My story doesn't end like J. K. Rowling's did...

AN. I just now got the idea for the cover of this story, and since the image thing is up and running, I would like to add that to the story. A final piece to mark it's completion. The problem is that I don't think I'll make it good enough. If anyone out there feels like it, write me, and I'll describe what I'm thinking about.

Hermione made her way through the crowd, when a headline on the newspaper-stand caught her eye. She bought a copy, and read the article as she went on her way.

How blind can we be?

by Rita Skeeter

Hermione blinked when she noticed that the paper wasn't a gathering of news, but was filled with just this one article. After a short introduction, a reprint of another story had been added to give the readers perspective. A story that, even after all this time, made Hermione scowl.

It was a story of the final battle, but not how it really happened. Instead, it was shown how people would like it to be.

True, his way of magic could be perceived as if his enemies simply dropped around him without him doing a single move, but still... His majestic frame? Never wavering? And all the Founder's relics being with him?

Hermione shook her head, disgusted by the way the original story went. It was as if people were trying to create another Merlin. Someone who would be there to protect them from their own stupid mistakes. Someone who would be responsible for every major event that occurred. And someone who they could put the blame on when everything went south.

Put in such a hopeless position, it was no surprise that you either died a hero, or lived long enough to become the villain. Also, she now knew exactly why Harry said so many times how people are just mindless sheep, and why he never bothered to explain, or even speak to them all that much.

At least they got it right the second time around.

Rita ridiculed the wizarding world for ever believing such a tale. Harry wasn't the spectacular hero dressed in emblems to show his might. He was a boy straight out of bed, nearly incoherent because of what was happening to him. The moment when he planted the lilies? He didn't simply knelt down. He almost ended sprawled on the ground, so unsteady on his feet he was. It made a completely different picture.

People wanted a hero to save them, but instead a broken down boy barely holding it together had to be the one to protect them. Stating the truth outright just made people see how wrong it was.

Skeeter pointed it all out, seeing that nearly all of the magical community was there to see it, she couldn't understand who could have believed such a fallacy. She wondered for whom the show was cast. Who would feel better because of it...

But she didn't stop at that. Pointing all the flaws in the original description of the Final Battle was just a beginning to a much greater thing.

Rita followed, ripping to shreds all of the things wizards were used to. Obliviating muggles. Relying on specialized wizards to do every single thing for them, when a simple charm would be enough to solve their problems. Of course, she spent quite some time describing the corrupt, unreliable and inept government they were listening to.

A gathering of self-important, power hungry bigots who thought they were the centre of the world simply because their ancestor did something great with his or her life some five hundred years ago... Then she added a quick apology to those so very few that actually were trying to do something good with what they had.

She took the world wizards lived in, the fairy tale land locked in a bubble they constructed for themselves, apart, showing all it's mistakes and fallacies, and then simply threw it all out the window.

Hermione was actually impressed. It seemed that without her Quick-Quote-Quill, Rita Skeeter was an outstanding reporter. Her spot on remarks and her wit building the pressure as the story progressed, kept Hermione in rapt attention, with the need to know what more could be found behind another turn.

So much, that she nearly crashed into a desk she was walking towards all this time.

"State your business..." said the witch at the desk, not looking from the stacks of paperwork on her desk.

"I'm visiting-" Hermione started, but when the witch heard the voice, she glanced up, and a small smile appeared on her face.

"I didn't notice it was you. Go right in," the witch stated with a nod, not bothering with the proper protocol for the visitors, simply returning to whatever she was doing before.

Hermione smiled herself. Visiting... yeah, right. It was more like she lived there.

After Harry collapsed, all the wizards and witches gathered there wanted the best possible care for him. Immediately, he was taken to St. Mungo's, where all the specialists from all around the world came to figure out what exactly was wrong with the saviour of the wizarding world. And the only thing they could be sure of, was that Harry was asleep.

Now, thought, it would be much more like a magical hibernation. There was almost to no need for potions strengthening potions or regenerative draughts, as his metabolism slowed down to a near complete stop, and his magic took care of him quite well on it's own.

