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Chapter 38

What Ever Became Of…

One to ten years later. Encyclopedias of happenings transpired in that time. But most of the events were charming and mundane – not the stuff of legends, heroes, or books. But it is never fair to end a story without visiting key peoples, here goes:

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Hagrid married Olympia soon after the war. Between a vat of vile-tasting Skelegrow and Fairy magic, Luna was able to re-grow his arm to his everlasting delight. (She had offered Mad-Eye Moody a new leg and eye, but he didn't trust her enough to take her up on it.).

It took the kind giant a long time to get over the loss of his half-brother, but with the help of Luna and Hermione, they laid Grawp to rest in the cemetery on Hogwarts grounds with other heroes of the war. Many could never understand the love he had for his rough and wild brother, but the two witches fully shared his love and loss.

Olympia and Hagrid had five kids, all of whom inherited giant-kind's original size, but their parent's intelligence and disposition. In a generation the giants did return to Europe, but not the violent beasts of yore, but kind and gentle wizard giants.

Hagrid remained with the Ministry for years. Olympia gradually and lovingly changed his dress and hygiene habits, and he turned out to be quite the figure at the many Ministry social gatherings. They settled in a large estate with very high ceilings, and although Hagrid never took to romping the forest with dragons again (at least more than a weekend at a time), strange pets would come home with him quite often.

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Ginny Weasley married Dean Thomas, and it turned out to be a brilliant match. Although she carried a torch for Harry for a time, her new placing in Slytherin helped both Ginny and Dean to understand themselves better, and she came to realize Harry really was too dorky for her. She became a professional Quidditch player for Puddlemere United for a few years and Dean worked for the Daily Prophet. They had one child, a son they named Dean Jr.

Ron followed his dream and became a keeper for the Chudley Cannons. Eventually he rose to captain and actually led the team to many winning seasons. Harry and he stayed friends, although not extremely close. Close enough though, that every year as a joke Ron would send Harry a box of Honeydukes chocolates, the latest Cannon's poster, and a nice gift too.

He never entirely got over the shame of his piggish attitude toward Hermione while he was under Dumbledore's influence. As it happens so often, guilt kept him from repairing their former friendship, and he avoided her for the rest of his life. Ron ended up marrying Lavender Brown, who insisted on continuing to call him 'Won-Won', but despite that turned out to be a loving wife and nurturing mom. She gave embarrassing nicknames for all four of their children, too.

Percy Weasley did work his way up the ladder in the Ministry – by becoming an auror. Having taken his life lesson to heart, and proving his worth at the final battle, he trained hard and prospered. He married his childhood sweetheart Penelope Clearwater, and they had a tasteful 2.5 children. He never could break out of his love of rules and statistics.

Molly and Arthur settled gladly back in the Burrow. They expanded some of the rooms and kicked the ghoul in the attic out to a shed, but it stayed the same sweet home they had always loved.

They adopted a couple house elves, and Molly opened an orphanage for children left homeless from the war. With twenty children in the house, she was in her glory. Many were found perfect and happy homes, but they ended up adopting the final eight. Wizards do live very long lives, so why not start over.

Arthur stayed with his job in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, but Madame Bones appreciated the position and gave him a substantial raise. After all, with sons like Fred and George, he had plenty of job security.

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The twins became fabulously wealthy, opening stores all over Britain and hiring good witches and wizards to run them while they stayed in the background inventing newer, sneakier, funnier and better products all the time. They stayed just as close with Harry, Hermione and Marvin the Squid, and there was never a dull moment when they visited.

Their book, 'Signature Wizard Effects', was a top seller. Gilderoy Lockhart studied it faithfully, and started teaching seminars for them that were quite popular in the States, especially among Californian witches and wizards.

On a business trip to the States they met a pair of identical twin witches from New York. It was love at first prank – the blond haired firecrackers could dish it out just as hard as they could take it. They had probably the most dangerous double-wedding ceremony in the history of the world, but it was a day to remember. Harry supplied the fireworks.

