Harry woke up feeling good after a solid night's sleep. However, he knew that the day ahead would not be easy. Families of the deceased were coming to pick up their loved ones from Hogwarts today. Originally, it was scheduled for tomorrow, but with Hermione's help, the Aurors had finished their job, making it unnecessary to delay. Harry decided to start his day by visiting the Hospital Wing and having breakfast with Andromeda, whom he wanted to speak with before she left for school.
After a quick shower, Harry left his dormitory and met Hermione in the common room. She offered to accompany him to visit Andromeda, which he accepted. They greeted the Weasleys, who were preparing to transport Fred's body back to the Burrow and went anxiously to the Hospital Wing, hoping for good news.
When they arrived, Madam Pomfrey greeted them and led them to Dora's bed, where they received some good news.
"Good morning, Mr Potter and Miss Granger. You came at the perfect time. Only ten minutes ago, Nymphadora woke up, and I have finished examining her," Madam Pomfrey informed them.
When they reached her bed, they were greeted by a sight they thought they would never see again. Tonks smiled at them very tiredly and greeted them.
"Harry, Hermione, it's great to see you," she said.
Harry couldn't hold back his tears and sat next to her, taking her hand.
"Listen to me very carefully, Dora. If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I will make sure that every magical settlement in this country will have a statue of you with your name marked - including your second name," he said, slightly sobbing.
Dora, hearing that, had tears in her eyes as well, laughed weakly, and squeezed his hand.
"Look, it's the pot calling the kettle. It was my first near-death experience, and you're the one who is more experienced in that matter," she said.
Harry laughed as well and explained the reason for their early visit.
"As much as I would like to argue with that, we need to go. We want to join your mum for breakfast before she comes here. And we wanted to know more about how you're feeling because she will bombard us with questions."
"I get it, Harry, and I'm glad you came here, even though I barely woke up. Please kiss Teddy and my mum for me."
"I will do it, but if Madam Pomfrey agrees, I can take them here, as I know they will both want to see you."
Madam Pomfrey had no problem with Andromeda visiting, so they decided that Harry and Hermione would take them both here straight after breakfast. They said their goodbyes and left the wing to apparate to Andromeda's home. Before going inside, they briefly talked about how to break the news to Andromeda. They decided that a straightforward attitude would be best. They wouldn't even wait until the end of the meal, as they didn't want to keep her in the dark for even a few moments more. They already felt bad that she didn't get to know yesterday. Their conversation ended when they knocked on the door and Andromeda opened it, slightly surprised to see that Harry was not alone.
"Good morning Andromeda. With me is my best friend, Hermione Granger, whom I told you about. Can we come inside?" Harry greeted her.
"Good morning Harry, Miss Granger. Of course, come inside," she stepped outside to let them in. They went inside and sat at the table. Andromeda joined them a few moments later, holding Teddy.
"What brings you here? I thought we would see each other in school today," she said while hugging her grandson a bit closer. His presence was the only reason she had managed to stay somewhat calm.
"We are here to explain to you about the message that I got yesterday from Hermione." Harry took a deep breath and started explaining the whole situation.
"Yesterday, Hermione was approached by Aurors who asked her for help with the official identification of bodies. When they checked Dora's body, the spell had shown that she was both alive and dead."
Andromeda started to lose strength upon hearing that, went white as a sheet, and looked like she was about to faint. Harry and Hermione stood up from the table instantly. She took Teddy in her arms while Harry gently led Andromeda to the couch. When she was sitting, he sat next to her and gently took her hands into his.
"The Aurors and healers had no idea what was going on, as only Madame Pomfrey had seen something similar in the past, but the only thing she knew was that it was a curse cast by Bellatrix herself. That's why Hermione sent me a message; she knew that in the past, I had studied Black Family spells and was hoping I could recognize what curse was used and if there was a counter."
Andromeda looked him in the eyes, full of hope that a miracle had happened and her daughter was alive. Harry kept explaining to not keep her waiting.
"When I arrived there, and they had explained to me the symptoms, I recognized the spell almost immediately, as it had stayed in my memories as one of the cruellest. It was a spell version of Draught of The Living Death. It took me a while to remember how to counter this spell, but I managed to do it, and we administered medicine at once. Even though the potions had started working after a very brief moment, we didn't want to celebrate too early, as we were not sure if the treatment would be 100% successful. But this morning, Madam Pomfrey's check-up went very well, and what is most important, about an hour ago, Dora woke up," he ended.
Upon hearing that, Andromeda fainted. Harry saw her blackout, caught her gently, laid her on the sofa, and asked Winky for a glass of water. A few minutes later, she started to wake up and tried to sit, but Harry told her to lie down, drink some water, and rest. After she drank the water, she looked at them and could only muster, "She is alive?"
"Yes, she is. It will take her many months to get back to full health, but she is alive," Harry explained.
Andromeda curled into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. But those were good tears, tears of happiness and relief. When she calmed down a bit, she wanted to go to Hogwarts at once, but Harry managed to convince her to eat something first.
"You need food to gain some strength, Andi. It would do no good if we ran there, and you would faint halfway through." She accepted his arguments and started to eat. Although Winky had served her a full plate of English breakfast, it took her only a few minutes to eat everything. Although she believed Harry and didn't think that he could lie to her about such a matter, she would not be okay until she saw Dora herself.
Harry carried Teddy in his arms and apparated to Hogwarts with everyone else. They didn't take long to reach the hospital, as Andromeda had already started running towards it. When they arrived, they didn't have to tell her where Dora's bed was, as somehow she knew exactly where to find her daughter. Andromeda broke down in tears when she found her daughter, and they both hugged each other tightly. However, there was someone else who wanted to join them. Teddy, sensing his mother's presence, was fussing a lot and wanted to be hugged too. Andromeda stood up, took her grandson, and went back to bed where the three of them lay silently. They didn't need to say anything, as feeling each other's presence was enough. Harry and Hermione quietly left the wing, allowing them to spend time together.
