Rejoicing

Rejoicing

---

Harry groaned.

'Did you say something?' asked a familiar voice.

'No, I just groaned.'

'Get Madam Pomfrey! He's awake!'

'Ow, don't shout. I have a headache. You don't need to get her here just for a headache. Ow. My arm's sore, too. Why shouldn't I be awake? Wait -- Hermione?'

'Drink this, it should help,' said Madam Pomfrey briskly. 'Well, open your eyes, and you'll be able to see it, won't you?'

Harry opened his eyes. The world was out of focus. A blur that was probably Hermione was holding his glasses out to him. He took them and put them on. As a result, he discovered his other arm was also sore. He drank down the contents of the blue vial Madam Pomfrey was offering him, and coughed. 'How did you get here so fast? Wait -- this looks like the hospital wing.'

'It is!' said Ron happily. 'Welcome back!'

'Yes,' agreed Hermione. 'We wondered if ... well, we weren't sure if you'd be all right when you regained consciousness.'

'I healed the physical damage,' said Madam Pomfrey, 'but sometimes head wounds like that cause amnesia or other problems.'

'You do know us, don't you?' Ron asked.

'Of course I do,' said Harry. 'What's this about?'

'Say our names,' urged Hermione.

'You're Ron and Hermione. What happened --?' Memory came flooding back. 'Why am I here?'

'The Aurors found you outside the Cullum house, unconscious, and took you to St Mungo's,' said Ron. 'The Healers there made sure you were out of danger, and transferred you here to get rid of the crowds.'

'It also stopped Ginny making escape attempts from the school during her exams,' said Hermione with a grin. 'She's spent almost the whole time in here, since you were brought here.'

'I'll tell the Headmistress you're conscious,' said Madam Pomfrey.

'Thanks. What day is it?'

'Tuesday,' said Hermione. 'Three days after you sent us on that wild goose chase.' She sounded more disapproving than angry about it.

'Sorry. I had a good reason, though.'

'We know why you did it,' said Ron. 'What was all that about a cave being less temptation?'

Harry nodded his head. The medicine seemed to be working, as it didn't hurt to do that. 'It worked, didn't it? You've got to admit, if I leave you alone, I usually have to come and get you. A cave is less comfortable than a house, even an abandoned one.'

'We know you wanted us to be safely out of the way,' said Hermione. 'We said we were with you, but after seeing what you did to them ...' she shivered. 'Well, thank you for saving our lives. That would have happened to us if we'd been there, and not Apparated out, wouldn't it?'

'Yes -- and it doesn't count as saving them if I just made sure I didn't endanger them,' protested Harry.

Professor McGonagall entered the room. 'Potter? Are you all right?'

'I think I am. I'm still a bit vague about what happened.'

'Nobody else knows what you did, so I hope that you can remember.'

'We went to the Cullum house when you didn't meet us, Harry,' said Ron. 'We thought something might have happened to you.'

'Especially when we got there, and saw ... saw what it was like inside,' said Hermione, shivering again. 'We thought you might be dead.'

'But then Tonks sent a message that you were at St Mungo's, and unconscious,' said Ron.

'The two of them -- and others -- have been watching over you ever since you were transferred here,' said the Headmistress. 'Miss Weasley took a great deal of persuasion to go to today's Charms exam.'

'Ginny ...' said Harry. 'I suppose, if my plan worked, there's no reason for us to stay apart.'

'Ron's promised not to kill you,' said Hermione, grinning at Harry.

'It's not Ron I'm worried about!'

'It should be!' Ron protested.

'Your plan did indeed work,' McGonagall said. She gestured with her wand, and a high-backed cushioned chair appeared. She sat and, as an afterthought, created several more chairs. 'I imagine there will be quite a few more visitors. I think, Poppy, that we can allow more than six in the circumstances.'

'We still don't really know what happened,' said Ron. 'Are you going to tell us?'

'Wait -- Potter, as far as the Aurors have been able to tell, you killed not only You-Know-Who, but almost all of his Death Eaters. The only two who survived are imprisoned.'

'Malfoy and Snape?' Harry asked. 'I told them to get away from there. So they did what I said? That's a first.'

