𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 45 ✧

1977

Mary's remaining family back in Inverness organised the funeral. It was to be held on the family's property and Mary and her mother were the be buried in the local cemetery with the rest of the McDonald relatives.

Most of the magical funeral guests were going to apparate up the morning of, however the remaining members of the crazy eight elected to stay in a motel in Inverness like all the muggle attendees. They knew Mary spent most of her holidays up in Inverness and they wanted to feel close to her.

Peter was growing more and more distant as the days wore on and it was obvious he was becoming angry and resentful towards the world. In another drunken rampage, he swore to Remus that he would never get close to anyone ever again because the feeling of losing someone felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. He claimed that people always say it gets easier with time, but as each day passed he found it harder and harder to breath without her. He was forgetting what she smelt like and how her laugh sounded. He didn't want to forget anyone else.

✧✧✧

The night before the funeral was the most difficult for everyone. After Mary was buried in the ground it became final; she was gone for good. It was also the night before that Aurora remembered the tarot reading she had done for Mary all those months back. She thought hard about what it had said and the realisation that she had predicted Mary's death hit her like a tonne of bricks. She started blaming herself, as if she could have done something to stop it. This made her think of Peter's reading and how he was going to betray someone. It all made sense now; Mary served as the trigger which sent Peter over the edge. He was going to do something he would regret for the rest of his life if Aurora didn't stop him.

All of this information overwhelmed Aurora and she found herself unable to breathe. She needed to feel something, anything, other than the numbness that followed Mary's death.

In an attempt to escape, Aurora decided she needed to get out of the stuffy hotel room. She dressed herself in a black lingerie leotard with thigh high stockings and garter belt with a small tutu skirt attached. The lingerie was Marlene's, but Aurora was certain she had so much she wouldn't miss one set. She then pulled on the black tulle elbow length gloves she had brought as an option to wear to the funeral along with a paper think black silk slip and a leopard print faux fur coat with her Doc Marten boots. Her thought process wasn't clear and she wasn't entirely sure what her plan was, but she knew she was going looking for trouble.

Aurora then sat staring at her reflection for a long time, wondering what she was doing. Her hair was tangled and messy from when she had continually run her hands through it and her face was red a blotchy. To try and distract from the redness, she applied bright red lipstick and thick black eyeliner with far too much mascara. The eyeliner application was far from perfect as Aurora didn't have much experience with makeup. The lines were uneven; too heavy handed here, wonky there, but she didn't care. It was only going to smudge anyway. She stared at herself again as a single tear rolled down her cheek, leaving behind a trail of black. Aurora didn't bother wiping it away. She left the black there and shoved her cigarettes and lighter into her pocket and her wand into the tight band of one of her thigh highs.

She then began pacing back and forth, wondering what she was doing. The girl in her reflection wasn't her. She knew she was derailing but she couldn't stop it. In yet another attempt to ease the pain she felt, she began taking muggle painkillers; pill after pill after pill until she had lost count and felt fuzzy. There was little magic could do to stop the ache caused by Mary's death. It was so prominent, so profound, that it felt like a physical pain. In a moment of clouded thought Aurora truly believed that non-prescription, over the counter muggle pain medication might stop the dull throb she felt in her chest as if it were as easy to cure as a headache. All it did was make her body feel numb and her judgement cloudy.

Before she could reconsider yet again, Aurora stormed out of her room, passing Sirius in the corridor but ignoring him and heading straight for the stairs.

Once she reached the front doors to the hotel she saw it was slightly drizzling outside, but again she didn't care, stepping out into the rain. It was uncharacteristically cold for August, but this was the Scottish Highlands after all. Before she knew what she was doing, Aurora was wandering into a small, twenty-four-hour muggle liquor store. She grabbed a bottle of whiskey and walked straight past the cashier, obliviating him and leaving the store without paying.

When Sirius finally found her, she was sitting in a bus shelter, the bottle of whiskey almost empty and her pack of cigarettes almost finished despite her buying it just that morning. Her hair was even more messy than before, large chunks of it matted together and sticking to her face. Her clothes were soaked through and sticking to her body and there were very definite mascara stained tear tracks streaking her face despite the empty, emotionless expression she wore.

"I often find it's the things you least expect that hit you the hardest, wouldn't you agree?" Aurora asked, staring off into the distance and taking another drag from her cigarette.

"Come on, it's late. I should get you back to the motel. You must be freezing." Sirius remarked, taking her arm and trying to lift her up.

"I feel nothing." Was Aurora's response as she took another swig from the bottle. This statement broke Sirius's heart. He took in the girl sitting in front of him and noted that this was not his Aurora. This girl was distant and cold. She was emotionally shut off and he didn't like it.

"Rory, look at me. I need you to snap out of whatever this is, okay?" Aurora ignored the pleading, taking another sip from her bottle, then deciding that she didn't want it anymore. She stood up wordlessly and hurled the bottle against the bus shelter, watching as it shattered and the remaining whiskey dripped down the timetables printed on the walls. It was then that Aurora cracked, bursting into tears and sinking to the ground.

"Why was she taken from us, Sirius?" Aurora sobbed, allowing Sirius to cradle her as they sat on the wet pavement.

That question had been asked so many times since Mary's death and yet still no one had an answer. Sirius didn't reply, and just settled for rocking Aurora back and forth while making soothing noises.

"How come you're here and not Remus?" Aurora asked after a long pause, taking Sirius by surprise.

"I-he didn't see you leave. I did. I just followed. I'm not sure. Why are you asking me this, Rory?" Sirius asked, beyond flustered.

"Do you still love me?" She ignored his question.

"What are you doing, Rory?" Sirius asked again. Aurora was drunk and he didn't want her doing anything she'd regret.

"I want to feel something." Aurora began kissing Sirius's neck and he groaned, pushing her off of him and standing up.

"You're doing to me what I did to Marlene and it's not fair, Aurora." Sirius stated, using her full name for the first time in forever.

"But I thought you loved me?" Aurora repeated herself, also getting to her feet.

"I do. That's why this isn't fair. You have a boyfriend." Sirius wasn't sure what emotional games Aurora was playing but he wanted out.

"But I think I love you." This captured his attention.

"What did you say?"

"I think I love you."

Sirius stared at the girl in front of him once again. Her lipstick was slightly smeared now along with her eyeliner. She'd pushed her wet hair off her face and Sirius watched as raindrops gathered on her cheekbones, slowly sliding down towards her lips before dropping off and landing on the pavement below. Her jacket had slipped off of one shoulder and she looked so broken but so beautiful.

Before he knew what he was doing, Sirius was pulling Aurora's cold, wet body towards his, and then they were kissing in the rain.

a/n *pterodactyl screeching*