This is the missing funeral scene from my story Closure. This takes place near the end of chapter 6 when Harry and Hermione go to the funeral.
A BIG thank you to bentheslayer for the beta. Any mistakes left are mine. Go check out his stories, he`s an AMAZING writer!
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by JK Rowling. I'm just borrowing them.
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After just about managing to stomach eating some lunch, Harry and Hermione made their way to their rooms to change for the funeral. Harry had gone from feeling elated at Hermione being back, to having that sick feeling in his stomach again at the thought of facing everyone at the funeral. Up until now the only people he had been around since the final battle were Hermione and Kreacher. He had seen Hagrid and Professor McGonagall but that was at an empty Hogwarts and not at a huge event like a Weasley funeral would be. What if everyone blamed him from Fred's death, for all the other deaths? Maybe he shouldn't go, maybe it would be better if he just stayed home out of the way, he thought to himself as he finished tying his shoelaces. A knock at the door broke through his thoughts. He got up from the bed and made his way to the door and opened it to find Hermione standing there in a pretty black dress.
"You ready to go?" she asked, a hint of nervousness evident in her voice.
"Hermione maybe… maybe I shouldn't go," he said looking down at the floor.
"Why not?" she asked reaching out and taking hold of his hand.
"It's just… what if they all blame me… what if they start asking me about what happened with Voldermort. I killed someone Hermione."
"You didn't kill anyone Harry, he wasn't a person, he wasn't human. You rid the world of an evil being who was killing for fun, breaking up families, torturing people and who killed your parents and had been trying to kill you your whole life. What you did wasn't wrong Harry and everyone knows that. People died, too many people, but you put an end to the cause of all those deaths."
Harry looked up into her concerned brown eyes as she stood holding his hand tightly.
"Okay I'll go," he said, still sounding unsure. "Will you stay with me… the whole time we're there?" he asked sounding like a little boy asking to sleep in his parents bed after a nightmare.
"Of course I will," she said smiling warmly at him and gently pulling him in the direction of the stairs.
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Harry fell out of the fireplace at the Burrow and just about managed to steady himself, coughing slightly. Hearing a giggle he looking up and saw an immaculate-looking Hermione grinning at him.
"What?" he said, a smile playing on his lips.
"You`re never going to get the hang of Flooing are you?"
"Probably not," he replied, brushing soot from his robes and grinning back at her.
"Harry!" Mrs Weasley shrieked as she rushed into the room and pulled him into a hug, before holding him at arm`s length and examining him. "Are you eating okay, you look a bit peaky?" she said, eyeing him critically.
"I`m fine Mrs Weasley, really. Hermione has been taking good care of me."
"I bet she has," Mrs Weasley muttered quietly as she turned to Hermione. "It`s nice to see you again dear," she said somewhat coldly, before quickly turning back to Harry. "Ron`s outside setting out more chairs for the… funeral," her voice broke, and she took a moment before she spoke again. "I`m sure he could use some help," she said, sniffing loudly. "Well lots to do," she said, wiping her eyes on the corner of her apron, before she turned and bustled out of the room as quickly as she came, leaving Harry and Hermione standing staring at the space she just vacated.
Harry felt the sick, tight, aching pain that made him feel like he couldn`t breathe gripping his heart again. It was his fault that Mrs Weasley was so upset, his fault that she had lost a child, that she had almost lost more than one. Maybe he should just go home. As he thought this a soft, warm hand gripped his, bringing him out of his daze.
"Harry it`s okay," Hermione said as she reached up with her other hand and lifted his chin so that his eyes met hers. "This is going to be tough, we knew that, but we`ll get through this together, okay?" she said squeezing his hand tightly.
"Together," Harry repeated as he felt the warmth of her smile and the tightness of her grip on his hand comfort him.
"Let`s go find Ron and make ourselves useful," she said, giving his hand a tug and leading him out of the living room towards the back door of the Burrow.
The Weasley`s back yard had been transformed as it had been for Bill and Fleur`s wedding, except there was no marquee this time. Harry felt the tight feeling in his chest returning as he took in the sight before him: chairs had been laid out in rows with an aisle running down the middle, and a small white flower had been placed on each seat. A large table sat at the front of the rows of chairs and it had been decorated with more white flowers tied up with black ribbons.
