Chapter 32: Company Of Your Fellow Man

Harry had ever been to a funeral before. Ron, Hermione, and Draco all had and all agreed readily that they were thoroughly depressing affairs. Harry couldn't imagine anything being more depressing than attending the funeral of one of their very best friends.

Both Hermione and Ron had been very vocal about it, talking abut the first time they met Remus on the Hogwarts Express before the start of their third year of Hogwarts, fast asleep. They talked of how they had liked him straight away after he had helped Harry recover from his fainting spell caused by the dementors, and how their friendship had grown even more as they got to know more and more about the man.

Harry just smiled and nodded, the only indication that he was upset his rhythmic squeezing of Draco's hand.

Draco had been very silent, pressed very close to Harry's side.

He had woken up very early the morning of the funeral, shaking Harry awake and whispering, "Harry, I think we need to go with Severus this morning so he isn't alone. I'm sure they'll be others from Hogwarts going that Ron and Hermione can come with, don't you think?"

Harry yawned and stretched, smoothing a hand over Draco's bare stomach. "Yeah, alright. What time do I need to tell Hermione to be there?"

"It starts at ten," Draco replied. "They'll probably want to be their at least twenty minutes early."

"Okay," Harry said as he kicked off the duvet. "If you want to go on to the showers and come back here to dress I think it will be fine…no one will be up."

"Not even Neville?" Draco said as he sat up. "He wakes up pretty early, Harry."

"Don't come in naked or anything," Harry said with a chuckle. "Not that I think Neville would goggle at you or anything. He's still scared of you, for the most part. Seamus would be the one to stare at you, but you would never know because he would be incredibly quiet whilst doing so."

Draco froze and said, "You're kidding, right?"

"Of course," Harry whispered, as he climbed out of his bed. "Seamus is with Pavarti. Dean's the one we worry about."

"Thomas?" Draco said with a snort. "He isn't gay. I do believe you are the only Gryffindor male who is lucky enough to enjoy the company of your fellow man. Now I'm going to go get in the shower, you should do the same. Please get out your best black dress robes, and I want your help with my hair, alright?"

"I'd never think I'd see the day where I'd here Draco Malfoy ask me for help with his hair," Harry said as he grabbed Draco's hand and led them to the lavatory.

"Yes, well…" Draco said with a grin.

Harry pressed a kiss to the back of Draco's hand and said, "I love you."

"I love you too," Draco said with a grin, "now if you make my hair look like shit I'll kill you, alright, love?"

Harry grinned widely and wrapped an arm around Draco's waist.

After a long shower and a conversation over the shower wall, Harry and Draco returned to Harry's dark slowly brightening common room, where Harry pulled back the curtains surrounding his bed and directed Draco to sit down.

"I'm going to miss him," Draco finally sighed, resting his elbows on his knees. "It's really odd, but he was probably the first adult male who was kind to me. Really kind. And I was kind in turn. I really liked him."

"Everyone who met him liked him," Harry said as he rifled through his wardrobe, pulling out pants, socks, and undershirts for both he and Draco. "And if you didn't like him when you first met him, you liked him when you got to know him."

Draco nodded, accepting the clothes and standing up, pulling up his pants and letting the towel drop to the floor. "I think that's the first I've heard you say on the matter," Draco said, holding his hand out in front of him as a signal for Harry.

Harry took it with enthusiasm and grabbed Draco's hands, drawing him into his chest and wrapping his arms around him tightly. "It's the first I've heard you say on the matter as well pet," Harry said against Draco's neck.

"It's because we're emotionally stunted," Draco said softly, laying his cheek on Harry's damp hair.

Harry chuckled and leaned up, capturing Draco's lips in a kiss, pushing the taller teen's hair back off his forehead with a quick sweep of his hand. Draco looped his arms around his waist, drawing him ever closer. Finally Harry pulled back and whispered, "At least we're emotionally stunted together."

"You really need to stop initiating these things when we don't have time to finish them," Draco said as he bit his lip. "Now dry my hair and give me my robe so we can go to Severus' office."

Harry pressed his forehead against Draco's and sighed, "Fine, but who's to say that I didn't just want to kiss you?"

Draco grinned and snaked a hand down and cupped Harry's groin, where there was evidence to suggest that he did, in fact, want more than kissing. "I think this has a lot to say," Draco chuckled.

Harry lay his hand over Draco's and added, "Really?"

"Okay, I get that you have sex, but please don't do it in front of me," Ron's voice rang out from the direction of his bed, where he sat scrubbing his face. "I'd like to sleep at night, if at all possible."

Draco stepped away from Harry, taking Harry's hands and pressing them to his own stomach. "Put on clothes, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes and picked up his wand, casting a quick drying charm on Draco's hair and passing him first his trousers, then his undershirt, and finally his black, long-sleeved shirt. "Put those on, love."

"Good morning to you two as well," Ron said with an eyeroll. "I'm going to go shower. Talk to Hermione about everything, I won't remember."

