Chapter 12

Hermione Granger consulted the map again. Only three people had known the location of this battle. Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort and Harry Potter.

In all the media done following the battle he never mentioned where it had occurred.

"Now onto the battle itself, the Ministry granted you and your 'Order of the Phoenix' leave to organise this setting with Harry Potter," the interviewer began as an introduction.

"Indeed, to better serve the security of the Ministry, secrecy was utmost with a deconstruction and separation of power and control from the Ministry saved us several times," Albus explained, using the terms that had been used by many Ministry departments to describe the Order of the Phoenix and other groups' activities.

"I understand the location was selected to keep curious witches and wizards away from the battle."

Albus laughed. "You may think that, I couldn't possibly comment."

"But you are here to comment and answer on the war Headmaster," the interviewer pressed.

"Am I?" Albus asked curiously, taking a moment to sip the provided water.

"Our listeners and most of wizarding Britain are aware of the role prophecy played in Voldemort's ultimate demise, Harry Potter's part in this has not been divulged. Commentators have suggested the endorsement of the death warrant on him suggests he played a crucial role in the prophecy, while some others have suggested you were indicated in the prophecy."

"That is some speculation," Albus offered. Minister Bones had said that her government would not make lying to its people habitual, and that if he was asked a direct question, he too should endeavour to speak the truth. Or a version of the acceptable truth.

"Was Harry Potter engaged in the prophecy Supreme Mugwump Dumbledore?" The interviewer asked in an exasperated tone.

"I can't comment on prophecies, the history programming the wireless broadcasts made that very clear, and I must praise, quite an aural journey," Albus boldly proclaimed.

The interviewer seemed to paused for thought for a moment, Albus took the moment to sip his water again.

"Was Harry Potter present at the battle?"

Albus mused and wondered for a few moments. Simple questions did not allow for complex answers. "Yes, he was."

"Did your Order of the Phoenix or other Ministry forces assist in the battle?"

"We were assisted to subdue Voldemort's followers-"

"His 'Death Eaters'?" The interviewer interjected.

"Yes," Albus answered.

"But the battle itself was between Harry Potter and Voldemort."

"Was that a question?" Albus asked after an inappropriate amount of silence.

"Yes," the interviewer said in a terse tone.

"I cannot say for certain," Albus answered carefully.

"Did he survive?" The interviewer asked.

"Voldemort?" Albus asked. "No, the experts your organisation have interviewed have said as much from the investigation-" he was cut off.

"No, Harry Potter, some call him a coward of the tournament" the interviewer baited. "Leaving a contract he was entered into. That the death warrant should have remained active."

"I withdrew my endorsement, as did all parties, that was a different government's actions," Albus answered and met the interview's gaze and shook his head ever so slightly, suggesting to them he was not going to answer the status of Harry Potter.

The interviewer seemed to consult their notes without acknowledging him. "And finally, what is your opinion on the Ministry's reforms that are currently being developed?"

"You'll have to be more specific, Minister Bones is pushing through some of the largest reforms this century, most I agree with, but…"

She didn't even find out the battle had happened until a couple of months following.

The Ministry had slapped a huge Z Notice over all of the events, all the Death Eaters and everyone involved had been locked up in the Ministry's new secret storage facility, which even now she barely knew about. The British Ministry had had a huge purge of influential people who had been siphoning Ministry funds, equipment and speciality items away.

Fred and George hadn't gone along with the Order of the Phoenix in solidarity with Harry and herself. It being organised by Dumbledore, they said there were 'too many question marks about what he's up to, we gave them some things we've been working on though'. Some most excellent inventions far beyond their simple joke shop aspirations. The twins were innovators, much more so than anyone else she'd met or read about.

She had spoken to some of her classmates who'd encouraged her to get the twins to come over to Europe 'for more broad-minded discussions'.

The twins had also helped her with something. Ron hadn't spoken to her much, and since the battle he didn't even return her letters. He was pursuing a career with the Ministry. Supremely pleasing their mum so said Fred and George. But they had acquired the sand left on his boots and clothes, he'd not worn or washed either since that battle.

They hadn't asked why she wanted it, but she knew they would have guessed.

It was difficult to find this location, even with the sand, it didn't have much magical association, in fact very little association.

But there was the smallest hint, enough to tease out a general location.

Then with a series of specialist maps and even more specialised potions to be applied she could begin to narrow down the location.

She cursed, looking at the map again that everyone had come by portkey, and the portkey points were located some distance away, better insulating the location from prying investigators.