There were footsteps in the corridor outside, and the door opened, just far enough to reveal the scarred and smiling face of Bill Weasley, now the Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher. 'I found this pupil out here, running in the corridors; I think she needs a deten-- Ow!'

The door burst open, and a red-headed missile hurtled through it, flinging herself onto Harry's bed and pinning him down. 'You're awake!'

'Oof!' was Harry's only response.

Ginny nervously slid over so that she was sitting on the edge of his bed. 'Sorry. Is this better?'

When he had his breath back, he said, 'Yes. Aren't you pleased to see me?'

Bill limped over to one of the chairs, sat, and rubbed his shin. 'You didn't have to kick me so hard! I was just about to let go anyway!'

Ginny laughed. 'What happened? How did you do it? Did you really let those two gits go free? Did you know you got them all, so we can start seeing each other again?'

Ron continued, in imitation of his sister, 'Do you know this is Tuesday? Do you know this is Hogwarts? Do you know it's daylight? Do you remember her name?'

Ginny took her wand from a pocket of her robes and pointed it at Ron. 'Ignore the prat with bats on his face,' she advised Harry, who laughed, and sat up enough to wrap his arms around her, before falling back with her still in his arms.

Ron started to protest, 'I haven't got ...' but stopped as he realised where that would inevitably lead.

'I've never seen that Hex,' said Harry.

'Don't use me to show him!'

'I'll show you on someone who really deserves it,' said Ginny. 'But what happened?'

'We told her about the wild goose chase,' said Hermione. 'Start from when you got to the Cullum house.'

'First, Miss Weasley, get off him and let him breathe,' said Professor McGonagall.

Harry hugged Ginny. 'No, don't. I can breathe OK. You stay right there if you want.' He thought back to what he'd been through. 'I Apparated in to the woods a mile away from the Cullum house, and then walked the rest of the way wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Oh -- what happened to --?'

'I've got it,' said Ron. 'Don't worry about that.'

'Thanks. Wormtail must have told them how to make a map like mine, because I saw Malfoy there. He was on guard, sitting on a rock looking at their map.' He coughed.

Ginny wriggled out of his grasp and grabbed a nearby jug to pour Harry a glass of water. She pulled the pillows into a pile, and helped him lean back on them before handing him the glass and sitting back down on the edge of his bed.

'Thanks,' he said, 'I didn't realise how dry my throat was. Anyway, there was Malfoy with the map ...'

'Which Malfoy was this?' McGonagall asked. Lucius Malfoy and the other imprisoned Death Eaters had been freed by a Dementor attack on Azkaban eight months earlier.

'Draco,' said Harry. 'He saw me coming, and jumped up, waving his wand where he knew I was from the map. Expelliarmus and a Summoning Charm took care of that, though.'

'You're joking!' said Hermione. 'That's almost too easy.'

'I think he was more of a target than a guard, an early warning system for Voldemort -- and Expelliarmus was what he used on Dumbledore when ... that last day. You know, it's more effective than people think it is, if you get people at the right time. I think Voldemort must not have wanted someone as inexperienced as Malfoy too near him -- so he was out where he'd be an easy target for any Aurors. I think they were supposed to Stun or kill him. He told me there was a charm to warn Voldemort if he lost consciousness.'

'So You-Know-Who didn't think he had any value alive and conscious?' Ron asked. 'Doesn't quite fit his boasting, does it?'

Harry shook his head. 'I told him I knew he hadn't really wanted to kill Dumbledore, that I'd seen him lower his wand. He admitted it. I told him to Apparate to the Ministry but not to tell them where I was for at least thirty minutes -- I didn't want anyone else to be caught up in what I was going to do to the Death Eaters. He didn't ask if I would leave his father alive. I don't know what happened between them since the escape -- maybe he didn't care any more what happened to him, or maybe he didn't want to push his own luck.'

'What about Snape?'

'Oh.' Harry laughed. 'I was lucky, finding Malfoy was the one on guard. I didn't know if Voldemort might have changed the guard rota; Kreacher could only tell me what the current one was.'

'Kreacher?' said Bill in surprise.

