The Life After
Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling; therefore I make no money from this. Simple. I don't own anything you recognize either, unfortunately.
AN: okay, this is my first proper fanfiction, so constructive criticism welcome... please R & R, and let me know if you want me to continue!
"I don't know what you're happy about Tom," shouted Harry, as he faced Voldemort with his wand drawn, throwing curses at him wandlessly and with his wand, while dodging the curses thrown at him "You're not immortal!"
"That's what you think Potter," he sneered back, sending curse after curse at Harry, "You won't have a chance to destroy my horcruxes as I will kill you before you get the chance!"
"That's what you think! You see my friends and I have destroyed all six. You're the last piece to be destroyed. Shall I list them for you? Nah, you probably felt them being destroyed but didn't understand the pain! Say hi to death for me, and tell him I won't be seeing him for a while!" Harry retorted back, then firing curses and hexes at the self-proclaimed lord, destroying him. Harry glanced around to find every death eater in sight clutching his or her arm in pain; obviously the dark mark was causing a huge amount of pain. Harry dashed to help the other supporters of the light stun and bind the death eaters and port-keyed them to the ministry cells.
Harry collapsed to his knees in relief and exhaustion, as it finally sank in. He'd won. Survived. Fulfilled the blasted prophecy. The creature that was Voldemort had been destroyed. He had destroyed and hurt so many lives, as well as Harry's. He had destroyed Harry's chance of a happy childhood and had constantly been after his blood for the past seven years. Now, finally, Harry at almost eighteen, had his life back. Okay, there was no chance of bringing back his parents or Sirius, but he could enjoy the rest of his life with no save-the-world weight on his shoulders.
He forced himself up to survey the grounds. Voldemort had decided to attack Hogwarts – the idiot – so the DA, ministry, Order and some of the staff were around. From what Harry could see, there was a few deaths, but not as many as there could have been, which was very lucky. He was especially pleased to see the DA members walking around on the grounds helping the Order with the injured.
Suddenly, a redheaded girl collided with him, almost forcing him back to the ground, wrapping her arms around his neck. Harry wrapped his arms tightly round her, pulling her even closer, and buried his face in her hair, breathing in her familiar, flowery scent.
"I'm so glad you survived Harry! I don't know what I'd have done if not!" she cried into his shoulder.
"It's alright Gin, I'm alright. Better than I've been for a while, yeah I'm bloody exhausted, but old Voldy's gone for good!" he grinned as it earned him a smile from her, "Merlin I've missed you Gin! I don't know how to begin to say how sorry I am for being such an jerk." She pulled away, her warm brown eyes meeting emerald.
"Apology accepted Harry." he leant in and kissed her softly on the lips, pulled away reluctantly and smiled at her.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted, running towards the couple, hugging them both, "You did it!" she beamed, "Come on, we should see Madam Pomfrey."
"He just looks bloody knackered Hermione, she'll only make him stay in bed!" Ron interrupted, pulling Harry into a brotherly hug, "well done mate; knew you could beat that thing." then hugging Ginny.
"Thanks guys, where's Remus?" Harry asked glancing around, searching for him, "I want to show him something which will probably make his year." pulling out a cage containing a rat, he glared at the rat, "You don't know how much pain you've caused do you Pettigrew?" he spat, "So I'm going to pass you onto Dumbledore; he'll then have you kissed by Dementors because you really don't deserve to even live." Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all glaring hatefully at the rat; hurt one, hurt them all. And clearing Sirius's name, although late, was the least they could do for his memory.
Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny went in search of the last marauder… well original. You see, when Sirius died, Harry decided he needed a lot of advantages over Voldemort, so the four became animagi with the aid of Dumbledore and McGonagall. Harry had two forms, which had shocked him big style - even Dumbledore was a bit shocked! The forms were a large black shaggy wolf and a phoenix, both had a lightning bolt between two emerald eyes. Due to his improved eyesight, he didn't actually need glasses, but wore a plain set so nobody would notice, but once he registered he could forego them. Hermione was a dark brown leopard, with brown eyes, Ron was a red-brown dog with blue eyes and Ginny was a fox with hazel eyes. Once they became animagi, they surprised Remus by appearing at full moon to keep him company; who was very grateful to say the least and promptly came up with marauder names for the four: Harry was Emeralds, Hermione was Swift, Ron was Roc, and Ginny was Wildfire (her tail looked like it had red flames on it). Due to the four having heightened senses, they soon found Remus and headed for him. Remus looked up from talking to an auror and smiled in relief. He quickly excused himself and walked over to Harry.
"Harry! I'm so proud of you! Your parents and Sirius would be proud! In fact your godfather would probably be running around and shouting it out, totally making a prat of himself!" he grinned as he pulled Harry into a fatherly hug. The two had grown a lot closer since Sirius had died; they had helped each other a lot through the grief. As they pulled apart, "Any sign of the little turncoat of a traitorous rat?"
