The Haunting of Aspen Bleu

8

Dear Aspen,
How do you tell someone that they have to be a mother with no child? How do you tell them their entire world has changed? How do you tell them their entire family is now gone and they have nobody? How do you tell them they are alone? I will never forget the heart wrenching sobs I heard as your mother cried in my arms. The only thing worse than having to tell someone that they lost their child, is having to tell them that their child was murdered. So I didn't.

I didn't tell your mother.... Yet.

Sirius Black

JAMES POTTER

Time feels different now. Slower. We are walking back to our dorm and every step I take feels like slow motion. I can feel my hand in Lilys. I can see everything and I can hear everything but it's all quiet. Nobody has said a word. Now we're standing in front of the portrait and it's still quiet. Remus is staring straight ahead, Peter is biting his nails and Sirius is looking at the floor. Lily cleared her throat and spoke. "Quid Agis," she said quietly. The portrait opened and we walked in. We all started heading straight for the stairs when Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. I looked at him and he was staring at the floor. Blood. Her blood. "Sirius, you don't need to look at that." Lily said. "I held her dead body in my arms, Lily." he snapped. "Mate-" I started. He just walked over and knelt down. I walked over and he was holding her book in his hands. There was blood smeared on the page from her hands. I could almost make out her fingerprints. "This was one of her favorites," he said quietly. He stood up and tucked it in his jacket. Lily started walking towards the stairs and she stopped. She looked at me with tears on her face. "I can't-" she said. I walked over and she hugged me. "I can't go in there alone." she said. "It's ok. We'll go with you." I said. She nodded. I looked over at the rest of them and they nodded. We walked upstairs and went into her dorm. I sat down with Lily on her bed and just watched everything happen. Remus slumped against the door and buried his face in his palms. Peter sat at Lily's desk and continued to bite his nails. And Sirius stared at her bed. I stared at the fireplace and watched the flames for what felt like forever. I just stared at the embers and the smoke and imagined the fear Penny felt as she died alone. Nobody spoke. I don't think anyone knew what to say. When I looked at the clock again, 2 hours had passed. Then Lily spoke... "We should probably- um- we should gather her things." Lily said. Everyone looked up at her. "You know, for her mum." she said. I nodded. Lily showed us her drawers and I pulled out her trunk. Then we began. There were silent tears on everyone's face as we packed her things. This was real. She was gone. Sirius just watched us. He stared at everytime as we placed it in her trunk. Then he spoke. "Wait-" he said. He stood up and walked over to Peter. Peter was holding her favorite blue sweater. He took it from his hands and stared at it. "Mate, are you-" Remus started. He closed his eyes and held it to his face. "It smells like her," he said with tears in his eyes. Lily smiled. "Vanilla and Lavender," he said. I chuckled. "That's what you smelled in your Amortentia last year." I said. He nodded. "I know," he said. Then we continued to pack her things in silence. And it was over.

The next morning, I woke up with Lily on her bed. Remus was asleep on the reading chair, Peter was asleep with his head on the desk and Sirius sat at the foot of her bed, still holding her sweater. He was wide awake. "Did you sleep at all, Sirius?" I asked as I sat up. He shook his head. Then everyone else woke up. "We have to do it today." Remus said. I looked at him. "Her mum needs to know," he said. We all nodded. "We should go now, before she opens up her shop." Sirius said. "I'll stay back and take notes for your classes." Lily said. I nodded. And we left. Then we went to the courtyard and apparated to muggle London. Beatrice and Aspen lived in a flat above the bakery. When we arrived, the door was locked. "Should we knock?" Peter said. "I guess." I said.

SIRIUS BLACK

James knocked on the door and we heard Beatrice yell. "I'm coming!" she shouted. A moment later, she opened the door in an apron with flour on her face. "Boys! What a wonderful surprise! It's so good to see you." she said with a smile. "Good to see you too, Beatrice." Remus said. "Come in, come in. I'm just preparing for the morning. Where's Aspen? She's probably studying. That girl works too, hard. I don't know where she gets it from. Certainly not me-"" she rambled. "She's not here." Peter said. "Oh, well it's nice to see all of you. Did you enjoy the mince pies? Aspen says they're your favorite and I just love-" she began. "Beatrice!" James exclaimed. She stopped. "We need to tell you something. That's why we're here." James said. "Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead." she said with a smile. We all exchanged looks. Nobody wanted to say it. Nobody.

"Beatrice, we're here because- because there was an accident." I said. James looked at me sharply. I can't tell her her daughter was murdered. I just can't. Her face fell. "What? What kind of accident? Where's Aspen?" she said in a nervous voice. "It was a spell. She got hurt and-" Remus started. "Where's my daughter?!" Beatrice yelled. I stepped forward. "She's gone." I said quietly. She shook her head rapidly. "No." she said quickly. "I'm so sorry, Beatrice. There was nothing anyone could do. I found her and she was-" I started. "Stop it," she said. "We wanted to tell you in person." Remus said quietly. Her eyes filled with tears and she began to sob. "No, No, No! Not my daughter. Please, not my Aspen." she cried. I wrapped my arms around her and we sank to the floor. Her tears hit my shirt like bullets and she pounded her fists against my chest. "I'm so sorry." I said quietly. "She's all I had left." Beatrice cried. "She's all I had too." I said.