Epilogue
Christmas Eve found Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Mark, Remus, a very pregnant Tonks and Albus walking through the graveyard behind the small church in Godric's Hollow. They had arrived the day before and booked several rooms at one of the local inns. Harry had received curious glances from a few of the old timers who remembered his parents and, when asked, confirmed that he was James and Lilly Potter's son. After that they had visited the town square where the war muggle memorial transformed itself into a monument commemorating the night his parents had died. Then they had visited the ruins of the house they had lived in.
Harry had spent that night dreaming about and essentially relived the first fifteen months of his life. When it came to the night of his parents' deaths he realized that, unlike Tom Riddle's mother who had taken his love with her when she had died, his mother had magically gifted her love to him as her final act. In this way he and Tom Riddle had been diametrically opposed and Lilly's gift of love had won out. The gift of his mother's love had deflected a killing curse cast by a loveless soul, destroyed the body of a man who had been possessed by that same loveless soul when he had tried to strangle him and, ultimately, made it possible for him to offer that same loveless soul a choice between salvation and complete annihilation. Sadly, and for reasons he could not yet bring himself to fathom, that soul had chosen annihilation.
The snow in the graveyard was not deep but, as is typical of Great Britain, it was extremely wet. The gravel footpaths were a mixture of mud and slush underfoot and the air was cool and crisp as they wound their way through the maze. "This way," Remus said as they approached a low hill and led the group off the path and into the wizarding section of the graveyard. A few minutes later, after passing a number of graves, which included at least two Dumbledores, they entered and passed through a small stand of trees. In a small clearing in the center of this tiny forest, set apart from the rest of the graveyard, was a replica of the wizarding monument they had seen in the village square and two graves. As the entered the clearing Harry could feel the magic that had been established to protect the site from any who might with to vandalize the site. "This clearing has been set aside as a memorial of sorts," Remus said softly, his voice starting to break with emotion. "I try to come here at least once a year to pay my respects and to thank them for being my friends."
Harry gazed at the monument for several seconds and then let his eyes trail down to the two graves at its base. Almost without realizing it he stumbled forward until he was standing directly in front of them. His father's grave was on the left and his mother's was on the right. His buckled a moment later and he began to cry. They were not tears of anguish, happiness, fear or dread that fell that day. They were the cleansing tears of a man who was releasing his past so that he could go forward and create a new future for himself and, with time, the whole of the wizarding world.
Ginny wanted to rush to his side and comfort him but Remus held her back. This was something Harry needed to do on his own.
Despite the cold, Harry knelt in the snow and wept for hours. As the hours passed a soft, almost angelic-white glow filled the clearing, keeping its occupants warm and all present could swear that they saw James and Lily comforting their son while an angelic choir sung innumerable hymns in the background.
At dusk the glow faded as Harry wiped his eyes and stood up. Ginny immediately ran to him and pulled him into a warm embrace. They were all quiet as they returned to the village, each lost in their own thoughts. When they returned to Hogwarts the next day, Christmas Day, they were met by a delegation of centaurs and Ministry officials who escorted them to a large tent that had been set up at the interface between The Forbidden Forest, the lake and the castle grounds.
Over the next several days, throughout the Christmas Holidays, a number of meetings were held in that tent. Their focus: the future of the wizarding world. Representatives from all branches of the magical community were equally and fairly represented. A few of the representatives were a bit wary of the vampires and werewolves but no objections were made to their presence. With Hermione's help Dobby and Winky even made a fair showing for the house-elves. In the end an admirable start had been made in the creation of a roadmap for a fair and equitable future for all concerned. Not everyone was happy but most were at least satisfied that a good start had been made. The meetings closed the night before the students were to return and more meetings were scheduled for July and August with the promise of still more meeting to follow until everyone was satisfied with the result.
Tonks went into labor at 10:30 PM on the twelfth of April and Remus began pacing at 10:32. To say that he was anxious would have been an understatement. He was a nervous wreck. He was pulling at his hair while ranting and raving about everything that could go wrong but probably wouldn't. Chief among his concerns, however, was the very real possibility that their child might be a werewolf. He could handle another metamorphmagus in the family but he didn't know what he would do if their child turned out to be a werewolf.
Harry, as a good friend and the only descendent of the other three Marauders stayed with him throughout this ordeal and tried to joke with Remus a few times, mostly about the future of the Marauder's Map and the book Remus had given him on his sixteenth birthday. Remus had scowled at these attempts but did eventually sit down, after multiple doses of the most powerful calming draught Professor Slughorn could brew.
At 2:30 AM on Tuesday, the thirteenth of April 1998, Theodore Sirius Lupin took his first breath and, with a little encouragement from Madam Pomfrey, screamed loud enough to let his father know that all was well in the magical world. Moments later Luna, who had been assisting Madam Pomfrey, stepped out into the corridor and smiled. "Congratulations, Remus!" she beamed. "You are the proud father six pound, seven ounce baby boy! There are no indications of lycanthropy. He did, however come out with purple hair, which immediately turned pink the moment he saw his mother."
Remus immediately jumped up and hugged Luna. "Thank you, Luna!" he all but screamed. "You don't know how good that makes me feel!"
Luna looked to be shocked at Remus' reaction as he enthusiastically hugged her. Harry smiled at her startled expression and mouthed a "Thank you."
