Personally, I think I'm quite ridiculous. Last chapter was updated just after Half Blood Prince came out, and here I am, once again updating this story, and for the very last time, after Deathly Hallows came out. I really have a problem with updating, I think. Ha ha. Two years wait. Better late than never. Hope this epilogue-ic ending isn't too anticlimactic. Argh. Reviews are always appreciated : )

-FireV.

Chapter 30: Epilogue: Renewal

-----

Hermione sat to the left of the hospital bed in Harry's room at St. Mungo's, Ron to the right. They were playing a three-way game of cards, ignorant of the fact that Harry was still fully unresponsive weeks later, his green eyes unopened for what was deemed would be an indefinite amount of time.

"Hm. Rotten luck, mate, you lose again. What do you owe me now? I think it's at…fifty sickels?" Ron spoke to deaf ears as he looked at the boy's cards, discarding them for a new hand.

"Yes, but you've already lost seventy-three," Hermione pointed out, taking the discarded cards and shuffling them. "And that's just from this week."

Ron huffed, flushing crimson. "Just gimme my cards, 'Mione."

She dealt the cards, putting Harry's in his limp hand. "Hm. I think you should fold, Ron."

"What? We haven't even bet yet."

"Just fold."

"I think I can take him…" He placed his cards out on the sheet. "Read 'em and weep!" he said triumphantly, and picked them up to wave them around gloatingly in her face. She rolled her eyes and showed him Harry's hand. "Bollocks!" he shouted, flinging them to the bed with a mopey glower.

"Have you lost your home to Potter yet, Weasley?" a voice full of exaggerated disdain asked.

Hermione looked up, and offered a smile. "Hello Draco. Professor Snape." Draco smirked and came into the room, sitting down at the end of the bed, Hermione dealing him in to their game while Ron muttered under his breath about his recent winning streak.

Draco seemed to be around Snape a lot these days. The Head of Slytherin was the only person he had been as close to as his father, and with the demise of the latter in what the wizarding world had dubbed Voldemort's Last Stand, Snape was the man Draco had latched onto as a role-model. What was more surprising, Snape had put up with it admirably.

Snape himself visited often. Dumbledore had worked as hard as he could with innumerable ideas and tried until Severus finally declared no more. The damage the Omnivieve Glass had inflicted upon the potion master's body was much irreversible, though he was at least alive. Glass wiped clean, the semi-fatal attempts to destroy it -if not somehow alter it's effects- had helped not, and his life-force was constantly on the wane and would be for the rest of his natural life. For the rest of his life, the dour Head of Slytherin would be dependent upon life-energy transfusions. It was the best Dumbledore could do, working feverishly to try and save the man, but he was now dependent upon others in order for him to survive.

For the first few weeks, it had been constant-connection and mutual sharing of another's energy, but now Snape could go nearly a week before his own energy was threatened with being snuffed out. And though he had declared utter hatred for the idea at the time when they had been off the battlefield only a few days, Dumbledore suspected the close-quarters the man had been forced to share with the auror and energy-supplier Kingsley Shacklebolt had produced him a lifelong friend, a true privilege the potions master had never really allowed himself. Now that he wasn't dependent and attached to the auror like a parasitic energy-sucking creature, he rather enjoyed chatting with the man. He just had to visit St. Mungos once a week to rejuvenate his life force from whomever was available. But his life would never be solitary again, whether he wanted it to be or not. Things had changed drastically in the world since then.

"Potter. Just as lazy as ever," Snape began some of his usual derisive remarks aimed at Harry's listless form. "He hasn't a chance of ever reaching a graduation with the amount of schoolwork he's already allowed to pile up."

"He'll graduate," Ron said stubbornly. "We have a few more years yet," he pointed out in just as snarky a tone. He looked at Hermione, who was glowering at him. "To catch up," he added gruffly. He was in added bad spirits since he'd just lost the latest hand to Draco.

"Weasley, you'll be lucky to reach a graduation to the next grade with the marks you've been receiving. It's a true wonder that Potter here is making better marks than you," Draco remarked thoughtfully to Ron with a wry smirk. Ron flushed up to his ears. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"And you, Miss Granger. Don't even think of doing his schoolwork for him," Snape added with snarky contempt, looking straight at Hermione with intimidation. He was referring to the red-haired boy opposite her.

"I won't," she replied courtly, looking right at Snape with utmost sincerity. "Actually, I believe Ron's been copying off of Harry lately, sir."

