Hermione - 2nd part

***

  

“When should we inform the D.A. members ?” Hermione asked the next day as she entered Harry’s room.

“We’ll wait till after the meeting of the Order”, Harry replied. “And we must first be sure that the mirror is really the fifth Horcrux. It’s useless to alert them too early, it would only create panic all over the school, don't you think so ?”

“Right. But you are sure that it’s the fifth Horcrux ?”, asked Ron.

“Yes, as for that, I’m quite sure. I’ve seen the same scene again and again.”

“It all relies on you”, said Hermione.

“I consider persuading Ginny to remain behind, in the school” Harry said.  Voldemort is too much interested in her, she might jeopardize our plans, and I rely on you to convince her, Ron.”

“Yes, you are right”.

“We’ll again study our map of Gloucester. I’ve bought four copies, in case we should distribute them to the others. The scale of the map is one upon two hundred thousand, which means one centimetre on the map is equivalent to two kilometres in reality.”

“We’ll take our lunch here with you, Harry ! I wish we could have our last lunch together’, said Hermione … ‘before the final battle’, she added hastily as if suddenly she feared that the word  ‘last lunch’ might bring bad luck.

“Yes, I’ll ask Dobby, said Harry, looking inquiringly at Hermione. ‘What’s the matter ? Something’s wrong ?  Do you want to postpone our operation for a few days ?”

“No, it’s nothing the matter. Come what may. It’s no use postponing till another day. The faster it ends, the better it will be”

The three friends took their lunch together, while discussing and verifying what they had to do first.

“It’s time for us to go to the meeting”, said Harry.

And the three friends set off for the mirror room. Harry didn’t wear his Invisibility Cloak. There was no need for him now. All the members of the Order were there already, except for McGonagall who arrived running behind the three of them.

A long table was laid in the middle of the room, the windows were wide open flooding the whole room with a bright sun light.

‘It’s very well’, Harry thought.

Mr Weasley greeted the three friends and gave each of them a Misleading Cloak. They put on at once their new cloak, and took place at the table. There were Mrs Weasley, Bill, Fred, Georges and also Charlie who happened to be on holiday at the Burrrow (‘Ron’s whole family except Percy’, thought Harry), Moody, Shaklebolt, Aberforth, Hagrid, Tonks, Lupin and about twenty other members.

“We have our Misleading Cloaks too, Molly and I”, said Mr Weasley, smiling. “The other members haven’t got it yet. The Order gave us that priority”.

‘It fits him well’, Harry thought. It dropped down half the calves, in the ways of Muggle cloak, that made him look younger.

“It’s normal”, said Aberforth, then turning to Harry, he went on: “You’ve convened us for an exceptional meeting, and here we are.”

Harry got up.

“Good afternoon to you all, and thank you for answering my call. I think and I’m persuaded that the mission Professor Dumbledore had assigned to me before his death comes to its end. But to have a clear confirmation I still have to do a last test. Then he withdrew his wand and with a smooth wave of his hand he pointed it straight at the mirror which broke neatly into two parts, releasing a wisp of dark smoke that took shape clearly in the bright sun lit room. A silver thimble fell down from nowhere and rolled on the floor.

Ron and Hermione let out a sigh of relief.

McGonagall, on the contrary, burst out “Potter!” rather out of exasperation.

Without paying attention to McGonagall, Harry pointed his wand right at the smoke wisp and shouted in a firm and clear voice: ‘Avada Kedavra’. A dazzling green flash darted out from Harry’s wand tip, struck right in the middle of the smoke, which broke into pieces and melted away in thin air.

“My test just confirmed my supposition. So, my mission comes to its end.  We should now go and see Voldemort. I’ve been watching out the comings and goings of his snake for over a month now. During the day, it lazes about near its master, and at about five o’clock in the afternoon, it goes hunting.”

With a smooth wave of his wand, Harry pasted up on the wall the detailed Gloucester map, enlarging it ten times. Then Harry sent from his wand tip a small red ball to indicate the strategic places on the map along with his explanations.

“… Here is the Malfoys’ manor in Gloucester. But we must go farther, behind the manor, from this fork of the Seven. The scale of this enlarged map is one upon twenty thousand, so ten centimetres on the map correspond to two kilometres in reality. This distance from the Malfoys’ manor to the fork of the Seven is about … er …forty kilometres.”‘… It’s here the usual hunting area of Voldemort’s snake’, Harry continued, drawing a circle on the map with his red ball. ‘The three of us, Ron, Hermione and I, we’ll enter in the snake’s hunting area, while you’ll wait for us here’, said Harry marking a cross with his red ball, ‘out of the hunting area. Because, we should not arouse its suspicion, nor frighten it neither. And I must absolutely eliminate it before I could confront Voldemort. When we have killed it, Ron will send you his Patronus. It’s a Jack Russell, fast and more discreet than mine.”

“That’s for sure”, blurted out some of the members.

“At that moment, you’ll joint us” Harry went on. “We need your help, because we are going right into Voldemort’s den. He must be there, surrounded by all his servants. So, if you all could come along, you would not be too many. But, we cannot leave the school without surveillance. We have friends who would be ready to patrol all over the school, all through the afternoon and in the evening if need be. We also have about fifteen friends who are ready to join us in this operation.”

“As for the school”, said McGonagall, “I’ll leave Hagrid, his giant brother and the Professors who are not members of the Order. What about your friends ? How many are they ?”

“About fifteen. If you could call one of those Professors, so I could take him to my friends …. Hermione, could you please call them up ?” Harry added turning to Hermione.

Hermione took out her Magic Galleon and composed the date and time of the meeting.

“Go on, I’ll join you”, Harry said to Ron and Hermione.

McGonagall turned to a portrait on the wall and asked it to bring Professor Flitwick, her Deputy Headmaster.

Two minutes later, Professor Flitwick came in.