Five minutes later Remus and Harry were introduced to their son and godson, respectively. Tonks looked tired but extremely happy. For his part, Teddy turned his eyes from brown as he looked at Remus and from amber to green when he looked at Harry. A moment later his hair and eyes both matched Remus'. It was almost as if he was saying, "Hello, Daddy."
Tonks just smiled and cuddled her son. They visited for a few minutes, until Tonks and Teddy began to drift off to sleep. Remus was given the bed next to Tonks and Teddy was placed in a crib between them. Harry helped Madam Pomfrey screen their beds off from the rest of the infirmary and then returned to the Gryffindor Tower and his trunk where Ginny murmured a sleepy, "Hello, Love," as he crawled into bed. Harry was tempted to wake her up and tell her about Teddy but decided against it because she had had a particularly rough day.
The second Great Potter-Lupin Prank War began on the first of June 1998 and lasted until the end of the Leaving Feast. The only rules Albus put in place when it became evident that a prank war had, indeed, begun, were that they could not destroy any school property, that they had to clean up any messes they made and that there were to be no food fights. These rules were put into place to protect the castle and students and to assist Mr. Filch in his duties as Caretaker. They did not, however, prevent either Harry or Remus from having a little fun at each other's expense.
One afternoon, after Remus had temporarily turned all of Harry's clothes a bright, glowing pink Harry retaliated by chasing Remus all over the castle with his magical Hungarian Horntail model. He was able to make it fly, swoop and dive like the real thing. It's fire was a harmless, magical illusion but Remus didn't find that out for at least fifteen minutes.
By the time dinner rolled around Remus had been fleeing from Harry's "pet" for almost three hours. When he staggered into the Great Hall, the dragon still in hot pursuit, Harry looked up from where he was sitting with his friends and smiled innocently over at his friend. "Bit out of shape, old man?" he asked.
Remus scowled.
"Let that be a lesson to you, Remus," Harry snickered. "Never, and I do mean never, turn my clothes pink. I do have a reputation to uphold and I would really rather not go the way of Gilderoy Lockheart."
Immediately upon disembarking from the Hogwarts Express in London Kingsley escorted Harry and Neville through the barrier and introduced them to Sean O'Mally, a solidly built man in his mid forties with sandy brown hair, polluted green eyes and a square jaw and an air of certainty about him, and Robert Lothian, a thin man who looked to be close to retirement age with sparkling, inquisitive blue eyes and thinning grey hair. At the same time, however, he had a vigor and zest for life that Harry equated with Dumbledore.
"Harry, Neville," Kingsley said after the introductions had been made and they had settled into the back seat of a Ministry limousine, "Sean and Robert have been specifically chosen and specially trained to serve as one half of the interface between Scotland Yard and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. You two are the other half.
"Arrangements have already been made for them to accompany you to the meetings being held at Hogwarts this summer. They have been learning about our world for the past six months. It is hoped that their attendance at these meetings will provide them with first-hand experiences that no amount of study will ever be able to equal."
Harry glanced over at Sean and Robert and saw a look of open-minded determination in Sean's eyes and a look of excited curiosity in Robert's. Nodding his head in understanding Harry said, "Alright. But I must warn you that the centaurs can be a bit hostile at times. It took a major, magically induced electrical storm to break through their hostility towards anything human related so that they would even listen. And that wasn't quite two years ago so I don't know how they will react to you. As long as you are with either Neville or myself, however, I think you should be safe."
Harry and Neville spent the next five years working with Sean and Robert developing protocols and selecting and training an elite group of aurors and investigators from Scotland Yard so that they could work together to solve those crimes that crossed the line between the muggle and magical worlds. In the process, and with Ron's help, they almost totally rewrote the Auror's Guide to Field Operations with an emphasis on the collection of forensic information.
Ron and Hermione joined the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as strategists and quickly gained the respect of their superiors by providing the kinds of logistical support that defused a number of hostage situations – mainly former Death Eaters who didn't want to be taken into custody – without anyone getting hurt and with the perpetrators being taken into custody.
During this time, Neville, as was his want, grew a wide variety of magical plants in his private greenhouses and occasionally traveled to Hogwarts to consult with Professor Sprout. When she decided to retire Neville applied for the position and, upon receiving her glowing recommendation, earned the title of Herbology Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He, of course, kept his Auror position but was rarely activated because there wasn't much Harry couldn't handle alone.
That same year, Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione and Neville and Luna were married in a joint ceremony, which was talked about for months afterward.
Albus Dumbledore peacefully passed away on Christmas Eve that year as well. His dieing request was that Harry take his wand and use it as a spare. Harry chose to honor this wish but seldom used the "unbeatable wand" because the residual energies from all of its past owners made him uncomfortable.
Five years later Harry was appointed Head of the Auror Division within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, making him the youngest head the department had had since its formation.
By this time Draco Malfoy had redeemed himself in the eyes of many by becoming an expert in the application of the Purgatory Charm. Its application was rarely forced upon anyone. It was, however, always offered as an alternative to the death penalty. The only circumstance in which it would be forced upon a convicted criminal was when they were proven to be repeat offenders; and even then it was used sparingly.
The End
Author's Note:
Well, there you have it, the conclusion to my contributions to the world of Harry Potter Fan Fiction. In this last chapter I have, I hope, opened the door to any number of possibilities. If any of you wish to expand upon these possibilities and write your own stories please feel free to do so. I don't own any of if and I am not about to stifle your imaginations. In fact, I encourage you to use your imaginations as much as possible because it is only through our creative imaginings that we will be able to make our world a better place for us all.