A Tragic Holiday

[Daphne Chaos]

December 23, 2022: Daphne Chaos had been on her way to the New Zealand Express to pick her daughter up from school and bring her back home after nearly six months without communication between the two. Uncharacteristically of her, she was driving a Muggle car rather than traveling by Apparating, Floo Powder, or Portkey. The reason for the car was that she had been at a Christmas party earlier and needed the space for the gifts. The party was festive though Daphne was a little disheartened that her husband had chosen not to go that night for the very first time. She had kissed her two children goodbye, just two months shy of turning a year old and went on her way. Of course she, like the rest of the Chaos family, had been having dreams with owls in them, their family death omen, but she tried not let it affect her this evening. Of course she had been terrified because she and her husband hadn't spoken to their daughter in so long and she was worried that she wouldn't be able to see her before something tragic happened.

On her way to the train station where she expected her daughter to be, Daphne got into a car accident. She tried to heal herself as best as she could with her wand but when she was able to reach it, it was snapped and thus useless. Witnesses called for Healers and they arrived immediately, rushing her over to St. Mungo's, but they said she had bled out before they could do anything. The last image that Daphne saw before her eyelids closed shut permanently over her soft brown eyes was of her family.

December 27, 2022: It was a cold, grey winter morning in Firenze, Italy. Daphne's family had decided to have the funeral in her hometown in Italy rather than her newest residence, New Zealand. Many had gathered from all around the world to pay their respects to her and her family.

 

[Charles Chaos]

Charlie was sitting beside his parents and his daughter, holding his golden wedding band in his hands, twirling it uselessly between his fingers. He knew his parents couldn't stand to be anywhere together ever since their divorce when he was younger so the fact that they didn't mind sitting beside each other to be there for him in his time of loss was comforting to him. He had been dreading that day, December 23, because the previous night he'd heard it - the screech, indicating that it was close, and still he had chosen not to go with his wife to the Christmas party.

Charlie was appearing well put together in a black suit and a calm expression on his face though on the night of the accident he had positively cried his eyes out on her hospital bed. Yes, of course the man was crying for his loss, but now mostly, he felt guilt. A single tear escaped the thirty-eight year old as he looked down at his polished dress shoes and remembered that this was the very same suit he had worn that night, December 23. He wasn't dressed to accompany Daphne however, he was going to go meet Melissa, the Flourish and Blotts owner whom he'd met a month ago. So far the two had only had casual exchanges in conversation though Charlie ashamedly knew that he was hoping to take it further. His father had always warned him that he married too young, and that it resulted in early divorce, however for Charlie he seemed to be widowed instead.

Charlie felt a hand on his shoulder, another on his knee, and he turned to look at his parents with a grave expression, giving them a sliver of a smile before he returned his gaze to the wedding ring, drowning out the words of the Italian priest and the sobs heard all around. Charlie then took a glance at his eldest daughter who since that night hadn't said a word, nothing. She was staring blankly in front of her, or so it seemed, Charlie followed her gaze to Daphne's coffin, and the father comfortingly put his arm around the teenager, though she showed no sign of acknowledging it.

 

[Isabella Chaos]

Isabella was in shock, to say the least. She had known it was coming all along, eventually it would happen, and the screeching tipped her off on when exactly and still, nothing prepared her for the blow that she received on Yule Ball night. She knew her mother was going to be expecting her at the train station as her letter said she was going to pick her up then, but Isabella wasn't planning on showing up, she wasn't planning on being in Italy at all this holiday break. Now here she was, sitting beside her father with his arm around her though she didn't even notice and her family glancing at her every few seconds between their sobs. The teenager hadn't undressed from her provocative Yule Ball dress in two days, no longer caring that her father yelled at her for wearing such a short, revealing dress, and her hair was matted and unwashed; it was as if she were a baby again, like her twin siblings who were under a year old. Pamela and Victoria had dressed her this morning in fresh clothing, all black of course, her hair combed neatly down with a bow in it, and some rose on her cheeks so she didn't appear so pale and deathly, like my mother lying in the coffin, Isabella thought numbly.

