July 3rd was a gloomy day and fittingly so. Three people were to be buried today right her in her own back yard, the funeral in her own home, the people her own people.
Everyone had decided to stay in Bulgaria until the funeral and will reading. So Verina had not been alone or moved from her home quite yet and for that she was thankful. However, the house was house in mourning and as the last two days passed it became more and more real every second that they were gone. Keeper tryouts were to be held next week, hospital charity events had been shut down, Qwenog Jones cancelled practice, the young man Verina never got to meet was hiring a new trainer, and a new minister had been named making it all the more real to Verina. None of these things angered her, but they did upset her. They made her sad and they made the truth real. Even now as she got dressed for the funeral it didn't seem quite real to her as if maybe just maybe this was an elaborate dream, but as the lace veil was pinned over her face so was reality.
The clock chimed and Verina knew it was time.
She walked downstairs and into the great hall where the services were to be held. The grave side was personal and private and would happen when the guest left. Severus waited at the bottom of the stairs for Verina. It was customary that the immediate family walked down the aisle as everyone stood. They waited for her because she was supposed to lead. Draco though no blood relation was to be a part of the honored family. Seriphina was his god mother and no one would dare forget it. He held Briony's arm and they stood behind Dmitri and Katherine. Verina walked to the front of the line and looked over at her god father. Had her father been alive it would have been him next to her grieving, but she realized he would probably be just as dead as her mother. She thought of her Uncle Sirius and how he didn't get a funeral. There was no body so there would be no service. This logic wasn't logic at all to Verina but then again nothing about this was at all making sense. She would never understand how she could lose everything in one day. Two grandparents, a mother, and a betrothed were all gone because of Death Eaters attacking the house. Severus did not know it was going to happen and Verina now wondered what side he was routing for. She suspected his motives had changed greatly since the loss of his best friend no longer was he on the side of the Death Eaters- she assumed, but she had doubted he ever was. Draco even looked defeated and Verina wondered if he regretted the last few moments he had with Yavor Obolensky. Briony wept bitterly for she mourned the loss of those closest to her. She and Seriphina had a special bond no one would ever understand. Dmitri held it together and so did his wife Katherine. Verina was grateful for their quiet strength for she had none of her own.
She looked around the room at the hundreds of faces watching her. She squeezed Severus' arm tighter and they began to walk. Never in her life had a walk across her own great hall ever taken that long.
The service began with the master of the ceremony, the new minister, saying a few words. He then introduced various speakers who spoke about one of the three fallen, all of them having kind things to say. They talked of their many accomplishments and all they had achieved; they would be remembered and loved. The minister, Viktor Vulchanov, got up again and spoke of healing in this time of grief and overcoming obstacles and living life even though it would be hard. He then smiled a sad smile and introduced the last two speakers of the hour, the two that would end the ceremony and bring it all to a close, the two that knew the three lying here the best. Verina and Dmitri Obolesnky stood up in unison and walked to the podium. Dmitiri reached out for the young girl and Verina walked to him. He began speaking about the heroic acts of bravery the night of their deaths and the days leading up to it. He talked of his brothers wisdom and leadership, his sister in laws love and healing, and his nieces charm and champion. He then spoke to Verina or of Verina the living, breathing combination of all three. Verina realized now it was her time to speak.
"I hardly know what to do with such an introduction. To say I am the combination of the three most wonderful people I know is well it's a compliment I am unworthy of." She paused and looked around her eyes finally settling on Briony.
