"They will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord, they walk behind the ploughshare, they will put away the sword. The chain will be broken, and all men will have their reward."
-LES MISERABLES-

"…came as soon as we could…" Harry could hear Sirius saying. His pace towards Dumbeldore's office quickened at the sound of his godfather's voice. Dumbledore said something in a low murmur that Harry couldn't quite hear. Another voice joined theirs. "Really? Well, he hasn't- I mean- has he said anything?" Remus!
Harry vaulted up the last couple of stairs and into Dumbledore's office. There stood Dumbledore, next to the only two people Harry would ever have the hide to call "father-figures". They broke into simultaneous grins.
"You made it!" Harry exclaimed, crossing over to Sirius and grabbing his hand. Remus clapped him on the shoulder.
"Is everyone okay? Ron, Hermione? They're here?"
"Yes. So are Frank, Helena, Minerva and Daedelus. No one else yet though."
"It is taking some time to owl everyone separately," Dumbledore said wearily, apologetically, "And certain cloaking methods must be undertaken so that the letters are not intercepted, of course. Most people should be here by tomorrow, however."
"Huh," said Sirius, placing a hand wearily over his eyes. Dumbledore said something about going to the Owlery and left. The remaining three plonked themselves down in the chairs in Dumbledore's office. Both Sirius and Remus looked entirely washed out and tired. The air in the office was one of weary resignation- all three knew what was going to pass.
"I still can't believe it." Remus said, breaking the silence. "Six years trying to avoid it now it's going to happen." Harry didn't, of course, have to ask as to what he was referring to. Remus had particularly against having a full-fledged war. War, he said, would only serve to spread discord among the Aurors and those against Voldemort. There was already a great rift between the Aurors and the Ministry- that was bad enough…
"But," Harry suddenly found himself saying, "Won't it be better? Just to end it, I mean?" He felt Sirius's sharp gaze alight on him but Harry refused to meet his eyes. He stared resolutely down at his feet in a would be-nonchalant- this-really-is-my-opinion sort of way.
"War is never better, Harry."
"But won't it be better than all these- these-murders? I mean- god!" Harry felt angry, all of a sudden, thinking about the events of the past six years, "Six years of Aurors murdering Death Eaters, Death Eaters murdering Aurors- it's all stupid, isn't it? We could have done this years ago- just a big battle- we could have killed off Voldemort and all his stupid Death Eaters, and who knows, maybe all those murders could have been stopped." He paused, feeling another flush of anger. "So many good people…Bill Weasley, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Mavis McTrout, Poppy Pomfrey, Bertha Jorkins, Cedric Diggory- even Cornelius Fudge didn't deserve to die!" Another pause. He felt a bit strange, naming all those dead people. "The slow murder of each of our sides," he concluded softly, "Is like a slow death for everyone who lives."
"So you're suggesting," Remus said, after a long pause, "That you'd rather a savage battle where millions of people are murdered in a single day?"
"That's not what I'm saying."
"Well it certainly sounds like it!" Sirius snapped, and Harry was surprised to see that he was on his feet, looking furious. "Jesus Christ Harry, I've never heard you talk like this before, and quite frankly, it's scary." Harry looked up and met his godfather eyes, very frankly. Sirius glared right back at him. "War is the most inhuman, savage, primitive, unfeeling activity that we can partake in, and you're condoning it. The slow murder of our side, as you put it- well, god- at least that reminds us that we're human beings! They're not just dead statistics Harry, they were all human beings! They're not a list of reasons to start a war with Voldemort!" he was nearly shouting now, and Remus stood up- always the mediator.
"Settle down," he said in a quiet voice. Sirius sat, obviously upset. Harry's heart was jumping again. Remus fixed Harry with a steady stare. "You seem to be forgetting, Harry," he said in a voice that made Harry feel bizarrely like he was thirteen again, "That killing someone on a battlefield is still a murder. The Death Eaters are human beings as well- don't ever, ever forget that." Then he paused to let it sink in. "I've an idea," he continued, very softly, "That war is the only way you'll get to Voldemort."
"What makes you say that?" Harry whispered.
"Because it's exactly what James thought."
There was silence for a good fifteen seconds. Then Harry got up, took a deep breath, turned to Remus and said, "Never talk about my father again."
"Harry-"
"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" Harry screamed at Remus.
Then he left Dumbledore's office, leaving a deafening silence behind him.

*

St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies. Of course. It was obvious.

But someone had shaved off Hagrid's beard.

Harry stood looking through the window in the door to Hagrid's room. It wasn't visiting hours but they had let him in. Famous Harry Potter and all that. Had to make allowances. So who'd survived, out of them? Hagrid had. So had Madame Maxime. Seamus Finnigan. Evelyn Finnigan. A few other Aurors Harry knew quite well, and even more he didn't know as well. All in all, about a thousand Aurors and five hundred Death Eaters. But Hermione hadn't. Ron hadn't. Sirius hadn't. Remus hadn't. How odd.

But still…someone had shaved off Hagrid's beard. Why had they done that? It looked strange. Wrong. It didn't make sense. He still had a wiry mane of hair on his head but his face was clean shaven and hairless. He'd never seen the bottom half of Hagrid's face before. Had it always looked like that?

