A/N For those of you telling me I made a mistake in having Harry use his wand in the last chapter; reread the end of chapter 16. Harry DID bring his wand. He just lied to Voldemort about it, and he is obviously powerful enough not to let Voldemort summon his wand from him.

"Will he be ok?" Ron and Hermione asked.

"Yes, he will be fine," Draco answered, a slightly cold tone to his voice. He had not forgotten that Ron never trusted him and tried to discredit him with the Order at every opportunity.

Hermione smiled at him.

"You were incredible, all four of you," she said in awe.

Draco's face softened, and they could clearly see how tired he was now.

"Harry did the bulk of the work."

"Not just against Voldemort. Dumbledore and Snape against those Dragons…I thought for sure we were finished," Ron shivered.

Draco nodded. "They had been tricked by Voldemort. When they realized that Hagrid was on our side, they wouldn't do us any harm. Excuse me, I have to check on Harry again and drag Albus and Severus off to get them to eat and sleep."

Draco apparated to Harry's mansion. Knowing how much he detested the hospital wing at Hogwarts, they had brought him back there. Severus had, despite his exhaustion, immediately mindlinked with Remus again like he had promised. The werewolf was curled up in a locked room, fast asleep, after Draco had treated the wounds on his paws.

He found Severus and Albus at Harry's bedside.

"He is completely drained, but not in danger," Draco said softly, "we need to eat and sleep as well. He will be fine. Dobby can watch over him and warn us if anything happens."

Severus looked up. He pushed up his sleeve and showed Draco his left forearm. No Dark Mark.

"He took it off. The other Death Eaters still have a faint mark, to recognize them, but he took mine off completely. Idiot boy," he growled affectionately.

"Severus, get some sleep. Albus, you too. I've told Tonks that Remus is ok, and that she can come here in the morning when he has transformed back into his human form. You can maintain the link while you sleep. Don't make me call Dobby!"

That helped. Severus reluctantly got up, not wanting the fierce house elf on his case. He called him.

"Dobby, we need something to eat and then we need to rest, too. Can you look after Harry tonight?"

Dobby nodded approvingly. "Professor is very wise, getting sleep. Dobby has already put some food in the kitchen. Dobby will look after Harry."

"Thanks, Dobby."

Harry stirred. The last he remembered was Diagon Alley and the fall of Voldemort, but he doubted he was there now; whatever he was lying on felt way to comfortable to be the cobbled road of Diagon Alley.

He opened his eyes slowly. His own bedroom.

Ah.

Severus must have taken him home.

The Savior of the Wizarding World nearly died of a heart attack the day after defeating Voldemort when Dobby's face suddenly popped up two inches from his own.

"MERLIN DOBBY!" Harry yelled, "Don't DO that!"

Dobby's eyes filled with tears.

"Dobby is sorry, Dobby didn't mean to…"

Harry, heart still pounding in his throat, threw an arm around the creature.

"'S ok Dobby, you just scared me, that's all. Sorry I yelled at you."

Dobby calmed down and looked at Harry.

"Is yous be feeling alright?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, just feeling a bit drained, but that'll pass. Did Severus bring me here? Is Voldemort really gone, then?"

Dobby nodded in awe. "Harry Potter and the professor and the headmaster and Draco all defeated him! Harry Potter collapsed, but professor Snape brought him back home. They is all still sleeping now."

"Not very likely, with Harry yelling like that," Severus sneered from the doorway, still dressed in his pyjamas, followed by Draco and Albus, also still in nightclothes.

Harry looked at them and fought against his tears.

"He…he is really gone…" he whispered.

"Yes, he is," Albus said, sitting next to him on the bed and gathering him in his arms.

"You were wonderful, my boy. It's all over now."

Harry clung to Albus for a moment, sighing deeply.

"I guess the Ministry is going nuts over the paperwork, right?" he joked.

They all chuckled a bit.

