Chapter 69: Picking Up the Pieces

"Don't you dare die on me, Draco!" Ianthé yelled as she tapped her wand at Draco's unconscious body.

Two stretchers arrived at the hospital wing. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. They still held hands even though they were both unconscious.

"Eloise, I need your help with Draco," Ianthé said as she walked briskly towards the other two stretchers.

Madam Pomfrey tried to pry the two bonded hands but Ianthé prevented her.

"They need each other…"

Madam Pomfrey tearfully nodded. She tapped her wand on the two.

"Magical exhaustion. I think we should let them rest…." She stopped on her tracks as she saw Harry's forehead.

"Dear Merlin!"

Ianthé also saw what the school nurse reacted to, "That's the most unusual thing!"

She then wiped Ginny's face covered with soot. She also wiped Harry's face and repaired his glasses.

"Ianthé, I think Draco sustained spell injuries in his eyes. They were hit directly," Eloise stated.

"Cover them with gauze and treat the other areas," Madam Pomfrey instructed.

Ron broke an arm and is now wearing a sling. Hermione comforted him and fluffed his pillow.

George Weasley was also unconscious, having sustained a concussion when he fell from his broom.

Fred helped a member of the Healing team to treat his twin.

The pink-haired Auror, Nymphadora Tonks, assisted Rufus Scrimegour to a chair. His leg was almost severed by a hex during the battle.

Two stretchers arrived bearing Mad-Eye Moody and Uncle Scipio.

"Alastor, I owe you ten Galleons," he began to pull out his money bag.

"Forget it, just buy me a drink once we get out of here!" Mad-Eye Moody cackled.

Viktor arrived at the hospital wing, his hand on his bleeding nose.

Ianthé went to him after she was done with Harry and Ginny.

"Not the nose again!" she pouted.

"I'm sure you could fix it back…"

Ianthé waved her wand, "Episkey."

The nose stopped bleeding but was still crooked.

Ianthé had her two thumbs on both sides of Viktor's nose bridge, "This might hurt a bit... You fractured your nose bridge so it needs manual manipulation…"

She moved the left side away from the center and pushed the right side to the center. After that, she Conjured a thick plaster and put it on Viktor's nose.

She gave him a small dose of Skele-Gro.

"You can remove that after two days…" Ianthé said as she smiled widely at him.

A stretcher arrived but the person in it was covered in a white blanket.

Ianthé walked towards it and slowly pulled down the cover. It was Severus Snape, her Potions professor for five year and a distant relative of her family. Tears fell from her eyes as she remembered how Snape redeemed himself as he sacrificed his life for Harry Potter.

Viktor placed his hand on her shoulder, "He's in a much better place now…"
Ianthé tearfully nodded as she hugged Viktor tightly.

"He looks like he's just sleeping…"

"Of course, he's just sleeping. He's resting."

"I know, but can he let go of my sister's hand?"

"Shhh… Ronald! They need each other, you know that!"

Harry's vision was blurry but someone gave him his glasses. He felt his other hand, still gripped tightly to Ginny's. He turned his head and saw Ginny also beginning to awaken.

"It's good you two are now awake…" Hermione smiled.

"How? What happened?" Harry asked to no one in particular.

"What happened?" Ginny also asked.

"We're not really sure, mate… Dementors were all around you, Ginny, and Voldemort. You kissed Ginny and then there's this light. Next thing we knew was you two were unconscious and holding hands. Voldemort's been Kissed…."

"He's dead?" Ginny asked.

Hermione shook her head, "He had the smallest portion of his soul taken out by the dementors he called. Not only that, Harry…"

"What else?" Harry asked.

Ron handed him a mirror, "You better see it for yourself…"

Harry looked at his reflection. He looked well rested, although there were some cuts on his cheek. Then he looked at his forehead.

"My scar…. It's gone…" he place his hand on his forehead.

Ginny smiled, "How did this happen?"

"We have no idea," Hermione said, "When the Healers got the two of you, Ianthé said that your scar was already gone."

Ginny kissed Harry's forehead, "I can't believe it's over…"

Harry smiled his first true smile for a long time, "I think I owe you a lot of the time we were apart…"

Ginny raised her eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yeah… Ginny, do you want to go out with me…. again?"

Ginny smiled at him and hugged him tightly.

"Is that a yes?" Harry asked.

"Of course, silly…"

Hermione tearfully smiled at her two friends. Ron offered her a tissue.

When Harry and Ginny broke apart, he turned to his red-headed friend.

"So, what about you two?"

"What are you talking about? Us two?" Ron asked nonchalantly, although the tone of his voice betrayed him.

Harry rolled his eyes, "There were anvil-sized signs, you know. It won't take a Seer to predict about you two…."

Hermione slapped her friend on the arm, "Harry! Shush!"

"Ron and Mione, sitting on a tree…" Fred and George chanted loudly.

Ron turned beet red and so did Hermione.

Harry stopped smiling when he saw Draco's unconscious form. He let go of Ginny's hand and stood up. He walked towards Draco's bed.

"How is he?" Harry asked Ianthé.

"He's still fighting for his life… His eyes took the burnt of the curse…"

Harry stooped and whispered something in Draco's ear.

"That was some magic out there…" Ianthé mentioned to Harry, "I also noticed you lost your scar… Witch Weekly would be so disappointed… You might lose the Bad Boy appeal you have…"

Harry smiled at her, shaking his head, "I'd rather go in that direction…. And besides, I am really not available…."

