PART 3


After

November 1998 to April 1999

The months after Voldemort's demise were … hard to describe.

After the burial, Rhea brought Harry back to Sephoneia's house, where he calmed down his very worried friends, shared a hug or two or three with them and then explained how their plan had worked perfectly. And what had transpired after.

Why Lynea had killed them both.

Ron and Hermione didn't understand – the Horcrux part, that they could understand, but not the rest. None of it.

But Rhea did understand. Sephoneia did. Theodore did.

And that was enough.

They waited for the news to reach them, which came first in the form of Neville reaching out and second in a newspaper article tentatively declaring You Know Who gone.

It took a few months, for Voldemort had simply disappeared one day – something Harry hadn't realised would happen when he had buried the body with Rhea. The others would have probably pointed it out, but they hadn't been there. It was too late, either way.

So no one had known where the Dark Lord had gone and that had caused a lot of confusion. Rhea had at least thought to inform Neville and Zabini. Having the foresight that the Death Eaters would slowly fall apart during the months everyone was waiting with bated breaths whether Voldemort would return, Neville and Blaise had already started preparations. For what, Harry didn't know.

Only when they received confirmation that Voldemort's disappearance had been accepted as a permanent thing, did they return to Britain. Hermione was actually a bit reluctant to go, wishing to continue picking apart Sephoneia's vast knowledge about magic (and her library full of copies of banished books). In comparison, Harry was completely taken by surprise by Rhea's eagerness. He had assumed she would stay, continuing her own studies of the Forbidden Arts.

Apparently, she was looking forward to helping Neville and Zabini clean up all the many messes that Voldemort's death had left behind, both at Hogwarts and in the rest of the magical world of Britain. They had to figure out how best to replace Snape as headmaster, too – having an Inferius in the position was … not ideal. The rest of the Inferi installed at Hogwarts, the Ministry and Azkaban had to be dealt with, as well, although Neville apparently was of the opinion that some of them should remain where they were.

The decision of what to do with Draco was unanimously put on Harry's shoulders.

Harry put it off for now.

His biggest worry would be how to convince people that Voldemort was gone forever. As the so-called Chosen One, there really was no one else who could do it.

Harry did not want to.

o

Having stayed with Sephoneia for almost ten months, even living mainly in their own tent, packing up and preparing to leave took longer than expected. During their camping trip they had been on the move regularly, but staying with Sephoneia had made them grow complacent. Clearing up the room Hermione had taken over for her personal projects alone took three whole days – which was largely due to Hermione's insistence that her notes had to be sorted correctly and her experiments stored in specific ways and 'maybe she better ought to do it all herself, after all, but thank you for trying to help, Harry'.

"And I still have to make a list of all the things that need to be done back in Britain. Oh, there is just so much to do," she complained. "I don't even know where to begin! There are so many things we need to fix. So many laws to undo. So much damage to repair. And I need to find my parents, bring them back home."

"Oh, that's easy enough," Harry told her. "I have some spirits trailing them."

Hermione turned to stare at him incredulously. "Harry, that's –"

"I was worried," he interrupted. "Erasing their memories wouldn't erase their pasts. I wanted to make sure they were safe, so I asked some spirits who wanted to see Australia anyway to look after them." Harry paused, hesitating to ask the question that had been bothering him ever since Hermione had told him what she had done. But there was no way around it, even though he didn't want to start a fight. "Did you even ask them whether that was what they wanted? Or did you make that decision for them? To erase their entire identity, the life they had built themselves without their consent."

"I didn't erase their memories, I modified them!" Hermione said, clearly offended. "I just wanted to keep them safe. I did not want my parents to be tortured for information about us! I was saving their lives!"

Harry gave her a disbelieving look. "How does modifying their memories save them from torture? If you did not erase them, then those memories are still there! Do you think the Death Eaters would have cared about the difference? They would have tortured your parents no matter what!"

"But they didn't! They never even found them! And I was always going to reverse it after everything was over!"

"And if you had died?"

"Then they never would have had to grieve me!" Hermione exclaimed.

"That's – Hermione, that's just wrong."

"Oh? It's wrong wanting to keep my parents safe, now?" She jabbed a finger at his chest, her voice rising. "It's wrong wanting to prevent them from grieving the death of their daughter?"

"Hermione," Harry said, trying his best to gentle his voice into something soothing, grabbing her hand to make sure she couldn't poke him anymore. "I'm not saying I don't understand where you are coming from. I don't want to fight you over this, because I understand why you did it and I know it was a hard decision to make. But maybe you should have discussed this with us beforehand – or better yet, discussed it with your parents. I think you need to be prepared and accept that they might not forgive you for what you did to them."

