POTTER RESURGENCE

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J. K Rowling.

Chapter 28

-PRPRPRPRPR-

"... it was only a matter of time before you came looking for me"

Those words were engraved in Harry's mind. He had noticed how Dumbledore had put emphasis on 'time' but he hadn't given it much thought back then, having assumed that Dumbledore knew he was looking for the Elder wand and his hunt would have inevitably led to him. Harry was only now realizing that he had been wrong, to get the Wand's allegiance, he had to travel back in time.

But now he had a problem, it was way past the time limit for the time-turners in the ministry that can only allow someone to go back for a maximum of five hours. At least without causing harm either to the person or time itself.

Using Bill's watch, they had teleported to the shack with the seal. Harry could feel the shade trying to break free from the stone, thankfully it held untill they arrived and Harry activated the Divine Seal. The seal had worked as expected, and the ambient magic it had already absorbed along with what Harry and Hardwin provided was enough to activate it and seal Voldemort within.

However, that would have held the shade for a month at the very best and as there weren't any other sources, Harry had come up with one, one that would provide the necessary magic to feed the seal for eternity. Under normal circumstances, he would have never given it up, but he had searched for alternatives, day and night ever since he discovered the seal to no avail.

And so he had decided to give up the Philosopher's Stone to power the seal. Unless it was moved, which would be impossible as Harry had done everything in his power to make sure of it, the Stone would power the Divine seal indefinitely. Only Harry and Hardwin knew the secret of the Shack's location, and even then, just like Apopis' seal, accessing the seal would need a perselmouth.

It would not only take a perselmouth, but they'd have to can understand the seal like Harry does to release Voldemort, and even then it would only be as long as the seal takes to recharge. And then it would summon Voldemort back no matter how far he would have gone given that it was locked onto his signature.

With that done with, Harry and Hardwin had gone back to Hogwarts. They could both feel like a massive weight had lifted from their shoulders, they felt an immeasurable amount of relief knowing that Voldemort would no longer loom over their lives. For his part, even with the horcrux in his head, Hardwin felt truly free for the first time in his life. The moment they arrived, he immediately rushed to go and inform everyone.

While Hardwin had gone ahead to look for the others and announce Voldemort's defeat, Harry had instead gone to his lab. The first thing he did was write a very long letter to Barnabas Cuffe and send it off to the Daily Prophet offices with his owl. The entirety of the Magical world would hear about Voldemort's defeat on Harry's terms. With the biggest block on their future put to the side, it was now time to plan on what he wanted his life to be.

He had then written letters addressed to every member of the Wizengamot. Well, only those he knew were still alive and hadn't supported Voldemort. After today, there will be many people that will be looking for his favors, the letters were simply invitations for partnerships. Partnerships that he will be milking for all their worth. Even people that had been overlooking him before won't be doing that anymore.

He had the money, having stacked up enough gold in the last week to pay the Pale Horsemen and still remain with enough. Not to mention the businesses he had in Diagon Alley that brought in money on a daily basis. And then there was the Company which kept growing everyday. Harry can comfortably say that the Potter family wasn't going to lack for money for generations to come.

With that done with, Harry then pulled out the journal he had used last year which contained the few notes had on time travel. Last time he had time travelled by mistake, and while it had turned out that he was supposed to be there, he very much doubted that he could use the same method this time. However, he vividly remembered how it had happened and with his knowledge of runes and wards, Harry believed that he could recreate what had happened.

From what he understands about time travel, the time-turner bodily moves the person in contact with it from one point of time to another point in the past. But only for five hours, any more and he would be pushing it. What he needed to understand was the theory behind time-turners, how they truly operated and perhaps then, he could come up with a way to push their boundaries to take him as far back as he wanted.

But to do that, he needed to get into the Department of Mysteries. They probably won't be very willing to help him but Harry was hopeful that he could convince them to see his side of the story. And if not, he could always offer them a favor that they can call upon in the future.

Just as he stood up to go to the ministry, tye door to the lab materialized but instead of Hardwin or Luna, as they were the only two other people that knew how to access the room, the person who entered was Tonks. She looked fresh, nothing like the battered girl he had last seen at the battlefield before compelling her and everyone there to run to the castle.

"Hey." He greeted her. "How did you find this room?"

"Hardwin directed me." She replied. "Everyone is busy thanking him, I think he wanted me to bring you so you take some of the attention from him."

