After Death

THE FUNERAL

Sirius woke with a start at five in the morning the next day. He had a feeling something was wrong. He felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach and punched in the chest. All he could think about was Ivy.

He thought to go check on her, to see how she was doing. It was a nice

excuse to see her again. So he walked down to her apartment. There was a type of glowing light coming from Ivy's window. He hoped it was just weird new light or something. He sped into the building, almost knocking three people off the stairs as he bounded to her apartment.

His fears came to a new level when he found the door splintered in. His eyes followed the debris into the room where his eyes met a most heart wrenching sight. There on the floor lay Ivy. To see the woman he loved so dearly, lying amongst all sorts of shards of wood and to have such a frightened look in her eyes, it almost killed him. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to stay calm. He tried to breathe but found it was difficult to draw even the smallest bit of air into lungs that felt like they were on fire.

"Ivy…" He said, her name sounding like a plea. "Please, wake up." He begged the lifeless shell that lay there so still. She looked frightened, helpless. She had lost hope in those last moments. It broke him to know that his fearless Ivy, who had fought all manner of duels or even fist fights, was frightened in her last seconds of life.

He kneeled beside her cold frame and saw her hand clutched tightly about something, her knuckles white around it in desperation. He opened her hand slowly and let out a short cry. In her hand was the silver engagement band he had given her. He took it and slipped it back onto her finger where it belonged. Then he held her hand loosely in each of his own, and his tears fell softly to the floor.

Lily and James came to the door after Sirius had been there for nearly half an hour. They found him silently shuddering because he had run out of tears. They stood in the doorway listening to him as his broken voice cursed the names of Voldemort and Dumbledore, cursed them as if they had planned this together all along.

"Sirius…" Lily said quietly, announcing her and James' presences.

"Hello Lily." Sirius said without turning. His voice sounded shattered, but level and calm. Lily walked into the room and put a hand on his shoulder.

"She's gone…" Lily said despairingly.

"Don't you think I know that?" Sirius roared, standing violently. Lily backed away from him quickly, almost tripping on pieces of the door.

"I'm sorry Sirius, I didn't mean-"She started.

"Don't Lily. I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you too." He said, turning away. If he could yell at Lily at a time like this, what sort of monster had he become? He didn't want to think of it. He took another look at Ivy before walking out of the room, into Ivy's room. It was cluttered in Ivy's normal style. It hadn't been touched by anyone else. It smells like Ivy, Sirius thought to himself. He shook his head for being stupid.

A glint of silver mist caught his eye, and he saw the door to a cabinet open slightly. He opened it the rest of the way to reveal a pensieve. It had a note on it saying,

"To Sirius Black"

Sirius felt suddenly frozen. Ivy had known she would die and she didn't come to them. Not to him, not to Lily. She had stayed here alone. What would have made her do that?

She was protecting them. She sacrificed herself for everyone else. It was a cosmic joke that she was placed in Slytherin, as all it had done was cause her heartache and headache.

"Lily, James, come here!" Sirius called to the two people still in the front room.

They came to the bedroom, both of them giving him sad but inquisitive looks. Then they both noticed the pensieve. He handed Lily the note, and listened as she gasped in surprise upon reading it.

Then he touched the glassy smooth surface of the silver vapors. He felt himself being pulled slowly in and let himself follow consciously through. He fell through the mist until he found himself standing in a room with Ivy. Lily and James both appeared soon after.

Sirius stared at Ivy, who stared fixedly back. She looked normal enough, except a bit preoccupied.

"To my best friends," She began, her sad smile spearing Sirius inside.

"If you're seeing this, then I have been killed by Voldemort. This is, I'm sorry to say Sirius, the work of your own dear cousin." He jumped at this, his heart filling with pain.

"Unfortunately, I saw this coming, but there is no use running and if I hide, more people will surely die and that would prove my placing in Slytherin, so I have decided to stand my ground. This is my last will and testament, in the form of a pensieve." By this time her eyes were brimming with tears of her own, as though it were really hitting her she wouldn't survive.

"Isn't that clever? You can see me talking to you and telling you what to do from beyond the grave. Anyway, I've inherited a large fortune over the years, and half of that I give to Remus Lupin, to get him through the point where he is between jobs, and the rest for him to dole out to everyone else. As for the things in the house, if they're not totally destroyed, I give to Lily, as I'm sure none of you boys would really care for some of that stuff. However, if she cares to leave a couple doxies or anything else behind, feel free to take it, no one else will." She laughed bitterly, trying to find humor in this, as her tears made her eyes shine brightly.

