AN: I won't bore all of you with a super long AN here, I really just wanted to say that since I updated, more that a year ago...sorry...the support for this story (Favorites and follows especially) has been amazing, especially considering the long wait between updates. Welcome new readers, and as always welcome back old ones. Get your tissues ready.

Chapter 27

Destruction and Devastation

It was sunny out, the summer day warm and breezy and looking as perfect as a painting. Somehow, Rory felt that it was out of place as she stood nearby with her brother as they both broke down sobbing in grief on the grounds of Black Manor. She felt as though it should be storming, raining and windy, nature as wild and chaotic as the sense of loss she and James both felt.

They'd gotten the news earlier that day, while James and Sirius were at the Ministry. Rory and Lily had been at the Foundation. Peter and Remus were out on the grounds of the Foundation, helping tend to the wards. Well. Remus was tending to the wards. Peter was there so he wasn't alone, and would cheerfully admit that he wasn't any good with wards and shouldn't be allowed to try and tend to any of them.

It had been as normal a day as it could have been with the state of war the magical community was currently entrenched in.

But now...

Now the siblings clung to each other, eschewing the comfort of their respective spouses in favor of each other, sobbing and struggling to catch their breath. Said spouses stood nearby, both openly weeping, with Remus and Peter trying to comfort as best they could. For Rory.. it was a stark reminder of Christmas of her First Year, when her parents had been killed.

For her parents had been killed again.

For Charlus, it had been an ambush. Death Eaters had laid a skillful trap for the head of the DMLE, sending in a false tip about Death Eater activity in a run-down section of London. Charlus, and a handful of Aurors, had responded. Instead of the 7 or so Death Eaters they had been told were there, there had been more than 15. Overwhelmed by numbers, Charlus had managed to kill 9 of them himself before being overtaken. His head, in the macabre showing that people had come to expect from the self-styled Dark Lord, had been owled to the Ministry, the Dark Mark burned into his left cheek. Brave, Honorable Charlus Potter. The man his children both looked up to, cut down by cowards who needed a crowd of them to match his prowess with a wand.

But Miriam... Sweet, kind Miriam Potter. The Pillar and Strength of her Family. The one who held her children when they cried, who basked in their achievements, who offered advice and help whenever it was needed... It was her death that both made them feel as though the air were sucked clear from the room, and stoked the growing fires of rage in their breasts at the same time. Miriam had been shopping in Diagon Alley, refusing to let the state of society force her into remaining at home and hiding. A handful of Death Eaters had taken her clear from the Alley, in the bright light of day. So many people dismissed Miriam Potter as merely a Lord's Wife, Lady of the Manor. They didn't see the glitter of steel in her eyes, didn't know that she could hold her own against even her husband in a duel.

Three of those Death Eaters would be buried with their counterparts who had been foolish enough to raise a wand to that husband. But even that could not save her life. Her body, naked, broken, bleeding, with obscene epitaphs carved into it, had been portkeyed into the Ministry Atrium for all to see. It was a mark of how highly respected the Potters all were that the body had been covered before more than 60 seconds had passed, and no reporters present had even considered a photograph for the Daily Prophet.

James had been informed first, and Sirius had been with him. Even in Auror training, they were never far from one another. Outside of training, they were partners, able to coordinate strikes and raids with an efficiency that saw their commanding officers refusing to split them up. They had been the ones to tell their wives and friends. Now they were all at Black Manor, torn and lost in their grief.

And still, the sun shone on, giving the illusion that all was well in the world. Lending credence to the lie. Rory wished for a hurricane.

After what could have been an eternity, the siblings broke apart, their faces identical masks of grief and rage, and turned towards their spouses. Lily immediately wrapped her husband in a loving embrace, full of caring and support for him, full of comfort. Rory looked at Sirius and he could see this loss of another set of parents, parents who had loved her even though they hadn't bore her, parents who hadn't needed to take her in, parents who had never treated her as anything other than their daughter, parents by love and parents by choice... this new loss was weighing heavily on her soul. He strode forward and gathered her up and pulled her against his chest, simply holding her and comforting her. He could feel her shaking in his arms as he pressed his lips to the top of her head, unmindful of his own tears that cascaded down his face.

Peter and Remus stood aside, there for their friends but a respectful distance away. At least until the group ended up in a sort of group hug, the friends who were really more like family clinging to each other, taking and giving comfort freely and helping each other to heal the worst of the wounds in any way they could.

Bartemius Crouch Sr, Charlus' long-time second in command, took over as Department Head and immediately authorized the use of the Unforgivables against Death Eaters. Something James and Sirius swore to never use.

The Funeral Rites for the Fallen Potters were a grand affair. The Potters had been well known and well loved by most who knew them. People from all walks of their government spoke about the Potters in reverential tones. But it was when Rory and James rose to speak as one, that a hush fell over the crowd, as though those present were just realizing the age of the young man who was now Lord Potter, and the woman who was Lady Black-Knight. Just barely of age. A ripple of loss and grief went through everyone present.

