I do not own Harry Potter or gain anything from writing this other than the opportunity of expanding on an already brilliant universe for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours.

Loose Ends

Harry Apparated outside the ancient manor of the Malfoys. It was already in the middle of being raided by a large group of Aurors. He caught sight of one who looked like he was in charge, recognizing him from earlier in the night as one of the Aurors at Amelia's home.

'Harry Potter,' the gruff man with the lion-like beard said, 'I am Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour, what are you doing here?'

Harry looked out at the Death Eaters being dragged away in cuffs from the manor. 'I'm here hunting a snake,' he explained. 'I'm not sure it's even here anymore though. Have your Aurors seen anything like that?'

'Yes, actually,' Scrimgeour said, surprised. 'We've locked it in a room in the manor; any magic seems fairly ineffective on it. Do you know how to destroy it?'

Harry pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor, brandishing it in front of him. 'I do.'

'Very well,' the Head Auror said, eyeing the blade. 'Jones! Escort Mr Potter to that damned snake, he plans on killing it for us.'

Hestia Jones turned from her post and approached them. 'Yes sir. Follow me, Harry.'

Harry fell into step with her toward the manor. 'Busy night, huh?' he asked, smiling.

'Not half as busy as yours I think,' she said, smiling back. 'Defeated all the Dark Lords so you're moving on to snakes?'

'Something like that,' he laughed, then turned serious. 'You're injured.'

Hestia Jones looked at him in surprise for a moment before she nodded. 'Nothing serious. Didn't want to bugger off to the healers for a scratch.'

Harry was already waving his wand over her as she spoke. 'Bit more than a scratch,' he mumbled.

He held her in place and slid his wand along her waist where there was a poorly dressed gash. Running his wand along it a few times until it was healed and they continued walking.

'How many are left inside?' he asked as if nothing had happened.

'Right - well,' Hestia said, poking her side distractedly, 'they're holed up in the basement. A handful of Death Eaters are keeping the rest of the Malfoy family hostage. The kid and the wife.'

'I see,' he said. 'I can feel the snake - in here?'

'Yeah, that's right,' she said, taking a step back.

Harry tapped the door with his wand, dispelling the wards. The door swung open and Harry could see the snake coiled up, half hidden by a sofa. He took a step inside.

'It's alright, Nagini,' Harry said soothingly in Parseltongue. 'You can come out - I will end your suffering.'

The snake uncoiled and slithered over to Harry, rising up to look him in the eye.

'He is gone,' the snake hissed. 'I can no longer feel him. Was it you?'

'Yes,' Harry said, searching the snake's mind. 'You were cursed. Would you like me to free you?'

The snake nodded in answer and turned its head sideways. Harry swung the sword down onto its neck, splitting it in two. With a wave of his wand the remains of the snake disappeared into dust.

Harry turned away and walked past a wide eyed Hestia Jones.

'Come, Hestia. Let's deal with these Death Eaters.'

Down the hall they came across a group of Aurors flanked on either side of an open door with stairs leading down. Harry walked past the group, ignoring the calls of warning. At the doorway he inhaled a deep breath then pointed his wand at his throat. He blew out hard and a stream of blue swirling mist came out instead of air and flowed down the stairs.

He waved his wand and a solid wall appeared in the doorway. He stood impatiently, arms folded and tapping his foot for about a minute until he waved his wand again to remove the wall. Another large breath and more mist streamed down the stairs, this one a shimmering pink. Then, without a word, he walked down to the basement. All the occupants were in a deep magical sleep.

'You can all come down now,' Harry called up.

Slowly, the Aurors descended to look upon the sleeping purps. Harry summoned all the Death Eater wands to himself and handed them to one of the Aurors as he started issuing orders.

'Thank you for the help, Mr Potter sir,' the man said as Harry ascended the stairs.

'OK,' Hestia said as she escorted him out of the manor, 'you're going to have to tell me what the hell happened to you that you got so bloody powerful.'

'Fell into a pool at the Department of Mysteries that led me to a room where time stood still where I could train and learn till I got as powerful as I am now,' Harry said in a bored voice. 'I can teach you some things another time if you like.'

Hestia tripped a step before rushing to catch up. 'Seriously though how'd you do it?' Hestia asked playfully.

Harry stopped and eyed Hestia appraisingly, looking her up and down. She barely fought back a blush.

'Come to dinner with me and I'll tell you,' he said with a roguish grin.

Hestia did blush then. 'M-me?' she stammered. 'I mean aren't I too o-old for you?'

Harry took a step closer to her and looked at her pretty face. 'You look perfect to me,' he said.

Hestia let out an audible gulp and retreated a step, looking away.

'N-not sure that's a good idea …' she mumbled regretfully.

'Well maybe I'll try again in a couple years,' he said playfully, and was off out of the manor again, Hestia having to run to catch up.

By the time Harry Apparated into Diagon Alley the morning sun was rising over the shops to the east. He entered Gringotts bank as the doors were being unlocked. Harry marched up to the only teller that was behind the desk.

'Mr Potter,' the goblin greeted him immediately.

