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Some Petunia in this chapter. A quick update, for once!
Chapter 40 "Picking up the Bodies"
The uniformed medi-wizard brought Petunia, Lily and Remus through the corridors of Saint Mungo's until they reached the autopsy room. As promised, Remus had accompanied Lily and picked up Petunia and Apparated to the hospital, where they were shepherded from the waiting room by the medi-wizard they were currently following.
"This is where they send all the bodies from the recent attacks. We're full to the brim right now. It's our job to find the relatives, and if by a certain time we can't, the bodies are taken and disposed of." the man said in a monotone voice as they walked along, as if he were giving a tour of a famous city.
Remus shot a look at the man, eager for him to shut up with his lecture. Lily and Petunia were standing on either side of him, Lily holding onto his arm in a kind of limp acceptance and Petunia looking horrified at the medi-wizard's words and the whole situation.
"We have all the bodies set out, so just point out your relatives when you see them and we'll pull 'um out and send 'um off." the wizard said without emotion, as if he had done this many times before.
Petunia gave a sob at the wizard's reference to her parents, as if they were inanimate objects. Remus reached out for her hand and she took it, grateful for the comfort, since her sister was giving her none. Vernon was going to come, but she had quickly denied him. She hadn't told him anything about the world of magic and she wanted it to stay that way. She had simply told him that there was a house fire and she needed to go with Lily to see her parents.
Walking with Vernon through a magic hospital where people were scrabbling about with various objects stuck on their heads or other parts of their body or mumbling about eating some dirigible plums or being attacked by a unicorn wouldn't help her to hide the magical world from her soon-to-be husband, although she knew she would have to tell him eventually.
"Would it be easier if you two stayed out here? Maybe you have a picture of them so I can identify them?" Remus offered as they stopped in front of the autopsy room, and Lily broke down in sobs again.
"No, we need to do it." Petunia said firmly, holding her head up as tears dripped down her face. Remus had to take the time to admire the muggle woman. She was as determined and fiery as Lily was, and she was staying strong through this terrible ordeal.
The medi-wizard held the door to the foreboding room open to them, and Petunia pulled her hand from Remus, took a step forward. She took a deep steadying breath as she entered the room, and her two companions followed.
The sight that met their eyes was horrible, and Lily felt what little composure she had left dissolving into nothingness.
"Remus," she said, panicking, and he grasped her hand tightly.
"It's alright, Lily. I'm here." Remus said quietly, and Lily squeezed Remus' arm tighter, trying not to throw up.
Petunia gave Lily a curious glance. She couldn't help but wonder if anything was going on between Lily and this new man. They seemed awfully close. She pulled her eyes away from her sister and they were drawn back to the horrible sight in front of her. Dozens of bodies were sprawled out on gurneys in the room, some horribly disfigured, missing limbs and other body parts.
"See them?" Remus asked the sisters quietly as they made their way through the maze of bodies. Both shook their heads, feeling like it would be taboo to speak. It was so cold in here, and the silence was deafening, pressing upon their eardrums. The wizard hummed impatiently and drummed his fingers on a nearby gurney, waiting for the people to pick out the bodies so he could go on his lunch break.
"There." Petunia said suddenly, raising a trembling hand and pointing to two bodies just ahead of them, lying next to each other.
"Petunia, mum's face...don't look." Lily warned, but it was too late; Petunia had already stepped up to the bodies to make sure it was them. She screamed and jumped backward in shock. Their mother's face had been cleaned, but those empty sockets were still deep and dark and clotted with dried blood.
"Oh, God," Petunia fell to her knees, heaving, and Lily bent beside her, finally releasing her death grip on Remus and placed a hand on her back.
"I know, Tuney. It's horrible."
Petunia gave a dry sob before allowing her younger sister to envelop her in warm arms. Remus stood back, surveying the other body, the girls' father. He could see a large bit of skull missing from the back of the fathers head, as if someone pointed their wand at it and exploded it. Remus turned away, sick to his stomach and almost bumped into the medi-wizard.
"Do you know these people then?" the wizard said impatiently. "I'll have 'um packed up."
Remus nodded. "Yeah, just do that." He paused a second before kneeling beside Lily and Petunia. "C'mon, we'll leave." He held out a hand to each of them and helped them up. He wanted to get out of this freezing death room, and he was sure the girls felt the same.
"I can't believe Mum and Dad are gone. They'll never see us be married...they're gone." Petunia choked out through her sobs and Remus conjured a tissue and handed it to her before putting a consoling arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Petunia. This is a terrible thing that happened, and it never should have been this way."
Petunia nodded, wiping her nose with the tissue as they stepped out of the room.
"Remus, we need to go to Sev's apartment and we'll make plans for the funeral." Lily said quietly. "Then you can bring Petunia home."
"Alright, I'll lead the Apparation." Remus looked at Petunia. "Are you ready?"
Petunia sniffled and nodded; she had experienced Apparation on the way here, and she didn't like it at all, but it was a quick way of getting away from the hospital and those bodies, and that was all she wanted right now.
"Okay, here we go." All three turned on the spot, Petunia closing her eyes as the feeling of compression enveloped her, only reopening them when the feeling was gone. They were in front of the potions shop again. Lily released Remus' hand so that she could use her wand, which Remus had found in the house the night before and brought back to her, to unlock the the door. She led the other two inside and upstairs, gesturing for Petunia to sit on the couch.
"This is a nice little place." Petunia said softly, taking note of her surroundings as she sat down.
"It's home to me now." Lily said, forgetting that Petunia had never seen the apartment and getting a shocking jolt when she realized her parents had never seen it either. She sat beside her sister on the couch, leaning her weary body back into the soft cushions. To be honest, she didn't want to talk about this, but her parents deserved a decent burial and that's what they were going to get. Paying for it would be another thing, though.
