The first thing that raised people out of their stupor the day of the final battle was not the belated arrival of the aurors, the attentions of the Healers, or the way the golden trio slowly collapsed with exhaustion after months of starvation, deprivation and occasional torture. Nor was it the way Kingsley and Minerva were huddled in a corner, trying to work out whom to send the aforementioned aurors after before word of the defeat spread far and fast.
In fact, it turned out, as dawn passed, the sun rose higher, and the remaining house-elves laid out a hearty buffet, that the impetus to get people moving came in a flutter of wings.
As one, the many exhausted people gathered in the hall looked up to see a full parliament of Owls flood through the window where, hours before, a misunderstood man had leapt, and swoop towards their owners.
The people breathed again. Those beautiful wings said to them, life goes on. The people laughed again when the headline was: "Romania beats Ireland in Quidditch qualifiers."
A/N : For the Achieve that Outstanding challenge. Prompt, Owls.