Chapter 19
As soon as Harry turned to the Dark Lord, Voldemort casually blasted aside the trio of women he had been fighting, catching them by surprise. All three were sent flying back several feet, and took a few seconds to stand.
Harry was relieved that they were able to do so, as it indicated no serious injuries.
He had no more time for errant thoughts though, as the Dark Lord immediately engaged him in combat, and it required all of his hard-earned fighting skills to keep him at bay.
Bellatrix seemed to take a page out of her master's book, and used a wide-sweeping hex to send her adversaries back.
She then turned to face Amelia, who was currently trying to quickly bandage up the broken arm she had received when Voldemort had blasted her away.
The witch was only a few feet away, and the Minister knew she couldn't hope to stave off the woman as she was, when help arrived.
Bellatrix grinned maniacally at the trio of Longbottoms, who were all looking at her with contempt and anger.
She threw out a few taunts, but none of the Longbottoms rose to the bait, and simply started firing. They would not let her hurt their family any more. She had taken away so many years of their lives; she had hurt so many people. They were not going to let the woman walk away from this fight.
Harry was concentrating hard on his opponent, but he was not unaware of the battle raging around him.
He felt his heart clench painfully in fear for the Longbottoms. Nearby, Molly and Arthur were bringing down Dolohov, and Sirius had just felled Pettigrew. The rat had not looked excited for that fight, and Sirius knew that he could have drawn it out more, but he had better things to do than taunt the man who had killed his best friends and gotten him sent to Azkaban. Peter wasn't worth his time.
Fighting back to back with his oldest friend, Remus worked to defeat Fenrir Greyback. A short distance away from her fiancé, Tonks was busy battling two Death Eaters at once, and clearly giving them a run for their money. Like her fiancé and cousin, her face showed nothing but grim determination.
Neither Harry nor Voldemort was able to make much headway. Still, Harry knew he couldn't hold this up forever.
That's what I'm here for, Ginny commented, materializing at his side and throwing her weight behind a Reducto, which Voldemort managed to block with a shield, but only just.
Harry smiled slightly, and turned his attention back to the fight with renewed purpose.
It was pretty easy for them to see that Voldemort was growing more worried as the fight dragged on. He had been able to hold off Harry, but the two of them together were just… better. More powerful. Not that he would ever admit it.
Around the hall, people were stopping to watch the main battle, having taken care of most of the Death Eaters and finding less opposition than before.
Amelia and Susan brought Mulciber down together, getting revenge for Susan's parents and sister. Hagrid, who had arrived in the middle of the fight from the direction of the Forbidden Forest, defeated Macnair by throwing him bodily into the far wall of the Hall. The man who had almost executed Buckbeak did not rise.
Kingsley was the one who managed to land a hit to drop Malfoy Sr, while Blaise and Daphne working together put Malfoy Jr. down.
A part of Harry noticed all of this, but it was only when Draco fell, unconscious, that he really paid attention. His eyes were drawn back to the wand in Voldemort's hand. He had never really made it a mission to study other people's wands, but he could recognize the one Dumbledore had carried. If their theories were correct, that wand was the Elder Wand, which Voldemort had taken from Dumbledore after defeating him.
However, Harry was remembering a different incident, nearly a year ago.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a shrill cry from across the Hall. Even Voldemort was distracted, and looked over just in time to see his right-hand woman fall at the hands of all three Longbottoms.
The Dark Lord's furry was evident for everyone to see, but Harry and Ginny didn't give him an opportunity to retaliate, immediately drawing his attention back.
"Aren't you wondering, Tom," Harry called, "why you can't beat us?"
Voldemort glowered. "Don't call me that!" he snarled. "Lord Voldemort is equal to no one."
"And yet, you're making no headway, Tom," Harry replied.
Voldemort would not believe that anyone could match him.
Harry glanced back at Malfoy Jr.'s unconscious body, and then returned his attention to the Dark Lord. "I know why that wand won't work," he said simply.
That, above all else, paused the Dark Lord's advances.
Harry smirked. "It's the Elder Wand, correct? You took it from Dumbledore last December. The problem is, it wasn't his to command."
Ginny looked at him, seeing the direction of his thoughts, and had to hold in a gasp at the implications.
Around them, the crowd was watching, confused and concerned. Harry's friends had no idea what he was doing, but were happy that he was fighting well, and was keeping Voldemort off balance.
Harry shrugged. "You see, Tom, Dumbledore only took that wand to keep it from being used the way you want to use it. But when you killed him, he had already lost the wand's allegiance."
