DEAREST MAR ━━ marlene mckinnon

EPILOGUE

4TH NOVEMBER 1981

CARINA LYRA BLACK disapparated to the cold ground where Marlene was six feet under, shivering slightly as a gust of wind carried her raven curls along with it. "Hello, Mar." She'd whispered to the tomb stone, her heart's thumps echoing in her ears, head slightly crumbling. The woman's face was pale and feverish, beads of sweat trickling down her porey skin.

"It's been a while." She mumbled, paving her trembling hands through the chilly soil, muttering sweet nothings as she felt her eyes pool up with an indescribable amount of tears. "I'm - I'm coming. I'll see you soon." She choked out through sobs as she felt old parchment jut out of her weary hand bag. The letters were all scattered inside, the ends twitching and curled up, small specs of tea decorated the warm, brown papers like freckles.

Pulling out the rough sheets, she winced as they made contact with her sensitive skin like sandpaper, setting them beside her beloved. The Black looked around, feeling her skin tremor as she spotted James and Lily's stone, decorated with petunias and roses, ignoring Pettigrew's forgotten grave as her vision met it. Gentle puffs of cold mist surrounded her, the sky beginning to erupt with thunder, small droplets drizzling on her.

She had lost everyone in her life, and she had no choice but to move on to the other side – not only for Marlene, but for James and Lily too.

Lily's positive attitude, her soft smile that made her green eyes light up like emeralds. James' witty remarks and puns, his joking attitude and immense protectiveness for the people that he truly cared about.

Her hair began to dampen with salty rain and tears, her eyes ever so tired of seeing death and destruction all around.

Carina's body was feeble when her mind started to spin, her demeanour dizzying as she planted a single rose on her grave, her hands scraping the soil as if she had met Marlene once more — desperate as ever.

"Incendio." Carina muttered wandlessly, the letters beginning to light up in sheer and stark orange – the passionate fire being drizzled upon by graceful rain as the letters slowly turned into dark ash.

Gone.

The cold and dazzling fire reduced to grey smoke, the letters reduced to mere ash – all being poured upon by the icy rain.

The brunette took out a cracked mirror from her bag, the pieces stained with fresh rain and reflecting a mangled version of her broken self. She pointed her wand towards her reflection and whispered meekly, "Avada Kadavra."

All Carina saw was a wisp of green before she faded away with the rest of the lost spirits.

━━━━━━ ⋆ ✧ ━━━━━━

WHITE.

Whorls and whorls of white nothingness was all Carina could see when she opened her eyes, marching towards the blank canvas. The aura was clear and crystalline as the woman reached the soft golden gates, metal chains clanging in harmony as the door opened in one swift motion. Her ears were filled with the most pleasant of sounds, like ambrosia being played on a harp, the melody making her feel ecstatic, her face beginning to attain the colour that it had lost.

She could make out a messy haired figure, fumbling with his spectacles as he ran towards her with tears pooling in his eyes. "Carina." James whispered as he engulfed the girl in a bone crushing hug, and although his body felt cold against her, she felt her heart light up with warmth. "James. I've missed you." The girl mumbled, her own eyes tearing up.