Authors Note: Thanks again for all the support throughout the story and I really hope you'll like this end since I rewrote it multiple times since I had a really hard time letting Harry kill anyone even Voldemort. daithi4377 wrote that it shouldn't matter to Harry's soul since Voldemort would be more like another Horcrux since it's only so little left of his soul but firstly, it's the last piece meaning up until now he hadn't died from Harry's actions and destroying a Horcrux hadn't really been killing a person. Also a spider also has a soul but killing it, as stated earlier does little to no damage due to the insignificance of the soul and it would be strange if any carnivore would have its soul effected for killing its pray which is why destroying an object has different effect in my opinion than killing a person no matter how disfigured and as I said earlier, it is the last piece meaning this time he'd die which the person the soul belonged to hadn't done before. I also had written during Harry's first year that he had a moment where he understood Voldemort to a point and was sorry for not having experienced the love and care he had gotten from his father and I doubt that now after having even more people that care and closer relationships with some he would probably be even more understanding rather than vengeful and yet Voldemort is 100% evil in this story unlike to others that I wrote and such Voldemort needs to be fought. As you might agree that did leave me with a major problem and I was about to change the part about his first year to make him more likely to attack the man but instead I got a different idea and now just hope that you'll like it.
Shadow Phoenix
Chapter 15
Change of heart
Harry walks towards the door to the room of Requirements after having destroyed Ravenclaw's Diadem. He leaves the room followed by his dad and headmaster and once outside in the hallway both of the others look surprised towards the disappearing door before they look questioningly towards Harry who after noticing shrugs, "Don't bother asking, I won't tell anyway."
After that Harry walks with his dad towards their rooms in the dungeons and takes the potion in the hope that it will work. Shortly after taking it, Harry gets a strong headache and eventually even faints. He awakens soon after with a worried father leaning over him and calling his name. "Thank god you're awake. I called for Pomfrey and she should be here any moment."
"I'm fine," Harry mumbles feeling the headache leaving. It still hurts but not as bad as before and Harry uses his magic to sense if there is still a piece of soul in his head that doesn't belong there but can't find it. "Can I have something for a splitting headache I have?"
"Of course," Severus replies and quickly summons the right phial and gives it to Harry when Madam Pomfrey rushes in.
"I'm fine." Harry says again, "I just need to take this and then I'll be great."
"Are you a medi wizard?" Madam Pomfrey asks and Harry is tempted to say yes since his Phoenix friend Li was a medi witch and since Harry by now knows every spell she does, he pretty much is. But since so far, he has no licence he doesn't point it out and lets her cast the diagnostic spells while asking Severus what happened.
Severus replies that he had to give Harry a potion to try something but that he can't explain it. She's about to complain when Harry says, "And it worked I already did the spells for that and yes Madam Pomfrey I am qualified to state that and it did work around my head and caused more pain that I expected and that is what made me faint. I'm fine now and since dad said I can take the pain reliever I'm sure nothing will interact and I can rest and sleep a little for the rest."
She still looks worried but says, "I can't find anything wrong with him."
"I told you I'm fine." Harry mumbles again now finally taking the pain reliever and says, "Now if you excuse me, I'll go to find Draco."
"Didn't you say something about sleep?" Severus questions.
"Sure," Harry grins "But I never said I'd do it alone!" After that, he leaves the room quickly to flash to Draco who is still in his bed and glad to see Harry show up and soon after is kissing his boyfriend again.
The next few day's both boys are hardly seen without the other and are usually kissing each other. Well, they still talk a lot and do their homework together but still, most of their time is spent kissing.
The weeks pass and everything is peaceful again until the day of the second task.
All the champions are standing on a wooden pier together with Barty Crouch, Ludo Bagman and the headmasters and the headmistress of all participating schools. While the students that watch are on stands that were built further from the shore and are transported there by little boots. One is ready to get the officials and the headmasters and headmistress there too. Harry glares towards the water and grumbles unintelligibly. He had been worried a while ago since he hadn't seen Draco that morning at all and felt where he was and is furious that his boyfriend is underwater for all that time! The second he hears the signal that the task starts Harry reaches his hand into the water to make sure no one sees what he's doing and uses his connection with Draco's necklace to flash his boyfriend underwater to his hand before he pulls him up and glowers towards the ministry employees that are close by. "Honestly, did you have to use my boyfriend?"
