.

Harry dipped his quill into the inkpot, and once again mourned the fact that magical parchment couldn't hold the marks made from a regular pen. Not even a fountain pen.

A weary sigh escaped him.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?" Harry glanced up from the parchment laid out before him and found Neville setting down a mug of steaming coffee just the way he liked it.

"For you, since it looks like you neglected to head to bed. It's got a spot of wide-eye potion in there as well since you'll be up all day for the anniversary tomorrow... or today I suppose." Neville chuckled.

"Oh." Harry sat up fully and checked the clock hanging nearby, and realized that the rising light of dawn hadn't been his imagination. Rubbing an absent hand over his sore neck, he smiled gratefully at his friend, "You're right, I lost track of time, thanks Neville."

Harry sipped at the mug gratefully, while Neville sat opposite him with a cup of tea and a good natured grimace. "You know, I don't think I can forgive Danny for introducing that stuff to you. Tea is far better than that bean juice."

Harry nearly choked on his coffee as he laughed.

"Careful Neville, if he hears you say that he'll start calling tea 'leaf juice' again."

At that Neville grimaced and shuddered, but then joined Harry in soft laughter at the memory of the looks on student's and professor's faces alike whenever Danny dared to utter the blasphemous words.

"Speaking of Danny," Neville continued, "When are you meeting him? It's getting close to the time you normally leave, isn't it?"

Harry hummed thoughtfully as he swiped his quill across parchment in one final flourish and placed the parchment in his nearly finished 'done' pile.

"He's in class, got his first lesson with the seventh years tonight so it's running a bit longer than normal since he's going over everything they'll need for their NEWTS and all the options they have for further study if they want to go into an Astronomy based career. Should end at about half past so I've still got a little time before I need head up to meet him."

Neville nodded with a hum. "I had to do the same with my seventh years yesterday. Got one student who wants to cultivate their very own venomous tentacula business." Neville took another sip of tea with a look that told Harry that Neville was already putting together information and contacts to help that student achieve their goal.

Neville shook his head fondly before continuing. "Anyways, I heard from Ginny that you guys are thinking of going somewhere different than Frostbite's before you head out to Amity Park? Any reason, or is it just because it's the twenty year anniversary?"

"Oh, It was Hermione's idea actually. She wanted to see where it all started for him, a kind of ironically poetic place to go in my opinion, but Danny was alright with it. Then, apparently, Valerie has a whole day planned for us, along with the rest of Amity. I've no idea what they've got planned for us, but if it's anything like last year, we'll be kept quite busy."

"Well then you better finish that coffee, it seems your day is only just beginning."

Harry chuckled wryly. "And here I thought all my late nights and early mornings would end once I left school."

"Yeah well, we never really left school, did we." Neville said from behind his cup.

Harry smiled as he took another sip from his mug. "No, I suppose we didn't."

The door to the faculty lounge then creaked open, prompting Harry and Neville to look up at the new arrival.

"Morning Professor Nagnock." Harry greeted with a wave.

"Care for some tea or coffee? We've got a pot of each made." Neville offered.

"No, thank you Professors. I am merely retrieving my class registry for the day, I've got the upper years in the afternoon, you see." The goblin dipped his head as he headed towards the corner dedicated to student registry and class schedules.

"Oooh, how were the younger years? Any promising bookkeepers or metalsmiths on your hands?" Neville asked as Harry finished the last of his paperwork, banishing the pile to his office with a wave of his wand.

"As a matter of fact, there is one first year who I believe will be a pleasure to teach." Nagnock bared his sharp teeth in a wide grin.

"Oh?"

"Yes, and if I am not mistaken in my understanding Professor Potter, Miss Dursley just so happens to be your niece, correct?"

Harry laughed outright which only made Ragnock grin wider.

"Oh I can't wait to tell Dudley, he was so worried Iris wouldn't find anything she liked to study! That's excellent news Professor Nagnock, I'm sure she'll enjoy anything you throw at her in class!"

Chuckling lowly, Ragnock nodded again and then made his leave of the faculty lounge.

