Bridging the gap
A Harry Potter Fic
Summary: What exactly happened in the Nineteen years between the end of the Deathly Hallows and the Epilogue? Warning! Contains spoilers.
Disclaimer: I do not own harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.
"I've had enough trouble for a lifetime," Harry said as he looked fondly around the circular office. He felt the weight of what had been accomplished sinking in; Voldemort was dead, everyone was safe. Then he though to those who had been mercilessly killed: His parents, Sirius, Pettigrew, Fred, Lupin, Tonks, and all the others, whom he had been close to.
Feeling greedy he thanked everything for the survival of the only thing that really mattered to him at the time, his best source of happiness, Ginny Weasley. He had snuck past her on his way up here, just as he had snuck past her on his way to face Voldemort.
Then he remembered what Dumbledore had told him that he was selfless, no matter how many times he told himself that Dumbledore was right, he just couldn't stop the feeling of selfishness from flowing through him.
'Drop it Harry,' a voice in his head told him. 'She's your girl, just relax,' the voice spoke again and Harry knew that the voice was right. He deserved a little happiness in this new era. He had vanquished Voldemort, along side Ron, and Hermione, together, with the help of Dumbledore, Snape, and the rest of the wizards loyal to him, the Order, and the D.A.
"What now then?" Harry asked the room, wondering what exactly to do now that Voldemort was gone. What was his new purpose?
"Harry, my dear boy," came Dumbledore's voice "You have earned the respect of wizards everywhere. May I suggest however that you finish up your education at Hogwarts before you go out into the world?" Dumbledore looked at Harry with his piercing blue eyes.
Harry nodded almost immediately, deciding that would be the best course of action. "After that though," Harry muttered "I don't know what I'll do. I mean I would really like to stay here at Hogwarts forever. It's my true home."
"Then stay Harry." Dumbledore's portrait said. "I do believe we'll need a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And once you've finished your seventh year and done your homework, I think there would be no one better for the position." Dumbledore winked at Harry and then strode casually from his painting.
Harry left the office, thoughts of being an auror gone, his mind now filled with thoughts of helping the young students with defense against the dark arts. He felt tired, very tired, the weight of his seven year adventure sunk in. It was over, Voldemort was gone, and Harry was there, to make sure no evil would again threaten what he had worked so hard to stop.
He made his way not to the dormitories, but back down the stairs, with the intention of going to the kitchen and getting something to eat before he went to bed. Ron and Hermione went of towards Gryffindor tower without noticing he was headed away from them.
He walked into the kitchens to see the house elves celebrating joyously. They turned and saw him, quickly offering him mass amounts of food, He scanned the many hands offering him for something he wanted, deciding on a sandwich, some pumpkin juice and some treacle tart, Harry ravenously ate the food. Enjoying the feeling of a full stomach Harry headed back out of the kitchens.
Harry found himself face to face with the center of his universe as he walked back up from the kitchens, on his way to the marble staircase. "Hello Ginny," Harry said looking at her with a happy smile in his face.
"Hello Harry," she said back as she took a few steps toward him.
Once she was near enough Harry pulled her into a very affectionate and loving embrace. "I'm sorry Ginny. I'm sorry for everything, for leaving, for Fred, for-" He was cut off abruptly as she pressed her lips to his.
It was this feeling that Harry craved more than anything else, and slowly he found himself losing control of conscious thought. Ginny was back in his arms, he could be happy, that's all he ever wanted. That's all he had wanted for a long time, to be with her, he had longed for her presence when he was out hunting Horcruxes.
He wasn't aware of how long they were like that, but they were brought back to reality when Mrs. Weasley's voice came over them. "… I don't know where Ginny is dear, she could have-" Harry looked up from Ginny and saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing there, looking shocked to say the least.
Ginny did not move from where she was in Harry's arms, she was comfortable there, and she was waiting patiently for her parents to speak again. It did not take long for them to do so either; she was resting her head against Harry's chest with her eyes closed when she heard more speech.
"Well, I… We'll talk later." Came Mrs. Weasley's voice, which was followed by a grunt from Mr. Weasley. The two left quickly.
Ginny looked up at Harry who was grinning down at her. "Well," he said "I love you dearly, but I'm extremely exhausted, and I think I'll be off to bed now." Harry's voice sounded hollow, he knew he had caused the Weasley family a lot of hardship, it was because of him that Fred, -or Gred as George put it- was dead.
He turned to leave, but Ginny had not moved her hands from the front of Harry's robes. Her head was down and Harry could tell that she was crying. "What is it Ginny?" Harry asked in a comforting voice, knowing what the answer would be.
"G-George, he…he's gone. Forever." She shook violently and collapsed, but Harry caught her and sighed heavily.
