The Eighth Year Universe
Love Wins
Long Live All the Magic We Made
The chapter title is from the song:
Long Live by Taylor Swift.
Blacknot Castle
Sunday the 19th of September
Everyone apart from Draco was wide awake. Hermione and Theo, in particular, had practically passed out half an hour after they left St Kilda. But Draco had been awake all night, and all he wanted to do when he got home was go to bed and sleep all day.
Rebuilding the wizarding world and getting to grips with their new relationship with the Muggle world could wait another day. It wouldn't hurt to give them time to think it over and realise what this meant, after all.
After the press conference, Draco's plans to sleep for a whole day went out of the window when they got home.
Daphne was sitting on a bench outside the castle, waiting for them. She got to her feet and smiled, "Nice speech, Minister."
Draco chuckled and took his hands out of his pockets, "Thanks. What brings you here?"
"I come bearing good news, actually," Daphne said honestly, "She didn't want to tell you until the morning, what with all that was happening last night."
Daphne waved a hand absentmindedly, "But not long after midnight, Victoire gave birth to a little boy."
Theo was the first to respond, "Last night? That's early. Are they both okay?"
Daphne smiled and nodded, "They are fine. Lilly delivered the baby, and she said he was perfect, even if he was early. There was a chance of the dates being off, what with Victoire's pregnancy being detected so late."
Draco nodded and looked over at Theo and Sadie, "You're grandparents."
Theo gave him a long-suffering look, "We're grandparents. I thought you got your head around this concept at Mina's wedding."
Daphne smiled slightly at the exchange, "She's happy for you to visit, but she didn't want anything to distract you from your big speech."
"That was sweet of her, but I would have missed it in a heartbeat if she or Charlus had sent a Patronus," Draco admitted.
Hermione smiled a little tearfully, "I think that's probably why they didn't tell us straight away. That speech was ground-breaking, Draco."
Draco looked rather humble then, and Hermione commented that humble happened to be a good look on him.
Daphne chuckled and patted Draco on the shoulder, "I'll leave you to it. But that speech was quite something," she kissed him on the cheek then headed on down the path.
Draco took a breath and looked over at the other three, "Shall we go and meet our grandson then?"
Sadie laughed tearfully and nodded, "I didn't think I could feel this many emotions in 24 hours."
Theo smiled and threw his arm over her shoulder, "It's ironic… I feel younger than I ever have physically, but mentally? I mean, I'm only 41. How can I be a Grandfather?"
"Well, if you will have a child at 19, Theo…." Hermione teased, shooting him an amused look.
"Excuse you," Sadie cut in, "I wouldn't change when those two were born, not for the world."
Theo took her hand and nodded his agreement, "No, I wouldn't either," he promised.
Hermione smiled from them to Draco and admitted, "I wouldn't change any of it."
Draco smiled right back and grabbed her hand.
"Neither would I."
Shell Cottage
Sunday the 19th of September
9.30 am
When the Black-Notts stepped into Victoire's bedroom, all of their hearts melted. Victoire was lying in bed with the baby in her arms. Charlus sat with an arm around her and his hand in his little boys as the baby gripped his finger tightly.
"Oh my god," Hermione gushed, "He is adorable!"
Sadie's reaction was similar, "He's perfect! And he looks big for an early baby."
"He is," Victoire said with the sigh of a woman who remembered just how big the baby was.
"7 pounds 4 ounces," Charlus added, "20 inches long."
Theo smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, "Good job, son."
Draco snorted, "I think it's Victoire we should be saying that to, Theo."
Victoire looked at Draco, "Yes, I agree – thanks, Draco."
Draco chuckled and sat down on the edge of the bed, "He seems pretty peaceful."
"He hasn't cried much," Victoire admitted.
Charlus grinned, "Maybe he's just perfect like me."
Theo laughed, "Trust me, you were not perfect."
"No, you had your mother pacing the halls," Draco agreed with an amused smile, "She had to fob you off to Aunt Daphne at the bank or to Harry and me in the Ministry just to get a break from your constant whining."
"Merlin, Charlie, you haven't changed much, have you?" Victoire teased.
