Silence

George ran out into the street. The Death Eater who had cast the fatal curse had suddenly collapsed, as had all of the other Death Eaters in Diagon Alley. Bending over his twin he checked for any signs of life. Finding none, he began screaming. "Noooo! Noooo! Noooo! Not Fred! Noooo!" The pain and anguish in his voice was enough to attract the attention of everyone on the street.

Ron, who had been dueling a Death Eater at the far end of Diagon Alley when his opponent had suddenly collapsed, spun around at the sound of George's screams and, seeing one of his brothers cradling the other in his arm, ran the length of the shopping district, hurdling the dead and dying and pushing those who dared stand in his way aside. When he reached the twins he dropped to his knees and cast a quick diagnostic charm on Fred's body. The energy went transparent then vanished. Ron's heart sank. Fred was dead and there was nothing anyone could do to change it.

Looking up into George's eyes it pained him to see the hope that was there. Shaking his head he confirmed what he knew George already knew. "He's dead," he whispered.

George dropped Fred's body and broke down, his overwhelming sobs of grief filling the street for all to hear.

Joseph and Eileen approached from opposite sides, Eileen pulling George to his feet while Joseph helped Ron up. While Eileen led a still sobbing George away Joseph led Ron over to the little girl's mother who was hugging her daughter to her chest as if she feared she would disappear if she loosened her grip. "One of my men," Joseph began, "tells me that Mr. Weasley sacrificed his life so that your daughter could live."

Ron looked up at this, his mouth falling slightly open as if to say something but nothing came out.

The little girl's mother nodded. Her daughter was still trembling with fear. "Yes, he did," she said. "He was a very brave man. I've never been in their shop before … I hope they don't close it down."

Joseph smiled softly. "His twin will need some time to grieve but I know a couple of elves who would be more than happy to keep their doors open until he is ready to return to work." Lifting the little girl's head from her mother's shoulder he looked into her eyes and said, "Fred Weasley loved you without ever having met you. I think it safe to say that you …"

"Stacey," her mother supplied.

"Stacey," Joseph continued, "are a very special little girl. I also think it safe to say that, while most of us get three angels, you have just earned yourself a fourth."

Ron was still numb from having confirmed Fred's death but something Joseph had said about the little girl earning a fourth angel, insinuating that Fred was still alive in some other dimension and that he would be watching out for this little girl, made him smile. Raising his hand as a signal for the mother to wait for him to return he turned around and walked into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Moments later he returned carrying a tiny, purple ball of fluff. Crouching down in front of the little girl, who was now standing, clinging to her mother's leg, he said, "Do you like to have fun, Stacey?" When the little girl nodded he asked, "Do you think you can take care of a pet?"

Stacey looked up at her mother who smiled and nodded her head. Looking back at Ron Stacey nodded her head.

Opening his hands Ron revealed a tiny, purple pygmy puff. "His name is Fred," Ron said. "I'm sure George will be more than happy to donate a cage to the cause but I would be careful if I was you. Fred has a wicked sense of humor and loves to play practical jokes."

At that moment Ron felt something – an indescribable sense of … Fred – that told him he had done the right thing. At the same time, however, he felt Fred grumbling about being compared to a purple pygmy puff.

After the little girl had received her gift Ron stepped back, looked down at Fred's rapidly cooling body and, raising his flattened hand to his brow, saluted a true war hero. As tears began to well up in his eyes he heard a number of doors opening up and down the street as the people ventured out to inspect the damage. Ron was tired and wanted nothing more than a good nap. He knew the horrors of war would catch up with him in a few hours, as they always did, but right now all he wanted to do was sleep.

Ron's knees were about to give way when Dobby suddenly appeared next to him. "You can't fall down, Master Weazey," the little elf squeaked. "Dobby has been sent to bring you, Master Joseph and Mistress Eileen to Hogwarts."

Ron looked down at Dobby, his mind still numb with the confusion of battle and said, "Huh?"

Joseph and Eileen ran up from wherever they had been and looked down at Dobby. "He did it, didn't he," Joseph said.

Dobby nodded.

"Is he dead?" Eileen asked breathlessly.

"Master Ethrindell says there is still a chance but it is very advanced magic and we must act quickly."

Joseph and Eileen each grabbed hold of one of Ron's arms and then reached down to take one of Dobby's hands. "Then let's go!" Joseph commanded.

Saint Mungo's would need a lot of work to repair all of the damage that had been done over the course of the last three hours. When the fighting suddenly stopped, as all of the Death Eaters collapsed to the ground, no one knew quite what to think. An eerie silence rang through the corridors for almost a minute before Luna turned towards Hermione and said, "I think he's done it."

Hermione looked over at her friend, her eyes filled with fatigue and confusion. "Harry," Luna explained calmly. "He said we would know when he had beaten Voldemort."

