Author's Note 09-01-15: Well that's it my little dreamers, here is the full epilogue, the Dream Trilogy is now officially complete. It's been a long journey – thirteen years pretty much exactly from conception to completion today. Thank you so much for being a part of it, I couldn't have done it without you.

I will now be working on an original novel, and possibly maybe some more FanFiction, though after this epic tale I may need to take a break from playing in other people's worlds! If you would like to keep in touch with my progress, you can follow me on Twitter at HelenJHaslam. Also, I have launched a new Facebook page for the trilogy, which I would love you to join! Go to Facebook then add /thehpdreamtrilogy. It will be a community to discuss the three books, find out trivia, share our love of Harry Potter, swap writing tips, and much, much more! Until I launch the official website, this will be the best place to become more involved with the Dream Trilogy.

You may notice there are no song lyrics for this chapter as normal, but there is still absolutely a song for the soundtrack. I've used a variation on the title though for obvious reasons – the actual track is called Requiem For The Tower as it was rearranged for the LotR Two Towers trailer. You can find a link to the right version via my Twitter page. It is honestly my favourite piece of music in the whole world, if I could only ever listen to one song again it would be this, so I hope you enjoy it too :-)

Right, that's enough procrastinating, it's finally time to let this little baby go. Unlike the other epilogues and prologues this is as long as a chapter, much longer in fact than the last few I've posted, so plenty for you to enjoy as we wrap up the story.

It's been a pleasure writing for you all, I hope we can do it again some time.

Hxxx

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Epilogue -

Requiem For A Dream

Clint Mansell

Hermione knew there were a lot of people moving and shouting around her, but she was too exhausted to do anything but cling to Sarah, elation and relief making them both shake, laugh and cry all at once. "You did it," she said again to the younger girl, but she felt her shake her head.

"We did it, all of us. Together."

There was a noise like a cat being strangled that startled Hermione into looking up, but her vision was obscured almost immediately by a body throwing himself on top of her and Sarah.

"Oh my girls!" shrieked Terry Boot as the three of them tumbled down in a heap. "Oh my brilliant, beautiful, lunatic girls!" Sarah was laughing as he rolled her over and gave her a loud, messy kiss on the cheek, before squirming around and doing the same to Hermione.

He pulled away, and his grin faded slightly, his eyes bright and locked with hers only a few inches away.

"Are you okay!" Sarah cried, throwing her arms around him in a hug and breaking his gaze. Hermione felt her cheeks were hot but just put it down to her raging fever.

"Me?" scoffed Terry, sitting back down in the rain. "You don't think turning into a zombie is going to slow me down?"

"I know it did!" replied Sarah playfully, nudging under his arm for another hug.

Hermione looked around at the rest of the Muggles, and felt her good mood fading slightly. They were so confused, crying and panicking as they wandered around in the deluge. She moved her hands to try and stand, and found her palm resting on something lumpy.

It was the key necklace, she realised, picking it up and looking at it in the moonlight. Now all the Death Eaters had vanished she thought it was probably a good idea not to use magic, so pocketed her wand and squinted instead. It was still sort of key shaped, miraculously, but looked like it had been melted down and twisted back into someone's drunken idea of what a key might look like, if the door it was intended for was crooked. And perhaps upside down.

The heavy, oppressive weight of the living Horcrux inside was gone, it was just a bit of jewellery again. Thinking of her doppelganger, Hermione gave a little smile and slipped it back around her neck, hoping the other Hermione would appreciate it for what it was worth.

"I wonder where my family are?" asked Sarah anxiously as Hermione tried once again to stand. Terry saw her struggling and moved to help her. If she was honest, he was still looking just as peaky as any of the other formally-cursed townsfolk, but together they managed to stand.

"Hopefully," said Terry. "They'll still be by your house."

Sarah muttered something that sounded like "What's left of it," and rocked back onto her hands.

Hermione suddenly picked up another noise over the rain, and jerked her head around. "What's that?" she asked.

Terry and Sarah both paused and listened too. "Sirens," said Terry, glancing around.

Hermione swallowed, her throat scratchy and dry. "Uh oh."

"The police!" one of the Muggles cried joyfully, and a few people cheered. But some were helping those with injuries they'd sustained in their zombie state.

"Better send an ambulance instead," said one man, causing others to nod. As the wailings grew in numbers though, Hermione thought all the three of the emergency services were probably on their way. She wouldn't have been surprised to see the army rolling in as well given the wide spread devastation.

"We need the Ministry," she said, panic rising in her voice. "Now. If the police can get into the town past the wards, so can the Aurors, and we need to Obliviate anything that moves!"

The sirens seemed to be coming from all directions now, and more and more people were shouting. There were police officers with torches making their way up the playground from the road, and Hermione could see the bulky outlines of ambulances across the field, blue lights . People were flocking as the staff tried to calm them and Hermione heard the same question being asked from both sides: "Just what is going on here?"

A sudden movement caught her eye, and she turned to see a man in purple robes and pointy hat appear out of thin air. "Oh dear," he said, grabbing onto his hat as the wind and rain threatened to take it from him.

Several people screamed, but within a second a dozen of more witches and wizards had apparated into the playground and immediately began addressing the Muggles.

"Oh thank goodness," sighed Hermione, resting her hand on her chest.

The Aurors were saying things like "It's quite all right," "We're here to help," "Would you like a cup of tea?" as they began leading people aside. As Hermione watched, Medi-Wizard tents popped literally up from the ground, and the medics themselves were running out with draughts of potions and wands waving. What she assumed to be senior agents were making a bee-line for the police, presumably to coordinate their efforts as much as was possible.

Hermione was grinning, she couldn't help it, and soon found herself in a three way hug with Sarah and Terry.

"I think these guys have got this," said Terry, looking down at Sarah. "We need to go look for your parents – and Ziggy – goodness knows what trouble he's getting himself into as we speak."

"And Parvati," said Hermione, matter-of-factly.

"Hmm," said Terry and Sarah together.

"Granger?" a woman's Scottish voice called. "Boot?"

"Professor!" cried Hermione, whipping around. She would know that voice anywhere, and she felt even more lightheaded as she dashed over to where her Head of House was striding towards them, an enormous red and gold umbrella lofted above her head.

"I have been worried sick!" scolded McGonagall as she threw her arm around Hermione when the two collided. "Where are Potter and Patel, what is happening here?"

"We last saw them at the house," said Sarah, stepping under the umbrella with Terry. The four of them fit quite comfortably, and none of the Muggles seemed to be noticing them anymore. "And my parents, but they were…"

"They were under the Imperius Orbis Curse," Hermione explained. "But now everyone's okay." She beamed. "Professor, I think you've met Sarah Potter, Harry's sister." She turned to face the younger girl. "And she just saved the whole universe."

"Sarah!" cried McGonagall as she got a good look at her. She grabbed the material at her chest like her heart was contracting, and the oversized umbrella teetered. "Oh thank Merlin!"

Sarah looked a little sheepish. "It was a team effort," she insisted, whilst Terry grabbed her and ruffled up her already tangled hair.

"Where have you been?" fretted McGonagall, ushering Sarah towards her to get a better look. "What's going on, the Ministry doesn't seem to know a thing! Do your parents know you're back?"

"They were infected," said Hermione, gesturing to the chaos around them. "Like Sarah said we last saw them at the house, but that was hours ago."

McGonagall surveyed the scene. The Muggles were being herded by the various magical organizations that had descended on the town of Godric's Hollow since the Death Eaters' wards had fallen. With a satisfied nod, she snapped out her wand and conjured a patronus. "Find Lily and James Potter," she told the cat with square patches around her eyes. "Inform them we have Sarah back safe."

"You might want it to find Harry too," said Terry.

"And Sirius and Remus!" squeaked Sarah.

"And Parvati," said Hermione stubbornly. She earned herself an eye roll from Terry and Sarah, but no matter how obnoxious she was, Hermione felt the other girl had been part of their group and deserved to be found.

"Very well," said McGonagall to the silver cat. "Tell them we are…"

"At the primary school," supplied Sarah.

"And waiting for them," concluded the Head of Gryffindor.

The Muggles either didn't notice the silver cat zip out into the night, or they didn't care. Hermione looked around as a big cheer and round of applause went up, and saw that the electricity had been restored to the lamp posts and shops across the road. Aurors were liaising with Muggle police detectives and paramedics, Hermione guessed they had been charmed already as they were cooperating in letting the witches and wizards take charge of the relief operation. Most of the Muggles seemed to be wrapped in blankets now and were gratefully standing under a big open-air marquee that had been set up on the grass.

"How are they going to explain all this?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

McGonagall waved her hand. "Toxins in the rain, the water supply, the air. There's very little we can't fob off on Muggle germ warfare these days sadly."

Terry nodded in wry agreement. "I'm sure these guys will be happy to forget all this anyway."

McGonagall scanned the crowd. "My good friend and colleague from the Ministry – a man named Kingsley – is on his way to us. He wants to fill in the blanks concerning your activities the past twenty four hours." She peered over her glasses at Sarah. "And I'm sure he'll be interested in where you've been the past week."

Hermione had a hundred thoughts fly through her head. What were they allowed to tell people in this universe? Who knew what already? Was it top secret like it had been in her world?

"Um," said Sarah, presumably having a similar thought process. "It's complicated."

"Perhaps I could take a guess?" asked the Transfiguration teacher.

Terry pulled an amused face. "If you guess this," he said. "I will transfer into Gryffindor the second we get back to school."

"More of an educated guess," said McGonagall kindly, and turned to Hermione, and reached into her robes pulling out a letter. "Could it be, Miss Potter, that you were in an alternate reality?"

Terry's mouth fell open. "You'd better get me some new robes," he said disbelievingly.

"Shh," hissed Hermione, but McGonagall smiled and held the letter out for her.

"It is quite alright, Miss Granger," she said. "After the events of last November, Albus briefed me fully on the inter-dimensional escapades. This letter is for you I believe."

"For me?" she repeated, unsure.

Her teacher nodded. "There was quite a ruckus in the library, and Irma found this on the floor. It was apparently the same spot Misses Brown and Turpin found you."

Hermione took it from her hand, and saw it had Harry's and Ron's names on the front too, and her heart leapt. "How'd you know it's for me, not Harry?" she asked.

"Well," said McGonagall, averting her eyes. "It had become apparent you and Mr Potter were no longer reachable, and the Ministry could not gain access to the town."

"We did?" said Terry.

"It seems a barrier was erected after your entrance," said McGonagall simply, then turned once more to Hermione. "I was concerned for your safety, so I hope you will forgive me but I opened and read the letter." She indicated that Hermione should do the same now. "After that," she continued as Hermione prised the parchment from the envelope. "Matters became substantially clearer."

Hermione shook open the single page and recognised the writing immediately from years of criticised homework and damning reports. "Dear Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger," she said aloud. "This is Professor Snape on behalf of Sarah Potter and Draco Malfoy."

She stopped and looked up at Sarah, as did Terry and McGonagall. "Ohh," said Sarah, a big grin spreading over her face. "I think I know what that is! Keep reading."

Hermione did as she was told. "It seems something went wrong with the incantation intended to send them home, but by the time we have you safely back we should hopefully have rectified this mistake. Please activate this letter in order to facilitate your return journey. Yours sincerely, Prof. Snape."

Hermione looked up at McGonagall, as did Terry and Sarah. "So you read that," said Terry dubiously. "And guessed alternate reality?"

"It was the logical conclusion," said McGonagall, and Terry pulled a face to suggest it was anything but. "Sarah and Mr Malfoy had been missing for some time, and I spoke with the Severus of this world who assured me he had not penned that letter. Obviously there is more to all of this than just that, but it was enough to go on."

"Good guess!" said Sarah excitedly. "It was the other Snape, from the world the other Harry came from. The one that rescued me from Germany."

McGonagall nodded at her. "I thought as much."

"So," said Hermione. "This will just take me home, easy as that?"

"Yes," said their teacher. "But I have many questions first, namely why on Earth it has taken you so long to return, where is Draco, and just what had been going on in this town?" Hermione flinched at her stern tone. "But I will wait until Kingsley arrives so you do not repeat yourselves unnecessarily."

"Does he know as much as you?" asked Hermione. "About the dimensions and-" But before she could say any more she was silenced by several, raking coughs.

"Miss Granger?" said McGonagall, sternness replaced by concern. "Are you quite well?"

"No," said Terry, as Hermione tried to catch her breath. "She's been getting worse and worse."

"Do you need to sleep?" asked Sarah.

"Yes," agreed McGonagall. "A rest may do you good."

"Oh no," said Hermione, shaking her head rapidly. "There's so much you need help with here, I'll stay as long as you need me." But even as she spoke she dissolved into another bought of coughing.

"Perhaps you should get to a medi-wizard?" suggested Terry, worry in his voice.

Hermione stepped out into the cold rain and let it sooth her burning forehead and tingling skin. "I'm not certain," she said, admitting the thing she'd been suspecting for the past few hours. "But I don't think it'll help."

"Why not?" asked Sarah.

"Because I don't think it's a virus making me ill," she said. "I don't think I have an infection. I think," she said, stepping back under the umbrella and wiping her eyes clear. "That I'm the virus, or infection, whatever you want to call it. I think I'm ill, because this body it rejecting me, my soul."

Terry crossed his arms. "After everything we've seen today," he said. "This might sound a little unfair, but that is ridiculous. You've got no reason to say that, it's just a cold and you need a Pepper-Up Potion."

"I'd agree," Hermione said with a shrug. "But Draco had a headache as soon as he arrived in my world as well, and then there's the weather."

"What about it?" asked McGonagall.

"Every time someone crosses dimensions, there's thunder and lightning, rain and wind, all out of nowhere, in an instant. It's like the elements are protesting the crossover. This storm was brewing in my world too, and then here it's become out of control. I think the reality itself is physically rejecting me, as well as my body, and the longer I stay, the worse it'll get."

"Then you have to go, now!" cried Sarah in concern.

Hermione threw up her hands though, the letter still in her left one. "No, that's not what I meant, I want to stay and help. I'm just…trying to explain why Pepper-Up probably won't do much good."

"Doubt it'll hurt," said Terry stubbornly. "And I still don't buy that the universe is trying to get rid of you with a bit of rain."

"A lot of rain," argued Hermione. "And give it time I bet it would escalate, to a natural disaster like an earthquake. But," she shrugged her shoulders. "It's just a guess, based on the evidence I've seen. Professor, how about we find somewhere to sit down, and I can help you with some answers?"

But McGonagall looked dubious. "Your concept does resemble a few in transfiguration theory," she said, a frown encroaching on her features. "And results noted in some extreme cases of Occumlency over-use. You may be right."

"I don't want you getting any sicker," insisted Sarah, her hands fluttering over Hermione's sleeves. "Terry and I probably know everything between us, we can explain to McGonagall and Kingsley, and Harry and the others know stuff too."

"Now they're not zombies," added Terry helpfully. "They're probably on their way over right now."

"No," protested Hermione, but her legs were feeling weak and she was struggling to stand. After her duel with Crouch she was even more exhausted and her throat was aching. She couldn't remember ever feeling this ill, not even when she'd had Beijing flu a while back. She swallowed though. "No, I should explain, there should be a record of my events here, it should be documented."

"Hermione," said Terry, taking both her shoulders in his hands. He looked down at her with those deep, brown eyes. "I'm not going to lie, it would have been nice to have you hang around when we we're not being chased by zombies, or Death Eaters, or zombie Death Eaters. But the truth is Sarah and I have been with you almost the entire time you've been here, and Sarah knows everything that went on in your world and even some of the Limbo stuff."

"Limbo?" asked McGonagall.

"I'll explain later," said Sarah with a wave of her hand.

Terry closed his eyes, for just a second. "I thought we'd have more time," he said. "But if what you and McGonagall are saying is true, then we don't. So," he paused. "Let's just get this over with."

Hermione looked between him, Sarah Potter, and Minivra McGonagall. "I should say goodbye, to Harry and his parents, apologise – this is all my fault."

"We can tell them," said Sarah, nodding.

"It might be some time before they are able to come to us," said McGonagall sensibly. "And I fear you don't have much longer before you lose your fight with consciousness." She managed a tight smile. "My dear," she said with genuine affection. "I wish I could talk with you further, this is such a enthralling experience for us all. But Sarah and Terry will be able to do the job for you I have no doubt, and admirably. You have done enough for this realty. It is now time you look after yourself."

Hermione felt bewildered, this had all happened so fast. But the more she thought about it, and with McGonagall's assertions, she was becoming more certain that being in the wrong reality was killing her.

She sighed. "Okay," she said, defeated. She really did want to go home, she was desperate to find out what had happened to Harry and Ron – had they succeeded? She was guessing from the fact they still existed that Voldemort hadn't unravelled Limbo just yet, so there was still hope.

