Ron sat as content as he could be in the kitchens, having wolfed down anything and everything the elves had placed down in front of him; grieving made him hungry more so than usual.

He allowed himself to cry tears for his lost friend as he sat amidst the working elves, every now and then one would pat him and try to say a few consoling words. Ron really was their favourite student and they hated to see their precious master sad.

After an hour or so, Ron gave a large sniff and took an offered tissue from an elf.

'Thanks,' he said, his voice still slightly choked by sadness but nevertheless he had work to do; he had to solve this mystery. 'Could someone locate Lavender Brown for me?' He asked to the whole kitchen, one elf piped up and in a few seconds Ron had his answer.

'The Gryffindor common room, Ron,' she answered with a smile, Ron being the only person they respected enough to use his first name and not the general "master" appellation. Ron thanked the elves once again and made his way through secret passages that he knew so well to his own common room.

He didn't want to see people; they would try and comfort him and that wouldn't help, it would just make him more upset and remember and right at this moment, he wanted to work and not grieve; crying wouldn't sort out this mess.

Luckily, there were only a few students, mostly first years, in the common room. As soon as the portrait hole swung open, Lavender instinctively looked up from painting her nails and saw Ron swiftly walking towards her.

She gave him a hug, trying not to ruin her nails, and he hugged her tightly back.

'I haven't got anything more for you at the moment Ron, they haven't found anything,' she said as soon as they both sat down.

'Lavender,' he said in a shocked mock tone. 'I am not here to use you like that!' She gave a small smirk towards him.

'Then what?'

'How are you?'

'Oh Ron, fuck off, we both know you only come to me when you want something,' Ron could hear the joke tone to her voice but it still hurt him; his eyes only, for a second, showed his true emotions but Lavender could read people as good as she could apply makeup. 'Oh, Hunnie I didn't mean it like that and you know it,' she gave him a light kiss on the cheek. Ron felt the spot where she kissed him burn and his ears blushed. 'But seriously, what do you want?'

'You.'

'Oh Ronnie! Not here,' she giggled and smacked his arm playfully. Ron's burned a dangerous red and he looked away from her.

'I didn't mean it like that!' He exclaimed and Lavender just laughed. 'I mean, I need you to help me,' Lavender went to interrupt but Ron hushed her. 'I need to find out who did this and I think the detectives-,'

'Jack Stone and Taffy Fox,' she butted in but said nothing more, not looking up from her painting.

'Want me to do some digging of my own. Lav, a lot of people don't trust you but I do and I know you would help me. I cannot ask anyone else and I know you'll be good at this sort of thing, you know people. Please, I beg,'

'I wondered when you were going to ask me,' she smiled at Ron and he looked confused. 'Oh come on! As if you weren't going to do some detecting of your own and you can't exactly ask Hermione. I am the only one,' she announced with pride. 'I've already started.'

'What?' Ron raised an eyebrow.

'While you were comfort eating in the kitchen-,'

'How-,'

'Shush Ronnie, Lav's talking,' she hushed him and delicately, without spoiling her freshly painted nails, pulled out a notebook from under a nearby cushion. 'Have begun compiling the evidence so far, lookie,' she edged it towards Ron, who picked it up and looked inside its leather pink cover.

1. Hermione Granger

2. Ginny Weasley

3. Draco Malfoy

4. Colin Creevy

5. Ronald Weasley

Ron's name was the last on the list and, to his relief, crossed out.

'I've listed who it could be and well, that's all I've done so far,' she smiled brightly at Ron.

'Who do you think it was Lavender?' He asked her.

'Now,' she tapped the side of her nose and winked slyly. 'That would be telling.'

'The knife had two sets of prints on it and we detected a cleaning spell was used on it, quite a high level one actually and we can't trace it back to a wand it's that good,' said Fox as he tapped is finger down the list in his notebook. He and Stone sat in the small room they had taken as their own for the duration of their stay at Hogwarts. Their separate desks sat at the head of the room, furthest from the door, and facing them in rows were double desks for the other witches and wizard pulled in to help. 'Due to the victim of this crime being who he is, we've kept it from the press for the time being but it's not going to be long until something leaks out and we're screwed.'

'And not in a good way,' muttered Stone as he listened to Fox, so far nothing the boy had to say to him was of any surprise or significance.

