Minerva McGonagall joined the Weasleys and invited them to come inside for a meal before everyone went their separate ways. Mrs. Weasley, weak with grief, was clinging to Mr. Weasley, but they led their children in a somber march toward Hogwarts.
Ginny followed, but Harry stopped her. "Listen, I know now's not the time, but I have to tell you something."
She looked up at him, waiting for him to speak. Ginny looked at the lake, and then back to Harry, and smiled knowingly. Harry loved that he didn't always have to explain himself with her, but felt that sometimes he should.
"Last year," he began, "when we were standing here, I hated myself for hurting you, for leaving. I think you understood why I had to, but I'm not sure you know what it did to me. Life without you was darker. I missed you. Hundreds of times I wanted to tell you something, or know that you were okay, or just be next to you, but I couldn't—."
"Harry, I know...it was the same for me. It was a long, miserable year worrying about you, but that doesn't mean I lost hope. Hogwarts was empty without you, and my time in the Burrow was spent staring at Mum's clock. I knew that if Ron was in Mortal Peril I could assume you were as well. You really think I didn't know how you felt?"
"No," he said smiling, "I knew you did. I just wanted to say it out loud. I wanted to make sure you knew I was never leaving again."
"I was pretty sure when I saw Voldemort hit the ground I was stuck with you for good," Ginny said demurely. "Now, could you please quit being charming and kiss me already?"
Harry did not need to be asked twice.
Eventually the pair made it back to the main entrance of Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione were waiting for them. They were staring the grand marble staircase, wands in hand. Portions of several steps had been blasted off, and Ron and Hermione were trying to repair their alma mater.
"It's no use," said Ron. "Must've been dark magic, and not one of our spells, 'cause nothing's working. Gonna' be just like George's ear."
"We'd better go inside and find him," said Ginny thinking of her brother.
"It was a beautiful service," said Hermione looking back towards the flames. They all nodded in agreement.
The four walked side by side into the school. In the Great Hall, magicians were gravely milling around, speaking in hushed tones and consoling one another. Harry spotted Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy standing off by themselves; had they been at the ceremony?
"May I have your attention," a stately Headmistress McGonagall said, "will everyone please find a seat."
Adults and teens alike quickly scrambled for a place to sit. McGonagall would be quite a force as Headmistress. Harry and his friends naturally gravitated toward the Gryffindor table. George appeared from among the crowd and also sat among those of his House.
"I realize that you all have had a trying morning," began the Headmistress, "but I did not want those of you most affected by this bloodshed to leave this place weary. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will not be remembered solely as a place of struggle and loss; I will not allow it. Each of you, no matter the year of your departure, have memories of friendships and laughter within the walls of this school—and this is how Hogwarts must remain. However, the soul cannot heal unless the body is whole, so to begin this process, please, eat up!"
All at once, the Hall was filled with thousands of candles which seemed to burn the gray of the day away. The tables were filled with roast beef and roast turkey, boiled, roasted, & baked potatoes, peas, carrots, and bread. Butter beer filled each glass. And the desserts! Wonderful dishes of caldron cakes, crumpets, treacle tarts, rice pudding and chocolate éclairs filled every empty spot on the tables. This feast was reminiscent of every first of the year or holiday feast, but somehow with increased grandeur after months of going without regular nourishment. Harry did not realize just how hungry he was until the fragrance from these foods reached his nose. He could not load up his plate fast enough.
Ron, too, was excited about the feast, "I never thought we'd eat like this again!" and to Hermione he said, as he filled his plate with Yorkshire pudding, "Imagine, we were eating mushrooms!"
Everyone ate heartily, and even George was reaching for portions.
Harry noticed Andromeda Tonks for the first time that day. She looked gaunt and alone even as she sat with the Weasley family further down their table, but she was smiling and cooing at a bundle of blankets. Inside was Teddy. Harry thought of Lupin and Tonks, how excited Lupin had seemed the night he made Harry Teddy's godfather. Harry gulped. The realization that he was Teddy's godfather and that Lupin and Tonks were gone settled on him like a heavy weight in the center of his chest.