Charlus just laughed, along with his parents. He got to his feet and hugged Hermione, which took her by surprise – Charlus wasn't usually the huggy sort; he hadn't been as a child either.
"Happy Birthday, Mum."
Hermione smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks, sweetheart. I think it might be the best birthday I've ever had – a ground-breaking speech from your dad and a grandchild?"
Victoire laughed and said, "That speech was incredible. I can't believe we're actually coming out of the shadows."
Charlus smiled at her and said, "We definitely gave him the right name, huh?"
Victoire nodded and looked up at Charlus's parents.
"You know how Victoire got her name, right?" Charlus asked.
Hermione nodded, "It's French for 'victory', and Victoire was born on the first anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts."
"And Bill really wanted to call her Victoria," Theo added with an amused smile.
Victoire laughed, "Which he still goes on about, yes. But when this little one was born last night…well we realised that the 19th of September is going to be remembered for years as the day that we came out of hiding, and a new era began so…."
"We named him Phoenix," Charlus finished.
Theo smiled at that, "Phoenix Nott?"
"Phoenix Theodore Nott," Charlus corrected.
Theo swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded, "Thanks, Charlie. That…."
He took a breath and rubbed his hands against his eyes in an attempt to cover up his tears, "That…."
Charlus swallowed a lump in his throat and got to his feet with tears in his eyes. He hugged his father tightly and said hoarsely, "We know what it means to you, Pops.'"
Draco wiped his eyes and nodded at Victoire, "I think his name is perfect, Victoire."
Hermione and Sadie were both tearful too; they nodded their agreement.
Charlus let go of Theo and wiped his eyes hastily. Draco smiled and took a step towards his best friend. Wordlessly, he reached down and grabbed his hand.
"Takes the sting off of being called Gramps, doesn't it?"
Theo laughed tearfully and nodded at Draco, "Yeah."
Draco just smiled in response and squeezed Theo's hand.
Sadie sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at the baby in Victoire's arms.
"He's perfect, Victoire."
Victoire smiled, "I didn't know I could love someone this much."
Sadie smiled and glanced behind her at Charlus, "Trust me, that never changes."
Victoire shuffled slightly and held Phoenix out to Sadie, "Would you like to hold him?"
Sadie's eyes lit up, "Oh, yes, please."
The other three smiled as they watched Sadie take her grandson and hold him gently. The sun was still rising behind them – burning bright and signalling the start of a new day, and as Victoire and Charlus had rightfully said, a new era.
The Burrow
Sunday the 19th of December
Noon
This was the first Sunday lunch since Ron had been released from the hospital, so a large family affair had always been on the cards. But it ended up being much more of a celebration.
Arthur delighted in inviting his 'next door' neighbour, who lived in the farm a few miles down the road, to Sunday lunch. Tom hadn't blinked an eye when he found out that Arthur was a wizard; it probably made sense of a lot for him.
Arthur had invited Charlus and his family, and Molly had asked Beth and her son, Kyler. Harry and Hermione were invited too, along with their families. Thanks to the artificial weather charm Hermione had put up, they were able to make it mild enough to have a party outside. The Weasley's garden was so large that it had the same feeling as a street party.
The Black-Nott's had decided to skip it, and nobody blamed them. After the night they'd had, they were no doubt exhausted. But the Potters came along, and they dragged the Longbottoms along with them.
Draco's speech and the wizarding world being exposed was pretty much all that anyone was talking about. But Harry and Lilly both had someone else they would rather talk to, so they both headed over to Ron.
He smiled at them, it didn't seem forced, but they could tell that there was a sadness behind it.
"Hey mate," Harry said with a smile, "How are you doing?"
"Oh, you know, I feel like I'm hallucinating all of this," Ron admitted.
Lilly laughed, "It is kinda crazy. How's your leg?"
"The phantom pains are weird," Ron shrugged, "And the prosthetic still feels strange. But I'll get used to it."
Lilly nodded, "It will feel natural sooner than you think," She promised.
Harry leant against a tree and looked out at the party, "So what's next?"
