EPILOGUE
The Leaky Cauldron, a famous place as Hagrid had once described it, never changed. Every time Harry walked into the inn, it always looked the same. The same old tables and chairs, the same old bar-even the same old innkeeper, Tom, although he was getting to be rather old. Still, the place held some significance to Harry. It was the first magical place he had ever gone to when he entered the wizarding world.
It seemed like such a long time ago.
An auburn-haired woman waved to him from the corner of the inn. With a nod, he walked over to her table.
"Hi. Sorry I'm a bit late," he said, holding out his hand. "Harry Potter."
She shook it. "Sheila Wannamaker, Mr. Potter. It's a pleasure. And it's fine that you're late. I'm surprised you accepted to do this interview at all. I mean, you so rarely do them," the woman said as Harry took a seat.
"Yeah. Generally speaking, I don't really like giving interviews. Oh, and by the way, call me Harry," he said, offering her a smile.
She smiled, showing off white teeth. "Okay…Harry. Well, we might as well get to business, eh? D'you mind if I use a Quick Quotes Quill?"
"Oh, sure. Why not? As long as it records what I say and not some rubbish like Rita Skeeter's did," Harry said.
She gave a derisive laugh. "Rita Skeeter isn't exactly what you call a good journalist, now is she?"
He laughed. "Oh, I like you already."
She grinned and took out a roll of parchment and an acid green quill from her bag. "Okay, let's just start with the basics. Could you state your full name, age, and current city of residence?"
"Harry James Potter. Thirty-seven. Godric's Hollow," he said.
"Godric's Hollow? Isn't that where you and your parents lived the night that they died?" she asked.
"It is. Hermione and I decided to move there after our flat in London got a little too small for us," Harry said.
"I see. Okay, so let's hit the big question. How are you feeling as the twenty-year anniversary of your defeat of Lord-er-Voldemort approaches?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Not all that different, really. Going back to that night is…not pleasant."
"And so shrouded in mystery," she said. "You've never given many details on what happened that night when you faced-er-Voldemort on the top of the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts. Could you possibly be a little more candid about it now?"
"Voldemort died. That's all anybody really needs to know, isn't it?" he asked.
She smiled. "Everyone wonders how you killed him, though."
"I'm sorry to say that the wizarding world can keep on wondering. I've told the story only twice-once to Professor Dumbledore before he died and once to my two best friends in the whole world, although it took me three years to tell them," he said. "I won't repeat it again."
Sheila nodded. "Very well. Let's talk about your life. You are the son of Lily and James Potter, who were members of Albus Dumbledore's original Order of the Phoenix."
"Yeah. They hated the Dark Arts and were willing to do anything to stop Voldemort's first rise to power," Harry said.
"More importantly, they were willing to do anything to save you, their only son. Is there any truth to the rumors that there was a prophecy made about you and-er-Voldemort before you were born? Once that stated that you would be the only one who would be able to defeat him?"
"That one's true," he replied, nodding his head. "Sybil Trelawney made a prophecy stating that Voldemort would mark someone as his equal and that person would be the only one who could stop him." He pulled back his bangs and revealed his scar. "That's why I have this."
"Is it also true that your scar connected you and-er-Voldemort? You could enter into his mind and see what he was up to?"
Again, he nodded. "Our connection that was forged the night he gave me my scar allowed me to see what he saw, hear what he heard, even though I'm not a Legilimens. During my sixth and seventh years-particularly my seventh-at Hogwarts, I was able to warn Dumbledore, who would warn the Ministry, about an attack that was taking place. Of course, it did have its drawbacks, too. Voldemort could see into my mind, which is why I had to become an Occlumens."
"So, the night your parents were killed, you were taken to live with your Muggle relatives, correct?"
"Right. I lived with my mother's sister and her family," he said.
"But you didn't get along well with them, did you?"
