Okay, everyone, this is it - the last chapter. This includes some of the deleted scenes in the film, specifically in the beginning of Part I of the Deathly Hallows, so I hope you guys like it.

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN Harry Potter. ALL RIGHTS GO TO J.K. ROWLING AND WARNER BROS.

Chapter 12: The End May Just Be the Beginning

She was flying through a perfectly clear blue sky, the wind crisp and cool beneath her scarlet wings, and she felt happy and free. She didn't even need to wonder what she looked like because she saw herself clearly in her mind's eye.

She was a beautiful phoenix with fiery scarlet red and golden feathers, golden talons and a golden beak that was as sharp as an arrowhead, and had warm brown eyes…and she was flying free.

"Jem…Jemma…"

Who was that calling her? The voice sounded so familiar…

"Jemma, it's time to wake up…"

No, she didn't want to wake up. She was having the time of her life. Besides, if she woke up, she would have to leave and say goodbye…and she didn't want that to happen.

"Jem, it's morning. You have to wake up…"

She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to say goodbye. She never wanted to leave or say goodbye ever again…

"Come on, Jemma, wake up…"

Soon to be eleven-years-old at the end of November, Jemma Dursley woke up that dreary July morning when she felt someone gently shaking her shoulder. Blinking her doe brown eyes, Jemma squinted at the face of her cousin, Harry Potter. "It's too early, Harry. Can't we stay in bed just a bit longer?" Jemma yawned, shutting her eyes again, and curled up against her cousin. Harry chuckled and lightly shook her shoulder again. "You have to wake up now, Jem. You're moving today, remember?" he asked her softly. Jemma whimpered and nodded. Sighing, Harry held Jemma close and let the young girl sob into his shirt. He wasn't crying but he sure felt like it. They both knew what today was.

As soon as Harry turned 17, the blood ward protection of his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would be no more and he would become vulnerable. To protect Jemma and her family, Harry told his Aunt and Uncle that they would have to leave 4 Privet Drive…at least until Voldemort had been vanquished. But, wanting to make sure they would never have to deal with the likes of Harry and his witch and wizard friends ever again, Vernon decided to move the entire family to London permanently. Jemma and her older brother, Dudley, would have to leave behind their old school friends and pastimes in Surrey and make new memories in the capital.

And for Jemma…moving meant saying goodbye to her cousin and best friend in the whole world.

Finally, Jemma got out of bed and hastened to help her family in packing all of their things. Harry, who had decided to stay until he was picked up by the Order of the Phoenix later that night, did what he could to help. The house in 4 Privet Drive, where so many magical and non-magical memories had been made, was bare by dusk and no trace of the life the Dursleys and Harry had had there remained.

"Come on, Dudley, hurry up!" Vernon Dursley barked out as he pulled a suitcase along with him. Dudley, Jemma's big brother, hefted one of his belonging into the large carrying compartment attached to the car. "I still don't understand why we have to leave…" he muttered. "Because it's not safe for us here anymore," Vernon said with a grunt. Dudley merely groaned and looked behind him at the house and wondered where his little sister was.

"It looks smaller now, doesn't it?" Jemma asked quietly as she and Harry peered into the cupboard under the stairs that had served as Harry's living quarters for the first 11 years of his life. Harry nodded, shutting the cupboard door one last time, before heading to the living room. His Aunt Petunia was there and, when he saw how sad she was, Harry couldn't help but blame himself for making her leave for her own safety. She'd taken him in, albeit unwillingly, and…she was his mother's sister…

"I have lived in this house for 20 years. And now, in a single night, I'm expected to leave," Petunia said softly. "They'll torture you. If they think you know where I'm going for a moment, they'll stop at nothing," Harry told her urgently. Jemma, who was watching her cousin and her mother talk, merely stayed silent. "Do you think I don't know what they're capable of?" Petunia asked her nephew. When Harry didn't answer, she said, "You didn't just lose a mother that night in Godric's Hollow, you know? I lost a sister…" softly.

Harry could only look at his Aunt as she left the living room while Jemma couldn't help but wonder if her mother, after all these years, really did care for Harry after all.

Then, looking at each other, the two of them nodded and went outside.

Vernon, his mustache now white, regarded his nephew with contempt. "This isn't just goodbye, boy. This is farewell," he said and Harry, no longer wanting to have any quarrel with his uncle, nodded. Dudley looked confused. "I don't understand. Isn't he coming with us?" Dudley asked, making Jemma nearly roll her eyes. "Who?" Vernon asked his eldest child. "Harry," Dudley told his father.