She'd been to see Sirius, he had told her what she already knew; that Dumbledore was the only one who knew the location, everyone had arrived by portkey.

Even Voldemort and his Death Eaters had done so, how the Order had managed that she was very curious to find out.

It could have been something simple as a lie, spread about this location being lethal to apparition. There were more locations like that than people thought around Europe.

Drawing a small dome over the map to block out the wind with her wand she pocketed the wand and extracted a small eye dropper bottle, dropping a few drops onto the map. She felt it moisten beneath her fingers and hoped it wouldn't rip as she turned 360 degrees and watched as a line slowly formed on the map and she took off at a quick pace as the line glowed.

The map was almost falling apart as she reached the location. Casting a preservation charm over it she slipped it into a protective bag, and then pushed it into a larger bag she had slung over her back.

There was very little here, but as she cast about with her wand the spells revealed something just below the surface.

Enough that the water, sand and wind had covered it up.

The site of the final battle between Harry Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle – Lord Voldemort.

There wasn't much; a blackened bowl of glass, there wasn't even that much magical residue, but it was definitely magical the result of a high-powered battle between two matched wizards. This sort of magical energy transfer was rarely heard about. Few people saw the aftermath and even fewer ever witnessed a battle.

She could feel tears coming down her face.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find.

Harry Potter hadn't been heard of for two years, two years since the battle.

The last time she'd heard his voice was more than three years ago, and she'd not seen him since…well since Hogwarts.

Now, this was the final point where he'd been seen.

Fred and George said Ron had spoken with Harry right before the battle, supposedly Harry had made a 'stupid joke about dying'.

Sirius said that he wasn't going to look for Harry. "He's his own man, if he wants to…" he'd trailed off before looking to her and smiling saying "I don't need a firm answer."

But she wanted an answer.

But it looked like here wasn't going to answer her questions.

Laying her wand on her palm she cast a point me spell for a magical settlement.

-/

Hermione took a sip of the vodka. She'd found a small tavern that had some indications that magic was holding it up. But there were muggles within the establishment as well as some witches and wizards. She'd used her quite bad Russian to order a meal. The first shot of vodka had come with the meal she discovered.

Then at some point, someone sat down opposite her with his own bottle of vodka, the bottle was a different design to the one the barman had used to pour her third shot.

Looking up from the bottle she saw he was wearing a rough old sheepskin coat. His face was tanned and his hair seemed to have been pulled backwards, she could just about see roughly plaited hair hanging down from his head in the dirty mirrors behind the bar.

"The barkeep has a floo out the back, got word to me, said a woman was casting around the Aral Sea site. 'Head kicker boots, determined air, pissed off'," he quoted, he had an odd accent.

Hermione looked down at her boots. They were dragon-hide boots, part of her new job she needed hard wearing protective footwear. They looked close enough to leather with a few charms that muggle authorities wouldn't notice. "Harry Potter."

"Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated," he laughed. "Enjoyably so."

Hermione stumbled off her chair and around to him wrapping him in a hug. "You've gotten different, more filled out."

Harry laughed. "Such an eloquent observation Hermione, drunken so, we should drink, this stuff's much less bad."

-/

She woke up with a dry mouth and muttered "Much less bad my arse," sitting up she groaned at the headache that swooshed in like a broom and closed her eyes as she waited for the planet to stop moving quite so fast. As the world swam back into reality she looked around. She was lying on a bed in a large round tent. There was a small pot belly stove in the middle and what looked like a carpet off to one side. Tilting her head she was sure that it was a flying carpet, it had the piping and edging that indicated it wasn't just a standard carpet.

Pushing the blankets and animal skins off she grunted as she pulled herself out of the bed, trying to ignore the thumping pain in her head and moved towards the the only gap in the tent's walls which seemed to suggest a door.

Outside it was bright with sunshine although with a cold breeze, there was a single man tending a cauldron over a fire. From here she could see the long plaited ponytail that was against the coat he was wearing. It looked like he'd never cut his hair since leaving Hogwarts.

"You're awake," he said far too brightly for how she was feeling. "Probably a bit of a headache given the amount of vodka we drank," he said as he turned around reaching into his coat pocket and offering her a phial.

"And a dreadful meal," she accepted the phial. "What is it?" She asked looking at the phial and holding it up to the sun.

