A/N: I own nothing. I want to thank everyone for the reviews, and sticking with the story, this is the last chapter, I had this chapter planned way before, and just didn't want to tell you all, Please review as it will be the last time for Never Again. You are all wonderful. As well my apologies for this chapter being short it is the epilogue after all. Here's the next chapter, enjoy! Love to all, Hedwig 11445. P.S. my sincerest apologies for it being so late.
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There was no noise, there were no kids yelling or arguing, there were no sounds of running feet, the Burrow had seen better days. The only sounds that could be heard were the occasional whispering of words and crying. Today the residents of the Burrow were burying the dead.
Arthur Weasley trudged down the staircase that led into the kitchen. He could see his twin boys, trying to get the younger two to eat something. All their plates were full of food, untouched. He sat down at the table, he nodded his head towards the group of children, they all looked at him and said nothing.
"And you are." Arthur said perplexed at the boy sitting at the table whose hair was not red but black like night. This was not his child.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm Harry, Harry Potter."
The words reverberated in his ears. He could hear Harry now, introducing himself; he could see Ginny running away from Harry all summer long. That was one of the more interesting summers he had had in a long while. He looked towards his younger son, and his girlfriend. He wondered if they would come out of this alright, they had both lost two people who had meant the world to them. He looked at the twins who had probably given him quite a few strokes in their lives, and wondered how they would deal with all the deaths. He could not take it anymore, Arthur Weasley got up from his spot at the table, and with the looks that he was getting from the others he told them simply. "I'm going to check on your mum." The others did not say anything.
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Molly straightened the plaid skirt she had just dressed Ginny in. She looked so beautiful. Her angel was now a real angel. Molly carefully lifted Ginny off of her bed, and placed her into the soft pink silk cotton that would now be her final resting place. They were not going with a traditional white, pink had always been Ginny's favourite colour, and Molly wanted her daughter to be surrounded by all of her favourite things, as so she would not get lonely. How had it come to this? She wondered. She never pictured that she would have to bury any of her children. And now she was burying two today.
Sitting herself on the bed, Molly jumped up as she sat on something lumpy. Picking up the object, tears filled her eyes. It was a ratty old teddy bear. That was dubbed 'Sir Fluffyington' by both Ron and Ginny. Ron had given Ginny that bear for her third birthday, and she had always treasured him. He was a small bear, wearing wizard robes and a wizard's hat; as well he was holding a wand. She walked the two steps to the casket and neatly unfurled Ginny's hands, in which she than placed the long-time friend in. He would protect her Ginny from harm.
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Arthur watched his wife, as she placed the teddy bear into his daughter's casket. Tears leaking down his face, he wiped his eyes, he had to be strong he had six children and his wife left who needed him. He felt a hand place a comforting hold on top of his shoulders. He looked up to see Albus Dumbledore, looking down at him; there was no twinkle in his eyes today.
"It is time, I have already sent Remus, James, and Harry's bodies up to Hogwarts." Albus said ever so gently.
Albus and Arthur entered the room, Albus told Molly the same thing that he had just told Arthur.
She looked at the two men with fear in her eyes as if she had just been sentenced to Azkaban prison. Molly than adverted her gaze to her sleeping child, looking at her despairingly. "No, it's not time. Look she's sleeping, she'll wake soon." Molly cried. "We should take her out, she doesn't like it in there. Feel her she's nice and warm." She looked pleadingly to Albus.
"You're right Molly dear, Ginny is warm, her spirit lives on, but her body is cold. She is no longer with us." Arthur's lips quirked as he said this, wrapping his wife in a tight embrace.
Molly did not like the answer she received and she looked pleadingly at her husband. "Harry needs her though, what will he do without her?"
"Harry has her with him, and he'll watch her for us, and when it is our time we will be united with the both of them for eternity." He kissed Molly on the top of her head.
Albus stepped into the room even more. He gave a quiet cough, alerting the two in the room that they could not wait any longer; it had to be done now.
Arthur held onto the struggling Molly and led her out of the room.
Dumbledore flicked his wand and the pink coffin disappeared from the room.
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It was a cold bitter day at Hogwarts. The school would open tomorrow, and the truth about what happened would be divulged to the students and to the wizarding world, but for now, the secret was still safe, and the funerals would be meant for more than a circus act, it would stay sacred.
About a hundred chairs lined up in two rows of fifty, it would be a small service, holding seats for the faculty of Hogwarts, family members and close friends only.
In the front stood a small podium where a stand and the four coffins stood side by side. By the foot of the coffins were pictures of the deceased.
A sea of red headed people were the first to arrive, and then the teachers and friends. Nobody talked; they looked onto the dead, and just kept staring shaking their heads as if it would make it not real.
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Albus looked out at the expanse of solemn faces, and knew he looked no better than anyone else. Today he was going to have to say goodbye to the two most important people in his life. James and Harry. There would be nobody left afterwards. He had spent most of his later life as a mentor to James and as a grandfather to Harry. This was not supposed to be. Harry was supposed to live, get married, and die at a rightful age of one hundred and sixty. The damned prophecy did not say anything about him dying right after the defeat of the dark lord. Albus cleared his throat and saw all the waiting eyes staring deep into his. Looking for answers, looking to him to make things right.
Albus could not make things right, the only thing he could do was to preserve their memories, and give a heartfelt speech.