"For the world or me?" Ron joked.
"Both," Harry said with a chuckle.
Ron smiled and said, "Well, I'm going to travel. When the kids go back to school, I'll start ticking off some of those things on Felicity's bucket list."
"By yourself?" Harry asked.
Ron shook his head, "Nah. I sort of made a new friend at the hospital. Clara….she lost as much as I did."
Lilly nodded thoughtfully.
"So she's going to come with me," Ron shrugged, "Platonically. We both just lost the loves of our lives, so it's not like that, but…I dunno, the company might help.
"I think you could both help each other," Lilly said with a small smile, "It's a great idea."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. He was frowning and only half paying attention because he had just seen Fleur walk into the garden with Bill, "Yeah, it's a great idea."
Lilly followed Harry's line of sight and raised an eyebrow, "That's…."
"Weird," Harry finished.
Lilly nodded, "Yeah."
"Ugh," Ginny muttered as she wondered over with a glass of wine for Lilly, "Phlegm is back on the scene, really?"
"Oh, give it up," Daphne said as she joined them. She nudged Ginny in the ribs playfully, "You liked her after the wedding."
"Like is a strong word," Ginny muttered, "I just didn't hate her as much."
Harry snorted in amusement but kept his eyes on Bill as he jumped up onto a table and shouted, "Attention, everyone!"
"William!" Molly exclaimed, "Get your boots off my damn dessert table!"
Tom, the Muggle farmer, guffawed at this and his wife, Penny, shook her head in exasperation and nudged him in the side.
"Mum, this announcement is table-worthy," Bill assured her.
Fleur scoffed and shook her head. She muttered something in French, and Daphne sniggered.
"What did she say?"
"Something rude about Bill," Daphne answered.
"No change from normal there then," Lilly remarked.
Bill continued with his announcement anyway, "Mum, Dad, you are officially Great Grandparents!"
Molly gasped at that, "Really?"
Bill grinned, "Victoire had the baby last night, a little boy."
Arthur smiled and said, "That's great news son, but please, get off the table."
Bill jumped down dramatically, "He's called Phoenix Theodore Nott, by the way."
"Phoenix?" Someone asked.
"Like the bird?" George said.
At the same time, Harry said, "Like the dead actor?"
Lilly, Daphne and Ginny all slapped him for that, and Ron guffawed with laughter.
"Like the mythical creature that rises from the ashes after destruction," Bill said pointedly, "Like our world is right now, and you never know, Victoire might have just started a trend. Do you know how many wizarding babies were named Harry after some baby vanquished Voldemort?"
Harry grinned and did a mock bow which earned him another slap around the head, although it was only from Ginny that time.
Bill grinned and said boldly, "And in other news, Fleur and I have been back together for a month or two."
Molly scoffed, "That's not news, William. We've known for weeks! We wondered when you would eventually tell us."
Bill looked at her in disbelief, "You knew? And you didn't nag me?"
Molly smirked, "Do not be so quick to judge. I don't know why you ever split up in the first place."
Fleur looked as shocked as Bill upon hearing that, and Ginny snorted in amusement, "Oh, I love it when Mum messes with my brothers. It's like Christmas and my birthday have all come at once."
"You're very vindictive, Ginny. Has anyone ever told you that?" Ron joked.
Harry snorted in amusement, "I'm pretty sure I've told her that."
Ginny smirked and shrugged, "Blaise likes me that way."
Ron gagged, "I'm your brother. That's all I need to know about that."
Harry bit back an amused grin as he remembered how fun it had been to mess with Ron after he discovered that Ginny had dated Harry and Neville. The other man had just appeared with a couple of glasses of lemonade, so Harry said, "Yeah, that's your sister, mate."
It flew over Ron's head. He said, "Exactly, thanks, Harry!"
But Neville had to turn around to cover up his laughter.
Blacknot Castle
The first thing that the Black-Notts had done when they got home from meeting Phoenix was tell the rest of their children what had happened the night before. There had been tears and hugs. Then the Black-Notts had gone for a well-deserved and much-needed nap.
