The Eighth Year Universe

Love Wins

There Were Times When It Looked Like Nothing Could Break Them


The chapter title is from the song:

99 Years – Josh Groban and Jennifer Nettles.


Whitehall, London

When the Potters and Longbottoms arrived outside the ministry, it was clear that something was wrong. They had tried to floo in, but the floo system was locked, and the main entrance was covered with a large ward.

Harry raised his wand and threw the strongest blasting charm he knew at it, but when it hit the shimmering purple barrier, it flashed and then absorbed the magic from the blast.

"How did it do that?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Daphne frowned and held up a hand, "Don't fire anything else at it. This isn't just any ward."

Lilly's eyes widened with realisation, "It's blood-bound."

Daphne nodded and glanced back at the two men, "Yes, which means it's almost impossible to break, and it absorbs any magical energy that touches it."

Neville cursed under his breath, and Daphne added, "That involves us. If we try and pass through that barrier, it will absorb our magic, so don't touch it."

"Can't you break it?" Harry asked, "You can break curses from ancient tombs."

"And I can break the encryption on that ward too," Daphne agreed, "But it would take hours, Harry, and I don't think we have that kind of time."

Harry turned around and shook his head angrily. Neville sighed and gripped his shoulder, but Lilly remained logical.

"Okay, so getting into the ministry is not an option," She said calmly, "So we need to think about what we can do."

"We can't do anything from out here!" Harry snapped.

Daphne held up a hand and was about to tell Harry to calm down when a section of the shimmering ward flashed.

They all drew their wands up, expecting someone to come through and fight them. But an enemy didn't step out; Almina stumbled through instead.

Daphne rushed forward when she saw the younger woman, "Almina! Are you okay?"

"No," Almina sobbed, "My parents are down there!"

"I know, sweetheart," Daphne said softly, "We're trying to get in."

"You won't," Almina said tearfully, "Regina Rowle put this ward up. She's an Unspeakable."

Harry cursed under his breath, and Lilly asked, "Are they in the Department of Mysteries?"

Almina nodded, and Lilly asked a little more anxiously, "What are they doing down there, Almina?"

"It's him, Lazarus, he's my grandfather, and he opened the veil," Almina explained.

Harry swallowed and looked from Neville to Almina, "Did he say why? Did he tell you who he was trying to reach?"

Almina nodded, "My grandmother, he wants to bring her back. He needed my Pops to give his blood willingly. That was why he kidnapped me. Pops said he would give him what if he wanted if he let me go."

"So Alfred let you go," Daphne realised.

She looked to the others, "Of course, he used the one thing he knew Theo had always wanted against him – his family."

"Goddamnit!" Harry snapped, "So he's in there, playing with necromancy, and we're stuck out here!"

"The others are in there," Daphne said firmly, "And I know Theo, Harry. Nobody knows Alfred Nott and the way his sick, twisted mind works better than Theo does. If I know him, he'll be playing Alfred at his own game. What I don't understand is how Alfred can use the veil to bring Almina back. Sadie said the veils magic was a life for a life – to bring someone back, you would have to sacrifice yourself."

Almina shook her head, "There's an old ritual. He said it was the original form of a Horcrux ritual. That's how he's bringing her back, but he needed bone of the ancestor, the flesh of the faithful and blood of the offspring to do it."

"Which was why he needed Theo," Lilly realised.

"He's playing with fire," Harry said darkly, "And he's messing with things that should not be messed with. We can't rewind time, and we can't bring the dead back, and this year both of those things have been tried in that building. If he's not careful, Alfred Nott is going to rip a hole in the universe."

"Is that even possible?" Neville asked quietly.

Lilly nodded and looked over at Harry, "Yes, and if he does it, the resounding explosion…."

"It will destroy London," Daphne said quietly, "And Merlin knows what else."

Lilly swallowed and looked at the shimmering purple ward, "And the only way we are getting through that is if Regina Rowle dies."


The Department of Mysteries

The portal behind the veil was shimmering white, and Almina Nott was hovering before it – she wasn't as pale and transparent as a ghost, but she wasn't fully corporeal either.

It was like looking at someone with the resurrection stone – she was there, but not really there yet.

Theo stared at her in disbelief – she was wearing the exact same robes as she had been on the day she died.

"Almina, my love," Alfred said breathily. He took a step forward and reached out his hand to her, "Come to me, we can be whole again. I forgive you, for all of your sins."

