Title The Betrothal Situation

Rating M

Chapter 13 - Reflections

Warnings This story contains some mild language and violence throughout, Dumbledore, Molly and Ron bashing, scenes of sexual activity and several character deaths. Some of the characters may appear OOC. Contains some scenes which may be upsetting to readers, reader discretion is advised.

Yes, it's here…the penultimate chapter!

-The Betrothal Situation-

Limbo

Date Unknown

The combatants were all in place, the fighting starting between Harry, Dumbledore and Voldemort, each getting hits on each other when suddenly Harry cast the bowel loosening curse at Dumbledore, who was waiting for him, when suddenly he saw a light hit Hermione. Turning around, he saw the bushy haired girl hit the floor. Running to her, he saw Voldemort aim a curse at him, the incantation Crucio being used. Eventually the curse hit him, the pain from the torture curse making him fall to the floor.

Eventually he managed to move at a crawl, heading to Hermione's body, when his was hit with a killing curse.

'I've failed them.' Harry thought, his last breath expelling. 'Hermione, Susan, Flora and Hestia. I've failed them.'

Harry woke up from what had, to him, been a long sleep, a sleep that was longer than what he had ever been through in his life, even when he had been suffering from Dragon Pox during his third year. Waking up, he looked around to see what looked like the Great Hall at Hogwarts, but empty and clean! Getting up, using the benches to help him, he had a shock as he saw two figures who he recognised.

'What are Hermione and Sirius doing here?' he thought, pinching himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. 'That must mean I am dead!'

"Yes Harry, just after Hermione died, you got hit by a killing curse by Moldywarts." Sirius said, hugging his godson. "There was nothing you could do as you had just been hit by the Cruciatus."

"But…that means that he's won!" Harry said, shocked at how he had let his guard down. "That…that means that Susan, Flora and Hestia…"

"They're all fine at the moment." Sirius assured him. Looking at Hermione for confirmation to go ahead, Sirius continued. "You see, an hour here is the equivalent of one and a half seconds back in the real world. It is a form of time compression that Death set up back when he created this place"

"And, where am I?" Harry asked, confused to his location.

"Between. It takes the form of whatever you feel more comfortable." Hermione said. It was then that Harry became conscious that he was naked.

It was then he wished he were clothed. Barely had the wish formed in his head than robes appeared a short distance away. He took them and put them on. They were soft, clean, and warm. It was extraordinary how they had appeared just like that, the moment he had wanted them.

"This is, as they say, your party." Sirius said. Smiling at his godson, he realised that Harry was just like Lily. "Just like Lily, you fight for what was right as opposed to what was easy, same with your dad in a way. I never got to tell you this Harry, but in a way, when I said that it was my fault that your parents died, I wasn't lying."

"Sirius, we both know Wormtail is to blame for the Secret being blown." Harry said, trying to disagree with what his godfather was telling him. "He told Riddle and that is the reason for my parents dying, so don't blame yourself Sirius."

"It is my fault though Harry." Sirius said. Harry tried to shush his godfather and failed, considering Sirius hadn't finished. "It is my fault as I tried to persuade James, against his better mind, to join the Order. I knew he disagreed with Dumbledore, like your grandfather, but Lily and I persuaded him to join up."

"Sirius. You are not to blame. Like you said, mom fought for what was right as opposed to what was easy." Harry said. "She and dad knew what would happen when they joined, so did you."

"I know." He said, looking down. "I just wished I hadn't taunted that crazy cousin of mine!"

It was then that Hermione looked at how Harry and Sirius had been honest with each other and wished that she had been honest before the battle started, wishing that she had told him that she was pregnant. Suddenly she decided to tell him the truth.

"Harry, I know you asked me before the battle what was wrong with me. It's just…I…I was scared as to what you would say." She said, looking at her best friend. "I…I was…I was pregnant. When Mrs Weasley sent that Howler and the whole situation with Ron dying, I realised I was late…I went to Madam Pomfrey and asked her to run a test when I found out that I was pregnant with our child…our son."

Harry looked at Hermione and fell to his knees. He had gone into a battle with Hermione being part of it and she was pregnant! It was then that he suddenly realised that because Hermione was dead, his son was dead. No matter how hard he tried, he could not stop the tears from falling in shock.

Sirius recognised what Harry was going through as he had been through the process of losing a child that he had only been told about after it dying, having been told about the pregnancy when his partner was on deaths door. Sending Hermione backwards for a minute to talk to his godson, he got on to his knees and hugged him.