Hermione's eyes widened with understanding. Then, as she recalled his statements from the previous evening she raised her hand to her mouth and gasped. A look of terror came into her eyes as she imagined Harry's fate. Had he lived or had he died? Either way, no matter her appearance, she wanted … no, needed to find out. Turning to Luna she said, "I've got to get to Hogwarts!"

Luna nodded grimly. "I think that's probably best. You go. I'll take care of things here."

No sooner had Luna said these words than Winky appeared next to Hermione and said, "Begging you's pardon, Mistress Hermione, but Mistress Ginny wants you at Hogwarts."

Hermione looked down at Winky and blinked a few times, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened, then cautiously reached out to take Winky's hand.

Moments after re-sheathing her sword Parvati turned around and was about to engage a Death Eater in magical combat when her opponent collapsed, falling to the floor with a splash as the water swallowed her body. Quirking an eyebrow in confusion Parvati shot a stunner at the Death Eater then summoned her wand. Breaking her opponents wand over her knee Parvati bound the woman in a near cocoon of magical ropes. Still confused by this odd behavior Parvati levitated the Death Eater up out of the water and leaned her against the wall. Their orders had been to disarm, stun and bind if at all possible. She would deal with the consequences of driving her sword through her dueling partner's killer later but right now all she wanted to do was stop as many Death Eaters as possible.

After levitating her prisoner to a safe location she turned to look down the length of the atrium. What she saw both confused and dismayed her. Everywhere she looked Death Eaters were collapsing into the eighteen-inch-deep water. Rather than fighting to defeat the Death Eaters and their cause it had become a race to save as many of them from drowning as possible.

Several minutes later, as the last of the Death Eaters was being levitate to safety, Ernie MacMillan let out a cheer. "He did it!" he yelled. "Harry Potter actually did it! We won!! Harry Potter has defeated Voldemort!"

There was silence for a moment and then a spontaneous chorus of cheers went up around the atrium and throughout the Ministry of Magic. The unused fireworks were set off as students, elves and ministry employees celebrated their victory. It would be some time before any of them thought what this might mean for their hero and most would never know the lengths to which Harry had gone to vanquish the self-styled Dark Lord who had called himself Voldemort. Neither would they know that, for a time, Harry had paid the ultimate price so that they could enjoy their freedoms.

It was almost a good thing that the Death Eaters were more intent upon causing as much pain and suffering as possible as opposed to simply killing their victims. If they had wanted to kill there would have been very little anyone could have done to stop them. The Killing Curse was, after all, unstoppable unless you were fortunate enough to be able to keep your wits about you in the heat of battle so that you could activate The Potter Charm. But, as Arthur Weasley had learned the year previous, there wasn't always time to think clearly when you were fighting for your life and working to save the lives of those around you.

As Alastor Moody went down, his liquefied internal organs spilling out at Lavender Brown's feet, the four Death Eaters cheered their accomplishment and were in the process of congratulating each other when four, emotionally charged blasting hexes escaped Lavender's wand and connected with their heads. The resultant explosions momentarily stunned everyone within a ten-yard radius.

The next several minutes were a blur for Lavender. Afterwards she would swear that Moody himself had been guiding her actions because, as good as she was, she had never even heard of, let alone used, half of the spells that had escaped her wand between the time Moody went down and all fighting suddenly stopped. Indeed, during the cleanup, many of the aurors had commented that some of the spells she had used in those closing minutes were signature Moody combinations. And when her wand had been analyzed days later, days during which she had refused to cast any spells, it had been determined that immediately after the four blasting hexes had been cast the energies had changed to resemble those of the legendary auror.

A blindingly bright white light exploded, filling the Entrance Hall with its radiance the moment the Purgatory Charm took effect. It overwhelmed the room's occupants for almost a minute then gradually faded. As soon as the levels of light in the Entrance Hall had returned to normal Ginny ran to Harry's side as he lay prostrate on the floor. Casting a diagnostic spell on his lifeless body she was horrified when the energies vanished, indicating death. "Nooooo!" she screamed. "This can't be! It isn't fair! Harry can't die! I love him too much." Breaking into heart wrenching sobs she clung to his body as if her life, her very existence, depended upon his survival.

Moments later there was a polite tapping at the castle doors. Without waiting to be answered the doors swung slowly open and Ethrindell entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Had the circumstances been different he might have looked calm, cool and collected. Under the current circumstances, however, his face held a grave, almost defeated, expression. His eyes, however, held a determined glint that told anyone who cared to study his soul that he was going to do everything in his power to bring Harry back.

Quickly crossing the room he knelt down across from Ginny and gently rubbed her back. "Ginny," he softly coaxed, "Ginny, we can bring him back but we must hurry. It is an ancient spell, more ancient than this solar system, and requires an emotional bond of love and friendship to work. I believe you and Harry have two house elves who can apparate through Hogwarts' wards. If you could summon them I think we still have enough time."