"Something to make you feel better, a bit of a combination of something like a Pepperup, bit of willow tree bark, a touch of dittany and a few other things to help," Harry explained as he turned back to the fire. "I've got some porridge on, that'll fill and warm us up, nice and wholesome."

Hermione took the stopper off the phial sipping just a few drops of the potion, rolling it around on her tongue and breathing out through her nose for a few moments, then she swallowed the remained of the phial.

"You think I'd poison you Hermione?" Harry asked as she handed him the phial back.

"Just a precaution, part of what I'll be doing, intelligence gathering and investigation for Magical Intelligence Europe."

Harry nodded. "You said something like that last night, that you're a intelligence officer, like…" he said something in Russian before correcting himself. "A government officer."

He summoned two bowls from his tent, wordlessly and emptied the small cauldron of its contents into the two bowls.

Handing one to her she noticed they were both old dented and chipped enamel bowls, like Harry had bought them from a second hand camping supplies shop and just continued to use them despite how many dents they'd accumulated. She sat down letting the bowl warm her legs as Harry passed her a spoon.

"Careful it's hot," he warned.

-/

"Will you return to Britain or Europe?" she asked as she was half way through the bowl of chunky porridge. There was several fruits in it along with nuts. It was indeed quite 'wholesome'.

Harry shrugged. "Why bother? Aren't I still the man who abandoned a contract? Supposedly I died out at the Aral Sea."

"No one even knows that for certain," Hermione commented. "Dumbledore's the only one who knows, so I'm told."

Harry smiled. "Part of the deal, he agreed. We went out for a drink after."

Hermione stared at him eyes wide. "You went out drinking with Dumbledore?"

Harry shrugged. "He's a bastard and a terrible person," he shrugged again. "Can't change the past," he paused and gave her a wild look. "Thought about dropping him in a volcano, I'm not sure he believed me."

Hermione couldn't quite contain her surprise so covered it with information. "They nullified the warrant, that's not outstanding any more."

"Minister Bones, I heard," Harry mused as he spooned some of the porridge into his mouth, as he swallowed he leaned back looking up at the sky smiling.

"My dad's got right into business with witches and wizards, offering personalised medical practice to them, Hedwig sees more flight time than I ever needed her for at Beauxbatons," Hermione explained brightly, shifting topics.

Harry looked back down from the sky, smiling wistfully. "That's good, I'm not sure I really need an owl any more, anyone who might want me knows where to find me."

Hermione opened her mouth, but closed it as Harry began to speak again.

"You know, she'd have bonded to you and your family, probably'll remember me, but…" he trailed off and smiled at her inclining his head.

"I wasn't trying to say anything like…" Hermione trailed off.

Harry shook his head and laughed. "Just wanted to clear the air. The postcard I sent you was the most post I've sent in years. Sirius gave me a phone number of one of his friends, a person with lycanthropy, I spoke to her, she passed on a message if need be."

Hermione nodded. "I wondered why dad didn't end up being your go between, still shows the usefulness of telephones."

"Is your dad getting wizards into that as well?" Harry asked curiously.

Hermione shook her head. "He's still trying to work out how to do x-rays without any technology and without giving himself and anyone else radiation poising," she shook her head. "Some he's got to the surgery or to a doctor friend, but it's difficult."

"I hope it pays well?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "Extremely, all tax free, so dad says."

"And your mum?" Harry asked.

"Thinks it's all strange and a bit of a folly, but enjoys getting out into the countryside, seeing things with him. The Diggorys have helped immensely. Mum and Dad said having 'normal' adult friends who happen to be wizards instead of the Weasleys who wanted to poke and prod them," Hermione paused as she finished the last bits of porridge in the bowl. "It makes a difference, having friends who're properly friends not just…whatever Ron was, I mean he was a friend but then at the Tournament."

"In the past Hermione," Harry said as he took her bowl and cast a quick cleaning charm, summoning some water from nearby bucket wordlessly.

"It's impressive the casualness you do all this magic Harry, with very little formal training," Hermione commented.

Harry beamed at her and gestured back to his ger, "I've got books, there's one or two in English, I picked up a good dozen pre-Tsar books a year or so ago, badly water damaged and with some sort of charm preventing muggles from identifying them."

"But you picked it up by doing things, and meeting people, I remember that from last night Harry. It's a very traditional way of learning things," Hermione praised. "Better than reciting Hogwarts: A History," she commented with a laugh.

"Surely Beauxbatons: A History?" Harry teased.

