After the End

Harry awoke the next morning to hear the snores from Ron filling the dormitory. He glanced down at his watch; it was already eleven thirty in the morning. He looked around at the other beds in the room; they were all empty. Harry had no idea if any of his roommates had slept here last night or not. He decided to go get a shower and then see if Ron was awake.

When he returned, Ron was still snoring away, so Harry decided to go down in the common room and wait for him. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Hermione sitting on the couch, staring into the fire.

"Morning," said Harry as he sat down next to her.

She looked up at him, and he saw that she had been crying, probably the whole night.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

She burst into tears and flung herself onto Harry's chest. Harry hugged her awkwardly and tried to calm her down.

"What's wrong?" he asked again.

"It's...just that...all...people...died...help...you."

She was crying too much for Harry to fully understand her.

"Hermione, please stop crying." He waited until she got ahold of herself. "Now, what's wrong?"

"It's just that...all these people...died to help you...and then you finished...him...off... so they didn't...die in vain."

"Oh, Hermione. It's okay. It's all over now. We can get on with our lives now. It's okay." Harry didn't know what to do, she was crying uncontrollably. He was so happy to see Ron coming down the stairs. Hermione let go of Harry and ran to Ron, embracing him in a very passionate kiss. When they let go of each other, Harry swore he heard Ron whisper, "I had fun last night." Then, not wanting to feel uncomfortable, Harry said, "Let's go down to breakfast."

As the trio approached the Great Hall, they noticed that it was unusually quiet.

"Might as well go see what's going on," said Ron.

Walking in front of the other two, Harry pushed open the doors to see all the house tables full of students and members of the order. No one seemed to be sitting with their respective houses. As soon as the trio stepped into the Great Hall, the whole room erupted into applause. Everybody was on their feet, facing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. All the remaining teachers (that weren't Death Eaters) were sitting at the staff table in the front. Professor McGonagall motioned for the trio to join her at the front. When they reached her, she gave all three of them a hug before silencing the hall.

"We stand here today, remembering those who fought and died for us, thanking those who fought and survived for us, and of course congratulating the golden trio! All three will go down in history, but one will stand out more than anyone in wizarding history, Harry Potter!" and at this, the whole Hall burst into applause and whistles. "Harry would you like to say something?" said Professor McGonagall.

"Um, yes," said Harry as he walked forward. "Hi. Well, as you all know, last night Lord Voldemort was defeated. I would ask that if anyone talks about him, to please call him Tom Riddle. Now, I will not take full responsibility for killing him. There are a lot of people who have helped me. To name a few, wither living or dead; Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Dobby, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, all the members of the DA, all the members of the Order, and of course, all of you. Only a select few will truly know how I defeated Tom Riddle and the reason I faked my own death. Just to clear one thing up though, I was the chosen one."

And at that, the whole Hall broke into applause again. Harry spotted the Weasleys sitting at what used to be the Hufflepuff table. Harry motioned for Ron and Hermione to follow and sit with him. As they sat down the empty table turned into a gigantic buffet. The next thing Harry knew, he was so full he couldn't eat another thing. As the food disappeared, he had a feeling that someone was watching him. He looked up to see Professor McGonagall looking straight at him from her place at the head table. Everybody in the Great Hall was getting up and heading outside to enjoy the beautiful day. Harry leaned over to Ron and Hermione and said, "I'll meet you guys back in the common room later. There's some stuff I have to do." He got up and walked to where Professor McGonagall stood waiting for him.

"I want to talk to you for a moment in my office Harry, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure."

They left the Great Hall and headed to Professor McGonagall's office. When they entered, Harry sat down in the chair across from the desk and waited for Professor McGonagall to speak.

"Harry, since this is all over now, do you think you can explain everything to me?"

Harry knew that she would ask this. He knew that he would have to retell this story to everyone in the order and all his closets friends, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Well Professor, I think I can, but I'll have to start from the very beginning."

So Harry told her everything, starting with the prophecy. The only parts he left out were that Snape killed Dumbledore on his orders, and that he, Harry, talked to Dumbledore when he was between life and death. When he was done, Professor McGonagall was in shock.

"Oh my, Harry," was all she could get out.

"Oh, and there's something else too. Snape was ours."

"What? Harry, how can you think that after he killed Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore was dying anyway, he told Snape to kill him."

"What?"

"One of the horcruxes I just told you about, the ring, is what made Dumbledore's hand go black. He only had a year left anyway."

"Oh my goodness."

"Yeah, and that's not it, either. Snape loved my mum, that's why he turned good."

"Snape loved Lily? I never would have guessed!"

"When Snape died, I was hiding in a tunnel. When Tom Riddle left after he killed Snape, I walked over to him. He gave me a bunch of memories, that's how I knew I had to die. The last thing he said to me was "Look at me," because he wanted to see my mum's eyes."

"Oh Harry!" At this point, McGonagall was crying.

"Please don't cry, Professor," said Harry weakly.

"These are tears of joy, Harry, not sadness."

"Right. I have a question though... Professor, why is there no one here from the Ministry?"

"When Vold-Tom Riddle killed Scrimgeour, we didn't know who to trust. All the Death Eaters have been caught by the Order now, though. The members of the Order are currently controlling the Ministry, which is good for everybody."

"Great!" said Harry. "Sorry Professor, but I have to go now; I have something else to attend to."

"Okay Harry. Oh, one other thing though, there's going to be an Order meeting later on tonight to arrange funerals and such. Tom Riddle's body is still in a chamber off the Entrance Hall. The Order is waiting on your instructions as to what to do with it. It will all be discussed tonight. Mr. Weasley will inform you where and when it is."

"Right. See you then."

Harry got up and walked out of the office. He climbed the stairs until he finally reached the stone gargoyle.

"Go on up, Harry Potter," said the gargoyle as he approached it.

"Thanks."

Harry pushed open the Headmaster's door to see that all the portraits were empty except Dumbledore's and a new one right next to him, Severus Snape.