"They always treated me badly. They were afraid of me and of what I could do. They hated anything that wasn't completely Muggle. I mean, they never even told me I was a wizard. I found that out on my eleventh birthday when Hagrid came to deliver my Hogswarts letter. They even went as far as to tell me that my parents died in a car crash."
"Noooo," she said, looking horrified. "A car crash?"
"Yes. So, no, I never really liked them and always dreaded going back to their house for the summer holiday. Dumbledore insisted upon it, though. There was a protection there for me. My aunt and I were bounded by blood and so as long as I could call their house 'home,' the protection would last until my seventeenth birthday. Unfortunately for my aunt, Voldemort knew that as well. He sent some Death Eaters after me on my birthday, thinking that I would still be at there house, only I wasn't. My poor aunt didn't survive."
"Oh, dear."
"Of course, she wasn't the only person to lose their life in the war. So many people did. A lot of people I cared about died, too-Sirius Black, Arthur Weasley, his son Percy, Remus Lupin, Dennis Creevey, Cedric Diggory, and, of course, Professor Dumbledore, although he died shortly after my final battle with Voldemort.
"Yes, Dennis's older brother, Colin, works at the Prophet as a photographer. I remember him talking about his little brother."
"Dennis was a member of the original Dumbledore's Army that took place during my fifth year, along with Colin. They believed me when pretty much everyone else didn't. I'll never forget that."
"Let us talk about your relationship with former headmaster Albus Dumbledore. You were the last one to see him before he died, correct?"
"Yeah. He asked to see me. We-er-talked about my fight and some other issues and then he just…passed. It was hard to know that I'd never be able to talk to him again. He was my greatest mentor. But at least he wasn't a victim of the war, although his injuries incurred while fighting Voldemort before I did certainly helped him along. He just died of old age," Harry said.
"Did he ever express how he thought of you? Most people would agree that you were his favorite pupil of all time."
"He did tell me, before he died. In all honesty, if it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't be alive. I wouldn't have made it to the age of two. It was the things that he did that allowed me to become the man I am today. Although, I don't mean to short change the others that had a dominant influence in my life-Ron and Hermione. Sirius as well."
"Let's talk about your friends. Of course, Hermione is more than just a friend, isn't she?"
He laughed. "She certainly is."
"You met both Ron Weasley and the then Hermione Granger on your first train ride to Hogwarts, right?"
"That's right. Ron and I shared a compartment and, at one point, Hermione showed up with Neville Longbottom looking for his toad."
"What did you think of her at that time?"
"Honestly? I thought she was a bit bossy and direct." They both laughed. "She scared me a bit, too, because she read all of the textbooks and had them practically memorized. But-er-after an incident, Ron and I became best friends with her."
"What was the incident?"
"We-er-saved her from a mountain troll."
"A mountain troll!"
He nodded. "Professor Quirrell, who was my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher my first year, let a troll in to distract Dumbledore and the other professors while he attempted to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He came bursting into the Great Hall, screaming about it-part of his act, you know-and all of us students were sent back to our common rooms. I suddenly realized though that Hermione, who was in the loo crying because of something stupid Ron had said to her, had no clue about the troll, so he and I went to go warn her. I mean, we were horrible to her, but we didn't want her to get hurt. Especially not when it would have been our faults. Unfortunately, we caught up to the troll who was entering a room. We locked the door to the room, thinking we'd just done a great thing when we heard a scream. That was when we realized the room he had just locked the troll in was the girls' bathroom."
"Oh, no," she gasped.
"Yeah. So we had to go back. We somehow knocked the troll out and, to our great surprise, when the professors came to see what all the noise was, Hermione lied and said that she had sought out the troll. I have no idea why she did that, but she risked her necks for us and I never forgot that."
"When did you two start dating?"
"The summer between our sixth and seventh years. We kept it quiet, though, because I didn't want it to get back to Voldemort that I cared about one person more than anyone else. The last time he figured that out, my godfather died."
"That was in your fifth year, right?"
