Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Only the general plot/setting is my own. All characters and other references to 'Harry Potter' are solely the property of J.K. Rowling.

A/N: This is the last chapter! So I hope you guys appreciate not only the length but the journey you have been on. I love you all!

The Boy Who Loved

By

Belle. A. Lestrange

Epilogue:

The New Beginning

Harry drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he stared at the front entrance of the train station.

The warm summer breeze tickled the hairs at the back of his neck and he couldn't help but smile softly as a hand in the small of his back coaxed him forwards. He still couldn't believe that he was here, under a year since he had first learned about the magical world, and now he was here at King's Cross Station and facing the infamous -or so he'd been told -brick barrier between platforms nine and ten. A shiver ran through him. He couldn't help but be excited.

This time last year he only had his aunt, uncle and Dudley. Now, however, one year on, and he had more than he could ever have dreamed of; he had a new home living at Spinner's End with Severus and Draco with Narcissa coming over on the weekend from her Black Family home in France. She'd moved their shortly after her release, badly needing an escape from England and what it reminded her of. He also had a long-term boyfriend, someone he loved with all his heart and who he couldn't help but love even more now that they had properly gotten to know one another through the luxury of time. Harry had felt strange once he'd learned he had actually died, but it led him to have a fuller, clearer view on life. Over the last year he had been getting counselling, something that Severus had suggested would be a good idea. Not for the sensation of Death that he had experienced.

It was for the years of rape from his uncle that he had needed to address.

Draco had been in full support and had often told Harry that, as brave and strong as he was to have dealt with it alone, sometimes it was better to talk some things out with an impartial person. Vernon had been one of the muggles named of being killed by Lucius and his men. His was not the loss that anyone cared about, however it hadn't brought Harry much closure. As Severus and Draco had said, he needed to address the issues and numerous assaults and come to terms with them. Burying them hadn't helped with the nightmares. He couldn't blame them for worrying and even he had to admit that the counselling had helped him a lot of the last seven months.

He felt as though he had been granted a new lease on life and that was something he could never feel guilty about.

Something slipped over his wrist and between his fingers, making him jump slightly. He smiled brightly as he looked up to see Draco looking down at him with nothing but excitement and adoration in his eyes. They were both going to Hogwarts together. The previous year he spent most of his times studying in the privacy of Severus' rooms, only socializing at meal times, however this year was going to be different. He was going to attend all classes and meals and extra activities. Albus Dumbledore had sadly passed away during the previous June before the school term had ended, due to some sort of long-term poisoning. Severus had informed them that he had delayed the effects for as long as possible, but the curse had eventually taken hold, brought on by one of the other horcruxes. He passed in his sleep, however, so it was with a calm manner that Minerva took up her new title of Headmistress of the school, whilst Severus took the new title of Deputy in her place, as well as the head of Slytherin House. He only taught the advanced seventh years potions now, whereas Slughorn took over the remainder of the classes and now held the Slug-Club as an actual school organization.

Harry didn't know what it really was all about and he didn't really care too much.

"Are you two planning to actually get through this thing?" Sirius' laughter came over his head and made him turn to have a look at him. He was walking up to them with his long strides drawing him closer in a swift motion, his purple sleeves rolled up and his curled hair bounding in the warm breeze. Remus beside him looked as casual as ever in a pair of slacks and a a knit blazer of a thin white collared shirt. He didn't look as tired as he normally did but that was mostly due to his vague tan from actually going outside in the Summer sunshine.

"Leave them alone, Sirius, otherwise they'll complain about you to Severus," Remus chastised with an endearing smile. It was very rare he was able to stay mad at Sirius over anything, especially the humor he'd practically grown up with.

"Oh I think the mutt here is accustomed to my methods of torture by now," drawled a voice from behind them. They all turned to see Severus standing there, smirking, dressed in black muggle clothes. He looked very sharp even if he did slightly resemble a vampire. He smirked at the four men before him before inclining his head towards the barrier, "Are we all just going to stand here looking at it, or are we going to head on through?"

"Let's head on through," Remus suggested with a smile, "Might as well get a good seat, right boys?"

