Harry Potter and the Wyvern's Crown

Chapter 25: Final days

When Harry woke this time, it was in his own bed in Gryffindor tower. Harry was silent, wishing all that had happened had been but a sick nightmare. But it had been too real to deny. He sighed, briefly recalling Hagrid carrying him back to Gryffindor tower, while Flitch and Dumbledore helped Draco back to his own dorm. They had opted not to put them back in the hospital wing, simply to keep Madam Pomfrey out of the business. Besides, now the danger was over. Harry and Draco would not succumb to any more visions, because the tapestries no longer had reason to speak to them. As Harry lay there, still exhausted, but very awake, he was not sure what the appropriate emotion was in this case. Raven was dead, or possibly trapped in a hellish limbo with the immortal wyvern within her. He had no idea why she had done it. It was still too strange to think of her as anything but the girl he loved. But she was gone. Gone.

Harry did not cry. He was saddened, but his heart felt as though it had turned to stone. There was anger causing that. He was upset that he had not seen through her lie. And yet, he did not rage. He did not realize that he was still in shock, but few do when in that position. After a moment of silent sorrow, then objective peace, Harry slipped out of bed. It was the early morning, only a few scant few hours from when they had sealed the Wyvern and Raven into a formless grave, under the playing field of the Crown. The Crown was sealed again, perhaps even better than before, considering only Heirs had seen the visions, and the tapestries would not speak of what had occurred again. It made sense now, Harry felt as he walked down the stairs in the common room, that the tapestries had been so unwilling to talk of what had occurred at the Wyvern's Crown all those years ago. They had no desire to see Raphael's spell come to fruition, even if it meant Bethany's return to the real world. Harry, still in the black clothes he had donned earlier that night, flopped down in his favourite chair. He looked up at the mantelpiece, the figure of Godric, and the choosing stone it had for an eye.

He knew that the Crown had once simply been a place for the head boys to hang out, much like the prefects bathroom was now. And all those boys who had sat there, year after year, never knew the terror that had sat under their feet, until a Slytherin, obsessed with power and the dark arts, attempted to wake the wyvern for reasons unknown. Harry's head rolled to the side, watching the fire. Stephan had also created the tapestries. Harry understood them better. They had been created to celebrate the four Heirs becoming Head Boys together. They were originally to be used as cheap spying devices, so that all Head Boys in the future could watch what was going on in their common rooms. But when the Crown was to be sealed, the four boys charmed the tapestries to have the memories and personality of themselves, and aid in the choosing of future Head Boys and Girls. But Stephan, being mad, ended up corrupting many Slytherins, including the one that had stopped the Triwizard tournament, which was the incident which had the tapestries removed. And it seemed that Voldemort, being an Heir, soon discovered he could talk to Stephan in the forgotten stairwell and in doing so opened himself up to Stephan's insanity, desire for power and hatred of muggle-kind.

Harry swallowed. All that madness. Why on earth had the tapestries not been destroyed? But the answer was clear. Raphael had left an opening in his spell, just as Rowena, his predecessor had done. They had to remain in the school, so they could call the Heirs together if someone attempted to wake the dragon again. But now they were sealed permanently. It would do to get rid of them. He would have to say something to Dumbledore about it. He looked up at the fire again, and he heard a soft noise. His heart skipped a beat, as he saw the folds of soft white cloth. He jerked to awareness and looked at the small girl sleeping in Raven's chair. Her chestnut hair cascaded over his shoulders, looking fresh and new, like she was some life-like doll...only more real...and not formed of china. Her eyes flicked open, blue-grey, and shocked. She looked over at Harry, her breathing the only sound in the room next to the crackle of the fire.

'Your name is...Harry.' Her voice was soft, accented and unsure.

Harry nodded, 'Yes, it is. You...you're Bethany Hawksmoor, aren't you?'

The girl blinked, almost confused, then nodded slowly, 'I am. In part.' She seemed to have trouble speaking clearly, and sounded out each word with a thick Welsh accent.

In part. Harry was stunned. He did not speak, for fear of Bethany doing or saying something, or perhaps disappearing like so much smoke.

Her eyes met his, and Harry saw in them a familiar smile. 'Raven...'