"How did you?" Ludo Bagman asks shocked.
"I worried what would be taken and put spells on everything I could think could be taken and luckily I feared something like this would happen and had one on Draco too." Harry replies while helping Draco climb up on the pier, "I won't tell what spell or how it works but believe me, I'll always be able to get him back."
Draco just grins at his boyfriend. "Thanks for the quick work, but could you dry me too?"
"Sure," Harry says and wandlessly and wordlessly starts to warm the air around Draco while keeping his hair moist enough to avoid it frizzing from the quick dry since he fears that Draco will complain otherwise.
"Thanks love." Draco grins. "Much better. Now, who wants to watch the rest of the show?"
Harry just takes his hand and says, "I'd rather kiss you."
"We could do both." Draco replies, "It seems the others still need some time to take back their treasures meaning it would be a rather boring show for a little while anyway!"
Harry just grins and he and Draco join the others on the boats to the stands. Harry uses his magic to sense who else might be down in the lake where Draco had been only a moment ago and soon knows why he had only seen Ron that morning and not Hermione. She's also down there since she was seen with Victor Krum at the yule ball. It appears she was the best they could think about for his treasure. Especially since, predictably, one of the other two is Cho who was Cedric date. Harry can sense one more person that he doesn't recognise, a magically weaker one than the others but there is something else he senses there that is similar to what he senses around Fleur and he has started to connect with her Veela heritage and assumes this person to be a part Veela and most likely a relative of Fleur. Probably a younger sibling considering the weaker magical power Harry extends his magical search to the waters and soon finds all three champions moving in different detours towards their goal. Each of them facing some creatures of the deep that are slowing them. Fleur seems to have the most trouble with the Grindelows however and he frowns towards where he senses her until Draco questions, "I thought you wanted to kiss."
"I did." Harry replies, "And still do, but I can sense Fleur and she's in trouble. Cedric is getting closer and got past the Grindelows and is seeing some selkies but is dealing with it while Victor is currently biting the giant squid to get past its tentacles."
"You know what they're doing?" Draco asks amazed and loud enough to gain the attention of the heads of the three schools and Bagman. Crouch is the only one who is currently too far away. "Tell me what happens."
"I just did Fluer has real trouble with the Grindelows and probably will send an emergency signal soon and if not, I'll make her." Harry explains. "She's got some scratches but she is also getting pulled further down and not getting anywhere."
A little later the sparks from her wand reach the surface and Harry can feel a mermaid move towards her quickly." I guess Dumbledore got the merpeople to help out? But what about that kid Fleur was to get out?"
"They'll bring her up to just a little later. They don't know who's for whom so they'll wait until I tell them to get the remaining ones up." Albus explains while the mermaid delivers Fluer towards the stands where some of the teachers help her out and warm her with a towel.
"Poor girl." Harry says but to avoid the unwanted attention he doesn't offer to use his magic to get her out and just watches Cedric finally reach Cho and says, "Cedric is coming up." A little later he repeats the sentence changing the name to Victor since he finally managed to get Hermione out too. Obviously, Harry is once again victorious and in first place with a clear head start in points. Harry watches Moody to see his reaction and sees that while he does look a little worried he doesn't seem upset meaning that this part of the tournament wasn't part of their grand plan, at least not apart from Harry pulling through and getting on to the last part. Probably not as easily though.
Harry looks towards the other three champions and wonders if they will be in danger too, just because he wants to know where this will lead. He frowns and decides to ask his Phoenix friends for advice again. Part of him wants to talk with his dad about it and hear his opinion. But unlike the Phoenixes, Severus doesn't understand the extent of Harry's powers or the knowledge he gained from the Phoenixes. Due to that Severus would definitely put a stop to everything and get the fake Moody busted and Harry out of the tournament and he is sure that this is his chance to end this once and for all. But if they disrupt the plan Voldemort might try something less obvious and take this chance. It's obvious that whatever they are up to, Voldemort want's Harry alive for something, probably to kill him personally or to use him. If they interrupt, he might use someone else and harm that person.
