Three Fallen Heroes
Two open caskets, one rather larger than the other, were lying peacefully on the ground, waiting for the ceremony to start. People were Apparating in from all over the country to pay their last respects to three fallen heroes among the last victims of the Wizarding war.
As twelve o'clock emerged, nearly all the seats in the verdant garden were full of sorrowful witches and wizards. Dressed in black with silent tears falling down her cheeks, Andromeda Tonks took a seat in the front row. She cuddled her infant grandson in her arms. Her heart was full of despair and all she could do was to hold Teddy in her arms as tight as she could and to wish for all of the horror to go away. How could it be possible that she had lost three of the most important people in her life in a few short months and be left to raise her orphaned grandson all alone? Especially when she knew had been the joy of her daughter's short life. As she looked down upon the face of Teddy Remus Lupin, she could not help but cry and hope that she could raise him as well as she raised her daughter.
The other seats were starting to fill up. The Weasley family sat next to her. She had not been alone in her despair. The Weasleys had also lost a loved one being honored there that day. Mrs. Weasley and her daughter Ginny had tears falling from their eyes and all the Weasley men looked as if they were trying to hold it in to appear strong for the girls. Andromeda glanced at Mrs. Weasley and saw the grief in her eyes — the grief only a mother could have after losing a child.
Looking around, Andromeda saw George, Fred's twin. He looked too despaired for words. Andromeda couldn't fathom how George felt. He had lost his best friend, his brother, and the person who he had spent his entire life with, all in one death. And to make it all worse, George will be constantly reminded of this every time he looks in a mirror or enters the joke shop he and his brother had started together.
When nearly all the seats in the room were full, the ceremony began. A man in a black suit approached the podium and began to speak kind words, "Today, we lay to rest three fallen heroes of the Wizarding War: Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin, and Fred Weasley. All were young, all were loved, and all gave their lives to save others. Let us remember Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. Let us remember what good they did on the Earth and their love for one another and for their son, Teddy Remus Lupin. As they were together in life, so shall they be in death. And let us remember Fred Weasley. Remember what joy he brought to the world and the love he had for his family and friends. All three will be missed but not lost. They are still with us in spirit and will always be. In the words of the late Albus Dumbledore, 'To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"
Everybody started to file toward the caskets with white roses grasped in their hands. Andromeda, holding Teddy in her arms, approached the first casket that bore Fred Weasley. As she looked down at the coffin, even with all her grief, she could not help but to feel sorry for the Weasley family. She placed a white rose upon his coffin. She remembered all the good times he had brought to her daughter during the boring hours at Grimmauld Place. She glanced one last time at his young face, trying not to think about the life he might have had ahead of him. His twin George was kneeling beside the casket looking down at his twin's deceased body. "Hey, Fred, it's me, George." Andromeda stopped in her steps to hear George's whispering words. "It has been really hard, you know, without you. I know if it had been any of us, you would have wanted it to be you." Tears began to slowly fall down George's cheeks. "Mum's really upset you know, but I reckon we'll see you again. Right? That's just about the only thought that keeps me going. I promise to keep the shop going, it's what you would have wanted; a bit more laughter in the world, right, Fred?" Andromeda couldn't bear to hear anymore and so she continued to walk.
She took a few more steps, approaching the moment she had hoped would never come. She looked down upon the double casket that held her young daughter, Nymphadora, and Nymphadora's husband. Remus looked very peaceful. If Andromeda had ever had any doubt about her daughter's marriage to him, it had disappeared. All she could do was to love him for the joy he brought to her daughter and for giving Dora the thing she cherished most, her young son Teddy. "He was a great man, your dad. He would have made a great father," Andromeda told the bouncing baby in her arms. More tears started to drop down her eyes. She looked down at Remus in the coffin, "Thank you for making this the happiest year of my daughter's life." She then moved along to look at the body lying peacefully next to Remus, her daughter Dora.
Dora looked as if she was merely sleeping, holding hands with her husband and showing off her bright pink hair. Andromeda stood still, unable to move. She was filled with grief over the sight of her daughter's lifeless body. Why didn't I stop her from going? She thought to herself. But she knew from the moment Remus left that her daughter would follow him. Dora was as in love with her husband as Andromeda had been with hers. In soft tones, she whispered to her daughter, "You were the best thing in my life." More tears started to fall down her face. "I love you and I… I promise to raise your son as best as I can. Hopefully, I can raise him to be the man you and Remus would have wanted him to be."
Teddy sat in his grandmother's arms starting at his parents bodies, confused as to why they were not moving or giving him hugs. Teddy began to cry as he tried to reach out for his parents but his grandmother was forced to hold him back. It broke her heart that her poor grandson would grow up without the two most important people in his life. She glanced down at her daughter, trying not to break down as she remembered all the good memories of her growing up. She looked down at the crying baby in her arms and hugged him with all the love present in the world. She would raise him to be exactly what his parents would have wanted him to be. "They'll always be with us, you know, even if we can't see them." She brought herself to her last glance at her daughter's beautiful face, and walked back toward the garden.