DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling, Warner Brothers, etc, etc, and this story has been written without their knowledge or consent. No money is being made.
She wore black. Her school uniform had been mostly black and that had never bothered her. But she was wearing black for a different reason now. It seemed so much more appropriate.
His funeral was being held in a Muggle church, so his relatives could attend. They never knew what he really was, and because of that they could never know what he died for. It must have been so hard for his parents. She couldn't imagine the agony of losing a son and not even being able to tell everyone how he died. He had died fighting, like a hero. But he would not be remembered as one, even by his family who now believed he'd committed suicide.
He deserved so much better than this.
Now she wore black, because she was mourning for the loss of many friends, not just one. Her brother, Fred, the greatest source of laughter in her life, had died. Her friend, Tonks, and her husband had been taken away, right after they'd had a baby too. So many people had died. How could she ever move on?
But that was nothing compared to the pain of losing him. She'd almost lost him once before, way back when they were just kids. Her foolish actions had put him in the firing line back then, and only the way he used to carry his camera around as if glued to his face had saved him back then. He'd been lucky then, but he ran out of it quickly.
She remembered first meeting him. Growing up her brothers had always treated her like she might break if they got too rough. They never let her join in their games of Quidditch, which in all fairness tended to get rough. But then she met him, and he didn't treat her like that. They were equals, drawn together by their hero worship of Harry...
Harry. He should have been here too. She shouldn't have to grieve alone for her friend, surrounded by all these Muggles. So few wizards had even come. Only his brother and two of the boys from their year, who she barely even knew.
No one had ever appreciated his genius, but she liked to think she'd seen some of it. He'd been her first true friend, and it almost killed her that she'd let them drift apart.
Even after the incident in the first year they still had fun together; laughing and discussing plans for the future. She'd wanted to play Quidditch professionally. He hadn't laughed, as her brothers would have done had she told them. He reassured her, told her she could do it. As for him...
"After school, after this place, I want to travel," he'd said, his eyes widening. "There's so much to see, and as a wizard I'll be able to see things I'd never see as a Muggle. I could fly over the great cities of Europe, like Paris and Rome. I'll bet they're so beautiful from the air. I could travel deep into the rainforests, deeper than anyone has before. And I won't get lost because I'm a wizard. I'll just wave my wand and I'll be back beside the cosy fire in Hogwarts! You could come with me."
She'd laughed at the time. The idea of travelling the world together seemed so romantic, but she could never see herself doing it. For a moment she thought maybe she could try it with Harry, in her friend's memory. But it seemed wrong... It had been his idea.
And Harry had been his rival, in a way.
It was back then that Ginny really noticed that he was a boy, and that the idea of the two of them together wouldn't be so repulsive. He was her friend, and they were so comfortable together. But in the end she couldn't date him. He wasn't Harry.
After that they'd drifted apart. He'd tried to be strong, but she knew he'd been devastated. He started hanging out with his brother more and more, and then she'd started dating another boy. She'd gone through a couple of boys, actually. Then Harry grew up, and she had everything she ever wanted...
Except her old friend back. And now he was never coming back.
She remembered seeing Oliver Wood carrying him into the Great Hall, slung over his shoulders. She'd been beside her family at the time, but she walked over to where he lay. He was so small, but he'd always been so tiny. The pain was no less real than from losing Fred. He'd been her brother.
He should have listened when he was told he was too young. Then again, perhaps so should she.
She didn't recognize the men carrying the coffin. It looked to large, and it was hard to imagine her tiny friend inside it. They gently placed it in the hearse, and she watched silently. She wasn't able to cry any more. She'd cried enough to last a lifetime in these last weeks.
It wasn't far to the graveyard, so she went on foot. She'd never forget them lowering the coffin into the grave. His mother, she looked so like him, had gave an almighty wail. The grandmother looked just about ready to die. His brother's eyes looked dead. And somehow she herself found tears again, and she cried for him again.
The last of many tears she would shed for him.
She didn't want to speak to any of the family, who probably wouldn't even know who she was. But his mother stopped her. She apparently wanted to speak to her.
"You're his friend, aren't you?" his mother asked. "From that school."
"Yes," she replied, almost a whisper.
"Can you say... the men that brought him back weren't allowed... how did it happen?" His mother was looking at her, using every weapon in her arsenal to plead with her, right down to the eyes that looked exactly like his. For a moment she was a young girl with a young boy, and she could almost lean forward and kiss him.
But she snapped back to reality.
"The school was attacked," she found herself saying. "He stayed back to defend it while the younger pupils fled."
She wasn't sure what reaction she expected from the older woman, but she was still surprised that the tears had stopped.
"He told me a bit about a girl from his school," his mother said. "He missed her dearly when he wasn't allowed back to Hogwarts this year. Do you know what happened to her? I'm afraid I don't even know her name."
This time she was determined she would not cry.
"I think her name was Ginny," she replied. "And she's dying inside without him."
A/N: I wasn't really sure about this one, I don't usually write this kind of stuff. Let me know what you thought by reviewing.