"Harry! Hermione!" Ron`s voice broke through his thoughts as he turned and saw the bright red hair of his best male friend sticking out over a pile of chairs that he was levitating in front of him. Putting the chairs down they were both greeted in an somewhat awkward one armed group hug, as Hermione still hadn`t let go of Harry`s hand.
"So how`ve you been mate?" Ron asked clapping Harry on the back as they pulled out of the hug.
"Well you know, alright, surviving. How about you?" Harry asked, taking in the redness of Ron`s eyes.
"I`m surviving too I guess."
"He got a bit upset earlier but a quick snuggle and a pickled gherkin soon perked you up again, didn`t it Ronald?"
Ron`s ears and cheeks turned a bright shade of red as everyone turned to see Luna Lovegood appearing from behind a tree carrying more of the little white flowers that had been sitting on the chairs.
"Luna it`s nice to see you," Hermione said, as Luna walked up to Ron and paused just long enough to put one of the flowers in his hair behind his ear, before making her way over and hugging Hermione and Harry.
Pulling out of the hug Harry caught sight of Ron, who had now taken the flower out of his hair and was twirling it between his fingers while watching Luna with a dreamy look on his face - a look that was normally to be found on Luna`s face, not Ron`s. Harry took in the scene before him somewhat bemused by his friend`s obvious affection for Luna. Wondering if Hermione had noticed this too he looked down and saw she was wearing a similar expression on her face. Much to Harry`s surprise she didn`t look upset.
"So… umm... you going to give me a hand with these chairs mate?" Ron said, having come out of his trance and catching the looks on his friends faces.
"Of course," Harry replied, grinning, as he gave Hermione`s hand a squeeze before letting go and heading in the direction of the pile of chairs Ron had discarded earlier.
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Thirty minutes later all the chairs had been set out and Ron had gone and then reappeared a few minutes later carrying two cold Butterbeers. Heading over to where Harry now sat under the shade of an old Oak tree, deep in thought, Ron sat down heavily beside him and handed Harry one of the bottles.
"So Luna, huh?" Harry said taking a swig from the bottle.
"Umm yeah… I… she… I really like her mate. I know I`ve always questioned why you where so nice to her all the time, but I can see why now."
"She`s not so loony after all then?" Harry said smiling, as Ron grinned uncomfortably back at him.
"No, I`m learning to love her quirks."
"Love?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised.
Ron choked on a mouthful of Butterbeer as Harry broke into laughter. Ron scowled at him, his cheeks turning as red as his hair as he wiped the Butterbeer of his chin with the back of his hand.
"Talking of love, what about you and our Hermione? There seems to be a lot of hand holding going on with you two."
It was Harry`s turn this time to become flustered as he turned towards an uncomfortable looking Ron.
"Umm, we`re just friends Ron," Harry said, his cheeks flushing now.
"It`s okay you know Harry… if there is something going on," he said not meeting Harry`s eyes. "Me and Hermione were never meant to be together, we did nothing but fight and upset each other. She also did nothing but talk and worry about you the whole time we were together. I can see how wrong we were for each other now. I think I got carried away with that damn book."
"I`m glad I never read the copy you bought me," Harry said, taking another drink from his beer bottle.
"You never seem to have a problem with the ladies anyway Boy Who Lived," Ron said with a knowing smirk.
"Yeah, yeah," Harry replied rolling his eyes. "…always the wrong ladies though."
"Like my sister," Ron stated.
Harry turned to look at Ron, eyebrows raised questioningly.
"I always thought deep down that you two where wrong for each other. I know she`s my sister but she can be very shallow at times… she loved the fame and status of being the Boy Who Lived`s girlfriend and I saw her use it so many times to get what she wanted. I know she loves you in her own way mate, but it`s not in the right way. Mum and Ginny won`t agree but you`ve got to do whatever is right for you." Ron finished, not looking at Harry and picking at the label on the bottle in his hand.
