I'm back, and with a new friend, too! Everyone say hello to Emiliya Wolfe, the poor girl-er, I mean, wonderful person who has agreed to Beta this! *Gives two big chocolate cookies for her work* She's got a fic too, "A Tale of Two Sides" It's a Marauder's Era type that is from the point of view of James Potter's twin sister, Emma, who's sorted into Slytherin. I definitely recommend it!

Oh, and this fic was added to it's very first Community! Thanks to TheArtsyFeministFangirl for adding it to The Lion and the Snake *presents big chocolate cookie*

On to the chapter!

~Creelluka

Disclaimer: I created the idea of Fanfare Foghorns! Everything else belongs to Queen Rowling.

(Edited 10-3-2015, chapter 15 is now combined with this chapter)

July 28, 1998

Wearing a black dress, heels, and sun hat, Hermione stood somberly in front of her bedroom mirror. Today was the joint funeral of both her parents and Harry's extended family. Hermione didn't know how to feel. During the time she stayed at Prince Manor with Professor Snape and Remus, she had gone through the five stages of grief, and now felt a bit disconnected; as if it were the funeral for someone else―it kind of was― and not her parents.

The four younger Weasleys and their parents were supposed to be there, as well as Moody, Tonks, Remus, Emmeline Vance (who discovered the Dursleys bodies ),Kingsley, and Professor Snape.

Professor Snape.

They hadn't spoken to one another since he had found her behind the park in a clearing surrounded by a thick copse of trees, fingering a white lily with pink edges. He had grabbed her arm and promptly Disapparated them back to Prince Manor before she could say anything and had then locked himself in the study. He had avoided her in the four days since.

Making her way down the two flights of stairs, Hermione tried once again to think of a good eulogy to say over her parents' cremains. She had tried to write them out several times, but every time she sat at the old desk in her burgundy colored room, every time she set the roll of parchment down and unscrewed the ink pot, every time she dipped the quill into the ink and hovered over the parchment, waiting for letters to organize into words, words to grow into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, nothing came to her. She would sit in the hard seated, stiff-backed desk chair and watch the ink drip off of the quill and pool onto the stiff parchment and stain her fingers as her hand grew damp with sweat and slide around the quill shaft. Hermione would think of the black ink collecting on the stationary as her parents blood, staining the paper as it must have stained the floor where they lay. And then Hermione would siphon off the wasted ink, clean the quill, replace the lid to the inkwell, and roll up the parchment. She would then curl up under the soft russet sheets of her bed and stare at nothing until she fell asleep from exhaustion, glamouring away the dark circles and bags from under her eyes in the morning.

"Good morning, Hermione," Remus called from the kitchen, hearing her approach when she was still on the stairs.

Hermione schooled her face into a more cheery look. "Good morning, Remus, Tonks, how are you?"

Tonks grunted sleepily. Apparently, the metamorphmagus wasn't verbal without her morning coffee. Between she and Professor Snape, both of whom could have drunk coffee competitively, the coffee beans had run out of supply only three days after Tonks had arrived.

"I think a better question would be, how are you?" The former Defense professor smiled gently.

Hermione smiled sadly. "I'll be fine."

"Oi, 'Mione, isn't your scheduled shopping trip in a couple days? We're still out of coffee." Tonks complained.

" 'We're still out of coffee?' " Professor Snape swept in. "I was under the impression that this was my home, Miss Tonks, you have no say in what beverage items this household may or may not have. Remy!" He ordered. And the house-elf appeared with his customary CRACK! of Apparation.

"Yes, Master Potions Master, what can Remy do's for you?" The elf asked, looking beyond eager to serve his master.

"A cup of coffee, please, Remy." Snape smirked at Tonks who was glaring at him. "Black." The elf Disapparated and Apparated back quickly, bringing with him a large fragrant mug of coffee. The kitchen filled with the scent of the coffee and Tonks was practically moaning at the smell.

"Remus, make him share!" She whined, which made the last Marauder chuckle.

"I doubt anyone could make Severus do anything he didn't choose to do himself." Remus said.

Hermione glanced at the professor when Remus said this, and noticed that though his face was utterly blank, the fist that was holding the mug was clenched with so much force she feared that it would break, his knuckles looked like they might split through the skin of his hands with the amount of pressure he was exerting. Hermione was sure that his fingernails must have broken the skin of his other palm and when Snape relaxed his hand and surreptitiously brushed his hand against the leg of his black trousers, she saw the faint dark smear left behind, which he would probably use a Tergeo on when no one would notice.

