Chapter 23 - Epilogue & Playlist

10 years later

"Honey?! Do you have the map?" George called from the back garden.

Luna poked her head out of the kitchen window. "Managed to find a new hidey hole, have they?"

"Yes and I'll be damned if I can figure out where it is this time."

With a flick of her wrist Luna sailed a rolled up parchment to her husband. He unrolled their family's version of the Marauder's Map and began searching for two of their errant children.

All those years ago, that night on the beach in front of Shell Cottage, George had encouraged Luna to follow her heart and pursue her dreams. The next morning she went to Dorset and took Rolf Scamander up on his offer regarding the expedition to Slovakia. George came to see her off and the two wrote each other multiple times a day until her return. George even managed to borrow his father's car to make a clandestine overseas visit once or twice.

When she got back she stayed at George's flat until her house was ready then they split their time between the two places. They used her new garden to grow even more ingredients for the shop and in her spare time Luna wrote and published the story of her father's illness and discovery of the tatzelwurm. It found a wide audience and was praised not only in the mainstream press but also in the most respected wizarding scientific journals.

A year after she returned from her expedition George sought a blessing from Mr. Ollivander before proposing to Luna on the rooftop garden at the shop. They married soon afterwards in a small outdoor ceremony at the Burrow surrounded by friends and family. Little Sofia served as flower girl and gleefully helped George set off a barrage of Dragon Sneezes at the reception.

The pair moved to the cottage and let Ron and Hermione take possession of the flat. Two years later they welcomed a daughter, Selena, followed two years after that by the twins, Freddie and Arthur.

George consulted the map and finally uncovered the boys newest hiding place - a crawl space they'd dug under their mother's garden shed. He levitated the pair out, hoisted them onto his shoulders and carried them towards the house.

"No fair!" Freddie whined as his father deposited on the kitchen floor. "Using the map is cheating!"

"It's not cheating. It's strategy. Learn the difference," said George.

"What's stra-ja-tee?" asked Arthur.

Seven year old Selena was sitting on the divan trying to decide whether to use the primrose crayon or the lavender on her drawing of a blibbering humdinger. "It's pronounced strat-a-gee. It means a plan of action designed to achieve an overall goal. A sort of game plan. You know, like what I use all the time to beat you both in Wizard Chess."

George rolled eyes and looked at his wife. "I see Auntie Hermione's been for a visit."

"How could you tell?" Luna laughed. "And you should be glad. You don't even want to hear what they've picked up from Uncle Ron and Aunt Ginny."

"So what makes strat-a-gee different than cheating?" challenged Fred.

"What's different is I'm your father and I get to make the rules. Now run along and wash up for supper or there'll be no stories tonight."

Little Arthur gasped. "But Mum's just got to the good part!"

George ruffled the boy's hair. "Exactly. And if you don't get a move on you'll never know what happened." Not wanting to risk their beloved story time the children dashed off in a mad attempt to be the first one at the bathroom sink.

George flopped down next to Luna on the couch. "Remind me to send my parents a present."

"What kind of present?"

"Dunno but they did this seven times. They deserve something."

The two of them chuckled and George was just leaning in to kiss his wife when a loud noise erupted from the loo as the kids fought over who got to wash up first. George sighed and started to get up but Luna gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You've had a long day at the shop. I've got this. You sit and rest."

He watched her leave the room and smiled as he heard her tickle the children until their arguments dissolved into peals of laughter. In that moment he realized once again what an incredibly lucky man he was. True, he and Luna had both lost things that they could never get back but he wouldn't trade what they had found in each other for anything in the world.

THE END

If you've read this far I sincerely thank you and hope you enjoyed the journey. If so, please consider reading some of my other stories. For the first time, I've included a playlist of a few songs that helped inspire this work. Feel free to give them a listen if you're not already familiar with them. As always, kind and constructive feedback is always welcomed.

Playlist
Luke Sital Singh "Nothing Stays the Same"
Luke Sital Singh "It's Killing Me"
Dear Evan Hansen "You Will Be Found"
Lauren Daigle "Rescue"
Avicii "Friend of Mine"
Christina Aguilera "Beautiful"