Harry smiled warmly as he turned towards the barrier. His palms were sweating. He'd never been through the barrier himself. A hand reached over and squeezed his shoulder. He turned to see Severus smiling slightly down at him, "We can go together if you like?"

Harry could only nod before Severus stood behind him, both their hands grasping the rail of the trolley. They walked briskly towards the barrier and just when Harry thought he was going to be swallowing brick and mortar for breakfast -a rough breeze of hair rushed past him and suddenly he was on a whole new platform altogether! It shouldn't have thrilled him too much -the other modes of magical transportation he'd used so far hadn't agreed with him -but the vigorous beating of his heart was hard to ignore. "That was amazing!" he gushed as he turned on the spot to hug his father before turning to look at the spot of wall he'd just passed through.

Severus smirked and squeezed his son's forearm just as Draco sped through and almost knocked their trolley's together. The blonde beamed brightly as he stilled his trolley before coming over to hug Harry tightly, "I told you you'd be fine!" Turning to his godfather, he rolled his silvery eyes, "This one was up most of the night worrying about 'what if it's a trick and they just want to see me run at a wall?' Honestly, some faith, Harry, please?" he teased with a wink and a cheeky peck on his boyfriends' cheek.

"Oh shut it, will you?" Harry groaned, his grin betraying his amusement. In the last year Draco had really come out of his shell of aristocratic nonsense, and suffice to say, everyone was happy for the transformation.

A moment later Remus and Sirius had joined them on the platform and looked a little flushed. The heat was clearly affecting Remus, judging from the rosy hue of his cheeks. Now that all the bad drama was put behind them, Remus had relaxed and finally 'let loose' as Sirius called it. Now the only thing that made him lose his temper was the moon ... And Sirius peeing on the furniture in dog-form.

As for Petunia and Dudley, they had moved into a flat in London, thanks to some inheritance left over from Lily as well as the life insurance from Vernon, and now Dudley had reunited with his girlfriend from the previous year. Harry had met Ashley a few times when he'd gone over for dinner. She seemed nice enough and she could put up with Dudley's humor which was a miracle in itself. She was charming and soft and homely. Harry hadn't known that Dudley had had a type, but somehow being together, Ashley made him 'better'. It made him happy to know that after everything he'd been through, his cousin and aunt were able to move on and live happily.

Harry smiled as the memories ran through his mind before blinking back to reality as the clock chimed a quarter to eleven. It was almost time to get ready and board the train. He was jittery with nerves and the others around him could tell, but he didn't care. He was excited. He was finally going to get to learn, meet people, study subjects he hadn't known existed until last year! It was all so surreal to him and he just couldn't wait the adventure to begin!

"Will you stop squirming?" Draco hissed under his breath as they all stood in front of the train, waiting for Remus to snap a photo of them all. It was a big moment in all their lives, a beginning and an ending all at once, and the amber-eyed man really wanted to capture the moment forever. Harry huffed beside his boyfriend but smiled brightly as Remus took several snaps from his camera.

"Alright, let me get one of just Harry and Draco!" Remus called with a cheeky gleam in his eyes.

Severus and Sirius slipped a little ways away before Remus raised the camera back up to his eye. Harry slid a little closer to his boyfriend and laced their fingers out of sight from the lens, before tilting his head to rest it on the blonde's shoulder. Draco turned and pressed a kiss to his forehead, before leaning his head slightly and smiling as Remus pressed the button down. A bright flash went off and they were soon blinking, chuckling and rubbing their eyes. Harry turned and smiled as Severus walked back up and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" he asked, a slight frown marring his face.

Harry nodded his head, "I'll be fine. You are Remus will be getting their before either of us anyway."

Severus smirked, "Well yes but he and I have a lot of things we need to sort out and we need to buy an extra large chew-toy to keep your godfather occupied."

Harry smiled and shook his head, "How are you going to survive now that he's going to be at the school all year?" he asked, referring to Sirius' new job of teaching the students Flying and Charms. Despite his bright and childish nature, he was quite intelligent which had taken Harry quite by surprise. Not that he minded, it was nice to be surrounded by people who knew what they were talking about.

