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Sad chapter with a tiny bit of humor. Working on another chapter right now.

Thanks for all the story alerts lately everyone!

A review would be pleasant. ;]

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS JESUS!

CHAPTER 43

January 1st.

The group had spent the New Year together, minus Audrey and Karl. Audrey hadn't been allowed to leave Hisoka's quarters and Hisoka refused her guests other than Karl for New Years Eve.

Karl returned early in the morning to find the common room littered with streamers and everyone either sleeping in the chairs, on the couches, or on the floor. He chuckled slightly.

"Morning, Gregorovitch." Sirius yawned, getting up from an armchair nearby.

"Morning, Black." Karl said, shaking his hand. "Happy New Year."

"Same to you." Sirius replied.

Since the last week, we had been much more civil to each other. We had to be, after everything we went through. We saved each other's asses on multiple occasions that night. There was an unspoken truce. But I was still incredibly jealous that he was Audrey's, that didn't change.

"How is she?"

Karl shrugged. "How would you be?"

"Good point." Sirius nodded. "Did you guys have the room to yourself or?"

"Yeah, it was a quiet night, nothing extravagant. Hisoka was spending the night with the Dumbledore and some of his friends. We both just needed a quiet night. I'm assuming it wasn't so quiet over here?" He wore a slightly amused expression looking around the common room.

"No…it really wasn't." Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. He grabbed some streamers and put them on James' head. Karl shook his head with a small smile.

After a few moments, he spoke.

"My grandfather sent me an owl, the funerals are tomorrow." Karl said quietly.

"Should we go?" Sirius asked, gesturing to his friends sleeping around the room. Karl shrugged.

"It'll be nice to have other humans there, but it's going to be a long day….nine wakes, nine burials. I know Chantal and some of Hans and Petro's friends were cleared to go by Madame Maxime. You can ask Dumbledore, I know Sven and I will be getting there via portkey."

"I think if I can get all of these brats up and running we'll all go see the Headmaster together, power in numbers." Sirius nodded.

"Good strategy." Karl replied, yawning. "I'm going to go up and change, I'll see you at breakfast."

Sirius nodded, and then decided to jump on James to wake him up.

"WAKE UP, JAMES!" Sirius yelled like a five year old. "IT'S A NEW YEAR! WAKE UP!"

James shoved Sirius off of him and laughed, their other friends grumbled at the two's obnoxious behavior. Marlene threw a pillow at them in annoyance.

"Good, now that you're all awake. I've got an announcement!" Sirius said, standing on the couch between a drowsy Chantal and Sven.

"Does he have to talk so loud?" Sven asked, holding his head.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Anyway, the funerals are tomorrow. And I know Sven and Chantal are cleared to go but for the rest of us, well…I don't know…I think we should but it's up to you lot."

"Of course." said Lily.
"Duh, mate." James chimed in.
"Definitely." said Marlene.
"Without question." said Remus.
"Certainly!" squeaked Peter.
"Absolutely." nodded Sarah.

"Good then, we'll have to go see the Headmaster sometime today and get it sorted out. Together of course."

They all nodded and began to plan.

Our first plan, was the easiest. We were simply going to go and ask him ourselves after breakfast that morning. However, that didn't work out so well. He ignored us and left, seeming a bit occupied.

Our second plan, was to try to get to the Headmaster through Professor McGonagall, but she merely said he was busy and didn't let us explain ourselves at all.

"Now what?" Sarah asked, frustrated as the group sat down in an empty corridor.

"Don't fret, my dear Puffer. I have an idea." James said, a mysterious glint in his eyes.

"Oh god." said Lily, cradling her head in her hands. "This can't be good…"

James whipped out a bunch of dung bombs from his pocket, giving Sirius, Remus, and Peter looks. Sirius and Peter emptied their pockets.

"Merlin's beard." Sarah groaned, Marlene shook her head.

"I normally wouldn't condone this." said Remus, grinning as he emptied his pockets. "But it's for Audrey."

"Yeah, it's for Russia." James nodded. "You girls should run to the end of the corridor now, this won't be pretty. We'll catch up with you."

The girls sighed and did as they were told, they hid behind a pillar for extra measure. The explosion was awful and the boys managed to come away from it fairly unscathed.

As they approached them, the girls began to walk back from them a few faces.

"What? Do we offend with our odor?" asked James.

"Yes." said Sarah, holding her nose in disgust. "You guys just had to use Dungbombs."

Within seconds, the Hogwart's Caretaker, Filch, came around the corner, screeching in annoyance about the mess.

"GO TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE." He screeched, beckoning the boys to follow him.

"Okay!" Sirius and James said excitedly. The girls followed at a distance, and before they knew it, they were at the Headmaster's door.

"Ah, Argus. Happy New Year, what brings you here?" said Dumbledore in his usual manner.

"These four." Filch replied, shaking angrily and he left.

"He can't do math, can he?" Sirius asked.

"Very amusing, Mr. Black." Albus beamed. "I'd tell you boys to sit but it's quite dirty. And I believe I know why you're here, a very clever idea it was to create such a distraction. Had you just waited until after lunch I would have summoned you all to my office to discuss this."