That had enabled them to host their family dinner like they would any other night, and as they sat around the dining room table talking and laughing, they were so glad that they hadn't put it off.
The Potter-Wolfe's had all opted to spend the evening here, not at the Burrow, and Theo knew he wasn't the only one that was grateful for that. Looking at Almina, laughing at something Nina had said, then leaning up to kiss Teddy, made him feel content after how touch and go things had been the night before.
Narcissa was chatting animatedly to Elizabeth Granger, who had let herself and John be side-apparated from their retirement home in the south of France to be here tonight.
They had all eaten dinner together in the dining room, and Draco had briefly explained what had happened in the previous months. Elizabeth was affronted that they had kept it secret, but as Hermione had said, "We didn't want to worry you, Mum."
She had hugged her mother, and that had been the end of that.
After dinner, the family retired to the drawing-room where all the adults were sipping wine or whiskey – bar Nina who was on sparkling water. They were all here, everyone but Lacey and Jack. Theo had asked them to come, of course, but Lacey was heavily pregnant and travelling via floo or portkey made her nauseous.
Theo threw an arm over Hermione's shoulders as she watched her parents with an absentminded smile. He knew that she had missed them since they moved to France a few years ago. When Ada and Dora had started Hogwarts, they decided that the time was right.
"The family are ever so proud of Hermione," Elizabeth said to Narcissa.
Narcissa smiled politely, "Of course, you could never fully explain her achievements."
Elizabeth nodded, and John agreed with a grin, "Never could tell them about her Order of Merlin. You should have heard Johnny when we told him our Hermione's got the wizarding equivalent of the Victoria Cross!"
Hermione smiled in that abashed way that made her look like Hermione Granger again, and Theo and Draco both chuckled from either side of her.
"The George Cross, Dad," She corrected with a carefree smile.
John waved his hand, "It's a bloody honour, Hermione, and I'm thrilled we can finally talk about it."
"Aunt Rebecca is talking about having a street party," Elizabeth said eagerly, "You would all be invited, of course. But I expect you would need to bring a security guard with you, Draco."
Draco chuckled, "Your concern is appreciated, Elizabeth, but I would just cast protective charms on myself."
"Of course," Elizabeth chuckled, "It will be such fun to introduce you all to the family properly."
Hermione scoffed under her breath and rested her head on Draco's shoulder, "This is the same woman who scolded me about our arrangement over lunch."
Theo leant over to kiss her briefly, "Different now we're famous though, Princess."
Hermione smiled against his lips, "You're impossible," she whispered.
She felt him grin. He pulled back and winked, then got to his feet, "Who needs a refill?"
Sadie smiled fondly at him and held up her wine glass. He refilled it with a flick of his wrist and sighed, "Oh, wandless magic, how I have missed you."
Draco bit back a smile, "Show-off."
Hermione chuckled and glanced over at Sadie. She had been watching the other woman warily all evening, it was quite apparent that this was a family affair, and while it went on, her mother lay in a hospital bed.
Still, Sadie seemed okay. She was laughing at the Wonder Twins because they were trying to re-enact Draco's speech and putting on stupid, dramatic voices.
Sadie must have felt Hermione's eyes on her because she turned around and smiled at her. She excused herself and crossed the room to perch next to Hermione in the seat that Theo had just vacated.
"I'm fine."
Hermione smiled, "Is my concern really so loud?"
"Your eyes have always given you away," Sadie said. She smiled at Hermione and added, "Which is a good thing."
"Hm," Hermione mused, she sipped her wine.
"I know what you're thinking," Sadie admitted, "But I don't care that my parents aren't here. I am just so grateful that everybody else is. I'm….I miss Sorenson's presence more than anything else, but the rest of us are here because…."
She grabbed Hermione's hand and smiled, " - because of you."
Hermione shook her head and looked out at their family. She kept her hand in Sadie's and replied softly, "Because of all of us."
Sadie leant back and rested her head on Hermione's shoulder, and Hermione sighed contently. She felt free-er than she had in a long time, and she could tell that Sadie felt the same.
From their side, Draco mused, "You two are feeling sentimental."