The medical community of wizards around the world stood still at those news. They simply had no clue what was happening. Without any symptoms, injuries, traumas, or even without his state changing ever so slightly, they simply couldn't tell what was wrong to him.

To everything around, Harry Potter was simply fast asleep, and wouldn't wake up.

Hermione, on the other hand, knew. It took her five minutes to figure out, when she had his head in her lap and reached out to him with her mind only to find nothing at all. The road to his mind he had left for her before was gone, with black canvas obscuring everything that happened within his mind.

At first, Hermione mourned. It was yet another time when Harry did something, and she was the one left to worry sick about him. She wouldn't leave the seat beside his bed. She wouldn't speak to anyone...

But then she caught herself, and knew that this wasn't what he would like for her. So, started treating it as another one of Harry's pranks, or lessons, or whatever he would call it as. On that day she smiled for the first time since what felt like a really long time, kissed him on the forehead and went outside. Talked to people. Helped around the hospital and enjoyed herself. She finally learned how to live with Harry, and, more importantly, all the outlandish things he did.

Because she knew that Harry wasn't gone. He was with Magie doing whatever they did in there, and she had to simply wait for him to come back to her. He always came back to her.

Finally reaching his room, she pushed the door to his room...

That thought,as always, made her stop and smile. His room. It was more like their room. With him in bed, and her spending most of the time in there, it was like a small apartment than a simply hospital room. Small kitchen, magical refrigerator, dining table to entertain all the guests... It seemed that everything was possible as long as it was for Harry, or in this case, for Harry's girlfriend.

Sighing, she went inside, going around her daily routine. She set the stack of books she prepared for herself right to the one she finished the last night. Frowning at the fact that she didn't set the books from last night properly like she usually did, she did it right, to make sure that everything was there.

Next she went to the refrigerator, unpacking the groceries she bought. She frowned again, seeing the nearly empty box of milk she left. She was getting forgetful or...

Then she stiffened, her brilliant mind, sharpened further by all the years she spent with Harry, kicked in, and a feeling that something was off settled in her. She turned, slowly, scanning the room for all the small details that made her sure that thing weren't exactly as she left them. Then her eyes fell on Harry's bed, and she froze.

It was empty.

She stood there, watching the sheets threw back as if someone just stood up from their afternoon nap. She stared at it, and her mind simply couldn't perceive what it meant. Until:

"Hello, Hermione."

The voice made her jump, and she turned her head so sharply that it hurt. Seeing him sitting there on the windowsill, like Magie used to do, usually would make her frown at his antics. Or roll her eyes while thinking that he sat there, watching her all this time, only to startle her like that.

Usually... Having watched him lie in his bed for nearly a year, and now going to the sink to leave the empty bowl after the cereal he just had wasn't your usual situation.

"What?" Harry, asked after quickly scrubbing the bowl. "Crookshanks got your tongue or something?" he asked with a smile as he dried his hands.

Then his expression changed to one of deep thought as he walked the couple of steps to stand in front of her, standing there, open mouthed, with wide eyes slowly filling with tears.

"No," he said while watching her with that slight smile she always loved, "I must have been mistaken, ma'am. You can't be Hermione," Harry commented while raising his hand to brush her hair out of her face, and get a better look at her. "Or you're simply much prettier than I remember."

Feeling his touch on her skin finally broke Hermione out of her stupor so abruptly that she nearly fell. But Harry was there to catch her. He held her close to him while she regained the feeling in her legs that went numb. Feeling his arms around her compelled her to sneak her arms around him too, holding him for her dear life.

The tears that were filling her eyes finally fell, and with them, the dam burst, and all the emotions she kept in check all this time. She cried into his chest while laughing at the same time. She hugged him to make him stay, while at the same time she told him how much of a prat he was. Finally she kissed him. She kissed his lips, neck, jaw...

