"…It is finished…"

-John 19:30

The Master of Life

The two of them walked out of the main chamber together, hand-in-hand, to meet with Lucius and Ron and Hermione. Malfoy definitely had a look of disappointment that he had not done what he had come there to do, but Harry appreciated the gesture all the same. He would be telling the wizarding world about his honest change, even though few would believe him at first. Harry conjured a blanket for Ginny, who was still shaking from the events of the past couple days, and the four of them slowly but surely got back out of the castle, outside the anti-Apparation ward, and back to the Hogwarts grounds.

A short walk later, they split up. Lucius returned home, Ron and Hermione left Harry to tend to Ginny's emotional wounds, and the newlyweds stayed outside. "I just figured you didn't wanna talk to people or anything right now."

"Thank you, Harry." She put her head on his shoulder and they walked down the sloping lawns to the beech tree that had become so special. Harry could still see his dad playing with a snitch in front of Wormtail, showing off for Lily, but he was going to use these moments to comfort and strengthen the one person who provided him with his own comfort and strength. They sat down against the trunk of the tree, Ginny's back in his Harry's chest, for hours in complete solitude. He thought for a second that Ron and Hermione may have gone straight to Minerva and asked that no one go onto the grounds today, and he appreciated his friendships all the more.

As he sat there, drifting in and out of sleep, he not only thought about Ginny, who was his entire world, but also everything else in his life. He thought about sharing sweets with Ron on that first trip on the Hogwarts' Express. He thought about defending Hermione against a mountain troll. He thought about Parseltongue, a Dueling Club, the Chamber of Secrets, purebloods, and the four founders. He thought about Sirius, Azkaban, Hagrid's innocence, and his parents' friends. He thought about Barty Crouch, house elves, and graveyards. He thought about the Ministry of Magic, prophecies, the Order of the Phoenix, and Grimmauld Place. He thought about Horace Slughorn, powerful potions, the D.A., and the wisest person he would ever know.

He thought about his parents, the night they died, and the two open seats at his wedding…

Even though there were terrible and haunting memories in his past, everything came back to the present. He knew that he would not trade a single moment in the main chamber of Voldemort's Castle or a dream about kissing Ginny while she was dating Dean Thomas for EVERYTHING that had happened since then. In spite, or perhaps because, of everything that had happened in Harry's life, he had become the person he was today. He was with the person he was with today. He had the friends that he had today. He was always going to remember the past, appreciate the present, and hold out hope for the future. There was no other way to live.

Eventually, Ginny began stirring once more. Apparently she was sleeping even more than Harry was against that tree trunk, and it was time for the both of them to rejoin the rest of their classmates inside the castle. They got up, hugged again, and walked the familiar steps back to the gates, up the staircases (taking no shortcuts), and through the portrait hole into the common room where a host of students were waiting for them.

No one cheered. No one tried to press themselves upon the couple. It was merely a collective salutation. A communal show of affection, gratification, and support. The Gryffindor house had stayed inside the common room, not taking advantage of the lovely weather, and welcomed Harry and Ginny back with silence and admiration. Harry couldn't think of anything to say. He saw Ron standing in the corner, hugging Hermione close, and nodded to him in appreciation of everything they had done, not only in the past eight years, but more importantly the last eight hours.

Everyone gave completely silent head nods and hand shakes before retiring to their own dormitories, leaving the foursome alone in front of the fire once again.

"Thank you." Harry said simply, curling up with Ginny in the huge armchair while Ron and Hermione took the couch.

"Thank you, Harry." His friends said simultaneously. "Thank you for being you." Ron added.

After that, the rest of the night was spent retelling the fun times they had all had together, from Umbridge to Luna, from Fred to Flitwick, and from Dobby to Dumbledore. Amazingly, the rest of the house had respected their wishes the entire night, and the four of them all went to sleep in the common room that night. When Harry awoke the next morning, it was to find people trying to pass by them as quietly as possible while he silently gestured to them that it was ok that they needed to go to class. He smiled as he looked around the room each time another students passed by, hoping that their time inside these walls would be just as joyous as his had been. He remembered nothing but the good times now, nothing but the positive, while still acknowledging the suffering and pain.