“Filius”, said McGonagall, “I must go out, and the Aurors who are on guard duty must accompany me too. During this time, could you, please, organize a non-stop watch all over the school, with the other professors and a group of about fifteen volunteers among the students. Hagrid and his brother may look after the ground and the gate.  All the underground issues and the various strategic points, you already know. Now you go with Potter, he’ll take you to his friends.”

“You wait for me here, I’ll come back in five minutes with my friends”, said Harry to all the assembly.

All the D.A. members were there, in Harry’s room, when Harry and Professor Flitwich arrived.

“Those who want to join me, please, place yourselves here, on my right, I say only those who have got the Apparition Licence’, said Harry. The others, you’ll be at Professor Flitwick’s disposal. And remember that if you want to send messages between you, you could ask the portraits on the wall, it’s an efficient and quick communication way too”.

“Good Luck, Harry !”, said Gabrielle, with a small smile.

“Thank you, Gabrielle”, replied Harry.

Harry cast a round look over the members who wanted to accompany him and, of course, he saw Neville, Luna and Ginny.

“Where are we going ?” asked Neville.

“To Gloucester, far behind the Malfoys’ manor”, replied Ron.

“No, Ginny”, said Harry. ‘Surely Ron told you. I would like you to stay behind, in the school with the others, for many reasons, and Ron did agree with me.  We discussed it at length, Ron and I, and I don’t want you to upset me today when I most need to have my mind free, I must concentrate on other things. Go and join the other group, please. It’s for your good as for mine too. Please !”’ And he gave Ginny a small kiss on each cheek.

“Go !, Ginny”, Ron said.

And Ginny stepped back to the other group, looking sulky, but said nothing.

“Dobby ?”

And the elf appeared in front of Harry.

“Do you have the rabbit ?”

While Dobby went for the rabbit, the other D.A. members spoke among themselves, or asked Hermione and Ron for more details.

“Here’s the rabbit, Mr Potter’, said Dobby, giving Harry the rabbit in its basket.

“Brilliant ! Thank you, Dobby”, said Harry, kneeling down to be at the height of the elf, and then he spoke to him in a whisper: “I’ll go for a very dangerous mission, I hope I’ll come back, unscathed. But if ever I should die on my mission, you and Winky, you go and live with Hermione. She is the person I love most in this world, and you’ll tell her so for me. I’ll go into the forest behind the Malfoys’ manor. Good bye, Dobby’. And Harry gave Dobby two kisses on each cheek.

“Dobby will come with you, Mr Potter, and Dobby will die for you if need be.”

“No, you’ll serve Hermione, if ever I should not come back.”

“Dobby must obey Mr Potter”, Dobby replied with tears falling on his chest.

“Now, we must return to the reunion. Come on with me”, Harry said to his friends as he got up.

They ran to the reunion room.

“Here we are”, Harry said to the whole assembly. I leave you the map, and here are two more, if ever you need them. You’ll wait for us here, at the border of the hunting area, and wait for our signal.” Then he turned to the D.A. members, and added: “You’ll follow Professor McGonagall’s orders.”

 

The three friends went out of the room.  Hermione took the basket from Harry’s hand. At the gate, they found Hagrid waiting for them.

“Good-bye, Hagrid”, the three friends said in a same and one voice.

“Good-bye, you three, and Good luck !”

“Thank you !” the three friends replied in chorus.

When they came beyond the castle’s boundaries, Harry turned to Hermione and hugged her tightly in his arms, so tightly that again he felt their two hearts beat in unisson at the same accelerated rate. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but refrained from doing so.

Hermione just wept silently but said nothing, then she Apparated to conceal her turmoil.

Harry threw his arms over Ron’s shoulders, hugged him then took Ron’s hands in his: “If anything ever happens to me, you should know that you are my only and unique friend, Ron !”

“You too are my only and unique friend, Harry”, Ron replied. “Whatever may happen to us, bear in mind that Hermione loves you, it’s you she loves,” Ron added stoically.

“No, she loves you, and you love her, but we should not talk about that now, it’s not the proper moment … To Malfoy’s manor !” said Harry and he Apparated.

 

***

Chapter 18:  In the Ophidians’ Den

 

Harry landed near Hermione, exactly on the fork of the river, behind the Malfoys’ manor. Ron joined them a few minutes later.

“You’ll stay near me”, Harry said.  “We’ll walk in silence. When I have immobilized Nagini, I’ll hypnotize her. You two quietly walk round her so as to get near her coming from behind, out of her visual field, and always stay about two yards from her. Ron, you’ll place yourself about her neck, a bit lower, so that she can’t see you. Her visual field is very large, more than two hundred degrees. And Hermione, you’ll place yourself about one yard from the point of her tail. When we cut the head of a snake, its tail, by reflex will make a powerful sweeping movement, judging by her giant size, it might kill you. That’s why we should cut the head and tail at the same time. I’ll make signs to you, at three, you sever her through firmly. Give me the basket. We’ll move on slowly, in silence, I’ll try to perceive her hissing.

So, the three friends moved on, in silence, deep into the forest.  A sound was heard. The three friends froze on the spot, behind a bush. Someone was coming, wearing a black hooded cloak that concealed his face. Harry waited. When the newcomer came level with the three friends, Harry waved his wand and the man was tied up from head to foot in a rope and fell onto the ground, dropping his wand near him.  Harry picked it up, broke it into two and threw the pieces back to the man, and then he Petrified him into a wax statue.

After that small break, the three friends went on, penetrating further into the forest. Suddenly Harry made a sign with his hand.

“Shh!  I hear Nagini.  Stay behind me …” many minutes went on … then, with a sudden movement, Harry grasped Ron and Hermione with his two hands,  pushed them in front of him, and returned on himself, so as to stand before his friends.

“She was behind us”, said Harry in a whisper. Hide yourselves behind the bush.

Nagini was not very far from them, but apparently she went in another direction and didn’t take any notice of them. Harry moved out from the bush, placed himself on a bare space. He put down the basket. That movement made the snake turn in the direction of the three friends. Harry freed the rabbit, which, once released, hesitated a moment then leapt sideways. The snake was on the point to rush after the rabbit, when Harry spoke in Parseltongue :

“Leave it !”

