A/N: STOP. If you haven't read Of Wolves and Men and its sequel Of Men and War, then go back! They're long, but I promise they're worth the read!

This is the last installment of the Of Wolves and Men series! It will probably be a little less dark than its prequel and will still contain some adult material. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

To my reviewers! From the last story: thank you, ALL OF YOU, so much! I pretty much passed out after posting that last chapter the other day and woke up to a slew of follows, favorites, and reviews. It was like Christmas morning! Thank you so, so, so much for all of the love despite the sad ending. This one will be happier, I promise!

Write me a review! Please?

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is a genius to whom I am eternally grateful. I will never own any of the Harry Potter stories or characters that my fanfiction is based off of because they all belong to her and rightfully so.

Source: Rowling, J. K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Scholastic: New York.

Prologue: The Sound of Hope

It was a bright warm morning in London – September 1st to be exact. A woman with long black hair ran through the busy corridors of King's Cross Station, winding between people, blurting out broken apologies as she shoved and pushed her way through the crowds. Her lungs were searing with panic. Where were Platforms 9 and 10?

Of all days to be late! Her mind screamed every profanity she knew as she sprinted through the crowds. This was the most important of years, the most important of days! She'd been waiting for this day for nearly a decade, and now that it was finally here, she was going to miss him!

Finally, she saw the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 with a great sigh of relief. A flash of red hair disappeared beyond the barrier, and the woman knew she'd finally caught up with the Weasleys. She rushed after them, landing on the Platform for the Hogwarts Express.

The great scarlet steam engine stood tall and welcoming with children and parents crowded in clusters of loud chatter and movement. The woman smiled. A great surge of warmth and affection spread through her chest as she gazed at the familiar train. She didn't allow herself long though. She craned her neck around to see a group of redheaded children hovering around a plump, equally ginger-haired woman. She smiled fondly and moved forward to greet them.

The youngest – a girl of 10 years – saw her first with a broad grin, releasing her mother's hand and rushing forward to hug the dark-haired woman.

"Rowan, you made it!" she squealed excitedly. Her skinny freckled arms squeezed around the older woman's waist tightly. Sparks danced in her eyes with barely contained glee. "You'll never guess who Fred and George met on the train! Harry Potter!"

Rowan Delacroix forced her face to remain straight, though her stomach flipped violently at the name. She held the smile on her face and tried to quell her excitement.

"Really? That's certainly something," she said warmly. She saw Molly Weasley shoot her a look, but she maintained her cool, though she wasn't sure how. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it might burst from her ribs.

"Ro-wan!" sang a pair of boyish voices. She was suddenly engulfed in a barrage of gangly arms and red hair. She laughed happily as the bright faces of Fred and George Weasley pulled away, both grinning madly at her. Their sister Ginny pouted angrily as she'd been shoved out of the way.

"Where have you been, woman?" Fred demanded with false anger.

"Do you know how hard it's been trying to practice plays without you around? If we get cut from the team this year, it's your fault!" George accused.

Rowan laughed and mussed up both boys' hair affectionately. "Sorry, boys, I've been busy with work. And I'm sure you'll be fine," she said. She lowered her voice a decibel, trying to retain her calm. "Is it true you met Harry Potter?" she asked carefully.

Both grinned. "Yeah, he's a little fellow," Fred replied. "I reckon his hair might be a bigger wreck than even yours," he teased. Rowan glared and pounded him on the head roughly. He whimpered.

"You two! Quit heckling that poor woman and come here!" Molly shouted over the loud chatter of the platform. They both grinned and pulled Rowan by the arms towards their mother and siblings. She noted that Percy was already gone, not that she'd expected any different – she'd never seen anyone so excited to be a Prefect. He was probably already on the train with his chest puffed out and bossing people around. Ron beamed at her, bubbling with excitement. She grinned – she was just as nearly as excited for him. There was no greater thrill than one's first day at Hogwarts.