There was always hope.

"Okay," said again, resign. "I'll go home."

Sarah's face crumpled and she threw her arms around Hermione's waist. "Bye," she said between soft little sobs. "It was really nice to meet you."

"And you," said Hermione, stroking her dripping hair. "You look after Draco for me yeah?"

"I promise," Sarah said earnestly.

"And the other Hermione," she added with a smile. "She'll be back when I leave."

Sarah nodded. "She's not that different to you really."

"Oh come on," said Terry cockily. "This one is way more bossy."

McGonagall cleared her throat. "If you are ready, Miss Granger?"

Hermione looked around at the playground where they had defeated Crouch and the Horcrux, watching as Quirrell was interrogated by an Aurora with a monocle and pipe who had neglected to put an umbrella over the Death Eater's head. The Muggles were thinning now as they were questioned and Obliterated. She just wanted to wait for the Potters to come back; not to say goodbye seemed disloyal to her Harry. But maybe it was best to just leave it all behind, why make it harder than it had to be? She was never going to see these people again.

Unless someone else fell through a Hotspot.

She smiled tiredly and hoped not, it was just too much trouble. "Yes Professor," she said. "I'm ready."

"You know the spell?" asked McGonagall, and Hermione nodded again. "Very well. In that case, I wish you all the best. Let us move back to give you some room," she said to Sarah and Terry as she stepped away, taking her umbrella with her. Sarah gave a shuddery sigh and released Hermione's waist to follow, and Terry turned away too, leaving Hermione to stand in the rain.

She watched them move ten or so feet away, and she couldn't help feel a little miffed that Terry hadn't said anything. She opened her mouth to protest that after everything they'd been through she felt she at least deserved a goodbye, when he spun on his heels, strode purposefully towards her, slipped his hands around her neck and kissed her passionately on the lips.

A squeak resonated somewhere at the back of her throat, and she thought maybe she heard Sarah shouting out, but mostly she just found herself letting go and leaning into his embrace, despite her terrible fever. The moment stretched out, but all too soon they pulled apart, and he rested his forehead on hers. "Look me up," he said a little breathlessly. "When you get home. Okay?"

"Okay," she said.

And with that, he placed a soft kiss on top of her head, gave her hands a squeeze, then walked back over to McGonagall's umbrella.

The Transfiguration teacher did nothing but raise an eyebrow, her gaze fixed forward as he dashed back under, and Sarah gaped at him with an open mouth. But he ignored them both. "Go on then," he cat-called. "Get on with it, stop making such a fuss!"

Hermione laughed and he winked. She wasn't sure how she really felt about being kissed by the second boy from another universe in less than a day, but she was smiling as she held the letter out and pointed her wand at it. "Here goes nothing," she said, took a deep breath, and fired. "Activertum!"

Blinding light erupted from the letter, making the Aurors still standing in the rain shout in surprise just as loud as the terrified Muggles. The ground shook and the rain and wind lashed and howled, whipping into a mini hurricane around her. She could feel her whole body vibrating, an involuntary cry breaking from her lungs. The swings whipped back and forth, the merry-go-round span, and Hermione's knees finally gave way as she plunged to the floor, falling right through it into nothingness as the darkness rushed up to claim her, taking her away from the world completely.

xxx

Ron was dreaming. He was dreaming that he'd been in an alternate reality, in America, with a cheerleader and a Muggle. They'd found the Philosopher's Stone, killed Bellatrix Lestrange, and he'd used a flaming sword to kill a bit of You-Know-Who's soul that had got trapped in a hat.

As he stirred and stretched his legs, Ron decided that was a pretty awful dream.

"Have y'all lost your gosh darn minds!" a voice screeched, and Ron winced. His head was pounding and there was a bad taste in his mouth. He stretched his legs again, then suddenly gasped as cramp lit up his left calf like a Crucio Curse.

"OW!" he cried, sitting bolt upright and grabbing his leg. He blinked his eyes and wiggled his foot, rubbing his calf furiously. It took a minute for the pain to subside, but by that time he was fully awake, and finally able to take a look around at his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was that he was sat on a camp bed, in a big tent with several other camp beds set up around him. The second thing, was that everyone else in the room was staring at him.

"RON!" bellowed Abigail Preston, launching herself across the room and throwing her arms around him. "Aw Hell, we thought you were a goner, you killed that thing, and you passed out, and then all the Aurors came-"

Ron groaned and she let him go and sat back, making the bed shift disconcertingly. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" he asked, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

"What?" demanded Abbey. Ron opened his eyes and gestured around the tent.

"How are you feeling?" a medi-witch with black skin and very short, white, curly hair asked, as she hurried over to them and raised her wand. "You've been through quite a lot."

Ron considered. "Feel a bit better," he admitted. "After a sleep."

"You weren't sleeping," said a voice from another bed. "You were unconscious."

"A.J.!" Ron cried happily, moving around so he could see his new friend propped up in the bed to his right. The Muggle boy looked tired, but the colour had returned with gusto to his skin, and it seemed like all his injuries from Bellatrix had been tended to. "You alright?"

A.J. managed a weak smile. "Yeah," he said as the medi-witch ran her wand over Ron, apparently taking some readings. "I'm okay." His voice was heavy and Ron found himself deflating where he sat.

Yes, he had destroyed the soul that Harry needed to stop You-Know-Who, and hopefully the Aurors had caught Crabapple and the other Death Eaters. But it had come at a price.

"What's happened?" Ron asked. None of the other beds were occupied, but there were several people who looked like they were from the American Ministry, as well as a few of Salem's teachers, including the no longer cursed Professor Rodriguez. "Where are we, what happened to the school and the Death Eaters?"

Rodriguez stepped forward solemnly, his hands clasped in front of his thighs. "The fight is over," he said in his thick Hispanic accent. "But there were heavy casualties. I fear many students lost their lives in defence of their friends and their home."

Ron felt his throat clench and saw Abbey bow her head, tears welling in her eyes. "We still don't know how many, or who," she whispered. Ron thought of Bobby Drake, running towards the burning tower, and felt his own eyes blurring.

"What about-?" he tried to say, but the words got caught in his mouth. "Has anyone," he said instead. "Gone down into the secret passageway, did they find…"

He couldn't bring himself to say Chris' name. He couldn't even look at A.J., but it was him who spoke.

"They brought him up a little while ago," he said, his voice tight. "They're going to say it was a car crash, seeing as his car has already been wrecked." Ron felt another pang of guilt, but he forced himself to look up and saw that A.J. wasn't angry or accusing, just deeply sad.

"We can work with the Muggle police," said one of the Aurors, a wiry man with light eyes and a goatee beard. "That way they'll have a plausible story to bring back to his family."

"Which is why," said another witch sternly. "We need to debrief this young man so we can modify his memory so his story will match!" She was a dumpy woman with a lavender perm and horn-rimmed glasses like Percy liked to wear. She was a great deal bigger than Abbey, but when the cheerleader jumped to her feet you would have been forgiven for thinking otherwise.

"And ah'm tellin' y'all, you are not wiping his memory! Period!"

Ron looked at A.J., who was watching with wide eyes, to all the adults in the room looking at Abbey, now standing in front of A.J. protectively.

"It's just protocol," said the goatee man apologetically. "He's a Muggle, he should never have even been here in the first place."

"Hang on," said Ron, waving the hand that wasn't propping him up on the bed. "What are you talking about?"

Abbey thrust a finger at A.J.'s face, and he winced ever so slightly. "They wanna erase his memory! They wanna take everything that happened away from him!"

Ron blinked. "Why?" he said, looking back at the Aurors. The white haired medi-witch had made herself busy measuring out toadstools and stirring a potion she had going in a cauldron, but the rest of the adults were looked between the teenagers awkwardly.

"Because he's a Muggle," huffed lavender perm. "We cannot have him knowing about the school, or anything about magic! It's just not done!"

Ron felt like his brain was working very slowly as he looked at A.J. again, who was keeping quiet. "But, he helped us," he said. "He helped us get through all the obstacles, he stood up to Bellatrix, you can't – that's not fair!" He felt the blood pumping back through his tired limbs again, and, very shakily, he managed to stand up too.

"Who knows who he might tell?" argued the lavender witch. "Sentimentality is no excuse-"

"Sentimentality!" cried Abbey, outraged. "Him and his friend helped us save the universe and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chris died for this, and you want to take that away from him? To make up some weak-ass excuse about a car crash?"

Rodriguez shared a look with the goateed Auror. "Abigail," said the Professor. "I agree, but Candeece here is adamant-"

"But," said Ron as Candeece, the lavender haired witch, scowled. "When we marry Muggles we're allowed to tell them, and in other special circumstances. I think this would count as a special circumstance, wouldn't it?"

The wizard with the goatee raised an eyebrow. "He has a point," he said to his colleague.

"A.J.," snapped Abbey, spinning around to face him. "Do you want them to mess around with your memory so you don't know what really happened, or are you okay thinking that Chris died in some stupid car crash rather than saving the world?"

"Er," said A.J., looking between her and Ron. "No thanks. I'd rather you didn't mess with my brain. That's a step too far."

Abbey gave Candeece a smug look and jammed her hands onto her hips. "He don't want a lobotomy, and if you feel like trying, you gotta go through me first."

"And me," said Ron, hoping he sounded steadier than he felt. He wasn't sure he could stand up to a chocolate frog right about now.

"I feel I have to stand by the children," said Rodriguez, moving to literally stand on Abbey's other side. "Unless you want to commission a full review, I feel it best we just leave the boy's memory alone. I doubt he will be telling anyone once we make the need for secrecy clear."

Candeece scoffed loudly and high-pitched. "Fine," she said shrilly. "I was only doing my job, on your head be it." She spun on her heels, nose in the air. "There is plenty for us to be getting on with," she snipped at the other Aurors in the tent, and with that she stormed back out into the pouring rain.

The agents didn't look all that impressed, but they followed her out anyway. The other teachers nodded and looked to Rodriguez, who gave them a single nod of approval. They filed out the tent, obviously eager to help in the recovery operation.

The Bureau agent with the goatee hesitated a moment as he followed the other adults. "Heraldo," he said, turning round just as he crossed the threshold. "You've still got that item we retrieved?"

Rodriguez patted his chest and harrumphed. "No," he said. "I lost my senses again and handed it over to the nearest Death Eater."

The agent looked amused, and stepped out into the rainy night.

"Thank you," said A.J. to the three of them. "I really didn't want them messing with my memories, that would have been...very wrong."

"Chris deserves better than that," said Ron earnestly.

"Hell yeah," agreed Abbey, throwing herself onto the end of A.J.'s bed, apparently not noticing his ill-hidden wince.

"I know they are only trying to do their jobs," said Rodriguez shaking his head. "But I feel after all you have done for our people A.J., you can be trusted to keep our secrets."

A.J. nodded, and Rodriguez took Abbey's lead and sat on the end of Ron's bed. "As Madam Crabapple has been taken into custody," he said kindly to Ron. "I have been appointed acting Headmaster in her absence. I think there are a few things we need to discuss, if you wouldn't mind?"

Ron looked at him, the prospect of all the things they could possibly have to talk about daunting him immeasurably. "Err, sure," he said.

"First," said Rodriguez. "I feel I have to apologise profusely for my actions whilst under the Imperius Curse. I was not myself and was helpless to prevent the attack on you and your friends." He turned and nodded at A.J. and Abbey, who nodded back.

Ron felt a bit awkward. "S'fine," he said, wishing he could lean back against the pillows like A.J. was, but the professor was in the way of where his legs would go, so he stayed perched.

"The Lestrange woman was very wicked, but Abigail explained to us what happened with the mirror."

"I didn't mean to," cried Ron, guilt welling up in him again. "She was going to kill A.J. and I knew she wanted the Stone, I just thought it would distract her, you might be able to get her out if you tried?"

But Rodriguez was holding up his hands. "No, no," he said softly. "That is not what I meant at all. I can appreciate it must have been very difficult for you to let the mirror take her, but by doing so you saved yourselves as well as many others I suspect. But also, you freed me from many weeks of torment. What I meant was-" he held out his hand for Ron to shake. "Thank you."

Now Ron was even more uncomfortable and confused. "Oh," he said, looking at his tanned, course hand, before offering his own for a hard grip and shake. "Um, you're welcome. But the others helped you know, anyone would have done the same."

Rodriguez's dark eyes sparkled. "I am not certain that they would have, Ronald."

Ron didn't know what to say to that, so he just waited.

"Your friends explained," said Rodriguez after a moment. "Everything as best as they could, and it is quite an incredible tale. How you arrived at the school, the prophecies, the trials."

Ron glanced at A.J., who raised an eyebrow and nodded to show his agreement.

Rodriguez saw the exchange. "Ah, and of course your Muggle friend Alexander too, he told of how you woke up in this body. Can it really be you are from an alternate reality?"

Ron rubbed the back of his stiff neck. After all the running and falling and hitting and hiding, there was hardly a part of his body that didn't ache. He apologised mentally to the other Ron for taking such bad care of it. "Um, yeah," he said, shrugging. "I was trying to send someone else back to their reality, but something went wrong and I ended up here."

"Who," said Rodriguez, frowning. "What do you mean? Who were you trying to send back, where?"

Ron rubbed his eyes and blew out a breath. "Okay," he said, and, starting from last November and Harry's disappearance, tried his best to explain what had been going on in the saga of dimension swapping. There was still a lot he didn't understand himself, but he hoped he was able to tell them enough so they got most of it. "No one meant to cross over," he said after a lot of talking. "It was always just an accident. But I still ended up here," he paused, swallowing. "I still ruined everything."

Rodriguez opened his mouth. "No," he started to say, but Ron was just too tired.

"Yes," he said. "I did. If I hadn't been so weak, I could have figured it out myself, instead of dragging Chris and A.J. and the whole bloody school into it. How many people have died because I was too scared to try and think how to get back home myself!"

"What else would you have done?" asked A.J., his own voice hardening. "Wandered around the world until you stumbled upon another Hotspot for you to throw magic at?" He pushed himself up in bed. "Pretended to be our Ron for the rest of your life? No, you did the most sensible thing by coming here, and Chris insisted we take you." Unbelievably, he managed a rueful smile. "And there is no talking that boy out of a scheme once he's got it in his brain, wild horses couldn't have kept him away."

Rodriguez nodded and clenched his fist. "You did not murder these people Ronald," he insisted. "It was the people of The Dark Lord – Lestrange, Crabapple – traitors all that will pay for their terrible crimes. These are the people that attacked innocent children. It was you who were willing to give your life to protect them."

"An' ah saw what you did, with that thing that came outta the hat," said Abbey solemnly. "You were somin' fierce."

Ron could feel his mouth was slightly open, so he shut it with a little click. "But," he tried weakly.

"No buts," said the professor, standing. "I will not hear one more word. You have done your best in a frightening and, dare I say, wholly unique situation. The least we can do for you now is help you find your way home. Once the school is back on its feet again it will be my top priority."

"But how?" said Ron. "I have no idea how to get myself home."

"I believe," said Rodriguez. "My friend Agent Lee has given me something that might help with this." He fished into his robes and brought out something from his inner breast pocket, an envelope. "This is addressed to you, amongst others."

Abbey and A.J. craned their necks as the teacher handed over the letter and watched eagerly as Ron flipped it over to see the recipients. He couldn't help but choke out a cough.

"What is it?" asked Abbey. "Who else is it for?"

"My friends," said Ron disbelievingly. "From home, from my world." He held it up so the others could see. "Harry and Hermione."

"Both British," said Rodriguez. "One deceased, one a Muggle born with no idea she is a witch."

Ron flicked an eyebrow as he jammed his finger under the seal. "Not where I'm from," he said, yanking the parchment out and reading the words hungrily. "It's from my professor," he said, trying to ignore it was his all-time-least-favourite professor and focus on the positives. "This is just like what we did last time. I just have to activate this letter, then I can go home!"

He looked up excitedly, but was met with two sad faces and one sceptical one. "This letter can do that?" asked Rodriguez.

"You wanna go home now?" said Abbey, her eyes wide.

Ron looked between them. "Where did you find this?" Ron said to Rodriguez instead, avoiding their own questions.

The professor smoothed his robes and glanced out into the wet night. Ron had completely lost track of what the time might be, it could be almost morning for all he knew. "The Bureau detected a magical anomaly, when they were in Cleveland debriefing the rest of your family."

This surprised Ron. "Are they okay?" he asked, forgetting everything else momentarily.

Rodriguez nodded. "Lee informed me they are shocked but otherwise fine, and looking forward to their son's return amongst other things."

Ron looked down at the letter. They must be so confused, all his brothers and Ginny; did they know by now they were magical?

"What kind of anomaly?"

Rodriguez waved his fingers at the letter. "In a basketball court near your home, a flurry of activity and strange weather. When they went to investigate this was pinned under a trash can. We are lucky it not blow away all together."

