Once and for All

Chapter 9

     Hey guys,sorry for the SLIGHT break in the Draco mystery, but I had to include Fred's funeral. It gets happier towards the end ;)

Unfortunately, the jubilant moods of Ginny's victory soon came to a halt as the day for the funeral came. The Order had decided to bury Fred and most of the Order members on the Hogwarts school grounds. No one said it, but Harry knew why. It was there that Fred and so many others had made their last stands defending a home they loved so much. To bury them anywhere else would feel wrong, as it was their own choice to either win or die on those grounds.
  Arriving at Hogwarts was almost surreal for Harry as he walked down the halls. It was a strange feeling to walk among the halls of a place that had been both his home and battlegrounds.
      The only way Harry could describe Fred's funeral was it came with a numbing feeling, like you're swimming underwater, and everything around you seems muted. Words were said by Kingsley and McGonagall and many other family members. Mrs. Weasley could barely get a word out, but George was surprisingly calm when he gave his part.
       As they laid Fred's coffin in the ground, Harry noticed Ginny visibly shaking, and was about to go over when he noticed she was already leaning on her mother. Behind them was Ron, who had a rare forlorn look on his face Harry hadn't seen before.
      Slowly, Harry approached him and swung an arm over his shoulder. As he did so, Ron's body began to shake, and it was then that Harry felt the first sign of tears.
      After the ceremony had been dismissed, Ron turned to Harry. "You know what's ironic about this is that he was always trying to get out of school."
      Harry laughed, causing a few surprised glances in his direction. "Guess they didn't think that through," he muttered, trying to keep it together.
    "Yeah, but George said he didn't think it would set a good mood to put a grave in front of a joke shop," Ginny added, approaching them. "But I have to say, this was a brilliant idea on Luna's part." She nodded towards the newly carved messages written on the back of the gravestone. "Even McGonagall wrote something."
    Harry nodded, not bringing up what he had wrote on Lupin's. It had taken him awhile to think of something meaningful, and he finally went with, I'll take care of Teddy. You were one of the bravest men I ever knew. It sounded cheesy once he reread it, but for some reason Harry couldn't find the exact words to capture it. How can you describe a person in just a few sentences?
    "You know what we could do," Ron said, starting to sound excited, and it took Harry a minute to remember what they were talking about. "We could put his mini fireworks on top of it. Bet he'd love that."
    "Mum would kill you," Ginny said, but she was grinning. "I'll see if George has any extras with him-where is he?"
    Ron pointed to the gravestone, on which George was writing something with a solemn face.
     Cautiously, Ginny approached him, and to Ron and Harry's surprise, burst out laughing. "Mum's going to kill you for writing that."
     "What? She said 'anything'."
     Curious, Harry hurried over, then laughed as well. Even Ron had to keep from chuckling.
     It read:
    To the one who always put the "fun" in funeral-
    And I thought I was the holey one. Seeing as you took an early leave, I am finally older. Until later.
      -Fellow Troublemaker

    "You know, that could be interpreted two different ways," Hermione pointed out.
   "Yeah, well he knows what I meant. Just don't let mum see it yet-I don't have any hopes of joining him soon."
     "I'm no sure where she went," Hermione answered. "But the feast is about to start."
    "We just buried a bunch of dead people and they expect us to eat?" Ron asked incredulously.
    "Very funny, Ronald Weasley, I heard your stomach growling from a mile away. Let's go."
     As they walked back to the castle, Harry turned one last time, as if hoping to see a change. But there was none.
*****
When they finally got home, it was surprisingly less somber than Harry had expected it to be. Ron and Hermione were already arguing about whether ghosts would understand a funeral. "I mean, think about it," Ron insisted. "We went to their Headless Nick's Deathday party, so if they went to a funeral wouldn't they say it's a party too? I probably would."
     Hermione gave an impatient sigh before countering, "No, they respect death more than anything else, and death days are only for ghosts, not just any dead people. Deathdays are like the initiation ceremony for ghosts. Honestly, Ronald, it's depressing to see how ghosts have more tact than you."
Ron opened his mouth, looking confused as he appeared to still be processing the words, before Hermione added, "Harry, please tell me you're with me on this one."
Harry flushed as his two best friends stared daggers at him. "I-we- see Ginny," he muttered, turning quickly to go up the stairs.
"Get back here, you git!" Ron yelled up after him, and Harry couldn't help smiling as he went up the stairs two at a time.
He found Ginny in her bedroom again, folding clothes in a suitcase. At a closer look Harry realized it was her new uniform.
"They sent you it already, huh?"
"Yeah, delivered it this morning. What do you think?" She asked, holding it up. It was gold and black striped, with their team mascot on the upper right.
"Not bad," Harry said grudgingly, thinking about his old Gryffindor Quidditch team. "I forgot you were leaving so soon."
"Yeah, I'm disapparating tomorrow to their stadium-hopefully I don't get lost. I've never been there."
"I don't think you will," Harry reassured her, leaning against the door frame. "You ready to leave?"
Ginny nodded, then paused. "I'm excited to go, but I'm also worried about Mum and Dad. I won't see any of them for a few months-or you."
"If you give me the address, I'll write every day if I can," Harry said sincerely, approaching the bed and sitting next to her.
She smiled gratefully. "Nah, I don't need every day. Just once in a while."
"Twice a week, then. I'm not going any lower than that."
"Deal," she said, laughing a little. "What about you? Your first day is tomorrow, isn't it?"
Harry nodded nervously. He had finally gotten his acceptance letter back, which allowed him to intern as an auror at the ministry. "I'm kind of excited too, but it'll be weird living alone in my apartment."
"Ron'll probably visit," she assured him. "You're at Diagon Alley, right?"
"Yeah, for now. Honestly I wouldn't mind staying here either, but I think it's time to move out."
Ginny nodded. "And you'll see dad and Percy at the Ministry too, so at least you know some people there."
"Yeah. And Draco."
She made a face at the name. "Right, I forgot about him." She paused before asking, "do you have any idea how you're going to follow him?"
He shook his head reluctantly. "No, planning never worked for me. I just make up stuff as I go." He shifted slightly on the bed before asking, "Gin, I have to ask-about what Draco said earlier-can you think of any reasons why someone would want you dead?"
She shrugged. "I'm a DA member. A Weasley. Close to Harry Potter. Do they need anything else?"
"I guess not," he admitted reluctantly. "You're sure, thought?"
"Positive," she said firmly, though she paused a second before saying it. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Well-okay. I just don't want you to get hurt," he admitted.
She laughed again. "Kind of hard when I'm joining a professional sports team. But I'll do my best." She brushes a kiss against his check before saying, "you should probably go to sleep soon-you have to get up early."
"Will I see you in the morning?"
"I'm leaving at 5, so probably not."
"I'll stay here longer, then."