𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 47 ✧

1977

By the time the final tear had fallen for Mary and her mother it was time to go back to school. Everyone felt a sadness creep into the back of their minds that Mary would not be joining them as they packed their trunks for another year at Hogwarts for the final time.

It had been a few weeks since the funeral and the healing process had finally begun. It was slow and painful, but the reality was that one cannot grieve forever. Obviously, you can't just 'get over' the loss of a loved one, and the wound may never truly heal, but you do learn to live with the loss. You do start to rebuild and piece together your life again. In time, it will almost be as it used to. You will be able to see their face or hear their name and smile rather than feel a sadness within. It was possible for everyone to feel whole again, but they all knew it would never be the same. Nor should it ever be the same, nor would they want it to be.

The train ride to Hogwarts was bittersweet. Everyone was excited to go back, but sad that it was for the last time. In one short year, they would be adults finding their way in a world being ravaged by hatred and war. Mary's death was an all too real reminder that they couldn't protect everyone. The battle between good and evil was bound to have casualties on both sides and no one could escape unscathed.

For the time being, most people pushed all thoughts of war from their minds. It was far easier to focus on less serious matters like school work and N.E.W.T's.

Lily revealed that she had been awarded head girl and everyone congratulated her enthusiastically. It was no surprise of course, but it was a welcome distraction. The whole time James sat quietly smirking to himself. It was only revealed why when he returned from changing into his robes with a shiny new 'Head Boy' badge pinned to his lapel. Lily scolded him for stealing and instructed him to give it back to Remus immediately. Remus laughed at that and thanked Lily for the compliment, but revealed that he was in fact not head boy. Only when James produced the letter from Dumbledore himself did anyone believe that he had actually made head boy.

"It's official, Dumbledore has finally gone mad." Marlene scoffed once she had read the letter. Everyone argued over who James had paid off or what dirt he had on Dumbledore which was bad enough that he would give him head boy. The whole time James just smirked, not even offended that no one believed he earned it on his own merit. He would never admit it out loud, but even he was disbelieving at first. He figured it had been a mistake and sent the badge back, but Dumbledore assured him he never made mistakes.

✧✧✧

The first feast of the year was as boring as ever, the only difference being Lily and James were now responsible for helping out the new Gryffindor first years.

As the sorting wore on the seven found themselves periodically glancing at the empty seat amongst their group. No one dared fill the empty space where Mary should have been sitting. Aurora found herself imagining Mary napping with her head resting on the table, waking with a start every now and then when the clapping got too loud. She laughed at the thought of Sirius and James seeing how much they could balance on her without her waking up or noticing. Lily would scold them once she finally noticed Mary sleeping with half a dozen sets of cutlery lined along her head and shoulders. She would gently rouse Mary to tell her that dinner was about to start, which would cause her to sit up abruptly and send the cutlery clattering to the ground. Sirius would stick out his tongue while James whined that Lily always ruined his fun. Remus would roll his eyes and pick up the cutlery, apologising to Mary for his friends' antics. James and Lily would argue and everyone would roll their eyes. As the feast began, Mary would load her plate with mashed potatoes and gravy, her favourite, and engage in a conversation with Marlene over boys. Or maybe she would talk to Peter. They would debate over what went with mashed potatoes better, peas or gravy. The argument would be resolved by them agreeing that both were good separately, but the best was mashed potatoes with peas and gravy. She would then smear some potatoes on his nose, or drip gravy down his cheek and laugh. He would pretend to be annoyed but smile anyway.

Aurora's thoughts were interrupted by the commencement of the feast. In Dumbledore's speech, he addressed the tragic death of a student and requested that everyone treat the matter with tact and show respect to those still grieving. He expressed his condolences to the friends of Mary McDonald and said that there were people available for support should anyone wish to talk about it. It was common knowledge by now that the McDonald's had been murdered by followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and everyone was on edge. Dumbledore then asked for a minute's silence out of respect for the dead, during which you could have heard a pin drop. Not even the Slytherin's dared to make a sound, but that may have been attributed to the stone cold glares the Marauders were shooting their way.

Afterwards, Aurora looked back to where Mary had been in her daydream and saw an empty chair once again. She noted that the plate in front of the chair was not empty however, as Peter piled it high with mashed potatoes, peas and gravy. Aurora's eyes met Peter's and they both smiled sadly at each other, glancing at the empty seat one more time.