When Your Parents Tell You Bedtime Stories

Epilogue-seven years after chapter 24

The twenty-two year old woman bent down and gently placed the five red roses on the grave. One rose for each year she had been friends with him; each year she had spent with the real him. She found her way to her knees and leaned forward, placing her hand against the cold slab of marble. The winter chill cut through her coat, but she didn't mind. She never did.

Rigel Marcus Flint

December 2000-May 2020

May the world remember him as we knew him.

That was her doing. That last phrase. She didn't want anyone to think of him as he was in the last five years of his life; she couldn't bear the thought. Her hand trailed down the grave to pick up the roses again, holding them against her face, trying to remember better days.

It seemed like yesterday; at least she wished. There were still all those haunting memories that reminded her it wasn't. She blamed it on herself-even though everyone had told her time and time again that it hadn't been her fault.

She closed her eyes and let the memories flood back to her mind. It all started the week he locked himself in his room every night reading history books-on Voldemort and The Great Battle. No one saw it coming. After Christmas he didn't return to school and he didn't return home. A year later Rigel, her best friend, resurfaced with a thirst for revenge and purity. It had only been thirteen years and here he was again; Voldemort. Well...very similar anyway.

The first time she came face to face with him, after hearing about several murders he'd been committing, was shortly after she graduated from Hogwarts, shortly after Alphard's death. She really blamed herself for that one. She should have dealt with Rigel differently all those years ago. Three short raps on the door as he used to do at Hogwarts-she should have known it was him. She really thought he was going to kill her. It had been worse than death.

Rigel's eyes were so dull and full of rage. His voice was gruff and his hair, as well as his personality, untamed. To see someone you had been so close to turn into such a monster was frightening. Rigel had started threatening her, telling her all the mistakes she had made and how she should have known better; but it was as though he were talking to someone he had never met, only knew about. He explained to her how everyone's madness had drove him to show them the 'error of their ways.' It was all their fault, he had said; Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, herself, and Aludra.

Persephone snapped back from the past briefly and glanced a few isles up in the graveyard. Aludra was crouched down by a grave, fresh grass just growing on the mound of it. The scene became unbearable and Persephone glanced back down at the headstone in front of her. Unwanted memories came rushing to her and she couldn't stop them. She closed her eyes tightly, as a last attempt to ward them off, but they came anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was so beautiful. Aludra was dressed in all white and snow was just lightly falling on all the guests waiting anxiously for the ceremony. Persephone was waiting at the altar for Aludra to come down the isle and she smiled as she remembered speaking with the blushing bride just moments ago.

'I can't do it.'

'You just have cold feet.'

'That's easy for you to say.'

'Aludra, listen to me. You are marrying a man who loves you more than anything in the world, and you love him back; there's nothing to be nervous about. You won't regret it.'

'How can you be sure it's not all just a big mistake.'

'Aludra, you two have a whole life ahead of you filled with beautiful children and happy memories. Forget Rigel and his followers, forget Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalry, we aren't at Hogwarts anymore; this is your day.'

'Listen to her,' a voice spoke from the doorway. 'She's very intelligent; gets that from her mother.' The man walked over and placed a kiss on Persephone's head before doing the same to Aludra. 'She's right, you deserve this day. Aludra, listen to me. I never got the chance to be with the one I loved-I barely even got the chance to tell her. I was lucky, though. She left me something that would remind me of love and would bring happiness to my life that she couldn't. Hermione died, and I was saved by her beautiful daughter. You have your chance. Take it. Forget what everyone else says-they don't know. I discovered that a long time ago.'

'I'm sorry you never....'

'Forget it, I don't regret anything in my life. I think you have a wedding to attend.'

'Thank you, Mr. Malfoy.' Aludra paused for a moment. 'What are we all standing around for, I've got a man waiting for me!'

Persephone pulled herself back to the present and glanced up just as Aludra began coming down the isle. Taking her eyes off her friend, she chanced a look at the groom. Bobby Weasley looked ecstatic, and Persephone was sorry she had ever doubted him not being good enough for Aludra...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That had been the end of the cheerful atmosphere. Rigel and his small number had come in before Aludra made it up the isle. They had one target in mind, and no one could stop them. Aludra was a widow before she had even had a chance to be married.