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Severus Snape did not become a new man over night. In fact, he never became an entirely new man, if truth be told. He was still a touch greasy, snarky, and bat-like. He still had scathing wit and way too much impatience for a model teacher, but far gone were the days when he turned his back on dangerous Slytherin pranks or docked points from Gryffindor for breathing. Students got fair and good training from the man, and he was content to stay in the bond of Harry and stay at Hogwarts.

He managed to take his first vacation ever a year after the first battle where he met and married a potion's mistress. Thankfully they remained childless.

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With the poisonous influence of Dumbledore and Bain gone, the centaurs were far nicer to deal with. They appreciated the fact that Firenze was willing to stay around humans (for they never could shake their pride and arrogance entirely), and they appreciated not being considered farm animals any more, with an equal say in government matters. Students who did sneak into the Forbidden Forest were now gently escorted back to the castle, and not by armed guard.

Respecting their wishes, Neville and the Founders never told anyone about the true nature of the Gnomes. They remained 'potatoes with legs' as far as the average wizard was concerned, but occasionally there would be a child who could see through the disguise, which amused the little people thoroughly. It was strange, but Sibyll Trelawney, with all her inner eye and talent, never noticed anything more than a garden pest.

The fairies were fairies – they haven't changed in centuries, and perhaps never will. They delighted in taking turns for the honor of staying with the Longbottoms, and most wizards never gave them more than a passing thought at Christmas time, which was the way it should be in their opinion.

Marvin the giant squid was delighted with his new wife, and vice versa. There is nothing a squid appreciates more than being removed from the food chain. He asked friend Hermione to name her, and after many books and much research, she named his bride Lavender. It was the tentacles that made up her mind. Marvin and Lavender never did have children, and Hermione never asked, but she suspected that even though the pair could live in fresh water, any egg cases they laid could not.

The merpeople' music became an overnight sensation. Musicians and connoisseurs from all over the world came to Hogwarts to listen to the weekend concerts in awe. The Merfolk were delighted to share, and more than a little shocked to find out just how crude and limited the original music they branched from really was.

With the new music came the schools of shark-like agents and lawyers, but Hermione swiftly put a stop to that. The merfolk's music remained their own, free and uncommercial, and truly a work of art.

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Tonks and Remus stayed with Hogwarts, living at Grimmauld Place during the weekends and holidays. Remus swiftly recovered from the years under his curse, and was pleased to find he was a natural animagus (wolf, naturally), who enjoyed a run with Neville in the forest at any opportunity. He retained his heightened senses as well, and students never could pull a 'my kneezle ate my homework' on him. Wolves can smell fear you know.

Their two children also had heightened senses, were able to turn into wolves at will at an extraordinarily early age, and were metamorphagus like their mum. The auror's were already planning to snatch them up after graduation, and they hadn't even started at Hogwarts yet.

With the help of Sirius' portrait, and Sirius' mum's sanity (now proudly displayed in the open at Grimmauld Place), Remus got over the years of anguish he felt over being the last of the marauders, and he and his wife lived happy, sometimes giddy lives. Nodding and Blink, although elderly house-elves, remained very content and well-loved with the Lupins.

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There isn't a lot to say about the Dursleys. In cases as theirs, there is no 'happy ever after'. With years of counseling Petunia and Vernon worked out their guilt and anger, and did become a stronger and more united couple. However, they never completely got over their shame toward Harry. Harry did totally forgive them, and would visit on holidays and special occasions, but it was never an entirely warm fuzzy sort of thing.

Dudley was the most successful of the strange family. He turned his life around, and instead of shunning his cousin's world, would actually visit any time he could and ended up working for the twins in their Hogsmeade shop, living in the magical world. He married Eleanor Branstone, a quiet Hufflepuff from Harry's year, much to Petunia and Vernon's surprise. Dudley was highly prized by Fred and George for his good nature – they could test all sorts of muggle related things on him, and he would laugh it off and give valuable feedback.

The twins also discovered, to the magical worlds' shock, that every human possessed some degree of magic. By tweaking in a wand with magic magnifiers, Dudley was able to learn a few small spells, to his enormous delight.

Dudley and Eleanor had a happy marriage, and their two children turned out to be extremely powerful wizards. It was some recessive gene thing.

