can i lay by your side [max]

[Deleted]

Georgie didn't know what to do. The letter was in her hands, and she had read it maybe ten times, but she still couldn't process the words. Her father was dead. Her father was dead again. Georgie hadn't even gotten around to accepting that he was alive, since she hadn't seen him at all, and now...he was dead again? Georgie's breaths were coming fast and shallow, and she didn't understand why. She didn't think she was upset, because being upset required that she accept what she was being told. The letter said that she was going to be staying at The Leaky Cauldron, that she would be attending a funeral, that...her father was dead. Georgie tried to summon a memory of him, any memory, and came up blank. She was shocked out of her stupor by a fork clattering nearby, and Georgie stood up quickly while she was still awake and aware. She needed Max. Slytherin table. She could make it there. Georgie moved robotically across the hall to where Max was sitting. "My father is dead." Georgie wanted to burst into tears, but she didn't. She still couldn't believe that this was happening to her again.

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[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Maxima dropped her own utensils onto her plate as soon as she heard Georgiana's voice above the conversation that was going on among the other Slytherins. “My father is dead.” It was real. He must have been dead—actually dead, this time.

Immediately, Max was filled with guilt for not having believed her best friend when she had told her that her parents were actually alive. She couldn't do that to her again, especially not when she had tried to take her own life only a few weeks before.

Without hesitation, she pulled her legs out from under the table and turned herself around on the bench. “Georgie…” What could she say? “I'm sorry.”

@georgiana

[Deleted]

Max apologized, and Georgie’s first impulse was to say she had nothing to be sorry for, because really, nothing was wrong. Georgie had lived without a father for the past five years anyways, so the four months she had thought he had been alive were just a bonus, right? But as much as she tried to get the words out, Georgie couldn’t. She just kept choking. “I can’t do this alone.” She said instead, throat beginning to tighten a little. Huh. That felt strange. “I…can you come to the funeral with me?” Georgie’s lower lip begin to quiver, but still not a single tear slid down her cheek. She didn’t know what else to say, but she reached for Max’s hand. Her friend was still eating breakfast, but Georgie was selfish. She just wanted someone to hold her hand.

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[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

It was physically painful for Max to watch Georgiana so choked up, especially after she had been so rude to her the last time they had ended up in conversation in the Great Hall about Georgie's parents. They had gone from being presumed dead in America to alive and in Britain, and now one of them really was dead.

“I can't do this alone,” Georgie begged of her. “I… can you come to the funeral with me?”

Max took Georgie's hand and squeezed it. She didn't know when the funeral would be held, but she wouldn't miss it if Georgie wanted her there. Even though she had missed quite a few classes while in the Hospital Wing, her professors would have to make an exception.

Getting to her feet, she looked Georgiana in the eyes. “I'll be there,” she promised, glancing towards the door. “Let's go,” she whispered, not thinking twice about her unfinished food. Even if they just stepped into the Entrance Hall, it would save them both some embarrassment.

@georgiana

[Deleted]

Max’s hand felt strangely small to Georgie, and she wondered if that was a result of the situation at present or the fact that the Hufflepuff was beginning to realize how flawed her best friend was. How flawed they both were. Here Georgie was, asking Max to miss more school when she had already missed classes for being hospitalized. Max hadn’t even met her father, but Georgie was selfish and wanted her best friend to attend his funeral. Max suggested that the pair of them move out of the Great Hall, and Georgie nodded slowly. She squeezed Max’s hand a little and crumpled the letter in her other hand into a tiny ball. When they finally got out of the line of sight of everyone eating breakfast, Georgie threw her arms around Max. There still weren’t any tears dripping down her cheeks, or anything even resembling tears. Georgie took a deep breath, smelling Max’s shampoo and trying to let that calm her down. “I’m sorry.” Maybe it was wrong of her, but Georgie almost felt like this was a punishment for not being there for Max when she was needed. Maybe if she had been a better friend, then her father wouldn’t be dead.

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