Disclaimer: i don't own anything, when it comes to ideas, i'm homeless.
We were told that our attire was optional. Because some Muggles were going to be attending however, Alice and I had agreed it was best just to wear plain dresses so they wouldn't be too freaked out by all of the magic, even though they knew about it. Knowing from experience with Petunia, most Muggles didn't take too kindly to magic. This dress, however, was getting increasingly more uncomfortable, the lace rubbing against my thighs all wrong. I wish I could have worn my cloak, like I had at Michael's funeral last week. Meeting his parents had been one of the worst things I had ever experienced. They looked at me with such sadness.I felt stupid and shallow looking in the mirror. Why in the world should I care what I looked like going to this? This was not about me, it was about her. To remember her for the great girl that she was and to mourn. But I couldn't think about that, or I'd start crying again.
I frowned as I looked in the mirror though, and the unfamiliar girl frowned back at me. The burn marks on the pretty girl's arms wouldn't go away, startling red in contrast to her pale skin, seeming to match the flaming hair. This girl wasn't me though. She looked put together and composed. The girl inside was not put together at all. Having witnessed two deaths of people that I would never expected to die, my insides were barely existing, seeming to mold together, barely working, just keeping me alive.
I turned away from the mirror, bending down to grab the makeup in the top drawer. I was still getting used to James' house. Located in Godric's Hollow, it was beautiful. A medium sized cottage that looked straight out of a fairytale book from my childhood. He kept telling me it was my house too, being engaged what was his was mine right? But I still couldn't get use to it. I had my own bathroom. It was probably bigger than my bedroom back home. The tub was enormous and the shower was just as large. The counter spiraled around the whole unit, creating a huge space for me to get ready, like I needed it. I barely filled two drawers. I took out my cover-up and tried and failed to cover the burns left over and shivered. I still couldn't get over it.
I looked up when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." I said softly. James opened the door and I could see him in a Muggle suit, jacket, and holding a tie, looking very dashing. He walked in closer to me.
"I need help with this tie. My mom use to always do it for me, and I just can't get it right." I smiled and reached for it, quickly situated it around his neck correctly and tying it so that it laid perfectly. "You look beautiful, by the way." he said, draping his arms around my waist. He gently kissed my mouth, barely touching and then pulled away. "We're going to be late if we don't get going."
I wrapped my hand around his, loving that his hands were always somehow warm. We walked together down the halls until reaching the front doors.
"Would you like to do it or shall I?" I said, reaching for my wand in my coat pocket and pulling it out.
"Go ahead." he said gesturing. We turned on the spot and then there was the awful feeling of suffocation and being squeezed too tight but then it was over, and we were a little ways away from a spiraling gate and I could see rows after rows of headstones. There was a small crowd filing in when we reached the entrance and we followed them without talking. I looked up from the swishing of cloaks in front of me when I felt slight raindrops falling down on my head. It was sprinkling lightly, just a drop here or there and it felt lovely on my burns.
For the first time since Mary's death, I smiled, really smiled, remembering how Mary was the type of person who would go outside in the middle of a thunderstorm and stand there, arms thrown out, face up, eyes closed, and the biggest smile on her face and she would just spin round and round, loving the feeling of being sopping wet, even when we would scream for her to come inside. I knew she would appreciate the rain if she could, so I appreciated it for her.
We kept walking after that, the rain falling down ever so slightly on us, and we met up with our group of friends quickly. They were all there, even Peter, wearing Muggle attire. I hugged Emma first, glad to see her. Peter followed, then Remus and then Sirius who kissed my cheek. Lastly I hugged Alice and then Frank, who had come with her and that was when I noticed the shiny diamond glittering on her finger. I grabbed her hand and drew it closer to me.
"No way." I said, staring at her, and then I broke into a smile and grabbed her for a hug again. I even hugged Frank again for the heck of it. "When did it happen!"
"A couple days ago." Alice said, grinning too. "of course with the present circumstances we didn't want to make a big deal of it though, but we're very excited." she finished and looked up at Frank with love and adoration in her eyes. He smiled back at her and kissed the top of her head. I congratulated her once more and then we all walked in together.
There were four coffins set in a row on the ground in front of us when we reached the spot. My heart ached when I saw them. Mary, her parents, and Alex. Tiny Alex, only ten years old. I remember how excited he was to go to Hogwarts next year, and now he would never get the chance. We waiting there, making small talk with family members and other Hogwarts students that were attending. We even saw Dumbledore but didn't have the chance to say hello.
A small, tufty-haired wizard came up to the stand and began talking. He described the beauties of life and how tragic it was that Mary and Alex had not gotten to experience it all and went on to talk about their greatest gifts and what they had given to the world. And that's when he called and asked if any family members or friends would like to speak.
An elderly man and woman walked up to the stage and I assumed it was her grandparents. They spoke very beautiful words about Mary's parents, a few small words about their grandchildren and then stepped down. A few more family members went and then Emma went up. She started crying before she even got there. She spoke for a few moments about how Mary had always been there when anybody was having a bad day, how she could make anybody smile.
Alice spoke about a time where Mary and her had first met. It was a slightly touching but mostly funny and sweet memory from our first year Transfiguration class.