Obviously becoming impatient, Abbey reached out and snatched the letter from Ron's hand, and held it up for her and A.J. to read. "I don't get it," she said.

"It's what we did when Harry got stuck in the first alternate reality," said Ron. "Me and Hermione...well, mostly Hermione and our headmaster," he admitted with a shrug. "They made a potion and enchanted a letter to follow in Harry's wake. It could have been any object, but a letter meant we could explain things."

"So," said Rodriguez, taking the letter himself to inspect. "It is now a sort of Portkey?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah," he said, pleased they were getting it. "It means..." He sat back, letting it really sink in. "It means it's over, I can go home." He couldn't believe, after everything, it was that easy.

"You're leaving so soon?" said Abbey. He couldn't help but note the hurt in her voice.

He glanced up at Rodriguez, who handed the letter back with the smallest of nods. "I don't belong here," said Ron, sighing as he looked at her and A.J. "I need to get back to my own world, find Harry and Hermione, make sure they're okay. Hell," he waved the letter with a laugh. "I even want to see what happened to Draco, who thought that would even happen?"

Of course none of them had the slightest idea who Draco Malfoy was, so couldn't appreciate the bizarreness of that wish. Instead Abbey leant forward and took his free hand. "But, it's just so sudden?"

Ron squeezed her hand, and looked over surprised as his other one was taken too. A.J. had sat up in bed, and reached over for Abbey's hand as well. "I know it's not exactly been fun," said Ron as the three of them linked hands. "In fact, a lot of it's been downright terrifying. But I can't say I'm sorry I met you."

"Me too," said A.J.

"Me three," said Abbey, laughing as a tear escaped her eye, and she wiped it away with her elbow.

"The other me," said Ron. "He'll wake up when I go, he won't remember any of this. Will you look after him?"

Abbey made a scornful noise. "Duh," she said. "Someone's gotta watch his back in this place, this school is crazy don't you know?"

"And strange things happen in our neighbourhood," said A.J. with a touch of a grin. He and Abbey exchanged a look, and in that moment, Ron knew he and his family would be in good hands, wherever their new lives took them.

He turned to find Rodriguez was still standing near them, watching on silently with a proud expression on his face. "I think I'm ready," Ron told him, his throat clamping only slightly.

Rodriguez sighed and clapped Ron's shoulder. "As already promised," he said. "We will take the very best care of you and your kin. Thank you for everything you have done for us."

With one final squeeze, Ron let Abbey and A.J. go, and taking a deep breath, stood once more to his feet. The room swam only a little before him before he managed to steady himself. "I think I better go outside," he said. "I think this'll make a bit of a mess."

"I will warn the Bureau," said Rodriguez, and preceded him out of the tent.

"Good luck man," said A.J. with a salute. Abbey threw her arms around him.

"Crazy dumb ass," she said with affection, one last time.

Ron swallowed the lump in his throat and walked away from them, back out into the dark and the rain.

He could just make out Professor Rodriguez and the man with the goatee, presumably Agent Lee, ushering people back in the torch light and giving him a twenty foot radius of space. The school complex lay in the distance, maybe a hundred feet away. Several dozen tents like the one he'd been in were pitched in every direction, and people were hurrying between them all. The fires seemed to have been extinguished from the battle, but there was still a grim air about the place. Ron gasped as the rain plastered his hair to his forehead as he moved further into the night. It was cold, but that soothed his fever if anything.

"Okay," he said to himself. "Alright, you can do this." He held the letter up, the ink running in the rain. He panicked and wondered if that would affect the spell, then decided to just do it anyway before the rain disintegrated the parchment all together. "I can do this," he whispered. "I can do this, I can do this – Activertum!"

A whirlwind exploded into life around him, making people scream and run even further away. Thunder boomed and lightning pierced the sky as the wind roared making it almost impossible to hear his own voice as he cried out. He fell to his knees, all his energy going into holding onto the letter, and the ground shook. Just as he began to fear it wasn't working, that he'd failed, he felt his eyes roll into the back of his head, darkness rushing up to great him.

To take him away from this world.

xxx

Harry could feel the snow and the mud seeping through his jeans as he sat staring, unseeing, over the graveyard beside Malfoy Manor.

"No," said Hermione, uncertainly, from above his head. "No, surely, that can't be right? There must be something we can do?"

Harry felt the paper airplane that had held the message sealing his fate flit from his fingers, catching in the breeze and tumbling away through the headstones. He let it go, it had done its job.

Alex was still cradling the white puppy who was staring at them all with his sad hazel eyes. "Harry no longer has a body," said the Watcher. "His heart stopped beating the moment Voldemort was ripped from inside him, and his lungs stopped breathing."

"But," protested Hermione, her voice quavering. "There must be a spell, some magic that can be done?"

"The only magic," said Merlin, announcing his arrival and drawing Harry's head up. "That can thwart death, is the creation of a Horcrux before one's demise. An evil process, that thankfully our young Mr Potter here did not partake in."

He looked down at Harry with warmth, but Harry didn't know how to respond. His thoughts were flat lining, he couldn't formulate a single one. Was this grief? Could you grieve yourself?

"It's not fair," said Draco, his voice cracking. "It's not, it should have been me."

"It shouldn't have been anyone," snapped Alex, dislodging Sir Woofsalot by getting to his feet and stomping around, his hands gripping his highlighted hair and pulling it at odd angles. "Why didn't we get to you quicker, why did we leave you alone, why-" he snarled pulling his hands out and balling them into fists. "Why didn't I predict how the amulet would react to the Horcruxes when you attempted the leap!" He looked down at Seamus for just a second before spinning so his back was to them. "It's all my fault."

"It's not," insisted Hermione. "Stop saying that, you're not to blame. We need to be focusing on the problem at hand and get Harry's body back, I refuse to believe-"

"There's nothing we can do!" cried Draco, and Harry heard him moving away. He hadn't yet brought himself to look around at them. "What we should have done was stop Bellatrix finishing the spell, but we didn't."

"But if we don't even try!" Hermione retorted, and Harry could hear the tears in her voice.

"Enough," he said.

"Hermione, there's no magic in the universe that can bring his body back to life," Draco shouted. They were attracting curious glances from the Romans and Vikings, but no one was coming near them. "Not unless you want to make him some sort of Inferi!"

"But he's right there!" argued Hermione. "He's not dead, I'm looking at him!"

"Enough!" said Harry loudly, getting to his feet, and with a deep breath, turned to look at his friends. "Enough."

Hermione's face dissolved and she took the few steps over to him, encircling him with her arms. "No," she pleaded pitifully. "No it can't…you can't…"

Harry hugged her as she cried, and found they were soon being embraced by the taller form of Draco as well. "I'm so sorry," he said.

Harry clung to them, his thoughts finally starting to find purchase. How could this be the end? After everything they'd been through, how could it just end accidently, through mere chance and happenstance?

But maybe it was chance and happenstance that had meant he'd survived this far in the first place? Had his luck just run out? Or was there a way to fight back, take control, like he had when he'd found the dimensional portal in the first place? He'd felt so powerless in the face of Sirius' recapturing, but he'd found a way, an impossible way, to fix it, to save him.

They were in an impossible place, why couldn't he find another impossible solution?

He pulled away from Draco and Hermione, and they watched him as he stepped back, frowning. "Hermione's right," he said, thinking the words through before he spoke them.

He saw Draco look at Hermione, who's expression had become nervous. "I am?" she said.

"I want my body back," said Harry, his thoughts becoming clearer every second.

"Harry," said Alex, shaking his head and taking a step closer towards them and where Seamus' body lay, collecting snow. "There's no way-"

But Harry was already shaking his head. "I don't want to die in some field, in some universe where I was never born." His nails were digging into his palms. "I want Sirius to know I'm gone, to have a funeral, to be laid to rest!"

"We don't have that sort of power," said Alex, looking to Merlin for support, but Merlin was just looking at Harry. "We aren't physical beings, we can't take a physical thing from one reality and put it another."

"But you gave me that amulet?" Harry countered.

"That was from here, a spectrum of Limbo," said Alex, moving closer again. "Look, I'm sorry but you can't get to the reality, there's no way-"

"But Draco can," said Harry. Alex opened his mouth, and shut it again.

"Yeah," said Draco carefully, and Harry turned to look at him. "But then I'd be stuck in that reality, I wouldn't be able to come back."

"You would if I was inside you."

Draco held Harry's gaze, his jaw slowly setting. Hermione looked back and forth between the two, eyes wide. "Oh no," said Alex, stepping around Seamus' body to stand between the two boys. "I know you've had a hard day's dying but let's not succumb to any post-mortem craziness."

"Why is it crazy?" asked Harry. "We could do the same spell as Voldemort. The Bellatrixs' ingredients are probably still set up to a certain degree, I'm sure Merlin could do the incantation if she could, and open the portal to the same universe again."

"Harry," said Draco, confusion lining his face. "You want to take me out of my body?"

"Only for a little while," assured Harry with the upmost sincerity. "And unlike Voldemort I'd be willing to give it back, straight away! But Hermione's right, I can't just give up without trying, I have to get my own body back and at least see if I can re-enter it."

"And when you can't?" Merlin asked. "When you accept that your body is lost to you, will you really be willing to give Draco his back?"

"I wouldn't kill Draco," said Harry, his tone darkening. "If that's what you're asking."

Merlin gave him a rueful smile. "I have been in this plane for a millennia," he said. "And I have seen many strange reactions of the newly dead. But there was hardly a one of them, that wouldn't have snatched life back if they could have."

Harry could feel himself getting angry. "I wouldn't hurt Draco, I wouldn't. I just want to get my body back, to be buried by my parents."

"That," said Hermione tentatively. "Doesn't seem so bad?"

Alex was looking increasingly distressed. "It's never been done," he said. "In the history of the cosmos. There's a reason for that and it's because no good can come of it! Dimension swapping unsettles the balance, it has a way of coming back and fixing itself, and not always in a good way! Look at Seamus, look at you, the other Harry, and all the stuff that's happened with my Ron and Hermione-"

"What?" snapped Harry. "What's happened to them?"

Alex waved his hands. "They're fine I guess, but what they've been through in their alternate realities, it's unbelievable! It should never have escalated that way, the carnage –people have died because the universe will always rebalance itself. The other Harry tried to mess with it, to unravel his fate, but it just won't work."

"That Harry from the library?" asked Hermione in a small voice. "What happened-"

But Harry's brain had shifted gears again. "Wait stop – Ron, Hermione – I can't just leave them, I have to help them get home. I have to…" He looked round at Draco imploringly. "If we went to them, they could get home at least. What kind of trouble are they in, is it bad?"

Alex gave him a rabbit-in-headlights stare. "Uh," he said as Sir Woofsalot peered around his jeans. "I, well I haven't had an update in a while, but there were zombies…sort of, and Death Eaters and the Philosopher's Stone-"

Harry felt himself reeling slightly. "Zombies?" he repeated. "One of them is dealing with zombies?"

"Well, technically," Alex began, but Harry turned back to Draco.

"We can't leave them, we can't. This is our fault, all this, if we'd just stayed in our own universes and minded our own business, they wouldn't be in this danger!"

Draco licked his lips, his eyes moving between Harry and Alex. "I suppose," he said.

"Just think," said Harry, stepping closer and talking quieter. "Of all the good we could do together. Just because no one's ever done it before doesn't mean it has to be a bad thing. The Voldemorts wanted to rule the Multiverse, but we could help Ron and Hermione, maybe other people too."

"Harry," said Draco carefully. "It wouldn't be 'we', it'd be you, in my body. I'd be stranded here."

"But not permanently," said Harry, shaking his head. "Once I'd helped them, set things straight, got my body back, we could ask the Watchers, see what else we could do." He grabbed Draco's shoulders. "Who knows," he cried, blood flowing hot in his veins despite the snow. "We could find and destroy more Voldemorts, save more universes and more lives!"

He felt consumed by the idea. His death didn't have to be in vein, it could serve a purpose, a higher purpose. He and Draco could Watch over the Multiverse in ways the regular Watchers couldn't imagine.

"You want to go into other universes," said Alex. His tone was hollow, making Harry turn around to face him. "Change things?"

"Don't you see?" he asked. "You've never had an opportunity like this before. You wouldn't just have to watch your worlds, you could really help them!"

"Harry," said Draco, taking a deep breath. "I can see what you're saying-"

"What if," Harry interrupted, pointing a finger at him. "There was a universe where your mum was being held so Voldemort could blackmail you, just like what happened before. But we could step in and save her! We could change some other Draco's life entirely."

Draco looked stunned. His eyes drifted from Harry, to the people around him.

Merlin was very quiet, his gaze focused on Harry still. "You could do it," Harry said to him. "If Bellatrix could, then the spell should be easy for you."

"Harry," said Draco.

"Draco," said Harry back. "My best friends are fighting zombies or whatever because of me, it's my fault, but we could rescue them, get them home. Don't you want to help me?"

He let the question hang, trying to read Draco's expression. He looked pained, and Harry's insides twisted.

"Please," he said, stepping back towards him. "Please, I don't want there to be any more needless death today. If you're worried I wouldn't give your body back your wrong, you're so wrong. This doesn't have to be the end, we have the power to move between universes, to come back to Limbo. No one's ever been ableto do that before!"

Draco swallowed and blinked his eyes rapidly. "Harry," he said, quieter this time. "You're not a god."

Harry frowned, taken aback. "I know that," he said, but Draco was already shaking his head.

"But you're talking about taking charge of people's destinies, whole worlds where you get to decide what's right and what's wrong, who lives and who dies."

"For the greater good," Harry argued.

"But who are you to decide that?" Draco demanded. His voice wasn't exactly hostile but his tone was hard. "To fix all the 'what ifs' in our lives, that's not right. Alex said, the universe balances itself out, if it needed some higher being to do it for it, there would already be one!"

Harry could feel the icy tendrils of betrayal creeping through his guts. "So you won't help me help the other Hermione," he said, looking at the one standing next to them. "My Hermione?"

"I don't think that's going to be an issue," said Merlin, looking at the pale and worried Hermione wringing her hands by Draco's side.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, thrown. "Has something happened to my Hermione?"

"Oh," said this Hermione, staggering a couple of steps and raising her hand to her head. Draco dashed to her side.

"What?" he asked.

Hermione blinked. "Dizzy," she said, staggering again into Draco's arms. "Oh."

Her knees gave way and the two of them dropped to the ground. "What's happening to her?" cried Draco fearfully.

"What have you done?" accused Harry, wheeling on Merlin.

"I haven't done anything," replied Merlin, holding his hands up reassuringly. "She's fine, it's okay."

But as Harry turned back Hermione had started shaking, her eyes fluttering closed.

"Hermione!" said Draco desperately, but as Harry darted over to them both, her eyes closed, she stopped shaking…

And then she vanished into thin air.

xxx

Sarah was still cold, but she couldn't describe the sheer bliss of sitting outside by their make-shift campfire and not being pounded by the relentless, freezing rain. She sighed to herself, content.

"Do you think she's sleeping?" Terry asked by her side. McGonagall had left them after Hermione had performed her activation spell, but before she had, she had conjured a mattress for Hermione lie on, camp chairs and mugs of hot chocolate for Sarah and Terry, and blankets for all three of them. She had even siphoned off the rainwater, leaving them dry for the first time in hours.

Terry hadn't taken his eyes off of Hermione since they had laid her down, despite the arrival of Kingsley Shacklebolt and his many, many questions.

"I guess so," said Sarah, considering her. "She's breathing. Maybe she's dreaming?"

"No nightmares I hope," said Terry, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the playground. Most of the Muggles were still being processed by the Ministry, interviewed and given medical attention before having their memories modified.

"So," said Kinsley slowly from his own camp chair, looking over his notes. "Explain to me again how you got to an…alternate universe Miss Potter?" He sounded very dubious, but when McGonagall had said she was going to send him to them, she'd assured them that he had been briefed as fully as she had. The Auror was obviously just having a little trouble coming to terms with it.

"It was an accident," said Sarah tiredly. Now she was warm and comfy all she wanted to do was sleep, but knowing that her parents were potentially on their way was keeping her conscious for the moment. "There's a Dimensional Hotspot by the school-"

"Yes, Minerva mentioned that," said Kingsley, flicking back a few pages in his notebook. "And you said your brother activated it with his anger."

"He was shouting at Hermione," said Terry, indicating the sleeping girl with his chin, his hands still wrapped around the warm mug of chocolate. "About his body swap, he's been so mad at her and Malfoy for Seamus' death for so long, I think he just snapped."

"And that's Draco Malfoy you're referring too?" asked Kingsley, shifting in his camp chair. Sarah had a feeling he'd been asleep before he'd been called to Godric's Hollow, judging from the fact he was still wearing slippers.

