Rest In Peace

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The day they buried her was the day of the first snow. The air was chilly and big snowflakes slowly floated down to rest on the ground. There were a lot of people attending the funeral, almost all of the Gryffindor class of '78 and some from other Houses too. All the Hogwarts teachers were of course present, that is, all that had survived the years of war against the Dark Lord.

Remus Lupin stood among the rest of the Gryffindors, but felt endlessly alone. They were gone, all his friends. James and Lily had died by the hand of Voldemort after being betrayed by their secret keeper Sirius Black and their young son Harry had survived through a miracle. Peter Pettigrew was killed after facing off against Sirius and the latter was instantly sent to Azkaban without a trial.

The wizarding world was still celebrating little Harry Potter's victory over the Dark Lord, but Remus had never been able to participate in the festivities after the fall of the Dark side. How could he? In a few days he had lost them all, his best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. Of the famous Hogwarts Marauders, he was the only one left.

They had all been members of the Order of the Phoenix. That was the group of powerful and trustworthy witches and wizards that fought the Dark side under the lead of Albus Dumbledore and alongside the Ministry's Aurors and Hit Wizards. During the last year they had also heard of another group that fought the Dark Lord, they were called Court of Light, but nobody in either the Order or the Ministry knew anything about them. Dumbledore had tried to gather information through his numerous channels, but the only thing he ever discovered was that the Court had eight members.

Remus sighed and looked down on the gravestone:

*It should have been Lily Potter.* Remus thought with a sigh. James and Lily were to be married during Christmas and they had all looked forward to the occasion. In the middle of war, they had to grasp the few chances to happiness they could. Remus couldn't stop his tears from falling when he remembered how he and Sirius had teased Lily when they saw her practicing her new name repeatedly over a piece of parchment - now she would never be Lily Potter as she had longed for.

Sometimes Remus wished the war had never end. It was a very strange and selfish thought, he was aware of that, but as horrible as the situation had been during the war they had all been alive and together...

*They should have been buried together.* He thought as his mind returned to the present matter. They had buried James Potter two days ago in the Potter Family Chamber and now they buried Lily Evans in an ordinary Muggle cemetery outside Muggle London. It didn't feel right, but since she wasn't married yet it had been her parents decision.

The Muggle priest had finished his speech and now the closest family went forward to drop a handful of earth into the grave - Muggle ceremony. After the family had left the rest of the attendants stopped shortly by the grave, some threw in a flower, before they left. Remus was the last. He threw in a single white rose and whispered some private words to his friend. Then he turned and walked towards where Dumbledore stood and waited for him.

He had just reached Dumbledore when there was a strange sound behind him, as from tiny silver bells. Remus quickly turned around and just stared. Around Lily's grave stood seven quite tall people, all dressed in royal blue hooded cloaks. Remus looked questioningly up at Dumbledore, worried evident on his face, but Dumbledore just slowly shook his head - No they wouldn't do anything beside watch.

As if on cue all seven went down on their left knee and bowed their heads towards the grave. The sound of a beautiful young female voice traveled with the wind to the two spectators, but the words were lost. Then, again simultaneously, the people rose and before Remus had blinked, they were gone, but on the far end of Lily's grave lay a beautiful garland of white lilies that hadn't been there before.

Remus followed Dumbledore back to the grave and was startled when the old wizard gave up a little yelp of surprise. Dumbledore was never surprised. "What's the matter?" Remus asked worriedly.

"See for your self, Remus." Dumbledore said and backed away, giving the young man clear view over the garland and the attached white silk-ribbon with golden letters. It said: