Chapter 24: Epilogue (Lol, couldn't resist!)
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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia
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*Ten Years Later*
"I've got to go, I have to go on rounds," A fifteen year old Remus said, standing up from the table he was sitting at with his three friends, James, Sirius, and Peter.
"With Lily?" James asked. Remus rolled his eyes.
"Yes, with Lily, she is the other Gryffindor prefect, James." James sighed and muttered something that none of them could hear. He slid down in his chair and crossed his arms in a clear pout.
"I think what Prongs means to say since he can't use his words that others can hear, is `lucky you, Moony'," Sirius said with a grin and James glared at him. Again, Remus rolled his eyes.
"Yes, because going on rounds is the perfect opportunity for me to work my magic and try to get Lily to go for me instead of you, that's what I look forward to every night when I get to wander the halls with her," Remus said sarcastically, making Sirius and Peter snigger and James turn his glare to Remus instead of Sirius. Remus went on, "Seriously, James, if you didn't act like such an idiot sometimes she might actually go out with you when you ask."
"I do not act like an idiot."
"Yes, you do. Like today, hexing someone like that just for kicks and giggles, not only that, but a friend of hers-"
"Snivellus? I'm supposed to feel bad hexing Snivellus?" James said incredulously.
"And why is Lily friends with him, anyway?" Peter asked, "I mean…most of Snape's friends are going to be…Death Eaters, Lily would be one of the last people they'd want on their side."
"I don't know, but I have a feeling they aren't going to be friends much longer," Sirius said. "Did you hear what he called her today? Lily's not going to take that lightly."
"I don't know," Remus said, "But I have to get going. I'll see you lot after rounds." Remus left his three friends and met Lily as she was coming down the stairs to the girls' dormitory and the two of them took off for rounds. The memory kept going, but eleven year old Teddy couldn't watch all of it, for he heard his name being called outside of the pensieve. He pulled himself out of it and when he set foot on his bedroom floor, he about knocked over the little girl that was standing right next to him. She stumbled and Teddy reached out quickly to help her keep her balance. The girl had black hair and green eyes and was just two years younger than Teddy. His little sister, Addison.
"What do you want, Addi?" Teddy asked with a sigh.
"Mum says it's almost time to go, you need to finish loading your trunk into the car."
"Alright, tell Mum I'm on my way." Addison headed for the door and right before she left, Teddy called her back. He said, "Oh and Addison don't stand too close to the pensieve next time." Addison's eyes narrowed into a glare and she stuck her tongue out at Teddy, who stuck his out back at her. She grinned and left the room. Teddy turned and emptied the contents from Remus's memory back into the vial it belonged in. He then put the pensieve his parents gave him for his eleventh birthday back into the trunk and in the basin he placed the box of memories that went with it that his real father had left for him before he died. It was one of his best presents he'd ever gotten from his parents; he knew they hoped that he could be able to become closer to his real mother and father. However, Remus's memories only had a few ones dealing with his wife, Nymphadora and their time together prior to their death. When Teddy asked his dad why this was, Harry had said he supposed it was because no matter what others told him, Remus never was entirely proud of the fact that he was married and had a child. Because of this, Teddy had grown to hate his biological father. But he still watched his father's memories, back when he was younger and more carefree. Because as Harry had told him, war changes a person, good or bad, it changes them. He closed the lid of the trunk and did a last minute check of his room to make sure he packed everything. Today he was going to start his first year at Hogwarts, and the closer it got to time for him to go, the more nervous he got. This had a lot to do with another reason why he disliked his biological father. Teddy was a werewolf, just as his father was, and even though werewolves were received in polite society after the war better than they were prior to the war, but still, it was something that he wished he didn't have to deal with. Even though the Wolfsbane potion helped keep him from becoming a full out werewolf, it was still painful. There were a lot of hoops that had to be jumped through to make sure Teddy was able to go to Hogwarts because of his being a werewolf.
After he did the last check around his room, he had another visitor, this time it was Addison's fraternal twin, Aurora. She had black hair and green eyes just like her sister, but her facial features favored her mother's, while her twin's facial features favored her father's. She bounced in with a smile and said brightly, "Are you ready to go, big brother?" Aurora was always so full of energy that Teddy couldn't resist smiling at his little sister.