Almina did not look at Alfred, though. Her blue eyes shone brightly as the magic within the veil restored her life. Those eyes locked onto Theo's, and with a jolt, he remembered looking up into them while she sang him a lullaby.

"Theodore," She said softly, and for a moment, Theo convinced himself that this was all a dream. He would pinch himself and wake up soon. This could not be real.

"Theodore, please," Almina's voice pleaded.

Another wave of magic pulsed through the veil, and Almina cried out in pain. Theo grimaced; whatever force was bringing her back, it was hurting her.

"No!" A voice cried.

Alfred turned around and looked at Septimus, who trained his wand on his 'master'.

"You have taken everything from me!" Septimus roared, "My son, my wife! You promised me everything, and you gave me nothing!"

Alfred smiled, "Good things come to those who wait, Septimus."

Behind him, Almina cried out in pain again, and Septimus winced.

"You never said it would hurt her," Septimus said, his eyes were full of fury and tears, "She was my best friend. You promised it wouldn't hurt her!"

Alfred opened his mouth, equipped with a witty retort, but before it could leave his mouth, Septimus had shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

He had obviously not expected Septimus to actually retaliate because Alfred, who, Horcrux or not, was over 90 years old now, could not move out of the way before the beam of green light hit him square in the chest.

Theo swivelled his eyes back to the veil. Almina let out a relieved sigh and looked at Theo. She gave him a slight nod and was drawn back into the portal by an invisible force.

He wanted to fall to his knees and cry, but Theo knew that he couldn't – it wasn't over, not by a long shot. Regina had re-entered the room, and Septimus was still armed too.

"Hermione, knock her out!" Theo yelled, motioning towards Regina.

Hermione nodded and threw herself into a duel with the Unspeakable. Draco looked between her and Sadie, who was marching towards her father, and he hovered in-between them for a moment.

"Go with Hermione," Theo said shakily, "Sadie can handle her father."

"Theo…" Draco said weakly, "Your mother - "

"I'll be fine," Theo remarked curtly, "Go and back Hermione up."

With a nod, Draco ran after his wife, and Theo followed his.

"You idiot!" Sadie screamed.

Septimus turned around and looked at his daughter cautiously, "I…I just couldn't let him hurt her."

"And now, because of you, we're all going to die!" Sadie roared as she thrust her wand in his direction.

"Ignis Incarcerous!"

Fiery ropes flew from Sadie's wand and wrapped themselves around her father.


FIRE SHALL FLY FROM THE RAVEN GIRL


He cried out in pain, and she hissed, "That is for Sorenson, imagine the pain he felt when a burning building fell on him!"

Septimus whimpered pathetically, and Sadie turned to Theo, who was staring at the portal.

"Sadie, should it be doing that?"

"No," Sadie replied darkly.

The swirling was becoming faster now; blue and white merged, and it hurt the eyes to look at.

"Can you stop it?" Theo asked.

Sadie shook her head and looked at her husband, "No, only the person who opened the portal can close it."

Theo looked down at his father's body and swallowed hard. He looked back up at his wife, "Then what happens?"

"What's going on?" Draco asked breathily. He and Hermione had just jogged over, having disarmed and bound Regina.

Sadie swallowed and looked between them, "Alfred opened the portal, and now he's dead, so he can't close it. If it stays open, it will explode, and when it does, it will create a rift in time and space."

Hermione's eyes widened, "How….how is that even possible?"

"Because there is nowhere in the UK where the walls of the universe are as fragile as they are here," Sadie replied frantically, "We have tested the boundaries of time, of portals to other worlds, other universes. If the veil goes….it might suck all of London in with it."

"How sure are you?" Draco asked. He looked Sadie directly in the eye.

"I can't be entirely sure, but I'm fairly certain," Sadie admitted, her eyes locked onto his, "We've theorised about this, Draco. It's called Procedure 0."

Draco and Hermione's eyes both widened at that. Anyone who had served as a Minister for Magic knew what Procedure 0 was.

Theo saw the looks on their faces, "What? What's Procedure 0?"

"An extinction event," Draco and Hermione replied in unison.

Theo cursed loudly, "Then what the hell can we do? Shouldn't the ritual have just been completed, then the portal would have shut by itself, right?"

Sadie shook her head, "The ritual was linked to Alfred's flesh, and he died before it could be completed. There is no way to close the portal now, and we're no match for the power of the veil. It has absorbed the magic of thousands of souls over millennia."