"Surviving the impossible will do that to a person, I suppose," Hermione replied calmly.
Draco nodded and slung an arm over Hermione's shoulder. Then he caught his mother's eye across the room. She smiled at him and bowed her head; it was her quiet way of saying that she was proud.
Ada jumped off the makeshift podium she'd had Cas conjure up for her, "So, Dad."
Draco looked over, "Yes, Ada?"
"Are we really going to live side by side with the Muggles?" Ada asked.
Dora nodded, "Yeah, can we get phones and date Muggles?"
Draco gave them a stern look, "Firstly, you're not dating anyone. Headmaster Poter will be reporting back on any developments between you and a certain Longbottom, Adeline."
Adeline's cheeks flushed, and she gave Draco a dubious look.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously," Theo agreed, "And no, you're not getting a phone. Those things fry your brain."
"Says who?" Dora asked in disbelief.
"The internet and your Grandmother," Theo said. He shot Elizabeth a grin, "And she's never wrong."
Elizabeth smirked, and Theo winked at her. Hermione shook her head in disbelief and pulled him onto the sofa in the small gap between her and Sadie.
"Are you drunk?"
"I'm mildly inebriated," Theo returned as he raised his whiskey glass.
Ella snorted and picked up her wine glass, "Anyway, we're not really going to live side by side with the Muggles, are we? We'll just stay hidden away in our little castle in the middle of nowhere."
"Like in Beauty and the Beast!" Dora agreed.
"Wait," Ada cut in, "Who's the beast? Dad or Pops?"
"Oi!" Theo objected, "Beast? Pfft, I'll have you know, I'm younger and fitter than ever!"
"Alright then, old man," Teddy said with a grin, "Prove it."
"Fine," Theo said. He jumped to his feet, "How?"
Teddy shot Nick an amused look, "Duel me, or Nick if you want less of a challenge."
Nick elbowed Teddy in the ribs, "Watch it, bighead Potter."
"Potter-Wolfe," Teddy corrected him with a boyish grin.
Nina rolled her eyes and kicked her feet up on the coffee table, "You both need to deflate your heads and Theo, please don't duel while drunk."
"Do not worry, my dear Nina, I would never do such an irresponsible thing with a future grandchild in the room," Theo said seriously, albeit with a mock bow in her direction.
Almina rolled her eyes and shot Ella an exasperated look; Ella drained her wine in response.
"Will you ever grow up, Theodore?" Narcissa asked, her tone that of an amused but exasperated mother.
"No," Theo grinned broadly, "I don't think I will."
He looked over at Teddy, "And while I won't duel while drunk, when was the last time you saw me do this?"
Without further ado, he jumped onto the coffee table and started dancing, to much chagrin from the others.
"Pops!"
"Ugh, Pops, really?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, and Draco muttered, "Of all the tables in this room, he picked the mahogany one that had been imported from Europe to dance on."
"Darling, don't say 'that's mahogany'," Narcissa retorted dryly, "I fear you would sound too much like your father."
Sadie raised her wine glass in defeat, "Fine, then I'll say it – Theodore Roosevelt Nott, that is mahogany! Get off it right now if you know what's good for you!"
"Yes, dear," Theo said. He bowed to her and jumped down.
Heels clicked into the room, announcing the presence of their final two guests. Theo looked over at them and grinned.
"Uh, Dad…were you dancing on the table?"
"Yes, I was," Theo replied matter of factly as he pulled Lacey into a hug, "Oh, Lacey, it's so good to see you."
Lacey drew back slightly and looked at him warily, "You saw me two days ago…why do I get the feeling that more happened than Draco let on in his speech?"
"Probably because it did," Theo admitted, "But we can talk about all of that later."
Lacey cast him one more odd look, then nodded and headed over to the Potter-Wolfe's.
Salvadora raised an eyebrow and stepped forward to kiss Theo on the cheek, "You're drunk, darling."
"Yes, I am," Theo said with a nod, "I'm celebrating."
"This doesn't happen to have anything to do with the prophecy that you think I don't know about, does it?" Salvadora asked perceptively.