'Didn't Ron or Hermione tell you? I had Kreacher watching the Death Eaters. They ignored him, of course, and he loved a chance to be near them -- but he had to obey me, so he couldn't warn them why he was there.'

'That reminds me of something I wanted to ask you,' said Hermione, 'but I'll ask later. What happened next?'

'Where was I? Oh yes, Malfoy Apparating to safety. Guess what? I'd completely overlooked something in my plan.' He paused for another mouthful of water.

'Don't tell me he was brave enough to fight you over it!' said Ron.

'Simpler than that. He said that, because he'd been so worried about the plan to kill Dumbledore, he hadn't been concentrating on his Apparition lessons.'

'You mean, he never learnt how?' exclaimed Hermione. 'Seriously?'

'Oh, brilliant!' said Ron, smiling from ear to ear.

Harry nodded. 'Right. I couldn't resist telling him that you passed first time, Hermione. He just muttered, "she would" and didn't bother insulting you.'

Hermione laughed. 'You shouldn't have wasted time like that, though.'

'I was stuck! My plan included Aurors coming to make sure nobody who survived my attack got away. I couldn't rely on a note, and it wasn't safe to tell you two, you'd have wanted to be with me, and you just couldn't be.'

'What did you do?' asked Ginny.

'I thought about Apparating to the Ministry with him, like when I ...' unpleasant memories came flooding back. 'Like when I Apparated with Dumbledore, taking him to his death. But then I'd have had to walk back again, to get past the Apparition Detection Charms, and it would waste too much time. A Patronus message would get there too fast, so that was no good. Then Malfoy told me about Snape.'

'Is it true, that he was a double-agent, and ... still acting under Albus' orders even as he killed him?' McGonagall asked.

'That's what Malfoy said, and I don't think he had a reason to lie at that stage. Snape was apparently checking on Malfoy with Legilimency, and Malfoy got him outside -- he made some excuse about "checking on that stupid boy" and came outside. He was shocked to see me, but I told him his only chance to live was to take Malfoy to the Ministry to deliver the message. I didn't bother repeating the message.'

'That was risky. When has Snape ever done what you wanted?' Ron asked.

'I think he was so shocked that I didn't attack him, that he did what I asked -- as far as I know. So there I was, outside the house, with the guard gone, and with them expecting Snape to come back inside. He'd even left the door open.'

'And ...?' demanded Ginny.

'And I put my Cloak back on, went closer, and threw in a Stay Bomb.'

'What -- that thing that Fred and George make?' Bill asked. 'Faced with You-Know-Who and almost all of his Death Eaters, you used one of their tricks?'

'Yes. They know their stuff, don't they? I was safe, because I was outside, on the other side of the wall, but everyone downstairs in the house would have been covered in that yellow dust, and ...'

'... and it stops you Disapparating for at least an hour,' said Hermione. 'The joke shop turned out to be an investment, then!'

'I was never thinking of it like that. I didn't expect them to make things like that -- or ones that worked so well.'

'Did the dust work?' Ron asked.

'Yes, apparently it did. I let it settle -- I didn't want to be caught by any of it -- and then put a Shield Charm on myself and just walked in, my wand in my hand. They were all just brushing the dust off. Apparently they didn't know what it did, and thought brushing it off would foil my plan. At least, I suppose that's what they thought.'

'Your guess will have to suffice,' said McGonagall. 'We can hardly question them now.'

'Wait,' said Bill. 'You just walked in -- to a room full of Death Eaters?'

'Yes. They wouldn't expect me to be alone like that, and I decided it would catch them off guard. They did have a detection spell for invisibles, so I had to act fast.'

'If it's the sort of detection spell I'm thinking of, it would locate you -- and a Shield Charm won't help you against the Unforgivable Curses.'

'I know. But those are something I know about.'

'Knowing about them can't help you!' exclaimed McGonagall.

'Voldemort used Imperius on me when he got his body back. Right there, in front of a group of Death Eaters, he very kindly showed them that I can resist it. He wasn't going to be embarrassed by that again -- and he wasn't likely to let anyone else try it, they might succeed where he couldn't.'

