Alright everybody, I'm back with the second to last chapter of this story. It's a bittersweet thing for me, it really is. I can't even believe I'm almost finished!
So, this chapter's kind of long, just a fair warning. I was surprised at its length to be honest with you.
Oh, and there's a part toward the end that seems like it shouldn't be there, but it sets up the epilogue and I did that purposely because it helps you understand what's going to happen in the next chapter. Personally, my favorite part is at the end with Hermione, Ron, Harry and Lizzie. It seemed so much like the actual books and I was just thrilled to have written it.
Soundtrack: My Name is Lincoln by Steven Jablonsky in the beginning, followed by Breathe by Michelle Branch at the end.
Disclaimer: Still nada.
Chapter Twenty Eight: New Beginnings
To walk out of the Forbidden Forest was like leaving a nightmare behind, it was like letting a part of myself go and knowing that it would never return to me. I was content, I was calm, but most of all I felt relieved; the feeling seeped through my body like water, and just knowing that Voldemort was gone made me realize that everything was going to be ok.
Harry's fingers were laced with mine, and I knew similar emotions were rushing through his head and he was also comforted by the fact that his nightmare was all over, seventeen years of his life had coexisted with fear and death, but now it was all gone. He was free; he was truly free of the ultimate responsibility that hung over his head.
We were saved, the entire magical community, and the entire world had been saved.
I looked over at Harry and saw that he was staring over at Grandpa Albus' tomb, the marble beacon of hope that cut through the night sky. Smiling, I leaned into him and squeezed his hand while murmuring, "He was the one who gave us the strength to go on, and he was the one who led us to where we are now."
"Yeah," Harry replied in a voice that was quietly raw, and when I looked over at him, his eyes were filling with tears and something more that I couldn't place. "Yeah, he really did."
I was about to respond, but a sudden wave of emotion made the words die on my tongue. A choking sensation rippled through the back of my throat as the back of my eyes burned with unshed tears; when I blinked them furiously, Grandpa Albus' dazzling white tomb began to blur. I looked back over to Harry, who was now crying freely for everything done and not done, for everything that had happened and for everything that didn't; he cried for life.
Squeezing his hand, I stopped resisting the tears that wanted to desperately spill over, and soon they were streaming down my cheeks, much like Harry's. Together, we cried freely, even though there was a power struggle developing over the grounds.
"HARRY!" A high-pitched, female voice shrieked over the sounds of battle, which were only now rapidly approaching our ears. "LIZZIE!"
Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw Hermione racing across the grounds, her face lit up with joy. Beside her, Ron was sprinting toward us and his face displayed absolute relief and utter happiness.
"Oh thank Merlin you're alright!" Hermione cried as she flung her arms around Harry's neck. "We thought—oh we thought the worst—oh Harry!" She began sobbing as she pulled away from Harry, and quickly threw her arms around me in a similar fashion. "Oh Lizzie—we thought you had died!" She choked out and wept into my shoulder. "We heard—we knew—oh Merlin!"
"It's good to have you back mate," Ron said briefly as he hugged Harry good and hard, but we knew the only reason why he was so brief was because he didn't want to cry in front of us. "We really thought we lost you." He squeezed Harry's shoulders once more and then punched them. "Don't ever do that to us again," He smiled weakly and his eyes glittered with unshed tears. "Thank Merlin you're alright."
"I wouldn't leave you—I wouldn't leave either of you for a second," Harry promised solemnly as he clapped Ron on the shoulder. "It's all done, he's gone…it's over…" He said quietly and watched them as their faces broke out in grins. "It's all over."
Hermione grabbed his hand and squeezed it, "I knew you could do it Harry, I never doubted you for a minute," She told him fervently and continued to smile through her tears. "You've just saved the world from a terrible fate—you're going to be a hero!"
"Thank Merlin," Ron breathed as he grabbed Lizzie's hand. "Thank Merlin he's gone—you two are both heroes," He looked over at me and grinned as he continued; "Now I'm doubly sorry that I ever called you a Death Eater."