Theo raised an eyebrow, "How did you find out?"
"Narcissa and I do talk," Salvadora said pointedly, "She told me, and I presumed you were sheltering me from it for Lacey's sake."
"Well, sort of," Theo said with a slight frown, "For both of your sakes. It…it pertained to someone who had already hurt you both enough. I wanted to shield you from that."
Her eyes darkened slightly, "It was him?"
"It was," Theo replied quietly.
Salvadora met his gaze, and despite being a little tipsy, Theo held it.
"How sure are you that he is finally gone?" Salvadora asked quietly.
"Completely," Theo answered honestly, "He…he did awful things and claimed that he did them for love. All of it….it was to bring my mother back. We made sure he couldn't do that, and….it hurt, but she wouldn't have wanted it."
"No," Salvadora agreed softly, "She wouldn't have wanted for it to be on his terms. She lived and died, on her own terms. That was the sort of woman that your mother was, and you have inherited a lot from her, Theo."
Theo nodded a little tearfully and hugged his stepmother briefly. She was surprised, but she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back. As quickly as the moment came, it was gone again. He pulled back, cleared his throat and put on a smile.
"Do you want a glass of wine?"
Salvadora knew how emotionally stunted Theo could be regarding parental figures, so she simply smiled and nodded, "That would be lovely, thank you."
Theo got her a drink, then perched on the edge of the sofa, with his hand resting on Draco's shoulder. The other man smiled up at him, "You doing okay?"
Theo smiled genuinely and nodded, "Yeah, I think I am."
Draco nodded and patted Theo's leg, "Then make the announcement."
Theo got to his feet and whistled loudly to get the attention of the room, "Some of you know everything that happened last night, and some of you know nothing. We will explain it all in time, but for now, there are a few things that you need to know."
Draco nodded and got to his feet, "In the coming days, you will probably hear about a pulse of magic that was seen when the ministry was destroyed. Whatever it was, it restored your Pops magical core, which means that his lifespan has been restored, and you are all going to have him around for a long time yet."
There was a stunned silence and a slightly tearful, "Really?" from Lacey.
Draco smiled a little tearfully and grabbed Theo's hand, "Really. He'll outlive all of us, mark my words."
Theo smiled at his children and said, "For the longest time, I thought I would be lucky to see my grandchildren grow up, and on the same night that my first one was born, I realised I was going to be around to see them grow into adults, not just to see them board the Hogwarts Express."
Lacey's eyes widened, "Victoire had the baby?"
Almina smiled broadly and nodded, "Sorry, Lace. They beat you to the post there."
Lacey laughed and shook her head, "It's not a competition, but that's great. Are they all doing okay?"
"They are doing just fine," Sadie said with a warm smile.
"Charlie, Victoire and Phoenix," Hermione agreed softly.
"Phoenix," Lacey echoed, "What a beautiful name."
Draco smiled at the man by his side and spoke softly, "Phoenix Theodore Nott."
Theo beamed proudly and a little tearfully. Salvadora smiled at that and said, "What an honour."
Theo nodded and squeezed Draco's hand. The blonde man shot him a warm look and said, "He cried, but I think we can let him get away with that."
"You cried when we gave Charlie the middle name 'Draco' so you can just shut up," Theo retorted.
Salvadora chuckled, "His first grandchild was born and named for him. I think we can give Theo a free pass."
Lacey smiled and kissed Theo on the cheek, "You might end up with a whole brood of grandchildren named after you."
Theo chuckled and said, "No, we spoke about this – no more Theodore Notts, I'm the ninth. We don't need a tenth."
Lacey shot him an amused look, "My baby won't be a Nott, it will be a Sheppard, and I will name it whatever I choose. You don't make my decisions for me."
Theo raised his hands but smiled fondly at her, "No, I never have," he agreed proudly.
Salvadora smiled, and Narcissa mused quietly, "Theo stepped up and became the father that she needed."
"He really did," Salvadora agreed, "And she is not the only one who feels blessed by that."
Narcissa smiled warmly at her friend, then a silvery Patronus of some kind flew into the room. Before it could speak, Draco raised his wand and re-directed it to his secretary.
