This is my last chapter...I hope you enjoy it! I want to thank Rain-Angel03 for being my number one reviewer! And also I would like to give credit to WastelandRose for giving me the idea for this very short story!
As soon as I touched the old coke can I was spinning in the air, like the night when we ran away. I fell to the ground and didn't even bother getting up until Remmy lifted me into a small bed. When my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.
I woke up in a small, circular room that held an air of neglect. Remmy was nowhere in sight but the door to the room was wide open. I looked around, wondering why I was here and where were my brothers.
Whoosh.
The morbid memories washed over me in one killer wave. Lane and Liam were dead, I was in America, and an owl was tapping on my window. I looked up to see a black owl with a single white streak on its back, it was failing against the wind. I walked over to the window and let the elderly owl inside. It stuck out its leg and I stared dumbly at the parcel tied to the scaly appendage. It finally struck me that I was supposed to remove it, so I did.
Dear Miss Stevenson,
We have arranged for Liam and Lane Stevenson to be brought to your old home for the funeral. We are very sorry for your unfortunate loss. The boys seemed to have died of suffocation from smoke just shortly before you arrived. Please send back a letter confirming the funeral for your brothers tomorrow.
With deepest regrets,
Dillan Chaplen
Dillan Chaplen, Director of Wizarding Funeral Homes.
We'll give you peace of mind.
I turned the parchment over and pulled out the pen from the owl's talons and wrote just a simple yes. The letter seemed really forward and to the point, no surprise there, they probably have better things to do. That thought made my stomach bubble with rage and the owl flew out before I could use it to relinquish my anger.
"'They died just shortly before you arrived.'" I read aloud.
If I had been there just a few minutes earlier, they would be alive right now. They would be here with me in the house I grew up in.
I had finally recognized the little room, it was mine when my parents were still living, during happy times. I looked around and saw my old chestnut drawers, I pulled one open and saw it was empty except for a single photo in the back corner. I reached in and grabbed it. It was an old black and white snapshot of my parents and I. I felt my eyes water as I took in every detail of my parents faces, whishing desperately for them to be here.
"Leigh?" Remmy stood inside of the hallway, "What's that?"
"An old picture," I replied and showed it to her.
"You look like your mother," Remmy commented. I gave her a watery smile and then hugged her.
"What will happen to Harry?" my voice was muffled against her stomach.
"He will stay with his aunt and uncle until he is of age," Remmy replied.
"Sirius?"
"Um, well…last night he went after Peter Pettigrew," Remmy started, "Pettigrew was the secret-keeper for Lily and James. See, Voldemort was also after Lily and James so they cast a spell over their home so nobody but the secret-keeper and the ones they confided in knew where they lived."
"So, nobody knows that house is there?" I asked as I sat on the edge of my bed.
"Now they do because the house was destroyed and the spell was lifted. Now, Peter Pettigrew is the one who held the location of James and Lily's home. He was a follower of Voldemort…a traitor," Remmy said with menace.
"And Sirius when after him?"
"Yes, but-" Remmy faltered.
"What happened?" another bad feeling shot through me.
"He was arrested and brought to Azkaban, the wizard prison," Remmy said sadly.
"Are James and Lily going to be buried?" I asked.
"I assume so," Remmy stared off into space, "right where their house was."
"Lane and Liam are going to be buried here," I said quietly, "an owl just said so."
"Really, when?" Remmy looked at her.
"Tomorrow," I replied.
"Oh, Leigh, I have to tell you something," Remmy pulled her fingers through my hair, "for security reasons, we need to start over."
"Whadda mean?" I said cautiously.
"We need to change our name…start all over, become new people."
"Like we're in the Secret Service or something?" I stood up.
"I suppose so…" Remmy said.
"You mean, forget everything that happened? Forget my brothers? Forget my parents? Forget everyone?" I was starting to get angry again. Never would I forget Lane and Liam…never!
"No! No! No, no, no, Leigh dear!" Remmy also stood and cupped my face in her hands, "Nothing or nobody could ever make you, or us, forget them. I'm just saying, Voldemort's follower's will be after you." Remmy explained quickly.
"Voldemort won't be after me himself?" I asked, this was all very strange and for some reason it was very hard to process all the information.
"You see, he wanted to kill the Potter family for some reason or another and when he turned to kill Harry, the spell backfired onto him. That's why he had that awful scar on his head."
"How? Why did he survive and Lane and Liam die?" I asked, my temper rising.
"Nobody knows, Leigh." Remmy said softly, "Come, now, let's go tidy up this place, it will keep our minds off of sad events."
I nodded my head and followed her to the dust covered family room, where the couches where covered in nasty white sheets.
Remmy was right, the cleaning really did take my mind off things, actually I was really surprised that I even did clean and not just stay in my room. It turned out that Remmy rarely ever used magic to clean, she did it the 'Muggle way', which I thought was really weird.
"Remmy? Will I still go to school?" I asked while we were scrubbing the kitchen floor.
"Hm…yes, I suppose so. Hardvern's around here somewhere," she stopped and wiped her brow.
"Hardvern's?" I asked, it sounded a little familiar to me.
"Hardvern Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Keener is the Headmistress, I believe," Remmy said.
