Goodbye Farewell Amen

As you all know, it is my custom to have never put a message at the top of a chapter before, but this occasion demands that one be done. This has been a love of labour that has been ongoing since September 2008, and I have been working on it everyday ever since – even if it was for half an hour or so. To prove how dedicated I was, I even worked on this on Christmas Day in order to get this baby out on time. Many nights have gone by without sleep trying to finish a rather troublesome chapter or two, though some have been completed and uploaded in less then 24 Hours! When I started this, I only expected it to be 5 or 6 chapters at the most, but I rather think that I have gone past that by just a wee mite or two!

The thing that astounded me was when I was told, in a review, that I was one of the best fan fiction writers on the entire web. That made me, a guy, burst into tears. The love, gratitude and respect from all of you who have reviewed and sent me PM's is something that I thank you for. Some people have given me some terrible reviews… Dragon Symphony for one! But I have ignored them and carried on with your support.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls; I would like to invite you to join me in reading the final chapter of "Harry Potter True Friends" Please enjoy the entire story as much I as have whilst writing it.

Thank You

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It is often said that some people know when they are going to die, and this was true of Harry. Of course he could not actually tell you the exact time of his departure from this world, but he could tell none the less anyway. Harry started to put together his will which was to be read after the service which was up to others. Harry had said on many occasions that he wouldn't know either way would he? Whatever happened, he would not tell anybody about his passing until the very end when there was nothing they could do – he would just slip away to sleep and that would be that. Later that morning, Harry had a cabinet meeting with the Prime Minister which he liked as much as he loved Voldemort. Since the revealing of the magical world to the ordinary world, the Ministry had been put with all of the others except that it had a large degree of Autonomy to what it could do. Once Harry had left he went to his office he had some paperwork to take care of, and he set to work on it with a pleasure as it wouldn't be his concern for much longer.

"Sir?" a short witch put her head around the door.

"Yes, Rachel?" he asked.

"The Goblins have sent the forms you asked for" she said, and she brought them in and put them on his desk. "Is there anything else?" Rachel asked him

"No, thanks" Harry replied, "In fact take the rest of the day off" and Rachel vanished out the door. The forms which he had been sent regarded the transfer of money from the Potter Vaults to some very good and deserving places. After the help they had given him, it was time he repaid that debt before he left.

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Harry was stood on the cliff and watched the sun as it shone golden rays of light onto the surface of the sea. He found the sea relaxing at times and it helped him to think about how to tell his family, his friends and others that he was going to die soon.

"Granddad?" a voice from behind made him turn around to see a black haired young woman standing behind him.

"Hello, Brenna" he said to his granddaughter. "What's the matter?" Harry asked her.

"I was going to ask you" she replied. "You're out here alone so something is wrong" Brenna finished, and brushed her long black hair back behind her ears.

"Apart from the fact I am the oldest living person?" Harry said sarcastically, and then he looked at her seriously. "I want to die" he said, and Brenna put a horrified expression on to her face.

"You can't do that!" she said. They argued for over an hour until Harry silenced her with a look.

"Brenna, I am over 400 years old and I would very much like to die" Harry said, and his granddaughter looked at him with a puzzled look replacing the previous panicked one.

"But you can't die" she said.

"Everyone dies" Harry told her, "When people do is always completely random. I should have died many years ago but things conspired that allowed me to live twice as long as anyone else. It has been a full and happy life and I just want to go to sleep knowing that the world is safe from major evil" he said, and Harry looked back towards the sea. "And the sea shall give each man new hope" he quoted.

"Who said that?" Brenna asked.

"Christopher Columbus" Harry said.

"That the guy that directed two of the Harry Potter films?" Brenna enquired.

"No" Harry told her, "Different Columbus" and explained that Columbus had sailed from Spain and discovered the West Indies. "Surely you know that from school?" Harry asked her when he was done with explaining. Brenna took it all in before asking Harry when he was going to die. Harry replied that he wasn't sure when he was going to die; only that he knew that he wouldn't last another year – that much he knew for certain.

"But you are a legend" Brenna said sternly, and it reminded Harry very much of when Hermione would have a go at him for not doing his homework correctly or being the wrong length, "You can't die" she pouted.

