Chapter 32

The two red shots of magic combined and collided mid-air with the green magic, right above the Horcruxes. There was a cannon blast-like bang.

I saw the wand that had been used to kill so many fly up into the air, spinning like Nagini's head had, towards us.

With the apparently unerring skill of a Seeker, I caught it, just as the rebounded green blast of magic hit Voldemort, his arms splayed, the scarlet eyes rolling back into his skull.

Tom Marvolo Riddle hit the floor with a sense of mundane finality, the pale white spiderlike hands empty, his body feeble and shrunken, the snakelike face that had haunted me since infantry vacant and unknowing. It was but a shell of the evil it once held.

Voldemort was dead, because of his own, rebounded Killing Curse.

I stared, two wands in my hands, at Harry's and my enemy's empty shell.

There was a moment of shocked silence, then the tumult broke all around us as screams and cheers erupted.

The sun was casting its first rays of light upon the castle, upon my home and the Wizarding world, in more ways than one. It was a new day—a new chance. A breath of life into the world. A fresh breeze of air into the world. A new chapter in our lives--one of peace and joy, but also mourning.

People surrounded me. One minute, Ron and Hermione and Ginny were there, the next the Cullens, then Neville and Luna. Then Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout. Kingsley. The Weasleys. Hagrid. And many more, all determined to touch the Boy and Girl Who Lived.

I couldn't understand a word of the shouts and yells. I saw tears of jubilation in many eyes, upon many faces, including my own. I couldn't staunch the stream of tears. Each was a tear of relief, gratefulness, love, sadness, pain, and freedom, in its own right.

As the sun continued to rise steadily over Hogwarts, both news and people came and went.

The Imperious-ed up and down the country had regained their senses. Death Eaters were being captured, one by one. The wrongly accused in Azkaban were being released. Kingsley Shacklebolt had been chosen as the new Minister of Magic.

Voldemort's body was moved into a chamber away from the bodies of Daphne Greengrass, Colin Creevey, Michael Corner, Alastor Moody, and the fifty others who had died fighting with them.

McGonagall and Dumbledore replaced the House tables, but no one sat according to Houses. Then, I saw them kissing sweetly. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry were by me. I looked at Ron and Harry and said, "Oh yeah, that reminds me. Harry, Ron, you still owe Ginny, Hermione, and me five Galleons."

Ron exclaimed, "Damn! Thought you forgot about that."

I laughed, the feeling of pure freedom washing through me.

Then, I felt a pair of cold arms around my waist. I spun, and saw Edward. Immediately, his lips were on mine, and my arms around his neck. I pulled away when I needed to breath, but rested my forehead on his.

"Oh, Bella, do you have any idea how worried I've been?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, Edward," I apologized, "I had too...It was my fate. Harry and I had to end it...But it ended better than I thought. I never thought I'd be able to do this again." I kissed him then.

While taking a breath a moment later, I glanced behind me and saw my friends walking away, giving us privacy.

I decided to tell him the truth. I told him about the memories—Snape's memories—and of us sacrificing ourselves, of us being 'killed' by Voldemort. But when I tried to explain about the odd…dream my voice was caught in my throat. Eventually, I said, "I—I….Harry and I…when we woke up…we were in this strange place…It looked like King's Cross Station. But it…wasn't. It was so disorienting. But…we weren't alone. Lily and James Potter were there, as well as Sirius, Harry's godfather, and Moody and Daphne. They all explained about things…"

When I finished telling him, he was staring at me in awe.

"What?" I asked.

He chuckled. "You've done so much recently—you and Harry. You saved the entire Wizarding and Muggle world. You beat Voldemort. You nearly got yourselves killed. And let's not forget, you saved two other people's lives—"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

He chuckled. "You got the antidote for the potion Dumbledore drank. He would have died—truly died—soon, had you not. And Professor McGonagall…well, Jasper had to leave the room earlier because of her pain. It hurt just to hear her thoughts. I honestly think she would have died if Dumbledore was truly dead. Anyways, you won. You two won. We all won."

"Yeah. We did." I smiled, then kissed him.

Hours later, after explaining to numerous friends what had really happened, I found myself sitting on the edge of the Slytherin table, where Daphne used to always sit. She—her body, that is—was laying peacefully a few yards away, next to the other victims.

Her pretty face was peaceful. I knew she was happy now. She was a true Gryffindor, no matter what the Sorting Hat said. Speaking of which, Alice had tracked it down and planned to repair it...

Once a fashion-obsessed, hyper active pixie, always a fashion obsessed, hyperactive pixie.

Tears of both grief and relief had fallen from my eyes all morning. I knew that I should sleep, but the pain and guilt of losing some of my friends was still too fresh for me to even become drowsy.

"You and she were friends, correct?" a woman asked from behind me.

I turned and saw a woman standing a few feet behind me, looking a bit sad and stressed.

"Aunt Narcissa?" I asked, confused. "Um…yes. She was. Daphne Greengrass, that is. We were close friends, although few knew."