Terry nodded in response to his question.

"And he's still missing?"

Sarah blew on her hot chocolate as her insides flipped. "I think so," she said, eyes on her drink. "I last saw him in Limbo, the place in between realities." She lowered her mug to her lap. "I left him there."

Terry rubbed her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine," he said confidently. "He might already be back and we just don't know it."

Kingsley flipped around a few pages. "We can come back to the Limbo thing later," he said, shaking his pen to try and get it to work. The order had been to minimise magic use in front of the Muggles, and Sarah guessed he wasn't used to actually having to write with his hand. "I want to focus more on what happened here in the town first, then we can cover this…" he waved his hand about. "Inter-dimensional business."

"Sarah?"

Her head spun around so fast she thought it might rotate entirely off her shoulders. "Mum?" she cried, looking through the crowd for the familiar flash of red hair. It didn't take her long to find it. "Mummy!" she shrieked, flinging her mug and blanket to the ground and leaping to her feet.

Lily Potter was sprinting towards where they were sat near the tree line, and Sarah wasted no time in doing the same, crashing into her mother half way in between, causing the two of them to fall to the floor. "Oh my baby," Lily was sobbing, clinging onto Sarah and kissing her hair over and over. "Oh my precious baby girl!"

Sarah was laughing as tears leaked from her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again!" she gasped.

Her mum loosened her iron like grip so she could hold her at arm's length and look her over. "Are you okay?" she said steadily as she regained her composure.

Sarah nodded, but her attention was caught by more people running towards them. "Dad!" she cried, a grin splitting her face almost in two. "Sirius, Harry!" And that wasn't all, Remus Lupin and Parvati Patil weren't far behind, and they were all charging up the playground to meet them.

Her dad got there first, not pausing as he scooped Sarah off the ground and threw her into a bear hug, her legs wrapped around his waist. "You're alive," he said, breathing heavily. "Oh thank Merlin you're alive."

"And you're not a zombie anymore!" said Sarah happily.

James palled back and looked at her in confusion. "Zombie?" he said.

Sarah laughed and shrugged. "Well, almost a zombie I guess."

"Sarah?"

She moved and looked around her dad. Harry, her Harry, the brother that had pulled her hair and shared his jelly beans with her her whole life, was standing stock still, hands curled in tension by his side. "Hey Harry," she said shyly. "Glad you're de-zombified too."

Parvati was just about to put her hand on his shoulder, when he bolted, launching at Sarah and their dad, practically wrenching her into his own arms.

"I'm sorry," he said. He was crying, actually crying. Sarah couldn't believe it. "It was all my fault, Granger said, it was me, when I lost my temper-"

"Harry, HARRY," cried Sarah arching her back so she could pull away enough and look at him. "Harry it's okay, I'm fine. I know what happened."

He let he go and took a step back, watching her like she might explode. "So you know it was me?"

"What are you talking about?" said Lily, having got up from the ground. "What was your fault Harry?"

"Nothing!" said Sarah sternly looking at her mother, then turning back to Harry with a scowl. "It was just an accident," she told him firmly. "You didn't do it on purpose. And I told you, I'm fine, I'm better than fine!" She wanted to add that she'd just helped save the Multiverse, or at least it seemed like she had, but it didn't feel like the right moment.

"Yeah," said Terry, who had sauntered up with Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Look at her, she's never been better." Sarah gave him a punch on the arm and immediately tried to flatten her tangled hair.

"Terry," squeaked Parvati. "You're okay!" she ran over to throw her arms around him, and with a roll of the eyes he eventually patted her on the back too.

"I am so glad you are okay also," said Kingsley to the adults. They nodded, and the group naturally clustered, people hugging one another around the rather large puddles sat on the playground glimmering in the moonlight.

"Harry and Parvati explained as much as they could to us," said Remus, shaking his head. "It's remarkable."

"Though they were a bit confused how the kitchen of our house got exploded," said her dad with a raised eyebrow, and Sarah coughed guiltily.

"Did they mention there were zombies? Lots of zombies?"

Her mum pulled her into a hug again. "I'm sure it can all be fixed," she said good naturedly to her husband, who folded his arms and smiled back, placated. "I'm just glad you're okay, all of you."

"Is Hermione injured?" asked Remus, looking over to where she lay in concern.

Sarah and Terry shook their heads. "She's fine," said Sarah.

"Better than fine," assured Terry. "In fact she's on her way home."

The others shared a beat on confusion between them, before Parvati exclaimed. "You mean she's going back to her own reality?"

"How?" asked Remus.

"Wait," said Kingsley, flicking through his notebook. "I think I have it here somewhere..."

"Was it like last time?" asked Sirius, looking around the group, eventually settling on Sarah. "With Harry? Did she get a letter?"

Sarah nodded. "From Professor Snape," she said, glancing guiltily at her mum. She really, really hoped that letter he'd written to her had survived everything that had gone on at the house.

"What did Snivellus have to do with it?" scoffed her dad, and Sarah felt a surprising surge of protection towards the man.

"Everything," she said sternly. "He wrote the letter, got Hermione home and hopefully Ron and Harry too, and he sent me back here as well. He was brilliant."

Sirius, Remus and especially her dad looked on her with no small amount of shock, but she was glad when her mum squeezed her shoulders and looked down at her, pleased.

"I guess," said Remus, raising his eyebrows. "We should be a little more courteous to our Severus after all."

Sirius made a scornful noise. "I wouldn't go that far Moony," he said. But Sarah shook her mum off and jammed her arms crossly on her hips.

"I think that's exactly what you should do," she said, jutting her chin in the air. "There's been far too much blaming people and pointing fingers this past year, and it's got to stop."

"Before any more dimensional portals get opened by accident," added Terry with a raised eyebrow. Sarah batted him, not wanting to upset Harry again, but she was surprised when her brother sighed.

"You're right," he said, causing Parvati to throw him a dubious look. "I've been so angry with that other Harry, for everything that was taken out of my control, without really realising it was out of his control too."

"But Seamus-" spluttered Parvati.

"Is fine," interrupted Sarah, the happy memory coming back to her and causing her to smile.

Parvati's mouth thinned. "I'm sorry," she said in clipped tones. "But no matter how much forgiving we do, Seamus is still dead."

"Seamus may be dead," countered Sarah, her heart fluttering at what she was about to say. "But Hermione said he's doing fine, so maybe you should start letting that go."

Harry and Parvati stared at her. "What?" said Harry.

"Hermione said?" repeated Parvati. "The one from the other universe?"

"Yeah," said Terry nodding. "She had a chat with our Seamus when she was asleep. Apparently he could talk to her like that, and she said he's in Limbo."

"And he's a Watcher," added Sarah excitedly, so happy to be able to relay what Hermione had told them. "That's someone who looks after a universe, I met the one from the other reality and it seems like an exciting job!"

Everyone was goggling at them. "You mean," said Harry slowly. "She actually spoke to him?"

"A couple of hours ago," said Terry. "That's how we knew about the Horcrux that we had to kill so the other Harry could defeat our You-Know-Who."

"What?" said Sirius, but Kingsley shushed him, his eyes not leaving his notepad as he scribbled some more.

"Later," he said.

"Seamus is trapped in Limbo?" said Parvati.

"No," said Sarah, smiling. "Not trapped, he chose to stay there."

"And he's okay?" Harry repeated, disbelief on his face. "Even though he's…dead?"

"Hermione said he was enjoying his new job," Sarah assured him. "That he looked good."

Parvati's face dissolved into tears, and she buried her head noisily into Harry's shoulder. Harry was still staring though, his eyes travelling between everyone watching him, until they rested on Hermione still sleeping on the mattress.

"Wow," he said. "That's...that's great."

"So he's watching over us?" asked Lily, her eyes glassy. "Like a guardian angel?" Sarah nodded, happy with the comparison.

"This is a lot to take in," said Remus, shaking his head.

Sirius was looking thoughtful. "There's one thing I'm still not sure on," he said.

"Just one?" said James but Sirius scowled at him.

"Where's Draco?"

Sarah and Terry looked at each other, and Terry rubbed her back. "We're not sure," he said.

"Seamus said he was in Limbo too," said Sarah. "But since we destroyed the Horcrux that should mean he can come home now?" She glanced at Terry, who nodded reassuringly. The adults, Harry and Parvati however looked in bewilderment at Kingsley.

"Let me guess," said Sirius, seeing the look on his face. "Later?"

Kingsley nodded.

A gasping sound made them all spin round, and with a jolt, Sarah realised that Hermione was sitting upright on her mattress, clutching her chest and looking around wildly. "Draco!" she cried as if she'd been listening to them, confusion dawning on her face. "What's going on, where am I?"

Remus darted over to her with Kingsley. "Call McGonagall," said Terry to Sarah's parents, and her dad yanked his wand from his pocket. He conjured his familiar stag, and as Sarah rushed over to Hermione, she heard him giving it instructions to go find the acting Headmistress.

"You're alright," said Remus, crouching down to inspect Hermione, who was looking at everyone, terrified.

"What's going on?" she said again, then she spotted Harry. "Where's Draco?" she asked, her eyes blinking rapidly. "You were fighting…"

"It's okay," said Terry soothingly, crouching opposite Lupin. "It's okay, you're home now."

Hermione took a deep breath, her eyes settling on Terry. "Uh," she said. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" Her eyes glanced down. "And why aren't you wearing any shoes?"

Sarah thought she saw a flicker of disappointment on his face, but then the Ravenclaw regained his composure. "You're wearing them," he said, pointing to her feet. "Long story, but I think you've been away for a while, and now you're back in the real world."

Hermione gaped at him a moment, before her eyes travelled around the rest of the group. "Sarah!" she cried as she realised who she was, and scrambled to give her a hug. Sarah had never been hugged so much in her whole life. "Draco said you fell through a door rescuing a puppy or something, he was so worried! Alex said you got back safe...so, does that mean I'm..."

"Home," said Terry, nodding.

Sarah grabbed her shoulders. "So you were with Draco? Our Draco?"

"In Limbo?" Harry clarified. Sarah was a little surprised at his civil tone, but he was looking at Hermione strangely.

She nodded. "We were by a version of his house, that's what Limbo was like, a patchwork of different terrains and peoples' houses, places they remembered from when they were alive."

"And you remember it?" said Harry. "You remembered being out of your body, whilst the other Hermione was here?"

Hermione was still clutching her chest, but her breathing was slowing as she looked around the playground. "So I'm really home?" she said, then looked at Harry. "You're…the Harry he replaced aren't you. I'm in the right reality."

Harry bit his lip. "Yeah," he said. "I'm him. But I didn't remember anything from when he kicked me out, it was like I just blinked."

Hermione was shaking her head. "Limbo didn't have form before, it was ethereal. But with so many people forced out of their bodies, we gave it solid form." She looked around at the group. "It's complicated," she said, shaking her head tiredly.

"So you were with Harry and Draco," Sarah pressed on. "Are they okay? Did I get to Voldemort's soul in time?"

"You both did," said Hermione firmly. "You and the boy called Ron, in the other reality. Both the Voldemorts were destroyed, the Multiverse is safe."

Kingsley had resorted to the back cover of his notebook now, having run out of any space inside to write.

"Wow," said James, shaking his head.

"You're Sarah's Parents," said Hermione. Sarah thought it was interesting she said they were her parents, not Harry's. "I met you when we came back from Germany. And you and Draco took me home?" She looked at Remus. "Mr Lupin?"

He nodded. "That's right."

"Where are we?" she asked, watching as she moved her feet around Terry's trainers in confusion. "And why do I feel like I've been stood out in the rain?" She looked down sadly at her mangled necklace at that point, but she didn't seem surprised that it had been warped.

"We're in my home town," said Sarah whilst Harry watched on mutely with Parvati. Her expression was pinched, but Harry just looked contemplative. "It's a long story, but the other Hermione came here with Harry, Terry and Parvati, looking for my parents. " She touched Hermione's arm. "So where's Draco now, is he coming home?"

She was desperate to know he was okay, and something uncertain flickered across Hermione's face.

"Still in Limbo I guess. He and Harry were…sorting things out."

Sarah didn't like that tone. "But is he stuck there, how can he get home?"

"Um," said Hermione. "No," she said firmly. "No he's not stuck, he can get home, he should be coming home soon, I'm just not sure how, or where he'd go?"

"Where else do you think he'd go?" said Harry, his tone almost jovial.

Everyone turned to look at him, and Sarah felt her eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Where?" she said, not having the faintest clue, having popped up in her bedroom after activating her own letter.

But Harry was looking rather pleased with himself as he shrugged, and even managed a tweak of a smile. "If he was going to show up anywhere," he said, hands slipping into his pockets. "It's got to be that blasted history classroom."

xxx

Draco only stared at the empty space between his arms for a moment before he was scrambling to his feet. "What happened!" he cried, bearing down on Merlin's small form.

"Where is she!" Harry demanded, leaping to Draco's side, their previous argument forgotten in the face of Hermione's disappearance.

Merlin was still holding his hands up as the wind cut through the snowy graveyard. "I assure you, she is fine. This is what happened before."

"Before when?" Draco asked. His heart was thrumming in his chest. Was she alive, is that was he was saying?

"When Harry activated his letter in the alternate universe," said Alex carefully, stepping closer with Sir Woofsalot at his heels. "The Harry of that world just faded away."

Draco blinked and tried to stop gasping for air. "So you're saying…"

"I'm saying she has returned to her own world," said Merlin. "And her own body."

Alex snapped his head around, looking up into the sky. Draco couldn't help but follow his gaze, and saw a grey and white pigeon soaring through the air, making a beeline for them. "Ah," said Alex, satisfied, and reached out his hand for the bird to settle on. "Yes," he said, yanking the little strip of paper from the pigeon's foot. "Yes indeed, she has made it back quite alright." He looked up and smiled at the boys. "She's just waiting to wake up, you know the drill by now."

Harry staggered, and Draco's hand twitched to steady him, but it wasn't necessary. "She's okay?" he said faintly, his eyes staring unseeing at the ground. "She made it home."

"They both have," said Merlin, looking at Draco.

Relief swept up through him. She was better than okay, she was home, in her body, and the other Hermione had made it back too.

"Harry," said Draco, his hand raising again to touch his shoulder, but Harry jerked him off and moved away. Draco let his arm fall, and looked over at Alex. The Watcher's smile had faded too, and they held each other's gaze for a moment.

Harry was pressing his hands onto his face, pushing his glasses so hard against the bridge of his nose Draco thought they might break. The shock of Hermione's disappearance and relief at her getting back to their reality were both fading, leaving the hollow feeling behind that the argument with Harry had caused.

Draco rubbed his fingers against the mark Voldemort's sword had left on his torso, the skin still tender to touch. How close had he been to dying, to being in the same predicament as Harry? Now the Voldemorts were gone, Draco, in theory, was free to go home. But Harry couldn't. Harry was trapped.

But his situation was worse, Draco reasoned. If he had died at the hand of Voldemort's blade, he would have slipped into the oblivion that death is supposed to be. But Harry had not died, he had just lost his body, an incident unseen and unsensed. How could he possibly come to terms with that yet? Surely he didn't feel dead. Draco couldn't blame him for fighting for a way around it, a way to cheat it.

"Harry," he said again, the words lying heavy on his heart. "Harry I'm so sorry."

Harry dropped his hands, but as he turned he ignored Draco and just addressed Alex and Merlin. "Ron," he said. "What about Ron, is he still in danger?"

Alex looked at Merlin, who merely raised an eyebrow. "Adelaide will know," said the Watcher with a click of his fingers. He fished out a small notebook from inside his tail coat and a quill, and hastily penned a massage. "Here Woofsy," he said, waggling the paper at the small dog. Sir Woofsalot hopped about and bounded to his master, sitting as Alex attached the note to his collar. "Go find Aunty Ade, she's probably with Aunty Effie."

Sir Woofsalot barked once, then tore off like a bullet from a gun, soon to be lost from sight in the graveyard.

"Why not send the pigeon?" asked Merlin.

"Too tired," said Alex with a shrug as the bird cooed from its perch on a gravestone.

Draco glanced at his friend, pacing tensely along the aisle between headstones. "Harry," he tried for the third time, determined to get him to look at him. "I don't know what to say."

"Then don't," said Harry, biting his thumbnail and still refusing to look at him. "Both our Hermiones are back safe, that's a start."

"Yes," agreed Draco. "It is. But that doesn't mean-"

"Doesn't mean what?" snapped Harry, finally raising his eyes. "That if Ron's in trouble we can go help him?"

"No," said Draco. "We can't."

Harry shook his head. "He's not your friend, you wouldn't understand."

"Hey," barked Draco, scowling. "That's not it at all, I do know Ron, but this isn't about that. This is about you playing God, stealing my body and meddling in the affairs of the Multiverse. This is about your death."

He found the word catch in his throat, but he swallowed it down.

