Chapter 59. New Beginnings.
Harry blinked, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him. He had dreamt of this moment for many months, but finally, it had happened, and he wondered if it were just another dream.
But the sounds of shock and surprise that emitted from the Death Eaters told him that it was not a dream, and that this was real. He had defeated Lord Voldemort.
He glanced around at the Death Eaters, each one robed to look exactly the same as the other, and each one inspecting the Dark Mark on their left forearm that was slowly fading away.
The shock of it had barely registered with the Death Eaters when Aurors burst in from every door, quickly capturing the Death Eaters who barely put up a fight. Harry dimly registered Buffy entering; blood on her hands and face, Faith who looked stricken, Willow who was limping against Tara, Sirius who fought mercilessly, and Dumbledore who made his way straight to Harry, took one look at Voldemorts body and enveloped Harry in a hug.
He was so shocked by it that Harry barely returned the gesture. When Dumbledore finally let go of him, Harry was shocked to see that Dumbledore had tears in his eyes, and he placed a fatherly hand on Harry's shoulder. "I knew you could do it Harry." He whispered, a tear trickling down into his great white beard.
Harry grinned in spite of himself, shaking the hand that Dumbledore offered. "Thank you professor."
Dumbledore smiled, looked behind Harry and swiftly left, his robe swishing behind him. Harry had barely turned around before he saw a lot of bushy hair and arms snake around his neck. The force of Hermione throwing herself on him almost toppled him, and he laughed and Ron joined them moments later.
"I'm so proud of you Harry; I knew you could do it." Hermione said tearfully, once she had detached herself from him. Her hands covered her eyes and Harry knew she was crying.
Ron grinned, punching Harry lightly on the arm. "That was great, that was really great…I've never seen anything like it…" Ron mumbled, and Harry laughed.
"I'm glad you thought so." Harry said, tucking his wand in his pocket.
"Harry." Someone touched his shoulder and he turned around to see Kingsley standing in front of him, a large smile on his face. "Congratulations." Harry nodded, and Kingsley continued. "We have to take him away, but would you like to see You-know-who's body?"
Harry swallowed, and shook his head almost immediately. "He's dead. That's all I need."
Several hours later, he was back in Buffy's suite, the Scoobies and his school friends around him, all chatting animatedly. Ron and Hermione had not left his side once since they had returned. Although he knew they meant well, their presence seemed to suffocate him, and although it had been several hours since he had defeated Lord Voldemort, he wished he could have some time to himself to think.
He still could not believe he had defeated him. He had to pinch himself several times to make sure he was not dreaming. It felt so surreal, word had already gotten round that Voldemort was dead and Harry had killed him, and owls were regularly flying in through Buffy's window with letters of personal thanks, chocolates and phone numbers from girls.
Harry sat listening as each person told their own story, Buffy of how she followed Ron when he had left the suite and into the classroom, appearing just as they had taken the Portkey. She had immediately told Dumbledore and then had instantly sought out Snape who told her where Voldemort's hiding place was. With Sirius, Lupin, Faith, Tara, Angel and the rest of the Scoobies, they had left for the hiding place and had immediately split up. After Buffy had found Harry, she had fought many demons with Sirius until they found Dumbledore and followed him to where Harry had defeated Voldemort.
Willow had successfully beaten the warlock, whose name was Rack and who had brought Buffy back to life. She was slightly worse for wear, but with Tara by her side, who had remained virtually uninjured throughout, Willow was able to cope.
Faith had run into a man called Mayor Wilkins, a name that Harry vaguely recognised from Buffy. Faith was very quiet after they returned to the suite, but Buffy told Harry that she had killed Mayor Wilkins, who had been like a father to her.
Each of them had fought their battle, and each of them had won. Yet they seemed happier about their win than Harry did about his. The endless questions, the probing looks, the happy laughter only suffocated him and made him feel alone, rather than not, which is what his friends had wanted. His mind was clouded with thoughts, and he could not deal with anything while his friends were around him, suffocating him with their jolly laughter and happy wishes.
