3Harry Potter's Funeral
Ron's Point of View
I am standing alone in middle of the 7th year boy's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower. It would have been the room that Harry and I shared with Neville, Dean and Seamus like we had for the six years previous had we returned to Hogwarts last September. I turn and look towards the bed that had been Harry's for six years and I can feel the tears behind my blue eyes, however I will not let them fall. Today is the day that I along with Hermione have to bury our best friend who is also like our brother. It has only been a few days since the Battle at Hogwarts and Harry's death. I know that Hermione and I both expected this outcome but the reality is much worse. Everyone that is left at Hogwarts is morning Harry's death. My family have been fantastic at making sure that Hermione and I have been allowed to mourn our best friend without getting hassled.
Hermione contacted Harry's Aunt and Uncle and informed them of Harry's death. She told them that we would be having a service for Harry and then they could have Harry's body for one if they wished. They replied that they were glad that Harry was dead and that we could do whatever we liked with Harry's body. This made everyone very angry as they couldn't care what happened to their Nephew. My family then agreed that they would arrange Harry's funeral, however Hermione and I both said that we wanted to be the ones to arrange it. To say that everyone was shocked is an understatement. Professor McGonagall spoke to us and informed us that we didn't need to do this on our own and that we had people around us that wanted to help us. It reminded me so much of Hermione and I telling Harry the exact same before going to the Department of Mysteries in our 5th Year that it was very hard for me not to laugh and I could tell that Hermione was the same. Everyone finally agreed to let us arrange it after we said that it would give us both a sense that we would be able to give Harry the final goodbye that he deserved. We made the arrangements quickly and it wasn't that hard. The hardest part was just trying to limit the funeral to friends and family as the whole wizarding community wanted to pay their respects to our best friend. However neither of us actually wanted this day to actually come. How were we expected to bury our best friend?
I then hear footsteps coming up the stairs and towards the room. I knew exactly who it was even before I turned around and saw the most beautiful women in the world who also happened to be the love of my life, standing in the doorway watching me closely. I smile slightly at her and she smiles back.
"Come in 'Mione." I say and she walks towards me. I then pull her body into mine for a hug. I feel her soft brown hair fall onto my shoulders and her warm breath on my skin. I lower my head to her shoulders and take a deep breath and relishing in Hermione's sweet aroma. We stay like that for what feels like forever and if truth be told neither of us wanted it to end. We finally pull out of the hug but only so that I can wrap my arm around Hermione's perfect waist and she puts her hand on my chest and I turn us so that we are both facing Harry's bed.
"How are you doing Ron?" She asks looking up at me with her beautiful brown eyes.
"Honestly, I wish today wasn't happening at all. I wish that Harry was still here with us. I am dreading the fact that we have to bury our best friend. How are you holding up?" I ask her while looking into her eyes.
"The exact same." She says chuckling slightly, "People always said we were opposites that so isn't true." She adds smiling a little.
"True. Although I think people only said that because we were always arguing with each other." I say reminiscing somewhat.
Hermione laughed and said, "Yes that is probably true. I am glad that I have you here Ron. You are my rock."
"I am so very glad that I never lost you too in the Battle 'Mione. You are much more than just my rock and you know it. All that matters now it that we are here for each other when we need to be." I explain.
"I miss him so much, Ron. How are we going to cope without him?" Hermione states quietly and I feel her tears on my shirt.
"I really don't know 'Mione. I do know though that he is watching us and will always be watching us. I miss him too." I respond with just as quietly and I kiss the top of her head gently.
"As much as I wish we could stay up here, I came up to tell you we have to make our way down now." Hermione informs me.
We finally pull out of our embrace and my hand drops from her waist. Hermione steps slightly away from me and I take my hand and dry her tears from her face. She then holds out her hand for me to take and we leave the dormitory with one final look at Harry's perfectly made bed.
Once Hermione and I made our way down the spiralling staircase from the dormitory, we walked instep along the common room. We only got as far as the chairs nearest the fireplace before we both stopped. These were the chairs that we had sat in with Harry for most of our time a Hogwarts and the fire was also were we spoke to Sirius in our 5th year. This was Harry's favourite place in the whole of Hogwarts and we both knew it. This time I could feel the tears spilling from my eyes. I tried to hide them from Hermione but she saw them. She then carefully brought her other hand up to my face and gently wiped away my tears. She whispered in my ear, "It is fine to cry Ron." and kissed me softly on the check. After another minute of both of us just staring at the chairs we made our way across the rest of the common room and out of the portrait hole. As we walked down the staircases towards the ground floor of the castle we noticed that the castle as a whole was too quiet. It was as if the castle itself was mourning the loss of Harry. As we walked past many of the portraits just bowed their heads at us but never said a word. After a few minutes we made it down to the ground floor and we slowly made our way across to the doors that led out to the grounds around the castle. As we walked past the Great Hall we stopped and looked towards the staff table and we both thought back to when we were in 1st year and our sorting. We didn't stay there long and continued on our way outside.
