|
In the Days That Followed | ||||||
|
Category: Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Other, Ron Weasley, Teddy Lupin Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, General, Romance Warnings: None Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 42 Summary: The final battle has been won and the war against Voldemort is finally over for good, but there is still the aftermath to battle through. Hitcount: Story Total: 23649; Chapter Total: 2260 Author's Notes: For those waiting on the next chapters of my other stories, the final chapter of The Weasley Perspective shall be published next weekend. The following weekend will be when I return to my normal rotation with the next chapter of Black and Red. Thank you to Arnel for your brilliant editing skills as always. (Edited - 16/08/21) |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
He froze as he entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts. The sight before him was not the one he had been expecting. The house tables had disappeared and across the entire floor laid hundreds of bodies of everyone who he thought had been fighting alongside him that night. It did not make sense to him. What had happened in the last thirty minutes for him to now find everyone dead? “YOU!” a voice screamed from the other end of the room. “This is your fault! You’re the reason everyone around us is dead!” He stumbled back in shock at the accusation. He had tried to complete his task as quickly as he could, but only a small number of people had died when he had left the Great Hall to go to the Headmaster’s Office. How was it his fault for what had happened in the past thirty minutes? He walked further into the hall, ignoring the torrent of abuse being thrown his way by the only other person still alive, and made the effort to look at each person. Remus and Tonks were still there, next to each other, their hands very nearly touching. Colin Creevey was nearby, looking so much smaller in death than he had expected. Then, he saw Neville and Luna laid side by side; Seamus and Dean, every Gryffindor who had ever been on the house Quidditch team… this wasn’t right. This wasn’t how it ended. He stumbled and fell to his knees when he reached Fred’s body. He felt like all the air was being sucked out of him at the sight of George lying next to his twin brother. Then, there was Percy, Charlie, Bill and Fleur. Harry turned his eyes away before they fell upon the next person in the row, too distraught by the idea that it would be Ron and Hermione. He suspected if he looked even further down, then he would see the love of his life and the reason he was fighting so hard to win this war “ Ginny. “It’s your fault that she is laying there,” the voice came again, forcing him to look up and discover the person he least expected to make such accusations “ Molly Weasley. He forced himself to stand up and face her, determined to defend himself, even though he no longer wanted to live in a world if it meant being alone. “You took too long,” Molly said venomously. “They are ALL dead, because of you!” “I went as fast as I could, Mrs Weasley,” he told her, desperate for her to understand. “I swear I did everything I could as quickly as possible!” “Well, it wasn’t fast enough!” she spat. “Let’s see if you are quick enough to dodge this.” She lifted her wand, pointing it directly at him, before saying the two words he never thought she would ever utter, “AVADA KEDAVRA!” The green light he knew all too well flew towards him… Harry’s eyes shot open as he held in the scream that desperately wanted to escape from his lips. He looked around the room, wondering if anyone had noticed him wake suddenly before realising that he didn’t know where he was. He could feel himself starting to panic, so he quickly made the effort to take several deep breaths to calm himself. Once he felt a little calmer, Harry took in his surroundings and remembered that he, along with the Weasleys and Hermione, had returned to The Burrow the previous evening. The Aurors, on Kingsley’s request, had given the house and the land surrounding it a thorough check for potential curses and deadly wards. Any they had found had been removed, giving the family the all-clear to return. Bill and Fleur had gone ahead first to reset any wards that had been torn down before adding the Fidelius Charm to provide additional security to the home until all the Death Eaters, who were unaccounted for, had been caught. It had felt weird to return to The Burrow, a place that had become a much-needed home for Harry. He felt relief at returning there, but the additional security just added to his already mounting guilt. However, he was given a stern reminder by Mrs Weasley that she had been the one to defeat Bellatrix Lestrange and any rogue Death Eater may want revenge for her actions. She then reminded him once again that he was family and he belonged at The Burrow, where he would be much safer than being out there on his own. Harry had not had the heart to tell her he was perfectly capable of hiding himself successfully from everyone. Looking out of the window, Harry noticed the first rays of light starting to appear on the horizon and decided it was pointless attempting to go back to sleep. He, therefore, slipped out of the camp bed he slept in whenever he had visited The Burrow previously, threw on a dressing gown and left Ron’s bedroom. Harry quietly walked down the stairs, only stopping when he reached the first floor. He paused outside Ginny’s bedroom, where he knew both she and Hermione were sleeping, wishing she would sense him on the other side of the door. He refused to go in and wake her, not wanting to disturb her if she was managing to sleep without issue. In the end, he knew standing there, wishing and waiting, was useless, so he continued down the stairs and headed into the kitchen. He set about making himself a cup of tea, allowing his thoughts to drift to his godson, Teddy, as he did so. The little boy had already cemented a place deep within Harry’s heart and he knew that he would do anything to help make Teddy’s and Andromeda’s lives much easier. Once Harry had regained his composure after breaking down in tears, the pair had briefly discussed how raising Teddy would work. They quickly agreed that Andromeda would have full custody of him, but with time, Harry would begin to take him overnight. For