"Meh, he'll live." Harry shrugged before leaning on the table and looking at her. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Hardwin arrived just in time." Tonks said. "Had he come a minute later, I'd probably be in the hospital wing along with everyone else."

"You didn't look as healthy as this the last time I saw you either." Harry pointed out. "Has Poppy already fixed you up?"

"No, she's dealing with people in worse condition than I was." She shook her head before retrieving a half empty vial. "For me I had this at hand, or have you already forgotten about it?"

"You know I'm incapable of forgetting." Harry shook his head, of course he remembered the vial he had given her on the day of her graduation.

"And you're quite modest about it, too." She laughed. Walking over to him, she sat down in the seat Harry had recently vacated and looked at him. "There's something we need to talk about."

Harry checked his watch and then looked back at Tonks. It was already way past the five minutes so a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Conjuring an identical chair to the one Tonks was seated in, he placed it infront of her and sat down.

"Your Patronus?"

"Yes, that too." Tonks flushed, along with her hair. "That caught me off guard as well, I most certainly didn't see it coming. Which makes what I'm about to do even all the more harder."

Harry leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, he knew where this was headed. "I'm listening."

"You may have noticed that I've been distancing myself from you." Harry bit his tongue to stop any sarcastic comments from slipping out. "The truth is that I've been doing it intentionally."

"I figured as much." Harry nodded. "But I fail to understand why. I thought we both wanted...this."

"We did...we still do, now more than ever, but..." Tonks ran a hand through her messy hair. "You're fourteen, Harry!"

"Well, I'll be making fifteen in a month, so_"

"That's besides the point, you're still underage." Tonks cut him off. "We just can't continue with this, not only is it wrong, I also dont feel very comfortable about it."

"You didn't seem to mind before, what happened?"

"I...took some time to really think about it."

"No way!" Harry's eyes widened almost comically. "You really did?"

"Oh bugger off!" Tonks retorted as she tried to push him but he dodged her. She however wasn't looking so sad anymore.

"You gotta admit that's not your usual mode of operation." Harry laughed and Tonks just rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, while I was stewing in anger from you ignoring me, I aslo had time to think and realized that I'm not really ready for a serious relationship."

Tonks nodded in understanding even though Harry was still talking.

"There's already too much on my plate and I feel like I won't have the time to really invest in a relationship, and yet you deserve way much better that." Harry said and it was the truth, Tonks could see it in his eyes as she was one of the few people who could tell when he was truly being honest. "Maybe in a few years, once I've dealt with some of the more pressing issues, I'll give it a try, though I don't expect to find you simply waiting for me."

Tooks shook her head with a sad smile. "You have seen my Patronus, Harry. What do you think?"

"I think you deserve better." Harry replied. "You're an amazing person, Tonks and anyone would be lucky to have you. I cannot ask you to put your life on hold for me."

"If you say so." Tonks didn't look very convinced. "So now what?"

That was the question, wasn't it? For those who had been in the thick of the war, living past the war had never been a certainty. For one, those who had fought in the last war knew how dangerous Voldemort and his Death Eaters were, they had lost many loved ones in many of the scuffles between the Order and the Dark Lord's forces. And so when Dumbledore called back the order, they knew what they were getting into, they were aware of their mortality and they were prepared for a long and costly war.

And then those who didn't experience the last war like Tonks, Bill and others in that age bracket had grown up hearing of the horrors caused by Voldemort. They may not have taken part but then had seen with their eyes what effects it had on the Magical world. They had even to a lesser extent experienced it, aware that anyone who stood against him can die. When they were told that Voldemort was back, they knew their lives were in balance, they knew that any day, and moment, they could die.

But then, in one fell swoop, the war had abruptly been brought to an end. It had barely lasted two days. Harry's preparation had ensured that nothing like what happened in the first war happened this time. One moment, everyone was fearing for their lives and the next, they were free do whatever they wanted without any fear of Voldemort or his Death Eaters.

"Now, we get to live our lives to the fullest without worrying about a Dark Lord suddenly showing up on our doorstep." Harry told her as he stood up. "But first, there's something I have to do before we can put this entire nightmare behind us once and for all."

"And what's that?" She asked, intrigued.

"What do you think about breaking into the Department of Mysteries?"

Tonks raised an eyebrow at him, but her eyes were glinting slightly. "I think I like where this is going."