Harry quickly found that holding a girl on the brink of a hormonal breakdown was a very hard thing to do, and soon enough he was stumbling back, hard pressed to keep the balance for both of them. He ended sprawled on his hospital bed, with Hermione on top of him. He only got one glimpse of the glint that lit in Hermione's eyes at that, before she began to show him just how much she missed him.

Magie just gave one knowing smile before she turned and locked the door to make sure that no one would disturb the two young lovers. She vanished while shaking her head, knowing for sure that it would be a long time before anyone else would be able to come into the room.

"Say it again," Hermione asked him, lying in Harry's bed, with her head resting on his chest.

"Hermione," Harry whispered into her ear for what seemed the hundredth time, and like it always did, it made the witch draped over him give that little, content sigh.

"I don't know why," she murmured, with her eyes closed as she listened to his heart, "But I always loved you saying my name."

"Because you're my own," he whispered, while running his hands through her hair.

Hermione gave another content sigh, then frowned. She caught herself doing that, and was surprised at the familiar sound ringing in her ears.

'My own,' she thought to herself, 'my own', she imagined Harry saying, 'my own sounds like mione,' she followed that train of thought.

"And she's the one means Hermione," a little whisper in her ear finished her thought for her.

Her eyes snapped open and she turned to stare at Harry with wide eyes.

"No you didn't..." she whispered, trying to remember just from when Harry calling out her name made her heart skip a beat.

"Always," he said staring back into her eyes, without a hint of his joking attitude in visible.

Hearing that, Hermione kissed him with such passion, that Harry knew it would kill him if it got any further. Fortunately, she was as tired as he was, and after they run out of air, she settled back against him.

"So, what took you so long?" Hermione asked after couple of minutes of comfortable silence, still with her eyes closed as she listened to his heart.

"You really want to talk about it now?" Harry asked, thinking of their state of undress... among other things.

"Would you like to be anywhere else right now?" Hermione asked, and, already knowing the answer, she didn't even look up.

"Not in a million years," Harry said, kissing her on top of her head.

"I guess it was because of the sun," Harry said, starting his story.

"The sun?" Hermione played along, asking with a confused smile.

"It's stuck in the highest position, and doesn't set very often. It happens, but it isn't common. Without even a storm coming, or anything else to indicate that time passes, it's hard to tell just how much time you spent in there. It's hard to imagine that almost a year had passed. To me, it felt like just couple of days..." Harry said, then twisted his head slithly to the side, making Hermione look up at him. "But now that I think about it, all the things I did really couldn't be done that quickly."

Glancing at Hermione, and seeing that she was waiting for him to continue, he started closed his eyes and tried to remember what exactly happened.

"I made them too good," he said, talking about his imaginary friends. "At first they were supposed to be just shadows of people, their representations. But I wouldn't stop at that... As they gained in experience and refinement, they stopped being shadows, and became people of their own kind. But they were flawed just as their predecessors. They thought that they knew everything there is, they wanted to be the ones in control, and, soon enough, they started weaving their own stories..."

"A mind filled with possibilities thinking about opportunities?" Hermione thought about the idea and winced, "It's no wonder you had a hard time thinking straight."

"Yeah..." Harry said with a silent nod, thinking of all the strange behaviours that were the effect of that. "That's why I gave them a chance at life. Gave them bodies of their own. But, with magic being all about intent, I haven't fully calculated how people in the castle would be included in the mix. All of those emotions. Fear and anger... Everything people around were feeling added itself, and it made them come out wrong. Twisted..." Harry sighed, remembering the row of murderers standing where he thought his friends would be.

"I guess instead of simply knowing life, they got the brunt side of it, and felt the ugly side of it as the first glance. I don't even know if I should be sorry or happy because of that. It sure made them reconsider the whole notion of taking over, but The Town..." Harry sighed, shakin his head. "I found it in ruins. The shack the baby stayed in had disappeared completely for obvious reasons. Slytherin's marsh did the same thing. I guess, or I would like to hope, that Salazar finally found some peace, and figured he could finally pass on," he said with a slight smile.

