Tuesday 24th March 1981

Cokeworth, 10:30

Sirius walked out of the house unsteadily, his knees suddenly feeling very wobbly. Je felt sick as well but all of his attention was focused on staying upright and not just collapsing to the ground so that didn't bother him right now.

Carefully, he sat himself down on the curb a few houses down from the Evans'. Kr, what was left of the house. Not that Sirius was thinking about that now. He couldn't think about that if he was trying g to regain the abili5y to do his job. Which meant no thinking of the still smoking house with its scorch marks along the walls. And not thinking about the two bodies that's in that still smoking house. No, he was thinking of none of that.

The world suddenly swirled around him and he had to lean to one side to be sick. He threw up until nothing more came out and he was just retching. It wasn't pleasant but he couldn't stop and soon he was just dry heaving, his shoulders shaking.

But he didn't know if that was because of the being sick or because he was now crying. Crying sucked, by the way. It made your vision all blurry, your nose got all stuffed up and it felt like something was caught in your throat. Which meant he couldn't make noises or couldn't speak and he really needed to be able to do both of those things.

"Do you want me to go and tell them?" Kingsley asked quietly as the final check was done on the perimeter.

There were no Death Eaters hanging around, not that he had really expected there to be but they always had to check.

Sirius shook his head numbly. Kingsley shouldn't have to do that. It was wrong.

"I'll do it."

"You sure because I can-"

"I'll do it," he said in a firmer voice.

He had to be the one to do that. He owed Lily and Chryssie that much. He was going to go and tell them that their parents were dead. By the hands of Death Eaters. Who had... who had had their fun with them before finally killing them. Or had it been their injuries that had killed them?

He didn't think that he was ever going to get rid of that image in his head. Ever. It was seared onto his brain, never to be removed.

He sat of the curb and buried his face in his hands. How on earth was he supposed to do this? He didn't know how to do this!

He'd done it before, delivered bad news to people. The worst of news. News just like this. And kt was always hard to do. But this time, this time it felt impossible. These were his friends. His family. How was he supposed to do this?

"Sirius! Sirius!"

He looked up to see Marlene barrelling down the street towards him.

"Marlene?"

"I heard, I heard it on a... a Patronus," she gasped out. "I did kt to be true but-?"

A Patronus? Sirius looked over to Kingsley who gave him a sheepish look in return. Ah. Hmm. Not exactly following protocol there, they were supposed to inform as few people as possible about any deaths until they could get a hold of the dead person's loved ones. But he couldn't complain. His... his, well, whatever Marlene was to him, was probably the only person who felt the exact same way as he did right now. Possibly even worse consode5ing how close she was to Lily.

"It's true," he said hoarsely, his voice sounding like je hadn't used it in weeks instead of the mere minutes.

The very slight hope in Marlene's face was dashed and Sirius closed his eyes, unwilling to see that right now. He couldn't deal with it. Not right now.

"Oh, Sirius," she whimpered before she was in his arms.

They both clung to each other desperately, both of them alternatively breathing deeply and gasping. Neither of them able to cry.

He eventually pulled away from her, just realising something.

"Where's Cassie?"

Marlene blinked at him before responding, "Oh, Moody's got her."

"What?"

Seriously? Marlene had just gone and done what? Seriously?"

"She'll be fine," Marlene dismissed, coughing slightly to clear her throat so she didn't sound like she was about to burst into tears.

Sirius wasn't exactly convinced, all thoughts about the current situation leaving him as he focused on the safety of his daughter.

"Does Moody even know what a baby is?"

Marlene rolled her eyes again. It was an honest question! It wasn't like the guy interacted with babies on a daily business. Or at all. Well, Sirius wasn't too sure about that last bit. It wasn't like Moody talked much about his personal life but still.

"Well, he definitely knows now," Marlene said decisively. "She gave his hair a good pull when she got close."

Sirius couldn't help it, he snorted with laughter but it quickly turned into a sob. He buried his head into his hands. What was he supposed to do?

Godric's Hollow, 11:30

Lily had felt someone cross the charm. Kt was always a weird feeling when someone did that. She made her way to the front door, knowing that James was busy bathing Harry upstairs - they had had pie with a pot of gravy tonight. Harry was in a bit of a state.

The person at the door was not who she had been expecting.

"Sirius! Aren't you meant to be at wo-"

But before she could finish her question, he interrupted her.

"Where's Chryssie?" He asked brusquely.

Lily quickly glanced at the clock and then back at him. "She should be just finishing up with work about now. What? Why? Sirius, why do you need her?"

But again, Sirius didn't appear to even notice that she was talking. He briefly turned away from her and sent off a Patronus.

"Sirius!"

Why wasn't he answering her? He was just standing there looking very pale and upset and nervous. He kept glancing towards the door.

"Where's James?" He asked suddenly, like he had just realised that his best friend hadn't come out to greet him.

He still didn't respond to her directly, by the way.