'Good morning,' Harry said, stifling a yawn. 'I am looking for something rather unusual. I want to retrieve something from a vault that is not my own. There is a very Dark object that is contained in the Lestrange vault that could be dangerous to the bank.'

The goblin blinked once. Then again. Then snarled at him, sharp teeth bared in disgust.

'That is not the way we operate at Gringotts, Mr Potter,' the goblin said evenly. 'It doesn't matter how Dark an object it is, if it is not in your vault then it stays put.'

'You would have already received a request from the DMLE by now,' Harry elaborated. 'Besides that, the Lestranges have been returned to Azkaban for life, Voldemort is dead and there are no other living Lestranges.'

The news of the Dark Lord's demise had yet to reach the goblin apparently. He gapped at Harry in shock then turned to check with another teller but he was the only one there so early in the morning.

'A moment please, Mr Potter,' the goblin choked out and left his desk, bouncing over to a staff door at the back.

Harry waited patiently in the empty lobby. A few goblin guards near the back and a house elf janitor were the only other people in the large lobby. Eventually the teller returned with another goblin.

'Mr Potter,' the newcomer called, 'come with me please.'

Harry followed the goblin toward the vaults but they veered left to a hall of offices. At the end of the hall was the only office that had double doors. The goblin led him inside and gestured for Harry to sit before moving behind the desk.

'Allow me to introduce myself; I am Gudnak, Executive Vice President at Gringotts,' the goblin said. 'We have dealt with this kind of request from the Ministry before, Mr Potter, but not usually with such haste. I have already received word from my contact at the press about what has occurred last night, however, so I thought I would at least hear what you have to say.'

Gudnak peered at Harry over steepled fingers, looking down at him from his raised desk.

'It is a Dark artefact that Voldemort had asked Bellatrix Lestrange to store in her vault,' Harry began. 'In appearance it looks like the ancient cup of Helga Hufflepuff, but it has been tainted and needs to be destroyed. In exchange,' Harry pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor and the Goblin's eyes lit up greedily. 'I would like to propose that I return this goblin forged blade that was once in the possession of Godric Gryffindor. After I use it to destroy the cup.'

Gudnak's eyes lingered on the sword, tapping his fingers thoughtfully on his desk. 'It is true that we would value the return of that particular sword quite highly,' the goblin said. 'However, how can I trust your word, or that this cup is as dangerous as you say?'

Harry re-sheathed the sword. 'Bring a curse breaker if you like,' he said with a shrug. 'Though even a Muggle would be able to sense the evil coming from the cup. As for the sword, I'll destroy the cup down at the vault then hand it right over. If you still don't trust me, I'll put my own vault down as collateral. If I do not hand the sword over to you immediately after I destroy the cup, my fortune goes to the bank.'

The goblin's bushy eyebrows rose a great deal. 'As tempting as that contract would be, we are not thieves here,' he said, though the way he stroked his chin thoughtfully made it seem he wouldn't mind a bit of thieving in this case. 'Very well, we will go as soon as I've contacted a curse breaker.'

Harry sat in the office while Gudnak left to make the necessary arrangements. Eventually the goblin returned with an old wizard with sleek grey hair.

'Come, Mr Potter,' Gudnak said shortly.

They left and met another goblin, this one carrying a sack of metal objects Harry recognized as clankers.

'There is a dragon guarding the Lestrange vault?' Harry asked curiously.

Gudnak looked at him in some surprise. 'I didn't realize you were so well informed on our protections, Mr Potter,' he said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

'You'll find,' Harry said calmly, 'I am well informed on a great number of things.'

They moved down to somewhere near the bottom on the trolley's track before they stopped. There was a large entourage of guards waiting for them, goblin and wizard both. The goblin with the clankers moved ahead of them and cowed the dragon while the others passed. Then the same goblin opened the vault when they were all clear of the dragon.

It was filled with mountains of gold and treasure, but Harry spotted the cup immediately.

'That's it there,' he pointed. 'The cup, up on high. Do I have your permission to use magic?'

The goblin nodded but gave him a sneer to go along with it.

Harry shot out a black cloth from his wand which wrapped around the cup then came back and opened on the ground in front of them. The cup stood up perfectly in the center of the cloth. There was an eerie buzz coming from the cup already.

The curse breaker moved forward hesitantly with his wand, which sent a slow white stream of white light toward the cup. The second it made contact a blackness was reaching up through the white and the curse breaker moved his wand back quickly, ending the spell.

'The fuck is that?' the curse breaker cursed.

'I think I've seen enough, Mr Potter,' Gudnak said with a grimace at the cup. 'You may destroy it.'

Harry nodded and pulled out the sword. The cup immediately let out a high pitch screech, in fear of the sword. Harry swung it down hard, splitting the Horcrux in two. The cup screamed and crumbled on the floor, destroyed. Harry sheathed the sword, removed the sheathe from his belt and handed it to the Gudnak.

'I appreciate the efficiency of your work, Mr Potter,' the goblin cackled, unsheathing the blade and running his fingers along it. 'If you are ever looking for work, Gringotts could use your services in more ways than one, I think.'

Harry nodded and let out a sigh of relief now that the final Horcrux was destroyed. 'I'll keep that in mind,' he said, tiredly.

