Chapter Five: The Funerals
Harry woke feeling extremely sad for some reason, and it took him a minute to remember why. But then the memory of what he had been dreading last night came crashing down on him like an avalanche. Fred's funeral was today. Harry glanced above him to see Ron lying fully awake, staring at the ceiling. Harry could see that Charlie was already missing from the sleeping bag he had conjured last night.
'Have you been awake all night?'
Ron looked over at Harry on the floor and said, 'Yeah. Couldn't sleep.'
'Ron?' came a tentative voice from outside the door. The knock was gentle, cautioned. Hermione slowly opened the door, looking apprehensive.
'Ron, are you awake?'
'Yeah.'
Hermione walked inside and sat on the end of the bed. She looked like she hadn't slept much either. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her hair was a tangled mess of un-brushed, brown, bushy hair. Ron sat up to look at her. Tears seemed to be brimming in Hermione's eyes and Harry pretended to look for his pants to give them some privacy.
It sounded like Hermione was crying into Ron's shoulder to Harry. In his peripheral vision, Harry could see Ron holding Hermione comfortingly.
'H-How are you feeling?' asked Hermione in a low voice.
'I'm alright,' Ron mumbled.
Harry heard Hermione kiss him softly on the cheek. 'Well, your mother says breakfast's ready.'
'Okay, we'll be down in a second,' said Ron hollowly, looking over the edge of his bed for some pants. Harry and Ron got dressed slowly, dreading facing Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the family. When they entered the kitchen, Hermione was making sausages while Mrs. Weasley sobbed over her husband's shoulder. The mood of the family at the table was subdued and no-one spoke. Percy was holding Penelope and they were whispering to each other quietly, moving their lips as little as possible, and Harry thought that not even someone who could read lips could tell what was being said.
Fleur was holding Bill in her thin, delicate arms, but Bill seemed not to notice. He was still as a rock. Charlie sat beside his mother and was rubbing her back. George, Harry suddenly noticed, was missing.
'Where's George?' Harry asked.
'H-He's meeting us h-here,' Mrs. Weasley sobbed. 'I d-don't think he left the s-shop.'
Harry's heart sank at the sight of Mrs. Weasley's heaving shoulders and the sound of her racking sobs into her husband's shoulder. Mr. Weasley, too, was consoling his wife with an almost pained expression. Hermione began serving out the sausages, but Harry noticed that nobody really ate anything. The eggs lay untouched in the center of the table, and only Ron and Charlie had eaten some of Hermione's sausages. The rest of breakfast went to waste.
Harry got up and went outside, eager to escape the depressed mood of the family, and Mrs. Weasley's sobs. He walked around the garden, hands in his pockets, thinking about everyone they'd lost in the battle. Fred, who died with a smile on his face, Lupin and Tonks, dying together, the way that George only wished he and Fred had, Colin Creevy, dying at only sixteen…
Harry walked along silently, mourning the dead and their families. Andromeda would now have to get by without her daughter or her son-in-law or, Harry realized with a jolt, her husband. They had all left her alone in this world. Denis Creevy would be devastated about the death of his brother, and then, of course, there was Fred, who had left them all in this state…
Harry kicked a rock angrily and he watched it zoom into the garden a club a garden gnome in the head. The gnome twirled about comically for a moment or two, and then fell over, unconscious.
'Harry!'
Harry turned around to see Ginny running towards him, her fiery red hair billowing behind her. As she grew closer, Harry could see that her eyes were puffy, and tear streaks were drying on her cheeks.
'Harry, what are you doing out here?'
'Oh,' Harry said, looking at the floor. 'I couldn't take it.' He jerked his head towards the house slowly.
'Me either,' she said. Silently, Harry took her hand and they continued walking around the garden, Ginny leaning on his shoulder as they walked.
'When's Hagrid coming?' Harry asked quietly, trying to make conversation as they repeatedly walked around and around the house.
'An hour or so, I think,' Ginny said. 'I think he's bringing everyone else, there's a graveyard not too far from here that they're being buried in, but Mum wants Fred here…'
Harry nodded and his grip on Ginny's hand unconsciously tightened slightly. Harry looked up at the sky. The clouds were reflecting the mood of the entire house. They were a bleak grey, and it looked as though it might rain. Harry thought that it was extremely cliché for it to be raining at a funeral. And then, a moment later, was surprised. That was the sort of thing Hermione would think of. Maybe she was rubbing off on him…
There was a low roar in the sky, and at first Harry suspected thunder. The clouds certainly looked capable of the sound at the moment. Ginny heard it too, and looked up in the sky, curious. There was a continuous roar and it began growing louder and louder. Harry saw the massive dark giant flying through the air in what appeared to be a regular motorcycle. Floating behind him, were a dozen or so bodies.