"Right here," James said happily, carrying a sleepy Harry all bundled up in a towel. "With a squeaky-clean baby right here."

For once, Lily didn't automatically hold her arms out for her son. Instead, she was keeping a careful eye on Sirius. Something had flickered across his face there. Kt had been quick and brief but she definitely hadn't been imagining things.

Sadness. Kt was sadness. And pain? She wasn't sure. It had been quick, after all.

James immediately picked up on the tension in the room.

"What's wrong?"

Lily gave Sirius a sharp look, which he didn't respond to.

"We're waiting for Chryssie, apparently."

Wednesday 25th March 1981

St Mungo's, 14:30

Chryssie was numb. She had never understood what people meant when they said that they felt numb because how could you not feel anything when something happened? Of course, you had to feel something. But now she understood. She literally felt nothing. No anger. No pain. No fear. No grief. It was like there was the big yawning hole in her chest that she couldn't fill.

Her parents were dead. Killed by Death Eaters. Murdered. No longer here anymore.

And, yet, she felt nothing. No sadness. No anger. No grief. Nothing like that. Nothing at all.

You should feel something when your parents died, surely? Especially when they were goof parents. The best parents. And now they were gone. And she felt nothing. Not even a little thing.

Here she was, walking around on her break at work the day after her parents had been murdered (she had to get away, be doing something) and she didn't feel anything. She could work fine. Think fine. She'd handled several traumas, in fact. Granted, because of her "grief" she hadn't been allowed to do anything big but she had done something. She had helped.

All while feeling nothing.

Godric's Hollow, 17:00

James went into the office and had to actively prevent himself from slamming the door behind him. Though, that didn't stop him from stomping over to his desk. There was nothing he needed from his office. Nothing at all. Be just couldn't be around people. Not right this second. Not when he was... when he was trying to come to terms with it.

Rosemary and Gavin couldn't be dead. They couldn't. They were just over here before the charm went up. Playing with Harry and talking with them. They had been fine. They. Had. Been. Fine.

More than fine, actually. They had been great. So happy about Chryssie and Severus' engagement. And always doting over Harry and that other grandson of theirs that James could never remember the name of. Donald or something like that? They had been enjoying life.

He hadn't even thought that they could be at risk. Whoever thought that muggles would be at risk. You know, except for the muggle baiting and casual torture that Voldemort had been doing. But he had been somewhat sensible about that (if that was something you could ever be sensible on) and had stuck to lower class areas or more built-up areas. Areas that could he explained away by normal criminal behaviour. Somewhat anyway.

So, the Evans' should have been safe. They should have been okay. Even if they were Lily's parents and his in-laws. Making a link between two well-known Order members and a set of vulnerable people. He kicked at his chair. It made a satisfying noise, even if it did cause pain to radiate from his foot. But that didn't matter, he barely felt it.

They should have been okay. But they weren't. They definitely weren't. They were gone.

Gone.

Friday 27th March 1981

Severus' Flat, 19:30

Chryssie was asleep in his bed in the other room, finally asleep after spending the last two days walking around like she was some sort of inferi. Honestly, inferi may actually look better than her right now. Not that that mattered anymore because she was sleeping now. As much as you could when you were overcome with grief. It was more like she was unconscious but she was resting so he wasn't going to quibble on semantics.

At least she had finally cried. Everyone had been worried about her there. Her and Lily. Both of them and taken a while to react. Neither of them crying or wailing or doing anything else that was expected when you gave someone the news of their parents' deaths.

But they did. Eventually. They both just had delayed reactions. Which made kt all the worse, hence why Chryssie was passed out on his bed.

He listened carefully and he could hear Chryssie's soft breathing. Good. She was sound asleep. Which meant that he could do this. A flick of his wrist and the mufflaito charm was all set. Huh. The kind of bubble that that formed around you never ceased to sound a bit odd. He shook his head. That's not what he should be thinking about right now.

Grabbing the pillow, he had laid claim to for the night, he buried his face in it. It took a few seconds but soon the tears were flowing.

His sobs came in these shuddering gasps that he was just unable to control. He muffled them as best he could with the pillow but he couldn't make them stop.

Godric's Hollow, 22:00

"I do not advise it."

Lily and James' mouths dropped open.

"But I have to!" Lily said with a whimper.

"It's her parents' funeral!" James exclaimed.

They had gone to Dumbledore explaining that they were going to be leaving the house briefly. Briefly! Not even two hours! They could do that, it turned out. It meant that they were no longer hidden and extremely vulnerable but they could do it. And they wanted to do it. Needed to do it. It was Rosemary and Gavin's funeral, after all. Their attendance was mandatory.

There was only one small rub. Dumbledore shook his head slowly.

"I'm sorry but it is far too dangerous."

"Dangerous? How could it be dangerous? It's a funeral," Lily said, frowning in confusion.

It had been the longest sentence she'd uttered in the past few days. Something that James would normally be happy about but found that he couldn't in the circumstances.