"Fleur told me a lot about it, and the other students," she paused. "I did read a bit, but…it felt like so much more of an education at Beauxbatons. There wasn't that antagonism between the houses at Hogwarts, just everyone keen to learn as much as they could from everyone."

Harry nodded. "It's good to know, maybe I should've absconded to Europe…" he paused. "Forgot I went where I did because I needed to escape the warrant and extradition, have Amos to thank for that," he smiled.

"I'll tell him I saw you when I next catch up with Cedric," she caught an inclined eyebrow from Harry. "We're just good friends Harry, not even Fred and George have suggested anything," she scrunched her nose up. "Cedric's just as much a friend as you are."

"'Bonded over the trauma at Hogwarts'," Harry seemed to quote.

"I said that last night didn't I?" Hermione groaned.

"We were laughing at the 'Hogwarts adventures', wonder if it was just Ron that thought it was like that?" Harry sighed. "I haven't really thought about him, thought I put it all behind me. Before the battle saw him, brought back what he said around the Tournament. Was determined to put it in the past. Told him we'd get a drink, if I didn't die," Harry explained in short fits.

"And now?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "I have my life."

Hermione sat, in silence for a while. "Do you think you'd like to see some people? People who want to see you?"

Harry looked at her curiously. "Who? Not Ron."

Hermione shook her head. "Fred and George, Cedric and Fleur and her husband, since you saved his life, I think he'll want to see you again."

Harry frowned. "Who?"

"Have you saved the lives of that many people Harry?" Hermione teased. "Bill Weasley."

Harry looked shocked. "I want to thank him, he shifted my journey, I'd been in Egypt and its surrounds for a while, I was heading for the Red Sea and got waylaid, decided to head north instead."

"So…?" Hermione asked curiously.

Harry shrugged. "If you, and they'd like, though I think I'd like my status as being alive left a mystery," Harry looked to her. "I never wanted fame Hermione, I don't really need the money sitting in the vault, hardly even used the cash Sirius gave me, I don't want or need a big house or whatever it is I'm meant to be living or doing."

Hermione nodded. "Of course Harry, I completely understand, how will we organise this? I presume you don't want an owl visiting you."

Harry shrugged and held out his hand. "Some people do send owls, people who know me."

"Are we going somewhere?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "If you don't mind?"

Hermione shook her head. "I assume you apparated me here?"

Harry nodded as they disapparated.

-/

Hermione stumbled slightly, mostly because she wasn't expecting the ease with which Harry apparated, he didn't even seem to think about it, she was somewhat sure that they'd not travelled a huge distance. The air smelt different, the sun was in a slightly different position.

"We're within Russia, near Lake Baikal," Harry explained, there was some hesitation in his language.

"I've heard of it, it's noted by some wizarding scholars for water that's useful, the minerals in the water and the lake's age make it more conducive to potion making, along with some enchanting."

"It's why I first came here," Harry said as he gestured along a road. "There's not a lot of a wizarding community here in the town, but there's a small general store, and a floo connection. You can pass a message through, I'll get it within a week or so, I'll call your dad, not reversing the charges don't worry," Harry said with a laugh. "Any time will be fine for me by the way."

Hermione nodded as she looked around taking in everything about the location she was in; intelligence gathering.

The shop Harry indicated was what looked like a nondescript building, nothing very notable at all, but the way Harry walked in was very casual.

Following Harry in she took in the shelves; a mixture of muggle packaged foods and what she presumed was wizarding foods or potion ingredients. Cyrillic was not something she had begun to study at all.

"Irina?" Harry called as he went up to the counter, then as a woman came out of the back started speaking in Russian, or at least what Hermione assumed was Russian, she only knew simple phrases and even then it was on the cusp of her understanding. Not the fluid way Harry was speaking.

"I can speak English Harry, as well you know," the woman, Hermione guessed she was in her late 30s, perhaps early 40s chastised in a heavy accent as she met her gaze.

The woman explained that she had a floo, for which she passed Hermione a card with its address in Russian, Arabic and English, also a telephone number and fax number. "Used to have a telex as well, still got owls," she continued to explain that she could take a verbal message, Hermione could pass a letter through the floo or could call or fax a message.

It was all such an odd mixing of technologies.

Hermione thanked the woman and made to leave for the door.

"Harry," the woman called and passed Harry a couple of pieces of paper. "Want it cleared soon."

Harry nodded and walked out the door with her.

"What was that?" Hermione asked as Harry stuffed the pieces of paper into a pocket.

