A Bright and Bold New Future
All characters and places and everything recognizable in this story are owned by J.K. Rowling. I just play a little with her world and hope that you like it.
This will be covering the years after the Battle of Hogwarts. I read a lot of stories about Harry's future and I just wanted to add my own, with my own ideas and things that I wanted to get covered. It will, however, not be entirely canon, since I'd like Harry to keep the Elder Wand and I want Severus Snape alive. Plus, there will be some more surprises coming. Forget the final epilogue, it will not play any role in my future for Harry.
I would very much appreciate reviews and comments about this story. It's the first time I attempt writing on and I hope that you like it. If I am off on the accuracy of dates and such, then please, drop me a line so that I can fix this.
I want to thank my Beta Snapegirlkmf, she does a marvelous job with it and gives me plenty of ideas that I can work with. Please read her work, it is wonderful to read and very enjoyable.
Chapter 1
Right after Tom fell down dead, Harry sprinted out of the Great Hall. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and split seconds later they tore after him. After a few moments they reached the front doors. They stood on top of the stairs and looked over the grounds, searching for any sign of Harry. They saw him in the distance, not running anymore, but striding purposefully towards the Whomping Willow. Ron and Hermione tore after him at top speed, shouting at him when they were within earshot. Harry turned and stopped when he saw who had called. They reached him and cast questioning glances at him. He sighed.
"I need to check on Professor Snape. Maybe there is still a chance for him!"
"It's been hours ago that we've been in the tunnel. Nagini's poison is very strong, I don't believe he could have thwarted that." Hermione said.
Harry smiled. "When I knelt down to listen to what he said, I pushed a bezoar into his hand. I hope he was conscious enough to realize it."
Hermione and Ron looked at him in wonder.
"Why do you want him to be saved? He killed Dumbledore! He was in part responsible for your parent's deaths! He put you through hell while in Hogwarts! Why, Harry, why?" Ron had talked himself into a frenzy. Now he stood there in front of Harry, his breast heaving.
"Ron, leave Harry alone, he knows, what he's doing!" Hermione admonished him.
Harry threw her a grateful look and took off again, the other two right behind him. They reached the Whomping Willow and Harry took out the Elder Wand. He only had to give one tiny flick and the Whomping Willow stopped thrashing. The door to the tunnel opened and Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered. They hurried along and found Snape's body in the same position where they had left him. Harry rushed towards the body and knelt down besides the man. He put his ear onto his breast and listened intently. Hermione and Ron stood silently and watched. After what felt like hours to them, but were actually only a few seconds, Harry's head came up and he smiled.
"He's still breathing. He is unconscious, but I think he will make it."
He stood up and conjured up a litter. He turned towards Professor Snape and gave a flick of his wand. Professor Snape rose up into the air and floated over to the litter, where he was put down gently. Harry gave another flick with his wand and the litter moved towards the exit.
Hermione looked at him in wonder.
"How are you doing it?" she asked.
"What?" He answered back.
"Harry, you never could conjure something up, let alone move things around. How are you doing it?"
Harry shrugged.
"I don't know," he said. "But that's not important right now. We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey."
The three of them followed the floating litter back onto the grounds and towards the school. They walked in silence, each lost in thought.
Harry's mind was actually spinning. He was glad, that Voldemort was gone, it felt unreal, that there would be no more fighting, but he was sad, that the triumph had come at such high costs. Remus and Tonks were dead; he now had none left that had known his parents intimately. And then the death of Fred, this must be terrible for the Weasley family. He knew there would be casualties in the war, but he had hoped that all the people he loved and cared about would be spared, but that was not to be. He knew also that he needed to speak with the portrait of Professor Dumbledore in the headmaster's office. But right now he needed to see Professor Snape safe in the competent hands of Madam Pomfrey. After all that he had seen in the Pensieve, that man did not deserve to die. He had risked everything and more to thwart Voldemort and to be a big factor in the downfall of the Dark Lord. He owed it to him. Strangely, all animosities towards his old Potions Professor were gone, replaced by a newfound respect towards this man, who had loved his mom so deeply that he had constantly put his own life at risk. Harry resolved to talk to the man, as soon as he was better, and come to an understanding with him. He didn't want the old grudges drive a wedge between him and Severus. He knew that he would need any friend he could make, because there would not be much peace in the months to come. Everybody would want to steal some of his time and he wanted to have people he could count on, and strangely enough, he wanted Severus to be one of those people.