The snake, surprised, turned at once to Harry and stared at him right in his eyes. Harry had been waiting only for that, he stared back into the snake’s eyes, and the snake, as if frozen, immobilized itself. Harry moved on nearer to the snake, still fixing intensely into its eyes. Many minutes went on. Then Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione: “Go on !”

Ron and Hermione left the bush, and glided into places as they had planned. With his left hand, Harry waved: One, two, three ! And as with the same and one voice, Ron and Hermione cried out firmly:

“SECTIO !”

The snake’s corpse leapt onto the air and fell down in three pieces, in a muffled sound, shaking the ground underneath the three friends. A wisp of dark smoke escaped from the snake corpse, at which. Harry pointed his wand crying firmly ‘Avada Kedavra’. The smoke broke into pieces and melted away.

“Ouff !” Ron let out with relief.

“Send your Patronus, Ron ! Up till now, everything is fine as we have planned”, Harry said taking out his locket. He gave it a small kiss, then hid it again under his shirt.

Ron’s Jack Russell darted to the glade. Some minutes later, the others joined them.

“Perhaps we should divide into three groups, to attack them on three sides”, Aberforth proposed. Your group, Mr Potter, remains in the middle. That the groups be balanced in powers, with the same numbers of old and young people.”

Harry saw Mr Weasley who was just coming near him; he wore only a shirt.

“Where’s your Misleading Cloak ?” asked Harry, astonished.

“I gave it to Ginny.”

“Ginny’s there ? I asked her to remain behind, in the school !”, Harry said, casting a round look over the groups.

“Yes, she has just joined us, at the glade”.

Ginny was among those who formed the group on the right, walking, with her head down, the cloak floating on the grass. ‘She dare not come to my group’, thought Harry, irritated.

So, they moved on, further into the forest. A sound was heard somewhere. Harry returned. Four Death Eaters materialized behind them, and at one they were surrounded by the members of the Order and the D.A. The Death Eaters placed themselves back against back to fight. Mr Weasley just lowered his head to avoid a killing curse cast by one of them when Aberforth by this gap pointed his wand at the Death Eaters and the four of them were tied up together in an Anti-Apparition curse. Then he Petrified them into statues.

“Break their wands, Neville”, said Harry who just saw Neville for the first time, since he had left the school. “Where were you ?”

“I’m in the group on your right with Ginny, Mrs Weasley and Charlie”

“Neville, take my cloak, it will protect you !” said Harry removing his cloak and giving it to Neville.

So, they went on, deeper into the forest. The trees were denser and denser; and it became darker and darker, though it was not very late yet. Then after about an hour’s walk, the trees lessened little by little and they came into the vast bare place. They were in the middle of a large glade.  It was still daytime, but the sun would soon disappear.

‘It’s their Head Quarters here’ Harry thought. ‘ Yet there are no houses, no shacks, where are they living ?’

The grass on the ground was withered as if it had been trampled every day and couldn’t grow. Harry saw on the edge of the glade, where some tufts of grass succeeded in surviving, there were one square hole … two square holes … They were not holes made by the animals.

“Look out ! They are in the underground, we are surrounded !” Harry cried out.

“Place yourselves with your backs toward the centre !” urged Aberforth.

No sooner Alberforth had finished his sentence than dozens of Death Eaters materialized in front of them. Harry, Ron and Hermione were facing to Lestrange and the brother and sister Death Eaters. Beside Hermione was Mr Weasley. Beside Ron was Luna and Bill. Harry fought but cast quick looks around from time to time in search for Voldemort. He would not give him time to kill the others.

The curses were heard from everywhere. It was difficult to say who cast what. The battle had lasted for about one hours when it became fiercer and fiercer, for the killing curse was heard cast by the Death Eaters from everywhere, ‘They are losing the battle and are desperate’ Harry thought. Near Harry, Ron and Hermione just shouted out the ‘Sectumsempra’ curse to ward off the ‘Avada Kedavra’ cast by the brother and sister Death Eaters who at once collapsed onto the ground, slashed, bathed in their blood.

Suddenly a high pitched voice was heard:

“ Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! Our friend Harry Potter comes to visit me, in the very den of Ophidians, the snake order … Yes, because I’m the king of snakes. My ancestor is SALAZAAAR SLYTHERIINN.”

At once, Lestrange who was fighting against Harry, stepped aside, letting appear from far away Voldemort who walked straight towards Harry. ‘He just got out from one of those snake holes’ Harry thought.

“Let’s see ! What would our young friend show us as power against the Dark Lord.  He will not cast a Patronus against me”, he said raising his voice mockingly. “It’s all he knows”, he went on laughing mirthlessly.

Then without losing time, he cried:

“AVADA KEDAVRA”

Hermione jumped in front of Harry, without Harry being able to stop her, and received right in the heart the killing curse. Hermione‘s sacrifice gave Harry a nanosecond in advance in his curse of Anti-Apparition. And Voldemort was nailed to the ground, tied up from head to foot in a solid rope. In his rage and despair, Harry cast straight away, staring right through Voldemort’s eyes:

“C-R-U-C-I-O”

Within a second, Voldemort’s face was crisped with pain, but at once he succeeded in controlling himself:

 “No Unforgivable Curse from our dear baby Potter !” Voldemort sniggered in his high-pitched voice from the ground where he was lying, clearly trying to throw off the suffocating rope.

“Oh yes, Riddle !”

Suddenly, hardly Harry had finished his sentence, Voldemort’s body leapt onto the air like a fish out of water and fell down onto the ground in a pond of his own blood.

Harry dropped on his feet, took Hermione in his arms and wept silently.

“Harry !” the panic-stricken voice of Mr Weasley was heard beside Harry.

Snape who was behind the brother Death Eater, cast a hatred look at Harry, but pointed his wand straight at Mr Weasley, shouting :

“Avada Kedavra !”

Then he grasped Draco’s arm who was behind him, and Disapparated with him after blowing a whistle.