Harry stilled. "I know I'm dead," he said quietly. "I just…don't see why that has to be the end?"

Alex let out a breath. "The end?" he said, stepping carefully around Seamus' body to be nearer him. "My dear boy I don't even remember being alive any more, this is only the end if you let it be."

Harry glanced at his Watcher before dropping his eyes again.

"I meant what I said," said Draco, moving closer to Harry as well. "It should have been me. I've already had a second chance at life, how many more can I have?" He managed a small smile. "So I won't help you mess around with the cosmos, but…" He took in a long breath. "If you want to go home, to your world, I'll let you have my body, and I can stay here."

"No!" cried Harry and Alex together, equally as horrified as each other.

"No," repeated Harry. "I won't kill you, I never wanted to take your body permanently. I just wanted to do some good, while we had the chance."

"The universe wouldn't put up with it in any case," said Alex, shaking his head. "Seamus said they were hours away from some kind of natural disaster in his world thanks to Hermione's presence. The world would reject you."

Draco looked at Harry, and he could see his friend's shoulder's slump. "It can't all have been for nothing?" he said, his voice small.

"Nothing?" scoffed Merlin, clasping his hands together under his wide sleeves. "I hardly call saving the Multiverse nothing?"

"Yeah," said Draco firmly. "And you saved my world, destroyed our Voldemort, gave me a new life." He hoped that didn't sound too selfish, because he meant it very sincerely. "If you're worried your death won't mean anything, you're wrong. But," he clenched his fists. "That doesn't make it any more fair, I know."

"Life isn't fair," said Harry ruefully. He sighed, deeply, and rubbed his temples. "So that's it? It's over?"

Alex raised his eyebrows at Merlin. The small wizard in turn looked around the graveyard. "Limbo is starting to return to its natural state," he said, nodding. "The half lives will begin to fade, and the Watchers will soon find their realms are the only pockets of form once again."

"Where does that leave Harry?" Draco asked, glancing at his friend.

Alex managed a slow shrug. "I'm not sure entirely," he said apologetically. "This has never happened before. But if I had to guess I'd say he'd stay corporeal. Especially, if he stuck with me?" There was a note of hope in his voice as he spoke the last few words, and Draco was touched on Harry's behalf. He wanted to believe he would be okay, that he'd have someone to look after him, and in the short time he'd spent with Alex he felt like he was giving him a genuine offer of friendship.

Harry stirred from his stupor, and, blinking, returned Alex's gaze. "If I stayed with you?" he said. "You mean, I could be a Watcher?"

Alex's smile faded again. "No," he said simply. "No I'm afraid not. You're part of my universe, and we won't have any new offshoots for quite some time." He brightened though. "But by staying with me, you'll stay in this form, human and all that. You could," he cracked a full smile. "Be my apprentice. I'm sure Seamus would have liked that."

Draco felt a pang and looked down to where Seamus was laying, but was shocked to realise he was gone. "Where'd he go?" he cried.

Merlin had turned away from the group and was moving his hands around the air where Bellatrix had created the oval portal before. "He was no longer in your consciousness, so what you saw as his form has slipped away. His 'soul'," he put emphasis on the word. "Or whatever you wish to call it, passed over the moment Voldemort cast his killing curse."

"So," said Harry, his eyes still lingering on the spot where Seamus had lain. "He's in Heaven?"

Merlin looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Or whatever you wish to call it."

Draco realised there was no longer any movement around the graveyard. Frowning he turned and scanned the headstones, but all the Romans, the Vikings, the wizards and even the Rhansyk had vanished. The mimicry of Malfoy Manor looked dark and deserted, and the forest had disappeared entirely into shadow.

"So Limbo is vanishing?" he said.

Alex shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "Not disappearing," he said. "Just…rearranging. I would guess that its current rate means Ron has returned, much like Hermione." He looked around, as if expecting another pigeon.

"What will happen to Draco then?" asked Harry. He was hugging himself and he looked pale and drawn. But there was a calm sadness about him now which made Draco think he'd resigned himself to staying behind. That was almost worse than the megalomania.

"Lestrange's portal is still lingering," said Merlin, and as Draco turned back to him, he could indeed see the purple outline slowly coming back into view. "I am reconfiguring it for young Mr Malfoy to travel through, back to his own world."

Draco felt a rush of conflicting emotions. Joy at the thought of going home, followed by deep sadness. He and Harry had said their goodbyes before, assuming they would never be seeing each other again, but now Draco knew Harry wouldn't be seeing anyone again. He was leaving him behind, in this place, whatever it would become when he left it.

"How much time do we have?" he asked, as he and Harry locked eyes.

"Not long," said Merlin quietly.

Draco swallowed a lump in his throat and moved over to Harry. His friend tried to smile. "It's okay," he said. "This is right. I should never have crossed into your world, it wasn't natural. I saved my Sirius, I saved your Sarah. It was probably too much to expect to save myself too."

Draco tried to find the words, but his jaw clamped shut. So he just pulled Harry into a hug. "You saved me too," he managed. "Thank you."

Harry patted him on the back, and he let go. He glanced at Alex, and nodded. "I'll look out for you," he said. "All of you."

Draco nodded. "Yeah," he said, not sure how true that would be, but he let himself believe it, at least in this final moment. He turned to Alex, who was hovering by the brightly glowing portal. "You look after him, you hear?"

Alex saluted respectfully. "I promise," he said. "And I will personally oversee the hiring of your new Watcher. We'll need someone to do our Seamus proud."

Draco nodded, and faced Harry for the last time. "Well done," he said. "You know, for saving the Multiverse."

Harry laughed, tears glistening in his eyes. "You too mate," he said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"We are ready," said Merlin.

Draco inhaled deeply, and moved purposefully towards the portal. "So this will take me home?" he asked.

Merlin nodded. "In the blink of an eye."

Draco however decided to shut his eyes as he moved forwards. He thought of home, of all the people he was desperate to see. He thought of his friend he was leaving behind, the one that had changed his life in ways he'd never thought possible. And as his feet and hands touched the cool, vibrating surface of the portal, he thought of all the possibilities yet to come, and tumbled into the void.

xxx

Hermione awoke with a gasp, flailing her limbs against the cold, stone floor. Her eyes blinked against the watery dawn light streaming through the window, and as she slowed her breathing she was able to realise where she was.

A classroom. At Hogwarts. The desks and chairs were all pushed back, and she was sprawled in the centre of the room, glass from the window pane splintered all around her. Elation filled her as she vaulted off the floor, shaking tinkling glass from her clothes.

And they were her own clothes! Her own shoes! She danced around, laughing at her buckled Mary Janes as they crunched on the shards, sparkling as the sun peeked over the tip of the Forbidden Forest. This was what she had been wearing, the same skirt, the same shirt, when they'd tried to send Draco and Sarah home.

So it had worked? She was back? This had to be the right universe, it just had to.

She pulled out her wand from where it usually lived, in her top pocket. "Reparo!" she said, a little audaciously, remembering her promise to herself never again to take any magic for granted. She grinned so hard her face hurt as the glass flew back into place, blocking out the crisp October air. How many times had that window been broken and repaired now? she wondered, inspecting it as the last few slivers zipped from under her feet as she moved. It didn't even look the least bit cracked or damaged.

Hermione felt her delirium fading gently as she turned and took in the old History of Magic classroom. The door was firmly shut, and it looked much the same as it had when she, Harry and Ron had been whisked away into their respective alternate realities.

Were they back yet? Had Ron managed to destroy his Horcrux like Sarah had done? Had Harry and Draco been granted the power to defeat their Voldemorts once and for all? She wished desperately she'd been able to ask Seamus more questions in their short conversation together. But maybe she wouldn't have to wait long for answers? Maybe Ron or Harry were back too? Or both?

Eagerly, Hermione laid her wand on her palm. "Point me," she said, thinking of the boys. Nothing happened, but she wasn't to be deterred yet, so she tried again first thinking of Harry to repeat the spell, and then Ron. Still no movement came from the wand, and she couldn't help the little pang of disappointment that nudged at her heart.

"Never mind," she said out loud, forcing her voice to be cheery. Magic had not been the only thing that kept her alive in the zombified Godric's Hollow; perhaps she should learn to rely on it a little less.

She would go look for them physically. It was still early, judging from the time on her watch. Hermione figured she would go back to the Gryffindor common room, that would be the most likely place for them all to head. She almost swooned at the thought of her bed waiting for her, but instead she would have to be satisfied with one of the armchairs by the fireplace. She had been so cold and so wet for so long, it was such a relief to be dry and warm and-

"Oh!" she cried, smacking her palm onto her forehead. Which she could do, because it no longer hurt. No headache, no nausea, no aching joints or raking cough. She had been right it seemed, it was the other Hermione's body having an allergic reaction to the swap. She breathed in long and deep, relishing how wonderful she felt.

Reinvigorated, she marched towards the door, reaching for the handle. But she stopped before she touched it. What if the boys hadn't come back yet, what if she left and one of them turned up five minutes later. She frowned, then spied the blackboard. Peeves, as usual, had scribbled a number of offensive profanities across it, mostly about what Hufflepuffs liked to do with their spare time. But sat perched on the bottom lip of the board were a handful of different coloured chalk stubs, as well as an eraser. With a little nod to herself, Hermione strode back over to the board, taking the eraser and rubbing off as much of Peeves' nonsense as she could. Then, she picked up the longest bit of chalk, and in large, yellow letters, began to write.

"Harry and Ron," she said aloud as she pushed the chalk clumsily across the black surface. It wasn't as easy as the professors made it look. "This is Hermione. I arrived back…" She almost wrote 'from my parallel universe', but that might raise some odd questions if anyone else came across the message. She shrugged, they'd know where she'd come back from. She checked her watch again. "I arrived back at 06:20. There is no sign of you, so I am going to the common room to see if you are there. I hope you are good! See you soon, lots of love Hxxx"

She read the message back a couple of times, then once satisfied replaced the chalk and brushed the dust from her hands. If they weren't at the common room, she might try some other places, she decided, and then come back here. They were bound to turn up eventually.

She pulled the door open and headed out into the corridor. The school was eerie and still, as was to be expected at this time in the morning. She might run into Filtch, or maybe a house elf, but otherwise Hermione expected her journey to Gryffindor tower to be unimpeded.

She was wrong.

The school may have been quiet, but it was certainly not deserted. She didn't make it around the second corner before she saw a couple of young Slytherins hustling past, heads down, eyes glancing up at her cautiously. Hermione assumed they had snuck out during the night and were trying not to get caught, but then a pair of prefects strolled around the corner.

One of them was Cho Chang, the other her friend Marietta Edgecombe, and the both eyed Hermione with surprise.

"Are you alright Hermione?" asked Cho.

"Yeah," said Hermione, feeling unreasonably guilty, like by being stuck in an alternate reality she had done something wrong. "Lots of people are up?"

Marietta shrugged, and Hermione noticed that both of them had their wands up. "With all the crazy stuff that happened yesterday, people haven't really slept. We're just trying to make sure all the rooms are back where they should be." She laughed as if to indicate how ridiculous that was, and Hermione found herself joining in.

Of course, she scolded herself. Sarah had said something about the school being pulled into Limbo, and killer ghosts – the Fixers they had met – that moved the layout around. It was hard to believe that her fellow students had gone through something just as surreal and dangerous as she had. She hadn't really considered it when Sarah had sat explaining it on that newsagents' floor, but as she watched another couple of First Years anxiously scuttling past it was much easier to believe. "Yeah," she said. "Crazy."

"Are you going to the medical ward?" Cho asked.

Hermione blinked. "No," she said carefully. "Why?"

"There are a lot of people there," said Marietta solemnly. "Lots of people we see are going to look for friends there."

Hermione swallowed. That sounded ominous. "Have you seen Harry or Ron?" she asked.

"Not since before all this happened," said Cho, shaking her head. "Why?" she asked, suddenly concerned. "Are they alright?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Hermione assured them as much as herself. "I'm just going to keep looking."

"Good luck," said Marietta with a wave, and the two Ravenclaws carried on their way.

Hermione stood for a moment and took it all in. The school had only just been attacked by the Death Eaters last week, freezing everyone in suspended animation whilst they tried to fulfil the prophecy about the Dimensional Leap. And then again, after she, Harry and Ron had been displaced the entire grounds had been sucked out of reality in their wake. Did body swapping just attract obscene amounts of trouble?

She shook her head and started walking again. If there was any luck in all the universes, they wouldn't be dealing with any alternate realities again anytime soon. She scoffed. Perhaps she wouldn't bet against that.

It was only a ten minute or so journey to Gryffindor Tower, but Hermione felt like she met half the school along the way. Students were huddled in groups talking, or moving purposefully through the castle. Some teachers were organising older students, Hermione guessed doing the same thing as the two Ravenclaw prefects were. She shuddered to think of the rooms being moved around like a Rubik's cube, and what exactly did these Fixers do to people?

"Miss Granger?"

She stopped at the sound of her name, and found herself looking back at a rather awkward Severus Snape. She couldn't help but glance around in case there was some other Miss Granger standing behind her, but the potions master was definitely talking to her. "Professor," she said with only a faint amount of surprise.

He clasped his hands behind his back and studied the walls. "I see you have returned," he said curtly.

"Yes," she said, although that much was of course obvious. "Thank you so much for your help, for the letter."

Snape just nodded and continued his study of the stonework. "Did Miss Potter make it home safely, do you know?

She was a little taken aback by the concern in his voice, but it wasn't unwelcome. "Yes," she said with sincere relief. "Sarah made it home. She was remarkably brave."

"Did she," Snape began, but then he seemed to reconsider his words. "There was a letter."

"Oh," said Hermione brightly. "Yes, of course, thank you so much I would never have got home without it."

Snape, his eyes now on the floor, managed to look even more awkward. "No," he said. "Another one, I left it in Sarah's possession."

Hermione considered. "Uh," she said, herself feeling a little awkward. "Well, she arrived back to her home, which was overrun with cursed people and she had to jump from the second floor." She tried to look positive. "She probably left it in her room, where it would be safe."

Snape chewed on his lip. "Right," he said. "Okay. Thank you." He nodded then spun on his heels, vanishing around the corner of the corridor like his usual bat-like self.

"Nice to see you again too," Hermione muttered, and carried on her way.

The sun was climbing further into the sky, illuminating a dry but chilly day. Hermione passed Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout coordinating a group of house elves distributing cups of hot chocolate and bacon butties to anyone that wanted, and she couldn't help but seize some for herself. As soon as she bit down on the bread she felt like she hadn't eaten for a week and munched through the whole thing in less than a minute, licking ketchup and melted butter off her fingers.

She blew on her hot chocolate as she walked, only a few turns away from the portrait of the fat lady. But as she rounded the last one she found a gang of mostly Sixth Years sat around the entrance, and she stopped. Dean Thomas was with Seamus Finnigan, the real, live one of her world, and Hermione felt her insides contract. How funny to think she had spoken to the one from Draco's world, and she glanced upwards as if she could feel him Watching over them right now. They were talking with Ginny Weasley and a Third Year Hermione thought might have been called Natalie, as well as students not from Gryffindor, which would explain why they were outside the tower instead of in.

Hermione was startled how easy it was for her now to tell the difference between Parvati and Padma Patil. Even though the Parvati she had spent time with was much skinnier, this one still had that pinched look about her face, whereas Padma looked softer, kinder. Zacharias Smith from Hufflepuff was stood beside Michael Corner of Ravenclaw, and surprisingly, Blaise Zabini was stood shyly next to the girl Hermione was now certain was named Natalie McDonald. Her hair was swept back, and she looked a little more like the short-haired version Hermione had met in the other world.

She might have mused more on her inclusion in the assembled group more, if it hadn't been for the boy sat on the floor, wearing the trainers that had been loosely tied to Hermione's feet for the past several hours.

"Terry," she said, before she'd realised she'd spoken out loud. Several faces turned round, most of them lighting up at the sight of her.

"Hermione," said Parvati warmly, but Hermione couldn't help but detect a hint of falseness in the tone now. "We were wondering where you were. Did you see Lavender? She went to get us butties." She smiled and eyed up her hot chocolate as Hermione approached.

"Hey," she said wearily to the group. "Uh, how are you guys?"

"Tired," said Michael.

"Worried," said Ginny, her arms crossed. "You haven't seen Ron have you?"

Hermione inhaled. "A while ago," she lied, thinking that an assurance from Watcher Seamus that he was fine but in an alternate reality a couple of hours ago was basically the same thing. "I was just looking for him actually, I think he'll come here to the tower soon though."

Ginny nodded.

"It's been crazy," said Zacharias, shaking his head. "Those things, Natalie said they hurt the people they touched."

The Third Year puffed up her chest importantly. "There was this girl," she said to Hermione. "She knew all about it, she said they were called Fixers. She helped us and she chased after them!"