"Well, that will certainly be interesting won't it? I've had quite a few students excited for Professor Ragnock's classes this year. Well his, and the new healing and traditional coven magic classes, too. Oh, and yours of course." Neville quirked an eyebrow as Harry finished his coffee. "There's even been some rumors going around that you're inviting some guest speakers for Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. Any truth to them?"

Harry hummed as he set his empty mug down and banished it with another wave of his wand. "Now that would be telling wouldn't it? You know how I feel about rumors, Neville."

"Ugh, Haaaaaary." Neville groaned. "C'mon, who am I going to tell, the mandrake seedlings? Who've you convinced to come all the way to Hogwarts as a guest speaker?"

Harry chuckled good natured as he stood and stretched. "Alright, alright, but you have to promise not to tell McGonagall, she'd have my head if she knew."

"Well now I'm a little wary of the answer so maybe you shouldn't-"

"It's Fred and George."

Neville sputtered and laughed. "Oh, Merlin! Are you serious?!"

Harry nodded as he grabbed his cloak, grinning wide as Neville devolved into further laughter. "I can already see the chaos! If McGonagall doesn't kill you for bringing them back here, Filch certainly will! What are you even having them teach?"

"Oh, you know, just the basic safety measures and practices of experimental magic." Harry said offhandedly. "Some of my students last year were wondering if they could form their own guild to experiment with different forms of martial arts and magic like we started to do in the DA, but they've branched more into the practical aspects of experimenting with magic and magical items and I thought it would be best if someone taught them how to be safe about it, rather then refuse them and force them to do it secret."

"And Fred and George are all about safety." Neville replied with a wry grin.

"Well, they never hurt themselves too badly when coming up with all their joke shop stuff, and it was either them or Snape; and I don't want to stroke the man's ego too much. I'm already using his textbook for my sixth and seventh year classes, after all."

Neville snorted. "From potions professor to accomplished textbook author, who would've guessed. You know, I saw him a few months back in Diagon Alley, at the apothecary after his book signing event at Flourish and Blots. He seems to be doing... better."

Harry halted near the door, hand on the handle. "I'm glad." He said eventually, small smile tired but sincere. "Now, I really must be off, Danny's class is almost over, and I don't want to keep everyone waiting."

Neville smiled and waved him off. "Tell everyone hello from me, alright?"

Harry nodded, and with that he made his way through the familiar halls up to the astronomy tower. Just as he was rounding a corner and it's appointed suit of armor, he was suddenly nose to nose with a familiar ghost girl.

"Gah-!"

Stumbling back in surprise, he had to catch himself on the suit of armor's shoulder so he wouldn't fall over completely. Echoing laugher rang loud in the corridor as Harry found his feet again.

He muttered a thanks to the suit of armor and was granted a nod of acknowledgment before he turned to face the pair of ghosts still giggling at him.

"Myrtle. Helena." He tried to remain reprimanding but their smiles were catching. "To what do I owe the pleasure of my premature heart problems?"

That just set them off again. Harry shook his head fondly at them, and marveled at how much had changed over the years.

Thanks to Danny and his seemingly never ending source of Realms energy, the ghosts of Hogwarts had slowly become more tangible over the years. Never to the degree of true denizens of the Infinite realms, and not enough for them to change their forms beyond now having a soft green aura surrounding them, but enough that they could interact with the physical world and those still living within it.

Many of them, such as the two girls still giggling and catching their figurative breaths before him, had truly begun to make peace with their deaths and their new lease on 'life'. Helena, in particular, had really come out of her shell, becoming fast friends with Myrtle and acting like the teenager she was, especially once Danny had returned her mother's diadem, free from any lingering dark magic or shredded soul piece.

Truthfully, everything had begun to change after they'd all returned to the castle after that fateful morning.

It was all a bit of a blur if he was honest. Kingsley had made all the difference in making sure the Ministry behaved and making all the necessary arrangements for the still imprisoned death eaters and the families still hiding out on Hogwarts grounds.

