Warning: Character Deaths.

Resolutions

By Neurotica

Forty-Nine

The next week was undoubtedly the worst Sirius had ever endured, and that included the weeks Remus had gone missing in France. When Remus was missing, at least Sirius could only imagine the terrible state his friend might have been in. He could always tell himself he was making the situation worse than it was. He could always hope he was wrong. Now being allowed to see his wife everyday, though, Sirius had no choice but to face the reality of his situation. He was forced to watch helplessly as Naomi's vitals dropped to dangerous levels and stand aside as Healers struggled to do everything they could to keep her stable while they searched for a cure to the curse that was threatening her life and the life of their unborn child.

Ted had told Sirius that they only had a narrow window of time to find the counter-curse before Naomi and the child would be at critical risk; anything beyond that, and they were likely to lose the both of them. As they reached the final day of that window, Sirius was once again banned from the room to allow the Healers to work.

Sirius was left to pace up and down the hall in his wheelchair, biting his nails, cracking his knuckles, and just fidgeting nervously, doing every other annoying thing fathers and husbands did when they were terrified. He'd finally told Emmeline what was going on the night before, mostly because he'd been so close to tears the entire day that Emmeline had finally demanded it from him. Upon hearing the news, her face had visibly paled, but she didn't breakdown as he thought she might. Instead, she'd taken him up in a tight hug, pressing his face against her shoulder and whispering soothing encouragements to him. He wasn't sure how long they'd stayed like that, or which one of them had cried first. After, she'd told him to go home and visit his daughter, but Sirius couldn't bring himself to even see Mira at the moment. He knew it would only make him think of Naomi and the younger sibling Mira may never meet, and he couldn't bear to deal with those thoughts yet. So he stayed, as if on guard, outside his wife's room, waiting, simply because there was nothing he could do.

Early that morning, Ted came into the main ward where Sirius was visiting Remus and Emmeline and asked the Auror for a word in private. Remus and Emmeline tried to smile at him, but both failed miserably. The Healer led Sirius down a few doors into an office. Ted sat in a chair and Sirius parked his across from the Healer's. "I've got a bit of good news," Ted said after a few moments.

Sirius snorted to himself. "What kind of good news?" he asked, not really expecting anything that could possibly cheer him up.

"Good news about your wife and the curse she was hit with." Sirius sat up straighter. "We think we've found the counter-curse, and I will be performing it today."

"Today? When today?" Sirius asked a little eagerly. He hadn't slept for days and couldn't muster up the proper amount of energy.

Ted smiled slightly. "The moment you and I finish this conversation," he said. "Listen, Sirius, this counter-curse is very complicated, and it will take hours, if not all day. And I can't promise you it will work."

"How much of a chance is there that it will work?"

The Healer sighed. "Well, I would personally give it about an eighty-percent shot. That's coming from years of experience with curses like this—granted, we've never had one exactly like this... Sirius, I will do everything I can to ensure your wife and child live. All right?"

Sirius nodded, staring at the floor. "I know, Ted."

Ted shook Sirius' hand before standing. He seemed to want to say something, but changed his mind. "I'll let you know when I've finished," he finally said before leaving the room.

So I just have to trust that he's right... Sirius thought miserably. God, I hope he's right...

"Careful, Padfoot, you wouldn't want to wear a hole in the floor..."

It was much later in the day, and Sirius turned and found Remus in a chair similar to his own. He'd told Remus and Emmeline about Ted's news, and both had been happier than Sirius had seen them in days. Emmeline did her best to ensure Sirius that Ted knew what he was doing, and that Naomi and the baby would be just fine. Though Sirius wanted nothing more to believe her, he wasn't getting up his hopes just yet.

"That's not going to be a new part of your daily attire, is it?" Sirius asked flatly, nodding to his friend's chair.

Remus smiled a little. "No. Emmeline was just a little paranoid about me falling or something, so she coerced me into this thing."

Sirius nodded and went back to pacing the hall with his chair.

"Any news?"

"No."

Remus didn't say anything more, for which Sirius was grateful; he thought if he was forced to speak any more, he'd be sick.

