On the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in the shadow of the Whomping Willow stood a small cemetery. Fifty simple and identical headstones stood in neat rows, each engraved with a different name. Even ten years after that final battle, the pain of those losses was still as fresh as it had been the morning after. Harry led his godson toward the rows of headstones.
"You haven't brought me here before," the young Metamorphmagus told his godfather.
"I know," Harry replied, putting an arm around the boy's shoulders. "I haven't been able to bring myself to come back since Ginny graduated."
"Why?" the boy asked.
Harry sighed deeply. "A lot of good people died that day, Teddy. Some very dear friends..."
"Mum and Dad," came the whispered reply.
"Yes. Among others."
Teddy looked up at his godfather who had raised him from the age of five when his grandmother had died. "Did you know all of them?"
"Not all of them. But most," Harry stopped in front of one of the headstones, "like Colin Creevy. He was a year below me and for the longest time he got on my nerves. Colin was always following me around with a camera, wanting to take my picture. When he died I remember thinking that he looked even smaller in death than he had when he was alive."
Harry walked over to another headstone. "Fred...Fred and George thought the world was too serious. They were always looking for ways to make people laugh. And they were pretty successful at it. Fred was the more daring, outspoken and sarcastic of the two. He died laughing."
Teddy glanced around and noticed a familiar name on one of the headstones. "Hey...Al's named after him, isn't he?"
"Severus Snape...yes, Al was named after him. He was probably the bravest man I ever knew. Unfortunately I didn't realize just how brave he was until just before he died. I didn't get a chance to tell him. For the longest time I hated him and I thought he hated me too. But it was all an act. He had to pretend to hate me, but even with all his pretending he still managed to save my life so many times."
"Are Mum and Dad here too?"
"Right over here," he said, leading his godson to the two headstones closest to the Willow. "This tree was planted because of your father, so when the decision was made to bury them all here, I told them that it was only fitting that Remus be buried closest to the tree."
"And Mum beside him," Teddy whispered, leaning against his godfather.
Harry knelt down, keeping his arm around the boy who was pressed against his side. "Remus was the first person who ever told me stories about my parents. He was the closest thing to a father I ever had. Tonks was a fighter. Remus had left her with you and your gran, but she said that she had to fight to make sure that the world was a safe place for you to live. She also couldn't stand the thought of waiting for hours to know what happened to Remus."
Teddy sighed deeply. "Harry...did you miss your parents?"
"I didn't remember them, Teddy, so I really didn't miss them. But there were times when I wondered how different things would have been if they had lived. Where would we have lived? Would I still have the same friends? Would I have brothers and sisters?"
"I don't really miss my parents either," Teddy told the man. "But I think about things like that sometimes." He turned to look at his godfather. "Thank you for all the stories that you've told me about them. It helps some."
He brushed a stray lock of hair out of the boy's face. "Your father used to do the same thing for me, Teddy Bear. You may not remember them, but I don't want you to ever forget them."
"I won't forget them, Harry," he said, hugging his godfather. "Not ever."
Harry smiled as he held his godson close, lost in memories of those they had lost on that long ago day as the sun slowly set behind them.