the_debt_of_time

Sirius had fallen into a series of nightmares following Mary's death and his first kill.
Moody was actually proud of him for taking down a Death Eater and a spy, protecting one
of their own in the process. He was offered congratulations by most of the Order, but Mia
could see that it was destroying a part of him.
The day following the attack, Kingsley had stopped by to speak with Sirius, for
which Mia was grateful because whatever the older Auror had said to her boyfriend had
begun to pull him slightly out of the darkness. He was an Auror, and they were at war.
People died in war. Sometimes it was kill or be killed; Mia knew that. It had been Sirius who
had told her that when she had fallen into the same darkness following her accidental killing
of Crabbe Sr at the final battle in 1998.
Unlike Dorea and Charlus, or any of the other people they had lost to the war, Mary
was not going to have a funeral. She had been the only one killed that day, and the Death
Eaters were aware of it. With Mary having no surviving family members, that meant the
Order of the Phoenix was in charge of her burial. Having a large funeral would only draw
the kind of attention that would just get more of them killed.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter offered to take care of burying Mary. Sirius and
Peter wanted to do it themselves, being the last two who had seen her alive, but James and
Remus insisted on being there to support their fellow Marauders.
"Lily and Alice aren't going either," Sirius said as Mia helped him into his travelling
cloak. "Both Frank and Alice are going to be at the Ministry with Moody as a distraction.
Lily, too."
Mia understood. "That's probably for the best. I don't want any of you to go, but
it's... it's Mary, and someone needs to see her properly buried."
"Once we've caught the bastards who did this, we'll have a real funeral for her,"
Remus promised as he put a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "For now, we just need to take care
of her. She had no family left, just distant relatives really. Are you sure you're okay with
staying?"
"I'm fine," Mia lied. "Like you said, it's not a real funeral, just a burial. When the
war is over we'll all grieve together over.. ." She paused as her chest clenched painfully.
"Over everyone we've lost. In the meantime, we just have to keep moving forward, pick
ourselves back up, and fight on."