Hagrid (for of course it was he) alighted on the ground with a soft thump, and he waved his pink umbrella softly and the bodies floated down to the ground and landed in the grass peacefully. Hagrid's eyes were red and puffy also, and he pulled out a table cloth sized handkerchief and blew his nose. The sound nearly made Harry cringe, and his stomach took an unpleasant squirm.
'S-sorry,' he mumbled. 'Its jus' so-so sad.'
Harry and Ginny led Hagrid into the house (they had to help push him through the doorway) and he stood in the corner, too heavy for a chair.
'Molly, Arthur,' Hagrid said, acknowledging the grieving couple. They seemed not to take notice and continued to cry into each other's shoulders.
The people began to come a little bit later. Slowly filing into the house and out to the backyard where Fred was to be buried. Many of them would offer words of comfort or apologetic words to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley that seemed to fall on def ears. Harry watched Kingsley, standing Minister for Magic, walk into the kitchen. Behind him were various other Order members including Mundungus Fletcher, Hestia Jones, Dedalus Diggle, Professor McGonagall and Aberforth.
'Your family is safe,' whispered Dedalus Diggle as he squished into the doorway which Hagrid was half blocking as he sobbed uncontrollably into his handkerchief. 'Had a little trouble getting them into the house. Apparently they didn't like the lodgings. But they are good and happy where they are.' Harry nodded, not entirely concerned about his Aunt and Uncle. 'Hestia and I have made plans to transfer them back to Privet Drive sometime next week, if ever you want to drop in and see them.'
Again, Harry nodded but secretly felt that it would take a very good reason for him to want to see his Aunt and Uncle again.
Mrs. Weasley looked up hopefully every time the kitchen door opened hoping to see George walk in the door. But it didn't look as though he was coming at all, which caused Mrs. Weasley to sob just that much harder.
'Git,' muttered Ron. 'Now he's gone and made mum worse. I'm going to have a word with him after this.'
'I'm sure he'll come,' said Hermione quietly as everyone walked out the back door. 'He'll be here.'
But that seemed less and less likely as everyone crowded around a spot of earth twenty feet from The Burrow. There was a cracksomewhere in the distance and everyone looked up towards the gate which George was opening and walking briskly towards the crowd of people.
George looked uncomfortable and his eyes were red and puffy just like everyone else's as he stepped into the circle. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both looked at him for a fraction of a second before rushing towards him and hugging him tightly. George returned the hug and it was only then that Harry noticed several bulging bags floating behind George.
George, catching Harry's eye and following his gaze said, 'A whole bunch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes stuff. For Fred.'
Everyone smiled at George.
'Well,' he said wincing slightly as though the words were hurting his throat on the way out,'s-shall we do it, then?' He waved his wand and a section of the earth crumbled in upon itself, leaving a mound of dirt in the center of a 6 foot long six feet deep hole. George waved his wand again and the dirt hopped out and lay beside the grave.
Hagrid gave a great sniffle as Fred rose slowly and was lowered carefully into the grave. George, tears streaming down his face, deposited the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes items in the grave surrounding Fred. Skiving Snackboxes, Dr. Filibuster's Fireworks, Peruvian Darkness Power, it seemed that a sample of everything in their joke shop had been given a place of honor among their co-founder's body.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sobbing uncontrollably. Mr. Weasley was trying to calm his wife. He cleared his throat and swallowed before saying, 'Anyone who-who wants to say something. Best…best do it now.' He looked expectantly at George who stepped forward out of the circle and knelt at Fred's grave, staring at the mirror image of his own face as he whispered, 'You can't know what this feels like Fred. Losing half of you. Or,' he added with a watery chuckle, 'maybe you do. You're as much in this fix as I am. Don't worry…I'll keep the joke shop alive.'
He got up and walked back into the circle. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley said a few words, Ron, Ginny, Bill, Charlie and Percy all said words. And Hermione and Harry did theirs together. George looked up at the sky, which was still bleak and rainy as he waved his wand and two Dr. Filibuster's fireworks that lay in Fred's grave ignited and shot into the sky. As they exploded into several multi-colored spirals and the fireworks dissipated into the air, they formed a sparkling image of Fred's face, grinning broadly.
Everyone watched in awe as Fred laughed and waved a sparkling wand, two more fireworks shooting out of it and into the air which exploded but did not make another Fred. The face winked once, and then exploded into sparkling bits of firework. Mrs. Weasley ran over to George and hugged him tightly. 'That was wonderful George!'
It began to rain and seeking to spare Fred's face from getting wet, Kingsley waved his wand and the mound of dirt rose, hovered over Fred's body for a few seconds and dropped, covering him completely. Mr. Weasley waved his wand in a sort of sweeping motion towards himself, as though beckoning someone to him, and a rather large boulder in the yard floated towards them.
