-Six days later-

Harry did up the last button of his black suit, almost ready for the funerals of everyone that had died in the battle. Putting his shirt collar up, he tied up the black tie and tightened it, then looked himself over in the mirror. His hair was somewhat neat and his glasses were straight. His shoes were polished and tied up for once. Nodding, he walked out of the room.

"Harry, dear, there you are. We'll leave once Ron comes down with George. Are you all ready?" Molly was running around the kitchen, gathering the food she'd prepared and giving Ginny the copy of her eulogy for Tonks. Harry sat down on one of the couches with Ginny and Hermione sat opposite them in the armchair.

"You guys ready for today?" asked Hermione. 

Harry sighed. "I guess. It has to happen sometime, doesn't it? Honestly, it's probably better to do it as one big funeral than it would have been to do separate ones. Less pain." (a/n read "pain" in a captian holt voice, like when he says it in "the funeral")

Ginny nodded, smiling sadly. "Agreed." 

Just as she spoke, Ron came down the stairs with George behind him. "We're ready Mum. We're taking a Portkey there, right?"

"No, Ron, we're walking to Scotland." said Charlie. His comment got a laugh from everyone, even George, which was a massive feat. 

"Very funny, Charlie." said Ron, rolling his eyes and grinning. 

Molly shepherded them all outside before following them and closing the door. "Now, everyone, the Portkey is due to depart in-" she checked her watch, "27 seconds. Make sure you're touching the bucket." Everyone nodded and moved so they could touch it. The seconds passed down and, before they knew it, they felt the familiar jolt behind the navel and were off.

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When they saw at the Great Hall for the first time since the Battle, they were amazed at how much had actually been done to it in the 3 weeks since. 

"Woah!" breathed Ron, voicing everyone's thoughts. 

"Woah is a good way of putting it." muttered Percy, looking up at the roof. The whole hall had been cleaned up and decorated with black veils for the funeral. 

They quickly found their seats at the front of the room. There were fifty white coffins at the front of the room. One for Fred. One for Remus. One for Tonks. Colin, Snape, Lavender. They were all so young. I could have saved them, thought Harry. Almost sensing what he was thinking, Ginny patted his back and whispered: "It's not your fault, Harry, remember that." He nodded and turned to smile at her. He returned his focus to the front of the room where the funeral was about to start. Kingsley was officiating it, but there was someone doing a eulogy for each person. Harry was doing it for Remus, Ginny for Tonks, George for Fred, Parvati for Lavender and Dennis for Colin. Professor McGonagall, surprisingly, was doing Snape's. 

When it was Harry's turn to speak, he walked up to the microphone and gazed out to the rest of the Hall. He took a deep breath and started speaking.

"I only knew Remus Lupin for four years, but he quickly became like an uncle to me. He was one of my father's best friends when they attended Hogwarts and was one of the driving forces in reviving the Order of the Phoenix to battle Voldemort. He was one of the most caring and compassionate people I knew. Being a werewolf, he'd been discriminated against in the workforce and everyday life, yet he persevered and made a great life for himself, a life cut short by the cruelty of the Death Eaters. Remus was a brilliant teacher who went out of his way to make sure that his students were looked after and were understanding what he was teaching."

"He was born on the tenth of March 1960 to Lyall and Hope Lupin outside of Reading. He attended Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor house. Upon graduation, he worked at many stores in Diagon Alley to try and make a living, fired from each one every time his employers found out about his condition. After being jobless for many years, he finally found a job as Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a position he held for a year. After that, he devoted his time to the Order of the Phoenix, where he met his future wife, Nymphadora Tonks, who was also unfortunately killed in the battle. They were married in the summer of 1997, and their son Edward was born on the fifth of April, 1998. Remus and Tonks only got 24 days with their son before they were tragically killed. Edward is present today, and I know that all of us also present will do their best to give him a childhood that Remus and Tonks would have given him. Thank you." 

He folded up the speech and walked back to his chair, passing Ginny who was going up for Tonks. After Ginny came George, who read a touching tribute to Fred. The time slowly went by until all of the eulogies were finished. After the funeral, the congregation headed out to the lake where a gravesite had been set up. They were buried one by one to the tune of Amazing Grace and lots of crying. Harry had his arm around Ginny's waist, comforting her while tears of his own trickled down his face. Tears for everyone that had died, not just in the battle, but in the earlier days of the war, people like Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore and even his parents. Sure, he had the Heart of Merlin, but they were still gone. 

He looked over to Ron and Hermione. They were both crying and, like Harry, Ron had his arm around Hermione who was holding Teddy. Fresh tears fell onto Harry's cheeks for the boy that would grow up orphaned, just like he had. 

At least, unlike Harry, Teddy had a massive, supportive family who would raise him, not people that hated him.

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After the burials, all of the mourners went back to their houses, some in large groups, like the Weasleys, and some on their own. On arrival at the Burrow, ties were untied, shoes were taken off, hair was let down and suit jackets unbuttoned. George quickly escaped to his room for one last cry before rejoining the family. Molly went straight into the kitchen to prepare dinner for all of them, as did Arthur. All of a sudden it was back to normal.

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione sat down on the couches in the living room. Ron had grabbed some Butterbeer from the kitchen and they all silently drank it. Hermione was the first to speak.

"Harry, Ginny, you two read really well today. I could never have done that."

The two of them smiled at her. "Thanks, Hermione." said Ginny. Harry nodded his thanks, still drinking. 

"Hey, Harry, you can't still be beating yourself up." said Ron, noticing his friend's mood. 

He sighed. "I know, and before today I hadn't since before Australia. But seeing them all there, lined up in a row at the front of the hall, it really hit me. They're all gone. Colin was 16! Even Remus and Tonks were too young to die. They all were. And I could have prevented it. I could have turned myself in earlier."

Ginny shook her head, rubbing his back. "I don't think any of us would have survived without you. Plus, you know what would have happened. Voldemort would have killed you then continued to kill without mercy. He only stopped killing because you killed him!"

Hermione chimed in with "There's no way your death would have stopped him. It'd just be another one on the kill list."

Harry nodded. "Yeah... I just... it's partially my fault they're all dead. My fault that a poor Muggle family is mourning their son who died in something they'd barely know about. George shouldn't have had to lose a twin, and you guys shouldn't have had to lose a brother. Teddy's gonna grow up without parents and Parvati lost her best friend. I could have stopped it."

"Jeez, Harry, how thick are you?" interjected Ron. "You couldn't have! You did the best you could, and ultimately your best saved so many more lives."

He sighed again. "I guess you're right."

"We always are," said Ginny. "you've got to remember that."

Harry laughed, appreciative of their support. "Thanks guys."

"No problem." said Hermione and Ron simultaneously, causing all four of them to laugh.

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once again so sorry for not updating. I hope you liked this chapter. I might write another one tomorrow if you're lucky XD

Thanks for reading.

Gen.