"She said her name was Sarah," said Blaise quietly, her eyebrows raised.

Hermione had to squeeze her fingers against her mug to stop her from showing any reaction. "Really?" she said. "That's strange, I wonder how she knew anything, it all seemed quiet unbelievable to me."

"Unbelievable is a relative term, isn't it?" said Terry Boot. He looked up at Hermione as the rest of the group looked down at him. "When you go to a magic school."

Hermione blinked but couldn't look away from his gaze. She couldn't ignore the eeriness of how similar those words were to the ones she said to him in the other world. She felt her cheeks going red, the thought of his lips on hers, his hands in her hair-

"Yes, you're quite right," she said. "Well if Ron or Harry haven't been here, I'll keep looking."

She nodded at the group and headed in the other direction to the one she'd come in, thinking of heading to the Great Hall, or maybe the Library. "If you find them," grumbled Ginny. "You send them straight to me." She sounded so much like her mother with those words Hermione decided maybe not to send the boys right over to her, lest they feel her full wrath.

"I'm glad you're all alright," she said over her shoulder. She turned the corner out of their sightline, and took another sip of her hot chocolate. "I just hope we're all alright," she said to herself.

xxx

Ron groaned, his eyelids stuck together as he patted his hand around, feeling the hard floor where he was lying. Something sharp nicked his skin, and as he sucked in air through his teeth he finally managed to pry his eyes open. Even though there was a strong breeze blowing he was inside, staring up at a stone ceiling. He blinked a few times, his thoughts fuzzy and slow. Hadn't he been out in the rain?

He sat up and looked around at the scattering of glass he was sat in. He frowned. Why would he possibly be sat on glass? He turned, and saw that the breeze was coming from a shattered window, and he took a moment to absorb what he was seeing.

He knew this place, it was that classroom they had tried to send Draco and Sarah home from. He gasped, and, trying not to cut himself again, leapt to his feet. He remembered, he'd got a letter, from Snape. He'd been in another reality, in another country at another school for magic. Did that mean it had worked, was he home?

He looked around the classroom as he shook the glass out of his clothes. The door was open ajar, but what caught his eye was the writing on the blackboard. It was addressed to him and Harry, and he felt a grin splitting onto his face as he walked over.

'Harry and Ron, This is Hermione. I arrived back at 06:20. There is no sign of you, so I am going to the common room to see if you are there. I hope you are good! See you soon, lots of love Hxxx'

Ron punched the air. Hermione was already home, maybe Harry too? He checked his watch and read the message a couple more times, relief making his breath shallow. Would Harry have added to the note, or just gone to look for Hermione? Ron decided he'd just go to the common room and find out, but then paused. It would probably be a good idea for him to add to the note, he thought, so picked up a stick of purple chalk and added 'Me too! Ron.'

He dropped the chalk back down and stretched out his back and arms with a guttural noise at the back of his throat. With a start he suddenly realised his awful headache was gone, and he no longer wanted to throw his guts up.

"Probably just needed a good sleep," he said to himself cheerfully, rolling and cracking his neck then jumping up and down. Normally he would have doubted he could sleep at all on a stone floor crunchy with glass, but he'd been awake for so long in the other world, and fighting that hat had taken a lot out of him.

It was a little after seven in the morning, so he assumed no one would be out of their dorms yet as he ventured out into the corridor, but almost right away he ran into Katie Bell. "Oh," said the Seventh Year, surprised. "Ron, are you alright?"

"Uh," he said, put out. "Yeah, fine." That was the truth after all.

"Goodness me," she said, peering round him into the old classroom. "What happened there?"

"Uh," said Ron again. "The window broke?" Why hadn't he thought to repair it, he cursed himself.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Katie asked again, looking him up and down. "Did it happen when the rooms moved around?"

Ron's head slowly turned back from looking in the classroom. "What?" he said.

"You know," said Katie, stepping inside and fixing the window pane with a flick of her wand. "I've seen quite a lot of stuff that got damaged when it happened."

Ron could tell his confusion was showing on his face, but he tried to smooth it out. "I've been unconscious for a while," he blurted out. Not only was it true, but he felt it might get him out of not knowing what had happened, because something clearly had.

"Oh you poor thing," said Katie. Her back was to Hermione's message, and Ron would quite like to keep it that way, so began reversing out of the door again, hoping she would follow.

"Oh I'm fine," said Ron dismissively with a wave of his hand. "I feel fine."

Katie, thankfully, followed him without glancing over her shoulder. "Well, do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?" she asked. "There's lots of people there apparently, if you got concussion when the room moved it might be a good idea to get checked out?"

Ron held up his hands. "Honestly," he said. "I feel fine. I really need to find Hermione, you haven't seen her have you?"

Katie shook her head. "Sorry, not since breakfast yesterday, I assumed you were both with Harry."

"Have you seen him then?" asked Ron hopefully.

"Er, no," admitted Katie. "Sorry, I meant that you guys are always together, you know?"

"Oh," said Ron. "Right, yeah. Okay, well I'm going to look for them then. Thanks for fixing the window." He smiled and gave her a little nod, then spun on his heels and strode off before she could try and insist he go to medical with her.

Loads of people were milling around, some of them munching on bacon butties that made Ron's stomach rumble. It wasn't far to get the Gryffindor Tower from the old classroom, but it seemed to take longer as everyone was moving slowly. Ron wasn't sure what had happened while he'd been gone, but it had put people in a funny mood that was for sure.

He decided to take a longer route, but one he assumed would be deserted and therefore enable him to move faster through the school. He waited until a gaggle of Ravenclaws walked past, talking fervently about angry black clouds as they rounded the corner and went out of sight. "Clouds?" muttered Ron to himself as he tickled the gargoyle on a plinth under its chin. Obligingly, it sprung out of his way to reveal several missing stones in the wall, which he quickly scuttled through before it moved back or someone else came around the corner.

"Lumos," he said, holding his wand out in front of him to light the way down the twisty, cramped tunnel. He felt his pulse rising unexpectedly, and he stopped after only a few paces. This was Hogwarts, he told himself. e waHe was safe, there was nothing going to pop out at him and try and kill him. But after everything that had happened in Salem, it took a him a while to steady his heart, and in the end he just decided to race through the passageway as quickly as possible.

It would only take him a few minutes he knew, but in the dark and shadows it seemed to take longer. "No," he said sternly aloud to himself. "You can handle this, you beat all the trails and stopped the soul. No one is chasing you and no one wants the Philosopher's Stone."

"Who's there?"

Ron swore his heart almost stopped all together as he flattened into the stone wall, gasping and gripping him wand so hard it was in danger of breaking. The voice had been a little faint, like the speaker was a few turns away, and there was a wet quality to it that Ron couldn't quite place.

"Hello?" they said. The voice was male, and Ron realised he recognised it, but he didn't sound right. "Pansy, I swear – if that's you? I told you to leave me alone."

Ron considered turning around, but the strangeness of the past week kept him walking instead. "It's not Pansy," he said, perhaps a little stupidly. He squeezed past a particularly narrow turn, and found himself looking down at the small, shuddering figure of Draco Malfoy.

He had been crying, that much was clear, and from the bluish tinge to his lips he had probably been sitting on the ground, in the dark, for quite some time. Ron only had a moment to take this in under his wand light, before Draco equally had time to look up and see who was talking to him.

"Weasley!" he snarled, leaping to his feet and slamming his whole body into Ron's, crashing them both into the stone wall.

"Oi!" cried Ron, struggling against him. "Get off me!"

"This is your fault," said Malfoy somewhat hysterically, shoving him again. "All your fault! I was playing cards, then I was in some library that turned into a bloody campsite! They told me I'd lost my body, that some other Draco had it, and then suddenly I was back here, in the school! And they're telling me – telling me-"

A sob raked through his chest, and he let go of Ron with a final shove into the wall, staggering away and covering his face.

Ron just watched, his breath shallow and his back stinging from where a crooked bit of stone had jabbed into his shoulder blade. So this was definitely the Malfoy he was used to, the one the other Draco had taken the place of. He wasn't sure what he meant about the campsite, but he could guess what he was upset about.

"Draco," he said, the name alien in his mouth. This was Malfoy, he wasn't sure why he'd called him Draco.

"My mum," he whispered through his hands, his whole body shaking. "They said I was there, they didn't understand…"

"I'm sorry," said Ron awkwardly, but he meant it. He had been there, he'd seen it, and it had been awful. Should he tell Malfoy how desperate his mum had been, how hard she'd tried to save him? How crazy the other Draco had gone, throwing himself in the path of You-Know-Who's killing curse?

"You're sorry?" sneered Malfoy, sniffing and wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve. "What does that matter? You're sorry! I lose my body, to some stranger, go to some place where I'm not even alive anymore, and when I get back it's been a week, a whole week! My mother is dead, my father's in prison and I've been scarred." He yanked up his damp sleeve and thrust the inside of his wrist into Ron's face, showing him the figure of eight Draco had given himself when You-Know-Who's curse had hit. Ron glanced from it to Malfoy, not knowing what to say.

"I know," he said, holding up his hands as Malfoy snatched his arm back and walked a few feet away. "And I am sorry, really, she was only trying to protect you-"

"HIM!" shouted Malfoy. "That other…me." He was so angry he could barely get the words past his teeth. "We weren't supposed to be there, my father said so, it was all planned out-"

"So you knew," said Ron, his own anger flaring. He was the only one with a lit wand still, and he pointed it accusingly at Malfoy. "You knew they were going to attack the school?"

Malfoy stilled, his breathing still ragged but his body becoming limp. "No," he rasped. "No, nothing like that." His brow was creased and troubled. "He would have said, he couldn't have known…"

"Your dad," said Ron sternly. "Was right at the front of it all, your crazy Aunt too. And let me tell you, he didn't do a thing to save your mum, it was all Draco and Harry."

"Shut up," stammered Malfoy, his face white in the dim wand light. "You're lying."

"Do you really think your dad stood up to You-Know-Who?" Ron demanded. He knew maybe he was being harsh, but he wasn't going to stand for Malfoy blaming him, Harry, or even the other Draco. He may not have known him like Harry had, but he'd seemed pretty decent in the time Ron had spent with him. "We heard him, you were supposed to be frozen like everyone else, but when you ended up at the Ministry your mum came to rescue you."

"What?" Malfoy looked pained.

"Yeah," said Ron defiantly, as if challenging Malfoy to disagree. "Your mum, not your dad. She was terrified, but even when You-Know-Who said he was going to kill you, she was the one who tried to save you, your dad just-"

"I said SHUT UP!" yelled Malfoy, lunging for him again, but Ron was ready for him.

"Protego!"

Malfoy rebounded off his shield charm, stunned. But Ron felt bad, seeing how his face lost the anger so quickly, grief weighing him down. The two boys looked at each other for a moment, startled.

Ron dropped his shield. "I'm sorry," he said again, but with more resolution this time. "I really am. I know what you've been through, sort of, and it's rubbish, trust me." He swallowed. "I've seen too many people die this week."

"She stood up for me?" Malfoy asked. Something about his face relaxed, and for just a second Ron could see the same guy he'd been visiting in the hospital with Harry, Hermione and Sarah.

He nodded. "She was brilliant."

Malfoy's face contorted, somewhere between heartbreak and fury, and then he was back to the boy who had tormented Harry and the rest of them his whole school career. "Get out of my way!" he snapped, shoving past Ron and squeezing around the narrow corner to storm down the way Ron had just come walked.

Ron listened as his hiccups faded into the darkness, watching after him, letting his thoughts settle. He couldn't help but feel sorry for him, a sensation he never thought he'd experience for Draco Malfoy. But there had been something that had turned the other Draco into a nicer person, before that he'd been just like their selfish, arrogant and mean version, or so Harry had said. Maybe the nicer one was lurking in this Malfoy too? Maybe he needed a tragedy like the other one had to be a decent human being?

Ron shrugged. Now that the Slytherin had gone, he was finding he cared less. He'd been used to the unpleasant Malfoy for several years, it wouldn't be the end of the world if that was how he was going to remain.

He carried on walking towards the end of the passageway, knowing he wasn't far away now from the exit. Hermione hadn't arrived much earlier than he had, if he was lucky he could maybe still catch her at the common room.

Carefully, he eased the portrait open that led back out into the corridor. A couple of Hufflepuff Second Years were stood still, watching him as he tumbled rather gracelessly onto the floor. "Hi," said Ron sheepishly, and the boys just raised their eyebrows and carried on walking. Ron was grumbling about how they didn't know anything anyway, and how he'd like to see how they'd manage to get out of the tunnel like that on their short legs, when someone screeched him name.

"Ron!"

He turned to see a flurry of brown hair pounce on him and knock him completely to the ground.

"Oof!" he gasped.

"Sorry, sorry!" said the voice behind the hair, and after a second's scrambling, Ron was sitting grasping hands with an excitable, fervent and very wild looking Hermione Granger.

"Hermione," he breathed with feeling, throwing his arms around her and hugging her for all she was worth. "I was worried I would never see you again."

"Me neither!" she cried, tears running down he face when she pulled away from him. "Seamus said you were in another world, in America."

Ron blinked. "You spoke to him too?"

"Oh yes," said Hermione nodding. "Only for a few minutes. He told me you were okay, but I couldn't help worrying."

Ron harrumphed. "Interesting version of 'okay'."

Hermione frowned. "What happened?" she asked, getting to her feet and pulling him up too.

"Lots," said Ron with a shrug. "What about you, you alright?"

Hermione blinked, looking down the corridor and sighing. "I guess so," she said. "As much as can be expected. Have you seen Harry yet?"

Ron deflated. "No," he said. "I guess you haven't either?"

She shook her head. "He's probably sorting stuff out, in Limbo."

Ron nodded enthusiastically. "I had to help him, there was this bit of You-Know-Who's soul-"

"Me too!" cried Hermione, shaking her hands in between them both. "Sarah got it in the end, ours was a necklace, what was yours?"

Ron couldn't help feel a little put out. "Oh," he said. "I thought I was helping Harry?"

"You were helping Draco," said Hermione warmly. "They both had a Horcrux linked to their Voldemorts."

Ron winced only briefly at her use of You-Know-Who's name, before he realised what she'd said. "Horcrux," he exclaimed happily. "That's what it was called."

"We both had to destroy ours," said Hermione kindly. "So they both could face their Voldemorts. Didn't Seamus explain it to you?"

Ron couldn't help but bark a small laugh and rub the back of his neck. "It's a little hazy," he admitted. "There was a lot going on."

Hermione looked up and down the corridor. "Well," she said. "I've already been to the common room, and Harry wasn't there so maybe we should head back to History of Magic classroom, wait for him there? Then maybe we can swap inter-dimensional stories along the way." She winked and looped her arm through his.

Ron couldn't help but smile too. He would never forget the terror of waking on that basketball court, not for as long as he lived. To be back home, reunited with one of the most important people in his life, when at times he felt all hope was lost, he felt he could burst with relief.

"I bet you one galleon yours isn't as weird as mine," he told her.

Hermione actually threw her head back and laughed. "I bet yours doesn't have zombies or shoe swapping in it."

"No," admitted Ron as they began to walk. "But it does have the American Magic School."

"Noo," said Hermione eagerly, her face lighting up. "Tell me, tell me!"

They headed slowly back towards the History classroom, taking the most obvious route and hoping to run into Harry coming to find them. It also lead them past a gaggle of house elves handing out the bacon butties Ron had seen people with before, and he snagged three before Hermione could protest. "I haven't eaten since lunchtime yesterday," he said, mildly horrified at his own misfortune as Hermione shook her head and took two hot chocolates.

She took over talking as the hot sandwiches disappeared one by one down his gullet. He listened as she described arriving in Draco and Sarah's world, and after how they couldn't contact Harry's parents they went to Godric's Hollow.

"The whole town had been turned into zombies?" he asked.

She tutted. "I'm getting to that, don't interrupt."

The classroom was still empty when they got back to it, and he watched Hermione take in his additional note as they both realised Harry had not added to it. "I guess he's not back yet," said Hermione with a touch of forced cheeriness. "We'll just wait for him."

She picked up one of the upside down chairs from off the stacked tables, and Ron copied. As soon as he placed his next to hers, she flicked her wand and transfigured them into plush arm chairs, then turned the empty bin into a foot stool. "Ahh," sighed Ron, sinking into his one, snuggling his shoulders down into the comfy fabric.

"So what was Salem like?" asked Hermione, tucking her knees under her chin. Ron couldn't help but chuckle. Of course Hermione would know about the American school and where it was, but he did he best to start from the very beginning and tell her everything. A lump rose in his throat whenever he mentioned Chris, and he had to take a moment when he got to the bit with Bellatrix in the flying key room. But Hermione was a patient listener, and good at asking questions when he didn't explain things quite right.