The funeral was being held in the grounds of Hogwarts and Harry was to be buried beside his parents in Godric Hollow. As we walked across the grounds we past the black lake and the whopping willow tree and even it was not moving at all. We then finally made our way towards where everyone was sitting just to the right of Dumbledore's tomb. We are able see Harry's wooden coffin on a podium at the centre and neither of our eyes leave it as we walk down the middle of the seats and towards the front were we sit in a row on our own as Harry's family, which my family just behind us. We never dropped our linked hands and we both held onto the other even tighter as we saw for the first time Harry's coffin. My Dad then passed me two single golden roses and I gave Hermione one of them which she placed in her lap and I placed the other on my lap aswell.
Professor McGonagall looked at us and we both nodded our heads that she could start the service. She stood up and walked towards the other podium that was just to the left of Harry's coffin and said "Today we are sadly gathered here for the funeral of Harry James Potter. He was an extremely talented wizard who had the weight of the world quite literally on his shoulders. I am going to give a brief history of Harry's life, even though everyone here knows it. Harry was born to James and Lily Potter on 31st July 1980. James and Lily were killed by Voldermort on 31st October 1981 and Harry was sent to live with his Muggle relations. Upon Harry's arrival at Hogwarts he certainly got up to his fair share of mischief." She says while looking at Hermione and I with a small smile on her face. I then look at Hermione and see her with tears in her eyes but she is smiling at me as we both know exactly what Professor McGonagall is referring too. I then wiped Hermione's tears away again.
Professor McGonagall then continued with, "However am I going to leave those stories for people who know them a lot better than myself. Finally what I want to say is that as early as 1st year Harry showed that he was fiercely loyal to those he called friends and that he was determined to succeed as best he could. Harry was also seeker for the Gryffindor House Team and was the youngest player in a century when he joined the team in his first year. I know that everyone present here today is extremely proud of what Harry achieved in his life, and that is goes double for the people who are going to speak next." Professor McGonagall then paused and looked at Hermione and I before saying, "They are two people know all too well what Harry had to go through to defeat Voldermort and they are Harry's best friends Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley." Everyone clapped as Professor McGonagall sat down in her seat.
At the same time Hermione and I both rose out of our seats and walked towards Harry's coffin and we each placed our rose on his coffin as we did we dropped our linked hands, our roses formed a cross. We also both stood there for a moment before I turned and walked towards the podium where Professor McGonagall had just spoken from with Hermione behind me. We stood there with our hands linked again. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath before saying, "I would like to thank Professor McGonagall for her very kind words. Hermione and I are extremely proud of Harry and everything he achieved. As you all know Hermione and I are Harry's best friends. We have been through an awful lot together these past 7 years and over that time we have tested our friendship to the limits. But no matter what happened Harry always had Hermione and I. Here is a little back story of how Harry and I first became best friends. Harry and I first met on the train to Hogwarts and we became best friends pretty much instantly." I pause and look towards Harry's coffin. "I was completely amazed to be honest that I was sharing a carriage with the most famous wizard of all time. We both got sorted into Gryffindor along with Hermione. When Hermione and I first met let's just say that we didn't exactly get on." Everyone present chuckles at this as do Hermione and I, expect we both have tears in our eyes.
"However Harry really was the glue between us and we were soon the best friends that we have been ever since. As Professor McGonagall has kindly already mentioned during our time here at Hogwarts the three of us have certainly broken our fair share of rules and got into quite a bit of trouble however Hermione and I both agree that it was all worth it because with each of our adventures the bond that Harry, Hermione and I shared grew ever stronger."
Hermione then moves her hand out of mine and wraps it around my waist and I do the same before she says, "Harry's life has been filled with far too much sadness in it. Harry lost a number of people that were like a family to him throughout his 17 years. Before Harry came to Hogwarts he had no idea that he was even a wizard or for that matter just how famous he was. Harry always hated to be the centre of attention and never liked the fame that Voldermort brought to him. The one wish that Harry always had and this never changed was that he could be normal. However when Harry learnt that he would have to kill Voldermort or be killed he accepted it. If I am honest Harry, Ron and I all thought that this was going to be the outcome of the war. The thing that Ron and I didn't realise was that the reality of Harry not being here with us would be much harder to accept. Harry rarely spoke of his Muggle family and because of this Ron and I knew that it didn't get mentioned. All that we do know is that Harry's relatives treated Harry poorly and didn't care about him at all. I know for a fact that Harry was overwhelmed by the way that the Weasley's took him in as one of their own. Harry always knew he was welcome at the Weasley house and it felt like home to him. Harry also felt that Hogwarts was home and even though Harry hated doing his homework, he loved Hogwarts itself.
