Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Prized

Epilogue

"Dad, why can't I go on the train?" Adrian asked, and Ron felt his heart seize up for a moment.

Just for a moment, he let himself remember another little redheaded child who'd asked the same thing of his mother once upon a time. And then he forced himself to let it go, to move on, to leave it behind him. "Because you aren't quite old enough yet," he said easily, and swung Adrian up into his arms.

"But I wanna go with Madeleine and Darren!" Adrian whined. He buried his head in his father's shoulder, but Ron was pretty sure that he wasn't crying.

He hoped not, anyway. He couldn't really be sure. Daphne was always better with them when they were crying. Not that he wouldn't try, of course, because he would. "And you'll be able to go in a few years," Ron said soothingly. They hadn't meant to have Adrian, they'd been content with Madeleine and Darren, but he was still a pleasant surprise, for all that the ten year gap between him and his older siblings was a little bit much.

"But they won't be there anymore!" the four-year-old wailed, and then he really was crying.

Ron bounced and soothed him, at least until Daphne finished talking with Pansy, then swooped in and saved him. "He wanted to go to the Academy," Ron mouthed to her, and Daphne smiled a little sympathetically.

"Toria was the same way," she said, running her fingers through Adrian's auburn hair. "She hated that I got to go the year before she did."

"Think it'll happen every year?" Ron asked.

Daphne just smiled at him. "Still no regrets?" There was a twinkle in her eyes that said she knew the answer.

Ron grinned back at her, then he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his wife's lips. "Not a one," he said, and tugged her into a hug. Adrian's tears quickly turned to giggles as he laughingly protested being squished between his parents.

Ron pulled back, but took Daphne's hand, and the two walked hand in hand from the station, Adrian giggling happily, all traces of his sorrow gone with the promise of an ice cream from Diagon Alley.

ooOOooOOoo

Severus let out a frustrated growl as his potion exploded once more, fortunately contained by the safety protocols he'd enacted just in case it went badly for the third time. He let the reaction run its course and stormed upstairs, where Remus was lounging on the beach. There were a handful of others on the beach as well, all in varying states of undress, playing roughly with one another, their various scars on display.

Merlin help him, he'd never imagined he'd be so comfortable with so many werewolves.

"Did it work?" Remus asked idly, taking a sip of a pink concoction. Severus sniffed it, and winced at the smell of fake fruit flavor.

Why Remus liked those things, Severus couldn't begin to imagine. "No," he said shortly, and collapsed onto the chair beside Remus. At least it was warm, and the sun soothed the ache deep in his bones. "It didn't. I think that sand keeps making its way into my potions laboratory, not that I have any idea who would possibly be tracking it in."

Remus snorted. "Severus, I would never," he said, his expression perfectly innocent.

Severus smirked. "It must have been some other werewolf seducing me after rolling about on the beach last night."

"It better not have been," Remus shot back, a little bit of a growl in his voice. Then he relaxed. "In all seriousness, I know that you had little interest in moving to the beach. Thank you for making the concession."

Severus let himself relax. "It does have some good points," he said, and let his eyes drift closed. "There are worse ways to spend a retirement. And I know that you're pleased that Harry likes it out here enough to come visit us frequently."

"Mmm," Remus agreed. Soft lips touched Severus', then Remus said, "He's thinking of coming out during the first weekend that the school's in session. He meant to get out last weekend, but there was an incident with some of the portraits that had to be sorted out. You know they hate the new building."

"He should light them all on fire," Severus murmured, already giving in to the sun's allure. He would have a terrible mess to clean up when he woke up, but that was for later. He'd made it to retirement, something he'd once been sure would never happen, and he deserved a nap in the sun with the love of his life if he wanted one.

ooOOooOOoo

"Well, at least this year's group didn't scream about Voldemort sitting at the head table," Draco said dryly, raising a tumbler of firewhiskey in salute from where he was lounging against the Dark Lord in question.

"I can't decide if I'm offended about that," Voldemort murmured. He pressed a kiss against Draco's forehead, then one against his lips after Draco took a sip of his drink. "Although I suppose it has been almost twenty years since I've done anything truly terrifying."

"You should be pleased," Harry said. He crawled onto the couch, leaning into Voldemort's other side. He reached out and tangled his hand with Draco's spare and let his eyes fall closed. "At least now they probably won't freak out if you teach a Defense class or two."

"If Zabini lets me," Voldemort said, and there was a distinct note of pouting in his voice. "I never imagined that my own Death Eaters would start refusing me things once word got out that you'd made me soft."

Harry's eyes opened and he darted a mischievous look in Voldemort's direction. "You've never complained about me making you soft before," he said teasingly. He leaned up and kissed Voldemort, long and lingering, and pulled back just when Voldemort started to get involved. "In fact, you normally complain about the opposite."

He slid off the couch and slunk off in the general direction of their bedroom. Voldemort swore softly behind him, and Draco let out a low chuckle. "You're going to let him get away with that kind of disrespect, my lord?" he asked teasingly.

"The both of you are quite disrespectful," Voldemort said. "Perhaps I need to teach you both a lesson."

"Not too much of one," Draco said. "I'd like to be able to stand while I'm teaching Potions tomorrow, thank you very much."

"Then you'd better stop sassing me," Voldemort purred.

"But that's half the fun!" Harry chirped. He spun around with a grin and began unbuttoning his outer robes, undoing each button slowly. "Don't you want to have fun tonight?"

Voldemort growled, and Harry laughed as the Dark Lord pounced.

A/N: Is there more I could do with this story? Maybe. But I'm satisfied with it's conclusion, especially given how long it's taken me to get here. Please note that this is probably one of the last stories I'll be posting on this site; I've moved entirely over to AO3. My next two projects, Of Green-Eyed Monsters and Chaotic Good, will both be over there. Chaotic Good, in fact, already has its first chapter up as a teaser. I can be found under the same pen name.

If I ever choose to come back to any of my works on hiatus here, I will of course update them here as well as on AO3. But anything new will be over there. Thank you all for all of your support, and I hope you've enjoyed this ride as much as I have. It's been a blast!