...
"Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure."
― Jalal Uddin Rumi
...
It felt strange to walk through the Great Hall. The big doors at the entrance had been blown away one after another during the battle and the once so protective walls were also damaged. Dirt, rocks and glass splinters everywhere and remains blood were still visible on the ground.
Harry sighed. Nothing reminded him of the once so bright and wonderfully decorated Hall he had walked through all these years ago as a nervous first year. The broken windows had been fixed for the moment with a couple of temporary spells; undamaged tables and chairs had been rearranged and hospital beds with injured witches and wizards had been set up all around the Hall.
"Harry, dear, come sit down here and have a cup of tea with us! It is still dangerous strolling around the castle!" Molly Weasley shouted suddenly and Harry was torn out of his thoughts.
For a brief moment the young adult wondered how Mrs. Weasley could still care about everyone even though she recently lost one of her sons in the battle.
As he reached the big, round table in the middle of the hall, occupied with a lot of friends and Order members, he bent down and gave the red-haired woman a loving hug; then sat down next to her. She smiled at him gratefully.
"Thank you, dear. Now, a cup of tea?"
"Actually, yes, I would like that please. How are you holding up?" He added thoughtfully.
Molly sighed as she passed him a cup of hot, steaming tea. Judeging by the wonderful smell, he assumed that it was peppermint tea.
"Well, we've all been better and we lost so many friends and family members tonight, but…"
"Freddie and the others wouldn't want to see us crying over them!" George finished with a hint of a smile. Harry had to swallow. It was the first smile he had seen from the now lonely twin.
"Of course we'll miss them horribly, but George is right, we must learn to move on!" added Arthur Weasley.
Harry could see George grinning at his father.
"You know, dad, that's the first time in my life you said I'm right!"
Now everybody at the table grinned.
"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you saying that, Dad! You should really mark it in your calendar, Georgie!" Was the laughing reply which nobody had ever expected to hear again.
.
Everyone looked around, not believing their ears to have heard right.
"Eyes up, guys, I'm here!" sounded the familiar voice again.
George was the first one to follow the instructions and turned his head to the ceiling and his eyes went wide.
"F… Freddie?!" He stuttered, his wide eyes fixed on the silvery shining, transparent form of his now ghostly twin brother.
"Right, again, brother dearest! Twice in one day, that's certainly a new record!" Replied the ghost grinning.
Tears of happiness were flowing down Mrs. Weaslys cheeks, Mr. Weasley put his arms around his wife, unable to say anything. Ron, Harry, Ginny and Luna were smiling brightly, as did Hermione, though her brain was working again.
"How is this possible? You never were afraid to die. How can you be a ghost at Hogwarts?" She asked astonished.
Ghost-Fred grinned from ear to ear.
"Hermione, Hermione, do you really think I would miss such an opportunity to be in charge of all the fun?"
"Well, I think we should have expected something like that from you." Hermione shook her head, smiling nonetheless.
"Awesome," was all George said and one could practically see his mind connection with Fred's; already creating future plans and pranks together.
"Don't worry, Mum, it didn't hurt when I died. And as cruel as it sounds, a lot of us died really fast. No one had to suffer long!" Fred said reassuringly, giving his still crying mother a sympathetic look.
The others nodded, agreeing with the ghost.
"And a lot of them are still trying to fight death and recover from their injuries," said another voice from behind the table.
.
Everyone turned around. Hermione squealed, jumped from her chair and gave the approaching man a bone-crushing hug.
"Uncle Aidan! I'm so glad to see you! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you, too, Hermione!" He said and held her tight.
He was rather tall, had a well-trained body, blond hair, and dark, chocolate brown eyes. All in all he really was a very handsome man, though his once white clothes were like everybody elses' covered in dirt and blood.
When Hermione released him, he turned to the others at the table.
"It's an honor to finally meet you, sir! Hermione's told us a lot about you. Please sit down!" Neville said.
"Thanks, and please, there's no need for the 'sir'. Call me Dan." He said and sat down. "But I'm afraid I don't have much time. I'm here to help Madam Pomfrey."
