And we have reached the last chapter of Half Blood Prince.

Deathly Hallows is next!

I was thinking of cutting a lot of this out, however, I figured you guys would be upset if I didn't include all of the funeral, so, I left it in, so a lot of Rowling's words will be in this chapter.

This chapter contains dialogue for my fic Harry Potter and the Other Side.

Chapter 185: Saying Goodbye

All lessons were suspended, all examinations postponed. Some students were hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days-the Patil twins were gone before breakfast on the morning following Dumbledore's death and Smith was escorted from the castle by his haughty-looking father. Seamus, on the other hand, refused point-blank to accompany his mother home; they had a shouting match in the Entrance Hall which was resolved when she agreed that he could remain behind for the funeral. She had difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade, Seamus told Harry and I, for wizards and witches were pouring into the village, preparing to pay their last respects to Dumbledore.

Some excitement was caused among the younger students, who had never seen it before, when a powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen giant winged palominos, came soaring out of the sky in the late afternoon before the funeral and landed on the edge of the Forest. Harry and I watched from a window as a gigantic and handsome olive-skinned, black-haired woman descended the carriage steps and threw herself into the waiting Hagrid's arms. Meanwhile a delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister for Magic himself, was being accommodated within the castle.

Harry, Hermione, Ginny and I were spending all of our time together. The beautiful weather seemed to mock us. It seemed as if the weather was trying to cheer us up, but to no avail.

Hermione seemed to get closer to me, however, neither of us brought up taking things further. It didn't seem like the time.

We visited the hospital wing twice a day: Neville had been discharged, but Bill remained under Madam Pomfrey's care. His scars were as bad as ever; in truth, he now bore a distinct resemblance to Mad-Eye Moody, though thankfully with both eyes and legs, but in personality he seemed just the same as ever. All that appeared to have changed was that he now had a great liking for very rare steaks, which was funny.

"... so eet ees lucky 'e is marrying me," said Fleur happily, plumping up Bill's pillows, "because ze British overcook their meat, I 'have always said this."

"I suppose I'm just going to have to accept that he really is going to marry her," sighed Ginny later that evening, as she, Harry, Hermione, and I sat beside the open window of the Gryffindor common room, looking out over the twilit grounds.

"She's not that bad," said Harry. "Ugly, though," he added hastily, as Ginny raised her eyebrows, and she let out a reluctant giggle.

"Well, I suppose if Mum can stand it, I can."

"Anyone else we know died?" I asked Hermione, who was perusing the Evening Prophet.

Hermione winced at the forced toughness in my voice.

"No," she said reprovingly, folding up the newspaper. "They're still looking for Snape, but no sign ..."

"Of course there isn't," said Harry, who became angry every time the subject came up. "They won't find Snape till they find Voldemort, and seeing as they've never managed to do that in all this time ..."

"I'm going to go to bed," yawned Ginny. "I haven't been sleeping that well since ... well ... I could do with some sleep."

She kissed Harry , waved at Hermione and I, and departed for the girls' dormitories. The moment the door had closed behind her, Hermione leaned forwards towards Harry with a most Hermione-ish look on her face.

"Harry, I found something out this morning, in the library ..."

"R.A.B.?" said Harry, sitting up straight.

"No," she said sadly, "I've been trying, Harry, but I haven't found anything ... there are a couple of reasonably well-known wizards with those initials-Rosalind Antigone Bungs ... Rupert "Axebanger" Brookstanton ... but they don't seem to fit at all. Judging by that note, the person who stole the Horcrux knew Voldemort, and I can't find a shred of evidence that Bungs or Axebanger ever had anything to do with him ... no, actually, it's about ... well, Snape."

She looked nervous even saying the name again.

"What about him?" asked Harry heavily, slumping back in his chair.

"Well, it's just that I was sort of right about the Half-Blood Prince business," she said tentatively.

"D'you have to rub it in, Hermione? How do you think I feel about that now?"