It was James who cleared his throat and spoke first, both as the Eldest and the Heir. "My parents always taught me to do what was right. The most important lesson they taught me is that what is right may not always be what is easy, but that should never stop me. And now they were taken from us all far too soon, simply for defending what was right against those who seek to drown our world in Darkness." He took a deep, shuddering breath before looking out over the crowd of mourners gathered, fire in his eyes. "I will continue their fight. I won't let the sacrifice of their lives be forgotten or in vain. To my last breath, I will embody the lessons my father taught me, I will remember my mother's wisdom. I will do them proud. Nothing less than my very best honors them. They will be forever missed, and the world is a lesser place without them in it... but they will never be forgotten. Never."

Reaching up and squeezing her brother's hand in support, it was Rory who addressed the crowd next. The siblings, and their spouses and friends, had talked long and hard into the night about what this eulogy would be. Could they afford to show the world grieving faces? Ultimately they decided that since they were unaware of who the leak in the Ministry was, they had to show strength. They could grieve behind closed doors, but here, in public, they had to show that House Potter was strong and would stand tall, and that House Knight, and indeed House Black by association, stood with it. Anything less gave the Death Eaters a victory.

Her voice low and musical and still carrying through the crowd, Rory spoke, "I was but a wee lass of 12 when my parents, Lord and Lady Knight, were killed. The Potters showed me great kindness by taking me in. That kindness later turned to love, as I loved them as parents and they loved me as a daughter. We were family. We ARE family." Her gaze hardened, becoming steel as she glared at the crowd, making the fidget slightly. Rory was always publicly in control of her emotions, and this display reminded them of her strength. "And some fool of a Dark Lord has dared attack my family. I stand with my brother. House Knight stands with House Potter, for now and for always. We will fight and beat back this Darkness that seeks to swallow us whole, for the memories of my parents... all of my parents... demands it. The line in the sand has been drawn with the deaths of these people who were so beloved by so many. And it shall not be crossed. I shall not waiver. All we ask is that you remember Charlus and Miriam Potter. You remember what they would do to fight. Remember what they would fight for. If we hold their ideals...then we will win."

James and Rory took a step back and turned around, looking at where the bodies of the Potters were laid on pyres, wrapped in funeral shrouds. Rory frowned and exchanged a look with James, who seemed to know what she was thinking and raised his wand. With a wave, the two pyres became one and the bodies were side by side. Speaking aloud, but to no one, he stated, "They were together in life, so it should be now..." before he and Rory cast the low powered Incendio spells at the pyres, setting them ablaze.

The line had indeed been drawn. The time for action was now. In the crowd, Lily and Sirius watched their spouses, their loves, with worry in their eyes, hoping the ones they loved wouldn't be joining their parents soon because of something reckless borne from anger and the fate of their parents, of all the deaths that had occurred in such a short time.

And still the days went on.

Every day Rory went to tend to the Foundation and its needs. And every day she went home, more tired and drained than she had been when she left the day before. For the first time, she could sympathize with Sirius and his seeking solace in a bottle. But she didn't, she turned to him, knowing from experience what would happen. She curled up with him as she cried every night, and he held her and rocked her and cried with her, offering her the comfort that he had denied himself from her at the beginning of their school year.

James and Lily moved back to Potter Manor, James ready to assume the mantle of Lord Potter in its entirety.

In protest to the use of the Unforgivables on Death Eaters, James and Sirius resigned from the Auror corps. Crouch Sr tried to convince them to remain, but they were adamant in their decision, James stating that he would not dishonor his father's memory or himself with the use of any of those vile curses, not would he remain in a department that allowed them. They chose instead to lend their effort to the war as philanthropists, and as politicians, both claiming their seats on the Wizengamot, as did Rory.

It was that last that caused the most uproar, and it was now well known that she was a werewolf. With the Foundation gaining attention, she could not hide it. Benjamin Barker lent his voice to her support, and there was no law that stated werewolves could not sit a family seat. It was her sitting that seat, her voting on laws and speaking out against injustice that caused Greyback to lose more of his support, and residency of the Foundation increased, and the packs in the continent declared neutrality, stating they would remain out of the conflict and offer aid to neither side.

In public, the group of friends were all pillars of strength, of the community, examples of what people should be doing to fight against the darkness that tried to dictate who should live and die, who was worthy of magic and of peace. In private, they grieved and cried and wished and screamed over the unfairness of it, that parents should be taken away, that they should be embroiled in a war fresh out of school, that instead of planning for families and careers, they were planning on ways to stay alive.

But plan they did,

And still the war raged on.

And still life went on as well, with all the surprised and twists and turns that only life could bring, for the lives of those fighting would be changed yet again, and the way they fought and what they fought for would follow.