Shades of Grey

In the Mourning

To her surprise, the next morning at breakfast, she had a letter.

Aurora,

Don’t tell mum and dad that I’ve written you, or they’ll be furious. The funeral is today at ten a.m., at the funeral home near Miri’s house. There will be a viewing first, and then the service.

Lindsay

She sprang up suddenly, causing Liam to jump.

“What?” He asked, clueless.

“Lindsay…she actually told me!” She exclaimed, the disbelief evident in her voice.

“Are you going alone?” He asked now. She stopped mid-step.

“Uhm…I don’t…” She stammered, not having given the issue much thought. Liam put down his piece of toast and stood up.

“Let me come with you. Just in case your parents make a scene, or you need a shoulder to cry on. I did know Miri.” He reminded her. She nodded quickly.

“You’re right. We’ll have to miss class…oh…I don’t even know what to-” She started to panic.

“Come on, let’s go get ready. Then we can ask Professor Dumbledore to get us a port key.” Liam took the lead, pulling her gently out of the hall and back towards the common room. They parted ways to change.

The prospect of a funeral frightened her, terribly. Death, in fact, did. She wasn’t afraid of dying herself. It was something she found inevitable, especially with the lack of contact from the madman. She knew he was lying low and that when he did finally strike, it would be big. No, she was afraid because every time she thought about the coming day, she had images flashing through her mind of Miri being tortured, of Felicia falling over, dead. The image of the empty hospital bed haunted her, too- a sign of what she should have done.

~

“Now for the United States of America; what is the capital of New York?” Aurora’s father asked, staring her down. She looked back at him, her boredom evident.

“New York City. Can I go play now, daddy?” She asked, pouting when he ignored her.

“That was an easy one. What’s the capital of North Carolina?” He asked now. She scrunched up her nose in concentration and racked her brains for the answer.

“Charlotte?” She asked, but knew as soon as she answered that she was wrong. Her father’s frown said it all.

“No, Aurora, it’s Raleigh.” He reminded her, the stern tone of his voice enough to make her want to cry.

“Sorry, I got confused…”

“Next one. The capitals of Arizona, Texas, and Washington?” He asked now. The stare he set on her was testing her nerves, keeping her mind from producing any relevant answers.

“You know these. We just went over them yesterday.” He sighed, frustrated. She knew she had to at least attempt an answer. ‘I don’t know’ was not acceptable.

“Phoenix…Dallas? No, wait…it’s Austin.” She answered, correcting herself quickly.

“And Washington?” He prompted.

“Seattle.” She answered.

“No. No. It’s Olympia!” He shook his head and put his fingers to his forehead, disappointed.