There were a series of oohs from the seven.

"Well this is awkward." Sarah said, twisting her hair for a moment.

"It is incredible the things that people will do to come through for their friends." the Headmaster replied, pacing for a moment. "I admire your persistence. I was going to say tonight, should you wish to attend the memorial service, a portkey will be ready for all of you. However, I see that you all wish to attend. Be here at eight thirty tomorrow morning, after breakfast. Dress properly, it will be cold."

"Well, that was easy." said Marlene, as they left the office and headed down the hallway.

The next morning, they woke and got dressed early.

"D'you think she left yet?" Marlene asked.

"She did." replied Chantal. "They left a half hour ago, Karl and Sven went with her for support."

"It makes sense." said Remus, nodding as they knocked on the Headmaster's door. It opened by itself, and no one was there. On the desk, there was a note.

"This plate is your portkey, Hisoka and I have left already. Hold on tight."

James shrugged and said. "Ready?"

They all nodded, and everything begin to spin.

I remembered the last time I had used a portkey and I honestly felt ill.

They landed in a crash in three feet of snow, everyone shook themselves off. It was snowing there, heavier than it was in England by far.

"Where do you think it is?" Marlene asked, looking around. They were at the bottom of a hill and all they could see was white.

Ding dong, ding dong.

"This way." said Chantal, beginning to trudge up the hill towards the sound of bells. In a snap, someone had apparate right next to her, wearing all black. Everyone flourished their wands, a little alarmed.

"Relax. It's me, Teagan." said the Banshee, taking off her hood for a moment. Everyone relaxed.

"So sorry." said Remus. "We're a little on edge."

"Understandable. This robe probably doesn't help much, but its customary." said Teagan, intercepting the odd looks some gave her. "When someone dies, a family member, or a friend, banshees wear a black robe with the hoods on. If the hood is over the eyes, that is the person directly affected, a parent, family member, and so on. If the hood is up on the head like mine is, it's out of respect. Audrey and Airleas will probably be wearing them."

They all nodded, and began to set off up the hill. All they saw was a rickety, broken down church, it was incredibly tiny and Sirius didn't know how everyone and nine caskets was supposed to fit inside. But they entered anyway.

I should have known better, magic never ceases to surprise me. The chapel was ten times bigger than it was on the outside. The walls on the inside were adorned with painted creatures of all sorts. The guests inside, looked just like the walls. There were centaurs, two giants, a group of vampires who stood with Hisoka, talking quietly, some identifiable werewolves, elderly veelas, and banshees. All of them, wearing exactly what Tegan wore, or a variation of it.

"Chantal! Teagan!" someone called as they entered. A banshee with three braids with feathers intertwined in them came over and wrapped the two in a hug.

"Have you talked to her at all, Darcy?" Teagan asked, the teacher shook her head.

"I don't think now would be the best time, with all these creatures here." Darcy replied, looking over Chantal and Teagan's shoulder. "Humans?"

They all nodded.

"Friends?"

Chantal nodded.

"Good…if you were here to crash or be rude I would have to harm you. But I always forget that Audrey has human friends as well. Such a nice girl." Darcy said, bidding them a goodbye and going over to talk to a werewolf.

"She's a bit biased. She doesn't hang around wizards much." Chantal said to the group.

It had to be the saddest and strangest funeral I had ever been to, but it was the only other funeral I had ever been to at the time. The first being one of my great uncle's who I barely knew, and though I didn't know Audrey's family, I spent the previous four months with her cousins. I didn't know them as long as Sven or Karl did, but it was quite an impact.

I watched her from across the room, the only thing that was visible was her mouth. Though her eyes were concealed by a hood I knew they were probably black. Pure sadness, and I could feel my heart breaking just thinking about it.

Because it was a mass funeral of sorts, there was time between for everyone to mingle and to pay their respects. It started with Ivan, Audrey's great uncle, then both of her grandparents, then her uncle, his son, her aunts, and their sons. Though it was hard to just witness everyone's emotions around me, I felt myself take a hard hit when watching and listening to Audrey's father say a long eulogy about his parents. I loathed my parents, with every fiber of my being, and I had never really seen a relationship between child and parent in such a way.

It was after Petro's ceremony when Audrey had finally seen her friends. She first saw Marlene and like their meeting in the hallway a few days before they ran to each other.

Audrey threw off her hood for a moment, looking at all of her friends. "What are you all doing here?" She blinked back a few tears.

Her eyes seemed to be in this permanent state of black, they would occasionally flicker back to normal for a brief second. They reminded me of a light being extinguished.

If you would have taken a first look at her that day, between the black cloak, her hair, and her eyes, you would have thought she was a monster. But I knew her, and I knew better.

"We wouldn't miss it, Audrey." James said softly, hugging her. She wore a shocked expression for a moment, she was surprised that James had actually called her by her full name.

"Audrina, prihodit'!"

Audrey pulled her hood over her eyes once more. "I must go, the processions going to start." She let out a shaky breath, Sirius squeezed her shoulder before she left to find Karl and her parents.

It was getting darker, and the snow was still heavy.

Good bye was too soon and then it was just…

Darkness.