𝐿𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒

Reasons I Miss You Pt. 2

The dreaded day came too quickly. For the past three days, the girls had been pulling almost all-nighters with each other's company filling the holes left from grief.

Lily's room, that was occupied by the three girls, was torn apart. There were clothes strewn across the floor, plates, bowls, and cups sat on the better part of her desk, but the room's owner was not complaining. It was a blessing if she woke up without a puffy face, she couldn't worry too much about what her room looked like at the current moment and she couldn't get herself to care.

Mary climbed over Lily and tried not to wake her because she slept in between her and her sister. The bed was quite roomy, she estimated around another normal sized human being was able to fit on it comfortably.

She washed her face in the bathroom that connected to Lily's room and brushed her teeth. Morning breath was not something she was friends with and she didn't intend on eating breakfast. Maybe a cup a coffee.

In times like these, Mary wished she wore makeup. Just enough to cover the defined bags under her eyes would come in handy.

Lily snuck past her grabbing her own toothbrush and wordlessly began to brush her own teeth. The redhead must've been woken up by Mary's not so subtle start to the day.

Quickly brushing her hair, Mary decided she didn't want to look like anything particularly special today and just walked back into the bedroom. Looking through the trunk she had hastily packed all her clothes in, she spotted a single black dress.

By this time, Julia had woken up and had shut herself in the bathroom. She was taking it rather hard.

"Lils?" Mary asked quietly, with a croaky voice.

"Yes dear?"

"What's going to happen next? Like where will we live the rest of summer?"

Lily zipped up the back of Mary's dress and turned around so she could do the same.

"Well, my home is always open. You see the kind of room we have here. As for winter break, you can stay here or at Marlene's if you'd like. I'm sure she'd like that." Mary nodded and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

"Alice's house is too small." Mary spoke while her friend pinned her own hair back into a low bun. Not a hair out of place.

"Alice's house is too small." She agreed with a meaningless smile.

They had been having conversations like those for the past three days. Short and not meaning too much. Julia hadn't said much and had her face stuck in a book the entire time she was there.

"How about afterwards, if everyone's up for it, we apparate over to the nail salon? A little pampering might do some good." Lily suggested picking up a small black purse she could keep the essentials in.

"That sounds good. Julia always liked getting her nails done."

...

They apparated silently over to the church that Mary's aunt had chosen for the service. This was the first time in five years they were seeing their family, it was quite the reunion.

Mary and Julia didn't know all the details, but there was some family drama that drove all their immediate family away five years ago. So, while they offered them a brief smile, they were all really cursing each other in their heads.

They were the only three wizards there, that they knew of. So, Lily and Mary had stowed their wands in the purse Lily had chosen that morning.

The three girls took seats up in the front pew and waited for the ceremony to start. Mary anxiously tapped her foot against the floor, her leg bouncing up and down. She had never been particularly fond of public speaking, yet here she was about to eulogize her grandparents.