* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART THREE

The Eighth Year

Chapter 1: Out of the Ashes, a Phoenix Will Rise

A/N: THIS STORY HAS BEEN ENTIRELY REWRITTEN SINCE THE ORIGINAL WAS PUBLISHED.

~ So this story has been made into a series. See the details of which below!

~ Part One: Just Another Thing (Oneshot with insight into sixth year from Theo's POV)

~ Part Two: Last Call for Sin (20 chapters. Seventh year from the POV of those in Hogwarts)

~ Part Three: The Eighth Year (65 chapters. As the majority of students return to Hogwarts, house divides are torn down by new relationships and friendships)

~ Part Four: Brave New World (95 chapters. After surviving their final year at Hogwarts, the students whose relationships and friendships are explored in 'The Eighth Year' venture out into the world with big plans to change it.

~ Part Five: Blame it on Hate (In progress, estimated to be around 110 chapter when finished. Eight years after the war, everyone has settled down and started a family when a new threat rises that pushes everyone to their limits.

~ Part Six: Love Wins (Not written yet. In 2021, the war seems like a distant memory for most. But as the next generation of our gangs kids begin to embark on life's great adventure, it becomes apparent that the threat still remains).

NOTE ABOUT THE REWRITE: Characters and relationships will all stay the same for the most part: same pairings but slightly different relationship dynamics. There are more sex scenes and additional content in general. This part of the story hasn't too changed much, but part four is very different, so if it is not your cup of tea, I'm sorry *hiding behind my hands here*.

*** WARNINGS ***

Rated M for sexual content.

General warnings for this story;

Past teen pregnancy, lots of sex, some of it semi-public (secret passageways, broom closets, classrooms etc), minor character death, bisexual characters, threesome (M/F/F), boys kissing, girls kissing, past Draco x Daphne, past Harry x Hermione.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione! Dinner's out!"

The sound of the familiar voice drifting up the stairs pulled the three people sitting on the attic room floor out of their thoughts. They hadn't been speaking to each other much that day. With everything that had happened, it was sometimes nice just to be able to sit in silence.

Without words, the three occupants of the room rose and walked soundlessly downstairs to a very different dinner scene than had been usual lately. The table was not set for four or six as it usually was. Instead, it was set for eleven and had been extended. The room was a little cramped and crowded, but Harry found he preferred this to dinner's usual miserable affair.

The entire Weasley clan was gathered there, and Harry noticed that they all looked rather cheerful, which was a big difference. Frowning and glancing at his equally perplexed best friends, Harry took his seat between Ginny and Ron.

Ginny smiled slightly sadly at him. After the war, they had talked, and Harry had told Ginny all of the unpleasant truths about the war that she didn't want to hear. She had told him some uncomfortable truths too, and they had established that whatever they had had before the war was gone now. Harry had changed, not entirely for the better either, and Ginny had changed too. They couldn't just pick up where they had left off; it wasn't that simple. However, they had agreed to remain friends, and Harry could only hope that they would soon be past the 'awkward' phase of their break up.

Mrs Weasley stood at the head of the table and smiled genuinely around at her family. Harry felt a small smile tugging at his lips; he had missed the motherly figure and was glad to see her genuinely smiling again.

"Now, I arranged this family dinner to fix things," Mrs Weasley announced; her voice was steady. Still, the pain in her eyes had not yet faded, "I know that the last two months have been hard for all of us, but we have let it pull us apart instead of bringing us together, so these family dinners that we have always held on a Sunday will continue in honour of Fred."

Harry didn't want to give out mixed signals, but he saw the tell-tale signs of grief on Ginny's face, she had a pained look in her eyes, and she had clenched her hand into a fist. He sighed and gently took her hand under the table with what he hoped was a comforting smile. Ginny seemed shocked, but she squeezed his hand back all the same.

Mrs Weasley caught sight of the exchange and positively beamed, which made Harry uncomfortable. The last thing he wanted was to deceive Ginny or her family, so he dropped her hand like it was a hot coal.

George spoke up, "Speaking as the person who knew Fred better than anyone, I know for a fact that he wouldn't be happy at the way we've been coping. Moping around and withdrawing into ourselves isn't the right way to get through this. We need to get on with our lives. Personally, running the joke shop makes me feel close to Fred, like his legacy. I know he'd feel the same about everyone else. You can't feel guilty about going to work or going out to have fun because that's not what Fred would have wanted."