"Aren't you needed at St. Mungos, Sir – erm Dan? If I remember correctly, you're Head Healer there, aren't you?" George asked seriously.
Aidan nodded and smiled.
"Yes, but due to the fact that the majority was fighting at Hogwarts, I decided, that I'd rather be here."
"And that's good, boy!" Came sharp voice from behind and everyone turned around once more; only to have their eyes go wide in surprise
"Alastor!"
"Professor Moody!"
"Mad-Eye!"
"Moody!"
"Bloody Hell!"
Neville, Luna, George, Ginny and Ron starred wide eyed at one ex- Professor Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody as he sat down on the table, too.
"But, but but… he's dead!" Ron stammered.
"He doesn't look dead to me, Ronniekins," added Fred grinning.
Molly, Arthur, Harry, Aidan and Hermione didn't seem surprised by the sudden appearance.
Hermione sighed. "Honestly, Ron! You didn't believe that, did you?"
Ron just starred at her with his mouth hanging open, unable to speak.
"It was a cover-up story. Aidan made him a new magically rotating eye and went spying on the ministry." Harry said.
"You didn't really expect him to be falling of his own broom, did you?" Aidan asked grinning.
"No, of course not - It's just I haven't seen him in a really long time and…" Ron trailed of, blushing a bright crimson.
Moody just winked at him, his magical eye rotating.
"It's quite alright, boy! By now I'm kinda used to people thinking I'm dead."
Now Harry's head turned to Aidan.
"Speaking of haven't seen in a really long time… How's your wife? And daughter?" Harry asked smiling.
Though he had only once met Hermione's Uncle Aidan in person, ever since he started Hogwarts and became friends Hermione, he always received both a Christmas and birthday present from the Gold Family every year.
"Well, our little Arielle is securely taken care of at my father's house, and I'm gonna pick her after I'm done with my work. As for my wife…"
"Oh Merlin, she's dead, isn't she? She can't be! I haven't even met her yet…" Hermione panicked.
Aidan immediately shook his head.
"No, no, no Hermione. I'm sorry, I should have said it differently. Don't worry, she is not dead. She sent me a Patronus earlier informing me that she ended the battle with only a few scratches. I'm just a little worried, because my definition of fine and hers are quite different... But I'm sure she'll be here soon." He said and squeezed Hermione's hand.
Suddenly Luna looked up.
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. How can Hermione not know her own aunt?"
"Yeah, we had to visit relatives all the time, including Great-Aunty Muriel…" Fred said exasperated.
"Well," Aidan stated sadly. "We both had rather demanding jobs, and whenever we had a family meeting, either Hermione or one of us couldn't attend. So even for the long time we've been married, Hermione had never really met my wife."
"Never really...?" Harry asked grinning; he had immediately noticed Dan's use of words.
The young surgeon smiled. "I doubt Hermione remembers sleeping in my wife's arms as a tiny little baby, do you?"
Hermione shook her head and everyone laughed. "Ellie probably won't remember me either... I haven't seen her for so long!"
"You will be seeing her soon, don't worry," Aidan assured his niece and smirked. "And who knows, maybe you left a good expression the last time you saw her."
Luna, apparently satisfied with the blond man's explanation, nodded in understanding and just then another person neared the table.
"Oh, Harry! I didn't really have the chance to congratulate you yet! May I sit down here with you?" Professor Slughorn asked, smiling brightly at everyone.
Harry saw the looks on the faces of his friends, but he was too tired to search for an excuse to get rid of the Professor. And he wasn't that bad after all.
"Of course, you may, Professor!" Harry said as politely as he could.
"I observe, this is quite the popular table, here…" Fred stated, still floating over the table.
Slughorn sat down on the table and patted Harry on the shoulder.
"Ah, thank you Harry. So what have you been talking about lately?" He asked.
The friends looked at each other; no one in the mood to answer the question. In the end, Aidan enlightened the Professor.
"Nothing much in particular. We were talking about my wife, Professor." He said form the other end of the table.
Slughorn apparently just recognized Aidan.
