Krystal blinked. Then, she blinked again.
"So this is death…" she bleakly thought.
Everything was white. A bright light shone down above her. She felt a soft tingling sensation all over, and when she bit her lip, there was no pain. When she tried to move her arm, it felt like trying to break out from the wet sand on the beach. She abstractly thought that she should have felt panicked, but the emotion was too hard to reach.
She felt through her memories, but everything was hazy. She was certain she was dead, but she couldn't recall how. She sifted through the pieces she could remember…
It had been night… Cold. She was going to see a little baby… baby… baby… Harry. Baby Harry. Someone else was there… P… P… Peter. Peter was seeing the baby, too. Peter and… someone else. Sirius? Sirius would have been coming to see the baby.
Something about that didn't feel right, though, but she couldn't grasp it. Sirius had been coming… but was late. Who was with Peter, then? Not Remus… It was a group of people… but that didn't make sense.
She skipped forward. Something had surprised her… and a flash of green light.
Green light. She was definitely dead, then.
But… but…
The last thing she remembered was Peter's face, but the emotion on it wasn't right. Panic, yes, but not fear or horror… Pain. And guilt. But why…?
VOLDEMORT.
She gasped and jerked up. The white sheet flew from her face, and she violently gripped the edge of the table. The Death Eaters had been coming for Prongs and Lils! And Wormtail… oh, Peter… had betrayed them. She had to warn them before it was too late!
She frantically glanced around, but there was still a disconnect between her mind and body. Never mind how she was still alive at all… She would figure that out, later. All that mattered was saving the Potters.
The room was small and windowless with a single, bright light hanging from the ceiling. Someone had put her on a narrow table and covered her with a sheet, but she was too flustered to wonder why. Then, she spied the two covered figures on tables to her left.
A cry threatened to break loose from her, but she shoved it down. She refused to believe it. She carefully got down and stumbled to the nearest one. A single red curl had escaped from under the sheet.
"No," she whispered in denial. Lily couldn't be dead. No, no, no…
She mechanically looked underneath both sheets before carefully smoothing them down. Lily and James… Gone. It was too much. And baby Harry-
Krystal quickly looked around. Harry was nowhere to be seen. Her heart leaped with joy. Harry had to be alive! She had to find him. But where would he be? With Sirius, probably. Sirius. Oh, no… Sirius had been on his way when Peter had… Peter had… It hurt her too much to say it. Anyway, what had happened to Sirius? Did he run into the Death Eaters? Remus would know for sure. He would help her get Harry back, too. Oh, what if they sent Harry to Lily's dreaded sister?! She had to save him.
What should she do first? For all she knew, time was crucial here. Little Harry might still be at the house for all she knew, or Voldemort could have kidnapped him, or with the Dursleys… She shuddered. Sirius would go berserk once he found out… Oh, no. What if he killed Peter? Or Voldemort might have him… The best choice would be to get Remus for help, but he might try to protect her by sending her to Mungo's or something, and by the time she reached him, it might be too late to help the first two.
Godson, crush, best friend…
Godson, crush, best friend…
Godson, crush, best friend…
Remus, she finally decided, would be the best choice. He could inform her of anything she didn't know, and even if he acted all overprotective, she would just sneak out and follow him. All that was left was to escape whereever she was. Feeling more like herself again, she rushed for the door and bolted out of the room-
-and almost collided into a shocked Catherine.
"What are you doing here?" Krystal inquired in confusion. Catherine continued to stare at her. "No, better question, where is here? I need to find Remus so I can find Sirius so I can rescue Harry-"
Catherine turned around to Tobi, who was gawking in her seat. "You said it would be the other one," she calmly informed.
Tobi looked at Krystal for a moment before shrugging and returning to her magazine. "Oh, well," she answered. "We all like this one better, right?"
"Where's Avery?" Krystal inquired. "I should probably find her, too-"
"Sit down," Catherine informed. "It'll make this all easier."
"No," Krystal protested. "I've got to find-"
"No," Catherine interrupted. "You can't. I need you to-"
"Wait, didn't Tobi die?" Krystal suddenly remembered. Her memory was still a bit fuzzy, but that one became particularly clear. "She was killed a few months ago. Oh, my gosh! I'm a GHOST!"
"What?" Catherine demanded.
"I'm a ghost!" Krystal repeated. "It all makes sense. Why I'm not in the afterlife or whatever, why I can see Tobi, why I'm not allowed to leave this place-"
"The morgue," Tobi offhandedly informed.
"-why Catherine freaked out when she saw me, why my memory is weird-" Krystal continued.
"You're not a ghost," Catherine assured. "If you would just let me explain-"
"I am so a ghost," Krystal protested. "See?" She touched her one hand, but it didn't go through. "Wait, can ghosts poke themselves, or does the hand go clean through? It would make sense either way, depending on how you view it-"
"I don't know," Catherine admitted. "You would have to ask a ghost, which you aren't-"
"I am!" Krystal replied, sure of herself. "How else would I be here after a killing curse?" She turned around and smacked into the wall. "Ugh…"
"Not a ghost," Catherine responded.
"Okay, maybe…" Krystal conceded.
"Just please listen," Catherine begged. "And be a little quieter. We aren't really supposed to be here. Just hear me out."
Krystal obediently sat down. "Okay," she responded. "I'm listening."
"Hungry?" Tobi called from across the room. She held up a bag of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "We're going to be here for a while."