Rigel had told Persephone that night in her flat that he wanted revenge; to teach everyone that they had made a wrong choice when they turned against Slytherin. Somehow he'd snaked his way into the ministry's good graces and her father had lost his Auror job. Unable to find work anywhere else in the wizarding community, he'd had to rely on his family fortune for the first time in his life.

Rigel had killed Bobby Weasley, in front of his family, friends, and his future wife. He had rid Aludra of all happiness and when she had lunged at him, he just laughed. Cold and long and hollow. Aludra Spica had never shed a tear before that day, and now Persephone feared she didn't have any left.

Rigel had killed Alphard. Innocent Alphard who'd done nothing but help Persephone. He was Rigel's first target behind Harry Potter.

Rigel had wiped the memory of Harry Potter. The-Boy-Who-Lived now spent all his days in Mungo's with frequent visitors and nothing but stories and legends to base his life off of.

Persephone crushed the flowers in her hands as she thought of all that had happened. Releasing them, she placed them back on the grave. So many people could not understand while she still visited his grave; not even Aludra. She sighed and stood up; wiping one lone tear from her eye, her second tear ever shed. She knew, in her heart she knew, that the man that had tortured the wizarding world for the past four years was not her Rigel; not the one she knew. She believed that and no matter how many lives had been ruined because of him, she still mourned for his life; taken by her own father's hand. Draco Malfoy had been protecting Mirach Achernar when Rigel had come to finish his revenge. Persephone understood, yet she still felt a hole in her heart when she thought of her childhood friend.

Feeling a gentle touch on her arm she spun around to find Aludra there, face tear-stained, but pride intact. "Let's go," she whispered. Persephone nodded and the two stopped a moment at Alphard's grave before heading out of the graveyard.

"You're getting married tomorrow," Aludra said to ease the tension.

"I know."

"I'll never understand why you choose Rigel's birthday over your mother's."

"I know and I can't explain it to you."

"I know." There was another pause. "Do you ever wonder why things turned out the way they did?"

"Yes, but I know it all happens for a reason. My father says I'm proof of that."

"I think we should have him tell us one more bedtime story before the wedding tomorrow." Persephone turned to her friend at the suggestion and spotted a small smile on her face; the first in such a long time.

"That's a brilliant idea. I think I'll make him tell us the one about Betelgeuse and Cassiopia; it might have a different ending nowadays."

"I don't believe I've heard that one."

"You'll recognize it; you've heard a very similar version before." Persephone opened the gate and stepped over the threshold from the world of the dead to that of life and watched Aludra do the same.

"I miss him," Aludra said, understanding Persephone was speaking of a love stronger then the divide between two different worlds.

Persephone let Aludra lead the way and fell into sync behind her. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of an evading memory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Aludra, just tell me," Persephone persisted looking at her giddy best friend. "Who is he?"

"I never said anything about a guy," Aludra said pouting.

"I know these things. Who is it? It's not Rigel, is it?"

"No, of course not," Aludra said disgusted.

"Then who is it?"

"The only reason I'm telling you this is because it's you and because of your parents."

"Wait a minute," Persephone said regaining her senses. "It's a Gryffindor?"

Aludra nodded. "I knew you'd figure it out...."

"Aludra, are you mad?! A Gryffindor? It's insane! You can't like a Gryffindor, it's not allowed."

"But, Persephone...."

"I can't believe you would turn your back on your house!" Persephone stormed over to her bed and closed the bed hangings harshly, shutting out her best friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Persephone would give almost anything take that moment back. She wished she had given Aludra support from the start. She'd regretted it ever since she'd seen the pain in Aludra's eyes when Bobby was killed. But you can't change time; she knew that all too well.

Persephone turned and took one last look at the graveyard, thinking of all the lives that were no longer here. 'To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.' Turning away from the past and towards the future, Persephone wiped any trace of tears from her eyes and followed proudly behind Aludra.