"I think so. I think I have everything packed."
"Are you excited?"
"Yeah, but I'm nervous too."
"Why?" Aurora asked, sitting down on Teddy's trunk. "In two years when it's my turn to go to Hogwarts, I will be so excited to go, I won't have room for nerves. You get to go to school and learn all kinds of magic, and history, and spells, and…all kinds of stuff!" Teddy shrugged.
"I don't know, I just am."
"You'll be great, I know it. And you have to tell me all about it, don't leave anything out." Teddy laughed.
"Ok, I'll write you every week and tell you everything I learned that week."
"Would you?" Aurora asked excitedly.
"No," Teddy said with another laugh, and Aurora looked disappointed. "But I promise I will write to you. And I'll tell you everything else that I didn't write about during Christmas and summer holidays. Deal?"
"Deal," Aurora said, her bright mood returning lightning quick. Teddy walked over and gave his sister a hug.
"I'm going to miss you, you know that?"
"Of course you will, I'm your favorite sister." Teddy laughed again.
"What makes you think that?"
"Why wouldn't I be your favorite? Your favorite can't be Addi, she's so moody sometimes. Lizzie is loud and always in trouble, and Savannah is just annoying and spoiled."
"True, but Addison is really into Quidditch, so she's fun to play with, and Elizabeth isn't always loud, and as to her being in trouble all the time, she's the middle child, and there's nothing wrong with a little mischief now and then. And as for Savannah, she's three and the youngest, so what do you expect? But she doesn't know how to mouth back yet so that's a plus."
"But even with all that, I'm still your favorite sibling and you know it," Aurora said smugly.
"No, actually I'm going to pick Landon as my favorite; I gotta go with the little brother."
"You can't pick Landon as your favorite, he doesn't count, he hasn't been born yet!"
"I know, but I gotta stick with my only brother in a house full of little sisters," Teddy teased. Aurora glared at him but still kept the smile on her face. The discussion of favorite siblings was halted when Aurora and Teddy were joined by their dad coming into the room.
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Nothing, just discussing favorite siblings," Teddy said. "And Rory is mad because I picked Landon as my favorite since he's going to be my only brother." Harry laughed and Aurora launched into questioning her dad about favorites.
"Dad, who's your favorite kid?"
"Oh, no, no, no, that question is a trap and I am not answering it."
"It's probably best, Dad," Teddy said.
"You can say it's me, Dad, I won't tell anybody," Aurora said mischievously.
"Yeah right," Harry said with a laugh and Aurora grinned. Harry added, "Parents aren't allowed to have favorites, Rory. It's a rule."
"Where is that written?" Aurora scoffed.
"It's a rule you'll learn when you have your own kids. And even if it wasn't a rule, I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite, you're all my favorite."
"Oh, very diplomatic answer, Dad," Aurora said sarcastically.
"Yep, and that's all you're going to get out of me on the subject." Aurora grinned and rolled her eyes. Harry changed the subject by saying, "Well, should we get everything loaded up? We need to be at the Hogwarts Express in an hour." Aurora got up off of Teddy's trunk and Harry pulled out his wand and levitated Teddy's trunk and Aurora left the room first, leading the way down the hall and down the stairs. Harry said to his son, "Are you getting excited?" Teddy shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess, but I'm a little scared too," he said. It was one thing to tell a white lie to his sister because she didn't always understand, but his dad did.
"Well, everything is going to be fine. You'll do great, I know you will."
"Yeah, I'm not so much worried about that, I'm worried about now fitting in. Everyone is going to know what I am and what if no one wants to be around me because they're afraid of me?" Harry stopped walking and put the trunk down and Teddy stopped as well. Aurora looked back to see what was holding up her dad and brother. Harry waved her on, and she kept going down the stairs.
"Teddy, I'm not going to lie to you and say that the werewolf thing won't be an issue to some people, because some people have a hard time getting past initial judgments. Believe me, you're not going to get along with everyone, even if you were-"
"Normal?" Teddy said bitterly.