"Oh really?" Harry said, turning back and raising an eyebrow at her. "I was lucky and survived the Second Dark War. The people buried in fields all over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are the real legends. They gave up their lives for freedom and all they get is a day in the year – THOSE ARE THE REAL LEGENDS" he shouted, and he apperated from the spot so hard that Brenna was knocked off her feet and was thrown back several feet.

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Harry had worked for several decades on this, and he was very proud of it indeed. When he had attended Shamus Finnegan and Liam Cleary's funerals all those years ago, he had made a promise to get Ireland united into one country again. Today was the day that it happened, though there had been a few compromises. Ireland was one whole place again, but it was part of the United Kingdom which annoyed some Irish, but they put up with it as they got half of what they wanted.

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Harry lit the fire and then settled down to watch a Qudditch game on the TV. After the merging of the two worlds, the sport was now shown on weekends and during the week for important matches. Football still reigned supreme of course – THAT hadn't changed. The game was Manchester Marauders v Hull Harriers, and this was just a league game so it was shown at the weekend. Harry still had a keen interest in Qudditch and still played in charity matches every so often.

"Just to keep my hand in," he would often say.

The game was a total pleasure to watch as both teams did their level best to win, and it was no surprise that it came to a draw. Harry finished his tea and felt a little tired and he settled down in the massive, soft armchair and closed his eyes.

"A little sleep I should think" he thought to himself. Harry was feeling warm and comfortable and he slipped under and never woke up again. He knew that something was wrong when he started seeing Hannah, Susan, Hermione, Rudi, Ben, Luna, Neville, Natalie and other people that he had been to school at. They all looked a youthful age as if time had not passed for them – they all looked liked he best remembered them from his memory.

"It's been a while" Hermione said matter of factly.

"Where am I?" Harry asked.

"This is heaven" Hannah giggled.

"And you're dead" Susan pointed out.

"Shit" Harry swore.

"Harry said a naughty word" chimed the chorus of Ben, Rudi and Natalie.

"Best get a parachute and sunblock for him" added Luna and Neville.

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They found him still in the armchair that evening when an Auror came round to deliver some missing paperwork to Harry. The first thing the Auror did was to seal the house up from the general public and then to alert the Ministry and inform them that Harry Potter was dead. Shortly before Harry had died, he had altered his will so that it would be read to the benefactors before whatever service was held for him. The whole world mourned the loss of what many people considered to be the greatest person who had ever lived, and tributes were paid and flowers left outside his home and outside the Ministry. Queen Elizabeth IV – the currant monarch of the United Kingdom – declared a full week of national mourning and messages of symphony were sent from other world leaders from almost every nation on the planet. The debate as to where Harry would be buried started almost as soon as the news of his death broke. While they talked and talked, Harry's body lay in state so that people could see him and pay their respects to the family. He lay in the centre of Westminster watched over by a member of each of the armed services plus an Auror – now almost a ceremonial post, and the people filed past to glimpse Harry one last time. At the end of the last day, a total was taken of all those who had filed past Harry and the number came to 17 million men women and children – a true testament to the respect Harry had from all walks of life.

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The casket containing the last survivor of the Second Dark War was carried by Aurors to the dockside with the route lined with people watching the procession. Once at the docks, the coffin was piped aboard HMS Ark Royal and the ship left and joined by HMS Invincible, HMS Chatham, HMS Glasgow, HMS Bristol, HMS Cornwall and HMS Victory. Ships from other navies also sailed with them including the USS Missouri which was out of Pearl Harbour for this first time in 382 years. Sailed from Portsmouth harbour with a small flotilla of motor boats and sailing dinghies almost carrying them out. The fleet sailed up the east coast – and every ship was lined in black - and travelled all the way to Scotland, anchoring 25 miles from Inverness. A small submarine came alongside Ark Royal and the flight deck was filled with senior officers from all of the ships of the funeral fleet. Once alongside Ark Royal, the name of the submarine was clear to everyone as Wulfler. Although she had been retired from the Royal Navy hundreds of years ago, it had been ordered by Royal Decree that Wulfler be commissioned for this event, and so she proudly bore name on her conning tower picked out in red once again – HMS Wulfler. As the coffin was carried out onto the flight deck, every officer and crew member snapped to attention and saluted as it went past. When it reached the edge of the ship, the senior petty officer piped Harry's coffin over the side and down to the submarine. One of the Royal Navy officers withdrew a walkie talkie and spoke in hushed tones to it.

