AUTHORS NOTE: i'm so happy this story is finally nearly over, thank you to accio__horcrux for being my editor and etchao for also helping me edit this chapter and her character Professor Ariana Martens features in this chapter. I also referenced my favorite ever fanfic (These Cuts I Have by Melindaleo on fanfictionnet) in this chapter by using her original character Owen Savage the Auror as an ex auror in mine but obviously nowhere near as good as hers, if you've survived reading my fanfic you should reward yourself by checking out my fav fanfic ever 😂. Anyway here's the chapter:
James picked up the single letter that sat on his beside table when he woke. Kreacher had been taking charge of the mail and setting up a post room so that they could read at will, no one wanted to be constantly bombarded by owls from fans and admirers, people saying how sorry they were, as if it was their fault or something. This letter must be important then, especially since it was the morning of his father's funeral.
Dear James,
I'm so sorry I can't be with you and that these letters are all you get, it's all my fault. You have grown up into an exceptional wizard and I promise that I will be watching as that continues after your Hogwarts years. You are brave and kind, willing to stand up for yourself and others and I'll miss you, but remember that your mother and Teddy will be there for you, and I'll be all right. I'm sorry I couldn't give you everything that a normal kid gets, I wasn't there at every match because the flashbacks got too bad sometimes, I couldn't cheer you up when you were sad because I was sad too. Remember Jamie, if you feel very angry again ask Kreacher for a Calming Draught, if you get upset then tell him or your mum or one of your teachers and someone will fix it, I promise you'll feel better soon. You are so loved and I want you to always remember that you helped me, you are my firstborn and you gave me something important to live for, a responsibility that brought happiness in a dark time for me.
Thank you,
Dad.James's hand shook as he reached for his new wand, he wanted to hold it after reading the note because it felt like a part of his dad. Mum gave him the phoenix and holly wand the day he died, she'd also repaired his broken glasses which now sat on her bedside table. James had been surprised when the wand worked for him, but magic felt different now, powerful rather than effortless. He could almost feel his dad within the wand.
James charmed the buttons on his dress robes to close, they were very fiddly by hand, the fancy sort from Twilfitt and Tattings. James preferred Madam Malkins, but the other shop had owled first, offering to design and make all the close and extended family's robes.
"James? We have to go soon, Kingsley wants to seat us before the reporters arrive, it will be difficult enough as it is to avoid them," His mother said gently, standing in the doorway.
He apparated to the outskirts of a massive forest, an enclosed area that could take the large numbers supposedly coming to pay their respects. James didn't want to face all these people, he could already see chairs stretching back as far as his eyes could see, he had inherited his dad's terrible vision. Dad would hate the crowds, he thought, everyone staring at him, half the wizards only there because to attend his funeral was "the right thing to do," or worse, so that they could make themselves look more respectable. He would love the forest, would probably think that it was wasted on his funeral and would do much better as a couple of Quidditch pitches.
The coffin was surrounded by flowers and wreaths, and the witches and wizards placing them. Most were crying which baffled James, they were strangers, what did they have to be upset about?
"Let's get you three out of this crowd before you get swallowed up. Very sorry for your loss, your father was a great man, a very fair Department Head."
A kind faced Ministry worker ushered James and his siblings to the end of the front row, his Auror badge glinting in the sunlight. James smiled sadly and nodded his thanks at the man, who bowed respectfully.
"Look," Lily whispered urgently as the man walked away, "Over in the gap between the chairs, about halfway down. Professor Creevey."
"What the f..."
"Shh!"
"...Is he doing here?" James muttered, "He doesn't like Dad, says he holds too much power that he doesn't deserve."
James looked around at the crowd that was beginning to thicken. Everyone was in plain black robes of varying degrees of neatness, apart from some Ministry workers who were in a smarter version of their uniform. James almost felt out of place with his pristine black dress robes, he didn't see why they had to look so neat, it wasn't like they were here to impress anyone.
Kingsley came towards them, leading another Auror, this one was taller and had a red badge in addition to his regular Auror one; he was higher ranking.
"Jamie, Al, Lily, how are you doing?" Kingsley asked, concerned.
"Awful," James muttered.
"I know. Your mother will be over soon, but I know she is making sure you three are in her line of sight at all times. This is Auror Shafiq, he will be your guard today."
The Auror didn't say anything, but he did the same half bow as the last Auror. They'd had Auror guards before when they were out and both their parents were busy with other things, so it didn't feel abnormal. They always kept their distance as much as they could, still close by to protect, but far enough away that they weren't intruding on privacy.
"None of the Hogwarts ones have arrived yet," Albus said quietly, he hadn't said a thing since they sat down.
"Some are going with their parents and the rest with the school. It'll be weird... seeing them. We were at school a week ago but it doesn't feel like that," Lily replied, her voice cracking slightly.