-PRPRPRPRPR-

The Department of Mysteries lay on the second-lowest level of the Ministry of Magic, Level Nine. It was normally accessible via the lifts from the Ministry Atrium but those had been destroyed in the battle to take back the Ministry from the Death Eaters. This level bore a striking difference to those above: the black-tiled walls were bare with no windows and no doors, apart from a plain black one at the end of the corridor that led into the Department proper.

The only difference between level nine and the levels above it was the fact that it had been untouched by the fight. A great deal of the ministry had been destroyed, from the atrium upto level eight as the Death Eaters had been trying to hide from Sirius and the others. Perhaps they had decided to take down the ministry with them when they realized that they were losing, because there was no way the amount of destruction around them had only been caused by fighting.

Which had been pretty surprising for Tonks and Harry to find that the entire level was completely untouched. Not a single scratch could be seen, it was like the fighters had reached level eight and then decided that they didn't want to go any lower. Arriving here without the lift had been a bummer thanks to the destruction they had found and so the two had been caught off-guard finding it completely fine.

Light was provided only by torches, which glowed with a blue-white light. A small flight of steps to the left led to Level Ten where the Wizengamot sat during trials but Harry had no interest in that right now, though he knew that he will be down there alot in the coming days.

"Wow, it's almost like the Death Eaters were too afraid of the unspeakables to come down here." Tonks whispered. "And here we are, planning to steal from them."

"You don't need to whisper, no one can hear us." Harry replied as he led the way towards the entrance of the department. "And we're not going to steal, we're just borrowing. We shall return the items when we are done with them."

His words didn't really assure her but she followed him nonetheless. They had arrived at the black door which led to the Department proper. With a simple prompt from Harry, the door opened and they entered a large entrance chamber. Everything was quiet, it was like there was absolutely nothing down here. Tonks could hear herself breath and tried to reduce her breathing rate.

"This is scary." She whispered, completely forgetting what Harry had just told her. "I think we should leave."

They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling — identical, unmarked, handle-less black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue, their cool, shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor so that it looked as though there was dark water underfoot.

Harry didn't pay her any mind and instead walked over to one of the doors and opened it. There was large, square room somewhat resembled Courtroom Ten of the Wizengamot. It was dimly lit, with stone stairs leading down to a pit in the centre. In this pit was a dais, upon which stood a very old stone archway with a tattered black curtain hanging from it. This arch incorporated the Veil, which separated the worlds of the living and the dead.

Even this far from the arch, Harry couldn't suppress a shiver as he could almost feel something watching him. His sharp ears could make out voices coming from the archway, whispering things that made no sense to him. He even thought he heard his name a few times. Shaking his head, Harry closed the door and pulled back.

The moment the door closed, the room seemed to rotate but it didn't seem to have a definite direction it was going, but Harry could didn't feel like they were moving. He tried to open the door infront of him but it refused to budge and so he moved to the one on his right and opened it.

Rather than another room like that he one he had just seen, what he saw was like an office. It was quite big, almost as big as the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts and with just as much books. Directly infront of the door was a large desk and seated behind it was a middle aged man who was staring at Harry invitingly.

"Well, aren't you going to come in, Mr. Potter?" The man said. "My name is Croaker, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm looking for the 'Time room'." Harry replied confidently. "Could you please direct me to it, I'm running a bit late."

"Don't worry, this will only take but a minute." The man said.

"You seem to be a busy man." Harry countered. "And I really need to go. Any second I waste here makes_"

"Trust me, I have all the time in the world."

"Okay, enough of this already." Tonks had grown impatient and pushed Harry into he room. "You don't seem mad that we broke into your department."

"That's because I was expecting the both of you." The man replied. "You don't think we just leave our doors open all the time, do you?"

"I take it we have met already?" Harry stated more than asked and when the man nodded, he continued. "Then you know why I'm here."

"I do." The man said and pushed the tome on top of his desk forward. "You asked me to give you this."

"I asked you?" Harry stared at the man in confusion as he took the book.

"A book?" Tonks frowned. "This is not what we came for."

"I'd think not." The man replied before turning to Harry. " You said that it would be all you need."

"I see." Harry said as he took the book with a thoughtful frown. He looked back at the man and offered his hand. "Thank you very much, it was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Croaker."