Theo raised an eyebrow at Draco and leant against the drinks cabinet, "Uh, I don't think you can do that."
"Yes, I can," Draco remarked calmly.
Hermione got to her feet and gave him a pointed look, "Don't you have a country to run?"
Draco smiled at her, "Tonight is for family, the country can wait."
Hermione fought a smile and said, "I don't think it works like that."
Draco ducked his head to kiss her and whispered against her lips, "I run the country, so yes, it does."
Hermione smiled against his lips then kissed him chastely. Their whole family were watching, so it wasn't a long kiss by any stretch of the imagination. Hermione pulled back from the kiss and buried her head in Draco's shoulder because she was expecting the kids to give them a mouthful of abuse, but none of them did. Even Ella smiled instead of making a face at her parents being 'lovey dovey' as she put it.
Sadie raised her glass and smiled at Hermione, "Happy Birthday."
Everyone echoed her sentiment with, "Happy Birthday, Mum!" or, "Happy Birthday, Hermione."
Theo leant down and kissed Hermione briefly, "Happy Birthday, Princess."
That one meant more than the others, given that it was thanks to Theo that she was even here right now. Hermione smiled at him and replied softly, "Thanks, Theo."
Theo smiled and drew himself up to full height, "And to Phoenix!"
"To Phoenix Theodore Nott!"
The Burrow
The afternoon at the Burrow turned into an evening. Neville spent at least an hour talking to Tom over beers. They were comparing magical and non-magical horticulture techniques, and both seemed to enjoy that topic immensely.
Daphne was drinking wine and gossiping with Fleur in French. Lilly occasionally put her opinion in, but she split her time between that and beating the Weasley brothers at darts.
Ginny was playing darts too and drinking her brothers under the table like she always had done. The kids were happy enough because they had more than enough people to mock up Quidditch teams with their Weasley cousins, so they had spent the majority of the afternoon in the orchard with a couple of old snitches that Alastor always carried on him.
Harry and Daphne hadn't honestly expected to stay this late, but it really was a celebration, and they were enjoying themselves. As it began to get cooler, Neville set up a large fire in the middle of the yard, and they were all sitting around it, warming their hands and sipping their drinks.
When the fire sparked, and a few hot embers landed close to the chicken coup, Molly sighed and glanced around for her wand.
"It's on the table, Mum," Ron said, motioning to the table where the buffet had been laid out.
Amber was sitting on the edge of the table talking to Charlie about how Quidditch would work now that they didn't have to be so secretive with the Muggles.
"Amber, dear, can you pass my wand?"
Amber glanced around and saw it, "Oh, sure, Molly."
She picked the wand up and swished it through the air as she moved to throw it to Molly. But, as she did so, sparks flew out of it, and Molly had to duck.
Astoria, who was sitting by the fire, looked at Amber in disbelief, "Did you do that?"
Amber looked at the wand in her hand, "Uh…I…I think so, but I'm a squib, so I don't know how."
She dropped the wand into Molly's hands very carefully, and Molly sprayed some water over the embers by the chicken coup.
Charlie frowned and held out his wand to Amber, "Try mine."
Amber took it gingerly, but nothing happened.
"Try a spell," Charlie urged.
Amber shot him an amused look, "Charlie, don't be stupid. I'm a squib."
"And your wand wouldn't work for her anyway," Astoria said. She got to her feet and held out her wand, "It's too unyielding."
Amber gave Charlie his wand back and cocked her head at Astoria, "Have you lost your mind?"
"Just take it and try a simple spell," Astoria said calmly.
"Like what?" Amber asked.
"Wingardium Leviosa, any first-year can do that one," Astoria answered.
By this point, the others were all coming over to see what all the fuss was about.
"Unless they're Ron," Harry joked.
"Oi!" Ron objected, "At least I didn't blow my feather up like Seamus did."
"That's true," Harry admitted. He looked at Amber curiously.
Charlie shoved his hand into the chicken coup and grabbed out a feather that had fallen off one of the hens. He placed it on the table and nudged his head towards it, "Try it – swish and flick, and the incantation."
