Ch 32 Problems with Charlie's Funeral
Sunday right after lunch Harry worked with Arthur and a few of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement managers to arrange for security for Charlie's funeral. Later that afternoon Arthur and Molly contacted the family to let them know that Charlie's funeral was going to be held at the cemetery at three Monday afternoon. There would be an announcement in the morning Daily Prophet, and after the funeral everyone would be meeting in the large ballroom at the Ministry.
About nine in the evening Harry and Ginny were together sitting in the drawing room. Minerva was in bed.
"Are the girls still meeting in Lily and Ivana's rooms?"Harry wondered.
"Yes, arranging Ivana's room and just being teen-age girls," Ginny replied. "My old dollhouse, well the replacement for my old dollhouse, is usually in my office up there, but I've given the girls permission to move it into Ivana's room, and with Rose's help they are redecorating it. There is a fair amount of giggling, which is healing. I did let Rose and Cleo know that they needed to leave in about an hour, and sleep in Rose's room next door."
"I cannot ever remember you being a giggly teen-age girl," Harry reflected.
Ginny put her tongue out and made a face. "I'm not even much of a housewife, if I am honest. I'm perfectly happy to delegate most of the household tasks to the Elves. I was never very patient listening to some of the giggly witches at Hogwarts."
"You never read any of those teen-age romances?"
"I looked at some of them, but they were terrible. I usually tried to go right to the sex part, but they didn't tell you how to do it." Ginny gave Harry a rueful smile. "That is what is so strange about being a mother or mother figure to all those teen-age girls. In many ways they are more normal than I was, not fighting battles. Well, except for Cleo."
"When they went into the Chamber of Secrets it was Albus, Cleo and Scorpius, but not Rose," Harry remembered. "Rose did fight when the four were attacked in Hogsmeade, but other than that she seems to have missed some of the struggles the other three have had to go through."
"Rose has had her own struggles," Ginny remarked. "Some of her struggles are more female struggles, trying to find her place in the world."
Before they could say anything else, Harry received a Patronus from Nausicaa Scheria, the prophet in Switzerland. "We need you here As Soon As Possible," the Patronus said.
Kyle Lewis was still the second Auror in charge of guarding Harry, usually the one with second shift duties or available when Jim Shook was off duty. Harry called both Kyle and Dobedo and had them meet him at the Floo in the kitchen of twelve Grimmauld Place. They took the Floo to the Ministry, and then an International Floo to Switzerland, where a pair of Swiss Aurors were waiting for them. Harry was taken to a meeting room in the Regent's quarters, where Raphael Vaud, head of the Swiss Aurors, was waiting for him. They sat down at a moderate sized conference table.
Raphael told Harry, "The prophets are upset with some of the signs they are seeing, and we are aware of a significant number of suspicious beings, including Guts the Goblin and several beings from around K-2, the mountain where we think the Lord of the Dementors resides."
"Where are these beings?" Harry wondered.
"They seem to be heading towards England," Raphael replied. "They have not arrived yet, but they seem to be assembling. The prophets see a potential event happening tomorrow afternoon, focusing on your family, well, you and the Weasley family, plus Cleopatra. Are you doing anything special tomorrow afternoon?"
"Burying my brother-in-law, Charlie. We are worried about security, so we are having the gathering after the funeral at the Ministry and not at the Weasley home."
"When and where are you burying Charlie?" Raphael wondered.
"Tomorrow, at three," Harry replied. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "The graveyard at Ottery St. Catchpole is not very secure. When and where Charlie is going to be buried is going to be in the paper."
"When can you bury Charlie?" Raphael asked.
Harry took out his Magical/Muggle Mobile and started to contact the family. He had to use Patronus a couple of times, but by one-thirty in the morning Arthur, Molly, Bill, Percy, George, Ginny and Harry were at the cemetery. There were a number of Aurors guarding them, and the small wizard was there for a proper burial.
"Harry and I explained the situation to Ivana," Ginny told her parents and brothers. "She told me she might visit Charlie's grave sometime, but she really didn't want to come. I think it is part fear, but partly she just doesn't feel she needs to be here. It is like she is trying not to think about what happened. Everyone handles grief differently."