Speaking of noticing, it appeared that Professor Snape had seen her see his reaction, not endearing her towards him in any way. It seemed that he wouldn't be forgiving her little outburst anytime soon.

Turning the subject away from Snape, Hermione made conversation with Tonks, who was marginally more awake and was making various types of noses while she and Hermione conversed about the effectiveness of nonverbal magic verses wandless magic.

"You ready, mate?" Ron asked. "Mum's shrieking at the twins for goofing off on the day of a funeral, might want to get down there to distract her." He and Harry were just finishing adjusting themselves and their clothes, Harry trying to flatten his hair, which seemed to only get more unmanageable the more important the event, and Ron trying to adjust his bow tie, which seemed to permanently tilt to the right.

"Yeah, I just haven't got any ideas of what I'm supposed to say over their remains, I mean, I don't have any good stories to tell about them, and other than a few bad jokes about their weight, I've got nothing." He chuckled. " 'Mione's probably got a five roll speech prepared, but she's got loads of good things to say about her parents."

"That's our 'Mione." Ron guffawed. "Though I don't see why The Order's making such a big deal about this, I mean, A Muggle funeral? With a Peach and everything?"

"A Priest, Ron, and yeah, a Squib one. But I mean, the Dursley's were Muggles, and so were the Grangers, but if Hermione and I just said a few last words to them and stuck them in the ground, it would have been fine with me." Ron nodded.

"Ronald? Harry, dear, it's time to go!" Mrs. Weasley shouted from the ground floor.

"Coming, Mum!" Ron bellowed back. "C'mon, let's go see 'Mione." And the two tramped down the stairs of Grimmauld Place, while Molly stood at the bottom of the stairwell to make sure her boys didn't fall down the stairs.

"Into the Floo with you two. We'll be stopping by the Ministry for one of those cars they have, can't be letting the Muggles see any of us Apparating or arriving by Portkey.

"Harry, I'm so sorry about the Dursley's! How are you doing?" Was the first thing Hermione said to Harry when she saw him, accompanied by a tight hug.

"I'm fine, thanks 'Mione, I'm sorry about your parents." Harry hugged her back.

Ron stepped forward and promptly stuck his foot in his mouth. "Bloody hell, what did you do to your hair?"

Hermione laughed and pulled him into a hug to and Ron awkwardly patted her on the back. They may be best friends, but they had still dated and Ron wasn't quite sure what the protocol was when comforting your ex -girlfriend slash best friend at her parents funeral.

Ginny was the next person Hermione hugged, and the red-haired girl linked arms with her friend as they walked towards the congregated Order members.

"So, hi, er, thanks for being here," Harry started. "Um, so pretty much all of you have heard about my aunt, uncle and cousin, some of you have met them. Well, you've all heard about how they mistreated me and all that, but they shouldn't have died. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley should've had long lives. Aunt Petunia should have spent years poking her nose into everybody's business, Uncle Vernon should've spent the rest of his life waddling around and complaining about everything that moved and boasting about his job at the drill company. Dudley was only sixteen when he was killed. The same age as me. He was on the Rugby team in Secondary, apparently all those years playing Harry Hunting paid off? And he had his entire life ahead of him.

"The last thing he said to me was that he didn't think I was such a waste of space, which is practically an 'I love you, cuz' coming from him. The Dursley's didn't deserve to be murdered and whoever did it will get what's coming for him. Um, thanks."

"My parents, Daniel, and Jean Granger were strong. They were Dentists, artists, writers, cooks, doctors, providers, wardens, chauffeurs, guides, friends, and role models. They were parents. They taught me that people are people, no matter what they looked like or what their life circumstances were, prejudice and bigotry had no place in my parent's hearts." Hermione said, thinking about the real cause of the war they now fought.

"My mum was always so supportive of me in everything I did, from the time when I first started reading, to when I got my Hogwarts letter. She was my best friend and the most independent person I know, and if I someday have children of my own, I hope I'll be half as good with my children as she was with me. I will miss my mum every day for the rest of my life, and when good things happen, they won't feel quite as real because I won't be able to tell her all about them." Hermione wiped a few stray tears from her eyes.