He managed to slip away from them as the sun set the next day, after avoiding countless journalists, officials and young students wanting autographs. He stood on a small balcony overlooking the Forbidden Forest and the lake, watching as the sun dipped low, sending streaks of pink and purple colour across the sky. Things were much quieter here, there were no journalists asking for interviews, no young girls vying for attention, no classmates asking to explain what happened again. It had only been a day since he had defeated Voldemort, but it felt much longer than that.
His concerns had surfaced again, and as expected, he was faced with a multitude of questions he did not know how to answer.
Harry sighed as he leaned against the balcony railings, watching people on the ground celebrate. There was to be a large celebration tonight, but it was just one party in the midst of others that had started at dawn, when news of Voldemort's defeat had first reached people.
Harry was not in the mood to celebrate.
"This place has always been a favourite of mine." Dumbledore said from behind him. Harry did not move as Dumbledore joined him. "It is secluded and peaceful; a great place to think."
Harry nodded, but kept looking out at the forest.
Dumbledore sighed softly, and Harry could feel his gaze on him. "I always thought of you as my grandson, as inappropriate as it is, but I cannot help it. And I do wish you would think of me as a grandfather, or you would trust me enough to tell me what you are thinking."
Harry shrugged, trying hard to ignore the meaningful words Dumbledore had spoken to him. "I've been here for six years, professor, and for almost all of my time here, Voldemort has always been after me, trying to kill me."
"And now he will not."
"All the things that I've caused, all the things I have done…" Harry broke off and glanced at his headmaster. "I'm a murderer." He said strongly, and Dumbledore said nothing. "I think…I need some time to think."
Dumbledore nodded as he looked down at his hands, almost dejectedly. He moved away to the door.
"No." Harry said loudly, stopping him. "I need some time to think away from here. Away from the things that remind me of Voldemort, away from everyone…" Harry broke off, every word causing him pain. He glanced at Dumbledore, who merely watched him with an indifferent look on his face. "Will you help me?"
Dumbledore nodded, joining Harry again. "Of course. I have several friends in Australia, Brazil, India, and Thailand…where would you like to go?"
Harry smiled and looked out into the pink sky. "They all sound wonderful."
"Very well, I shall arrange it." Dumbledore turned to leave, but stopped. "And what will you say to Ron and Hermione?"
Harry swallowed turning around and he looked back at the castle he loved so dearly.
"Nothing."
Quietly, when the others were downstairs at the celebratory feast, Harry packed a small duffel bag with a few changes of clothes and a photo album. His portkey, which had been arranged by Dumbledore to take him to a Portkey station and then to Thailand, was a small black book which could easily fit in his pocket. The portkey would activate in ten minutes, and, after scouring the boys dormitory for anything he might need, Harry took his Firebolt in one hand, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder and the Portkey in the other hand and slowly walked down to the Great Hall, taking his time as he took in for what would be the last time for many months, possibly years, his home, his school.
The corridors were empty, even the ghosts were attending the feast, and as Harry walked down the stairs into the Entrance Hall, he could hear the joyful noise coming from behind the closed door of the Great Hall. He stopped outside it for a moment, wondering if he should tell his friends what he was about to do, but as soon as that thought crossed his mind, he turned on his heel and walked away. They were better off not knowing. They would find out soon enough.
He stood in the doorway, one foot outside of the castle and one foot in. His watch told him there were only a few more seconds left till the Portkey would activate, and he wished it would hurry up before he could change his mind.
But as the watch counted down fifteen seconds, the Great Hall doors opened, and the volume of chatter increased for a few moments before the doors clanged shut and the chatter became muffled again.
Harry glanced at the door, and his gaze was held there, for Hermione stood at the door, a smile on her face. But her smile dropped as she noticed the bag and broom in Harry's hand, and a look of understanding crossed her face as seconds ticked away on his watch. He was not quite sure how long they were looking at each other, to him, it felt like eternity, but it was only a few mere seconds. As her look of understanding changed into something Harry could not identify, time ran out, and the Portkey activated, and Harry disappeared.
A cliffie-you guys know how much I love them :D. Anyway, next chapter is the last and that is when I'm going to answer any questions that you have now or from previous chapters that haven't been answered, so any questions that you have about the plot or other things, get them in.
Many thanks to all the reviewers, you know how much I love you guys :D. Thanks to Elsawriter and Andrew, my spiffing beta-s and to Selina for bugging me about my stories.
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