"Like I said, it's my fault, I shouldn't have let it happen, I was there…I-" He was cut off again, not by her kissing him, but by her hitting him.
"No, it isn't your fault, its Voldemort's fault," Ginny's voice washed over him, and he sighed in defeat. She was right, always right, no matter what Harry blamed himself for, he was always wrong, no one would let him take the blame for anything. "And," Ginny continued "There's no way of going back to-"
It was Harry's turn to cut her off. "Back, that's it! That's what we need to do!" Harry smiled as he ran towards the great hall. "Where's George, he has to do this." Harry entered the great hall, no longer feeling tired, and ran to where George sat, crumbled, sobbing over Fred's dead body.
He crouched next to the earless and only living brother, a smirk playing across his face. "Think it's funny do you Harry?" George asked with venom in his voice.
"No," said Harry "But, I think your sister is absolutely brilliant." George gaped at him, why had he come to brag about Ginny now; couldn't he see that Fred was dead?
Hoping Harry meant something else George asked "What do you mean?" Now Harry's smile was evident,
He grasped George's shoulders and said, "time turner."
George instantly knew what Harry meant, "That's brilliant Harry thanks, but how will we get one?" George asked eagerly.
"First off don't thank me, thank Ginny. Second, c'mon, we're going to the Ministry."
They apparated outside the ministry, looking around tentatively. Seeing no one, Harry and George made their way to the visitors entrance and dialed themselves in. The atrium was eerily quiet. Nobody was there, it was deserted. Moving as fast as the lifts would allow, they headed straight for the Department of Mysteries.
As the lift clattered open Harry and George quickly stepped out, and headed to the end of the hall. "Are you sure you know where you're taking us Harry?" George whispered to Harry as they entered the circular room. "Positive," Harry muttered back.
Thinking hard harry tried to remember which door was which, but had little luck. So, he took up Hermione's strategy and marked a large fiery X on each door. On the fourth attempt Harry located the correct room and George's frustration was lost immediately.
Harry ran to a small cabinet and opened it quietly. He took out a small hourglass with a chain around it out and slipped it carefully around his neck. George looked at the small device curiously. Harry turned to George and said "Let's get out of here."
The two left the Ministry in a hurry anxious to wee what would happen once they hatched their scheme.
The apparated back just outside the Hogwarts grounds with a loud cracking noise. Harry removed the invisibility cloak from a pocket of his robes and handed it to George, along with the Marauder's map. Hurriedly, he explained the functions of the time turner and handed that to George as well. Then, he made his way back to the castle muttering only "good luck" to George.
George appeared on the Hogwarts grounds, covered in Harry's invisibility cloak, the Marauders map in hand. Pointing his wand at it he muttered "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He looked down and studied the map. It looked as if the battle was yet to start.
Quickly he made his way through the grounds and into the castle, just in time to find people running around, preparing for the battle to come. Being as stealthy as possible, he made his way to the seventh floor. As he stepped out onto the fourth floor landing he heard a bang, signifying the beginning of the vicious battle.
He felt happy that he had the chance to save his second half from death. He and Harry had planned it out. The only way to fix the problem was for this George to get in front of Fred, take the blast and die instead. Then he would disappear along with everything on him forever and he would still have his twin and he would still be alive.
It felt odd, knowing that you had to die to keep yourself alive. He knew that he would surely have committed suicide had Harry not ran in just then, with that smirk plastered upon his face. The smirk had annoyed him at first, but then… Harry had explained it, 'just like how we saved that hippogriff in our third year' Harry had said.
He finally reached the seventh floor, though he did not wait long. Before he knew it he saw Fed and Percy back into the corridor. Moving into a better position Fred watched as many things happened quickly.
Harry burst into the corridor, with Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, and Goyle. Then he had looked at his wrist, the small Diadem was charred and he heard the ever brainy Hermione begin explaining something about Fiendfyre to harry and Ron.
Then he heard yells and shouts, Fred backed into the corridor with Percy. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward to help: Jets of light flew in every direction and the man dueling Percy backed off, fast: then his hood slipped away and George saw a high forehead and streaked hair. George stopped looking at the man when he heard Percy begin yelling.
"Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clutched his chest, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?" George burst out laughing, and luckily it was so loud in the castle that nobody heard him.
"You're joking, Perce!" shouted Fred as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of a sea urchin. Fred looked at Percy with glee.
"You are actually joking, Perce. . . . I don't think I've heard you joke since we were-"
The air exploded, George dived forward and then there was darkness.
A/N: Well, what do you guys think about this? I am really anxious to get reviews on this one. I was interested in exploring the prospect of changing the timelines as mentioned in The Prisoner of Azkaban. This version of Chapter one has been revamped and modified slightly, so everything should flow more smoothly. At any rate, let me know what you think!