There were tears trickling down her face again and James couldn't help but glare at Dumbledore. It didn't matter who you were, if you made the love of his life cry then he was going to have a problem with you.

Then James realised what Dumbledore was trying to say and he sighed heavily. He didn't like it but Dumbledore had a point.

"We would be at so much risk," he said heavily.

Lily looked up at him, her eyes still brimming with tears and a confused look on her face.

"At a muggle fu-fun- funeral?"

Urgh, how he hated that word as well.

"A muggle funeral for people who are related to an order member. And already targeted order member."

By Voldemort himself, at that. James saw the exact moment Lily understood what he was saying when her face fell.

"But it's their funeral."

Dumbledore looked at them carefully and James held his breath.

"I'll see what I can do," he eventually said.

Saturday 28th March 1981

Longbottom Manor, 11:30

"Mother, now is not the time," Alice said heavily, leaning her cheek on her hand and not particularly caring about the disapproving look her mother sent her.

Honestly, she was an adult, a married woman and she had a child, her mother no longer had any right to be correcting her behaviour.

"But when is it going to be the time, Alice? Neville is almost a year, you know."

"I am aware," she said through gritted teeth.

Yes, her baby was nearly one. One. A whole year old. His age would no longer be measured in months. One!

"Then surely you-"

"Please, mother, not today."

That earned her an annoyed look. Really? Had her mother really yet to get the message that she wasn't affected by faces like that anymore? And yes, she might have interrupted her. Oh wow, how rude. Whatever. She wasn't in the mood to even try and pander to that today.

Thankfully, Celia fell silent though that horrible, disapproving face made Alice feel like she had to say something in her defence. Oh, when did one stop being affected by one's mother?

"You know why today isn't the time?" She finally burst out.

"Oh, please let's near your wonderful excuse." Celia scoffed, still looking incredibly disapproving.

Did the woman ever look anything other than disapproving? Alice didn't think so.

"One of my friends' mother died today, mother. She was murdered so excuse me of I don't exactly feel like being particularly bright and cheery today!"

Celia stared at her for a moment, mouth agape before sticking her nose in the air and sniffing at her. Oh, how Alice wished that she could rip off her nose some days.

"Alice! That is not the sort of thing you should be bringing into pleasant conversation!"

Tonks Home, 15:00

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. Dora stormed back and forth in an incredibly foul mood. You know why she was in a foul mood? Because she was basically useless. Seriously. She was supposed to be an Auror but instead of being out in the field, where she belonged, she was stuck in a stupid, freaking, Training Academy repeating lessons again and again for no good reason. It was driving her mad. Absolutely mad.

She needed to be an Auror now. Like, right now. She couldn't just stand back and watch good people, innocent people, harmless people die and not do anything about it.

She stormed back and forth across the room, glad that her parents had gone out for a rare night out to get a meal in the Muggle world - the only place it felt safe to linger around these days. They didn't need to see her like this. She didn't want them to see her like this. Merlin, she didn't even want Teddy to see her like this. She'd even put him upstairs before she started pacing so he wouldn't get frightened by her or something.

She was ready. She was more than ready. She knew that. Surely her instructors did too? Didn't they need people? People who were competent? Or just people in general? What was even the point of all this extra training anyway? James and Sirius didn't get all this and they were just fine out in the field! Why couldn't she be like that?

She needed to be out there. Fighting. Doing good. So many people were doing bad things. Surely, she could be a part of the balance?

Monday 30th March 1980

Graveyard, 12:00

"This is all your fault!" Petunia hissed, swirling around on her. "Your fault."

James quickly stepped in front of her, putting himself between her and Lily. It made Lily feel safe. Something that was very rare these days so he was going to continue doing it for as long as she wanted. That, and when she needs to be protected. Like now.

Petunia glared at him but for someone who had stared down some of the most horrific and unbalanced criminals, it barely affected James. He was just shocked that she could direct that much venom at her own sister. Especially when kt was at her parents' funeral of all things.

And, oh no, Petunia wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot.

"If kt wasn't for your lot then they wouldn't be dead!"

Dead. Dead. Dead. The word hit him like a tonne of bricks. Rosemary and Gavin were dead and there was no bringing them back.

"Tuney," Lily said in a strangled voice, tears streaking her face.

"You don't mean that," Chryssie choked out.

"I do! I do!" Petunia said almost hysterically, drawing the attention of the last few lingering mourners.

That big husband of hers glared at them. Well, James assumed that he glared because it was hard to tell when half of his mouth was covered by this enormous moustache that James couldn't help but be fascinated by. Did Petunia really enjoy kissing that?

"Tuney!"

"I'm never going to forgive you!" She shouted as she strode away angrily.

James wasn't sure if the crack in her voice made it more or less effective but he did know that even hearing it was like a punch to the gut.

Then her knees buckled under her and suddenly James' arms were the only things holding her up.