Voldemort glared at him suspiciously. "I won the wand. I killed Dumbledore."
"But the wand doesn't pass only by killing," Harry pushed forward. "The previous owner only needs to be defeated. And you see, Dumbledore was defeated, almost a year ago. On the Astronomy Tower, he was disarmed by one of your sycophants. Its new owner was not even aware of the fact that the most dangerous wand in the wizarding world had switched allegiance to him."
Voldemort glanced at the Death Eaters that had been there that night. His gaze fell on Malfoy Jr. "It is of no matter," he decided. "I will dispatch of you and your pathetic girlfriend, and then take care of Malfoy."
Harry shook his head. "You're too late. You see, Malfoy and I fought in the same battle where you killed Dumbledore. I defeated him. If I'm right, that wand belongs to me, now."
Voldemort glanced at the wand in his hand, and Harry leaned forward slightly.
"Does the wand know that I am its rightful master? Think about what you're doing, Tom, and try for some remorse. It may be the only thing that will save you."
Voldemort sneered, the rage clear on his face. "I am all-powerful, Potter. I am immortal!"
Harry shrugged and reached into his pocket, withdrawing the sack full of damaged objects. He had shrunk it down to fit, and using wandless magic now, he enlarged it as he brought it forward, and tossed it to the floor in front of him. Voldemort's eyes followed the bag, his expression part fury, part curiosity. "We've already found your horcruxes, Tom. They're all destroyed."
Harry hadn't thought it was possible for Voldemort to get paler, but he certainly did in that instant.
Around them, the crowd murmured restlessly. Several of them knew what a horcrux was, and were astounded, not only that the Dark Lord had used them, but that Harry and his friends had been spending the last few months hunting them. Suddenly, they knew why the group of teenagers had removed themselves from view.
With a vengeful cry, Voldemort raised the wand that did not belong to him, and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"
At the same moment, Harry raised his faithful holly and phoenix feather wand, and returned fire. "Expelliarmus!"
The two spells connected, battling in the middle for dominance. Harry gripped his wand tightly, throwing all of his concentration into that one spell.
The green of the Killing Curse was more powerful, however, and slowly, Harry was losing ground.
A moment later, Ginny slipped her small hand into Harry's free one, and added her own power. Together, the combined force of Harry and Ginny reversed the tables, and before he even knew what had happened, Voldemort was thrown back by the blast of the rebounding Killing Curse. The Elder Wand arced high into the air, before falling back to Earth, into the hand of the master it would not kill.
Harry caught it in the same hand he had been holding his own wand in, his left hand refusing to let go of Ginny.
The entire Hall stared uncomprehendingly at the broken figure of the former Dark Lord Voldemort, lying spread-eagled on the ground.
It took several moments for them to break out of their shock, before they all gave gleeful cries and surged forward, searching for friends and family they had lost contact with in the fight.
Sirius and Minerva immediately rushed towards Harry, grasping him in a tight hug.
Next to them, Molly and Arthur reached Ginny and proceeded to give her the same treatment.
"Thank Merlin," Molly sobbed, clutching her daughter desperately.
Ginny smiled into her mother's embrace. She had missed her parents so much.
The rest of the Weasleys arrived a moment later, and threw themselves into a group hug.
"It's really over?" Arthur asked, pulling back and looking between his daughter and son-in-law, who was still in the clutches of Minerva and Sirius.
Harry nodded confidently. "Voldemort's dead. It's over."
Molly started sobbing again, as she reached over and pulled Harry towards her, hugging him with all her might. "Oh, we were so worried," she murmured.
Harry patted her back comfortingly, but didn't reply. He knew they could have probably done things differently, but the truth was, they had done the best they could with the information they had, and everything had worked out in the end.
Minerva disappeared briefly, returning with Amelia and Susan in tow. Neville and his parents followed soon after, as did Daphne and Blaise. Luna came down from the Astronomy Tower as soon as she heard that the battle was over. She had been disappointed to have to stay away from the fight when all of her friends were down here, but Harry had asked her to keep an eye out for surprises with the Marauder's Map, and she knew that her job had been just as important.
Minerva and Amelia had a brief conversation, before the Minister began directing Aurors to remove the Death Eaters to the new prison, and get their injured to St. Mungos.
She also told them to remove the deceased Death Eaters.
Minerva cast a Sonorus Charm, gaining the attention of everyone around her as her amplified voice reached all corners. "If everyone will make their way into the Great Hall, I will see about getting a meal prepared."