'Enter,' Amelia's voice said through the door.

Harry entered Madam Bones' office to find Rufus Scrimgeour sitting in front of her desk with a thick report open on his lap. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, nodding to the Head Auror questioningly.

'I trust him,' Amelia said with a half-smile. 'He knows what the snake was already. I had the request sent down to Gringotts early morning. How is it going with the rest of them?'

Harry sat down heavily on a third chair beside Scrimgeour, feeling tired to the bone. He could see the other two looked just as exhausted as he felt; they've been busy all night too after all.

'Destroyed,' Harry said. 'All of them, the Gringotts one included.'

'The goblins let you in?' Amelia asked in surprise, when Harry just laughed she narrowed her eyes. 'Please tell me you didn't break into Gringotts.'

He laughed louder at that. 'I did not break into Gringotts,' he assured her, 'I simply traded the Sword of Gryffindor.'

'What?!' Scrimgeour said in shock. 'That's an artefact that belongs to Hogwarts! You can't simply trade it!'

Harry shrugged at the Head Auror and let out a loud yawn. 'The sword came out of the hat for me in my second year at school,' he said through the yawn.

'Be that as it may,' Scrimgeour ground out. 'The sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor, that doesn't mean it belongs to you.'

'That's not what I mean,' Harry said, waving his protest away. 'It doesn't matter where the sword is, it will come out of the hat when it is needed.'

That seemed to mollify the Head Auror somewhat, though there was still a fair bit of grumbling about handing wizard artefacts over to goblins.

'So that's it?' Amelia asked, still in shock. 'It took you all of a night?'

Harry chuckled at her shocked expression, then sat bolt upright. 'Shite,' he said suddenly.

'What is it?' Amelia said - both adults perked up quickly.

'Well, when I saw you were being attacked I left Susan at Hermione's,' he explained. 'Kind of forgot about her.'

After a beat, Amelia burst into laughter, Rufus joining in the next moment. Harry mumbled something about knowing where this was going.

'He'll face down Dark Lords and Death Eaters,' Amelia said to Rufus through her laughter, 'but he's afraid of my niece!'

Rufus slapped his knee and threw his head back, cackling all the louder.

'Well it's good to know you're still just an ordinary teenager in some ways,' Amelia chuckled.

'Yeah, yeah,' Harry groused, getting out of his seat. 'Laugh it up.' He walked to the door, Rufus Scrimgeour still fighting back his laughter. 'See you at home, Amelia.'

He Apparated into the Granger's living room with an inaudible crack to find Susan and Hermione both sleeping on the same couch. Hermione was laying on the arm rest, bushy hair over her face completely. Susan was face down into Hermione's side, snoring slightly.

Harry sat down in front of them and sighed heavily, wishing nothing more than to fall asleep next to them. Instead he put a hand on each of their shoulders and shook them gently. They both woke up in a bit of a panic and looked around bleary eyed until they finally found Harry's face.

'Oh, Harry,' Hermione said, close to tears the moment she saw him.

'We were so worried,' Susan said groggily, then woke up significantly. 'Is Aunt Amelia OK?'

Harry gave her a tired smile 'You're aunts fantastic,' he said. 'A lot has happened.' He leaned against the couch and felt how heavy his eyes were. 'First of all,' he began, yawning, when he heard a peck at the window.

Turning they saw an owl holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

'Oh, perfect timing,' Harry said sleepily. 'Let the paper tell you.'

Hermione opened the window and handed the bird a knut before it flew off. She opened the paper and gasped.

'What is it?' Susan asked from beside Harry.

Hermione turned the paper toward them, her mouth gaping.

YOU-KNOW-WHO IS DEAD – HARRY POTTER SINGLE HANDEDLY WINS THE WAR!

'They're so bloody dramatic,' Harry scoffed.

'What?!' Susan gasped, looking from Harry to the paper to Hermione. 'What?!'

'Harry!' Hermione shouted in part glee, part disbelief. 'What happened after you left?'

'Well,' Harry said slowly, unable to keep the smile off his face, 'Voldemort attacked Amelia himself. When I got there I captured him and we threw him through the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries.'

Hermione was reading the story as Harry spoke.

'Says here you also took out eleven Death Eaters,' she said with a giddy chuckle.

'They're exaggerating,' Harry said, stifling another yawn. 'There were only ten.'

Both girls fell into giddy laughter before he was smothered in a double hug that sent him to the floor. That's how Hermione's parents found them when they came down stairs.

'If you're going to shag the boy at least take him up to your room,' Wendell Granger teased, receiving an elbow from his wife.

'Mum! Dad! Look!' Hermione showed them the paper, their eyes widening in surprise as they read.

'Didn't the paper just announce this You-Know-You character was back?' Emma Granger said. 'Couldn't have been all that bad if it only took a week for Harry to beat him.'

The two witches laughed, still giddy from the news.

'You're not wrong,' Harry pointed out with a grin. 'Bit of a wimp really.'

After they all shared a good laugh, Harry took Susan back to her aunts and found his bed, sleeping soundly for the first time in a long time.