AN: I've been writing this for ages, and finally managed to finish it! I hope it all makes sense, I realise some bits are a bit foggy, as for the first section, the little sumarry, well, I saw that style of beginning on a fic and really liked it, thought I'd have a go, tell me what you think. Oh, and tell me what you think of the story! I'm not very fond of the ending, but I never am with my my stories, and I can't for the life of me think of how else it could have ended!
Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, don't own anything.
Sumarry: The year is 2029, 30 years since the final defeat of Voldemort and the death of Harry Potter. Many things have changed, but none as much as Ginny Weasley. It finally takes the death of her friend for her to see sense, but is it too late to help after years of unattended grief?
AN (28/11/05): Story title changed from Unattended Grief to War and Peace, thanks Neddie for thinking up a decent title - finally! Lol.
War and Peace
by Nestlé
The year is 2029, 30 years since the final defeat of Lord Voldemort and the death of Harry Potter. A couple, aged beyond their years, stare at the cupped palms of their son, as he holds out to them a distant memor. Miles away, two brothers, survivors of the war, stop their work, and turn to each other in disbelief as they both sense the same chang. In Ottery St. Catchpole, in a house full of memories, a woman, who for too long has secluded herself from friends and family alike, sits and contemplates whether she's too late to help anyone after all the years of unattended grief. While far in the north a daughter jumps up and runs to the bedside of her ailing mother, accompanied by the sudden understanding that soon she will have lost her forever.
The mother does not have long; disease is coursing through her body. Countless battles and curses have weakened her so much that she is beyond healing - even by magic. She has only the old days to relive now, a constant stream of stories she retells in the wait for Death to take her. Her daughter, maddened with silent grief, listens again and again to the tales she has heard since childhood, desperate to commit to memory all the stories, so that her mother will live on within her, and the tales of the Boy Who Lived will never die. But time is closing in on them both.
The mother's voice crack's as she speaks, and for the thousandth time the daughter realises that this isn't right; her mother is young, mid forties. How can wizards triple her age live on healthily while her mother is forced to waste away? How can she die, alone except for her daughter, with no one remembering her part in the Great War? Her sacrifice?
"Selena…" The mother's wide grey eyes were anxious, and her daughter broke from her thoughts immediately when she heard her mother speak her name, "Don't be angry."
"I'm not." Selena muttered, secretly marvelling at how her mother could be so in tune with people's thoughts, yet be viewed as a complete mystery herself.
"Your eyebrows twitch whenever there is a problem you can't solve – you get that habit from your father." Her mother smiled wryly. "Promise me something, Selena, swear to me that you'll go on without me, I will still be here, just beyond the veil-"
"Stop talking like that." Selena said, reaching out as if to physically stop her mother slipping away.
"-and don't become lost in grief. I fought in the war so that I could live properly, but I was a hypocrite, I didn't live, I hid myself away, lost all contact. I don't want you to do that too. You're so like your grandfather, it's uncanny, be like him, I beg you, don't ever be afraid to speak your mind – no matter how crazy everyone says you are. Have faith in yourself and… others."
"Don't." Selena whispered, all too away that her mother's words were a farewell speech, "Talk about something else, please."
"You've heard all my stories."
"Stop it!" Selena yelled furiously, breathing heavily, "Just, don't talk like that. Tell me about Hogwarts." The two women held each other's gaze, one wishing to tell the truth, the other desperate to hide from it. The mother lowered her gaze; she was defeated, but she would tell the stories one more time, to please her daughter.
She paused a while to gather her strength, and Selena settled down more comfortably in her chair, she knew she would have to face up to her fears in the end, but for now, she was content to just sit and listen to her mothers comforting voice and forget her troubles.
"They were all so close when I was first introduced to them," The old woman started, "Ronald was frightened of me, of my reputation, while Hermione had to bite her tongue every time I spoke, but they were both loyal friends in the end. Ginny was the most welcoming of them all, she accepted everyone as they were, and never expected anything, only she knew what I did…" The mother's silvery grey eyes seemed to cloud, "It is her I miss the most; I have never had a truer friend. I wish it had not ended so."
"And Harry?" Selena encouraged, sidestepping the uncomfortable subject of Ginny Weasley's last words to her mother.