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After a year on the job, Harry and his friends decided they really couldn't keep Malfoy the Ottospam any longer. So Harry brought it to Neville, pouting how he would miss his favorite foot rest. Neville and Luna removed the garish trim and cushion and brought it to the Ministry, pretending to have just found it in a dark corner of their basement. The official that took the can gave Neville a strange look when he requested the empty can back, but gave it to him willingly when it was emptied.

Neville took the now-empty can home, cleaned it up and filled it with rocks, and the Longbottoms carefully replaced the cushion and trim. Harry's birthday was coming up, after all.

Draco blinked his eyes groggily after being restored, then sat up in panic, looking frantically for the angry Granger. He sat back on the bed he was laying on, staring in confusion at the medi-witch looking him over.

"You have just been brought out of stasis, Mr. Malfoy. How are you feeling?" she asked him briskly.

"Er, um – confused?" He ran his fingers through his mussed up blond hair. "How long was I gone? Where I am?" He eyed the elderly witch, weighing the possibility of flirting with her to work an escape or favors. The coldly professional look she gave him put an end to that contemplation.

"You have been in stasis close to two years, Mr. Malfoy. You are in the Ministry of Magic" she replied in a voice that didn't encourage questions.

"What now?" he asked, noticing the bars on the door frame for the first time.

"As soon as you feel up to it" she answered, handing him a cup of tea and setting a tray with a light lunch down on the small table next to the austere bed, "you will be caught up on current events. After that you will be evaluated to determine your future."

With that the witch left him, relocking the cell and leaving him alone with his thoughts. Two years? He should have graduated by now, and instead the heir of Malfoy was going to have to take classes with the younger students like a squib, or buy his degree. Where was the Dark Lord now? He glanced around the room, turned his back to the door and rolled up his sleeve. The dark mark was gone – in his place a large, thick scab where it had been. Draco idly picked at it while musing to himself. It must mean that Potter won and the Dark Lord was dead. What about the Malfoy fortune? What about his parents and his home?

Draco finished the meal, stood up and stretched. He walked stiffly to the door and peered out. A guard was standing next to his cell looked over at him with bored indifference. The attitude grated on Malfoy's nerves – he was not a boy who was use to being ignored or talked down to. He would be complaining to father.

"Are you ready for class?" the guard asked him, and Draco nodded yes, while discreetly searching his robes for any trace of his wand or magical items. Naturally he had already been searched and relieved of any usable goodies.

The guard opened the door and led him down the hall. There he was escorted into a small room with a table, penseive, copies of The Daily Prophet, and a middle-aged wizard who looked at him with a kind enough expression.

"I'm Dedalus Diggle" the wizard politely introduced himself. "It's my job to catch you up on what has happened in the world since your containment, and answer any question you might have."

Whew – where to begin. "OK, what ever happened to the mudblood that put me in stasis? Granger?" Malfoy felt sure she must have broken some law somewhere. He conveniently ignored the fact he had attacked Potter and perhaps even killed him.

"Do you mean Hermione Granger? I was not given any details about your arrest or incarceration. She is now Lady Potter-Black, one of the eight heroes of the war." The wizard answered with a faint trace of amusement. It was going to be fun to knock this arrogant kid down a peg. Mudblood indeed.

"She married Potter? He's a Lord now?" Malfoy sputtered angrily. There was just no justice in the world, he felt. "And what about the Dark Lord?" he spat in frustration.

"Dead. Defeated on August 14th, 1998 by Lord Harry Potter-Black and the seven heroes of the war." Diggle pushed the penseive closer to Draco, and spilled a tiny crystal bottle into it. "Have you ever used a penseive?" he asked him.

"Of course" Draco arrogantly sniffed. "My family is well off."

"Then take a look – it's a collection of memories from the final battle that we've collected." This was going to be good – this kid really needed to be humbled.

Malfoy leaned over the basin and entered. Most of the memories centered on Potter and Riddle – that was where most people's attention was drawn during the fight. What Draco saw amazed and chilled him at the same time. No longer a small skinny kid, Potter had grown into a strong man with warrior skills and magic like Draco had never seen – not even from the Dark Lord. He fired off spells two handed, wandless, and with sword with equal skill and accuracy. Just as powerful seemed to be the people at his side – Granger, Lovegood, and could that huge bear of a bearded man be Longbottom? What had happened to the four of them in a years' time?

