Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 48

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Three weeks had passed and they were all sitting at the Leaky Cauldron. The place had been brightened up remarkably. The new owner, Lavender Brown, had really given the place a new attitude. Tom - the previous owner had been killed in the war, no one knew on which side.

Sirius stood up, his arm was still in a sling and he had received a rather nasty scar on the left side of his face. He said the scar was his best feature - claiming scars gave Moody all his ladies, so it would work wonders for him.

"Shut up all you wankers," he cheered and raised his glass. "Sorry," he added and cast a glance at Dumbledore who was grinning widely.

"Go on then!" Ron yelled out.

Sirius went quiet and tried to gather himself for a moment. "Right so, I have this important thing to say, and you all are ruining it," Sirius joked. "I miss my best friends tonight, they should have been at this celebration with us all. James is no longer with us…" Sirius swallowed hard and raised his glass a bit higher," his lovely Lily is with him. Remus - that old bugger - is home with his new born. Well I guess I can't blame him and Tonks for staying home for that,." he laughed. "I am happy beyond words…"

Sirius continued but his voice shook.

He looked around the table. "My friends, you are all family. Weasley's - the lot of you are such lovely bunch, my Order friends, Harry and your beautiful wife… you all mean so much to me…" he looked down at his drink. He tried to continue but his words seemed stuck. Harry stood up.

"This is a night beyond words for all of us," he said and Sirius gratefully sat back down. "We have all lost so much to this war, no one is unaffected, we have to honor and remember that but now we need to look ahead. This could be a wonderful world. I truly believe that!" Hermione looked starry eyed up at her beautiful husband.

"I remember once," Harry continued" when the greatest man on earth, Albus Dumbledore, "he pointed with his whole hand at his old headmaster, "said `All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them'."

Everyone clapped hard, and Albus waved swiftly.

"That's a Muggle quote, I didn't make it up. Don't give me the credit," he laughed.

"Still, you are the one who made it all true!" Harry said and raised his mug. "We have toasted the war, the win, the Order. Can we now please toast Albus Dumbledore?" he asked

"Albus Dumbledore!" they all agreed.

-

The night hurried along and people were dancing around in a drunken buzz, they were just as drunk on spirits as on happiness. Harry couldn't dance; his leg was still giving him a lot of trouble, so he was sitting on a wooden bench, Hermione leaning against his shoulder.

She yawned widely and Harry kissed the side of her head.

"Wanna get out of here?" he asked over the music and she just nodded. She helped him stand and he put his arm around her shoulders.

Ron hurried over to them.

"You're not leaving already are you?" he accused.

"Yes, we are heading home," Harry admitted. Ron shrugged and turned around. "You have your key don't you?" Harry yelled after him and Ron gave him the thumbs up. Ron and Luna were staying with them at nr 12 Grimmauld Place, and they had forgotten to bring their key numerous numbers of evenings. Harry had had just about enough of being awaken by them slamming on the door, or by Sirius stumbling loudly downstairs trying to make himself a midnight snack.

-

Hermione had started the day early, already at St. Mungo's at six in the morning, and she was a sleep the second her head hit the pillow. By now the number of injured had been healed and sent home, and there were now few enough so that St Mungos could hold the rest instead of the Ministry.

Harry had had time for a small nap after his meeting at the Ministry earlier that day and was nowhere near as tired as she was.

He went downstairs and made himself a sandwich before pulling up a chair to the window and looking between the sleeping form of Hermione and the street below.

He still had a hard time relaxing; he kept waiting for someone to show up at his door.

Hermione was snoring lightly and he grinned, he was truly blessed, she had survived - as had he. His dearest friends and family were still with them and Voldemort was dead.

His mind drifted back to the meeting he had been to earlier. Kingsley had offered him a job at the Ministry; he could pretty much choose any position within the Ministry. The offer had surprised Harry and he had told him he needed to think about it.

-

When Harry woke he realized that he had fallen asleep in the chair, his neck was very sore and his leg was throbbing. He also realized what had awoken him… very loud voices down stairs.

He looked at Hermione trying to see if she was awake but she was sound asleep. Carefully he left the room, trying not to wake her. As he had left the room he cast a muffliato spell on the room, something he refused to do when he was inside the room. He wanted to always be able to hear someone outside his door.

He went to the living room where he found Sirius, Ron, Luna, Fred and George. They had bottles all over the table and were talking loudly.

"Harry!" Sirius called out when he saw him and it was followed by a chorus of `Harry!' from the rest of them.

"We didn't wake you did we?" Ron asked concerned.

"What do you think Sherlock," Harry muttered and sat down.

"Here you go cranky pants," Ron handed him a glass of Firewhiskey. Harry stared down into it for a moment and then tossed it back, the burning felt comforting.

