"What's bugging him?" Ron asked Harry as he nodded toward Draco Malfoy standing at the doorway. His parents were exiting, but Draco had stopped and was staring at Harry intensely.
"I don't know, but I'll find out," said Harry standing to walk toward the door.
"We'll go with you," said Hermione standing. Ron already had his wand raised.
Harry brimmed over with pride; they were the definition of loyalty. "I think I can handle this one on my own," he said. "Really, thanks, but it's just Malfoy."
"We'll be watching," said Ron.
"I know you will," said Harry. "So are you two going to be my permanent shadow?"
"Yes, Harry," said Hermione, "Just deal with it."
Harry walked over toward Draco. He looked smaller somehow; Harry knew that he too had experienced a horrible year under Voldemort's reign.
"Malfoy," Harry greeted him.
"Potter," said Draco, shifting in his stance nervously.
"So, what's with the evil eye? Got something to say?"
"Er, well, I just wanted to say thank you for saving me from the fire," Draco said staring at his shoes.
"Aw, is mummy making you apologize?" Harry teased, though perplexed.
"Actually, my parents are mortified we are still here, but they are grateful I'm alive, so they let me stay to talk to you." Harry, for the first time in a long time, saw strong similarities between Draco and Dudley.
"There, well I said thanks, so goodbye, Potter," Malfoy said contemptuously.
"Hey wait," said Harry not realizing what was compelling him to continue a conversation with Draco Malfoy. "I don't know how to explain it, but, er, I saw firsthand some of the things Voldemort made you do…and I'm sorry."
Draco looked quizzically at Harry without saying anything. "I couldn't imagine having Voldemort live in my house," Harry continued, "and ordering me around."
Draco still didn't say anything. Unsure where to go next, Harry said, "Oh, and we saved you a second time, from one of your own Death Eaters, so 'you're welcome'."
"Yeah, I knew that too," said a dazed Malfoy. "Potter, we're never going to be friends, but I know I'm alive and Voldemort is gone because of you, so that's why I'm standing here humiliating myself in front a sworn enemy."
"Yeah, well your mom lied to Voldemort to keep me alive, so I'd say we're even," said Harry, realizing Malfoy had put it all out there.
"What?" Malfoy asked, mouth agape.
"Yeah," Harry confirmed, "she told ol' Riddle I was dead as a doornail because I told her you were still alive."
Draco stood there, taking it all in. After a moment, his curiosity got the best of him, "So Snape was with you guys the whole time?"
"I couldn't believe it either," Harry confessed. "He was braver than all of us."
"I really thought he hated you," Malfoy said emphatically.
"Oh he did," agreed Harry, "but he knew Dumbledore was right about the Dark Lord, and that mattered to him more." Harry decided to leave his mother out of this version. Then he added, "Oh, and Dumbledore and Snape had planned for months that Snape would kill him, if it came to it. So you were never going to win any Death Eater merit badges for that."
He let all that information sink in for a moment. "All right," Draco said snapping back to his usual disdainful voice. "I'm leaving."
"Wait," said Harry, "I've got something for you."
Draco stopped, then trembled as he saw Harry pull out a wand from his robes.
"Relax," said Harry, "it's your wand."
"Wha? Why? I don't…" stammered Draco as he took his wand from Harry's outstretched hand. "Th…thanks, Potter."
"Use it carefully, Malfoy," Harry said confidently, "It knows who its master is."
Harry arrived back at the table and, true to form, the watchful eyes of Ron and Hermoine had never left him.
"Aww, man! Couldn't you at least made him beg for it? You just GAVE him the wand!" Ron objected.
Harry slumped into his seat. "I know! Crazy, right? I've just wanted to say that to him since the moment I knew it was his."
"No, it was nice," offered Hermione, "And now he's a lot less likely to cause any trouble." Both Ron and Harry rolled their eyes and shook their heads at this statement. They all laughed at her optimism.
"Oh, well, you're right," she said, and then added with a grin, "Hope your moment of self-satisfaction was worth it, Potter."
Ignoring this Harry said, "Hey, I need to write a letter. Do you have a quill?" The members of the Gryffindor table scrambled to look in their robes for a writing utensil, but Harry and Ron immediately looked at Hermione who was, in the same moment, summoning one from her magical bag.
"And some parchment, please," said Harry.
"And I'll take some Every Flavor beans while you're in there," said Ron.
"Here you go Harry," Hermione said handing him the objects he requested. "And you, Ronald, though I love being treated like your vending machine, you know that if any candy had been in this bag you would have found it long ago."
"Very true."
