Author's Notes: Thank you to Disco Inferno and ReAdErWrItErWhAtEvEr for your reviews, I greatly appreciate the support, and I'm glad you're both enjoying the story so far.
Additional thanks to IMissPadfoot (User ID: 1133633 ) who is doing an awesome job beta'ing for me!
Chapter Four: Living through Hell on Earth.
The few days that followed were as close to hell on earth than anything Morrigan had previously experienced in her nineteen years of life.
After receiving the owl from her father, Morrigan instantly dropped everything else, and Apparated across London to St. Mungo's.
As she walked through the corridors of the hospital, to her grandmother's ward, Morrigan's heart began to break.
She couldn't believe that Mary was dead. Gone, dead, never coming back. Just gone. How would Morrigan cope without her?
Burning tears stung her eyes, as Morrigan approached Mary's wards. Knowing that entering the room would make her grandmother's death all the more real, the raven-haired woman hesitated momentarily.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Morrigan stepped into the room.
Thankfully, Mary's body had already been taken away. However, Sean, Felicia and their parents were gathered around the bed. Her father looked almost as broken as Morrigan felt. Her mother sat silently in the corner of the room, looking pale and drawn. Felicia was sitting at the foot of the bed, sobbing freely for her grandmother. However, Sean was standing in stony silence by the door. He didn't look upset, as much as he looked angry, and when Morrigan entered the room his eyes blazed with fire.
"What are you doing here?" he asked of his eldest sister, in what could not be mistaken as anything but an accusing tone.
"I'm here because my grandmother has just died, like you all are," replied Morrigan shortly. "So, would you kindly leave me alone?"
Sean took another step forwards, and Morrigan could feel the threat in his presence. His words from the last time they'd all been gathered in this room stung her, like the tears that were now seeping from her eyes.
"It's because of you she's dead," he blamed his sister, his body now trembling with rage. "You always were trouble, Morrigan, and you always managed to draw Grams into your problems. Isn't it enough that you half killed her the last time we visited for the summer? Now you've finally succeeded."
Tears streamed down Morrigan's face, but her body became rigid with anger.
"I loved Grams more than either of you ever did. What happened then wasn't my fault, just like what's happened now isn't," she insisted, bitterly.
Sean
went to argue with her, but suddenly Felicia stepped between
them.
"For Merlin's sake!" she cried. "Our Grandmother has
just died! Will you two please stop yelling?"
The room fell silent, and everyone shuffled back to their previous places.
Slowly, Morrigan allowed herself to walk towards the bed, and gently touched the still warm pillow.
"Oh Grams," she whispered, and then broke into a sob.
That night, all members of the O'Brien family stopped in rooms at the Leaky Cauldron – none wanting to stay in Mary's house so soon after her death.
Morrigan went straight to the room she'd been stopping in for pretty much all of her visit to England.
She didn't eat or drink a thing, nor did she speak to anyone, aside from telling her family she was going to bed.
For endless hours, she lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what would happen now, and contemplating if Sean's taunts had any truth in them.
Finally, at gone midnight, Morrigan fell into an uneasy sleep, filled with haunting dreams.
In the days that followed, the O'Brien family went through the motions of grief, as they arranged Mary's funeral – which was to be held at the end of the week. Morrigan was the only one that didn't get involved in the preparations. Instead, she lay in her room, hour after hour, consuming more and more fire whiskey, until her senses and grief finally went numb.
The morning of the funeral dawned, and the O'Brien family made their way to Northern Ireland. The service was to be held at the local church, but was been performed by a wizard who lived in the same village as Mary had.
Being a pure-blooded witch, Mary didn't really follow Muggle religious traditions. However, she had found it hard to escape the Catholic beliefs of her home country. Therefore, the local Catholic Church had been borrowed, with the permission of its priest, as Mary had always requested she be given a proper send off.
