Sorry guys, another slow chapter. I promise it gets better after this!
Harry was awake bright and early the next morning feeling much more refreshed. It was the first night he had slept all the way through with no nightmares for as long as he could remember. He saw that Ron was still snoring and didn't have the heart to wake him yet, so he crept out of the dormitory and into the bathroom to take a long hot shower.
After about half an hour of scrubbing himself down, still bits of dirt and gravel falling out of his hair, Harry came out of the bathroom and almost knocked straight into Ginny, who looked like she had been waiting for him.
"Harry, I… I'm sorry, we hardly saw each other at all yesterday and I know we've got a big day ahead of us, but … I really needed to see you."
Harry smiled softly at the beautiful red head before him and placed one hand on her right cheek, then leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. He pulled back to see her emerald eyes sparkling with happiness and he sighed softly. "Ginny, I promise, tonight, when today is over, we'll talk properly. I'm sure Ron and Hermione have got some talking to do too."
Ginny nodded in agreement and placed her hand on Harry's arm before turning and heading back into the girls dormitory. Harry went back into the boy's room to see Ron up and dressed.
"Alright mate? Good sleep?" Ron asked Harry, he too looking much more refreshed than yesterday.
"Amazing. Best sleep I've had in years!"
"I thought so. You didn't wake me up in the night so that tells me something!" The boys both chuckled, before Harry sighed once more.
"Guess we'd better get down to the Great Hall… families will be arriving soon."
Ron nodded and followed Harry down into the common room where Hermione and Ginny were waiting for them.
"Ready?" Hermione asked as she stood up, looking at the two boys, her eyes lingering on Ron.
Ron and Harry answered in unison "Ready."
Down in the Great Hall, lots of witches and wizards were beginning to arrive, some looking nervous, some remorseful, some just plain sad. Harry joined Professor McGonagall at the entrance, shaking hands with various people and introducing himself.
Neville and Luna were handing out glasses of Pumpkin juice and Butterbeer to the guests as they made their way into the hall.
"Have you heard? Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick have arranged a big feast for after the vigil?" Luna asked Neville, who nodded as he passed another glass of Butterbeer to a guest. "I hope they've made sure there's enough pudding."
Once everyone had arrived, Harry made his way round to each coffin. He didn't want to prepare a speech, he just wanted to allow the families to mourn in piece in their own little area with their loved ones. He saw Padma and Parvati over with Lavender's parents and all the Weasleys were shedding tears over their beloved Fred, although George seemed like he was still in shock, just stood there, emotionless. Harry walked over to where Lupin and Tonks were placed together, the remaining members of the Order stood round them. A heavily pregnant Fleur was holding a small baby in her arms and smiled as Harry approached them.
"'Arry… Remus had one final wish before 'e died and zat was for you to become little Teddy's Godfather." Harry frowned as Fleur placed Teddy into his arms and he smiled down at the baby just under a year old and fell in love. He of all people knew exactly what it was like to lose both parents as a baby.
"As soon as I'm finished with Hogwarts, I will take good care of Teddy. He needs to be loved by everyone, not have a life like I did."
Fleur nodded as she took Teddy back from him. "Of course, we will all 'elp out."
Harry sighed, taking one last look at his beautiful godson, before going over to Colin Creevey's family.
"Hi, Mr and Mrs Creevey… Dennis… I'm so sorry for your loss. Colin was a great guy and he was so, so brave. He shouldn't have stayed to fight, but his Gryffindor courage overtook and he just wanted to protect everyone. He has definitely died a hero." Mr and Mrs Creevey, began to cry and both hugged Harry, then Dennis spoke up.
"Harry… I think Colin would have liked you to have this." Dennis handed Harry a small photo album labelled 'My First Year At Hogwarts'. Harry opened it up and the first picture was of an 11-year old Colin grinning beside a 12-year old Harry…. Then a picture he'd taken of Harry and Malfoy racing past him on their brooms during the first Quidditch match of the year.
"Thanks Dennis… it's lovely."
Harry continued to speak to many families until the sun began to set and everyone held their own lit candle and began to walk slowly out of the castle, the coffins of each body floating in front, ready to be boarded onto the boats and taken to various graveyards. It was a beautiful and sad, yet peaceful scene.
Everyone made their way back into the Great Hall for a grand feast and it wasn't until midnight when everyone had left, some of the students leaving early to go back to their parents too. McGonagall announced to the remaining students that Hogwarts would be closing early for summer tomorrow and that students should pack their things before bed tonight.
Back up in the Gryffindor Common Room, everyone began discussing their futures. Seamus announced that he had been approached by Kingsley and asked if he wanted a job in the Ministry dealing with pyrotechnics and explosives and Luna announced she would be taking over from her father as editor and boss of the Quibbler.
Neville said he was going to come back to Hogwarts for another year to finish his NEWTs so he could become a Herbology professor and Ginny agreed she too, would be coming back.
"What about you three?" Neville looked at the golden trio and before the boys had time to think, Hermione spoke for them.
"Well, I'm going to spend the summer tracking down my parents in Australia and re-install their memories, then we're all going to come back and take our NEWT exams."
Ron started "Wait a sec-"
"- You and Harry both want to be Aurors… therefore, you need to finish your NEWTs."
Hermione raised her eyebrow at Ron and that sure silenced him.