"Come on, Tonks." Harry was already leaving. "Time to study."

Harry and Tonks left swiftly and within minutes, they were in Harry's room at Potter Manor.

"Well, let's see what we have here." Harry said as he removed he dispelled the seal on the book.

"The Multiverse?" Tonks read aloud with a frown. "Does that mean what I think it does?"

"If you think it means numerous universes living alongside our own but different from ours, then yes." Harry replied. "And it would seem that's how I'm going to help my father and Hardwin."

-PRPRPRPRPR-

Harry blinked his eyes slowly, he tried to get up but his other hand refused to cooperate. There was an insistent buzzing in his left ear which he tried to ignore as he tried to pull his left hand free from whatever was pressing down on it. It wasn't untill he looked in the direction of the buzzing that he realized why his hand was not moving.

Tonks, fully dressed in what she had been wearing yesterday was pressed on his side and was snoring softly directly into his hear. She had also trapped his left arm under her which was why he hadn't been able to pull himself free. They had read the tome on the Multiverse way into the night and at some point, they had dozed off and ended up sleeping next to each other on Harry's bed.

"Well, this sucks." Harry mumbled to himself. He gestured with his other hand and Tonks was lifted slightly, just enough for him to free his hand before he put her back.

He sat up with a groan, his body feeling stiff in places he had never even given much thought. The arm Tonks had been sleeping on wasn't responding, it felt like someone had peppered it with thousands of pins before reattaching it on his body. He tried to move it around to allow blood to flow into it while he looked around his room.

It was as organized as usual, except for his reading table that was filled with books and pieces of parchment. Standing up with a groan, Harry walked to the window and opened the curtains. It was not morning yet, the sun had yet to appear though from the look of it, it will be dawn in an hour or two.

Harry looked at the bed, looking at the tome they had been reading with a frown. Something had woken him, but he couldn't tell what. He very much doubted it was his unresponsive arm as from how tired he felt, he still had a couple hours of sleep in him no matter how uncomfortable the position he had been in. Rubbing his temples, he pulled off his clothes and went to the bathroom, in desperate need of a shower.

"Harry, what's the meaning of this?!"

Harry jerked awake at his name. He had dozed off in the bathtub, and if he was to hazard a guess, he had slept until morning and Hardwin had seen the Daily Prophet. When he had written to Barnabas last night, he had known his brother wouldn't be pleased with the headline.

He heard the door to his room banging opened and he could almost picture Hardwin freezing in place on seeing Tonks on Harry's bed. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Harry left the bathroom and found his brother still frozen with his hand on the door handle.

"Good morning, brother." Harry greeted him with a grin. "How are you this morning?"

"Is that...what is Tonks doing in your bed?"

"Sleeping, I presume." Harry replied, peering at the sleeping girl. "But she could be running, I can't say for certain."

Hardwin rolled his eyes. "When did you even get here? I was looking for you the whole of last night."

"You know where you left me." Harry replied as he slipped on a pair of sweater pants.

"But you weren't there when I checked." He protested, the forgotten copy of the Daily Prophet still in his hand.

"We went to the ministry, hoping to get myself a time-turner from the DOM."

"And did you?" Hardwin asked. "The time-turner, did you get the time-turner?"

"No but we got that lovely book over there." Harry gestured at the tome, lying innocently on the stool next to the bed. "It makes for quite an interesting read."

"What's this?"

"A book, Hardwin." Harry answered. "Surely you have met one before."

"Not the book, moron." Hardwin snapped. "There's a ring and a piece of paper on top of the tome."

"Wait, really?" Harry turned away from the dressing mirror and came over to stand next to his brother. "I know I didn't put those there."

Lying on top of the tome was a silver ring with a white, rectangular-shaped stone. The ring felt... weird, though slightly familiar though Harry couldn't tell where he had felt something like it before. Next to the ring was a folded piece of paper which Harry picked up.

"Do not be alarmed, as I'm sure you have noticed from the handwriting, I'm you, Harry." Harry read. "I'm however from a completely different reality from yours. At least it will be if you listen to me."

"What?" Hardwin mouthed. "You think it's this multiverse thing?"

Harry exchanged a glance with Hardwin before they both sat down on the bed. Tonks didn't even stir.