"Something has to stop it!" Draco shouted as the increased swirling caused a wind to pick up, "We can't let that rift open up, Sadie!"

Sadie looked at the veil and said, "Maybe….someone with Alfred's blood could close it, but it would require so much magical power. More than any one person has, and it could drain you at best and kill you at worst."

Theo looked down at his father's body, "You know I would do it in a heartbeat, but I don't think I have the power after everything that Lucia did to me."

Hermione stepped into the wind as he spoke, unbeknownst to the other three.

"I can't even master wandless magic anymore," Theo admitted.

Sadie reached out and grabbed his hand, "You can't do it, Theo. Nobody can."

Draco looked up at the veil, and his eyes widened in horror when he saw Hermione standing in front of it.

"No!"

Hermione couldn't hear him over the roaring wind. She took a breath then placed her hand on the stone archway, causing the wind to increase and whip her hair up into the air. She breathed in sharply then opened her eyes which glowed a vivid shade of blue.

"Hermione, no!" Draco cried as he tried to get to her, but the wind had formed a powerful barrier, and Draco couldn't step into it.


SILVER EYES WILL CRY THROUGH THE WIND


Hermione's feet lifted off the ground, and she opened her mouth. The scream that was ripped from her then was the same as the one that had been when she saw Draco die only a few months earlier – the cry that had earned her the nickname "The Augurey".

The wind created a pillar around Hermione and lifted her high into the air so that she was at least twelve feet above them. Her hair whipped around her face, and her eyes continued to glow; her arms were spread wide as if they were wings. Watching her was both fascinating and terrifying.

"This will kill her," Draco said, his voice caught in his throat.

Sadie reached down and grabbed his hand, and from his other side, Theo did the same.

"You know why she's doing this, Draco," Sadie said. Her voice shook, and he could tell that she was crying.

"But if she does this, she dies," Draco whispered.

"And if she doesn't, everyone dies," Sadie replied hoarsely.


AND THE LIGHT SHALL FADE FROM THE GOLDEN ONE


"No," Theo said. He dropped Draco's hand, "I'm not letting my father take anyone else away from me."

"Theo, you can't help her!" Sadie cried as she lunged forward and grabbed him by the arm.

Theo looked at her defiantly, "Like hell I can't. She doesn't have to do this alone because she's not the only Nott here; I can get through that barrier."

"And then what?" Sadie asked, her voice pitched up an octave, "Then you die too?

"If I go in there, we both stand a chance," Theo said fiercely, "If I don't, we'll lose her."

"And if you go, we might lose both of you!" Sadie exclaimed.

Theo looked away from Sadie. His eyes locked onto Draco's, and he said, "That's a risk I have to take because I won't be able to live with myself if I don't."

Draco swallowed and bowed his head in agreement. Sadie sobbed, then stepped forward, kissing Theo briefly and tearfully.

When Theo drew back, he looked at Draco for confirmation.

"Go," Draco choked out.

With a nod, Theo stepped into the wind. The moment he did, the wind drew him in, and when he opened his eyes, they glowed the same vivid shade of blue as Hermione's. He flung his arms out, and the wind drew him up into the air too.

Theo reached through the wind and grabbed Hermione's hands. The moment that connection was formed, the wind got so powerful that Draco and Sadie couldn't even see them inside the pillar.

Draco reached down and grabbed Sadie's hand. She squeezed it tightly in response.

Above the wind, they heard a loud rumble, and Draco looked up in horror. Pieces of rock on the roof began to come loose and fall into the cavern below. He dropped Sadie's hand and threw up the strongest shield charm he knew.

"Sadie…."

"I know," Sadie said, her voice was quiet, "But our problem is bigger than a few falling rocks."

Her eyes were on the veil – the portal had begun to swirl in the opposite direction.

"It's working; they're closing it!" Sadie cried above the noise, "But when they do, the pulse of magic it emits is going to bring that roof down!"

"And the ministry with it," Draco said in disbelief, "These are foundation walls, aren't they?"

Sadie nodded and looked up at Draco with wide, horrified eyes, "Draco, we're all going to die."

"Not if I can help it," Draco said, his eyes shining with determination, "But you have to trust me completely."

"I do," Sadie promised.

Draco dropped the shield charm and pulled Sadie towards him, drawing her in and pressing his lips against hers as the roof continued to crumble all around them.


Outside the ministry, things were as frantic and desperate as they were inside.