George had spoken emotional words, and most of the table's occupants had teared up, including Ginny.

Harry glanced down guiltily, both for Fred's death which he still blamed himself for and for the fact he had refused to be with Ginny when she needed him right now. But it didn't feel right, being with someone because they needed you, not because they wanted you or because you wanted them.

Mrs Weasley wiped her eyes and nodded in agreement with George, he had been coping remarkably well with the loss of Fred as of late, but Harry assumed it was because he understood how to honour Fred and miss him without giving his life up. He had been a wreck when it first happened, though.

That didn't mean that everyone else had been coping well. Mrs Weasley had burst into tears whenever something reminded her of Fred for a good few weeks after the battle. It had been two months since the war had ended, and Mr Weasley had been slightly withdrawn for the majority of this time. Ron had suffered very much, to begin with, but he was gradually starting to get back to himself. Whatever had been between himself and Hermione hadn't worked out. Harry knew that they had kissed in the heat of the moment; he had been right there and witnessed it. When it was all over, she held his hand and stood by him through the burials, but after that, she could no longer keep up the façade. Harry was pretty sure that Ron had cried when Hermione told him that she just didn't love him in that way, and it had only made him even more withdrawn and forlorn. They had salvaged their friendship, but things had been icy recently, just as things had been forced between Harry and Ginny.

Charlie and Bill, who had always been close to the twins, had struggled just like everyone else, but it seemed through helping George with the joke shop, they coped as well as he did. The war had caused Percy to have a bit of a mid-life crisis. He had quit his job with the Ministry and was currently helping George out in the shop. It wasn't what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, but it was a stop-gap that kept him busy.

Harry sighed as he thought about the days since the end of the war; it had been weeks before the effects wore off for Ginny. She was close to all of her brothers but the twins and Bill in particular. She had taken it as severely as Percy had, and she had been reticent and teary. She was getting back to herself now, but she would never be the same. Not just because of Fred's death, but because of the war. None of them would ever be the same again. They had all seen things that they couldn't forget and done things that they couldn't forgive themselves for.

Mrs Weasley was talking again, so Harry pulled himself out of his thoughts to pay attention to what she was saying, "So tonight we put the past behind us and celebrate the present."

Her speech brought applause, and everyone agreed that the best way to remember Fred was to eat, toast and be happy. So they did just that, and that was the evening when Harry knew that things in The Burrow were finally going to go back to normal…or at least as normal as they could be without Fred.

"Harry, Harry, Harry!"

Harry could tell that he was being prodded by something sharp, but he was too tired to open his eyes or tell the prodder to stop, so he just grunted. He was surprised to hear a very feminine chuckle come from somewhere next to him.

This woke Harry up. His eyes flew open, and he sat bolt upright in his camper bed on the floor of Ron's room.

Ginny was sitting next to him; her head cocked to the side as she watched him in amusement.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?'" Harry asked in surprise, pulling the covers on his camper bed up slightly, it had been a hot night, and he'd slept without pyjamas.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "It's nothing I haven't already seen."

Harry blushed slightly and cleared his throat, "Look, Ginny, I didn't mean to give out mixed signals the other day at dinner-"

"You were only holding my hand because I was upset," Ginny said, "I know Harry. We aren't together. I am aware of that."

"Right," Harry muttered awkwardly.

"I just came up here to tell you that Ron and Hermione are downstairs. They both tried and failed to wake you up, so they asked me to come up and try. Mum says you're to go downstairs and make sure you eat something because she's planned a Quidditch match today to boost our morale."

Harry nodded vaguely and looked pointedly at Ginny, "Can you leave so that I can get changed?"

Ginny smirked, "Sure, see you at breakfast," she said as she left the room.

Harry jumped up and dressed in record time. Five minutes later, he walked into the kitchen to a home-cooked breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausages courtesy of Mrs Weasley.

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley," Harry said as he tucked into the delicious food. All of the Weasley children were sitting around the table eating and holding conversations about the Quidditch game and what the teams should be.

"I want Harry," Bill said after agreeing that he was the captain of one team and Charlie was the captain of the other.

"I think we should have Ginny on our team," Harry said.

