chaos ~ fred weasley

julian bainbridge

as promised... it may not be what you expect.

The following is a eulogy from Alaska Yaxley taken directly from her paper.

Julian Bainbridge is was the kindest boy you could ever meet. And the funniest, in a lot of ways. Yes, and the hottest.

He was everything, really.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to talk about him like this, in front of his friends; his parents, Jeanette and Maximus, who have been nothing short of incredible to me; and the teachers and other people in his life that he admired so much. Still, I feel like people need to know a few things about him. So, here are a few stories.

Julian and I met on the train to Hogwarts in our first year. He was kind of scrawny, but absolutely charming, and even then, he was playfully winking at girls and making them giggle. Still, he took too bloody long to choose what sweets he wanted from the trolley—so, me being me, I pushed him over and paid for his stuff and my own. That's how we became friends.

We stayed that way for a while, until part way into our fifth year. Our friends were all starting to get together, and although the thought had obviously crossed my mind before, I still didn't think it would happen. That is, until we played this game called Paranoia that involved us using veritaserum so we couldn't lie. It ended up sort of revealing that my friends Vee and Fred liked each other and so everyone ended up focusing on them. In the meantime, and on a complete drunken whim, I asked him how he felt about me. I expected him to tell me I was annoying, too loud, or any of the other insults he had jokingly thrown my way over the years. Instead, he told me I was beautiful. He said he had been in love with me since the day I pushed him over. He said he loved me now and until death, and if there was life after that, he would love me then.

I still didn't get together with him, because I wasn't sure. See, he was always a bit of a player, in the nicest way possible—it was hard for anyone to be mad at him because he was so kind and respectful, basically the whole time. Except for the one time he threw a girl's leg in a fire, but that's neither here nor there. So, I just wasn't sure if his player ways would go well with my asexuality, until we ended up actually getting together. It just... worked. He was so respectful and caring, and I knew he would be like that forever. Together for four and a half years, and nothing changed.

This whole thing isn't about recounting our relationship, but I wanted to start with that because it encapsulates everything Julian was, and will remain being forever in my mind.

I thought for a really long time about what to say—I could tell you all about how amazing he was, but you wouldn't be here if you didn't know that. I could tell stories about things he did, but you all have your own. Again, you don't need mine. Instead, I decided to just talk to you, Julian.

A lot of fucked messed up stuff happened while we were at school. We lived through some of the most terrible things anyone could live through, and then some. Finally, the most terrible thing of all happened—the battle—and I'm only sad that you weren't able to live to the other side. To see Hogwarts get cleaned up, to see our dragon sanctuary in Romania show me a letter they were going to send you to ask you to take up a full time position as Head Herbologist...

To see me. Pregnant with your baby.

A eulogy probably seems an odd way to reveal this, I know, but I already told your parents, Julian, and they said it may just be the perfect time. To quote your father: "As one life has ended, we celebrate him by also celebrating a new life."

I'm only three months in, which means the baby must have been conceived within the last two-ish weeks before the battle. It's a boy, Julian. He's going to be the most beautiful baby you've ever seen. His first name will be Kiran. It means 'ray of light' in Sanskrit. I know how much you'd secretly hate it if we named it after you. I can just hear you going, "there's only room in this town for one Julian Bainbridge.' As for his middle name... it's going to be Adonis, Julian. The male counterpart of what Fred used to call Vee. Kiran Adonis Bainbridge.