"Now, be good at school, and look out for your brother," Molly said sternly to the twins.

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us," Fred promised teasingly.

"Shut up," Ron shot back. Rowan noted with mild awe that he was almost as tall as the twins already. It felt like just yesterday that he'd barely been able to walk.

She sighed as she listened vaguely to Molly say goodbye to the children, craning her neck over the crowds for any sight of him. She couldn't believe that she'd missed him, after looking forward to this day for so long! She'd been planning to see the Weasley children off for school, but it had all really been to see Harry. A part of her was relieved to know that he was at least on the train somewhere, but she'd hoped that she could at least catch a glimpse of him. Her chest clenched painfully.

She gazed up at the train with an aching sense of longing. It'd been so long since she'd been a student on that train, so long since the happy conversations there with her old friends, who were all now long gone. Harry was sitting somewhere on there, just within reach and yet so far away. Perhaps he sat in one of the compartments that she and his parents had once shared. Was he making friends already? Was he loud like James or polite like Lily? Would he be a talented flyer? Did he still miss his parents as much as she did? There were so many questions that had accumulated over the past decade, and yet they still remained unanswered. She wondered if they would ever be answered. Her eyes trailed along the sleek lines of the cars, over the shining windows.

And then something caught her eye – the tiny form of a dark-haired boy with glasses. Her breath caught painfully in her chest and the conversation of the group seemed to suck into a void silently.

She knew that face.

That mop of black hair, those eyes… she couldn't see their color at that distance, but she knew they were green. She felt her lips tremble as the images of her beloved friends flashed through her mind. He looked just like James.

A whistle sounded, and the boy's eyes widened quickly with embarrassment as he saw that he'd been caught staring. He shot back in his seat and out of view, and the ache in Rowan's chest multiplied tenfold.

"Hurry up!" Molly cried, jerking Rowan from her daze. She turned towards the three boys and quickly hugged each of them as they clambered onto the train. They leant out of the window for Molly to kiss them goodbye and their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!"

"Only joking, Mum."

The train began to move.

"Let me know how the Quidditch season goes!" Rowan shouted after them. They nodded enthusiastically with broad smiles and waved back at her.

Ginny chased after them, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed; then she fell back and waved.

Rowan gazed after the window that she'd seen Harry in, catching the smallest glimpse of him once more as the train pulled away. His eyes met hers for the briefest of moments, and then he was gone. The tension in her chest remained, though it was light. It reminded her of the bittersweet songs she used to play for her father. She prayed silently with all of her might that he'd find his place quickly at Hogwarts.

"Did you see him?" Molly asked quietly from beside her.

Rowan smiled softly. "He looks so much like James," she whispered. Her eyes stung with tears, but she blinked them away quickly. Molly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly. Rowan gave the older woman a watery smile.

"Mina couldn't make it?" she asked.

Rowan shook her head. "No, Fudge gave her a last minute assignment that she couldn't get out of. She's livid," she replied sadly.

Molly sighed. "Well, that's the cost of being Major General, I suppose. There will be other years." Rowan nodded vaguely.

The two women looked over to see Ginny walking back to them, hands rubbing at her teary eyes, face blotchy and pink from crying. Rowan smiled and moved forward to hug the young girl, who hiccoughed softly as she embraced her back.

"It's okay, girlie. Next year, you'll be on that train with them," she said encouragingly. Ginny smiled through her rosy sniffling tears and nodded, taking Rowan's hand.

"Well, time to get going before the barrier closes," Molly sighed. They nodded and turned, following the slow trickle of departing parents.

As the three women stepped back into the station, Rowan glanced back. The train was gone, as was Harry Potter, but she knew with a great surge of warmth that she'd see him again – her best friends' cherished son, her godson, the Boy Who Lived. She promised silently that she'd watch over him, even if he never knew her name, and as she stepped through the barrier with Ginny Weasley's hand tightly grasping hers, her heart was filled with the resounding sound of hope.