"I'll leave you two to discuss your family matters. I'll be back later-" Remus started, straying back to the door, but Lily cut him off.
"Oh, please stay. Don't leave." she pleaded with him and he shifted awkwardly as her eyes pierced him.
"Lily, I think it should be just you and your sister. These are your parents, not mine. I dealt with this already, and I don't want to do it again."
"Remus, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It happened a few years ago, and I don't want to talk about it. I'll go downstairs and clean or something, all right?" Remus said abruptly before quickly stalking out so Lily wouldn't have a chance to say anything else.
Lily stared at the door for a moment before turning her mind to her own problems. Petunia was giving her a curious glance, however, and Lily frowned.
"What's the matter?"
Petunia was silent for another moment before blurting out the accusing query. "Is there anything going on between you two?"
Lily's mouth dropped open in shock, and her whole body went numb. "Petunia, this isn't the time-"
"No, Lily, I'm just wondering because you two seem really close and I'm just thinking about Severus."
Lily glared at her sister, wondering why she wanted to talk about this when there were more important things to worry about. "Nothing is going on. He's just become a really good friend to me. Almost like a brother, someone who'll be there for me."
"I'm here for you." Petunia said, a bitter tone to her voice.
Lily snorted. Here were the good old times; some of the fights between her and Petunia were legendary, and it seems like they were about to make another one for the record books. "It's not the same, you don't understand about magic. There are things I can't talk to you about."
Petunia got to her feet abruptly. "But you can talk to someone you just met about personal things?"
"I knew him from school, he hung out with James."
Petunia's eyes widened at that statement. "Are you stupid, Lily? He hung out with James, and you're allowing him into your life? Did you ever think he might try and hurt you for what happened to James?"
Lily shook her head. "No, he's not like them. I would have never let him stay here if he was."
"He's living here?" Petunia's eyes widened, and then narrowed as she shot her sister a disgusted look. "Lily, it's like
you're cheating on Severus."
"No, I am not!" Lily got to her feet as well now, face reddening and voice raising.
"You let a guy move in with you, you're using him as a human support to keep you upright. I see how you hold his hand and grab onto him. You can't stop touching him."
"It's not like that!" Lily cried, trying to defend herself. It always seemed like she was the one defending herself, while Petunia was the one on offensive. "I just need somebody...it was so hard when Sev was gone, and then I met Remus at an Order meeting-"
"An Order meeting? What's that?"
"It's like a rebel group, led by Albus Dumbledore. We're fighting against Voldemort, the man who killed Mum and Dad. That's why I was at the house..I got message to come and fight."
Petunia stared a Lily for a full minute until the red-head shifted uncomfortable under her sister's gaze. She jumped when Petunia finally spoke, screaming instead of talking in her normal quiet tone. "Holy shit, Lily! What is Severus' going to think about all this? You saw how hard he worked to protect you from James, and you're joining rebel groups and hanging out with James' old pal. What the hell is wrong with you?"
Lily shifted guiltily, but held her ground, coming back with a counter-attack."Since when have you ever cared what Severus thought? You despised hin when we were kids."
"That's because I didn't understand. I have never seen a man so devoted to a love that seemed impossible until I talked to him that day you ran away. I can tell he would do anything for you, and he will be upset when he gets back and finds out about Remus and the Order. It'll be like you betrayed him or something."
"How did I betray him?" Lily said heatedly, crossing her arms. "I can do what I want."
"You can't just do whatever you want..you need to think about how other people will feel!" Petunia burst out.
Lily tried to reply but found that the burning lump in her throat that had been forming over the last few minutes prevented her from speaking. Instead she just shook her head violently and walked away from her sister into the kitchen. She couldn't argue about this anymore..everything seemed trivial next to her parent's deaths. She didn't want to fight with Petunia, it had been too many long years of the fighting between them already.
Lily placed her hands on the cool counter top, head down and eyes closed, trying to steady herself. She felt like she was going to lose it any minute, way too much had happened already. If the supermarket ran out of her favorite cereal at this point, she might have a mental breakdown.
"Lily," a soothing tone and a warm hand on her shoulder made her look up. It was Petunia. "I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it anymore."
"Petunia..I'm just so tired." Lily squeezed her eyes shut. "I want to give up sometimes, you know. After James..and then everything else..I kind of just want it to end."
Petunia took Lily by the shoulders and shook her. "What's wrong with you? Don't you say that, Lily. Who would I have left?"
Lily looked into her sister's watering eyes. "I'm sorry." she wrapped her arms around Petunia and hugged her firmly. "I missed you all these years you know, when you were anti-magic."
"I didn't hate magic." Petunia said softly into Lily's shoulder. "I hated the fact that you chose it over me."
"Well, I'm choosing you now. I'll help you with anything you need." Lily said softly. "Are you staying with Vernon, or do you want to stay here?"
Petunia shook her head. "No, there's not enough room here with Remus. Besides, I'll be more comfortable with Vernon. He has a king size bed. Plenty of room for me in it." she gave a small smile a giggle, and Lily did the same, this normal moment breaking the tension between them, before her face dropped again.
"Tuney..we still need to talk about the funeral."
Petunia nodded solemnly, her smile gone, and Lily led her back over to the couch. Lily took a deep breath before beginning that terrible conversation with her sister. She knew she would be discussing this someday, but not so soon.
The Evans sisters talked well into the night, not only talking about funeral plans,but also reliving happy memories until Remus came back and told them that it was four o clock in the morning and time for bed.
YAY! No killing in this chapter, and Lily and Petunia made up. I'm hoping for Severus to come back next chapter. The tension is going to be amazing between Lily and severus when they catch up on everything that has happened!