A/N

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

I hope to have another update before the end of the month, but I'm having surgery the end of this week so I can't guarantee when I'll be up to writing again. In case I don't get the next chapter done, Happy Holidays!

I do NOT own any of the characters or places! They belong to the brilliant JK Rowling.

Chapter 14

The rest of the week seemed to fly. Before Harry knew it, Sunday was here. And the family was gathered again at the Burrow for the weekly family dinner. Harry knew he would be telling his story of what happened at Hogwarts that evening – he knew there was no way anyone, especially Ginny – would forget that he had told them he would tell them later. And he knew it would be tonight, that he wouldn't put it off any longer.

Dinner was over all too soon and sure enough, Ginny turned to Harry as the plates were being cleared, "Harry, last week you said you would tell us what happened at Hogwarts, that you would explain why everything happened and what you did that day. Will you tell us tonight?"

"Geez, Ginny," Ron told her. "Give the guy a break – didn't we tell you enough stuff last week? Are you sure you really want to know what happened and why?"

Ginny started to argue, but Harry interrupted her. "If we can use the Pensieve again, I'll show you what I did. That's all. I don't want to talk about it." And Harry got up from the table and retrieved the basin from the bedroom he shared with Ron.

When he came back down, he found everyone in the sitting room in the same spots they had previously been sitting. He placed the basin on the table and sat in front of it, facing everyone. "I won't stop this until it's over. This is everything that happened that night from the time Ron, Hermione and I followed Neville into the Room of Requirement." He started to raise his wand to tap the Pensieve for the memory to start, but paused. He turned and walked to Andromeda. He looked at her, not able to bring to words what he wanted to say. Understanding, she handed Teddy to Harry. He went back and after taking a deep breath, started the memory playing. And the memory started playing with Harry, Ron and Hermione arriving in the Room of Requirement. As the memory played, Harry closed his eyes. He couldn't watch it – he relived parts every night in his nightmares. He sat next to Ron and Hermione, holding Teddy close.

The memory had moved to the Ravenclaw common room. The room was silent as Harry's memory played, showing how Harry defended Professor McGonagall, how she jumped when Harry told her he was acting on Dumbledore's orders, the confrontation between McGonagall and Snape, the Professor's agreeing to defend the school, and the statues and knights jumping to do their duty to protect the school and its students. It showed Harry and Luna arriving back to a crowded Room of Requirement, of Harry's announcement of "We're fighting." Percy shifted uncomfortably as he arrived back in the memory. Ginny put her arm around him as the memory moved ahead to the Great Hall. Voldemort's voice rang out followed by everyone taking their assignments to defend the school that had once been home to all of them. There were gasps as Harry talked to the Grey Lady and heard her story. They watched with smiles as Harry found Ron and Hermione and watched them kiss. George made kissing noises as the memory continued to move on. They were in the Room of Requirement with Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy. There was the fire that almost killed them, but succeeded instead in killing Crabbe and destroying the diadem. Harry held Teddy tightly as Hermione wrapped her arms tighter around Ron, knowing what was to come next. He heard Fred and Percy fighting. As the explosion sounded, the room tensed as they realized what they were seeing. Ginny and Percy held each other as the tears ran down their face. Mrs. Weasley reached out and pulled George into a hug as they both cried.

The family was stunned at what they had just seen as the continued to watch. Harry, Ron and Hermione left the castle. Unable to get past the Dementors, they watched as Luna, Ernie and Seamus sent their Patronuses to help. Ron, Harry and Hermione chuckled slightly when Hermione yelled "Are you a wizard or what?" when they were at the whomping willow, remembering similar words spoken almost seven years earlier. The family watched as Snape was killed by Nagini, giving Harry the memories. They heard Voldemort's words echoing in the memory, watched the trio leave the Shrieking Shack and enter the Great Hall, watched as Ron and Hermione joined the Weasley's around Fred, as Harry reeled at what he was seeing – Fred, Tonks and Remus. Everyone present had tears coming down their cheeks, Harry felt someone next to him and turned to see Andromeda. He placed her grandson back into her arms, offering her the comfort of her grandson. In the memory, Harry was in Dumbledore's office, jumping into the Pensieve. As Snape's memories played, Harry pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them close, knowing what he was about to do. There were gasps as they watched Snape's memories of his youth play out, of the conversations between Dumbledore and Snape planning Dumbledore's death. Mrs. Weasley gasped "NO" when they heard that part of Voldemort's soul lived in Harry and everyone's face was shocked when they heard that Harry had to die.

