This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter universe, which are trademarked by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of these characters nor the locations such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, etc. that are Rowling's creations. This work also includes Pokémon, which belong to the Pokémon Company, and I again claim no ownership of these characters.

I thank both Rowling and the Pokémon Company for the universes they have created that allows me to do something like this for my own entertainment and, hopefully, the entertainment of the readers.

The news of Dumbledore's death shocked an entire nation. Even though he was old, even though his injured hand had been well publicised, no one, except for those few in the know, had expected the news that came late that May night. And the story was even worse.

Harry hadn't had to say anything in order to help Malfoy's cover. It quickly became apparent that he had something to do with Dumbledore's death, what with the fact that he mysteriously disappeared the same night. What with that and the Professors accounts of coming across him and the other Death Eaters, including Snape, Harry realised it was best for him to remain quiet. After all, it would look suspicious if he seemed to know too much. As far as anyone was aware Dumbledore had been alone on that tower.

A funeral was arranged for a few days time, long enough for anyone who wanted to attend to arrange travel up to Hogwarts. Naturally all the students were invited, from the first years through to the seventh years, and they all wanted to pay their respects. Even those who might privately be glad Dumbledore was gone knew better than to say so openly.

But not everyone would have the chance to be there. With the Headmaster gone, killed on school grounds, there had been an influx of worried and anxious parents who no longer felt safe leaving their children at Hogwarts and insisted that they be returned home immediately. By lunchtime of the very next day Hannah Abbott had left the school, the Patil twins disappearing not long after. Seamus and his mother got into a yelling match in the Entrance Hall as Seamus steadfastly refused to leave until after Dumbledore's funeral.

Though Harry was on Seamus's side he understood the worry that drew the parents to Hogwarts. Without Dumbledore the world seemed just that much darker a place to live in. Without Dumbledore Hogwarts just didn't feel the same.

The morning of the funeral was a bright one, almost as though nature itself was wishing to celebrate the life of one of the Pokémon world's greatest trainers. The atmosphere in the Great Hall was subdued as the students, those that were left, ate their breakfast, all dressed in their best clothes. Beneath the table Ginny held Harry's hand in hers, likely aware, just like he was, of what was to come.

The students finished breakfast and sat there in silence, waiting as their Head's of House gathered them together and led them, one house at a time, divided into their year groups, out onto the grounds.

The site of the funeral was by the Great Lake, and on a day like this it was stunningly picturesque. Row upon row of simple wooden seats was set up, many of them near the back already taken up by members of the public, some looking heartbroken, others less so and doing varyingly good jobs of pretending.

Harry watched as Cornelius Fudge, former Minister for Pokémon, took his seat beside Amelia Bones, not at the front where you might expect someone of his stature, but near the back. He looked genuinely solemn.

Meanwhile Rita Skeeter looked as though she could have been reporting on a Quidditch match for all the emotion she was showing. She had a notebook open, familiar ostentatious pen in hand, and was already scribbling away like crazy. But even she had nothing on Delores Umbridge. Harry was surprised she'd even dared show up, but she was sitting there, a Skitty sitting in her lap, looking entirely too pleased with the situation.

Professor McGonagall led them down to the front. There they were met by the quivering form of Hagrid.

"Is everything set, Rubeus?" McGonagall asked, her voice tired. The last few days had taken a toll on her. Never before would she refer to a fellow Professor by their first name in front of the students.

Hagrid blew his nose.

"Yes, Minerva," he said, letting out a small hiccup, large dollops dripping from his eyes as he dapped them, not even noticing he was using the same handkerchief he'd been using to clean his nose. "All set."

McGonagall nodded. Gently she rested a hand on Hagrid's massive arm.

Hagrid walked off, wiping his face and nearly bowling over a few unfortunate guests he did not spot in time.

McGonagall turned to the students.

"Everyone, take your seats," she instructed, her usual strict tone missing. But no one was going to cause trouble today. They filed into their seats silently, keeping their heads bowed as they went.

As Harry sat down, Hermione on his left, Ginny slipped into the seat beside him and, again, inconspicuously took his hand. He squeezed it, silently conveying he was grateful for her support, but he kept his gaze fixed onwards.

Slowly the crowd began to grow. The students were all in their seats, sitting abnormally still, as the last of the general public wandered in, and, at last, the minister walked to the front.

Everyone fell silent.

"Please rise," the wizened man spoke, gesturing down the aisle between the chairs, and as one everyone rose to their feet.

Dumbledore's coffin moved slowly down the aisle, carried along with emotional reverence by the few men who had been chosen for the task. Moody stood at the front, glaring at anyone who looked at him with even more aggression than usual, Murk the Murkrow bowing his head in sorrow on his shoulder.

