Selenophile // Marauders

|45| Ivy, Fifth Year

16th of November, 1975

Riley followed McGonagall to her office. McGonagall kept looking back at her but the image was the same. She had her face down as she wiped her tears away. They arrived at her office and she opened the door for Riley.

"Miss Spade — Riley, please sit," she said. Riley slowly sat on the chair right in front of her desk. "I assume you've seen the news on the Daily Prophet," she said. She looked sad and was talking softly. Riley nodded. She briefly looked up and then back down. She sniffed as she tried to wipe her tears away. She was still in shock.

"Riley... Are you all right?" McGonagall asked. Riley looked up and wiped her tears away again.

"...Werewolves?" Riley asked quietly, almost silent. McGonagall nodded softly as she took her glasses off.

"Yes," she said briefly. "You can go home tomorrow morning by floo powder."

"Why not today?" Riley asked.

"I don't think going home tonight will make you feel any better, it will be chaotic, Riley," McGonagall said.

"I'll be fine. I don't wanna leave mum alone she probably feels terrible—"

"Trust me, Riley. You can stay there as long as you like but not tonight. You'll feel worse."

"But—"

"No, Riley. Your mum will be fine. I'll be honest with you, I'm not allowing you to go because I don't want you to be there when the— funeral is getting organized... I think the funeral is tomorrow, I'll be there," McGonagall said. Riley just stared with her red eyes. "It will be chaotic."

"I trust you," Riley said quickly.

"First thing in the morning, I promise," McGonagall said with a wry smile. "You can talk to me if you want to..."

Riley didn't reply. She knew she could trust McGonagall, she didn't have any option to talk to someone different but she couldn't get herself to talk about it yet.

"I'll go now," Riley said slowly. "Thank you."

Riley stood up and made her way to the common room. The hallways were empty hence the curfew. She finally let the tears fall, where nobody could see her.

"It's okay to cry, Rey."

That's what Ivy said. She would never hear her say it again. Nobody would ever call her 'Rey' now. She started pinching her arm, trying to end this nightmare. But she couldn't. It was reality and nobody could ever escape reality.

She remembered the last time she ever got to see Ivy. It was the day she dropped Riley off at the train station.

"I'll miss you... I love you, don't ever forget that."

Her last words to Riley. Riley kept repeating the phrase "I won't" to herself for the next minute. She felt the tears roll down as she tried to stop it. She couldn't. Why Ivy? First it was her dad and now her sister. She wanted to kill Greyback, she wanted to scream until she lost her voice.

She whispered the password to the Fat Lady. She looked at the Gryffindor common room. It was slightly quieter but there were still people trying cheer up. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were still sitting where she left them.

"Riley—" James said. Riley looked at them but didn't say anything. She saw Lily, Marlene and Mary looking at her now.

"Riley, what's wrong?" Lily asked with her soft voice as she tried to walk next to her. Riley took a step back and walked to the dorm without looking back. She closed the door behind her and sat on the floor next to her bed.