XII
The procession through Hogsmeade started at 11am sharp, villagers lined the streets in silent respect for the fallen. No coffins carried, just pictures, keep sakes and weeping parents. A blank flag flew over the three broomsticks and shops closed for trading that day.
The remaining professors and ministerial attendees lead the procession, with new headmaster McGonagall at the front of course. I've never seen a dark and dreary day in Hogsmeade until today. Everything seemed so grey and not because of the weather either.
It was agreed upon that y/n would not walk the procession. Partly due to her fragile condition and the length of the walk, and partly because this pregnancy was kept as hush as it possibly could be.
Who's decision that was I still don't know, but I can and do agree that it will keep y/n's life so much easier if Rita Skeeter or anyone with bad intent gets wind of the fact that she's carrying the child of a death eater, add in the whole taboo teen pregnancy thing too. Not a great combo.
Once that was over with, the invited all gathered in to the great hall where the tables had been removed and benches put in their places like church pews.
As I said there were no coffins as families had already buried or burned their dead as they wished. But portraits stood stacked on golden easels up front, surrounded with candles. Even mine, but right to the side, so not to be obvious.
Minerva McGonagall is many things, but if she gives you her word then she keeps it and keep it she did. Even if it were in a weary sort of manner, I know because I watched her sneak in and put it there herself in the early hours of the morning.
I owe her thanks for that at least. Even if she always did have some sort of random distaste for me even as a child. Then again I was a right dickhead in hindsight, it's a funny thing dying, you see things so differently now that you are invisible and ignored. You observe and get to know people differently. Because if they can't see you or know you are there then they're comfortable enough to be themselves naturally.
And people I hated whilst alive are actually pretty okay, and I realise now how many friendships I truly missed out on because I was so far up my own arse that my own shit came out in the form of me talking said shit. To and about anyone and everyone I could.
And now I'm dead it doesn't even matter it was just a complete waste of my time and energy.
The pews filled with loved ones and friends who could just about bare to attend. My family were forbidden and for good reason, I wholeheartedly understand why.
Charlie and Bill Weasley showed up for Fred, the rest of the family still far too distraught. Luna and her father, accompanied by Potter but no Granger who I assume is still trying to console Ron.
Theo came, unaccompanied by any others of our group of friends. Goyle and Crabbe died in a fire, so did I nearly too, so they were up amongst the portraits with me.
Maybe it was too difficult for the others or they were just straight up embarrassed to have known me in the first place.
Either way, I'll always hold love for them and I hope they move on to have a peaceful life.
Each person from the family of the fallen took their turns in standing up to read out for the memorial and it was quite beautiful. Hearing all the funny stories and quirks, the best was that Lavender used to have a pet fish called Uzogaboozo.
Poor little Colin Creevey's was the most heart breaking, he was so, so young. He barely even understood what he was fighting for but still did anyway. He was the kind of brave I never could have been.
Then, eventually the memorials came to an end and people started to shuffle around to leave until from right at the back came that beautiful, booming voice. Followed by thumping footsteps, and boy, if you've ever heard those you know you better run.
The amounts of shocked gasps that echoed around could of summoned any damn spirit to calling. Of course, y/n had made a point of ditching the baggy jumper and wore a tight top so you could see damn well she was pregnant.
This girl was not about to have people think she's ashamed to be so. I love her.
And she took centre place right at the front, but not before dragging my portrait from its snug little out of the way place.
That's when the tuts began and more shuffling to leave resumed. McGonagall tried to reach out from the front pew but the glare from y/n had her sit her ass firmly back down.
"Ay the lot of you! I said ay!!"
Still people kept bustling, so she lifted her wand to her throat and increased her voice to like times one fucking hundred because even my ears hurt. "I fucking said, look at me!!!!!!"
The crowd froze. "If you wanna leave now then you're as much of a coward as he was."
Well, thanks a fucking bunch, this is a great start. Wasn't what I had in mind but then again why I expected anything different was stupid. Y/n has never ever had an issue with calling me out, even from beyond the grave.
"I assume you all know who this is hm? Or do you need reminding?"
A few sat back down, likely just out of fucking fear because the expression on her face was nothing short of about to beat someone's ass pregnant or not. And a good fifty percent just continued to leave.
The Weasley's invited Potter and Luna to join them back at the Burrow but both politely declined to stay. Luna I wasn't surprised about but Potter? Well he has always been gracious I suppose.
"This idiot right here was Draco Malfoy. He was a right dick... Minerva don't look at me like that. I'm swearing, get over it and deal with it later."