"Oh he thought I was downright barmy! But he appreciated that I understood about his godfather's death, I was a comfort to him in that way." A silence followed, as the mother remembered her old friends. Finally, she smiled, and let out a throaty laugh.
"Do you know what they used to call me?" She asked, not expecting an answer, and Selena not giving one, after all, she had heard all this before, "Loony Lovegood!"
The woman stood up suddenly, quickly grasping the glass of water on the table. The coals of her fire were glowing brightly, emitting a crackling noise; someone was trying to contact her. With a sigh, she dashed the water over them, dousing the small flames and preventing them from relighting.
She did not want to talk now, especially to her brother. He would only quarrel and contradict every argument she had for re-calling them. Besides, before she'd get to tell him why, she would have to tell him that it was her, which would only lead to how. She couldn't deal with that now, nor Hermione's fretting. Oh, if Luna could see her now. How she would laugh.
Would Luna come?
Possibly. But Luna had hidden away for many years now, just like she had. The woman recalled her last words to her old friend and grimaced, it had been many years since she had spoken them, and she regretted it deeply, but the pain she felt refused to let her surface from her self-pity and grief. Until now.
"You let him go! You let him go and be murdered!"
She closed her eyes briefly. Oh, she hoped Luna would be there, more than anyone else; more than everyone in the DA, more than Hermione, more than even Ron, her own brother.
"No Ginny! Don't, I'm sorry but I had to let him go! I couldn't stop him, no one could! He had to go and face him, it was prophesised!"
Ginny swallowed nervously. The prophecy. That vile prophecy. Oh, how she hated it, everything about it. Harry had died. Days before he had handed Ginny the invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map and the fake coin that summoned the members of the DA. She had refused at first, almost as if her taking them was the signature for his death warrant, but he had forced them on her.
Then Harry was killed and Luna had told Ginny afterwards that she had been there when he faced Voldemort, she had the chance to pull him away, to tell him to not fight, but she hadn't. Luna had let him run into the fight and had watched him die without lifting a wand to help him – or stop him. Fuelled with grief and anger Ginny had said things to her friend she never imagined to could say to anyone, and that had been it. They hadn't spoken in years.
"You didn't try to stop him! You didn't help! You killed him!"
For years the cloak, the map and the coin had been hidden in an old box in the top bedroom of the Burrow. She had lived with her parents until they'd died and she somehow acquired the house; slowly the once welcoming and full house became quiet and sorrowful. Ginny had dumped the box and all other memories of Harry and the war in her parent's room and had locked the door. Only she lived here now. Her brothers tried to contact her, to meet with her, but she was always busy, always too tired. In the end she abandoned all pretences and just didn't give an excuse, family get-togethers went unattended by the youngest Weasley from then on.
Something was different today though. Something had given her a different outlook. Something had made her get up on the right side of the bed this morning, unlike the past thirty years, and had made her turn left at her bedroom door and climb up the stairs instead of down them. Something had made her take the dusty old key off the shelf and unlock the door of her parent's old room. Something had made her spend all day rifling through old boxes and papers until she finally came across the box. The box she had forced herself to forget about.
And now here she was. Sat by the steaming coals of her fire and holding the coin in her hand. She had just called them. Set the date and time and sent the message off. She wondered how many would still have the coins, how many would notice, how many would come. But most importantly of all, she wondered whether Luna would be there, and whether it was too late to save a friendship abandoned because of grief and harsh words.
The brothers are hard working, but earn less than they deserve. Unlike most, they have a real talent for their job, and enjoy it. Photographers, they run their own business, and do so with great skill and enthusiasm. But even the cheerful have a few bad days. In the brothers' case, it had been a few bad years. They are wizards but due to lack of customers work with both Muggles and Magical folk. Despite claims to stay in touch, they hardly see anyone from Hogwarts anymore; it is just the faded memory of a good dream.
Several years ago they took photos at a Weasley wedding, and despite the laughter and merriment they couldn't help but notice the lack of Ginny Weasley, and the reserved silence whenever she was mentioned. To anyone who didn't know she was alive and still living at the Burrow, it would have appeared as if she was a family member who had recently died or fallen into scandal and shame.
Dennis, the youngest, had feared alcohol when he first heard of her unusual reclusive nature, but his brother, Colin had said it was much, much worse: selfish and inescapable grief.