Hermione and Ron looked at each other as they followed Harry and the litter up to the castle. They had no idea what Harry was doing and why he wanted to save Professor Snape, but he must have his reasons. They had learned to trust him without question in the last months of the Horcrux hunt. He had been intuitively right about most of the things and had in the last stages of the war not made one single mistake. Add to that the ease with which he now performed magic, it was a little frightening to see. It almost seemed as if something in him was cut loose with the death of Voldemort and he was his own self for the first time in his life. They were anxious as to what the future had in store for them. This new Harry would be interesting to live with and to get to know. They took each other by their hands and felt the love and compassion flow through them. It was good to know that the other one was there and that they would finally have peace.
They reached the stairs leading up to the front doors and Harry halted. He turned towards Ron and Hermione. He looked at them and a silent understanding passed between the three of them. Then they proceeded. Up the stairs into the entrance hall and through the doors into the Great Hall. When they entered, the people that were in there looked up and fell dead silent. They recognized the man lying on the litter and had mixed feelings about him. Of course, they had heard all that Harry had said in his duel with Voldemort. But to actually see the man, who, until this point, they had thought, was Voldemort's right hand, was a totally different matter. Fortunately the Weasleys were preoccupied with their own sorrow, even though Ginny looked up and locked eyes with Harry. Harry gave her a tiny nod and a look, hoping that she would understand that they would talk later. She looked at him long and hard and then nodded her understanding.
The three of them walked in dead silence up to the front of the hall where Professor McGonagall was standing. She had a frown on her face and her lips were pressed into a thin line.
"Mr. Potter, what is this?" she demanded.
Harry looked her square in the eye and answered.
"This man needs immediate medical care. I would like to have Madam Pomfrey look at him at once."
Professor McGonagall returned his look. Then the lines around her mouth softened and she smiled a sad smile.
"That is very noble of you, Harry. I will send her to you straight away."
She strode away and a few moments later, Madam Pomfrey came hurrying through the aisles between the benches. She looked at Severus once and paled.
"Follow me, Mr. Potter." She led the way back towards the entrance hall. Hermione and Ron followed silently. Next to the Grand Staircase there was an antechamber that was fairly intact. Only a few of the windows were smashed and just a little bit of rubble lay on the floor. It had a fireplace and Madam Pomfrey had a roaring fire going within seconds. She conjured up a bed and fresh linen and they gently placed Severus on the bed. Then she turned towards the three teenagers.
"He will be in good hands with me. Don't worry and go and take care of your families." she said gently.
"Please, Professor," Harry said. "Don't judge him for his previous deeds. There's a lot more than the eye can see."
Madam Pomfrey looked him in the eyes and smiled.
"I know, Harry. I did hear what you said to Voldemort. That surprised us all. I will take good care of him. It was lucky that he thought of the bezoar, otherwise it would have been too late for him."
Harry thanked her and turned around. Hermione and Ron followed suit. The three of them went out of the chamber and stopped in the entrance hall. They surveyed the mess that had been made during the fight. Surprisingly, there was not that much rubble and so much destruction as they would have thought, given the intensity of the fight. Harry looked up towards one of the windows. He definitely knew that they had been smashed by all the curses and other things that had been flying around. But to his astonishment, one of the windows looked like new and the one next to it was slowly repairing itself. So the castle uses its own magic to repair itself. That is good! This definitely means that there will be peace in the future. I could use some peace and quiet. Harry thought. He touched Hermione on the arm and pointed towards the window. She nodded.
"I know," she whispered. "It's amazing. I think the castle really is something special. With the rate this is going it will only be weeks, and the castle will be good as new." She smiled tiredly and turned towards Ron, who was already half-way towards the Great Hall and his family. Harry called them back.
"I need to go up to Dumbledore's office. There are some things that I need to take care of, and I would like you two to be a part of it." Anxiously, he looked at them and waited. He didn't know if they wanted to be with him at all. He would not be surprised if they would be mad at him because of the way he deceived them. He shuddered to think of Ginny, and how he would have to explain his actions to her. Hopefully she would talk to him at all after all this. It hurt him more powerfully than he would have thought, because he knew that she had every right to be mad at him. But Hermione and Ron just turned around and came up to him.
"Harry, mate, we would follow you anywhere. After what you have done, there is no question that you are the born leader." Ron said with conviction and trust in his voice.