Bill raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you?"

"Yes," Harry said calmly, ignoring his suggestive look, "She was my chaser in fifth year. She's good."

"I know she's good at Quidditch," Bill muttered, "But she was your chaser longer ago than that."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I've told you we aren't together, Bill," he said a little irritably.

Mrs Weasley couldn't hear the exchange, but she did notice the sudden tension in Harry's body, "Whatever you are teasing him about, stop it, Bill."

Bill raised his hands in defeat, and the talk soon went back to Quidditch. By the time breakfast was over, the teams had been decided. Bill had Harry, Ron and Ginny on his side; he and Ginny were chasers, Harry the seeker and Ron the keeper; they had agreed to forgo beaters. Charlie was the keeper of his team, with Hermione and George as chasers and Percy as the seeker.

The plan was to get changed, grab their brooms and play after breakfast, but the post arrived as a distraction. These days Harry got a lot more post than usual, even with the Ministry checking his letters to make sure he wasn't being sent anything cursed from angry Death Eaters or crazy fans, but all of the non-dangerous packages still came through.

Today several letters were dropped onto the table by a ministry mail owl, and one large package was dropped carefully in front of Mrs Weasley, who smiled ruefully and opened it, "It will be the new clock," she told them.

After the war, the hands on the Weasley clock had not moved away from mortal peril, and after a few days, the hand with Fred's name and face on it had fallen off. Mrs Weasley had cried all day and locked herself in her bedroom; she had carried that hand around in her apron for weeks afterwards.

However, Harry recalled a hushed conversation between Mr and Mrs Weasley one evening, at the end of which they had decided to buy a new clock. Mrs Weasley unwrapped it and looked down at it with a smile, but there was sadness in her eyes too, for Fred was no longer on it. The Weasley family clock, which had previously had nine hands, looked no different at first glance. The destinations, the pattern, the colour, it was all the same. The hands were silver with the name of the family member engraved in gold, but instead of there being eight hands, Harry noticed ten. One hand pointed at work which was Mr Weasley's, and the other nine hands all pointed at 'home'.

"Mrs Weasley," Harry said slightly breathlessly, "You put Hermione and me on the clock."

Mrs Weasley looked over at him, smiling genuinely now and nodding, "Yes dear, you and Hermione are part of the family after all," she said. In a rush of gratitude that he didn't quite understand, Harry hugged Mrs Weasley, who hugged him back and cried.

Feeling a little embarrassed after the exchange, Harry sunk a little lower in his seat and began to sift through the letters on the table. There was a large pile this morning, most of which were addressed to him.

"Fan mail, fan mail, fan mail," Harry muttered as he looked through it all. George grinned and grabbed a letter, following his lead. Charlie and Bill did the same and began to read out extracts of his fan mail.

"Dear Mr Potter. You are truly an extraordinary young man. Having considered your amazing feat in the war, we would like to offer you a place on the Wizengamot."

"Wow, Harry! You have to say yes, no one has ever been offered a place on the Wizengamot without getting their N.E.W.T's first!"

Harry rolled his eyes at Percy, grabbed the letter and threw it into the fire, "I don't have to say yes, and I won't. The Ministry is still corrupt; I sure as hell don't want to be on the Wizengamot."

He ignored Percy's wide-eyed gaze and threw a few more of the fan mail letters into the fire to Hermione's amusement.

"Listen to this one Harry," said Bill, catching Harry's attention, "Dear Mr Potter, I have been informed by one of my reputable sources that you would consider the position of an Auror with the British Ministry of Magic. Due to your extraordinary circumstances, we are willing to offer you a place in this year's training course without asking for the necessary grades. In your case, practical experience is more than enough."

"I'll say!" Percy echoed, "You defeated Voldemort and escaped him on countless occasions. You are right about the Ministry though, Harry, as much as I hate to admit it. You should be careful before you take the job. The Ministry is very good at corrupting people."

"I know," Harry said darkly, "I wouldn't take a position in the Ministry, not until Kingsley has been Minister for longer and has had a chance to change things around there. Besides, I don't want to get into Auror training because I'm the chosen one. I want to earn something for once in my life."

Hermione smiled slightly, "That's very mature of you, Harry."

Harry shot his best friend a grin, "You finally got through to me after all these years, Hermione."