As for Luna Lovegood, who had also been in their year and the war, she seemed to have completely disappeared. Through rumours the brothers had gathered that she had moved to the far north of Scotland, maybe even onto the Shetland Isles, and had married a local muggle. There was a lingering rumour of a child, but the brothers doubted the reliability of the rumour and didn't put much hope on another Lovegood blessing Hogwart's halls.
As for Hermione and Ron, well they had married, and had a little boy, only a few years old. They seemed happy at the wedding, though they both showed the scars of both battle and losing their friend.
Several bad years indeed, yet the brothers ploughed on, working and earning for their families. But now something had happened, something that they had never thought possible. The coins had heated, and showed the date and time for a meeting, a meeting of a group that hadn't all gathered together in over thirty years. A reunion of the DA, and no one knew who had initiated it.
William is only seven, and therefore naturally curious. He didn't realise that going through his mother's jewellery box and examining the two unusual coins he had seen in there earlier could be wrong. Or that telling his parents that the coins were heating up would cause such a mix of emotions to flash through their eyes. Or that showing them the hot and glowing coins would cause his mother to cry and his father to throw several handfuls of floo powder into the fire and shout the name of his grandparent's old house repeatedly until he was red in the face.
Now, several minutes after his father had gone and sat on the sofa next to his teary-eyed mother, William finally became brave enough to climb up next to them.
"I'm sorry. I was only playing. I didn't mean to make it glow." He said guiltily.
His mother pulled him towards her and hugged him. "Don't worry. This wasn't your fault. The coins just reminded Mummy of something that happened a long time ago and that made her upset. And you Dad, well you Dad is frustrated at your Aunt Ginny because she is probably the one who set those coins glowing, and she's stirred up a lot of old and painful memories. Like the one that made Mummy cry."
William only had vague recollections of his Aunt Ginny. She had lived with his grandparents, and whereas they had fussed over him and fed him sweets, she stayed in the background and didn't speak. He had only ever seen her at his grandparent's house and when they died three years ago, he didn't see her at all. It had never bothered him, he had enough Uncles for now, but the knowledge that this Aunt Ginny could be hurting his parents and others made him resentful towards her, and angry.
"Aunt Ginny is making the coins glow?" He asked his father, who nodded slowly, staring at the fireplace. William turned to his mother, the question of 'how?' on his lips, but she was already answering.
"These coins are a way of talking each other." His mother had that look in her eyes that she got when she was ready to explain something to him. "The person with the main coin sets a time and date and the information travels onto all the other coins, which glow and heat when they receive the information. See…" She picked up the coin and showed him, the writing and numbers on the edge. "July 31st, 12am." His mother read. "His birthday."
"Whose birthday?" William asked quickly, knowing that soon this topic would be off limits.
"Not now Will," His father said, standing up and taking his hand. "Bed time."
Half an hour later, when William's parents had just shut the door of his bedroom, William jumped up out of bed and hurried to the door. Opening it a crack he listened to his parent's fading conversation as they walked down the hall.
"Hermione, it has to be her, who else would Harry give his coin to if not us? And I know I nearly got through on the floo, but the flames dowsed in the last moment. She must have chucked water on them. Merlin knows how she is planning on meeting everyone is she still refuses to talk."
"Maybe this is her way of reaching out, Ron, maybe she's finally realised how much we miss her!"
"I doubt it," His father said bitterly, "She's been hiding herself in her own grief for so long she can't imagine other people's worries."
William shut the door quietly and jumped back in bed, shivering under his covers. From what he had heard, his Aunt Ginny wasn't a very nice person, and like everyone when they hear about something unpleasant, William wanted to know more about it. He wouldn't let this drop, and he very much hoped he'd get to meet his infamous Aunt who talked through coins.
Selena walked towards the looming oak doors with a heavy heart. Her mother was dead. As was her father. He had died two years ago, and her mother… she had died just last week. Only an hour after the coin had begun to heat and glow. The irony of it did not escape Selena, and as she marched towards the school entrance she felt a bitter taste in her mouth because of it. Thirty years had passed and not a word. Thirty years! And then an hour before her mother finally succumbed to the illness contact was made! Life was cruel, and Selena was fuelled by anger because of it.
The anger helped mask the grief and anxiousness, and made her steps seem determined and steady. In truth, she was terrified. She was finally going to meet the characters of her mother's stories; the fighters in the 2nd War; the friends her mother had run from: the DA. Or what was left of it.