A corner of my mouth pulled up in a smirk as I remembered the very beginning of my journey with the four of them. Ronald had thought I was a Death Eater and didn't trust me—that is until I proved it to him that I wasn't one. I would never forget this journey, it had been one that had changed my life in so many ways; nothing would ever be able to describe it.
Looking to his left and right, Harry smiled at us all and pulled out his wand, "So is it time to finally get rid of Voldemort's presence once and for all?" He asked, and then nodded his head toward the heated battles that were spread out across Hogwarts' grounds. "Should we finally get rid of the evil that has shrouded this country in darkness ever since I was a child?"
I laughed and pulled out my own wand, "Of course Mr. Potter, I'd do anything to get rid of the last of these brutes." Twirling it in my fingers, my gaze traveled our little troupe, and then it meandered to the grounds; I caught flashes of red, green and gold light through the hazy, smoky face of the land and every now and then a scream of a person or hiss of a spell would pierce through the incessant roar of battle.
"We wouldn't be able to do it without you," Hermione agreed and stared determinedly at the scene displayed in front of us; her jaw was set and her eyes were flaming, and it was in this moment I knew that she finally understood what the world was about.
"Of course mate, we're not letting you have a go at this alone," Ron assented and turned to face the battle; his hazel eyes were glimmering resolutely, and his jaw was set and firm. He was ready, and this time he wasn't an awkward child anymore—Ronald Weasley was a man.
"We're in this together," I began, reciting our motto one last time.
"Forever," Ron contributed immediately as he jutted his fist in front of him.
"Until the end of time," Hermione joined in, putting her fist on top of Ron's.
"Until the end of time," Harry repeated and placed his fist on top of Hermione's.
I looked at the three of them and felt a familiar burning sensation in the back of my eyes, but even so I placed my first on top of Harry's and murmured through a raw throat, "Forever."
&
The rounding up of Voldemort's last Death Eaters wasn't especially tricky, seeing as most of them surrendered once they realized Harry had succeeded. As soon as Harry, Hermione, Ron and I, along with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix and the Hogwarts' students nabbed up the rest of them, we handed them over to the Ministry of Magic, who arrived on the scene just after the Battle of Hogwarts—as it was now known.
After that, though, I had barely any memory. Something had happened when I was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange the second time—she had escaped from the Ministry's clutches—and she hit me with some sort of curse and after I had successfully killed her, I fainted.
No one could really grasp or explain what happened to me, not even Madam Pomfrey; her best explanation was that I was overtired from fighting Voldemort and at least a dozen Death Eaters.
But then again, no one really knew that I had died for a short amount of time, and I wasn't ready to divulge that fact.
Even so, I was doing fine after a day or two in the Hospital Wing; the only thing that had really bothered me was the burning ache in my shoulder, which was where Bellatrix's curse had hit me. For some reason it throbbed unusually, almost as if it was throbbing underneath the surface, but I hardly gave it a second thought.
So, on the day I was released from the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey's careful eye, I made my way to the inner courtyard, where a chipped fountain was gurgling and bubbling in the early morning mist. My fingers trailed over the roughly hewn stonework that was Hogwarts, and slowly I came up beside the fountain and sighed.
The unmistakable stench of death still lingered in the air, but it wasn't as putrid as it had been; in fact, most of the scars of battle were fading away and being reclaimed by the grounds. However, some wounds ran deep and would continue to bleed into the land, but for some reason I was certain that these people would be able to handle it. Our losses were numerous, but I knew that we could move on.
My breath lingered in the air for a split second after I exhaled, and the white mist disappeared. It had been a long journey and up until this point I had known what I was doing every step of the way; I had had something to live for, something to die for, and I knew exactly what my destiny was.
But now…well I wasn't exactly supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to have lived, I wasn't supposed to make such a strong connection with Hermione or Ron…or Harry. My heart skipped a beat as I thought about him, with his tidy hair and piercing emerald eyes…what on earth was I going to do now?
Slowly, I lowered my fingers into the freezing water and dragged them through it, making pathways that lasted for a fraction of a second before disappearing completely, meshing with the rest of the water that was being constantly interrupted by pelting drops.