'You can resist it?' Bill asked.

'Yes. The fake Moody used it on me -- I don't know what he was trying to achieve, but I learnt how to resist. So that's one of the three. Cruciatus -- Voldemort used that on me once before. That was the one I was most worried about --'

'More than the Killing Curse?' Bill was looking at Harry as if he'd gone mad.

Harry chuckled. 'Yes. I'll get to that one. I've endured Cruciatus before, and then I fought Voldemort and got away, thanks to our wands' brother effect. I didn't think he'd want to risk showing the Death Eaters a repeat of that. Anyway, since I was invisible, I hoped he wouldn't use it before I could do what I'd planned.'

'And what about the worst of the three?' Bill demanded. 'Nobody survives that -- well, one ... oh, I see. He knows you survived that once.'

'Yes, and it took him thirteen years to get a working body again after he did it, while I didn't even know he'd done it. I don't know if my protection would still work -- I know some of it was still working when I was eleven -- but the point is, he doesn't -- didn't -- know that either. Would you risk it, after it took you so long to regain power after the last time?'

'No.' Bill shook his head in disbelief. 'That's ridiculous. The three worst curses known to wizards, and you've just explained why You-Know-Who would be afraid to use any of them against you.'

'Yes. His past failures against me gave me an advantage.' He sipped at the water again.

'Now that the slow people have caught up,' said Ron impatiently, 'what did you do?' Ron had been involved in Harry's general planning discussions for the whole of the past year, and had already heard Harry's opinion on Voldemort using the Unforgivable Curses more than once.

'So there I was, face to face with Voldemort and a crowd of Death Eaters, though they didn't know it was me. And Nagini, of course -- mustn't forget her.'

'Weren't you scared?' Ginny asked.

'Of course I was! But I'd planned it as much as I could.'

Harry looked around the room. Everyone was waiting for him to continue. Madam Pomfrey had forgotten whatever other work she had to do, and was standing behind McGonagall and Bill, waiting as eagerly as anyone for the climax of the story.

'So I killed them all, and part of the building hit me, and then I woke up here,' he said with a smile. He drank deeply, emptying the glass, then put it on the bedside table.

'You can't just say that and stop!' Ginny exclaimed.

'How did you kill them?' Bill demanded, leaping to his feet. 'Uh -- I have a professional interest in this, now.' He looked round at the others. 'It's my subject, after all.'

'After all these years, that's all you're going to say?' Ron asked. 'How did you do it?'

'You've got to tell us how you did it,' urged Hermione.

'Indeed,' McGonagall agreed, 'considering the number of people who've died attempting it -- and less -- we want to know the details. Surely they aren't covered by your promise to Albus?' Her expression was one of resigned disappointment.

'I just wanted to see your reactions,' Harry confessed. 'Your faces, when you thought that was all I was going to say ...' he grinned.

'You can't get away with jokes like that!' Ginny scowled. 'You wait until ... well, I'll think of something!'

'So you are going to tell us?' Bill asked, sitting down again.

'I wouldn't leave Ron and Hermione in suspense like that, not after they've been helping me track down and destroy the Horcruxes for the past year. Oh -- I think we guessed right, and he didn't know we'd done that. He didn't look at all worried, more like a man who knew he had five aces up his sleeve.'

'He didn't even know about Nagini, then?' Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head. 'She was there in the room. I'm sure none of the Death Eaters knew her significance, either. That was just as well, or they'd have protected her. If he'd trusted them with the truth, one of them would probably have Shielded her, and I suppose I'd be dead now, but Voldemort didn't trust anyone, so he's dead.'

She winced. 'All right, but what did you actually do? Why would you be dead if he trusted them?'

'Well, faced with Voldemort himself, and all those Death Eaters, I cast a spell: the Final Attack spell you found, Hermione.'

'We agreed that was too dangerous to use!' Hermione exclaimed, staring at him.

'It is!' Bill agreed.

'You said it might kill you without hurting You-Know-Who at all!' Ron protested.

'You used that curse? While you were actually in the same room?' McGonagall just stared at Harry in disbelief.

'All right, what are we talking about here?' Ginny asked.