The half-giant was breathing steadily, in, out, in, out. The nurse that was in there checking all his vitals had finished- she came outside and shut the door quietly. She gave Harry a warm smile.

"Mr. Potter- to what do we owe this pleasure?"

Harry didn't answer. "What's wrong with him?"

"Deep sleep curse. It takes a while to break. We're feeding potions into his veins but…well, he's very large, so it's taking longer than usual."

"Oh. So he'll be all right?"

"He'll be in top condition in a few days."

Something tiny in Harry's heart sent a little burst of joy up his throat. It was the first warm feeling he'd had for what seemed like a hundred years. "Excuse me, but why have they shaved off his beard?"

The nurse smiled again. "We had to. His chin was gashed- split open. We had to shave off the beard so we could stitch it up, you see."

"Oh," said Harry again, nodding. "Thank you." The nurse bobbed her head and walked off down the grey corridor. Harry stood looking at Hagrid for as while longer. It was a while before he placed the reason for the ache in his heart. He would have given anything, absolutely anything, for Hagrid to stand up and give Harry one of his giant hugs that always left his ribs aching. He would have given anything for a sense of normality, for something to be familiar. Now even Hagrid was unfamiliar, beardless and strange.

"HARRY! What d'yeh think yer doin' down there?"
Harry's heart leapt. So did the witch; a load of fingernails cascaded over her feet and she cursed as the massive form of Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, came striding towards them, beetle black eyes flashing over his bristly beard.
"Hagrid!" Harry croaked in relief. "I was lost…Floo powder…"
Hagrid seized Harry by the scruff of the neck and pulled him away from the witch, knocking the tray right out of her hands. Her shrieks followed them all the way out of the twisting alley into the sunlight.

Harry could always count on Hagrid. He would trust Hagrid with his life.

"HARRY!"

The sudden exclamation of Harry's name made him jump. He turned in the direction of the voice and saw none other than Seamus Finnigan pelting towards him. The breath was knocked out of him as Seamus leapt at Harry and hugged him tightly.

"Seamus!" Harry gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Seamus lifted his bandaged arm. "Got a nasty bite from one of those hell hounds the death eaters were setting on us. Only just woke up yesterday." He was staring at Harry as he said all this very quickly. "I'd given you up for dead, Harry," he went on. "I had. The nurse told me the only other people in hospital that were in our squad were Hagrid and me mam." Seamus paused and bit his lip, staring at Harry with an unsettled expression on his face. "I'd given you up for dead," he repeated finally. Harry shook his head. "They're full up here so they kept me at the Ministry."

"What about the others?" Seamus said. "Hermione, Ron, Frank and Helena? What about them?"

Harry thought of what to say for a moment or two, but obviously Harry's hesitation was enough to tell Seamus all he knew. He gave a miserable sigh and hung his head.

"I thought so."

There passed between the two boys a long silence, in which Seamus covered his eyes just as Percy had done, and sighed again.

It was possibly the longest amount of time Seamus had ever gone without talking, as far as Harry knew. And he had such a miserable expression on his face. This wasn't the Seamus Harry knew. This wasn't laughing, grinning, talkative, bouncy Seamus, who could always be counted on for a laugh.

Harry suddenly wanted to grab Seamus by the shoulders and shake him and yell, "SMILE! LAUGH! DO SOMETHING NORMAL FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

Finally Seamus looked up. "They're all dead, aren't they?" he said, pulling at a lock of his sandy coloured curls. "Everyone who's not in the hospital…it's just me, mam, Hagrid and you left, isn't it?"

"I don't know where Minerva is," Harry said.

"And Dumbledore?"

"Disappeared."

Seamus nodded and pulled at his hair again. "Voldemort?" he said, after a moment's silence.

"I don't know."

Seamus closed his eyes and nodded. Harry stared at the unfamiliar morose expression adorning Seamus's usually perky features and felt that interesting pang again. Except this time it wasn't so much interesting as just…wrong. Seamus, please smile, he thought. For the love of god, crack a grin for me. Just one. One'll do. Then I can go and feel a bit better. Everything's so strange. None of it makes sense. Now I don't even have your smile to rely on. Crack a joke. Tell that stupid joke about the American, Australian and Irishman in the boat. Don't stand there twiddling you hair and looking like you're about to cry.

"Look, Harry," Seamus said, looking over his shoulder, "I just came to check on Hagrid. I've got to get back to me mam's room- I want to be there when she wakes up."

"You'll tell her?"

"Yeh, course I will," Seamus said, nodding. "Oh man, I can't believe it…I mean, I guess I knew everyone was dead but hearing you say it. Makes it so real. I'm sorry, Harry, I really am."

"Why should you be?"

"I wish I coulda been there for you insteada hanging around here all day, you know? Where are you staying?"

"I don't know yet."

"Well, you know our fireplace. Drop by and tell us what's going on. We've got to find Dumbledore."

"I know."

And suddenly Seamus smiled, but it was a sad smile, not like his usual elfish grin at all. "We didn't really win, did we? Everyone says we did, but…we didn't really."

Harry let out a sigh, something he hadn't done since he wok up in the Ministry. It made him feel slightly better. His throat didn't feel so tight now.

"No. No we didn't, Seamus."