'Molly,' Arthur Weasley prompted quietly. Mrs. Weasley looked flustered and was trying not to cry and she waved her own wand, which caused the rock to shrink into a gravestone, the unneeded rock falling to the ground. From there she carved the words 'Fred Weasley' and set it in front of the grave.
George gave a thoughtful expression and added, 'Stupid git, you never finished the inventory', which Mrs. Weasley vanished away with her wand and smacked George in the back of the head.
From there the funerals progressed to a neighboring graveyard and Harry watched as Tonks, Lupin, Colin and several other people were lowered into separate graves. A few people hung around afterwards at The Burrow but none for very long, and pretty soon Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had disappeared to Merlin knows where, Charlie had gone out for a while, and Bill and Fleur had left for Shell Cottage.
On the upside, George was now staying at The Burrow. Although he refused to sleep in his and Fred's room, he did sleep in Percy's who had gone back to London with Penelope straight after the funeral, apparently unable to face it.
Ron and Hermione seemed to be a full-time couple now, and both Harry and Ginny were thrilled. It had not been an enjoyable experience for Harry seeing the two of them awkwardly avoiding each other's gaze after their kiss in the Room of Requirement.
'How are you?' asked Hermione late one Sunday evening as Harry looked out the window of Ron's room, down at Fred's grave which had been made only three days before. Harry looked up into her face and watched her look out the window as well, following Harry's gaze.
'I'm fine. Is Ron at the joke shop?'
'Yes,' said Hermione, not looking away from the window.
'And Ginny?'
Hermione smiled slightly and took her gaze away from the window to look at Harry with a knowing smile on her face. 'Out with Mrs. Weasley in Diagon Alley.'
Harry nodded slowly.
'You know Harry,' said Hermione slowly, 'I've been thinking.'
'About what?'
'Well…now don't get mad or anything Harry,' said Hermione beseechingly, 'but I've been thinking about your Aunt and Uncle.'
Harry tried not to laugh as he nodded again. 'Why were you thinking about my Aunt and Uncle?'
'Well…mostly what you told us about your Aunt.'
'You mean about her wanting to go to Hogwarts, and that's why her and my mum never got along?'
'Yes,' said Hermione.
'I don't think it's that important,' Harry said slowly. Yes, his Aunt had wanted to be a witch, for however brief a time, and yes, Petunia Dursley, or rather, Petunia Evans at the time, had known Severus Snape. But the importance of the discovery was more to the fact that his mother and Snape had been friends. Even now, Harry wasn't sure if Snape had been a good guy or a bad guy. 'And I don't want to see them, really, Hermione.'
'Oh, but Harry I really think you should,' insisted Hermione. 'Their moving back to Privet Drive Dedalus said, you could-'
'No, Hermione, please, just drop it.'
She looked slightly affronted but let silence fall. Ginny and Ron came in together and Ron planted a kiss on Hermione as she stood up hastily.
'Sorry I'm late,' he said, 'but George was really excited about some new product and there was an opening ceremony and, oh, it was just really, really busy.'
'What's that?' Harry asked Ginny. He was pointing to a newspaper that was clutched in her hand.
'Oh, the new headmaster for Hogwarts was announced,' she said lamely. 'There's a bit about Dumbledore and McGonagall in there too. And when the school's opening again.'
Harry took the offered newspaper and read aloud,
In the early hours of yesterday morning, acting Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, previously head of the Auror Office prior to Rufus Scrimgeour's promotion to Minister for Magic, announced the newest Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Elaine Vanderhorn, a published author and well respected witch throughout the magical community was approached with the position early last week and gladly accepted. Professor McGonagall, previously Deputy Headmistress of the famous school, and the woman who would have succeeded Albus Dumbledore as head of the historic school, announced her retirement and congratulated Vanderhorn on the position.
Vanderhorn herself commented, "I am quite pleased to even be considered, let alone accepted as head of Hogwarts. I remember my own days there, nearly eighty years ago as though they only just happened. Whilst I doubt that I, nor any other headmaster or headmistress to come will ever do as well a job as Albus Dumbledore, I will certainly give it a go.'
For more information on Vanderhorn, see page 13.
'Vanderhorn?' Harry asked Hermione.
'Oh, yes,' she said nodding. 'She's quite the famous witch. She's published a few books on magical theory and some other things. Apparently she's nearly as extraordinary as Dumbledore.'
Harry folded up the paper and tossed it on the ground. The four of them stayed awake for quite some time until Hermione began drooped her head and Ron and Harry escorted her and Ginny (who stubbornly refused) to bed.
Harry and Ron bid the girls goodnight and went back to Ron's room. Ron's Chudley Cannons posters covered the walls and Harry, for the first time in his memory, found it difficult to fall asleep in Ron's room. Thoughts of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, and all the others who had been buried only days ago entered his mind.
Grumbling slightly, Harry rolled around in bed for what seemed like hours until he willingly let sleep take him.