As the small village in Northern Ireland, where Mary had lived most of her life, also housed a fair amount of other wizards and witches, it was not unusual for the church to be borrowed on occasions like weddings, Christenings, and funerals. In addition, it had become the happily accepted duty of locally respected wizard, Aidan O'Leary, to preside over such occasions.
The O'Briens and members of the village, who had known and loved Mary, mournfully filed into the beautifully decorated church. It was adorned with numerous vases of flowers, from grieving well-wishers, as well as religious effigies.
Morrigan and her family took the front row of benches, seated directly before Mary's casket, as the other members of the village sat behind them.
Aidan O'Leary stood at the pulpit, before the congregation, wearing sombre midnight blue dress-robes.
When everyone attending had taken their seats, he began the service.
Morrigan didn't remember much of what was said, due to her blinding grief, although she did recall the kind words about her grandmother, spoken by Aidan O'Leary, in which he remembered Mary as a powerful, yet caring, smart and funny woman. She always had a twinkle in her eye, and time for anyone. She doted on her family, especially her eldest granddaughter Morrigan, who is said bore a striking resemblance to Mary in her younger days.
As the congregation filed out of the church, a fierce wind blew, and many in attendance were surprised to see a large collection of crows gathered around the church grounds. However, Morrigan seemed more pleased than shocked to see the black feathered birds, and actually went over to pet the one that was resting on the headstone of Mary's, yet to be filled, grave.
After the service, Aidan O'Leary invited anyone who wanted to come, to his home, where he was holding a wake for Mary. All accepted the invitation, apart from Morrigan. She claimed she was feeling unwell, and remained in the church grounds as everyone else left.
Alone among the graves, and crows, Morrigan waited as her grandmother was finally laid to rest. Then when the undertaker had left, she walked forwards to the freshly dug burial place.
Placing her hands lightly on the headstone, she let out a deep, tear-filled sigh. "Oh Grams, what will I do without you?"
As if answering her question, the crow resting on the headstone shrieked loudly, although Morrigan didn't even flinch.
"I know I wasn't around to see you much in recent years, and I know what problems I caused for everyone in the family," Morrigan began, as if Mary was in fact standing right besides her. "I just wish I'd got the chance to tell you how sorry I am, and that I love you."
Again the crow cawed in reply, and the sound echoed around the church yard.
As if taking a comforting answer from the bird, Morrigan touched the headstone again lightly and then Disapperated with a small crack.
When Morrigan returned to the Leaky Cauldron, she found Draco waiting at the bar for her, and he promptly ordered two fire whiskeys upon her arrival.
"Are you ok?" he asked sombrely, as she took a seat besides him. "How was the funeral?"
"Horrible, but better than I expected," she replied, draining her glass almost in one gulp.
Both casually and intentionally, Draco lightly brushed Morrigan's hand with his own. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
For a second, Morrigan looked as though she might melt from the brief contact, and possibly succumb to more tears, but then she quickly withdrew her hand, as if it had been burnt by Draco's touch.
"Thanks for the drink," she said coldly. "I best be going to bed, the reading of my Grandmother's will is tomorrow morning."
Then without another word, she swept up the stairs and to her room. As she entered, Morrigan sighed, but then quickly became angered and kicked over the near by waste-paper basket.
Outside, the wind began to howl, and the cawing of crows could be heard.
Pulling to shutters of the window tightly closed, and extinguishing the only lamp in the room, Morrigan slumped into her bed, and exhausted, promptly fell asleep.
The following morning, Morrigan awoke early, to a heavy storm outside. She dressed quickly, and then ate hurriedly, before going to leave the Leaky Cauldron, and heading to the Ministry of Magic for the reading of her Grandmother's will.
As Morrigan went to depart, Tom stopped her.
"A hooded gentleman left this note for you this morning," he informed, passing her a sheet of folded parchment
Even though the note bore no names – either addressed to or from – Morrigan only had to read it, to know who it was from.
"I'll be thinking of you," it said simply.