"Not a werewolf," Harry said as though Teddy hadn't interrupted. "But you will meet all kinds of people who will want to meet you and want to be friends with you. You've already got a friend that's going to be there with you. You've got Victoire going to school with you, you already know her." Teddy smiled and blushed. Harry chuckled at his son's blushing at the mention of Bill and Fleur Weasley's oldest daughter. He went on, "So see, you'll know someone, and I'm sure you'll make lots of friends at school." Teddy nodded.
"Thanks Dad."
"You're welcome. Now c'mon, or we're going to be late." Harry levitated the trunk again and he and Teddy went downstairs. They parted at the bottom of the steps, Harry going out to put the trunk in the car, Teddy going into the living room where his mum and four sisters were. Addison and Aurora were both sitting on the couch next to each other reading books, Aurora reading some kind of history book, Addison, a Quidditch book. Elizabeth was across from the twins in the recliner watching TV. She was sitting sideways in the chair like she always did, her feet dangling over the arm of the chair. Hermione was kneeling on the floor helping the youngest, Savannah, get her shoes on and tied. Savannah was adamant about tying the laces herself, but she was still working on learning how to tie them. Every time Hermione would show her and tie the shoes for her, Savannah would untie them and try to tie them back up again, and every time she couldn't quite get it right.
Hermione glanced up at the clock while Savannah was working on her laces and said, "Ok, Savie, we're going to have to tie your laces now so we can get going, I promise we'll work on it again when we get home, ok?"
"Ok," Savannah said unhappily and stuck her feet out so her mother could tie her shoes for her.
"You'll get it soon, I promise," Hermione said brightly as she tied Savannah's sneakers and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Savannah scrambled up off of the floor and was about to run past Teddy but he stopped her.
"Hey, Savie," he said to her, making her stop in her tracks. He bent down and said, "give kiss?" Savannah stood up on her tip toes and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek. Teddy smiled and said, "Ah, thank you so much." Savannah grinned and ran past him and up the stairs, no doubt to get the numerous dolls and toys she insisted she had to bring along with her on the car ride.
Hermione slowly got up off of the floor, the slow part due to the fact that she was six months pregnant. She said, "Lizzie, shut the TV off, we need to get going. Addi, Rory, c'mon, let's go." Elizabeth shut the TV off and Addison and Aurora shut their books in sync. The girls all ran ahead and out to the car, and when Hermione left the living room she reached out for Teddy to give her a hug. Teddy hugged her tightly and held onto her for a while. All of a sudden he was starting to feel homesick and he hadn't even left home yet. This was the first time he'd been away from home for longer than a couple weeks.
"Do you have everything ready to go?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, it's all in the car," Teddy said, letting go of his mom.
"Good." She smiled. "You're going to have a lot of fun, Teddy."
"I know."
"And don't worry," Hermione said, sensing part of what was troubling her adoptive son. "Everything will be fine."
"I know," Teddy repeated. Hermione smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Should we go? We don't want you to be late for the train." The two of them left the house and to the car and soon after Harry started the car and they drove off to King's Cross.
The Potter family arrived at King's Cross and made their way onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Once past the barrier, they were met by a crowd of students and their parents bidding them farewell before the students would board the train for their first day of classes for the new school year. Right away Savannah tugged on Harry's sleeve. Harry looked down at his daughter and noticed her give him a worried look. Savannah was never one for big crowds.
"Daddy, carry me? Pweez?" Harry nodded and picked her up and placed her on his shoulders where she always liked to sit. As soon as they all cleared the entrance way, a bright and excited female voice called out.
"Rory! Addi!" The twins turned and saw their best friend Celestine Weasley. Celestine was the twins' age and she looked so much like her mother, but with her father's fiery red hair. She ran toward her friends and was soon followed by her parents, Ron and Luna. Walking with them was their oldest niece, Victoire Weasley. Celestine gave both of her friends hugs and the three girls excitedly started talking and went to go sit down on one of the benches. Both Harry and Hermione gave their friends confused looks when they saw them.
"What are you two doing here?" Hermione asked Ron and Luna once they got within earshot.
