The Malfoy Who Lived (A Harry Potter Fan-Fiction) *COMPLETED* (Editing)

Epilogue: Grieving

Epilogue

Pansy's POV

"Ladies and Gentleman, please quiet down so that the ceremony can continue. Mrs. Granger will speak next." Dumbledore let Mrs. Granger go to the podium. 

She looked as though she would burst into tears at any second. "I know there are a lot of her friends here today. She would've loved that you all came to her funeral." At this point she broke down crying. 

Ginny squeezed my hand tightly. I knew she was close to tears herself. I hugged her. After the fight, we'd bonded. Just like me and the other Gryffindors who went down. 

Draco sat on my other side. All of us who'd been at the fight were here today, standing side by side. We'd been through a lot together. Something like this is one of those things you just can't go through without becoming friends. 

I felt a lone tear slide down my cheek. Draco was crying too. Hermione and him had never been super close, but the last thing he'd said to her hadn't been nice. We were all wishing that we could have one chance to say goodbye. 

"Hermione was my only daughter." Mrs. Granger continued. "She was always so happy to be here at Hogwarts, even though most didn't like her. Harry, Ron, and Pansy were her best friends. Even though she got bullied, she never let it get to her. She is in a special place in my heart. This shouldn't have happened to her, she never deserved it." Mrs. Granger left the podium, crying hysterically. 

"Would anybody else like to say a few words?" Dumbledore asked. 

Ginny volunteered, and Dumbledore nodded at her. She walked up to the podium, taking a deep breath. 

"The first time I saw Hermione, I didn't like her at all. She has a sort of bossy voice, but once I got to know her, we became good friends. I wasn't at the battle that night." Ginny began. 

"Thank god." I heard Harry mutter from next to Draco. 

A small smile appeared on my face, but vanished when Ginny began speaking again. 

"We lost a lot that day. Hermione was definitely a girl to be remembered. She was every professor's favorite student, I imagine. With the exception of professor Snape." 

A few people laughed, and Ginny cleared her throat. 

"I just wish I'd had the chance to say goodbye to her." Her voice broke. "Now I'll never be able to do that. It's one thing I'll regret for life."

She ran back to her seat, not bothering to conceal her tears. Harry wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. She rested her head on his shoulder, sobbing.

"I want to speak." I said, before I thought about it. 

Dumbledore pointed me towards the podium and I went up, facing the audience. "Hermione was my best friend. That will never change. I will never forget the day she died. And I'll never forget that I wasn't there with her."

All of my new friends looked sympathetic and pained. Dumbledore and the other professors looked solemn, even Snape.

"I wish more than anything I'd been with her. I could've pushed her out of the way, I could've done something. Forever I'll live with this guilt. Nothing anyone says will change that." I walked down after my short speech.

Everyone applauded for me. 

The funeral ended, and I grabbed Ginny's hand. "Come with me."

We both knew without speaking where I wanted to go. She followed me outside towards the gates. There, lying in the cemetery, was Luna.

I lied down on the grass next to her, Ginny on the other side of her. 

"Hi Luna. I'm sorry we haven't come to visit you in awhile." I apologized. 

"Yeah, we've just been busy planning Hermione's... funeral." Ginny started crying again, and I hugged her. She smiled. 

"Thanks, Pansy. You're a really good friend." 

"Luna, I guess you'll want to hear what's happened lately. Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott are dating now. Neville broke up with her, and he realized too late that he's in love with you." I said sadly. 

"Lavender and Ron are back together. After Hermione died, he realized that she'd want him to be happy, so he said yes to Lavender last month. They're very happy together. Adele and Kase are together now." Ginny continued. 

"Everyone's slowly moving on. But we all still remember that awful day, Luna." I got up. "Gin, we should go back. They'll be looking for us."

Ginny and I didn't say goodbye to Luna. 

I didn't turn back to look at that ugly rock with Luna's name on it. I didn't look at the death date. I didn't look back at Luna, I walked away.