With awe and even a touch of admiration, despite himself, Draco watched Harry merge with a goblin, centaur, his old house-elf (Dudley, Doody? What was that elf's name?), a phoenix, and that idiot Hagrid, who was missing an arm. Recently, too, if the state of his tunic was any hint. Then Harry actually merged with his friends and turned into a blinding white dragon, which immediately killed Riddle with out breaking a sweat.

Voldemort was a total fool, Draco concluded. The Dark Lord cried, whimpered, and was in an obvious state of fear and panic. The Dark Lord never once concerned himself with his followers. Draco could easily see he had bonded himself on to one sick puppy.

Malfoy backed out of the penseive, sweating and worried now. "So what happened after?" he asked weakly.

Diggle smiled – it was nice to see the brat groveling a bit. "Everyone with the death mark that wasn't in stasis died on the spot when Riddle snuffed it. The dark mark formed a life link with him." Draco paled at this. "Madame Bones and the Wizengamot set up a new government jointly run by wizard, centaur, giant, goblin and elf." Draco now felt sick. "Lord Potter-Black, Lady Potter-Black, Lord and Lady Longbottom had been named heirs by the Founders of Hogwarts, and took over as headmasters after their graduation." Draco was turning green.

"Potter, Granger, Longbottom and Loony Lovegood were heirs?" Malfoy cried out in denial. "Who was the heir of Slytherin?"

"Oh, Lady Hermione Potter-Black" Diggle smirked at the nauseated boy.

Draco vomited in a swiftly conjured bucket.

Once he composed himself, he asked about Dumbledore, and was shocked to hear he had died of a heart attack right before the battle. After shaking his head a bit, he ran down a list of his friends and associates. Crabb and Goyle dead under their beds from the dark mark. Bella squished by the giant squid. Snape was a double-agent, had his dark mark removed, and still taught at Hogwarts. Nott was dead in battle. Zambini became a Gryffindor and was living a successful life.

It was then Draco realized he had not asked about his parents. With a shudder, he asked what happened to his father. It came as no surprise to learn his father has been found guilty and sentenced to death through the veil. The senior Malfoy had been dead over a year now. With a deep shuddering breath he asked about his mum.

Diggle looked at him with his first feeling of pity. The kid did have a heart somewhere under all that prejudice and snobbery. "I'm sorry, lad. She was home when Riddle died, and the dark mark took her."

"My home?" Draco asked weakly.

"It has been locked and guarded by the Ministry until we could determine your whereabouts" Diggle answered gently. "Your can was lost for a while and just surfaced."

Draco was led back to his cell to digest everything he had learned. He had lived is life as a model Malfoy, despising the weak and impure, and doing whatever necessary to get his means accomplished. And what had it gotten him? Here he sat in a jail cell, awaiting sentencing, knowing full well that it was a thousand times more humane and comfortable than what the Dark Lord would give prisoners. He sat with his back against the wall, feet curled up, on his bed and a lone tear escaped his eye.

It was all so fun at Hogwarts – terrorizing mudbloods and Potter, ruling Slytherin with an iron fist. Mum and Dad would buy him out of any consequences his actions brought, and they had Dumbledore firmly in their pocket, thanks to liberal sprinklings of galleons. And what had it got him? He felt like torturing himself, so he was brutally honest. It got him no where. If he was found innocent, which wouldn't happen, all his friends and family were gone except for cousin Tonks who married that pauper werewolf Lupin. If he was found guilty, he could look forward to years in Azkaban or worse, the veil. He could just hear Potter laughing at him now.

But Harry didn't laugh. He came to visit him a couple hours later and sat down next to him in his cell. "Did you come to gloat, Potter? You won – the world loves you. You are rich, famous, adored by millions. So what do you want?" Draco glared at him and turned his face to the wall.