"Um… okay?" Krystal responded, and Tobi tossed her a sandwich.
Catherine sighed. "Um… here goes… How far back should I start?" she inquired. "I had a simpler version for Lily all planned out, but I think you'll probably understand more of it. Hopefully."
"All the way back," Krystal declared. "This is probably going to be complicated."
"You said it," Tobi declared between bites of her sandwich.
"Alright," Catherine sighed. "Here goes nothing… Okay, Voldemort was rising to power, and things were quickly descending to chaos. Tobi found out she was pregnant, and everyone in her family agreed that she had to get out of England for a while. She didn't want to just leave-"
"It would make me look bad," Tobi protested. "Plus, if he took over the world, he would probably look for me."
"-so she found the outlines of a spell that could fake someone's death," Catherine continued.
"Fell out of an old Shakespeare play, believe it or not," Tobi informed. "Romeo and Juliet."
Catherine groaned. "Anyway, Tobi ran into Severus one day and asked him to finish it." She paused, but Tobi remained sullen and silent. "He didn't ask any questions. I think he was still guilty about… what happened between them. Anyway, he helped Tobi make a spell of it, which would induce a short-term, coma-like state."
"Okay…" Krystal replied. "I'm maybe following this."
Catherine shot her glare. "Anyway, Tobi snuck into the next skirmish she could and had me cast the spell during the chaos so no one could trace it back. Then, I discretely explained to Sebastian that she wasn't really dead. By the way, Tobi, I'm still rather upset about that. You told me that he already knew-"
"Oopsy," Tobi rather unrepentantly responded.
"Yeah," Catherine bitterly retorted. "Oopsy." She turned back to Krystal. "Tobi managed to sneak away safely, and when Sebastian disappeared, no one really thought anything out of the ordinary. Grieving husband and father-to-be and all."
"Okay, but what does that have to do with me?" Krystal asked. "Or, well, Lily."
"I'm not sure," Catherine admitted. "Tobi assumed Severus was going to use the spell to save Lily. That's why we were waiting. I- I'm glad it was you, though, as horrible as that is to say. You're my best friend."
Tobi looked a little offended, but then her expression shifted to something bitter. "I bet Sevvy's precious flower is just a heavy sleeper. Or waiting for a dramatic moment to rise up from the table."
Krystal had started to figure it out. "Severus wasn't there. There was Voldemort, and some Death Eaters, and- and Peter. He's the one who-"
"Killed you?" Tobi helpfully inserted.
"-saved me, I guess." Krystal wasn't sure how she felt about that. Peter would betray James and Lily and little baby Harry, but not her? But he had betrayed her, too, really.
"Severus must have assumed that Peter wouldn't want to kill Lily," Catherine mused. "James treated him like dirt, but Lily was usually nice to him. You were outside, right? Maybe you startled Peter, and he didn't make it to Lily on time."
"I killed Lily," Krystal whispered.
"You saved Harry," Catherine somberly corrected. "If Lily hadn't died, then she couldn't protect Harry with her final act. Voldemort's curse would have killed him."
"It wouldn't have been the end of the world," Tobi flippantly replied. "We still have that other baby. Noland Shortpants, or something. What? Fine. I'll wait outside. I'm craving pickles, anyway."
Krystal buried her head in her hands, trying desperately to keep it together. She heard the morgue door swing shut with an alarmingly loud thud, and her resolve broke. When she finally managed to bring herself back to the present, Catherine was patting her back and making soothing noises.
"I'm- I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Catherine said. "I know how much it must hurt. But we need to leave soon. The coroner will be back in half an hour, and he'll have some questions about the missing body. He'll think I stole you."
"Why were you even here?" Krystal asked. "I get Tobi, I guess, she she knew this would probably happen. But you barely know Lily. And I bet the aurors are working like crazy right now. Shouldn't you be searching for Peter or Sirius?"
"Officially, they think Sirius killed Peter," Catherine responded wearily. "And Sirius turned himself in out of guilt. Sure, there are other Death Eaters to catch, but they gave me some time off to go identify your body. I decided to keep Tobi company while she waited."
Krystal almost started crying again. "I'm surprised Avery isn't here," she managed to say. Then, she saw the look on Catherine's face. "Tell me where she is, right now."
"Saint Mungos," Catherine stated. Her voice was level, but she saw her friend's hands tremble. "Sirius tried to kill me, but Avery stepped in the way. He turned himself in once he figured out what he had done."
"Is she...?"
"Comatose," Catherine answered after a heavy moment. "They don't think she's waking up."
This chapter would have been pretty intense, especially since Kirsti would have "stayed dead" for at least a chapter or two. In the meantime, Avery goes to confront Sirius, they argue about whether he should track down Peter or not (Avery thinks they can prove him innocent if he turns himself in). While they are shouting, a bunch of aurors show up (including Ember), and Sirius thinks that Avery set him up. Sirius tries to escape, Ember tries to stop him, he tries to kill Ember, and Avery steps in between the two idiots. Sirius escapes in the chaos and tries to kill Peter, but instead Peter kills a bunch of civilians and loses his finger or whatever. Sirius goes on the run, then sees in the news that Avery is dying. He murdered the one person who believed he was innocent, who warned him not to give Peter the secret password, who was totally his crush. It's enough to break him. He turns himself in and accepts guilt for everyone's deaths, since he believes himself to be indirectly responsible.