"Why don't witches like to ride their brooms when they're angry?" Fred asked the group aloud and before anyone could guess George finished for him;

"They're afraid of flying off the handle!"

Harry laughed at how bad the joke was, and laughing felt good. There hadn't been much of that for him lately.

-

"Harry?" he turned around when he heard her voice behind him. Hermione was in her pajamas and her hair was a mess, she had obviously just woken up.

"Did we wake you?" he asked with concern, even though he realized that was impossible.

"I just had to use the loo and noticed you weren't there," she explained. He stretched his arm out to her and she sat down on the armrest next to him, he tilted his face up and she kissed him. She made a small grimace. "You taste like Firewhiskey."

"Want one?" he asked and leaned his head against her.

"Yeah, drink up Hermione; we are staying up all night!" Ron exclaimed.

"No thanks," she smiled. "And it's almost morning just so you know…"

"Knew you wouldn't," Ron grinned.

Hermione smiled tiredly, and started to get up - Harry grabbed her hand.

"Don't go," he said and leaned his head to the side like a dog.

"I have to sweetie; I have a really early morning tomorrow."

"I'll come with you then," he said and stood up and almost fell out of the chair, he felt a bit intoxicated but hadn't realized how much until he stood.

"Boo…" Fred and George chorused.

Hand in hand, Harry followed Hermione upstairs and fell into the bed.

"You're drunk," she giggled as she climbed in after him. She placed her head on his chest and listened to his slow breathing. She closed her eyes and just as she thought he had drifted into sleep he spoke;

"I have to tell you something."

"What's that?" she spoke softly and her hand gently caressed his chest.

"I've been offered a job at the Ministry…" he trailed of and Hermione lifted her head in surprise and looked at him.

"Where?"

"Well I can kind of choose," he added and with a gentle push he pressed her head back on his chest and started running his fingers through her hair.

"And where will you work then?"

"I haven't decided if I am going to accept yet."

"Really?" she sounded truly surprised.

"Sure I wanted to talk to you first."

"Oh."

They both became quiet and soon they fell asleep without speaking about it again.

-

Harry was with Dumbledore at the Ministry and they had been left alone in one of the offices. Dumbledore was staring down at a map of Europe, scribbling notes here and there.

"Any news I should know about?" Harry asked and bent down and stared at the question mark just over the village where Viktor Krum lived."

"We still don't know if Viktor is alive, communication is very limited at the moment."

"Should I go there?" Harry asked. He felt an immeasurable debt to Viktor Krum and wanted to make sure he was alright.

"Not just yet Harry, maybe in a week or two. I heard about Kingsley's offer…" Dumbledore trailed off and waited for Harry to continue.

"Mhm…" was his only reply. Word about the offer had spread and people kept asking him what he was going to do, but he really had no idea.

"I was myself thinking about asking you to join me at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said and peered at Harry over his glasses.

"Oh really," Harry sat down on the chair next to the desk. "I am just not sure what to do. One moment I want to be an Auror, the next I want to be completely anonymous, now I think I might want to be a teacher… sometimes I even think about being a Muggle."

"Really?" Dumbledore looked honestly surprised.

"No, I guess not really…" Harry admitted.

"I cannot, nor can anyone else, tell you what you should do - we all have so many choices to make right now. Everything has changed."

"Do you have choices?" Harry asked and looked up at his old headmaster.

"Well I have always known I wanted to return to Hogwarts, that is my home and where my heart lies."

Dumbledore reached inside his coat and pulled out a small flask. "Fancy one?" he smiled and his eyes twinkled.

"Why not, seems like everyone is pulling out the flasks these days, "Harry grinned. He was given a very small glass and tasted it; it was very strong but in a good way.

Dumbledore sat down in the chair next to Harry's and let out a sigh of contempt as he sat.

"This old body…" he muttered.

"May I ask you something?" Harry suddenly got the courage to say.

"Naturally Harry, you may always ask me anything!" Dumbledore added and drank from the glass. Harry remained quiet; he wasn't sure what to ask. "You want to ask about the man at Voldemort's side I am guessing."

Harry turned to Dumbledore and gave a small nod.

"Ah, where to begin…" Dumbledore looked down at his hands and then up at Harry. "That man is called Severus Snape and he went to school with your parents. He knew your mother from before she even knew she was a witch and then they attended Hogwarts together - this was of course before Improbus existed and Voldemort was in power. Severus was a Slytherin." Harry wrinkled his eyebrows now and Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, he was a boy hungry for power - in great part because of the difficult life he had lead. Well he was deeply and unreservedly in love with your mother."

This caught Harry completely by surprise.

