Epilogue

Hathor smiled as her children surrounded her, a few crying, but all smiling. Sirius had been the first to go. He always said he refused to live in a world without the two of them. It had been just over a year since then. Remus had gone two days ago and Hathor wasn't far behind: Two souls so connected couldn't live without the other for long.

She'd lived a long, happy life, growing to be 137 years old. Her family was happy and strong. The Boudreaux name stood for good and peace and saviors while the Black and Shafiq names had ceased to exist; something that Sirius and Hathor liked to laugh about as often as possible.

Everything was fading now. She smiled at her eldest four children one last time before closing her eyes, finding peace waiting for her.

She was in the field beside the house, except it was over grown with wildflowers as it had been when she was a teenager before she'd burnt the place to the ground. She just laid there on the blanket for a long moment, listening as birds chirped and flew overhead, the sun shining brightly in the sky.

"You just going to lay about all day or are we going to see the others?" a warm voice asked and Hathor turned her head, finding a teenage Remus lying beside her.

"The others?" she asked in confusion.

"I've been waiting for you. I can hear them though. In the distance. Sirius yelled for me a few times but Severus told him to shut it and that I was, obviously, waiting for you," Remus explained.

Hathor sighed and cuddled against Remus's side, realizing that she was a teenager again, too. After just lying there together for what could have been minutes, days, or years, Hathor sat up, Remus following her lead. They stood together, walking hand-in-hand towards the forest where laughter and music could be heard.

"Took long enough!" Lily's voice laughed when she saw them approaching.

"They needed a few minutes," James defended.

"A few minutes, nothing," Reggie scoffed. "I've missed my sister and, damn it, I want to hug her!"

"Patience, love," James smiled down at a young Reggie.

Hathor rushed forward, jumping in Reggie's arms at once, the two falling and landing on the ground. Hathor was crying and laughing and holding Reggie as tightly as she possibly could.

"I've missed you… so much…" she sobbed.

"I noticed," Reggie laughed, also sobbing now. "Named a kid after me and everything."

Hathor just cried harder as Severus stood over them, annoyance clear on his face.

"I refuse to roll around on the ground like an animal," he told her before Sirius tackled him, knocking him to the ground anyways.

The two wrestled for a bit before Bella and Remus rolled their eyes and pulled their lovers off of each other, Hathor having found out about that a few years after losing Severus. James pulled Hathor to her feet, receiving the next hug as Remus hugged Reggie. Lily was next and then Severus, who Hathor punched in the arm before hugging him, yelling at him for leaving her before calming down.

"It wasn't that horrible," Severus insisted.

"You left me with those two!" Hathor argued, pointing at Remus and Sirius.

"Yes, I'm sure you were completely beside yourself, what with all those children."

"Shut it," Hathor rolled her eyes before pulling away to hug Narcissa and Lucius next.

Mattheo stepped forward and Hathor's shoulders slumped again.

"Mattheo—"

"Don't," he shook his head. "It wasn't your fault."

He wrapped Hathor in such a tight embrace and she felt herself starting to cry again. Somehow, Hathor was in front of Dorcas and had no clue what to say to her.

"I saw," she told Hathor. "I saw what you did for me after I passed, how you lied so that you could put me and my baby to rest. Thank you."

"Of course," Hathor nodded. "I'm sorry that I couldn't save either of you."

"Don't be," Dorcas smiled and shook her head. "Like Mattheo said, it wasn't your fault."

The two hugged for a minute before Hathor saw two people that she barely recognized over Dorcas's shoulder, standing with MawMaw.

"Mum? Dad?" Hathor asked before running forward and hugging her parents for the first time in 128 years.

So they all settled in the tall grass and the woods, laughing and smiling, telling stories to one another about their lives. The children began joining them eventually and Hathor held each of them tightly, having missed them while she'd been gone. Their children and then their children and then their children and so on thrived, the woods and high grasses seeming to never end. Old friends reunited, parents got to hug their children again, and everything was bright and happy and full of love.

Hathor Boudreaux was finally whole.

Author Note:

Thank you all for reading! I'll see you in the next fic!

XOXO 3 Brooklyn Fazenbaker