After some more thought he grins, he's got a plan to avoid endangering the other three, at least not too much. The next day he crafts similar jewellery's as the one he made for Draco. The one that includes one of his feathers. Just this time, he doesn't really make it himself. He gets four reasonably nice stones and lets each of his four Phoenix friends make a wristband from it with one of their fathers. Once that is done he waits until close to the last task. The three champions find out what it is about a week before the task happens and when they are shown the labyrinth on the quidditch pitch, which in Harry's opinion is a sacrilege, he asks the headmasters if it might be alright if they all have a dinner together in private the night before. Seeing that they are rivals but also friends it might be nice to have a friendly dinner right before the whole thing comes to an end.
After a bit of a discussion during which some seem to worry that one of the champions might sabotage the other they agree that the champions should get permission to go have a dinner together if they all wish it and soon after it's set that all four will come together and have that dinner in a spare room close to the great hall.
Harry is looking forward to it even though Draco seems to be getting jealous that Harry wants to eat dinner with others than him. During the dinner, Harry starts to eat and listens mostly to the others talk about different things they had enjoyed during the tournament so far. Fleur and Victor also talked about their stay and everything they had enjoyed during that year as well as what they had missed. Towards the end, Harry says, "I had a reason to suggest this and I think it's time to warn you." All three are looking at him questioningly. "As you know someone else has entered my name against the rules and I swear again, it really was someone else. I had nothing to do with it and never wanted to be in it. You also all probably know that my dad Severus Snape used to be a death eater and has the dark Mark. Due to that, I know for a fact that the dark mark was getting stronger throughout the year. I'm certain now that Voldemort," Even Fluer and Victor shiver even though they hadn't been in England and very little to do with the last rise of the dark Lord. But even abroad he had been feared it seems. "is the one behind me being in it. I have no idea who is doing it for him." And Harry is glad that it's kind of true since he has no idea who the fake Moody really is apart from him having cast that dark Mark after the Quidditch world champion final. "I do however know that he'll either want me dead or use me to come back one way or another. And apparently, me being in this tournament is a big part of his plan. This means however that something will be going down. Tomorrow is the last task, and the Mark is at a strength that I'm certain that he will be back by the end of it. I don't know his plan and I'm not sure if it will put any or all of you in danger but I doubt that the labyrinth will be all we must face tomorrow. I hope that none of you will see Voldemort but maybe you will."
They all look worried and Fleur even asks, "Do you think we just drop out? Or are you just trying to make us fear the task enough to do that?"
"Oh no, please don't stay out of it." Harry smiles at her. "I used the last weeks to think of a way to ensure that all of us will be safe. And after finding out about the task I even added some extra protection to what I had already planned. The thing I had planned are these." He takes out the bracelets. All of them a slightly different shade of grey. "These bracelets each have a feather of a Phoenix in it. If you touch it and think of it, the Phoenix can hear you and even flash you to safety should you need that. He will also be able to feel where exactly you are. I'd like you all to wear one just like I will wear one of them myself. If anything happens, we only need to touch it and say the right word and the Phoenix will either come to help us whatever way he or she can or it will flash us out. I thought that we'll say 'Help' to get the Phoenix to us and 'out' for the Phoenix to flash us out."
"You said you added something to this plan." Victor says, "What is that?"
"You'll see in a moment." Harry grins, "It will be easier to explain if you all could test this first. Touch your bracelet and say 'help'."
Each of them takes one and does as Harry instructed. One Phoenix after the other shows up and Harry smiles at the one in front of him before he says, "Thanks' for coming to my friends." The Phoenix trills and Harry feels the happiness from her and the reassurance that they will all stay safe. As you see there are four Phoenixes for four champions. Each one of us has a feather from a different Phoenix in our bracelet and the respective Phoenix will not only come when we call him, he will fly above the labyrinth and watch. He will not help us to find the way while circling above us sometimes ahead and sometimes behind or to the side you'll never know if the way he or she will be might be the way you'll need to go or not. He will not help us fight anything teachers placed there unless we lose consciousness or are in a life-threatening situation."
"How will they know that Harry?" Cedric asks. "Are they able to understand if we want and need their help or not and won't it be cheating if we use their help?"