"No-no-Harry, I didn't mean that!" she said hastily, looking around to check that we were not being overheard. "It's just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book. You see ... she was Snape's mother!"

"I thought she wasn't much of a looker," I joked. Hermione ignored me.

"I was going through the rest of the old Prophets and there was a tiny announcement about Eileen Prince marrying a man called Tobias Snape, and then later an announcement saying that she'd given birth to a-"

"-murderer," spat Harry.

"Well ... yes," said Hermione. "So ... I was sort of right. Snape must have been proud of being "half a Prince", you see? Tobias Snape was a Muggle from what it said in the Prophet."

"Yeah, that fits," said Harry. "He'd play up the pure-blood side so he could get in with Lucius Malfoy and the rest of them ... he's just like Voldemort. Pure-blood mother, Muggie father ... ashamed of his parentage, trying to make himself feared using the Dark Arts, gave himself an impressive new name-Lord Voldemort-the Half-Blood Prince-how could Dumbledore have missed-?"

He broke off, looking out of the window, a look of disgust etched on his face.

"I still don't get why he didn't turn you in for using that book," I said. "He must've known where you were getting it all from."

"He knew," said Harry bitterly. "He knew when I used Sectumsempra. He didn't really need Legilimency ... he might even have known before then, with Slughorn talking about how brilliant I was at Potions ... shouldn't have left his old book in the bottom of that cupboard, should he?"

"But why didn't he turn you in?"

"I don't think he wanted to associate himself with that book," said Hermione. "I don't think Dumbledore would have liked it very much if he'd known. And even if Snape pretended it hadn't been his, Slughorn would have recognised his writing at once. Anyway, the book was left in Snape's old classroom, and I'll bet Dumbledore knew his mother was called 'Prince'."

"I should've shown the book to Dumbledore," said Harry. "All that time he was showing me how Voldemort was evil even when he was at school, and I had proof Snape was, too-"

"'Evil' is a strong word," said Hermione quietly.

"You were the one who kept telling me the book was dangerous!"

"I'm trying to say, Harry, that you're pulling too much blame on yourself. I thought the Prince seemed to have a nasty sense of humour, but I would never have guessed he was a potential killer ..."

"None of us could've guessed Snape would ... you know," I said.

Silence fell between us, each of them lost in our own thoughts. Dumbledore's funeral was the next day, and no one was looking forward to it.

Harry and I rose early to pack the next day; the Hogwarts Express would be leaving an hour after the funeral. Downstairs we found the mood in the Great Hall subdued. Everybody was wearing their dress robes and no one seemed very hungry. Professor McGonagall had left the throne like chair in the middle of the staff table empty. Hagrid's chair was deserted too,but Snape's place had been unceremoniously filled by Rufus Scrimgeour. Among Scrimgeour's entourage was my brother, Percy. I pretended as if I didn't even see him, the fucking git.

Over at the Slytherin table Crabbe and Goyle were muttering together. Hulking boys though they were, they looked oddly lonely without the tall, pale figure of Malfoy between them, bossing them around.

"It is nearly time," McGonagall said. "Please follow your Heads of House out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after me."

We filed out from behind their benches in near silence. Harry glimpsed Slughorn at the head of the Slytherin column, wearing magnificent long emerald-green robes embroidered with silver. I had never seen Professor Sprout, Head of the Hufflepuffs, looking so clean; there was not a single patch on her hat, and when we reached the Entrance Hall, we found Madam Pince standing beside Filch, she in a thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient black suit and tie reeking of mothballs.

We headed towards the lake. The warmth of the sun caressed my face as we followed Professor McGonagall in silence to the place where hundreds of chairs had been set out in rows. An aisle ran down the centre of them: there was a marble table standing at the front, all chairs facing it. It was the most beautiful summer's day.