"It feels weird, doesn't it?"
Hardly able to be startled, I straightened and slowly looked over my shoulder. "Yeah," I said, smiling at Harry as he stayed leaning against the archway that lead into the castle. "It really does feel strange not having anything to battle against everyday." There was a tinge of sarcasm in my words, but I was shocked at how serious it sounded.
"Yeah," He agreed quietly and lazily started walking forward toward me. "Because that's what usually makes my day." He grinned and extended his hand, reaching for mine.
Silently, I touched his hand with my own and our fingers intertwined themselves around each other. The moment somehow completed me, and it somehow made everything ok; I leaned into him and heard his heartbeat, sure and strong against his chest. Just listening to the intimate noise made me smile, but Harry couldn't see my lips curling up, he was looking past my head and up into the early morning sky.
"Lizzie," He said softly, pulling me gently away from my reverie. "There's something I have to tell you." His fingers tightened on mine and I could hear his heartbeat picking up.
"What is it?" I asked quietly, pulling my head back from his chest. "Is something wrong?" I asked when I looked into his eyes; they were dark and light at the same time, but they were also filled with love and confusion.
"No," He said quickly. "Everything's absolutely perfect." He took his free hand and smoothed my hair away from my face and smiled. "Everything's perfect."
Suddenly I realized what he was going to say, and in some way we had already confirmed our feelings for one another in the simplest ways possible. Without waiting for him to say anything, I smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.
Our lips met in a wonderful, tender kiss that seemed to last for an entire lifetime. Slowly, his hand cupped my cheek as I wound my hand around his wrist. In a short moment, the kiss became everything that we had and we were both lost in it, breathing in each other as though we were each other's life source.
Finally, I smiled against his lips and gently pulled away. "That just about covered everything, didn't it?" I breathed and leaned my forehead against his. Our noses touched for a brief instant before his lips broke out into a smile again.
"Yes, that covered everything," He said huskily and pulled me back into another kiss that was much more passionate than before. This time, his hands cradled the back of my neck and he let himself go and gave way to the emotions he was feeling.
I touched his face gently with my hands, and traced his cheek with my fingers as we continued to kiss and let our feelings have the better of us.
This was all I had ever wanted to do with him, he meant everything to me and I was finally able to come to terms with the idea that I could possibly love Harry Potter with my entire heart. I was finally sure of myself.
Harry pulled away and put his arms around me, holding me as closely as possible. "I love you Lizzie," He murmured gently into my hair. "I think I've always loved you."
Smiling into his chest, I whispered, "I love you too."
We stood like that, folded in a tender embrace, for a long time before I finally pulled away and looked up at him. His emerald eyes were starry, almost as though he were in a daze of love. I could tell he truly loved me; Harry's emotions were always displayed on his sleeve no matter how much he tried to hide them.
He leaned over and kissed the top of my head and said, "Would you like to visit Dumbledore?" Keeping his chin on the top of my head, he waited for the answer.
"Yes," I answered quietly and felt him pull away. "Yes I do."
Together, hand in hand, we walked up to the tombstone of my noble grandfather. The white marble gleamed against the early morning sky and had been slightly dirtied during the battle, but it was no less magnificent.
As soon as we reached the white marble, I touched my free hand to it and traced the engraving before pressing my lips to it. "Merlin, I miss you Grandpa," I whispered in a low voice, but didn't care if Harry overheard me. "Thank you for everything; I couldn't have done any of this without you. I owe you my life." Tears prickled the back of my eyes, and I felt a familiar choking sensation in the back of my throat and soon I was crying over my Grandfather's grave, my tears falling onto the white marble.
Harry touched his hand to the marble beside mine, and he murmured something I couldn't hear, but soon after he pulled me into a tight hug. "He was everything to you, wasn't he?"
Not able to find the words to describe my Grandfather, I merely nodded against Harry's shirt and continued to cry. Grandpa Albus was my everything; he had saved me from darkness when I was a child, and he had finally created something that I had never had: a home. He was one of the best men I had ever known.