"They will know when we'll be in too much danger and believe me they will flash us to the teachers ending the competition for us meaning it won't be cheating." But you needn't worry about your Phoenix ending it for you while you could still do something. They will not interfere too soon. They are much more intelligent than you'll assume believe me."
"And how do you know this?" Fleur wants to know. "How can you be so sure."
"Same way I knew them and how to do the bracelets." Harry explains, "Due to a secret. But I assure you, they will only aid enough to keep you alive and not interfere with the tournament."
They all look sceptical but eventually put the bracelets on since they don't know how to get away from the Phoenixes anyway and the Bracelet only seems to be the smaller protection anyway.
Harry is pleased with the outcome. He knew that they'd probably worry but this is the safest way to go and not interrupt the tournament or whatever plan Mouldy has. And Harry really wants to know and see if he can use it to finally do what he told him he'd hope someone does during his first year as a student. Harry has decided to help him. After long discussions, mainly with the first, he has a plan that might end Voldemort's reign of terror without killing the human he could have been. Partly because if Harry starts killing when he could have captured, people might start to fear him even more as he assumes they will the second the masses find out about him being powerful enough to be a Phoenix. But he also just wants to help him. Now that he knows from what he learned about twisted souls that his whole childhood probably was at least nearly as bad as Harry's before he came to Severus. Voldemort, no Tom, had been hurt as a child. He's been neglected at the very least. He never experienced being truly loved by anyone. At least not until it was too late for his soul to be cured by whatever small and possibly twisted love he might have gotten.
The next day Harry is a little nervous and only hopes that his comrades will be safe with his precautions. He spent the last night with his dad in the dungeons. That morning he cuddles up to him during breakfast. Something he hadn't done in years and says "Would you be very angry if I don't kill Voldemort even if I had a perfect chance to and could easily do it?"
"I won't be mad at all as long as you stay away from him." Severest says.
"I can't promise that since I know that I'll face him today. During the task. But you don't have to worry. The Phoenixes will be with me. I'll be perfectly safe and I could kill him easily but I don't want to kill anyone." Harry explains. "I thought I wanted to when I was younger and I still am upset that he killed my biological parents but I really don't want to kill him and I really don't think I should kill anyone ever no matter the reasons."
"Couldn't one of the other Phoenixes do it for you?" Severest asks hopefully "Isn't this first one powerful enough?"
"They all are powerful enough to easily kill him." Harry sighs. "But it would be dangerous if they did. Especially the first. She had killed too many in her first lifetime only to survive until she noticed what it did to her soul."
"What do you mean?" Severus questions confused. "What exactly does it do?"
"Killing another human, rips the soul. Apart will be completely severed." Harry explains "It can regrow and heal but will leave a scar. If that happens too often, I'll become like Voldemort. A soul won't die so a soul can't be reborn. It means the scars will stay forever. I don't know what happens to a human soul when they die, but mine will stay as it is. If any of us start to kill dark wizards or evil Muggles, we'll slowly start to enjoy the power over those. We will come to enjoy being thanked and eventually will want to rule over everyone who is less powerful. And what will you all do when an immortal Phoenix starts to kill and torture like Voldemort."
"Can you capture him?" Severus suggests.
"I can and that is plan B." Harry grins "But his soul is mutilated and considering how it is now, he was treated nearly as I was at the Dursley's just he never got a dad like you. He never had a friend like Draco or even Ron and Hermione. He was hated for so many reasons so many times. He was hated for his accidental magic and later for being from a muggle orphanage. I could have become him if I hadn't been a Phoenix and found you that way. I don't want to punish him for becoming what he had been turned into. I want to heal him. I don't know if I can heal a soul but I have an idea I want to at least try and if it works he won't be Voldemort he'll be Tom. And living with his memories will be bad enough."
"Isn't it dangerous?" Severus sighs.
"Not at all." Harry promises.
"I won't lie to you, I hate the idea of my little Harry being anywhere close to that monster." The older man says and hugs his son holding him tightly. "But you have made so much appear so easy and I know that you have powers I probably couldn't even dream about, and that's why I've decided to trust you from now on. When you say it is safe for you, I'll believe you. I'll still worry and fret about you that won't change. But I'll trust you to know your limits because I obviously don't."