An extraordinary assortment of people had already settled into half of the chairs: shabby and smart, old and young. Most I didn't recognize, but a few were members of the Order of the Phoenix: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, her hair miraculously returned to vividest pink, Lupin, with whom she seemed to be holding hands, Mum and Dad, Bill supported by Fleur and followed by Fred and George, who were wearing jackets of black dragon skin. Then there was Madame Maxime, who took up two-and-a-half chairs on her own, Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, Arabella Figg, Harry's Squib neighbour, the hairy bass player from the wizarding group the Weird sisters, Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus, Madam Malkin, of the robe shop in Diagon Alley, and some people whom I merely knew by sight, such as the barman of the Hog's Head and the witch who pushed the trolley on the Hogwarts Express. The castle ghosts were there too, barely visible in the bright sunlight, discernible only when they moved, shimmering insubstantially in the gleaming air.

Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and I filed into seats at the end of a row beside the lake. Ginny was on one side of me, and Hermione, the other. People were whispering to each other; it sounded like a breeze in the grass, but the birdsong was louder by far. The crowd continued to swell; with a great rush of affection for both of them. Neville was being helped into a seat by Luna.

Cornelius Fudge walked past us towards the front rows, his expression miserable, twirling his green bowler hat as usual. Rita Skeeter's cow self was there too, clutching a notebook. Even fucking Umbitch showed, probably to confirm Dumbledore was indeed dead.

The staff were seated at last. I could see Scrimgeour looking grave and dignified in the front row with Professor McGonagall. I wondered whether Scrimgeour or any of these important people were really sorry that Dumbledore was dead. Then, strange otherworldly music came from the lake. A chorus of merpeople singing in a strange language he did not understand, their pallid faces rippling, their purplish hair flowing all around them. The music made the hair on my neck stand up and yet it was not unpleasant. It spoke very clearly of loss and of despair. I felt Hermione's leg begin to shake against mine. Not really knowing if it was the right thing to do, I lightly grazed her leg with my finger. That slowed her leg down significantly, but she still trembled.

Hagrid was walking slowly up the aisle between the chairs. He was crying quite silently, his face gleaming with tears, and in his arms, wrapped in purple velvet spangled with golden stars, was Dumbledore's body. A sharp pain rose in my chest at this sight. Tears were falling thick and fast into both Ginny and Hermione's laps.

We could not see clearly what was happening at the front. Hagrid seemed to have placed the body carefully upon the table. Now he retreated down the aisle, blowing his nose with loud trumpeting noises that drew scandalised looks from some, including Umbridge, but Dumbledore would not have cared. Harry tried to make a friendly gesture to Hagrid as he passed, but Hagrid's eyes were so swollen it was a wonder he could see where he was going.

A little tufty-haired man droned on and on about Dumbledore and his accomplishments. I didn't care to remember those. I wanted to remember the man who used sweets as passwords to his office. The man who everyone knew favored Gryffindor. The man who played a round of wizard chess when he came to visit my home one summer. The man who cared about us kids.

I put an arm around Hermione and stroked her hair while she sobbed into my shoulder. Her crying made me start to cry, and once the tears started, they didn't want to stop.

The little man in black had stopped speaking at last and resumed his seat. Then, several people screamed. Bright, white flames had erupted around Dumbledore's body and the table upon which it lay: higher and higher they rose, obscuring the body. White smoke spiraled into the air and made strange shapes. A second later, the fire had vanished. In its place was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore's body and the table on which he had rested.

There were a few more cries of shock as a shower of arrows soared through the air, but they fell far short of the crowd. It was the centaurs' tribute. They turned tails and disappear back into the cool trees. Likewise the merpeople sank slowly back into the green water and were lost from view.

Ginny and Harry started whispering to each other. I tuned it out and focused on Hermione, who was still crying on my shoulder. I knew that beyond what I was already doing. I was useless to her. I didn't have a clue what to do to take her pain away.

A few seconds later, Harry got up and walked away. Ginny grabbed onto my other hand, looking distraught, but not crying. I had guessed that the funeral had gotten to be too much for Harry, and he had asked Ginny to stay back, opting to be by himself.

As more people got up, Hermione began to compose herself. She sat up from my shoulder and gave me an embarrassed look.