Hours went by and still no news. Well, no news is good news, right? Sirius asked himself several times. It didn't make him feel any better. He and Remus sat side-by-side in silence, glancing at their watches every few minutes, wondering why it seemed time was going backwards. Every so often, Sirius would glance at the room just down the hall—Harry's room—and wondered how his boy was doing. Remus seemed to be having the same thoughts.

"They'll let us see him when they're certain he'll be all right," Remus said quietly.

Sirius nodded, but kept his eyes on the door. Not half an hour later, a team of Healers exited the room and started down the opposite hall. Sirius thought fast—he took his wand out of his pocket and stealthily conjured a shoe to stop the door from closing. He knew from experience that the door locked automatically when it closed.

"What're you doing?" Remus asked warily.

"Going to see Harry," Sirius replied, rolling over to the doorframe. He didn't enter right away, knowing full well that there were detection spells around the door to keep people out. He put his hands on the door and concentrated for a moment, trying to detect the spells that had been used. Finally, he grinned and looked back at Remus. "Amateurs..." he snorted.

"What is it?"

"The most basic detection spell in the wizarding world," Sirius said. "Basically, the best use I could ever come up with for it would be for little kids to keep their siblings out of their room. It's useless in a place like this... It's so easily fooled. It didn't even detect the shoe." Sirius picked up said shoe and vanished it.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Well, what're you waiting for?" he asked.

Sirius grinned widely and used a series of incantations on the doorframe. Moments later, he nodded in satisfaction. "Mister Moony, we have access to our boy."

The werewolf shook his head, smiling, as he followed his best friend through the door. "And we always thought you were stupid..."

"I resent that remark," Sirius muttered quietly, peering around the wall in case a Healer had remained behind. He spotted Harry in his bed, all sorts of colorful tubes coming out of different parts of his body. The magical tubes were just an illusion; they continually monitored Harry's body for any change.

"Wow," Remus said quietly, approaching the bed. "He must be really bad off, if they're using all those... When have we ever seen him like this?"

"Never," Sirius said dryly, reaching out of gently touch Harry's hand. He sighed. "He's all cold and clammy."

Remus nodded, looking at the rest of Harry's body. His eyes stopped at the boy's face. Sirius saw the other wizard's brow furrow. "Sirius..." Remus said slowly.

"Yeah?"

"Look at his forehead..."

Sirius did, and at first he couldn't figure out what Remus was talking about. Everything seemed normal—his hair was hanging in his eyes, he still had everything that belonged on his face, and his forehead was... "No bloody way..." Sirius whispered, pushing himself up in his chair for a better look. "Where's his scar?"

Remus shook his head in confusion. "Don't know... Didn't Ted say he was bleeding from it when he was brought in?"

"Uh huh," Sirius said weakly. "Moony, the damn thing is gone... No trace of it!"

"I know, mate." Remus seemed a little uneasy. "He looks exactly like James now..."

"I think I want to leave for now," Sirius said after a few minutes, feeling just as uneasy as his friend looked. "I want to go see Naomi."

Remus nodded. "All right. We'll be back, Harry, hang in there..." he whispered to the boy before following Sirius out of the room.

They'd left just in time; Healers returned a few minutes later, glancing over at the two wizards suspiciously. Neither could muster up the energy to wave back cheerily. Sirius was now even more confused than ever. What had happened to Harry's scar? Had the Healers charmed it away? Had something happened during the battle with Voldemort that made it disappear on its own?

He started to recall something he'd seen during the battle between Harry and Voldemort. The images were blurry and undefined, but the one thing that was clear was a very bright light surrounding his godson. He couldn't recall what the light had done or why it seemed so important, though.

"Merlin, my head hurts," Sirius groaned, his face dropping into his hands.

He felt Remus' hand on his shoulder. "Mine too," he said quietly.

Neither wizard spoke for the rest of the afternoon. Neither wizard was sure he could speak. They didn't know what to make of what they'd seen in Harry's room, and the only one who possibly could was busy at the Ministry. Dumbledore had visited the hospital earlier in the day to apologize for not being there more often, but said he'd been dealing with the aftermath since the war's end. The two wizards had cornered the Headmaster in their wheelchairs and, ignoring Dumbledore's slight amusement at the situation, told them about what they'd seen—and hadn't seen—when they'd snuck in to see Harry.

