This is my first ever Harry Potter fic. I was inspired today when I finished the book. I hope you like it.
The bright summer day seemed to mock the somber party where they stood, gathered in a small huddle in the family cemetery behind the Burrow. The gathering was fairly large, and the people who had turned up for the service only barely managed to fit into the small fenced in area. At the center of the throng were eight people with shockingly red hair, all of them with heads bowed in a distinct posture of grief.
Though the wizarding world could not help but feel triumphant at the final end to the reign of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, there was still the unfortunate business of paying tribute to those who fell to the evil wizard and his followers. Most of the grieving families were proud of the price they had paid in order to see the end to the most infamous wizard of all time, that did not mean, however, that they did not acutely feel the pain of being parted from those only so recently lost to them.
A small murmur went through the crowd now as three new people apparated into the yard and joined those gathered in the cemetery. The tall young man with black hair cradled a small child, of only about three months old against his chest. Next to him, stood a young woman, with curly brown hair and an attractive face. They both had the appearance of people who had seen and done far too much for their mere seventeen years. The young man steadied the young woman next to him, and she, still linking arms with him from their joint apparition, continued to clutch him for support as they headed to the place where he lay.
The crowd parted for them, and they too joined the group of people coming to stop among the red headed family. It was here that the brown haired young woman detached herself from her traveling companion to throw herself into the arms of one of the red haired young men. In the quietness of the dazzling day, the baby began to softly cry. An older woman, with glasses and a severe looking bun rushed forward and took the child from the young man; he gave her a small grateful smile.
"Harry." Mrs. Weasley came forward and gave him a motherly hug, and then took hold of the arm Hermione had recently vacated.
"I'm sorry we're late…I'm just getting used to caring for Teddy..." He said looking down to the only mother he had ever really known.
"Of course dear, we wouldn't have begun with out you…he wouldn't have wanted…" but she broke off, succumbing to tears.
Harry wrapped a strong arm around her, and said in a quiet whisper, "I'm so very sorry, Mrs. Weasley." He couldn't help hanging his head in shame. But she looked at him reproachfully.
"Harry, we are proud of our son. We are proud of All of our sons." She said meaningfully, and he felt his chest swell at he grasped her meaning. He was so over come, he could only nod in response. She gave his arm a squeeze, as her husband came to her other side.
An elderly witch, wearing flowing purple dress robes stepped to the front of the gathering, next to the place where Fred Weasley now lay upon a stone dais. It looked like a bed, and Fred's head was propped against a pillow carved from stone. Only the ominous reason for the gathering kept Harry from believing the Fred had merely fallen asleep.
Now the witch in purple robs cleared her throat with a small cough that made Harry think forcibly of Dolores Umbridge. He immediately thought of Fred and George's final flight from Hogwarts during his fifth year, and the trouble they had given the usurping Headmistress. At this flood of memories he had to suppress a smile. As the witch began giving the oration, Harry glanced at Fred's identical other half, George. He now wore a magical ear over the place where his own had been blasted off. Harry wondered how George would now go through life, parted from the brother who had always been at his side. He looked up as the witch clearly began to come to the end of her address. Harry listened to her final words, hoping to glean some comfort from them.
"Your presence here today is the greatest testament to the full life led by young Fred. He touched many lives, and undoubtedly made most of them laugh. Today let us go forth in remembrance of his wonderful sense of humor, and use this day to honor a courageous young man, not with tears, but with stories of all the ways he managed to make us chuckle, however unwillingly." At this she bestowed a bright smile on the people gathered around her, and Harry had to admit that it was a very fitting closing. Fred would not have wanted them to cry over him, he would have much rather had them laugh at one of his jokes or antics.
As the mourners watched, the stone dais began to sink into the soft green grass beneath it. As it finally sunk beneath the green surface, the grass began to grow over it. George made a sudden movement, throwing himself to the ground at Fred's head.
"FRED!" His yell pierced the air, and many of the people in the small cemetery turned to leave the Weasley's to their grief. George continued to kneel at the side of Fred's grave, and it seemed that his movement had kept the grave from sinking all the way into the ground. Fred was now even with the ground that was waiting to receive his body.
"Fred." George called to his brother much more quietly this time. "Fred, I need you." At this, three of the young men made movements toward the living twin. Percy, his older brother fell to his side, wrapping an arm around George's heaving shoulders. Ron and Harry had both moved forward as well.
"George." Said Ron quietly. "George, do you want us to leave you alone for a while?" He stood at Percy's side, while Harry knelt on George's other side. George looked to him, clutching his arm.
"Harry…I miss him." At this Harry could no longer contain himself. George's grief was etched all over his face, a stark contrast to his serene identical counterpart lying on the grass in front of them. Harry began to cry too, silent tears coursing down his cheeks. He felt acutely what George had lost, so that Harry might finally defeat Voldemort. At Harry's tears, George seemed to regain his composure. Again he addressed Harry.
"Help me up?" Harry nodded, stood, and hauled the heavier man to his feet. Percy still was stationed at George's other side, a silent source of strength for his younger brother. Ron turned to his mother, father, and two eldest brothers and gestured them forward. Finally the only daughter stepped forward to join the rest of the family, and it was clear among them all that this was the final moment.
"George" said Mr. Weasley, speaking for the first time since Harry's arrival. "I think you should do it, son. We all loved and missed him, but I don't think any of us can miss him quite the way that you do. It should be you." Harry was not sure what Mr. Weasley meant, but he kept his place, a silent sentinel at George's side. Some part of him felt he should be punished for the pain that all of them now felt, and experiencing George's own deepest pain seemed a most frail punishment indeed.
George nodded at his father's words and stepped forward, again he knelt at his twin's side, but this time it was in a completely different posture. He appeared stronger, calmer. "Goodbye, brother" he said, and withdrew two identical wands from his pocket. "I'll hang on to this for you." He gave one of the wands a flick, and Fred sunk from sight, covered by the green grass. After this was done, George gave another flick of his wand, and wide slab of green marble erupted from the ground above the spot where Fred had just lain. The huge slab was wide enough to head two graves, and Harry thought he knew why. There was a searing flash of light and when it was gone, the right hand side of the grave stone read:
Fred Weasley
Beloved son, brother, and friend
Exceptional partner in crime
He fought valiantly, died bravely, and never failed to make us laugh.
And to the left of that simply:
George Weasly
Together, the group turned to the house. Minerva McGonagall stood just outside the small gated cemetery, holding the small bundle that was Teddy Lupin. She fell in step with the Weasley's, Hermione, and Harry, and together they went to join the rest of the mourning party in the Burrow.