Severus smirked and let out a chuckle, "Well I can only hope him running around with Remus on the full moon will be a good thing and won't have me regretting the decision."

Harry shrugged, "They'll keep you busy."

The older man cocked a dark eyebrow, "So you and Draco can run around and torment the other Slytherin's? I think not."

Harry mock-pouted, "D-a-d it's no fun when you know what we're getting up to!" he sighed dramatically before breaking out into a grin.

Severus chuckled and lightly tugged on the hair at the back of his son's neck. The whistle blew out across the station for the five minute warning. Severus turned his attention back to his son and smiled, "Well I shall see you and Draco at the Feast, alright?"

Harry nodded his head before he turned with his trolley in front of him and pushed his trunk and his pet owl -a bright white one that he'd decided to name Hedwig -over to the assistants who helped to neatly stack all trunks and animals together in the luggage carts. Draco followed suit and was just handing over his new pet -a sleek smoky grey cat with bright green eyes -over to the assistant. He was just turning around and straightening his robes when he looked up to see his boyfriend dashing back across the platform and throwing his arms around Severus' taller frame. He grinned brightly, just as Remus and Sirius did at Severus' shocked expression.

Severus came back to his senses and wrapped his arms tightly around his son, ignoring the looks of his companions and pressing his lips to his son's head of sleek black hair. He held his son tightly to his chest, inhaling his scent and trying to imprint his body against his own. He'd see him throughout the school all year and he knew that, but he couldn't deny that he would miss the closeness throughout their lessons. They had bonded quickly over the last seven months after the adoption and he couldn't deny he would miss spending almost all day helping him with his magic and hearing about his life before magic, the good and the bad. With a deep sigh filled with reluctance, he slowly unwound his arms from Harry as his son did the same, "You'll be alright. I'll see you after the feast."

Harry nodded, "I know I'm just going to miss eating around one table with you, Sirius and Remus."

Severus hummed, "Well we can eat together on the weekends so there's no love lost there."

Harry laughed and shook his head as he took a small step back, "Well I guess I'd better go before I miss the train."

Severus gave his son's shoulder a firm squeeze, "Go on then, before Draco stamps a hole through the platform."

He was about to turn and join the blonde at the train, but instead, turned and squeezed Severus in a hug one last time before tip-toeing up and whispering, "Love you, Dad."

Severus blinked in surprise and felt his heart swell with affection as he hugged Harry back, "Love you too, Harry."

Harry grinned brightly as he stepped to one side for Draco to say his goodbyes with a lot of hair ruffling from Sirius to both of them, with promises that they'd see them both at the feast. With one last blast from the whistle, Harry grabbed Draco's sleeve and hurried over towards the train before it left the platform. Draco waved over his shoulder with a laugh as they ducked into the train and slammed the door shut behind them.

Remus chuckled as both Sirius and Severus' eyes filled with tears as they watched the boys' climb onto the train and disappear from view, no doubt searching for a compartment to sit in. "Honestly you two," he hushed with a shake of his head, "You'll be seeing them tonight."

Sirius nodded his head, "You're right. It's just depressing seeing them go away like this."

Severus cleared his throat before straightening himself up as the train pulled away around the corner and out of sight. They all waved before the train disappeared in the plumes of vapor pouring out of the steam engine. They all dropped their arms down and sighed, returning to their lives without the boys' in tow for the next seven hours. Remus smiled, "Alright, I'm going to get these photo's developed. I'll see you two at the house later on." He started walking away before looking over his shoulder, "Oh, and try not to kill one another before I get back, okay?"

Back on the train as the countryside blurred past them, Draco finally found a compartment that was still empty and slid inside, closing the door behind Harry as the brunette slipped inside and collapsed down on one of the seats. Tilting his head back against the headrest, he smiled lazily and patted the seat beside him, "Sit your arse down, Draco, and relax. I've missed you. Haven't seen you properly for the last few days," he murmured, referring to all the shopping trips to Diagon Alley.