"My dad was so supportive of me as well. He bought me books on every occasion and often for no reason at all, he taught me how to play piano and I'll never be able to play again without thinking about him encouraging my tiny hands to reach that octave note, or flipping the page as I played. He was blessed, or some would say cursed, with an independent wife, one with the expectation of working and not content to be kept at home, they were equals in life and now, in death. My dad believed in going straight to the point, no buggering around, if you asked him a question, he would always answer, point blank. He was a fiercely loyal man, loyal to his family, loyal to his friends and loyal to himself.

"My parents were victims of this war that violates the very ethics my mother taught me, so Harry, I hope to bloody Merlin that you kill that bastard snake soon. Thank you for being here to support me."

Severus watched Potter and Granger make their eulogies to their families with little emotion. Meaning that he didn't feel slightly sorry for the death of the sour, pinched faced Petunia who hadn't changed a bit from the girl he knew as a child. It also meant that he didn't show any emotion to the heartfelt speech that Miss Granger gave about her parents, the way she described her parents' relationships with each other and her hadn't affected him one single bit, there was no sympathy at the fact that she was now essentially an orphan. Which was why there was no eye stinging on his part, not at all.

Severus also hadn't whispered the spirit flower charm over Granger's parents' newly buried ashes, causing a small bushel of tulips, daffodils, and amaryllis flowers to sprout when no one was looking.

He had, however, decided to patrol the area. It was only coincidence that Miss' Granger and Weasley happened to be chatting nearby.

"Blimey, Hermione, that was heart-wrenching." Ginny told her friend. "Really, I'm pretty sure I saw Snape show a tiny bit of emotion at one point."

Hermione giggled. "Not likely, it was probably your tears distorting your vision. And I honestly just pulled that speech out of my arse, until I got up there, I had no idea what I was going to say." Ginny laughed.

"Look at you, Tonks and I must have been a big influence on you, you said 'arse,' 'bloody,' and 'bastard' in less than a five minute time period. I'm surprised Ron didn't keel over!" Hermione smacked the ginger girl's arm, blushing.

"But really," Ginny sobered up. "How are you doing?"

Hermione looked away. "I'm fine, Gin, really."

"That's hippogriff shit, 'Mione, I know you better than you think. Your lips twitch whenever you try and lie. Are you okay in whatever tower the Order has you hidden in?" Ginny demanded.

"You're very observant, are you sure you shouldn't be in Slytherin?" Hermione said sarcastically.

"The Hat was pretty torn when deciding where to put me," Ginny agreed. "But you're changing the subject! How are you feeling!"

"I'm really fine Ginny, I just want people to act normal, having people tiptoe around me just makes me restless." Hermione said. "And as for where I'm staying, if I could tell you, you'd freak out, Ron too. You'd both be demanding I stay at Grimmauld with you and everyone else and I actually enjoy the relative quiet. Besides, it has a gigantic library, you're not pulling me away that easily."

"Well, alright," Ginny said hesitantly. "But if you need me, just owl, if I find out that something happened and I didn't hear it from you first, I'll hex you!" The girls hugged and just like that, the serious conversation was overㅡfor the time beingㅡand they moved on to more lighthearted topics.

"You know," Hermione said, "Little Whinging, where Harry grew up, and Epsom, where I grew up, are practically neighbors, and my mum used to take me over to the playgrounds in Little Whinging sometimes, I wonder if I ever ran into a little Harry?"

Ginny laughed. "I can just see it! A six year old Hermione with big bushy hair and a missing front tooth sitting on the swings reading a book much too large and full of technical terms than any six year old should rightly be reading, and a six year old Harry with no glasses yet, running from his big lard of a cousin. He comes up to you and shyly asks what you're reading and when you try to explain he gets confused so you let him have a look at the book; when all he can see are squiggles you tell him he probably needs glasses. Harry says something along the lines of 'oh, I don't think my aunt and uncle will get them for me' you know, because you two are six and he doesn't know not to say things like that, and when you hear that, you march up to his aunt who's fawning all over Dudley to the other mum's, and you tell her that 'Harry needs glasses so that he can read and be smart, so there!'" Ginny was laughing near hysterically now and Hermione was trying to maintain her composure, given that they were at a funeral, after all.

"Oh, Merlin, if that happened, it would be my defining Gryffindor moment." Hermione giggled.