"Be right back," he muttered to no one in particular at his table as, zombie-like, he walked directly to Mrs. Tonks. What would he say? He didn't know how to be a parent! Especially not to an infant. He thought of a life without parents and how great it would have been to know Sirius in his childhood at the Dursleys… But Harry couldn't understand why Lupin would choose him—after all the horrible things he said about abandoning his wife and child.
Harry stood awkwardly behind her for a few seconds gathering his thoughts.
"Harry Potter!" she exclaimed. "What a beautiful speech. Come to see your new god-child, have ya?"
"Um, well, yes ma'am." He said almost at a whisper.
"Please, call me Andromeda. Would you like to hold him?" she asked.
"Okay," Harry replied with trepidation. He sat down and reached out for little Teddy. All Harry knew about babies was that you were supposed to support their head, so he focused on that one point intensely. He kept little Teddy's head and his fire engine red hair aloft. After a moment, he relaxed and realized he was holding a living, breathing person, albeit a little person, one who reminded him a great deal of both Lupin and Tonks.
"Do you mind if I eat a little?" Andromeda asked him.
Harry understood she had been unable to eat and hold Teddy at the same time. "Oh, please do. I'm sorry I didn't notice."
"No, thank you for holding him. It will just take moment, my appetite has been off since Ted, well, for weeks now."
"Mrs. Tonks," Harry began nervously. "I don't know what a godfather is supposed to do for a baby, but I want you to know I keep my word. If I'm supposed to raise him in my house, I'll learn how. If I'm supposed to support him, I've got loads of galleons and he can have all of them. That is, if I'm allowed back in Gringot's. And if I'm not, I'll work and take care of him."
Andromeda had stopped eating and was looking at a pale Harry Potter dead on.
"My dear, sweet boy…," she said to the 17 year old before her, "at first I thought Lupin had picked you to be Teddy's godfather to bolster your spirits while you were on the run. To give you one more thing to live for; I didn't think he was serious. And quite frankly, I didn't know if you would survive. It wasn't until Nymphadora told me you were the one who challenged Remus to start acting like a father, did I understand why he had given such a great responsibility to a child. Harry, you alone were the reason Remus returned to her body and spirit."
"What?" Harry asked, while rocking Teddy.
"Now, with this kind offer to take care of Teddy, with your whole life ahead of you and every opportunity open to you, I see that I was wrong to think you were a child. Only a man would take on that kind of responsibility. And come to think of it, only a man would take on the Dark Lord!"
Harry was dumbfounded.
Andromeda continued tearfully, "but you can't take Teddy. I'm sorry. My husband and my daughter have been taken from me. My sisters Bellatrix and Narcissa long ago abandoned me for evil. Even my son-in-law was killed. Teddy is all I have left. He is what I live for these days; he is the bright spot when everything else seems dark."
She had lost more than anyone in this war. "Mrs. Tonks," Harry said, "Thank you for your kind words. I never intended to take Teddy from you, I just want you to know I will do anything for Teddy that you need."
"Thank you Harry Potter," she said. "Thank you for your bravery—for facing Voldemort for all of us and bravery for walking over to me thinking you now had an infant ward. The day will soon come when Teddy will need a man in his life, and I am proud that you will be that man."
Harry gently handed Teddy back to Andromeda Tonks.
"Harry, you will be the favorite uncle at every birthday and in every milestone," Mrs. Tonks said smiling through her tears. "I want you to teach him how to fly on a broomstick, to play Quiddich, and I want you to be there on the day I am gone."
"Thank you Mrs. Tonks," said Harry as he hugged both her and the cooing green haired boy. "I consider it an honor." He stood to leave, then said, "Oh, I'm sorry, you still haven't gotten to eat anything. I can still hold him."