Harry hugs him and thanks him before they have breakfast. Harry asking his dad for the first time to make his bread roll like he had done during Harry's first breakfast as a human with his dad. And both enjoy it equally even though they both know that Harry is much too old and mature for it and that it might be the last time they will get to do this.
When the task starts, everyone Harry knows is there for him, including Remus and Sirius as well as Molly and Arthur and Lucius and Narcissa right next to them with his dad and they all try to give him, in his opinion useless, tips on what to do with different creatures he might run into. Of course, he doesn't tell them what he thinks of their advice.
Harry is the first into the maze and immediately uses his magic to feel the cup that's in the middle and as assumed it is a portkey. He can't sense where it goes and there is a slight chance that it will only lead back to the start where they can be celebrated. He also feels all the creatures that are between him and the cup. He grins and just flashes past all the creatures he senses to the centre of the maze where the cup is and frowns. He had planned to wait for the others but has a different idea now. He uses a small pebble from the ground to create a perfect looking copy and turns it into a portkey that will lead to the start. After that, he switches them and turns himself invisible with a spell before he touches the portkey.
After seeing that he is in a graveyard where the first flashes close by to hide in a tree as a silent protection, Harry ends his invisibility spell and looks around praying that the other Phoenixes keep the other champions safe.
While Cedric probably enters the maze, Harry gives a convincing show of being a helpless boy while he grumbles internally about how stupid a single person can be since clearly, Wormtail isn't as assumed in a rat proof cell in Azkaban. And for reasons Harry doesn't get, Fudge kept it secret. Probably to save himself the embarrassment and since Wormtail had been hiding after escaping Sirius, Fudge must have assumed he'd do the same again.
Grudgingly Harry lets himself be tied to a stone angel by the rat and sees him use an ancient resurrection spell that will give someone close to death a new body and clearly Wormtail has messed up the preparations. Unless of course, the body reflects the inner soul but in that case, He'd have to be even uglier….if that is at all possible. Harry temporarily watches the man talk to Wormtail but is bored of it so quickly that he summons Gryffindor's sword and lets it levitate above Nagini instead and right before Voldemort gets to summon his death eaters the sword drops, point first of course, and hits her right at the base of her head.
Nagini screeches, effectively distracting Mouldy from calling his death eaters. "Bulls-eye." Harry cheers and gets Mouldy's attention. "I hope it doesn't bother you that I killed her." Harry grins and moves the stone angle's hands to get free again and grins at Voldemort. "By the way, I let that bumbling fool get me because I actually wanted you to return this time around."
"And why would you do that?" Voldemort grumbles. "Not that it will save you after killing Nagini, but I am curious."
"I told you the last time we saw each other, I hope you'll learn what love and forgiveness mean." Harry smiles gently. "And I forgive you for killing my parents."
"And why did you kill Nagini?" Voldemort questions.
"Because to teach you what love and forgiveness truly mean, you need your whole soul. And I can't even try to heal it while a piece of it is stuck in her." Harry explains. "But now that I got all of you freed, I can try to fix your soul."
"All?" Voldemort pales, looking even less healthy than before. "How many?"
"Seven, me included." After a strange look from the man he asks, "You obviously hadn't notice, but after killing me when you killed my parents you created one by accident. Oh, and by the way, I think you did kill me."
"If I did, how are you still standing?" The man asks confused.
Harry glowers to Wormtail and a silent spell hits him and renders him unconscious before Harry says, "I burned and was reborn from my ashes for unlike you, I am forced to stay immortal no matter what. I'm a Phoenix. But that doesn't really matter now."
After that Harry moves more of his magic than ever before around himself and Voldemort causing a dome to appear around them and locking them inside. The energy around them crackles and Voldemort looks surprised at it before turning a nearly scared locking face towards Harry. He lifts his wand and tries an Avada Kedavra only to see the green light from his spell be absorbed in it. "What are you doing?" He screams angrily.
"Sensing your soul and summoning the pieces from it before I'll try to reattach them and remould your soul," Harry says. "I don't know if I can and I don't know if it will hurt you but I do know that it's the only way to help you. If it doesn't work, I'll capture you and let Fudge decide what will happen."
"Like you could." Voldemort grumbles.
"I can and I will." Harry replies "I will not decide what to do with anyone else, but our lives started to similar that I understand you better than you think. I want to help you."
