Everyone's amazing reviews in response to the last chapter motivated me to get this chapter out quick (in less than a week!). Here is the Epilogue, please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. associated with the Harry Potter series.
"SURPRISE!"
Harry's jaw dropped. His gaze roamed across the entire spectacle in front of him, trying to devour every detail. A black banner hung across the fireplace, flashing the letters HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY in red and gold.
Harry jumped to the side when he heard two sudden bursts of confetti cannons. Colorful pieces of paper rained from all over the room.
The corners of his lips tugged into a wide grin at the chaotic, lovely sight that greeted him.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!" Energetic shouts echoed from all areas of the Tonks' living room. Ted beamed at Harry as he rocked in his lovely, navy blue reclining chair. Andromeda and Dora sat near him on the sunny yellow sofa, squashed beside the two elder Weasley parents. The rest of the Weasleys were scattered across the room - Percy ducked in the corner of the room, donning a crooked party hat; Fred and George standing on the opposite side of the room to pull the confetti cannons simultaneously; Ginny and Ron sitting on the carpet, leaning against the bottom of the sofa, both loudly whooping and cheering.
Walking towards the living room was Sirius, carefully carrying a beautiful, delicate red velvet cake. On top of the white frosting, "Happy 12th birthday, Harry!" was adorned in red and gold lettering.
Harry felt as though he was going to burst with happiness.
A surge of emotion welled up in his chest, as he thought back to all the amazing moments he's shared with all his friends and family in the past few weeks.
Harry continued to live with the Tonks family, but he saw Sirius almost every other day. His godfather took him out for amazing adventures and road trips, views he had never even dreamed of seeing. And the Tonks household, of course, was as incredible and considerate as any family could possibly be.
He visited the Weasleys every Saturday. From flying, to playing chess (or, more accurately, watching Ginny and Ron play because Harry got pummeled in every match), to even de-gnoming, Harry enjoyed every minute he spent at the Burrow.
Harry has never felt so … loved and cared for, than at this moment. A dazzling, ebullient grin flickered onto his face, as he bolted farther into the celebration.
"Good bye, Harry!" Dora, wearing curly, jet black hair to match Harry's today, leaned down and ruffled Harry's messy hair affectionately. "You'll definitely enjoy second year, I'm sure of it!"
"Don't you get into any more trouble this year, young man," Andromeda reminded him, her tone full of warning but no malice. "Be sure to send us letters. Lots of them!"
Sirius chuckled. "Get into all the trouble you want, a boy's gotta have fun!" he exclaimed.
Upon sensing Andromeda's glare, Sirius straightened his face and bent down to Harry's height. "Just make sure you're not caught by Andromeda," he hummed into his godson's ear. Harry smirked.
Unexpectedly, Ted was the most emotional individual out of the group sending Harry off for another school year. Too choked up to talk, he crouched down and buried Harry in a massive hug. "We'll miss you, Harry, very much," he whispered, dabbing his eyes with his handkerchief.
Harry smiled. His heart felt so full and joyous at knowing that he had his own family sending him off to school and awaiting his return for the holidays.
"I'll definitely send letters!" he cheerfully agreed. "Bye everyone!"
Pulling his trunk and carrying Hedwig's cage, he stepped onto the train.
Already, many of the compartments were filled with excited students. Harry passed one after another until he finally spotted a relatively empty compartment, save for only one person - fortunately, the individual he was looking for.
Harry didn't see Hermione in person in the summer, as she was traveling with her parents, but he did keep up a light correspondence with her by mail. He had ruminated over what to say to her and decided he would address the heavy topics when they physically meet again.
He slid open the door. "Hermione, it's so great to see you again!"
Hermione spun around in shock. "Harry!" she shrieked. "How was your summer?"
"It was amazing!" she beamed. "My parents and I went to France together, first visiting -"
Hermione paused her recounting of her holiday break, remembering her currently fragile relationship with Harry. "I, um - Harry, are we still friends?"
Harry pursed his lips, his fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he tried to articulate his thoughts. "Honestly? There's a lot I want to talk to you about, but I'm not really sure how I should do so."
Hermione decided to speak again.
"Harry, I'm really, really sorry about what I said and how I acted in my letter to you," she blurted out. "I accused you when I had no right and had no understanding of what went on in your life."
"Yes, you did," Harry responded, waiting for her to continue.
"I blindly placed my faith in authoritative figures, something I've been taught to do and I now know is very wrong, especially in trusting Dumbledore over you," she continued her apology. "I'm deeply sorry for all the inconsiderate comments I made. I'm so glad you got out of the Dursleys' abuse, and you look much happier and healthier now than last year."
"Could you…" she trailed off, her volume receding as she rapidly blinked to prevent tears. "Could you please forgive me? I certainly understand if you won't -"
Harry cut off her apologetic rambles with a long hug. Hermione squeaked in surprise, before returning the gesture.
"I forgive you. I was really hurt when you sent me that letter, but I'm glad you understand the situation now," Harry explained. "You're one of my best friends, and you always will be, Hermione!"
A shy grin creeped onto her face. "Thank you, Harry! I promise I will always support you and trust you, over anything anyone else says."
Just in time, Ron and Neville barged into the compartment. Neville was already in his wizard robes, his palm gently cradling his pet toad Trevor.
"Hey guys!" Ron cheerfully grinned, completely oblivious to the heart-to-heart talk Harry and Hermione just conducted. "Scoot over, will you Harry?"
Harry budged to the right. Ron lifted his trunk to the overhead bins and held onto his owl cage.
"When did you get an owl, Ron?" Hermione, observant as always, piped up.
Ron smiled at the reminder of his pet, but then quickly grimaced. "Harry's godfather Sirius gave it to me! As a replacement for losing Scabbers… Not that I'm sad over losing that rat. But Ginny named my owl Pigwidgeon and it refuses to respond to anything else now."
Hermione and Neville dissolved in laughter.
"Pigwidgeon? That's certainly an interesting name," Neville wheezed.
Ron levelled a glare in his direction, before returning his gaze to the cage. "Yeah, well. Can't do anything about it now," he sighed. "I'll just call it Pig, I guess."
Light knocks sounded on the glass compartment doors.
The four second years turned their heads to see Ginny and another young girl, presumably Ginny's friend. She had a head full of long, dirty blonde hair. Her silvery eyes were sharp and inquisitive.
"Hey everyone!" Ginny exclaimed. "Could we join you guys? The rest of the train is full."
Before Ron could open his mouth to protest, Harry gestured inwards with his hand to welcome the two girls in. "Absolutely, we have space!"
Ginny beamed. "Thanks Harry! Everyone, this is my friend Luna Lovegood. She's in my year, also entering Hogwarts."
"Hello," Luna chimed in with a soft, dreamy voice, as she waved to everyone. Neville, who was very curious about this girl, waved back.
Little did they know, the six of them would form close bonds for the rest of their lives. They chattered away for the rest of the train ride, embracing the new beginnings that another magical school year brought.
All was well.
Author's Note: And that's truly the end for That's Your Punishment! This journey has been so crazy, I can't believe it's been two years since I started. I want to thank each and every one of you for reading and supporting this story - this fic definitely would not have turned out this way without you all.
TinyFox2 left a review on my last chapter, saying "I can't believe how this started from de-gnoming, yet I so can!" This is exactly how I feel too. This was supposed to be a oneshot, an experiment into writing fanfic, but has grown much bigger and I've learned so much throughout.
There will be no sequel. I will likely be moving on to writing Star Wars fanfiction as well as Star Wars/Harry Potter crossover fics going forward, if you'd like to follow along! Thank you for reading, please leave a comment to let me know what you thought :)