"But – Why would they –"

"Hermione," Harry said patiently, "I know it was for their safety and their happiness. And they might understand that, too, if you explain it to them. But how do you think they will feel about the fact that their own daughter violated their free will to choose, ripped them apart from the life they had built for themselves to which they can't just go back once you lift the spell, because it's not that easy – and now the new life they built is going to be destroyed as well. They stood no chance of even defending themselves against you, how do you think that will make them feel? I – Hermione. You need to be prepared to be hurt. I'm sorry, but your good intentions don't erase the fact that you broke their trust."

"You – You thought about this a lot."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because I care about you. And I don't want to see you hurt."

"I –" Hermione turned away, wrenching her hand from Harry's grip. "I need some time to think."

"We're here for you. You know that, right?"

"Please leave."

So Harry did.

He found Theodore sitting in his usual spot in the library, intensely focused on a tattered, heavy, old tome.

"What has you so absorbed?"

"The Grimoire of Herpon ho deinos." Theodore looked up and frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I could hear you. The entire house could."

Harry blinked. "Ah. Well. Some things had to be said, I think." He shook his head. "It should be fine." He pulled a chair from the table and sat down. "So. Herpo the Foul? The evil wizard who discovered how to breed Basilisks?"

Harry saw Theodore hesitate, but his friend ultimately decided to allow the change of topic. Harry was glad for it. Hermione wasn't the only one who needed to take a step back from it all.

"The very same. It's a fascinating read, although I can see why the book has been banned in Britain. Probably in Germany, too. It's why I want to finish it before we depart tomorrow. I'm sure they have a copy of the Necronomicon as well, despite it having been banned in almost every single country all over the world for centuries, now, but I haven't found it in all the time we've been staying here, so I presume it's with the main branch of the family." Theodore paused. "Herpo was likely the very first to create a Horcrux."

Harry tilted his head. "Do you know what happened to it?"

"It might still be around. As far as I'm aware, no one ever confirmed Herpo's death. No one ever even heard of his death."

"Well," Harry said lightly, "at least he never tried to take over the world."

Theodore smiled. "Too focused on his research of the Dark Arts," he agreed. "His book really is fascinating. The things he's done – you can't imagine!"

"Ah, then I better not disturb you any longer."

"I don't mind," Theodore was quick to say. "You could join me?"

Harry felt his expression soften involuntarily. "I would love to."

Theodore hesitated for a moment, then scooted his chair closer to Harry's and pulled the book over to lay between the two of them. He raised his shoulder slightly with a questioning tilt of his head and Harry took it as the invitation it was to lightly lean against him.

They read mostly in silence, safe for the occasional question Harry had that Theodore happily clarified for him.

It wasn't until they had already made their way through several chapters, that Harry gathered the courage to speak up.

"Can I ask you something?"

Theodore turned to look at him. "Go ahead."

"Why do you … Why do you always ask – before touching me, I mean?"

There was a moment of silence as Theodore took his time to formulate an answer.

"Touch is … a complicated thing," he eventually replied. "And hard, sometimes."

"Hard?"

Theodore turned his head slightly, eyes leaving Harry's to look away to the side. "Humans need the physical closeness as much as most other animals do. But … Lynea and Rhea both never enjoyed it much. Lyn even began to actively avoid it in recent years and –" Theodore hesitated. "I suspect there was more to it than mere touch aversion. But she tried. For me…"

Theodore had been closest with Lynea, Harry remembered, and Lynea had been almost as close with him as she had been with Rhea.

"Rhea has a way around it with Blaise," Theodore continued. "I'm not sure about the details, but I believe they roped in Neville as well, now." He took a shaky breath. "And I was never as close to any of the other Slytherins. Our house is not … not very touchy."

"So I –" Harry swallowed. "I was the first person you were ever close enough to –" He didn't know how to finish the sentence.

But Theodore finally turned back to look at him again. "Yes. And I could see that you needed it, too. But I never wanted to presume. So I always made sure to ask."

It was only then that Harry realised – Yes, Hermione and Ron hugged him every now and then. Molly, too – and often at that. But it never went beyond that. The casual touches he sometimes observed other people doing – a hand on the shoulder, an affectionate nudge, just sitting close enough for shoulders and knees to touch – those were a rarity in Harry's life.

Having grown up the way he had, Harry supposed it wasn't surprising he had never known otherwise.