"As for the rest, it was damaged beyond repair. A town filled with people that suddenly had no idea what to do... So I did what I usually do. I talked with them, got to know them better. Well, I got to know myself better by that. I helped them build new homes. I worked and played with them. Laughed and cried. I guess I made them understand, and over time, I sorted through the problems filling my mind," he said before frowning.

"I had to add one more thing though, a graveyard." he stated

"A graveyard?" Hermione asked, surprised by that.

"Well, it's what it is, even if it doesn't look like that. It appears to be a park, but within it there are things that are left after those that passed away."

"You mean your thougts can die?" Hermione asked, incredulously.

"I guess..." Harry replied with a shrug, "You know how life is. It's just like a vacation. You find yourself in a strange new place, without a clue what to do. Then you find your favourite things, places, people. You make couple of fun photos along the way. But when you've got enough memories, and just before the routine starts to get bothersome, it's time to go back home. I guess, now that they understand it, some that find that they outlived their stay decided to simply vanish," Harry said, getting the mental picture of the place.

"Well, not simply... They left mementos of themselves. A tree with a heart and pair of initials carved into it to remind me of a pair of young lovers that used to rest under it. A bench on which children used to play, only to grow into teens who had their dates near the pond, and grew old together to sit on it, and feed the swans swiming nearby... Small things like that, to show that even when they aren't present, they were there, and left a mark,"

"I thought you weren't that big for monuments," Hermione repeated herself, reminded that they had this talk before.

"And I told you that I dealt with many problems I had before. That's what I've been doing throughout all this time. Then one day Magie came and kicked me out."

"And that's today," Hermione finished.

"Yes, that's today," Harry said, then asked a question of his own. "And how about you? Any grand changes in the world?"

"Surprisingly, no," Hermione replied, "It seems that wizards are small enough community that, even with many coming in from abroad, all the things that happened in the wizarding world didn't do that much of a ruckus. Any spell damage had been called as a 'sudden wave of vandalism' by regular newspapers, and someone proposed a plan to buff out the security. Of course, they got a promotion or something like that when everything stopped out of a sudden."

Then she got a serene look on her face.

"But you should see Hogwarts now. I don't know just how much power had been gathered in the castle, but once you unleashed it, the change was drastic. The Forbidden Forest took the brunt of it, while the trees sapped the vital forces from the earth. It's no longer dark, cold and empty. Now it turned into sort of jungle. Flowers bloom everywhere, and animals watch you from every bush. It's no longer Forbidden you know. Now they call it Enchanted, and magical zoologists and herbologists still can't believe at the multitude of wildlife they can find there.

"That must be lovely," Harry answered sleepily.

"Oh, and the Elves left," Hermione rambled on, one thought occurring to her after the other.

"They did?" Harry asked, suddenly fully awake due to the surprise.

"Yeah. One day they were there, and another no one could find a trace of them. The room they were staying in was completely empty, not a leaf left after that plant that Dobby created. But you can know that they're still around," she said, smiling at the thought.

"How can you know?" Harry asked, knowing that there was more to it.

"Whenever something happens, someone is rescued without a logical explanation or something like that, there is always a white lily blooming somewhere nearby," she said, stretching a little.

Harry smiled at that. He knew that the elves would learn Dobby's secret at some point. That being commanded to do something was one thing, but to do it out of the goodness of your own heart, while no one demanded it from you, was something else altogether. Seemingly, they still did what they did before, serving humans while remaining unseen themselves. But they had they had their free will again, and it changed everything. Harry was actually interested how much time would pass before the stories of caring wood-elves would reaper once more.

"What about the wizards?" Harry asked next, breaking the silence that was stretching out, during which Hermione simply couldn't make herself spoil that content smile that bloomed on his face.

"Well, that's another story altogether," Hermione started once more, knowing exactly what he was asking about. "Most of the ministry building, magical gathering places like Diagon Alley, and everywhere where either our troops or Death Eaters had been, had been completely demolished. Ministry personel estimated that it would take them years to set everything back as it was before. That, accompanied by the fact that most of the wands and components to build them along with potions ingredients or the like had been used in the conflict, there wasn't that much of a wizarding world left."

