Epilogue
Harry Potter shivered against the early morning wind on top of the astronomy tower. Though he had flown much higher while chasing errant snitches, he nevertheless felt a lurch as he glanced down five stories to the grounds below.
"I don't like it up here at all…" Harry glanced at the queasy Neville Longbottom to his left.
"Stow it, Neville, we've been coming up here for Astronomy lectures since first year."
"Yeah, I know… Say, where d'you suppose Ron and Hermione have gotten to?"
"I dunno," Harry replied with forced off-handedness, "probably off snogging somewhere like usual?"
"Yeah, probably," Neville said glumly.
"Dwarf stars like our sun shine by hydrogen fusion, and this star at 9400 degrees Kelvin is a scorcher from 8.6 light years…" rambled Professor Sinistra in the background.
Harry retreated into himself. Ron and Hermione were not off snogging—though it would be a pretty joke if they were!—but rather were in London, tailing Crabbe and Goyle to a meeting they suspected to be a Deatheater's recruitment rally. Harry was much too recognizable to go incognito in that crowd, so he had been assigned the unfortunate duty of taking notes for the other two at the Astronomy lecture.
"…orbit each other at a fifty year period with an average distance of twenty astronomical units and an orbital eccentricity from 31 AU to 8 AU…"
Harry shifted his weight between his feet and looked up. Professor Sinistra was using a bewitched pointer that shone a pinprick of light on the sky above as though it were only the roof of a planetarium, and she traced a line toward the horizon from Orion's belt. Harry's mind wandered again as he thought of his upcoming graduation, his final summer in the Dursley's home, his auror training to begin in the fall…
"and located in Canis Major is the dog star, Sirius—"
Harry looked up in surprise. He had not allowed himself to think of his godfather for months, and he hadn't heard his name spoken aloud in far longer. What on earth…
"the brightest star in the sky, Sirius was used by the ancient Egyptians to…"
Oh, that Sirius. But the mention gave Harry that familiar pang he'd tried so hard to surpress. He bit his lip, scrunched his face… He would not get upset, no, he'd keep his composure, God no, not in the middle of class… He turned his face heavenward in an effort to stop up the old tears, and his eyes fell on the brilliant star rising above the southeastern horizon. Sirius twinkled. Oh, but Sirius always twinkled, it was one of the most twinkly stars in the heavens, due to its variable refractions or some such rot. And yet… there was something different about the way the dog star twinkled tonight. Like it was winking, laughing, at Harry.
As he gazed at the star, the tension fell out of his shoulders and his eyes unscrewed. For the first time, he thought of his godfather without pain. For the first time, he began to heal.
Fin
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Many thanks to any readers who have come back to read my long-delayed conclusion. I'm glad to have finished it; it's a weight off my chest, and a closure for myself, in a way. Thanks to Chelsea and Togarrop for your kind words (no fear about a sequel, I hate when writers do that too!]. If anyone else has stuck around, let me know… I could use an ego boost before I get my first term marks.
Thanks for reading, and it's been fun writing for you all!
-Lizzzie-