"See you later Ron," Harry called after him, getting dressed himself. "Do you want to wear a tie?"

"Do you know how to tie one?" Draco quipped, buttoning his shirt with a learned efficiency. "I'm assuming you have no bloody idea how to tie one, but I can talk you through it."

"If you want to wear one," Harry repeated.

Draco nodded, sitting back down on the bed and pulling on his socks. "An outfit isn't complete without a tie."

Harry buttoned up his own white shirt and tucked it into his trousers, threading a belt through the loops. "How stupid of me. Here I've been wearing incomplete outfits all my life. What people must think of me."

Harry snatched a tie from his wardrobe and strode over to Draco, dropping to his knees in front of Draco and turning up his collar and draping it around his neck.

"Alright, what do I do now?" Harry asked, and Draco proceeded to explain to him in great detail how to fasten a tie. When Harry smoothed down the tie with a huge grin, he said, "I'm done."

"It's looks good, right?" Draco said as he fingered the knot carefully.

"It looks good. The shoes are under the bed if you want to go ahead and put them on," Harry said with a yawn.

Draco fished around under the bed until he found the only pair of shoes under the bed, toeing them on and tying them quickly. "Hey Harry," He said as he stood again, stepping over to the bedside table for his glasses. "I need my potion for today."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Harry said softly, and there was a soft clink of glass as he grabbed a phial. "Here you are love."

"Thanks," Draco said as he uncorked it and drank it down, his vision going the white again. This time, however, the fade back to black was more gradual, halos surrounding everything in the room. He turned around, darting his eyes around until he found what he was looking for.

"What's wrong?" Harry questioned, not looking up from tying his shoes.

A slowly fading, shimmering halo outlined Harry's crouched form and he straightened up and Draco lost focus of him for a moment in a blur of light. "N…nothing. Nothing's wrong."

And all too soon it went dark again, and Draco slipped his sunglasses on.

"You could see me, couldn't you?" Harry whispered, grabbing both he and Draco's robes off the foot of the bed.

"Yeah, I could," Draco said with a sad smile. He lowered his head, trying his best to discreetly wipe under his eyes. "Let's get out of here so we don't wake up the rest of your dorm mates, alright?"

"Okay," Harry said as he took Draco's hand. "You know, it is alright for you to feel something."

"I know," Draco replied, "There's just too much right now, you know? Too much at once."

"I know," Harry said as they started down the steps. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I know that," Draco answered, stopping at the foot of the stairs and wrapping his arms around Harry's neck. "I love you too. And even if I don't say it very much, I know that I can talk to you about things, I just…I just don't know what I want to talk about yet. Right now I'm just content knowing that you're by my side. I'm just glad I have you to lean on."

Harry grinned, caressing his lips against Draco's lightly at first, then gradually adding more pressure. Harry was the one to pull back this time, tucking Draco's hair behind his ear. "I'm glad to have you too. I can't remember what my live was like without you."

"Rather dull, I'd expect," Draco said with a cheeky grin.

"You're funny," Harry retorted just as he heard someone start down the girl's dormitory stairway.

"Good morning all," Hermione said, tying a ridiculously fluffy red robe that looked like it was a gift from Ron. "What's the plan today?"

"Draco and I are going with Snape this morning and you, Ron, and whoever else is planning to come need to be there a little early. It starts at ten. We'll see you later?"

"Later," Hermione said with a sad smile. "Are you both alright? It's alright to feel, you know."

Draco made a face and Harry returned the smile, albeit forcefully. "We're fine."

Hermione nodded, and Harry led the pair of them out of the portrait hole and in the direction of the dungeons.

"You got the 'It's okay to feel' line from her, didn't you?" Draco asked flatly, taking Harry's hand again.

"I'm not that original," Harry admitted with a grin. "If I ever say anything that sounds intelligent, it probably came from Hermione."

Draco chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."

All too soon they were standing in front of Severus' office. "Are we there?" Draco asked, although he already knew by the tightening of Harry's grip the answer to that question.

Harry didn't respond, just rapped on the door, which swung open before he even touched it, it seemed. "Ah…Draco, Potter," Snape exhaled, looking more sallow than normal with his hair pulled away from his face and tied back with a length of black leather at the nape of his neck. He was gripping the door tightly, Harry noticed, with a look in his eye that suggested that he desperately needed something to secure him to this world, to remind him that it wasn't a dream. "I…come in, come in."

"You know," Draco said, holding out a hand for Snape, who lay his arm under it gratefully. "It wouldn't kill you to say 'thank you', you realize. Not that Harry and I require thanks."

Harry cleared his throat, indicating that he felt that it may, in fact, kill Snape to thank him, but he didn't vocalize his opinion. Instead he pulled on his robe and fastened the clasp.

