Life After Hallows

Life After Hallows

Chapter 1

The Final Day

"That wand's more trouble than it's worth," said Harry. "And quite honestly," he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking only now of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

He turned and walked out of the headmaster's office, his eyes lingering on the still moist cheeks of Dumbledore's portrait. Ron and Hermione watched him walk towards the door, and then, hand in hand, they followed him.

The phoenix statue on the staircase had been blasted by hundreds of spells and lay in rubble as the group descended. It was another woeful sight such as many more to come. Harry knew as well that much grieving was going to take place when he woke up the next morning.

He thought back to all the mysteries that had been lost to the flames of Crabbe's mistake; The strange blood-drenched axe that he had seen before and a number of wondrous and possibly important objects that will never be discovered.

The staircase had finished lowering, and only then did Harry really realise the true extent of the destruction. The corridors were charred with spells. Harry also then realised this would be the last day he would spend in Hogwarts as a student. One last tour, to remember the best years of his life, would be great. So, as Hermione and Ron walked towards to staircases heading for the Great Hall, Harry climbed the stairs to the third floor.

He walked through the grand corridors of Hogwarts, past the statue of the humpbacked witch, his only means of escape to Hogsmeade in the third year. Past the doors to the corridor where Fluffy, Hagrid's three-headed dog, had guarded the entrance to the Philosopher's Stone's chambers. Harry walked towards a room whose stone framed door seemed to glow with light, he opened it.

The trophy room was lit with the dazzling new sun as it bounced off the hundreds of trophies. He smiled to think that at least one trophy may have his name upon it. The Triwizard Cup stood upon a plaque, with Harry's name on it.

He walked in to gaze at it, remembering the tortured night when he witnessed Cedric's death and Voldemort's return. He paused in front of the Triwizard trophy, the Hogwarts crest stood embossed, a golden lion the main feature. He noticed a space beneath his name and thought a while. He engraved Cedric's name into the cup with his wand, underneath his own, and looked back at it. He had hardly known Cedric whilst he was alive, although he had trusted him with his life. It was odd to consider him now as he had back then, as a rival. He hadn't wanted to win the Triwizard Cup, he had told Cedric to take it. However, he had been jealous of his relationship with Cho; of course, that didn't mean anything to him now. He remembered Ginny for a moment, and then walked out into the corridor again, but not before illuminating the part of the crest with Hufflepuff's emblem in a cool yellow.

The double doors of the hospital wing now filled with moans of agony from injured duellists, not all innocent. The black cloaks of Death Eaters were present too, bound by magical chains as they were being treated. Madame Pomfrey bustled around as usual, shooing off guests with fervour. Harry wondered if she had duelled at all, or had devoted herself solely to the wounded. He saw Draco Malfoy, unchained lying slightly burned and asleep. Harry walked on.

He climbed the staircase to the fourth floor. The prefects' bathroom, where Harry had discovered the secrets of the golden egg under Myrtle's discomforting gaze, was to the left. The library was more silent than usual, even without Madam Pince's glare.

Harry saw the small corridor that had once led to the room which contained the Mirror of Erised, where Harry had met his family, albeit magically. He wondered know if Dumbledore had been lying about what he had seen in the mirror. "A pair of new socks," he had said. He wondered if he had actually meant it, or had in fact seen something far more meaningful.

Harry climbed the staircase straight to the seventh floor, as the fifth and sixth were literally empty of any particular memories. The Room of Requirement would have appeared to him if he had wanted it, but all he wanted now was his four-poster bed in Gryffindor tower.

Harry was sad to see that the Fat Lady's portrait was empty. He had almost grown accustomed to seeing her speak to him, whether scolding or not. His presence must have been noted by the magic however, as the blank canvas swung open to let him in, as a true Gryffindor.

Harry spent no time in rushing past the fireplace where his godfather had appeared in his fourth year, and where Umbridge had nearly caught him. The steps to his dormitory felt far longer than he remembered, but eventually he reached his bed and collapsed onto it, instantly asleep.

*

It felt like only a few seconds before his eyes opened again, but the cool breeze from an open window and the dark shadows across the dormitory from the sunset outside proved different. Harry turned onto his back and jumped backwards slightly. The old face of Kreacher looked up at his master expectantly with, Harry saw with a smile, a plate of sandwiches from the Great Hall. It reminded him of all the times Dobby had done this; he frowned at the loss of his friend. A free elf, indeed.

"Thank you, Kreacher." Harry smiled down at the house-elf. Ron may have scowled as Harry took the plate away from him and held the elf's hand in his. Then he remembered how Ron had truly become a part of S.P.E.W. when he had been horrified at the elves' condition. He also remembered that seconds later Hermione had kissed Ron wildly. He grinned and looked up at a fervent-eyed Kreacher.

"Kreacher, what are you going to do now?"

"I shall serve my master, like all my ancestors before me ..."

"I understand that, Kreacher, and I would not dream of freeing you." The elf smiled at the thought of this, completely contrary to how Dobby would have reacted. Harry again, remembered the small grave he had dug for his friend, and his smiled dropped somewhat, before he continued, "I mean, now Voldemort" --the house-elf's eyes widened slightly at the name-- "is dead. What will become of your ideals?"