After that Harry pulls his magic closer to the two making the space they have under the dome smaller. Voldemort looks at it for a moment. But not for long. A bit of Harry's magic touches him and connects the two of them and Harry forces enough power into the other wizard to take his soul out of him. The body drops and Harry moves the foreign soul into his own body and lets it touch his own soul to teach it and mould it and reshape it. He doesn't know if Voldemort can feel anything during this time. In theory, he doesn't since the soul isn't connected with the nervous system even when in his body. But theory and reality aren't always the same.
He feels the soul in his own body and the pain it feels from the scars. Pain that isn't physical but emotional. The pain of a child that was unwanted by his own father is coming from one scar while the pain from being called a freak by the other kids in the orphanage comes from another. The pain from his mother dying for love of a man instead of fighting her death for him comes from a medium sized one while the pain from another child in the orphanage killing a wounded snake, a really young Tom had tried to heal, is coming from a smaller one of the scars. Harry lets the tears from all of that pain fall freely and tries to fill the scars with his love for the boy that had tried to save a snake or longed for the love of a father. He tries to fill it with the love he himself felt from his father and friends. The love he felt when Draco kissed him for the first time or when Ron and Hermione were laughing with him about one thing or another.
The scars don't disappear but they change. The wounds that are fresher heal faster and the soul starts to change slowly at first but then faster. Once Harry did all he can think of doing he returns the soul to its rightful place and quickly retracts most of his magic feeling that the amount of his magic that he needs to move the soul is nearly too much for the other wizard's body and could kill him if left for too long and would already have killed a Muggle or much weaker wizard since their bodies wouldn't be able to bare so much more than usual. Only the fact that Voldemort's body has more than most keeps his body alive. Still, he leaves a bit of his magic in a similar way to what he did with Moody to know when the man uses magic and what spells, just to be safe.
Before retreating the rest of his magic he tries to heal the body too and change it a bit. Soon after a crying young man is lying there and looks up after a while and asks, "Why did you do this, after everything I did?"
"Don't you know?" Harry asks gently, "I forgave you. I also made sure to change your appearance while I healed your body and doubt anyone but me will ever be able to recognise you. But I will even if you change it again. You have a choice to make now. Not tonight but every day for the rest of your life. And the choice is, to go on like you have so far or to start over and become a better man. You might think you chose now and be done but you will have many more chances to chose and rethink. There will be moments where you think it is too much and just kill a problem is easier but remember, this is your last chance. And I will know if you chose the wrong thing and next time I will capture you and hand you over after letting you look like yourself again."
Tom still has tears in his eyes and just mumbles "I don't deserve this."
"I think you do." Harry disagrees with a gentle smile "And I have something else for you." Harry turns into a Phoenix and even after he mentioned being a Phoenix before Tom looks shocked. After plucking one of his small down feather's he changes back and picks up a random stone to create a bracelet with both. "Take this to remember that I do care about you and if you need me, touch it and say my name. It might take some time for me to find the time to see you but I will come to you within the day at least for a moment to find some date where I have more time to talk to you. If you are in danger you can say it too but I doubt you'll really need my help on that account all that much."
Tom still looks surprised but takes it and when he does Harry flashes them both to the outskirts of a village in America where a few wizards are. "It's safer to be far from Britain for you right now." Harry explains the confused looking man. "Pretend to have lost all memory and I'm sure you can start anew and even return to Britain when you have a new identity. But a clean slate should make it easier for you to start over."
"Thank you." The man replies, "I promise you to return as a better man."
Harry nods and smiles "I'll look forward to see it. Goodbye."
Another flash later, Harry is back in the graveyard where negates the portkey spell on the cup and shrinks it before he pockets it and after a pit stop in Azkaban where he leaves a tightly bound unconscious Pettigrew he returns to the center of the maze.
The fake cup is still there and Harry quickly switches it for the real thing. And of course, turns it into a portkey to the start again and the fake into a pebble. He flashes away to the start but inside the maze and walks back out claiming that he got lost and when he found the start again instead of the cup he decided to give up. Severus is with him in an instant and holds him tight whispering, "Is it over?"
"I found the cup and did what I told you I'd do." Harry whispers back. "He's fine now and I'm sure he will change into a new person but I'll tell you more later."