"And what did they do?" Harry asked, sensing that Hermione was just building up the drama.

"They proved to be lazy gits," she said with chuckle, making Harry lost on the joke. "Instead of trying to rebuild, they picked the easier way. They joined the mundane world. It seems that being locked with muggles for an entire year, talking with them and working alongside them, was enough to let most of the wizards pass as one," she said, while poking Harry in the ribs.

"Yeah, who would have thought about that," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"Having friends and working experience, they quickly charmed some documents to let it appear they haven't just arrived in this world and quickly found some jobs. Would you be surprised if I told you that Ron won a major chess tournament recently?" Hermione asked, glancing at him.

"Yeah, I might have pointed that kind of career to him a while back," Harry replied to her stare. "What about our other friends?"

"I think that biggest news is that Draco and Megan got married recently," Hermione stated, her gaze somewhere far away as she moved to Harry more closely. Seeing her do that while mentioning that particular subject wasn't lost on Harry. "It was a lovely ceremony, and they're sorry you couldn't be there. It's kind of because of you that they're together."

"Yeah, what can you do..." Harry whispered while thinking about something else.

"You know," Hermione started quietly, "Lots of people came to see you," she said. Not hearing a word from Harry, she understood that he was waiting for her to continue. "They came in here, and talked just how much they wanted to thank you for whatever you did. The strange thing was, that they all thought that different things compelled you to do them. I've been waiting a long time to ask, but why have you been doing all those things?"

"I can't say..." Harry muttered, staring at the ceiling.

"Really, you wouldn't tell me, even-" Hermione started in a little sad voice.

"No, Hermione, I really can't say," Harry said, silencing her. "That's just it. I don't know. Everyone I know, they are so sure about their convictions. To me, all the things I've done was a way to figure it out. The thing that made me into what I am."

"I see," Hermione sighed, then smiled as a thought occurred to her. "You shouldn't mention it to Rose though, as she is still explaining your antics to everyone," Hermione stated with a broad grin.

"She's doing what?" Harry had to ask, lost in his thoughts to the point where he barely caught her last sentence.

"Well, you didn't think that your show of wandless magic would go unnoticed, did you?" Hermione asked with a rised brow.

"I kind of hoped that it wouldn't" Harry said with a smile of his own.

"So, the wizards abandoned their world because they had to find a new kind of living, but they're still waiting for answers about what exactly happened that night. It's kind of funny that they wouldn't talk to Neville and Luna, since they're just kids, so it was decided that Rose would be the first one to talk to everyone. Since then Neville and Luna have been teaching those that were deemed worthy by Rose."

"By teaching you mean talking in puzzles, being annoying and thoroughly unbearable?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Yeah, that's what I mean," Hermione replied with a laugh of her own.

"I guess I'll need to tell them just how proud I am," Harry said with a chuckle, but then stopped and said, "So, I guess that means that I'm not done changing the world..." he sighed.

"I guess you're not..." Hermione sighed along him. "Are you ready for it?"

"Maybe after a good night's rest and a decent meal," he said while that mischievous glint lit in his eyes again. "I never knew you could wore me out like that," he said, receiving a slap from smiling Hermione, which only made him grin.

"Now where was that train again?" Harry asked aloud, standing in the middle of the King's Cross station between the platforms nine and ten, wearing a confused look and scathing the top of his head.

"Come on dad! It's right here..." James, his eldest son exclaimed, while his brother, Sirius, rolled his eyes at their father's anticks.

"Oh, but of course it is," Harry looked at the modern that was ready to depart any minute now from the platform ten.

"Okay, boys," he said, kneeling down in front of them, "I know we've been through this before, but whenever you need something, your sister is there for you. I appreciate that you want to find answers on your own, but, please, let's have at least one year where I won't have to go there and rebuild a part of the castle, right?"

At the question, the boys exchanged a look, and then nodded sheepishly.

"We'll try," they said in unions, but Harry already knew that it was hopeless. Naming them after two of the Marauders probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Apparently, wreaking havoc run in the Potter family.

