Everyone was very quiet. All around, Remus could see different stages of grief: some were outright sobbing, others were taking deep breaths, some looked angry, and still others were smiling to themselves, probably reliving happy memories of the eccentric and wonderful man they had gathered to remember and say good-bye to: Albus Dumbledore.
As they took their seats, Remus felt a burning lump begin to rise in his throat. Tonks (now pink-haired once more and looking more alive than she had in months) must have noticed, because she reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. Remus held tight to her, feeling safer than he had in a long time.
"Oh, no…" whispered Tonks beside him, watching the hulking form of Hagrid make his slow, weepy way to the front of the ceremony, carrying a bundle.
Remus watched and knew it was Dumbledore's body. But then, something very strange happened. Instead of losing control like he would have expected himself to do, instead of feeling tears fall down his face or anger boil up inside him, he felt an inexplicable feeling of peace wash over him.
A friend of Dumbledore's had agreed to perform a eulogy, so Remus listened as well as he could. Though it was difficult to hear the little man – he was battling the elements of the outdoors and hadn't bothered to magically amplify his voice – he could hear snatches of the speech. Tonks gave a little sniffle, but did not start to cry. Remus put his arm around her and she leaned in to him slightly.
"It's unfair," she whispered.
"I know," Remus whispered back.
The ceremony continued and Remus found himself glancing around at the people, the odd assortment of people who had known and loved Dumbledore. He saw Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sitting together and his stomach gave an unpleasant lurch. His heart went out to Harry, who had witnessed the entire thing and now had seen three deaths of close friends in three years. Ginny looked as though her tears had passed, but Hermione had not stopped sobbing, and even Ron, who struck Remus as the type of boy who never cried, seemed to be having trouble holding it all in.
A sudden burst of flames brought Remus's focus back to the front, and a shower of arrows, which startled him quite a bit, landed just as the centaurs turned sharply and galloped gracefully back into the Forbidden Forest. Tonks leaned further in to Remus, resting her head on his shoulder for a moment, before standing up.
"We should go see how Minerva's doing," she said. "She's got a lot on her plate at the moment…you know, having to take over here…maybe there's something we can help with."
Always wanting to help everyone, thought Remus. That's my Tonks.
As the full absurdity of the phrase "That's my Tonks" was fully realised in Remus's mind, he managed a tiny smile, barely visible to anyone else. He made a mental note to himself to never think that phrase again, because it was terribly stupid.
Minerva McGonagall was located in the very back of the crowd, slightly flustered as she greeted the scores of people who had come to offer condolences to her.
"Minerva," said Remus quietly as they approached, shaking her hand. "Please don't hesitate to ask if there's anything you need, anything at all."
"Yeah," said Tonks. "I mean, even if it's just someone to come round for tea or something. I promise I'll try not to break anything. Unless we're using Trelawney's mugs, I know you don't like her much…"
McGonagall cracked the tiniest of smiles, but her eyes were weary and sad. She thanked the two of them and they went to join Kingsley. They were holding hands once more, and Remus was surprised how natural it felt to be doing so, particularly when they'd had a bit of a rocky start, what with Tonks nearly throttling him in the hospital wing and then later crying her eyes out on his shoulder.
"Hey, Remus," said Tonks. "Let's take a walk or something."
The two walked down to the lake and stood there for a while, just watching the sun reflect off the water. Even the giant squid was avoiding any mayhem today, apparently having realised what a sombre occasion it was.
"What's this going to mean for the Order?" asked Tonks. "I mean, who's taking over now? Who's going to be the Secret-Keeper?"
"I haven't the faintest," said Remus. "I suppose we'll figure all that out soon…we can't put it off but so long."
"This is all just so surreal. One minute we're calmly patrolling corridors, next minute we're nearly getting our heads blasted off, next minute we're tending to almost-werewolves and learning people died and I'm choking you…and now this," said Tonks, indicating their joined hands.
"It's a very strange world," said Remus.
"Do you think Dumbledore would've liked this?" asked Tonks.
Remus took a deep breath and looked around. To be honest, he didn't know what Dumbledore would have liked for a funeral.
"I'm not sure," he said truthfully. "It was nice…but Dumbledore never set much store by formality, did he?"
"No, not really," said Tonks.
"Well," said Remus, putting his arm back around her. "I'm sure he'd have been glad to see you back in your Pink Beacon look."
Tonks actually laughed a bit and returned the hug.
"So what now?" she asked.
"Now," said Remus. "We go back to headquarters and figure out how we're going to bring this to justice."
"And if on the way we have to stop for chocolate, so be it. That's not disrespectful or anything, is it?" Tonks added, somewhat worried.
"I think Dumbledore would have treated," said Remus.
And, hand in hand, knowing they were ready for whatever the future would bring, the couple made their way back to Hogwarts Castle.
FIN
A/N: This is pretty short, but that's just because I was able to say everything I wanted to say in just this amount of space. Hope you enjoy the ending to the Threequel!