"Bill had to go on assignment to Egypt for a couple weeks, and Fleur went with him. Since it was during the time Torie was starting Hogwarts, we offered to take her to the train. And of course, Celestine wanted to come too," Ron said, nodding toward his daughter sitting on the bench with the two oldest Potter girls.
"Especially when she knew that Addi and Rory would be here when you came to see Teddy off," Luna said. "How are you, Teddy?"
"I'm good. Excited," Teddy said, before Luna could ask. He smiled shyly at Victoire, blushing slightly.
"Hi, Torie." Victoire gave him a shy smile in return.
"Hi Teddy." The four adults tried fighting smiles at the bashful exchanges between the two eleven year olds. Harry took hold of his daughter on his shoulders and lifted her off of them.
"Savie, Daddy needs to put Teddy's trunk on the train for him, do you want to go to Mum?" Savannah shook her head.
"Aunt Luna." Luna smiled and reached out for Savannah as Harry transferred his daughter over to her. After his hands were free, he and Ron went over to load Teddy's and Victoire's trunks onto the train.
"You know, it's hard to believe that I'll be doing this again in two years with my own daughter," Ron said as he and Harry put Victoire's trunk on the train.
"I know, it's hard to believe that I'm bringing Teddy here already. Ten years went by fast."
"How the hell did we get so old, Harry?" Harry laughed.
"We're not that old, Ron. We're only twenty-eight."
"True. But seems like we're older because I have three kids and you have five going on six. You two are like rabbits," Ron said muttering the last sentence just loud enough for Harry to hear him. Harry grinned.
"Don't talk too soon, Ron, you're still young, you and Luna could end up with six too."
"I don't plan on it, three is enough." Harry laughed as they loaded Teddy's trunk onto the train and started back to where their wives were standing.
"Hermione and I didn't really plan on six, but hey, the unexpected happens. So, unless you plan on not ever having sex with your wife again, keep in mind that more kids could be a possibility." It was a couple seconds before Ron spoke, as though he was contemplating what Harry said.
"I suppose one or two more kids wouldn't be that bad." Harry laughed again and Ron joined him as they returned to their wives. But what Ron asked about where the last ten years went, he could completely understand. Time especially seemed to fly once his children were born. When he was a child, time seemed to pass at a snail's pace, it seemed like it took forever to grow up, especially when one does not enjoy one's childhood like most children do. When he was in school, time seemed to pass faster because he was dreading the end of the school year when he would have to go back to Privet Drive for the summer or because he dreaded what kind of danger lay in store for him dealing with Voldemort that year. And after he'd adopted Teddy, and married Hermione almost a year later, and less than a year after that when the twins were born, and the years following when Elizabeth and Savannah were born, time seemed to speed up and it seemed like his children grew like weeds. And now he was seeing his oldest off to his first year at Hogwarts. Looking at his son, who had his natural brown hair and brown eyes today, it seemed like yesterday that he was a little boy, saying his first word, or the first time his hair turned orange. It rarely turned orange when he was happy anymore, mostly because he was able to control the hair and eye changes now. But sometimes, when he would laugh really hard or was just so happy and excited, his hair would turn orange. He felt bad about Teddy's feelings toward his father, but no matter what Harry said or tried to explain, nothing could change the dislike that Teddy had for Remus. Harry hoped that some day when Teddy was older, he would understand everything one day, and maybe have a different opinion about his biological father.
Harry's oldest daughters, Aurora and Addison, were at times clones of their parents' personalities. Aurora was so much like Hermione, always excited to learn, nose in a book constantly, and at times a bossy know-it-all. Addison was a lot like Harry, at times moody and prone to act first and think later, and followed Quidditch as much as her twin sister read up on magic. For the most part the two of them got a long very well, you know, two halves of an embryo and all that, but there were times when they would be at each other's throats, just like their parents fought at times. Harry had been shocked when Hermione told him that instead of there being two children under the age of three in their house, there would be three, and wasn't sure how he'd be able to handle raising twins, but now he wouldn't give either one of them up for the world.