Charlie's biological family dug the grave, each person manually shoveling at least some dirt, before finishing the grave by magic. The little wizard who presided over these ceremonies did the proper anti-coroner charms and charmed the casket into its place. Without another word the dirt was filled in over the coffin. They even had a marker for Charlie that they installed, but then covered with dirt and hid.
After the burial they all Apparated back to the New Burrow. Harry informed the group, "The announcement of the burial, 'for family only,' will be in the paper tomorrow morning, but of course if the beings trying to harm us appear none of us will be there.
"I do think that we ought to keep my children, and their friends, home from the greeting and wake at the Ministry."
The others were not happy about it, but they agreed. Everyone knew that Teddy, Victoire, and Charlie's nurses were not going to be there either.
Cindy and Ginny were going to work with the Daily Prophet and other papers to make sure that any reporting about the wake would only talk about who was there, not who was not.
The Potter and the Granger-Weasley families normally ate breakfast separately, but when Scorpius and Cleo were with them they usually ate together. Monday morning all the Magi were at one end of the large kitchen table at twelve Grimmauld Place, Harry and Ginny with toddler Minerva between them, on the other side of the table, Ron and Hermione, and then the Hogwarts students, Albus, Scorpius and Hugo, Rose, Ivana, Cleo and Lily.
Mabel and Winky were making breakfast, and from hearing them talk you could tell that Mabel felt it was her job to feed the Potter family, and Winky felt it was her job to feed the Granger-Weasley family.
Mabel and Winky were also feeding Dobedo, Harriet and their family, who were sitting a little way away from the Magi at the other end of the table.
"How often do Harriet and Dobedo eat with you?" Scorpius wondered.
"Not often," Albus responded. "Dobedo is worried about dad. I think that is why he wanted to be here. Something is going on. I can feel it."
"I don't know what it is," Cleo elaborated, "but something has changed since last night. Your father is upset, Albus, and it looks like he didn't sleep well last night."
"Mitzi isn't next to Aunt Ginny," Ivana noted.
Ivana asked, "Do you know where Mitzi is?"
"Probably eating breakfast with her mate and their children," Albus explained. "There is a big communal kitchen up in the Elf area above Grimmauld Place. I know Elves think the idea of everyone having their own kitchen is strange."
"There is a big communal kitchen in the Elf area above the New Burrow too," Ivana remembered. "What are we doing today?"
"They are going to be burying Charlie today, and then have a wake, where people come and say they are sorry," Rose explained. "I know they are going to hold the wake at the Ministry, and not the New Burrow, because they are worried about security."
"Is that my fault?" Cleo wondered.
"Partly your fault, and mine," Albus admitted. "Maybe we should not go, if going is going to endanger other people."
"Are people going to want to say sorry to me too?" Ivana wondered.
"Sure!" Albus replied.
"Of course!" Rose added.
"Am I going to be safe?" Ivana gasped.
"Dad is pretty paranoid about safety," Albus confirmed. "I cannot imagine him letting you be at the wake if he thought it was not going to be safe."
Harry, who had just finished his breakfast, stood up. Everybody was quiet, looking at him.
"You will see an announcement in the Daily Prophet this morning saying that the immediate family only is going to bury Uncle Charlie in the graveyard at Ottery St. Catchpole at three, and then go to the Ministry for a wake between three-thirty and six-thirty. The announcement in the paper is only partially correct.
"Last night I received word that bad beings were headed towards England, and that bad omens had appeared pointing to potential problems with the burial. As a result, Grandmother and Grandfather Weasley and all of Charlie's siblings buried him veryearly this morning.
"The wake is still going to be held at the ministry, but with enhanced security. We are asking all the people who live on or around the New Burrow property not to come to the Ministry. They can meet the family tomorrow morning. We are also telling the people living in the Grimmauld Place/NewBright Street Block not to come. We are telling them there may be a time the week between Christmas and New Year for them to meet with the family.
"I want Lily and Rose to come with Ivana, and stay with her. James, Albus, Cleo, I want you to take care of Minerva and stay at Grimmauld Place. Scorpius, you too.
"Hugo, you can be with your parents."