All the Death Eaters, who were still standing, Disapparated in the second that followed.

“Dad !”

“Ron !” Harry put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, who just dropped on Mr Weasley’s corpse.

All this happened very quickly,  like in a flash.

Harry got up, with Hermione in his arms, his face dazed. Then he cast a round look over the battlefield, and disappeared in a whirlwind.

 

***

 

Far away, very far away from there, in the centre of London, Mr and Mrs Granger were in their living room. They remained silent, looking concerned as if they were fearing the arrival of a grave, a very grave piece of news.

Suddenly, an adolescent materialized in front of them. He knelt down, keeping his head down.  He was holding in his arms the corpse of their daughter.

“Please, I’m Harry Potter. You don’t know me. But everything is my own fault. Hermione sacrificed herself to save me.”

Mrs Granger let out a sob. Mr Granger got up, went to Harry, helped him up, and took Hermione’s body to place it on the sofa. Harry and Mrs Granger followed him and knelt down beside Hermione’s body. Mrs Granger wept silently, putting out her hand on Hermione’s forehead, wiping away some locks of hair to clear off the face of her daughter. Harry, with his face in Hermione’s hand, remained dumb struck in his pain. Mr Granger sat down near Harry, then tenderly placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder :

“My dear boy, Hermione told us by a small letter this morning of what might happen to her this evening. She confessed that she loved you, that it was you she loved. She expressly asked us to let her live her love, her passion, her life, and never put on you the responsibility of whatever might happen to her this evening. She has made her choice. We have lost a daughter, but now we have a son. Cry, my boy ! Pour out your pain, but it’s no fault of yours.”

             “I dared not tell her that I loved her, when I kissed her this afternoon”.

 

***

EPILOGUE

 

 

Ten years later

 

 

Night was falling.

In the waiting room of a doctor’s surgery, a woman and a small boy about five years old were the only patients left. Then the office door opened, and the doctor accompanied a patient out, without paying attention to the woman, for he was giving to the patient the last recommendations.  After closing the door when the patient had left, the doctor turned to the woman … and burst out:

“Aunt Petunia! What are you doing here ?”

“It’s you, Harry ? But the surgery’s plate is marked ‘Granger !”

“Yes, H.J.P. Granger, Harry James Potter Granger. I’ve been adopted by Mr and Mrs Granger, and I studied Medicine in London. I’ve just settled down here for only a year. But come in. Is it for the boy ? Let me examine him. Is he you grand son ?”

“Yes”, Petunia replied.

“Lay him down on the table, and stay beside him”, Harry said, then to the boy, he went on:

“Well, my little cousin, what’s your name ? And what’s wrong with you ?”

“His name is Dick”, said Petunia.

“Apparently, you have no fever. But your belly … hum … not good, and how are the stools ?”

“Not really diarrhoea. But this afternoon he brought up all his lunch”, replied Petunia.

“It’s not very serious. I have here medical samples that will suit him well. It’s only a food poisoning. I’ll note here for you, how to give him the medicines, the doses and time. Now give me your news. How are uncle Vernon and Dudley ?”

“Vernon died five years ago”.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, and of what did he die  ?”

“Of a cerebrovascular accident.”

“Do you live in the district now ?”

“Yes, for nearly three months now, not here, on the other side of the bridge. Dudley did some stupid things, and we had to sell away the Privet Drive house, to pay the fines, attorneys fees, and everything…”

“And where is Dudley now, what is he doing and his wife ?”

“Dudley is in prison. As for his wife, she left him, leaving the boy behind. They are not married.”

“And your present house ? And what do you live upon now ?” asked Harry.

“It’s a hired flat, and I live on Vernon’s pension.”

“I see. Do you know the proprietor of  your flat ?”

“No. I got it through an agency”.

“I see. So, you live alone with Dick”.

“Yes.”

“How did you come here ?”

“By bus.”

“I see. As there are no more patients now, I’ll drive you back home … Oh, perhaps we’ll need a cushion for the little boy”, Harry added, looking at Dick.

Harry went into the house, and came back with a cushion. He drove out his car from the garage, and invited Petunia to get in, and then he sat the boy in the back seat on the cushion. During the trip, Harry learnt that Aunt Marge also was dead, not very long ago, of heart troubles, and that all her inheritance was also swallowed up by Duddley’s ‘stupidities’.

“Take care with Dick’s food, aunt Petunia ! Don’t give him too much fat, nor sweets” said Harry. “And, don’t force him to eat. To avoid obesity, it’s right now that you should be careful about what he eats.  Well, good bye, and don’t hesitate to come and see me if you have any problem .. And, aunt Petunia, you won’t have to pay house rent from this month on … but better, keep it for yourself, don’t speak about it to Dudley”, added Harry.

 

***

 

“Of course, Mother, with pleasure !” replied Harry. He put down the telephone, and called out:

“Dobby !”, and the elf appeared in front of Harry.

“My parents will be there for lunch, and perhaps I’ll invite them to stay, at least for this night, so they meet my friends who’ll come this afternoon. Do you have everything you need for the meals ?”

“Don’t be worried, Monsieur Potter”, replied the elf.

Harry was in Scotland, in Dumbledore’s manor.

Aberforth Dumbledore had died, of natural death, a short time after Voldemort’s down fall, leaving to Harry all that he possessed. Harry had equipped the manor with modern conveniences, electricity, heating, telephone etc… while respecting the manor’s architecture. He had also rebuilt the manor at Godric’s Hollow exactly as the photo he had found in the rubble.

 

 

“Good morning Mum, good morning Dad  !”

Harry was on the steps leading to the main entrance in front of the manor, greeting his adoptive parents.

“We are around here, and so, we thought of coming to see you. But we’ll leave in the afternoon”, said Mrs Granger.

“Do you really have to leave this afternoon ? I thought that you were still on holidays ? Come in, please”, said Harry.

“No, not really, but, let’s us say that we are a bit tired, and want to be home to rest”, replied Mrs Granger.