"Actually, yeah." Harry grinned at a pleased looking Remus, "I caught him," Harry pulled the cage and tapped his wand to it, causing it to grow to it's usual size. Remus glared hatefully at the rat, then sent a wolf patronus to Dumbledore, who quickly walked over. Upon seeing the teens he visibly relaxed. As he approached the group he smiled, his eyes back to full twinkle, which they hadn't since Harry's third year, well not properly.
"Harry my boy, I am proud of you, well done." he said, resting a hand on his shoulder, "you can finally live without fear of him or his followers; every death eater in the country collapsed due to the dark mark." he then turned to Remus, "what was it Remus?" he asked.
"Harry here has something that may interest you and the ministry." Harry passed the cage over to Dumbledore who smiled grimly at he rat.
"Hello again Peter," with a touch of coldness in his voice. He then tapped his wand to the cage and it disappeared. "He's gone to the illegal animagi desk with an urgent note. Speaking of which, you four need to register."
"We will Sir, we just need the forms." said Ginny.
"I'll get them for you. Now go to Madam Pomfrey then can you update Professor McGonagall?"
"Certainly Professor." the teens chorused. Remus squeezed Harry's shoulder, then the teens headed to the castle. The matron quickly checked them over, giving them a potion for the exhaustion and healed any wounds, she knew it be a lost cause trying to keep them in bed, so didn't bother. Harry only had a few bruises anyway, thanks to his phoenix healing abilities. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Fleur, Charlie and the twins then pounced them on. Finally the four made it to the Entrance Hall, quickly crossing it and opening one of the large oak doors leading into the Great Hall, and beckoning the Professor to them. Once out of the Great Hall, the teens updated her on what had happened, which caused her to sigh in relief.
"Well done all of you! Especially you Mr. Potter. I'm proud to be able to say that you are all in my house." giving them a rare smile. She then left them and the teens went back outside. They could finally see the destruction, which had been caused. There were craters in the ground, and bodies lying here and there, all of which were injured as the dead had been moved to prevent people becoming even more distressed. Madam Pomfrey and healers from St. Mungos were running around healing those who needed it most. Tonks soon found them, hugging the girls, then shaking Harry and Ron's hands.
"Oh, what the hell! You've both saved my neck more than once today!" pulling them into a hug. "Well Harry, what can I say? Thanks, and we're all proud of you!" she smiled. "I'm afraid I need to return to auror mode now guys; I need statements from you and all the DA members, could you possibly round them up?" Harry nodded and pulled out a galleon, which was now on a chain around his neck under his robes. He tapped it with his wand, causing it to grow hot and turn blue.
"It's a signal we came up with; it means to get to the Entrance Hall." Harry said in explanation, "We needed some form of making sure everyone was okay or when they were needed." Within a minute various DA members arrived. Neville and Luna being the first, all of the members hugged and congratulated each other as the war was finally over. "Guys! We all have to give statements to Tonks I'm afraid." Harry called out. Tonks conjured a quill and parchment and asked each one a few questions. Once that was over they could leave and go and help out or go into the Great Hall. They all decided silently that they would help out then follow Harry in.
Once the four had given statements they found Remus again, and helped find any injured and took them to a healer, also healing any minor injuries themselves. Harry was constantly being interrupted by aurors and Order members congratulating and thanking him, but eventually the four teens and the DA went to the Great Hall.
They found the large doors closed, so Harry pushed them both open. From the other side, he looked every bit the hero, with slightly ruffled and torn robes and all his friends behind him. The Hall erupted with applause and cheers. The group smiled uncertainly and sat at their respective House tables. Once the cheering had died down, which took a while, Professor Dumbledore, remaining staff and the order members walked in, again the Hall erupted into cheers and applause. Once Dumbledore had expanded the Head table, he addressed the school.
"As you all have gathered, today was the final battle against Lord Voldemort. We have succeeded, but at a loss, no students were killed, but many injured, all of which have been healed or are in the process. We lost a few ministry members and I am forever grateful they gave their lives to the cause. I would like to give 50 House points to each DA member for the aid they gave. I don't believe any points would show enough gratitude to Harry for destroying Voldemort; it's beyond recognition. He is awarded 100 House points and a special service to the school for aiding in the protection. Thank you. I would also like to thank the members of the Order Of The Phoenix who sit before you with the staff. Now, on with the feast!" he sat down to a cheer.
The trio had a week before their NEWTS started, in which they found out Harry was to be awarded an Order of Merlin 1st Class, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna were to receive a Order of Merlin 2nd Class each. None of them wanted the awards for doing what they really had no choice in doing, but they couldn't refuse them – not that Harry didn't try!