She stared at me for a moment. "I never thought that a Gryffindor and a Slytherin could be friends. But I'm afraid I do not know what to believe anymore."

She sat down at the table, staring off, sadly.

"I nearly lost my sister today, as well as her husband and brother in law." She paused, then said, "I suppose that I should have seen it in advance. It is my fault."

I looked at her. She, like her sisters and the rest of our family, had a certain aristocratic beauty, but all I saw was an aggrieved woman. "It isn't your fault. It was hers. She made her decision. I know how you feel, though. All the dead in this room…they are dead because of me. If I had sacrificed myself in the first place, they'd probably be alive and well." I finished softly.

She looked at me, as if she was thinking about something, but she just shook her head. "V-Voldemort would have killed them anyways. He would have wanted to crush any resistance."

I sighed, nodding. "I suppose a thank you is in order. If you hadn't lied to him…I don't want to think of what would have happened."

She nodded. "It was the right thing to do. And…thank you for telling me the truth, earlier. I was out of my mind with worry about my son…" She paused. "Do you think it was the right thing for me to do?"

I waited several minutes before replying, thinking. "Yes. I do."

Later, I heard Peeves zooming through the halls, singing a victory song of his own composition:

We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter and Swan are the ones,

Now Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun!

I laughed when I heard it, and applauded as he flew by. He flipped, looking at me upside down and grinned cheekily, clearly satisfied, before flying away, still singing.

Sometime later, I saw Snape, obviously trying to hide, in a corner of the Great Hall. I went up to him and said, "Thank you for giving me the memory. I needed the truth. And I apologize for calling you a coward."I walked away.

The hours were a blur. Sometime before lunch—maybe at nine or ten—I found myself in Dumbledore's office with the Headmaster and his wife.

When I'd walked in, closely followed by Harry and then the couple, all the portraits burst into applause.

I jumped a little. I think Harry did too.

All the Hogwarts Headmasters and Headmistresses were giving us a standing ovation, clapping and cheering. They waved their hats, or wigs in some cases.

Dilys Derwent sobbed unashamed. Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet. I heard Phineas Nigellus Black call out, "And let it be noted that the Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten!"

Harry and I had frozen in the doorway. Then it hit me. They had no clue that Dumbledore was alive!When they fell silent, I told them, "You'll like this." I pulled Harry out of the way, and the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress came in, their arms linked.

I swear, their jaws were below the bottoms of their portraits.

"Dumbledore?!?" nearly all of the yelled, shocked.I laughed to myself at their expressions. Unluckily, they heard and looked at me angrily.

"Thought you said he had died," Black said to me. I put my hands in the air and exclaimed, "I swear I honestly thought he was!" To my shock, they all laughed. I rolled my eyes and laughed a bit, relieved beyond words.

Dumbledore was chuckling as he sat down in his chair. McGonagall stood beside him, their hands still intertwined. I smiled softly.

Suddenly, in a very un-like-McGonagall fashion, the Transfiguration professor pulled Harry and I into a hug. I felt a tear fall and hit my shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."

When she released us from the hug, her eyes were misty. She looked at me and asked, "How…what…" she sighed then asked, "Could you all explain to me what has been going on?"

I looked at Dumbledore, surprised, "You never told her about the Horcruxes?!"

McGonagall froze, eyes wide. "Horcruxes? More than one?"

At that, we explained everything.

After we finished, she looked at her husband. "You told Severus, Harry, and Bella…but not your own wife?" she nearly growled.

"I-I did not want you in danger…" Dumbledore said feebly.

She only shook her head, muttering "Overprotective fool."

The next week was filled with celebrations when people weren't helping rebuild the school.

Wizards and witches came from everywhere to come and see for a fact that Voldemort was gone and to see the Boy and Girl Who Lived.

Harry seemed to enjoy helping rebuild the castle. Hermione was researching when the castle was originally built for reference. Ron was using his Quidditch skills to fly on his broom to send messages and to bring supplies to workers. Ginny was always helping Harry. Always.

The Cullens had come clean of their secret, just as Dumbledore and McGonagall, and me, had. And, because wizards were supernatural, they wouldn't reveal the Cullens, and the Volturi would not come hunting them down. Everyone was happy.

So, the Cullens were openly using their vampiric abilities. Meanwhile, Rosalie was nearly always surrounded by a knot of admirers because she had killed Nagini. She was obviously flattered and she was nice to them.

Neville had begun to date Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff. I did not think it was simply a crush, either. It was sweet, the way they had blushed for years upon meeting each other's glances.

Fred and George Weasley were working on new products for their shop.

Remus and Tonks had brought young Isabella Andromeda Lupin and Teddy Remus Lupin by, and I was ecstatic upon meeting my goddaughter. Both Teddy and Izzy were Metemorphmaguses, like their mother.

I'd also told my godfather his fellow Marauders's message. He had laughed boisterously in reply, looking years younger than ever.

Suddenly, I realized that, in a sense, he really was, like everyone else.