It'd taken months for the fervor of the news of Tom Riddle's defeat to begin to settle; but it had taken years to truly make any headway into creating a future where children like Tom Riddle weren't left to fester in hatred and anger for long enough that they think the only way to help the world was to destroy it.

Change. They really had worked hard for it, hadn't they.

And how lucky was he to be able see others benefit from and grow into the changes he and his family and friends had worked so hard to bring about.

He smiled as the ghost girls tried to justify their random attempt to frighten him, claiming they'd made a bet with Peeves to see who could wrack up the most points by sneaking and startling people for a laugh. Apparently, Harry was second only to Danny on the list of people who'd win them the most points.

Chuckling good naturedly, he wished them luck and began to ascend the astronomy tower stairs just as a group of tired but smiling seventh year students poured into the corridor, talking animatedly with each other despite the very early hour.

Waving at the students as he passed them, Harry breathed deep when he finally made it to the top of the tower, the early September evening hinting at the crisp coming of autumn.

"Harry! There you are!" Danny crouched near the tower's telescope storage near the tower's ramparts, grinning and in nothing but a t-shirt despite the slight chill. Chuckling at Danny's abject refusal to wear 'old-man teachery clothes' (his words) Harry waved in greeting as Danny finished locking away the student's astronomy supplies.

Twenty years of a stable home had been good for Danny... for all of them really. Even with Danny's chaotic duties as the Infinite Realm's King, since bridging the gap between the world of the living and dead had been difficult, but it was nothing Harry and the others weren't willing to help with.

And just like everything else, the change may have been slow, but it was well worth it.

Harry smiled as Danny straightened up and pushed his dark hair away from his eyes.

"You ready? You know how Draco gets about being on time and all that, and we're going pretty far today."

"Yep, I'm good to go. Are you ready, though? I know Hermione kind of sprung this on you for the anniversary, and we just kind of went along with it, but..."

Danny waved off his concerns. "Yeah, I'm fine with it. Honestly, I'm a little worried I might not be able to find the place again. It was a long time ago, and I wasn't in the best shape back then."

Danny's smile was small as he trailed off, his eyes tracking the distant thestrals flying in gentle arcs over the Forbidden Forest.

Harry clapped a hand to his shoulder, starling him from his distant, dark thoughts just as Danny had had to do for him many times before.

"Well then, we better go and get the others and get started, or else not even Ron will be able to calm our two resident worry-warts." Harry internally cheered when Danny's smile widened and stepped back to shield his eyes from the ever bright flash of a Danny's transformation.

Shining in the pre-dawn light like the stars he loved so much, Danny raised a hand and grabbed at the fabric of reality only he could manipulate, pulling open a portal with ease. A wash of green light and cool energy surrounded them, and Danny's unassuming silver band flashed atop his head as he smiled and offered a hand to Harry.

"Shall we?"

Harry took his hand without hesitation and stepped through to the other side.

.

.

The trip through the Realms from Hogwarts to the Ministry was a short one, but Danny still reveled in the feeling of his core resonating in time with the pulse of the Realms. It was a welcome comfort.

He and Harry waved to the few passing specters that now inhabited Avalon's Realm space as they made their way to a little floating Island that was the most reliable entrance into the Ministry of Magic.

Ron had kindly staked a little flag with the bright neon letters 'MOM' onto the island a a few years after his coronation. Similar flags were now placed for his office in Hogwarts, their home lovingly named 'The Crazy House' where his family gathers every summer, and in the middle of Amity Park's park.

Everyone in Amity had actually made a something of a landing pad for him, hidden away in a dense copse of trees where non-Amity Parkers wouldn't see him open a portal or transform. Ironically, they'd decorated it with his symbol and other mementoes and photos and flowers in such a way that it looked like a memorial.

Even after all these years and visiting Amity so often, Danny still felt touched every time he saw it.

Danny was brought back to the little floating island of stone when Harry snorted with laughter at the sight of the little flag.

"I'm surprised Walker hasn't confiscated these things yet." Harry remarked with a grin.