"Dittany, Murlap, Gillyweed and several other magical ingredients, they were cultivated pre-Soviet times, then…history and now they grow wild around, sometimes too much," Harry shrugged. "I clear it, make some potions if they're wizards, show them basics to control it better, take the rest."

Hermione looked at him shocked. "Don't they…don't they know what it is?"

Harry shook his head. "Knowledge gets lost Hermione, they know what they need to know. Communism didn't help everyone."

Hermione nodded. "No," she said in a short tone.

"Do you want to go to the lake, it's a bit chilly to swim, but we can drink if you'd like?" Harry asked brightly.

—/ — \\—

"Ooof," Cedric said as he was wrapped in a hug by the younger man.

"Long time Cedric, long time," said Harry Potter, a man most people assumed dead. A wizard who'd defeated Voldemort and someone whom he'd helped out of a contract let him go out of a hug and smiled at him.

"Yeah, long time Harry, and good, to see you again," Cedric said putting down the backpack he had in his hands. Hermione had provided him and he assumed the others with coordinates, nothing more than that.

He'd become somewhat used to apparating using them, or rather using maps to plot coordinates. After Hogwarts he'd considered what to do about work. Working in the Ministry didn't appeal, he just couldn't see himself being a Ministry official. He still had the occasional effect from the curses in the graveyard, he managed their effects, the potions and more importantly the ingredients and instructions he'd been provided helped deal with them when they came. He'd ended up travelling around snow mountains around the world; snow boarding. He knew it wasn't what his dad thought he should be doing. But he couldn't play Quidditch professionally, not after what Voldemort and his Death Eaters had done, he'd not played a proper game since before the Tournament. Just some friendly stuff with Hermione, the twins and some other friends from Hogwarts and around elsewhere.

Instead he'd ended up travelling and seeing wizarding buildings in snowy and similar environments, then moving into actually building and designing them.

Working with his hands and wand, it gave him control, stability. And it meant he had to learn a whole new set of skills, including apparating to exacting coordinates.

Even so, he'd deliberately offset the coordinates a little bit, but it seemed Harry or Hermione had already done so, he'd needed to walk at least a few kilometres to Harry's camp.

And it was very much a camp, a mid-sized round tent, some fire pits with cauldrons and what appeared to be a whole lamb slowly rotating over coals.

The man who was tending the fires had plaited hair hanging down his back, some traditional looking boots and…a casual stance. Cedric could tell from looking at some people…and himself that some people had a tight, ready to react stance in themselves. Tightly bound like a bowstring, jump at a sudden sound.

Since Hogwarts he'd been trying to loosen and leave that part of himself behind. The dangers he faced in that graveyard and the spells cast against him, he tried to put in the past, even if sometimes they refused to stay there.

Upon walking up to the man, said man turned, launching a hug around him.

It was surprising, the bulk and strength of the man, the teen he remembered had been smaller than him, and scared, so very scared and desperate.

The man who'd just greeted him was still shorter than him, but weathered and relaxed.

"It has been Harry, a while," Cedric laughed.

"Drink?" Harry asked gesturing towards his tent. "Got some water almost boiling, bit early for booze."

Cedric laughed. "Tea is fine."

Cedric followed Harry into the round tent.

Looking around it was surprisingly homey within. The wizarding tents Cedric found himself staying in were less so, although there was always the attempt, even with the one he'd brought with him, which he'd bought at a highly discounted rate was still…less than homey. He never wanted something overly comfortable, the motivation he found was to construct something good for his clients, not to be relaxing in his own domicile.

"You're a bit early, thought Hermione and the twins weren't coming till later in the afternoon," Harry commented as he spooned tea leaves into a teapot.

"Hermione said you said you didn't mind, I had the time to arrive early," Cedric explained looking around.

"You faced Voldemort in the graveyard," Harry said without much preamble. "I faced him attached to Quirrell, then as a horcrux manifested in front of me, and then," Harry shrugged as though he wasn't listing off facing one of the most dangerous wizards ever confronted by modern wizards. "Hermione tracked down the battle site, makes three people alive who know where it happened," Harry looked at him. "Severus I hope passed on a potion that might help."

Cedric nodded vigourously. "Yes, it did, how…" he trailed off as Harry shook his head.

"A situation I found myself in Cedric," Harry looked to him. "Honestly Cedric, I'm both glad you helped me escape and I wish I had been there in the graveyard, so you didn't need to be."

