Return From The Veil
Bonus Alternate Ending – Whole Again

It was a mild evening as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius entered the Godric's Hollow cemetery. The final battle had come and gone, as had their loved ones that they were so briefly reunited with. In the wake of Voldemort's short-lived return, cover stories were made and damage control done so that no one would ever know what happened in the Department of Mysteries less than a week ago. Life was hard with the losses so fresh once more but they were recovering and now they felt ready to do something they'd avoided for a few days. It was time to take everything back to where they belonged. The elder wand had been housed in Dumbledore's tomb but they had yet to return the wands and journal they'd taken from the burial ground and now it was time to do it. The first thing they did was replace the journal in Ignotus's tomb. Hermione repaired the lid and Harry pulled out the journal to look at it one more time. He rifled through the pages and noticed something written on the last page despite the entries having ended some pages before.

I did everything and yet I did nothing. What should have been done, I could not do. And now I selfishly leave the task to some other soul. The cloak will endure and the wand is but an instrument, the stone is the essence of it all. The spell is mine, use it and end the madness.

CONFRACTUS

Harry snapped the book shut and without looking at the others put it in the tomb. No one questioned him as they raised the lid up and put it back on. Hermione refreshed just Ignotus's name on the top and cleared away the debris and weeds around the site. They all stood in a moment of silence for the broken Peverell family, now knowing their pain all too well. While everyone stared at the ground, Harry's eyes were fixed on the stone slab, the stone is the essence of it all…end the madness…. In his jacket pocket he fingered the Resurrection Stone, that small gem that held the key to it all. The moment was over and they turned their attention to returning the wands. They removed Sirius's marker and charmed the wands back into ground. Before they sealed the earth once more, the group took a moment to remember and stared at the graves. Harry griped the stone tightly in his fist. Sadness and frustrated anger balled his gut, the unfairness of it all whirling in his mind. In a moment of pure emotion, he said lowly, "Confractus." He felt the gem shatter in his hand and the fragments dig into his skin. The others heard him speak and looked at him so they saw when he tok his hand out to reveal the broken gem covered in his blood. A couple mouths opened in shock but no one fought his decision. He divided and dropped the pieces into each grave, thinking of each person in turn. Once he was done, they closed the earth once more and left the graveyard wordlessly. Unknowingly that under the soil and dirt, something was happening.

*RFTV*

That night everything changed. For the rest of their lives, they'd never understand it, never be able to explain it. All anyone knew was that it had been Teddy to see them first.

They were sitting in the living room in relative quiet as going to the graveyard had brought up the still raw feelings. They had eaten dinner and toasted a firewhiskey to their loved ones' memories. It felt like a meager sentiment in comparison to what they could do, well not anymore since Harry broken the stone but all the same. Little Teddy was oblivious to the adults' sour disposition as he played with his toys before his aunt sent him to bed. It was the full moon and he was always so restless during that time that he needed to be tired out before he could sleep. Abandoning his blocks, he climbed up on the couch, in between Harry and Sirius who sat at the ends. The couch backed the large front window and Teddy pointed, "Look Uncle Harry."

Barely a sparing glance for his godson, he thought the child was pointing to the sky. "Yeah I see," Harry said wearily. "The moon is pretty tonight."

"No," the boy giggled. "Look Uncle Harry, there are people outside."

"Oh I see," Harry sighed.

"You're not even looking," Teddy pouted. "Uncle Sirius?"

"Yes cub," Sirius tried to muster more enthusiasm than Harry. "What people are outside?"

Glad to have someone's attention at last, Teddy pointed to a group of five. "See?"

It was dark but the figures were drawing closer to the house. Even without light, Sirius knew them like he knew himself. Still he did several double-takes and wiped his eyes for good measure. "What in the name of Merlin?!"

"What's going on?" Hermione craned her head to see outside.

"Impossible," Sirius ran to the door, catching everyone's attention. They peered out but only saw silhouettes that did look awfully familiar. They too raced out and were stunned to see Lily, James, Remus, Tonks, and Fred coming towards them.

"Is it really them?" Ginny asked in hushed tones.

"One way to find out," Harry raised his wand follow by Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius. "STOP!"

The five stopped and held up their hands. "It's us," Tonks assured them. "Look we have our own wands in our hands. We just came out of our graves."

"WHAT?!" chanted the other group back, now noticing the layer dirt covering the five.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Fred said. "We just woke up six feet under and had to blast our way out."

"Questions?" Ron suggested.

Sirius snorted, "Why not? Alright then, when we were in Hogwarts James had three loves -"

"Lily, Quidditch, and mischief." James grinned, "Of course, you always preferred it when I said Lily, Quidditch, and you."

"That's him," Sirius confirmed. "Remus's favourite sweet after chocolate?"

"Sugar quills."

"How long did Lily actually like James before dating?"

"A year."

"Tonks' former secret ambition?"

"To become a magician."

"Fred's greatest accomplishment?"

"Sparking a school-wide rebellion at Hogwarts."

Ron nodded, "It appears to be them. How did you come back?"

Hermione shook her head in wonderment, "It had to be the stone. The stasis on the potion must've broke but how…"

Harry suggested, "I wonder if it was like the potion that brought Voldemort back? You need blood, bone, and flesh. I supplied the blood and the remains in the graves could have…"

"Well that might explain why it's the full moon and I'm not a monster," Remus looked to the sky. "Should we be worried?"

"We'll send for a Healer in the morning," Harry grinned. "But I've got a good feeling about this, it just feels like we're whole again."

"It really does," Lily held her boys.

"What's going on?" Teddy stood by the front door, looking at the group with confusion.

"C'mere cub," Sirius called him. "We've got some people you need to meet."

A/N: THE END! Hey guys, I'm not sure which ending I prefer so be sure to weigh in but keep it clean folks! I need suggestions for another Harry Potter multi-chap, so please leave a review or message me with your ideas. Who knows? I might end up doing more than one! Until next time, ENJOY R&R PLZ!