"Fine, get going, and remember to say goodbye to your mother," he yelled while the two junior pranksters sped off to find a suitable compartment. Harry winked to Magie as she strolled after them, making their trunks just a little lighter than they really were.

With them out of sight, he scanned the crowd, for a moment catching sight of Draco with his wife, tending to their own children. Their eyes met for a moment, enough for them to exchange nods before he lost track of them.

Some way from them, he finally caught sight of Hermione, talking with their eldest daughter. She was conceived that night when Harry regained conciousness, and was the most perfect gift for when her parents finally got married. Now, seventeen years of age, she was considered a prodigy in whatever she took interest in. Hermione and Harry for the longest time couldn't agree from whom she got that, but decided that she got the best of both of their traits.

Harry sighed, reminding himself of what exactly happened since he woke up such a long time ago.

Much have changed in the wizarding world. Throughout the first week, no one could believe the story that Harry told, but the more time passed, the more people understood that it was the truth. Slowly, people started to learn just what it took to become a wandless mage. But before even one of them cast first of their spells successfully, they understood why in all those fairy-tales, wizards always lived in secluded areas.

Immediately, Hogwarts, Hogsmade, and all of the magical gathering places were abbandoned, as wizards spead themselves far and wide across the country. With most of them staying at Hogwarts, the growt rate of all the magical plants and animals not only didn't slow down, but increased greatly as they stoped using their wands.

To lessen the effect they had on the world, they had to disperse, and hide themselves in the crowd. That was also the moment when magical community all but stopped existing. All of their documents, lands and assets had to be transfered to the mundane records to allow them a steady life in the muggle world, without fear of something ever coming up.

Ragnok couldn't hold his glee when he finally was given the promised challenge. His clan quickly gained respect in the Great Council. Joining economy, documentation of what could be called two entirely different countries, and reintroducing once charmed lands into the general population was a great challenge in it's own. But Gringott's goblins did it in stride, allowing for the process to go smoothly, without anyone outside the trusted circle being any wiser of what was happening. They gained nearly unlimited respect for what they've accomplished... and a certain percentage, of course.

Even Hogwarts became an official boarding school, even if only few ever received their acceptance letter. Most of the times, when strange things begun happening to their child, it was a friendly neighbour who they had known for years that informed them of the fact that magic actually did exist, and helped them to get used to that kind of life.

Even the education of young wizards changed. It started on the train ride itself, where the students took the train that could get them nearest to Hogwarts. During that train ride, their task was to find their own kind, to think of just who might be another wizards traveling on the same train. At their destination, all they had left to do was to find the proper carriage that would take them to the castle itself.

Somehow, be it wit, luck, or the help of their newly acquired friends, every single student was able to make the trip without the need of assistance of the wizards that were ever present near them.

There were no longer classes in the castle. No books or written assignments. Instead, adult wizards who were doing their own research were teaching the youngsters their own way of magic. When they mastered that, it was up to each boy and girl to decide what they would want to learn, and they didn't even had to be forced to do that, going on adventures with their imaginary friends and inventions they always dreamed of staying at their sides.

The peculiar thing was, that even without the soul piece in him, Harry could still talk with snakes. It was a surprise, because Dumbledore theorised that it was due to that soul piece that he had the ability. The mystery was solved when, once wizards became proficient at wandless magic, all those forgotten or lost gifts resurfaced once more. Talking to snakes was the least that the world had to worry about, as actual seers, among other thing, started walking the earth.

Harry smiled when he understood. While using wands, the body was strained as it was. But with wandless magicians having an ample of power within them at any moment, the body could once again reactivate the latent abilities the genes passed on for millennia allowed them. He doubted that he inherited his Parseltongue abilities from his father, because there had been no know associations between his, and Slytherin's line in know history. That only led him to believe that his mother had much more magical blood in her than anyone believed before.

The search for information became common thing in the following years. It was fortunate that Harry made all of the items he had uncovered during his stay at Hogwarts, the Founders relics, the Deathly Hollows, even the Chamber of Secrets. All of that was available to those who wanted to learn. But there was never a book describing what each of them did, or how one had to manipulate magic to develop the same results.