"How many did we lose?" Harry asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Not that many. The Weasleys did a marvelous job leading the Order. A lot of the Death Eaters that apparated into shops in Knockturn Alley were locked up and captured by Fred and George before they even had a chance to fight. It's just…"

Draco hesitated. "Fred was hit by a few nasty curses, Harry, while he shielded a group of our younger members from the Dragons. He is in St Mungo's. They are…they don't think he will ever wake up from his coma."

Harry paled. "If Fred dies…George…"

They lowered their eyes, knowing it was unlikely that those two could survive without one another.

Harry jumped out of bed. "I have to go there."

"You are drained, Harry! You can't do anything for him."

Harry glared defiantly at Severus. "Watch me," he said.

Quickly pulling on his robes, he prepared to Apparate. "Coming?" he asked, "I might need your help."

St Mungo's was crowded. Many people had sustained injuries during the final battle and were being treated there.

They met Arthur in the foyer, looking pale and exhausted. His eyes were red rimmed.

"Harry," he said, trying to smile, "You four were wonderful. Thank you."

Harry smiled back. "I want to try to help Fred, Arthur."

For a moment, a flash of hope brightened the man's face, but it quickly died out.

"I doubt there is much you can do for him, Harry. He is so severely wounded, and you are drained…they don't expect him to live until evening." Arthur nearly choked on tears as he eked out the last sentence.

"And George won't leave his side, he hasn't spoken to anyone, I am so afraid…"

Albus patted his shoulder.

"Take me there, anyway, Arthur?" Harry asked, "Let me at least try? We really have nothing to lose by trying, do we?"

Arthur composed himself and shook his head, leading them to a quiet room on the Spell Damage ward.

George was nearly glued to his brother, holding Freds hand and never taking his eyes off his twin. He didn't react when they entered, didn't even acknowledge he was aware of their presence.

Harry put his hand on Freds forehead, trying to sense the damage. He sighed.

"I can't do this on my own, I have the skill but not the energy. You are too drained, too. Arthur, I will need you and George to help me."

Arthur put a hand on his sons shoulder and shook him.

"George? Son, we need your help." No reaction.

"Let me, Arthur," Harry said, and called to George with his mind.

"George? George, can you hear me!"

A distant presence reacted. TWO distant presences.

"Harry, why are you…"

"not celebrating your victory?" the twins asked.

"FRED!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

"George, actually," Fred said, "He is linked with me. We were always linked, from birth, you see. That's why…"

"we always do the twinspeak," George finished.

Harry shook his head. "I might have known," he said, "but that is besides the point right now. I need your help, George. I can heal Fred, but I drained myself too much yesterday, as did Albus, Severus and Draco. I need your father and you to help me."

"Can you heal Fred?" George asked, hopeful.

"I think I can, if Fred will cooperate," Harry explained.

Fred nodded. "Of course. I will do my best, Harry, but I couldn't help myself…"

"I know. You were great, Fred. Work with me, ok? George, I need you to come back for a while to help me."

"k," George said, and turned to his twin. "I'm gonna go with Harry for a bit, ok?"

Fred nodded.

Harry broke the link, and was relieved to see George stir and look up at him.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"You and Arthur put your hands on my shoulders. I will need to draw some of your magic, as I don't have enough of mine left. Ready?"

Harry focused, and started to draw the magic of the other two. He tried to use as much of his own as possible, but it wasn't nearly enough. Fortunately, Arthur and George didn't have that problem.

Freds body was very damaged by the curses, and Harry knew he had to heal that first. Fred could not return to his body only to drop back into a coma because of the pain. Fortunately, healing the physical damage wasn't the hardest part.

Then Harry sighed and took a deep breath before pushing his magic into Freds mind, working on showing him the way back. He felt that George's presence was vital in this; Fred reacted to his magic more then even that of his father.

Finally, after agonizing minutes, Harry was successful. Fred slowly opened his eyes. George slumped against Harry in exhaustion before grabbing his twin's hand.

Arthur just stood there, stroking his sons hair with happy, slightly wet eyes.

Harry smiled slightly.

"You don't happen to have an energy potion with you, do you, Sev?" he asked.

"Matter of fact I have," the potions master smirked.

Invigorated by the potion, Harry left Fred to his family members and walked into the hall. He heard a cry.