"Yeah. That was a hard year."
"So, after Hogwarts, you wound up playing for the English National Team in the World Cup. How on earth did that happen?"
"Some scouts saw me play Quidditch at Hogwarts, I guess. I mean, I'm a fair Seeker."
"Fair? You won the World Cup for England! You defeated Viktor Krum in the final!"
"Well, the other six members of the team had something to do with that as well," Harry said.
She laughed. "Of course."
"If Oliver Wood hadn't made some of those amazing saves, we wouldn't even be talking about my time in the World Cup."
She laughed again. "Okay. Although, I must say, you made one hell of a catch against that American Seeker, Blackwell."
"Thank you."
"But still, that was the only time we saw you play professional Quidditch. After that, you went into Auror training."
"Right. I spent two years doing that."
"Why only two? Immediately after the war ended, Aurors were once again required to do three years of training, yet you finished at the age of twenty."
"Well, you see, I already had a year's worth of training under my belt. During my seventh year, Mad-Eye Moody came to Hogwarts every other week and instructed me."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah and when I was awarded the Order of Merlin, Gawain Greene simply told me that, after everything that I had learned and accomplished, there was no point for me to do the first year of Auror training. That's why I was able to play in the World Cup. When I was finished, they admitted me to the second year of training," Harry told her.
"And you'll been doing a fantastic job ever since. How many Death Eaters have you sent to Azkaban?"
"More than I can count, really. It's a lot of hard work, though, capturing them, and I'm never alone when I take them down. Well, except for that one time with Dolohov."
"Who do you work with a lot in the Auror Department."
He laughed. "Draco Malfoy, which is funny because we don't get along very well. We never have. He became an Auror because he decided that he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Death Eater. I remember the night he and I captured Lucius. It was…very difficult. I imagine he'd much rather work with Mara Frost. They're alike in personality." He laughed again. "If it wasn't for the horrendous age difference, they'd probably date. Oh, I'm going to get into a lot of trouble for saying that."
"You don't sound like you care, though."
"I don't!"
They laughed. "I'd like to hear about your friends' lives after the war. How have they changed?" she asked.
"Well, they've changed a bit. I mean, Ron and Ginny lost their father and their older brother, but they're doing very well. All of the Weasleys are, in fact. Bill, the eldest, married Fleur Delacour and have three children. They live somewhere in Dover so that it's practically a hop, skip, and a jump to France. I like how their kids are bilingual, too.
"Charlie, who works with dragons, is also married to a nice woman who also works at the refuge in Romania. They come back to Britain every now and then to visit.
"Fred and George have more money than they know what to do with, running that joke shop of there's. I think they've got branches in at least seven different cities. It was fun to watch those two settle down, though. Hermione and I had bets that it would never happen."
"Fred Weasley married Katie Bell, while George Weasley married a former employee of their shop, Verity Chase, correct?"
"Yeah. They're both married and have kids who are just as mischievous as their fathers. It's kind of funny though-one moment I hear those two are dating Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet and the next I hear they're getting married to two different people!"
"That's the way life is sometimes," she said.
"Yeah. I guess so. Anyway, Ginny wound up marrying Neville Longbottom a couple of years after she got out of Hogwarts and now she's doing very well as an Obliviator for the Ministry. Neville actually took over for Professor Sprout when she retired at Hogwarts, which is great because his best subject was Herbology. He's Head of Gryffindor House now, even. I'm very proud of him. They have this cute little girl, too, by the name of Megan. She's due to start Hogwarts next year.
"Then, of course, there's Ron." He chuckled. "Ron's life has changed a bit since the war, yeah. His dream came true when he was taken on the Chudley Cannons' reserve team. Sadly he never moved up the ranks and after he got married to Luna he just…lost interest. Not in the game, but in trying to show Chudley that he was better than what they thought. So he entered into the Ministry and has been working up through the ranks in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I mean, he's only thirty-eight and he runs the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters. He's very good at his job, too."