'Also, we've had the report from Doc back and nothing came back that he hadn't already said to us. Waite checked the perimeter charms as you asked, sir, and none were broken and even Dumbledore said that nothing came in or out at the time of the murder. We even did back checks and nothing came up that shouldn't have. Stevens and Wright have come back with, well sir, nothing – they talked to this Brown girl Weasley talked about and she just talked about people that were nothing to do with the case and when they asked her, she just shrugged and said she knew nothing,' Stone gave a laugh. 'What's so funny sir?'

'The boy's already gotten her. Ron works fast... well looking at that Brown girl, I would too,' he gave a deep chuckle. 'She's not saying nowt because she's working with Ron and doesn't want to give anything away to us,' Stone waved his hand in the general direction of Fox. 'Tell the boys to pack it in and talk to the professors about our suspects or something that might be of actual use to us.'

'Anything else sir?'

'No, not of the moment. When's the funeral?'

'Dumbledore wants to get it done before the press hear and swamp it.'

'I said "when", Fox?'

'Tomorrow sir.'

'Well, I think it would be best if we also paid our respects to the boy... let's see how our suspects react. One of them fuckers is guilty of putting him six feet under and I'll be damned if they don't show some ounce of guilt.'

I was surprised that the funeral was so soon but I was glad too. I could mourn for my best friend and then find out the truth. That's what Harry would have wanted, he was always the action kind-of-guy.

Mum arrived in the morning and I was glad to be in her arms again; she smelt like the Burrow, she smelt like home and there was nothing that I wouldn't give to be back there with all of family (okay, maybe minus the twins) and my friends again.

The whole school stood in the Great Hall with added extras from our previous adventures, even Lockhart stood at the back – I guilty said hello and asked if he was well, his carer said he was. I saw Stone and Fox partly hiding in one of the back corners and I knew that they weren't there to mourn but to work. I liked that spirit.

Hermione shuffled to the front with me by her side and I held Ginny's hand as we walked past all of the isles to the front row. I saw Lavender nod at me and I noticed how stylish and rather sexy (well I know it was a funeral and all but come on, I'm a teenage bloke, what do you expect me to say?) she looked in her tight little black dress. Harry would understand, he would approve.

Dumbledore said a few words and McGonagall did too. Everyone seemed upset at his passing but part of me was annoyed; nearly none of them had actually known him, they just knew him as the boy-who-lived and Voldemort's nemesis – oh bloody hell, I'd forgotten about all of that mess, who was going to kill him now?

Then it was my turn; Dumbledore had asked me to say a bit and to be honest, I had been shitting myself about it. I had tried to plan a funny and light-hearted speech but the only one I had ever had planned was Harry's best man's speech for when he married my sister – even I knew that would have been coming. And, like ever, I hadn't prepared and as I walked up the stand, I had absolutely nothing to say whatsoever. Sorry mate but I know you'll understand.

I gave a small cough and looked out onto the crowd, some smiled comfortingly at me and some – cough, Slytherins – looked as bored as me in potions. They were almost willingly me to mess up just for a cheap laugh.

I looked to the coffin next to me, I shuddered and suddenly I was hit, not literally, by the fact that my best friend was really dead. This wasn't some prank by the Twins, this was real.

Harry Potter was Dead.
And nothing I could ever do would ever change that.

Bloody hell, not even I could provide comic relief now.

'Like every other time in my life, I am not prepared,' I gave a small laugh and kept my gaze on Harry's coffin. 'I don't know what you really say at times like this because I never expected to be doing anything like this, the only speech I ever had ready for Harry was when I was his best man and I think you can understand that I can't really use that one now... think I'd get thrown off. Harry was my best friend and I know that no one will ever replace him. He had his moments, hey every child saviour does, but he always protected me and the ones he loved. He was the greatest student this school has ever known and I don't know what the Quidditch team are going to do now,' a small laugh rippled around the hall. 'And as I look out into this crowd now,' I finally took my eyes away. 'I know that most of you had never exchanged a word with Harry in your life but I know that you all respected and believed in what he did and tried to do. He taught me so much, he made me fight my fears and he helped me in ways that he will never know. Now who else is going to save me from Hermione's moaning?' I think even Hermione smiled then. 'He showed us all that everyone, no matter how small, can be a hero and can fight for the right,' and I heard someone yell "to party" – probably one of the twins. I gave a small laugh at that. 'Bloody hell, mate,' I turned and faced his coffin, placing a caring hand on the cold wood. 'I love you,' a single tear fell down my cheek. 'I will never forget you and everything you have done for me,' I stepped off the podium and whispered.

'Goodbye.'