Welcome to Love
Chapter 21: Saying goodbye
It was four days after the tragic death of Luna and today was her funeral. Today was the day that everyone would be forced to say goodbye, even if the didn't want to.
Neville, who had been dreading today, had actually surprised everyone in his behaviour. He hadn't gone off the rails once i.e.; gotten drunk or made a prat out of himself. Instead he had taken a fresh approach to his grief and as it was still early days, hadn't been ashamed to cry.
Ron and Hermione were allowed to finally take Rose out of hospital and were getting ready for the funeral.
"Mione,'' said Ron coming into Roses nursery.
"Yes,'' replied Hermione absentmindedly. She was changing Rose into a cute black dress with tiny white bows.
"I got you these,'' Ron handed her a pair of radish earrings.
"I was going to make a cork necklace but then again, that might over-do it!''
Hermione smiled sadly at her husband.
"I miss her so much.''
"I know,'' said Ron pulling her into a hug.
"God knows what Neville must be going through.''
"Neville's a smart bloke Mione. He'll be ok.''
Rose began to whimper from the lack of attention which brought both parents back to sad reality.
Ginny was allowed to attend the funeral, just so long as she took it easy. She hadn't said much in four days, but had forgiven Harry and was trying to come to terms with her loss.
"A-are you ok?'' Harry asked cautiously. Ginny may be talking to him, but she still had frequent mood swings.
Ginny looked up at him. She looked into his eyes for the first time in days and saw sadness, pain and guilt. She realised that Harry had gone through the same thing as her- if not worse with the extra un needed guilt. It was as if she'd drank an entire bottle of fire whiskey because the effects were immediate.
She walked up to Harry, cupped his cheek in her hand and pulled his head down to hers for a long, sweet, passionate kiss.
"W-what was that f-for?''asked Harry.
"I'm sorry, I've been a complete cow...''
"No you haven't Ginny. You needed some space and I understand that.''
Ginny sighed.
"That's still no excuse for treating you the way that I did,''
"It's forgotten. We will get over this you know,'' said Harry softly.
Ginny paused for a minuet.
"Yeah, we will.''
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"It was a beautiful service,'' said Ginny placing a hand on Neville's shoulder.
"Yeah, I think Luna would have liked it.''
"So do I.''
There was a brief pause.
"I think it's time for my speech,'' he said.
"Good luck,'' smiled Ginny reassuringly.
Neville stood up and tapped a teaspoon on his champagne glass.
"Um, hi everyone! I wanted to thank you all for coming. I really appreciate it and I know that Luna would too.
I stayed up all night last night thinking about what I was going to say. This was one speech I never thought I would be making. How do you say goodbye to the one person you should never have to say goodbye to?
Then I thought of Luna and as usual, she had the answer.
See, Luna used to write down all of these little rhymes and phrases to describe love. I was looking for my best suit this morning and I found the book,''
He paused briefly to pick it up. He turned the pages carefully and laughed.
"A relationship is like a rose, How long it lasts, no one knows;
Love can erase an awful past,
Love can be yours, you'll see at last;
To feel that love, it makes you sigh,
To have it leave, you'd rather die;
You hope you've found that special rose,
Cause you love and care for the one you chose.''
There was a brief pause in which Ginny and Hermione wiped away their tears, Harry and Ron fought back theirs, and Hagrid let out a magnificent wail.
"She used to read these out to me nearly every night. I never used to listen that much, I took it all for granted. But there's something that she's taught me, and that is that if you love someone more than anything, the distance only matters to the mind and not the heart.''
Neville looked around to see every single person in the room in tears. He knew that now was the right time to finish.
"Before I stop boring you all I just wanted to say something to Luna, who I know is watching now;
Through the wind I hear your voice; in the clouds I see your name
Living life without you now, will never be the same.''
Authors Note: I cannot believe it! It's so sad! This is the final chappie and therefore the END of the fic! I hope that you've all enjoyed it cos I certainly have! Thank you so much for all of the amazing reviews, for reading and for being so patiant with my irregular updates! Ok, I'm gonna stop babbling now, all that remaines to be said is- Plz Review!
CaNdY-FlOsS-07
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