"... Anyways, apparently he was such a pussy that he managed to get himself bullied in to being a death eater. Even after being a bully for so long, but you know how the saying goes, a bully is almost always usually being bullied. -- He probably did despicable things, like you know, building a fucking cabinet that let death eaters in to the castle.."
She turned to my portrait and whacked my face before turning back out to the crowd.
"But that aside, he never wanted to kill anyone. But most of you here in this room have. Yes, for good reason but nevertheless, you have wanted someone dead. Draco never ruthlessly killed, not directly, of his own accord; he was forced. Inadvertently he caused an entire shit storm but do you want to know why? Because he was fucking terrified, terrified of ending up right here on this stand in front of a mourning crowd..."
Honestly by now I was completely flabbergasted by the fact people were beginning to listen, like properly listen. To the truth, to my story, to her.
"But when it came down to it, he swallowed his fears, threw away his cowardice and defied Voldemort right in front of his fucking face; because he wasn't ever really a coward, he was confused and not a single one of you ever bothered to even try and notice..."
A lot of heads began to drop, in shame? I can't be sure, but this was going a lot differently than I had expected.
She stood with full conviction, as ill and as tired and defeated as she was; right here and now she was powerful, she was brave and she was not taking any of this lying down.
Only thing y/n takes lying down is dick. Again her words not mine.
"...But I noticed, I noticed because I was also a scared and confused mess. I saw in him all the things I was trying to run from myself, and he with I. And that's why we crashed in to each others life with no rhyme or reason. --- Did any of you know that Draco fucking hates the smell of soil? Did any of you know that his lucky number is four? He really likes having his back tickled to fall asleep and he's a sleep talker? --- Did you know that his dream place was just the seaside, here in Britain? Not fancy trips to the south of France or Skiing in Sweden. He just really wanted to get a campervan with me and just go to the fucking seaside like a normal person.."
Okay, people were not supposed to know that. That was our secret.
I am fancy, okay, I loved fancy holidays.
But I did just kind of always want to just go to a really cheap seaside and eat chips and ice cream.
Y/n, you're a fucking snitch.
"Because he was a normal person, he was a human being who made some really stupid and shitty choices. And if we're forgiving everyone else for theirs then we need to forgive him too. He was a student here the same as everyone else with hopes and dreams for the future that didn't involve war, torture and death.... --- And I really loved him, and I never fucking told him... I never said those three fucking words because that time I was the coward and he died thinking that I hated him. But he gave me something that I can love and I will tell them that I love them every single day because this baby in my belly, is half of him... He claimed his redemption at the very last second, but he still claimed it. And if all of you can live with yourselves knowing that without his last ever living action that none of us might even be here, and have my son or daughter grow up as an outcast. Then none of you are the kind of people I grew up believing that you were..."
"..But I believe in Draco, more now than I ever did before. He must be remembered. So please, if you can find it within you, help me remember him? If not then you may leave, that's your choice. But knowing what you know now.. I ask you in earnest, honour that Draco.. The real Draco. The one that I loved, and always will."
The great hall was so silent that you could of heard a pin drop. Y/n was breathless after pouring out every single word she had ever held inside and even McGonagall's hand was over her mouth with her other pressed against her chest to fight back the urge to weep a little.
I sank to my knees at the back of the room with a hand rested on a pew corner, even as a ghost my heart still ached. She loved me. She did. God, she was the best mistake I ever made, and I hers.
And then another thing had my attention snapped back up and tearing my eyes away from the beauty of my y/n.
Luna stood upright without hesitation. "I liked Draco Malfoy because he was never mean to me and he helped me learn how to tie a double knot!"
Then Potter. "Malfoy was a really good seeker."
Then another person. "He was really good at potions and he helped me one time, he didn't really say anything just pointed it out.. but I was really grateful."
Then more, and more, and more. Some chose to just stand, others mentioned a few trivial things. But by the end of it the hall was aglow with light up wand tips.
And I did quite a lot of crying when I was alive although I tried my best to conceal it, but now nobody can see me, so I just pressed my hand to my mouth and hunched over to let myself feel the tears rest in to the nooks of my fingers.
Y/n's lips were clamped together, fighting back her own hormonal tears. And she nodded out to the crowd, before taking off running down the aisle between the pews and she ran straight through me, straight through my invisible apparition body.
She quietly fled to go back to the comfort of her loneliness.
Because now, she'd set the story straight. And now, for the first time in months I feel like she might actually get a decent nights sleep; and I'm going to hold her the entire night even if she doesn't even know it.