"What do we do until then?" James wondered. "I wanted to fly."
"I want all of you to stay in the houses or in the garden areas out back behind Grimmauld Place," Harry insisted. "Meet friends here, but don't go anywhere. I do not want anyone here you do not know."
The adults left shortly afterwards, leaving the young people and their guard Elves in the Grimmauld Place complex.
Harry arrived at the Ministry about the same time as his father-in-law. "All supervisors meeting?" Arthur asked.
"Yes," Harry confirmed.
A short time later all the Auror and DMLE supervisors were in the large conference room. Arthur started. "My son Charlie died Friday. I believe you saw notice of it in the Sunday Daily Prophet. The Monday Prophet has notice that Charlie will be buried this afternoon, with a wake here in the large ballroom of the Ministry after.
"Harry, will you please fill in the staff on recent developments."
Harry continued, "Last night I received an urgent message from Switzerland. It seems like what we are sure are evil beings, Magi and others, are headed to England or are already here. The prophesies associated with those movements are aimed at my family in particular and at the Weasley family as well.
"Charlie's parents and siblings buried him last night, late, but we do not want anyone to know about it until tomorrow."
"How many of the beings that you are worried about could we capture?" Dennis Creevey wondered.
"Guts the Goblin has a price on his head, and is wanted by several Ministries of Magic," Harry replied. "He has been extremely difficult to capture. I am not sure about the others."
"Could we spring a trap and capture some of them?" Dennis persisted.
"Could we, probably," Harry reflected, "but should we, that is another question. I am not sure I want to risk Department of Law Enforcement officers to capture a few of these individuals. I'm also not eager to reveal how good our mapping programs are."
There was no real dissent, and it was agreed to have a nominal presence of Aurors and other DMLE personnel at the cemetery at Ottery St. Catchpole as a diversion, but not to try and capture anyone unless not doing so would make the diversion obvious.
They covered security precautions for the wake, and went on to the other business of the DMLE.
The same group at dinner Monday night, Harry and Ginny with toddler Minerva between them, on the other side of the table, Ron and Hermione, and then the Hogwarts students, Albus, Scorpius and Hugo, Rose, Ivana, Cleo and Lily.
"How was the wake?" Albus wondered.
"Mostly people I didn't know," Ivana replied. "Two of the witches from Romania that I went to school with, and their parents, showed up. One was all right. It was nice to see her.
"The other girl was all giggly and fluttery about me living with Lily and the Potters, and I didn't know how to handle it. I mean, I'm grateful, but she made it sound like I'd won the lottery or something, and … but …"
"She wanted to know where Albus and Cleo were as well," Rose added. "She made sure to say something to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, and to my parents. I think she just wanted to be able to go back and tell her friends that she had met these famous people. It was rather annoying."
Ivana frowned. "Really annoying!"
"The rest of it wasn't too bad," Ivana sighed. "I mean, I didn't break down and bawl or anything. I'm glad Lily and Rose were with me, though."
Albus looked over to his parents. "How are Grandmother and Grandfather holding up?" he wondered.
"Charlie was in very bad shape the last few months," Ginny told the youngsters. "I think is some ways it was a relief that Uncle Charlie is not suffering. We are all sad Charlie died, but we didn't want him to suffer either. You have not been here, but all of us, when we saw how bad Charlie was, were prepared for him dying."
"I know you wrote me to tell me that," Ivana volunteered, "but I was not prepared for how bad he was when I saw him. Do you really think that the only reason he had not died sooner was to wait for me?"
"Yes, Ivana," Ginny told the young witch. "He really loved you, and he was holding on just to see you one more time."
"Am I going to have to change my last name?" Ivana wondered.
"Not unless you want to," Harry replied. "We are going to be your guardians, but that does not mean that you have to lose your last name. We became Teddy Lupin's guardians' years ago when we took him with us to America, but even though he was very young we never changed his name. I even took him to his parents' grave, and told him stories about his parents."
"But Teddy married into the Weasley family as well," Ivana noted, frowning. "So all of you are really related. I'm not."
"That does not make any difference, Ivana," Lily insisted. "Minerva is too little to be a sister, just a little sister, but you can be my sister!"