"Oh, he's tried. Many times." Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair, fingers catching on the chilled metal band of his crown. "But, unfortunately for him, he's not the ultimate authority on 'physical realm contraband' anymore so..."

Danny shrugged and they both chuckled a bit in remembrance of the many instances in which Walker had tried to arrest them all while traveling within the Realms over the years.

"Anyway, how much do you want to bet Draco's already upset that we're..." Harry paused to look at the little golden watch he'd been given for his seventeenth birthday, "two minutes late?"

"That's a sucker's bet." Danny scoffed as he raised a hand to open another portal.

And of course, the first thing they hear when the portal stabilizes is-

"There you both are! You're late!"

Harry stifles a laugh as Danny rolls his eyes fondly.

"C'mon Drake, I had a class last night, and we're not even that late!"

Draco huffs as he crosses his arms.

"Regardless, since you two have shown up at last, you get the job of prying Hermione from her work."

"How'd you let her get tangled in work this early? And I thought it was Ron's turn?" Harry asked, stepping fully through the portal. Danny closed it with a thought and then hovered a bit above Draco and Harry, looking around the little office that Kingsley designated specifically for Danny to pick up and drop off his Ministry employed family members via portals to the Realm of the Dead.

"I'm shocked you think I have any kind of control over what Hermione can do once she puts her mind to it, and besides, she's been with the Wizengamot, in meetings all day yesterday, especially since their focus was the debate on magical creature law reform."

"Ooooh, how'd it go?" Danny asked as he followed Harry and Draco out into the bustling hallways of the Ministry, floating just above them to stay out of the way. Not that he especially needed to, since the mass of early morning staff within the Ministry parted easily for them, having long gotten used to Danny's and Harry's frequent visits.

"Very well. We've been steadily wearing the staunchest traditionalists down, so everything Hermione wanted to get passed this round had majority vote in favor, and should be put into effect within the next year." Draco stated proudly, familiar drawl in full swing as they made their way to Ron's office.

"So that means, the Centaurian Land Laws? Elf Protection Acts? Werewolf Law repeals? Everything?" Harry asked in awe.

"Everything." Draco grinned sharply. "It's been slow going but, what can we say? Hermione's got a stubborn streak a mile wide and an ambition enough to put the past Supreme Mugwumps to shame, and Ron can outmaneuver these old codgers well enough to know their moves before they do."

"Don't sell yourself short Mr. Head of Culture and Tradition Preservation Committee." Danny ribbed with a sharp grin of his own. "Your example to all these old-blood families is probably a huge driving force behind all these big changes being put into effect without too much turmoil."

Draco shrugged easily as they stopped outside a large door, emblazoned in golden letters, 'Ronald Weasley, Head of the Department of Ministry Tactics and Strategic Planning'

"Let's call it a well planned group effort then shall we? I mean, you both helped write those laws as well." With that, Draco pushed the door open into Ron's office, and they were met with the sight of Ron, Hermione, Kingsley and Dobby in a serious discussion that showed no signs of ending anytime soon.

Draco heaved an exasperated sigh, and Harry chuckled at the distinctly unsurprising scene.

Danny simply hung back and enjoyed the scene. Ron's office was definitely one of their favorite places to gather in the Ministry, second only to Draco's simply for fact that Ron's had more comfy chairs to accommodate them all. (Hermione's office was strictly off limits due to the extremely likely chance of being buried under mounds of parchment and books and drawing Hermione's considerable ire for messing up her system.)

Plus, Ron's office was just cozy and fun. Turns out, being the first ever creator of your very own department in the History of the Ministry of Magic and current right hand to the Minister gets you perks in how you can decorate your office.

Oh. And it looks like he framed his latest chocolate frog card. The goof.

As Harry and Draco tried to come up with a polite way to extract Ron and Hermione so they could get on with their plans tonight, Danny faded into invisibility and silently created a duplicate. He situated both of himself directly behind his oblivious victims and then loudly crackled cold static from his core and ran a chilled hand down their necks.

Both of them jumped and shrieked in surprise and Danny unrepentantly released his invisibility, tilting in the air as he laughed loudly.