"This pensieve itself I leave in the possession of Sirius Black. If anyone wishes to reminisce about anything, I've left some more memorable moments inside of there for you all to enjoy, and also to ensure that you won't forget me. I'm sorry; I have nothing else of value, as I am not able to give anyone my ring. Well, the end is near soon, so I'd like you all to know that I hold all five of you in the highest regard. I will no doubt see you eventually." She paused for a moment, as though trying to see if she could say anything else. She must have decided against it because at last she said,

"Goodbye for now Marauders."

…………………………………………………………………………

Sirius tried to reach out to her, but the memory was over and she faded away. Sirius cried out to her. He knew she couldn't hear him though. He could hear Lily crying and almost shouted at her. He didn't, but instead found his way back out of the pensieve and back up to Ivy's room. Lily and James were out a few seconds later. Sirius just stood there, until Lily threw her arms around him and started crying. He comforted her awkwardly, patting her on the back as she sobbed. He was empty and lost, and all he could do was comfort Lily.

When Lily went back to crying at James, Sirius went out to the front room and started cleaning the door shards away. He couldn't have counted the number of times he stabbed himself, the number of splinters he had, or the number of times he was drawing blood. He ignored the pain though. How could he think of pain when Ivy was dead? When he had finished cleaning, he went to her limp form and picked her up. He placed her gently on the couch, unable to see her on the floor anymore. Tears streamed lightly down his face without his consent.

Order members came a little while later, James having gone to inform them. Lily sat in the front room silently sobbing. Sirius was locked up in Ivy's room, not answering the door even when Dumbledore knocked on it softly.

Dumbledore had been the first of the Order to show up. He was saddened and angry. He comforted Lily and spoke to Sirius through the locked door, but to no avail. He set to arranging a funeral quickly, and also to finding out who had found Ivy out. He was calm, but his blue eyes were darkened and blunt.

They held the funeral two days later, at the church where she and Sirius had planned to be wed. It was the complete opposite atmosphere as that glorious day would have brought. Everyone was dressed from head to toe in black. Every Order member had shown up, except Severus. There was such crying and sadness that day. The service was conducted as well as they all had, and a few people spoke.

Lily spoke first, as her best friend.

"I met Ivy in my Third year of Hogwarts school, and I must say I've never had a dull or boring day since then. She was always there when I needed someone to talk to, and she never let me absorb myself in my work when I was sad or angry. She made me more outgoing and a better person. She was my best friend and the person I could always come to. She was the best kind of person there was, and I could never have imagined a better friend."

Dumbledore made his own short speech.

"I knew her at school, and she was always up to playing tricks. She was a good person and never allowed herself or those around her to stand around doing nothing. She was slightly impatient, but she was kind hearted. Her fate as a Slytherin was more often than not questioned by her best friends and even herself. As she grew older she came into the Order to fight against the Dark Lord Voldemort. She was valiant and courageous. Always remember her, for she fought with a sound mind and a brave heart."

Sirius stood to speak next, the first time anyone had seen him since she died. His eyes were downcast and his voice was hollow and broken.

"Ivy Fortuna. She was one of my best friends. She was my challenge in everything. We competed to see who could do better in grades, or in the case of Divinations, who could do worse. We competed in the tricks we played, always trying to out do each other in scheming and in how elaborate our plans were. We had fun. Then in sixth year I finally acted on a feeling I had been having for a while. I asked her out. I knew I loved her and that I couldn't be without her. Then we grew out of school and into being Aurors and then into the Order. We had little time with each other because of all the time she spent as a double agent. I missed her so much. Then I asked her to marry me. We were to be wed here in this church, in a few days. But Voldemort took that from us. He took our dream away. He killed Ivy and has killed others. Anyway…I came here to say that I loved her and that I will miss her forever. My life was complete the day she said she'd marry me, and now I feel like I've died with her. I almost wish I had. Thank you for listening to me."

He walked up to the casket and placed a single white rose on it. It stood out against all the other flowers that had been put there, most of them red roses. He sighed after it was placed down, then walked away, unable to look back, tears streaming down his face…