"In my reality, I failed. I failed at everything that mattered. I couldn't help our father and I failed to get the Hallows' allegiance. Which meant that I didn't get to extract the horcrux in Hardwin's scar, by the time I figured out how to travel in time, it was already too late." Harry paused and the two once again exchanged another glance. "Let's just say that what happened was one of the most painful moments of my life and something I do not wish for you to go through. I'm sure your brother has an idea of what I'm talking about."

Harry looked at Hardwin who was frowning in thought. He didn't seem to have much of any idea of what was going on either.

"Anyway, I studied extensively. Looking for a way to change what had happened, to alter the past so I can have a better future, with the hope that I would one day feel my bond with Hardwin once again. Unfortunately, I realized that it was impossible to change my future... but I could change yours." Harry paused, trying to absorb what he had just read. "In my travels, I met a peculiar fellow. Someone who took favors even more seriously than I, infact it could be said that he invented favors. You will probably meet him as well, if your path follows even a little close to mine, and given how similar he is to us, it's very likely."

"The ring was one of his most precious possessions, and after years of conflict and friendship, he gifted it to me. It is very powerful, one of the few artifacts that are as old as time itself, and it is capable of holding... immortality." Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "In it's previous state, it could stop death. It was capable of shielding the wearer from a curse cast by the most perful being in the whole of the multiverse. Right now it is however free, the power that used to occupy it was used to protect someone precious to its previous owner."

At this point, Harry was starting to have a hard time believing. Hardwin however seemed to be hanging on his every word.

"This ring will not only get rid of the horcrux in Hardwin's scar, but it will also help heal James. And as an added bonus, for as long as Voldemort's shade is still trapped under the divine seal, whoever wears that ring will be immortal." Harry wanted to scoff and disregard whatever he had been reading. But something wasn't allowing him, maybe it was hope, hope that the letter was telling the truth. "All Hardwin has to do is press the stone on the ring on the scar and direct the horcrux into the ring. Once the horcrux is trapped into the ring, its powers will activate and then you can put it on James 'finger."

"Once it comes into contact with James, it will start the process of repairing his core and with in weeks, he should wake up." Harry continued. There was only one paragraph left. "I should warn you however, that all this is speculation from what I've managed to understand about the ring. I know how it works, and from that knowledge, I was able to determine how it will affect your brother and father. Good luck."

There were no assurances that the letter was genuine. Nothing asking Harry to trust the man, nothing at all to prove who he was saying he was. The choice had been left to Harry to decide if he was willing to trust the letter. With the Fidelius charm, no one other than Hardwin and Harry knew of Voldemort's prison, let alone about the seal he was trapped under.

No one except for family could have entered Potter Manor without Harry's permission, not even Sirius and Remus. For someone to have entered the house, walked into Harry's room and place the ring and letter next to his bed, all without triggering a single alarm, it had be someone with equal or a higher authority over the wards.

"Well, here goes nothing." Hardwin had picked up the ring and slipped it on his right hand.

Harry stared at his brother, his mouth agape.

"Are you insane!" Harry shouted, grabbing him by the throat. "You can't just put on some ring you know nothing about!"

"Only you, Harry could have done something like this and I trust you implicitly." Hardwin answered, not even trying to break free. "It doesn't matter if it's you from the future or the past, you're still the same Harry to me. And I trust you with my life."

And without waiting for Harry to reply, Hardwin lifted his hand and pressed the white stone onto his forehead.

And started screaming immediately.

Harry held his brother as he screamed and convulsed. He struggled to push him towards the bed from which Tonks had just jumped. The girl had been woken by Hardwin's screams and had jumped into motion immediately, her wand in hand. When she saw what was happening, she helped Harry lay Hardwin onto the bed. The boy was still screaming, his left hand was trying to pull the other but it did not budge. Harry tried to help him, using both hands to pull away the hand from Hardwin's forehead. It lifted slightly, but it was like the ring had been glued to the scar.

Tonks also came and helped pull the ring and it moved from the forehead, but there was something holding it in place, something black and foul.

"What's going on!" Lily had arrived, wearing only a dressing gown.

"Help us pull!"

Harry wasn't sure he had been heard over Hardwin's screams but a second later, Lily was kneeling next to him and she too started pulling. Slowly, the hand started rising, they were all pulling with their entire might whatever was holding the ring in place started giving way. Even over Hardwin's screams, they could hear a tearing sound as the horcrux was pulled free from where it had attached itself.

