Poems - 83.

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Chapter 83

It was hard for Adria to push through the large crowd of people when they made it to the church that would hold the funeral, her hand was gripped tightly in Sirius behind her and Benji in front of her as they manoeuvred their way through the crowd. The bright colours all around her brought a tear to Adria's eye that everyone respect their wishes.

Black was not a Judy Hopkins colour, it was a rare sight to see Judy wearing black, so, therefore, it felt odd that guests showing up to her funeral would wear a dark colour, when Judy was so bright.

The yellow dress with the long sleeves that Adria wore, which flowed down to above her knee was a perfect example of what one should wear to an event remembering the bright woman, with a light shining inside of her that it was hard to ever have a dull moment around her.

"Adria," Sirius whispered into her ear as they made their way to the front, standing at the edge of the long benches that lined the halls, "look," he gestured to a long bench at the opposite side, and Adria felt her heart swell at the sight of all of her friends, sitting close together in a tight group, as though Lily and the girls managed to forget their hatred towards the boys for the time being.

Adria took a deep breath, turning to look at Sirius who gave her a bright reassuring smile, and with her hand squeezing his, she took off in the direction of the seat where her friends sat, "oh Ads!" James gasped, pushing himself out of the bench as quickly as he could to engulf her tightly in a hug, and just like that, the tears fell.

His hand patted her hair as he whispered 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry' into her ear repeatedly whilst she shook her head, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as they both seemed to cry. Hearing the news that her mother had died was painful even for James, the few times he had met the woman was a blessing, but he cried for his best friend, his sister who he held in his arms right now, he hated the thought of her going through this type of pain, and as he clung to her, he wished she was happy.

"Addy," Remus whispered, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug of his own when James finally let go of her, "I know you don't want to hear any more sorrys, I'm sure, but I really am so terribly sorry that you have to go through this, but merlin, if anyone can, it'd be you, you're so strong, Ads, so bloody strong."

"Am I, Remus?" Adria asked, lifting her head up from his chest to look at him, "all I've done is cried, is that really strong. Alfie has planned this full day with my dad, supressed his feelings so that he could help, and what have I done?!"

"Hmm, maybe looked after your week-old brother?" Remus retorted, a bubbling anger in his stomach that his best friend, a sister of his own didn't see that she was as strong as she was, "do you think I could do that? Or any of us? No, Ads, but you did, and I know because Sirius told me, he told me that you get up in the night to comfort him, to feed him, to change him, and you do it without a single protest, why can't you see that you're so strong!?"

Adria didn't know how to answer Remus, so instead she lay her head back on his chest, savouring the warmth of his arms around her, she had missed her friends so much.

"Ads, I don't want to say sorry, because I don't think you'd want to hear that," Peter spoke as she stood in front of him, flowers gripped tightly in his hand which he then handed to her, "so I want to say congratulations, for being you, for being able to get out of bed and come here today, because if my mother had passed away, I wouldn't have been able to cope, and look at you, so strong and so brave. You're a true Gryffindor, and I am so proud of you, Addy," Adria bit her lip at Peter's words, quickly handing the flowers to Sirius before she threw her arms around him, tightly embracing the boy she knew as her substitute brother, just like the two others where.

She didn't realise just how much she needed their support until they were right in front of her, she didn't realise just how much Peter's words could impact her, how sweet the boy was until he handed her the flowers and recited the speech he so clearly practiced, merlin did she love her boys, so much.

"Addy," Marlene whispered when the girl finally let go of Peter, tears welled in Marlene's eyes at the clear sight of Adria, seeing that she was in so much pain over the passing, and from Sirius' letter, it was hard not to break down for the girl.

She wasn't able to say anything else when Adria engulfed her tightly, wrapping her arms around the blonde-haired girl as she supressed her sob, gasping for a breath as she done so, "please listen to me, Ads, please understand that you are so brave, and so strong, and crying doesn't lessen the strength you have, it really doesn't!"

"T-thank you," Adria whispered, forcing a small smile onto her lips before she retracted her arms from Marlene and moved onto Mary who let a few tears slip from her eye.

The girl couldn't speak, as much as she had prepared a speech for Adria, to remind her that she was strong and that she could get through it, she simply couldn't perform it, especially at the sight of the girl crying in front of her, she didn't need to hear it again, she probably didn't want to, so she done what she could, she threw her arm around Adria tightly.

Her actions spoke louder than words.

Adria sobbed quietly into Mary's shoulder, a shaky grip on the girl's shirt which closely resembled what Jude done to her, but instead of pondering on that thought, Adria merely sniffed and silently moved onto Dorcas.

"Oh, Ads," Dorcas whispered, unable to do anything else, she simply wrapped her arms around her, shaking her head softly that this girl, the kindest hearted, the brightest girl didn't deserve pain like this, it truly pained her that her best friend had to go through this.

Finn and Milo pushed themselves forward, engulfing Adria in a group hug with the both of them that gave her so much comfort that her hand clasped over her mouth to supress her sob, she shared looks with the two taller boys, each of her arms reaching out to pull them closer, "I love you guys," she whispered, letting the softest of laughs escape from her lips through her tears.

"A-Adria," the girl turned, seeing Eliot standing in front of her with tears running down his cheeks, "w-where's Alina?"

Adria forced a smile, pulling Eliot towards her gently, with her hand she guided Eliot in the direction of Alina, whose bright hair stood out over the bright blue dress that she wore, her eyes filled with tears, and as though she felt the stare on her, the girl turned, a sob escaping her lips when she saw the sight of her best friend, and just like that, they didn't care, Eliot picked up his pace, running over to Alina who fell into his arms, her sobs muffled by his shoulder as she gripped tightly onto the pale blue suit he wore.