'It's a curse that feeds off the entire life energy of the target,' Hermione explained. 'It forms a swirling cloud, which then releases all that energy in one explosive burst. Harry was ... really lucky, or really fast.'

'I should have realised Miss Granger would discover it in the Restricted Section,' said McGonagall. 'It is intended for use when there is no hope; a wizard casts it on himself to kill his enemies and himself.'

'But it can be blocked if you cast it on anyone else, and it backfires badly if that happens!' Bill said.

'What if the Death Eater blocked it? You said they knew someone was there, so what if they used a Shield Charm?' Ron asked him. 'If they were all wearing masks, how could you even pick which one to cast it on? You might have picked one of the best duellists!'

'I didn't cast it on any of them. I cast it on Nagini. She couldn't block spells, could she? And then, when I felt it had worked, I Apparated outside, before it could take effect.'

'What if she was protected by a Shield Charm?' Hermione asked. 'The spell would have rebounded on you.'

'I know. And it would still have worked. But -- if I'd felt it rebound, I wouldn't have Apparated. And either way, Voldemort and all his Death Eaters would be dead, wouldn't they?'

'So would you!'

'That's why I didn't want you two anywhere near there. I knew what might happen. I didn't want either of you caught in the effect while trying to rescue me. That was the whole point of the cave.'

Hermione jumped up from where she'd been sitting on the next bed. 'You knew, and still used that spell, after we agreed you wouldn't?' For a moment, Harry thought she was going to hit him, but then she sat back down, shaking.

'Of course I knew! But my plan covered everything I could think of. A Shield Charm on Nagini was the main thing that could go wrong.'

'You dying wouldn't just be "going wrong", Harry!' Ginny said. She looked shocked at how close he had been to dying.

He looked into her eyes and said earnestly, 'Do you know what I thought as I cast that curse? "If anyone's put a Shield Charm on Nagini, I'll never see Ginny again." But they hadn't. And here we are.'

Ginny kissed him in reply, and hugged him tightly.

'As long as we've got a happy ending now -- you mentioned Kreacher earlier,' said Hermione. 'Professor McGonagall looked in the will you left with her, while you were unconscious, to see if there was anything relevant about what you thought might happen to you.'

'That's OK. I hadn't thought of doing that, but it was a good idea.'

'Was it really fair to Kreacher, though?'

'You're the only one who cares about him, and if my plans worked, nobody in the family he loved so much would be alive, except Malfoy -- and he was probably going to be in Azkaban.'

'I suppose so, but "giving" him to a Muggle-born?'

'It would be safe to free him, though I don't think he'd like that. I couldn't do that before I went, though. I couldn't leave him to the Weasleys -- they're pure-bloods, but he hated them, too.'

'Blood traitors,' said Ginny softly.

'Most of the people who called you that are dead,' said Harry, pulling her towards him and kissing her again.

The hospital wing's door opened once more. 'Ginny! What are you doing?' asked her mother's shocked voice.

'She seems to be relieved about something,' Bill told her. 'Hello Mum, hello Dad.'

'Very relieved, I would imagine,' said Mr Weasley.

'We all are,' said Mrs Weasley. 'But Ginny, really ...'

Hermione tried to distract her. 'Hello, Mr and Mrs Weasley.'

Ginny said, 'We're back together -- we are, aren't we?'

'I hope so,' said Harry. He whispered to her, 'I have some plans left ... and they're much nicer ones.'

She smiled at him.

'How did you manage it, Harry?' Mr Weasley asked.

Harry sighed and retold his story, this time with help from the others, ending with, '... I Apparated outside, before it could take effect, and waited in case any of them just ran out of there, instead of trying to Apparate. But I don't think I went far enough. The house exploded, and I think part of it must have hit me on the head.'

'The Aurors found you there, unconscious,' said Mr Weasley. 'They've been working through the body parts, trying to make sure they've identified everyone. Some of them weren't known to be Death Eaters, so it does seem you got all of them. The Head of the Auror Office said it's really bad -- not that they're complaining, exactly, considering how long they've been trying to achieve this result -- and that it looks like the result of an explosion in a butcher's shop.'