Ginny looked up, tears streaming down her face. It took her a few seconds to realize that Ethrindell was telling her that they could bring Harry back but when she did she was quick to respond. "Winky! Dobby!" she called out, "Could you come here please."

With simultaneous cracks Dobby and Winky appeared, standing mere inches from Harry's head. Before either of them could say anything Ginny said, "Winky, Dobby, this is Ethrindell. He is a good friend. He says we can bring Harry back from the dead; but we must act quickly. Do whatever he tells you to do."

Dobby and Winky quickly nodded and turned towards Ethrindell. "Winky," he commanded, "Hermione is in the lobby of Saint Mungo's. Could you fetch her here now."

Winky nodded and, with a crack, was gone to Saint Mungo's.

Dobby," he said, turning his attention to the elf wearing socks on his ears," Ron, Joseph and Eileen are on the street in front of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. We will need all three of them Do you think you could go and fetch them?"

With a nod and a resounding CRACK Dobby was off.

As soon as Harry realized that he was no longer in pain he knew that he had died. Turning around he looked for the telltale pinprick of light that he remembered from his experiences a little more than a year earlier. When he found it he began moving towards it when he became aware of three personalities that seemed to be hesitantly approaching the light from slightly different angles. The first personality was most definitely that of Fred Weasley. The energies surrounding it personality were alive with mischief, mayhem and laughter. It was one-half of a twin soul. The other half was in grieving. The reason he knew that it was Fred was through the presence of a subtle twist in its energy signature that precluded anyone else.

The presence of the second personality almost made Harry groan. At its core it was an extremely excitable personality. Harry could not help but recognize its other eccentricities as belonging to Colin Creevey. Even thought Harry was of the opinion that he could have lived without meeting Colin it pained him to think that Colin had died at such a young age. True, he could be a royal pain but… It just didn't seem fair that Colin should have had to die before he had even had a chance to make his mark in the world. Personality aside, Colin really was a very good photographer and Harry somehow knew that, given half a chance, Colin would have made a name for himself in the magical world.

The third personality could not be mistaken for anyone other than Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody. It was a crusty, paranoid old warhorse who would rather fight than breath. Beneath that crusty exterior, however, was an unerring sense right and wrong. He might make a few judgmental errors but he would always know the difference between what was right and what was most definitely wrong. The world, for Alastor Moody, was a thousand shades of grey but somehow he instinctively knew what was good and what was bad and he had dedicated his life to eradicating as much of the bad as he could in his role as one of the most feared aurors of all time. And yet, beneath it all, Harry could sense a razor-sharp wit and a sense of humor that would have put Padfoot and Prongs to shame.

As the four of them came together Colin smiled brightly. "Hi, Harry!" he chirped. "What are you doing here?"

Harry looked at Colin then turned to take in Fred Alastor's expressions. Fred looked slightly confused but Alastor's face, minus all of the scars and ravages of war, held a neutral, unreadable expression. Sighing softly, Harry said, "We're dead, Colin." Glancing quickly over at Moody he added, "I beat him so we won, but the four of us are dead."

Moody nodded his confirmation. "Aye, lad, that we are. I studied death as a part of my auror training and this is about what I was trained to expect."

Fred still looked somewhat confused. Turning towards his friend Harry asked, "What happened, Fred? I thought you were going to stay out of the fighting."

"I was," Fred said, a dazed expression on his face, "and I did. But the a little girl ran out into the street to retrieve her doll and … and I had to do something. A Death Eater cast the Killing Curse at her. I couldn't let he die …"

"So you dived in front of the curse," Moody finished for him.

Fred nodded, his eyes wide with the shock of realization. His voice was filled with awe at the realization that even he, consummate prankster extraordinaire, was capable of such acts of chivalry. "Yeah," he said, "I took the curse. I died so she could live."

"Really?" Colin asked, his voice filled with admiration. "Wow! You're a hero."

"Aye, and you'll be remembered for you act of bravery."

Fred grimaced. "Yeah, I'll be remembered alright, as a purple pygmy puff."

"What?" Harry asked, his voice filled with the confusion of the moment.

"After I died the little girl was pretty shaken up so Ron gave her a baby purple pygmy puff and named it Fred."

Harry, Mad-eye and Colin burst out laughing. "What's that saying," Harry laughed, "never prank a prankster? I believe Ron may have gotten one over on you this time, Fred."

Fred scowled then burst out laughing. "You may be right, Harry," he laughed, "but I think I'll let him get away with this one."

As they stepped into the light Alastor, Colin and Fred went one way while Harry was compelled to turn and follow a different path.

