Mom,

How are you doing? Have you got any news? Gone to see a healer? You know you can tell me anything, right? It goes both ways, right? I tell you everything, you tell me everything?

Nothing much is going on around here, I told you about me not getting the Divination job, right? I'm still taking the class though, who knows when the war will be over, and then the job will be mine. Still, one of the back up jobs are probably going to me my first ones. Which would you rather me be, Healer or Auror?

Love,

Loralei

Loralei,

I'm all right, but how did you know I've gone to St. Mungo's? What did you see Loralei, what can I still hide from you to stop you from worrying?

I'm afraid to say Healer, it is the safer of the two jobs, and if someone gets hurt you'll be able to help them.

Love,

Mom

Mom,

What's going on? Isn't there a cure? We are wizards you know! I'll do research in it, and I might catch something they missed. You know that I'm good with healing for being sixteen. I'll do whatever I can to help you. Name it.

I love you,

Loralei

Loralei and James,

Come to St. Mungo's from the Headmaster's office, things got worse.

Dad

Loralei showed the letter to James at breakfast, getting out her homework from her bag and thrusting it at Lily.

"Can you turn in my homework for me?" She asked, in a stressed voice.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Mom's in St. Mungo's." James supplied, doing the same to Remus.

"I'll owl you guys when I know more." Loralei told them, standing up and throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"Can I do anything?" Sirius asked, getting up too.

"No, we don't even know what's going on." James said.

"Speak for yourself. Mom's dying." Loralei snapped, before taking off at a run for Dumbledore's office.

They were at the Hospital not ten minutes later, an Auror with them, and went to the witch at reception.

"Where's Cordelia Potter?" Loralei demanded.

"Identification please." The witch said not looking up.

"I'm her bloody daughter." Loralei sneered. "What room?"

The witch looked up, startled. "I'm sorry, Miss Potter, I didn't-"

"I don't care, what room?"

The witch told her.

Loralei took off for the stairs, while James stayed behind to thank the witch, before taking off after his sister.

She flung herself into the room, their father was holding their mother's hand, she went to the other side, and hugged her. "What happened?"

"What did you see?" Her mother replied. She didn't look too well, her skin looked slightly green, and her eyes seemed too big. Her grip was a little shaky, and weak, unlike Loralei had ever seen her.

Loralei frowned as she pulled away, and gestured over her mother's sickbed. "This."

"When?" Her mother asked.

"The night before I sent the letter." Loralei muttered. "How did it escalate so fast?"

"Some tests came back." She muttered. "I didn't want to worry you two, with how much has happened this year."

"It doesn't matter."

"Mum-" James panted, after skidding into the room in front of the bed. "What's going on?"

"I have cancer, too far along to do anything about." Cordelia Potter told them softly. "I have at most weeks left."

"Is there anything we can do?" Loralei whispered to her father, as they stood outside the private hospital room. James was inside talking to her, while Loralei got some information.

He shook his head. "If there was I'd already be doing it. All we can do is try to make her last days happy."

"Why didn't we know before?" Loralei asked. "She's been perfectly healthy."

"They say that's normal, its her age and the lateness of it that's getting her."

"What kind of cancer is it?" Loralei asked.

"Ovarian." Her father told her. "She's in her sixties, even if they caught it earlier it wouldn't have helped too much."

"And there's no treatment?" Loralei rubbed her face with her hands.

"There's nothing. It would only make her more uncomfortable before she...she's gone."

Loralei hugged her father with a sigh. "Is there any bucket list she has?"

"No," Her father said, sounding a bit broken. "She just wants us all together when she goes."

"I'd want that." Loralei agreed, releasing her father. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"All of us includes Sirius, since he's pretty much been like our son for years."

"I'll send a note." Loralei told him.

"If you can, can you guys go to school late tonight, and come back after classes, that would be great." He told her. "She doesn't want this to effect your grades."

"I think we can all say our grades are going to come down a bit through this." She sighed, closing her eyes. "I'll lie to her about that."

"Thank you." He told her. "Do you want to go back in there and get James out here."

She smiled sadly. "Yeah, I think she's going to want to have some girl talk anyway." She took the few steps over to the door and knocked softly before opening it.

"Hey," she said. "James, Dad wants you." She opened the door wider, and stood close to the door so James could pass.

He kissed his mother's cheek, and went out, only letting Loralei see his panicked face for a second.

"Come here, Loralei." Mrs. Potter said, holding out her hand.

Loralei closed the door behind her, and sat in the chair next to the bed, taking her hand softly in hers.

"What did your father tell you?"

"Everything, a few weeks tops, cancer." Loralei uttered softly. "We're going to come here after school tomorrow, and go back at night."

"Thank you." Her mother smiled. "Can you promise me something?"

"After I'm gone, take care of your brother and father."

"I'll keep the family together as well as I can." She echoed from her dream. "But I don't know how we're going to work without you though." Her voice broke on the last word.

Mrs. Potter smiled. "I'm not scared of death, Loralei, I'm scared about what I'm leaving-who I'm leaving-behind." She paused, changing the subject. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened with you and Sirius? You would've forgiven him if it was just the Severus Snape thing."

Loralei smiled sadly. "You can't tell James."

"I'll take it to my grave." She promised. "I'm so close to it anyway." She tried to joke about it, but it was still too soon for that.

"We were fighting about the Severus Snape thing, he thought we broke up, I went to the boys room, and he was on top of some half-naked girl."

"Oh, baby girl." Her mother groaned.

"Don't." She whispered. "I'm over it, it was a long time ago."

"No, it wasn't. Is that why you moved so quickly with Fabian?" Mrs. Potter inquired.

Loralei didn't find the will to tell her mother not to talk about it. Even if this was embarassing or pulling at scabs for her, her mother was curious to know.

"Probably, if I was honest with myself, it was a part of it. I really don't know, I want to think it wasn't, I did love Fabian, but I was trying to live in the past." Loralei swallowed, and rubbed her lips together before continuing. "He was my rebound, and he didn't deserve it. I'm not a good person."

"Yes, you are, my love." Mrs. Potter insisted, before smiling sadly. "You just made a few bad choices, I'm afraid."

Loralei laughed without humor, but was unwilling to fight with her mother in her state. "I'll tell you when I make a good one then."

"I'll always be able to hear you."