Chapter One

The funeral was held a week later.

It was a mass of black upon black. The misery among the crowd was like the plague. It attached itself to everyone and spread quickly. Odd sniffles were heard around the Great Hall- all war heroes of the great Hogwarts Battle were honoured in a ceremony within the battle grounds. The Weasleys sat together; their red locks clashing with the dark sea. Harry and Ginny Potter sat among the Weasleys, silent.

The Granger family had left immediately after they heard of the alleged attack. Mrs Granger has never been the same after the Second Wizarding War; her fear of Death Eaters and the deceased Lord Voldemort grew stronger after the memory charm was removed. For the sanity of his wife, Mr Granger took charge and they left, back to Australia where they had made a life for themselves a previously.

Past students and professors sat towards the back to honour the two who had suspiciously died in the supposed safety in their home. Tears were in steadily flow among the crowd as a Harry Potter made his way to the stage. His footsteps echoed around the Great Hall. His breathing, heavy and unsteady, was amplified as he whispered 'Sonorus'.

"We are here today..." He faltered in his words as the piece of parchment before him began to become blurry. "We are... We..." As Ginny made her way to the stage he broke down on stage. Sobs from Harry began to choke his throat as he tried to breathe and hastily compose himself. Ginny's soft, soothing words in his ears, calming him and returning him to the task at hard. Ginny's hand gripped hard in his, he begins again.

"We are here today to mourn a great loss to the wizarding community. We are here today to remember their brave battles fought. We are here today to say goodbye." He took a deep breath, shakily continuing his short speech. "I am here to say goodbye to the greatest people in the world- my best friends. I am here to remind everyone what they have done for us and what they will continue to remind us of- courage." His voice grew even louder as his confidence grew. "Courage to battle with me against Voldemort almost every time I had to face him. Having courage to travel with me instead of studying for NEWTs. Having courage to walk around with me and a 100,000 Galleon price tag on my forehead. Having courage to stick with me through thick and thin, battling the whole way- only to be lost in this way." Mr and Mrs Weasley looked upon their son-in-law with admiration and pride as he scanned the crowd to end his eulogy. "Ron and Hermione, I hope you can see us now. I hope you can see how much you mean to us."

As Harry made his way of the stage, his voice returned to normal state, he staggered out the back of the hall towards the open air. He breathed deeply to calm himself and made his way towards the Great Lake. The water rippled on the edges of the black stones as the Giant Squid move around deep below. Harry collapsed on the grass and teared his glasses away from his eyes to brush away his day tears.

The sun had fallen toward the west as the peace was disturbed.

"Potter!"

Harry moved his head in the direction of the voice. The vivid white-blonde hair bobbed in front of his pitiful eyesight. Harry struggled to wake himself up as he moved to put his black framed glasses on his face.

"Malfoy? What do you want?"

Harry and Draco stood face to face. Draco's eyes had deep bags etched under them; his hard work beginning to show on the pale figure.

"Potter. It is about the investigation- we have had a break through in the matter of suspects."

Harry didn't need to be told twice. The unlikely duo strode towards the castle gates, hurrying towards Hogsmeade.

A/N: I really hate writing author's notes. I feel like they clash with the story but- I would just like to know what people are thinking about the story. Is the chapter too short? Too boring? Etc.