Nearby, Selena saw a figure also approaching the gates. She carried on, and did not speak a word to the dark haired man who stopped beside her at the doors. He did not speak to her either, but she saw his eyes flicker over towards her, and confusion show in his expression. She understood his puzzlement: she was too old to be at Hogwarts, and too young to be at the meeting. She did not offer any explanation.
The doors were pulled open, and a giant man with thick grey hair stood in the entrance.
"Hello Hagrid." Selena said, smiling slightly.
Though she had never met the half giant, she had spoken to him through letters. During the early years of peace he had written occasionally to her mother, the only one to do so. He had asked for her advice and help on the subject of Ginny Weasley. Her mother had replied but not at great length, saying only that she no longer talked with Ginny, at Ginny's own wish, and that she was sorry but she was very busy.
He had written once every year though, for many years, asking her mother what she was doing, about her husband, about her daughter, and every time what her mother thought should be done about Ginny Weasley. At some point, when her mother grew too tired, and too ill, Selena began to write the reply for her. It was through Hagrid's brief mentions of war and old friends that had led Selena to ask her mother about her life before she married her father.
Hagrid nodded his head, though seemed unable or reluctant to speak. Selena noticed his eyes were shiny with tears. He ushered both the man and Selena inside.
"Go on up." He croaked out.
Together they walked through the corridors and up the stairs. Selena fell in step behind the man, aware that she did not know her way through Hogwarts or to the Room of Requirement.
After a few minutes of her following the man, he stopped abruptly next to two doors on either side of the corridor. He turned towards her.
"You go." He said, indicating to neither of the doors.
"Um…" Her hesitation caused the man to narrow his eyes.
"You don't know which one?" He asked, looking at her shrewdly.
Selena decided to bluff it. "Of course I do. It's the left."
The man's eyebrows rose and she felt a moment of doubt. "Wrong. It's neither." He turned and continued walking up the corridor.
Selena jogged to catch up with him. "That was a cruel trick." She scolded.
"Who are you?" He asked, ignoring her glares.
"Selena Theason." She replied, trying to keep up with his sudden fast pace. After a few seconds of thought she decided to add, "Luna Lovegood's daughter."
The man turned his head to glance at her, but kept on walking. "You're nothing like her."
Selena didn't know whether he was referring to her looks or her attitude or both. She had inherited her father's dark hair and healthy tan; only the wide silvery grey eyes gave suspect to her mother's origins. Though, unlike her mother's dreamy look, Selena continuously appeared either angry or scornful. Pent up anger and frustration had led to a festering rage inside of her.
She had been able to follow all of her mother's last wishes but for one, Selena was unable to forgive. She could not forgive Ginny Weasley for turning against her mother, she could not forgive the others for appearing to not care about her mother after the war, and she could not forgive her mother for running away. But most of all, she could not forgive the world for taking her parents away and leaving her only with twisted fragments of their past.
Indeed, it was with a harsh look in her eyes that Selena asked the man, "So who are you?"
"Anthony Goldstein, your mother might have mentioned me-"
"She didn't."
All conversation ceased at that point, and a stubborn silence followed them through the corridor. Finally, they reached the Room of Requirements, and without a word to Selena, Anthony Goldstein opened the door and walked inside, purposefully shutting it behind him so Selena was shut out. She walked through a second later, glaring at his back, but he had walked off to a group of wizards who were talking together heatedly.
Selena suddenly found herself in a room full of strangers. She stopped up short, and stood staring around in shock. Nothing had prepared her for the aged versions of the people her mother had described in her stories. Suddenly, they were no long stories, but history, her mother's history. This was the DA.
Raised voices from the far corner of the room drew Selena's attention, and she stared past the crowds of people and looked at the group of six standing there and bickering, three men, one young boy and two women; all except one was red-haired.
Comprehension dawned just as the tired eyes of the red-haired woman who had been sitting down met with Selena's.
Ginny Weasley.
Selena put her hand in her pocket and gripped the paper bag that was in there, taking a deep breath she began to walk towards them.
Colin and Dennis shared knowing glances as they observed the argument between the Weasley siblings. Unlike the rest of the group, who had immediately begun asking each other who initiated the meeting and what had happened in their lives since they saw them last, the Weasleys had fallen straight in to argument.
