A/N: Thank you to all those who added the story to their alerts and favorite. I really appreciate it. I know the story is a bit unclear now but I am slowly in the process of revealing things.
Freak the eulogy was hard to write. Feel free to blast me for the pathetic attempt.
As always I don't the amazing HP stories or the characters.
Chapter 2: Grief
Hermione had always thought that the lines "eyes met across the crowd" as a cliché. But how else was she to describe her relationship with the man who had stolen her heart. Theirs had always been a meeting of chances and eyes meeting across the crowded room.
May 31, 1998
Hermione Granger fidgeted in her chair. Loneliness and grief had settled upon her like a wet blanket she did not want. She was aware that many in the services felt the same. There were more than fifty people in the service surrounding her yet she had never felt more alone in her life.
Looking around she caught sight of a couple of reporters. Her anger blossomed and she welcomed it more than she did the suffocating grief she had felt earlier.
How dare they- the nerve of the nosy gossip-monger!
As if it was not enough that the ministry had sent their goons but to have those reporters taking picture of what should have been a private moment of grief truly irritated her.
Although she should have known this would happen. Heroes were not allowed to grieve in private. Their emotions were to be put on display like fresh laundry for others to follow. At times she wished she could just blow them all off and leave. But she knew she would never do that. The dead deserved more respect than that.
But their family also deserved a time to grieve, she thought, although this was hardly anything private.
Her eyes still narrowed at the telltale flash of the camera she was quite startled when she felt a hand clutch hers. Surprised she turned to face her best friend Ron Weasley. She squeezed his hands back. His eyes were red. It was not shocking but admittedly she had not expected this.
She knew she was the emotional one. The crier, if you would. She had always been one to cry out her emotions. But somehow she could not, not here; even if this was a service for two people whom she admired and their death still hit hard.
There was no chance in hell she was going to give those reporters any chance to catch a glimpse of her sorrow.
Focused as she was in her thoughts she finally noticed the silence which had taken over the service. Looking to the front she noticed Harry. Poor Harry. The ministry was using him as a spokesperson in the services of those who had died in the war. Harry never denied them.
Quite a nervous speaker but one would never know looking at him right now.
"Dear friends and families,
I stand here today with a sense of loss that many of you must be feeling. I stand here in place of the family of Nymphadora Tonks Lupin and Remus Lupin. I stand here today for the many wizards and witches who want to thank these two.
As a professor, friend, colleague, husband, member of the Order or father I believe that Lupin taught all of us to confront our fears. As a third year Hogwarts student who couldn't even give name to his fear Lupin taught me a very valuable lesson. This lesson I still remember - life has two things which we always are crippled by – fear and regret. We regret what we could have done and the fear which holds us back.
After meeting Remus I realize that we are beyond our fears. This man had so much to fear in his life- bigotry, self-hatred, isolation but he never ever let that stop him. I don't know if I could do what he did. He trusted that his will was enough to see him through the darkness. War asked him to sacrifice himself and somehow pushed him towards darkness. But even then Remus always kept his humanity.
I remember how terrified he was when he heard about the baby. I don't understand why. If there was ever a man who was meant to be a father-Remus Lupin was that man. He truly proved that any fool can make a baby, but it takes a man to be a father. In times of war we lose sight of what is important to us but I believe Lupin never did so.
Yet no man is an island. Lupin's greatest strength I believe was his love for his wife- Tonks. Many of us in this room know Tonks as a woman worth fearing. She was an Auror. Yet, those lucky enough to know her personally would say that she was more than just an Auror. Her quirkiness, her smile, her big heart and best of all her ability to stand by those she loved even in the darkest of time.
After a while, war becomes a routine. Sometimes we forget we are fighting for a cause. Tonks reminded us that we were fighting not just for ourselves but for those who come after. Even in times of war we have something beautiful to look forward to. That laughter is needed. That hope and love were truly our greatest weapons against Tom Riddle.
The ministry might have labeled Tonks and Remus Lupin but they are beyond what a mere label is. There is no need enlarge them into something bigger than they were. They were two decent people who saw injustice and tried to correct it.
Each life that was lost in the war weighs heavily upon us but this death weighs our hearts down. A tender baby is now left without his parents- an orphan. Yet, we all sigh in relief that this orphaned child will never forget that he is loved. His parents' sacrifices were worth something and the wizarding world has a debt we cannot pay back enough.
Goodbye Remus and Tonks Lupin. Thank you."
Harry had to break off more than a couple times as tears clogged his voice.
Hermione thought that for a man who sometimes had a hard time stringing words together, the eulogy was absolutely beautiful.
She was doing a good job of holding back the tears until she looked around and caught the sight of a person she admittedly did not think would be present. She was not sure how she had missed him in her previous perusals of those present in the service but there he was with some of the Aurors. Like always, his stance was aloof.
But then she saw who he was staring at. He was staring at Teddy Remus Lupin who was currently in his grandmother's lap. The baby had blessedly remained quiet during the service. Although any child of Remus would be expectedly quiet during a ceremony but with Tonks as a mother no one was quite sure.
Hermione felt her heart melt as she saw the look Draco Malfoy gave the boy. It was almost sympathetic yet heartbreakingly guilty. Almost as if he could not meet the Teddy's eyes Draco looked away.
Their eyes met for two seconds.
Dammit! Hermione felt the ice in her heart melt. God fucking dammit!
She gulped as she realized she had been cursing in a service.
But she could not help but curses.
How else was she to deal with her broken heart melting at the sight of her ex-lover's sad eyes?