Ianthé looked towards Ginny's direction, "Love… the greatest power the world has ever known…"

She then smiled, "We cannot do without it…"

Harry gave a nod and walked back to his bed.

He looked around to see the hospital wing full of patients. Some of whom he did not recognize from the battle.

"Hermione, who are these people?"

"Oh…. The Herzes transferred those who survived St. Mungo's here in Hogwarts. Healers also came here to volunteer."

"What ever happened to Fawkes? He saved my life…" Harry said to Hermione.

"He's now on his perch in McGonagall's office… Speaking of McGonagall…"

"It's too bad you didn't see Minnie leave…" Ron said.

"Minnie?"

"Yeah, remember the Hungarian Horntail from fourth year? Charlie named her after McGonagall…He left with Nikki, and both of them were riding on the dragons…"

Harry blinked, "That was the dragon on the Hogsmead side of the castle?"

"Yeah… pretty cool too, eh?"

"Poor boy…" Molly Weasley tearfully shook her head, "He tried to redeem his family name and what did the Wizengamot do? Take everything away from him! Especially now that he's almost blind…"

Arthur Weasley placated his wife, "There there, Molly. The Healers said that they are doing everything to restore Draco's vision back…"

Alexander Herze arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place.

"The whole operation was successful according to the Healers…"

Molly gave out a sigh, "But how can he pay for all of his hospital bills? We leaned that the Minisstry froze all of his financial assets until further notice…."

"I think that the Minister is too harsh on him, Molly. I will pay for all the expenses."

"Draco, wake up," a voice whispered to his ear.

Draco's eyes are still wrapped in gauze, "Is that you, Eloise?"

A warm hand touched his, "Yes. The Healers said that the operation was a success, but your eyes still need time to heal…"

Draco nodded, "What is the decision of the Wizengamot?"

"Are you ready for what I will tell you?" the voice asked softly.

Draco nodded.

"I'm sorry, Draco, but they froze all of your Gringotts accounts and confiscated Malfoy manor…"

Draco sighed, "And here I go thinking I might be chucked to Azkaban…"

"You did the right thing, Draco, proving to them that you are not like your father…"

"Thanks for being here, Eloise."

"Ron, Harry, Hermione, look at this!" Ginny was clutching the Daily Prophet two weeks after Severus Snape's funeral.

Quidditch Star Married His Former Student!

Not known to many how all of this happened, but Viktor Krum, the Quidditch star and professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is rumored to have eloped with a former student of his! The Hogwarts graduate, according to our sources, is non other than Ianthé Morgaine Herze, who happened to have been the Head Girl for the past school year. She also happened to be one of the wizarding community's most eligible. Both Viktor Krum and Ianthé Herze are the heirs to their family's global business empires. Alexander Herze Ianthé's father, refused to give comment to the Prophet but sources said that he approved of his daughter's marriage. Viktor Krum fans, we regret to inform you that the hunk of a Quidditch player is already taken.

"I think I know now why you guys chuck that newspaper in the garbage bin…. I think I'd prefer The Quibbler from now on…" Ianthé said as she walked towards the four friends.

"It's out to the public, then?" Hermione asked.

"We both decided to leak it out. I mean, there's not point in hiding, right?" Ianthé sighed as she watch the newspaper turn into a pile of ashes in the fireplace.

"So, Harry, what are you going to do with the bird?"

Harry smiled, "I just let him be…"

"Now that I'm here, I think we can brainstorm on what actually happened out there…"

The tone of the conversation became serious.

"What happened was Snape pretended to be me, feeding Tom with some of my memories. He protected Ginny from being hit with the Killing curse. Then, when Tom found out that he wasn't me he called on the dementors. I started to feel cold. I was planning to make a Patronus after I kissed Ginny…. But that's not what happened after, isn't it?"

"All I felt was this warm feeling like I was hearing a phoenix song from inside my head," Ginny added.

"After you two kissed, Voldemort was swarmed with a lot of dementors while you two were covered in this silvery bubble…."

"Then the bubble seemed to increase in size and became so bright. When the light disappeared, you two collapsed and Voldemort returned to what he might have actually looked like. He was staring into space and not responding to anything, like an empty shell. That's when I knew that he was Kissed," Hermione explained.

"But what happened to the dementors?" Ginny asked.

"They were obliterated by the light. I think it was too much for them to handle," Ianthé stated.

"I think I get it now…. The whole love concept of Dumbledore's…" Hermione said, "Here's the thing…. Voldemort's soul was divided into eight instead of seven. Magically, seven was powerful whether good or bad. Eight, on the otherhand, meant luck according to Chinese numerologists."

"Eight?"

Hermione nodded.

"I think I also get what Hermione is trying to say. The night Voldemort tried to kill you… When he released the spell from his wand, his soul ripped into two. The piece that escaped him could not find a vessel, so it wormed its way onto your scar…"

"So my scar was a Horcrux?"

Hermione nodded, "But some kind of reverse Horcrux, because your whole body was protected by your mother's love… It made you good even if some of his talents were transferred into you."

"But…. The prophecy said he marked me as his equal…." Harry said.

"Prophecy?" Ianthé asked, "So, you really are the Chosen One?"

Harry shrugged.

"Yes, in some aspects, you two were equal. Both of you grew up with no parents, entered the wizarding world at eleven, talented magically… but the only thing you differed from him was your mother's love. The one thing evil cannot touch…" Hermione explained.

Ianthé smiled, "Hermione, we should write a book on that…"

The rest laughed along with her.