And then it was my turn, and I had no idea what to say. I walked up shakily, looking down, not wanting to see her family members, the resemblance between them.
I cleared my throat and began. "Mary didn't deserve what happened to her. She died protecting her family and I saw the look of determination in her eyes when she spread her hands out for them. We should not let her last act go to waste. Mary was one of the greatest friends I ever had. She was so different from every one else. She stopped and appreciated the rain when everyone else ran from it. All of us should try to be like her. She was not afraid to die, but she wasn't afraid to live either. We can't forget." And with that, I bowed my head, the tears flowing freely now and walked back down the steps. Remus, Sirius, and James each said something and then the small man went back up again and said a few more words and then raised his wand.
From the tip of his wand burst a flowery, firework image of a small family, Mary's parents, herself and her brother. They were undefined but you could tell what they symbolized. They all joined hands and then there was a blast of light as they all changed colors and separated, going to their separate graves. Her father went first, speeding into the wooden box and with a bang and a flash of red light and a hiss, the coffin disappeared, sinking under the ground. His mother went next, her box changing blue first then disappearing. Little Alex went next, seeming to dance to his cripplingly tiny box. His turned a lovely emerald green before sinking down to join his parents. Mary's went last. Hers went by slowly and seemed to whisper and it passed me, making my hair spring around my face.
Her box turned a deep shade of purplish red before sinking down too, and then the man raised his wand again and grave stones rose in their place, flowers surrounding all of them. My tears were flowing freely now, and we walked over slowly to Mary's. The ground was wet from the rain as I bent down on my knees. I slowly traced her name with my fingers before lowering my head, succumbing to my tears. James arm went around my shoulders and Emma's hound found her way into mine which I gratefully held on to.
After a few more minutes, we got up and walked over to Alex's. I cried at his too, feeling so guilty that he could never experience the magic of Hogwarts, never get his first kiss, his first love. We stopped at her parents out of respect shortly, only meeting them once still made me feel sad at their deaths.
We stayed for a while longer, talking to her family members and then we all walked out together. Sirius was the first to speak.
"Does anyone fancy a drink from the Leaky Cauldron?" he said in a quiet, gruff voice and I realized he had cried, the first time I had witnessed it.
"That sounds perfect." Remus said and we all agreed to meet there, turning on the spot and popping up in a corner of outside of the store, to not draw attention to ourselves. Once we got inside Sirius went to go and order us butterbeer. None of us were in the mood for liquor. He came back and rejected our attempts to pay him back.
"To Mary." Sirius said, joining our table again and raising his mug. We all raised our glasses and echoed him and then took a sip or a gulp depending on who it was. It was quiet for a while as we each drank.
"So, two weddings coming up. Whose shall be first?" Remus said, probably trying to light up the conversation. I looked at Alice and smiled.
"Well, James proposed first, so I say Lily's wedding should probably go first." Alice said, looking at the two of us. I grabbed James hand under the table. Talking about weddings made everything so much more real and I didn't know how prepared I was for that. Of course I was excited, it just still hadn't sunk in yet, not with the recent events.
I smiled at her. "It really doesn't matter to me. I would love an August/September wedding though, so it's up to you." I nudged James. "With the leaves beginning to change, it'd be beautiful."
"You're right, but the weather really doesn't bother me. It's just you I care about." he said quietly making me smile.
"Well then, let's plan for yours to be sometime in September and Frank and I can have it sometime early November." Alice said, nodding to herself.
The rest of the day went by quickly. We sat there for about two hours, just talking about our plans and ideas. We left shortly after that after another round of many hugs.
When we got back, James and I went into the living room and sat on the couch in front of the fire. I tucked my legs underneath me and snuggled into his chest, finally feeling warm when he wrapped his arms around me.
"So, I have a topic I'd like to discuss with you." James said. I nodded against his chest to know I was listening. "It's about…kids." he paused as he heard my intake of breath. "I was just wondering if…you had thought about it at all, or even if you wanted any. You don't have to say anything, I know I kind of sprung that on you." he trailed off into silence waiting for my response. I pulled away from him so I could look up at him.
"I don't know. I definitely want kids. I'd love a girl, but if it was a boy I'd probably still spoil him like rotten." I said, staring into his eyes.
He looked back at me calmly. "How many would you say?"
"I'm not sure. More than one, being an only child would be awful, as I'm sure you know. Maybe two or three. What do you think?"
"Well, I definitely agree on more than one, I hated being an only child. I guess we'll see what happens when we get there huh?"
"I guess we shall." I said, and smiled up at him and he leaned down and kissed me gently at first, but then deepened the kiss, laying me down on the couch and leaning over me so that our bodies were pressed together but not all of his weight was pressed against me. I loved that I couldn't get enough of him, that I still wanted him, that I hadn't lost the attraction even though we were engaged.
We stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the time that we could save for each other, and that was when the head of Albus Dumbledore appeared in our fire.
A/N: YOU ARE SO WELCOME. 2 DAYS IN TWO DAYS. I KNOW THIS ONE IS SHORT BUT ITS BEEN A DAY! I HAD AN INSPIRATION AND JUST STARTED WRITING. so you're welcome (:
I'm not replying to reviews, since i barely got ANY...not that i'm complaining. but i'll respond next time. i hope you like this one!
Tibby09296