"Westminster to Victory"

"Victory here" came a reply.

"Run out all guns and fire at your discretion" the Captain said. As he switched it off, he heard his American counterpart do the same for his ship. As the submarine slowly drifted away from the side of Ark Royal, HMS Victory opened its portside gun ports.

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"Open port gun ports" came the shouted order. The crew members opened the portside gun ports on the lower decks

"Gun ports open" came a reply.

"Load the guns" said the executive officer, and each of then actual cannons from Trafalgar was loaded with a blank charge of gunpowder. "Run out… make ready…FIRE!" and the port side of the ship erupted into burst of fire. One by one, from stem to stern, Victory fired a full broadside in salute to Harry. Moments later, the Missouri also opened up with her massive 15in guns. By the end, every one of the 34 ships had fired its guns in a full general salute. Five Harriers from the Fleet Air Arm museum few over the Wulfler and one peeled off in "The Missing Man" formation. Some people had criticized the cost of the entire operation, but they had been talked down by the fact that they owed Harry a great deal. One by one, the ships all turned about and headed for Portsmouth where the fleet would be dispersed back to their own countries. Victory and Missouri had one last thing to do however, and both ships began to overtake Wulfler and as they came up alongside, both ships raised full battle ensigns to every mast that would hold them and fired another broadside off and then they turned back to Portsmouth.

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The headmaster scanned the waters surface for any sign of something coming out, and was rewarded after many glances by Wulfler coming up from the watery depths of the lake. The submarine came up to as close to the edge of the lake and stopped as a group of six people went towards the waters edge and received the coffin. The sad little party came up and Harry was borne on the last leg of his final journey to be buried at his beloved Hogwarts, by members of Gryffindor House. The burial service was attended by hundreds of people and it was broadcast all over the world as well. Harry's coffin was added to those which had placed there hundreds of years ago. One last name was added to a memorial statue which Harry himself had erected. The names ran like thus: Natalie McDonald, Ben Tennyson, Rudi Tennyson, Luna Longbottom, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Potter, Susan Potter, Hannah Potter, Harry Potter – True Friends.

A/N:

Ladies and Gentlemen; I present to you the final Chapter of Harry Potter True Friends. I would like to first thank all of you for the support you have given me over the 11 months it has taken me to get to this final part. I am now going to list those people who deserve a special mention in reviews, comments or general support and ideas.

In no particular order:

Zeropolis79/The Submarauder

Budrick1701 e

queenofspades19

Wulfler

JWOHPfan

Voldemort is dead

Draghknar

Joemjackson

Phantombrick

Airlady

Paladin 13

michaelc100

Beth5572

Godzillahomer

Olaf74

hpnut1

Murdrax

To all those above and to the rest of you readers and reviewers I salute you!

Now to references:

Christopher Columbus did say the quote that Harry used. The other Christopher Columbus is of course the guy that directed the first two Harry Potter films – easy to get confused. Brenna actually references that fact early on.

The ships: HMS Ark Royal, HMS Invincible, HMS Chatham, HMS Glasgow, HMS Bristol, HMS Cornwall and HMS Victory and USS Missouri are active commissioned vessel from the Royal Navy and the United States Navy respectfully except HMS Glasgow which was withdrawn from service while this chapter was begun.

HMS Wulfler is of course named after one of my reviewers who is also listed above.

The Chapter title is also the title of the final episode of M*A*S*H

I got my wish in that the very last words of this story was the title of the fic.

Special Message To Trax: Look over and over the chapter, I have done a grammeticly correct sentence – please note it in your review.

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As of this upload, the statistics stand as thus:

Words: 303,002

Reviews: 945

Views: 253,872

Once again, I would like to thank you for all of the reviews that you sent to me and also of the Pm's sent in support or trying to weed out a little information in advance of the next release.

Reviews and Pm's in the normal manner

Regards

Pixel And Stephanie Forever

THE ONE TRUE GOD OF FANFICTION

Story Status:- Complete

Goodnight

Coming Next: Chapter 101