Tonks and Remus approached them. Before Severus knew what was happening, Tonks had launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on both cheeks.

Harry and Draco were nearly rolling on the floor with laughter at the horrified look on Severus' face.

Albus was pressing a hand against his mouth to quell the sound of his own laughter, without much success.

"Nymphadora Tonks! Kindly unhand me!" Severus said with a truly awful glare at the two teens.

"Thank you so much for saving him," Tonks said, and Severus looked ready to faint when she started sobbing on his shoulder.

Remus, grinning slightly, peeled her off the Potions Master, letting her cry on his own shoulder, and extended his hand to Severus.

"Thank you, Severus. I owe you my life, and probably the life of many others had you not helped me…I don't even want to think about what could have happened had I gotten loose in the Alley…"

Severus reluctantly shook his hand, still glaring at Tonks, and noticed that Remus' wrists were still bandaged.

"I can make an ointment for silver burns," he said stiffly, "Come by later, I'll have some ready for you."

He expression was downright murderous when Tonks wrestled herself free from Remus and hugged him again.

Remus smiled and pushed her towards the exit, turning around to whisper, "Don't worry, I'll leave her at home," to Severus with a decidedly Marauderish smirk.

Cleaning up after the final battle took several days. The Death Eaters that had survived were swiftly tried and sent to Azkaban, where most of them took their own lives within weeks, having no Dark Lord to look up to and having no wish to try to atone for their crimes.

A week after the final battle, Harry, Severus, Draco and Albus were sitting together in the garden of Harry's mansion.

"So," Harry said, staring at a couple of butterflies.

"Indeed," Severus sighed.

Draco only nodded slowly. Albus looked at them, an eyebrow raised.

Severus smiled slightly at him.

"Our lives always revolved around Voldemort, Albus. Harry's life in particular."

Harry drew up his knees.

"I have been so completely focused on destroying Voldemort. That has been my job, my destiny, since before I was born. It's all I know, and now it is gone. I know it sounds weird, but I feel…empty somehow. Lacking purpose."

Albus plucked a daisy that grew in the grass.

"I now, my boys. I've been fighting Voldemort…well, not all my life, but the last half century of it. But there is always something else to focus on, you just have to find it…"

"Don't you mean, 'we', father?" Severus said, worried.

Albus chuckled and patted his shoulder. "I don't plan on dying yet, Severus. But I AM more then a century older then any of you. And I've always had a lot of responsibilities. I'm tired of those. I have decided to retire as headmaster and move to my own mansion, not far from here, to do the things I truly like, but had little time for all these years. I've always wanted to write books on various subjects; I may do that. If you want, Severus, you can come live with me. Behind the Mansion is a rather large unused lab complex; ideal for a Potions Master."

Severus perked up. "I've always wanted to have my own potions business, and train some talented apprentices…" he said, "and I've talked to Neville about him being my main supplier for ingredients. With the money the Ministry gave me in compensation for my Azkaban years, I could set it up properly…"

Draco looked at him. "I'm tired of the Ministry, Severus. I don't want to return there and Slytherin House still needs me. Can I apprentice with you? Bill Weasley wants to return to his former job as a Curse Breaker, but he is willing to stay on until I am trained enough to apply for the Potions position at Hogwarts."

Harry smiled sadly. "I see you are all leaving me," he said.

Severus smirked. "And for good reasons, Harry. I have to leave here soon, and I am selling Snape Mansion; too many bad memories. I need a place to stay."

Harry's eyes widened. "But…why?"

With a broad smile, Severus pulled him up and rested his hands on Harry's shoulders.

"Because you have to make Remus happy," he teased, "you know, settle down and produce offspring. So I decided to help him with that particular mission in life."

He turned Harry around to face the house.

"HARRY!" A small redhaired girl flew down the terrace steps and across the lawn.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, then he set off running to meet her.

"GINNY!"

The other three looked at each other and then quickly looked away as they detected the glistening of tears in each others eyes as Harry spun Ginny around, all five of them enjoying the first carefree and completely happy moment in many, many years.

That's the end, folks! Epilogue following soon.