Draco snickered, Ron flushed even redder, and Snape looked at them like they were easily-crushable bugs. "Five points from Gryffindor, Potter, for being an indolent waste of valuable space. And another five from each of you, for contributing to the disgusting state of this room." He was commenting on the sheer volume of flowers, cards, well-wishing parcels, and other assorted things well-crammed into whatever space was available in the wing; all items from well-wishers and supporters of the defeater of the Dark Lord. They'd had to shrink several of the things in order to make room for the outpouring of gifts from supporters, well-wishers, and general goodness and gratitude from the wizarding world. Flowers were replaced daily for all the more that still poured in.

The man in black robes turned on his heel and swept from the room, no doubt in pursuit of his energy-transfusion for the week.

"…Bugger…" Ron muttered under his breath.

"Is he alright, Draco? He seemed awfully pale today," Hermione commented, ignoring Snape's not-so-new habit of randomly taking points from them, dealing another hand blithely.

"He hasn't had his transfusion yet," the blond-haired boy informed sadly. "He's been going longer and longer without them, but I don't know…"

"I'd think Harry would get a kick out of that…" Ron said nonchalantly while arranging his cards in his hand. Hermione looked shocked, but he then added, "You know. The first years all still think Snape's some sort of vampire." He looked up with a grin, and saw a slight smirk on Draco's own face. "We certainly thought so at one point, and now…well…he sorta is one now, isn't he? In a dodgy way."

Draco snickered. Hermione snorted in chastisement. "That's not nice, Ron."

"Weasley, I think for once in our lives, we finally have something we can agree on," Draco said with a wide-smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys…!" She arranged Harry's cards in his limp hand for him, and looked at her own.

"He's not as…gloomy anymore," Draco remarked in contemplation of Snape. That in itself was a small wonder, not to mention that Draco could differentiate the moods of the seemingly ever-dour man.

"How can anyone be? Voldemort's finally gone-- Ron, so help me Godric if you shudder at that name one more time…." Hermione threatened. "And he's not coming back. Dumbledore said he's fully and wholly gone. He'll never be back. This world is finally at peace. We're all free."

"Everyone's so happy-"

"And relieved," Hermione interjected, though it was dampered by the fact that Harry still remained motionless beside them. She re-dealt the cards.

"Mum says it wasn't like this since she was in school," Ron continued. "And now with the dark mark disappeared, and the Death Eater's all gone--" He was shushed by Hermione. She looked at him as if he were an idiot. He frowned at her, but he made the realization in his head, and he looked down, heat flushing to his face over mentioning dead Death Eaters in front of Draco.

The blond boy didn't say anything, but looked at his cards in skepticism. They were quite a few minutes with their thoughts. Draco broke the silence. "Well I've got nothing," he told them, showing his cards. Ron came out winner once more, and Hermione dealt again. She arranged Harry's cards in his unresponsive hand. It had been so long since the last time they'd seen him animated and lively. Laughed and joked and teased one another…And he'd been through so very much. It wasn't fair that it had ended this way. It wasn't fair that they hadn't gotten to help him.

"Do you think things will stay like this?" Ron asked. Hermione looked dolefully at Harry. Draco was doing the same thing. Ron continued his original thought as he had refused long ago for them to make any remarks that Harry might stay the way he was. "I mean, with the Ministry and everything…They've issued pardons and apologies to so many of the real heroes, and things haven't been so excited in years and years. No one has to hide or be scared anymore…but will the wizarding world ever go back to the way it was?" Draco looked pensive, but Hermione brought his ponderings down to earth.

"There will always be people with ideals like the Death Eaters, Ron," Hermione told him contritely. He frowned, but she looked hopeful. "Voldemort is gone, and for good. But after everything dies down, who knows? I bet Dumbledore will set things straight so this can never happen again. Things will change. Our world will be rebuilt for the better."

Ron sighed and looked dolefully at his cards. "Give me another two, Hermione."

"…got any three's?" a gruff rasp of a voice asked. Ron jumped in fright, Hermione's hands were at her mouth, and Draco nearly fell off the back of the bed from shock, his cards sent flying.

"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked, shaking with astonishment as she grabbed him about the middle, squishing him in a hug. He was soon ensconced in a hug-cocoon as Ron joined in, hugging and pummeling in affection and relief, the two of them crying happy tears as Harry coughed and muttered about 'laying off'.

Draco was at the door of the room, his head poked out the frame of the suite trying to make coherent sentences to get anyone's attention. "He's--uh! --I! Come 'ere!" he squawked out, motioning like crazy to a healer who gave him a quizzical look before he quickly ducked back into the room, staring for a moment with unbelievable astonishment before he got closer to the bed, feeling awkward as well as stunned. Was this really happening?