"I… I know that, and it means a lot that you can see that too Ron. I`ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, when I was with Ginny, it was like I was under a spell and I couldn`t see clearly, but I can now. That`s also a big part of the reason that I broke up with her. Partly to keep her safe and partly because it was becoming obvious to me the more I was with her that she didn`t love me. Not in the way I wanted her to anyway." Harry finished with a sigh.
"Wow we`ve got deep today," Ron said laughing uncomfortably.
"I know, we`re turning into girls here, talking about our feelings," Harry answered with an equally uncomfortable laugh.
Ron took a long swig of his Butterbeer. "One last girly moment before we`re done mate… I`ve been thinking a lot about things, I know I haven`t always been the greatest friend or the most mature person or the smartest, but with Fred`s death and all the others it`s really opened my eyes to living in the here and now and going after what you want. If you want Hermione you should tell her, she`s been waiting a long time to hear it from you."
"What?!" Harry almost shouted. "I…"
"She`s loved you a long time Harry… she told me... she came to see me after she brought her parents home, before she went back to you… just tell her how you feel okay?" Ron finished, as he got up and dusted himself off before clapping an open mouthed Harry on the back and walking off towards the back door of the Burrow.
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Twenty minutes later Harry was still to be found sitting under the great Oak tree, deep in thought as the guests started to arrive for the funeral. Harry had been impressed and surprised at the maturity and wisdom that Ron had shown in their earlier conversation, and the more he thought about Ron`s words the more sense they made. Life was short, he knew that from his own parents premature deaths, and he had been given Ron`s blessing to move on and express his growing feelings for Hermione, feelings that according to him Hermione reciprocated. Harry sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his messy hair. This was all too much to take in and it certainly wasn`t the best day to deal with it. He had a funeral to get through and people to deal with and…
"Harry?" The anxious voice of his female best friend broke through his thoughts. "There you are, I was getting worried," she exclaimed, sounding relieved now, as she made her way over to Harry and held out her hand to him. Taking his own hand in hers she pulled him up from the ground. "It`s time."
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The funeral was a perfect tribute to Fred. The Weasleys all sat up front and had tried to get Harry to sit with them, when on the way to their seats Mrs Weasley had spotted him and Hermione about to sit down a few rows back. Harry had been very relieved when Hermione had firmly but kindly told Mrs Weasley that they were fine where they were. Harry had been grateful because not only had he felt like he didn`t have the right to sit up front with the family that were grieving because of him, but also because Hermione had found them seats that were still near the front, but a huge hydrangea bush from the garden obscured people`s direct view of him.
She had taken his hand again when they sat down, entwining her fingers with his. He could feel the slight tremble in her grip where their hands lay joined in his lap, that showed that she wasn`t as composed as she appeared to be. Luna had arrived then, making her way quickly to the front, dragging Ginny along behind her just before the service began. Ginny`s red rimmed eyes were scanning the crowd and Harry knew by the look on her face that it was him she was looking for, but thanks to Hermione he could see her but she couldn`t see him. Once Ginny had reluctantly sat down next to her mother, Luna made her way over and sat down in the empty chair beside Ron that he must have been saving for her.
The Weasleys sat supporting each other as witches and wizards got up and talked about their fond memories of pranks and jokes Fred had played on them in the past. The hardest part was when George got up to talk about his twin and couldn`t finish. But George, being George, wasn`t going to let everyone get too overemotional and he muttered something that Harry didn`t quite catch. Suddenly, every single white flower in the area let off a deafening bang and exploded into a mass of tiny multicoloured paper ears causing the crowd of gathered witches and wizards to gasp and then laugh as the ears rained down on them like snowflakes.
After the service Harry couldn`t wait to get away before people started to come talk to him. He had heard the couple of old bearded wizards behind him muttering his name and he caught Hermione`s eye and nodded in the direction of the forest a short distance away. She nodded back at him he pulled her to her feet. They moved quickly around the side of the hydrangea bush and Harry continued to pull Hermione along behind him as they escaped the crowd. He stopped as he reached the great Oak tree where he and Ron had sat earlier and pulled Hermione down to sit under the tree with him. They sat in silence, Hermione tracing soothing circles on the back of Harry`s hand with her finger tips. He loved how comfortable he was with her, how they didn`t need to fill the silences with words. She always knew what he needed. They sat listening to the voices of the nearby crowd getting further away.
