Miss Quinn

179 ~ The Funeral

All lessons were suspended, all examinations postponed. Some students were hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days -- the Patil twins were gone before breakfast on the morning following Dumbledore's death and Zacharias Smith was escorted from the castle by his haughty-looking 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. She had difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade, Seamus told Harry and Ron, for wizards and witches were pouring into the village, preparing to pay their last respects to Dumbledore.

Some excitement was caused among the younger students, who had never seen it before, when a powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen giant winged palominos, came soaring out of the sky in the late afternoon before the funeral and landed on the edge of the Forest. Emma watched from a window as a gigantic and handsome olive-skinned, black-haired woman descended the carriage steps and threw herself into the waiting Hagrid's arms. Meanwhile a delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister for Magic himself, was being accommodated within the castle. Harry was diligently avoiding contact with any of them; he was sure that, sooner or later, he would be asked again to account for Dumbledore's last excursion from Hogwarts.

Emma and Venus were spending all their time with the Trespier twins. On occasion, they joined up with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who had become a distinct group and were rarely ever apart. The beautiful weather seemed to mock them; from an outside perspective, they could've just been young adults, finished with exams, and enjoying the afternoon air. Not battle veterans, still grieving and healing. Cadmus and Orion were troopers -- they'd shouldered the battle and the ties it had created with dignity, and Emma admired them even more for it. Besides, it wasn't everyday people became brothers in arms.

Ginny had taken to the twins first, having been saved from spells by both of them the night of the invasion. Her opinion of them led to Harry, Ron, and Hermione opening up to them as well, and Emma was all the happier for it. Sometimes it was awkward when two worlds collided, but not then. No, it had shifted easily.

Emma visited the hospital wing twice a day: Neville had been discharged, but Bill remained under Madam Pomfrey's and Emma's care. His scars were as bad as ever; in truth, he now bore a distinct resemblance to Mad-Eye Moody, though thankfully with both eyes and legs, but in personality he seemed just the same as ever. All that appeared to have changed was that he now had a great liking for very rare steaks.

"... so eet ees lucky 'e is marrying me," said Fleur happily, plumping up Bill's pillows, "because ze British overcook their meat, I 'ave always said this."

"I suppose I'm just going to have to accept that he really is going to marry her," sighed Ginny later that evening, as she, Harry, Emma, Venus, Ron and Hermione sat beside the open window of the Gryffindor common room, looking out over the twilit grounds.

"She's not that bad," said Harry. "Ugly, though," he added hastily, as Ginny raised her eyebrows, and she let out a reluctant giggle.

"Well, I suppose if Mum can stand it, I can."

"Anyone else we know died?" Ron asked Hermione, who was perusing the Evening Prophet.

Hermione winced at the forced toughness in his voice.

"No," she said reprovingly, folding up the newspaper. "They're still looking for Snape, but no sign ..."

"Of course there isn't," said Harry, who became angry every time this subject cropped up. "They won't find Snape till they find Voldemort, and seeing as they've never managed to do that in all this time ..."