Harry Potter stood on his porch, watching the sun set. Radiant pink shone through the clouds. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets that Harry had witnessed in a long time, which was saying something as he had made it a tradition to sit outside with his wife and watch each and every night.
Having three children did make that difficult, but most nights they managed. Today had been a big day, though: he had finally released the book he had been writing. It had been a long three years of writing it even though he'd had the general idea he'd wanted for nearly twelve years before fully devoting himself to the task. Curse breaking was a sometimes time consuming task and he hadn't retired until Ginny had become pregnant with his first child.
He still liked to hear her described as Mrs. Potter. The novelty of it never wore off. He smiled down at his wife. They rarely spoke as they watched the sun set; words were never needed. They understood each other on an intrinsic level that Harry would never fully understand.
His wife had become an author just like him– after her accident with Quidditch, she hadn't known what to do but she saw the wonders that writing had done for him and emulated it. She had worked as a sports journalist for a while before writing her own book on the sports. It had grown to rival Quidditch Through the Ages in popularly, though she still liked to complain, very modestly, that it was only due to her last name.
The sun was nearly gone, now, but it left with the promise of another beautiful one tomorrow. It was the power of it, the strength of nature, that comforted Harry and gave him such joy in this tradition.
He heard the James laugh and Lily squeal in rage– she was a little spitfire, just like Ginny. Arthur had taken Harry aside when Ginny had first revealed she was pregnant with a baby girl. Harry still remembered the man's words: "Harry, there is nothing more special in this world than a daughter. She will be your world. Congratulations." He hadn't fully appreciated this until he had held Lily in his arms. She had him wrapped around her finger before she could even speak.
The sun was gone, and the darkness was nearly as beautiful. He pulled Ginny closer and just held her, enjoying her warmth. He always would. His hands curled around her and he finally spoke, his voice cutting through the quiet night, "I 'spose we should go in now, eh? Sounds like James is up to his usual antics."
Ginny smiled at him, "Yeah, sounds like it. I love you, Harry."
He kissed her, marveling at how, even after all these years, it was still so full of passion and love, "I love you too, Mrs. Potter."
Her smile turned radiant as she strode to the door and pulled it open, going inside. He could distantly hear Ginny shouting at her children. Lily may have been a spitfire but Ginny far outshined her in that department. Not that she didn't love her children; Harry was floored by the love and devotion she gave him and their family. Ginny was a perfect mother and a perfect wife. She'd given him the family he'd needed, and he would never forget that.
Harry stood, looking down at the book still in his hands. He stared at it, knowing immediately it would go to Bill. Even after his retirement from curse breaking they had remained great friends and Harry occasionally helped him out. Harry's smile was one of complete and total peace. He had come to peace with himself, with his past, and now eagerly faced the future. He traced the lettering on the cover that made up the title: Living.
A/N: I didn't expect the epilogue to be this short but, to tell you the truth, I love it. It really encompassed what the meaning of my story was meant to be, or so I hope. My only regret on this in retrospection is that I kind of abandoned the team. I made a whole team and then included them in one mission (the Delphi one). My only excuse for that is that Harry, even being a curse breaker, is still more of a lone-wolf when it comes to missions- we see how that ends up sometimes during the Shade chapter. It's been an amazing road - my first story! - and I will always love it. I posted the first chapter of my Quidditch Harry story, but it's very very different from the one I posted and then deleted. I realized that I am really terrible at writing happy stories so I made it a bit more heavy and than more realistic. Chapter one of this one (To Fly Again) came out much better, in my opinion.
Seriously though, I'm indebted to everyone who has read this story and reviewed. It's been a fantastic journey, and while I know this story wasn't super long, it felt like forever. (I mean, it was like under two weeks, but it's felt like so much more).
Thank you all so much, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