"We are here today to celebrate the lives of four courageous people, who have sacrificed their lives out of love and duty for each other and for the wizarding world as a whole. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten. If anything there is a lesson to be learned from their deaths. Love each other, whether pureblood, half blood or muggleborn, we are all alike there are no differences. Do not let their deaths be one of vain, and in order to keep them alive we must let the world know the truth, let them understand what love really means, what it means to be a true wizard. Each of them showed us that the day they fell. Ginny Weasley…"
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As Albus' speech continued on a young figure walked out into the aisle between the two rows of seats. He looked to be about sixteen years old, but looked smaller for that age. He felt like he had been wondering for what seemed like ages, until this morning. That is until he started seeing witches and wizards of all kinds portkeying to Hogwarts. He had no clue why they or even he was there. The last thing he remembered was his father laying flat on his back, glassy eyes staring deep into his. Curious he waited to see what was happening, he tried saying hello to some of the people he did recognize, but they all ignored him. Than he heard it. Dumbledore talking. Talking of deaths, of love, of evil. And that's how he found himself in the middle of the aisle. He continued slowly downwards, seeing the four coffins lined up side by side. Four he only knew of three deaths that day. He reached the front of the podium and looked at the pictures that sat in front of each coffin. To the far left was Remus Lupin smiling, and laughing his eyes sparkling as if he was telling a joke. To the left side of Remus was James, his stomach pumped proud of what was being said about him, his hair messy like it usually was. To the far right was Ginny whose eyes were flickering between Dumbledore and the crowd, it looked as if she just wanted to hide and get away from the stares. The boy realized that he missed the coffin between his father's and Ginny's coffins; he moved his eyes to focus on that picture. Emerald eyes stared back at him. Harry had to check to make sure he was seeing right. He was staring at a picture of himself. It took him a moment to figure out that now everything that he was experiencing and feeling made perfect sense. Why he felt like he was alone, and why nobody would even acknowledge his existence.
Harry wondered how this could be. He was dead and still alone, he thought that if this ever came to be, that he would be with his loved ones, but even in death it seemed that he was meant to be alone. He stared into the sea of faces. In the front row sat his family. The Weasley's. He would never see them again, never wake up in Ron's bedroom to see the Chudley Cannons pictures spread over his room. He would never have Mrs. Weasley 'Molly coddle' him again, or hear Mr. Weasley's excited voice ask him a question about muggle contraptions. And Hermione, he would never again see her in the library trying to find an unbelievably hard solution in a library book. He was going to miss them all so much. Their seventh year would have started, and it would have been a normal one for a change.
All of a sudden an odd sensation was forming in the pit of his stomach. He knew he did not have a lot of time left. Harry made his way down towards his best friends. Hermione was curled up in Ron's arms with tears streaming down her face. Harry stood in front of her and kneeled down. With one finger he wiped a tear from her eyes. "Don't cry 'Mione. I'll be fine, we all will, be happy, and I love you." Harry whispered in her ear.
Harry then went towards Ron where he grabbed his shoulders and stood face to face staring at his best friend. "Take care of her Ron, and your family, you were the first person to see me as me, and not some hero, and for that I will be ever grateful. You were and are still my best mate. Don't forget that." Harry gave Ron's shoulders a tighter squeeze.
The feeling in his body was becoming more pronounced, and a little bit painful, he knew he had only a couple more minutes before something happened. He did not know. Glancing back at his friends he could see both Ron and Hermione looking more at peace. Hermione's face held a little smile, and Ron was not holding on to her as tightly as before.
Harry then moved on to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "Thank you both for being parents to me and showing me what a real family is like. I love you both." Harry said, short and simple, but he knew that they would understand.
There was one more person Harry had to say goodbye to. True there were a lot more, but this one was special, and no matter how angry he was at the man for what he had done, he knew why the elderly man did it.
Harry walked back up the podium, where Albus Dumbledore was still in mid speech. Harry flung his arms around Dumbledore's middle, and hugged the man tight. "I know what you did Headmaster, and I know why you did it. I forgive you. Goodbye, sir."
Harry let go to take a closer look at Dumbledore's face. The old man had the oddest expression written all across it. In fact the old man just stopped mid speech and did not say a single word for a good couple of minutes. Everybody watched him with great interest. Than seven words came out of his mouth that seemed strange to most of the attendants there except for the few that meant the world to Harry. "Thank you Harry, I'll miss you to." Albus Dumbledore than continued on with his speech.
Harry wanted to say goodbye to Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, but now the feeling was more intense. He made his way down the podium and stopped midway when he saw the most beautiful angel he could ever imagine come his way. She was flying at him, her red hair, and brown eyes, more magnificent in death than in life. Her arms stretched around his neck as he caught her in his arms. "You're beautiful." Harry whispered in her ear.
"You're not so bad yourself." Ginny said as Harry put her back on her feet. "It's time." Ginny said softly holding onto Harry's hand for comfort. "I know you've felt it. We could not come earlier, Merlin would not allow it. This was your time to say goodbye. But now we must leave."
"Ginny, what if I don't want to leave, why can't we just stay here?" Harry asked frightened all of a sudden. This was his home, what if he was not welcomed there.
"Come with me Harry. There is something that I need to show you."
Harry looked questioningly at the girl, no woman, who he loved, and he let her lead him to the end of the long aisle way. At the end he could see them. About five people waiting for them to arrive. He could make them out, Remus, Sirius, the real Severus Snape, and Harry's mother and father, all waiting for him. Harry gingerly untwined his fingers from Ginny's and ran towards the waiting crowd like he never ran before, and when he reached the end, he was pulled into a tight hug from his mother. Who cradled him in her arms. Harry missed that feeling, it was an old one, one he could remember when he was just a babe.
"Mum." He cried. "Is it time. Does heaven really want me now."
Lily's reply was short. "Heaven can't wait a little while longer."