Opposite Moody walked Remus, looking even older than usual. This couldn't be the first time he'd walked a coffin down the aisle. He looked painfully aware of it.

Behind them strode an old, short little man who Harry did not recognise, having to hold his arms awkwardly high to keep up with the others, and Horace Slughorn, whose jowls quivered as he walked tearfully down the aisle.

And behind them stood Hagrid, taking up the rear all by himself. He was weeping openly, not caring for the looks some at the back of the crowd were giving him, probably because he couldn't even see them. He held the coffin tenderly in his massive hands and when they finally got to the front he was the last to let go, walking off under the guidance of Remus and blowing his nose loudly.

The pallbearers took their seats at the front, Hagrid getting two chairs to support his bulk, but Professor Slughorn did not join them, instead remaining at the front with Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout. The Heads of House stood there resolute, their partner Pokémon standing before them, Pyroar for McGonagall, Magnezone for Flitwick, and a Torterra for Sprout, with Slughorn representing Slytherin, his Grumpig looking just as devastated as he did.

The minister stepped forward.

"You may be seated," he told them, and there was a loud rustle as the hundreds who had gathered there that day sat down. "Thank you all for coming. We are here to celebrate the life, and mourn the tragic death, of one of the greatest men of our time. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, defeater of Gellert Grindlewald, lawmaker supreme for many years, and Headmaster of Hogwarts School for generation after generation."

A soft breeze brushed through the area, playfully caressing Harry's skin as the minister continued, listing achievement after achievement that Dumbledore had over the course of his long and interesting life, talking about the way he had influenced the Pokémon world for the good, and how he had touched so many lives. It felt sort of hollow. What were these achievements really in comparison to the kindness and compassion that Dumbledore had shown to all that were in need of it. Harry felt the story of Dumbledore using his death to help Draco Malfoy was so much more powerful than anything the minister was saying. Sure, he couldn't give that away, but there were so many other stories like that, the things that made Dumbledore the man everyone aspired to be like.

Harry turned his head, looking out over the Hogwarts lake instead, and he was surprised to notice the school of Lapras that had gathered by the water's edge, there to pay their respects to the great Headmaster. And even further out on the lake, barely noticeable as the sun gleamed off the water, was the Giant Tentacruel.

Looking around Harry realised they were not alone. The Zebstricka that pulled the carriages were watching too, as were a host of other Pokémon from the forest, Pokémon who, at some point in time, had crossed paths with Dumbledore and had, even in such short meetings, learned to respect him for exactly the qualities that Harry found himself pining after.

And there, barely visible through the trees, standing so still and silent only someone who was looking for them could find, was Arceus. It stood there, watching proceedings, and as it did the tiny form of the time travel Pokémon, Celebi, drifted into view. And there was Xerneas, life seeming to bloom around its form, and finally, sitting in a tree nearby, in full view of everyone, was Fawkes.

The minister had finished speaking. He called up the pallbearers once more and, together, they lifted Dumbledore's coffin and gently lowered it down into the ground.

A soft cry broke the quiet, Fawkes spreading his wings and taking off, and as Dumbledore's coffin fell to rest in the ground below the faithful Ho-oh flew off into the distance.

The ceremony was over. The guests at the back of the crowd started to leave. But Harry stayed, sat still even while the people around him began to depart. Slowly he stood up, approaching the burial place of Albus Dumbledore, and he looked over the patch of earth that covered his coffin.

"Harry?" Ginny approached him, keeping a step back so as to give him privacy, and Harry turned, looking back at the rows and rows of rapidly emptying seats, before he looked at her.

"Come with me," he murmured, gesturing her towards the bank of the lake, towards a point where the forest met the water. She followed, knowing what to expect. This was a conversation they had to have.

They walked a fair distance away from the burial sight, away from the voices of the few that remained, and stopped in the shade of a tree. Harry turned to her.

"I never expected to be in this sort of position," he told her, and he meant it. "To be in a point in my life where the most important person to me is someone other than myself. But what has happened between us, even though it has been short, I've loved every minute. I wish things didn't have to change."

"They don't," Ginny told him, though even she knew the argument was weak.

Harry turned away.

"I won't be coming back to Hogwarts next year," he told her. "I have something far more important to do and there is nothing left to keep me here. I hate to say this, but it may be a long time before we see each other again."

"Don't say that," Ginny told him. She shook her head. "If you act like that's the case then you won't be able to help it coming true."

"Exactly," Harry told her. "But the problem is that if I'm with you… I'm not doing what I'm meant to do. I can't come back here."

"Then take me with you," Ginny whispered. "What is there left for me to learn here that I will benefit from more than being by your side?" But Harry shook his head.

