon enough, tears started to well up in Gabriela's eyes. A second later, tears started to run down her cheeks.

The friends looked at each other. Diana gave them a sign to wait until Gabriela finished the letter. So, they did.

When Gabriela was done, more tears were streaming down her face and she was breathing hard. She folded the letter and let out a cry. No one dared to ask her what was in the letter. All they could do was wait for her to tell them.

"She knew."

Evelyn's eyes widened. She didn't have to guess what Gabriela's mum.

"She knew who I am," Gabriela said that more to herself than them. "And..." Her friend trailed off as her voice cracked.

"And?" Carter pressed on.

Gabriela wiped the tears out of her face and breathed out. "And she still loved me." Evelyn's jaw fell, but she shut it as soon after. Instead, she replaced it with a soft smile.

It seemed like everyone had been right about Loretta Suarez. She truly cared for and loved her Gabriela unconditionally and she showed it with this last letter to her.


This was such a sad chapter with a rather sweet ending. I think Gabriela deserved some sort of closure with her mum and I think this is the best one she could receive. Next chapter is going to be a lot of fun and is primarily going to be focused on Evelyn and a certain someone ;) Thank you for all reading, favouriting, following and reviewing my story. It's very much appreciated.

Guest your fan: I tried to even out the chapters. I wanted Evelyn and the other characters to have fun, but also some sort of conflict to be introduced between Evelyn and the Marauders (specifically Sirius). Yes, you are right, this chapter did focus on Gabriela losing her mum. While I do believe that some members of the Black family do have some weird traits because of the inbreeding (Bellatrix comes to mind when I say this), Sirius' issue with Slytherin doesn't come from the so-called weird traits. It comes from his family and his relationship with them. Evelyn does highly suspect this, but she has no idea what kind of relationship Sirius has with his family. Of course, we will learn more about Sirius' relationship with his family and their dynamics with each other. Evelyn has a lot to learn about Sirius. When it comes to the Black family, I have a theory that they are either hot-headed, impulsive and restless individuals (Sirius, Bellatrix and Walburga come to mind) or cold, calculating and resistant individuals (I see Regulus, Narcissa and my version of Orion fitting this). This is my theory, of course. I also think you can only come 'normal' in this family if you aren't raised in their messed up environment (for example, Tonks)

Next up, Laugh, Fight and Enjoy