"Danny!" Hermione tried to act stern in her surprise, but was quick to join in the laughter now filling the office. "Oh! Is it time for us to leave already? Oh no, now we're running late!"

"Draco, mate, why didn't you say anything?" Ron asked with a wry grin, as he grabbed his coat.

Draco meanwhile, threw his hands in the air in exasperation, sending his long dark cloak swinging.

Danny and Harry were still laughing as Hermione finished up with Kingsley and Dobby.

"I'm so sorry Minister, Ambassador, but we have to get going. Shall we table this discussion for next week?"

Still chuckling, Kingsley was quick to agree, accompanied by Dobby's easy and enthusiastic acceptance.

There were swift hello's and even swifter goodbye's as Hermione, now aware of what day it was and where they were headed, and Draco, ever a stickler for punctuality, dragged them off towards their secluded portal spot.

One tear in the reality's barrier later and they're all filling Avalon with echoing laughter, catching up with one another and acting like they hadn't seen each other in months when really, it'd only been a few days.

"So, are we enlisting the help of our favorite thestral herd or am I flying all of us?" Danny asks, steering them back on track to their plans for the night. It was the anniversary after all, they had a schedule to keep and Hermione had a whole itinerary planned. (There was really only one thing that they needed to be on time for and they hardly ever followed the whole itinerary, but Hermione liked to make one anyway, and who were they to stop her.)

"Actually Danny, I wanted to make sure you were really alright with taking us? I know I asked and you agreed already but... I wouldn't want to make the anniversary any more difficult for you-"

"It's fine Hermione." Danny assured as they rounded to corner to the little open courtyard wreathed in blue vines and leaves; the very same one they'd used as a brief rest stop amidst their series of exhausting and dangerous situations all those years ago.

"Honestly, I'm a little worried we may not even find it. It's been a long time so my memories are distinctly fuzzy with just a dash of me intentionally blocking them out. It probably won't be all that interesting a place if we do find it though, it was out in the middle of nowhere."

"Well, good thing we aren't going just to see the sights then, eh?" Ron clapped a hand on Danny's shoulder as he passed him, heading towards the grazing thestral herd, closing followed by Harry and Draco. Hermione took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze before dragging Danny after them. Looks like their mode of transportation has been chosen then.

"How much time do we have now?" Harry asked, as he hauled himself onto his thestral's back.

Danny hummed and pressed a gloved hand to his chest. "A few hours now. Should be just enough time to get to our exit point, if I don't have a hard time finding it."

"Then we better get going then, come on!" Draco nudged his thestral up and Danny flew after them into the swirling green.

"You don't even know which way we're going!"

"Lead the the way then, oh Mighty King Phantom!"

Danny snorted as they flew away from the castle and it's orbiting islands, flipping around to fly just ahead of Draco.

"Just for that, I'm telling Ellie where you hid your hoard of Firewhiskey."

"No! She'll just mix it with Giggle shots again! It took us months to clean up the ash stains!"

"You really think Moony and Padfoot would let her do that again?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"You kidding 'Mione? Pretty sure Moony and Pads would have her try other combinations just to see what happened!" Harry laughed.

"Damn, I'll have to write them to ask if I can join them when they get back." Ron muttered, before calling out to Danny, "Where are they now anyway, do you know? Ellie still has a few months before she has to recharge in the Realms doesn't she?"

Danny grinned, and once again thanked whatever powers that were in charge of the universe that he knew the saint that was Frostbite. They'd figured out how long Ellie could live in the physical world before needing a top up on ectoplasm and energy from the Realms to keep her from destabilizing. She'd been ecstatic to learn that not only could she continue traveling for at least a year before needing to recharge, but Sirius and Remus were both more than willing to travel the world with her.

Being imprisoned for twelve years and then on house arrest during a war had given Sirius an incurable bout of wanderlust, and Remus had always been a drifter and had no real want for settling down somewhere when he was perfectly content to travel with two people he loved and who loved him just as much.

Danny was so incredibly happy for all of them.

"Yep, she's still got ages before her next downtime."

