Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Sorry if that disappoints you, I know it did me when I found out.

AN:

For all those who have been waiting so long for an update, I appologize. Real life came to with a vengence and it's been hard to comcentrate long enough to type. Anyways, hopefully now that will change.

On with the show.

"…" denotes speech

'…' denotes thoughts

A Journey's End

Chapter 5: Aftermath

"Come on mate, wakeup."

"Harry…"

Harry stirred in the bed he was laying in. He hurt, and wanted the voices to be quiet. He remembered a fight, an explosion; there was someone fighting next to him…

With a jolt he snapped his eyes open and sat up, "Ginny!"

"Harry, you're awake!"

He turned to look at Hermione, "Ginny, how is she?"

"Calm down Harry. She's fine." Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "She's fine mate, woke up just a little while ago. Mum had her take a potion to help her with the after effects of the cruciatus curse, and then had her go back to sleep. She's pretty strong, I don't think I would have been able to keep fighting after being hit with that curse."

Harry leaned back, 'She's okay then.' He looked around and saw the room for the first time. It looked familiar, but couldn't place it.

"It's Grimmauld Place."

Harry turned to look at Hermione. She looked at Ron before answering Harry's unspoken question. "The Burrow was almost destroyed. It's going to take a while to fix it."

"What happened?"

This time it was Ron who answered, "The attack wasn't like the ones before. Those were more like precision attacks, this one wasn't."

"From what we could overhear after the attack, the deatheaters were ordered to kill as many people as possible with as much destruction as they could make. A lot, of people were hurt pretty bad."

Ron put his hand on Hermione's shoulder, "It could have been a lot worse. If you think you're okay, Remus wants to talk to you downstairs Harry."

Harry nodded and got out of bed. He noticed he was no longer in the same robes as he was for the wedding, but a set of everyday clothes.

As he went down stairs he could see Remus motioning for him to join him and another person he didn't recognize. "This is Jim Alexander, Harry. He's the person we've had fixing the place up." Harry recognized the name as the person Remus had said he would hire to fix the wards around Grimmauld.

He shook his hand, "Nice to meet you."

Remus smiled, "About time you woke up, I take it Ron and Hermione filled you in." Waiting for Harry's nod he continued, "Don't worry about the Weasley's cub, you and Ginny were the worst off of the lot." Seeing Harry's look he quickly added, "She's fine, but needs a bit more rest."

Harry nodded again, remembering what it felt like to be under the cruciatus curse. "What happened? Ron said the attack was more about causing damage."

"Yes, it was. From the Deatheaters we could talk to, they were ordered to destroy everything. Anyone who didn't apparate out the moment the wards fell was supposed to be trapped. They wanted to show that with Dumbledore gone, nothing could stop the Dark Lord from doing anything he wanted."

Remus friend nodded, "Good trap too. You were lucky. One of the people who apparated out warned the ministry, who arrived just in time to take out the snipers waiting outside the wards. While the group inside attacked with blasting charms and killing curses to cause people to flee in panic, the outer group gunned them down."

Harry paled at that thought. "It was supposed to be a massacre."

"Yep. Like I said, you were lucky."

"Don't let yourself worry about it Harry, most of the attackers looked like they were fresh recruits; probably some kind of initiation attack. We fought them back well enough."

Looking at Remus, he could tell there was something else but that he wanted to end the conversation there. Not that Harry didn't mind; he remembered the minutes before he was knocked out and how he was fighting, and wasn't looking forward to that part of the conversation.

Jim looked at his watch and whistled, "Look, not to rush this but I need to get going." He turned to Harry, "Remus says you want this place under the Fidelius, and its all set. Now you can pick anyone you trust as the secret keeper, but personally I'd recommend yourself. Since it's the house itself that's being hidden, the owner is generally the best secret keeper. This way, the only one who can betray you, is you."

He smiled, "It doesn't matter that you really haven't recovered and must be tired. It's only draining on the caster."

Harry nodded, and looked to Remus. Seeing him nod his head as if to agree with Jim he made-up his mind, "Okay, just tell me what to do."

Jim pulled out his wand, "Just don't move. And don't worry about the people in the house right now, once they leave, you will need to tell them how to get back in or they won't be able to." Then saying a few words in a language Harry didn't recognize, Jim waved his wand so it pointed to all four corners of the house. In each direction he said the same words over and over. Afterwards he felt a rush of wind before seeing Jim collapse from exhaustion.

