Disclaimer: I do not own Queen JK's characters, only the plot of this story and Laurie.
"Yeah… No, I didn't have a nightmare. And I'm fine. Really." He gently removed our worried hands from his shoulders. "It's just… I got an owl, from the Auror Department. It said that they've completed the analysis of her body and they want to know when we wish to conduct the funeral." Draco paused as he let the news sink into Laurie's mind. This would be the first time she'll see her lover's body since before the attack. "And that's not all... They've apparently found some leads to other Rogue Death Eaters. And… from what it seems, they might also have been involved in the attack."
The room was enveloped in silence as all eyes fell to the redhead sitting next to Draco. Her own eyes lay frozen as they fixated on the letter, disappointed or disbelieving of it, I do not know.
After what felt like an eternity, Draco broke the spell in this impromptu game of freeze that we were playing, placing his arms around Laurie and drawing her closer into himself, one arm resting across her back while the other slowly stroked her hair. Laurie brought her hands up to his chest, her tiny pale fingers tightly gripped the front of his deep blue polo.
"Laurie?" Draco carefully asked the redhead as she slowly laid her head on to his shirt.
"There's more of them?" Her voice rose barely more than a whisper, but the fear behind it was not hard to see. My heart broke as I saw the bright and cheerful Laurie break down in front of my very own eyes.
Draco and I exchanged a look but neither of us moved to answer her question, because neither of us knew what to say. What were we supposed to say to a woman that only just lost the love of her life to a group of murderers still on the loose? How were we supposed to assure her that any of us are safe? And how were we supposed to tell her that she will get the justice she deserves?
"Draco… Hermione…"
Draco and I gave each other another quick glance before answering simultaneously. "Yes, Laurie."
"Then there are other rogue death eaters out there, just waiting for a chance to kill both of you." She stared at the timepiece on the wall as her head lay still on Draco's chest. She didn't move at all I wasn't even sure if she was breathing.
"Yes bu-"
"Hermione… even she was war trained. But still they…" I couldn't answer her. The tears started flowing down my cheek. I had no answer I could give her. Through my tear filled eyes I saw her start to cry along with me. I reached out and pulled her into myself, both of now fully crying into each other's shoulders. We hugged for what felt like hours, Draco joining us eventually, wrapping his large arms around us in a protective gesture. The three of us didn't speak much for the rest of the day. But unless we had to use the restroom, Laurie made sure that Draco and I were always within her range of sight. Come nightfall we all fell asleep in the same bed, Laurie in the middle with our hands clasped together just to assure her that we weren't going anywhere. This was going to be a long road to recovery.
The funeral was planned for the following Sunday. On that day, I made sure never to leave the side of Laurie and I also kept Draco within the range of my eyesight. That wasn't necessary as he had the same intentions as I did about our dear redhead.
It was a small service, attended only by Laurie's closest friends from college, Draco's neighbors, some of the regulars at the café and Narcissa's work mates. I also had Harry establish a few undercover Aurors to maintain security. The story of her death had been easy enough to fabricate to the muggles. Since there was no witness to the crime apart from Draco and their neighbors had been out of town that week, the official statement to the muggles was that she died of a cardiac arrest and that she had faced similar problems in the past.
I was suddenly pulled aside by my arm, breaking my train of thought. "How are they doing?" I heard a light whisper.
"Harry, don't do that… They're doing alright. Although she won't let us out of her sight for very long. She's afraid someone will come after us, and we'll face the same fate."
"She won't let you out of her sight as well? Not just Malfoy?" Harry seemed a little surprised.
"We… we became pretty good friends over the past few weeks. Despite her pranks, I actually like her quite a lot. And Draco as well."
"Draco?"
"We're friends. We decided to leave our past behind and start over."
"Wow… I didn't think you two would ever actually be able to do that, and to see it happen so fast." I looked at his eyes and saw that he wasn't being sarcastic, he was genuinely surprised.
"A lot has happened since then, and a lot is happening in his life right now. We just decided that it wasn't worth it."
"Yeah… She really left her mark on this world didn't she. Most people in the magical community do not realize what she has done for the world. Even when the Gamot acquitted her of most of the charges against her, people still believed that she was guilty. Yet without her, we would probably be under the rule of Voldy, in a world devoid of muggles and muggle-borns and we would be dead." Harry gazed at the coffin with a forlorn countenance. "Truth to be told, I would've come to her funeral even if you hadn't called me, and not because I was the Auror handling this case, or protocol or whatnot, but because I owe her my life for that time in the forest."
We stood together in silence for a few minutes before I saw Laurie looking for me. "Harry, I think I have to go, she's looking for me."
"Yeah, take care. I'll meet up with you soon enough with any new updates. There isn't anything now that you don't already know about." He turned to walk away, but just before he left, I heard him call out to me. "Ginny is on her way here right now. She had to take care of some stuff at the Prophet so the details of the funeral wouldn't get out. She should be here soon."
"Yeah, thanks Harry." And with a smile, he walked out of the building.
I made my way back to Laurie. "Why was Harry here? Is there something wrong? Did something happen?"
I shook my head. "No, no nothing like that. A long time ago during the war, Narcissa saved Harry's life. And he's just here to pay his respects."
Laurie smiled at me lightly. "I am sure she would appreciate it."
Soon Ginny arrived and she stayed around until the end of the funeral service. We buried her in the local graveyard and the four of us stayed around for another half hour changing the epitaph on her gravestone before we left.
Here lies
Narcissa Malfoy nee Black
You shall forever be remembered
For the love you've shown to your loved ones
And the part you've played in history
THIS HAS NOT AND WILL NOT BE DROPPED!
This is definitely my shortest chapter to date, but it isn't because I am facing writer's block (I was but I'm not facing it now). I have something more planned and that needs some more stuff to write. The epitaph felt conclusive so I cut it short and ended it here. Expect another update within a few days. Trust me this time.
It's been a hard few months with internships, end-semester tests, some other random shit, all coming in at once. I sincerely apologize for the delay. Hopefully, the updates will get more frequent after the next one.
Enjoy this chapter. Review and let me know how you feel about this.