"…Dra-co?" Harry asked with dry throat, blinking with half-lidded eyes against the brightness, seeing the blond boy through a haze of Hermione's kisses and Ron's hugs. Draco offered him a side-smile, and Harry smirked.

No unnecessary words passed between them, for really, there was nothing they could say that wasn't conveyed through their eyes and self-assured smirks. Everything was done, finished. The struggle was over. All the pain. He was back. They'd survived. They could finally rebuild their lives, homes, and families.

"Ron owes you near a fortune," Hermione pointed out with a teary smile at the playing cards laying about the bed.

Ron flushed straight to his hair, grinning with a mixture of happiness and sheepishness. "…oh shuddup Hermione…"

"Well really, Ron, if you had been playing more fairly…."

Their familiar squabbling drifted away in Harry's ears as he and Draco just smirked at one another with triumphant, relieved smiles. Harry was surprised they'd survived it at all; that the normality that had been stolen from them was apparently restored.

Harry could no longer see the Dractnox creatures, and his mind felt clearer than he ever remembered it being. He could recall what had happened in the keep of the Death Eaters, but he didn't know how he'd ended up here, surrounded by friends and a room full of flowers. He was surprised that they were here today, alive, and moreover, he was surprised that everything must have turned out alright. The usual squabbling of his friends told him that much. He'd woken up in a very different world than the one he had passed through in darkness.

"We beat him," Harry posed to Draco as Hermione and Ron continued their squabbling over his person, momentarily forgetting him as each tried to press their unimportant point upon the other.

Draco nodded to Harry with quiet dignity. Though it had cost them a lot, they had finally beaten the Dark Lord for good. Lives had been sacrificed so others could be saved. They were all lucky.

Harry smiled as Ron's voice escalated in pitch the same as Hermione's. Things were getting back to normal. "It couldn't have been done without you, Draco," Harry rasped, his voice amazingly clear above that of Ron and Hermione's. The other boy smirked as Harry beckoned him to his bedside to be with his friends, and in the moment in which they actually hugged one another with triumph and relief, Ron went silent with stun and Hermione burst into happy tears with the air of friendship about them. She hugged both boys, and gave Ron a smack as he was a bit lost in the moment, confused as to when exactly Draco had interrupted his argument with Hermione right in front of him, and why hadn't he noticed? Hermione rapped him on the back and forced him into their hug, and they were all smiles and tears and relief and joy.

No, the wizarding world wasn't the same as it had once been. This time it would be far, far better.

----

I considered, while reading back to when I first started this, that this fic has some rather very slashy undertones, which made me laugh because it was not intended that way (blame the naïve mind of a greenhorn writer) but hell, if you liked reading it that way, then by all means, I hope you enjoyed. Ha, because boy, the slashy undertones are ever-so-hard to ignore. What fun! Haha. They're just very good friends (wink wink, for those who like that kind of thing. Hee hee).

I certainly hope all your questions and thoughts and wonderings while reading have been sufficiently addressed and all that fun stuff! If there's anything you want to be more clear on, by all means, send a note my way! I always appreciate reviews and I always get back to people via any way possible! Mwah! I appreciate reviews, no matter how late along, no matter when this story was read, and no matter what condition in.

And I would personally like to thank everyone who ever read, reviewed, and wrote me. This was my first fanfic, way back when it started, and it encouraged me to do the many others I have since written/am writing. You were all a part of the growing experience, and I thank you all for everything! (Especially your time and patience, hahaha). Mwah!

-FireValkyrie.

Thanks to everyone who ever read/reviwed, and now To some very-longly awaited loves of mine:

reading-rider: Well, this is long, long awaited, but i appreciate that you'd stuck with me through everything, and all that fun stuff! Thanks a bunch!

dj-cam: Thanks for that, i'll be looking into it whenever i get around to re-doing the story for grammar's sake and such! haha. And thank you much! it's been years, but i've finally closed this sucker!

Bujiana: haha no no, happy, happy ending XD haha Though i do enjoy jerking people around :D Thanks for everything my love! Mwah:D

Mecrsenary: Thank you!!

divinething: Oh you know i wouldn't make you sad ;) hee hee. Hope this satisfied! I'm a bit of an ass for taking so utterly utterly long, but yeah, i've never finished anything in my life, so here we go :D

phoebe turner: Thanks my dear! woot.

Becky Yuy: Thankies! Now we're officially wrapped up and done :D yay!

Cynthia1850: Haha thank you by way of bribery! And we're finally done:D hahah so it's okay, cuz now it's complete! Woo, haha though it took freakin forever. Oh well. I'm not known for my excellent updatery! lol. Thank you so much! Woot.