Epilogue: Promise

Welcome Home, while away

They have tampered with the locks

And your things they rearranged

"We propose a better way"

Said the note they left behind

In their wake of disarray

~The Strength to Go On by Rise Against

And now, as I fly over the Atlantic ocean, I can hear my child snore on top of my head. I smile slightly as we approach a familiar shaped island in the distance. My partner is there, slowly becoming whole again, with the love of her life by her side.

Jethro sleeps soundly on my head as we continue to fly, leaving the war behind us in our wake as our shadows soared in the waves below. I am tired from the long journey, especially since I hadn't completely recovered from the Battle of Nevada and every wound it had inflicted upon my person.

Everything is so wet, I need to get to dry land, and relatively quickly would be nice.

We are now flying over the countryside to get to their small little home in Hogsmeade, the children chirping in happiness at the prospect of reaching somewhere safe where they could rest, and Illy excited about reaching her bond again. Emralda yawns next to me and I know we both will be sleeping for a long time as soon as the moment arises.

The wet British air doesn't help with the fact that all I require at the moment is fire, rocks, and mountains. It does help that it is so natural and wild out, so that at least I'm not trying to fly through smog and urbania.

We come up to the village, where one nice cozy house is sitting a bit of a ways off from the others. I can now read Maggie's thoughts. She and Neville are thinking of visiting Ernie and Hannah at their flat above the Hog's Head just a street away. She is excited at the presence of my mind and I know she and the children have just run outside to greet us, Neville following behind muttering something about her needing to rest her leg.

I laugh. Even for someone who knows literally everything about her, he still has a lot to learn. Well, he knows it, but he has to realize that even fruitless pleas fall on deaf ears with that woman.

We land in the backyard and the children who are asleep on our backs yawn and start to wake as the ones who flew on their own begin to call in excitement. My partner limps outside, a smile appearing on her scarred face as Alice and Nate come sprinting out, Alice throwing her arms around Illy (who has now grown to the size of a Hypogriff) and Nate coming up and hugging me as well. It still warms my heart to know that, as much as his fall from my back may have scarred him, he still was fond of me as a person.

Neville also appears from the house and he smiles at me, walking over to Maggie and wrapping his arm around her waist. She sighs and leans into his embrace, her head resting between his shoulder and his neck. He turns his face ever so slightly and rests his cheek against her forehead, closing his eyes slightly at the touch. She reaches with her arm to rest her hand on top of his on her waist and wraps her other arm around his shoulder.

They are so content that I almost want to start purring myself, feeling what she does through the link.

They walk forward and she puts her hand on my snout fondly, smiling at me with eyes that are perhaps less pained than they had been the last time I see them. At the least, they are happier, and I know that she will not leave the man by her side again for any reason at all. She has earned that right.

"Thanks Thai," Neville grins at me slightly, his hand dropping slightly to rest on Maggie's hip, "Not sure if she'd be alive if it weren't for you."

"We're never sure of that one," I chuckle a bit. Maggie smiles and looks over at Neville with such adoration that I realize with a jolt that Jethro really had no chance in hell.

"Well, there are plenty of fields and mountains for you guys behind the house. I expect you must be exhausted," Maggie nodded, "How are things back home?"

"Terrible," Emralda answers gravely in her soothing voice. It seems to startle Neville, who had never met Emralda before, and probably imagined her differently, "When we left, they were attacking DC."

"With all of Elisha's little top-cronies dead?" Maggie responds sharply, shock entering her features.

"Apparently, Elisha is going to enter the throng herself this time, and even that aside, she has new top-cronies. Some of whom you know-Gred, Forge, Amy and Nia."

"Great," she groans, holding her face in her hands. Neville gently turns her to face him, holding her softly by the waist.

"Maggie," he whispers, "It'll be OK."

"How can you know? I'm not there to fight! They're going to be helpless without me- poor Miss Olson, poor Kylie and Richard and Ezra and Leslie and Kita!"

"It'll be OK because I'm going to work very, very hard to get them over here, where they'll be safe. I promise," Neville looks into her eyes and she calms some under his gaze.

She wraps her arms tightly around his shoulders and neck and he wraps his around her waist, him slouched so he can bury his head in her neck. She sighs visibly and leans into him and Nate starts giggling behind his hand- immature children.

I love them, but they're immature nine year olds, what can be expected?

Alice is also giggling and she leads Nate over to Illy, all three talking excitedly. I hear catches of the words "Doing it" and "Baby" and "Siblings" and "All the time!" I roll my eyes to the heavens above and Emralda snorts slightly. Maggie and Neville are not phased, his arms still wrapped tightly around her, her hands buried in his shaggy hair.

I probe her thoughts and I learn that, whenever it looks like she is about to break with all the pressure and pain of the past ten years, all he had to do was hold her and she would calm again. As such, their hugs went on much too long of late.

Emralda turns to me and gives me a pointed, exhausted look. I nod and nudge Maggie gently, kindly. She pulls back slightly from Neville, still deep in his embrace, and nods at me.

"Go sleep," Maggie pats my nose again, "We'll talk when you're rested."

"Thanks," I murmur sleepily, and Emralda and I take off for the dragon-free mountains, our children safe on our backs.

For now, there was no enemy but exhaustion.

AN: WOOHOO FINISHED PART TWO! Did not think that would happen before I moved, but here I am, still quite a long while before take-off. Thanks you guys for being a great readership and I hope you stick with me for part three, as irregularly posted as it will be.

Thanks to IloveNerds543, Oh-Holy-Ruler-Mika-chan, Anonymous, Iilyllama, and Bubbles of Ebil! You guys have been really great, seriously. I hope you'll stick around for part three, but I know how crazy school is. I will respond to your reviews shortly!

Four reviews for the prologue to part three- which is a lot more exciting/revealing of information than this was. I actually typed it up already so I might be able to post it in a relatively quick manner.

Review!