Harry shivered. 'I hadn't stopped to think what it would look like. I didn't even think about people having to identify the bodies.'

'You didn't need to, considering what you achieved. How are they identifying them, if there's ... well, if there's so little left intact?' Hermione asked.

'You'll have to ask Tonks when she gets here,' Mr Weasley replied. 'I think she and Remus are on their way -- I passed the message on to her. It's not something I really wanted to know the details of.'

'I think I missed something earlier,' said Bill. 'What was meant to be in the cave? You know -- that cave Ron and Hermione went to?'

'Some sort of clue to where You-Know-Who might be,' said Ron. 'Harry was going to look for the other clue, in the Cullum house. He didn't tell us that Kreacher hadn't just been spying on some Death Eaters, but You-Know-Who himself!'

'We should have realised,' said Hermione, her voice betraying her disgust with herself. 'We knew Kreacher managed to get to Nagini, but Harry told us that Bellatrix was looking after her.'

'I'm glad you didn't realise,' Harry told her. 'If you had, the only way to keep you from coming with me would have been to tell you all the details, and I'm not sure even that would have worked.'

'Of course it wouldn't!'

'There was no point in all of us dying,' he pointed out. 'I'm only going to be the best man -- you can manage the wedding without me. The bride and groom are vital, though.'

Mrs Weasley stared at Harry.

Hermione started to object, but stopped. Finally, she said, 'Anyway, you've more than proved you're the best man.'

'What?' Mrs Weasley was now staring at her youngest son. 'This is the first I've heard of this!'

Ron's ears were reddening. 'We've just talked about it, who'd be the best man and the bridesmaid, that sort of thing. We weren't going to tell everyone yet.'

'When?'

'Not until Voldemort was dead,' answered Hermione. 'We didn't want to rush into anything.' She added, 'Besides, it's been a dangerous year. We still made plans -- we wanted to reassure ourselves there might be a future -- but we weren't sure enough to start making any arrangements.'

'But now he is dead! And the danger must be over now,' said Mrs Weasley eagerly.

'Yes, he is,' Hermione looked at Ron. 'We discussed who to invite, too.'

'You're not wearing a ring, though. Haven't you proposed properly, Ron?'

He answered defensively, 'Yes, of course I did -- but I haven't got enough money for a ring yet.'

'The ring doesn't matter,' said Hermione quickly. 'It's the proposal that matters.'

'But you must have a proper ring!'

As if to take the pressure off her brother, Ginny pulled some parchment out of her pocket, and held it out. 'Ron, you might as well look at this.'

Ron took it and unfolded it. 'Oh, Harry gave you the map!'

'She was here at the school, after all,' said Harry. 'It's no use outside it.'

'Hagrid's heading this way, so's Luna. Oh, and you were right, Dad, Lupin and Tonks just entered the grounds.' He looked up from the map to see his parents' reaction as he said, 'Er -- and Percy's with them.'

'I left him a note,' Mr Weasley said uncertainly. 'I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but if he won't apologise now ...'

'Oh, he must!' exclaimed Mrs Weasley. The prospect of a proper apology from Percy had succeeded in driving the wedding and the lack of a ring from her mind -- for now, at least.

Harry grinned at Ginny, and said quietly, 'Good strategy.'

'I learnt something growing up with the twins, you know,' she whispered.

'That's a scary thought!'

Hagrid arrived in the hospital wing first, followed almost immediately by Luna, who sat next to Bill. Hagrid's warm and enthusiastic greeting to Harry was only restrained by the fact that Ginny was still half-sitting, half-lying on the bed.

When the other group arrived, Tonks laughed. 'Are you staking a claim, Ginny?'

'She already has,' said Harry, grinning at Ginny.

'You really shouldn't be so forward, you know,' scolded Percy.

'Hello to you too,' she retorted. 'Is that really the first thing you have to say to anyone?'

Percy hesitated, but said stiffly, 'Harry, I must apologise to you for doubting your word that You-Know-Who was back. I should have apologised two years ago, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.'

'That's OK. Besides, now he isn't back. I hear Tonks has been counting the pieces.'