Harry cleared food aside with his wand and began to write:
Dear Aunt Petunia,
I hope this letter finds you, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley well. I briefly saw Hestia and Dedalus today, so I'm assuming you all are okay. I'm sorry about this year, it was horrible for us too, but I want you to know that it's over, forever. My mother died to protect me from Voldemort, and now, finally, he is dead. I know that she loved you very much too, Tuney. Believe it or not, Severus Snape (whom we both hated, though never really knew), died protecting all of us—wizards and muggles alike. Mom would have been proud of him. We are finally at peace because of their sacrifices.
I'm thinking about coming to visit Privet Drive to make sure your house is repaired and safe. Send word if Uncle Vernon never wants to see me again. And don't worry, I won't ever tell him about the letter you sent to Dumbledore.
Your nephew,
Harry Potter
"Ron, do you mind if Pigwidgeon takes this to the Dursleys?" He asked, as he folded the letter
"Pig!" Ron called and his hyper little owl eventually zoomed to the table. They attached the letter and gave him his orders, and he was off again.
As all this was happening with the gray owl, Headmistress McGonagall was marching over to their table.
"Why do I feel like I'm in trouble," asked Ron watching her approach, "I haven't been at this school for a year!"
"Mr. Longbottom, may I have a word?" she asked.
"Proffess…um, Headmistress McGonagal," a nervous Neville began, "please sit here with us and we can all talk together."
Ron and Harry exchanged a knowing nod. She's less likely to be hostile in front of a crowd.
"Well, if that's what you'd like." She began as she sat at the Gryffindor table awkwardly. "I just wanted to commend you for your bravery this year, all of you really" she looked around and met each of their gazes, and they all relaxed. "But Neville, I especially wanted to speak to you before you left to offer you the position of Professor of Herbology here at Hogwarts. Professor Sprout has talked of retirement, but would love to stay on a few more years working with you as a mentor."
"Wow, really?" asked an astonished, Neville. His friends beamed at this notion. "I mean, thank you so much, Headmistress McGonagall."
"You can call me Minerva, Neville."
"Honestly, I don't know what to say Min-Minerva."
"We'll see you this fall then," the Headmistress said, pleased with herself.
"Actually, Headmistress," Neville began, "I mean, I don't know what to say, because I can't take the job. Er, um, I am truly grateful, but I can't become a professor straight out of school. Being a professor is too important, to both of us, for that."
Minerva McGonagall, to the surprise of all seated around her, smiled broadly. "Excellent choice, Mr. Longbottom. Just let me know when you're ready." Stately as always, she rose and left their table.
"So, what are you planning to do next, Hermione?" Neville asked.
Both Ron and Harry looked flummoxed, they had never entertained the idea there would be a 'next'. But Hermione smiled and blushed a little.
"You know?" asked Ron in surprise.
"When did you have time to come up with a plan?" asked an astonished Harry.
"Honestly, I'd been thinking for a while about what I wanted to do, I had faith in us, you see. But the pieces didn't fall into place until Harry's speech a few minutes ago."
"My speech?"
"Yes. You were right," Hermione said," With only scraps of information, people get the story wrong. History isn't as much about facts as people like to believe, history is an interpretation of facts. Think about how incorrect Rita Skeeter's biography of Dumbledore was. What if she wrote an account of the downfall of Voldemort?"
"Then we'd make a stink about it and tell everyone she's wrong!" Ron exclaimed. "We'd talk to other reporters, give speeches, whatever we have to do to make sure people knew the truth. How could anyone besides us know what really happened anyway?"
Harry understood, and beamed at Hermione, "You're going to write a book."
"Yes," she said resolutely.
After a low whistle,"That's effing brilliant," Ron said amazed. Hermione grinned.
"We'll never be able to live our lives the way we want if we have to keep correcting every false story that comes out. I want to tell our story honestly, and from our perspective. I think it's important wizards know about the horcruxes and how demented Voldemort was, but to also show that we weren't the grand heroes future generations might think. We were scared kids."
"I think it'd be an even better history knowing that," said Luna, "Then kids in the future would know that they could be brave too."
"The Order of the Phoenix, A History by Hermione Granger," said Ginny.
"We'll work on the title," Hermione said smiling. "You guys really haven't given a thought to what you'll do next? Harry, what about being an Auror?"
"Yeah, I don't know," said Harry. "Maybe later. Right now, I'm craving peace. I'd like to live somewhere permanent for a change, maybe fix up Grimmauld Place so it's not so scary."
"Good luck getting rid of Mama Black," Ron said with a smirk.
