The one with the sisters - Year Six [COMPLETED]

Chapter 9 - The one with the tribute

"They hated us."

"No, they didn't."

"How can you say that? You were the one who always believed on it."

"Yeah, but I just... I don't know. I guess I don't want to believe in it anymore."

"It's our fault."

"Lily..." Iris sighed, as both sisters sat together by the railing on the Astronomy Tower. "It's not our fault."

"If it wasn't for us..."

"Don't think like that."

Lily sniffed once more and snuggled closer to her sister. Both of them sat in silence for a second, staring at the already dark sky, filled with stars.

"They say the dead turn to stars." Lily whispered and Iris chuckled sadly.

"I hope they're up there then." She shrugged. "Together."

Lily turned to Iris and smiled sadly. Her eyes were puffy and red, just like the rest of her face. There were still stains of tears down her cheeks. Her hair was messy, her robes were creased. For the first time, Lily Evans wasn't pretty. And Iris was sure she was looking just like her.

After receiving the news during lunch, both of them ran toward the Astronomy Tower where they knew the other would be. They hugged and cried for what felt like hours. When they stopped, the sun was already setting and now that the moon was shining up in the sky, they were still there. They probably were missing the begging of dinner, but at the moment, neither of them cared. They just needed each other.

"They loved Petunia." Lily suddenly said. "They loved each other."

"They did." Iris nodded.

"How do you think Petunia's handling it?"

"She's having a hard time, that's for sure." Iris mumbled. "And if she needed yet another reason to hate us... Well, she has it now."

"You don't think it's our fault?" Lily frowned, as she looked at her sister's eyes.

"We didn't kill them, Lily." Iris shook her head. "Voldemort did."

"But he did because...."

"Because we are Muggle Born witches." Iris finished the sentence. "But that is also not our fault, is it? We didn't ask for it."

"I guess you're right." Lily nodded. "Iris..."

"Hum...?"

"Promise me something?"

"What?"

"Promise me you'll never leave me?"

"Lils..."

"No, but I really need you to meant it." She said. Suddenly, Lily was out of her sister's reach as she sat on top of her own legs, staring at her younger twin. "Last time someone promised me something like this... They didn't keep it."

"Severus?" Iris frowned, and Lily nodded. "Lily, I love you, alright? And now, more than ever... You're the only thing I have left. I won't promise this because I don't need to. You know I'll never leave you, Lily. Never."

"Good." She smiled and cleaned her face with her sleeves. "Because I'll never leave you either."

Iris reached forward and wrapped her pinky around hers, like they used to do as they were kids. Their eyes locked once more and that was all it took for them to start crying again. Holding each other and enjoying the breeze coming from the high level of the Astronomy Tower, they fell asleep, as the stars shined over them. As if their parents were actually there. And were apologizing for not realizing the two gems they had and let go for fear.

***

"Moony, come on, mate... They're alright." Sirius said, as he pushed a plate full of food toward his friend.

"Alright?" Remus shook his head. "They're anything but alright."

"We know, Remus." Dorcas, who, against the rules was sitting with them at the Gryffindor table, said gently. Her voice was cracking. She had also been crying. "But you starving to death won't fix anything. In fact, it'll only make it worse."

"She's right, Moony." James nodded. "Iris cares for all of us, but she cares deeply for you. If she hears you're not eating because of her, she'll be mad."

"And we don't like mad Iris." Peter added, attempting to joke.

Remus looked up from his plate and smiled gently at Peter, before nodding and scooping up a good amount of rice to his mouth. All around him sighed in relief. They all ate in silence. Not a word was spoken and no one dared to tell Dorcas and Camilla to sit at their rightful places. Not even the Professors. Not when they all knew what had happened.

Suddenly, there was a shuffling sound at the end of the Great Hall and every student turned just in time to catch Professor Dumbledore standing up. He looked at his table of Professors, but not one of them looked back at him. The old man then cleared his throat and started to talk.

"I take that all of you know what happened by now." He said. There was a murmur of agreement. "But for those who don't know yet, the parents of our beloved Iris and Lily Evans were killed today." Some gasped. Some whined. Dorcas looked down and tried hard not to cry again. Camilla reached for her hand and laced their fingers together. "And for further information, it was indeed You-Know-Who's work. We all know why. The Evans were a Muggle family and You-Know-Who is after the purest of heritage. He couldn't stand the idea of having a Muggle family – with no magical lines whatsoever – with two of the most amazing witches he could find. So he killed them to get to Lily and Iris. Because that's what he does. He kills, without a second thought."

Dumbledore looked at his kids. Some were scared. Some weren't. Still, he decided to finish his speech in respect to those who understood what Voldermort coming back meant. In respect to the Evans sister.

"Voldemort is back." He said and even some Professors flinched at the name. "You know what it means. It means war, fear, deaths. But fear not. Hogwarts is the safest of places right now. And it will be always there to welcome you home. Now... I'd like to ask for us to honor Lorraine and Vincent Evans, who were brutally killed by the fury of someone they could not avert."

Without any other words, Dumbledore and all the Professors lifted their wands high toward the sky. Severus followed. Remus, Dorcas, Camilla, James, Peter, Sirius, Marlene and Mary were after and soon, almost half of Hogwarts had their wands up. Some students hadn't. And amongst those, was Bambi. Camilla glared at her and the Slytherin averted her gaze.

"Bambi is..."

"I know." Dorcas interrupted her girlfriend. "But that's not the time, Milla. We need to focus on Iris now. She needs us and if Bambi decided to go down another path, there's nothing we can do about it."

"You're right, Doe." Camilla nodded. She lighted up the tip of her wand with a gentle blue light. Dorcas did the same.

Even if they weren't there, Lily and Iris felt a warmth in their heart and, subconsciously, smiled for the first time that night.