Harry was released from the hospital two days later. While he was home, he spent most of his time split between his kids and planning Ginny’s funeral. Harry didn’t want to be apart of the planning, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley insisted. Today had been a month to the day that Harry lost Ginny and today would be her funeral. Today was going to be the hardest day of his life.

He was woken up early by the sound of a crying child. The crying was quiet, but it was just loud enough to wake Harry. He got up and padded down the hallway to Lily’s room. He pushed the bedroom door open just enough to see her bed. Lily was sitting upright in her bed, crying and hugging a teddy bear that Ginny had bought her.

“What wrong, Lily?” Harry whispered as he walked into the room.

He shut the door behind him before sitting next to his daughter.

“I miss Mommy.” Lily wailed.

She had most likely been dreaming, and Ginny was in that dream.

“Oh sweetie.” Harry whispered as he picked Lily up and held her in his arms. “I miss her, too.” He stood up and started to walk around the room with her. “I bet she misses you too because she loves you so much.”

As Harry comforted Lily, he wanted to cry at the thought of Ginny. He hadn’t cried since she had died and he couldn’t cry now. He needed to be strong for his children. Harry continued to walk around the small bedroom, cradling Lily in his arms. Her chest gave great heaving gasps, but eventually her breathing returned to normal. Soon, she fell asleep in her father’s arms. Snape, unbeknownst to Harry, had been standing out side the door for some time. Harry tucked Lily back in her bed and turned to the door. When he saw Snape standing there, he almost screamed out in fright.

“What are you doing?” Harry questioned Snape as he shut Lily’s door.

“I heard movement and wanted to make sure that everything was okay.”

“Lily had a bad dream.”

Harry looked down at his watch, then rubbed his face in a sort of frustration.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Harry answered after giving a long sigh. “I have a feeling that today is going to be a long day. Would you like some coffee?”

“Why don’t I go make some coffee? You go down to your office and relax.”

Harry wanted to protest, but he knew that Snape would never allow him. The two men quietly walked down the stairs. When Harry reached his study, he sat down on the couch and just stared around the room.

On the table in front of Harry were the two files that Harry had asked Hermione for. The trash bin besides Harry’s desk looked like it had regurgitated. The papers that overflowed were all scraps of the eulogy that Harry was going to give. Harry’s words didn’t do justice to Ginny or how he felt about her. Harry figured, after draft fifty, that the words would come to him before he had to go up a speak.

Harry turned away from the overflowing trash bin, and turned his attention to the files. Each file was about as thick as Harry’s fist was. He had all the time in the world to look at these. Hermione told Harry that Dawlish was kind enough to give Harry as much time as he needed to pour through these files. He also assured Harry that Yaxley was not going to escape again. Yaxley had twenty-four hour security and he was locked in a steel, isolated prison cell. There was no way that he was going to escape this time.

Harry put his head in his hands and stared at the files. When the office door opened, Harry looked up and thanked Snape for the coffee.

“Professor.”

“Yes, Potter.”

“When you saw my mother, what did she say?”

“Well….”Snape began, taking a seat next to Harry. “She thanked me for watching over you. She reminded me of something that she told me after Voldemort tried to kill me.”

“Wait, you’ve seen my mother more than once?”

“Yes. She comes into my dreams every fives years on Halloween. The last time I saw her was the night of the final battle. She told me that you would need help coping with a great loss. She always told me that we had a lot in common. I just didn’t think it would extend this far. She also forgave me from calling her a mu…”Snape struggled with the word, for it tasted like poison to him.

“I know what you mean.” Harry continued, relieving Snape of having to say that cursed word.

“She forgave me for that. Your mother also reminded me that you are resilient and would find a way to life through it. I thought, after what you told me that night, you have given up. She reminded me that I almost gave up, but I had gotten through it. I am here to help you, Harry. I know that if I didn’t have someone to go to, I would have ended it all. I know that pain that you are going through. I know that today is going to be hard on you, so allow me to help. The words are going to come a some point today.” Silence followed as they took a sip of their coffee.

“What would you have said?” Harry questioned. “If you could have attended my mother’s funeral?”

Snape stared off into the distance as he answered.

“I would have told everyone what a kind person she was. I would have told them that she didn’t care about your background, she would still care about you. She would always be there for you.” Then Snape turned to Harry. “I loved your mother very much and I forced her away from me with one bad decision.”

There were footsteps overhead that caused Harry to look at his watch. It was almost seven-thirty and the kids were starting to wake up.

“We should start getting the kids ready.” Snape said as he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Harry to think.

There was one part that Snape didn’t say. Harry knew that the professor wanted to say “to say goodbye.” Harry was most certainly not ready to say goodbye and neither were his children. Lily had very little understanding of what happened. She only knew that she would never she her mother again. James and Albus knew that their mother never wanted to die. They just didn’t know that she was murdered, like their Potter grandparents. Harry stood up and walked out of the room. They had to be at the church in five hours, but first they were going to stop at the Burrow.

Harry, his kids, and the Weasleys were at the church an hour before anyone else and before the hour had come to an end, the church was filled. They all stood in the back of the church, the kids whispered to one another and the adults consoled Mrs. Weasley, who had taken a seat next to Ginny’s casket. They had all agreed that the ceremony should be closed casket because It would be too much for the kids, but Harry wanted to see her face again. He would give anything up to see her once more. A hand rested on Harry’s shoulder, causing him to turn around. Father Callahan was standing next to him.