Though, this time, they had reason to. Ginny had decided this was the moment to emerge into the social circles again, apparently she didn't seem to see the problem with hiding to herself and hardly talking with her brothers for 30 years. Ron and Hermione's son, who was clutching onto his Uncle's hand, watched the procedure with something akin to amazement. He had never seen his father argue so fiercely.
Everyone else in the room had, but there was one vital difference between the fight Ginny and Ron were having now and the fights they had so many years ago back at Hogwarts: Ginny didn't fight back.
Any defensive remarks she had she offered weakly, most of the time she didn't bother to answer, instead, she sat on one of the chairs in the corner, ignoring the berating her brothers were giving her, and stared tiredly at the door. The brothers wondered whom she was waiting for.
The door opened and Anthony Goldstein entered, looking extremely smug. He strolled over to the crowd of people Dennis and Colin were talking to and was greeted warmly.
No one except for Ginny noticed a young girl had entered the room until ten minutes later. By then Ginny was crying loudly and the girl was staring at her with a look of utter bewilderment on her face.
William held on tightly to his Uncle George's hand and watched his mother go over to his Aunt Ginny and the strange dark haired lady he didn't know the name off. His Aunt was crying – loudly, and William wished she would stop as everyone was staring at them. William glanced up at his father, and saw that his face was scrunched up, he had yelled at William's Aunt only a few moments before she had begun crying, maybe he felt guilty. Releasing his hand from his Uncle's, William went over to his father and leaned against him, soon his father's arms encircled him, and the two watched and listened as the unknown woman tried to explain to Hermione why she had come, and why Ginny was crying.
Selena didn't know what to do. The proceedings that had taken place just moments before were extremely confusing, and what was happening now wasn't much better. Ginny Weasley had met her in the middle of the room and stared at her in amazement. Selena had silently handed her the bag containing the magic coin and radish earrings. Shakily, Ginny had looked inside and glanced straight back at Selena. She obviously saw some form of confirmation in Selena's eyes, as she instantly began crying.
Now an aged Hermione Granger was asking her hurried questions, leaving her no time to answer, and Ginny was grasping at Selena's hand, pulling her down onto the floor where she was sobbing.
"I came to-" Selena took a deep breath, trying to resist being pulled downwards, answer Hermione's questions and ignore the stares from around the room all at the same time. "I came to see Ginny… all of you."
Ginny finally succeeded, taking great gasping breaths she wrapped her arms around Selena, hugging her so hard Selena doubted her ribs were up to the strain.
"I'm sorry." Ginny sobbed, "Oh, I'm so sorry."
Uncertainly, Selena hugged the red-haired woman back, and shifted so she wasn't so uncomfortable. She realised that she was hugging Ginny as hard as she had been her, and she wondered whether it was her or Ginny who was doing the consoling. Selena looked back up at Hermione, and found Ron had joined her and was leaning down rubbing his sister on the back. Their young son, he must have been Ron and Hermione's, was peering cautiously at his sobbing aunt from behind his mother's skirt.
"I'm Luna Lovegood's daughter." Selena managed to gasp out, surprised to find tears in her eyes as she slowly rocked back and forth with Ginny – a woman she thought she couldn't be any angrier with. "She died last week and- and I thought you… well, I thought you ought to know."
The two girls had been sitting next to each other for the past ten minutes, but no words had been spoken, finally, the red haired girl had made some attempt at conversation. "I like your earings." The blonde haired girl had looked across at her, one silvery eyebrow raised accusingly.
"They're radishes." She had said.
Ginny's lip trembled slightly as she raised the china teacup to her lips. Over the brim, she watched Selena Theason, Luna's daughter politely decline sugar. The girl, or woman as she should be called, for she was about twenty, was sat cross-legged in the large squashy armchair that faced the fire in Ron and Hermione's living room. They had gone there for some privacy. Hermione, in her anxiousness, had instantly begun serving tea and cake in a frenzied manner. Everyone else was sat around the fire, including Ginny's seven-year-old nephew, who Ginny viewed with something short of surprise, he had only been a baby when she had last seen him! Surely time hadn't past that much!
"I know that they're radishes. I like them." Ginny had said. The blonde haired girl had smiled dreamily, fingering the red baubles dangling from her ears.