now, however, the older witch would bring her grandson to The Burrow on a regular basis to give Harry a chance to get to know his godson. It would also give Andromeda some company, something Mrs Weasley had insisted on when she arrived in the Great Hall to discover the pair talking. For Harry, Teddy represented hope, something that he knew he would need in the coming days and weeks. Voldemort might have been defeated, but the darkness he had brought to their world still lingered. It would take some time to move on and to be able to genuinely appreciate the newfound peace in their world. Teddy, therefore, represented the hope that he, and other children born recently, would grow up in a world full of peace and love, never knowing or understanding the dark days that they had lived through the past few years. Harry picked up his cup of tea and wandered out into the garden to watch the sun rise. As he did so, he allowed his thoughts to shift to what he needed to sort out in the coming weeks and what he wanted to do with his life. He needed to talk to many people, knowing they all needed an explanation about what had happened this past year, but he knew, with absolute certainty, that he would speak to Ginny first. She deserved to know the truth more than anyone else in his life, especially after the events of her first year at Hogwarts. Until he had done that, everyone else would have to wait. Even then, he knew they would probably have to wait until after the funerals, most of which would take place over the course of the next week. He turned his thoughts away from the upcoming funerals to his girlfriend. While he had no idea what he wanted to do now that he was free of the prophecy, he did know that Ginny played a huge part in his future. He knew he shouldn’t centre his hopes for the future around his girlfriend, but he couldn’t help it. She was one of the best things to ever happen to him and he honestly couldn’t see a future without her. He knew, and had known for a while, that he wanted to marry her, have children with her and eventually grow old with her. It didn’t matter to him what else he did with his life, just as long as Ginny was a part of it, he knew he would be happy. “I know that look.” Harry turned round, torn from his thoughts, to see George standing behind him. He had dark circles under his eyes, evidence of the lack of sleep he’d had in the last few days, something Harry could empathise with. “Thinking about my sister again, Potter?” George said with a smirk as he came to stand by Harry’s side. “Am I that obvious?” Harry asked, truly wondering if his expression gave him away whenever Ginny was on his mind. “To those of us who know you, yes.” Harry didn’t reply, turning his head back to look at the rising sun. The two wizards stood side by side, neither one speaking for several minutes. Harry wasn’t sure if it was because neither one knew what to say to the other or if it was because neither one had anything to say in that moment. Thankfully, it was a comfortable silence. “Are you or are you not a wizard, Harry?” George asked as Harry sank to the ground to sit. Harry looked up at the remaining Weasley twin in confusion, surprised to see a smirk on George’s face. “You could have conjured a chair to sit on,” he said with a chuckle as he, too, sank down to ground. “Or, you could have Summoned one. That’s the great thing about being a wizard!” “I grew up with Muggles, so it’s easy to forget that I can do some things with magic if I want to,” Harry confessed before they lapsed back into silence. Neither wizard spoke for some time, choosing to sit in silence as they watched the sun rise over the horizon. For Harry, it was the easier choice as he didn’t quite know what to say to George when he still felt guilty for Fred’s death. It didn’t matter how many times he was told that it was not his fault, and logically Harry knew it was not his fault, but he was having a hard time truly accepting that. In his mind, Harry could list all the reasons why he was, at least, partially responsible for the fifty people who had died during the battle. He hadn’t been quick enough. Perhaps, if he had figured everything out quicker, including the revelation that he was a Horcrux, then maybe fewer people would have died. Then again, had he not needed to go to Hogwarts to find the diadem, then there would never have been a battle. Fred, therefore, would still be alive. “I’m sorry about Fred,” Harry quietly said not wanting to disturb the comfortable silence. “If I had been quicker…” “I’m going to stop you right there, Harry,” George said as he placed a hand on the younger wizard’s shoulder. “As you have already been told by Ginny, my mum and Andromeda, you are not responsible for Fred’s death or anyone else’s death. I don’t believe it was your fault either.” “You don’t?” Harry questioned, looking at the one-eared wizard in surprise. “Fred and I had several conversations about every potential outcome of the war,” George told him earnestly. “We wanted to be prepared in the event of one or both of our deaths. We both knew that if the call came for fighters that we would answer, no questions asked.” “How many outcomes did you map out?” Harry asked amused at the organisation skills of the twins. “Well, there was the obvious one of You-Know-Who winning and obviously you winning and little to no deaths to worry about. Then there was us both dying, Fred dying and me dying. Then we considered that you could win but die in the process and we knew that it would impact Ron, Hermione, and our sister, once she had told us you two had dated. Would you like me to continue?” “There were more?” Harry questioned, astonished at the depth they had gone to. “We wanted to be prepared for any possibility, whether it meant knowing how one of us would continue if the other died, or if we needed to step up and support one of our siblings. We may be known as pranksters, but our family will always come first.” Harry wanted to say how that hadn’t always been true. George, Fred, Percy and Ron had ignored Ginny during her first year at Hogwarts, which had led to her finding comfort in a diary that had ended up possessing her. However, he knew it wasn’t the time to remind him of such an awful event, especially considering they had come through for her eventually. Therefore, George was still right to say that family would always come first. Percy may have