Though she had repeated it to herself several times now, and she could see she was clearly not alive anymore, the thought still hadn't sunk into the Slytherin. She couldn't imagine life without her mother, and she had so immaturely been trying to make it happen all year. She had refused to talk to her all year and wasn't even planning on seeing her this Christmas break, and now her longing for that actually came true, now her mother would no longer be involved in her life. What pained Isabella the most was that she had been upset with her mother for a completely and utterly ridiculous situation which she should not have blamed her for, it wasn't her parents that Isabella should've been mad at, it was Pamela. Though now, the teenager simply didn't care enough anymore, she didn't care enough to do anything at all, not eat or drink or even talk. These days all the Slytherin would do was sleep, contradictory to her lack of sleeping during school.

The Slytherin was staring straight over at her mother's coffin when a rustling noise was heard behind her. She didn't flinch or blink or acknowledge the movement at all, but she'd heard it. In her peripheral she'd caught her aunt walking up to the podium to say a few words. Isabella was supposed to say a few words and have them written down on note cards to read off of, but the note cards in her hands sitting in her lap were empty. She hadn't spoken in four days, what was she supposed to say now? What could she say, nothing would bring her back. The girl felt that it was her fault her mother had died, was she supposed to share that with everyone? Was she supposed to say 'The last words I ever said to my mother were 'I hate you'.' How could she possibly express how much she loved her mother when those three last words that now haunted the teenager, were slapping her right in the face. How could she have been so selfish and immature as to actually utter those words to her mother? For the first time since December 23, Isabella let a single tear fall out of the corner of her eye and surprisingly, she broke free of her 'glazed over' stare and focused her blurry eyes on her aunt who had began speaking.

 

[Valeria Trevi]

Valeria was shocked when she'd received the urgent owl late that night, but as soon as she saw it coming, she knew it had happened. She was sitting beside her parents, whom she had run away from just last year and not until now did they know that she had been staying with her aunt and uncle, Daphne and Charlie. She was a bit afraid of what they would say now that they knew where she had run off to, but right now wasn't the time to be discussing those types of things. She could tell her mother was clearly distraught over the death of her only sibling.

Even her daughter Deja, dressed in all black, (as was Valeria) could tell something was wrong. She wasn't bouncing around on Valerie's lap but simply sitting and occasionally pointing at the pictures of Daphne as she would loudly let out "Nee", the only way she could say Daphne's name. It was as if she knew, though no one had yet explained it to the one-year old.

It was Valerie's mother's turn to speak, Daphne's younger sister, though she looked much, much older. The woman had gotten involved with the Dark Arts, as well as her husband, and ended up in Azkaban a few times, maybe twice. But those two times were enough to make her look old as a hag, in her opinion at least. Asteria's eyes were bloodshot and swollen as she made her way up to the podium to speak.

She looked up at the sea of people and attempted a smile but her lips didn't curl upward. She looked down at her hands, wringing them together and opened her mouth a few times, unable to let any sound out. Her husband was standing next to her and he patted her on the shoulder softly to encourage her to speak. Finally Asteria nodded her head slightly as she began. "Daphne, my sister, was a great woman, she was a great woman to me, to her family, to all of us. When we were only teenagers and had to move to Beauxbatons, Daphne of course made many friends right away while I was too mean to acknowledge anyone. But she made that time bearable for me, and always included me in everything and eventually I found myself liking it. That's how Daphne was, she made you have a good time even in the worst of times, and being fifteen, going to Beauxbatons had to have been the low point in my life at the time," Asteria chuckled just slightly before tears brimmed down her cheeks. "Things were so different back then than they are now, but Daphne never changed. She always helped me, no matter what. No matter how much of a mess I got into, she was always there to get me out and take care of me," Asteria choked on her words and looked down at her hands again. It took her a few moments to compose herself together again. "She was a great mother and a wife," she glanced over to Charlie and Isabella, "and she was a great aunt. She took in my daughter and granddaughter and took care of them for me, when I couldn't," Asteria tried to say through her sobs. "But most of all, she was a great sister to me and that is how I will remember her. I love you, Daphne," she managed to get out, pressing her fingers upon her lips to stifle another sob and then putting her hand on the picture of the two of them together, as if transferring the kiss. Asteria broke down into tears after that and was no longer able to say anything else, so her husband, David, gently pulled her and took her back to her seat.