"But she was a Mugg-"

"Yes she was a Muggleborn - but when love strikes it knows no boundaries. And Severus would have given his life for her. Your mother loved him as a friend and could never see him as anything more. The way Severus loved Lily, she loved James. He became quite bitter, as one might be when losing the one you love. But, when Voldemort killed your parents - a large part of Severus died as well."

"He knew me when I came there, he said that he had waited for me."

"Yes, he certainly had. Since she was killed Severus has been helping us, he was a great help in the beginning but Voldemort soon went into hiding and chose Severus to be at his side, which made it harder for him to reach us. But he has always knows that one day you would show up, and he would help you get to Voldemort."

"Because of my mom…"

"Yes Harry, Severus Snape has wished for revenge since the night Lily was killed."

"He still was evil," Harry snarled and drank more of his drink.

"He did a lot of bad things, but you must remember that he ended his days by helping us defeat Voldemort."

"Then why did he look like he hated me when I got there?"

"Harry, you look exactly like the man who took his true love from him. And you have the exact eyes that have been haunting him for years…" Dumbledore sounded very sad. "You are lucky to have Hermione still with you, the pain of losing your true love, well it is beyond description."

Harry didn't dare ask, but it was obvious that something like that had happened to Dumbledore.

"Thank you for telling me this," he said instead and his old headmaster just bowed his head. "But where is he now?"

"Merlin only knows, but I would dare place a bet that he is not on the European continent."

"Good."

-

A bit tipsy, Harry walked through the Ministry in search of his wife. There was so many people everywhere and most where standing in line for something. Most of them were Muggleborns trying to register again, or rather unregister, from all the lists they had been put on. The Ministry wanted everyone to come into do this so that the Ministry knew that each and everyone of the Muggleborns knew they would be free to do anything they wanted. They wanted to make sure no one was still hiding in the woods.

They also had to deal with the very large number of refugees that had flocked to England and Ireland. No one was sent back to their countries, counties, or towns before there was confirmation that is was DAF (Death Eater Free).

Harry walked by a small office that reported casualties from all over Europe and tried to shut both eyes and ears - he hated walking by these offices, there were three of them, because it was always tears, shouts and pleas from inside. He kept his eyes fixed on the small eleven years olds straight ahead getting wands from Ollivander's temporary shop within the ministry.

He trotted on faster and as he descended the stairs he saw Sirius talking to an elderly woman trying to teach her the Accio spell and Harry couldn't help but wonder why someone that old didn't know it. She must have only been away from the magical world for twenty years - he'd have to ask Sirius about that.

He descended another flight of stairs and then he saw her. She was walking around with a clipboard amongst around twenty people.

"And where the hell do you want us so?" a man barked in a heavy Irish accent.

"Well everything here is done, you may return whenever you feel like it," she smiled tiredly.

"And for feck sake, how are we supposed to do that? Shiet a broom out of our arses?" the same man raised his voice.

"Sir, the Ministry can't supply everyone with broom just now, there is a shortage of them. But we will try to…"

"Try? What the feck will that do for me or me family? We came all this way to help, and now you leave us stranded in this fecking hole of a place!"

"Sir, please, all your help has of course been apprec-"

Harry just couldn't remain quiet and stepped in.

"Sir, what is the problem here? A broom is what you need isn't it?"

"Damn straight, me and me family have just been sitting here for three weeks - waiting."

Harry darted his eyes to Hermione who looked exhausted.

"I truly understand you frustration, me myself have had my broom lent out for weeks to the refugees trying to find their family scattered at the battlefields, or trying to find remains to bury. But I can't imagine your frustration - sitting here with your whole family safe - what a toll war can have on you, right?"

"Now you listen here…" the man raised his hand angrily.

"No, I mean, if I would have known there was no shepherd's pie or butterbeer I would just have joined the Death Eaters..."

"Look," the man said and raised both his hands looking a bit shameful. "I know everyone has their own issues…" Harry interrupted him again.

"No you listen," he stepped so close to the man that only he could hear what he said. "I know, I know, that this is hard. I honestly do, but we are all struggling - but just look at those people," he nodded at the office with missing people, "do you see the tears of everyone coming out of that office? It means someone is dead or still missing. What do you and I have to complain about mate?"

He smacked the man on the shoulder in such a male way, he had no idea he had it in him.

"We just miss our home, my kids want to go to school, my wife is worried about her sister, and I am worried I will lose my job." The man and sounded regretful.

"I know, but it will take a while longer. Believe me, the Ministry does not work at its best with a shitload of people clogging up every room, they are working to get you out."

The man nodded and stepped out of the line.

Harry grinned widely at Hermione.

"Oh my hero," Hermione said, and perhaps it was the drink Dumbledore had given him earlier - but he didn't even notice the sarcasm.

-

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