"Is there anyone else in there before we do this?" Neville yelled to the others.

Daphne shook her head, "No! The only life signs in that building are in the Department of Mysteries."

They were shouting over the sudden wind that had whipped up around London. It had been a mild day, and then this breeze had swept in out of nowhere. It made trees sway dangerously, and cars struggled to carry on in a straight line. Horns beeped, and the sound of screeching tyres and metal against metal could be heard in the distance as the city descended into chaos.

Harry knew enough about the veil to realise that this abnormal weather front was related to it, and Daphne and Lilly had figured out the rest – whatever was happening down there, it wasn't good, and if the ministry blew, then all of Whitehall went with it.

"We need to evacuate Whitehall!" Harry had shouted when they came to this realisation.

"We don't have the time or the resources to do that!" Lilly had come back with.

"Then we need to get the Ministry out of Whitehall!" Daphne had yelled.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Harry called to Daphne and Lilly.

The two women were pointing their wands at the entrance to the ministry, which was still protected by that shimmering purple ward.

"We did it with Potter Manor!" Daphne pointed out, "We moved it halfway across the country!"

"That was a manor house, not a magical building like this!" Neville yelled.

"We don't have time to argue about it!" Lilly shouted, "But we need to invert the ministry now if we stand a chance of moving it in time!"

Lilly had already worked out that to move the ministry; if that were even going to be possible, they would need to invert it because it was essentially an upside-down building. When it had been hidden from the Muggles, it had been buried into the ground, so the Department of Mysteries was actually on the top floor.

"All right!" Harry cried, "Let's do it, but prepare yourself for a huge breach in the Statute of Secrecy. A magical building is about to appear in the middle of Muggle London."

"And the Statute would be breached if the ministry blows anyway!" Lilly cried over the wind, "Let's do it, come on!"

In unison, Daphne and Lilly spoke complex charms that Harry and Neville had never heard of, let alone were able to translate.

A rumble sounded below them, and Lilly glanced over at Harry and Neville, "Boys – a little help?"

Neville grabbed Lilly's hand and closed his eyes. Harry nodded and took Daphne's hand. He did the same, and the two of them channelled their magic towards their wives.

They had to keep their eyes closed for concentration purposes, but they knew when it was done anyway. An almighty rumble sounded from below, and the ground shook as if an earthquake had just struck London.

What happened next was quite something – the rumbling continued, and as the ground opened up, a domed roof emerged.

They all stepped back and watched a grand 18th-century building rise from the ground – complete with ornate stonework and windows that hadn't been updated on the outside since the 18th century.

The ten-storey building continued to rise until it stopped with a crunch. By now, bystanders had noticed, and there was chaos behind them.

"Now it has traditional foundations, and we can move it!" Lilly cried.

They looked up at the top floor, where the Department of Mysteries would now be housed – the only thing above it was the level 10 courtroom, which was actually housed inside the domed roof.

The entire top floor was aglow with blue light, and the glass in the windows had all been smashed out.

Bits of masonry further down the building were beginning to shake loose, and the tiles on the domed roof were slipping off and smashing to the ground.

"Let's move it, quickly!"


The Department of Mysteries

The pillar of wind that encased Hermione and Theo above the veil swirled around them faster than ever as the portal came close to closing. Hermione sucked in a breath and blinked hard. When she opened her eyes, they were their original shade of brown.

Her hands were in Theo's, and he was looking back at her with his own wide brown eyes.

Theo looked down at the veil below them – the swirling blue and white liquid was disappearing and being replaced with the empty space that usually resided behind the veil.

Above them, a loud rumble sounded, and they both looked up as a large chunk of the roof came tumbling down. The entire roof had noticeable cracks and crevices on it, and they both knew what that meant.

"We aren't getting out of this one, are we, Princess?"

Hermione swallowed and looked at Theo. She tightened her grip on his hands and shook her head.

"I don't think so!"

She cried as the roof caved in.


St Kilda, Scotland

The ministry landed on a flat plain on the shores of St Kilda – a remote, uninhabited Scottish island that was around a hundred miles away from the mainland.

Almina had insisted on coming with them, even though Harry had urged her not to. He wished she had stayed in London because seconds after the Ministry rematerialised, the domed roof caved in on the Department of Mysteries. The weight of that floor brought it down onto the one below, and then the domino effect started.

Harry threw a shield charm over them all, and they all ducked low to the ground beneath it in case of flying debris.