Amber shook her head in disbelief, "This is stupid but fine."
With a swish and a flick, she said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather lifted off the table instantly and hovered in mid-air. A collective gasp went around the garden, followed by a short, stunned silence.
George gasped dramatically and placed his hand on his chest, "It's a Christmas miracle! Tiny Tim can walk!"
Molly slapped him around the head with a tea towel, "George, will you ever grow up?"
"Never!"
"How are you doing that?" Ginny asked in disbelief.
The only fourwho did understand all shared a look. Then Lilly said it – "Sadie said it last night, didn't she? All that magic had to go somewhere."
Molly got to her feet and planted her hands on her hips, "Honestly! Why is it, whenever something strange happens, it is always you four?"
Harry bit his lip in amusement, "Funnily enough, McGonagall said something like that to me once."
Molly narrowed her eyes at him, "Harry James Potter, you know something, and if you don't want to be slapped around the arse with a tea towel, you will tell me!"
Daphne grinned and muttered to Fleur, "There's still something highly amusing about seeing Harry Potter getting taken down a peg by his adoptive mother."
"Some things never change," Fleur agreed with a chuckle.
Luckily, Lilly waded in to save Harry, "Okay, so obviously, last night, we moved the ministry out of London because we could tell it was going to collapse, and we didn't want it to, you know, destroy London. Anyway, after we did that, the ministry was destroyed, and this burst of blue light came out of it when it was."
"Woah," George remarked, "There is a lot to unpack in that sentence."
"You moved the ministry?" Charlie added.
Lilly nodded, "After we inverted it, yes."
"How the hell did you do that?" Ron added in disbelief.
Lilly shrugged, "Daphne and I inverted a swimming pool in Greece once. It wasn't really that different."
"That could only come out of your mouth," Bill said with an amused smile, "I assume you and Daphne did the intellectual work and those two just boosted your magic?"
"You would be assuming correctly, yes," Daphne agreed as she wandered over to the main group, "But what Lilly is referring to is a pulse of magic. When the ministry was destroyed, this pulse of magic blew out in every direction, and Sadie said the magic had to go somewhere. She and Theo both had depleted magical cores, and they were fully restored last night."
Astoria frowned and cast a charm on Amber, "You have a magical signature now!"
"What?" Amber asked in disbelief, "Seriously?"
Astoria nodded and looked up to catch her eye, "Yes, really."
Harry's eyes widened, "Does that mean Al…."
"Huh?" A voice asked.
Harry spun around. Alastor had just led the rest of the cousins into the garden, he was covered in mud, and his broom was slung over his shoulder.
"Lilly, can you…" Harry trailed off, but Lilly nodded.
She cast a spell over him and looked at Harry, "His magical core is perfectly normal and stable."
"What?" Alastor frowned, "But…my magic has always been rubbish."
Harry looked from Alastor to Lilly in amazement, "Well, it isn't, not anymore."
"That pulse of magic," Lilly said in disbelief, "It cured Squibs."
"Across the whole world?" Ron asked in surprise.
Daphne shook her head, and at the same time that she spoke, Bill did too.
"No, that's not possible."
"No, can't have been."
Daphne motioned at Bill to explain further, so he did, "There are strong magical wards around the British isles. The pulse of magic would have bounced off when it hit them, but it definitely could have spread over the whole of the British Isles."
"So…what you two are saying is that there are now no Squibs in Britain?" Charlie asked.
"It does sound like that," Arthur said. He looked over at the others, "But I suppose all we can do is wait for people to come forward. There is no exhaustive list of Squibs, and if there were, it would have been in the ministry which now doesn't exist."
"Thank Merlin I kept a copy of the DMLE files in my secret cave, like Sumner did," Harry said with a relieved breath.
"Oh my god, Harry," Lilly muttered, "Never tell Draco that."
"Yes, son, that is incredibly illegal," Arthur added, although he was holding back a smile.
"You're never gonna change, are you, Harry?" Ron asked with a fond smile.
"Never," Harry grinned.
- TBC -