It was a Friday, and the four of them all took the day off. They actually persuaded Hermione to borrow a broom and go flying around the Quidditch pitch for an hour before she finally put a stop to that. She insisted that no one should know how horrible she was at something, even if you couldn't learn it out of a book. Minerva visited them in the common room to check up, and they assured her that everything was ok, but eventually reality set back in, and of course, Hermione was the one to remind them of their daily obligations, or in this case, their powerful ones.

"So what are you going to do, Harry?"

"About what?" He didn't really understand. He was playing a game of chess with Ron, while getting very sweet yet undeserved compliments from Ginny.

"About the Daughters?" The foursome went silent. It seemed as if the chessmen were even paying attention.

"What do you mean?"

"You're going to have to deal with this. After the Battle of Hogwarts, you destroyed the Elder Wand and forgot about the Resurrection Stone, but something has to be done about the Daughters, or else someone else might try to take them from you."

"Hermione!" Ginny squeaked, but not seriously, she just didn't wanna have to deal with this anymore than Harry did.

"I know. I've thought about it. And I can only come to two conclusions." Sadly, at that very moment, Cedrella flew down the stairs to join them. Harry wished she would not hoot at him.

"And they are?" She insisted.

"The only options are hiding or sacrificing, and I think all of us have had enough of the latter."

"Agreed." Ron and Ginny said in unison.

"There is another option." Ron added.

"What?" Hermione asked, as if this had nothing to do with Harry, and it was more of an academic question.

"Harry is now the Master of Life, or whatever." He paused to make sure no one would hex him. "He can use the Daughters if he wants to."

"Ronald!" Hermione screeched.

"Ron, seriously, you know I don't want to. The thought of being like Nicolas Flamel just scares me."

"And that Perenelle didn't seem like a looker to me." Ginny added with a wry smile.

"I know, I'm just sayin'…" Ron trailed off.

"Harry, if I could interject…" Cedrella hooted.

"Did the owl just say something?" Hermione was way too perceptive, and Harry decided to speak English just in case.

"Yes?"

"I would be willing to do whatever it took to ensure the safety of my friends and my master."

"Ced, we're not gonna do anything like that."

"Very well, but that was a very specific response. You've got a few people looking at you in a strange way now, so you're going to have to deal with this one way or another."

Harry looked around and saw that his friends were indeed looking incredulous. "What?"

"Are you talking to you owl like conversationally?" Hermione asked. Ron looked a lot like Crabbe or Goyle, while Ginny was concerned as always.

"Ok, I'm sorry that I didn't wanna freak you guys out about this. I was trying to date you," he nodded at Ginny, "and date your sister," he nodded at Ron, "and not scare the wits out of you," he nodded at Hermione.

"The humming! You were speaking in owl speak or whatever!!" Ron yelled.

"Yeah. I'm sorry." Ginny looked disappointed that he would keep something from her, but he figured that he could fix it right away.

"Ok, Ced. Can you just fly away as far as you can so there is no way of this happening again?"

"Where would you have me go, Harry?"

"I don't know, some place nice that's on the other side of the globe?"

"I have heard, from some of the other creatures, about New Zealand."

"It's nice?"

"Apparently."

"Well, ok, have fun in New Zealand. And at the first sign of trouble, fly back here, ok?"

"New Zealand?" Ron asked.

"Yes. That's where she is going to live now." Harry explained.

"Ok, well, watch out for the kangaroos." Ron joked.

"That's Australia." Hermione corrected.

"Whatever." They all burst out laughing as Harry had a heartfelt goodbye with his owl, wondering if he would ever have an owl he could call his own again. At any rate, Cedrella, the Snowy Daughter, flew out the window and off towards an unknown land, never to be seen again.

"Well, I guess the only thing we have to worry about now is the Fourth Task…" Hermione added with a mischievous grin.