"And we just got word that they're in Alaska, near the arctic circle." Harry adds, having seen the green glowing letter and souvenir moose keychain Danny had received the day before. "They're planning on staying through the winter to see the Iditarod race and the Northern lights."

Draco shivered. "Merlin, I don't envy them, they'll have their hands full constantly casting heat preservation spells."

"Speaking of our three favorite wanderers," Hermione broke in as Danny led them around a large island filled with echoing ghost chatter and shimmering lights casting multicolored nebula swirling around the island's Realm space, "They'll still be coming back for Christmas, right? It's been far too long since we've all had a celebration with everyone."

"Hermione, everyone had a grand old time celebrating my birthday not even two months ago." Harry deadpanned.

"I stand by what I said." Hermione sniffed.

Danny chuckled as everyone further devolved into familiar banter. By the ancients, he loved his family.

It was sometimes surreal, the thought that he'd been part of this family for longer than he'd been a part of his original family, but those were the sad thoughts that only plagued him on his, thankfully much fewer, bad days.

It had definitely been... something, getting used to being part of a family again after so long alone. In the early days, right after Mr. Mouldy had been officially announced dead, and the Ministry was undergoing heavy reform, he was sure he was having some sort of fever dream, and he'd blink and it would all disappear. He'd be on the run again, always afraid and never given a chance to stop and breath.

But no. It wasn't a dream, or a hallucination, or the universe's version of a cruel prank; and he had his newfound family to help remind him of that at every turn.

Sirius, a newly free man and taking every advantage that afforded him, had quickly sold all the old Black family properties and bought a big house out in the middle of nowhere that was swiftly and lovingly named The Crazy House. Lupin had been invited to help get everyone settled, and was then convinced to stay as well.

Danny, Ellie, Draco and Harry, to be completely frank, were thrilled to have a stable and loving household for the first time in... any of their lives. Hermione and Ron were very frequent visitors, and soon enough had their own rooms within a month of them all moving in.

When they were all in school, or later work; Ellie, Remus and Sirius traveled and sent them all letters and pictures and souvenirs. When they weren't at school or work they all came back home and lived and loved and destroyed the house on a nearly weekly basis because they were overpowered teenagers, now adults, and they were surrounded by family who didn't expect them to carry the world on their shoulders anymore.

It was perfect.

Were they all, perhaps, a little codependent?

That was between the ancient powers that be and the voice in Danny's head that was both fond and exasperated and sounded so much like Jazz it made Danny smile.

"Guys, we should be getting close now, and we've got a few minutes to spare so keep an eye out for anything weird."

Draco and Ron both scoffed.

"You say that like we can tell what is the normal type of weird in here and the not normal type of weird."

"Hey, it was your weird magic that dragged me through here, if anyone would be able to find some sort of-" Danny cut himself off abruptly with a gasp, teasing grin and joking tone vanishing in an instant.

There, in the middle of an expanse of empty Realm space, was a little unassuming ball of light. It was flickering and insubstantial, but it was there nonetheless.

The thestral's halted at his side, Harry and Ron transfixed with the little orb floating in an enormous pocket of Realm space. Hermione and Draco shot them worried looks, but kept quiet.

Danny drifted slowly towards the little light, the silence of the Realms deafening, and noticed with an odd sense of detached wonder, that the little white globe of light pulsed in time with his own core.

Danny breathed an unnecessary sigh.

"This is it. It was here."

"You're sure?" Hermione whispered, trying not to disturb the sudden tense silence that surrounded them.

"Positive."

Without another word, Danny raised gloved hand towards the little ball of light. At his touch, it flickered and began to disintegrate, light dispersing like soft falling snow in all directions, and Danny's core shuddered in his chest and Danny barely hid a wince of remembered pain.

Or maybe it was real pain.

It was almost time, after all.

Danny sighed again.

This would be hard.

But his family was with him.

He'd be okay.

Danny closed his fist on the center of the splintering ball of light, and pulled on the uneven seam between dimensions, the faintest touch of living magic tickling the back of his neck.