'Yeah, and that's been a job and a half,' said Tonks. 'Wotcher, everyone.'

'How are you identifying the bodies?' Hermione asked.

'Wait a minute,' said Harry. He looked meaningfully from Percy to Mr and Mrs Weasley.

Percy followed his gaze and swallowed nervously. 'Father, Mother, I owe you an apology too. I'm sorry that I didn't believe you had good reason to believe Harry's word, over that of the ex-Minister.'

'Oh, Percy!' exclaimed Mrs Weasley, hugging him.

'Hello, Harry,' said Lupin, now that he could get a word in. 'Do you know what you remind me of?'

'My dad. I always do.' Harry grinned at Lupin. 'But my eyes remind you of my mum.'

'Not just your eyes, right now. Lily had red hair. With you and Ginny together like that, you really remind me of James and Lily. Except, of course, that you've killed Voldemort, so you don't have to worry about him. I can forget about Greyback, too. He's been confirmed dead. I can't wait to hear how you did it.'

'Wait a bit,' said Ron, looking at the map. 'The twins will want to hear it too.'

'Did you talk to your parents?' Luna asked. 'I wondered if they had trouble convincing you to come back.'

'No -- well,' Harry paused. 'Not as far as I remember, no. I don't remember anything after the house exploded.'

Luna nodded, and said, 'You might not have been dead enough for a conversation. Can Dad have an interview to explain what happened?'

'I hadn't thought about it,' he said honestly. He realised for the first time that the Daily Prophet would want to run the story, and wondered whether to give it to The Quibbler instead, to get back at the Prophet for the stories it ran in his fifth year. 'But I wish someone here had a tape recorder, or something,' muttered Harry. Hermione smiled at him, while Ginny looked blank.

'Are you sure you want to know how we're identifying the pieces?' Tonks asked Hermione.

'I'm just curious as to how you can even begin to do it.'

'The Ministry has forensic wizards. Didn't you say you read that job leaflet?'

'Yes, it looked interesting, if morbid.'

'Morbid isn't the word, right now. Let's see how keen you are after this. A forensic wizard separates one piece of the bodies -- I say bodies, but it's all just pieces of unrecognisable meat, really -- from the collection, and casts a similarity spell on it. That piece, and all the other pieces of that body, then glow, and we collect them all together into a bag.'

'Excuse me,' said Ron. 'I'll stand guard outside.' He left the hospital wing, looking a bit green.

'I have some potions to check on,' said Madam Pomfrey, hurrying into her office.

Tonks watched them leave with amusement. 'So we had twenty-six bags of ... well, remains.'

'I need to check something with Professor Flitwick,' said McGonagall faintly, standing and hurrying out of the room.

'Oh, I have ter see him too,' said Hagrid, following her.

'Do you need any help?' Mrs Weasley followed them out, as did Percy and Mr Weasley.

Tonks laughed. 'I think it would be simpler if Hermione and I found another room to discuss this. That's assuming you want to know the rest, Hermione.'

'No,' said Harry. 'It's my fault you have to do this, and I want to know what you're having to do.'

'Then I'll listen too,' said Ginny, though she wasn't looking too sure.

'You don't have to,' he told her, hugging her.

'I'm not letting you out of my sight. Last time I did, you went on a possibly suicidal mission!'

'I don't need to do that ever again. At least, I hope not.'

'You can't tell me anything that's worse than my life's been,' said Lupin quietly. Tonks ran her fingers through his grey hair.

Luna said nothing, but stayed sitting.

'I've seen bodies drained of all their moisture while they were still alive and struggling,' said Bill. 'Yours do sound worse than that, but I'm only hearing about them.'

'Are we trying to outdo each other?' Harry asked. 'If so, I've seen someone's skin burn and blister at my touch -- when I was only eleven!'

Nobody spoke.

'We've seen some horrible things between us, haven't we?' he asked more soberly.

'You saw Voldemort be reborn,' said Hermione. 'That probably outdoes everyone else, by itself.'

Tonks looked round to see who was left. 'Well, if you're all interested -- we had twenty-six bags of assorted meat, with blank labels. Those of us taking part in the identification each then took -- something -- from one of the bags. Possibly a few hairs, but usually it had to be a bit of flesh.'