"He's never going to leave you, you know," Harry murmured consolingly. "He's always going to be in your heart, even when you don't want him there. He'll always be there."
I pulled away from him and noticed that his eyes were shining with unshed tears. He knew exactly what I was going through, and he knew that even though someone had died they were always there…his parents, his godfather…everyone he had ever known. "I know," I murmured and leaned against him once again. "I know."
&
Amid the incessant confusion after Voldemort's death, children were still children and the end of the school year was rapidly approaching. In an honorary memory to the Last Battle, McGonagall had called off all exams and students were running wildly across the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They hardly knew what had made the divots in the ground, or what had destroyed an entire section of wall, but they knew it was from something important.
Together, Harry, Hermione, Ron and I sat underneath a beech tree beside the lake where the Giant Squid lazily raised a tentacle out of the water. I was leaning against Harry's legs while Hermione was sitting between Ron's and resting comfortably on his chest. We sat in silence for a long time, just idly watching the children or the Giant Squid float by.
It was some sort of peacefulness that we all felt, and none of us wanted to ruin the moment, so none of us talked; the shrieks of delighted children were enough for us all.
Finally, I let my gaze wander from the groups of first and second years and I saw a red-headed girl laughing happily with a friend of hers, but then I saw her eyes shift toward the four of us grouped beside the lake. Ginny Weasley sighed and looked back at her friend and continued the conversation.
Harry, knowing exactly where my gaze had wandered, put his chin on my shoulder and said, "I don't know what to do."
"You have to do something," I admonished him gently. "You went out with her, she was waiting for you." I looked at our hands, which were currently entwined on the grass and watched his shake slightly. "I know you're nervous, but I'm sure she'll be understanding even if she is a Weasley—" I broke off to stick my tongue out at Ron before continuing, "She hasn't stomped over yet has she?"
Sighing, he nodded his head and kissed my shoulder. "I suppose you're right, I can't put it off for forever." Squeezing my hand, he stood and pulled away from me.
"Life without the ever lurking threat of Voldemort," I told him and slid back until my back was against the beech tree. "Somehow it seems to be a lot more complicated, eh?" I joked and watched his mouth break out in a grin.
"You've no idea," He told me with a slight shake of his head and smiled before turning and walking toward Ginny.
Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the peaceful, content feeling I was experiencing right now, and I never wanted it to change.
"You know that I'm not holding anything against you," Ginny said with a slight shake of her red hair. "I would never do that Harry. You feel what you feel, you don't what you don't. I could tell you felt strongly for her as soon as you met her, it just took you awhile." Grinning wickedly, she punched him in the shoulder. "It always takes boys awhile."
Laughing with her, he shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."
"And anyways, she's a Dumbledore and she's beautiful—she's everything you could ever want. Harry, Lizzie's perfect for you."
"Ginny you—"
"Don't," She said quickly and shook her head again. "I don't even want to hear it because none of what you say is true." Smiling happily, she continued, "Besides, I'm much happier not being attached to a public hero; that's a lot of stress."
He laughed gratefully and watched her laugh as well. "Yeah, I suppose you're right about that. Wouldn't want you to go mental or anything," He grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. "Try and stay sane for me, alright? And be careful who you date, I don't want anyone to be a prat like me."
"Oh sod off Potter," She retorted and folded her arms over her chest. "I've already got six brothers, I don't need a seventh."
"But how about a friend?"
She stopped and looked up at him with a bright smile on her face. "Of course," She told him. "We're always going to be friends."
He smiled and hugged her briefly. "Thanks Ginny, thanks for understanding."
"Of course," Her eyes found Lizzie who was sleeping by the beech tree. "She is really everything, isn't she?"
"Lizzie is my entire world, she's everything I need," He confessed as he watched her sleeping contentedly. "She's everything I've ever wanted."
"Good," She said. "Don't lose her Harry, don't you dare lose her."
"I won't, I'm not ever letting her go."
"My sister didn't chew your head off, way to go mate," Ron called laughingly as the crunch of dried grass signaled Harry's approach. "I'm surprised; I would have expected her temper to get the better of her. You have survived the temper of Ginevra Weasley."