"By Merlins beard! Aidan Gold! Is that really you, my boy? I haven't seen you since your last Slugclub in your seventh year! That was when you had already started you apprentice-ship under Madam Pompfrey, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Aidan confirmed shortly. Apparently he wasn't in the mood to have a small-talk conversation with the Head of Slytherin House either. "I managed to get a joined apprentice-ship with her and St. Mungos as well as being accepted to the Asclepius Institute of Higher Healing and advanced Surgery."
Slughorn looked like he couldn't trust his ears and he slammed his fist against the table in a gesture of demonstrating how proud he was. "My, I knew you'd someday achieve something great in your life! And now I've heard that you are Chief of Surgery at St. Mungos? That's certainly something, myboy!"
Aidan faked a smile; he was obviously not comfortable with everyone's admiring eyes on him.
"Well, thank you, Professor..."
To everyone's disappointment Slughorn just kept on talking.
"Yes, yes, so I hear you have a wife and child? I haven't heard about your marriage, my boy! Do we know the lucky lady?" The Slytherin asked enthusiastically.
This time Aidan took a deep breath.
"I suppose you do, Professor. Though she's been your student for only a short amount of time, I'm sure you remember the former Miss Pendragon?"
Slughorns eyes widened - if possible - even more.
"Pendragon? Your girlfriend in your last year? The Ilvermorny-Champion who won the previous Tri-Wizard-Tournament held at Hogwarts?"
"The one and only," Aidan answered proudly.
Now everyone was listening excitedly to the conversation, but Hermione couldn't stop herself form asking.
"Wait, she won the Tri-wizard-Tournament?!"
"Indeed she did, Miss Granger! She was the very first girl ever to win the tournament. She had amazing magical skills!" Slughorn said, still a little astonished.
"Well, you had to be pretty good to survive something like that," Aidan stated a little angrily.
The others picked up Aidan's angry tone.
"Why, what happened?" Luna asked.
Aidan sighed.
"This tournament was in the first place way more dangerous than the one Harry competed in."
Molly Weasley starred at him.
"This is impossible, Aidan! These tasks were like deathtraps."
Aidan nodded in understanding.
"I'm aware of that, Molly! I was watching as well. But for Harry's tournament the tasks had been eased. His last task in the maze was similar to the first back then."
Everyone gasped at that.
"You've got to be kidding!" Fred and George shouted at the same time.
"I'm afraid not. Al…Professor Dumbledore insisted when he was informed that the second tournament was to be held at Hogwarts, that the tasks had to be simplified," Aidan replied.
"The Tri-Wizard-Tournament has always been a challenge but a security mistake like that one back then couldn't happen twice. So apparently he tried everything to prevent it this time..." Slughorn mumbled.
"Excuse me? Which security mistake?!" Ginny asked exasperated.
This time Moody answered.
"The ministry organized everything about the tournament, and needless to say, they screwed up. One reason Albus disliked them!"
"What happened?" Asked Ron nervously.
Aidan now bristled with anger.
"It was the final task. There's no need to go into the details, therefore long story short: They, like Harry, were sent into an arena, had to reach the Tri-Wizard-Trophy and once they touched it, they were to be transported out of the arena and it was
supposed to be finished. "
"But it wasn't?" Neville asked afraid.
"No, it wasn't! My wife was the last one to compete. The others had already given up. She battled herself trough, but when she reached the cup nothing happened. To ensure the auditions safety a magical barrier – drawn by the ministry, of course – had been placed around the arena. A wrong incantation was used, which caused the portkey to malfunction and she was trapped."
Molly and Arthur looked shocked, as did Harry, Ron, Neville and Luna. Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, and Ginny and George just starred at Aidan.
"By the time the Professors were able to break through that stupid barrier, she was barely alive." Aidan finished.
Everyone starred at him now with big wide eyes.
"Bloody hell, she must have been one hell of a great witch!" Ron said, still astonished.
"She still is. She was working as an Unspeakable in the department of Mysteries," Aidan said proudly and upon seeing Ron's confused look, he added, "They usually aren't allowed to speak about their work, therefore little is actually known about what they really do down there. All I can tell is that they do a lot of research about the origins of things like Time, Love and Death..."