His and Hermione's middle child, Elizabeth, was exactly that, a middle child. And she worked hard to make herself stand out in the Potter family. At six years old, she was the troublemaker, the prankster, and like Hermione had often said, was somehow channeling her paternal grandfather's antics. Harry often wondered how many owls were going to be sent to them telling of Elizabeth's behavior in the seven years she would be at Hogwarts. She was the odd one out physically, having inherited her mother's hair color, while the rest of her sisters had black hair. It was part of the reason why Teddy most of the time would keep his natural brown hair color because it made Elizabeth feel like she fit in more when she didn't stand out when she was younger. As she got older, and found ways of standing out, her brown hair didn't bother her, she had actually come to like being different from her other sisters.
The youngest (for only three months more), was Savannah, and she was full of energy, and took after her oldest sister and mother and always wanted to learn something new. But she never wanted to just have it shown to her, she had to get in and do it herself, otherwise she wouldn't be satisfied. She, like all of her older sisters, had Harry's green eyes, and they would light up when she finally got the hang of something she'd been learning. Teddy may not have a favorite sister, but Savannah definitely had a favorite sibling and it was her big brother. It was probably because he had the most patience with her out of all her other siblings, and would always pay attention to her. She adored her big brother and would probably have the hardest time adjusting to not having him there at home every day.
And then there was his wife, Hermione, who he loved even more than he did ten years ago when he first realized how he felt about her. And he couldn't have all of this without her. Obviously, since it took two to tango, but not just that. Now that Harry looked back, he knew he would've never been able to bring Teddy up by himself. Well, he probably could've done it, but he wouldn't have liked it, not having Hermione in his life, by his side. The last ten years had been far from perfect, but he couldn't imagine any other person he'd want to spend the rest of his life with.
The two of them no longer taught at Hogwarts. After they'd gotten married and when Hermione was pregnant with the twins, they'd both decided that it would be difficult to try and bring up three children when they would be gone for over three quarters of the year, and Hermione didn't like the idea of depending on Winky to take care of their children, especially since the house elf refused payment. So they had quit their jobs at Hogwarts and applied and received jobs in the restored Ministry with Kingsley Shaklebolt as the Minister. With her high grades and talent for research, Hermione worked in the Department of Mysteries, doing just that, research. She dealt with everything from deciphering complex spells and runes to studying history. Harry, with his training to be an Auror and his experience of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was still able to teach, this time to future Aurors, training them in the Defense part of their instruction. He enjoyed it immensely, and even though it was not what he originally planned to do with his life when he had his career advice in his fifth year, he liked it better than field work. Plus it eliminated the danger aspect that being an Auror would bring, and danger was something that a father of five, soon to be six, didn't really need. And he'd had enough danger in his life to last two lifetimes, so he was perfectly fine with that.
It was five minutes to eleven, almost time for the students to all board the train for Hogwarts. It was time for goodbyes, and Teddy went down the line of siblings (all of whom had joined the group again), giving each one of them a hug. He started with Aurora and Addison.
When he got to Addison, she said, "Make sure you tell me all about the Quidditch games, and tryouts, and-"
"I will write to you about every Quidditch game, in precise detail, every goal scored, how the Seeker caught the Snitch and every formation and strategy each team performs," Teddy teased.
"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Teddy," Addison said sarcastically. Teddy smiled and hugged his sister.
"I promise I'll tell you all about Quidditch." Teddy then moved onto Aurora.
"I don't really care if you write to me about Quidditch, but I want to know what you're learning so I know what I need to know in two years when I go to Hogwarts. That way I'll be prepared." Harry and Hermione both heard her say this, and Harry grinned at a laughing Hermione and mouthed, `Your daughter.'
"I will tell you all about it."
"Every week?" Teddy laughed.
"No." Aurora hugged her brother and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Bye, big brother," she said, and she was the only one of the girls that called him that.
"See you at Christmas." Teddy moved on to Elizabeth next. "Stay out of trouble, Lizzie." Elizabeth grinned.
"You know I won't."
"I know, but I thought I should tell you anyway," he said hugging his little sister.
"Have fun, Teddy, love you," Elizabeth said.
"Love you too, Lizzie." He bent down and picked up his littlest sister, who wrapped her little arms around his neck and held on tightly.
"Don't go, Teddy," she said sadly.
