Hey everyone,
This epilogue is actually written on the same day as the last chapter. I had to, because I had the whole thing thought up as I woke up that morning (August 20th in 2018) and it sounded and felt too right for me to let it wait as I feared that any other ending might not be as great. Also, expect another plot twist.
Yes, another,
Venquine1990
Epilogue
Guardians And Family
18th of June 1996
Great Hall, Hogwarts
Harry's POV
I am bent over my desk, my History of Magic OWL paper lying on it and a quill in my hand as I am writing down all of the answers that I can remember from all of the studying I have done alongside my siblings over the last few weeks. I have left a few spaces blank as I couldn't think of them instantly and left them for later.
I am trying hard not to succumb to the heat of the summer sun as the Great Hall is sealed off at every entrance, yet the windows aren't covered and the Enchanted Ceiling is really showing off that this summer might get just as hot as the last one was. I look around and then chip off a small bit of wood before softly snapping my fingers.
The bit of wood changes into a few drops of water and I wandlessly move them into my mouth, gulping them down and feeling glad for the very small and temporary relief from the heat before focusing back on my test. And at the same time am I trying very hard not to be distracted by the sound of all the other moving quills.
Hermione is definitely the most annoying as she is actually grunting and moaning under her breath while she's writing, as if she's having trouble, which might be true as her healing has left her with less time to study than she'd have done otherwise. Yet at the same time do I know that the girl is an over-achiever, so I don't really believe it.
Still the memory of all the times we studied together, which sadly didn't happen again after Hogwarts restarted at the end of February, does help as I suddenly remember things we studied back then and this brings back things that my siblings and I studied. And this makes me smile as I quickly fill up a few of the blank spots.
"Quills down! Quills down!" The voice of Griselda Marchbanks, who took over from the actual examiners due to his wife suddenly going into labor, speaks and while I still have three blank spaces, do I feel confident that all of my other answers will make up for this. And so, like the rest, I let out a cheer of relief before I leave.
Hermione, of course, is worrying herself, but luckily enough she is met instantly with Madam Pomfrey who has decided to stand ready for students who might need Calming Draughts, lest their nerves keep them from enjoying their new free time. The matron instantly takes the girl in a comforting embrace and leads her away.
I myself am being surrounded by my siblings and the Weasleys, bar the twins who will be sitting their DADA practical NEWT in a few minutes and who are sitting by the doors to the Great Hall, whispering between each other and obviously coming up with ways of ending their NEWTs with a bang, which we are all expecting of them.
The sight of them makes me smile as they definitely made good on what I asked of them in that one meeting back at the start of January and while not everyone – like Smith and Marietta Edgecombe – thought that the DA needed to be continued after Voldemort's defeat, did others, like Susan, prove that they saw potential.
"Yes, we now have Mr. Diggory for a DADA teacher and he is everything Lupin was and more, but my aunt is the Head of the DMLE and I know how much they need the best of the best. So if the DA can help us just as much as the actual class and we want to be Aurors, then we need to take every chance and opportunity we can."
The girl had said when a few of the doubtful members asked why the club should be continued and even Mr. Diggory – who I get to call Uncle Amos when not in class as he unofficially adopted me as his own over the last few months – agreed on this and encouraged us to actually take other students into the club as well.
And under his guidance and encouragement and under the great tutelage of the twins and the Chasers and Lee, did the club become a tutor group for those who either wanted to use DADA to vent frustrations on inanimate or animated objects or to learn some extra stuff about survival and the many ways to escape lethal situations.
This also really helped me and the ways that the twins taught us various ways to escape being kidnapped into a graveyard truly helped me get closure with the event that took the poor man his son. After this, he took me to see Cedric's grave and while I cried heavily, did I leave the graveyard, feeling much lighter and better.
Yet while the last several months have been utterly brilliant, while things have really settled down now that Slytherins like Malfoy can get their fix of darkness and fear in places like Knockturn alley and while there is even a little truce growing between the more Neutral lions and Snakes, do I still not feel 100% happy or content.
And every time that my mind wanders, it goes back to the one reason I can't truly be happy. And this happens yet again as my siblings, Ron, Ginny and I walk out of the castle and down the grounds to the huge oak that stands off to the side of the Black Lake, where we have been meeting quite often and even did a bit of studying for our OWLs.