"Yes, well…" Snape said, trailing off a bit. He took a deep breath and finally said, "Thank you. You…you two are all I have left now. And yes, that is something halfway hospitable directed toward you, Potter. I do so hope you can live with the fact that I feel the tiniest sort of affection towards you."

Harry's jaw dropped, rendered effectively speechless. He finally regained his wits and said, "I think I'll manage."

If it were possible for Severus Snape to smile, he did in that moment. He tucked one of his hands into his breast pocked and drew out a brochure for what appeared to be Paris and said, "Everyone grab hold of this, it will activate in exactly one minute."

He nudged Draco's hand in the right direction and Harry snatched up a corner, pointedly avoiding the Potions Master's eyes.

They all stood there together in silence for a while, until the familiar tug behind the navel was shared by all and they were whisked away to Godric's Hollow.

Harry had never been to a funeral before. After attending the funeral of one of his very best friends, Harry never wanted to go to a funeral again. He knew that he would be unable to attend Dumbledore's the next day, there way no way he could do it all over again. He was sure that everyone would understand. At the very least, he was sure Dumbledore would, and he was all who really mattered anyway.

He sat between Draco and Ron, both of his hands clasped around one of Draco's in his lap. His boyfriend's head was bowed and he occasionally saw a pearly tear escape from behind his dark lenses, but he remained silent.

Snape was seated on the other side of Draco, his hands clasped loosely together in his laps and shaking. His eyes were wide and glassy, fixed unblinkingly on the brightly-polished casket in front of the small crowd.

Harry felt like he should do or say something to comfort the man, but he knew that there were no words. He couldn't begin to think what he would be feeling if he lost Draco, if it were Draco in that casket in front of them rather then Remus.

Even that thought, the comforting notion that Draco was safe, didn't ease the pain of Remus' loss any less. Every time Harry closed his eyes lately he saw Remus lying there on the floor, still and lifeless. He wished he hadn't seen him like that…that he could remember Remus like he would like to have been remembered, not as a crumbled man lying on the floor of Sirius' study.

As they lowered him into his plot next to Sirius, amongst his adopted family in Harry's mum and dad, Harry began to cry in earnest, kneeling down beside the conjoined grave of his mum and dad and pressing his forehead against the weather-worn granite. He felt Draco's arms wrap around his shoulders and he pressed his hands over Draco's and cried; cried until he had no more tears to shed.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, if it had been five or fifteen minutes, but when he looked up the crowd had dispersed, leaving behind only Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Snape, Draco, and himself.

Snape folded and unfolded his hands unsteadily from his position at the foot of Remus' resting place, the same glassy look on his face. A sob sounded behind him and Hermione rushed forward, enveloping the much older and much taller man in a bone-crushing hug, with he gratefully returned.

"Silly girl," He whispered into her hair, and she half-sobbed, half-laughed into her chest.

Harry only allowed Draco to hug him tighter. He heard him whisper, "Are these your mum and dad?"

Harry looked down at the lichen-covered names and whispered, "Yeah. These are my mum and dad. I'm sure they would have been very pleased to meet you."

Draco smiled brightly, a smile Harry hadn't seen since the summer. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Harry Potter."

Something along the lines of 'and you have no idea how much you mean to me' came to mind, but Harry didn't say it. Instead he stood and made his way over to Ron, Draco not far behind. "Care to go into Hogsmeade for a bit of lunch before heading back to school?"

"Yeah, alright," Ron said and motioned over to Ginny and Luna, then to the bundle that was Snape and Hermione. "I'll go ask everyone else and then we'll be on our way, alright?"

"Fine," Harry said as he looped an arm around Draco's waist. "I thought we'd let Snape have some time here alone, without Hermione slobbering up his robes."

"Why must we both use humour in lieu of other more volatile emotions?" Draco asked, true curiosity in his tone.

"Because It's easier," Harry answered truthfully as Ginny and Luna started trudging toward them. "Hey, you both coming?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, hooking a pinkie finger together with one of Luna's. "I'm game."

"As long as we don't step in any glowing puddles on the way," Luna said seriously to Harry. "Those have Hymthongs in them, and they make all of your pubic hair fall out."

"That could have its advantages," Ginny said reasonably and Harry tried his best to look offended with Draco snickering beside him.

Before Luna, Harry, or Draco had time to respond Ron and Hermione turned up, Hermione red-eyed and Ron looking weary. "Alright, let's go then."

And they set of in three sets of pairs, Ron and Hermione in the middle, to Hogsmeade.

Severus Snape fell to his knees in the freshly tilled earth, laying his still-shaking hands to the cool ground.

He cried silently, a few strands of his hair falling loose around his face and he bowed his head.

He stayed there in that position for a long time before he finally rose, slowly and efficiently dusting off his dirt-caked knees. He turned to leave, wiping away his tears. Seemingly as a final touch, he conjured a white lily, laying it atop his stone. He kissed the tips of his cold, spindly fingers and pressed them to the lettering, whispering a final, "Goodbye."