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Narcissa had once told Marina that people grieve death differently.
She had not believed her. Tears, screams, sleepless nights - they were all the same to her. She had been convinced that sadness was something everybody responded to similarly. But that was until she saw how Harry reacted to the death of his godfather.
After going back to Hogwarts and packing their things, Marina and Harry had agreed upon spending the summer at Grimmauld Place together. There was no way Marina could go back to Malfoy Manor after what had happened at the Ministry, and Harry refused to return to his aunt's. And so, the two had taken the train back to London.
The first nights had been the worst. Harry did not close his eyes for a second, but stayed up, screaming and knocking things over. He would blame himself for Sirius' death, not wanting to speak to anyone. Kreacher got quite a job, having to run after Harry and pick up broken plates and chairs that had been knocked over in rage.
Marina, however, felt nothing but emptiness. She had grown tired of staring at her own reflection in the mirror, waiting for tears to fill her eyes, but not getting anything. All that she could feel was emptiness - a black hole, planted in her chest, refusing to let her shed tears, scream in anger or pick up the courage to stop Harry from destroying the house.
After a few nights, when the final week of June approached, the sun warming up London, Mrs. Weasley came to the house. Without making much noise, she prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the pair, though Marina was the only one to show up in the kitchen to eat.
Don't want to, Harry had said when Mrs. Weasley knocked on Sirius' bedroom door. Not today.
Moody had come to the house too, bringing old photos of the Order in an attempt to cheer Harry up. The two had stayed in the Drawing Room, talking for ages. Marina was still uncomfortable around Moody, as a part of her still mistook him for Crouch Junior. Therefore, she had stayed behind, making no disturbance.
An unread newspaper lay on the end of her bed. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Returns, it says. A picture of a worried Minister of Magic is plastered on it. Marina could not even bear the thought of picking it up. She imagined that it was one of those greedy, money-hungry journalists that worked with Skeeter who had written the article. They were probably writing badly about Harry or explaining how Dumbledore had been reinstated as Headmaster of Hogwarts - either way, there was no use in spending energy on reading stupid articles.
Had they written about her uncle, on the other hand... How he had died saving others, still blood on his name, knowing that the whole Wizarding World hated him because they believed he was a lousy criminal... How he had fought tens of Death Eaters without much struggle... How he had supported Harry till the very end...