"I need you here," he told her. "I need you safe. I need to know that you are not in harms way because I need something to come back to if I have any hope of winning this war." He looked at her sadly. "I love you, Ginny."

Ginny sniffed, wiping swiftly the tears from her eyes, and let out a strangled laugh.

"You know how often I imagine you saying those words," she told him. She shook her head. "I never imagined them like this. But then, it makes sense. I couldn't have imagined anything of what being with you would be like. It's the sort of thing that's just too good, it's hard to let go."

"I know," Harry told her. "But we have to." He swallowed. "You need to be here, with the teachers, and the DA. They need you. They need someone to inspire them, to help them stick together in the face of what will come. They need you, just like I need you."

Ginny sniffed. "I know what you're saying Harry," she said. "I understand. I saw it coming. And I knew it'd end this way. But Harry, don't think because you're out there and I'm in here that I won't love you any less. If you really need something to come back to then I am there, every single time. And this isn't the end, Harry, not really. And when this is over, and it is just you and me and our futures to do with as we please, then you'll come to understand it the way I do."

"I look forward to it," Harry told her. His heart wrenched, hating that he could not picture the future Ginny spoke of himself. "Goodbye, Ginny."

Ginny looked uncertain. For a moment it looked as though she was going to lean forward and kiss him. But instead, wary of people watching, she simply reached out and squeezed his hand once, before she turned and walked away.

Harry watched her go, feeling his stomach churn as he thought about what he'd just given up. But that was just the way things were. A life with Ginny, however fantastic it may be, was something he could not have, not until Voldemort had been defeated.

As Harry turned his back, doing his best to collect himself before returning to the group, something glinted in the corner of his eye. He looked around, confused, and found what he was looking for, hidden away in the foliage at the base of a tree.

A time plant.

He pulled it out, looking at it in wonder, and as his fingers caressed the petals the shimmering blue light shifted within. What he could do with a time plant.

He placed it in his pocket.

"Hey." Ron and Hermione had approached him, each looking slightly awkward as they stopped a few feet away. They must have realised what his conversation with Ginny had been about.

Harry had no secrets from them anymore.

"Hey," he said softly. "I suppose you heard."

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Hermione told him desperately.

"Yeah mate, that sucks," Ron added awkwardly. Harry waved them away.

"It is what it is," he said, his voice tired. "An unfortunate side effect of this mess we find ourselves in." He sighed. "I suppose you've realised I'm not coming back here?"

"Well, yeah," Ron said. "It was kinda obvious, really."

"I've got to gather up the rest of the Arceus Plates," Harry told them. "I don't know where they are but that just means I can't waste time. As soon as I get back to the Dursleys I plan to sneak out and begin looking."

"Whoa, there, steady on," said Ron. "Have you forgotten?" Harry blinked. "Bill and Fleur's wedding. You have to be there for that."

"Indeed, and there's no reason to go off searching when you can spend the time with us, planning instead," Hermione told him. "That way we'll have a plan of attack, so we'll not just go out randomly."

Harry tried to fight a smile. "It sounds like you've decided to go with me."

Hermione and Ron looked at each other.

"Well, yeah, obviously," said Ron. "I mean, we do everything together. It'd be weird hanging around here without you."

"And there's a reason that Dumbledore told you to confide in us," Hermione reminded him. "He knew that you needed our help, and that we want to help."

"Are you really sure about this?" Harry asked, looking between them. "It'll be really dangerous. Getting the Splash Plate basically killed Dumbledore. I nearly didn't manage to escape myself."

"Which is all the more reason for us to be there with you," Hermione told him. "With the three of us we have a much better chance of gathering up the rest of the Arceus Plates and making Voldemort mortal once more."

"Yeah, without us you'll have a lot tougher time making Voldemort mortal," Ron agreed brashly. Harry smiled.

"Enjoying saying the word Voldemort now, aren't you," he said. Ron grinned.

"I can't help it, it's strangely liberating," he admitted.

"It really is," agreed Hermione.

Their smiles slowly faded.

"We should get back up to the castle," Hermione told them. "The Hogwarts Express leaves tomorrow, that doesn't give a lot of time to pack."

"As if you're not fully packed already," Ron joked. Hermione playfully hit his arm.

"You two go on ahead," Harry told them. "I've got something I have to do first." He reached into his pocket and ever so slightly pulled it open to see.

The Arceus Plate sat there. It was a lot darker now that it wasn't exposed to water, but Harry doubted that was natural. Spidery black lines spindled across the surface, evidence, if there ever needed to be, of Voldemort's corruption.

A/N: That's all for this chapter. If you enjoyed it then please leave a Review and follow me on Twitter for more updates.

The next chapter will be the last of Serpent's Secret so until then I'll see you later.