SPLITAPARTS: lessons in love ✔️

Epilogue

Cassie rose to her hands and knees and finally crawled across the  floor of the kitchen and made her way to the breakfast nook table, as it  was the closest place to sit upright. The pain was unbearable and she  located its center after some slow and steady breathing. She was unable  to lift herself to the chair as she then felt the ripping of his half of  her soul and had screamed: Oh god, oh god, oh god--please don't leave me--Sirius--please no! She  looked at her finger where her rings were supposed to be and felt a  mournful cry escape her lips as she covered her face with her hands.  Still, she knew that she had to maintain for her baby. She knew she had  to maintain for her twins. She knew that she had to maintain for her  Harry...and somehow, she knew that she had to maintain...without Sirius.

The sun had set and she was completely shrouded in darkness. She  didn't hear the floo fire up. She didn't hear the bodies sliding  through. She didn't hear the many sets of footsteps approaching her  direction. She didn't feel the arms that wound around her as they picked  her up from the floor. But she did hear voice of reason as he held her  close to him: "I'm so sorry Cass--"

She thought that she'd wake up any minute from her nightmare. That  Sirius would playfully pounce after having set the coffee mug on the  bedside table. That he would cover her with butterfly kisses. That he  would make love to her. But she didn't wake up. He didn't pounce, nor  cover her with butterfly kisses. Nor did he make love to her.

Instead, she heard Remus' quiet voice. She felt him return her rings  to her finger and promised that he would see that they were resized for  her if she wished it. She finally looked up at him and realized that she  couldn't quite see him...the room was too dark...there was no more  light...it was true. Her Sirius...was dead and he had taken all the  light with him. She began to laugh uncontrollably thinking that he would  have made a joke of it:

"Are you seriously dead?"

He would of course stare at her with that handsome air of mischief.

She would stare at him awaiting the pun.

Dead Sirius, Dee.

She felt Remus carry her upstairs to her room and lay her on her bed.  What felt like hours, was in fact, only minutes as tears filled her  eyes again as she curled up in a fetal position on her bed and felt  someone stroking her hair. She heard her grandfather's voice letting her know that Elizabeth was on her way, and she was bringing Theo and the Bothers with her...she wasn't going to use traditional mundane ways to get them to her side, but rather magical means and that they would be there within the hour. He let her know that Sirius had been hit by  Bellatrix's stun spell and been knocked into the veil, which had killed him instantly; it was an accident, and there would be hell to pay when Tom got hold of her. There had been a fight between the Tom and himself, but both had been wounded by Sirius' death and it had been a draw...Tom had retreated just as the aurors arrived. He found it interesting that the battle had used the elements of water and fire, which happened to represent Cassie and Sirius' shared astrological sun sign of Scorpio and Aries, their rising sign.

She suffered an immeasurable sensation of cold that no manner of  blankets or body heat could counter and soothe and she asked for her  children. Albus, still spooned to her, trying to warm her, promised that  they would be arriving by portkey any moment and that Minerva, having  been released from St Mungos would be accompanying them. Within minutes, Ryan arrived clutching a loudly yowling Silver closely to his chest and  was being helped into their mother's room by Minerva as Harry followed  silently, held onto by Dora...he dreaded facing her. She held on to her children and reached out her hand for Harry, but he was unable to move from his spot. He had no idea the physical pain they were enduring, and seeing them huddled together for comfort only served to further the pain of loss and he was numb. Cassie managed to sit up and she held her arms out and he shook his head as he gazed into her eyes, feeling her  sadness and despair.