forgotten that for a time, but he had come back when it was crucial. The Weasleys may not have been the richest family, but they were rich in love and were always there for each other, something that Harry absolutely loved about them. “It doesn’t seem to matter, though, that we had that talk,” George quietly continued, “it didn’t prepare me for actually losing Fred. I don’t even know how I am meant to stick to our plan when I feel so lost without him.” Glancing over at the older wizard, Harry noticed a tear slipping down George’s face. He didn’t know if George had cried since Fred had died, but something told him that George needed to let out what he was feeling rather than holding it all in. “It’s ok to feel lost,” Harry gently told him. “I felt like that after I lost Sirius. He was only back in my life for two years before he was taken from me. I realised, though, that he wouldn’t have wanted me to shut myself away from everyone and everything. What helped me most, though, was remembering something Dumbledore had said to me when I was thirteen, about how the ones we love never truly leave us. He told me my dad was still alive in me, which is why my Patronus is a stag.” Harry thought about what he had just said. He honestly believed that the ones he loved were still with him in some way. He had seen it in so many ways, from seeing his parents in the Mirror of Erised to talking to them via the Resurrection Stone. They were with him all the time, but the problem was that all the people who had died during the war were there as well, reminding him how their deaths could have been avoided. He knew he would find a way to move on and be happy, yet the guilt he felt would always be there, no matter what anyone told him. “There’s no need to rush back and reopen the shop,” he carried on without waiting for any reply from George. “I think Fred would understand your need to take time to grieve and figure out how to live without him. He would be the same if it had been the other way round and you had died.” “He would, wouldn’t he?” George responded with a slight smile on his face. “I have to say, though, Harry, you really should take your own advice once in a while. For someone who has lost so many people, I think you need to take the time to properly grieve each of them.” “I know I do,” Harry admitted, knowing George was right. “Not that it will be an easy thing for me to do, though. I never even went to a funeral before Dumbledore’s last year and I felt so disconnected from everything that was said about him. I don’t know if I even know how to grieve for someone properly.” “From what you told me about how you felt after you lost Sirius, I think you do know how. You just never allowed yourself to grieve for too long. Even so, there is no right way to grieve, something you have already proven with the different ways you reacted to the deaths of Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore. I think, somehow, that the funerals will be good for both of us.” Harry knew he needed to grieve properly for every person he had lost over the years. George was certainly right about that and how he had never grieved for too long. He had always felt the need to pull himself together, all so he could focus on the fight against Voldemort. He didn’t have that excuse this time, but he did think the guilt he held for every death during the war may hold him back. Right now, he just needed to take it one day at a time. “I haven’t told Ginny this yet,” Harry said, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over them. “I intend on sitting down and telling her this, along with everything else that has happened, but I actually died when I went into the forest.” “Hang on a moment, you were not faking what we all saw?” “No, I was faking it at that point. In the forest, though, Voldemort actually cast the Killing Curse at me, and I let him. I was actually dead for a few minutes. When I woke up, I remained still because I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape without him killing me for real. Anyway, that’s not the point I wanted to make. I wanted to tell you that Fred is most definitely at peace, especially if what I experienced is anything to go by.” He looked over at George and saw that he had the wizard’s attention. There was an eagerness in George’s eyes that told Harry that he needed to hear this. “I found myself in what looked like King’s Cross Station and it felt peaceful. I was lucky that I was able to come back, all because of my connection with Voldemort. Even if I hadn’t been able to, though, it wouldn’t have bothered me, because I would have felt at peace with the decision I had made, while knowing everyone who I had left behind would find a way to finish off Voldemort for good. My point is that Fred would have felt the exact same thing as me and he would have had no regrets.” “That I can believe,” George said in agreement. “I mean he hasn’t come back as a ghost, so he certainly didn’t have any regrets.” “He probably went and found the Marauders as quickly as possible,” Harry said as a picture popped into his head of his dad, Sirius, Remus and Fred pulling a prank on his mum and Tonks, causing him to chuckle. “Sorry, I was just picturing them altogether, causing as much havoc as they possibly can.” George laughed, his eyes sparkling at the thought of his twin brother playing pranks with the men they had looked up to during their school years. “Knowing them,” Harry said through his own laughter, “they are probably pranking Snape!” “He would hate that!” George said as he began to cry tears of laughter. “Well, I wasn’t expecting to come out here and find you two like this,” a voice said from behind them. Harry and George turned their heads to see Ginny stood there, a wide smile on her face. “Harry was helping to remind me that Fred is in a good place now,” George told Ginny once he regained his composure. “Playing pranks with my dad, Sirius and Remus,” Harry explained on seeing the look of confusion on his girlfriend’s face. “That I can see,” Ginny said as the smile returned to her face. “Well, it’s nice to see you two smiling and laughing together. However, Mum told me to come and get you as breakfast is ready if you’re hungry.” Harry stood and went over to kiss his girlfriend before walking back towards the house, feeling more relaxed than he had expected to be. |
| Reviews 42 |
Previous Next
|
