𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 46 ✧

1977

The next morning Aurora woke up with a screaming hangover.

She spotted a phial filled with a hangover cure that Lily had cooked up back home and bottled for emergencies. When Peter started getting drunk in order to cope with Mary's death she started bringing them with her everywhere they went. She also had a sufficient supply of sobering solution in case people got drunk beforehand or after the funeral and started causing a ruckus. Today was a day for paying respects and Lily was doing everything in her power to ensure that Mary got the proper send-off she deserved.

Aurora gratefully uncapped the phial, downing the contents and laying back while she waited for the effect to kick in. Almost immediately she felt better. She rolled over in her bed, half expecting to find Sirius still there, but was surprised instead to find Remus. All of her fidgeting roused Remus, and he too rolled over, finally stirring.

"Someone had a big night. Are you okay? I was worried sick! Wow speaking of sick, you need a breath mint. You smell like whiskey, stale cigarettes and vomit." Remus chuckled at his own joke, completely oblivious to the guilt Aurora felt.

"I'm going to have a shower." Aurora replied bluntly, hopping out of bed and heading towards the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and noted that she slept with her makeup on. The red lipstick had mostly worn off while she snogged Sirius, but there was a faint red stain left behind. Her eyelashes had dried at odd angles due to the crusty mascara and the eyeliner staining her cheeks was beginning to peel and fleck off. He hair was also a mess of honey blonde dreadlocks and she was still wearing the slip dress from the previous night, although her lingerie was gone from underneath it.

"Aurora Faulkner, you need to get it together." She stated to her reflection, turning to start the shower.

While in the shower, Aurora began to think. If things had been complicated before, they were only going to be worse now. No matter what she did, one of the two boys she loved was going to get hurt. To say she had messed up was an understatement. As the hot water ran over her body, taking with it the filth from last night, Aurora couldn't help but wish that it could also wash away the memories. She wished there was a way to wash away the pain and all the mistakes as easily as she washed the vomit from her hair. Of course, it was unrealistic, but for a while it was a comforting thought.

When she finally got out of the shower, Remus had left her room, obviously going to his own to get ready for the funeral. Today was the day they said their final goodbyes to Mary McDonald.

Aurora pulled out the plain black, sleeveless shift dress she had brought to wear and slipped it over her head. The dress fell a couple of inches above the knee so she paired it with black suede thigh high boots. She then brushed and dried her long hair, parting it in the middle and securing it in a slick low ponytail. After seeing the mess created last night by the combination of makeup and crying, Aurora opted to attend the funeral bare faced, instead, she grabbed a large pair of black cat eye sunglasses to wear to and from the venue and at the burrial. The final touches to her outfit included her dragons hide gloves and a thigh length, thick wool cloak with black shearling lining the inside for extra warmth. As Mary was a muggleborn traditional dress robes were discarded in place of more muggle friendly funeral attire.

Aurora checked that her wand was hidden in the concealed pocket inside her cloak and that she had her cigarettes and lighter as well as the small bunch of wild Scottish thistles she had collected before exiting her room. Upon entering the hallway, she found the boys all waiting outside their own rooms. They were all dressed in new muggle suits in varying shades black and wore sombre expressions. Aurora also noted that Sirius had pulled his long hair into a low bun like she had taught him in fourth year. A few curly tendrils had escaped and were framing his face. He looked so handsome, but under such awful circumstances. She approached each boy silently and pinned a thistle to each of their lapels, then pinning one to her own cloak as they waited for the others to finally be ready.