In less than ten seconds, the Ministry building collapsed – a huge plume of smoke came out and billowed into the air, and a blast of blue light shot out in every direction, disappearing into the horizon.

"No!" Almina screamed, "NO!"

Daphne pulled the younger woman into her arms and hugged her tightly as she sobbed. She couldn't open her mouth to comfort Almina because her throat felt too tight. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked at the smoke billowing from the rubble, and she wasn't the only one.

Neville put his arm around Lilly as tears openly rolled down her cheeks, and Harry grabbed Lilly's hand from her other side. The four of them were silent, Almina's sobs and the roar of fire and smoke being the only sounds to fill the air.

Harry stepped forward when the dust settled and looked into the pile of rubble helplessly. That was when he saw a small dome buried underneath layers of dust and ash...

"Neville – look."

Neville looked up and saw the dome. He frowned and stepped forward to stand by Harry's side, "What is that…."

Before their eyes, golden cracks began to appear on the dome. First, it was just one, then another, and suddenly more and more cracks began to appear like they did in an egg that was about to hatch.

"That's magic," Harry breathed. He dropped the shield charm that surrounded them, and he ran forward.

Neville followed him without question, and Almina tried to as well.

Daphne grabbed her by the wrist and shook her head, "No," she said firmly, "You don't know what they're going to find, sweetheart. You can't go in there right now."

Lilly looked over at Daphne, their eyes met, and they could tell that the same thing was on both of their minds – that, please, let that be a shield charm of some sort.

Harry and Neville ran into the rubble, putting shield charms around themselves in case of debris and encasing their heads in bubble charms because they had no idea what toxins could be in that smoke.

By the time they reached the dome, all of the cracks had shifted the layers of dust above it. Harry and Neville clambered over the rubble and saw the Black-Notts inside the golden dome.

They were all crouched inside; most of them had their eyes shut tightly as if they were bracing for impact. None of them were moving, but they weren't dead either. It was like they were frozen in time.

"Time magic," Neville breathed, "Sadie is the only person who would know how to use that."

Harry looked at Draco, who was the only person who had his eyes open.

He shook his head, "I don't think Sadie did this, Neville."

Before Neville could ask what Harry meant, the most extensive crack yet appeared in the dome. It split into two halves, and the golden shards rained down on them all like sparks from a fire or confetti at a wedding.


ALL THAT WAS UNDONE SHALL BE REMADE


The Black-Notts drew themselves up, and Harry noticed that they looked different somehow – Sadie and Theo in particular – Sadie seemed younger, and Theo held himself differently like he had before Lucia.

Sadie had her hand in Draco's, and she looked up to catch his eye, "How did you do that?" she breathed.

Draco smiled weakly, "I remembered what you did in seventh year. You made the bathroom our safe haven because you disrupted time, so I did that on a bigger scale, which was why I needed you to magic-share with me."

"You disrupted our position in time," Sadie said in disbelief, "Like I did with a room, but you did it with four people. Draco…you put us in a time cocoon. Do you realise how difficult that sort of magic is?"

"No, but that's probably why I was able to do it," Draco said with a small smile. He looked up at Harry, "My old Auror partner told me that something is only impossible when you believe it is."

Harry smiled weakly and pulled Draco into a hug, "I've never been happier to see you."

Draco patted him on the back and let out a shaky breath, "You too, Harry."

Harry released Draco then pulled Hermione into a hug. She leaned against him, and Harry could tell that she was absolutely exhausted.

"How did you do it, Mione?" Harry murmured.

"With a lot of help from my family," Hermione replied. She pulled away enough to look back at Draco, Theo and Sadie.

Theo bowed his head in agreement, "You did it, Princess. All I did was give you a little boost."

Theo pulled her into a hug, and Draco stepped forward and gripped Hermione tightly from the other side. Theo lifted his arm and pulled Sadie into the group hug, and Harry took a step back.

He glanced sidelong at Neville, who had tears in his eyes too. The taller man waved Lilly, Daphne and Almina over now they knew that the Black-Notts were safe.

Almina came running across the plain. When she saw all four of her parents alive and well, she burst into tears, and they all hugged her tightly.

"They did it," Daphne said in disbelief.

"Yeah, they did," Harry returned with a smile.

When they drew back from the hug, Draco looked at Theo a little more closely. He ran a hand through Theo's hair, which was definitely less grey than it had been before.

"You look younger."

"I feel better," Theo admitted.