"Absolutely not!" Vernon said shortly.

"Why?" Dudley asked.

"Well, because, he doesn't want to. Do you, boy?" Vernon replied, looking at his nephew. "Absolutely not. No. Besides, I'm just a waste of space, isn't that right, Vernon?" Harry retorted. Vernon just stared at Harry, glaring, before saying, "Come on, Dudley. Get your sister. We're off," he instructed Dudley.

Jemma waited for her brother to come take her away but, instead, was surprised to see Dudley go over to Harry and say, after some difficulty, "I don't think you're a waste of space."

'Finally!' Jemma thought as Harry said, "Thanks." Before he and Dudley parted ways with a firm handshake. "You saved my life and Jem's…I'll let you two say your goodbyes," Dudley mumbled before heading off to the car. "See you, Big D," Harry smirked as Dudley smirked back at him as he went to the car.

With the rest of her family in the car, Jemma looked up at Harry and knew that it was now time for them to say goodbye.

"You'll let me know when it's all over, won't you?" the youngest Dursley asked Harry hopefully. Harry knew that chances of him, Hedwig, or any of his friends surviving the upcoming war were slim and couldn't say anything. It wouldn't do Jemma any good to hold onto false hopes or promises. Once her cousin didn't respond after a few minutes, Jemma knew that this really was goodbye. "If you can't come back…just promise me you'll be safe," she said quietly, trying so hard not to cry. Harry sighed and crouched down to see eye-to-eye with Jemma. "You've grown up so much…" he said softly, gently brushing his hand against Jemma's cheek. "You have to win. You're the greatest wizard ever, Harry. You've got to beat Voldemort," Jemma said pleadingly, seeing that Harry couldn't even assure her that he would be safe. "And I will, Jem," Harry promised her before Jemma took something out of her pocket.

"Here…" Taking Harry's right hand, Jemma wrapped a red and yellow-gold woven bracelet around his wrist. Harry then noticed that the feather Fawkes had given to his younger cousin had been cleverly woven into the bracelet that felt warm against his cool skin. "I carried Fawkes' feather around with me the whole year at school and it brought me good luck. Maybe…maybe it'll give you good luck, too," Jemma said softly. Harry smiled gently at his youngest cousin and kissed her forehead. Jemma felt a few tears slip out of her eyes as she embraced Harry fiercely and rested her head against his shoulder.

When they let go of each other, Jemma brushed her hand against Harry's scar for one last time. "I love you, Harry," she said, her voice filled with emotion. "I love you, too, Jem…" Harry told her, smiling as he blinked back the tears in his eyes.

Jemma went to the car, looking over her shoulder every now and then, as Harry stood up and…with one last wave goodbye…got inside. As the car drove away, Jemma kept her gaze locked on Harry. Doe brown eyes and emerald green eyes maintained eye contact for as long as they could until the car turned around the corner and left Privet Drive for good.

They'd been on the move for a long time now. Days and weeks and months went by until Harry decided to stop keeping track of time. Most nights, he would stay up until dawn and watch Ginny's dot on the Marauders' Map. He wondered how she was doing and if things would ever be the same between them when the war against You-Know-Who was over. Ron would go away for some time, later, but he would come back to help him destroy one of the Horcruxes and the two of them and Hermione would continue the search for the other Horcruxes. It was shortly after destroying Salazar Slytherin's locket when his two friends would sometimes stay awake with him without him knowing it.

And, each time, Ron and Hermione would hear Harry softly singing a lullaby they didn't know…while fingering a bracelet that had a single phoenix feather woven into the strands of red and yellow-gold rope.

They lived in an apartment in London now and Dudley was already attending one of the nearby universities. For Jemma, it had been a miracle that her brother was now a bit more studious and less obnoxious. As for her, she was doing fairly all right. She went to a good school and got good marks in all her subjects. But friends…she couldn't really relate to any kids her age. For her, they were a boring lot and all they seemed to care about were what was the latest trend or who was more popular or the best among the rest. She mostly spent her time between classes in the school library or chatted with the birds that occasionally flew by the school when no one was around. At home, she listened to her parents drone on and on and on about normal things, only joining in on the conversation when talk regarding the state of things outside their average circle would come up.

But, most of the time, Jemma preferred to be alone with her books and to continue communicating telepathically with birds (though none of them will ever be as special as Ms. Flitteron or, in the near future, Seraphine). She found solace during the day with the birds, taking fencing classes, running, and caring for Fawkes' egg. However, at night, she would have horrible dreams of her in phoenix form trying to swoop down and save Harry from a terrible winged snake that always ended with her never finding out if she had succeeded or failed because, every time she would swoop down to save her cousin, she would suddenly wake up. The dreams only happened once a night but it was enough to keep Jemma worrying over Harry's safety.

