Fake It

Moon: Last chapter, everyone! I know, I know, short as hell, but this one was always meant to be short and sweet. this just finishes up the last few details and ends on a happy note. Enjoy! I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 4: End Of An Era

The battle of Hogwarts was over in two days. There were a huge number of Death Eater casualties; only a fifth of the marked men who had marched on Hogwarts survived the end of the battle. The aurors had been using lethal force, and the Death Eaters had become overconfident on the fact that there would be no real resistance from any of their victims. Oh, how wrong they were.

Bellatrix Lestrange died in a duel with Bill Weasely, Kingsley Shackbolt, Mad-Eye Moody, and Minerva McGonagall. Fred and George survived the battle, which a surprising number of defeats on their name; Percy had come around and had helped them when they were in a fix.

Narcissa Malfoy, now Black, had made her decision after her husband had been locked up. She had ratted out as many Death Eater names as she had to offer. Evan Parkinson was one of the principle financers who ended up in Azkaban thanks to the information she gave.

Draco Malfoy was one of many children raised by Death Eaters who was being given a psychiatrist to break him from the dogma his father had impressed on him over the years. The person treating him reported that it would take a long time to break what he had believed for so long, but she didn't think that he was a hopeless case.

Rufus continued to drag the Ministry back into shape; he and Amelia Bones put in sweeping reforms to exorsize all remaining traces of Voldemort's beliefs from the system.

As for Voldemort himself, he'd been struck down by Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape after Neville drove the Sword of Gryffindor into the last remaining Horcrux. With one final scream the man who had terrorized Britain for so long was gone.

The cleanup afterwards proved to be more difficult, mainly because it dealt with one Albus Dumbledore.

Severus Snape had gone on record to explain the Horcruxes, their nature and how to destroy them when he began the search for them months before. When the Minister asked him how he came by this information, he had replied, "Albus Dumbledore had me acting as a spy within the Death Eater's ranks. I had known Lily Potter when I was a boy; she had meant the world to me but in a fit of foolishness on my part I drove her away. I wished to make up for this mistake by safeguarding her son in her memory when she lost her life. Dumbledore approached me, told me how Riddle had survived and asked me to help him with his war on the monster. However, if there was a 'war', he wasn't trying very hard to fight it. I wished to search for the Horcruxes as soon as possible but I was repeatedly stymed by the man, who I firmly believe at this point seemed to think that if he pretended the problem wasn't serious, it would magically disappear. He threatened to turn me out as a Death Eater should I disobey his wishes. However, the death of Harry Potter was the final straw for me – this had to end, whether the Headmaster wanted it or not."

Snape would later be awarded Order of Merlin, First Class, for his part in the defeat of Riddle. When presented with it, he broke down in real tears for the first time in twenty years and said, "That boy was my responsibility. I should have saved him."

Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE, arrested Dumbledore three hours after Snape had given this testimony. The man gave a speech under Veristrum that said that he recognized that muggleborns and half bloods were necessary to strengthen the weakening pureblood lines, but to that end he needed as many purebloods alive as possible. His delaying tactics – the ones believed to have caused the death of Harry Potter – were a result of wanting to take Death Eaters alive to be 'rehabilitated'.

He then continued, with logic that baffled every expert in Dark Magic, that Harry had been an 'accidental' Horcrux and therefore had to die by the man's wand for everything to be complete. To this end he had sent Harry to live with his aunt and uncle and didn't demand that Sirius Black have a trail, despite thinking that there was something off about Pettigrew for months beforehand.

Dumbledore was thrown in Azkaban in record time, for someone who had once been a highly respected figure. Over Britain, people rejoiced the final, complete end of the Second Wizarding War.

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There was a polite knock at the door. Sirius paused from where he was entertaining Remus, Tonks and his new wife Hestia Jones and went to answer it.

He opened the door to see a very particular young man with black hair and green eyes standing in the doorway, with three girls right behind him.

Harry Potter smiled up at his godfather, happy tears in his eyes, "Hi Padfoot."

It was the most touching reunion seen in years.

End.