A Few Days Later
The twins woke up in a room with a splitting headache.
"Ugh did I get shot again?" grumbled Alfred. "I know I can't die but I really should be more careful because coming back from the dead is hell".
"No I don't think we got shot" answered Canada, rubbing his eyes and checking for bullet holes. "There are no wounds on us".
The two, now out of their grogginess, sat up and looked around the room.
They looked in a mirror and saw they had bandages wrapped around their heads and the room was completely white and sterile looking.
When they looked a little more, they deducted that they were in the Hogwarts nurses office.
They spent a lot of time here this year, so they have gotten pretty used to the area.
"Hey Dude!" America squealed with excitement and pointing to the tray in front of their beds filled with candies and other food they like, along with more get well cards.
"Very good Alfred but I think we shoul…. Is that maple flavored!"
The two dived for the candy and Canada took some Maple popcorn while America took some chocolate frogs.
The two looked at each other then stopped.
"Glasses!" they yelled and grabbed them on the side table.
"Okay better" Mathew sighed. "So I guess since this isn't a government institution, we didn't blow our cover."
"Yeah" America agreed.
The two stuffed their faces full of the glorious food and didn't notice Dumbledore walk into the office.
Looking at them fondly Dumbledore walked over and tapped the boys on the shoulder.
"Ah!" America shrieked and if it wasn't for Dumbledore surprisingly fast reflexes he would have been covered in chocolate.
America turned and looked down embarrassed while Mathew and the headmaster laughed.
"Sorry" he mumbled.
"It's fine Alfred. Considering what you just went through it only makes sense you're a little jumpy". The Headmaster smiled.
"So" Mathew giggled. "Good morning Professor Dumbledore".
"I'm sorry to say but morning has past, it's good afternoon now."
"Right sorry. It's hard to tell time when your passed out".
"No need to apologize" Dumbledore assured.
"Well now look at this." He said pointing to the large tray of sweets.
"I see you have already helped yourselves."
The two sheepishly put down the candy they were eating and nodded.
"Well" the professor said, picking up a carton of jelly beans and examining it.
"From your many admirers I presume."
"Admires?" they both cocked their heads in unison.
The professor laughed. "I will never understand twins".
"But yes. Since the story of how you saved Harry Potter in the Dungeon is a complete secret. Naturally the whole school knows about it."
The two were about to freak out, remembering all that had been reveled in the chamber. But then realized if Harry remembered (or told) about the fact they were nations, they would not be sitting in a Hogwarts nurses office with candy.
They would be sitting in a government laboratory with heavy duty chain and armed gunmen...again.
"And I see Alfred here has already had a go at the chocolate frogs" he said pointing to the wrappers on the bed and the one chocolate stain on the wall where Dumbledore had previously been standing.
The two smiled at him, the headmaster really knew how to lighten the mood.
"Where are Ron and Hermione? And Harry got knocked out in the fight, is he ok?" Mathew asked.
"They're fine" Dumbledore answered, holding up his hands. "They are all just fine".
The twins sighed in relief.
"So what did he tell you?" America asked caustically.
"He said he had fallen during the attack. And all he remembers is you two saving him and defeating Quirell who was being controlled by Voldemort. He said you stayed to help even when you could have run. He told me to tell you thank you for saving him."
Mathew shrugged "No need to thank us. He's our friend; we couldn't just leave him behind".
"But yes you could have, but you didn't and that shows true bravery."
"Never leave a man behind." America said proudly. "A motto I grew up on and intend to never abandon."
"And a very good motto indeed" Dumbledore smiled.
"And what about the stone?" Mathew asked.
"Relax dear boy, the stone has been destroyed."
The two let out an even bigger sigh of relief.
They knew that it would at least deter others from hunting for them, although they had a feeling that the Dark Lord would not stop until either he, or they, were dead.
"My friend Nicolas and I have had a little chat."
"You knew Nicolas?" they gasped.
"Yes, both I and your brother Arthur were the only ones to know his true location. He was in a hut in the woods of North America. He was hoping to find more of the life source to share with the world".
That made so many things click in their heads, including the fact that they drove a man to insanity… again.
"And we knew it was best" he continued.
"But then Flammel will die, won't he?" asked Mathew.
"Yes he will, but he has enough elixir to set his affairs in order."
"How did we get the stone anyway?" Asked America.
"One moment we were there, standing in front of the mirror and the next it was…"
"You see" Dumbledore cut him off, well aware of Alfred's habit to rant endlessly if not stopped.
"Only a person, who wanted to find the stone, but not use it, would be able to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas" He smirked.
The two also smiled. It truly was a work of brilliancy.