Mrs Weasley chuckled as she looked through the remaining letters, "These look like Hogwarts letters," she said with a frown as she unearthed four letters written in the same style with a very familiar wax seal.

Harry glanced at the table and saw that she was right. The four letters were addressed to himself, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He eagerly grabbed his while Mrs Weasley handed the others their letters out.

"Mine is standard. There's a list of the books I'll need for my seventh year, and I need to send a copy of the subjects I want to take to see if I can take up another N.E.W.T or if I want to drop one," Ginny told them after a quick skim of her letter, "But why do you three have letters?"

To answer Ginny's question, Hermione read her letter out loud,

"Dear Miss Granger,

In light of recent events, we would like to welcome all seventh-year pupils from the 1997 school year back to Hogwarts on the 1st of September to re-sit their final year and achieve the qualifications that they desire.

This is not compulsory, and students who choose to return will be known as eighth-year students. Due to lack of space in the house common rooms and dormitories, a common room for returning students has been created in the Eastern Tower. This common room will be shared amongst the year group; it is intended that students from all four houses will coincide there peacefully.

This school year will run like any other, except for certain classes, which may have to be shared with the current seventh-year students to avoid further demands on the time and resources of the staff.

As I stated above, this is not compulsory. Students can sit their N.E.W.T level examinations at the Ministry of Magic if they feel capable of doing so despite the extreme disruption to their education during the 1997-98 school year.

I advise those who wish to work within certain professions to return to school for their final year. This pertains to students who wish to work within the high ranking sectors of the Ministry for Magic (for example, any posts within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, inclusive of the Auror Department), those who wish to train as Healers and those who wish to go on and teach after graduating from Hogwarts.

I would appreciate it greatly if you would respond to this letter within two weeks of receiving it. With your response, please include the classes that you wish to take. You are entitled to drop only one subject and replace it with another. It is not advisable to pick up a highly skilful subject when you have missed the first year of teaching. For example, I would advise against picking up the following subjects at seventh-year level if you did not study them at O.W.L level: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Alchemy and Care of Magical Creatures (unless you can display other relevant extra-curricular activities as proof that you have enough experience to attempt the subject).

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

There was stunned silence for a good few minutes until Ron eventually broke it, "Blimey, should we go back?"

Immediately Hermione answered, "Yes!" as if any other answer couldn't possibly be good enough for her.

Ron resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he looked at Harry. The dark-haired boy appeared to be thoughtful, "I think so…I know the Ministry will let me do whatever I want without the grades, but I meant it when I said I want to earn it. I either want to go into the Auror department or maybe teach Defence, so I suppose I should go back and get my N.E.W.T's."

"It could be a laugh," Ron said with a nod, "And I was thinking of being an Auror too, so I do need my N.E.W.T's."

They both seemed to have simultaneously agreed that going back to school was the best option. Hermione, who had decided the moment that she read the letter, had already written her reply and sent it away with Pigwidgeon.

Ron and Harry chuckled under their breath at this; it was so Hermione. Turning back to the table, she said, "Well, I don't want a particularly difficult year, so I dropped a couple of subjects but going back is an excellent idea. I had thought about going into the Ministry, I thought I might do something to help house-elves, or magical law enforcement, oh I don't know yet!"

Harry and Ron were still chuckling under their breath as they wrote their replies too.

Harry scribbled down on the back of the parchment, "Yes, Professor, I would like to return to Hogwarts. I would like to continue taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration."

"Hey Ron, do you reckon we should take up Divination again? Just for a laugh," Harry asked with a grin. It had been fun taking the mick out of Trelawney and making up predictions about death.

Ron grinned back, "Yeah, why not? I could do with a bit of comic relief."

Harry laughed to himself as he wrote on the letter that he also wished to pick up Divination. He felt a sense of satisfaction as he sent the letter away with his new tawny owl, Mercury. Going back to Hogwarts for Harry felt like going home, and he found himself feeling excited about the 1st of September once more. It was the most ordinary and nice feeling he had felt in a good few months, and for the first time in a while, he had a sense of hope again.