Remus helped him up while Jim explained, "The words were in an old derelict of Japanese. Even though the language doesn't matter in spell casting, using a language few around here speak should add a bit of confusion to any who try and break it. It's like with reading, you have to translate it to understand how it was done. To make it even more difficult, the runes and circles I used are only known to me and are in three other obscure languages. While it makes the process more complicated and far more difficult, it holds true in reverse."

He sighed heavily before leaning against a wall. "Now, since only the three of us know who is the keeper, Remus if you will?"

Pulling out his wand Remus cast a memory charm, before escorting Jim out the door. When he returned he looked at Harry, "Memory charms can be broken, but they add an extra layer of security. The other was a magical binding oath never to tell the process he uses. Even if someone tries to force him to tell him how to break the wards, he won't live long enough to try. He'll die the moment he tries or is forced to." Chuckling a bit at Harry's reaction he shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's the kind of thing most people who do wards of this nature have to do to get their license."

He motioned towards the kitchen. "The others will have felt that and should be down in a minute. Let's talk about some things concerning the house shall we."

Sure enough, just a few moments after entering the kitchen, the doors flew open again to admit Hermione and Ron. "You did it already didn't you? Ooh, I had wanted to watch it being cast. What did it feel like?"

"Slow down Hermione. Yes, the Fidelius Charm was just cast; there wasn't much to see. Mr. Alexander cast it another language and then had Moony obliviate him." She looked at Harry as though wanting to more. "I just stood there, really."

She sighed and sat down at the table, Ron following suit. He looked at Harry and then Remus with a bit of disappointment, "So you chose Remus?"

Harry shook his head, "No."

Ron looked at him funny before Hermione chimed in. "It's you right?" Harry nodded and Ron looked a bit happier.

Harry looked to his side as he sat down, "Why did we come here rather than Hogwarts or St. Mungos?"

Remus sat down, "Well, that was part of the reason we rushed the Fidelius. Now that the charm is in place, this is the most secure place we know of. Besides, even though there weren't as many deaths as could have been, there were a lot of injuries."

After a few minutes of silence Harry looked around. Suddenly he noticed that the place actually looked much cleaner than the last time he had been there. In fact, it looked rather comfortable. As if remembering something he chanced a question, "Where's Kreature?"

Hermione looked upset suddenly, while both Ron and Remus gained nervous looks. Thinking he had asked something wrong he turned when he heard the voice of Tonks entering the kitchen from the other door, "That takes some explanation. What do you know about house-elves who don't want to serve their masters in any way?"

Thinking of Dobby he couldn't think of much that would answer the question. As if knowing that, Tonks continued with a sigh. "During the attack on Hogwarts, there was an accident. Although a house-elf can't harm its master, it can attack others if it feels them a threat to them without problem. Kreature didn't want to serve someone who is not a pureblood, and near as we can tell he tried to attack the people he could during the attack."

Harry looked confused, "What do you mean? You said they could only attack people they perceived a threat to their owner. That would mean he was attacking the Deatheaters right?"

Remus shook his head, "No, from what we gathered from the other house-elves, he was trying to attack us. I think he viewed us as a threat to you because he has always lived in a place that views associating with non-purebloods as something that can destroy a reputation. He probably thought that without us, you might start acting like the kind of master he wanted"

"What?" The idea that the same creature that was partially responsible for Sirius death had also tried to attack his friends, no, his family angered him.

"Calm down mate. The other house-elves didn't let him." Harry looked over at him and waited for an explanation.

"No, they didn't. Mostly because two of them attacked him when he tried. Hence, the accident."

Not understanding he looked back at Tonks. With a sigh she shook her head, "Maybe you had better ask them yourself. Dobby. Winky."

With two pops, both house-elves appeared. Dobby looking at Harry, rather than bouncing up and down looked scared and was uncharacteristically quiet. Winky curtsied and spoke up in a quick voice, "We is sorry for killing master Harry's Kreature. We is not meaning to, just only make him not hurt others. We is not allowed to hurt people at Hogwarts. Dobby not means to make Kreature fall down steps like he did."

"Whoa, slow down Winky." Harry looked over at Dobby, "Dobby?"

"Dobby sorry Master Harry, Winky not at fault. I is the one who kill Kreature. I is understanding if you is wanting to punish Dobby."

Finally understanding, Harry got on his knees so he was on level with Dobby. "No. I don't want to punish you." He held up his hand to put off any protest, "If Kreature was trying to attack my friends, then what you did protected them. That's nothing to be punished for."

Dobby's eyes growing big with each word seemed to regain his usual bounce. "Oh, you is too kind Master Harry. You is too kind. That is why we is so happy to be your new house-elves."

