Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Wow. I just checked my e-mail and it is FLOODED. If I haven't answered your review yet I'll be doing it immediately after I post this chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, favorited, sent me gift baskets...

I think I'm going to go for an update a week from now on, but I was so happy with all the great reviews I got that I decided to update early as a treat for everyone who asked so nicely. Also this is the second half of 1998... which I'm sure is redundant to say since the title probably tipped you off, but after this I'm going for a chapter a year... Unless I'm really inspired about another particular year, which might happen considering all the excitment that awaits.

Okay, I'm done. Read and review, por favor!


The Burrow was dusty.

For the first time in his life, Harry did not see it as a warm, inviting place, a refuge from the Dursley's. It was just cold, bleak and dusty.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley running a finger over her kitchen counters.

In the months that the family had been in hiding, the dust that was normally airborne in the busy Burrow had settled due to the lack of movement and Mrs. Weasley's household charms. Before Hermione, who had been the last to depart, even appeared out of the fireplace, she set to work.

"Scourgify! Tergeo!" She shouted with newfound energy as pots and pans began scrubbing themselves and dirt and grime was siphoned off of the floors.

The rest of them took this outburst as their cue to leave.

Mr. Weasley and Bill carried Fred to the empty room on the second landing, the one he and George had shared for seventeen years, where he would be kept until his funeral tomorrow. George blindly followed Charlie who, dragging Percy along, took them to Percy's old room to put their things away. Fleur took her and Bill's clothes to Bill and Charlie's old room while Harry and Ron slowly made their way to Ron's. Ginny and Hermione stayed in the kitchen making an effort to keep up with Mrs. Weasley, but, an hour later, at three in the morning, they too trudged up the stairs.

"Oi!" Ron bellowed, unaware that the rest of the previously busy household was now trying to sleep. He had been trying to make the ghoul in his room go back to the attic for a solid hour now. With his temper on the rise, he was resorting to shouting words that Harry doubted Uncle Vernon knew at the thing. The ghoul's response: a grunt and a kick aimed at Ron's face.

"Really, Ron," Harry said yawning. "Can't we just jinx him then send him back up there?"

"No!" he shouted, dodging another kick. "If we do that he'll just wake up in the middle of the night and bang everything around. Then no one would get any sleep. Believe me, a grumpy ghoul means a grumpy household. Now," he rounded on the ghoul. "Gerroff - my - bed!"

"Will you shut up?" Ginny panted, rushing into the room.

"Honestly," added Hermione. "You're worried about the ghoul waking the whole house, Ronald? You're, by far, the noisiest in this room!"

She pointed her wand at the ghoul and performed a Cheering charm like the ones Flitwick had taught them in third year. An almost happy expression appeared on the ghoul's ugly face.

"Er, excuse me, sir?" she asked when she'd finished. "Would it be too much trouble for you to return to the attic now?"

With a grunt and a flash of what could only be described as teeth, he lunged at Hermione. Ron grabbed for her, but, to everyone's surprise, he didn't attack. Instead, he left the room and crawled back into the attic.

"Brilliant!" Ron said, still hugging Hermione as she locked the attic's entrance. "I thought I'd never get to sleep. You're the most wonderful, stupendous, magnif-"

"Ron," said Hermione, pulling away, a tired smile playing on her lips. "Just go to bed."


A few hours later, Harry and Ron were woken by what was probably the most wonderful thing they'd smelled in ages; Mrs. Weasley's cooking.

"I haven't eaten mum's food for nearly a year!" Ron exclaimed as he hurried to pull on his dress robes.

"Of course we hardly starved that month at Shell Cottage, but I never fancied French food. It's too light or something! I need something to stick to my ribs! And Hermione's toadstools were another story entirely. They were…."

"What about Hermione's toadstools?" came an angry voice that sounded like Hermione's from the door. Ron's happy face set into one of fright.

"I'm only joking," called Ginny, peering around the Chudley Cannons poster on Ron's old door and Ron's worried face softened.