“Well, you’ll have a rest here; stay here some more days. You are at home everywhere, here, or at Godric's Hollows, or in Austria. Do you agree ?” said Harry, then he called out ‘Winky !’

And the elf materialized in front of Harry.

“Please, prepare my parents’ room near mine, and get the luggage up, and also bring the car into the garage” Harry gave orders to the elf, then turning to Mr and Mrs Granger, he went on:

“I’ll have some friends coming this afternoon. I’d like to introduce them to you. They are also very dear friends of Hermione too”.

 

***

 

“I’ll never grow tired of this panoramic view. It’s so beautiful and soothing !’ said Mr Granger. They were on the terrace behind the manor, facing a flowered bed, and a vast soft green scattered lawn, dotted with some white daisies and buttercups on a far away background in shaded tones of hills over hills till the horizon.

Then suddenly many people materialized on the lawn.

“Oh ! My friends”, said Harry to Mr and Mrs Granger, getting up. He jumped the steps down to the garden to meet his friends, and led them to the terrace.

“Here are my parents, Hermione’s parents”, said Harry to the newcomers. Then to Mr and Mrs Granger, he introduced:

“And here are Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour Weasley, Ginny Weasley Longbottom and Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood Weasley and Gabrielle Delacour, Fleur’s sister. Sit down you all, Winky will rid you of your cloaks. Dobby brought us Madam Rosmerta’s finest oak-matured mead, Pumpkin juice and Butter-Beer and home-made biscuits. Help yourselves. The elves will take care of your luggage.”

Then turning to Bill, Harry scrutinized him with expert eyes, then said:

“They worked wonders at the Muggle hospital. I’m really very glad, and you’ve got back the little bit of eyebrow you had lost. It’s brilliant !”

“We thank you very much”, Fleur replied, and then turning to Mr and Mrs Granger she went on:

“My husband had been bitten by a werewolf.  His face was unrecognisable, slashed with scars. Last year, Harry recommended him to a surgeon he knew, who was very, very kind, (we did not pay a single penny, he did not want us to), and you see the results. The scars are nearly invisible. You can see nothing.

Fleur was very beautiful as always. ‘Even more beautiful than before, a matured beauty’, Harry thought. She was in Muggle dress and formed with Bill a very matching couple.  Crookshanks who had just made a round of caress against the guests’ feet under the table, jumped on Harry’s knees and settled herself there as if it was her favourite usual place.

“No, I see nothing, even now that you’ve mentioned it, I still see nothing,” said Mr Granger smiling.

“And your scar, Harry !” Bill cried out looking amazed, fixing at Harry’s forehead.

“Well, it has disappeared, without my knowing it. It was after Voldemort’s death, during many days I didn’t look at myself in a mirror, then one day, I woke up, and there was no scar left”.

“Woouuawh !” Ron let out, “Turn, so that we all can see !”

Harry took Crookshanks into his arms, got up and turned on himself for everybody to see, then he sat back.

“How is your mother ?”

‘She is fine. She is getting old. Since Dad’s death, she has never been able to recover the dynamism she had before. She sends you a big kiss.”

“That’s very kind of her. And Neville, how are your parents and grandmother ?”

“My parents are fine, nearly normal. You know, I discovered that my plant Mimbulus Mimbletonia has amazing regenerating properties for the nerve cells, and especially for the memory. I tried to associate these properties with other plants and found a formula for my potion. It worked well and my parents recovered their memory little by little.  Now, sometimes they have some lapses, but perhaps that’s simply because of their age too. I’m very happy. I’ve given the formula of my potion to St Mungo’s Hospital, and I’ve learnt that Lockhart and his victims also have regained their memories. Poor Lockhart, he has recovered in time to appear before the court for all his frauds ! He is completely ruined now. As for my grandmother, she still speaks of you dearly as always, but … now she sees me as a worthy grand son.  It was for all of us a great honour for having participated in that battle against Voldemort.”

“All the merit is yours. And does the post of professor of Herbology at Hogwarts please you ?”

“Yes ! It was my dream.”

“I’ve no doubt about it … I see that you are expecting an other baby; When is it due, Ginny ?” asked Harry turning to Ginny.

“It’s for the end of October, or beginning of November.”

“And the boys, how old are they now ?”

“They’ll be six years old, next month. Mum is really getting mad with them. She said they are Fred’s and George’s true replicas. There must always be someone behind them.”

“And what are you doing now, Ginny ?”

“Nothing, I look after the house, and the boys, all day long. It’s already very tiring !”

“She is lazy too”, said Neville in a whisper to Harry. “And…”

Ginny cast a significant look at Neville, and Neville fell silent.  Harry thought that Ginny looked terribly like Mrs Weasley, from every point of view. She formed with Neville a very harmonious couple. They were the exact image of Mr and Mrs Weasley as Harry still had in his mind. Then he wondered how he could have been in love with her, but he knew the answer.

“And Gabrielle, do you enjoy being at Hogwarts ?”

“Yes”, Gabrielle replied, “but I’m no match for you”, then turning to Mrs Granger she went on, “Harry had formed a student group of about thirty members. We named ourselves Dumbledore’s Army. Harry gave us lessons of Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was an exceptionally talented professor. We’ve learnt much more from Harry than from the professor the Ministry had given us (Moreover, I’ve completely forgotten  his name now !) All of us here, except my sister and Bill, were members of the group, with Hermione too, of course. And now I have been professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at the school, for three years’.

“I’m glad to learn all this”, said Mrs Granger, smiling.

“All the D.A. members have got very good marks at the exams, Exceed Expectation and even Outstanding.”

“Yes, I’ve got Outstanding”, said Ron, looking proud.

“Brilliant ! And you, Ron, how is business ?”

“Fine. The Hog’s Head has another face now. You won’t be able to recognize it. Luna and I, we look well after the bar. Since Voldemort’s death, it’s peace, and all businesses all over the country are booming.  Fred and George bought the Zonko shop at Hogsmeade, and turned it into a branch of their joke shop in Diagon Alley. Their business is flourishing wonderfully.”

