After

Minerva spent that night repairing all of the windows in the Great Hall, trying to shut down the waves of emotion that flooded over her. Stifling her grief with the work. 

At ten the next morning the stained glass of the Great Hall windows stood shining again in the sunlight as Minerva left Hogwarts to meet Poppy and Septimia in the lobby of the hospital. They didn’t speak much, but Septimia, who was always a bit too organised, had drawn up a schedule that allowed them to make an appearance at all seven funerals. It seemed a bit crass to Minerva, but she did admit that it would be necessary. 

Their first funeral of the day was for Remus and Tonks, they attended the full graveside service. Minerva was shaking before they even found a place to fit into the crowd. They landed beside Filius and Pomona, all trying to steel themselves before an unprecedented outpouring of grief erupted from the remaining Hogwarts staff. Poppy was on the precipice of losing control already.

Minerva could not catch her breath. Her Remus, the last of her Marauders, her devilish little mastermind, the kind-hearted, mischievous, clever, cunning, brave man she had so adored, was to be buried today. Beside him was his wife, that clever, funny, awkward, clumsy, bright, bubbly young woman who had never ceased to brighten the world around her. She looked as she naturally did in death, with mousy brown hair and a straight nose. 

She looked very much like her mother, who sat at the front with a vacant expression, her baby grandson in her lap. Barely a month old, Teddy Lupin would never know his mother and father, they wouldn’t even be a memory. So inaccessible to him, yet the foundation of everything he would be. Minerva felt the urge to cry slowly slip away, she was beyond tears at the thought of it all. The grief was too much to be lessened by a few teardrops.

She listened as Harry Potter gave a shaky eulogy to his late parents’ dearest friend, one of the best men he’d ever known; and one of the kindest, most sincere, women he ever knew. She did not shed a tear, but sat like stone, unmoving, no longer shaking, unnaturally still. 

When the service ended and the gathered mourners were allowed to file by the open caskets for a final goodbye, Minerva could not make herself move. It took Poppy pushing her shoulder before Minerva shook the exterior of stone and stood up to draw near to Remus and Tonks for the last time. 

She did not make it that far before Andromeda caught sight of her. “Minerva?” She asked softly, stepping up beside them. “I’m glad you came. They were both terribly fond of you, you know?” She said, new tears springing up in her eyes. 

Minerva forced herself to look at the grieving mother before her and said, “Oh, Andromeda, I cannot put into words how very fond I was of them,” Her voice shook and the tears returned. Poppy and Septimia moved on as Minerva stepped away from them slightly. She spoke in a low voice, trying desperately to keep it from breaking, “Your daughter was one of the dearest people I know…never a dull moment with her, she always had a solution…and she had excellent taste in husbands,” She said the last part as lightly as she could as tears threatened to spill over. 

Andromeda pressed a tissue to her eyes and almost managed to laugh as she said, “She did. He was a good, good man.”

Minerva pressed a hand to her chest, as if to keep her heart from escaping, and whispered, “Oh, he was. He was so… indescribably wonderful.” 

Andromeda nodded, knowing that she too was speaking to a grieving mother of sorts, though no one else could recognise it, not even Minerva. She swallowed hard and said, “He was so looking forward to introducing you to Teddy. He talked about it several times. Said he wanted you to get an advanced look at the next generation of troublemaker.” She again, almost managed a laugh, but it turned into a pained sigh. 

Minerva too, almost managed to laugh at this last joke of her Remus. “I should very much like to see him sometime,” She said honestly, though she held back the fact that she wanted nothing more than to be a part of this dear child’s life, to not repeat the mistakes she made last time she was in a situation like this. 

“Harry has him now,” Andromeda said with the smallest of smiles. “He’s so very good with him, gentle, and a little scared of messing up, he’s going to be a wonderful godfather. I didn’t think a seventeen-year-old was the best choice when Remus said it, but I see now. He’s a lovely young man.” She looked across the space to where Harry sat, bouncing Teddy slightly to keep him from whining. 

Minerva nodded sincerely, Harry was so grown up now, far beyond what he should be, with responsibilities that he shouldn’t have. But he would rise to the occasion, she knew. He would make that child the family he never had. He would be what Sirius and Remus would have been for him. “He’s a good lad, always has been,” There was just the slightest note of pride in her voice. 

“I’m sure we could get him to give Teddy up for a moment if you wanted to meet him,” Andromeda offered, turning that direction before she stopped at Minerva’s slight stiffening of posture, “Or you could come around for tea one day next week, I could use the company if you could spare the time.” 

“Yes, of course, I’d be more than glad to come around sometime,” Minerva answered with a small smile, glancing across to the little baby with just the slightest whisps of blue hair. She turned back to Andromeda and gently excused herself. 

