When they got there they heard paintings clapping and Dumbledore smiling.

Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas Niggelus called, in his high, reedy voice, "And let it be noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten!"

But Neville had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster's chair.

Tears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled Harry with the same balm as phoenix song.

At last, Neville held up his hands, and the portraits fell respectfully silent, beaming and mopping their eyes and waiting eagerly for him to speak. He directed his words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with enormous care.

Still tired and bleary-eyed though he was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last piece of advice.

"The thing that was hidden in the Snitch," he began, "I dropped it in the forest. I don't exactly know where, but I'm not going to go looking for it again. Do you agree?"

"My dear boy, I do," said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious. "A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of you. Does anyone know else know where it fell?"

"No one," said Neville, and Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction.

"I'm going to keep Ignotus's present, though," said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed.

"But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on!"

"And then there's this."

Neville held up the Elder Wand, and Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence.

"I don't want it." said Neville.

"What?" said Ron loudly. "Are you mental?"

"I know it's powerful," said Neville wearily. "But I was happier with mine. So . . ."

He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out the two halves of holly still just connected by the finest threat of phoenix feather.

He laid the broken wand upon the headmaster's desk, touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand, and said,

"Reparo."

As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end.. He picked up the holly and phoenix wand and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion.

"I'm putting the Elder Wand," he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, "back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won't it? The previous master will never have been defeated. That'll be the end of it."

Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other.

"Are you sure?" said Ron.

There was the faintest trace of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand.

"I think Neville's right," said Harry quietly.

"That wand's more trouble than it's worth." said Neville.

"And quite honestly," he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher or Tweeky might bring him a sandwich there, "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

"You can say that again." Harry said.

"Come on. Let's go see Madam Pomfrey. Call Tweeky or Kreacher and ask them to make us something to eat." Neville said.

They nodded and headed to Madam Pomfrey.

When they got there she looked at them and fixed them up. Harry called Tweeky and asked her for some food.

"Yes Master Harry, in Tweeky's opinion Master Harry and Master Neville deserve food." she said.

He and Tracey smiled after she went to the kitchen.

After Madam Pomfrey was done and they finished their food Neville was out of it first, then Harry and then Ron and Hermione looked at their friends and smiled. Then they fell asleep to.

They deserve the rest they got.

A few days had gone by and they still hadn't told Tweeky and Kreacher about their parents, godparents and Sirius yet.

They stood there in Godrics Hollow quietly looking at their family graves Harry and Neville looked at each other.

"I guess I have to take lordship of the Potters and Black don't I?" Harry said.

Neville nodded.

"You staying at Potter Manor?"

"I'm staying at Potter Manor then after school I'll head to Longbottom Manor. I'm gonna finish my last school year. You?"

"Same. I'm gonna finish school and then accept the auror offers Kingsley gave us. Ron's not going back to school. Just us and Hermione."

Then he thought of something.

"Why don't I have Kreacher stay at home. That way he can still work and have help with Tweeky?"

"Sounds good. KREACHER!"

"TWEEKY!"

They called together.

Then they heard two snaps at once.

"Master Harry call Kreacher?" he said.

"Master Neville call Tweeky?" she asked smiling.

"Yes, I'm staying at Potter Manor for the next year so one of you can go to Hogwarts or Potter Manor. Your choice." Neville said.

"Kreacher will stay with his Master Harry at Potter Manor. Can Kreacher ask why?"

"And can Tweeky ask Master Harry why he and Master Neville are here and where Master James and Mistress Lily are?" Tweeky asked.

"Mum, dad, Sirius and Remus are gone Tweeky, Kreacher." Harry said.

Tweeky burst into tears. While Kreacher stood there in shock.

"Come here Tweeky. Let it all out. We can dry our clothes." Harry said.

So she ran into his arms.

When they all calmed down they looked at the graves.

"Well, why don't we go to Potter Manor and have some dinner?" Neville said.

"Sounds good. Tweeky, do you mind giving me a ride?" he said.

"Of course Master Harry!" Tweeky said smiling then took his hand and was gone.