"How do you know so much about this?" I asked, amazed.
"Well, I came here to get more schooling," Remmy explained, "It start's when your five, its like a Muggle school but for magic."
"So I would be a sixth grader?" I said thoughtfully.
"Mm-hm." Remmy continued to scrub.
When the day was finished the house looked brand-new and it brought back painful and happy memories. I was in my bed room staring up at the ceiling and started to cry again. I missed them so much, I want to see them! But I would see them tomorrow at the funeral. Being in this house made me even more depressed, but I soon fell asleep.
I woke up to Remmy shaking me gently. "Come, Leigh dear. Its time."
"Who's going to be there?" I mumbled into my pillow.
"Just us, dear," Remmy placed a comforting hand on my back, "Can I sing?"
I turned over and looked at her, "You can sing?"
"Remember the day Lane didn't want to take a nap?" Remmy said.
"Yes," I said quietly.
"I'm an Enchanter."
"An Enchanter?" I gave her a skeptical look.
"When I sing I can make people or animals do anything I need them to do. When Lane was restless I sang a song that would make him sleep," She explained.
"Hm," I said, "that's cool. What'll you sing?"
"A song that I have been thinking about," Remmy said and then helped me out of bed, "Come, dear Leigh, I have something for you to wear." and then she left me to dress in a simple black dress with black gloves and black dress with black dress shoes. I slowly dressed, crying as I did so. I wondered what Remmy would sing and I peered out the window into my backyard. A swing-set with a single swing swayed slightly in the wind, the weeds would probably be up to my waste and the tree house in the large elm held only rotted wood.
I stepped out of my room and walked slowly to the front door where Remmy was waiting for me in a small black car. I said nothing on the way to the cemetery but stared out the window. I thought of how Remmy must of felt, James in Lily dead, Sirius in prison, and a person she thought she could trust betrayed them all.
I paid no attention to the eulogy, the basic funeral was like my parents but now two babies were being buried. I went alone to the waking service, when every one was busy eating. They lay in two small white coffins, dressed in little tuxedos. They looked so much like they were sleeping and I so desperately wanted to wake them up and hold them close to me. I finally couldn't take it anymore and I ran out bawling into the rain. Remmy came out and coaxed me back into where I'm sitting now.
The talking finally ceased and we gathered outside to the Dreamland cemetery where my parents were also buried. When I came up to give my flowers to the coffin, I stumbled just a bit. As the coffins were closed Remmy started to sing and a low and somber tone. Immediately could feel the sadness and the tears fell like a water fall. I swear I could hear a piano play:
Fly, fly little wings
Fly beyond imagining
The softest cloud, the whitest dove
Upon the wind of heaven's love
Past the planets and the stars
Leave this lonely world of ours
Escape the sorrow and the pain
And fly again
Fly, fly precious ones
Your endless journey has begun
Take your gentle happiness
Far too beautiful for this
Cross over to the other shore
There is peace forevermore
But hold this memory bittersweet
Until we meet
Fly, fly do not fear
Don't waste a breath, don't shed a tear
Your heart is pure, your soul is free
Be on your way, don't wait for me
Above the universe you'll climb
On beyond the hands of time
The moon will rise, the sun will set
But I won't forget
Fly, fly little wings
Fly where only angels sing
Fly away, the time is right
Go now, find the light.
As Remmy sang her lament, I saw flashes of their lived pass once more in front of me.
Lane had learned to walk and was getting into everything in reach. Liam was trying to read a book upside down. Jacob was about to throw a martini glass at Lane, but I stepped in at the right moment to catch it on my forehead. Liam was curled up in my lap sleeping like an angel. I was playing ball with Lane and he gave me a kiss.
Your heart is pure, your soul is free. I thought
She finished on a long, low note. I wiped the tears from my eyes and slowly walked away.
The next few weeks were spent making ourselves new lives. I was to begin school in September and my name was changed to Madeline Harmon. Remmy suddenly became Chessica Harmon, my older sister. We both continued to work hard on our home, made a garden, cleaned the back yard up and painted the house a very light shade of blue.
The pain I felt for Lane and Liam slowly faded, but I thought of them everyday. My life was changing, yes, but now I was glad I had somebody to share my grief with. Sometimes in the middle of the night I would wake up to Remmy pacing the halls, grieving with the memories of pain but I never saw her cry.
I was slowly beginning to like my new life. I made friends with the boy next door and we would play together every now and then. Remmy even had a new boyfriend, I didn't really like him that much but Remmy absolutely adored him so whatever. I still wondered about Sirius and Remus, how they were and what they were doing, if they ever thought about us. But I knew one thing: whatever happened, I knew I would always be loved and that's all I ever wanted.
The End
You should always learn, with life comes wisdom and with wisdom comes the courage to live your life selflessly. The more you learn about yourself and the experiences surrounding your life the more opportunities you have to make your life better and more fulfilling.
-Amy Candy
Thank you so much for reading! I hope to have my first chapter to the sequal of this little tid-bit written soon!
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT REMMY, LEIGH, LANE, AND LIAM. 'FLY' IS A PART OF ©Celine Dion Records.
Thank you again for reading!