The sight broke Adria's heart, so much so that she had to turn away with her friends, with Finn who looked heartbroken to see his brother in so much pain, pain which resembled his best friend, it pained him too, so much that Adria had to go through this. Like all of her friends who grieved for Adria's mother, they grieved for her too.

Then there was one, the red head standing in front of Adria, with tears running down her cheeks but a smile shining through.

A light.

Lily Evans, Adria's first friend was her light in the darkness, the girl who could make her feel even the slightest bit happy when she wanted to break down. She was always there, always by her side.

Lily Evans was her Ethel.

Lily took a shaky step forward, and that was all it took for Adria to fall into her embrace, a shaky sob leaving her lips as she cried, as she stood there in her best friends arms and cried out for her mother who couldn't return her pleads, "I-I miss her so much, Lily, what do I do, w-hat do I-"

"Hey, hey," Lily whispered softly, patting Adria's hair gently whilst she allowed her to sob, tightening her grip on their embrace, "you have done so much, Adria, you are doing so much. Missing her is inevitable, you will always miss her because she was your mum, and a bloody damn good one, and you can't do much, Ads, all you can do is move on, but merlin that's going to take so much time, and everyone is right, you're so strong, Ads, so bloody strong and you better believe that if anyone could get over this kind of pain, who can endure this kind of pain and still make an effort to get out of bed, then it's you!"

Adria was silent as she allowed her head to nod, clutching onto Lily for dear life she sobbed quietly, feeling the comfort emitting from the red head, she was relieved that she had her friends, that she had her siblings away from home, her best friends, her best friend. She couldn't live without them, she needed all of them in her life, and losing any of them would be just as painful as it was losing her mother, she could never imagine.

"I love you so much, Ads, so much," Lily whispered, pulling her head away to give her best friend a reassuring smile.

"I love you too, Lily," Adria whispered, taking her best friends hand tightly and giving it a gentle squeeze.

-

"If you could all rise," Adria took a deep breath as she stood from her seat, "Judith's daughter would like to say a few words." Sirius squeezed her hand from where he sat beside her, giving her the softest smile she could in any attempt he could to reassure her.

The teenager, the girl with the brown hair, the mysterious Gryffindor moved forward, taking a shaky breath as she finally stood in front of everyone, eyes from people she knew, and people she didn't all staring at her.

They all took a seat once again as she stood in front of them all, people cried at the sight of her, taking in the girl that resembled her mother, whether Adria could see it or not.

"I-I must admit that I'm not really a public speaker, I've never been able to speak in front of so many people, b-but I figured that if there was anyone in this world that I would make an exception for, it would be my mum," she took a deep breath as her eyes glanced at the words she had written and scored out so many times on the piece of paper in front of her, and with a sigh falling from her lips, she scrunched it up in her hand, closed her eyes for a few moments before she allowed them to open.

"No words can explain the pain I feel, and not just myself, but my family too. S-she, mum, she was just this light, a light so bright that there could never be any darkness, any sadness around you when she was around, she had that impact. She had this laugh, so captivating and melodic that it sounded as though your favourite song was playing whenever she was happy, it was my favourite song.

She wouldn't want us to be sad, she would want us to celebrate the life she once lived, a full life in her eyes but I believe myself that she had much more to achieve, she was such a beautiful soul, a-and she was gone too soon, gone in a heartbeat that being sad is inevitable, isn't it? When someone with so much beauty inside and out, with so much happiness in her body, someone we all loved with all of our hearts is gone just like that.

I miss her w-with all my heart, I really do, I always wondered if it was possible would I be able to take her place, and in a heartbeat, I would, because this world has lost a little bit of light without her in it, that having it back would be any sacrifice worth giving.

Oh man, she'd have hated me saying that, she loved me so much, she loved all of us so much, she had so much love in her body that she gave it to everyone she ever came in contact with, but there was two people in this world that mum thought she'd never live without.

And she lost one of them.

My mum lost her best friend to an illness that took over her body, filling her with pain so vivid that she couldn't cope anymore, my mum lost her best friend Ethel, and I was only four years old when that happened, but as much as mum could impact someone's live, so could Ethel.

They complimented each other so perfectly, they were best friends for so long that seeing one without the other was a rare sight, but now, b-but now, they're together again, they shine brightly in the sky as one, looking down on us hand in hand, celebrating their reunion whilst begging us to all stop grieving.

My d-dad, the best man in this entire world has lost his soul mate, the love of his life, but god he is so strong, he has coped with this pain for a full week and he is still managing to cope, and he is the biggest role model, as well as my siblings, the biggest role models that I could ever have.

So, on behalf of my mother, I'm so incredibly sorry that we all have to go through this lost, but I am so incredibly thankful that you all came here to celebrate the life she once lived, she loved each and every one of us, whether she knew you all her life, or a week, she would've loved you with all of her heart-" Adria choked on the sob that fell from her mouth, the tears running down her cheeks as she took a strangled breath, her hands gripping the sides of the podium that she stood behind.

"T-thank you," she repeated, quickly rushing back to her seat where she fell into Sirius' arms, feeling his hand tangle in her curls as he gripped her close, allowing her to sob into the fabric of his shirt. She took a shaky breath, gripping at the shirt he wore whilst her head nuzzled into his neck, not able to show her face as the tears flowed into a waterfall.

"You did great, Adria, she would be so proud of you, I'm so proud of you, Addy," Sirius whispered into her ear, pressing a soft kiss to her skin before helifted her chin to capture her eyes, "so proud."

(Judy and Ethel in the spring of 1954, taken by Douglas Hopkins.

May they rest in peace.)

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