The characters of the Harry Potter universe belong to Ms. Rowlings, and I'm borrowing them for my own imagination.

Chapter 28 - Goodbye, Fred

The family made their way together to the burial site. Once there, they divided up into groups of three to greet the mourners. Ginny stood with their parents, Bill, Fleur and Charlie stood together and Percy stood with George and Ron. George had laid claim to his niece prior to leaving the Burrows and still had her in his arms now.

The first to arrive was Andromeda Tonks with Harry, Hermione and Teddy. They all paid their respects to Molly and Arthur first. Harry and Hermione hugged Ginny and quickly greeted Bill, Charlie and Fleur before rushing directly over to Ron. Hermione gave quick hugs to Percy and George, before becoming practically glued to Ron's side her fingers laced with his. Harry stood on Ron's other side.

They stood there together as they greeted family members and class mates. Percy saw Oliver arrived with his old Quidditch team and Lee Jordan. Percy smiled to see that Oliver was holding Katie's hand. As the group surrounded them, Oliver standing protectively near Percy, George told them of the scene he walked in on earlier, and they all laughed with George in his retelling of Molly's first magic.

Katie, Alicia and Angelina eventually moved to their seats. Angie hugged and kissed George before following her two friends. Lee and Oliver stayed behind, they would head in behind the family as they were the eulogists.

When Professor McGonagall arrived with several other Hogwarts staff members, she hugged George tightly. "I adored you and your bother."

"They knew that." Percy said, "that's how they knew they could push the limits a little farther." McGonagall smiled.

"As long as I am at Hogwarts, the portable swamp will remain as a tribute to you and your brother." Professor Flitwick said.

"Thank you." George said.

"Audie! King!" Molly called out from her uncle's arms.

Percy turned to see them in line to greet his parents. They both waved at Molly.

Percy watched as when they were giving their condolences to his parents, Ginny pointedly snubbed Audrey.

As King and Audrey made their way over to them, Percy retrieved his daughter from George.

"Audie!" Molly called out happily as she leaned out to be held by Audrey.

"Hey, Pumpkin." Audrey said hugging Molly tightly in her arms.

King quickly hugged Percy and then kissed the top of Molly's head before moving to talk with George and Ron.

"How are you doing?" Audrey asked Percy as she hugged him with one arm.

He kissed her temple before stepping back to answer her. "Okay. It has been a little overwhelming the past few days. I'm sorry about my sister." Percy said.

"Hey, it isn't your fault. She doesn't really know me anyway. I'm glad your mum didn't notice." Audrey said.

"Audrey, Katie said she would save you a seat next to her. They are in the second row, Harry and Hermione will be sitting with them." Oliver said.

"Thank you." Audrey said. "George, I am so very sorry. I only really met Fred one time when I stopped into your shop. I was looking forward to when we met again, and he learned his assumption of my marital status was wrong."

"You're the pretty girl, who said we should look into more child appropriate items." George said.

"Yeah, he assumed that when I talked about Luv, that she was my daughter and I was married to her father, although I never said any of that." Audrey said. "Percy said Fred would appreciate the joke even on him."

"Yes, he would have. He would also have loved the opportunity to get you back." George said.

"It is about time to start." King said.

Audrey nodded, kissing Molly's cheek then handing her back to Percy and kissing his cheek. Harry and Hermione both hugged Ron, then walked with Audrey to their seats. The family was the next to walk in. In the front were seated, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Ginny, their mother, their father, George, Percy, and Ron. Molly was sitting in her father's lap. Percy had explained to her that she had to be quiet while all the speakers talked. Since she had been to several funerals so far, she was quick to understand.

After King, Lee and Oliver took their seats, Bill stood and walked up to the podium with the note card Percy had given him earlier.

"On behalf of my family, I would like to thank you all coming tonight to honor Fred. As you know, Fred is a beloved son, brother and friend. Fred loved being the center of attention and his favorite sound was laughter. So please feel free to laugh. Fred would like that." Bill moved back to his seat next to Fleur.

Next Kingsley stood before them.

"I met Fred and of course, George when their family joined the Order of the Phoenix. My first thought was I was glad that they had no desire to be Aurors, because, I had no desire to be their superior. I had heard many stories of Fred and George through my daughter who was in their year. I was very impressed by the spectacular way they tormented Dolores Umbridge."

"I had the opportunity to get to know Fred better after he joined the Order. The Burrows became headquarters, and we worked together on Potterwatch. I am still very glad that he had no desire to be an Auror, but he had an ambition to own a joke shop with his brother and they were a success. I, for one, look forward to the day that George reopens the joke shop they dreamed of and brought to life. For the Fred we all knew and loved would want us to keep joking, keep pranking, and keep laughing." Kingsley finished and sat back down.

Oliver came up to the podium next. "I first heard of Fred Weasley my first year at Hogwarts. I met Percy on the train, and we quickly became friends. I had two years of stores of Percy's fun loving, trouble making little brothers. I realized quickly when I first met them, how right Percy was."

"In school, most of my life revolved around Quidditch. For four years I got the opportunity to play with two unbeatable Beaters." His Quidditch team snickered to the reference to one of Oliver's infamous speeches. "I was informed that after our team was beaten due to Dementors attacking our Seeker, when asked of my whereabouts, Fred said that I was still in the shower, most likely trying to drown myself." A few more laughed including Percy. "Fred and George could also recite my speeches from heart, and had been known to fall asleep during meeting before or after practice while I was talking." There were some more snickers.

"When asked by George to speak today, he asked me to include the following advise similar to what I had given to Percy after his wife's death. Fred loved life. He loved his life, because he was doing what he loved and had the people he loved around him. Even when he left us, people he loved, Percy, Ron, Harry and Hermione, were standing there beside him. He would be the last person to want any of us to throw away our lives, just because he lost his. That would be a disgrace to all that he lived, fought and died for. We all need to live our lives doing what we love and cherishing the freedoms that we won, at the cost of so many lives." Nodding to George and Percy, Oliver retook his seat.

Lee came forward to the podium. "It feels strange to be in front of you tonight. I make my living talking, and now I don't know how to express my feeling for one of my best friends. I was lucky enough for the better part of seven years to share a dorm with Fred and George Weasley. We soon realized that we all shared a passion for mischief, and formed a close friendship. That is why when they made their spectacular exit from school, I felt a little bit lost at first. Luckily Peeves desired to help me make mischief in Fred and George's honor."

"Fred and George had a knack for finding secret passageways out of the castle and every time I thought I had found a new one, they had already discovered it." Several laughed. "We also loved exploring the Forbidden Forest. It was forbidden after all, and poor Hagrid spent a great deal of time trying to chase us out." They heard Hagrid's loud sniff as several people snickered.

"I miss my friend, but we all know that he would want to go out in a spectacular style." Lee brought his wand and pointed off to the side of the platform. After a flick and a yellow light shot out, he sat down as the sky started to fill with fireworks.

Percy quickly placed a charm on his daughter to muffle the loud bangs, and she began to squeal and cheer at all the pretty lights in the sky. The mourners laughed, cheered and applauded at the show before them.

'Yes, this would be exactly what Fred would have wanted.' Percy thought as they all stood watching the fireworks. Lee, Oliver and Kingsley moved from the stage to join the second row. Hermione and Harry moved to stand with Ron, while Angie wrapped her arms around George from behind and laid her chin on his shoulder as they watched.

This is exactly the way Fred would want to go out. With a bang.

TBC