Harry sighed sadly. "Malfoy; shut up and listen for at least once in your life. You are now reaping the benefits of your parents and Dumbledore never holding you accountable for your actions. Albus never pressed charges or made an official statement about your attempted murder of myself, and neither did I." Draco snapped his head around and faced Harry. "The next step is to have you make an official statement to an auror and an Occlumens. There are only five who are able to perform occlumency to the skill level needed for a trial – myself, Hermione, Luna, Neville or Severus. Personally, none of us want to see you put to death. You are too young and never had your butt spanked as a kid. I need you to choose who you want to sit at your statement."

Draco gaped at him. "Why?" he demanded. "Why are you being nice?"

"Malfoy" Harry said softly, "I had a lousy childhood. I was beaten, abused, and almost killed by my muggle relatives on several occasions. I had no idea magic even existed until a month before my first year at Hogwarts – the day before we first met at Malkins." Draco stared at him in mute shock. The Boy-Who-Lived abused as a kid?

Harry nodded sadly. "I got a new chance at life when Hagrid came and got me. But my life at Hogwarts mostly sucked, except it was better than being punched, hit, and thrown around like I had been. Dumbledore, however, kept me in constant danger. He was pulling the strings in the background to keep me with my relatives, steal money from me, and keep me untrained to keep his ego inflated. I had to take control of my own life, my own training, and break out of the sludge that life had thrown at me." Draco nodded, in spite of himself.

"Your parents didn't do you any favors either, Malfoy. They let you grow up arrogant and thinking you was superior. They never made you earn the marks you got in school. They kept you weak and untrained." Harry sighed. "I think we have a plan that would let you pay your debt to society, and help you in the process."

"I'm listening" Draco answered, and this time without a sneer.

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Draco chose to let Harry listen in on the statement. Harry wasn't surprised to find just how pampered and sheltered the Malfoy heir was. But deep down, if given a chance, there was a seed of sensitivity deep in the boy's soul. Harry felt it could be nurtured.

Malfoy was willingly afflicted with Magical Dyslexia by Luna. For two years if he tried to perform magic, it would come out backwards, and since he couldn't own a wand for two years, it didn't matter. He returned to Malfoy manor, alone, and was allowed house elves with monthly checks to insure their fair treatment.

It was tough at first, and the Malfoy heir was more than a little resentful. Anyone who knew him before shunned him. Needless to say Pansy, his betrothed, gave up on him long ago. He spent long hours counseling with Luna and Snape, and started to do charity work, helping Mrs. Weasley with the orphans, and helping to rebuild war-torn areas of the magic world. Seeing first-hand the devastation caused by Riddle truly turned him around.

Two years is a long time in the life of a young man, and these two years were good. The time broke Draco and built him back up, in to a more sensitive, self-motivated and moral person. He did find a wife, and a mix-blood at that, he got his magic and his wand back, and he raised two kids that never heard the word 'mudblood' until they left home for Hogwarts.

He never could understand why the mere sight of pink-beaded fringe would immediately break him out in hives. He suffered from the curious affliction the rest of his life.

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Last in this chapter we say goodbye to Griphook of the Goblins. Although getting on in years, he has many more decades ahead of him. Harry and he grew closer and closer, father and son, until Griphook was invited to build a house on the Potter Manor grounds (Goblins hate to live with relatives). He worked for eight years as the Minister to the Goblins, before stepping down for a younger member to fill the position.

King Flailhide came to visit the Potter-Blacks often, enjoying sharing rousing stories of wars gone by and fantasized wars to come. Goblins no longer sneered at Gringotts' customers with glittering eyes and sharp teeth, but enjoyed a renaissance of friendship and mutual respect with humans. Harry and Hermione were the first Wizards to visit the underground Goblin tunnels and lands in centuries, and visited often.

Griphook eventually married a well-to-do goblin widow who wasn't put off at living above ground (she was quite adventurous, truth be told), and moved in with her two strapping boys. The deer and wildlife population surrounding Potter Manor took years to recover.

One chapter to go – sniff! We will visit with the four founderettes and their elves for final goodbyes. Last chance for all you flamers who decided to read 37 chapters before telling me I can't write. At least I don't waste that many hours of my life on something I don't like…