" You see I look around at all of you sitting in my great hall for a funeral and it's irony at it's best. Where some of you are sitting I received pony rides from my grandfather, where some of you are sitting my grandmother picked me up and comforted me after a fall, where some of you are sitting my mother greeted me with joy and love after my time at school. As you look around and you see the grandeur of this place of ceremony and good bye I see home and it's many memories. I see my grandfather in his coat and hat coming in from a long day at work saying 'There is no place like Bulgaria, Verina you remember that.' I see my grandmother coming around the corner and saying 'Verina, darling quit dancing around the hall it's time for your potions lesson.' And then I see my mother the culprit dancing right next to me. So as you all say goodbye to a minister, a healer, and a champion I say goodbye to a grandpapa who read me stories on his knee, who called me his little princess, who taught me everything I know about propriety, respect, dignity, honor, integrity, family, and duty. A man who loved me so much that he made sure my life was one filled with such happiness that I could never fall. Instead of a healer, a grandmamma, who with her gypsy tricks and magic enchanted the heart of her granddaughter and taught her more about life in a gypsy fable than any text book could have ever. A grandmother who instilled such a love for people in me that I couldn't imagine living life for any other purpose, a mentor who taught me that life, love, and healing were not about me; that I, Verina, was not important at all, but rather I was one small dot in a very big picture that had to strive to work always for the betterment of those around me. She was the baker of cookies, the conjurer of tricks, the gypsy queen of the realm, the healer of broken hearts, scraped knees, and bad colds. She was a smile that could brighten any world and she was the person I went to when I needed wisdom and guidance in life. If I could only but ask her just one more time 'Grandmamma, how do I handle this?' what I wouldn't give to hear her say 'Verina, like you handle everything else. With love.' " Verina paused and looked down at her prepared speech the one she had long since forgotten her hands were shaking and her eyes began to mist over. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up into the crowd. " Instead of a champion, a mother, who when only months pregnant lost the father or her child and her husband to a battle that could not be won, and instead of giving up she raised her daughter in a loving home that lacked nothing. So I suppose she is a champion just not in the way the public views her because believe me some days I think she would have rather faced a dragon than face the five year old she had." The crowd laughed " I will miss the letters every day, the visits every month, the random packages of candies, the arms I ran to when I needed comfort, the laughs, the dances, the joyful moments, and yes even the sorrowful ones because even then I had my mother. The only comfort I have is that I know they will live on. Not only in me, but in the work that they have accomplished, and also in the people who knew them. Yes, as I look at you all today I see them because in some way they have touched all of you and impacted your lives somehow. Maybe my grandfather taught you a lesson on pipe smoke" she said looking directly at Draco " or about your heritage." She said looking at Briony " maybe he just lead you in a remarkable way." She said looking out at the crowd " or maybe my grandmamma healed you when you were sick, or instilled her love of healing in you. Maybe she cleaned your cut and touched your heart as she did mine. Or maybe my mother taught you how to tame a dragon or turn a whistle into a pocket watch, maybe she taught you how to ride your first broom." This time she looked at Briony and then to Draco and Gwenog Jones. " Maybe she was your best friend. I know she was mine." Catching the eyes of her godfather she smiled and looked at the crowd " but however, they impacted you, however they touched you I know a little piece of them lives in you all, and that my friends is something that I will cherish. The little piece of them that lives in you will be a constant reminder that they did not die in vain. That they did not stand up for what was right and what was good for nothing. That they did not die for their family, their country, and their friends for nothing. No, in fact it tells me they made a noble sacrifice. One I cannot say I could have made or would have made. It makes losing them so much easier to know they did it with you and you and you and you and yes even me in mind. They died doing what they have always done, and that is putting others before themselves. No, they did not die for nothing; in fact, they did for a very big something. In her last moments my grandmother said something to me that I will never forget. She said the word love and today it reminds of something she always said we can handle anything that comes with love. And it was for love that very big something that these and the other 7 are dead. Love for their country, love for their fellow man, the love of duty, and more importantly the love of family. It seems cliché to say love conquers all, but it is true. No love could not conquer death not this time, but it conquered living a bleak existence that meant nothing." She said emphatically. "Because what more can we hope to do as people on this planet than what these three did and that is live for something more than ourselves? Live for something bigger than our front door and die for something worth dying for. Yes, we may grieve. Yes, we can be angry that they were snatched from it us, but more so we can be proud that they lived to be everything we knew them to be and more." She paused and looked around and said more quietly " So as we all say goodbye to them today let us remember not how they died but why and more importantly how they lived and let us leave here renewed and challenged to use that little piece of them in us how they would have. To live our lives how they lived theirs and let us be proud that we can say we know these people and remember the very last word my grandmother ever spoke. Love."
She stepped back off the podium and noticed someone stood and began to clap and the audience followed. Dmitri waved his wand signaling with sparks and a song that the ceremony had indeed ended. Verina stepped down off the stage and was met by Briony together the two left and walked down the aisle. No this wasn't planned, but it was needed. The two girls were surrounded by people clapping and showing respect. Verina's eyes grew moist and heart was overwhelmed. She was surrounded by people who loved her family as much as she did. For that brief moment she no longer felt alone.