Harry smiled and nodded. They picked their way up the stairs and towards the gargoyle that secured the entrance to the Headmaster's office. On their way to the office they came by the place where there had been that horrible incident with Fred, which helped Percy to finally see reason and fight for the light. As they went past the rubble where they knew Fred's body must lie, they heard a feeble sound. They stopped in their tracks and turned towards the pile of stones and wood. There was someone under all that stone who was still living. As one they sprinted towards the place and started levitating all the broken pieces away from the place where they had heard the sound. Slowly a body appeared, a body with a red head. It was stirring feebly and a hand moved slightly. Ron gasped.
"Fred!" He looked incredulously at Harry and Hermione and doubled his efforts in freeing his brother.
Harry was in a daze. He really had thought that Fred was dead. The horrible scene played in front of his inner eye again. How the curse struck the outer wall of the castle and how Fred was thrown through the air against the opposite wall. How his lifeless body had slid down to the floor and how Percy had started wailing and fighting with curses streaming from his wand left and right. He was convinced, then, that Fred was dead. It had been another motivation for him to finish Voldemort once and for all. To see Fred lying there, alive, was more than he would have dreamed possible.
"Ron," he said. "Go, fetch your parents. They need to know."
Ron didn't even look at him but dashed away. Moments later Harry and Hermione could hear footsteps coming their way. Arthur and Molly Weasley raced around the corner, hotly pursued by Ron. They sprinted up the corridor and dropped by Harry and Hermione on the floor. Molly gasped and tears gathered in her eyes.
"Fred, my little Freddy boy," she whispered and gently lifted his head into her lap. She cradled him and tears flew freely down her cheeks. "We thought we had lost you."
Fred stirred a little and opened one eye. "Oi, Mum," he croaked. "It hurts!" She didn't let go of him and stroked his hair gently. "Shh," she said. "Don't talk, everything will be alright."
With effort Fred turned his head and spied Harry. "Did you finish that old Voldy-Pooh?" he asked with a strained voice. "Oh Fred, don't talk like that." Molly admonished him. Harry smiled and nodded. There was a shimmer of the old Fred shining through. "We thought, we lost you, man", he said.
"It looked dead serious all those hours ago." Fred chuckled, but then he winced slightly. "Oh, this still hurts. But Harry, it would take more than a few bricks and curses to take care of me, don't you think? What with all the stuff George and I tested; it was way more dangerous than this. And, by the way, I don't think that I could let you court Ginny without at least a few pranks from George and myself, don't you?" His head sank back into Molly's lap and he closed his eyes. Molly shot a sharp glance towards Harry and Harry winced. He knew that he would have to talk with Molly and Arthur later about Ginny. Plus, he knew that he would definitely have to talk with Ginny.
Arthur and Ron lifted Fred gently up and carried him down towards the Great Hall. They would not use magic. They wanted to feel their son and brother, because they still couldn't really believe that he was alive. When they arrived in the Great Hall, they picked their way towards the rest of the Weasleys. Ginny, George, Percy, Charlie and Bill, who sat together with Fleur, nursing a sore arm, but otherwise unharmed, looked up. All of them were unharmed and that was a wonder for Harry. His favorite family was fine and that was what mattered. Their gaze fell upon Arthur and Ron, carrying Fred in the middle. They fell quiet, and then Ginny jumped up with a strangled cry and rushed forward. Seconds later the rest of them had joined her and they were crowded around Fred. Molly too had vacated her spot besides Harry and he and Hermione stood a little to the side to let the family celebrate their own little wonder. After a few minutes, however, Ron untangled himself from his family and went over to Harry and Hermione.
"Shall we?" he asked. Harry just nodded and the three set off again. But Harry was halted by a small hand that stole into his. He looked to the side and there was Ginny, looking up at him and smiling through her tears.
"Can I come with you?" she pleaded.
He looked at her for a second and then decided. "Yes, of course, I don't want to keep anymore secrets from you."
"You better not," she admonished him. "And we will have a talk later." Now she looked at him sternly.
Harry nodded and gulped. "I know," he said. "But I think you will understand, once we've been in Dumbledore's office."
She looked at him sharply, then nodded once and set off.
The four of them walked up to the office. The gargoyle had been blasted off his hinges and the entrance was free, even though they could already see the castle repairing itself again. There was a new gargoyle forming already on the hinges and it would not be long and it would be standing there in its old glory.