Bethany shook her head, 'Her memories are within this body. It is hers. I lost mine to the Wyvern, as she did. That is why I am able to speak with you, Harry.' Her head bowed. 'I can say this much.' She looked at her hands, then sighed. 'She did have a deep affection for you. But she was instructed to do as the Dark Fates had commanded, which was to kill Voldemort by any means possible. To do that, she realized she would have to get close to you, which is what she did. But she had another command. She was to take control of his minions, and while killing the Dark Lord might have impressed them, she discovered the truth, or so she thought, about my demise. She thought that I had been the one to gain control over the wyvern. She thought I had died because the former Heirs to the four houses had been forced to kill me. Gaining the wyvern for herself, she thought, would impress Voldemort's servants and the Dark Fates even more. But instead, she discovered, that they had preserved me,' She looked up, almost frightened, 'There was nothing I could do. I apologise, Heir of Gryffindor.'

Harry tilted his head. 'It's not your fault, Bethany. No one could have expected you to do anything.'

'I hope that is true.'

* * *

Today was the last day of school. Bethany had started her studies where she had left off, in her 6th year level almost a month ago. She had been a Ravenclaw, and rejoined their ranks, much to everyone's surprise. She remained distant and mysterious, and in that, managed to keep her callers at bay. In fact, her simple beauty could only be appreciated by two boys, both of which did not fight for her, nor pursued anything aside from a deep friendship. Draco and Harry, though they spoke little, were no longer rivals either. There was something about losing the same girl, in the same manner that drew them together. And while there still were petty jokes that they occasionally sneered at each other, they had no malice for the other any longer. Harry was permitted to take extra classes and catch up on his Potions studies, while Draco managed to catch up with little effort in COMC (anybody could, most had to admit). Ron became the replacement keeper, and thanks to Harry, Gryffindor managed to beat out Ravenclaw, 180-160. And though Harry still suffered from the dull ache in his heart, he knew that there was some hope. After all, next year would be his last one at Hogwarts. And then he would be a fully trained wizard. And with the money his parents had left him, he would be able to purchase a descent flat to spend his life in, finally, away from the Dursleys.

But today, he was going to pay a dear friend a visit. He walked up the stairs to the forgotten hall. There hung three banners. The green one bearing the image of Stephan had disappeared the night of the battle, and no one had discovered where it had gone. It had turned out that Voldemort, too, had disappeared. After Dumbledore broke the Imperius curse he had over the Dark Wizard, Voldemort had turned into a tiny serpent and disappeared into the night. But Harry wasn't here to see the Slytherin banner. Rather, he was here to speak to his distant relative.

'Hullo Gregory.'

The lion dropped to all fours, and observed his kinsman silently. The figure almost seemed to be smiling.

'I have something to show you,' Harry grinned and withdrew the piece of metal from his pocket. He held it out, hearing Gregory rumble his lionish approval. Harry smiled and pinned the badge to his robe. 'Yes, I know. It only makes sense that I become Head Boy after all that. And you'll be pleased to hear that Bethany has made Prefect for Ravenclaw,' Gregory growled a question and Harry bowed his head, 'Yes. I do miss her.' He looked up at the other two tapestries which seemed to be listening in. 'But at the very least, Bethany's alright.'

'I told you he'd be up here.' The raucous sound of a familiar voice echoed in the hallway, 'Oi! Potter!'

'I'm up here, Malfoy,' Harry said, smiling at Gregory, who grinned back. 'Never would have figured him to be the Heir of Ravenclaw, would you?'

The crow form of Raphael cawed in complaint. Draco rounded the corner, his girlfriend, Oriana Marshall walking arm in arm with him. She smiled at Harry slightly, then looked behind her. Harry leaned back, allowing them to pass and saw Hermione and Ron walking up, also arm in arm. Harry blinked.

'Ron...what on earth are you doing?'

'What Harry?' Hermione asked in an irritated voice, 'Just because you weren't paying attention, doesn't mean that Ron and I are any less involved!' she was holding the red-head's hand leisurely.

'Ron...' Harry looked at his friend in utter confusion.

'It's true Harry,' Ron grinned impishly, 'You were so involved with Raven and this whole Heir mix-up, we never had a chance to tell you!'

Harry looked over at Draco who simply shrugged, 'Well, don't look at me, Potter. I thought you knew.'

Harry laughed and with a nod towards the three tapestries, he jerked his head to the side, 'Heading for the Great Hall?'

'Of course.'

'This was just a stop on the way.'

'Ten flights up, and in the wrong direction 'on our way'.'

'Shut up, Malfoy.'

The five students laughed and headed down the stairs for the final ceremonies.