On a suspicion, Harry cast a diagnostic charm over Theo then looked up at him in surprise, "Your magical core is full again."

"The pulse of magic," Lilly realised, "We saw it leave the building when the veil was destroyed."

Sadie shook her head and turned around – behind them; the veil stood upright amongst the debris and rubble that was the rest of the ministry.

"It survived?" Daphne asked in surprise.

"It had to," Sadie replied quietly, "Hermione and Theo were able to shut it down, but there was a lot of residual magic in the air when they did. I think that's what the pulse you saw was."

"Why couldn't you destroy it?" Lilly asked.

Sadie looked over at her friend and answered, "If it had been destroyed, it would have ripped a hole in time and space. The rift it opened up would have sucked all of London into it, and Merlin knows what else."

"Just like you predicted," Lilly said. She looked at Harry and raised an eyebrow, "If the Headmaster gig gets old, maybe you should consider a job as an Unspeakable."

Draco shook his head, "There will be no more Unspeakables and no Department of Mysteries. We'll find a way to destroy the veil, and then we will stop experimenting with time and gateways to other worlds. What happened tonight should be a lesson that magic should have limits."

Hermione nodded and looked over at Theo. She brushed his hair out of his face and ran her thumb over his cheek, "How did it restore your magic?"

Theo shook his head and looked himself up and down, "I…I have no idea."

Sadie smiled tearfully at Theo and whispered, "All of that magic had to go somewhere, I suppose."

"All that was undone shall be remade," Harry said quietly, "The prophecy wasn't talking about time at all, it was talking about magic."

"It was talking about everything," Sadie said sagely, "The walls of the universe were thin beneath the Department of Mysteries. The limits had been pushed too many times there, and when the veil was shut down, it fixed that."

"Hence, all that was undone shall be remade," Hermione realised.

Harry nodded, and they all stood in stunned silence for a moment – as they had after the Battle of Hogwarts.

Sadie turned to Theo then and said, "I'm sorry you never got your mother back."

Theo shook his head, "I'm not. She never wanted to come back, not like that."

"Your father is dead, I presume?" Harry asked.

"They all are," Sadie replied darkly, "Alfred, my father, Katrin Luther and Regina Rowle."

Harry nodded and looked at the rubble behind them, "I think you might need a new Ministry, Draco."

Draco stood by Harry's side and looked at the rubble too, "If I still have a job."

Daphne scoffed and stepped forward to hug him, "You just saved the world. Of course, you still have a job, you idiot."

Draco smiled weakly and kissed her on the cheek, "I love you too, Daph."

Harry chuckled and nudged Draco sheepishly, "But…you probably do need to have a chat with the Muggle Prime Minister. We knew the ministry was going to blow, so as you can see, we moved it."

Draco nodded and looked around, "I had noticed that. Where are we?"

"St Kilda," Harry replied.

"And how did you move the entire Ministry?" Hermione asked, looking from Harry to the rest of his family.

"The same way you just saved the world," Harry replied with a smile, "With a little magic sharing and a lot of teamwork."

Hermione smiled slightly, then sat down on a bit of rubble as a wave of dizziness hit her.

"The only snag was that to move the Ministry, we had to invert it, which meant a huge 18th-century building suddenly appeared in the middle of London, right about the time that hurricane-force winds blew in out of nowhere."

"Then minutes later, that whole building disappeared again," Daphne added.

"And with the rise of Muggle technology, it was all captured on camera, and it's all over the news," Lilly finished.

Draco sighed and looked at Harry, "So this time I have to sort out your mess?"

"Well," Harry mused, "It does make a change, doesn't it?"

Draco smiled and glanced back at his family, "Will you three be okay?"

"We're alive," Theo said, smiling at the others, "I think we'll be fine."

Sadie and Hermione nodded their agreement, so Draco turned back to Harry.

"Fine, but if I have to step into 10 Downing Street and tell this story, you're coming with me."

"I had a feeling you might say that."

The two men walked away bickering, and Hermione shook her head. She had a fond smile on her face as she said, "I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

"What, seeing those two bickering like old friends after saving the world?" Daphne retorted.

Hermione chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I don't think I will either," Daphne admitted.

Hermione looked back at the ministry – the sun had just set behind the rubble, and high in the sky, the full moon shone.


AND THE SUN WILL SET TO THE HARVEST MOON.


"Although I think this might be the start of a brave new world."

Lilly nodded her agreement and smiled slightly.

"I think you might be right."

- TBC -