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I see," he said quietly. "Unfortunately, I cannot explain how this happened. The two of you must understand that the connection between Harry and Voldemort is very unique. No book that I have read has anything of this sort within its pages. I will, however, do what I can to discover the cause. This may be a situation that cannot be explained until Harry has woken. I will contact you if I have any information."

Since Dumbledore wasn't any real help, Sirius had wanted to ask the Healers, but Remus told him to wait. Technically, no matter that the two wizards were Harry's guardians, visitation to the room was strictly forbidden. Remus didn't want to find himself or his best friend in a position where they were banned from the hospital altogether.

Remus glanced over at Sirius. The Auror hadn't stopped staring at his watch for nearly two hours. It was a wonder he hadn't fallen asleep yet. Stress, worry, and fear must have been keeping him awake.

Finally, late into the night, Ted exited the room looking exhausted. Remus couldn't tell if he was relieved that the counter-curse worked or scared of Sirius' reaction if it hadn't. The Healer did, however, raise an amused eyebrow at the two wizards who were rolling quickly towards him. He looked at Remus. "You're not supposed to be out of bed," he said bemusedly.

Remus shrugged. "Rules are meant to be broken, especially in times like these," he replied.

Ted nodded. "That they are." He turned to Sirius. "Perhaps we should all go inside..."

Remus had to bite his cheeks to keep from smiling widely. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but if Ted was allowing them inside Naomi's room, she had to be all right. There was no way a Healer, least of all Ted Tonks, would invite a woman's husband and best friend in if she'd died... Or that's what he kept telling himself.

A sigh of relief escaped Sirius' throat when he set eyes on his wife. She was breathing normally and much of her color had returned. "It worked, then," he said, smiling widely at Ted.

The Healer smiled back. "It did," he said quietly.

"Ted, I could kiss you..." Sirius replied.

"Er, perhaps you should save that for your wife, eh?" Ted said, backing away at the look Sirius was giving him. "Don't forget, I'm married, and that cousin of yours could still kick your butt."

Sirius laughed and placed a hand on Naomi's flat belly. "And the baby?"

"As far as I can tell, the baby is fine," Ted said, approaching the bed. "I didn't want to do too much today; Naomi has been through quite enough already. But in a few days, I will do a check to see how it's fairing."

"Will Naomi wake soon?" Remus asked.

"I hope so. As I said, I'm fairly certain she will recover quite nicely—she just seems to be asleep at the moment, but we can't really know until I can do a full examination." Ted looked at his watch. "Well, it's long past time for my dinner. I'll leave the two of you alone with Naomi for a bit—don't stay too long, though; she does need rest."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Ted, the woman is asleep."

"I am well aware of that, but she's not comatose anymore, and any energy she may direct towards trying to wake herself up when she hears you two goons talking will be taking away from her recovery."

"Point taken," Sirius replied. "We won't stay long. Marauder's honor."

It was Ted's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Somehow that doesn't quite reassure me..." Regardless, he left the room.

Remus watched Sirius with a small smile as the other wizard held his wife's hand and alternately looked from her face to her belly. After about ten minutes of this, he cleared his throat to get Sirius' attention. "I know this may be a bad time," he said quietly, "but we should go. I'm sure Ted will let you come back in the morning to see her."

Reluctantly, Sirius nodded. "All right," he said, pulling himself off his chair a bit to kiss Naomi's cheek. "I love you. Get better soon; I don't know how much longer I can go without you. Mira and I miss you more than you know, and we can't wait to meet the new baby." He kissed her again, this time on the lips, before turning to Remus, wiping at his eyes. "Shall we?"

The werewolf nodded, standing momentarily to squeeze Naomi's shoulder and kiss her other cheek. "Take care, love," he said quietly, following Sirius out of the room.