"New house-elves?"

"Yes. Since I is causing you to lose your Kreature, then I is becoming your Dobby."

Not even needing to look over his shoulder to know that Hermione was becoming upset over this, Harry gulped. "Look Dobby, you don't need to" he stopped at the look of sadness coming over Dobby. Winky, walking over added her say, "We know you not want house-elves, but we is needing it. It's also law, if free house-elf causes the death or loss of a bound one, they is to replace them."

"But I thought you enjoyed your freedom."

"We do, but we is also house-elves. If we have good masters, then we is happy. Only if we have bad masters do we wish freedom." Winky stopped and looked sad for a moment. "We know you is good master, and we is happy to serve."

Hermione sat down with a sigh, muttering about how she would never understand why creatures would want to be enslaved.

"I can't talk either of you out of this can I?" asked Harry.

"We is not wanting you to."

"All right, but under some conditions." Winky got nervous, but before she could object Harry continued. "I want both of you to feel free to take days off if you want. And if you ever want to leave or want something, please ask. I want you to be my friends, okay?"

Dobby just nodded happily, while Winky curtsied again in acceptance. With two pops they disappeared again.

Getting up he let out a sigh. He turned expecting to see Hermione ready to go off on him. Fortunately Remus came to the rescue. "You have to understand Hermione; most house-elves are treated well, and actually love serving. It's what they love to do. Most muggle born wizards and witches only see them as slaves like you seem to, but in truth they're not." He raised his hand to cut off her attempted interruption, "Yes they are bound to do what they are told, but most are very good at finding loopholes so they do have a lot more free will than you would expect. In most cases, they seem to take care of and treat the people they serve like one would a child. I personally think that's the reason they are so protective and loyal."

Hermione sat down trying to remember everything she had read on the subject. Part of her admitted that Remus was right. Ron looked at her and added, "They wanted this Hermione, and you know Harry would never treat them like servants. He even told them to take days off if they wanted."

She sighed in defeat and let the matter drop.

Breaking the silence, Tonks decided to ask a question that had been bugging her since they had found Harry and Ginny unconscious, "Harry, do you know what happened to Draco Malfoy and his mother during the fight?"

Harry paled a bit as the faces at the table all turned to him while Tonks continued. "Her body was found near you and Ginny with a large hole in her chest. While that could easily have happened from debris, it showed traces of a curse from your wand. Draco's body showed signs of having been hit with a weak explosion charm. Now don't get me wrong, I hold no love for my relatives, and Draco's wand proved to have cast the cruciatus curse at least twice, but many saw you and Ginny both casting several borderline dark spells towards the end of the fight."

Hermione looked back at Tonks and then at Harry. "Harry, you didn't kill them on purpose did you?" Her voice had a sense of dread at what the answer might be.

"I don't really remember much at that point. I saw them standing over Ginny using the cruciatus curse. I tried to hit Draco with a spell, but the other Deatheater pushed him out of the way. Ginny hit Draco with a reducto in the back when he tried to use the killing curse on me. She didn't mean to kill him, she just wanted to protect me."

Ron sat paling at the thought that his sister had killed Draco. Part of him was ecstatic that Draco was dead when he saw the body, but the idea that Ginny had caused the wound that had done it. Draco's back had literally been blown open, and if the shock hadn't killed him, the loss of blood had. He just couldn't believe it, but he remembered seeing a blasting charm slam into the group of Deatheaters from behind towards the end of the fight, and both Ginny and Harry standing over where it had come from.

Remus walked over and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "Don't worry Harry, neither you nor Ginny are in any trouble. Something that isn't taught very well at Hogwarts is the difference between combat spells and dueling spells. While the spells you were using are illegal in most duels, in battles like that they aren't. Even thought the evidence points to you and her killing the two, it's being taken as self-defense. Unfortunately war causes some laws to take a back seat until after the dust settles."

Tonks looked at him from across the table. "You said you hit the other Deatheater with a spell. Do you remember what one? While Moody said it looked familiar, he couldn't say what it was."

Harry looked down, "I read it in a book. I… I just reacted. I don't even remember saying the incantation."

Remus frowned, "Harry, Moody said he would be willing to train you to fight since Dumbledore asked him to do it this year. After the fight, he said 'he saw someone in need of guidance'. Judging by the grin on his face I think he saw something he liked."

Tonks flinched, "Ouch. I remember hearing about him in the academy. He wasn't the most liked Auror, but he was the best. After the last war, he was questioned extensively about his 'methods'."