Each and every person decided on their own just how determined they were to uncover the mysteries of the might of Gryffindor's Sword or cleverness behind the Ravenclaw's Diadem. Or how Helga Hufflepuff was the first one to determine what killed people around her, and charmed her cup to be first ever sanitary station.

Harry knew for sure that he enjoyed his research on the Slytherin's locket the most. An item that was meant to be a sort of pensieve. It allowed the person to relieve a certain memory as if it was actually happening around them, giving them one more chance at a meeting with their loved ones.

It was also customary to take a Trip when one became eighteen years of age. One simply left their home, taking only small rucksack of things, and headed out, going wherever their feet took them. It was a soul searching trip, where a young wizards met sights and people he never knew of before, learned from them, sometimes even taught what he already knew, and understood what he truly cherished in life. That, along foreing wizards coming to Hogwarts, was also the way that wandless magic slowly spread itself over the world.

"Excuse me, sir, but you must be Harry Potter," a child's voice torn Harry from his thought.

"Yes, I am," he said while turning, but he froze, his eyes going wide when they met the boy standing in front of him. "Thomas," he whispered, wacthing a perfect copy of a boy who receaved his letter from Dumbledore in a muggle orphanage such a long time ago.

"It's Tom, actually," the boy said, looking at Harry strangely, "But how did you know?"

"You look just like a Tom," Harry answered absentmindedly, having another question of his own.

"Tell me, Tom, were you born on the end of July?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, sir. Twenty-ninght to be precise," the boy said, watching Harry curiously. "How do you do that?"

"You see, a wizard never reveals his secrets," Harry said mysteriously.

The boy blinked, and then laughed at Harry's stage act. That stopped Harry in his tracks. He corrected himself, for the boy was nothing like his former self. That honest, warm laugh, and the light that shone in the boys eyes was enough to tell Harry that he wasn't talking with his once upon a time enemy.

"Well, sir, I just wanted to say that I've heard a lot about you, and wanted to thank you for all the things you did," the boy said, watching Harry seriosuly, but still with that kind smill on his face. "I hope I can learn something from you," he added, then, hearing a soft call through the noisy crowd around him, he truned and looked at a woman that simply couldn't be his mother, standing near a man that had to be her husband.

"I guess I have to go now. Goodbye, Mister Potter," the boy said with a wave, vanishing in the crowd.

"I guess you've already learned something from me," Harry muttered with a smile, watching the boy run up to the couple and talking animatedly with them.

A long forgotten fact came floating to Harry's mind. They thing his mother told him about Fate, and the intricate way in which it deals with people. Was that it?

Harry did his part, taking care of the unwanted baby that was given to him. And now, it happened again. Was that really enough? People showing affection and love to an orphaned boy... A simple thing that could change everything, Harry thought, watching the couple kiss young Tom on his head before he entered the train.

Harry shook his head. Whatever happened, the prophecy has been finally fulfilled. Indeed, only Tom could vanquish Voldemort. Take different choices in life, and not allow the darkness to appear once more. He would watch the boy, just like any other wizard in the castle, ready to help and mold the young minds, but he already knew that they could expect great things from that child.

Harry sighed, knowing that once he would think everything through. But now he didn't feel the need to. He had his head clear, and knew exactly what was the most important thing in life. His home with his family inside, and all the fun they could ever have.

Come what may, they always had each other, and dealing with the small stuff, they always managed to pull through, and everything would sort itself out.

Harry smiled, turning and walking to find Hermione, thinking that for the longest time, everything was fine in the world.

AN. The End...

It isn't perfect, but I've been trying to piece it together throughout the entire day, and everyone around constantly distracted me from finishing. I'll probably rewrite it at some point, but that's that for now.

Anyone who would like to help me clean the story up, just write me.

And, I guess, I never really asked for it... so I won't start now. If you don't feel like reviewing, don't do it. Instead, if you feel that you liked the story, share it with someone else.