An article also was released that week, after the final battle had been reported, which caused the four teens to wear large smiles for the whole day, even through revision!
Sirius Black Innocent: Harry Potter Catches Real Traitor
When I walked into the ministry earlier this week to find out the list of Death Eaters caught, to my surprise Peter Pettigrew was on that list! I was told that during the final battle, Harry Potter caught the man truly responsible for his parents being found by you-know-who. Up until now, it has been widely believed that Sirius Black, best friend of Lily and James Potter and Godfather to Harry Potter, was their Secret Keeper on that fateful night in 1981. It turns out that Sirius Black was a decoy, and Peter Pettigrew was the real Secret Keeper. When the confrontation between the two took place, Pettigrew cut his finger off, exploded the street behind him and transformed into his illegal animagi form; a rat, which I find very fitting for his character! It is a shame this was only found to be the truth recently, when Sirius Black was murdered by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange two years ago in the battle in the Ministry, helping his Godson, who has now know of his Godfather's innocence for four years. When Mr. Potter tried to clear his Godfather's name, then Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, refused to believe it, and ignored the information, even though Mr. Black had never been given a trial before spending 13 years in Azkaban before finally escaping. (More on this story on page 3)
Ginny helped Harry revise that week while Hermione and Ron helped each other. The NEWTS were soon upon the 7th years, but within a week, that hell was over. Ginny's end of year exams finished on the same day, so hung around with the 'Golden Gryffindor Trio', which had now well and truly disappeared, and turned into the six that went to the Ministry back in their 5th year.
Just after the exams, as the press were now begging for answers, a press conference was called in the Great Hall. Harry was nervous about it, but was determined to get it over with. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna insisted on staying next to him throughout the conference, not allowing him to face the onslaught alone, as they knew he hated the publicity. But the alternative – being constantly chased for an interview, or false rumors being made up, was far worse than just telling everyone the same thing.
Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna stood in the antechamber off the Great Hall. Nervous of what they were about to face. The six were wearing new robes rather than their school robes. Ginny had made a point; if they look like school children, they would be treated like school children, and they were no longer children – war had taken that from them, and Harry had never really had a proper childhood. Once they heard a knock on the door, Harry squared his shoulders and took Ginny's hand in his, and led them out of the room, standing on the dais in front of the staff table, Ron standing on his left, with Hermione on his own left, Ginny on Harry's right, and Neville and Luna on Ginny's right. Harry muttered the soronus charm at his throat.
"Hello, thank you for coming." He started, causing the reporters and photographers to become silent. "This is how we're going to do this, I'll tell you the story, and only then will we take questions, got it? After this conference, I don't want to do another interview to do with the war; I want to put it behind me, as I'm sure my friends will agree with me. Right, over the past two years I, under many instructors, have been training extensively with my friends here, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and DA members, a group myself and my two friends on my left, started when we had Umbridge as a professor in our fifth year. I in particular was training to destroy Voldemort, as I know you all heard rumors about a prophesy, you know I was destined to battle with him. If it wasn't for these five and the DA members, I doubt I would have succeeded. They kept the Death Eaters away from my back while I dueled with Voldemort." Harry said, glancing around at the press, "Are there any questions? Please raise your hand, so we can get this over with as quickly as possible, I do want to enjoy my last days here at Hogwarts." Harry pointed to a witch in the first row,
"Mr. Potter, you can't have just been training for the past two years, I know you randomly disappeared from school for weekends over the past two years. What were these trips about?"
"That I'm afraid ma'am is classified information – there was certain things which had to be dealt with, and we don't want another Dark Lord on our hands any time soon." Harry replied, nodding to a wizard in the second row,
"Are you going to become an auror Mr. Potter?"
"I did consider it, but I rather feel that I've dealt with enough dark wizards to last me a life time. I'm sure if I was ever needed though, they would call upon me."
"Myself, I plan on finishing Hogwarts, then training as a Healer." Said Ginny,
"I do not know what I'm doing quite yet, I'm receiving many offers from the ministry at the moment." Added Hermione,
"Much like Harry, I do not know, but I'm considering Quidditch." Ron added.
"Myself, I do not know yet, but I do intend to go into Herbology." Neville shrugged. The questions continued for a bit, before they concluded the conference, and the six relaxed.
Before they knew it, it was the Graduation ceremony, Harry and Hermione, as they were Head Boy and Girl, had to write speeches, and both were rather nervous, as neither really liked being at the center of attention, all their friends had confidence in them though; Harry was told repeatedly that he had made brilliant Captain speeches before Quidditch games, and Hermione was always brilliant anyway! McGonagall even told Harry that she had full confidence in him, as both his parents had made fantastic speeches, and she had seen him give people pep talks – he would be perfectly fine!