"My babies," Mother whispered, hugging Frank and I in both her arms. Usually, Frank and I would cringe and back away, but not today. Today we hugged her back. It was the least we could do. It was, as you probably imagined, the day of the funeral. I hadn't seen my father's corpse yet. I couldn't bear it, even though we had a memorial for him in one of our rooms. I simply avoided that room. Instead, I spent most of my time in the library, playing the piano.

"Mother," I whispered into her night dress. She pulled away.

"Alright. Get dressed," she said, forcing herself to smile. She patted our cheeks before walking towards her room. Frank and I parted ways without another word.

I examined myself in the mirror, smoothing out my dress. The dress I wore was black, as it should be. It came down past my knees in a small circle. The waist line was a little tight, but I convinced myself I'd manage. The straps were thin and tied in bows. I wore black stockings, and black kitten heels. I had pinned my hair up with a pair of black chopsticks, after, of course, putting some ribbons in it to keep it where it was. The ribbons were not, in fact, black, but dark blue. My father was a Ravenclaw, so I thought it was a good tribute. I did not paint my face with any make-up, but pinched my cheeks to make them redder.

Pleased with my look, I stepped out of my room cautiously, taking each step with care.

"One foot in front of the other," I told myself quietly. Frank waited for me at the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing a normal black suit, with a blue tie. Simple.

"You look nice, Riv," Frank said. I looked at him blankly.

"It's not about me, this is about Dad," I said.

"How can you call him that?" Frank asked, stopping in his tracks.

"How can you not? He is our father, like it or not. He had some explanation of why he left. We'll learn today. Mum said he had a speech that someone is going to read," I told him, "He is our father, like it or not." At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"who is it? I thought everyone was here?" Frank said.

"I needed to invite one more person," i said, walking towards the door.

"Please tell me you didn't-"

"I had to." I opened the door, "Sirius." I hugged him. He hugged me back. When I pulled away from him he handed me a flower. A rose.

"It's to lay at you father's grave. Muggles do it. They lay the flower on the coffin after it's in the ground," He said. He held a rose out to Frank, "I brought one for you and Matthew as well." Frank had his arms crossed.

"Mother won't like you being here," he said. I looked at him, plea in my eyes. He took the flower, "But I kinda like you." He walked over to Sirius and hugged him as well. I giggled. Sirius had not expected that.

'Thank you for coming," he stepped back, 'And thanks for saving my sister." I kissed Frank's cheek as he ran into the backyard. I put my arm around Sirius' waist, and he put his around my shoulder. We both held our roses. We walked into my backyard. Mother saw Sirius and ran over.

"What is he doing here?" She growled. Sirius seemed unfazed.

"I need him, Mother," I said.

"All your friends are here. You don't this boy," she said. I grabbed Sirius' hand.

"Yes, I do." Mother sighed, trying to cool her temper. She walked off.

"I think she's warming up to me," Sirius said. I nodded.

'Me too." We walked over to the group of people.. We were going to bury my father in our backyard, at the edge of the forest. We thought it best.

Wizards do things differently than muggles, as you know, and funerals are no exception. We don't have a pastor come up, we usually have the closest person to the deceased say a few words first, like the things a pastor would at a muggle funeral. So my mother stood at the foot of the coffin.

"Thomas was my husband, as you all know." There were not many people there, mostly frank and my friends. Our mother didn't have many friends, and my aunt didn't want to come. "I loved him, even after he left. I don't care that he left, I just want to know why. So I'm going to skip this whole part and hand everything over to my daughter, Serana, who will read Thomas' letter."

My mouth fell open. I had to do it?

I shook myself from my shook and gave my flower to Sirius to hold. I walked up to my mother. I hugged her and took the letter. I opened it and almost instantaneously started crying. My father wrote this. I took a deep breath.

"I am sorry. Those three words, no matter how truthful they are, they will not redeem me from everything I've done. My confessions wound me far more than that of a mass murderer. The crime I had committed is not punishable by jail, or even death, though I believe it should be. I..." I choked on the words, "I left my children. They were only eight years old. They deserve to know why their father left. They deserve to know that it was not them who drove me away, but my own cowardice." Tears brimmed at the edges of my eyes.

"I had gotten myself into a terrible mess. I did something that endangered my family, my children, my wife. I couldn't have that. No, I couldn't put my children through that sort of pain these people could inflict on them. They were bad men, the name of whom I do not know. But they wanted my help, they wanted me to do things I could not do. They wanted me to kill a human being, a muggle. I thought to myself, what kind of role model would I be to my children if they somehow found out I had murdered a muggle man? I guess, I'm not a much better role model to them now.