They passed Harry's room once again, and both wizards slowed down as they looked over, each hoping that in the last few hours they'd gained x-ray powers that would allow them to see through doors. It didn't seem to have happened yet. Sirius sighed and didn't say anything, though Remus had a feeling—

His thoughts were abruptly cut short as they approached their room. There was a loud, high-pitched ringing coming from the inside. Eyes widened, both wizards sped up and entered the room. Emmeline and Molly were standing against the wall, staring down the ward. Molly was crying while Emmeline had arms around her tightly in an attempt to both comfort and restrain the other woman, it seemed. The wizards followed the witches' line of sight, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Remus' brow furrowed as his wife finally noticed they'd come in the room. "What...?" he asked, clueless.

Emmeline bit her lip. "Percy," she said quietly. "His alarms just started going off. Healers came in and put privacy spells around the bed. We don't know what's happened to him."

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Ever since Percy's release, Remus' feelings towards the young wizard had been very mixed. On the one hand, Remus had seen Percy's many attempts to get back into the good graces of his family and friends. He'd fought just as hard as anyone else at Voldemort's castle and there was no faking that. But on the other hand, he had tried to kill Harry, whether he was under someone else's command or not.

Remus glanced over at Sirius and found his best friend staring at the spot they all knew Percy's bed to be, probably having the same internal debate. Remus had been quite proud of Sirius on that front. He knew it was due to the Auror's great respect for Molly that had changed him from wanting to murder the young man on sight to participating in small exchanges of pleasant conversation with Percy.

It was a long, grueling hour before a Healer stepped out of the privacy spell. Remus couldn't quite make out the look on the man's face, but he carefully kept his eyes only on Molly as he approached the group. "Mrs. Weasley?" he said quietly to the red-haired witch. Molly nodded. "Could you come with me, please?"

Remus wished he'd been able to look away from Molly's face as she seemed to realize the meaning of this. She didn't sob or wail, but everyone around her could see her heart breaking. She silently followed the Healer out of the room. Nobody said anything. They continued to look down the ward. Other Healers and medi-witches were beginning to come out of the privacy spell. When the spell was taken down, Percy's bed was empty.

"Is he...?" Sirius tried to say quietly.

Remus swallowed a lump in his throat. "I think so," he said hoarsely. He turned to his wife. "What happened?"

Emmeline looked close to tears. "I don't know," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "Molly and I were just sitting here talking, just joking around, and out of nowhere the alarms went off... I thought it was Ron at first, but..." She seemed unable to say anymore.

Molly didn't return that evening. None of them knew what really happened with Percy—whether he'd lived or died—though they had their assumptions. Remus decided they needed to know for sure and went to find Ted.

"He had some pretty severe infections," the Healer explained quietly. "We thought we had it under control—it wasn't showing any signs of spreading, but it seems his immune system just wasn't up to it, despite all our antibiotic potions. I assure you, we did everything we could have done to save him, Remus."

The werewolf nodded. "And Molly? Do you know where she's gone?"

"A mediwitch escorted her back to your home. We gave her a mild sleeping potion; Andy's taking care of her for now."

Again, Remus nodded. "I'll let the others know," he said. "Thank you..."

Ted attempted to smile, failing miserably. "Unfortunately, I have a lot to do..."

The two wizards parted, and Remus returned to the ward. He didn't have to say anything to Sirius or Emmeline for them to know the answers to their questions. Sirius let his head hit the wall behind him heavily and Emmeline looked away. Remus could see her wiping at her eyes.

A few days after losing Percy, life seemed to be on the way to improvement. Naomi had finally healed enough to be moved in with her friends and loved ones, much to the relief of her husband. She remained awake throughout the days, but had trouble speaking—Ted attributed this to the side effects of the curses she'd been hit with, but assured Sirius it would pass with time. When she was able to speak, she constantly asked about Mira. Finally, Sirius broke down and brought the little girl in to see her mother—he'd been hesitant before due to Naomi being rather out of it. Ted had explained the effects of the curse that shut down the brain. Again, he promised an eventual full recovery for Naomi, but he didn't know how long it would take. The effects were rather minor—every so often, she might forget where she was or who she was with; once or twice she looked at Sirius and Remus like she didn't recognize them. All the symptoms she had passed moments after they appeared and were starting to fade entirely. Sirius wondered if this had to do with Mira being in sight.