“Yes, I know that. I’m glad to see you all again, and learn good news from you all.”

“After the fall of Voldemort”, Ron went on, “we lost touch with you. Through Winky, we knew that you were in good health, but nothing else. Fred and George had from time to time news about you by your attorney, who said that you were in good health. And then suddenly your attorney contacted me to say that you gave me the Hog’s Head bar, and since then, I’ve been keeping in touch with your attorney to have news about you, I mean news, that is to say that you were in good health”.

“Yes, excuse me. That evening, I was down to the depths of despairs, I wanted to give up all, I no longer wanted to have any relation with the wizarding world. When Hermione’s parents adopted me as a son, I saw it as a lifebuoy in the middle of an ocean. I got mysely registered in a Muggle school, I skipped I don’t know how many classes a year, and after two years I was able to register at the medicine Faculty. And as it was done through modules, I have been able to do my medical studies in five years instead of six years, afterwards I spent three more years specializing in Cardiology and Paediatrics. I’m now lecturer at the Medicine Faculty in London, and I have a medical surgery where I give free consultations, as a general practitioner. Now, thinking back, I realize that if Hermione’s parents hadn’t opened their arms and adopted me that evening, I don’t know whether I could have been able to live on, and be here now to talk with you. Then turning to Mr and Mrs Granger, with watering eyes, Harry added: “Thank you again, mother, and thank you again, father. I would never be able to thank you enough, for what you did for me”.

 

---

 

 

Epilogue - 2nd part

***

 

  

 

“You’ve given us back the joy in life that we’ve thought lost for ever”, said Mr Granger. “Sometimes, we have the impression that we still have Hermione with us, but that she has been simply transformed into a boy, and that we have renamed her Harry. You are our joy and our pride. The professors at the University were all amazed to see so brilliant a student !”

“It doesn’t surprise me coming from Harry. It’s the determination and concentration of the spirit”, said Gabrielle.

“Exactly”, replied Ron and Neville together.

“We always remember your advices, Harry”, Luna said timidly.

“And you, Luna, when would you and Ron announce us a good piece of news ?”

Luna turned magenta.

“The good piece of news is already there”, said Ron. “We are expecting our first baby by mid-February. We don’t know yet whether it will be a boy or a girl, but if it’s a girl, we would like to call her Hermione … with your permission,” Ron added turning to Mr and Mrs Granger.

“We are very glad to know that you loved her”, replied Mrs Granger.

“Yes, very much”, said Ron, suddenly very moved, with watering eyes, “Thank you”.

“We all loved her very much”, added Luna.

“And Percy, and Charlie ?” asked Harry.

“Well, after Dad’s death”, Ron replied with relief for being able to conceal his emotions, “Percy came home to present his apologies to Mum, but she told him that it was Dad he should have apologized to, and that it was not up to her to forgive him in Dad’s place. She told him that she would not chase him away, if ever he had nowhere to go, but he should not ask her for more than that. Then he left, and never came back home. But he still works at the Ministry. According to Shacklebolt he is becoming more and more taciturn, withdrawn, and retiring into himself. He is not yet married. Penelope Clearwater left him. I saw her in Diagon Alley with another boy. As for Charlie, he is still with his dragons. He is not married yet, he’ll surely end up an old bachelor, that chap. As for Fred and George, they send you their heartiest good day greetings.”’

“That’s very kind of them”.

“They cannot come today. In summer, Diagon Alley is in full swing”, Ron went on. “Tourists from all over the world abound in the streets. Knockturn Alley has completely changed its face. The shops specialized in Dark Magic went bankrupt, one after the other, for people are no longer interested in it. They have been bought by other owners who transformed into shops of fabrics, high fashion clothing in Muggle style, or apothecaries, or shop of rare animals. There is a branch of Owl Post with only exotic birds and so on. Borgin & Burkes is now a jewellery store.’

“And number twelve, Grimmauld Place ?”, asked Harry.

‘Well, you left it at the disposal of the Order of the Phoenix, and the Order transformed it into a centre for assistance to the most impoverished ones. Among these, there were some of the former werewolves. They didn’t all have the chance of attending Hogwarts as Lupin did; we should help them get a job to earn a decent and honest living. That’s a lot of work for the Order. The Muggle Prime Minister had been very helpful too.  That was how Mundungus, when he was released from Azkaban, and some others found a job as night sweepers in Muggle roads. After the death of Voldemort, the Muggle Prime Minister wanted to know you, but Scrimgeour didn’t know where you were. Many people, from everywhere, had sent substantial donations to your name by the care of the Ministry, to thank you. And it had become a fashion, every body who had no heir, whether they had been or not victims of Voldemort, found in you the ideal heir to their fortunes. The Ministry didn’t know where to find you, they sent you many owl messages, but got no answer, according to Shacklebolt. Then your attorney contacted McGonagall to say that you gave all that money to the Order, that the Order might use it in whatever ways it thought good. The Order still exists, thanks to these subventions, your subventions, but its interest is no longer the same. McGonagall is now Coordinator, since Aberforth’s death. And you are always member of the Order, member of honour. Fleur works half time on voluntary basis as treasurer for the Order. It was a colossal fortune that you gave to the Order, and it still goes on.’

“So much the better ! Yes, as you said, it had become a fashion. Mrs Diggory, before dying, expressly asked me to accept her heritage as a token of the gratitude she felt towards me for having killed Voldemort and taken revenge for Cedric. She said that since very long ago, long before the death of Voldemort, she looked upon me as her son, the son she had lost. She has asked for me at her dying bedside. She died three years ago. Her husband must have died long time ago. They have been sinking into sadness and despair without ever being able to resurface. Slughorn  too, last year. He felt himself guilty of all the misfortunes that had happened to me … I told him I was very much in debt towards him for having given me bits of his memories about Voldemort and his horcrusses … And Mrs Marshbanks too, she said she took a liking to me and said she would have liked it if she had a great great grandson like me, and expressly asked me to accept her as a great great grandmother … And what about Tonks and Lupins and the others ?” added Harry who wanted to have news of everybody.

