The Assembly of people that came for Harry's funeral was overwhelming.  The only time Hermione and Ron had ever seen a crowd of such magnitude in one place at one time had been at the Quidditch World Cup, the summer before their fourth year at Hogwarts.

The Hogwarts grounds and Quidditch pitch were filled to capacity with wizards, squibs, and anyone else involved in the war with Voldemort.

Every political member of each country had come to pay their respects to "The-Boy-Who-Lived," their savior, the child that sacrificed his life so that the wizarding world could be safe.

Dumbledore and the teaching staff of Hogwarts had expanded the Quidditch field and stands to accommodate all the guests.

There were cushy chairs on the pitch, surrounding and facing a pier that had been set up for the elaborate casket that contained the body of a famous fallen hero.

Everywhere Hermione looked were women and children crying.  'How hypocritical,' she thought.  'They didn't even know Harry, they don't really care anything about him.'

Looking around, Hermione found the cluster of Hogwarts students; everyone had attended, and searching through them, found the ones from their year.  The boys from Harry and Ron's dorm, plus the girls from Hermione's, along with everyone from the DA were crying (of in the case of the guys, struggling not to cry).

They were all sitting in the section of chairs directly in front of Harry's casket.  The political members of the community were in the front right, everyone else was either behind the Hogwarts students or up in the stands, while those closest to Harry – Ron, Hermione, all the Weasley's (excluding Percy who was sitting with the political leaders), Remus Lupin, McGonagall, and Dumbledore – were on either sides of Harry's coffin, looking out at the crowd.

Everyone in the front section, except Dumbledore, had tears slipping down their faces, marring their cheeks with their track marks.

Order of Phoenix members were scattered throughout the crowd and Hermione thought she saw Tonks with tears in her eyes as well, but she could not be sure since the woman had changed her form.

When everyone was seated, Dumbledore stood up and the crowd immediately silenced like a single-minded entity.

Performing a spell to make his voice louder to be heard throughout the multitude, Dumbledore began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great sorrow that I welcome you all here today in memory of one who sacrificed his life, his future, for our futures, the future of the wizarding and muggle community alike.  Harry Potter, who once conquered Lord Voldemort (several people flinched) when he was only one year old gave his life to defeat the dark wizard once and for all."

"Each of us owes Harry Potter a life debt of great magnitude and one that I am sure he would never accept, were he here today.  Harry was a kind, caring, and companionate young man who would help any that were in need.  He was brave and courageous, facing what many a grown wizard would never even dream of and accomplishing far more in his short life than many of us will ever achieve."

"Harry was a great and powerful wizard that was born, raised, and lived to be a sacrifice (a/n-see last chapter) and we shall always remember his courageous deeds.  Thank you."

When Dumbledore finished his speech, there was not a dry eye in the place among the women and children and many of the men had silent tears running down their faces (the ones that knew Harry) as well.

Hermione looked over at the Headmaster as he returned to his seat near her and saw that the ever-constant twinkle in his eyes had gone out and tears were leaking into his silver beard.

After Dumbledore, McGonagall approached the podium and told the spectators of Harry's many accomplishments at school, starting with first year's defeat of a troll up until The Last Battle, occasionally pausing to dry her eyes with a handkerchief or collect herself after releasing a sob, then resuming her seat once again and blowing her nose.

Finally, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, got up and said his bit, awarding Harry 'Order of Merlin First Class' as well as a few other awards and accolades that did nothing to ease the loss of those that loved Harry.

Hermione felt a spark of anger ignite within her when Fudge got up to speak.  After all, he was one of the ones that had ruined Harry's life time and time again on numerous occasions.

When the Minister of Magic finally finished his piece, those beside the casket stepped forward to pay their respects and say goodbye to Harry for the last time.

When it came Hermione's time to approach, she stood up shakily and started walking mechanically forward.  Halfway there, she froze.

Every part of her body numbed and unmoving.  A deep, panicking fear arose inside her causing her to tremble.

This would be the last time she could ever talk to her friend again...and even now he could not talk back to her.

He was dead.

Gone.

Forever.

She would never get to see him smile or laugh with Ron ever again.

Never see him flush in embarrassment when he talked about a girl he liked...

He would never be able to grow up, become an Auror, get married, and have kids.

He was gone for good and he could never come back.

Hermione suddenly realized that Professor McGonagall was speaking softly in her ear, hand on her shoulders, trying to get her to walk forward once more.  Somehow, Hermione found the strength within her to start moving again and approach the casket that held the body of her dead friend.

Still wishing she could rip off the lid and release Harry, who she knew was just upset about being locked up in the dark, Hermione controlled herself, knowing that a part of her was still in denial about Harry's death, and stopped in front of the decorated box that would hide her friend away for all of eternity.

Tears cascaded down her face in streams as she whispered a broken goodbye, and brushing the tips of her fingers against the wood she gasped.  A profound, overwhelming peace filled her and she knew, somehow, that Harry was finally happy.

*~***~*

Darkness.

Numbness.

Nothing...

Then Soaring.

Flying through a world of color, all blurred together, toward a pinprick of white.

The Gate.

The Barrier of Freedom.

It grew until the pure light filled Harry's vision and all the color had faded away.  His feet touched something soft and Harry looked down at what seemed to be a cloud.

Harry looked around, but all he could see was white in every direction.  As he turned slowly around, Harry noticed something glowing in the distance, gold and bright.

It came closer.

When Harry was able to discern what t was, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open in disbelief.  There, coming towards him, were four recognizable figures.

They approached him and, circumspectly, as if afraid to shatter the moment and make them disappear, Harry whispered, "Mum?  Dad?"

Two of the figures nodded.  One had bright, red hair, kind, green eyes, a slight body, and a gentle smile...Harry's mother.

The other form was tall; with dark, unruly hair, and an athletic build...his father.

Tears sprang to Harry's eyes as he remembered all the times he had dreamed of seeing his parents again, and here they were, arms open wide and just waiting for him.

Tentatively, hesitantly, Harry walked towards them, soon flat out sprinting before he jumped into their arms, smiling and laughing in ecstasy, tears of joy running freely down his cheeks as he hugged his mother and father, promising himself to never let them go.

Then, still in his mother's embrace, Harry looked over at the other two people standing beside his parents and inquired, "Cedric?  Sirius?"

"Yeah, it's us kiddo," Sirius replied in a deep, soothing voice with a faint smile before walking over and giving Harry a hug as well.  Following him was Cedric, who briefly shook his hand, before the group started walking away, Harry between his parents, both of their arms around his shoulders, Sirius beside his father and Cedric on the other side of his mother and Harry realized Dumbledore was right.

Death was but the next great adventure.  Finally he had everything he had ever wanted and he was filled with peace.

A/N- Well, I hoped you all liked it.  The following is a note for the reviewers of ROD...

Ok, I finally have the final element of the story that I was looking for.  It's a bit odd, but I couldn't think of any other way to do it.  I would begin working on ROD III right away, but I have way too much school work at the moment with the end of school drawing near and term papers, finals, gateways...etc. to turn in and study for and stuff so I'll *TRY* to start on it at the end of school.  I can't make any guarantees b/c my summers are ALWAYS busy.  Thanks for your patience with me so be on the lookout...

Ja ne!