"They were my mothers."
"Where'd she get them from?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, I don't know, but if I ever find out, I'll be sure to tell you." The way she spoke, it seemed like she only ever find out very far in the future.
"Girls!" The sharp voice of her professor broke through the thirteen-year-old Ginny's thoughts.
Quietly, she whispered, "Thanks Luna."
And they had been friends ever since. Ginny stared at Selena, recognising everything and nothing about her. She was so like Luna, and yet, she was the complete opposite of her friend too. Ginny wished she could have met Selena's father, Mr. Theason, for he must have been a remarkable man to capture Luna's wild heart.
"Hermione, just sit down now." Ron said, grasping onto Hermione's wrist before she could flitter back into the kitchen to get napkins. He opened his mouth to speak to Selena, but Ginny got there first, and blurted out the question that had been drumming in her head since they had met in the Room of Requirements.
"How did she die?"
Selena slowly stirred her tea, "Cancer. She'd had it for the past few years, but it only weakened her these past few months."
"Cancer? But magic..."
"Her body had been weakened too much by curses for it to help." Selena took a sip, and licked her lips nervously, "She wanted me to come and speak to you, about the war, and when Harry died. She said I had to tell you what she was too ashamed to say."
Ginny let out a whimper, finding tears trickling down her cheeks again. Surprising even herself, she reached out for William, and pulled him onto her lap, hugging him fiercely.
"Go on. Tell them. Tell them what she did and what I said. Tell them how I repaid her for being so strong." Ginny said, stroking William's hair while averting her eyes from Selena.
Everyone turned to Selena questioningly, but she appeared confused.
"What's this?" Fred asked, looking from person to person. "What are you supposed to be telling us?"
"We know how Harry died, we know what happened." Hermione said, gripping Ron's hand.
"You don't. Not everything. Go on Selena! Explain. Tell them!" Ginny yelled, William flinched on her lap; she whispered her apologies to the boy.
Selena only looked shocked. "You know?" She asked.
Ginny froze. Her hand pausing in its smoothing down of William's hair. "She didn't tell you?"
"Will someone please tell us!" George said angrily.
Ginny shook herself, letting William slip of her lap and go to his parents. "When Harry was killed, it wasn't just him and Voldemort who were in the clearing. Luna was there too. She'd gone with him from the castle."
"She wanted to help." Selena muttered quietly.
"Harry went looking for Voldemort. It wasn't Voldemort who found him. They fought, and both died. Luna, she didn't intervene, she didn't stop Harry, and she didn't help him. She told me afterwards." Ginny didn't dare look at her brothers; instead she gazed at Selena accusingly.
"She was afraid she would make things worse!" Selena yelled, "The prophecy was so clear! If she had tried to help she could have made things worse! She could have killed Harry!"
"She saw him die?" Ron repeated quietly.
"She might have let Voldemort get away! Who know what might have happened if she'd intervened!" Selena was on her feet now, tears pouring down her face as she screamed at Ginny, who only stared back, her face pale.
"You were just too worked up in your feelings for him, to see she did the right thing! Don't you realise how much it hurt her! He was her friend too! She had to watch him DIE!" Selena gasped loudly, taking in deep breaths. She sat back down again, shaking. Everyone was silent.
"I know." Ginny covered in face in her hands and began to sob loudly, "I know, I'm so sorry. I couldn't see- it took me thirty years to finally realise what she did. I'm sorry, everyone, I'm so sorry."
Her cries continued, but no one went to her. An unspoken understanding had been made. Ginny deserved her grief; she had done this to herself, and to her family. Soon Hermione took William to bed, Fred and George left with quiet goodbyes, and Ron saw them out before following his wife.
Selena and Ginny sat opposite each other. The tears had stopped, and only their watery, red tracks remained. The two women watched each other warily, unsure what to say. The earrings and the coin were in between them. Slowly, carefully, Ginny pushed the coin and earrings back to Selena.
"I think, I know, that your mother only wanted you to give them to me so I saw sense. I want you to have them now, they've done their job, and so have you. She'd want you to keep them."
Selena didn't answer for a moment, before leaning over and hugging the woman before her. It had taken the seclusion of her family, and death of her friend for Ginny to finally regret what she had done. Selena hugged her mother's best friend, and knew, that finally, her mother was at peace.