She released the charm, and with one last hug for Harry, headed down to the kitchen to see if any house elves were still in residence, and whether or not they would be able to whip something up.
Slowly, the crowd moved in the direction of the Great Hall. They took seats at the tables, not paying attention to House boundaries.
Harry's group took up a good portion of the Gryffindor table. He and Ginny were immediately surrounded by their friends and all of the Weasleys, along with Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Alice, and Frank.
As they were all taking seats, more people arrived – those who had been left at the Alley.
Snape and Narcissa were unsure of where to place themselves, until Harry waved them over, and they were immediately absorbed by that group, not even thinking about the fact that they were sitting at the Gryffindor table. Andromeda and Ted immediately joined their daughter and future son-in-law, and Cyrus and Druella joined their children, with Cyrus assuring a near-hysterical Daphne that he had sent a message to Astoria to let the younger girl know that the fighting was over.
Most of the DA tried to crowd in as well, but eventually, there were no more seats, and people had to sit at other tables.
Professors Flitwick, Vector, and Babbling had been at the Alley as well, so they came in and sat together at the Ravenclaw table.
Amelia and Kingsley joined Harry's group after a few minutes, having taken care of delegating tasks to the Aurors. Slipping into a seat next to Sirius, Amelia informed them of the situation beyond the doors.
"All of the surviving Death Eaters have been removed to the new prison until trial," she said, catching their attention. "Those that are injured will be seen to in the prison's hospital wing. All told, I believe there are around twenty to thirty injuries that will need to be tended to."
"What about injuries for us?" Harry asked, looking around at the room. Most of those who had been fighting were there, and though all of them appeared to be rather dirty, he didn't see any major wounds. Many people seemed to be sporting small cuts and scrapes, and he saw a lot of bruises, but no one who was in desperate need of a healer.
Amelia bit her lip. "The serious ones have been taken to St. Mungos. There were around ten serious, and thirty minor to moderate at the Ministry. Sirius, what about the Alley?"
Sirius sighed. "From what I could tell, around twenty injuries, total. I left before they had finished cleaning up, though. Snape and Narcissa would be the ones to ask."
Amelia and Harry nodded, before Amelia continued. "We sent six to St. Mungos from here; I don't think they were life threatening, but they will need to be seen to soon. The minor injuries, I believe can wait until after people eat. It has been a long day."
Harry snorted, while Sirius and several others around them outright laughed.
Sobering, Harry asked about any deaths.
Amelia sighed. "I don't have a final number yet, but at least four."
They all spared a moment of silence for those they had lost, and then felt guilty at their happiness that none of their close friends and family had been amongst the casualties.
Minerva entered the room, and stopped by the Gryffindor table briefly. "I contacted the professors who weren't involved today, and let them know the situation," she said softly, resting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "They will be here shortly." She glanced around the crowded Hall. "Poppy was still assisting at the Alley last I heard, but she will be here soon." She turned to the healers in the group – Snape, Narcissa, Andromeda, and Druella. "Would you all be willing to check the minor injuries once everyone has eaten?"
They all nodded their agreement, and Minerva continued on to the dais at the front of the room. The crowd fell silent as she walked, knowing that she wanted to address them.
Once she reached the dais, Minerva turned around and faced the mass of people around her. She smiled softly. "Thank you, everyone. I promise I will make this brief. I have spoken with the house elves, most of whom are still in residence and more than happy to whip up a meal for us. It should be ready soon, so please be patient. In the meantime, I wished to say a few things, and I'm sure some others would like to talk as well." Her gaze sought out Harry and Amelia, silently inviting them to speak if they wanted to. "Everyone here fought bravely and valiantly, and I thank you all for your willingness and assistance in the battle, both here and at the Ministry and Diagon Alley. I would like to take a moment to remember those who gave their lives for this cause, and be thankful that the count was not higher." There was the requested moment of silence, before Minerva took a deep breath. "Everyone please enjoy the meal, and feel free to depart whenever you wish. Those of you sporting injuries, please stay behind; we have healers who will be checking over those who require it once the meal concludes. I will be speaking with the professors and the Board of Governors later, and I will inform the students of our decision regarding the remainder of the school year as soon as we make one."
She made her way back down the Gryffindor table and took a seat near Harry. Amelia squeezed Sirius' hand briefly, before she stood up and walked to the front of the room.