A portal opened, and Danny flew through. Ron, Harry, Draco and Hermione came through right behind him, leaving the thestrals within the Realms to fly back to Avalon.

The portal closed, and Danny stood with his family beside him at the bottom of a crater, the night sky stretching endlessly above them past a cloudless sky.

Ron released breath as he looked around. "Bloody hell, it's a bit nippy isn't it? Let's climb out of this hole and figure out where-"

"Ron." Danny said softly, studying the now grass covered sides of the crater he'd barely registered making twenty years ago. "This is where it happened. This is where I was summoned from."

His friends looked around the crater with surprise.

"You were summoned from a hole? Why where you in a hole?" Draco asked incredulously.

That made Danny chuckle, as his core pulsed again with another shock of phantom pain.

"I made the hole," Danny gestured up to the sky, "I was flying at the time, and when the summoning started I fell." Oh no, now they looked shocked. "Hey, I told you it wasn't pleasant getting summoned; in fact, I believe I used the words 'It hurt real bad, don't do it ever again'." Danny rubbed at his chest, and started up the side of the crater, the others following behind him.

"You didn't use those exact words." Hermione argued, "And besides, we can't use that summoning again, no one can. The planets won't be aligned like they were for another eight thousand years at least."

"And thank Merlin for that. Who needs another Danny coming in and solving all our problems for us in less than a year?" Harry laughed softly, releasing the rest of the tension and lightening the mood once more as everyone laughed with him.

Danny snorted, and then hissed through his teeth as his core splintered with a fission of pain just as they crested the edge of the crater.

Draco and Hermione were at his side in an instant, comforting hands on his shoulders despite how cold he must feel to them.

"Looks like it's time then." Ron muttered, taking one of his hands while Harry grabbed the other. They all helped him to the ground, and Danny squeezed their hands in thanks as his breath hitched and his body began to shake.

He grit his teeth, and hissed through the building pain of his core, shuddering and trying not to pay attention the distinct feeling of his core disintegrating and then rematerializing itself a moment later.

It turned out being summoned though magical means had a few nasty side-effects for a being from the Infinite Realms, regardless of him being only half-ghost and the Realm's King.

The pain wasn't nearly as bad as actually being summoned... but it still laid him out for the time it took for his mind and core to go through the whole process, and then remember that he wasn't actually getting summoned anywhere.

The first year it happened... had been terrifying.

He'd thought he was being summoned again, away from everything he'd built for himself.

Hogwarts had postponed the start of the school year that year due to Dumbledore's disappearance, so thankfully Danny had been home with Ellie, and Harry, and Draco, and Sirius and Remus. Ron and Hermione had gotten there the very next day.

They'd gone to Frostbite after everyone had calmed down and found out about the... side-effects of his summoning.

By the time the next year had rolled around, his family had decided to make a day of it instead of let him dread it. They called it the anniversary, and after he recovered a bit, they celebrated the day that they had all been brought together.

McGonagall gave them all the day off in their seventh year, and after they helped Danny through the phantom pain, they spent the day together; usually in Amity Park or at home. It became their yearly tradition, and today, the twentieth anniversary of the day that had changed their lives and their stories forever, they were at the place where it had all started for him.

Funnily enough, the pain today wasn't as bad as years previous, so maybe being here helped... in some weird roundabout way that he would never understand.

Danny slowly let his shoulders relax as the pain finally eased, and everyone relaxed with him with relieved sighs.

"You good mate?" Ron asked quietly.

Danny nodded as he slowly stood back up and finally transformed, letting his living heartbeat temper the pulse of his core as it settled.

"Happy anniversary guys." Danny hitched a grin, as he turned back to gaping hole in the ground. His family joined him at edge and they all took a moment to simply... think. To stand together in the quiet of night, half a world away from where they'd been just a few hours ago.

It was Harry who broke their silence.

"Where would we all be, I wonder... if the summoning hadn't worked."

They all took a moment to try and imagine it, and the faint grimaces on all their faces portrayed their imaginings quite clearly.

"I think I'm okay never finding that out for sure." Draco huffed.