They also knew it only worked for them because why would they need eternal life when they already have it?
And in fact, sometimes wish they didn't.
People forget the downsides of living for thousands, upon thousands of years.
Seeing friends and family come and go and constant war and attack.
France once told them the story of a man and his wife he had met.
He had said that the husband told his wife over dinner that he wanted eternal life.
"Do you really want that? You'll live forever" the wife answered him.
"Your time will pass at a different pace than everyone else's. We came to Paris; we found jobs and got a place together. We have children and they will grow up, after my hands have become wrinkled. After I am no longer able to hear your voice. And even after I die… you still have to say goodbye to many more people, right? Can an ordinary person bear that? Even if you have come to love someone so much, eventually you will always end up alone again. It's like you'll be alone forever."
That woman had unbelievable wisdom.
It is even hard for the Nations to bear the burden.
Every childhood friend the two had made has long since disappeared.
Everyone not a nation that they have known has died.
Very few knew just how close a bond America had to the founding fathers, especially to George Washington.
When he was dealing with the hardest time of his life, going against the man who had raised him and cared for him since he could walk. George Washington was the one who had told him it would be alright, to stand strong.
When he doubted himself, Washington assured him that independence was the only way.
He came to know that man as a second father.
And then he had died.
December 14, 1799.
He died, from a throat infection of all things!
The man who charged armies with nearly no chance of success.
The man who gave America its independence.
Is dead at just 67 years, not even a blink for America, he went though his entire life.
America had cried for years after his death.
He still deals with pits of depression from it today.
Every president he had ever formed a bond with, dead.
Every friend he had met, gone.
Amelia Earhart, the woman who was his best friend (not at all romantically. She was already taken, and America had threatened her partner many times that if he didn't take care of her, he would have more holes in him than a dart board) through most of the nineteen twenties though nineteen thirties.
Then she disappeared.
July 1st, 1937, she flew out over the ocean and disappeared into the wind.
No goodbye, no Farewell.
Just 40 years old, less than a tenth of his life just colonized by the British!
Not even including his time as Native America.
Just 40 years old. She was lost to never be found again.
But she's not the only one.
Even some nations have just disappeared never to be seen again.
Almost everyone he had known, he has had to say goodbye to.
And who knows who is next?
That is why he steps into everyone's affairs.
That is one reason he has to be the hero.
He wants to make sure he is never alone.
If a nation doesn't collapse, he won't end up alone right?
At least, that's what he believes.
Even if said nation hates him, even if EVERY nation hates him for it.
It's better to be hated by many, than to be completely alone.
Isn't it?
He finds himself questioning it constantly.
But he is not the only one in that struggle.
That is a family affair.
Canada deals with the same problem, only a different way.
If they never see you, if he doesn't make connections, never care for another, he can't get hurt.
Twisted and sick logic, true.
But is it so wrong?
America had gotten close to so many, nations or not, and he has had to deal with the heartbreak every time.
Canada has had few that he has cared about and had been taken away from him.
He has had to deal with more crushing loneliness true, but he has had to deal with less of the heartbreak that comes with inevitable end of a friendship/relationship.
One of the worst, heart shattering, examples is of this, is his first prime minister.
He had held a very special place for him.
Similar to Washington's role for America, Sir John A. Macdonald helped him through one of the most confusing times in his history.
He was just beginning to stand on his own two feet, no longer having Britain to cry back to for help.
The man helped him through the emotions and tears that accompanied the feelings of abandonment.
He had been left behind by both France and England.
They were almost as good as dead to him, for all the help he was able to get.
The man helped the teenager through the many long nights and helped Canada become strong.
He truly loved him, just as much as he loved England or France.
But then one night tragedy struck.
On June 6, 1891 the minister had a stroke.
A few hours later he was dead, and it shook the Canadian to his core.
He could still remember the horrid seizure that had accompanied the man to his death.
He still remembered the last words he had said to him.
Canada was down and depressed. He had had an awful day and all of the stress had just built upon its self until he finally cracked and burst into tears.
Seeing the nation that state, the Minister told him words that he will never forget.
"When fortune empties her chamber pot on your head, smile and say we are going to have a summer shower."
The man always did have a habit of talking in riddles.
But despite the strangeness, he had always known the exact thing to say to make Canada feel better.
But he just had to go and die.
From that time Mathew promised to never love someone who could be taken away from him.
Sadly that is a promise nearly impossible to keep.
He can't help his love for France, the man who had first raised him. Despite the fact he could disappear at any time.
He can't help but care for Britain who had molded him to who he is today. But lost his entire empire, and has come near collapse in many occasions.