Harry James Potter might have been known as the Boy-Who-Lived but to both Ron and me Harry will always the best friend and brother you could ever have."
I smiled at what Hermione had just said, "Throughout our time at Hogwarts the three of us got the nick-name of 'The Golden Trio' and even though we are now no longer the Golden Trio Hermione and I will always treasure every single memory we have of Harry wither it be good or bad. The three of us never mentioned the nick-name however we have decided to honour it today, with both us placing a single golden rose on Harry's coffin. Harry loved life and I know that family was extremely important to him as he never knew his parents. However his friends were just as important to him, if not more. Every single person sitting here today can count themselves lucky to be one of Harry's friends because to have Harry's friendship meant that to him you were worth saving. Harry will always be remembered as the baby that defeated Voldermort at age 1 and who then 16 years later gave the greatest sacrifice of all his life to defeat Voldermort once and for all. We have to not let Harry's death be in vain as he died protecting our world so that we can all live in a much safer place."
Hermione then took a deep breath saying, "Harry's love life really isn't much of a secret. His one true love was Ginny Weasley. Ron and I both know that during our year on the run he constantly thought of Ginny. To Harry, Ginny was simply everything that was right in the world one of his main reasons for saving it. Both Harry and Ron have very special places in my heart and neither of these places are replaceable and I know that Ron feels the same and that both of us will forever have a void in our hearts because of Harry's death. He will always be remembered by us and never forgotten."
Hermione and I raised our wands towards the sky and said in unison. "To Harry, Our brother and best friend. May you rest piece." We both shot golden sparks from our wands and I then pointed mine towards the back of the seats and said "Expecto..." However I was unable to finish the incantation as a sliver stag came galloping down the aisle towards us and in its mouth it carried a third golden was as shocked as Hermione and I were at what we were seeing.
"How did you conjure Harry's Patronus and have it carry a golden rose?" Hermione asked me quietly taking her eyes of the stag and looking at me.
"I didn't." I explain dumfounded.
The stag then walked up the podium and placed the rose on top of the ones that Hermione and I had placed on the coffin earlier. It then looked at us and smiled the way that Harry had. It disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.
Everyone just looked at us in silence and no-one really knew what to do next. Hermione and I both then magnified our voices so that everyone could hear them without standing near the microphones on the podium. I then said, "This is a song that Hermione and I have written and are going to sing in memory of Harry." (Ron-Bold/ Hermione-Normal/Both-Normal Underlined)
(I walk towards Harry's coffin with tears in my eyes)
Live your life to the fall
With a lifetime of smiles
Made us know right from wrong
Always knowing a lie
You made us to be tough
But never too rough
Rise above what you said
Never easily lead.
And one day we'll all sing along
'Cause this is your song
I wrote it for you
It won't take all day
Just a minute or two
You were a friend
Walk with you to the end
And one day we'll all sing along
'Cause this is your song
(Hermione walks towards Harry's coffin with tears in eyes too and she stands next to me)
So I'll try and go on
Loving all that we know
Through the hardest of times
you put on a show
You made us stand tall
When all around us would fall
Even when you were alone
You believed you could fly
And one day we'll all sing along
'Cause this is your song
I wrote it for you
It won't take all day
Just a minute or two
You were a friend
Walk with you to the end
And one day we'll all sing along
'Cause this is your song
(Hermione and I hold hands and silently cry)
And one day we'll all sing along
'Cause this is your song
We wrote it for you
It'll take all our lives
Just to help us get through
You were a friend
Walk with you to the end
And one day we'll all sing along
'Cause this is your song
We then sat back down at the front and Professor McGonagall then rose again and said, "This is my thoughts on Harry's relationship with both Hermione and Ron. To Harry, Hermione and Ron were his family and he would have laid down his life for them and he did. When Harry's Muggle relations didn't wish to do anything for their nephew's funeral, the Weasleys said that they would organise the funeral that we are now sat at. However if truth be told Hermione and Ron both looked horrified at the suggestion. In the end we all allowed them to put this wonderful service together for their best friend. To be honest I don't think anyone else could have done a better job than those two as they knew Harry the best. He will be sadly missed by all, but he will live on forever in the hearts of those who knew him and loved him. I know that Harry would be very happy to see his two best friends there for each other like they are now. He is smiling down on you now and he knows that you two will be just as happy without him and you were with him. Hermione and Ron have invited a select few to witness Harry's burial in Godric Hollow tomorrow evening. For those who are going they have asked that you bring something that remind you each of Harry as it will be used as part of the burial. Harry James Potter truly was a very remarkable young man and a true hero."
