intriguing (fred weasley x fem! reader)

Chapter Forty-Five: The Funeral

*Y/N's POV*

     Fred had found me in the hallway, I could tell he was unsure of what to say. And knowing me as well as he did, he didn't even try to make something up, all he did was sink next to me and pull me to him. I clung to him as I sobbed into his chest, my tears staining the front of his shirt.

     "Shh, it's okay. I'm here, darling" was all he cooed as he caressed my hair.

     That day was a day of pain and suffering, a harsh reality that there was an impending war and none of us could do anything to stop it. But it was also realized, that if our days were limited then we should all make the most of them and that we did. Fleur and Bill remained engaged, in spite of the deep gashes that now decorated his once admittedly handsome face. Tonks and Remus were now officially together, the color in her hair was beaming and Remus looked a little less miserable than he usually did. Fred had been doing his best to comfort me and I tried my best to show him that he was doing a good job.

    Today was Dumbledore's funeral. Today was now supposed to be full of mourning and a way for his many friends and family to find comfort in one another as best they could.

     "Come along," Mrs. Weasley linked arms with Mr. Weasley as we all followed her to the Black Lake. There seemed to be endless rows of golden chairs that all faced an elegant white marble table. As more guests arrived, it was apparent why they needed so many chairs. Seemed as though people, who probably hadn't even seen Dumbledore in decades, maybe even a century, were all gathered today to remember his life. I held onto Fred as we all found our seats together; Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron had sat a row in front of us.

     Finally, everyone was seated and the small conversations ceased as the merpeople rose from the lake, belting out a despairing tune. We all turned to see Hagrid carrying Dumbledore's limp cloth-wrapped figure down the aisle. Tears had escaped my eyes and my hand gripped tighter to Fred as Hagrid's loud sniffles filled the air as he placed the body onto the marble table.

     The rest of the funeral went by agonizingly slow, the speeches weren't special and hardly anybody paid attention as random people tried to tell their best stories of Dumbledore. What did draw everyone's attention back were the bright, white flames that had shot up from around Dumbledore's body. As they got higher and higher, the smoke obscured the view of the body. And once it had all disappeared, there was a white marble tomb encasing the old wizard.

     "Can't believe he's gone," George muttered as we all stood around.

     "Thought he'd be the one to outlive us all," Fred joked lightheartedly.

     "It's so strange," I muttered.

     "What is?" Bill asked.

     "There are usually two things that you can always count on to bring people together. Funerals," I motioned towards the large crowds, "And weddings," I smiled softly at Bill and Fleur.

    "Wish it could've just been the wedding," Fleur muttered.

     George sighed, "Don't we all."

     I looked around at the different sorts of beings that had attended. Scoffing at the group of Ministry officials who dared to show their faces, even Umbridge.

   I smiled lightly upon seeing a group of old friends, "Hey, look who's here," I nudged the twins, both of them looking over to the group that contained Alicia Spinnet, Lee Jordan, and Angelina Johnson. I pulled them over with me, "Long time no see," I greeted.

     Angelina and Alicia didn't hesitate to hug me, Lee following them, "Hoped it would've been under different circumstances," Lee joked.

     "You said it," Alicia added.