Title: to the victor

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: darkish, AUish, ignores epilogue

Pairings: none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 375

Point of view: third

Prompt: Harry Potter, Harry Potter, someday they'll sing about his great deeds


Once, there was a man called Tom Riddle, named for the father he only met once, the day he killed him.

Tom Riddle renamed himself Voldemort and sought to rule the world.

He failed.

.

What does history remember?

What its writer allows it to.

.

Once, there was a man called Harry Potter. He was a son of heroes, raised as a servant and whipping boy, and he learned how to survive.

He was destined to be a hero. Or so he was told, by a conniving old man who wasn't nearly as clever as he believed.

.

What is the best way to win?

Make it look like you're trying to lose.

.

When the dust settles, Harry Potter is alive and Voldemort is not.

When the blood dries, Harry Potter is alive and Dumbledore is not.

When the war is over, Harry Potter is alive.

Well.

.

Harry Potter is a benevolent victor. He owes his life to Narcissa Malfoy, and the Slytherins are just children, and this is a time of healing, not of punishing.

With Hermione and Ron, with Neville and Luna, with Draco Malfoy - this is a time of change, the Man Who Lived announces, and with the government in shambles, he is hailed as the shining light.

.

Once, there was a boy in the cupboard under the stairs.

Once, there was a boy who asked for help and was slapped down.

Once, there was a boy who learned so very much indeed.

.

Luna is the first to ask. Draco never does.

.

What does history remember?

The better question is, what was never even forgotten because no one bothered to remember in the first place.

.

Once, there was a man called Albus Dumbledore. He is given barely a chapter in Hogwarts, a History because he was, after all, Headmaster.

Once, there was a man called Tom Riddle. He is given a paragraph in Dark Wizards of the 20th Century.

Harry Potter, though - he is remembered as the Man Who Lived, who led the magical UK back onto a world stage, who (with help from Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy) reformed the government into something equal and open to all.

The boy from the cupboard, in the end, won.

.

What does history remember?

His story.