"Nonesense," she replied. With a flick of her wand, a happy Teddy was floating above the heads of friends and above the food. "The beauty of magic, Harry."
Harry strode the length of the table in a much lighter mood. He passed a tearful Neville hugging Mrs. Weasley and felt troubled.
"Ronald, that is your third dessert," Hermione teased as Harry rejoined them.
"Yes, but it's only my third dessert in the last six months," Ron replied with a smile as he took another bite of pumpkin pie. He looked to Harry for help.
"The man's got a point," agreed Harry. He pointed toward Neville and Molly Weasley, "What do you think's up with that?"
"You got me," said Ron.
"He looks so sad," mused Hermione.
"You guys really don't know?" Ginny asked. They all turned to her, surprised.
"One thing Mum and Neville will always have in common: Bellatrix Lestrange."
The group solemnly nodded in agreement as they took in that fact. Neville reclaimed his seat between George and Luna, looking more composed, even happy.
"Hey Neville," Hermione said changing the subject, "What ever happened to Griffindor's sword?" Harry and Ron got uncomfortable; they knew this conversation would lead to goblins.
"Oh, I gave it to Professor, uh, Headmistress McGonagall." Neville said, beginning to load up his desserts. "She put it in her office, I think. Why?"
"Well, we kind of promised it to someone," Hermione said.
"To Griphook!" exclaimed Luna, "I knew he liked it at the cottage!"
"Yeah, he liked it all right," said Ron, "He liked it so much he stole it from us!"
"It's not really stealing since we did promise it to him," said Harry.
"But you weren't going to give it to him!" said Hermione.
"Well, I'll give it to him now," Harry decided on the spot.
"The real one?" Ron asked weakly. Hermione and Harry laughed.
"You can always find the Sorting Hat if you ever want it back," Hermione offered.
"Yeah," said Neville, "you should give it to him, then every year of so steal it back out of the Sorting Hat for fun!" The idea was appealing.
"Speaking of goblins," started Harry, "I was wondering if they'll even let me back in Gringott's after our robbery?"
The crowd paused long enough for George to speak up for the first time, "I don't know how to break this to you mate, but you're Harry-bloody-Potter! You could rob them blind, free 10 dragons, then dance a jig on the head of the chief teller, and as long as you left your calling card, you go home scot free with bags Galleons for doorstops."
They all roared with laughter, happy to have George chime in as usual.
"As long as my clout is used for good," said Harry.
The dinner conversation took a pleasant turn, taking a cue from George's lightened mood. It began as they all told stories of the past year: Hermione, Ron & Harry on the run, Neville, Ginny & Luna at Hogwarts, and George spoke about his time with Potterwatch.
"We knew you guys all had a purpose this year, but at first we just felt so helpless. Fred, Lee, & me, I mean. We knew the older members of the Order were responding to Dementor attacks or confounding muggles who had seen too much, but they were too scared to give us much responsibility."
"So that's when you decided to start the radio program?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah," George replied, "Well, it was Fred's idea. He always had the great ideas… But I helped produce the show, find a frequency, arranged for guests to meet us somewhere safe, stuff like that. And Lee of course was the voice, the heart of the show really. "
"We loved it, George!" said Ginny. "Every time it came on we all got together and thought of everyone else separated from us. We felt united." Harry smiled to hear this, he wondered if she was listening the one time he caught the show.
"Yeah! You guys are so funny. And your passwords became the passwords for Dumbledore's Army," said Luna.
"Not that we needed them much for the Room of Requirement," said Neville. "The bruises were ID enough. But we knew if people had been away for a while, they would always know how to get back in."
"Really?" said George, "I didn't know you guys caught it."
"We did too!" said Ron. "We felt better hearing you guys were safe. Plus it helped us know where Voldemort was."
George took all this information in, and smiled to himself, proud that they too had made a difference. "That's great guys. Lee would love to hear this. I'm going to try to find him." He stood and his friends choked up a bit, seeing him going anywhere without Fred was difficult.