Naomi wasn't the only patient to improve. Ginny and Charlie had both recovered almost fully as well within hours of one another. Ginny had been hit with the curse that essentially had the same effect as a Dementor's Kiss. Nobody seemed able to explain how she'd recovered—Ted had a feeling that whoever had cast the curse hadn't been powerful or competent enough. Regardless, Ginny had a soul and was able to talk to her friends and family as normally as she always had. There were moments when she would stare off into space with a blank look in her eyes, but she usually snapped out of it rather quickly.

Charlie's injuries had seemed basic at first. Healers were fairly certain he had a severe concussion that had caused him to remain unconscious. Upon further examination though, they realized it was incredible he had lived at all. Unfortunately for him, he'd lost most use in his left arm because of his head injury, and he would require a cane to get around, most likely for the rest of his life.

Hermione and Bill were the next to recover. The young witch's injuries were mostly attributed to the clumsy Imperius Curse she'd been under very briefly. For days after she woke, she seemed nervous and jumpy anytime anybody spoke to her, though she was very slowly getting over that. Her memory from the battle was coming back, and when she realized she'd attacked Remus, she seemed very reluctant to speak to him. He found himself a bit amused by this, and finally cornered her one afternoon while Ginny rested. He told her he didn't blame her for the attack, she had no control over her actions, and it was a complete non-issue to him. Hermione maintained that she should have been able to fight it—she'd studied the Imperius Curse thoroughly, and thought she'd had the technique to keep herself from being controlled down.

Remus couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing at this. "Hermione, it's nothing to do with how much you've read," he told the girl when he'd calmed. "You're very intelligent, perhaps the smartest witch of your age, but that doesn't make you impervious to attacks like this. Even if you'd been able to throw it off in the past, there is no guarantee you would have been able in that situation. I don't know that I could throw it off—in fact, there are only a handful of people that I know could. Don't feel bad."

Hermione finally accepted this and her relationship with Remus went back to normal. She spent a lot of her free time picking his brain about things she was reading and asking for help in studying for N.E.W.T.s. Remus gladly sat by her bedside, books in his lap, and questioned her thoroughly.

Bill had been exhausted in every sense of the word. His magic had been drained from the battle, his mind and body completely wiped out. The day he'd recovered, Healers had sighed in relief. They'd feared that if he hadn't woken when he had, he never would. After only two days of observation, Bill was released and able to go home to his wife.

The mystery of Ron's seizures was finally being solved. The theory was that he was hit with a very strong curse that made it seem like jolts of electricity were being sent through the victim's body. Healers were finally able to stabilize Ron's condition, and the seizures had become less and less frequent.

Fred and George, both of whom had only sustained cuts and bruises, and had been forced into hospital beds for a few days, were now doing everything they could to help Dumbledore in the aftermath of the battle. When they did visit their siblings and friends, they joked that Ron was faking it for attention, and when their youngest brother woke during one visit, everyone in the room suddenly found it hilarious, much to Ron's confusion.

By early May, only Harry remained hospitalized. The Healers finally relented in their no visitors policy and allowed Sirius and Remus to visit the boy briefly during the day. Both wizards had been told that now that they'd been released, they couldn't remain at the hospital. Sirius hadn't taken it very well, and while he slept at the cottage, he returned first thing in the morning every day and waited until Healers let him in the room. Remus was usually right beside him.

Remus had finally managed to contact Dumbledore, but the Headmaster didn't have much to say on the subject of Harry. He assured Remus that he still did not know what happened with the boy and kept his opinion that it was a miracle Harry had survived at all. Between the times he spent assisting the Ministry, he did what he could to research Harry's condition. Unfortunately, there was no case like Harry's, and therefore, no information on it. Remus had accepted this, though he really hadn't wanted to—Dumbledore was supposed to know everything—and had waited along with Sirius for the moment their boy woke.

Nobody will know anything until Harry wakes, Remus thought one day while visiting the boy. But no one knows when that will be. What if it's too late? What if, when he wakes, he can't tell us what happened to him? What if he ends up on the fourth floor where Frank and Alice spent fourteen years? What will we do then?