After bidding his friends good-bye Harry turned and began walking the familiar path to the Hogwarts-behind-the-veil he had visited just before the beginning of his sixth year. As he approached the gates he saw that his parents, Sirius, his children and the four founders were waiting for him. Smiling sadly he walked up and stood before his children. "I'm sorry, guys," he said. "I beat him but apparently my body couldn't take the strain and gave out."

Salizar walked over, smiling despite the apparent gravity of the situation, and said, "Harry, as much as it pains me to see my line come to an end, all hope is not lost."

Harry looked curiously over at the original Head of Slytherin House.

"Muggels," Godric interjected, "have an interesting concept of this place called Heaven. For them there is a place called Heaven for those who have performed any number of good works in their lives and a place call Hell for those who had dedicated themselves to evil. In the magical world there is neither Heaven nor Hell. For us, life is an evolutionary process. The purgatory charm you and your friends have developed is an integral part of our after-life experience.

"Our little school," he said, motioning towards their Hogwarts, occupies a special corner in our … dimension. Our campus has been set aside for those who wish to get a head start on their magical education, before entering into their bodies, and for those who, like Albus and yourself, have a need to experience a maturo auctus. On rare occasions, such as this one, we play host to those whose bodies have expired but whose friends love them so much that they are willing to employ the Elven Resurrection Charm. It is extremely rare, Harry, but it does work."

Harry smiled softly at the thought of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Joseph, Eileen and Neville invoking a kind of magic that was so old that Albus didn't even know of its existence. Nodding his head he looked down at his children and said, "I guess there's still a chance for you to be born after all." Turning back to Godric he asked, "So, what do I have to do?"

Salizar cleared his throat, reminding Harry that he had been the one to initiate the conversation. "Actually, you don't have to do much of anything," Salizar said. "All you have to do is rest for a while and wait for their arrival."

"I must warn you, however," Rowena cautioned, "that when you cast the Purgatory Charm, given the complications of Tom Riddle's dark mark as well as your own desire to put an end to his influence in your world, the amounts of energy you were using essentially shattered your DNA. What this means is that the Resurrection Charm is going to have to rebuild your body from the ground up. Since it is an elven charm the possibility, however slight, does exist that your body may be rebuilt in the elven pattern."

Harry looked up. "What?"

Helga giggled. "I wouldn't worry about it overly much, Harry. You may notice a few changes over time but I honestly don't think you will have tapered ears."

"Whew!" Harry said. "I don't have anything against the elves, in fact I know several elves and most of them are good friends, but I can live quite peacefully without the pointy ears."

James and Sirius burst out laughing. "Awe, come on, Harry," James chided, "I think it would be cool. Just think, in a few years James could write a book: 'My Dad the Elf.'"

Harry and Lilly, his mother, groaned. "James, you are incorrigible," Lilly scolded.

As they walked up to the castle the conversation ranged from Harry asking how his children were doing to his mother asking how Remus was and Harry apologizing to three of the four founders for having to destroy their relics. They, of course, forgave him, citing the need to destroy all of Tom's horcruxes far outweighed any historical value the objects might have. When he told Godric about using his sword as a bargaining chip to get two of the horcruxes the fourth founder nodded his understanding. "You took an awful risk taking a blood oath," Godric said, ""but I really don't have any use for that sword any more and if the goblins want it then so be it."

As they waited on the steps of the castle James and Sirius grilled Harry on his duels. They howled with laughter at the idea of conjuring a snowball in a magical duel and were beside themselves when Harry described transfiguring Remus' robes into a straight jacket to end the demonstration duel at the start of his sixth year. His mother, who had warned him not to prank any students, actually smiled and occasionally laughed at what had come to be known as the Potter-Lupin Prank War of 1996. The mirth and mayhem had taken years off of Remus' appearance and given the man a reason to smile.

When Harry told them about Remus and Tonks, Sirius and James started chanting, "Lu-pin! Lu-pin! Lu-pin!" This, of course, earned them a disapproving look from Lilly and when they didn't stop she took out her wand and transfigured them onto a p[air of pink miniature poodles. Harry, James and Lilly, Harry's children, all four founders and Merlin howled with laughter at the two pranksters' predicament. For their part, James and Sirius yapped for a time and then sulked until Lilly turned them back.

When Harry told them about the elder wand everyone was impressed that he had beaten the unbeatable wand. "I've heard of that wand," Merlin said. "I never had occasion to duel against it but I have heard of it. If it has peacefully chosen you as its next master, considering its other name is The Death Stick, then there must be something very special about you Harry. What are your plans for that wand?"

Harry thought for a moment then said, "Albus asked me to use it to defend Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I'm going to give it back to him when I get back. After that I'm not sure. It would be nice to have a second wand as powerful as my own but, given the wand's reputation, I think I will let it be buried with Albus when he dies."

Merlin nodded sagely. "All good thoughts, Harry," he said. "That wand does have a history and I think the time may have come for its history to end."