James stared back at all the people laying wreaths, he recognized so many faces, like the ancient ice cream guy that always gave them free ice cream, the Aurors that James had seen when he was growing up, he'd watched his father praise them and used the Extendable ears to hear him scold them when he was supposed to be playing in his dad's office. He rarely yelled, at least in front of James and his siblings, but when he did it was scary, although it had never once been directed at him. There was that old conductor, Stan, James thought his name was, that his dad had always made the effort to talk to if they saw him out in Diagon Alley, he was conjuring flowers on top of the flower mountain already surrounding the coffin.
Professor Haywood kissed her husband and followed Professor Martens, who was walking towards them. Professor Martens nodded at them.
"I'm so sorry," Professor Haywood whispered, her face puffy from tears, "I wish I could have done more."
"Not your fault," James replied, he was sick of hearing people's guilt, he'd dealt with that from his father all his life, he was done letting people feel guilt for everything.
Both professors hugged each of them before heading forwards towards the flower display.
"There's lots of Hogwarts students now," Lily said, pointing towards the aisle between the chairs.
James crossed his arms.
"Some of them are crying. What have they got to cry about? Even I'm not crying." James was irritated.
"I know, first it makes me feel awful for not caring, then the emotion comes rushing back. I don't want people looking at me, I don't want to cry in public," Lily whined.
"I hate everyone."
"You don't. Isn't that your girlfriend? Anna?" Lily asked, pointing out a blonde haired sixth year.
"I don't have a girlfriend, she probably hates me after all the yelling, please don't talk about her I can't deal with it right now," James said far too quickly.
He glanced away from her and caught sight of Oliver Wood, his and his siblings' Quidditch coach before they started Hogwarts, who had been the Gryffindor captain in their dad's first year of school.
James saw a group of his Hogwarts friends and quickly ducked so they wouldn't notice him. They did.
"James!" one said as they ran over, "We're so sorry about your dad! What happened? I remember you saying something last year, was that thing how he died? He had a lot of problems."
"I..." James stuttered.
He noticed his friends with teary eyes and it suddenly made him very angry.
"What are YOU crying for? You didn't even know him, none of you did, NONE OF YOU AT THIS FUNERAL DESERVE TO CRY FOR HIM," James shouted.
"Okay mate we're sorry," he mumbled as the group slunk away. He raised his wand slightly in the Wizarding mark of respect. Heads were turning towards James in every direction and his Auror guard moved closer towards them.
"You need to calm down," Lily whispered, "Dad would've hated you to cause a scene."
"Yeah well Dad would hate everything about this but it's still happening."
-
Ginny had shaken possibly hundreds of hands this morning, making polite conversation with many witches and wizards that she had never met before and who somehow thought that telling her they were "sorry" for her loss was making her feel better rather than worse.
"Ginny... That's Dudley Dursley over there. Harry's cousin," Hermione whispered, pointing to a blond haired man holding his wife's hand.
"How did he..."
"Remember I owled him first a few months ago to talk about Harry's childhood? He was open to the idea of a relationship with his cousin but by that time Harry was... well you know what he's been like for the past year. I notified him about the... death, a few days ago, and he wanted to come."
Hermione led her to the less crowded area behind the many rows of chairs.
"Dudley, I'm Hermione, and this is Ginny, Harry's wife."
"I'm sorry," Dudley addressed Ginny, "I wish I had just talked to him. I remember how Hestia and Dedalus talked about him... So admiringly, and never a bad word to say. I don't think he was what my father and mother made him out to be."
"He wasn't. He was very forgiving however, and I'm sure he would have listened if you'd reached out."
Ginny tried to keep the bite out of her voice, but she needed to make it clear that this was not Harry's fault. Ginny had spent years teaching her husband that he was not to blame for his abusive family. Dudley looked down, ashamed. He fished in his Muggle suit pocket for something, a galleon.
"I think this was his," Dudley said nervously as he pressed it into Ginny's palm, "I found it in the bottom of the... cupboard after my mother died. I don't know what it is," he admitted.
"A galleon. Money."
Ginny stared at it, before she married Harry she had never seen that amount of money pass her hands, but after marriage, her financial worries slowly slipped away. Now this coin had a deeper, more meaningful feeling.
Suddenly she realized, a fifth of Harry's gold was now hers to own and he would never be there to take it back.
"If there's anything I can..." Dudley began.
"There isn't," Ginny interrupted, slightly bitterly.
"Ginny, why don't you go and see how Jamie and Al and Lily are doing?" Hermione said pointedly.
Ginny gladly took the hint and walked away, still squeezing the galleon in her hand.
"Ginny," A slightly familiar voice said. She stuffed the galleon into a previously nonexistent pocket of her robes. She turned to face Owen Savage, previously an Auror who Harry was close with.