Several of the younger ones gasped. But Professor Slughorn didn't.
"I cannot say I'm really surprised by that fact. Because even though I only taught her for that one year, I could tell Miss Pendragon was one of the most talentend witches I've ever seen. Besides your mother, of course, Harry," he said beaming.
Harry's heart warmed up at that statement, but he didn't reply.
"Well, and Minerva, of course! Even if she wouldn't admit it…" Arthur Weasley pointed out.
Slughorn just shook his head.
"Minerva is the most powerful witch I've ever seen. Always was. But these two - Miss Pendragonand and Miss Evans – even reminded me a bit of her… they were the only ones comparable to her abilities."
Aidan said nothing; Harry starred at Slughorn.
"Wait a minute! Professor McGonagall was once your student?" He asked surprised.
Slughorn nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, yes, Harry, she was! I started teaching… when she was in her second year, I guess."
"Wow! So she had both you and Professor Dumbledore as her teachers?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Oh, no, Miss Granger! Albus quit teaching a couple years before Minerva started school - due to Grindelwald's rise - and only continued the year after she graduated! So funnily enough, he never was her teacher; it's a common misconception," he laughed.
Hermione wasn't the only one surprised by that statement. Well, apart from Aidan, who just gave a confirming nod, but didn't say anything.
"But I always thought Professor Dumbledore trained her to be an animagus..." Ginny pointed out, rather confused.
Slughorn only laughed more, so it was Moody who answered.
"Minerva's animagus-transformation had always been quite the mystery… I didn`t know she had accomplished it until there was an article in the daily prophet about her - "
" - being the youngest witch to ever make a successful transformation! I read that article a couple of years back; it was really interesting and - "
"HERMIONE!" Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Fred and George shouted at the same time to stop their friend from talking more about her beloved reading material.
"From what I know, Minerva had known Albus ever since she was a little girl. Therefore it's no wonder the two of them shared a very unique friendship. And after her parents' death, this friendship just grew stronger, I suppose", Moody mumbled.
"You shouldn't talk about things you don't really know anything about, Alastor!" stated a slightly angry voice coming from behind.
.
Everyone turned around again just to see Madam Pompfrey coming closer.
"Well, and you do know more specific details, Poppy?" Moody asked in his old grumpy manner.
Madam Pompfrey laughed.
"She's my best friend, of course I do! But it's not my story to tell and if you just had a bit of respect for your old friend left, you wouldn't sit here spreading rumors!"
Harry thought this was the very first time he saw Alastor Moody speechless. Come to think of it, this had also been the first time Moody talked about something other than war, death and constant vigilance…
But before Harry could let his mind wander any further, Madam Pompfrey spoke again.
"Good. Now I just wanted to let you know, Aidan, that I may need you in half an hour to make an all-round check-up on everyone."
Aidan nodded.
"Please make sure not to forget the ones resting here in the Great Hall! The hospital wing is way too crowded so we had to expand…"
"Don't worry, Poppy, I will," Aidan said reassuringly.
"Thank you, dear! What would I do without you?" she smirked and patted him lightly on the shoulder before she headed off to the hospital wing again.
Aidan shook his head, smiling after her.
"When he wakes up and finds out that we tied him to one of the hospital beds, it would be you- and not me - who had to deal the wrath of one bloody furious Severus Snape!"
A.N.: When I heard of his recent death yesterday, I couldn't believe, no I didn't want to believe it was true! This chapter is therefore dedicated to Alan Rickmann - a fabulous actor, who playedthe role of Severus Snape like no one else could ever have - my grandma, and everyone else who fought or is still fighting their battle against cancer! They will always be in our hearts! *always*
A.N.:
First of all I am so very sorry for the incredibly late update! I had already written several chapters, when my computer shut down and everything was gone.
Therefore I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed! You are the reason I didn't give up on this story and kept me motivated to write more! Once again I will remind you that it will be slightly AU-ish and with appearences of my own characters, but you will see the reason for that in this chapter already.
I really hope you like the new chappie, so please tell me what you think!
yours, Lexi