"Thank you," was what he managed to say to Theodore. "I – Thank you. But you don't have to ask. I appreciate it, I really do. And that's why you don't have to." Harry tried to convey how earnest he was with his eyes and his words. "I trust you."

The awe that slowly made its way onto Theodore's face in return almost took Harry's breath away.

He cleared his throat. "Anyway. Let's see if we can finish this book."

The corner of Theodore's lips quirked upwards. "Let's."

o

Saying goodbye to Sephoneia was neither a very emotional scene, nor did it take overly long. Just like last time, she simply told them they could visit if they ever wanted to learn more and then she disappeared back into her house, leaving them to stand around the portkey she had made them – Harry, Ron, Hermione and Theodore with all their belongings packed into their extended bags and Rhea with Lynea's undead cat Murr cradled in her arms and her several Inferi carrying her things. Hedwig would fly back to Britain, not being very fond of portkeys.

Harry briefly wondered if he would meet Sephoneia at the main branch of the Totengräber family the next time he came to visit, but then the portkey whisked them away and they had more pressing matters to worry about.

o

Somehow, they had all kind of forgotten about one very simple, very obvious consequence of their absence from Britain: None of them had ever officially graduated from Hogwarts. Well, except for Rhea, who immediately busied herself helping Neville and Zabini do whatever it was they were doing. (The specifics all went over Harry's head, to be honest.)

So while Hermione in particular was very eager to help get their community back on track, even she had to admit that finishing their education was an important step to actually be of any use. Heroes or no – for once Harry had given his official statement (carefully curated by Hermione and Theodore), they were all suddenly being celebrated as the saviours of the magical world – having not finished school was quite the detriment for their future.

Hermione was definitely returning for her seventh year, that much was out of the question. As was Theodore. Harry was planning to, as well, and there was no way Ron wouldn't join them if they all went back to Hogwarts. Though Harry wasn't exactly looking forward to sharing classes with children two years younger – they had missed the beginning of Ginny and Luna's final year by over two months – he was eager to wander Hogwarts' halls again.

But as the months leading up to the next school year went by at a snail's pace, Harry's decision began to falter.

There was more than enough for them to do, more than enough to keep them busy. Hermione's parents were only one of the many big hurdles they had to tackle. And the emotional outcome of that was … a lot. But that was a matter Hermione had to overcome on her own and Harry and the others could only lend their support.

The biggest hurdle for Harry was … complicated.

He had never really thought about his status as the Chosen One all that much, had tried to avoid the topic as it always made him highly uncomfortable. He also hadn't been in the public eye before as much as he was now, always safe behind Hogwarts' walls or hidden away with the Dursleys. But now he was actively helping rebuild their community, running errands for his friends more than really contributing helpful ideas, because politics and economics and whatever else was going on had never been among his strong suits.

And people were expecting things from him.

People were looking to him to help them overcome this. As if he alone could change the world for the better.

He couldn't. He didn't know how.

Everyone was doing their best and Harry … It wasn't that he felt useless. It wasn't that he wanted to be the person everyone thought he was. It was all just too much.

So in the end, Harry decided he couldn't take it anymore. Six months after defeating Voldemort, a bit over four months before the new school year would begin, Harry sought out Theodore to ask him for advice.

"I don't want to stay," he told his friend. "I don't want to be treated as a hero – the saviour of our world or whatever. I know there is still so much left to do, so many things left to fix. But others can do a better job at that. Just look at Neville – he's been doing a far better job at everything the entire war. Neville is amazing."

Harry raked his fingers through his hair, trying not to pace in agitation.

"And I – all I did was help get Voldemort out of the way. I know that was one of the most important parts in ending the war, but … Keeping people safe was important, too. And I didn't do any of that. That was all Rhea and Neville and Zabini and Luna and Ginny, and Ron with Lynea and Hermione, and even the Order and all the people Neville and the others got involved to help. I just … I'm not the hero they think I am."

"Nothing stops you from leaving," Theodore told him quietly. "You can go anywhere you want, do whatever you want."

"But my friends –"

"We have magic, Harry," Theodore interrupted him. "No matter where you go, your friends will always just be a single use of a portkey away. You know they will understand. Travel the world. Learn more about it. Meet new people. Speak to the dead from eras and civilisations long gone. Study the ways of necromancers from different cultures." And then, faintly, "I know I always wanted to."

"You could come with me."

Harry could see the surprise he felt at the words that had slipped out of his mouth reflected in Theodore's face.

He almost missed the quiet, "I would like that."


AN

Yes, yes. Many emotions to be had.

More importantly, before we really get into part 3 – other than NotPott and Draco, are there any loose threads I forgot to tie off?