Danny smiled. "I guess it's good we'll never have to."

He hadn't been able to find Clockwork's lair in years. Not since Dumbledore asked to be taken into the Realms to meet the ghost of time. No one's heard from either of them since.

Hermione hummed fondly. "Well, regardless of circumstances, and... everything else... I'm glad we all got to meet you, Danny."

They all pulled him into hug and Danny couldn't help but sigh happily. "I'm glad I got to meet all of you, too."

They stayed there for a while afterwards, chatting and bantering and realizing that Danny really had been in the middle of nowhere. It thoroughly dispelled the heavy atmosphere into something pleasantly light, right as dawn's grey light began flooding the horizon.

Ron's stomach rumbled loudly, and they all laughed good naturedly at the all too common occurrence.

"C'mon, there's a town nearby. We can pick up some food there before we head to Amity Park." Danny chuckled lightly. "Val may just pick up old habits if I try to wake her up at the crack of dawn, so this will be a good way to pass the time."

With Ron muttering about 'bloody time zones', and everyone else trying and failing to keep their amusement hidden, Danny turned towards the still visible stars up above.

Polaris, still visible even in the early dawn, led them back to the town Danny had been in, twenty years and one day ago.

As they finally made it to the town, Danny led them on a meandering path through the slowly waking streets towards the park. Once they'd made it, just as he'd hoped, a familiar lone food truck was just opening up for the day.

As Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco commandeered a couple park benches, Danny made his way over with a smile.

Danny was surprised but pleased to find the very same Mr. Gruff man in the food stand turning to face him.

He was, also, shocked to see a flicker of recognition in the man's eyes as he looked Danny over and then eyed his family still talking animatedly on the benches about what Valerie had in store for them this year.

"Looks like you found your way after all, eh kid?"

Danny shook off his surprise and returned a small smile. "Yeah... I guess I did."

Mr. Gruff man's eyes softened as he smiled back.

"I'm glad."

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Ow, made myself cry. This epilogue is unashamedly self-indulgent, and it took me a while to remember everything I wanted for the end of Harry Potter yet sadly never got, so sorry for the wait.

Also, sorry if the end of the main story seems abrupt, but I'd been planning to end the story here since the very first chapter so... yeah.

HOWEVER! This isn't the END end, so please don't be too sad.

I'm planning on making a sort of add-on mini series after this. It'll be set in the same Half Dead Phoenix universe, and it'll be filled with one shot stories that I wrote up already but couldn't find a proper place in the main story for; such as Sirius finally getting to fly with Danny, Draco realizing the importance of knowing hand-to-hand, and a few shorts of the wizards interacting with some of our favorite Amity ghosts.

I also have some more serious chapters that I'll add in there as well, such as a more in depth look at what Amity went through after Danny escaped, what Danny's months on the run were like, the real story behind the Deathly Hallows in this universe, and what happened to Dumbledore and Clockwork.

I'll be taking a bit of a break before I start posting those, since I'm working on some commissioned short stories right now, but I'll be sure to let you guys know when I make that additional series of stories both here and on on my tumblr, (username Silk-Nettle.)

If you guys think of anything else you want some answers for, or maybe a scene or interaction you think would be fun or interesting to read, then please let me know! I'll also be planning some more multi-chapter stories, both single fandom and crossovers, now that I've got this one done, so I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy those as well once I start posting them!

Now, I want to give a sincere thank you to those of you who have read and liked, and commented and stayed with this story from beginning to end. I'm honored that so many of you liked this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

This is my first time writing like this, and I can truthfully say that I enjoyed the journey of learning and improving on my writing style. I'll probably go back and try to make the first few chapters a little nicer and easier to read, so... look forward to that, too.

(For those of you who found this story right at the beginning and have made it all the way here... I honestly don't have the words to describe to you how amazing you all are. I mean, I go back and reread the first few chapters and can't help but cringe a bit.)

Anyway, it's been a fantastic journey, and I hope you enjoyed the conclusion of Half Dead Phoenix!

Read what you love, and love what you read my friends! Until next time!

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