"I still remember seeing him on those early raids. I thought he was a good kid, really 'effin talented, 'specially being so young, but he wasn't ever a kid when I knew him. A few years after his training, Gawain Robards moved to be the Head of Law Enforcement and I was the most experienced Auror, and of course I wanted the Head Auror promotion, but then I looked at Harry. He had that rare spark that can't be taught, not everyone is cut out to be an Auror, but even fewer wizards are like him. I knew if I was offered the promotion I'd pass, but of course I was never offered. Robards still had some sense left in him."
Ginny smiled for the first time in days.
"I retired the year before Harry became the Head of Law Enforcement, I was sorry to hear that he had to stop so quickly after. Harry dead... that's hard to believe. Y'know, the whole Department after the war couldn't believe their luck when they saw what he could do... well apart from Dawlish who didn't think much of him, but he was a prick anyway."
Ginny laughed, it felt right to be talking to Harry's work colleagues again, it felt normal.
After Auror Savage walked away, Ginny spotted Draco Malfoy and his son walking towards her.
"Scorpius would like to speak with Albus. He requested that he be present at the funeral," Malfoy said stiffly, getting straight to the point.
"Of course, Al will appreciate it immensely. You're welcome to sit in our reserved section, Draco you are also welcome to accompany your son."
"No thank you," Malfoy replied uncomfortably, "I'm sure I can find a single seat somewhere."
He walked away, leaving Ginny to show Scorpius over.
"Al," The boy said quietly as they reached the three teenagers. Albus looked up and hugged his best friend, not saying a word. Ginny nudged James and Lily, they were not happy to see Scorpius.
"Be nice."
-
Teddy clutched the baby blanket close to his chest, keeping a tight hold of his newborn as he walked through the crowd. Vic understood why he wanted to hold him and hadn't once asked today, apart from feeding times, she had left to speak to her sisters and brother.
Andrew Harry Lupin... Teddy's godfather had died before hearing his child's first name. It took a while to think, they wanted something with meaning, but more subtle.
The baby shared half of a first name with it's great-grandmother, a woman who grew up surrounded by prejudice, and died with a Muggleborn, half blood, werewolf and half werewolf in her immediate family. His middle name was shared with a man who saved the world, who would go down in history as a saviour and symbol of the light. Teddy knew the names were perfect after the time spent picking, but he would forever regret letting his godfather die without hearing the full name.
The Potter kids looked miserable, as was expected, James slouched, his arms crossed as he glared at everyone who walked by, some stopped to talk to them but others simply shot them pitying glances. The other two were hiding their feelings a lot better, but Albus hadn't spoken at all, despite his friend Scorpius joining them. Teddy sat down beside them just before the service started.
"We are here today to celebrate the life of Harry James Potter..."
Teddy zoned out as Kingsley began to speak, focusing on the small baby in his arms. The funeral wasn't for any of them, it was a public event that aimed to tick boxes and satisfy others who had never known the real Harry. Teddy knew Harry would be mortified if he knew how much of a fuss was being made.
When Ginny stood up, Teddy paid attention. She was not the ideal person to speak, Ginny could be quite... harsh.
"Thank you for coming. Over the past few days, we have received an alarming number of letters... accusations even. All of you know who Harry was and what he achieved, he did so much for everyone, always kind and always thinking of others."
Ginny paused, taking a deep breath.
"Our family published an article the day of his death, however this information does not seem to be adequate. No, he was not murdered by an Askaban escapee, not by us either. His body is not on display as we would rather preserve his dignity, we are not hiding him, alive, so that he doesn't have to face the public again. I assumed you would be smart enough to know that he is braver than that."
Teddy tightened his grip on the baby. He hadn't heard the extent of the accusations Ginny had received. He glanced around, some of the crowd looked shocked, others squirmed uncomfortably in their seats. A number, Dennis Creevey included, were glaring at Ginny.
"The last few years were very hard on him, we noticed him finding difficulty handling his emotions, it got worse, then we realized there was something wrong. All these years he has been fighting against himself, fighting against part of Voldemort. His scar eventually killed him."
Teddy noticed that she didn't cry, her face resembled that emotionless mask that he was more used to seeing on his godfather.
Suddenly, the baby started to fuss, piercing the silence with a cry. A number of people stared, but the baby had more right to be there than they did, Teddy thought, this was Harry's grandson. He stood up, deciding to take him for a walk up and down, Teddy could hear bits and pieces of what Ginny was saying as his son settled.
As the funeral ended he saw the crowd light their wands as they stood in silence, raising them to the man who had suffered so much, the Chosen One, Harry.
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What Voldemort Left Behind
FanfictionHarry Potter never fully recovered from the war, it affects his life more than anyone. Being an Auror had taken his mind off things but eventually it began to make things worse. His three children have a loving family and attend Hogwarts, their live...