They were all in high spirits as they stepped out into the blazing July heat. The orchard was filled with apples, and the grass was a vibrant shade of green. The sun hung high in the sky, and it was warm, with barely any breeze. Harry felt excited and carefree again as he mounted his broomstick and soared into the air. Their mockup game of Quidditch was great fun; they all teased Ron for letting in countless 'quaffles', which were just enlarged apples. Hermione gave up about halfway through when the old comet she was flying tried to buck her off, and in the end, Bill's team won with ease. When they had finished their game, they landed on the soft grass of the orchard, and Hermione showcased a pretty neat sprinkler charm in an attempt to cool them all down.

"Go on, run through it," Bill was daring Charlie.

"I work with dragon's," Charlie grinned, "You think I'm scared of a bit of water?"

"Ice cold water!" Hermione called.

Charlie scoffed and pulled his t-shirt off; he was covered in scars, burns and tattoos. He smirked at his older brother and the girl he thought of as a little sister, "Easy, watch me."

Charlie ran forward into the sprinkler and let out a somewhat girly squeal when he realised that ice-cold really meant ice cold. Hermione was beside herself with laughter, and Ginny positively cackled as Charlie ran away from the sprinkler.

Bill was doubled over with laughter, and Charlie grinned wickedly. He transfigured a makeshift paddling pool out of some chopped wood and sped Hermione's charm up so that it filled the pool in seconds.

Bill narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his younger brother, "Oh no…you wouldn't."

"Oh yeah, I would," Charlie grinned as he picked Bill up with ease.

"Charlie, put me down, you bloody prick!" Bill shouted as Charlie carried Bill to the pool.

The rest of the family watched on and cried with laughter at the scene that was unfolding in front of them.

"Fancy a dip, brother?" Charlie asked.

"I am going to fucking kill you, Charlie!" Bill shouted as Charlie dropped Bill into the ice-cold water.

It wasn't very deep, but Bill looked incredibly flustered as he resurfaced, coughing and breathing heavily, "Fuck me, that is cold!"

"Language, William," Ginny teased, "Don't let Mum hear you talking like that."

"Or Fleur," Charlie added with a grin.

"She's in France, I'd be impressed if she could hear me from there," Bill retorted as he sat back in the pool,

"Lovely in here when you get used to the temperature. Is anyone joining me?"

"Yeah, but we'll do it voluntarily," Harry said in amusement.

Ginny snorted as she got to her feet, "Not in my clothes. I'll go change into a swimsuit first."

Hermione chuckled as she stood up, "Yeah, I'll join you."

The two girls returned to the house, along with Ron and Percy, who had decided to see if they could sneak any booze past Mrs Weasley.

"You coming in?" Bill asked Harry in amusement. He had just cast a warming charm on the pool.

Charlie and George had stripped to their boxers and cast water retardant charm on them as they joined Bill in the pool.

"Yeah," Harry said after a moment, "Sure."

He quickly stripped and cast the same water retardant charm on his boxers before jumping into the cold water.

He gasped slightly, "Merlin, that is cold!"

"You should have felt it before we warmed it up," Bill said with a half-hearted glare at his little brother, "Did you find that funny, Char?"

"Hilarious Billy," Charlie smirked.

Harry chuckled at the interplay between the two eldest brothers, "Today is great; I can't remember the last time I relaxed like this. It must have been before the war."

"Ah, when you were with Ginny?" George asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry sighed, "Yeah…when I was with Ginny."

"Why didn't you try and give things another chance Harry?" Bill asked curiously, "You never know if it will work or not unless you try."

"I don't want to try, I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear," Harry said firmly.

"So you're still maintaining the excuse that the war changed you?" Charlie asked.

"Excuse?" Harry frowned, "It's not an excuse."

"So you aren't gay then?" Charlie asked pointedly.

Harry blanched, "What? No! Why would you even think that?"

"Well, you haven't had many girlfriends," Charlie pointed out, "You could be a virgin for all we know."

"I'm not," Harry muttered as he blushed furiously.

"Woah, woah, woah! Wait one minute!" Bill said hotly, "Are you saying you slept with our baby sister?"

Harry looked quite terrified, "Uh, yes. Once or twice, I mean not lots of times, just on a few occasions! Oh, good Godric, please don't kill me."

George nodded, "Right…" he caught the eye of Charlie and said, "Okay, so we have about 10 minutes until the others get back. We have time."