“I am very sorry for your loss.” He told everyone. “Let us pray before we say goodbye.”

The kids gathered around and all talking ceased.

“God, please let those who are hurting most find strength and please allow Ginny a place in your heavenly home. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

“Amen.” Everyone repeated.

“Now, let us proceed.”

The doors opened to the sanctuary and silence fell. Father Callahan levitated Ginny’s casket and followed it into the sanctuary. Behind the Father was Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, followed by Ron, Hermione, Rose, Hugo, and Teddy Lupin. Albus and James walked in front of Harry and Lily, whom he was holding in his arms. Harry kept his eyes on Ginny’s casket as he took a seat in the front row along with the rest of her family.

For the next few hours, people told stories of Ginny. Neville and Luna told stories of what a good friend she was. Hermione told everyone how smart she was and what a great friend she was. Ron told everyone the story of who she and Harry met. The story actually made Harry laugh. He could clearly see her face as she stared at Harry in the Burrow. She said nothing to him as she sprinted up the stairs like the house was on fire. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up together and told stories that show her kind heart and what a great daughter she was. Mr. Weasley described how brave his daughter had been during the final battle, even though she thought that the man that she loved was supposedly dead. As Mr. Weasley told his story, Harry could hear Ginny’s screams when she saw his body. He closed his eyes and pushed the pained screams out of his mind.

“Harry, We thank you for being there for our daughter. You’ve made her so happy and we know that no one could do better.” They finished before stepping off the pulpit.

“Ginny’s husband, Harry, would like to say a few words.” Father Callahan announced.

Harry slowly stood up and, even though he was only a few feet away from the pulpit, the walk seemed to take forever. Once Harry was up there, he grabbed the pulpit hard and stared up into the crowd.

“Ginny Weasley was a great friend, mother and wife. When we were in school, Ginny would make friends with anyone as long as they treated her with respect, and if you were Ginny’s friend, then no one would mess with you. Ginny always stuck up for her friends. We know that by the stories that her friends told us today.”

“She was loyal to her friends and she was fiercely loyal to her family. Kids, your mother loved you very much and she will always love you. Everything she did, she did with love. She knew exactly what to say when you needed to hear it. The only thing she knew was how to love.”

“Not only was she a loving mother, she was also a loving wife. There are no ways to describe my love for her. I told her that I will..” Harry’s eyes began to tear up. “I will always love her to the ends of the earth and back. I do not believe that those words do justice to my love for Ginny.”

“My love for her will be unwavering, even in her death. It’s been one month, eighteen hours, thirty minutes, and twelve seconds since I lost…”

Harry gripped the pulpit even harder and looked down. Tears were pouring down Harry’s face. He tried to stop it, but he had been holding it in for so long. If he didn’t let it out now, Harry thought he was going to explode. So Harry openly wept, he could no longer bottle it up.

“It’s been one month, eighteen hours, thirty-three minutes, and forty-five seconds since I have lost my best friend and the only woman that I have ever loved.” Harry said when he was able to form words again. “Ginny helped me so much after the war. She helped me but I couldn’t help her when she needed me the most. I will always be counting from the last time that I saw her. There are no words or actions that can allow me to show you how much I love Ginny Weasley. Nothing can stop me from loving her, not even her death. I will always love Ginny.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.” Harry said, turning and speaking to the only people who ever felt like parents to him. “You raised the most kind, thoughtful, and caring daughter. Ginny was the greatest person who came into my life and I thank you for the chance to live life with her. Lily, James, and Albus…No matter what happens, your mother will always love you and so will I. If there is one thing that you can take away from your mother, it is to learn to love life, no matter what happens, because that is how she lived life. I thank you all for being here today to celebrate Ginny’s life.”

Harry turned away from the pulpit and went to Ginny’s casket.

“Ginny, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more. I love you sweetheart.”

Harry placed a hand on Ginny’s casket.

“I love you so much.”

Harry, most unwillingly, turned and walked away from the casket. He took a seat next to his children, hid his face within his hand and cried. His cries echoed throughout the sanctuary. He could feel Snape’s hand on one of his shoulders, but that only made him cry harder because he knew that Ginny would do something like that if she were here. Father Callahan said that final words, but Harry did not hear them. A hand guided Harry out of the church and into the cemetery, where Father Callahan lowered Ginny’s casket into the ground. It only took a few seconds for her casket to be covered. Harry didn’t move. Others had left Ginny’s grave sight, but Harry had not moved. Tears flowed down his face and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

Harry sank to his knees and kept staring at Harry’s grave. Even though he had not looked around, Harry knew that he was alone except for a few family members. Someone was speaking to a group of people, who ran off to leave Harry alone. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he lost it again.

“I know, Harry.” The person whispered.

“I just can’t believe that she’s gone.” Harry wailed as he collapsed into Snape’s arms.

Harry’s sobs stabbed the air and Snape knew exactly how the boy felt. The last time that Snape heard crying like this, he himself had lost his best friend that the only woman he ever loved, much like how Harry had just lost his best friend and the only woman that he ever loved.