Author's Note: Thanks to MrsDraco for asking to see the funeral in her lovely review. I was leaning towards simply mentioning it in the next chapter, but I'd never turn down a request from someone who took the time to review, and this turned out to be more fun to write than I thought it would be. The FictionAlley and SIYE (fingers are crossed) versions of this story probably won't have this chapter, which is really more of a "missing moment" than a chapter. Enjoy!

Insert: The Funeral of Fred Weasley

Roughly 75 witches and wizards attended the funeral at the Burrow on the 12th day of May, 1998. Most members of the Gryffindor Quidditch side from 1991 – 1995 attended, as did the entirety of Dumbledore's Army and what was left of the Order of the Phoenix, along with their families. Several of the Weasley Twins' neighbors at Diagon Alley turned out, including among others Madame Malkin, Mr Ollivander, and the manager of Flourish & Blotts. Instead of the standard ministry delegation sent to the funerals of those who lost their lives at the Battle of Hogwarts though, Minister Shacklebolt came personally, as he would for all Order funerals.

The ceremony began with Lee Jordan as pallbearer, levitating Fred's casket up through the aisle between the rows of seats. As the casket was brought through the seats, the assembled stood in respect. The casket was a bright purple, with images of Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs decorating the outside. When it reached the front of the gathering, the guests sat, while Lee began the ceremony with a few words of introduction.

"None of this is right. None of this is fair. We oughtn't have funerals for twenty-year-old war heroes. For Merlin's sake, we oughtn't have twenty-year-old war heroes. Fred gave his life so that we will never again need such wars or such heroes. Were that all there was to Fred, we would have plenty to share here today. But Fred was also a businessman, he was an inventor, and oh, by the way, he liked to play a joke or two.

"It is nearly impossible to think of Fred without thinking of his twin brother, George. The two men were inseparable – from their identical marks in school, to their pairing as beaters on the house Quidditch team, to co-owners of one of Diagon Alley's most successful new ventures in ages; they finished each other's sentences, and were nigh on indistinguishable. George, no one here knows what you're feeling right now, but please know that you are in our hearts and minds as you grieve.

"Harry told me that we would all be in some serious trouble if this ceremony turned out maudlin, but there's a bit of laughter that's just recently left the world, and in its place has come some anger, some confusion and a whole lot of sadness. That will take time to get over. But today we are here to celebrate a life, one who doled out more laughter in twenty years than most men do in a century. Fred left one very lasting memory on Hogwarts, and to help us relive that moment, I'd like Harry Potter to come tell us a bit about that day."

Harry, dressed in black robes appropriate for the occasion, walked up to where Lee had been standing and began to tell the tale of the swamp in the corridor.

"Any of you who were at Hogwarts in '94 –'95 remember the famous exit that Fred and George made that year. There was a swamp in the corridor outside what was then Dolores Umbridge's office. After the twins were caught red-handed, the two of them sped off on their brooms to tumultuous applause from most of the school, and a salute from Peeves. Except for a few people though, no one knows how or why that stunt was planned. Now, while covering Filch and Umbridge in portable swamp goo is a most worthy and noble goal in and of itself, they released the swamp as a diversion so that I could use Umbridge's floo to talk with my godfather for a few minutes. See, I had mentioned to Ginny one day in the library that I really needed to talk with Sirius, but that with the police state Hogwarts was under that year, I didn't see how it could be done. I still remember her response: 'The thing about growing up with Fred and George is that you begin to think anything is possible. We'll get it done.' And get it done they did. The swamp was not only their final advertisement for the launch of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, it was also a diversion they caused to help out a friend. Fred, this Whiz-bang is lit for you, a man who knew what being a friend was, and what it could cost." And Harry lit off the fireworks with this wand. Upon exploding in the air, the message spelled out "Friend".

"And now we will hear from Verity, who worked for Fred and George at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes until the day they had to close due to the war." And Lee brought Verity to the front. She was a natural speaking in front of people, as anyone would be who sold as many joke products as she.

"I was blessed to have Fred and George Weasley as my bosses for a little over a year. In that time I was fortunate to get to watch their inventive process a time or two. I had imagined it would go one of two ways, either they would be dead capitalistic about the whole thing, just putting on a façade for the public, or they would sit and joke around until they stumbled into the right mixture of ingredients that made something clever that they could sell. What I saw amazed me. Of course they were dead serious about their inventions, but what they were serious about wasn't simply an invention's profitability, but its impact. With each new product, their goal was to create a little more laughter in the world; to help pull a better prank or create a better joke. And that's why we've been so successful. George and Fred always stayed true to their aim – and it was dead on." Verity lit a Whiz-bang that spelled out "Prankster" and another one that spelled out "Inventor", and she then took her seat.