Harry didn`t know how much time had passed but when he refocused his eyes he realised that it was starting to get a little dark. He was now laying flat out on the ground with his head in Hermione`s lap and she was running her fingers softly through his hair, her back leaning against the old tree. She too looked deep in thought. He had been thinking about everything that had happened in the past year, trying to get things straight again in his head. He had been doing an okay job up until now at getting on with things, but the funeral had brought everything screaming back to him.
He couldn`t think about this anymore, the pain in his chest tightened and he sat up suddenly making Hermione take in a sharp breath.
"Sorry I didn`t mean to startle you," he said as he leaned his back against the wide trunk of the tree and reached out to take Hermione`s hand.
"That`s okay," she smiled. "I was just thinking a little too deeply."
Harry looked down, letting out a shaky sigh.
She reached out with her free hand and touched his chin, turning his face to look at her, but his eyes still didn`t meet hers. "I know how hard this is for you Harry… to watch the people you love being buried… and… wishing you had died instead."
Harry looked up, meeting her eyes then, taking in the redness and the still unshed tears and the way she was biting her lip trying to keep those tears from spilling over. She understood, she knew how he was feeling, this shouldn`t shock him but it always blew him away how she always knew. She was always there being strong for him, supporting him. He had failed to save the lives of so many people and had even taken a life himself, how could she even bear to look at him.
As if reading his mind again she said, "You know Harry, you wouldn`t be you if didn`t feel this way, if you didn`t feel guilt that you… killed someone, even though Voldemort wasn`t even a person. But you have no reason to feel that guilt, you did it to save your friends and family and… yourself," she added quietly, her voice breaking. "If you hadn`t come back to me Harry I don`t know what I would have done," she sniffed, wiping at the tears that now spilled freely from her eyes with the back of her hand. Harry reached out and pulled her towards him, having fought back tears throughout the whole funeral service he let go too.
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It was dark now as they made their way back towards the Burrow. Most of the mourners seemed to have left but a few Weasley relatives still hung around the tables in the garden drinking fire whiskey and talking.
"There you are Harry dear!" Mrs Weasley said as she made her way down the steps from the back door of the house carrying a tray of glasses. "I thought you`d gone already. Ginny`s been looking for you everywhere," she added glaring down to where his hand was still joined with Hermione`s.
"No, I…"
"Never mind dear," Mrs Wealsey said, cutting him off. "You`re here now and Ginny is just in the house. She`ll be so pleased you`re still here," she said with an edge to her voice, looking directly at Hermione.
Harry sighed as he watched Mrs Weasley disappear down the garden.
"Well I guess I better get this over with," Harry sighed as he started to make his way towards the door. "I can`t believe I managed to avoid her all day anyway," he said, his voice barely a whisper as they made their way up the steps into the house.
"Harry, I was thinking, while we`re here we could pick up all the things we had to leave behind when we went into hiding after the wedding."
"Good idea, I`m sure Ron`s sick of falling over all the things we left in his room."
The sound of feet running down wooden stairs and a familiar voice suddenly filled the quiet kitchen. Looking up Harry had just time to register a flash of red hurtling towards him before it stopped suddenly in front of him. "Harry! I knew I heard…."
Ginny now stood before them her mouth gaping open, staring at the space between Harry and Hermione. When Harry looked down to see what had struck the redhead dumb he saw that it was his hand in Hermione`s that was causing her distress.
Hermione, having just realised this too, abruptly pulled her hand out of his and folded her arms protectively in front of her chest.
"I… I`ll just go pack up our things," Hermione said quietly, and started to make her way towards the bottom of the stairs.
The movement seemed to snap Ginny out of her trance and she rounded on Hermione, gripping hold of her arm. Harry could see Ginny`s fingers digging into her skin as Hermione tried to pull her arm free.