"Ehm Harry, the last time you looked this gloom when you're supposed to be celebrating, You – Voldemort tried stealing the Philosopher's Stone. He's gone, so what's your problem?" Ron asks and I sigh as I say: "It has nothing to do with Voldemort, Ron. It – it's to do with – this." And I motion at the outfit that I am still wearing.
"What do you mean?" Lily asks, looking at me worriedly and I sigh as I say: "It's – it's just something that – that gets in my mind every time I don't have anything else to think about. I know it's supposed to be something that I'm happy with, but – in the long run, I just – can't." The others look at me confused and worried and I say:
"My role as a Guardian. It definitely has incredibly perks. It made sure my childhood wasn't as bad as the Dursleys could have made it, it got me you guys back, it gave me the family I always wanted, it helped me beat Voldemort and make that deal with Pitch, but – on the long term it just has one downside that – I can't accept."
"What is that?" James asks, him and Lily now having come to sit close to both my sides and are holding me close and I answer: "My immortality. As a Guardian I will remain in this world as long as people believe in the Spirit of hope and trust, as long as wizards believe that there is always a light at the end of dark tunnels.
And with people like Dumbledore, the twins, dad and others, that belief isn't going to die out anytime soon." But by now I have tears in my eyes and I whimper: "But you guys – will." I whimper in the end, having thought of this for months, yet still having a huge difficulty to actually voice it. The others grimace and I go on:
"Think about it. I will be there when you have kids, when your kids have kids, when they have kids and – when you guys – move on. I will have to – to be there – when you get put to the ground and when your kids suffer the same fate and their kids as well. And sooner or later, the gap of generations will be just too big.
I just – I don't understand how Bunny, North, Tooth or Sandman did it all those centuries ago and I feel really envious of Jack as he was in the frozen lake long enough he didn't have to say goodbye to his family. But at the same time the idea of doing something similar, I can't do that either, because I don't want to miss out on your lives.
It just depresses me and – I know I shouldn't think that far ahead, but – then I look in a mirror." The others nod at this and I sigh, wiping my eyes to wipe away the tears that have gathered there. "I just don't know what to do about any of it." I whimper and the others look at me, their faces proving that they don't know either.
"And you know what makes it worse? The fact that, even though Voldemort is gone, even though we now have peace with Pitch, even though I now finally have the life I always wanted – I can't have that. I can't really be too close with you guys, because that will make it hurt more when you guys move onto the next great adventure.
And I had to tell Katie the same thing a month ago, when she took me apart because she noticed that I was growing a crush on her and when she admitted that she was liking me back. I had to tell my crush that I couldn't give into how I felt, because of how much it will hurt if it becomes a thing and she then leaves me as well.
I just hate that, even though this gave me everything I ever wanted, it also takes it from me at the same time. That, even when I have my heart's desire within my grasp, it remains just out of my reach, due to how it is being given to me. I just – I just don't know what to do anymore." I cry softly and the others whimper as well as my siblings hug me.
"Hey, what is going on here?" Jack suddenly asks, skating over the lake, that freezes over as he comes over, yet unfreezes again as he leaves the spots he crosses. "Harry is having a hard time being a Guardian." Ginny whimpers and the spirit of winter fun looks at me as I say: "She means the long term issues; the immortality."
This makes Jack wince and he mutters: "Yeah, North and the others thought that might be a problem. You're already thinking about it?" I nod and whimper: "Every time I have nothing to think or worry about or when I look in a mirror and see my outfit. I just – I don't get how they did it. I mean, it's been centuries for them, but still."
The spirit nods and I look down, sighing and trying to fight back the tears of pain that come up every time I think of this by playing with my gloves. One of them comes loose and I put it in my other hand while sighing, the fact that I am wearing my vest while the others were able to pull off their cloaks after coming outside being another thing that bugs me.
I breath in and out again, shrugging my shoulders as the heat is making some of my muscles ache and feel some kind of fabric falling down behind me. I look up again as I suddenly hear Jack gasp and he asks: "Did you – just – take off your vest?" I look up, my eyes wide and I turn around, my own eyes widening when I see the fabric.