"I think I want to do something tangible," Harry continued, "Maybe help wizards rebuild their lives, maybe even help the Dursleys settle back in. In the immediate future, all I want is a place to call my own and to feel like I'm helping people." He thought of Ginny and how nice it would be to have her as a presence in his daily life. He caught himself staring at her, then he looked away nervously.
"And you Ron?" asked Harry deflecting attention. "What sounds most appealing right now?"
"You guys sound so noble, and all I want is a vacation!" said Ron. "Sure, I'd like to get my own place, maybe help George with his business, maybe even go to work at the ministry. But right now? I want a break. I want to travel and see the world, but not the world of forests and tents. My only requirement is to sleep somewhere without a canvas roof! "
The group of friends laughed. Ron whispered to Hermione, "I was thinking about starting this world vacation in Australia. Want to come?"
"Australia!" Hermione yelled.
"So much for privacy," Ron muttered to Harry.
"My parents are in Australia!" she continued, unaware of his annoyance.
"Gee, really?" he asked wryly. "I hadn't realized. Think you can still write a book amongst all the koalas and kangaroos?"
"You seriously want to go to Australia with me?" asked Hermione looking at him earnestly.
"Are you daft? Yes, Hermione, I want to be with you. I want to be with you wherever you go, no matter the continent." Ron, realizing he was still addressing more than just Hermione, resumed his usual smart ass persona, and said, "And honestly I'm just anxious to see how Mr. & Mrs. Wilkins are getting along."
Hermione was flattered and taken aback his plans included her and her family. But, unfortunately her gut reaction took over, "You're not going to just leave me if things get too hard?"
As the words left her mouth, she realized how much she hurt him. She briefly closed her eyes and sighed, exhaling a silent apology. Besides the two, only Harry understood the insult.
Ron paused, momentarily wounded, but replied with a grin, "I bloody hell will! Especially if you drag me away from surfing and snorkeling just to help you work on your book cooped up in a library!"
Their friends laughed heartily and continued their discussion of future plans, but Hermione was still grieved.
After she kissed him lightly, Ron whispered, "I deserved it."
"No," she said firmly. "you didn't, and I'm sorry."
"Forgiven?"
"Forgotten."
"So Ginny," said Neville, "what do you have planned?"
Harry tensed up inexplicably. He had no idea what she would say. Would she imply she wanted to get married? What kind of career did she see for herself?
He braced himself as Ginny squeezed his hand, smiling just at him, then turned to address the group. "I'm going to finish up at Hogwarts," she said matter of fact.
Harry was stunned. As was, apparently, most of the group.
"Go back to school!" groaned Ron. "Are you crazy? Why would you ever consider coming back to Hogwarts?"
"Oh, I don't know Ron," Ginny said looking around the Great Hall in awe. "You loved this place, so don't pretend like Hogwarts is some horrible punishment. And besides, I've never had a proper year here."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I guess I mean I have only had school years where I've been possessed by a book killing roosters, or threatened by a Basilisk, or involved in forming a secret society to battle evil wizards, or breaking my ankle, or fighting Death Eater professors. It'd be nice to enjoy time with my friends, maybe play Quiddich again, and actually learn what interests me."
"Yeah, but what's the fun without all the danger?" asked Ron.
"Ron!" cried most of his friends. Not Harry.
"Me too," said Luna. "I'd like to finish my last year of school as well."
"Great!" said Ginny, "It wouldn't be the same without you!"
"And you Neville," began Harry. "Since you won't be teaching these two apt pupils, what does the future hold for you?"
"I don't know, yet," said Neville. "I guess I'd like to actually learn more about herbology first hand somewhere. I think deep down I've always known I love this place and would want to teach eventually, but I think teachers should be really passionate about their subjects. I think I want to find a job discovering new plants or new characteristics of plants we already know about, for now at least."
"I think that's a great idea, and you will be a great professor, Neville," praised Hermione.
"Yeah? Thanks. Well, before I start any of that, I am excited about what I get to do as soon as I leave here," He said as he stood up from the table.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" asked Ginny.
"I'm going to go tell my mum and dad we beat Voldemort!" Neville said proudly, but with tears in his eyes.
His friends bid him goodbye; it was sad to see him walk away, especially toward this emotional task at St. Mungo's. How different he looked from their first year of school. Neville, now a rebel, a giant snake slayer, and able to turn down McGonagall on the spot, was more brave than anyone could comprehend. The Sorting Hat had known.
For an instant, Harry saw Luna's gold coin on the table flash Come with me?
She beamed grasping the coin in her hands, and then pointed behind her friends and said, "Look! Nargles!"
They turned around for a moment, only to turn back and catch a glimpse of her running toward the door. She was chasing Neville's outstretched hand. They all laughed, and yelled their goodbyes to her as well.