"Sorry for messing up your shirt." she croaked as she smoothed out the wet spot on my shoulder.

"Come on." I said, pulling both Hermione and Ginny out of their seats. "Let's go find Harry."

"I'll just go to Mum." said Ginny suddenly. She let go of my hand and walked off.

"What's with her?" I asked. Hermione shrugged.

We walked up the aisle where we seen Harry talking to Scrimgeour. Neither one of them looked very happy. We hurried towards Harry, passing Scrimgeour going in the opposite direction; Harry turned and walked slowly on, leading us to the beech tree under which we had sat in happier times.

"What did Scrimgeour want?" Hermione whispered.

"Same as he wanted at Christmas," shrugged Harry. "Wanted me to give him inside information on Dumbledore and be the Ministry's new poster boy."

I groaned and said loudly to Hermione, "Look, let me go back and hit Percy!"

"No," she said firmly, grabbing my arm.

"It'll make me feel better!"

Harry laughed. Even Hermione grinned a little, though her smile faded as she looked up at the castle.

"I can't bear the idea that we might never come back." she said softly. "How can Hogwarts close?"

"Maybe it won't," I said, trying to be hopeful. "We're not in any more danger here than we are at home, are we? Everywhere's the same now. I'd even say Hogwarts is safer, there are more wizards inside to defend the place. What d'you reckon, Harry?"

"I'm not coming back even if it does reopen," said Harry.

I gaped at him, but Hermione said sadly,"I knew you were going to say that. But then what will you do?"

"I'm going back to the Dursleys' once more, because Dumbledore wanted me to," said Harry."But it'll be a short visit, and then I'll be gone for good."

"But where will you go if you don't come back to school?"

"I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow. For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves, I'd like that."

"And then what?" I asked.

"Then I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I?" said Harry, his eyes upon Dumbledore's white tomb, reflected in the water on the other side of the lake. "That's what he wanted me to do, that's why he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right-and I'm sure he was-there are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and destroy them and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him. And if I meet Severus Snape along the way," he added, "so much the better for me, so much the worse for him."

"We'll be there, Harry," I said firmly.

"What?"

"At your aunt and uncle's house. And then we'll go with you, wherever you're going."

"No-" said Harry quickly

"You said to us once before," said Hermione quietly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"

"We're with you whatever happens," I said. "But, mate, you're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything else, even Godric's Hollow."

"Why?"

"Bill and Fleur's wedding, remember?"

Harry looked at me, startled at first. Then he softened.

"Yeah, we shouldn't miss that," he said finally. He then turned away and walked off, leaving Hermione and I to ourselves.

"I never really noticed how beautiful this place is" I said, looking over at the lake once more. "I may actually miss it".

Hermione smiled and looped her arm around mine and laid her head on my shoulder. "Awe how sweet. Your emotional range is growing"

"Sod off" I said with a laugh.

"When all this is over, do you think you'll come back?" Hermione asked.

I looked down at her and then back towards the lake.

"Would you?"

"Of course. My education is important to me."

"Then I will too"

Hermione looked at me, eyes smiling. "Really? You'd come back here for me?"

"Of course. Someone has to be here to make sure you don't starve yourself while studying and to make sure you're getting enough sleep and to-"

She turned me around and started to kiss me. I didn't expect that. I kissed her back as she played with my hair. I pulled her in as close as I could. I never wanted to let her go. Sometimes I felt as if she was all I had to keep me going and I never wanted to lose her.

"Ron?" She said muffled by my lips

She broke away and I reluctantly let her go.

"We can't. Not yet".

"Why not? We already waited too long as it is." I pleaded.

"But we have to be there for Harry." said Hermione, giving me a small smile

She had a point. If we were to start something now, we wouldn't focus properly on what he had to do.

"Yeah." I said. "For Harry. You're right. I guess I'll be patient. You're worth the wait"

She smiled and gave me a quick kiss that I seriously wanted to hold onto. Then she took my hand and we walked away from the tree and back up to the castle.