"Harry Potter speaks so knowledgably of ideals! He himself is a leader of one." Harry frowned, humbled by this idea. "Indeed, sir, the Dark Lord does now lie without life, but Kreacher has always served the noble house of Black! He does not change his ideals so easily."

"But surely you must see that the ideals of Voldemort are wrong and corrupting? Look what it has done to the school!"

He motioned out of the window; much of the Hogwarts grounds had been charred, and Hagrid's hut had been almost completely demolished. Harry's face fell again; poor Hagrid, where would he live now! Harry would offer him a place at twelve Grimmauld Place -- that was until he sold it of course, which he had every intention of doing. Maybe he would live in Godric's Hollow like he had done as a child? The prospects for the future were endless.

"I agree, Harry Potter, but I did not say that I believe in the ideals of the Dark Lord myself. Now as an elf of the noble ..." He could barely say it, but Harry grinned, he didn't have to. "As an elf under your service, sir, I shall try to have a balanced mind." He looked down confused and pensive.

"Kreacher, as your master I order you to free your mind!"

Suddenly, as if a spell had been lifted from the house-elf, which Harry was sure it had, Kreacher's gaze lifted up at his master; he was smiling, with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you, Harry Potter! You have broken a most terrible curse upon my mind! It was a pity that my former master Mrs Black thought it fair to keep my thoughts only to her wishes. No, it was not, it was terrible!"

"I know, Kreacher, maybe it's best you ponder your future alone now that you have your free mind again?"

"Yes, sir, I shall, sir!"

Kreacher scuttled away, down the dormitory stairs. Harry heard him giggle happily as he went. He also heard another giggle.

Curious, Harry picked up a single sandwich and followed the noise, descending the staircase.

At the bottom, Ginny was watching Kreacher merrily totter away through the common room's entrance, chuckling to herself. Harry reached to touch her shoulder; she gasped and turned right around, still with a smile on her face.

"Hey..." she said, smiling, "you gave us quite a shock disappearing like that."

"Did I?" he asked, worried.

"Well, only until we noticed..." she said, the smile dropping from her face. Harry saw the loss of short-lived joviality in her eyes and put his arms around her, pulling her in close.

"It's over, Ginny, we did it, it's all over."

"I know ..." she replied. As her face was buried into his shoulder, he could hardly hear her. "But, we've lost so much ... Tonks, Remus, Fred ..."

She let out a sob, and Harry felt a pang of grief for her brother. He thought of George, who must be the worst off of all of them. He could barely imagine a future without Fred and George making them laugh.

"Do you want to go back to the Great Hall?"

"No, no ..." she said lifting her head off his shoulder, still with her arms around his back "Let's stay here. I need to rest ..."

They sat on one of the common room's lavish sofas, and Harry took out his wand, newly mended by the Elder Wand, from his pocket. "Incendio," he whispered softly, igniting the logs on the fire to dispel the cold from the unusually chilly summer evening. His arm was around an already softly sleeping Ginny, and slowly the warmth made his eyes droop into his second sleep of the day.

*

Harry awoke after a much more relaxing sleep this time; he smiled as he remembered gentle dreams of soft summer days with Ginny among high fields of grass. He looked to his side and found himself alone among the cushions. He turned to see Ginny looking out at the new day over the grounds of Hogwarts.

He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her stomach; she shifted and rested her hands in his as he kissed her lightly on the cheek. He was sad to notice that they were slightly damp with tears.

"Look at Hagrid's house ..." she said softly, with a waver in her voice. "It's been torn apart."

"I saw it yesterday; it just shows how the destruction is on so many levels. I didn't think Hagrid would ever leave Hogwarts as his home, but I guess he must for a while. I was going to offer him a room in Sirius' house."

"You mean your house?" Ginny said, lifting her hand to wipe the tears off her face. Harry frowned; he would never call that place home.

"No, I don't mean it was Sirius' house either, he wouldn't want it to be called that. The only sanctum I could find in it was Sirius' room ..." He remembered his mother's letter, the Gryffindor banners ... the memory of young Sirius and his father.

"Oh." Ginny realised that they were talking about another of the victims of Bellatrix's curses. "Can I live with you there?"

The question caught him off guard; it was an extraordinary way to change the subject. Harry stumbled to reply

"I mean, I don't want to stay at The Burrow, especially after ..." She stopped.

Harry relieved her of continuing "Well, yeah ... I guess ..."

Ginny smiled a brilliant, happy smile and turned to hold Harry in a warm, happy embrace. He smiled too and wondered what life would be like this summer. He wondered if anyone else wanted to join him. Hermione would rather spend the summer with her family; she hadn't seen them all year. Ron would be the same. He could barely think of anyone who hadn't anyone to hold onto, or who was left alive ....

Ginny broke his chain of thought. "We should go now, before they realise ..."

"Yeah, we should get to London; you can side-along Apparate with me."

"No need," Ginny said smiling, "I passed, despite all the problems we had this year ..."

