The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 76: Goodbyes

*CW: Heavy Sexual Content*

July 2nd, 1997

Bright, white flames erupted from the casket where Dumbledore laid. The higher and higher the casket rose, the more flames and smoke that appeared. Once the fire had disappeared, a white marble tomb took the casket's place.

Everyone went silent as this happened, nobody dared to make a sound. The funeral took place near the Black Lake; golden chairs lined up on the grass with an aisle down the middle. Many spoke, giving their kind regards to those affected by Dumbledore's death; Harry included. Harry sat with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione a few rows ahead of us; all four of them were crying. I even noticed Crabbe and Goyle looking more glum than usual now that they knew of Draco's true identity; I almost felt bad for them.

I sat in the back, although I was not crying. Was I sad, and a little scared? Absolutely, but Dumbledore hasn't made a super big impact on my life. In fact, during the times I needed him the most, he wasn't around.

Remus and Tonks sat to the right of me. During the battle, Bill Weasley was attacked by Fenrir Greyback, and was taken to the Hospital Wing. I brought Neville up there for his ankle shortly after discovering Dumbledore. The two of us walked in on an argument between Fleur Delacour and Molly Weasley; Fleur claimed that she still loved Bill, despite his scars. This prompted Tonks to declare her love for Remus in front of everyone, and needless to say, the wedding was back on.

To the left of me was Neville, and long story short, things were good between us again. I laid my head on his shoulder, and he had his arm wrapped around me. Neville also managed to drag his grandmother out of the house for once; she sat beside him.

"Is it over?" Neville whispered, tears staining his face. I shrugged in response.

Suddenly, the centaurs, who attended the funeral to show their respects to Dumbledore, raised their bows into the air, causing many to shriek loudly. I rolled my eyes in response, these people were being overdramatic. Shooting arrows was how the centaurs showed courtesy, if any of these older wizards picked up a book, they would have known that.

But the centaurs' plan quickly backfired as the arrows fell short, falling on multiple people in the front row. Thankfully, they were Ministry officials, so nobody really liked them anyways.

"Yeah, I think it is." I chuckled softly, taking my head off his shoulder

I looked over at Remus, who also had tears falling from his eyes, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as I sent him a slight smile. Remus returned a smile to me before standing up from his seat and making his way out of the aisle; Tonks and I followed behind him.

The mood of the funeral shifted ever-so-slightly as couples and families started moving amongst themselves. Each conversation was the same: fear of the war and how their children wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts in the fall.

Remus stopped near a tree, wiping his swollen eyes once more, "Alright... go grab your trunk, and say goodbye to your friends. Tonks and I will be here when you're finished."

I wrapped my arms around Remus, pulling him into a hug, "I'm sorry for your loss, Remus."

"It's our loss, Dawn," Remus corrected, "You see all of the people that are gathered here today?"

I nodded awkwardly in response as I looked around the funeral. Like I said earlier, there were tons of people that I didn't recognize: old and young, human and... not. A lot of people respected Dumbledore, and were personally affected by his death. I knew that Remus was taking his death harshly. I mean, all of his friends were dead; Tonks and I were kinda the only people he had left.