r e s p e c t (open)

[oink]

Although she had not known Hiroku personally, Solstice thought it only appropriate to attend the funeral of her fellow Order member. It pained her that people so young were becoming casualties of war, but it was an unfortunate truth that Solstice had to accept. She knew that it very well could be her or someone she knew next, no matter how much she wished that it would not happen. Quite reasonably, she was scared about the future, but she was calm and collected as always.

Unlike the rest of the obligatory funeral-goers, Solstice took a seat in the front row, in the very last seat on the right side. She sat down, crossing her ankles delicately. She wore a simple black dress and pumps, her hands covered by wrist-height black lace gloves. Solstice sat quietly, eyes trained toward the front, mind racing.

[teacher]

Lyla adjusted the straps on the little sweater she had over her black dress. She felt slightly awkward at Hiroku's funeral, but Lyla felt that she needed to attend. Not only had Hiroku been a fellow Order member, but she had been one of Lyla's students as well. Lyla had been deeply saddened to hear of her passing.

Spotting a familiar face in the front row, Lyla went to sit down next to the girl. She had seen this girl at Order meetings, along with her twin sister, though Lyla did not know her name, as she didn't think she had ever heard it mentioned. Lyla gave a nod to the girl before sitting down.

[oink]

Solstice looked over at the woman who sat down beside her, returning her nod of greeting, not finding it necessary to speak to her. She would talk if spoken to, otherwise she would remain quiet. Solstice recognized the woman as being Lyla Copper, a fellow Order of the Phoenix member, as well as one of the professors at Hogwarts. Solstice was deeply fascinated by the school, having only been in a few times for Order meetings- it really was an interesting place.

[teacher]

"How are you?" Lyla asked quietly, seeing as the service hadn't started just yet. Most of the people there were busy trying to comfort Hiroku's mother, who was unconsolable at the moment. Lyla felt truly bad for the poor woman; she had lost both of her children in a very short period of time.

[oink]

Solstice pondered the question a moment longer than what would have been a typical response- she wondered if it was appropriate to say that she was well while being at a funeral. It seemed to be almost disrespectful to her. "Fair enough," said Solstice, figuring that her response would be appropriate, "and yourself?" In the back of her mind she made the observation that those four words had been all she had spoken since arriving, not unusual for her, although she didn't usually keep track of the words she said throughout the day.

[teacher]

Lyla nodded, glad that the girl- Solstice, she now thought her name was- seemed to be doing well in spite of all of the tragedies. The whole of the Order seemed to just be getting by, pushing forward past one loss after another. Lyla wasn't sure how many more they could take before it became too much to bear. "Better than some, I'd say," Lyla replied. Certainly things weren't perfect, but she considered herself to be one of the luckier people at the moment. She had yet to lose a family member or even a close friend, though Lyla had been very hurt by the losses of her fellow Order members.

[oink]

Solstice only nodded, slipping back into her usual state of quiet mystery. She was a private person, she did not like sharing her thoughts with people- unless of course said person was her identical twin or her parents. Solstice was glad however, that her personality seemed to go very well with her internship in the Department of Mysteries, she had no problem with the level of secrecy the position required. Solstice trained her gaze toward the front of the room, fixing upon a gently flickering candle.

[teacher]

As Solstice fell silent, Lyla found herself looking over at Hiroku and Wolfgang's mother once more. Much to Lyla's surprise, she seemed to have stopped crying. In fact, she wasn't really showing much emotion at all. Lyla supposed that she, like so many others, was beginning to feel the hopelessness of the entire situation. And that left no room for any other emotion at all. Lyla bit her lip and turned back to the girl next to her, wishing for a bit more conversation, but figuring that Solstice was fairly quiet.

[oink]

Solstice began pondering the deeper questions of life, things like what happened after death, and the very real issue that any of them could be gone at any moment. It was an unfortunate set of thoughts to be so forcefully pushed upon a seventeen-year-old. Solstice thought this was supposed to be the time of life where she could be slightly irresponsible, have fun, and figure things out through making mistakes. But now, Solstice did not see that being realistic for anyone, especially not herself.