They were still trying to control their laughter when someone shouted.

"Death Eaters!" And then chaos broke out.

Remus and Tonks had snuck away from the gathering of Order members in search of the Muggle Priest that had said a few words and prayers over the Granger's and Dursley's ashes. They wanted to get married. And soon.

Harry, Ron, and the twins stood around talking while sipping on spiked Butterbeer that Fred and George had snuck in.

"At least Uncle Vernon was cremated, I don't think there's a coffin large enough for him." Harry joked weakly.

Ron laughed. "You're horrible, mate, I'm glad you didn't include that in your speech."

"Hey, Harryㅡ" One twin said.

"D'ya want to tryㅡ" The other twin continued.

"One of our newㅡ"

"Weasley's Wizards Wheezes products?" They finished together.

"Erm," Harry hesitated. "Is it a health hazard, messy, and-or- likely to be taken up by Filch?"

"Of course not!" Right twin.

"Perish the thought!" Left twin.

"As if we'd make something like that!" Both twins.

Harry glared at them.

"Oh pleaseㅡ"

"Don't be riddikulusㅡ"

"It's justㅡ"

"A harmlessㅡ"

"Relatively."

"Can!" Together.

Ron understood first. "Is it like the Decoy Detonators?"

Fred and George applauded, him hooting like Quidditch announcers. "He's done it!"

"Ronnie's done it!"

"He's beat the odds!"

"No one could have expected this, folks!" Ron scowled and Harry sniggered into his drink.

"Shove off,"

"So what'll it do?" Harry asked.

"Wel,lㅡ" Fred said. Or maybe it was George.

"We heard about, ㅡ" George said. Or maybe it was Fred.

"Muggles having theseㅡ"

"Sound mechanismsㅡ"

"And confetti crackersㅡ"

"So we thoughtㅡ"

"Why not combine them?"

"Wait, so what's your product?" Ron asked. Harry was a little glad Ron asked, he wasn't sure what the twins were up to either.

"Oohh, and he's crashed!" The twins began their mocking Quidditch commentary again.

"He was doing so well, too!"

"He had the Quaffleㅡ"

"But he dropped it!" Ron swung a fist at the nearest twin who lightly dodged it.

"No, dear little brotherㅡ"

"This little beautyㅡ" The left twin pulled a small canister out of his pocket with a flourish.

"Can be used at parties and celebrationsㅡ"

"When you need a grand entranceㅡ"

"Or even just when you need something to cheer yourself up!"

Ron and Harry simultaneously rolled their eyes at the dramatics of the two most mischievous Weasley's.

"Go onㅡ"

"Give it a go."

"Just give this dial here a whirl—"

"Which willㅡ"

"Change the delay timeㅡ"

"You can also set it to be motion sensored!"

Harry and Ron took the canister from the twins and Harry turned the dial to thirty seconds and dropped it to the ground, just in case.

A few seconds later, the top of the device flew open, flying five meters away from the force as confetti spewed out, showering the four young men with paper scraps. Trumpets played 'Merlin save the Mugwumps,' the wizard version of 'God save the Queen.'

"It can also do songs from Star Wars, and other celebratory songs."

"And it has a refillable cartridge for the confetti!"

"Silencio!" The twins shut off the music and spewing confetti, at the lack of noise, the adult Order members glanced over and smiled at the way the boys could be happy and laugh even with the threat hanging over their young heads.

Harry fell to his knees suddenly, crying out in pain with a fist to his scar, he yelled.

"Death Eaters!"

*Cackle* Another cliffie, oh dear! Lucky for you I'm almost halfway done with the next part.

Oh, the dates at the head of the chapter are important, I put them there for a reason! Let's see if anyone can figure out what the significance of this chapter's date is? (But that scene won't be shown until the next chapter, or the one after that, depending on the length the next one is)

As always, thanks for your continued support and not bombarding me with rotten fruit and vegetables for my long absence

*Tomato fly's at Creelluka* Who threw that!?

Anyway, *glares adoringly at massed readers* The little story that Ginny made up has been written and will be posted in the next few days, so look for that!

Review any questions or concerns you may have, or PM me. The 100th reviewer one-shot contest thingy is still going on, just 24 more reviews* needed!

*If the 100th reviewer is a Guest, the winner will be the person with a profile immediately AFTER