"I have to, Savie, I'm gonna go to school. I get to go learn all kinds of magic. It'll be fun. But I will be home in time for Christmas."
"How many sleeps?"
"It's quite a few sleeps."
"More than this many?" Savannah said, holding up five fingers.
"Yeah, more than that many, but I'll be home before you know it. I promise." Savannah hugged him again.
"Love you."
"I love you too. Hey," he nudged her to get her to look at him. When she did, he said, "Give kiss?" Savannah kissed him on the cheek and he gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose and put her down, but not before giving her one last hug. He then came to say goodbye to his mom and dad. He said goodbye to Hermione first.
"Have fun," she said, giving him a hug. "And if you need anything, let us know. And be good, and study hard."
"I will Mum. I love you."
"Love you too, squirt," Hermione said, calling him what she used to call him when he was a little boy. Teddy smiled and blushed a little at being called `squirt' again.
"And don't have this little guy until I come back for Christmas," Teddy said, motioning to Hermione's belly. Hermione laughed.
"Don't worry, I think he'll be on schedule." Teddy gave Hermione one last hug and moved on and gave his dad a hug.
"Everything will be alright, you're going to have a great time," Harry said.
"Thanks Dad. Love you."
"I love you too, son." Teddy even said goodbye and hugged Ron and Luna.
"If you need some help studying for your exams, let me know and I'll show you how to set a trap for a Panthered Poketi. I've yet to see one, so if you catch one you'll have to let me know," Luna said, giving Teddy a hug. Teddy grinned.
"Thanks, Luna. I'll keep that in mind." Teddy then turned to say goodbye to his uncle Ron.
"Beware of the bossy know-it-alls. They'll drive you crazy. Oh wait," Ron said, trailing the last sentence off as though it was an afterthought. Both Teddy and Harry laughed, while Hermione rolled her eyes, though with a small smile on her face.
"Don't listen to him, those bossy know-it-alls could turn out to be your closest friends," Harry said, putting an arm around his wife's waist.
"He's right," Ron said. "Also, make sure you enunciate when you're learning spells." This caused Hermione to burst out laughing.
"Oh my gosh, Ron, I can't believe you remember that."
"I do. I've never forgotten the Levitation charm." There wasn't time to say much more, for the train was whistling and it was time for it to leave the station. Teddy and Victoire said goodbye once more and quickly went to board the train. As the train slowly started to move, Aurora swung Savannah up on her shoulders and the four Potter girls and Celestine walked alongside the train waving goodbye. As they watched the train pull away, Harry took a deep breath and sighed.
"It seems like forever ago that we were all that age, going to Hogwarts for the first time."
"Yep, this is where it all began. This is where the road started, where we first met," Hermione said. "Even if I was the bossy know-it-all at first."
"Any regrets?" Hermione shook her head.
"Nope. I don't think I'd change a thing. The road I began with you has been an adventure. There were times I never thought we'd get through it, but now...I couldn't imagine any other place I'd want to be than here at the beginning with you." Harry smiled and gave Hermione a kiss.
"Me neither."
"I know there's a few things that I'd be glad to go back and not have to experience," Ron said.
"Like what?" Luna asked.
"Well, to not have to worry about getting beat up by enormous live chess pieces, or huge killer snakes, getting my leg almost chewed off by an Animagus. The Yule Ball." The other three adults laughed.
"Wait, wait, you don't want to relive the Yule Ball?" Luna asked through her laughter.
"Right. Well, the ball itself wasn't entirely bad, if I could go back, I would've fought less with you, Hermione, but what I would undo would be the fact that I embarrassed myself and asked my future sister-in-law to the Ball. That way she couldn't keep bringing it up, fourteen years later." They all laughed again.
"Well, while there were a lot of things that didn't go well over the years, and times where we were fearing for our lives, but I don't think I'd change any of it," Hermione said. "We might not be where we are today if things had been different."
"True," Ron agreed, wrapping an arm around Luna's waist. The train finally left the station and started to round the corner and on its way out of sight, and the girls all made their way back to their parents. Aurora handed a crying Savannah to her mother when they reached them.