A little later Moody shows up complaining that Fawkes or one of the other birds that showed up had attacked him. The first, who followed Harry silently, sits close to Albus, her wings ready to take off at a moment notice.
No one listens to him for long though since Cedric shows up with the cup and is celebrated. Once the other two champions are back and all of the four Phoenixes are there too, the fake Moody just looks around confused and Harry grins at him before he whispers to his dad "Moody is a death eater in disguise, he threw my name in."
Severus walks over to Albus to inform him in a whisper. Albus catches the by then running man and they force Veritaserum down his throat and ask questions. After that, most believe him crazy while Albus looks questioningly towards Harry since clearly the Cup didn't send anyone anywhere else then back to the start and there was no sighting of a long dead dark Lord. But since the fake Moody who after a while turns back into Barty Crouch Jr. said he had manipulated the cup to bring Voldemort back, and since he can't lie, he must be crazy. They do find out that the Phoenix had attacked him to protect one of the champions and believe that part since it made more sense than a Phoenix attacking a clearly crazy man for no reason.
There is a lot of going one since some are still celebration Cedric who can't believe that he had won against the powerful Harry who had so easily beaten them all in the previous two tasks and part of him is wondering if Harry lost on purpose, especially since Harry had said multiple times that he had no intention to participate never mind win. Albus and Fudge are busy taking care of Barty Crouch Jr. While Draco is asking Harry flat out if he lost on purpose earning himself a shrugged, "Why would I?"
"Because I know you." Draco sighs and looks over towards Cedric who is surrounded by everyone who wants to celebrate him and grins pulling Harry into his arms, "At least I still have you all to myself."
"Later maybe Mister Malfoy." Severus drawls, "I need to talk to my son in private for a moment."
"I'll see you later Draco." Harry grins and hugs the Slytherin, "I'll find you."
"You better hurry." Draco claims and gives him a short kiss, "I'll miss you already."
Harry just smiles fondly before leaving with his father to explain everything that happened to him and again to Albus who joins them once they found the real Moody and once again have a shortage on defence teacher at Hogwarts. Harry just hopes for a competent teacher for his next year at Hogwarts which hopefully will be more relaxing and let him enjoy his life with his family, friends and boyfriend. Or future husband as Draco claims to be. But considering that during the next few years Harry doesn't sense Voldemort returning and only Tom using his magic to help people left and right, Harry is very happy with his peaceful life.
Authors Note: A guest reviewer had asked "Please remind me again if you are against writing a sequel at some point in the future?
Not that you are positive that you are going to write one, only that it has a POSSIBILITY of being written. To answer that, anything is possible I'd say but the likelihood of a multi-chapter sequel is very slim. I might eventually be inspired to write something maybe even due to a review but right now the only thing is planned but especially since Severus is still single there might be a possibility for writing a story about him finding love which does leave the option for a sequel but as I said, I don't feel inspired enough to do that right now. However, if anyone else would like to do that please feel free to do just that. I can, however, promise that I'll write an Epilogue and I have multiple ideas for that but since I don't have that one finished yet, like I had all 15 chapters done before uploading the first, I'll need a bit of time to get all those ideas organised and put together.
To make it as good as possible I'd like to get as many reviews as possible telling me things like should Severus get together with Sirius or Godric since that one was left open in this because Severus himself wanted to focus on Harry at least until the depression was at a point where he wouldn't be a shadow Phoenix and then when that time came was too distracted with the tournament and the danger it posed for his son.
I'd also would like to know how you think I should get the immortality to a happy ending someone said Draco could just become a magical animagus but unless it is an immortal one it wouldn't help and I do have an idea but you are free to give more and let me know if anyone else should be changed and granted immortality and if yes who and how many?
Also, should Tom be mentioned in the Epilogue and if yes should he still be abroad or live in England and what should he do and should he have a partner and if so, who? And is there anything else you'd like mentioned in this like where do you think Harry and Draco should work, how many kids? Adopted ones or not? And anything else that comes to mind.
I'll wait with writing the Epilogue until I have some inspiring reviews though and guess that I'll give you about a week to write those to give everyone a chance to do that. I can't promise how quickly I'll get it done though.