* * *

'Adding together the points this year was not simple, nor was it any one clear choice. Of course certain event have come to light over the past little while...' Dumbledore looked across the tables, his eye catching both Harry's and Draco's. 'As things stand,' He gestured at the Ravenclaw banners hung around the room, 'Hufflepuff has 400 points, Slytherin has 320 points and Gryffindor has 350 points. Ravenclaw, in the lead, have a fair 540 points. But that, as many of you know, is far from final!' several students from other tables chuckled, it had happened a few times that one team would come out better, even though one team had won, by all means. 'As usual, there are the points that are added at the end of the year.'

He cleared his throat, 'For excellence in figuring out millennia-old puzzles, mastering Animagus Talents, uncovering ancient forms of magic, and discovering a few more mysteries out about this place than even I was quite aware of, making great sacrifices in order to preserve the lives of others, and learning that two heads are often better than one, there shall be awarded 200 points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin.' A roar went up from both tables.

'For loyalty, and standing up to prejudice and not backing down when a challenge is presented, there is awarded a special bonus 150 points to Hufflepuff!'

The Hufflepuff table roared, but none knew why they had received such an award. Harry did, though, and smiled at Flitch who actually seemed to look stunned instead of just grumpy. Draco and Harry's eyes met, and they both applauded.

'Now, as most of you can tell, there is a two way tie. But there is one more thing that must be considered. Because of the many foul placetakings that occurred with the Heir of this house, I must...deduct fifty points from Slytherin. However...'

Dumbledore was suddenly drowned out by howls of indignation from the Slytherin table, then confusion from all the tables considering Slytherin had not been one of the tied houses. Dumbledore cleared his throat and the crowd fell silent, 'However, I will allow the new Head boy from that house decide who those points will be awarded to, simply because they had no control over the actions of their Heir.'

The Slytherins grumbled, and looked at Draco who slowly stood at Harry's side. The blond looked down at Harry, then across at the other two tables. Suddenly everyone began to call out to him, entreating him to let them win, but he held up his hands and they fell quiet again. After a moment he smiled, 'I believe that Ravenclaw won this fairly before all the bonus points, don't you think, Professor?'

'Yes, they did, Mr. Malfoy. Are you choosing them?'

'I am, sir,' Draco smirked and sat down beside his girlfriend again, He leaned conspiritively over to Harry, 'I couldn't let the family down...'

Harry laughed quietly as the Ravenclaws and eventually all the other tables jumped up and cheered, throwing their pointed hats into the air. School was finally over.

* * *

Standing on the platform at the train station, he watched Ron give Hermione a parting kiss on the cheek before she left with her parents. Ron was blushing enormously as he walked with Harry over to where his mother and brothers and little sister were standing. Harry grinned and waved goodbye to them. They got into a carriage and rode away. Harry stood there watching them go, smiling to himself. Ron and Hermione weren't that bad a couple, now that he'd had time to think about it. They had forgiven him over the whole Raven incident, especially considering the charming effect she'd had on every boy she'd met. Harry heaved a great sigh.

'By George, I think he's completely DAFT! HARRY!'

Harry turned, seeing his own family standing at the turnabout for cars. Uncle Vernon was standing twenty feet behind Harry, his large purple fists on his large waist, his bulbous purple face swelling with twitching anger. Dudley and Aunt Petunia were half out of the car themselves. Harry shook his head and grinned from ear to ear. Now he was actually taller than his uncle he realized with a certain shock. Aunt Petunia blinked, a serious look on her horsy face. Dudley squinted, he'd lost a little weight, but he'd also grown an inch or two so it did make some difference.

For some reason Harry felt so utterly relieved that he couldn't help but cry out, 'Lor' I've missed you! Uncle Vernon, Petunia! And Dudley! How've you been?' He chuckled as they gaped at him, stunned. He grabbed his trunk and bags along with Hedwig's bird cage, walked over, his step jaunty, his grin not leaving his face for a moment. 'Oh don't look so sour! It's been nearly a year since I've seen you,' Harry began to chatter as he threw his things in the back of the station wagon, then saw the disapproving look on Uncle Vernon's eyes, and the shock on both his aunt's and cousin's faces. He laughed, and rolled his eyes as he climbed into the backseat, putting Hedwig's cage in his lap, 'Alright then. I'll be quiet. It's just good to see you, is all.'

'Utterly daft,' Uncle Vernon muttered as the other Dursleys climbed in with him. 'Utterly bloomin' daft.'