Then, one night, she woke up crying.

She had dreamt she was in a dark forest with Harry and he was leaving her to face something up ahead that was emanating an eerie green glow. She had clung onto him, begging him not to go, but Harry gently pried her away from him. "Everything will be okay, Jem. Be strong. I love you," he had told her before he turned around and walked away. She had tried to run after him only to realize that there was some sort of barrier keeping her from advancing. "Harry, no! Don't go! Don't leave me alone! Come back, Harry! Come back!" she had screamed, banging her fists against the barrier as her cousin vanished into the depths of the forest, until the eerie green glow became a blast of bright green light and she heard a terrifying voice cry out…

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Now, as she lay awake in her bed, Jemma waited for her tears to stop until she whispered to the still air, "Please be safe, Harry. Please be safe…"

Harry had just used the Resurrection Stone to talk to his parents, Sirius, and Remus one last time. Now, he was on his way to meet his death at Voldemort's own hands. As he walked towards his fate, Harry thought back on everything he'd been through with Ron and Hermione, every happy memory he had of his friends at Hogwarts, times spent at the Burrow with the Weasleys and everything else in between. As he neared the Death Eaters' camp, he thought about Ginny. Her blazing looks and the way her lips felt against his…

Then, as he closed his eyes to wait for the Killing Curse to strike him, he thought not only of Ginny…but also of a brown-eyed girl who loved to run, spoke to birds, and had a heart of gold so strong and full of love.

"And our top story today…for the first time in 17 years, owls can be seen flying all over Britain…"

Petunia and Vernon could only look at each other nervously while Jemma said, "I'm going to school! I'll be home for supper!" and left their apartment. But, before she set off for school, Jemma went to the very top of the apartment building and waited. A few moments later, a beautiful phoenix the size of a peregrine falcon swooped down from the heavens and alighted on Jemma's shoulder. The phoenix, a female yet to reach her actual size since she was still very young, playfully nibbled on Jemma's ear and blinked its luminous black eyes at her curiously. 'Hello, Seraphine, how was your flight?' Jemma telepathically asked her partner-in-crime with a smile.

The egg had hatched on Halloween night.

It hadn't been easy keeping her a secret (especially when the cardboard box where the egg had been kept had been incinerated upon hatching) but Jemma had managed. She had first kept Seraphine with her while she was still a chick and, once she had grown strong enough to fly, let her fly free on most days and had trained her to return to the roof of the apartment building without being seen. Having been entrusted with caring for Fawkes' daughter, Jemma made sure to be a responsible and loving surrogate parent to Seraphine. And she had succeeded in doing just that. Next to her father, Seraphine had become an incredibly loyal pet phoenix and she cared for Jemma very much as if she were her sister.

Now, Seraphine's excited voice filled Jemma's head with the most wonderful news.

'Owls are flying all over Britain delivering the joyous news, Jemma. Last night, there were shooting stars all over the skies. It's over, Jem! Lord Voldemort's been vanquished!'

Jemma, for the first time ever since she moved from 4 Privet Drive, smiled a genuinely happy smile and gently stroked Seraphine's beautiful head as she looked up at the sky that had never looked so beautifully blue.

"I knew you could do it, Harry…I always knew…" she whispered to the heavens, wondering if her cousin could hear her.

Meanwhile, Harry was just getting off the Hogwarts Express with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny when he thought he heard his younger cousin. Looking around, he couldn't see any sign of Jemma and wondered if he was just hearing things. "Blimey, mate, you're still wearing that old thing?" Ron's voice snapped him out of it and he glanced at his bracelet. The red and yellow-gold strands of rope were now frayed and the entire thing was close to falling apart, the phoenix feather barely holding it together.

"You've been wearing that thing since we went off to search for the Horcruxes," Hermione pointed out. Harry merely smiled and said, "Well, it has brought me a lot of good luck." Making Ginny smile a bit. She was the only one he had told where he got the bracelet.

"You miss Jemma, don't you?" Ginny asked her boyfriend as they headed off to Hogwarts. "Every day," Harry nodded. As he started his seventh year with Hermione and Ron while Ginny started her sixth year, Harry wondered if Jemma was doing well.

I have plans to create a new story. I don't know when that will be…but I do have plans. Till then, stay awesome fan fiction readers and fan fictions writers!

-GuardianDragon98