"As a punching bag for Voldemort? Harry you were willing to give your life to fight him," Cedric said crossing the short distance between them pulling him into a one-armed hug. "You shouldn't think you needed to give more."

Harry shrugged patting Cedric on the back back. "I just want to say again thank you, really, if you hadn't been a friend, then," he looked around and then gestured down and around. "All of this, wouldn't have happened."

Cedric nodded, taking a seat on a cushion where Harry gestured. "It changed me, I won't deny Harry, being in the tournament, seeing," he paused. "Seeing Voldemort, Viktor dying, being tortured, changed me," he sighed, as he accepted a mug of tea from Harry, breathing in the tea's steam. "It changed the paths I thought I was going to follow. Dad thought I was going to become a Quidditch player, or work in the Ministry."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise as he sat opposite. "And neither of those appealed?"

Cedric shook his head. "Something about the Cruciatus, something that Voldemort and his followers did, and the Ministry after how they treated you, the Z Notice they slapped on the Tournament, not acknowledging anything from it," he shook his head. "I didn't want anything to do with that."

"So what are you up to then? Not sitting in an estate philosophising somewhere," Harry asked gesturing his own chest and arms. "Bulked up, doing something physical."

Cedric laughed and started to explain what he'd been doing.

-/

Later while Cedric was setting up his tent he'd thoughtfully brought along, a couple arrived.

"Harry Potter, my saviour," greeted a red headed man who drew him in a hug.

"Greetings Harry," said a woman beside him.

"Fleur, I would greet you in French, but my language skills extend to three languages, mastering a fourth-" He commented with a smile.

Fleur cut him off laughing drawing him into an embrace. "It is a long time since the Tournament, I think you had the right idea, leaving, in hindsight it was an endeavour not best embarked upon in that climate."

"None of us knew that Voldemort was lurking there," Cedric said as he walked over and looked to Harry. "Water Harry?"

"In my ger, there's some big containers, or there's a river that way, about 40 clicks," Harry gestured towards the west.

Cedric thought for a moment and nodded returning to his tent, coming out a second later with a water bag and going over to where Harry indicated.

"I wish I'd said more, given you more Harry, I saw a lot of healers, they all told me, if you hadn't been there, I would have died, if I'd tried to apparate again, then death was likely, you literally saved my life," Bill explained.

Harry smiled. "I wanted to thank you, if you or who you'd been working for hadn't shifted my path, I wouldn't be here."

"Are you happy Harry, this life of a wanderer?" Fleur asked curiously.

Harry nodded smiling broadly. "Yes, I am. I'm not sure I could ever return to whatever life I had, it wasn't much."

-/

The twins had brought some brooms with them, encouraged all of them, Hermione included into a game.

Kicking off from the ground, feeling the air rushing over his head, making his hair flap around, the freedom beneath his legs, it was a glorious feeling. Something he'd not felt for some time, not properly, not amongst old friends.

But then, as Fred and George tried to organise a game they seemed to change their mind and instead began to bait Hermione, Bill and Fleur into racing them around a circuit they devised with floating smoke barriers and everything.

They were after all in the middle of nowhere, no one could see them, this seemed to titillate the twins.

Harry found himself drifting over to where Cedric was on his broom, just balanced casually.

"Not interested in going for a race?" Cedric asked him.

Harry indicated no. "Been a while since I've really ridden a broom, apparating gave me so much freedom."

"How'd cope with the splinching question?" Cedric asked looking to him.

"Don't do it?" Harry offered humorously.

Cedric laughed. "I keep a phial of emergency potion, just in case."

"That's how I saved Bill's life, so he says," Harry commented as he twisted the broom with his thighs; rotating it gently. "Come on," he reached out with a hand to Cedric. "We can't watch them have all the fun."

Cedric laughed and took his hand and pulled himself forward, the broom catching up with his motion. "Us guys who've faced Voldemort can't hang by the side lines, moping?"

Harry laughed as they both directed their brooms towards the course the twins were putting the final touches on. "Right! We can still have some fun Cedric, us survivors."

-/

A/N:

And that's the end. Harry's alive and safe, there's a group of friends around him. Everyone else thinks he's dead.

Harry never did get around to having a meal and a drink with Ron. They wouldn't have much to say to one another.

I gave Cedric an odd, interesting job because going into the Ministry just seems like a very boring way for him to go. And is a sort of parallel to Harry's nomadic life. Everyone who faced Voldemort ends up a bit messed up.

Thanks for reading.