Black, foul-smelling blood was leaking from the scar as the horcrux was pulled away. And with a final heave, the ring was finally pulled free. Tonks, Harry and Lily all fell from the bed from the sudden release. But they were all up a second later. Lily wandlessy conjured a hankie and wiped her son's face before gasping.

"The scar." She whispered. "It has disappeared almost completely."

And sure enough, the scar which has always been like a healing wound, sometimes bursting open and leaking blood was now just like any other old scar. All that was left of the famous scar was a small white lightning-shaped strip.

While the two women were still marveling at the scar, Harry lifted the hand which had the ring and pulled it off. The white stone had transformed into black, infact it looked like an onxy stone. And he could now recognize what had felt familiar about it as the feeling seemed to have increased tenfold. It felt exactly like the original divine seal that Harry had encountered long ago in that tomb. The ring, either whoever had made it was a divine being or the power imbued into it was from a divine being.

There was no doubt in Harry's mind that if anything could heal their father, it would be this.

"Harry, what's going on?" Lily asked but Harry wasn't paying her any mind.

He slipped the ring on one of his fingers and it fit perfectly, just like the other two that were already there. He wandlessy conjured a sharp knife and to the alarm of the two women, sliced his palm.

Their cries of alarm however turned into looks of amazement as the cut healed itself before he had even lifted the knife from the hand. He looked at them, just as amazed as they were.

"Harry..." Lily started, quietly but dangerously. "What is going on?"

"I think we just changed the future." It was Hardwin who answered, his voice completely fine like he hadn't been screaming his lungs out. Lily rushed over and hugged him.

"Oh, Hardwin. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, mom." Hardwin replied with a wide smile. "Infact, I've never felt better in my entire life!"

"So it really worked?" Hardwin nodded vehemently.

"It's like I've been living with a bloody hat on my head all my life and it has suddenly been taken off." He explained. "I feel lighter and free. Like I can do anything."

"If one of you doesn't start explaining right now, I swear to Merlin_"

"Relax, mom." Harry told her. "You're going to need to sit for this."

-PRPRPRPRPR-

Five minutes later, Lily was staring at her sons like they were insane.

"When I agreed to marry James, I was prepared for my children to have a couple of bouts of stupidity but this takes the cake." Lily rubbed her tempels be she suddenly glared at them. "What the BLOODY HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"

Even Tonks cringed at her shout. Harry and Hardwin looked like they were moments away from jumping out through the window.

"Have you completely lost your minds!" Lily was glaring at them furiously. "You could have died! For all you know that bloody ring could have sucked you dry! You found it along with some bloody paper and you actually thought it was a good idea to put it on?! I've never seen anything so stupid in my life."

Lily then rounded on Harry, having driven Hardwin into the bed.

"And you, I would have expected you to know better. Isn't the Lord supposed to look out for their subordinates?" It was obvious she wasn't expecting an answer. "And you let your brother put it on! What if he had died, Harry? After all that we have been through, and to have your brother killed by your stupidity!"

Tears were coming out of her eyes but she didn't even wipe them. She tried to speak again but words didn't come out and with a scream of rage, she turned around and stormed out of the room. Two seconds later, she came back and stopped in the doorway.

"If you're so willing to kill each other, then be my guest but I will not have that bloody thing anywhere near my husband."

And then she was off again.

All three let out breaths they hadn't realized they had been holding.

"She's right, though." Harry said once they stopped hearing her footsteps. "That was very stupid, brother. You could've died."

"I know, but you didn't stop me either." He answered. "I know you would have stopped me if you really wanted."

Harry for once didn't have a reply. Because his brother was right, he could have easily stopped him without any trouble.

"Well..." Tonks started awkwardly in the ensuing silence. "I guess I should get going...gotta prepare for the ceremony." She walked upto the door and paused. "Try not to kill each other while I'm away."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Really?" Tonks smirked at Harry. "Then I have no need to take this."

She threw the Daily Prophet copy into the room that had brought Hardwin into Harry's room in the first place. The two looked at paper, its headline glaring right back at them in large bold letters.

BOY-WHO-LIVED DEFEATS VOLDEMORT AND ENDS THE WAR.

Harry looked back at Hardwin but his brother didn't look as mad as he had initially expected. "Well?"

"Well what?" Hardwin asked.

"Aren't you going to rant at me for the article?" Harry asked. "Have you read it anyway?"