'Oh, I see,' said Hermione.

'I think I do, too,' said Harry.

Tonks looked from one to the other. 'Why, are you guessing we put the bits into vials of Polyjuice Potion? If so, you're right. After drinking them, we checked each other against our photographic records, and wrote the name on the blank label. Five weren't known Death Eaters, but three of those were prominent enough to be easy to identify. The other two were harder to trace -- we didn't have them in our files of Death Eaters, but we guessed they were the sons of Death Eaters, and got photos from some likely families to check.'

'What were their names?' Harry asked.

'Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.'

'We could have identified them by sight,' said Hermione quietly. 'They were in our year here.'

'I've killed two people I know,' said Harry, realising. 'Not that I ever liked them, but ...'

'... but they were with Voldemort,' said Hermione emphatically. 'It was their choice, not yours.'

'Yes. I know. Crabbe and Goyle were just two more masked Death Eaters. I didn't even realise they were younger than the others. I did what I could, sending Malfoy and even Snape to safety.'

'Those two will have to stand trial, of course, as Death Eaters,' said Tonks.

Harry nodded. 'Is it safe for the others to come back in now?'

'I've finished. Of course, if you want to start outdoing me again ...'

'No, not after that.'

None of the others had, in fact, gone very far. They had been joined by Fred and George, who had been dissuaded from using Extendable Ears by a few words of summary from Ron.

'We just need Charlie,' said Harry, 'and Fleur, I suppose. The rest of your family's all here.'

'And we haven't heard how you did it!' said Fred.

'Ron says you used one of our products,' said George. 'Can we use that in our advertising?'

'I suppose you can, yes,' replied Harry.

'Then we definitely need to know the details,' said Fred, taking out a sheaf of parchment and an enchanted quill. A small ball rolled out of his bag and shot up into the air, then exploded, spelling out 'Harry Potter -- Hero' in stars which floated there, sparkling.

'You should know by now that I don't want you setting off fireworks in here!' complained Madam Pomfrey.

'It was an accident,' said Fred, trying to look contrite.

'It's not so long since you left that I'd believe that,' she told him sternly.

'Why didn't anyone else think of bringing one of those quills?' Harry complained. 'Now I have to tell the story again.' He did, and it was getting late by the time he finished.

'You are all welcome to stay for dinner,' said McGonagall. 'Poppy, is Harry well enough to leave the hospital wing?'

'He seems to be. He was physically well enough before regaining consciousness, and if he can tell that story three times without major differences, he clearly has no mental damage.'

'It'll be like old times, eating in the Great Hall again,' said Hermione wistfully. 'I've missed Hogwarts this past year.'

'Oh! Are you three going to come back next year?' Ginny asked.

'I'd like to,' said Hermione, looking at McGonagall. 'Harry's finished what we set out to do, after all. I'd like to finish my NEWT studies.'

'NEWTs aren't that necessary,' said Fred.

That earned him a frown from the Headmistress. 'Ignoring that attitude, I see no reason why not. The three of you certainly had a good reason for missing a year -- and it appears all three of you ensured the school's safety while you were absent, as well as guaranteeing it -- and its pupils -- a future.'

'We'll give you jobs,' said George.

'Well, I want to see if I can get some NEWTs too,' said Ron. 'Harry?'

'Yes, I'd like to come back too,' Harry agreed. 'I'd like a year at Hogwarts with nobody trying to kill me.'

'Good,' said Ginny. 'You three will be in my year now. I'll be forced to sit next to Harry in my classes.'

'Oh, of course. Then I'm definitely coming back.' He grinned up at her. 'How could I resist that?'

'Then we have to come back,' Ron told Hermione. 'We've got to chaperone them!'

'Oh? Who's going to chaperone you two?' Harry asked. Ginny smiled at him, and they kissed.

'If you two stay like that much longer,' said Hermione, 'Mrs Weasley will be making you get married before we do!'

'Hermione, after everything I've faced, that's the kind of threat I'm quite happy with.' He kissed Ginny again.

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