“Tonks and Lupin have a boy who must be now about seven years old. They live in perfect happiness. They are expecting their second child by the end of the year. Tonks is professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts now, Lupin is an Auror. Moody is getting old, but less paranoiac now. Grawp is now assistant gamekeeper to Hagrid. He frightens the students, but he is not bad, not at all. McGonagall has now only the function of Headmistress to hold at Hogwarts. We formed an association among the former D.A. members, of which you are the member of honour. We meet once a year, the day of Voldemort’s death at the Hog’s Head bar. Cho is married to Oliver Wood. Every body asks us for news about you, because we are the only ones who have some news from you, from time to time, through your attorney. Our letters sent by the owls never brought back any answers. I was so glad the other day when I saw Hedwig arrive with your invitation, you can’t possibly imagine how glad  I was.’

“Yes, I’m sorry.  I didn’t want any relations with the wizarding world”, Harry replied. … “And I was also so overcome by my Muggle studies that was made at grand S speed !”

 

“You might have known …”, said Neville changing the subject, “it was thanks to the ‘Sectumsempra’ curse that I’ve been able to eliminate Bellatrix, that evening. And for that, I’m forever grateful to you. She just cried ‘A..VA…’ to kill me, and your advice came to my mind like a flash. She was bloodless, irrecoverable and died the next day at St. Mungo’s Hospital. On their side, Voldemort, Bellatrix and Wormtail were counted as dead. Wormtail was struck by a curse cast by Snape aiming perhaps at Hermione. As for the prisoners, there were the brother and sister Death Eaters wounded by Ron and Hermione by the Sectumsempra curse (it was the only curse capable to ward off the Avada Kedavra), the bundle of four Death Eaters that Aberforth tied up in a block by the Anti-Apparition curse. And about twenty others wounded or Incarcerated by other members of our camp. The Aurors from the Ministry came after you had left. We have searched throughout the underground passages, and have found some five more wounded Death Eaters who had taken refuge there.  They still are in Azkaban. We have been able to set free Ollivander and Fortescue.  According to Fortescue, Voldemort thought they were informers working for Dumbledore. He didn’t kill them (not yet, fortunately !) for he wanted to exploit them and have more information about Dumbledore. The Ministry then destroyed all the underground passages, the ventilation shafts, and demolished the Malfoys’ manor. In the underground, it was a real kingdom, with Voldemort’s throne hall ! Some Death Eaters surrendered themselves the following days saying that they were acting under the Imperius curse. Lucius Malfoy had committed suicide some months later in Askaban. The Ministry is always looking for Snape, Narcissa Malfoy, Draco and Lestrange and some two or three other Death Eaters, to our knowledge. But since, they hide themselves in their den, there’s been no sign of them, well some small trouble here and there, not much.”

One of Dumbledore’s sentences echoed in Harry’s mind, and he recited it unconsciously:

‘You should bear in mind that it’s important to fight and fight again and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never be quite eradicated …’

“Yes”, said Ron, “but it’s no longer your duty … I think that the Death Eaters are still looking for the wandering soul of their master ! … Lestrange was spotted once in Albania where Voldemort had been after his first downfall ! They can go on searching for a very long time !” Ron added in a mocking laugh. “The disappearance of your scar is an irrefutable proof of his death.”

“At the Ministry they didn’t know which curse you used to eliminate Voldemort”, said Neville.  “Those who were present at the battle that evening had categorically stated that you simply used the Cruciatus curse, and we too, we heard you. But his chest was opened and his heart lacerated into thousands of pieces. It was reported in detail by the Daily Prophet the next day, accompanied with photos. I still keep a copy of that special issue as a souvenir of that unforgettable event.”

“I was desperate. I couldn’t bring myself to use the killing curse, then in the rage and despair, I cast him the Cruciatus curse. But instead of concentrating on making him suffer the way Bellatrix had shown me at the Ministry, it was the image of my mother, my father, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, and Hermione’s inert corpse at my feet that I saw in my mind, and the love I felt for them overwhelmed me and crushed my heart into thousands of pieces’, said Harry pressing his hand over his chest, his glazed eyes fixing far away, as if he still lived again the scene of the battle… “Hermione has saved me !” added Harry.

“I understand now”, said Ron, “Love, the dreadful weapon, on which Dumbledore emphasized, and against which Voldemort would be powerless.”

“There’s still a detail that I can’t understand”, Neville went on. “After eliminating Voldemort, you paid no more attention to anybody else. You threw yourself over Hermione’s body and you wept as if there was nobody else around you. We were all so afraid for you. But Snape just cast a look full of hatred at you, then he directed the killing curse straight at Mr Weasley, as if to take revenge on you, to relieve his rage. He then grasped Draco’s arm and Disapparated with him after blowing a whistle. At once, all the Death Eaters who were still standing Disapparated also, although they could have easily killed you.”

“Snape’s curse that killed Wormtail in fact was meant to deflect the Avada Kedavra that Voldemort cast at me and that Hermione received right in the heart, because she had jumped in front of me to shield me”, Harry replied. “Snape sent me a letter the next day to say that I should not consider myself  ‘invincible’, and that it was very easy for him to kill me that evening. He hadn’t done so, because he was bound by a Pact that he had been forced to conclude with Dumbledore. According to which, he had to protect me.

“… Snape explained that Dumbledore was aware of the Unbreakable Vow he had made with Narcissa Malfoy to help Dacro carry out his mission, and to kill Dumbledore in Draco’s place if need be. (It was I who told Dumbledore of his Unbreakable Vow. I had overheard it in a conversation between him and Draco. Snape didn’t know that). So according to Snape, Dumbledore would have explained to him the terms of the Pact according to which, if ever Snape had to kill Dumbledore, he should know and bear in mind that in doing so, he would seal the Pact and would have to protect me for all his life. On the Astronomy Tower, Snape had to kill Dumbledore to save his own carcass, because of his Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa, and as Draco had failed. So, Snape’s got himself entangled in his own net.