In her seat, Valerie was crying again, the look her mother had given her when she spoke of her and Deja caused so much pain to the eighteen year old. What did she mean by 'she took care of them when I couldn't'? But Valerie was too overwhelmed with sorrow to dwell on it. She felt a tiny hand press against her cheek as Deja was looking up at her, wiping her tears away for her as she simply said, "Cry." Valerie nodded her head slowly as a small chuckle and smile escaped her for her daughter's ability to acknowledge that she was crying and gave her a kiss atop her forehead. She glanced over at her cousin Isabella who seemed the most still out of all of them. She couldn't imagine what life would be like losing her mother, or worse, Deja losing her. "Don't cry," Deja pleaded, her baby voice breaking Valerie's concentration and focusing back on her daughter. Tears were still streaming down Valerie's face but she nodded her head as if to say 'Okay, I won't cry anymore.'

 

[Victoria Chambers]

Victoria had gotten quite skilled at being able to hold both Chaos infants in her arms, though now as very active ten-month-old babies, it was proving quite difficult. This morning however, was different. The two were eerily silent and calm, they didn't even cry, it was as if they knew already that they would never, ever know their mother. Victoria was shocked and completely sad about the loss for the Chaos', she didn't think she could ever survive without her mother, or her parents in general. The two were so supportive of her, they were even here at the funeral to pay their respects to the family that had hired her. This family wasn't just important to Tori, but to Isaac as well, who was sitting next to Tori now, but his blue eyes only focused on the daughter, Isabella. Tori didn't know they would've hit it off so well when she let Isabella stay at her house this summer but it seemed the two were very close, not that Isabella had shown any emotion since leaving Hogwarts, but Tori knew Isaac didn't lie about his friendships.

After Asteria had gone on, Daphne's parents went up and said beautiful words about their daughter that just brought tears in her eyes, as well as everyone else's she was sure, causing her vision to go blurry. Her best friend was sobbing beside her and she wanted to put a hand out and comfort her, but her hands were holding Cappie and Valentina so she couldn't. Luckily Deja had done it for her once again as she had previously. The things that were being said, her brother feeling pain for Isabella, her best friend Valerie crying beside her at the loss of her aunt, the two babies she had come to grown and love now losing their mother--it was so overwhelming for the Gryffindor girl. She wanted to comfort them all, each family member here, the ones she had grown to know and love and even those she didn't, she wanted to tell them that she cared for and respected Daphne as much as they did, that she knew she was a great woman upon the instant of meeting her and that she was glad she had the privilege of meeting the woman before she had passed on.

 

[Isaac Chambers IV]

Isaac had demanded to his parents that they fly him over to Italy with Victoria the second he had gotten home for the holidays. At first his parents had been rather apprehensive but after talking to Victoria they had agreed to take the entire family to pay their respects. At first Isaac was happy that his parents had said yes, but after hearing that they would be bringing the entire family along he groaned in annoyance. He felt embarrassed that his family was going to be barging in on the Chaos' time of grief but he wanted to be there for Bella so he got over it quickly. The image of her crying on Yule Ball night was still fresh in his mind and it made him cringe at the thought of seeing her like that again, so he knew he had to be there, even if that meant taking his large family along.

They got a hotel in Italy but since Victoria worked for them and lived in their house, Isaac went over all the time. He spent all his time with Isabella in her room, he'd just sit there on the chair of her desk while she lay emotionless on her bed and he'd talk to keep her entertained even though she never gave any responses. He just wanted her to know that he would be there for her to comfort her and to entertain her and keep her spirits lifted when she needed it.

On the day of the funeral, Isaac got dressed and went over to accompany Isabella but unfortunately had a run in with her fourteen-year old cousin Zaire, who said he was spending too much time with her and he needed to back off. Isaac was furious but he had to oblige because he didn't want to make a scene and he was after all her family so he had to respect him. Isaac begrudgingly sat beside his family a few rows behind Bella though he never took his eyes off of her. She seemed so...dead behind her eyes though he knew she needed to get her emotions out sooner or later. It wasn't good for her to keep them bottled up like that and hidden. Today at the wake he would try to get her to open up and finally speak, it was for her own good and he was just looking out for her.