It is actually the vest that I have been wearing for the last several months, but it seems to somehow fade itself into the grass behind it. "How – how is that happening?" Ron asks, his mouth agape as he sees the vest merge with the ground and I notice Jack looking up. I follow him and then suddenly spot something shocking.
Manny is in the sky, even though his form is very vague, yet this doesn't seem to be because the sun is shining brightly down on us all. The vague shape looks more as if Manny is weak and trying to regain strength. And while I wonder how I am able to see this out of a solid object, does Jack whisper: "He sure shone quite brightly last night."
I look at him and ask: "Do you – do you think –?" To which Jack asks: "Can you change?" And instantly, thanks to Kreacher now being loyal to Sirius as of the whole ordeal with the Locket back at London, does a set of Gryffindor robes appear beside me. I look from it to Jack to my siblings, all of them looking hopeful.
I slap my hands together and then expand them, causing for a wall of thick bright light to surround me, sadly enough pushing Lily and James away, but I don't care for this and just make sure that the wall covers me from every side, creating a dome that is unable to be seen through before looking at the cloths once again.
I then look at my own and, for the first time in months, grab onto the hem of my shirt. I pull it up and my eyes widen and tear up with relieved glee as the fabric actually moves. The shirt goes over my shirt and obscures my view, but I don't care for this and just throw it to the side once it's completely off, it too fading into the ground.
Instantly, with the reflexes that I have been training ever since my ban on Quidditch was lifted, do I pull off my shoes, socks, underwear and pants and instantly after I rush to pull on my favorite old set of robes, wondering how Kreacher knew that this was my favorite set, but not caring and just crying tears of relief as I put it on.
I tie my shoes, put a belt through my pants, zip my zipper, wrap my tie around my neck and put on my robe, not even caring that it's thick and that it's sweltering hot outside before letting down the dome. And the others only need one glance at me before they all shout: "YOU'RE MORTAL AGAIN!" And my siblings jump me.
I laugh and cry alongside them and cry: "Manny saved my life all those years ago when he made me a guardian and – and – and –." I squeak in the end and Jack laughs as he says: "Now he saved it again, by giving it back to you and making you mortal again. He made sure you won't have to say goodbye to those you love in the long run."
I smile at him, but then realize something. Yet Jack smiles at me and says: "We're used to it, Harry, don't worry. I had to go through it last century and like you said, the others had to go through it centuries ago. Just – understand that, once you get old enough, we're going to leave, so we don't have to say goodbye."
I nod at this, tearful with gratitude that I will still have this brilliant spirit in my life for what might just be years to come and I get up from the pile that is me and my family. I approach the man and say: "It – it was an honor working with you, Jack." And I stretch out my arm to him. The spirit smiles at me, pride and glee in his smile as he says:
"You were a brilliant guardian, Harry, and are a great friend." And he slaps his hand onto my elbow, me grabbing his own and the two of us gripping onto each other as we share a big smile. A smile to commemorate the brilliance that was the last half year, the time he and the Guardians helped to raise me and a smile that promises many great years that are still to come.
The end
Cheesy?
Yeah, probably, but I don't care. This ending was brilliant. I wanted it to end on this day because – in the HP canon – it is the one day I hate the most. I probably could have given a little more in regards to backstory of what happened in the time between January and June, but I personally think I did fine.
So yeah, Hermione has been healed, but she and Harry didn't get back together as friends. They are still on first name basis, but that is really it. Hermione has her own clique, which is mostly the adults that she trusts and respects so much, and Harry has his family and his old and new cliques of friends, Ron and the others.
Now, is it possible for someone to stop being a Guardian? Probably not, I don't know and I don't care. I just felt that this was a brilliant twist and that it gave Harry the reward he deserved for everything he had to go through. Being a Guardian gave him everything he ever wanted, but staying one would take that away.
So yeah, he's now mortal. What would that have meant for the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing? Don't know, don't care. This story wasn't focused on that. It was focused on Harry getting his wish come true. As those who read the first chapter when it was still a preview will know, that was the whole core upon which I created this story.
And while this story has derived from what I originally wanted like NO TOMORROW, have I not felt this great in the way that I ended a story in a long time. Even Titles Change Lives didn't feel this good when I ended it and that too was a story that really derived from its original plot. And I don't doubt that others will too.
Let's see, shall we,
Venquine1990