"I would also like to thank everyone for their involvement." She smiled slightly. "I know the last few months have been difficult, but it is over now, thanks to all of you. Everyone in this room will be getting an Order of Merlin for their aide, but I know that cannot completely take away the months of fear and anguish. We have all lost a great deal, be it family, friends, or simply time. Nothing can replace that void, but we have all come through. Look around you. Everyone in this room has given a part of themselves to the fight. We have supported each other, leaned on each other, and our victory is due to each and every person here. Thank you."
She returned to her seat, and after some prompting from Ginny, Harry stood up with a grimace.
All eyes were riveted to him as he made his way up the aisle to the dais. When he looked out at the group of people surrounding him, he swallowed harshly. "I'm not sure what I can say that hasn't already been said," he admitted. "I know none of you really understood why we launched this attack today, but you came when called nonetheless. I can't thank you enough for making it possible for us to beat Voldemort today." There was a collective flinch at the name of the former feared Dark Lord. Harry knew it would take time for that fear to diminish. "Everyone here was a part of this victory." He bit his lip, and flushed at the attention, before he muttered something unintelligible and returned to his seat.
Ginny hugged him lightly, and a moment later, masses of food appeared on each table, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
The meal was light and enjoyable, talk filling the room as people replenished themselves after a hard fought victory.
The rest of the professors and the Board of Governors arrived while people were eating, and joined in, integrating easily with the crowd. Augusta immediately joined her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson, hugging each of them with relief. She had wanted to fight as well, but Frank had asked her to remain at McGonagall Castle; he knew she could probably hold her own, but after having lost her – or rather, after her having lost him – for so many years, he told her he would feel better knowing that she was safe. And Augusta couldn't deny him, not now that she finally had him back. So she had agreed to wait behind, with nothing to do but worry, until the Patronus from Minerva had come, informing her of the victory, and inviting her to Hogwarts.
As people began to finish, they said goodbyes to friends, and started departing, heading for their homes. Those with injuries that they couldn't handle themselves congregated around the Ravenclaw table. Once the Healers had finished eating, they immediately made their way over to the group, and began to assess the injuries.
When Harry and his group were done, Minerva implored them all to return to McGonagall Castle, promising to be along once she was finished with her meeting. Amelia requested to attend, so the two women gathered up the professors and the Board, and left for the headmaster's office. A nod from Narcissa assured Severus that they would be fine without him, so he quickly joined the group headed out of the Hall.
XXX
It was a spacious office, once the objects Dumbledore had had on display were removed. Minerva put them all in a magically expanded trunk to go over later, before conjuring seats for the group.
"Thank you all for coming," she greeted. "I think we need to discuss what to do with the students. They have missed out on months of education, but I do not like the idea of simply holding everyone back a year, or half a year. I am open to suggestions."
"Perhaps we can condense the last term?" Flitwick suggested.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "Condense a whole term into a couple of months?"
Flitwick shook his head. "Of course not," he argued. "We can extend the term another month or so. The students will have to contend with a shortened summer holiday, but by September First, everyone should be caught up."
Minerva furrowed her brow, thinking. "That sounds reasonable," she allowed. "What does everyone else think?"
It took the rest of the afternoon, but by the time they all headed home, they had a plan worked out, and everyone was pleased with what had been decided.
XXX
When Minerva, Amelia, Snape, and Augusta returned to McGonagall Castle, they found everyone waiting for them.
Minerva supposed she wasn't completely surprised, though she had thought they might start to disperse for their own homes, having been away from them for so long.
They all settled in the dining room eating light snacks, as none of them were really too hungry, having just eaten a large meal a few hours earlier. While they ate, Minerva informed the group of what had been decided. "We will begin the second term immediately following what would have been the Easter break," the Transfiguration Mistress said between bites. "The term will carry through July, and tests will be taken at the end of July and the beginning of August."
"It sounds doable," Harry considered. "You'll be shortening the classes, right?"
Minerva nodded. "Of course. It will still take a lot of effort from the students, but we won't expect you all to do an entire term's worth of work in half the time."
Since that appeared to be all decided, over the rest of the meal, Harry and the others shared the details of their few months alone, and their horcrux hunt.
Some of them had to be informed of what a horcrux was, and once they knew, were even more horrified.
By the time they finished their tale, it was late evening, and everyone was exhausted. After praising Harry and the others for their actions, they all dispersed, heading for their separate homes.
Ginny didn't want to leave Harry. They had been sleeping together for so long, she didn't want to have to try and go to bed without him. Even without reading his mind, she knew that Harry felt the same way.
They wondered if they could argue the point with their guardians, and if it was worth it.