"I know what you are going through Harry. During the first war, a few months before you were born, I was dating Amelia Bones. We had just come off patrol and was in the DMLE headquarters when Augustus Rookwood attacked us." Sirius said, holding his godson tight as he talked to him, the memories forming tears in his eyes. "If it wasn't for Moody and Shacklebolt stopping the mutt and Fabian Prewitt rushing Hestia Jones and my cousin Andromeda to the Auror Office, I would have lost Amelia as well as the baby she was carrying, a baby I only found out about…when Andy told me Amelia had miscarried and the curse that Rookwood used on her…she couldn't have any more children either"

Harry looked at his godfather's eyes and knew that Sirius wasn't lying. "Susan…she would tell me that when she was younger, she used to wish that she had a cousin or a little brother or sister, instead of just her Aunt Amelia." He said, knowing that Sirius needed reassurance. "In a way, despite how much I hate them for the way they had treated me, I am really grateful in a way that I have the Dursley's for my family as otherwise I would be on the streets."

As Harry was thinking, he turned to see a figure in a dark robe, carrying a scythe Harry instantly knew and recognised the figure that had approached thanks to his cousin's books that had been abandoned in the bedroom move prior to the start of his first year at Hogwarts.

"Don't be afraid young Potter. I have not come to collect your soul." Death said, a grin on his face. I have only two soul's I am after, Albus Dumbledore's and Tom Marvolo Riddle's. Especially the piece you have in your scar that Dumbledore knew about and wanted you to sacrifice yourself for."

"YOU MEAN HE KNEW I WAS GOING TO DIE! HE WANTED ME TO DIE!" Harry shouted, realising the plans of the old man. "He wanted…he wanted to control me like a puppet on a string! He had Hermione under his control so I would have to rely on someone from his own choice. That means…"

Suddenly Harry started laughing as he realised what Dumbledore had planned for him would never had happened anyway. "He would have gotten Ginny dosed up on Love Potions, along with myself, but I am glad Mr Weasley and Madam Longbottom managed to screw that up."

"Your great-aunt Augusta, like your grandfather and great-uncle Charlus, never trusted Dumbledore. In fact, your great-uncle Charlus told me once that he had tried to get the Headmaster to allow your great-grandfather to adopt a Slytherin in his year named Tom Riddle, but Dumbledore would not allow it, claiming it was for the Greater Good." Sirius said, knowing his godson would recognise who he was referring to. "Your Great-Aunt Dorea was Head Girl in Riddle's second year, and she was the reason that he was not bullied again for the remainder of that school year. It was the only reason she supported him before she died. Mother was so proud of Great Aunt Dorea, but I am not."

"One of my family was friends with Voldemort?" Harry said, frowning.

"Yes, the same person who framed Rubeus Hagrid along with his Uncle," Death said from behind Sirius. He turned to Sirius and considered the former Black heir's eyes. "Riddle was also the reason your brother died, him and his soul anchors

"Anyway, before I get side-tracked any more, young Potter, I am going to remove the piece of Riddle's soul from your scar, in order to allow you to go back to your own body, as battered and as bruised as it may be." Death said, smiling. "But before that, I must tell you one thing. The items that your ancestors made, claiming to be gifts I gave them, I put a curse on them so they may only defeat those who are Dark against the true Light. That means Dumbledore and Tom Riddle may die at the hands of that wand. Anyone else and your life will be forfeit."

Harry nodded his understanding at the terms made by Death, and said only one thing….

"I'm ready!"

"Well go…you have got a young lady waiting down there for you!"

The Courtyard, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland

25th December 1996

Susan Bones watched as first Hermione, then her Harry, were took down by Killing Curses being thrown, the one hitting Hermione being from Molly Weasley, who fell at the same time thanks to a Death Eater, and the one hitting Harry from the Dark Lord.

As the spell hit, she ran over to Harry's fallen body and fell to her knees, her heart almost stopping from the shock of her only love dying.

After what felt like a year, she suddenly saw Harry breathing, his chest moving up and down slowly. It was this that allowed her heart try to repair itself from the brokenness that it was starting to suffer from, the thoughts of losing Harry.

"Harry?" she whispered, trying not to let the Death Eaters hear her whilst they were about to celebrate the death of Harry Potter.

"I love you Susan, now and forever." Came the reply of the Boy-Who-Lived. "Now roll over and let me win this war."

As Susan rolled over, she saw a light from the wand that Harry carried that was created by his maternal ancestor, she knew that the curses he had cast would hit their targets, Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle, killing them instantly.

As she watched as the Death Eaters who were alive at the time fall at the same time as their master, Susan knew that it was a well-deserved victory.

-The Betrothal Situation-

A/N – Coming Up in Chapter 14 - The end of our story, we skip 18 years and see what Harry, Flora, Hestia and Susan are doing…

Disclaimer I don't own the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

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Type Multi Chapter

Status WIP

Distribution FFN, AO3, HP FanFic Archive, GryffindorTom Online

Story ID 075

Publish Date 16/12/2016