"Tell me a little about his private life. He's married to the editor of The Quibbler, Luna Weasley-née Lovegood."
"Right. They've got two children-twins Brendan and Bridget, who are fourth years at Hogwarts and, like their dad, aunt, and three of their uncles, play Quidditch. Er-Brendan's a Beater, like his Uncles Fred and George were, while Bridget is a Chaser, like her Aunt Ginny."
"Not a Keeper, like their father?"
"No. That spot's currently filled by another fourth year whose father was a Keeper-Michael Wood, son of Oliver Wood."
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah."
"Alright, since we've talked about your friends' families, let's talk about yours. You married Hermione Granger when you were twenty-one."
"Yeah, I proposed when we were nineteen, but we waited until I was officially out of Auror training before we actually got married. Besides, she was settling into her career as an Unspeakable."
"Yes, that's right. Your wife does work for the Department of Mysteries. Does she ever tell you about her work?"
He laughed. "No. She's not allowed, is she? But that's okay. Some of my missions as an Auror must remain quiet, too."
"How old were you when your first child was born?"
He thought back. "I was twenty-three when Ana-Anastasia-was born. Hermione and I had spent two years alone as an official married couple and we were ready to have a baby. We're truly blessed that Ana's with us."
"How so?"
"Well, there were some complications during her birth. The midwives thought she had died on us there for a minute, but she didn't, thank God."
"How old is she now?"
"She's fourteen now. A fourth year at Hogwarts. She, along with her brother, will be home next week. I'm looking forward to it."
"How old is your son?"
"Griffin's three years younger than Ana. He just completed his first year at Hogwarts."
"Do they take after their mother or their father more?"
He laughed. "Well, they're brilliant like Hermione but seem to have my sense of adventure. They also play Quidditch. Ana's the Seeker for the Gryffindor team, like I was, while Griffin takes after his grandfather and is a Chaser. Ironically enough, the First Year rule was bent for both of them, just like it was for me and for another friend of mine who is a phenomenal Chaser."
"I've seen a picture of them. They look a lot like you."
"Yeah, they've both got my hair and eye color, although Ana's hair is a bit like her mum's, which is better than what poor Griffin and I have to put up with. This mop will never lie flat," he said, pointing to the top of his head.
She laughed. "How content with life are you now, after twenty years?"
"Very content. I have everything I've always wanted. I've got a good job and friends. Most importantly, I have a family and I love them very dearly. I don't need Dark wizards to catch to make my life worth living. As long as I wake up every day next to the woman I love and can watch my kids grow up, I'm a happy man."
"But still, you'll always be remembered as the Boy Who Lived and as the Hero With a Scar."
"Yeah, I will, but I don't need those titles to know I've lived a full life. In the grand scheme of things, it's not my scar that makes me who I am, it's my friends and family. To them, I'm not the 'Hero With a Scar.' I'm just Harry, and that's the way I always wanted it to be."
Final Author's Note: Wow, the rollercoaster ride that has been writing this fic is over! It's kind of hard to believe. I mean, it's taking me nearly two years to write this-two very crazy years thanks to college. I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the past few years as I wrote both MoL and Do1. I really appreciate it-the reviews…the feedback…everything. The shippers of the HMS Harmony are what make this ship so much better than all of the other ships I've sailed on in different fandoms. Ours has the greatest sense of community, I think. I'm just happy that, with MoL and now Do1, I have contributed to this great community in some way.
I'd like to thank the numerous betas I've had for my novel-length fics: Whitney, Jessica, Nitya, Kalie, and Charmaine. Without them, there would be thrice as many typos as there are now.
Now, I take my final bow because this is my last fanfic. It's time for me to cast my net someplace else and peruse the depths of my own imagination, where my own characters dwell. I hope all of you that aren't boycotting the new book enjoy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, regardless of the shipping. I know I will. That said, thank you for everything and farewell.
~Jennifer