Unexpected | Bill Weasley

~45~ Dumbledore's Funeral

Lessons were suspended, and exams were postponed. Some students were hurried away by there parents over the next couple of days. The Patil twins were gone before breakfast on the morning after Dumbledore's death, and Zacharias Smith was escorted by his father. Seamus Finnigan, 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.

Neville had been discharged from the Hospital Wing, but Bill had to remain under Poppy's care. Bill's scars were looking as bad as ever, he now looked a bit like Mad-Eye, although he still had both arms and legs. Thankfully, he still had the same charming personality, but now he had a great liking for very rare stakes.

When Bill had woken up, I flung myself at him.

"Easy there Fawn," he chuckled.

"I was just so worried. Are you ok?" I asked, sitting at the edge of his bed and taking his hand.

"I'm alright as long as I'm here with you." he said.

"Goodness you're so sappy," I said, though I blushed.

"Merlin, do you really still get embarrassed by my comments?" he asked.

"Shut up," I leaned down to kiss but, but just as our lips touched, someone grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me away.

"Please Fawn, Bill needs to rest!" said Poppy. "Why don't you leave, you can come back in an hour."

I nodded and left the Hospital Wing. Just as I stepped outside, I heard someone yelling my name.

"FAWN! FAWN OVER HERE!"

I turned around and saw Damon, Lucas and Finley, sitting together by the Lake. Finley's white blonde hair was shining underneath the sun.

I ran over to them.

"Hi, when did you get here?" I asked, sitting down between Lucas and Finley.

"We got here an hour ago, we were talking with McGonagall." replied Damon.

"How's Bill?" asked Lucas.

"He's alright, we can visit him in about an hour. Madam Pomfrey told me." I said.

We lounged around and talked for a bit.

"I can't believe your wedding is coming up so soon!" said Lucas.

I grinned. "It's a bit scary honestly, but what about you? You three have such boring love lives."

Finley shrugged, but I noticed that Lucas and Damon both blushed a bright red.

"I'm not really looking for a relationship." said Finley, looking like her didn't care at all.

Lucas shrugged and looked down, flushing "I don't know."

"Me too." Damon mumbled, his cheeks bright.

I raised an eyebrow. "Alright then."

After an hour, we walked to the Hospital Wing to see Bill. When we walked in, Bill greeted the three boys warmly as we spent hours with Bill, then Poppy came yelling at us and told us that Bill needed to sleep.

The next morning, was Dumbledore's funeral. The Hogwarts Express would be leaving an hour after the funeral. I had already done my packing the night before. No one seemed hungry at breakfast. Everyone was wearing their dress robes and Minnie left Dumbledore's throne like chair empty. Hagrid wasn't there this morning, and Snape's place was taken by Scrimgeour. Percy was there as well, and I made sure to make an effort of ignoring him.

At the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle were looking upset and lonely without Draco with them. My heart clenched as I thought of Draco, and I tried to push him out of my mind before I started crying in front of everyone.

Minnie rose to her feet. "It is nearly time," she said. "Please follow your Heads of House out into the grounds. Gryffindor's, after me."

We went to the Lake, where hundreds of chairs were lined up neatly. An extraordinary assortment of people had already settled into half of the chairs: shabby and smart, old and young.

I found Bill, and quickly went over to him and helped him into a chair. When he sat down, I rushed back to the rest of the staff and looked around at the people who were there.
Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, her hair miraculously returned to vividest pink, Remus Lupin, with whom she seemed to be holding hands, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, followed by Fred and George who were wearing jackets of black dragonskin. 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 just 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.

Cornelius Fudge walked past them towards the front rows, his expression miserable, twirling his green bowler hat as usual; I next recognized Rita Skeeter, who was notebook clutched in her red-taloned hand; and then, with a worse jolt of fury, Dolores Umbridge, an unconvincing expression of grief upon her toad-like face, a black velvet bow set atop her iron colored curls. At the sight of the centaur Firenze, who was standing like a sentinel near the water's edge, she gave a start and scurried hastily into a seat a good distance away.

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 what I knew to be Dumbledore's body. I gulped, my tears falling silently down my face. Minnie took my hand in hers.

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 people. I glanced at the back row to which Hagrid was heading and realized what was guiding him, for there, dressed in a jacket and trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the giant Grawp, his great ugly boulder-like head bowed, docile, almost human. Hagrid sat down next to his half-brother and Grawp patted Hagrid hard on the head, so that his chair legs sank into the ground.

A little tufty-haired man in plain black robes had got to his feet and stood now in front of Dumbledore's body. I couldn't hear everything he was saying. Odd words floated back to us over the hundreds of beads. "Nobility of spirit"..."intellectual contribution"..."greatness of heart"...it did not mean very much to me.

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 spiralled into the air and made strange shapes: I thought, for one heart-stopping moment, that I saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue, but next second the fire had vanished. In its place was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore's body and the table on which he had rested.

People began getting to their feet. I felt too stunned to move, but Minnie took my arm and pulled me up. I gave her a sad smile, before I went to find Bill. When I found him, I threw my arms around him.

"It's alright," he murmured.