"Harry, you and Ron should come down dressed. Everyone's coming soon so we're doing it right after we eat."

Whatever happiness was in the room left with the sound of Ginny's fading footsteps. "It" was, of course, the funeral. Fred was gone. Not even the thought of Mrs. Weasley's delicious eggs and bacon could pull them out of the depression that was seeping into the bedroom. They spent the next few minutes trying to get the creases out of their robes and dusting off their good shoes. With one swoop of his hand, Harry tried to flatten his hair. He knew it was useless, but he liked to think that at least trying to do it showed respect for Fred.

"After you," Harry said, holding open the door for Ron when they'd finished getting ready. Together, they walked in silence down the stairs into the kitchen carrying with them the somber attitudes that Ginny's reminder had bestowed upon them.

Apparently, "it" was affecting everyone.

Immense piles of food lay untouched at the center of the table, and only Mr. Weasley had taken notice of their appearance.

"Boys," he nodded. Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Hermione, and Ginny looked up. Ron took a seat next to Hermione and Harry beside Ginny. They both looked toward the end of the table. Percy and Mrs. Weasley were staring, somberly, into the eggs and George hadn't come down yet.

Harry looked over to Mrs. Weasley's clock. All hands pointed to home, even Fred's. And, thought Harry sadly, it will always remain pointed at home. He was disturbed from his mournful thoughts, however, when heavy, fast-falling footsteps broke the silence of the table.

George had jogged to the foot of the stairs and walked briskly to a seat beside his mother. To everyone's astonishment, he began to eat. Loudly scooping eggs and stabbing bits of sausage onto his place, he spoke.

"Couldn't pass me the jam, could you, Ginny?"

Hesitating, as if she thought it was some kind of trick, Ginny picked up the jar of jam and handed it to George.

"Thanks," he unscrewed the lid and smeared a large piece of toast with the preserves. "Why aren't you lot eating? It all looks great, Mum."

Next, as if revived from a deep sleep, Percy began to move. Slowly he shoveled a bit of bacon onto his plate and, soon enough, everyone was eating. Ron stuffed his mouth with toast and eggs while Mrs. Weasley helped herself to a bit of sausage. As their quiet feasting finished and everyone moved to clear the table, a pop was heard in the garden.

Kingsely Shaklebolt had just arrived and shook hands with Mr. Weasley. The pair of them spoke outside, greeting other guests. Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Oliver Wood, Neville, Luna, and Hagrid had all arrived when the kitchen was finally clean and Harry made his way out the back door.

"Everyone here?" asked George. Harry hadn't noticed the entire family following him out. "Right, then we'll begin."

He led them toward the edge of the Burrow's garden. They stopped at a shady place under a great oak tree the tops of which, Harry remembered, were visible from Fred and George's room. Under the grand tree was a six foot wide hole that Harry suspected was deep enough for Ron to stand in without being able to see out and a mass of midnight blue cloth.

Fred.

"Where's the coffin?" he whispered as quietly as he could to Hermione. But George had caught it.

"Harry," he sighed. "It's Fred. Do you really think he'd want to spend forever in a box?"


The funeral, while being one of the most miserable things Harry had ever witnessed, was full of jokes, stories, and memories of Fred. Nearly everyone stopped crying to suppress a laugh when Harry talked about the time they tried to send him a toilet seat during his first year. And when George talked about when Umbridge banned them from Quidditch for life for brawling with Malfoy on the pitch, Oliver Wood, who had left school by this time, let out a bark of laughter, and Angelina, who had been captain at the time, smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek.

When the stories were finished, Bill raised his wand as he once had for Dobby, but this time was joined by five others. Together, Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, and Ginny covered the remains of their brother. Stepping back, George took a large white stone and wrote with this wand.

Fred Weasley

Comedian, Rebel, Entrepreneur

Brother.

"Mischief Managed"


That evening, the mood was noticeably lightened. Bill and Charlie fidgeted after dinner, bored with listening to the radio in the sitting room and George had taken to absent-mindedly fiddling with a punching telescope. The rest of them stared blankly at the radio which was now playing a commercial for Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess and Stain Remover.