Hermione and I then got up out of our seats and went up towards Harry's coffin and we each placed our spare hands on his coffin. I felt myself want to cry but I didn't and I looked down at Hermione and could tell she was the same as me. After a couple of minutes of just standing like that we moved over towards where Professor McGonagall was standing and we saw that everyone else was walking up to the coffin and place things on top of it but leaving our golden roses alone.
"What you two said was wonderful and that song was perfect." Professor McGonagall mentioned once we were close enough and she had tears in her eyes.
"Thank you Professor. What you said about Harry and us was very true too. He would have laughed when you called him a hero though. You know that he never liked the limelight." Hermione states.
"I know that and just between you two and I that is why I said it." Professor McGonagall says smiling.
After about 5 minutes everyone has said there final goodbyes and we lead everyone back towards the castle and into the Great Hall, where the wake is going to take place. The only part of the funeral that Hermione and I never actually organised was the wake. We left this to my family. We walked into the Great Hall and was amazed at just how much effort had gone into everything. There were pictures of Harry during his years at Hogwarts, mostly with Hermione and I in them. There were pictures of Harry at the Christmas' with my family over the years, as well as pictures of Harry and Sirius together and many others. My family had arranged for anyone who wanted to say anything about Harry could do at any time. It didn't need to be a speech, it could just a story.
As everyone wondered around the room and chatted quietly amongst themselves. Hermione and I sort of kept to ourselves a bit. I got us both a plate of food but neither of really touched it. Dean, Neville and Seamus had each gone up and told stories about from dormitory over the years and most were quiet funny. Others had mentioned how brave they thought Harry was and how grateful they were of his sacrifice.
I doubt anyone really expected either Hermione or I to go up after all we had said during the service but we both did separately. I went first by saying, "I have so many wonderful stories that I can pick to share with you, I just need to decide which one. I guess the story I am going to pick is one that has to do with my time on the run with Harry and Hermione. There is slightly more to this story but for this purpose it is not relevant." I looked down at Hermione briefly before continuing with, "I saved Harry's life when he was drowning and being chocked by a locket he was wearing." I heard a loud gasps from the crowd but Hermione's was the loudest. I looked at her again and I saw she had tears on her eyes as she knew exactly what I was going to mention. "I dived into the pond that Harry was drowning in and saved his life. I managed to get the locket off him and destroyed it. He was pleased to see me and extremely grateful that I had saved his life. I knew at that moment that I never let him down like I had. " I explain. I then walked down and stood next to Hermione briefly.
Hermione then got up and said looking at me while she said it, "You never let Harry down and you know it." Then looking out at everyone else she said, "Harry was the kind person that was able to forgive and forget very well when it came to his friends. My story is the one that almost everyone here knows. It is the story where Harry, Ron and I became best friends. It was the night of Halloween our 1st year and I was in the girl's bathroom due to Ron, so I never knew about the Troll and how it was heading for where I was. To say I was relieved when Ron and Harry came bursting through the door to save me was an understatement. I had never been so glad to see those two boys in my whole life...well maybe now there is one other time. However the outcome of that night is one that I am never going to forget ever. If Ron and Harry hadn't saved me that night, I would never had made the two best friends in the world, the best brother ever and I would definitely never have met the love of my life and for that I am eternally grateful to Voldermort for making Quirrell send in that Troll that night, as my life changed for the better that night." I then saw her walking towards me and I knew by the look in her eyes that she was going to kiss me.
We had up until now kept our relationship very low key. We knew that Harry knew and that he was happy for us. As she finally came towards me, Hermione launched herself at me and I caught her as our lips met in a passion filled kiss. The whole Hall was silent as they watched us kiss. After about a minute we broke apart and both laughed a little and we both said in unison, "Oi! There's a war going on here!"
Then my Dad asked, "You two care to explain what you have just said as we all know you know full well that the war is over?"
I laugh again and look up towards the ceiling and say, "Let's just say that we know that if Harry is watching us right now that is what he would have said."
"Why would he have said that as he knows too that the war is over?" My mum asks.
"What Ron means is that is exactly what Harry said to us when we first kissed the night Harry died. We know that Harry had tried to get our attention before that and we had just ignored him. So to get our attention he said that. We know that Harry is at peace and smiling down on us. He would want us all to be happy and live our lives the way we want to." Hermione explains smiling.
A.N:- This is a story that I thought about for a while and I quite enjoyed writing. I wanted to show the relationship between the Golden Trio and that even though Harry was no longer there, Hermione and Ron could still be happy. The song that Hermione and Ron sang is Ronan Keating's 'This is Your Song'. I thought that it suited the Trio very well. Also everything belongs to J. except the plot.
Let me know what you think.
Vikki x