Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 172

After Dumbledore's death, all lessons were suspended, and all the examinations were postponed. Some students were even hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days. On the other hand, many witches and wizards from around the world had showed up to pay their last respects to Dumbledore. All the rooms in Hogsmeade's inns were booked and full.

     "Maybe you should stay at home and rest," Sirius told Jenna on the day of Dumbledore's funeral.

     She had fully recovered from the battle, though Sirius kept insisting that she should remain at the Potter's Manor. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but the sight of Jenna like that, that night had shaken Sirius beyond belief. It was the thought of losing her forever that scared him the most.

    "Sirius, you can't keep me locked up inside this house forever." Jenna forced out a little chuckle, looking at her black dress in the mirror. She had decided to keep her hair brown for the funeral.

     "I'm not saying you're gonna be locked up in here, Jenny. Just... safer." Sirius made one last effort to convince Jenna to stay behind, but she wouldn't have it. She just couldn't get herself to stay in bed any longer. It had made her exhausted and frustrated.

     "Let's go," Jenna said softly as she sent Sirius a little smile, finally stepping away from the mirror.

     With a sigh, Sirius followed her out of the Potter Manor and into the yard. It was a beautiful sunny summer day, the breeze caressing their hair as it passed by. Standing beside one another, Sirius took Jenna's hand in his, and the next moment they both Dissaparated away.

     Once they reached Hogwarts, Sirius and Jenna headed toward the lake, where the funeral was being held. Looking around, they saw that hundreds of chairs had been set out in long rows. An aisle ran down the center of them. There was a marble table standing at the front, all chairs facing it.

     Jenna looked up at the castle from afar. "I'm not sure if I'll be returning here next year."

    Sirius turned to face her, surprised. "Why?"

     "With Dumbledore gone... the Order needs all our help. I'll be more useful out there than stuck at Hogwarts as a cat," Jenna reasoned, and Sirius found no words to argue with her on the matter.

If it were any other year, Sirius would've been glad that Jenna would be with him and not far away at Hogwarts. But he knew that she wanted to stay back and fight the battles alongside him, and the thought made him feel miserable and even horrified.

   Just then, a powder-blue carriage the size of a house from Beauxbatons, pulled by a dozen giant winged palominos, came soaring out of the sky in the late afternoon before the funeral and landed on the edge of the forest. Meanwhile a delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister of Magic himself, was being accommodated within the castle.

     "There's Remus," Sirius suddenly said, looking into the distant.

When Jenna followed his gaze, she was caught off guard when she saw that Tonks was with him, holding hands as they walked forward.

     "Oh?" Jenna grinned at Remus and Tonks when the two reached them, her eyes traveling down to their intertwined hands.

    Remus smiled. "I'll explain everything later."

    "Damn right, you will!" Jenna nodded firmly with a smirk, and Sirius chuckled lightly.

    "Shall we?" said Tonks, pointing at a few empty chairs set beside each other, and so the four sat down, waiting for the others to arrive. The students soon came as well in their black Hogwarts robes, led my Professor McGonagall, who looked pale and ill in sorrow.

     Jenna glanced around, surprised to see the number of people who had showed up from all around the world; rich or poor, important or unknown, human or centaur, Ministry official or shop owner. Everyone was there. There were even some people present that Jenna was not expecting to see at all; including Cornelius Fudge, Rita Skeeters, and even Dolores Umbridge.

     Although all their attention was then caught when they heard an enchanting music, so beautiful and bewitching as though it didn't belong to this world.

    "There," Tonks whispered, gesturing at the edge of the Black Lake.

     Jenna turned her head and that was when she saw the mer-peole in the clear green sunlit water, inches below the surface. They were singing in a strange language Jenna did not understand, their pallid faces rippling, their purplish hair flowing all around them.

     "Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" Jenna whispered, looking down at her lap. "Dumbledore was the only Wizard that Voldemort actually feared. He was the one who led the Order. But now that he's actually gone... what will be left of us?"

     Sirius had no idea what he could possibly say to her, because this was exactly what he'd been thinking ever since he had seen Dumbledore's dead body underneath the Astronomy Tower that night. So, without uttering a single word, he wrapped an arm around Jenna's shoulder comfortingly. She heaved a shaky sigh, placing her head on Sirius's shoulder.

     "We'll make it through this, Jenny," Sirius whispered in her ear softly, placing a small kiss on the top of her head. But even as he spoke the words, he felt an ache in his heart. This was a plain lie. He had no idea whether they were going to survive the war or not.

     Sirius held her tighter as his usual horrifying thoughts made their way over his head, the fear surging from within him once more. He would rather die a million times than to lose Jenna.