He could feel his eyes getting heavy as he spoke, and even as Hermione listened he could see her nodding off as well. Harry wasn't back yet though, he wanted to be awake when he was.

But sleep was overpowering him, and after a few minutes he realised he'd stopped talking entirely.

Maybe five minutes wouldn't hurt. He'd wake up with the commotion of Harry getting back anyway. Just five minutes sleep would be fine.

xxx

As soon as Draco's foot touched the dazzling portal he felt his body being pulled at a great rate, but at the same time his other foot was still on the ground in the Limbo graveyard. He squinted his eyes against the spectacular array of purples and golds flashing and streaming around him, and the further he stepped into the void, the more his skin felt like it was being squeezed, compressed by some invisible force.

He was almost too afraid to breath; was there air? Should he hold his breath? He gritted his teeth and tried to hold out, pressing forward until he could no longer feel his trainer resting on the muddy grass.

The moment his second foot lifted off, he felt his first touching slowly down on something solid. Draco raised his hand instinctively, shielding his face. He couldn't see anything but the fervent, swirling colours, like he was caught in a turbulent whirlpool, but his whole foot was definitely flat now.

It was hard to tell how much he was moving, but he was able to keep propelling his body forwards through sheer will if nothing else.

He could tell his leg was feeling cooler, like it was dangling out a window in a breeze. Just a little further, he urged himself. You're almost home, just keep going…

All of a sudden he burst through the membrane and found himself tripping out of the portal and into contrastingly dim room, righting his footing and gasping for breath.

"Draco?"

He was too disorientated to jump or spin around, but as his breathing slowed he was able to frown and look to where the voice had come from.

They were in a Hogwarts classroom, the old History one. It was gloomy but not totally dark, as dawn was gradually breaking beyond the large window behind him. In the weak shadows Draco saw someone stand from a chair tucked in by the blackboard, someone wringing their hands as they took a step forward.

Draco's face split into a grin so wide it hurt. "Hermione," he said, stumbling in his haste to reach her, but she was already running into him, crashing together in a mess of limbs and hair and relief.

"You're back!" she cried as she squeezed him so hard he feared a rib might crack. "I'm so sorry, the other Hermione left my body so I got sucked back in, but I was so worried about you, about Harry – is he okay, has he calmed down? What happened, I didn't-"

"Hey, hey," laughed Draco, stoking her tangled hair. She looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, but he didn't care in the slightest. "It's okay, everything's fine."

"Fine?" said Hermione, leaning back to look at him. He felt his smile fade a little.

"Well," he sighed. "Not fine. Harry still doesn't have a body, he's still in Limbo. But he's not talking crazy any more, I left him with Alex." He brushed some more of her hair out of her eyes. "He promised he'd look after him."

Hermione sighed and rested her temple on Draco's chest. "I suppose," she said. "That's the best we can hope for."

Draco closed his eyes, the disorientation from the portal finally subsiding. "I wish there was something else I could have done."

There was a sudden and violent thumping on the door to the classroom. "Oi!" shouted a voice. "We can hear you! Is he back? Let us in!"

Hermione laughed and caught Draco's eye, before letting him go, taking his hand, and moving to the door to open it. Draco had recognised Sarah's voice with a thrill, but it was nothing compared to the sight that greeted him once the door swung open.

With a yell, Sarah launched herself into Draco's arms, knocking him backwards as she squealed. Behind her were her parents, Draco's temporary guardians over the summer when he'd left Malfoy Manor. Lily seized Draco and Sarah both in her arms, hugging them and kissing the top of his head, whilst James watched on, smiling with his hands in his pockets.

Sirius and Remus came into the room to flank him, and once Lily gave the first signs of loosening her grip, Sirius hopped in, ruffling Draco's hair like a child. "We were worried about you mate," he said, clearing his throat as he stepped away again.

The next people into the room were slightly more surprising. Harry and Parvati walked cautiously in, eyes on Draco like he might attack them or something. Draco felt his insides contract at seeing Harry, but he could tell instantly from his body language this was the one from his world. Still, the similarities were obviously there, and he groped automatically for Hermione's hand. She gripped his tight, and he allowed the moment to pass. His Harry was gone, this was an entirely different person.

Although when he opened his mouth, he still managed to surprise Draco. "I'm glad you're okay," he said stiffly. Parvati refrained from saying anything nasty at all, which Draco certainly counted as an improvement.

Behind them was their friend Terry Boot, which seemed odd to Draco. But no one else appeared put out by his being there, and he walked up to Draco like he was an old friend. "Glad you're back mate," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Sarah's told me a lot about you."

Draco was taken aback, but Sarah was nodding eagerly, and he decided some things must have gone on whilst he was away. "Thanks," he said as genuinely as he could, and tried to ignore Parvati's flicker of a scowl.

Finally, two more people strode into the classroom, the first marching straight up to Draco and punching him hard on the arm. "Ow," he said pointedly, but Blaise Zabini just arched an eyebrow at him.

"You were gone a long time," she said coolly.

Draco couldn't help but smile as he rubbed his arm. "Nice to see you too."

The final entrant to the room was an apprehensive looking Dean Thomas, who was hovering over Blaise's shoulder, regarding everyone with wide eyes. Upon catching Draco's he nodded and smiled. "Alright mate," he said in his East London intonation, offering his hand for a heartfelt shake. "Sarah came to find us, said you would be popping back here of all places."

Draco glanced at Sarah, trying to gauge what he should reply, but she waved a hand dismissively at him. "They know everything," she said, almost bored. "We've been hanging around a while, seemed pointless to carry on lying."

Draco felt a wave of guilt and darted his eyes straight back to Blaise. "Everything?"

She casually walloped him again, much to the amusement of the room. "I can't believe you kept such a good story from me," she said, the edge of her lips twitching. "And I'm done beating you now, you can relax."

"Thanks," muttered Draco, still rubbing his arm, but it was in good humour.

There was a soft thudding on the window, and Draco turned his head, eyebrows raised. "Sunny!" he cried pleasantly, as the little ball of sunshine bobbed about in delight.

"He's missed you," said Blaise warmly.

Draco looked back around, and realised everyone was staring at him. Everyone except Terry Boot, who until he noticed the lull in conversation was staring at Hermione. Sarah spotted this too, and was looking sadly between the two. Once Terry realised though he smiled and looked at Draco instead as if nothing had happened.

Draco thought it odd, but decided to mention it to Sarah another time.

"You were with him?" asked Lily, breaking the silence. "The other Harry?" Her eyes glanced towards her own Harry, but he seemed calm enough. Draco couldn't quite believe they were both standing in the same room together and not trading blows.

He nodded. "I suppose Sarah has explained we were sent there?"

"I'm sorry," said Harry clearly and loudly. Draco frowned and looked at him.

"For what?"

Sarah stepped between them. "Harry lost his temper in the room below us, ranting about the other Harry and all that. It triggered the Dimensional Leap but we've already established," she threw a stern look at him. "That it wasn't his fault, it was just an accident."

Harry nodded as Draco processed this. He was surprised to find he wasn't all that angry. "Still," said Harry. "I am sorry. Sarah said you've been through a lot."

Hermione caught Draco's eye. "But it's over now," she said. "Everyone is where they should be."

"So Harry's okay too?" asked Sarah.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Draco. "Hermione said he was with you, that you each had a version of Voldemort to face?"

Draco could feel Hermione's hand hot in his own and his skin prickled uncomfortably. But she gave him a little squeeze as she smiled at the others. "I told them you both won your battles, how brave you were."

Draco nodded and swallowed his grief. "Yeah," he said preparing to lie. "We did. And he went home too. So, I guess we won't ever see him again. It's all finished."

Sarah gave a little shuddery sigh, and nodded. "Well, one Harry Potter's probably enough," she said, nudging her brother playfully with her shoulder. "Isn't it?" Harry surprised Draco yet again by putting his arm around his sister.

"Yes it is," agreed James, stepping forward to put a hand on each of his children's backs. "Do you really think it's all over?"

Draco nodded. "The Horcruxes are destroyed and so are the Voldemorts. I don't think anyone's in a hurry to go exploring alternate realities any time soon."

"Kingsley will be most pleased," said Remus.

"They said," piped up Parvati, her voice small. "That you saw Seamus. That he's...some sort of guardian?"

"Watcher," said Draco automatically.

"He's in charge of our universe," added Hermione, that bright look still on her face. "The UK in our universe anyway, I think there are others for other countries."

Draco noticed her use of a non-committal tense. It didn't sit entirely well with him, lying to them all, but the proud look on Sarah's face told him it would do more harm than good to amend what had been true an hour ago.

"So no more fighting," said Sarah to her brother and Parvati as she detached from Harry, and Terry gave a little grin from behind them. "We're all sad that Seamus had to leave us, but he's got a new life now, and it would be selfish to keep being mad at Draco and Hermione. Okay?"

Harry looked over at them, at Draco especially. "A lot of crazy stuff has happened," he said after a moment or too. "Maybe it'd be best to take it from here, a fresh start?"

There was something about his face, a flicker of the other Harry that Draco swore he saw, if only for a second. "Sounds good to me."

To his astonishment, Harry extended his hand towards him, and Draco only hesitated briefly before offering his own, and the two shook firmly once.

As he took his hand back, his right hand, he spotted something extraordinary. Or, nothing extraordinary to be precise. His wrist, where the figure of eight had been for the past week in the other world, where his Dark Mark had been for the past few years, was completely blank. No scar, no tattoo. He touched it briefly with his thumb, and Hermione noticed too, exchanging a glance with him.

"Right," said James, clapping his hands together. "Well as fun as it's been coming back to school, Filtch still has a detention he owes Padfoot, Moony and I. So how about we take this little party somewhere with more firewhisky and less blackboards to clean?"

"Hog's Head?" suggested Sirius.

"At this hour?" questioned Lily.

James shrugged. "Call it inter-dimensional jet-lag, feels like 5pm to me."

"And the children?" said Remus, an eyebrow raised.

"We promise not to be corrupted," assured Blaise. "Anyway Dean has never had a Butterbeer." Dean nodded eagerly.

Terry draped his arm around Harry's shoulders. "I don't know," he said. "I think now Ziggy's lost the stick up his rear, he could do with a little corrupting."

General laughter filled the room as Harry scowled semi-seriously at the Ravenclaw and the adults debated briefly the best way to get into Hogsmead. Hermione leaned into Draco's side, and he suddenly found Sarah doing the same on the other. "Welcome home," murmured the youngest Potter.

"Home," Draco repeated as the group began filing out of the old History of Magic classroom. Lily winked at him before she took James' hand and exited to the corridor. "I suppose I am home," he said, smiling at each of the girls in turn.

xxx

Harry needed more time. He hadn't expected this so soon. Everything had changed so fast, and now here he was, stood in the place where it had all began.

He wasn't really stood there, he knew. But it was the closest he was ever going to get, and that made it seem more real to him in that moment.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He could feel his skin hot under his finger tips, he could sense the dull ache behind his eyes, he could taste the saliva in his mouth; why couldn't it just be real?

He had thought Ron and Hermione wouldn't fall asleep until the evening. Alex had explained everything he'd needed to know to reach out to them, to talk to them in their unconscious state, but he had thought he'd have all day to prepare for it.

It had taken them less than an hour to pass out, curled up in the arm chairs Hermione had conjured in the old History of Magic classroom. Alex had suggested he hold off, give himself the time he'd assumed he would have, but Harry knew they were waiting for him, waiting for him to come home. It seemed cruel to keep them hanging on.

But since he had walked through the door from Limbo and into their dream version of the classroom, all he had done was just stand and watch them. They looked so peaceful. He had managed to catch up on most of what had happened to them in their own parallel universes, and his heart swelled with pride thinking all they had overcome.

What should he do, shake them? Shout? They still looked very much asleep, and Alex hadn't explained how to wake them whilst still in their dreams. The way he'd told it, Seamus had been waiting for them when they'd nodded off, making it seem to them that they were still awake. And when Alex had stumbled upon him and Ron in the forest in Germany, he had been trying to send Harry home, but instead linked him and Ron through their dreams in the different realities. Maybe he should wait until later after all? Maybe he could sit in the Gryffindor tower until bedtime, was that how it worked?

Maybe he could go get Alex? It might be easier to do this with his help.

"Harry?"

He looked up with a start. Hermione was no longer asleep, at least, not in her dream. At the sound of her voice, Ron 'woke up' too, and Harry stared at them both, panicked.

"Harry!" cried Ron as the two of them scrambled to their feet, but Harry couldn't help it. He stumbled backwards, hitting the closed door and raising his hands.

"Hold on," he said, causing them to stop, confusion on their faces. "Just...hold on a second."

"We've been waiting for you," said Ron eagerly. "We only got back a while ago, we knew you'd pop up eventually."

But Hermione was frowning. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Harry licked his lips. This was going to be so much harder than he realised. "You're still asleep," was all he managed to say.

Ron looked down at himself. "No we're not," he said.

Hermione was shaking her head. "What do you mean? How can we still be asleep?"

Harry felt his eyes moving between them both, taking in every detail he could. His heart was thrumming in his chest and his palms were clammy. "Like when Seamus came to talk to you," he said. "In the other realities. You're dreaming."

Ron pulled a disbelieving face, and turned to Hermione. "I feel pretty awake," he said to her.

But she shook her head. "You were delirious before," she said. "You said it was hazy. When I spoke to Seamus it was like he just appeared in the room." She turned back to Harry, as did Ron.

He sighed and tried to smile. "You're dreaming," he said.

Hermione folded her arms. "Okay," she said. "So, what? Are you our Harry, or some other one?"

"No," said Harry, mildly amused by Hermione's typical pragmatism. "I'm your Harry, this is my universe."

"So why are you talking to us like this?" she asked. "Are you still in Limbo?"

"What happened?" added Ron. "I thought we got the Horcruxes, I thought everything was sorted?"

Harry shook his head. "No you did, you were great," he insisted. "The Voldemorts were stopped, the Multiverse is safe."

So..." said Hermione. "Why are you talking to us like this?"

Harry swallowed. "You're right," he said. "I'm still in Limbo."

"Okay," said Ron with a shrug. "So when are you coming home?"

Harry could feel his hands shaking, so he pressed them against his jeans. "I'm not."

There was a moment of stillness. His gaze was lost somewhere between the stone floor and his friend's shoes, but he could tell they weren't moving an inch. "What?" said Ron.

"I don't understand," said Hermione, her voice tight.

"The Voldemorts," said Harry. "Wanted to move between the universes. To do that, they needed mine and Draco's bodies, to possess. Draco won his battle before his one got a chance, but...but I was too late."

"I thought you said you destroyed him," said Hermione, anger encroaching on her words. "What are you talking about, possessing? Seamus didn't say anything about that."

Harry shook his head. "We didn't know, not until the very end, when Voldemort...did what he did to me."

"So you can get your body back," said Ron. "You just get it back right, and come home?"

Harry took a breath. "There was an accident, the two got separated, Voldemort's soul and my body, but without my soul inside I...I died." He closed his eyes as his fists bunched. "I've come to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" repeated Ron. "I don't get it, you're standing right there."

"No," said Harry. "I'm not. You're still asleep in those chairs, I'm only here in your minds."

"But I can see you," said Ron. "I don't get it, what are you trying to say!"

Harry steeled himself. "That I can't come home," he said through gritted teeth.

"Says who?" snapped Hermione. "Where's your body, how long have you been separated? There must be some-"

"It got thrown into another world," said Harry, empty and sad. "It's just...lost. I have no body to come back in, I have nothing physical left."

Hermione was shaking her head. "No," she said. "No I don't believe it."

"No," repeated Ron forcefully. "No, no that can't, you can't just – there must be some way-"

Harry took a deep breath. "There isn't," he said. "Believe me. I'm sorry, I didn't want to upset you, I just wanted to let you know what happened, I couldn't just leave-"

Hermione burst into tears, and within a second she had crossed the few feet between them and thrown her arms around him. He leant into her, gripping tightly. "No," she whimpered. "No, it can't end like this, after everything, it can't."

"I'm sorry," said Harry again.

"Don't be sorry," shouted Ron, and Harry and Hermione pulled apart. "Fix it! You have to come back, you can't just leave us, we need you!"

"I need you too," said Harry around the lump that had risen in his throat. "But there's nothing I can do."

This was awful, he should have just waited like Alex had said, he was making things worse.

"If we had some time," said Hermione. "We could think of something?"

Harry rubbed his eyes. "I don't have a body," he said. "I said the same thing, but just because I'm talking and walking don't let that fool you." He shrugged. "I'm dead."

"But-" said Ron.

"But," interrupted Harry. "I think...I think that's okay. I never should have crossed universes, I never should have messed everything up like I did. The world has to reset itself."

Hermione hiccupped. "Harry that doesn't make any sense," she cried.