"So, I declined this offer and went home, free of spirit, and light-hearted. I went home to my family, only to find one of them marked. The men who had confronted me said that if I didn't do what they said, they would mark one of my loved ones. I didn't understand, and thought it an empty threat. But, when my child came to me telling me her hand hurt and that a strange mark had appeared, I knew they were not being false. These wicked men had marked my child to a life of pain, misery, hardship, and, in fairy tale terms, my child would never get a happy ending.

"So I left. I hoped I could escape this all and save my child if i left. But, hearing the news and reading the paper, I've learned that because of my, my child grew up without a Father and a life or terrible pain.

"I regret every decision I have made in the past eight years, for every single one was wrong, even those that seemed good to others. I tried giving homes to orphans, saving people from fires, but every single one of those things was wrong, because the right thing would have been to go home, to help my daughter, my son, my wife.

"I regret to say goodbye. I have heard news the men who haunt my past have come for me. I will not run, not any more. I deserve whatever these men give to me, even death. I deserve it for what I've done to my wife, to my son, and most of all, I deserve it for damning my baby girl to a life of torment and pain." I froze. I was the marked one. Everyone was silent. Not mournful silent, just silent. I continued.

"This last part is for you, Serana. I love you and I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I bet me leaving was the start of your horrid life. But you have your mother's blood in you. You have Gryffindor blood running through your veins. You will never fail, you will be strong. You will thrive. I know this. I am your father.

"And Frank, do not think I neglect you because you were not marked. I love you as well, but your sister is in pain. She is always in pain. Do not leave her side.

"Serana, again I tell you I love you. Believe me when I say this. You are my daughter, you are your mother's daughter, you are going to be alright. Hopefully, this curse will end with my death, if not, I can only send you m deepest apologies. I love you, my children, Augusta."

And it ended. I dropped the letter. It floated softly to the ground, landing in the fresh green grass. I felt the opposite of fresh. I looked at all the eyes of the people in front of me, and I couldn't take it. My mind reeled, and I freaked. I turned and sprinted into the woods.

"Serana!" A few voices screamed after me. I ran and ran until I tripped. I landed on the ground, the sudden impact taking all the air from my lungs. I lay in the dirt and cried. I felt like a toddler having a tantrum, but I did so anyway. I pressed my cheek into the dirt and sobbed, loud, exasperated breathes came from my mouth. I don't know how long I was on the ground for, but it was a long time.

"But you have your mother's blood in you. You have Gryffindor blood running through your veins. You will never fail, you will be strong. You will thrive," Someone said from behind me. With tear stained cheeks, I lifted my head.

"River," Sirius knealt in front of me. I sat up and hugged him, wrapping my arms under his arms and holding onto his shoulders. I buried my face in his chest and he just let me cry. He stroked my hair and cooed, but that was it. He listened to me sob on and on.

I cannot begin to wonder how he felt. Listening to someone you really liked cry, nay, sob into you must feel like a dagger to the heart.

After a very long time. I pulled myself away. I wiped my eyes, grateful that I hadn't worn make-up, or my glasses. Sirius helped me up and straightened me out, wiping my eyes, brushing off dirt, fixing my dress. I gave him a shaky smile.

"Thank you," i said quietly. He simply handed me one of the roses and the letter.

We made our way back to the funeral. They hadn't lowered the coffin yet. Walking back onto the field, I hoped my eyes weren't to puffy and read, or my nose too crusted with snot and dust.

Sirius and I put our roses on the coffin. I placed the letter on the coffin as well. Frank came up and put on his rose. Then, working together, we pulled out our wands and lowered the coffin into the ground.

We would wait until nightfall to do the final farewell, but for now, we would go in and eat. I did not. The dirt filled itself back in, the grass growing before our eyes. I stared at the gravestone, hands in the pockets i had added to the dreess I wore. Everyone else walked back inside, except one other. You know who I am talking about. Becuase he's always there when I need him. Always.

"Do not stand at my grave and weep;

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die."

Sirius' voice faded as a song would as it came to a close. He stepped next to me.

"That was beautiful," I said, hugging his waist.

"I found it in a book. I thought it might make you feel better." He said. I smiled.

"It does."

****

Everyone had their wands in the air (besides Cahrlie), the tipes brightened. We pointed the wands towards the night sky, saying our silent farwell. It was a sort of sending off, as a muggle mayor would hit a bottle of a ship to send it away, we send the soul of the buried into the sky, to live amongst the stars. It was an old ceremony, but it made everyone feel better. My father just wanted to do what was right, and for half my life, I hated him for it.