"I did." He replied. "I saw that you gave most of the credit to me, which will surely draw even more fame for me while you just stay in the background. I was actually pretty mad but after witnessing mom's fury, I feel like mine was pretty tame."

Harry just shook his head. "You never cease to surprise me, brother."

Hardwin just shrugged. "Besides, I reckon you have your own reasons. Though it would be nice to know when I'm being set up for something."

"Dont worry, you'll be privy to everything I do from now on." Harry assured him.

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing but alright." Hardwin laughed. "So what do we do about the ring?"

Harry looked at the ring on his finger for a few seconds. "Let's wait for mom to first cool down, then we can bring it up again with her. But I assure you, by the end of this year, father will be awake."

"Right."

-PRPRPRPRPR-

Harry surveyed the crowd before him. They were at Hogwarts attending the ceremony held by the new government to honour the people that had fought in the two-day war. After a frosty breakfast at Potter Manor, Harry had gone to the Wizengamot which had sat and the available members agreed on an interim government to help the magical world regain a resemblance of normality before a more established government could be put in place.

While being presided over by Tiberius Ogden, the acting Chief Warlock, the Wizengamot had appointed Amelia Bones as the interim Minister for Magic and had given her full power to appoint anyone that she believes can help her to stabilize Magical Britain. In the meantime, starting tomorrow, the Wizengamot would be holding trials for those that had fought alongside the Dark Lord and had been captured.

The first thing Amelia and the few she had picked to her run the new government did, was to invite as many people as they could for the ceremony at Hogwarts the would officially end the war. Over a thousand people had turned up, and Harry suspected many had come just to witness the destruction left behind by the 'Battle for Hogwarts'. And it was a scary spectacle as only the bodies of the people, enemey or friend alike, had been removed.

The entire grounds were left entirely untouched and so people had seen the dead giants, trolls and acromantula. The battlefield itself and not to mention the parts of the castle that had been destroyed in the fight and the undead army while Harry and Hardwin fought Voldemort. As for their fight, everyone who saw where it had happened could only shake their heads in amazement. Even Harry was surprised at the amount of damage the three had done all around them in that short amount of time.

No one had witnessed the fight like they had with Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but going by what was left behind, those who had been around then had already concluded that the fight had been at par and probably even more epic than the legendary duel. While many wished they had been there to witness it, they also knew that being anywhere near the fight would have meant certain death if what had happened to the surrounding area was any indication.

They had all then converged in the Quidditch pitch, the only place that had gone almost untouched by last night's battle and what damage it had sustained on the day of the third task had been repaired by the Staff.

There was a large platform in the middle where the speakers stood. The new Minister along with many others had already spoken. Praising those who fought valiantly to bring an end to Voldemort's reign of terror. Amelia had personally read the names of everyone who fought in all three major battles and also promised to compensate the families of those who had lost their lives. She had then gone ahead to give awards to those who had been 'outstanding' in the war ending by awarding an 'Order of Merlin first class' to both Harry and Hardwin. And that was how the twins found themselves on the platform with everyone's eyes on them.

"Alot has been said today and I'm sure you all are tired of being glued in your seats, so I'll be speaking for the both us to save some time." His voice travelled throughout the pitch and everyone was silently waiting for him to continue.

"A lot of magical blood has been spilled in the last two days, many people that have been crucial in our world have died, and because a mad man believed himself superior to all of us." He paused. "Many children will never see their parents again, many of us here lost our loved ones in both wars led by the Dark Lord Voldemort, and all so someone would feel better about themselves."

People had gasped at the name, even aware that the man was truly gone.

"It's really painful that we lost all those people, people that if we worked together and set our prejudices aside for even a moment, we could see just how important they could be to us and the magical world as a whole." Harry took his brother's hand. "But we're human and we are supposed to learn from from our mistakes. I really hope that the magical world has learned from the events of the last two days because if anyone, anyone at all thinks that they'll put magical Britain through the things Tom Riddle has, then me and my brother can promise you one thing...we shall deal with you."

-PRPRPRPRPR-

AN: This chapter was a bitch to write but there we go. Not much happened here but this was a transition chapter and anything that happens from here will be based on this chapter.

In the future, when this story is done, I'll probably come back and write a spinoff off depicting what happened in the other reality in more detail.

However, if anyone wishes to write their own version, you're free to do so.