Harry shook his head. "It does to me. Or at least, it's starting to."

The three of them looked forlornly at one another. "So that's it?" asked Ron.

Harry felt his face tighten. "I guess so," he said. "I wanted to come see you, one last time."

"And you'll be in Limbo?" asked Hermione.

He nodded. "Alex said he'd look after me. I'm not on my own."

Hermione's face dissolved again. "But you can visit us, like this?" she said. "This isn't goodbye, it isn't the end?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "This is more than most people get when they die."

"But you're not most people," said Ron pleadingly. "Don't go Harry, please."

"I have to," he said, groping for the door handle behind him. "I have to."

"No," said Hermione as he cracked the door.

"Can you do me a favour?" he asked. "Just one last thing? Can you...can you tell Sirius? I wanted to do it myself, but I don't know if I can." He felt cowardly, but he just wanted to run, to escape.

"Harry-" said Hermione.

"Promise me," insisted Harry.

Hermione inhaled and steadied her voice. "We promise."

"And Draco," said Harry. "The one here. I know he's always been a git, but try not to be too hard on him."

Ron nodded, his jaw clamped shut.

Harry pulled the door a few more inches, and Hermione gasped, but didn't say anything. Her and Ron were clinging on to one another, only a foot or so away from him. "Goodbye," said Harry. "I love you both."

And with that he moved around the door, filing through the crack and slamming it in his wake.

xxx

Alex was standing in the shadows for a few minutes before Sirius Black noticed him. The wizard was sat on a bench, head bowed and his hands clasped between his knees. Alex knew he didn't have long to intrude on his dream, or in this universe even, but he was lost in his own muddled thoughts and regrets, some he knew he was sharing with Sirius at that very moment.

Eventually though, he did raise his head.

"Alex?" he said. His voice was hoarse and his eyes were blood shot. "What's happening, am I back-"

"No," said Alex quickly, shaking his head and stepping into the dim morning light. "You're not back in Limbo. You've just nodded off. I wanted to come see you, see how you were doing."

Sirius grimaced and leaned back against the stone wall. They were in a small alcove attached to the church in Godric's Hollow, and outside it was drizzling. "How do you think I'm doing," he said gruffly. "I'm about to bury my Godson next to my best friend."

Alex sighed and walked over to the bench, gathering up his tailcoat and sitting down beside the man he'd only briefly met in Limbo. Sir Woofsalot materialised from under his feet, and rubbed his head against Sirius' leg. Absently, the other man dropped his hand to stroke his fur.

"If it's any consolation," Alex said. " I know it's what Harry wanted. To save you." He waggled his fingers at him. "In both our worlds, you were the closest thing he had to family, and he was willing to give his life for yours." He cleared his throat and looked out through the yawning. "They both were."

Sirius looked up from the puppy, regret and horror blossoming on his face. "Not your Harry too?" he said.

Alex sighed. "He's still in Limbo," he said. "Been there a few days. He lost his body to Voldemort, so...that's that. He can't go back."

Sirius lowered his head again, shaking it. "It's not right," he said. "I had my life, he should have left it, should have..." He trailed off, still shaking his head angrily.

"That's why I wanted to pop by," said Alex. "I know it's been an emotional few days, what with the Ministry on your back."

Sirius made a disdainful noise. "The kids gave their testimony right there in the Death Chamber, they were so hysterical after Harry...After we got back. I think they scared the Unspeakables a little if I'm honest." He rubbed his hands over his face. "I don't really care," he said. "I just wanted to be here today, to do my job, to pull the casket. They can throw me back in Azkaban after that for all it matters."

"Nope," said Alex, standing up and shaking his head. "No, that's not what Harry would have wanted and you know it. You have to keep fighting, for him, for both of you."

"I just don't see the point," said Sirius, and Alex looked on him kindly.

"You will," he promised. "Maybe not today, or next week or even next year. But eventually you will see the point again, and you'll be glad of it."

"Harry was what got me through Azkaban," said Sirius. "All those months, sleeping in caves, living like a dog. And now the Ministry are willing to believe I might not have caused Lily and James' death, but…" He trailed off, his eyes lost staring in the middle distance.

Alex placed his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said.

Sirius nodded but didn't look up. "I know," he said. "It all got pretty messed up didn't it?"

Alex lifted his hand and wrapped his arms around his waist. "You have no idea," he said with a sigh. "We'll be recovering from this for decades."

"Seems right I guess," said Sirius, interlocking his fingers and pressing them onto his knuckles.

Alex pulled a pocket watch from his jeans and popped open the clasp. "You better wake up," he said, showing Sirius the face. "Almost time."

Sirius sighed heavily but nodded. "Thank you," he said, rubbing the back of his sleeve over his eyes and standing. "I supposed it's good weather," he commented, indicating the rain. "For a funeral."

Alex sighed. "No weather is good for a funeral," he said. "Take care Sirius Black, I will be checking in with your Watcher quite regularly, I'll promise you that."

Sirius managed a weak smile, and turned up his collar as he prepared to step out into the damp morning. "Look after your Harry for me," he said. "It'll be nice, to think of you both up there." He glanced upwards, as if Limbo was a physical place above the clouds, but Alex knew the living frequently thought of their afterlives waiting for them in the sky. So he just nodded, and with Sir Woofsalot at his heals his slipped back into the shadows, walking once more into the familiar wide marble corridor of Limbo.

After the tranquillity of the church yard, it was startling to come back to the chaotic halls of Limbo. The corridors and archways, usually peaceful to the point of uneasiness, were a riot of moving and screeching bodies. People, animals and anything in between, running, shouting, pushing, waving papers, reading memos, writing messages. Now that Limbo had shrunk back to its more usual size, all its permanent residents were out in force, trying to make sense of the upheaval that had befallen them.

Sir Woofsalot whined and scratched at Alex's jeans. "I know Woofsy," he said as a troop of dwarves went marching past, forcing the two of them further into the throng. "It was less scary when people were trying to kill us."

He looked down at his pup. "Stay close!" he instructed, and Sir Woofsalot barked once in compliance.

They drove into the hoard, trying to stay on course despite the rushing bodies and charging hooves. "Watch out," cried Alex cheerfully. "Just a moment, yes thank you very much." He weaved in between the constantly moving targets, easing past doors that were almost always closed but today were opening and closing like shutters in a hurricane. Like they had seen back at Malfoy Manor, often the doors would be approached by Watchers, who would hold the handle for a moment in thought before opening it on the location of their choosing. But there was a grand set of double doors that had been propped open as wide as they could go, and as Alex walked slowly past, struggling with the masses, he could see inside the courtroom that had been attacked by the two Voldemorts, packed to the rafters even more so than the corridors he was moving through.

"Order!" a wizened old goblin was shouting as people yelled and waved ballot papers in the air. "Order I say!"

Alex raised his eyebrows at Sir Woofsalot. "After what happened to the last Council," he said as they moved on. "You think they'd be less keen."

"Ain't you got work to be doin'?" a disapproving voice rasped out from across the sea of people, moving in the opposite direction.

"Oh believe me Adelaide," said Alex cheerfully, waving out to her. "Enough for several lifetimes."

"Hello darling!" saluted Effie, sashaying along in Adelaide's wake, nodding her big, purple, feathered hat. "How's your universe?"

"Still intact," said Alex as a centaur dodged impatiently around him. "Yours?"

"Like clockwork," said the Victorian with a wink.

"Like a pig in the parlour," growled Adelaide, raising an eyebrow at Effie. "Magic school's near 'bout fallin' apart, an' that red-headed family are testin' mah patience."

Alex chuckled to himself as the tide of the crowd pulled them further apart. "Enjoy yourselves," he said as a checkout girl covered in blood all but ran into him.

"Sorry," she said in a Polish accent. "I am lost, could you point me to orientation?"

Alex pointed down the corridor. "Just keep going until you hear the sound of grown men weeping," he said.

"Thank you." The girl nodded and smiled, and Alex noted her name tag.

"Be seeing you Ania," he said as she rushed off, and he hoped that would be true. Sir Woofsalot looked after her, wagging his tail.

A snippet of people singing caught his ear, and Alex let himself be whirled around by a gaggle of peasant folk in seared and scorched clothing, lugging pails of water. He almost asked what they were up to, but decided against it and followed the singing instead. He soon tracked it down to a set of roughly cut double doors with thick, wrought iron hinges and knockers. With a raise of the eyebrow to Sir Woofsalot, he pushed against one of them and peeked in.

The hall was long and lit only by dim torchlight. Straw littered the ground as well as broken tankards and gnawed on animal bones. There were a few dozen Vikings clustered around a very long and cluttered wooden table, reaching from an enormous blazing fireplace towards where Alex was standing several feet away. Every kind of meat Alex could think of was piled on silver platters, dripping with honey, gravy, butter and even chocolate. Bread and potatoes filled any space that was in danger of going unoccupied in between, and running all along the centre of the long table was cake upon cake, all proudly standing on gleaming stands and covered in all manner of fruit, cream and fondants.

It was mostly men, but the odd woman could be seen too, and they all had at least one drink in their hands that they were sloshing about as they stamped their feet and wailed in each others' faces. "AYEEAHHHHH-AH!" they were signing enthusiastically as some of them beat out a rhythm on the table's edge.

"We come from the land of the ice and snow,

From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.

The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,

To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!"

Alex ducked as several more cups and what remained of their contents went flying over the Vikings' heads, and a general roar of appreciation was bellowed by the warriors for their fallen fellows.

Alex looked down at the dog in between his feet, who tilted his head. "You're right Woofsy," he said. "Best to leave before they make us join in."

The two of them slipped out unseen and closed the door again, only quieting the din fractionally. Alex smiled at the wood, remembering what he'd said to Harry after Arnthor had met them in the graveyard. "I think they've got the right idea," he said to his dog as they moved on again. "Good excuse for a damn fine party." Though as he thought of Godric, of Seamus and of both the Harrys, he couldn't say he truly felt like celebrating.

He let the people and creatures push and pull against him, and he let his eyes drift through the crowd, until he happened on another still figure, propped up against his broom, listening to his headphones and watching the throng of frenzied masses pass him by. The janitor troll caught Alex's eye, and the two shared a smile and a nod. Perhaps he had the right idea, perhaps Alex needed to let this storm pass him by, to get some peace and quiet until everyone else put their affairs back in order.

He knew where he always used to go when he needed things to make sense, or when he felt he hadn't been told off in a while and probably should have been, so he started making his way to the nearest door. He didn't expect anyone to be waiting for him on the other side, but that didn't stop him as he pushed ahead and took hold of the handle, gripping it for just a moment before heading inside.

"Oh," he said in surprise as he walked into the room.

The office was just as he remembered; coffee mugs on every available surface, abacus and computer on the desk, take-out menus and finger painting on the note board that had once been on the door. But there was in fact someone on the other side of Jia's desk, and that someone was ushering him in with a hiss.

"Close it, close it!" said Merlin from where he was standing on a stool, sheets of paper in one hand and a fountain pen in the other. "For the love of man don't let those rabid cretins in!"

Alex and Sir Woofsalot scuttled in and closed the door shut with a click. The quiet that followed was both welcome and soothing. "I'm sorry," said Alex. "I didn't think anyone would be here?"

Merlin shrugged and pushed up a pair of half-moon glasses that were threatening to slip down his nose. "In case it had escaped your attention," he said. "The populous is in a bit of a pickle. I was just seeing what I could do to help out."

"You mean hide," said Alex sliding further into the room and clapping his hands together. He eyed up several reports on the edge of the desk that looked familiar, and reached to inspect them closer, but no sooner had his hand extended than it was slapped away by a riding crop. "Ow," he said accusingly, but Merlin just retracted the crop and raised an eyebrow.

"Not hiding," he said. "Tactical withdrawal."

"And the beating stick?" asked Alex, nursing his hand.

Again Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Necessary," he said with only the slightest hint of exasperation, and glanced below the desk.

Curious, Alex moved around to see what was lurking below, and no sooner had he seen did he understand. There, curled up and snoring softly, was the little, rotund figure of a dragon he had not long ago named Puff. He had made a bed out of a small fortune of gems and precious metals, the top layer of which were the nuggets of potential energy Alex himself had given him as reward for helping them. The purple amulet was still hung around his neck, and his teddy bear was propped under his head, still missing an eye and slightly burnt, but otherwise intact.

"Ahh," said Alex, amused. "I was wondering where he'd got to."

Puff rolled over in his slumber, squirming his back into his jewels and smiling drowsily. "Treeea-suuure," he breathed, gloating even in his unconsciousness. "Pree-teey."

Alex smirked, but tried to cover it with his hand. Merlin didn't seem to share his sentiment. "Can't get rid of the little bugger," he said stiffly. "Says he needs my protection."

Alex let a small laugh tickle the back of his throat, but masked it as a cough and said nothing.

"Did you want something?" asked Merlin, peering at several documents he was holding.

Alex considered. "No," he said. "I guess not."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow with a full report." Merlin looked over his glasses and raised an eyebrow. "Say 9am?"

"Should I call you boss then?" asked Alex, sauntering over to the broom cupboard.

Merlin's eyes were back on his papers, but he managed a twitch of a smile. "For the time being," he said. "I suppose."

Alex grinned, then reached for the handle and pulled the door open. He'd had quite enough excitement for one day, and was happy to walk back into his own front hall.

Sir Woofsalot dashed through just as the door swung shut behind them, and Alex let out a loud sigh, shrugging off his tailcoat. It was good to get it off, and as he hung it on the rack he rolled his shoulders.

"Come on boy," he said, and wandered into the living room. It seemed an age since he'd just put his feet up, so he lit the fire, dropped heavily into his favourite armchair, and kicked his boots off. Sir Woofsalot took a moment to inspect his socks before hopping up into his lap. "Oi, you big lump," said Alex, but the dog knew he didn't mean a word of it as he circled and snuggled in for a nap.

"Oh all right," said Alex, pretending to give in, and within seconds with little dog had shut his eyes and was breathing deeply.

"Hmm," said Alex, sighing and rubbing the puppy's head. "That actually looks like a nice idea."

He wasn't used to sleeping any more, he didn't have a real body so he'd got out of practice. But as he closed his eyes and snuggled further into the plush fabric of the chair, he could feel his senses dulling. "Maybe just a little while," he mumbled to himself and the fire crackled, and the portraits of his old friends whispered quietly on the wall. "Maybe I could use a nap too."

His eyes closed, he thought of everything that had brought him to that moment, his world getting darker and quieter by the moment. He thought of Godric, grinning, always grinning. He thought of Seamus, of his passion for his universe and how Alex would miss them both now they were truly gone. But then he thought of Harry and of Draco, the boys that had got them all into this mess in the first place, and he was sure his felt his tired face smile with pride.

His boys. His troublesome boys. Not in a millennia had anyone meddled with the universes so badly, nor had they made his day more exciting, more problematic or more memorable.

"Thanks," he murmured.

And for the first time in almost a decade, Alex felt his mind truly shutting off, drifting into that elusive pattern of sleep that he so envied amongst the living. Would he dream? he thought, as he slipped into the darkness.

He hoped so.

The End

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Acknowledgments

I can't believe this is really the end. There are so many people who have stuck with me along the way, I really couldn't have done this without you!

As always, I have to start with thanking the best editor, brother and friend in the world, the one and only John Haslam. You worked your hardest with this epic conclusion, and there are so many aspects of this particular story that just would not have worked without your constant input. There are too many to list them all, but I have to say thank you in particular for Zombieland. There is no way it would have been any good at all without you! You are such a talented editor and writer, and I can't wait to work more with you in the future.

I am so lucky to have the most supportive mommy a girl and a writer could ask for. You have always believed in my dreams and I'm so glad you loved this story right until the end. I'm sorry Harry made you cry, I will get you a real Puff next Christmas to make up for it, and put in a good word with Effie for New Year's ;-)

To all my other family and friends who have remained interested and put up with my winging and stressing over the years, you know who you are and you are brilliant.

Thank you to my super fans Sunny Kitten and Musicangel193 for your wonderful enthusiasm and insight. It has been a pleasure getting to know you from our keyboards across the globe, and I hope we can continue our friendships now that the story is complete.

Thank you to you, my fabulous readers. Thank you for sticking with me and my crazy kids, thank you for every hit, favourite, follow and review, I get a thrill with every email knowing that somewhere out there, someone knew has joined us on this adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I love you from my toes to my fingertips.

And finally, I have to thank the incredible, the magnificent, the one and only JK Rowling for giving us all the gift of Harry Potter. The Dream Trilogy is the greatest accomplishment of my life and has given me countless hours of joy as I created my own little pocket of the world you so expertly crafted. You are my hero and there will never be another quite like you. As I move onto new works, Harry and the gang will always be with me, keeping me inspired and checking my grammar.

With all the love in the cosmos,

Hxxxxx