One afternoon back at the cottage, while Remus was spending some much needed time with his sons and Sirius was staring at Naomi with a dopey look on his face—something he'd been doing almost constantly since she'd awoken—the fireplace in the cottage erupted in green flames. Mira, who was now running around the house whenever she had the chance, rushed towards the fireplace and squealed loudly when Ted's face appeared. Remus quickly pulled the small girl away from the flames and sat her in his lap.

"Teddy!" Sirius greeted jovially. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Ted was grinning widely, looking happier than anyone had seen him in months. "Harry's just woken," he said. Mouths all around dropped open and eyes widened. Sirius and Remus had been at the hospital earlier in the day, and Healers had told them then that nothing had changed with Harry. "He's asking for the two of you," Ted went on to Sirius and Remus.

Neither wizard wasted any time. Remus passed Mira to Emmeline and slipped on his shoes, and Sirius scooted into his wheelchair before Ted had even finished speaking. When they once again arrived at St. Mungo's, they practically flew through the hallways to Harry's room. The young wizard was sitting up in his bed, arguing in a hoarse voice with a mediwitch as she held a goblet of steaming potion in one hand with a disapproving look.

Remus laughed in relief, drawing Harry's attention. Harry smiled widely at his guardians as they approached the bed. "Come on, Harry," Sirius said, his eyes oddly glazed over, "be good for the nice woman and take your potions."

Harry made a face at the goblet, but finally took it and swallowed it all at once. He gagged and coughed afterwards. "Disgusting," he groaned.

The witch rolled her eyes, thanked Sirius, and left the room.

"How're you feeling?" Remus asked quietly.

Harry shrugged. "Fine," he responded. "I don't feel hurt or anything... Actually, I feel better than I ever have."

"Maybe that's because of the month and a half long nap you just woke up from," Sirius said jokingly. His amusement faded as he looked over his godson. "You know, we thought for a while we were going to lose you..."

"You don't know how great it is to see you awake," Remus agreed. "Even the Healers were starting to lose faith."

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his bed. "Well, like I said, I'm fine," he muttered, staring at the sheets.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "It's good to hear how thrilled you are to be alive, mate," he said dryly. "Something you want to tell us?"

Harry barely shook his head. His guardians exchanged a disbelieving look. "Okay..." Remus said slowly. "Can you at least tell us what happened with Voldemort?"

"Do I have to tell you right now?" Harry asked pleadingly. "Can't it wait for a bit? I mean, I just woke up..."

Much as curiosity was pounding at Sirius' mind, he could see his godson really didn't want to talk about it. "We don't have to discuss it right now," he said to Harry. "When you're ready, we're here to listen."

"Thanks," Harry said with a small smile. "How's everyone else?"

Remus and Sirius took turns explaining everything that had happened over the last few months, and while Harry was very relieved to hear his family and friends were all right, he was quite obviously struggling not to drift off. Remus finally decided Harry needed rest and forced Sirius to leave the room when Harry fell asleep.

"He's awake now," the werewolf said to his sulking friend, "it'll only be a matter of time before he can come home."

Though Harry would have to remain in hospital for a few more weeks to be certain there were no ill effects from anything he'd gone through, his friends were finally permitted to visit him. Hermione arrived every day with a bag full of books she explained was for last minute N.E.W.T. studying. The Ministry would be administering the exams at the end of June to any student who felt they were prepared enough. So far, only Hermione and a few other seventh years had volunteered—Ron was signed up by his mother, much to his annoyance.

"What about Harry?" he kept asking.

Harry only grinned and took another chocolate frog from Ginny. "Not my fault I'm stuck in this place," he said in a tone of feigned sorrow. "If I could, I'd more than happy to join you for the exams."

"Well, that's a good thing," said a voice from the room door. Harry and his friends looked over to find Remus and Sirius had come in. Remus went on, "because we've signed you up." Harry's jaw dropped. "Ted says you will be released long before the exams begin, so you'll even have time to freshen up on your studies."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot," he muttered.

"Anything for your education," Sirius said, clapping his godson on the shoulder. "How're you feeling?"