“… Snape explained to me in his letter that I could not lift the charm of the Pact, because Dumdemore sealed it with his very own death. So only on Snape’s death, or on my death, my natural death, the charm would be lifted. ‘Poor’ Snape, he’ll have to protect me for all his life, protect the person he hates most in the world ! It becomes ironic, not to say funny !”…

“And how could he protect you if he doesn’t know where you are ?” Ron asked.

“He has just to keep an eye over his Death Eaters ! That was why he always used a whistle as a signal to put an end to an operation or a battle. After having killed Dumblemore, he must be hierarchically second to Voldemort, and the other Death Eaters must obey him.”

“All the members of the Order and the D.A. who participated in the battle have received the Order of Merlin First Class, Dad also, on posthumous basis”, said Ron. “Scrimgeour came to the battlefield when everything was over, with his usual delegation, Percy was among them. When he saw our entire family there, he said to Percy “It’s a pity that you are not part of the Weasly’s family !”

“It was my fault that Dad died’, said Ginny with tears in her eyes. He gave me his Misleading Cloak when I joined you at the border of the forest. Otherwise, Snape couldn't have been able to aim correctly at Dad”.

“If you reason in that way, it was also my fault”, Harry replied, “because Snape, in order to take revenge on me, had decided to kill your father just because your father loved me as a son, you were my second family … No, Ginny, it was no one’s fault, but Snape’s ! He is a Death Eater through and through, deep to the marrow. Only a Death Eater can kill without any reason !

“… And Draco will continue in his wake if we don’t offer him a clement hand !”  Harry added after a moment of silence.

 

 

Thereupon, Winky appeared in front of Harry.

“Monsieur Potter, the dinner is ready.”

“Thank you, Winky. Come on, you all. Mum, and Dad … you will do justice to our dinner.”

They all got up and entered the dining room which was spacious, soberly decorated, and lit by hundreds of ceiling lights which were reflected by a multitude of crystal beads falling down like tears.

“Sit down here, Mum”, said Harry, “at the end of the table, in English fashion, with Bill at your side, and Fleur, near Dad, on the other end. And you all, sit down wherever you want, just save a place for me.”

Then Harry darted to the kitchen.

“Dobby, how many courses have you prepared ?”

Dobby enumerated them.

“Great ! Thank you Dobby !” then Harry returned to the dining room.

“Well, you’ve left me a place ?  Oh ! facing Gabrielle and between Luna and Ginny, I’m very spoiled “, said Harry sitting down. “Dobby said there are on the whole four courses, without counting cheeses and desserts. So try to do justice to all the courses prepared by Dobby and Winky. There’s a dish that you particularly appreciate”, Harry added turning towards Fleurs, ‘La bouillabaisse’.

“Woouuawh”, said Bill, “I should definitely taste that”.

“The finest fifteenth century goblin-wrought silver goblets from Sirius’ !” exclaimed Ron raising his goblet in front of his eyes.

“Yes, when I made up my mind to leave number twelve, Grimmauld place to the entire disposal of the Order, I sent Dobby to rid the house of all my personal things. By the way, I have something for you, Ron”, then turning his head to the kitchen, Harry called :

“Dobby ! Could you please bring me the packet I’ve entrusted you the other day ?”

And the elf appeared at once in front of Harry with the packet.

“That’s for you, Ron. Do whatever you like with it ? … Thank you Dobby”, Harry added to the elf who was withdrawing.

Ron opened the packet. There were a locket, a cup and an ink-pot, all in solid gold.

“Salazar Slytherin’s locket, Rowena Ravenclaw’s ink-pot, and Helga Hufflepuff’s cup ! You give me a fortune !” said Ron passing the objects to everybody around the table.

“I suppose that Borgin & Burks would be very pleased to have them among their collections, if ever you need money to enlarge the Hog’s Head bar”, said Harry.

“Yes, that’s for sure … Oh ! how much we were happy when we found them … The good old days ! And Hermione who shivered at the thought of those adders swarming in the sewer ! … Never again shall we have the spirit that was ours in those days ! said Ron with a nostalgic tone.

“No !” let out Harry after a moment of silence.

“The two elves are here with you, Harry ?” asked Ginny changing the subject.

“No, not exactly. As you were all married, and no longer lived at The Burrow, your mother did not need Winky any longer, she sent her to me. And ever since, Winky serves my parents.”

“Oh ! The elves, they are wonderful !” said Mrs Granger. “The house is always spotlessly clean, the meals delicious with varied dishes, the bed sheets without a crease, and the house is always full of flowers ! It’s as if we had a fairy in the house. I don’t know how they manage !”

“But it’s magic, Mum !”

And everybody burst out laughing … But Harry thought that never again would he rediscover the cheerfulness of the old days.

They enjoyed their dinner royally, and the evening was spent in a warm and cheerful family atmosphere.

 

 

***

 

 

“My dear boy, we know that you loved Hermione very much, and that you still love her, but now that you are our son, we would like to see you married and have children.”

It was on the flight of steps in front of the manor; Harry accompanied his adoptive parents to their car.

“It’s still difficult for me to forget Hermione’s face”, said Harry, “and as for me, it would not be fair towards any other woman.”

“Miss Delacour is very beautiful”, said Mrs Granger without preambule. She was smiling.

“I think she had loved me.”

Mrs Granger thereupon returned to the dining room where the Weasleys and Gabrielle still lingered after their breakfast. Harry and Mr Granger followed her.

“Excuse me for interrupting you. Next week is my son’s birthday. May I invite you all to our home in London, ladies and Gentlemen ?” Mrs Granger said with a smile, then turning to Gabrielle, she went on: “Mademoiselle Delacour, you’ll come, won’t you ? Harry appreciates you highly.”

Gabrielle was standing in her Muggle tight dress, simple, and beautiful as a goddess. She returned, gazed at Harry for a moment, in silence, and then she held out her hand that Harry took in his.

“I would be very honoured, Mrs Granger”, she replied with a timid smile.

 

 

THE END