She looked down at Tonks and tears sprang up again. She whispered promises, “Brave, brave girl. We’ll look after Teddy. I’ll be there when he comes to Hogwarts, and I can’t wait to see what mischief he brings with that wonderful talent you gave him.” Before she left a single carnation, bubblegum pink, on the casket. 

She stopped at Remus’s open casket, tears standing in her eyes, she conjured up a little sprig of wolfsbane and tucked it in his cold hand. She whispered, “You won’t be needing that anymore, I know. But it always makes me think of you anyway, dear boy. And I’m sure I’ll see you in every little sly prank your son is sure to pull, no matter what he looks like. Oh, I wish I’d told you, I wish I’d said it outright. The five of you were the greatest gift I have ever been given, I loved you all so dearly. I still do.” She was frozen to the spot, eyes fixed on his face as if she were willing him to sit up straight and say it was all one big joke so that she could embrace and then hit him. 

Poppy came to her rescue, wrapping an arm around her and waking her back to the real world where Remus and Tonks were just dead. She turned and barely managed to walk away. If no one were around she might have jumped into the open grave herself and tried to make a trade with death.

Septimia and Poppy tried to help her along, knowing that of all of all of them, she was the most hurt by this loss. Minerva shook them off and walked far enough away before apparating to the next place on the list. 

Septimia and Poppy followed her through the doors of the community hall in the small Muggle village that Collin had been raised in. She had transfigured her clothes to be more muggle friendly, then turned and quickly did the same for Poppy and Septimia. “Really, you two, you should know better.” 

Septimia nodded, she had quite forgotten about their clothes in the midst of that sad day. They recognised several people in the room from around the wix world, all in some semblance of Muggle clothing, thank goodness. 

They were recognised too, immediately, but Collin’s muggle parents. Minerva, as Collin’s head of house had spoken to them on a number of occasions, she knew she knew from one look at them that she would not be talking to them now. Their glances were cold and she knew that they must blame her, with good reason, for the unforgivably untimely death of their sixteen-year-old son. “I can’t stay long,” Minerva whispered to Poppy.

“Why?” She asked in return, concerned for her well-being. 

“I’m not welcome,” Minerva answered nodding almost imperceptibly toward the brave boy’s poor parents. 

“I’m sure they’re not really blaming you,” Septimia whispered as they reached the small casket. 

Even at sixteen, Collin was never very tall, he looked even smaller now. Minerva’s heart dropped again, so young, so desperately young. She had ordered him away, pushed him into the tunnel herself, and done everything she could to send him away. He was too young to have been there and he was too young to be dead. 

She whispered again, to the only person who couldn’t hear her. “Oh, you brave, brave boy, I told you to go. Oh, why didn’t you listen? I’m sorry, I didn’t do enough to protect you, I didn’t do enough to keep you away or you wouldn’t have come back. I thought a direct order would be enough, I should have known better. You were a Gryffindor, after all, through and through.” She ignored the pitying looks from Septimia and Poppy as she spoke, and, carefully out of the sight of any muggles, conjured up a single red and gold rose, leaving it atop the casket gingerly. 

“That’s lovely, professor, Collin would have liked it,” A voice said from their left. Dennis Creevy, far far too young at fourteen to have lost his older brother, stood there with the slightest of sad smiles on his face. 

Minerva had started at first, but said, “Oh, Dennis, it’s good to see you. I am so, so very sorry for your loss.” She was no longer crying, she couldn’t allow herself to in front of her young student. 

“Yeah,” He muttered dismissively. “But he did what was right didn’t he?” He looked up at them, pleadingly. It seemed that he had been waiting for them to show up, just to ask this question of someone who might be able to reassure him that his dear brother had done good, and not died in vain. 

The three older ladies had no idea what to say to that, throwing anxious glances between themselves for a second before Minerva said, “He did a terribly brave thing, Dennis. Right or wrong is not always so clear. But he did behave with a tremendous amount of courage.”

Dennis seemed to understand the implied truth in that statement, that bravery is not always the right response, that she so desperately wished that he had not chosen to be so brave. “Yeah, well, we’re Gryffindor, that’s what we do,” He said, still with the note of pride in his brother, and the qualities they shared. 

There was a brief silence, the three women nodding solemnly at his statement, hoping that Dennis never got the chance to be as brave as his brother. 

He spoke up again, “Well, it’s taken some convincing, but I got Mum and Dad to agree to let me come back to school. So I should be there come September first,” Again a note of pride and expectance in his voice. 

Minerva tried to smile ever so slightly, “And we will be glad to see you then.” 

As they left that little muggle village Minerva didn’t know how she could possibly get through another five funeral visitations. Let alone the many others that were sure to come. The loss of three had left her feeling like a gutted shell of herself, and fifty-nine people had died that night.