They entered the office and walked straight up towards the desk. Dumbledore's portrait hung behind it. All the portraits were awake and when the four of them entered, they all broke into a thunderous applause, even Phineas Nigellus clapped politely.
Dumbledore didn't clap, but he looked at them proudly over his half-moon spectacles. Harry could detect a certain wetness in his eyes.
When the applause had died away, he spoke. He talked for the better part of two hours without interference from either the portrait or Hermione, Ron and Ginny. He recounted the events that led up to the final defeat of Voldemort. Everything from the moment Severus had given him his memories to the point where Voldemort had flown through the air and died by his own killing curse rebounding on him. He was hoarse when he finished and Ginny conjured up a glass of water for him silently. He drank and then he placed the Elder Wand on the table. He looked at Dumbledore.
"I would like to keep this wand, if that is all right with you. I know how dangerous it is, but I also know that we will need its strength in the following years. There are still Death Eaters roaming free and we need to bring them all to justice."
Dumbledore nodded. "If there is one who truly deserves this wand, it is you."
Harry accepted this. He turned to Hermione. "Can I have my old wand, please?" She looked at him and started rummaging in her bag. Finally, she found the two pieces and gave them to Harry. He put them on the table and took the Elder wand. He tapped both pieces once and a bright light engulfed both pieces. When the light faded, his old wand was there, whole and looking as new. He smiled and took it. Now he felt whole again, his old wand, his old companion through all his trials was back again. He pocketed both wands and turned towards Dumbledore once more.
"You will probably be pleased to know, Professor, that Severus Snape is not dead. We managed to get him to Madam Pomfrey and he will heal completely." Dumbledore looked relieved. "He deserves to live," he said. "Severus had a very hard life and I hope that he will now finally have the chance to truly live again."
"I will personally make sure of that," Harry vowed. Then he turned toward Ginny, Hermione and Ron.
"Could you three wait outside for a bit? I would like to talk to Professor Dumbledore alone."
Hermione, always the quickest on the uptake, shot him a sharp glance, but shooed the other two out of the room. They left, but not without Ginny looking back over her shoulder and giving Harry a look that clearly said: Don't you keep any secrets from me! Harry sent her a reassuring glance and turned back to Dumbledore. He saw that the other portraits had curious looks on their faces and Professor Dumbledore looked at him a little apprehensively. Harry cast silencing wards around the office so that the three outside would not hear anything.
"What do you want, Harry, my boy?" he asked.
"Well, I want to talk to you about Severus. And about me. Do you think that there could have been a way that all this, what happened in the last few weeks, could have been avoided?"
Dumbledore wanted to speak, but Harry cut him off.
"No, let me speak! I don't think it was necessary for me to stay all the time at my relatives. And I definitely think that you could have been a little more forceful with them regarding their treatment of me. I can't believe that Severus never told you, how hateful Petunia really was towards my mom. He knew her, and she hated him too. She hated everything about magic; from the moment that you told her that there would not be a chance for her to be a part of Hogwarts. There must have been a better way to deal with that!"
Harry heaved. He was surprised that he felt so mad at the old man suddenly, but on the other hand he felt relieved to get all the frustration and anger out of his system. After all, it was only the portrait and not the real man. That was another thing. Dumbledore looked at him silently, his twinkles all gone.
"Maybe, if you would have handled things differently, you would still be alive! You acted for the greater good, yes, I know that, but in some crucial moments you acted stupid. I'm not sorry to say that, it needed to be said. I am glad that Severus won't be on your conscience too. He deserves the life I will make sure to give him. He had such a hard life, and you made it even harder by having him spy on Voldemort and placing his life constantly in danger. Plus, you blackmailed him with his love for my mom, whom he still holds dear in his heart. That is almost unforgiveable, if not for the fact that I know that you didn't know better. I know that I hated his guts for all the mean things he did to me while in this school. But I am not sure, if he really got the chance to know me, that things would have been different. Did you know that the hat wanted to place me in Slytherin first? Yeah? Well, maybe that would have been better for me then, because I believe Severus would have been better at recognizing how hard life was at the Dursleys. And you are responsible for that too."
Harry stopped. He had run out of breath. The portraits on the walls were looking at him in astonishment. Never had a student talked in such a way with a Headmaster, much less with the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts had ever known. Dumbledore looked down at his hands and then lifted his head.