But the memory kept playing. Harry had entered the forest. There were gasps as Harry turned the Resurrection Stone over and four people appeared. Harry reached out and held Teddy's hand, watching Teddy as the people he loved, helped Harry walk to his own death. Hermione reached out, putting her arm around Harry while Ron's arms were around her. There was complete silence in the room when Harry fell. The memory played as Harry met Dumbledore. The Weasley's and Andromeda looked in complete shock, not understanding, afraid to look away from the memory playing. Harry was not watching his memory; he was watching his sleeping godson while Dumbledore explained to him how Harry could live – the blood taken from his arm in the graveyard. They watched Dumbledore admit that Harry and Voldemort had entered magic that no one else had ever known, as he explained why Harry's wand acted as it had, as Dumbledore explained the Deathly Hallows, his own youth, and how he thought Harry could return.

Harry's memory continued to play: Narcissa declaring Harry dead, his body being tortured before Hagrid carrying it to the open. Harry closed his eyes as he heard Voldemort's voice booming that he was dead, as the screams of "NO" and "Harry" echoed from the castle. He heard Neville standing up to Voldemort, Voldemort's declaration, the scuffle and Hagrid yelling "Where's Harry" The memory continued into the Great Hall as Charlie and Professor Slughorn led the charge from Hogsmeade, joining those left in Hogwarts in the Final Battle. They watched as curses flew and Death Eaters fell, until there was only two groups left dueling. They watched as time seemed to stand still as Molly confronted Bellatrix and Bellatrix fell. Harry heard Andromeda's tears for the sister she didn't understand, who had betrayed her years ago. The memory continued to play as Harry confronted Voldemort and the final spells of the battle were spoken, "Avada Kedavra! Expelliarmus!" Harry leaned down and kissed the sleeping Teddy on the forehead as the memory stopped when Voldemort, Tom Riddle, finally fell.

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. No one knew what to say. They had not known what to expect tonight, but it wasn't anything like what they saw. They looked at Harry, one arm around Hermione, the other holding onto Teddy who lay sleeping in his grandmother's arms. Harry felt everyone's eyes on him, but he couldn't look up, he didn't want to see their faces. He knew he should say something, but what? He couldn't think of anything to say; what was there for him to say really. They had wanted to know what happened and he had shown them.

Hermione whispered, "Harry" He looked at her, then at Ron. The three shared a small smile. "It's finally over."

Harry smiled at Hermione and picked his sleeping godson out of his grandmother's arms. "It is" he whispered. As he held Teddy close, Harry was amazed at the comfort the four month old baby gave him. He rose from the floor, "I'm going for a walk for a few minutes"

Harry walked slowly, and just as he expected, Ron and Hermione were at his side before he reached the orchard. The three walked quietly and settled under their tree in the orchard. Harry lay his now awake godson on his legs. They sat there in silence, watching the stars and listening to the sounds of the evening mixed with Teddy's babbles.

A smile slowly formed on Harry's face. "It is over, isn't it?"

Ron and Hermione smiled, nodding their heads.

"It'll be hard to go back to Hogwarts," Harry said.

"Hard to do homework again, hard to listen to the teachers again," Ron started.

"That's not what I meant," Harry said. "It'll be hard going back to where it all ended."
Ron gulped. He hadn't thought of that.

Hermione spoke, "But if we want to help everything get back to normal, we have to go back, don't we? I know you don't like everyone looking at you Harry, but if you can go back and help things return to normal, it might help everyone else."

"I don't really care about helping everyone else anymore, Hermione," Harry said. "I think I've done enough for everyone else right now. Now, I want to make it better for you and Ron, for Ginny, Mrs Weasley. And for this little one. Remus was right. We fought to make the world safer for Teddy and all the other kids."

"We'll get through the year like we always do," Hermione told them. "Together. With Ginny. Luna and Neville, too if they return. And we WILL make it better for Teddy and for the future generations. It's what your parents and the original Order was trying to do. You finished the job for them. And now, we can have peace."

Harry chuckled, "I can't imagine a year at Hogwarts being peaceful. Of course, I can't imagine my life being peaceful. This next year should be interesting. And I'm going to miss this little guy while I'm away. I wonder if Professor McGonagall would let me leave Hogwarts some weekends to visit."

With that thought, Harry stood up. Without intending to, they had just made the decision that they would be returning to Hogwarts to complete their seventh year. They slowly walked back to the Burrow. Harry gazed up at the sky as the left the orchard. The stars twinkled. For the first time since he had set foot in the Great Hall at eleven years old when his scar pricked that first time, Harry didn't feel the weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders.