Okay so there was some formatting issues with this before and in returning to it to fix it I decided I would basically rewrite it and change the title a bit. This used to be New Friendship, hope you enjoy
I did it. I killed Voldemort. I saved the wizarding world. Everyone is congratulating me, but their congratulations are tired, their smiles accompanied by hooded eyes as they pretend to care more about the future than the ones they've lost. I just want to get away from it all. I did not fight alongside these warriors – the dead, the injured, and grieving – I fought my own private battle that Dumbledore had made for me. I don't belong here. I make my way out of the stuffy Great Hall full of pain, and step out into the new day. The sun is rising for dawn, and Ron and Hermione quickly find their way to me. But my attention is not on them.
"Harry..." Hermione starts, but I shake my head for her to stop, and she does so. They both follow my gaze.
From here, I can see three people putting the stone bricks of the castle back in place from the rubble. The only magic they use is to make the brick stay. They are rebuilding the castle muggles.
"The Malfoys..." I murmur quietly. These are the only people I can forgive from the opposing side. It has not always been clear to me, but when Narcissa saved my life, I realised that what they truly were was not Death Eaters, but a family, terrified at being caught up in a war.
Ron and Hermione are wary. Still see them as I used to, because they weren't there. They didn't see the fear, the fear of a mother's love. They stay frozen, eyes trained on me, clearly looking for a sign of what to do. Shaking slightly, I make my way down to the family. Upon my arrival, they stop in their building. They appear cautious, and so they should; despite everything, they are criminals. But I haven't come to take them away. It's a long shot, but I don't know if I can ever recover without trying. I square my shoulders, and hold my hand out to the man.
"I don't believe we've met" I say, breathless, unsure of myself and what I'm doing. "My name is Harry Potter." We're all different people, now. The battle changed us all, for better or for worse, and I didn't fight for a wizarding world that holds grudges.
He stares for a full minute, but I do not retract my hand. Maybe he's looking for a trick, thinking that I cannot possibly mean well. Maybe he's trying to work out if he would be better off shaking, or isolating himself once again with his family. In the end, the former gives out, and he takes my hand.
"Lucius Malfoy" he greets, humbly rather than with the familiar superiority that comes with the Malfoy name.
"May I help you with this task, Sir?"
"You may indeed. Hogwarts needs all the help she can get, from the battering she received today."
And so, we returned back to work. It was surprisingly easy manual labour, considering the physical exertion I had not long ago experienced, but perhaps I was fuelled by adrenaline. Half an hour later, Ron and Hermione join us, finally giving in to their desire to stand by me. Another half hour, and Ginny, Luna, and Neville have found us, and begin their work without questioning the company. And more, and more, and more come, until nearly everybody who fought is working. Making a point. A point that we are all one people, really. We are our own family. And though not all members of the family have acted with love, we still all love each other truly, and we are not above working with each other to rebuild our future. With the masses of workers, we are finished within the day, and people start to make their way home to recover, and to grieve.
"You coming to the burrow, Harry?" asks Ron, hopefully.
I shake my head. Merlin knows that's the last place I want to be right now - surrounded by the people who have lost the most in this war. I know I'm part of the family, but it doesn't feel right, when in a way, I feel at fault. We are all, I suppose, a little at fault. I'll find them again later. When Ron has stalked away, I'm joined once again by a Malfoy – Draco.
"Thank you for saving my life." He looks more reserved than he used to, but he speaks confidently. There is no remnants of childish rivalry left. We are broken men from the war, now.
"You saved mine before. We're equal, now. Nothing to hold against each other."
"You have everything to hold against me."
"There's no point. What's done is done. The law is there to decide your fate, not I."
I am tired of the silly games of relationships. We're joined by Narcissa.
"We're all very sorry" she starts, shaking her head slowly, but without too much emotion. "We didn't mean for this to happen. I feel so much at fault, when my family has had so much involvement with what he did. When he first came into power we were so young and naïve and it made us feel on top of the world to be doing all that. We learnt later, of course, as we grew up how awful we had been, but then he came back. We had to return. We couldn't put our Draco at risk." Narcissa folds her arms around the boy, and I'm almost shocked at the open intimacy, but as I have already establish; we have all changed.
"It's ok" I assure them. "We... we all have made mistakes. We all have put our trust in somebody we shouldn't." They did awful, awful things, I know, but I can empathise. I don't want to hold a grudge for people who seem so ashamed.
As they leave for their own home, I sit down on the grass of Hogwarts, my true home. I, Harry Potter, have forgiven the Malfoys. And I expect the rest of the Wizarding world to follow my example.