"Same as every other time you've asked: just fine," Harry replied, glaring at Ron's sniggers. "When can I go home?"

"Soon," Remus assured him with a smile. "Not to get anyone's hopes up, but so long as Harry's tests come back all right this evening, rumor has it that he'll be released tomorrow morning."

The room cheered. A mediwitch popped her head in to see what all the noise was, and everyone immediately looked innocently at her, pretending not to know what yelling she was talking about. Harry's guardians remained for a few hours, assisting the younger group in the consumption of all the sweets that had been delivered to Harry. Hermione announced she, Ron, and Ginny had to return to the Burrow—Molly would be expecting them for dinner soon. Once they'd said various goodbyes and left, Sirius and Remus took their seats.

Sirius and Remus watched Harry as his formerly good mood seemed to fade. "Are you tired, Harry?" Remus asked. "Would you like us to leave so you can rest?"

Harry shook his head, staring at his sheet. "No," he muttered. "I want you to stay..."

The two older wizards glanced at each other with raised eyebrows; that was the tone Harry had used when he was a five-year-old who'd just had a very bad dream. "Something on your mind?" Sirius asked.

The boy nodded.

Sirius waited for him to say something. "Well, what is it?" he prodded gently.

Harry continued to stare silently at his hands.

Remus sighed. "Harry, if you need to tell us something, just do it. We won't judge you. You know that."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said very quietly. He sighed heavily, not looking at either wizard. "I think I'm ready to tell you what happened with Voldemort..." Sitting up straighter in their chairs, Sirius and Remus listened.

"I used the dagger Dumbledore and I got from my parents' house—the Horcrux. I... stabbed him, and twisted it as hard as I could... Everything I've ever thought about Voldemort came flying back—I hated him for what he did to my family and my friends. I needed him to pay for what he's done. And he did..."

Harry finally looked up at his guardians, the two people in the world who would do anything for him no matter the circumstances. Whatever he was afraid of seeing in their eyes, it wasn't there—there was no sign of disgust or hatred or anything other than the unconditional love that had always been there.

"Harry," Sirius said quietly, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. If there had been any way that I could have taken your place..."

Harry waved him off. "I'm not even all that concerned with it, to be honest. I mean, I knew I had to do it when I was nine—it's not like it came as a big surprise or anything... Actually, what I really wanted to tell you was what happened after..."

"And what was that?" Remus asked curiously.

The boy shook his head a little, getting his thoughts in order. "Really, I don't know how it happened—well, I sort of do, but... Look, this is going to sound very weird—"

"Weirder than anything I've ever said?" Sirius asked with a small grin.

Harry shrugged. "Probably..." He sighed and laid his head back on his pillow. "I saw my parents," he said. "I passed out after I battled Voldemort—the pain was too much, I think, and I couldn't handle it. Anyway, when I woke up, my dad was there. He helped me up and took me to a cottage—it looked exactly like the pictures you two have shown me. It was my parents' home before they died. My mum was there and... so was Julia."

Sirius and Remus looked at him oddly. "Julia?" Sirius said quietly. "As in my Julia?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. And I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't a dream or anything. It was as real as this is."

A look was exchanged between the two older wizards that Harry had seen a few times—it was a look that told Harry somehow this wasn't the first time they heard what he was telling them. They seemed surprised, certainly, but not nearly as much as they should have.

"What did they say to you?" Sirius asked as though this was a totally normal occurrence.

Harry's brow furrowed, wondering why more questions weren't being asked, but he told them everything. The deeper connection between himself and Voldemort seemed to be a shock to his guardians, but Remus silenced Sirius' questions with an elbow to the ribs. Harry had to pause before he reached the last of what he wanted to tell them. He didn't know how they would take it. It wasn't exactly something people did everyday, taking powers from dead parents and a godmother.

"They told me they were the reason I'd survived. It was my mum and dad—they somehow blocked whatever was happening to me from actually killing me. And after that happened, I was drawn to their world. I don't know if it was because I was so close to death or what, but I definitely wasn't anywhere near Albania... I'd asked if I could just wake up and go on my way—they said no, because my body had been through too much. So they made me an offer."