"Quidditch anyone?" they looked up, aghast. Though an avid fan of the sport, no one had ever expected Percy's voice to issue the question.

"I'm in." said Ron, shattering the stillness.

And his answer was echoed by Bill, Charlie, George, Harry, and Ginny.

"Wait," said Bill. "We're uneven."

They all looked around the room. Fleur was asleep on the loveseat, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were listening intently to WWN, and then, she spied them over the book she was reading.

"Me? No!" said Hermione when she saw the looks she was being shot. "I'm dreadful!"

"So am I!" retorted Percy. "We'll be on separate teams. It'll be fair then."

"I don't have a broom," she began again.

"Lucky we have a shed full of them then, isn't it?" Ron said.

Harry suspected she could have gone on arguing if she wanted too, but at the sound of Ron's voice, she gave in. "Alright," she sighed.

"But we're not using bludgers. I can't fly more than 40 feet off the ground as it is!"

Harry, his Firebolt smashed in the escape from Privet Drive nearly a year before rode on Bill's old Cleansweep while Hermione and Percy took a set of the twins' old brooms. Ginny and Bill teamed up as Chasers against Ron and George. Percy and Hermione were Keepers and Charlie was putting up a fight with Harry as they searched for the Snitch.

The first game proved Ginny and Bill's Chasing skills were more refined than the others seeing as George and Ron were really a Beater and a Keeper, so they were easily thrashing Harry's team until he saw the snitch floating lazily by Hermione's left knee and snagged it just as she dove away to avoid hitting him.

They played like this until the sky grew so dark that Percy couldn't see the Quaffle Ron had shot and got hit in the side of the head. Grumbling, he floated to the ground and called off the game. Some things, Harry thought as he watched Percy order his siblings around, never change.

Walking away from the makeshift pitch that evening, Harry mentioned to Hermione that he needed to visit Diagon Alley as soon as possible.

"You do need a new broom," said Hermione as they walked away. "I expect you'll be Quidditch captain next year and we can't have you on one of those old school ones. They're unsafe. Oh, I do hope nothing's happened to my scales and robes. It'd be a shame to buy all new things for one year."

"We're going back to Hogwarts?" Ron asked, mirroring Harry's bewildered face as he caught up to the two of them after locking the broom shed.

"Well, did you honestly expect us to get respectable jobs without any N.E.W.T.'s?"

"No but-"

"Just because we helped defeat Voldemort, Ron, doesn't mean we can just waltz into the Ministry and become top officials."

"Yeah," Harry shrugged. "But you've got to admit it probably looks brilliant on job applications."


Two days later, this same group met with an even larger assemblage of Order and D.A. members, Aurors, teachers, and Ministry officials for the funerals of Tonks and Lupin. They were buried in a somber ceremony just outside of Andromeda's property beside a tree that stood watch over her small pond.

As the service came to an end, an infant was carried forward to look into the faces of his parents one last time. Teddy Lupin, his hair a striking blue today, placed a small hand on his father's nose and a sloppy kiss on his mother's cheek before Kingsley, Arthur, and Bill stood to cover the coffin with dirt.

Afterwards, Harry was bombarded with guests wanting to shake his hand and even Rita Skeeter, who had been lurking in the back of the congregation moved forward, no doubt, wanting an interview or statement.

Flustered and wanting to escape before she got too close, he turned to find Ron and Hermione. They had planned to speak to Professor McGonagall about returning to school today, but with this wall of people it would be impossible. Just as he moved to grab his hand and Disapparate on the spot, a hand the sized of a trashcan lid grabbed for the back of his robes.

"Geroff 'im!" came the rough voice of Hagrid. "Leave 'im alone. If 'e wants ter talk to yeh, he'll come an' find yer 'imself."

"Thanks Hagrid," Harry said as Hagrid led him out of the crowd and to Andromeda's house where most of the Order and the Weasleys were waiting.