"You have every right to be mad at me, Harry. I deserve that. I wish I could still be with you, but you must believe me that at that time, when I did all that you accuse me of, I thought it would be for the greater good. Yes, I know," he went on quickly, for Harry had a very angry look on his face, "I know, that you hate that phrase. And I know, you are thinking of Grindelwald. That was one of my biggest mistakes in my life. It cost me the life of my beloved sister. I can never forgive myself for that. And you are right, I should have done something about the Dursleys way sooner. They did not treat you right. No child should have been treated that way. I was wrong to do that to you."
He paused for a moment, because his voice choked. Harry looked up and saw tears trickling down his cheeks and into his beard.
"I was so occupied with the search for the Horcruxes, leading the Order of the Phoenix and taking care of Hogwarts, that I thought you were alright. You seemed alright, whenever I met you. You had your friends, and I was glad about that. I had hoped that Severus could get over his animosity towards your father and that his love for you mother was stronger than that, but I was wrong. I was also wrong in not putting a stronger effort in having you two work on your problems together. It would have been better, if you would have known about Severus' double role as a spy. I see that now, but I didn't see it then. I was afraid that Voldemort could see too much in your brain, that Severus' double role would have been discovered. That would have been devastating. As I said before, you have every right to be angry with me, but I beg you, please try to understand. I didn't want to make you miserable. I had hoped to be there all the way for you, but my own stupidity prevented that. I hope that I can be there for you in the future. I can't do much as a portrait, but I still can give advice, if you want to listen to me at all after all this."
His voice trailed off after this talk. Harry was quiet. This was the most that he had heard Dumbledore talk at all and he was astonished. He was still mad at him for all the things he screwed up, but he did understand some of the wizard's motives. He cleared his throat.
"Thank you for saying this. I am sorry, that I snapped at you this way, but it needed to be said."
Dumbledore nodded. "You are right, Harry, it needed to be said. And thank you for forgiving me, I appreciate this more than you will ever know!" Again, tears trickled down his cheeks. Harry waved his gratitude away.
"It's ok. We can be glad that we have so few casualties at all. The cost could have been much higher. Even though it is too late for Remus and Tonks, did you know that?"
Dumbledore looked grave and very sorry. "I am devastated by their loss. And their son, Teddy, what will become of him?"
"I am his godfather," Harry responded. "I will take care of him. And he has his grandmother, who will be there for him. He will be in good hands, I will make sure of that."
"I'm sure you will, Harry." Dumbledore looked relieved.
Harry went up the desk and placed himself on it. He looked Dumbledore straight in the eye.
"I will plead with the Minister for Severus' innocence. And I want to help him getting his post as Headmaster back. That's the least I can do for him."
Dumbledore looked at him, smiling, and the twinkle had returned in his eyes. "That would be much appreciated, Harry. This would mean a lot for Severus, even though he would not let it show. But he needs a home and Hogwarts had been his home for the last seventeen years. Can I do anything to help you achieve that goal?"
Harry started to shake his head, but then he stopped.
"Well, is there anymore evidence of his true allegiance, besides the memories he gave me?"
Dumbledore thought for a moment, but then his face brightened.
"Yes, there is. Open the topmost drawer in that closet over there." He pointed towards the far end of the office. There stood an old closet with a lot of drawers. Harry went over there and opened the drawer. "There should be two little vials of memories in there." Harry felt around and finally came across the two vials. He pulled them out of the drawer. Dumbledore clapped his hands excitedly. "Yes, they are still there. I had them checked in the Ministry for the correctness and their truthfulness. The Ministry has to acknowledge the truths they contain. These should verify Severus' status of being on our side all along." He thought for a moment. Then he said, "There should also be a little role of parchment." Harry searched until right in the farthest corner of the drawer his hand reached a little scroll. He took it and pulled it out of the drawer. He held it up for Dumbledore to see. "Do you mean this?" he asked. Dumbledore nodded. "That should contain a magically verified statement by Kingsley Shacklebolt himself, that Severus indeed was a double spy and that he all along acted for the Light." Harry nodded lightly and then put the vials and the scroll into his cloak.
"Thank you, Headmaster," said Harry, a little nicer than before. "I hope you are right. Now, I need to take leave of you. There is plenty to do still and I really need to check on Severus."
Dumbledore nodded and Harry turned around and walked out of the door, cancelling the silencing wards as he did so.
Authors note: Thank you for reading. I love reviews, so please do tell me what you think of the story so far.