"But isn't fighting like that only going to cause someone to go dark?" Hermione looked up and waited for Tonks to answer her question.

"Most think so, but it depends. Dumbledore felt it wrong to use those types of spells; while Moody felt it was okay. In a lot of ways, your fighting style reminds me of how he fought, while Harry's seems to look more like Moody's."

Remus nodded, "The thing is to remember that in the end, we are trying to save lives. I don't fault you for fighting like you did; but no matter what happens, we must remember that power comes with responsibility." He looked down at Harry trying to gage his reaction. Truthfully, he was disappointed that Harry had done what he did, but Remus knew that he had used similar spells both in the battle and earlier in his life. "I don't want you to lose yourself in a moment of anger, and spend the rest of your life paying for it."

Harry nodded apologetically. Remus' words mirrored his own thoughts in a way. He hated that he had killed someone, but he just couldn't seem to find remorse for her. Sure Mrs. Malfoy had never hurt him, but she was standing there enjoying Ginny's pain. He wasn't proud or happy, but he just couldn't feel sad either.

Before the conversation could continue though, Molly walked in. After some discussion on what to eat the conversation turned to how best to fix the house up. The two that had the most appeal to Harry were removing the house-elf heads permanently since everyone pretty much agreed it was disgusting, and getting rid of the painting of Mrs. Black. Ron's idea of blasting the whole wall out was laughed off in favor of simply removing it. Even a permanent sticking charm couldn't stand up to house-elf magic and since Kreature wasn't around anymore, either Dobby or Winky would be able to remove it. Someone even suggested burning it as a kind of funeral rite to signify the 'descent of the Noble House of Black to the filth and muck' as the painting had put it.

The conversation slowly came to summer plans, and what everyone was going to be doing. Harry found out, Bill and Fleur did get married after the fight. As Tonks had put it, "Fleur grabbed the minister, hoisted him up from under some rubble and told him to finish the ceremony."

She started waving her hands and speaking to add more detail to the story while acting parts of it out. "There they were, covered in dirt and grass, the minister obviously distraught and shaking. Fleur with her wand pointing at his chest told him that it was her wedding day and she was going to get married no matter what."

Remus interrupted and added his own part of the story, "When the minister looked over at Bill, Bill just shrugged and held his hands up in a show of surrender. He simply told the poor guy that he wasn't about to argue with her. He pointed over at some of the charred bodies that Fleur had cursed and attacked during the fighting. There is no way I am ever going to argue with her for a long time."

The mental pictures of the incident caused most to start laughing. When it calmed back down, Harry let out a small yawn.

"Harry, dear. Why don't you head back upstairs and try and get some more rest."

Not even bothering to argue with the Weasley matriarch, Harry nodded and headed back upstairs. As much as he wanted to stay, his body was telling him differently.

As he reached the landing where the rooms were, he glanced over to Ginny's room. Walking over to the open door he looked in and saw her sleeping fitfully. Noticing a chair next to the bed he decided to sit down and hold her hand. She slowly seemed to relax a bit as he watched her. 'I'm sorry. I never meant for you to be hurt.' He sighed as he could almost her voice echoing that it wasn't his fault.

Moving a strand of stray hair off her face he leaned back in the chair. A few minutes later Molly looked in the room and smiled at the sleeping boy. Somehow, she knew he would want to check up on her daughter, and while she didn't like the fact he was in her room she couldn't help but smile. Of course this reminded her of part of the reason she had come up. Remus had told her that Moody wanted to train Ginny and Harry together. Apparently he felt the two would make a good team, and while she agreed with that, the fact remained that she was too young and still a child. It was Ron's comment however that made her leave before she could start fully into the argument. Thinking back, the comment had actually made any argument she could have thought of simply fall short.

"Whether or not she's trained, she will still fight. Besides, she hasn't really been a child since her fourth year in the Department of Mysteries." In a more somber voice he added, "And that's if you ignore her first year."

What had happened to her daughter all those years ago had hurt Molly. Her little girl really wasn't so little, and even Molly knew that she wouldn't stay out of the coming fight. 'We owe that boy so much, trusting him with her safety is the least we can do. I know we can't keep them out of this war; the group of them won't stand by and do nothing. I just wish they could have remained children for a few more years.'

Shaking her head she mentally cursed the Deatheaters and fate for making her children have to grow up far too fast. With a small sigh she turned and walked back downstairs with a bit more determination. "I may not like them fighting, but I'll be damned if they do it alone."

Hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully I'll have another chapter up and written in a few days.