Ron gave Hermione a look of total incomprehension.
Hermione whispered, "Do you want me to try and explain the subtleties of female emotions?"
Ron shook his head 'no.'
"We are all going to be at the New Burrow at ten," Ginny announced. "Harry, Hermione and Ron have to make brief appearances at work, but I'm going over with all of you about nine."
"The band is playing Christmas Eve again," Albus noted. "May we hold practice this afternoon?"
"Contact the rest of the band members, and see when people can come," Ginny responded. "We will figure something out. You can practice in the drawing room, like you normally do."
Late that evening Harry and Ginny were in the drawing room, both reading. Ivana came into the room alone, and looked at Ginny. Ginny made a motion to Harry, indicating that he should leave, and Harry left to continue his reading in the library downstairs.
Ginny motioned for Ivana to sit down. "You wanted to talk?"
Ivana nodded.
Ginny did not say anything, and eventually Ivana started, "What is it like being married to Harry Potter?"
Ginny tried to figure out what Ivana was trying to ask. "We have a good marriage, I think. We love each other. It is not always easy, but I think, I am sure, we both work at it. I know I have never fallen out of love with Harry, but it is not perfect. Why do you want to know?"
"But he is Harry Potter," Ivana emphasized. "Some people at school talk about him like he is Merlin or some superhuman fabled being."
"He isn't," Ginny softly laughed. "He is a very human person. You have spent enough time in this family to know that."
"I guess," Ivana sighed. "I just know that when some of my classmates learned that Uncle Harry was my uncle it was like, I don't know, like you know this superhero or something. It is going to get worse with me living here."
"You do not have to live here," Ginny told Ivana.
"I don't want to go back to Grandmother Weasley's house," Ivana sighed. "I think I am going to like being part of a family with people my own age. Lily is just a year younger, and it is nice her being like a sister and not just a cousin, and Rose lives right next door and even James and Hugo, it is more like I am part of a family with children close to me in age, and that's nice."
Ivana sighed again. "Especially with Victoire being over there, I don't want her to start to act like my mother. But classmates are going to ask if I call you mum and if I call Uncle Harry dad, and I don't know what to call you."
"You may continue to call us Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, or you may call us mum and dad, whatever you want," Ginny replied. "You can call us whatever you want to call us."
Ginny shook her head, and grinned a snarky grin. "Well, I've been called some rather nasty things, especially when I was playing for the Harpies. Wizards can say some nasty things when you beat them! I've heard or read of some very nasty things being said about Harry and me, and I would strongly suggest you don't call us those type of names."
Ivana had a horrified look on her face. She shook her head 'no.'
"Cleo calls you Mum Ginny," Ivana reflected.
"Do you want to call me Mum Ginny," Ginny asked.
"Cleo said something about you and Uncle Harry being grandparents to Maria, and to Teddy and Victoire's children," Ivana responded. "Why?"
"Harry's parents are dead, as is the uncle who, I don't want to say raised him because of all the abuse Harry suffered. His aunt is still alive, but she isn't even much of a grandmother to her own grandchildren, Dudley's children. He and I don't want Teddy's children to be the only people in the family to only have one set of grandparents if we can help it. He is both our godchild and our foster child.
"Are you worried about your children not having grandparents?"
"I'm really too young to think about getting married," Ivana reflected, "except witches do. I know some wait until they are old, but many of us marry right out of Hogwarts or not long after. Witches talk about it at Hogwarts. Did they when you were there?"
"Yes," Ginny replied.
"Do you have to fall head over heels in love with someone, or can you just be comfortable with them?"
"Witches and wizards can be married for over a hundred years if both of them live long lives," Ginny replied. "You have better be comfortable with the person you marry!"
"Hudson Jordan and I have been dance partners, and gone to dances, and just talked some times," Ivana thought. "He says his father knows Uncle Harry, and he is not going to give me a hard time about living in your house. Better than someone dating me because I am living with Harry Potter!"
Ginny laughed, and Ivana smiled.
"I think I'll call you Mum Ginny, but keep calling Uncle Harry Uncle Harry."
"That is fine with me, and I am sure it will be fine with Harry," Ginny replied.
2021