"I knew it!!" she spat, raising her other arm towards Hermione. "I knew you couldn't keep your hands of my boyfriend, you little…"
Ginny didn`t get to finish as Harry ran across the room from the doorway and met Ginny`s eyes with such a fierce look that she let go of Hermione`s arm immediately and stumbled backwards. She steadied herself against the back of the sofa as Harry took Hermione`s arm in his hands, rubbing gently at the finger marks Ginny had left on her arm.
"I am not your boyfriend. You know that. We broke up a long time ago," Harry said in such a low dangerous voice that it made Ginny gasp. "There are two things you need to get into your head, firstly, I don`t belong to you and secondly, you are never to touch Hermione again."
Harry could feel Hermione tremble as he examined the red area and the little half moons on her skin where Ginny`s nails had dug into her arm. "Come on," he said, his voice gentle but firm now. "We`ll pack up our stuff and get out of here."
The sound of Ginny bursting into tears filled the air as he steered Hermione gently towards the stairs.
Once inside Ron`s bright orange bedroom Harry closed the door and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked, her voice shaking slightly.
"Yeah," he said sliding down the inside of the door to the floor and drawing his legs up and buried his head in his knees. He felt a warm soft hand run through his hair soothingly. He looked up to find Hermione`s face inches from his own.
He smiled at the concern he saw in her eyes. "I`m sorry Hermione."
"Why are you sorry? You`ve nothing to be sorry for."
"But she hurt you," he said, reaching once again for her arm.
"I`m fine Harry, really. Ginny is just upset about her brother… and about losing you too," she finished quietly.
"She lost me a long time ago… I`m not sure she ever really had me and there`s no excuse for her hurting you," he said, the words catching in his throat.
"Let's just get our things and get out of here okay?" Hermione said, smiling softly. "I want to go home."
Harry felt a warmth flow through him at her use of the word home. He smiled back at her as they got up from the floor and went about filling their trunks.
A few hours later Hermione and Harry arrived back in the kitchen of number twelve, each holding onto a trunk. Leaving the trunks in the hall they made their way to the newly decorated drawing room. Hermione flopped down heavily onto one of the sofas as Harry made his way to the fireplace and threw another log onto the fire before sitting down beside her and letting out a loud sigh. They sat not talking for a few minutes, each lost in thought before Harry broke the silence.
"Do you ever wish…"
"No, never," Hermione said interrupting him.
"You don't even know what I was going to say," he said turning to look at her with a bemused look on his face.
"Sure I do. You were going to ask me if I ever wished that I could go back, back before I knew this world even existed."
"Know it all," he said grinning tiredly at her as she grinned back at him.
"I don't wish I could go back either," he said turning serious again. "But my life before this wasn't that great, yours was…"
"I had a nice home, a quiet life and a loving family, but I still wouldn't trade it for what I have now," she said sincerely.
Harry smiled and reached out taking her hand in his. Resting his head on the back of the sofa he watched the flames dance in the fire as she started to rub soothing circles on the back of his hand.
"It's been a tough day for everyone," Hermione said moving her head to rest on Harry's shoulder.
"It went well though, the funeral I mean. I thought it was a fitting tribute to Fred and everyone handled it well," he said tightening his grip on her hand.
"Yeah, Mrs Weasley handled it a lot better than I expected and Luna is so good with Ron. They seemed pretty close, I think she might be the woman to make our Ron finally mature and settle down you know."
"Pity his sister wouldn't do the same thing," Harry said, a hint of anger in his voice. "I can't believe the way she was acting."
"She's had a lot to deal with," Hermione said quietly.
"That's no excuse, I'm not her boyfriend anymore. I haven't been for a long time and she knows that. She shouldn't have spoken to you the way she did."
"She still thinks of you as hers Harry and seeing us holding hands just tipped her over the edge today," she said looking down to where their hands were still joined.
"I needed you today Hermione and you were there for me, that's something she will never understand. I'm just sorry that you had to deal with her," he said moving his head to rest on top of hers.
"It's okay really," she said letting go of his hand and wrapping an arm around his waist, snuggling close to him as they both sat taking comfort in each others warmth.
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