"People are staring," Elizabeth said in disgust, glancing around at the adults around them that were staring and even the young children who were pointing. Out of all Harry and Hermione's children, Elizabeth was the one who was the most uncomfortable with the fact that people stared at her, her sisters, and her parents because of who they were.
"It's because of me," Ron said, pulling Elizabeth into a one armed hug. "I'm extremely famous, you know. Kind of a big deal." Harry, Hermione, Luna, and the kids all laughed. Except for Savannah who still had a few tears sliding down her cheeks as she clung to her mother.
"Well, should we go?" Harry said, still smiling, and ignoring the gawking eyes around him. Still with his arm around Hermione, they turned to leave back through the barrier into the muggle world.
Hermione was right; there wasn't a thing Harry would change about life either. It was because of all those things that he was able to appreciate what he had even more. Because of his growing up years, he was able to enjoy watching his children grow up happily and know this was how it was supposed to be. Because of his battles with Voldemort he was able to appreciate his life while he had it. Even the relationship he had with Ginny taught him to appreciate his marriage to Hermione even more. It was a good life. He had a wonderful wife, great children, a job he loved, a home to raise his sons and daughters, even an extended family. Even though he and Hermione had no blood ties to the Weasleys, they were still their extended family; all of Ron's brothers were considered uncles to Harry and Hermione's children. Even Ginny was considered an aunt after some time. No, he thought as he tightened his hold on Hermione's waist, he wouldn't change a thing.
The End
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A/N: Wow, finally finished!! Oh my gosh, this feels weird to finally be done with this thing!! I've been working on this thing for two years now, actually two and half because I started it in July of 2007, and it's January 2010 (lol, 2010 is weird to type). So it's finished finally!!! I want to thank all of you who've read this story and stuck with me throughout the two and a half years, I love you all! This has been my most reviewed story I've ever written anywhere, and I want to thank you so much for your opinion and feedback!
Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter; this was the chapter I was talking about when I said I was picturing it in my head since I started this story. And this was where the `at the beginning' came from. I know it's unoriginal, ending it the same way JK Rowling did, but I tried to fix the things that I thought were wrong with her epilogue, besides the fact that everyone was with the wrong people, and the children had names I wouldn't have picked out for them. Detail, was the biggest pet peeve I had with her epilogue, there was no indication of jobs, or anything that's happened over the last nineteen years, and so I made sure to try and put in some more detail. And in Rowling's epilogue, there was very little interaction between the characters except for the kids. Not even between the husbands and wives. Lol, which is probably why the Harry and Hermione affair fics work out so well! The only thing I did like about the epilogue besides the idea of sending the kids off to Hogwarts, was Ron's one line in the epilogue about being famous. When I was rereading the epilogue for reference, I saw that line and laughed and just had to use it in the chapter. Oh, and did you like the names I chose? Lol, I really love the names Landon, Addison, and Aurora, I really want to give those names to my children someday, so I just had to use them in this story!
And ok, this story may or may not be completely finished. I was back and forth about putting more chapters in between where we left Harry and Hermione off last chapter and this chapter, but I decided to just skip ahead and finish it off. But I still kinda want to write the in between chapters, so I may or may not put them up. We'll have to see.
And lastly, I want to bid farewell to writing chapter fanfiction. I plan to still write if the idea comes up, but I don't think I will write anymore chapter stories. It will probably be all oneshots from now on. I just don't have the time to write like I used to, especially since 2010 is the year I graduate from college, and I still have my student teaching to do, and I just won't have much time to write, and I don't want to have another story that takes two and a half years to write and post. But I'm not going to swear that I'll never write a long fanfic again. If I do, it's not getting posted until it's completely written. I do actually have one that I'm working on right now, but I don't know if I will finish it or not, I have no idea how the story is going to go. I have a couple ideas but I don't know what direction I want to go with it. Like I said, it won't get posted until it's finished.
Anyways, I've gone on long enough, so thank you all again, and I will maybe see you for the extra chapters! If not, then in the one shots! Happy 2010 everyone!!
Husker_fan_2006
Oh, P.S. I'm sure you all know that the title of this fic is from the song, At the Beginning by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis and it's on the movie Anastasia. If you haven't ever heard it and would like to, here's a YouTube link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wLvDXVP0O4
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