"Same thing with me Kreacher?" Neville asked.

"Of course Master Neville." he said.

So like Harry did with Tweeky he held onto his hand and was gone.

When they got home they had Tweeky and Kreacher make dinner.

While they did that Harry and Neville sat in the living room quietly.

"This is going to be hard." Neville said.

"Yeah. But we'll always have each other. From the day we're born to the day we die we'll always have each other. Even though you're a day older than me." Harry said.

So they gave each other a brother hug and then went and had dinner.

It was a hard war and they lost a lot of people they care about but will always have them and their friends. They'll also have each other for the rest of their life.

Chapter 20

Nineteen Years Later,

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air.

Two large cages tattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed fearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Neville told her.

"Two years," sniffed Alice. "I want to go now!"

The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Albus' voice drifted back to Neville over the surrounding clamor; his sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car.

"I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!"

"Frank, give it a rest!" said Ginny.

"I only said he might be," said Frank, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth -"

But Frank caught his mother's eye and fell silent.

The five Longbottoms approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger brother, Frank took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.

"Not every day," said Albus quickly,

"Frank says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"Harry and Daphne wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Neville put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which Frank had already disappeared.

"Where are they?" asked Albus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Ginny reassuringly.

But the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud, Neville thought he head Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello . . . .

"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny suddenly.

A group of seven people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Neville, Ginny, Alice, and Albus had drawn right up to them.

"Hi," said Albus, sounding immensely relieved.

Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Neville. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."

"No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."

"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered to Harry, and Neville as together then Ron and Neville lifted Albus' trunk and owl onto the train.

"I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it; I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

Harry and Neville laughed quietly.

Back on the platform, they found Lily, Alice, Hugo, Rose's younger brother having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron, "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily, Hugo and Alice laughed, but Albus and Rose looked solemn.

"He doesn't mean it," said Hermione and Ginny, but Ron was no longer paying attention.

"What about me dad?" Severus asked.

Harry smiled and so did Daphne.

"Don't worry sweetie, we don't care. Remember I was a Slytherin." Daphne said.

Catching Harry's eye, she nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is." Harry said.

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasized the pointed chin? The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Neville and Severus resembled Harry.

Draco caught sight of Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Daphne staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.

He and Astriad are still a little surprised Daphne married a halfblood and Harry of all people.

"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath.

"Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!"

"Excuse me, but Harry married me and Draco's wife is my sister. Remember? And I was a Slytherin." Daphne said.

Ron winced remembering she was a pureblood.

"Right, sorry." he said.

Frank had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam.

"Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing -" said James.

"You interrupted them?" said Daphne. "You are so like Ron -"

"- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry. "Why don't we just invite him to live with is and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Sev-Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Sev will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

Neville checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.

"It's nearly eleven; you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Seamus our love!" Ginny told Frank as she hugged him.

"Same for us James." Daphne said.

"But you know Seamus-"

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Finnegan, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love . . . ."

Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Severus.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the Thestrals." Neville said.

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

But Frank merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Neville told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Ginny kissed Albus goodbye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Neville as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you're learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and Neville knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Neville crouched down so that Albus' face was slightly above his own. Alone of Neville's three children, Albus had inherited Alice's eyes.

"Albus Severus," Neville said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, "you, like Harry's second son were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-"

"- then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for Harry," said Neville.

He had never told any of his children that Harry told him before, and he saw the wonder in Albus' face when he said it. But now the door were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders, Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him.

Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Neville.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo, Alice and Lily laughed.

"Yeah right! It's me and Neville they look at. Especially Neville." Harry said.

"Why exactly do they look at you dad?" Lily asked.

Harry and Neville froze for a second.

"They look at me because I survived the night to from Neville protecting me. He went in front of me that night so technically I survived that night to." Harry said.

The train began to more, and Neville walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Neville kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him.

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Neville's hand was still raised in farewell.

"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny.

As Neville looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.

"I know he will."

The scar had not pained Neville for nineteen years.