Draco hummed as he leaned over his lover on the seat and started pressing hot kisses up and down his throat. Harry hummed and leaned into the touch, sighing softly as Draco nipped at his neck. "I can't wait to get you back to the dorms tonight and have some fun," he purred, waggling his eyebrows as he pressed another hot, searing kiss to his lover's mouth.

Harry moaned and pulled on the blonde's tie, dragging him down for a long, slow kiss. He ran his hand up and through the sleek blonde hair before smiling into their kiss, "God, how do you do that?" he breathed softly, as Draco reached up to kiss his forehead.

"Hmm? Do what?" he asked as he reached around to massage the back of Harry's neck.

"Make my stomach flip just by kissing me," he grinned as Draco nipped at his neck one last time before turning over and stretching out over the seat, his head nestled in Harry's lap. The brunette bit his lip, hoping that he wouldn't get any inappropriate thoughts along the train ride. There would be plenty time for that later on.

"You're such a sappy git, you know that?" Draco mused, cracking open an eyelid to grin up at his boyfriend.

Harry gave a little chuckle as he started to thread his fingers through his boyfriend's blonde hair. "Yeah but you wouldn't have me any other way."

Draco hummed as he leaned into the soothing touch. They stayed that way for the majority of the train journey, only really moving when the witch pushing the snack trolley knocked on their compartment door. Harry was in a daze for the trip as he stroked Draco's hair and watched the sun slip lower and lower in the sky, the Scottish moors rising and falling against the brilliant skyline.

When they were drawing closer to the school, Draco straightened up from his position on his lover's lap and laced their fingers together before using his free -trapped -arm around Harry's shoulders and drawing him closer so that the shorter boy was resting against his chest. Together on the train they watched the sun set as it sank behind the hills and dragged the bloody colour of the sky down until only an inky blue dusk descended over the land. It was the most romantic thing they had done in weeks.

Within another half an hour the train was pulling into Hogsmeade station.

Just after the train lurched to a stop and the chatter of people passing by their compartment to get out of the train, Harry and Draco stood up and straightened their robes down. Just as they were about to leave, Draco chuckled as he looked over at his lover. "What?" Harry asked, glancing down at himself to see if there were any marks on his robes. He still wasn't really used to wearing them all that much, despite Draco telling him that he looked good in them.

Draco crossed the distance between them and combed his fingers through the feather soft, dark hair of his boyfriend before dipping his head down to kiss Harry's soft, pink lips. He tasted wonderful, of tea and apples that he'd had for his breakfast, before pulling away, lips pink and cheeks flushed. "You look so handsome," he breathed softly before smirking down at Harry's neck. "Although, I think we're going to need to teach you how to tie a tie properly," he grinned a he took hold of the green and silver tie around his boyfriends' neck and started to adjust it before tucking it back down inside the obligatory dark grey school jumper.

Curiously, almost no one had been that surprised when Harry had gotten sorted into Slytherin the previous January.

Harry chuckled as he straightened his jumper down his front. "Not as handsome as you," he hummed as he tiptoed up and pressed a kiss to Draco's mouth.

He followed the blonde as they walked off the train to the platform where they could climb into the carriages. As the beautifully dark Thestrals drew their carriage away from Hogsmeade station, Harry slipped his hand down and laced his fingers with Draco's. He had butterflies in his stomach as the golden glow of Hogwart's crested over the upcoming hillside through the darkness. He was so excited. He couldn't wait to start this next big adventure in his life and for once, he wasn't going to d it on his own.

He was finally getting a new start in life and he couldn't wait to grasp it with both hands.

He was going to study magic at long last, with his new family by his side as well as his wonderful, sarcastically witty boyfriend. He finally had everything he wanted in his life; family, magic and the boy he loved.

And who loved him back with all his heart.

The End.

A/N: At long last this wonderful journey has come to an end. I had intended for it to be a chapter long but of course nothing ever really got to plan, does it? Regardless, I hoped that you enjoyed this conclusion and that you liked the journey as much as I did.

Also, for any reviewers, there WILL NOT be a sequel to this story so please don't ask for one.

I hope you enjoyed it and leave some lovely feedback for me to read! If you're ever bored after this, you can go and check out my others stories. Don't forget to add me and this story to your alerts!

I love you all!

Belle x