Even his loud, obnoxious, brother who constantly over shadows him. He can't help but care. They share thousands of mile of borders, how can he not?
Even though he knows even America won't last forever, but then again America is risking just as much because neither will he.
Moral of the story eternal life is not all it's cracked up to be.
"Does that mean" Mathew cheered, once again forcing away the morbid thoughts, as usual. "That Voldemort can never come back".
Dumbledore smiled dropped and seeing his reaction so did the twins.
"Ah, I'm afraid there are ways in which he can return. Boys are you aware why professor Quirell couldn't bear to have you touch him. Either time based on the scars on your arms, which I know did not come from a lighter."
'Did everybody know?' snorted America in his head.
The boys shook their heads no. They had never figured out why when they held hands and touched him, the dark lord would burn.
"It's because of your brotherhood." The headmaster explained. "Because of your love for each other. You two have sacrificed yourself for each other on numerous occasions, and that bond leaves a mark."
"But we got the burn when he touched us, not when we touched each other?" added Alfred.
"Not that kind of mark" Dumbledore said. "It lives in your very skin."
"So the thing that stopped an evil ghost from kidnapping us and keeping us in a basement for the rest of our lives, was love? Isn't that a little far fetched dude?" America raised an eyebrow.
"It may sound corny, but yes it is. Love and brotherhood stopped the dark lord from killing you".
The he took his hand and ruffled they boys' hair, being extra careful to stay far away from the curls. (Harry had explained the boy's reaction to them being touched over one of their weekly lunch meetings).
He walked out and the two went back to happily eating their candy, which disappeared before the next morning.
Later
The boys walked into the Gryffindor room, smiling as they did and spotted the three talking above the banister.
"Nice to know you missed us so much!" yelled America smiling.
The three stopped their conversation and looked over.
"Alfred, Mathew!" they shouted running down the steps.
"Are you alright?" Hermione checked, her motherly instincts kicking in.
Although in all honesty, she does act as a mother to them.
'If it weren't for me these boys would be lying six feet under' she reasoned in her head.
"Yes, we're fine. How about you three?"
"Good" Ron answered. "My pride hurt after having to surrender, but not a scratch on me".
"What about you Hermione?" Mathew asked.
"Never better" she answered with a smile.
"Harry bro, are you alright. You took quite a hit in room?"
Harry smiled at them.
'How could I have ever thought they were a danger to us?' he thought.
"You just fought the dark lord, saved my life again when you could have run, hit your own heads and spent three days in the hospital and you're asking how I'm feeling." He raised an eyebrow.
"To be quite honest we've been through much, much worse" Mathew said with a sad smile.
"This was barley a pinprick. Try being shot." Added Alfred. "Now that's something complain about. Really at this point, we don't feel anything short of being run over by a tank. In fact once…"
Mathew slapped the back of Alfred's and shot him a look and America shut up.
"Never mind" mumbled.
Another thing they feel guilty about.
All this time they were pushing for information and answered they never took a look at what they already had.
The training, the pain tolerance, the ability to lie and move quietly.
Harry has had a very hard childhood, but he can't imagine how what they possibly could have went through.
The three even remember when they said their brother has tried to kill Alfred with a cursed chair before and now apparently the two have been shot, probably more than once.
None of the trio has ever even had a death threat, let alone an attempt.
The two must have been through hell and back more times than the devil himself and they just kept pushing for information.
But that one comment just put it over the edge.
No twelve years old should have had to go through that alone.
They vowed to be better friends.
"Look" Harry said. "I'm fine. I know that for some odd reason you two are completely resistant to caring about yourselves, but for once feel free to, alright. No one will think of you any less for it".
The two shrugged.
"Why should we?" America said shallowly. "We are just two people. What do we matter in the grand scheme of things? The way to make ourselves matter is by putting others ahead of ourselves. That really is the only way we ever feel like we've accomplished something, if we have somehow made the world better. Like the Romans, sure many tribes before have blindly conquered lands, but they created something beautiful and revolutionary out of it. They did it by caring for the nations they conquered and they built an empire".
The three looked at him; they never expected something so deep to come out of Alfred.
"But it's not wrong to worry about yourself sometimes too" Hermione said.
'It is when you have a country of millions to take care of' Mathew added in his mind.
"And for once you will" said Ron stepping forward.
He really felt bad for them.
They had saved Harry, helped him on numerous occasions and so much more and he was always pushing for harder interrogations.
"For once you are going to care about yourselves. Now come on, let's get ready for dinner. I can't wait to see Gryffindor kick the snake's butts!"
The two smiled and ran up the stairs with their friends.
They also couldn't wait for that night.