"Pulled yeh outta there just in time too. Rita Skeeter was comin', no doubt wantin' ter interview yeh," he replied. "S'no problem, Harry. I've got to go though, Grawpy'll need lunch soon and I don't want 'im to wreck what's left o' the pumpkin patches."

"Bye Hagrid!" Harry called after him as he walked to the street and summoned the Knight Bus.

"Potter!" Professor McGonagall, Ron, and Hermione were moving towards him. "Miss Granger's just told me that you would be accompanying her and Mr. Weasley back to school this term to make up your seventh year."

"Yes, professor I was just-"

"Yes, of course, you'll still want to become an Auror then?"

Harry nodded. He realized that when it came to Professor McGonagall, it was fruitless to interrupt when she was planning something.

"I'll arrange your classes the same as Mr. Weasley's then," she added quickly. "Oh, and you'll be Quidditch Captain of course. The letters should be arriving soon. I'd better just hurry back and add your names to the list," and with that, she turned to say her goodbyes to the others and Disapparated.

"So, what now?" asked Ron, looking at the spot where McGonagall had just been.

"There's not much else to do," said Harry, a sweeping awareness washing over him as he remembered the funerals were over.

"Well," suggested Hermione. "We could always go get that broom you need Harry. It's still really early and if we go back to the Burrow Ron's mum might make us eat more."

"Don't complain about that!" snapped Ron. "I always welcome a good meal, no matter how stuffed I may be."

"Believe me," said Hermione, her voice lowering to an almost sarcastic tone. "We know."

"So! Let's go," said Ginny appearing from behind Ron. "I'll just tell mum where we're off to!"

"Wait a second," said Harry walking into the house and appearing a few minutes later with a bundle of blankets from the top of which a fuzzy blue head poked out.

"I figured with all the guests Mrs. Tonks wouldn't mind so much if we took Teddy out for a little trip," he said as he adjusted a diaper bag over his shoulder. "She actually looked a little relieved, come to think of it."

Hermione patted Harry's shoulder and cooed over little Teddy while Ron tapped his foot impatiently. Ginny had been gone ten minutes now looking for her mother. Ron glancing around looking for her caught his eye. Harry shrugged and the diaper bag slid down to Harry's elbow. As he went to readjust it, they heard the argument.

"No, no, no, no, a thousand times no, Ginevra," said Mrs. Weasley. "Just because the war's over doesn't mean it's not still dangerous to venture out alone!"

"But mum," she protested. "I'm not alone! They're all of age! George is there! We're just going to buy this lot some new things for school!"

"Oooh," said Mrs. Weasley quietly, her face alleviated of the panic that had just set in there. "You're returning to school?"

The three of them nodded. As Harry did so, the diaper bag slipped again. Ginnyexpertly caught it and swung it over her shoulder.

"Well then," she said, looking at the five of them. "I suppose it wouldn't be too terrible. I guess you could go."

They turned to Disapparate before she changed her mind. Ginny held onto her brother's arm as she was only sixteen.

"But be extremely careful!" she roared sprinting at them as they turned on the spot.

With a pop and a stretch of spinning darkness, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Teddy were gone.


A/N: I'm fairly pleased with this chapter! It's sad, but it's getting more exciting. And, I'm sorry that I couldn't give those three more grand funerals like some might imagine, but I think they were humble people and wouldn't have wanted anything more than they got. Fred would just want everyone laughing and Lupin and Tonks would probably want everyone to take care of Teddy instead of worrying about them.

Now that there is closure to the deaths they can move on to their "normal" lives. Also I thought it was important for George to be normal again and Percy to learn to loosen up, they may have seemed the most OOC this chapter, but it's for a good reason. I think if JKR would keep writing we would see a change in these two, so I'm beginning to instate my own.

Oooh, and I discovered the ruler button whilst I was editing and we won't have to deal with my silly strand of hyphens as a page break anymore! And I'm done with these long Author Notes... as I'm sure they annoy you as much and they annoy me.

BIG thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it all helped a lot with editing this one! I look forward to more of them! Sickle for your thoughts? Go on and press the review button, you know you want to!