My eyes fluttered open and I saw Harry standing above me, his emerald eyes fixed on mine—he was the only person who I wanted to wake up to. I smiled and he smiled back before sitting down beside me. Quickly, I pushed myself off the beech tree and placed myself in between his legs and let his arms come around my shoulders.
"Surviving the wrath of Ginny Weasley wasn't too bad Ron, you'd be surprised."
"Naturally," He shrugged and twisted Hermione's fingers with his. "I'm surprised at everything my sister's been doing these days."
Smiling on my shoulder, he said, "She understands everything." And then he tangled his fingers with mine and our hands rested in my lap. After, he lifted his head and rested it on the top of my head as he pulled me back against his chest. "She saw it long before I did Ron; she knew it was going to happen."
"I know," I interrupted and smiled. "I could see it in her eyes; I could see the resolve and the determination not to hate me. She knew long before any of us did."
Sighing, he nodded and I felt his chin brush the top of my head. "The reality is, is now that Voldemort's gone we all have to face our human lives."
"I think we'll be ok," Hermione chimed in and grinned at me from where she was sitting. "I think we'll all be ok."
"You know," I added with a tinge of humor in my voice. "I think that solving human problems is going to be pretty easy, I mean being non-human was pretty difficult there."
Harry ruffled my hair and said, "Hey, you know what I mean," but even as he said it I could hear the grin that he could barely contain in his voice. Leaning down he whispered in my ear, "Human trifles my sweet."
I burst out laughing and turned to look back at him. "Now you're just being silly—ack!" Grimacing, I felt my shoulder burning once again and then the familiar sensation of the pain pulsing down my entire body. I collapsed against Harry and I felt his arms hold me close, trying to comfort me in whatever way he could.
Hermione leaned forward as I began to whimper into Harry's shirt, and Ron followed her lead and together all three of them tried their best to comfort me through my horrible spasm of pain.
"Shh, shh," Harry murmured into my ear as he held my trembling body. "Hold on Lizzie, just hold on for me."
Hermione's small fingers touched my face and she was saying something I couldn't make out. Beside her, Ron was touching my back and rubbing it while saying something inaudible.
"Come on Lizzie, fight through this," Harry kept saying over and over as he continued to pull me closer. "You've got to fight whatever blasted thing Bellatrix did to you."
Shivering, I looked up at him and reached for his lips with my own. "Kiss me," I whispered and he instantly obeyed my command and put his lips on my own. The sheer shock of the kiss sent ripples of peace and pleasure down my spine which helped soothe the ache in my body.
He broke away and kissed my forehead as I began to calm down and settle comfortably in his arms once more. "Are you alright?" He whispered, realizing that his kiss had pulled me out of my lapse of anguish.
"Yeah…" I replied weakly and took his hand in mine. For now I would forget about what the unbearable pain could mean, for now I would forget my responsibilities to this newly developed magical community; for now I would just be wrapped up in the one person that mattered most to me. "I'm fine Harry. I'm never going to leave you, I promise."
For now, all that mattered was that everyone around me was safe, and that I had finally found a place where I could just be who I was without any fear, or without any deception. I could finally just be Elizabeth Jane Dumbledore and finally have the peace in my world that I hadn't had since I was born.
I could be free.
"We're never leaving each other," Hermione promised solemnly and leaned back against Ron once more. "Not until we take our last dying breath."
"Together," Ron started with a wry grin on his face.
"Forever," Hermione added with the same grin.
"Until the end of time," Harry said gently and the corner of his mouth quirked up in remembrance. He squeezed my fingers gently and kissed them.
"Until the end of time," I echoed and smiled at Ron and Hermione, who had become lost in one another. Finally, I turned and looked up at Harry with the same smile on my face. "I love you," I told him softly and he lowered his lips until they were a fraction above mine.
"I love you too," He responded just as softly before I reached up and our lips met in a kiss that seemed to last for all of eternity.
And this, yes this, was where I wanted to be.
&
Love it? Hate it? Sad that its almost over?
Review!
