Written for Monthly (May2013) Drabble, Prompt: Sacrifice.

The story takes place one year before "The Wedding of Parvati Patil"

The Funeral of Augusta Longbottom

It was a gloomy morning, it had rained for three days straight and it continued to pour on this last day of April. Harry woke up next to Ginny and the ultimate hangover he'd ever received. He'd perhaps had too much to drink the night before. He stumbled out of the bed and headed to the kitchen to grab a potion before the shower when he saw him: Draco Malfoy was sleeping on the sofa.

Images came flashing in, too many at the same time and none of it made any sense. Harry remembered bits and pieces of the night before. He remembered arriving at the pub to meet Neville and offer him his condolences. He remembered taking the first shot of Firewhiskey with Neville and Ron, then Dean and Seamus arrived – a few more shots, then, Malfoy arrived. Everything was blank after that.

"Morning," Malfoy said as he woke Harry up from his thoughts. He stumbled for a moment as though his voice had unbalanced him and Malfoy swept in to ensure he wouldn't actually fall over. "Still drunk, I see," Malfoy added.

"Sorry. I must have truly went beyond my limit last night," Harry replied.

"That much is obvious," Malfoy replied as he smirked and walked past Harry. His arm gently brushed Harry as he walked away. Another image flashed in Harry's head.

Harry and Malfoy had been sitting next to each other at the round table in the pub. Ron was on his left and Malfoy was on his right. Every time Malfoy reached for the bottle of Firewhiskey, their arms would brush up against each other. Harry shuddered. He remembered the feeling, his arm had immediately warmed up every time with Malfoy's accidental touch.

"Malfoy, did you bring me here?" Harry asked following Malfoy in the kitchen who was pouring himself a glass of water. Harry pretended to pay no attention to the fact that Malfoy hadn't bothered to put on his trousers. He was simply wearing a wrinkled button-down shirt and navy blue pants. Short, tight, navy blue pants that cupped Malfoy's arse –

"Potter?" Malfoy suitably broke Harry's thought process again.

"I am sorry, what?" Harry asked.

"Do you have a potion for headaches?" Malfoy asked, seemingly for the second time.

"Yes, that's why I came in here too. Check the cupboard on the right," Harry answered. As Malfoy checked the assigned cupboard he balanced himself up on his toes to reach the top shelf. His shirt opportunely lifted up revealing more of the pants that Harry wasn't interested in.

"Harry?" Ginny walked into the kitchen glaring at Harry. She might have seen Harry not-gawking at the pants in question.

"Ginny – I –" Harry stumbled on his words as she looked over at Malfoy with a questioning eye.

"How are you feeling?" Ginny asked, her tone wasn't warm or concerned, that confused Harry. He wondered if she was still cross with him, then why she asked how he's doing.

"I've got a headache, Malfoy, did you find the potion?" Harry looked over at Malfoy who was watching the two interact.

"Here, you might be running low though," Malfoy responded as he handed a small bottle to Harry. He then looked over at Ginny and nodded. "I should be leaving then, Ginny, thank you for allowing me to stay the night here. Potter, I'll see you at the funeral service." Malfoy left the kitchen leaving a nervous Harry with an unmistakably upset Ginny.

Harry was puzzled. He finally remembered now. Ginny had been upset with him for days and had not been sleeping over, so Harry didn't understand how she'd ended up in his flat the night before. How did Malfoy get in touch with Ginny? How did Ginny end up allowing him to stay the night? What if Ginny hadn't been here, was Harry going to spend the night with Malfoy?

"Harry, are you listening?" Ginny asked, he had zoned out again.

"Yeah, sorry, Ginny. I am just confused to what's going on," Harry answered.

"You should shower, we are going to be late. You're addressing the eulogy, remember?" Ginny said ignoring Harry's condition. "I need to get back to the office before heading to the service myself, I have to get Augusta's last will."

Harry nodded in acknowledgement and headed for the shower. It had been one month, two weeks and three days since Harry and Ginny had had sex. He didn't care much for sex in general and they had dated for over a year before they did it anyway. But, something about this particular morning had Harry riled up. He thought of how good it had been in the beginning, how tender he'd been with Ginny. Harry didn't mean for his thoughts to divert into a new direction but they did. He thought about Ginny's blue robes, the ones she'd been wearing that he'd torn her out of, so naturally, his thoughts averted towards a particular pair of navy blue pants – the thought came to a screeching halt. Ginny knocked on the door.

"Harry, are you about ready?" she asked.

Harry sighed, he'd have to sacrifice that fantasy for the moment.

Ten minutes later they Apparated to Ginny's office where she gathered all the appropriate paperwork, then headed to the funeral site. Harry didn't understand why Ginny insisted on bringing the paperwork and the will to the funeral. Everyone knew that Neville was the beneficiary.

Augusta Longbottom was to be buried behind a cottage in the village of Athelney where she lived until the age of twenty-one. When Harry and Ginny arrived Ron and Hermione were already waiting for them. It was going to be a very small ceremony consisting of Neville's friends, some distant relatives and Parvati's friends and family.

Parvati and Neville had gotten engaged just three months prior and Augusta had been tremendously excited. Harry knew how much Neville had wished for his grandmother to stay healthy up until the wedding, but her illness had taken the best of her. They had even attempted to expedite the wedding planning to ensure that she could be present. Her passing though anticipated had still been unexpected. The Healers had said that she was expected to survive up until Christmas.

Harry got on the stage in the tiny cottage Neville's grandmother had lived in and began to speak. He looked up and faltered at a few words, Malfoy was staring right at him. For the rest of the speech Harry simply concentrated on the piece of parchment he'd been holding. Every time he'd paused, the attendees had thought that he was deeply moved by Augusta's passing, even though that could have been the case, it wasn't. Harry couldn't help but the flashbacks of a certain pair of navy blue pants constantly dashed in his mind.

After the service everyone stayed in the cottage for a small memorial feast. Padma and her cousins had provided all the food and had been in charge of feeding the guests allowing Parvati to support Neville. Harry was speaking to Neville when Parvati's father approached them with his announcement.

"Neville," Mr Patil said, "our customs dictate that all celebratory ceremonies must be put on a hiatus for a year after a family member's passing." Neville nodded looking confused. "For this reason, we have decided that your wedding that was scheduled for next month will be postponed for a year."

"Oh, is Parvati alright with that?" Neville asked. Harry wasn't sure if he should continue standing there listening to a private conversation. It wasn't his wedding or his family, but, Neville had his hand on Harry's shoulder and Harry thought it would be rude to move it, further, on his left Ginny was talking to Hermione and glaring at Harry, and on his right, Malfoy stood unaccompanied. Harry thought it'd be best to remain where he was.

"Yes, Parvati understands the customs very well. She is willing to make that sacrifice for you."

(Until next time! ~ The End)