"They made you an offer...?" Remus said very slowly. Harry nodded, avoiding their eyes again. "What type of offer?"

"They said there was a way I could live and be mostly all right. But I had to give them permission to do it," Harry began. "I only agreed, because they said they didn't even like being where they were and if there was a way to help me get back to where I was, they wanted to do it." He paused. Neither Sirius nor Remus said anything while Harry took a deep breath and spoke. "They gave me their powers. I don't know how they did it, but I could feel them before I even woke up."

Sirius bit his lip, a hundred questions obviously fighting to get out. "Harry, this is going to sound strange, but what do you mean you could feel them? Are you saying James, Lily, and Julia are possessing you?"

"No," Harry said quickly, "it's definitely nothing like that. I don't know, I can't explain it... They're not, like, in my head or anything telling me what to do. They've just..." He sighed.

Remus thought. "I think I may know what you're trying to explain, but I need you to tell us a little more."

"Like what?"

"Well, when their powers were transferred to you, did you feel a difference inside your mind? Do you feel any different than before?"

"You mean do I feel like a different person?" Harry asked. Remus nodded. "Not really. I still feel the same way I always did, but I can feel my magic a lot better, and it seems stronger."

"That makes sense," Sirius said to Remus. "Especially if he's got the magic of three of the most powerful people we knew..."

Remus nodded. "And he wouldn't really have traces of their personality."

"Might make him better at Potions," Sirius mused. "Lily was a genius at it."

"Wait," Harry said, interrupting Remus' reply. "You actually believe all this?"

His guardians looked at him like he was crazy for the first time since they began the conversation. "Of course we do," Sirius said. "Why wouldn't we?"

"I-I just told you your best friends gave me their powers and I don't know what happened to them afterwards."

"It sounds like something they'd do," Remus said with a shrug. "Magic is a very interesting, complicated thing. Nobody understands it fully, not even Dumbledore. And though I've never actually read about something like this happening... But really, when it comes to you, Harry, nothing surprises us anymore."

While they celebrated with those who had recovered, some never would. Word reached their ears that a few of their comrades had been lost. Sturgis Podmore, who many believed was going to walk out of St. Mungo's, died in his sleep one night. The cause of death had yet to be discovered, but Healers thought it had to do with the infections from internal bleeding.

Sirius wasn't sure what he thought about this. For years, he and Sturgis had gotten on very well, and while he was deeply saddened to lose such a great man and friend, he still hadn't forgotten Sturgis' comments to Remus not too long ago. He finally decided to forget the comments; Sturgis had always been loyal to the Order, and to Dumbledore, and there was no real reason for Sirius to hold a grudge against the man now. Besides, it seemed Remus had gotten over it and moved on.

Aurors and some of the DMLE officers had been killed as well, some by the Killing Curse, some by more malicious means. One of Sirius' favorite hopeful Aurors, who'd just joined the squads just six months ago, had been hit with a Reductor curse—the only identifying piece of information found was his Ministry ID card beside a finger. Two DMLE officers were put under the Imperius Curse and forced to fight one another to the death. Another Auror was under Cruciatus so long that he ended up like Alice and Frank Longbottom: unable to do anything. She was currently on the fourth floor of St. Mungo's, in the spell damage ward. Chris Davies, another one of Sirius' most promising had taken a Killing Curse to the chest. He and Paul Savage, who was also hit with a Killing Curse, and was one of the best Aurors Sirius had ever met, had gone to the werewolf Underground with Sirius, Remus, and Mad-Eye.

Mundungus Fletcher had died during the battle. Remus had been very surprised by this; he'd seen Dung hit by a spell, and later the wizard was curled up unconscious against the wall, but when Remus had checked on him, he'd been breathing. Whatever curse had hit him had killed him slowly and painfully.

Dedalus Diggle, who had been released by Healers, died in his home. While investigating his death, Aurors wondered if a Death Eater still on the loose had gotten to him, but Healers said he just died of old age. They said the battle probably hadn't been too good on his heart.

Though they'd hoped to escape casualties, they'd always known deep down that is was impossible. But they knew those they'd lost would be remembered as the heroes they were.