Charlie nodded sincerely, "But what would we do with the body? I mean, we could dump it in the woods…there are Muggle repelling charms there."

"But we'd have to hide it well," Bill added as Harry's eyes flitted between them in disbelief, "We couldn't have them find it when they went looking for him. We'd have to come up with an excuse."

"He went for a walk in the woods," George said quickly, "And he got lost. They would assume he got eaten by something horrible. There are magical creatures in these woods."

"And Garden Gnomes have been known to kill when provoked," Charlie said, "We'd have to mangle the body a little so they wouldn't suspect anything when they found it."

"Definitely doable," Bill said matter of factly.

Harry cleared his throats, "Guys…either you are the best pranksters in the world, or you are all psychopaths. I'm not sure which one it is right now."

"It is a very fine line," George said thoughtfully.

Bill grinned, "Nah, it's okay. Not all relationships last. We understand that, Harry."

"So if you aren't gay, the war really is the real reason," Charlie said.

Harry nodded, "I loved Ginny once, but the war changed me, and it changed her. We wouldn't work anymore; we wouldn't make each other happy."

"Well then, I think by realising you are wrong for her, you are doing the best thing for her," Bill said with a slight smile, "So we'll forgive you."

"And we won't feed you to the Gnomes," George said as he patted Harry on the back, "We'll always be family Harry, you're the seventh Weasley brother."

"It doesn't have to be by blood or marriage mate," Charlie agreed as he put his arm around Harry, "You'll always be one of our little brothers."

Harry smiled at them all, at his family, "Thanks, guys," he said with a genuine smile.

"Hey, Perce."

"Oh, hiya Harry."

It was the middle of July now, and they were quickly approaching Harry's birthday. He had come across Percy sitting outside, taking in the dying light of the warm summer's night.

"You seem like you've got a lot on your mind," Harry said thoughtfully as he sat down next to Percy on the rickety bench.

Percy sighed. He stared at the sun as it continued its descent towards the ground, "Sometimes I don't think the guilt will ever stop gnawing at me."

"About Fred," Harry realised.

Percy nodded silently.

"It does get easier," Harry said quietly, "Not better necessarily, but it gets easier to forget and move on. You have nothing to feel guilty for though, Fred didn't die because of you. Your actions didn't kill him."

"No, but he died in my place," Percy said quietly, "I should have been the one to die, not him. I'm not stupid, Harry; in fact, I am incredibly perceptive. Everybody wishes that it was me who had died instead of Fred."

Harry shook his head in disbelief, "No, they don't, Percy," he retorted.

Percy's eyes flashed with surprise at Harry's reaction to his words.

Harry got to his feet and crossed his arms as he stared down at the older man, "You were a complete dick over the last couple of years; that much is true. But that doesn't mean that your family love you any less than they loved Fred. You are their son and their brother, just the same as Fred was. They would have cared just as much if you had died. Fred would have blamed himself too, just like you are doing now."

Percy was silent as he took in those words.

"They love you, Percy," Harry added, "All of them, and while they disagree with your past choices, they won't let those choices define your present or your future. They just want you to be in theirs, don't you get that?"

"I get it now," Percy replied quietly as he looked down at his hands.

"And you have to stop blaming yourself for Fred's death," Harry said hotly, "It wasn't your fault. He died for the cause, just like everybody else did. You didn't force him to do it, he chose to, and I hate that he's gone too. But you can't let it affect you like this. You need to move on with your life. That's what Fred would want."

"I know," Percy said; he cleared his throat and got to his feet, "But Harry, I really think you ought to take your own advice."

Harry frowned, "What do you mean?"

Percy smiled sadly. He placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault that Remus died, or Tonks. None of those deaths were your fault. Like you said, they fought for the cause, and nobody made them. It was their choice, not anybody else's. I'll stop blaming myself for Fred's death, but you have to stop blaming yourself for everybody else's."

Harry was stunned by those words as Percy patted him on the shoulder and walked away. He stood there for a little while. The sun completed its descent, and the stars began to sparkle in the dark blue sky. Percy was right about everything. Or rather, Harry's own advice was correct. To live in the present fully and move on in the future, he had to let go of the past. He had to stop blaming himself for everything that had happened. Harry sighed; it would be a long hard road, but he was sure it was possible.

* ~ TBC ~ *