Harry suddenly realised. "Oh ... I forgot your birthday!"

"And Valentine's day!" she said with a mock frown, and then laughed. "Don't be so stupid, Harry! You couldn't have sent any owls!"

"Yeah, especially since ..." He thought of the battle over Little Whinging and the curse that hit the snowy owl, helpless in her cage. "Oh ... poor Hedwig ..."

"Oh!" Ginny remembered the strange absence of Harry's beautiful owl in the Burrow. "Sorry ..."

"Anyway! Like you said we have to go!" He picked up a loose piece of singed parchment and an abandoned quill and started to scribble a message. "I'll leave a note here for Kreacher, after he's finished pondering his existence, to tell him where we've gone."

He signed the parchment and took Ginny's hand. He took a moment to savour her touch and then kissed her on the cheek.

"Happy belated Birthday!" He smiled.

"That was poor..." She giggled.

"Yeah, like I could match your last present!" They walked out of the Gryffindor common room, and Harry waved to the Fat Lady, noticing her return. She waved back with a twinkle in her eye and mimed zipping her mouth shut. He wondered for a moment if she even knew what the concept of a zip was, but shook the silly thought out of his head.

"Ron was furious after that, he thought I kissed you! Told me to stop messing around with you..."

Ginny made a disapproving noise, but did not elaborate. Harry made a mental note not to mention that again. They passed an open window and glanced down into the courtyard. An idea struck Harry.

"Hey, we'll probably get hounded if we try and sneak past the Great Hall, most likely by Peeves. We should fly."

Ginny raised her eyebrows at the idea, then realised it was a good one. "Accio broom!" she yelled, although not too loudly. Harry did the same.

Two floors below, a broom cupboard suddenly flew open, startling Minerva McGonagall as she walked through the corridor besides it. She looked up to see two hands grab the flying objects and a reflection off glasses. Harry Potter. The girl next to him was dressed in Hogwarts robes and had long red hair, Ginny Weasley. She was about to call out to them until she saw them mount the two brooms and fly out of the sixth-storey window. She sighed, continuing her rounds.

*

Harry and Ginny landed just short of Hogwarts' gates, when Harry remembered someone he had promised he wouldn't forget.

"Hagrid!"

"Hullo?" a voice called from round the corner. Harry grinned and rushed to see him.

"Harry!" The half-giant broke into a huge grin. "Good ter see yer again!" His smile dropped quickly as he saw Ginny round the corner and the brooms in their hands. "Where are you two off ter then?"

"Twelve Grimmauld Place," said Harry quickly, as Hagrid was the one person Harry wanted to accompany them. "We want you to come too."

"Me? Why me?"

"Um, Hagrid ..." said Ginny quietly, expecting the worst, "have you seen your house?"

"No ... not since before the battle, what's wrong with it?"

He walked past them to take a look. "Oh," he said as it came into view. "Oh dear..."

"We can fix it, Hagrid; we'll come back and fix it. It's just it'll take a long time, and we want to wait a bit before coming back." Harry stopped and asked again, "So will you come?"

"Well, I guess I've got no choice, Harry. But yeah, I'd love ter!" He grinned a broad smile again. Harry and Ginny smiled too.

"Excellent! I think I might send a Patronus to your mum, Ginny. I know we don't want to see them, but we might as well tell them we're safe."

"You're right, Harry, but tell them we're with Hagrid, just to reassure them a bit more."

"Alright." Harry conjured up a Patronus on his third attempt, but succeeded when the image of Ginny embracing him after he accepted the offer to stay with him entered his head. He talked to it plainly and it seemed to understand. He watched as it galloped off towards the castle. He turned back to Hagrid, smiling.

Harry's grin faltered as he thought of the logistics of what they were about to do. "Hagrid, can you Apparate?"

"Ah ..." Hagrid's hesitation spelled it out for them: no.

Ginny groaned, but Harry wasn't as dissuaded. "I wonder if you can side-along Apparate with two people ..."

He and Ginny looked at each other, dropped their brooms and grabbed Hagrid. Before he could complain, all three disappeared from Hogsmeade with a sharp crack.

*

"Yes, Molly! Ginny and Harry! They both zoomed off on broomsticks, out of the window!"

"Reckless! Totally reckless!" huffed Mrs Weasley, pacing about the Great Hall. "What if there was a loose Death Eater out there! Have they got brains at all?"

"Mum, c'mon, it's Harry!" Ron reasoned, although irritated that Harry had run off with his sister, against his better judgement. "He'll keep her safe!"

Mrs Weasley seemed to ignore her son. "Don't know what they're doing! Lovesick pair of --" She was cut off as the doors of the Great Hall burst open and a great silvery stag galloped towards them. Harry's Patronus. It stopped right in front of Mrs Weasley and addressed her directly, in Harry's voice.

"Me and Ginny are going to have a break from Hogwarts and all of this. We're sorry, but we really need to go somewhere else. Hagrid is coming with us, so don't worry. We'll send an owl as soon as we're happy."

The stag dissipated and Mrs Weasley stepped up her ranting. "Arrogance! Sheer arrogance ..."