Together, Harry and Hermione decided to find Professor McGonagall, who was coordinating the day's events. They knew that it would be one of the hardest things they ever had to do, but they were determined to help as much as they could. They felt that they owed it to those who had died.
It didn't take them long to find the Headmistress, as she was already assigning tasks in the Great Hall.
"Potter, Granger, please come here," she called them. "I understand that you want to help today, right?" When they confirmed, she told them what their job was.
"The task I would like you to do is probably the hardest, but you two are the best people for that job. I need you to stay in the Great Hall and be the first person they will see after arriving here. I am not going to lie to you; people's reactions will be very varied. Some of them will worship you, some of them will curse you and your future generations, but all of them will be grieving. So you need to be calm and gentle and not take anything they say for yourself. Can you do that?" she asked.
They looked at each other for a second. They knew it would be hard, but as long as they did this together, they would manage.
"We can do it, Professor," Hermione replied.
The Headmistress of Hogwarts smiled at them warmly and took them to the table that was prepared for them. They had a list of those whose bodies would be taken that day and who was supposed to do this. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had asked everyone in the Great Hall for silence.
"In five minutes, families will start arriving here. Before they do, I would like to take a minute to thank you all for helping today. I know that many of you have lost friends during the battle, and yet you are volunteering here today, on one of the saddest days in the history of the school. Remember that we are here together, and if you need help, a break, or you will not be able to continue, then it's fine, and no one will judge you. I am proud of you all," she ended emotionally.
The Headmistress's words were followed by silence. Everyone was preparing mentally for the next hours. The silence was broken by bells announcing the arrival of the first family.
A minute later, Harry saw the first family entering the hall - the Creevey family.
Professor McGonagall was right; their task was the hardest one. The amount of pain, despair, and lack of hope they could see in the families' eyes was something both Harry and Hermione would remember for the rest of their lives. Although only a few people had been hostile to them, they would have preferred to see anger than pain in them. Although dozens of people had come to Hogwarts, the whole ordeal was going very smoothly thanks to good organization. Around noon, there were only a few bodies left, but those were people who didn't have anyone left to take care of the funeral. The Headmistress decided that they would be buried next week in the Hogsmeade cemetery.
After cleaning up the hall, they decided to go for a walk around the lake. The Weasleys weren't there as they had taken Fred to the Burrow, and they had quite a bit of time left until meeting with Kingsley. Harry then decided it was a good moment to talk to Hermione about her trip to Australia.
"Hey, Mione, have you decided yet when you are leaving?"
"After the funerals. I plan to talk to Kingsley today, as he promised to help. Why are you asking?"
Harry then took out an envelope that he had hidden in the inner pocket of his jacket and gave it to Hermione. Inside was all the Muggle money that he had taken from Gringotts, exactly for this purpose. He knew that she had spent all of her savings during the hunt.
"Here, Mione, this should help you when you will be in Australia."
She took the envelope and almost dropped it after opening it and seeing how much money was there.
"Harry, I can't," she began, but Harry interrupted her.
"You can and you will. I know that you spent all of your money during the hunt. Now I am paying you back."
"But Harry, you are giving me much more money than I spent!"
"The rest of the money is interest. And a bit more, so you can relax there without worrying about funds."
Hermione was very conflicted. She knew he would not take the money back, and she had to admit, she really could use it. Harry, seeing her internal struggle, took her into a hug.
"Hermione, you are my closest, dearest friend. Or no, you are not my friend. You are my sister in all but blood. You have done so much for me that I will never be able to repay you. This money is the least I could do to help you find your parents," he said.
Hermione, hearing those words, started sobbing in his arms. She knew that Harry valued their friendship, but she had no idea how much. And it made her very happy that their relationship meant as much to him as it did to her. She had also seen him as her brother.
"Thank you, Harry. You mean so much to me as well," she replied to him after a moment. After a while, they relaxed a lot and started bickering and teasing each other a bit. This seemingly insignificant moment was something they needed to regain their inner peace.
"So, can I officially call you 'Little Bro'?" she asked, teasing him.
"I will have you know that I am almost a whole foot taller than you, so you should call me 'Big Bro,'" Harry replied, grinning.
"I am almost a year older than you! I'm the big sister and you're the little brother, end of discussion."
"Nope, not going to happen, you little gremlin."
"Hey! As my brother, you're supposed to be nice to me."
"What made you think that siblings are nice to each other? Look at the Weasleys. Have you ever seen one of them being nice to the other? I have to be mean to you. I have it in my rulebook."
"Even if you had one, you would not have read it."
"Hah, that's true. Speaking of my brotherly duties, there's one important thing I need to do," Harry said, grinning.
"What's that?"
"I need to have a serious conversation with Ronald about the rules he needs to follow for my permission to date my 'little sis.' And also explain to him what consequences breaking those rules will bring."
"HARRY JAMES POTTER! Don't even try that crap! If I ever find out that you tried that, I will hex you into next week!" She barked at him.
Harry was laughing so hard, his sides were hurting. Hermione had huffed at him but was smiling nonetheless.
"Speaking of talks with your sibling's spouse, have you talked to Ginny?" she asked after the moment.
"Not yet. I have too much on my head to do that. We spoke briefly during supper, but she understands that I need a few days and is giving me time, for which I am very grateful," he explained.
Even though they didn't want to leave, they knew that lunch would be served soon. And with lunch, they had an important meeting to attend to.