After Verity had finished, Lee escorted Molly Weasley to the set of Whiz-bangs. When hers exploded it read "Son". Arthur Weasley's read the same. In order, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron and Ginny all lit Whiz-bangs reading "Brother". George followed behind, lighting one reading "Brother" and another reading "Twin". As the family filed through, they each stopped at Fred's coffin to whisper a few final goodbyes, and then went back to their seats. When they had sat down, Lee returned to the front and continued.

"Now, if you would each reach under your seats, you will find a Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bang. These have been charmed to explode into a word that describes what Fred meant in your life. Please go ahead and light them off now."

And the sky was aglow with words like "Friend", "Comrade-in-arms", "Teammate" and "Prankster". As the congregants were looking skyward for their words, Harry and Lee levitated the coffin into its grave, filled the grave, and set a tombstone in its place. The stone read:

Fred Weasley

1978-1998

Beloved Son, Brother and Twin

Mischief Managed

When the congregants had taken their seats, Lee thanked them for coming, and invited them to partake in the repast that had appeared behind them.

Kreacher, as expected, had completely outdone himself with the buffet. There was a tremendous variety of finger foods, including sandwiches of cucumber, watercress, smoked salmon and ham, the first three flavored with a simple garlic and dill aioli, and the ham with a stout mustard. There were pasties of several varieties, as well as deviled eggs, miniature spinach quiches, and a crudités platter. Scones were available with or without currants, and with clotted cream, marmalade and lemon curd to spread. Dessert items included an assortment of lemon bars and poppy seed bars, cut into whimsical shapes, as well as a ginger-spice sheet cake, covered in buttercream and decorated with animated fireworks. There was also a fully stocked bar, and a punch bowl. George was kept far from the punch bowl at all times, yet somehow several guests left the funeral with more feathers than they had arrived with. Folks milled about for several hours, paying their respects to the Weasleys, sharing memories of the twins, and catching up with friends they hadn't seen in far too long. Lee and Harry, as hosts of the event, thanked each guest for attending personally, and the affair was wrapped up by about 5:30 in the afternoon. By 6:00, Kreacher had broken down and cleaned up the buffet, and the chairs had all disappeared into thin air, as conjured items will do.

The Weasley family, including Fleur, Harry and Hermione retired to the Burrow after thanking Kreacher profusely for his assistance. Kreacher merely shook his head and said, "Kreacher is more than happy to assist the noble house of Weasley however he can, being that Master Harry, Master Ron and Miss Ginny is always so good to Kreacher. Too good to Kreacher." And he left with just a whisper of a pop. The entire family gathered in the sitting room for the first time in so long, it was the topic of conversation for a good 45 minutes. Ginny, perched on Harry's lap, whispered "thank-you" in his ear at least every five minutes, and the entire family agreed that it was a funeral of which Fred would have been proud, and all thanked Harry for his part in arranging it. Harry demurred and deflected much of the praise, as is his custom, and the Weasleys played along as they have been accustomed to doing for most of the time that Harry had been in their lives.

George lasted a surprising two hours in the sitting room. After he excused himself to go back to his room and sleep, Bill and Fleur made their exits, as did Percy. Charlie was staying the night in the room he and Bill had shared as children, and went to unpack. Molly and Arthur lasted another half-hour before retiring as well. Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry had a bit of planning to do, however. Their time at the Burrow was also coming to an end, and they would shortly move to Grimmauld Place together. There were logistics to be arranged, with some of Harry's things at Privet Drive ("Sod all that, they can keep it" was his response), and most of Hermione's belongings at her parents' house. There was also a matter of furnishing the house, as much of what was there could only be described as "ghastly". They decided that the logistics planning could wait until the morning, and that they would move in the following day, Thursday. Most of the night was spent with a bottle of dandelion wine, with Ron, Hermione and Ginny sharing dreams about their summer. There was an upcoming trip to Australia, cooking chores, general amazement of Kreacher's abilities, and "where the hell are we to find a pick-up Quidditch match in London?" on the table. Harry half-listened to the conversation, spent a good deal of time counting the freckles on Ginny's right cheek, and wondered somewhat how it came to be that he had a future to plan.

Around 11:00, the two couples retired for the evening. As they were getting ready for bed, Ginny cornered Harry on his silence in the sitting room.

"What is it, darling? You were so quiet." She slinked an arm up his shoulder to run her fingers through his hair suggestively. "Tell me what's on your mind, I might be able to help," she whispered in his ear.

"Oh. Right. It's nothing, Gin, it's just been a long day, and I wasn't quite up to keeping up with Hermione's prattle," he lied. "I'm bloody knackered, having been up till the wee hours last night, and I could use a good night's sleep."

They crawled into bed, where Ginny rather less than subtly offered him help to relax for the night, which Harry agreed could be helpful. Ginny has always followed through on promises made to someone she loves, and that night was no exception.