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A New Generation

Harry watched as they walked towards him, a small smile on his face. He had known they would come, and he had known they would know exactly where to find him. They were holding hands, something small to anyone else, but to Harry, it meant hope. Hope that they would manage to finally work through their difficulties, even after all these years.

They sat beside him, one to each side, just the way it used to be.

"Hey," Hermione murmured, kissing his cheek. She was still as beautiful as she had been in her youth, and Harry smiled at her.

"Hey," he replied, speaking to both of them.

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the nostalgia that had settled over each of them.

"Can you believe how long it's been?" Ron said, finally breaking the silence.

"I know, it seem's hard to believe. Most people ignore the anniversary now, having more important things to think about, I imagine," Hermione replied, snorting. How anything could be more important than surviving a war, she had no idea, but she supposed that was just the way society worked.

"It's another generation now, none of them even remember the war, a lot of them weren't even born. Our own kids weren't born, and they all have children of their own now."

"If I didn't feel old before, I do now. Thanks mate," Ron muttered at Harry, though he was smiling.

"How are you liking being Headmaster, Harry?" Hermione asked, gazing up at the old castle. So many memories were held in that building, both good and bad, happy and sad.

"It's good, a lot more paperwork that one would expect," Harry replied wryly. He had always known he would come home to the castle, but he had never imagined he would be Headmaster. The school he had found a home in all those years ago had welcomed him back with open arms, and he had never felt so at peace with his life.

"Have you heard about Ginny?" Ron asked, his voice strained.

After the children had grown up and moved out, Ginny had become restless in marriage. Stating that they had had no chance to explore the world before they had settled down, she had packed her bags and left. Twenty years on, and Harry had still not seen her. The last contact they had was through lawyers as they settled their divorce.

"No, what about her?" he asked, a slight frown marring his aged face.

"She remarried, some rich Swedish bloke."

"That's nice, I guess."

"Yeah," Ron replied, apparently glad that the news had gone down well. No one ever mentioned Ginny to Harry, no matter how many times he told them that it didn't bother him.

"Hermione."

"Harry."

"How are you enjoying retirement?"

"I'm not. It's boring."

"Do you want to be a teacher?"

Ron laughed as he watched his wife tackle his best friend. He had known the offer was coming, in fact it had been his idea to ask her here.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume that's a yes," Harry said as he pried his friend from him, laughing as he did.

"I love you Headmaster Harry."

"I know, Professor Hermione. Or Weasley. Whatever. Come on, lets go up to the castle, we can grab lunch in my office and fill out some forms. You'll start in September?"

"Of course."

Ron grinned as he stood up, holding his hand out to help Hermione up. She accepted it with a grateful smile. Harry stood last, resting his hand briefly on the tree they had been sat under. The same tree they had sat under countless times, all those years ago, before the war, before the fighting, when they were still innocent kids.

As he heard the bell for class change, he smiled to himself. The war might be long over, but as long as he was alive, he would watch over the new generations, making sure the past didn't repeat itself. No child would go through everything the three of them had gone through. Not while he was still breathing.