Ginny bit her lip, knowing that she wouldn't get a good night's sleep if Harry wasn't next to her, and after hearing that thought, Harry immediately turned to their guardians. "Ginny's going to stay here tonight," he informed them.
Molly opened her mouth to protest, but Harry shook his head. "We don't want to be separated, and we won't be."
Arthur rested a hand on his wife's arm, and nodded austerely. "We will come back for breakfast tomorrow, then. We'll see you in the morning."
Molly looked at him imploringly, but Arthur shook his head, subtly reminding her that they didn't really have a say.
Defeated, Molly gave her daughter another hug before she followed her husband to the Floo.
Sirius and Minerva didn't comment, thankfully, and simply said their good nights, before Sirius and Amelia returned to the Bones Estate with Susan, and Minerva headed up to her own bedroom.
Once in Harry's bedroom, Ginny immediately dropped down onto the bed. One thing you've been awfully quiet on is the Elder wand, she observed, watching her husband carefully.
Harry grimaced, and pulled out the wand. He had been thinking about it all day, but he could only think of one thing to do with it. He looked back at Ginny; she was watching him knowingly, with an approving smile on her face.
He shrugged. I don't want it, he said simply. Ginny nodded, and Harry sighed, before gripping the wand tightly in both hands, and snapping it cleanly in half. He thought he heard a phantom cry come from the piece of wood, but he didn't worry about it. After placing the pieces on his dresser, he joined Ginny in the bed.
It was the right thing to do, she reassured him.
Harry nodded tiredly. The wand was too powerful. And after today, too many people knew I had it. I'll burn the pieces tomorrow.
So now that's decided, time for bed, Ginny commanded.
Harry smiled. Yes, dear.
XXX
Early the next morning found Amelia and Sirius arriving at the Ministry for a meeting with all of the Department heads. There were a few vacancies, but Amelia sent out requests for the highest-ranking individuals from those offices to join them.
She had given Kingsley a field promotion to Head of the DMLE after Rufus Scrimgeour had been killed in December, so she at least didn't have to worry about that.
Just walking into the Ministry, they could tell it would take a while to get the place sorted out, even with magic. They met up on level one, and immediately started setting up a schedule to work on cleaning and sorting out each department.
The next thing they had to deal with was setting up trials for the Death Eaters. Even if they were all most likely guilty, Amelia would not let anyone be sent to prison without a trial. Not after what had happened to her husband.
They arranged for the trials to begin the next week, after they had a chance to get started on the cleaning efforts, and get the Ministry sorted out a little more. They all wanted everything to be taken care of as soon as possible, but knew that it would take time to do it right.
XXX
Harry couldn't hold in his groan as he sat down at the breakfast table that morning, only to be confronted with the article that took up the entire front page of the Daily Prophet. It was all about the defeat of Voldemort, and hailed Harry as a savior, Merlin, and Dumbledore all rolled into one.
Ginny commiserated, as she knew how much he hated the fame. The rest of their friends Flooed over for breakfast, and both consoled and playfully mocked Harry for the article.
After eating, they spent the day out on the grounds, enjoying the beautiful spring air, and reveling in the fact that they no longer had to worry about a war, or a Dark Lord bent on killing them all. It was somewhat startling for them to realize that for the first time, they could just be teenagers, and then to not understand how to do that.
After spending several hours playing Quidditch or just flying around, they broke off into groups. Harry and Ginny wandered away from the rest, wanting to spend some time alone to talk.
They took a seat underneath a tree that bordered the Pitch, Harry resting against the trunk and Ginny leaning into his chest as his arms encircled her.
"I like this," Ginny murmured sleepily, the warmth of the sun making her drowsy. "I like just being with you, without having to worry about planning an attack, or finding a horcrux."
Harry nodded agreeably. "Yeah," he smiled. "And just think, we can do this for the rest of our lives."
Ginny sat up a little, and reached up to remove the necklace she wore Disillusioned around her neck. She pulled off the engagement ring and studied it in her hands. "I want to wear this," she said abruptly, glancing back at her husband. "The war is over, we don't have to hide it anymore."
Harry nodded quickly. "I want you to wear it," he said. She surrendered the ring to him when he reached for it, and let him slide it gently onto her finger. "We belong together, Gin. This ring was meant for you to display. I want the world to know that you're mine."
"I'm always yours," Ginny leaned over and gave him a kiss.
They were silent for a few minutes, before Harry sighed. "I want you to wear both rings," he admitted. "But can you imagine the questions if people knew that we're already married?"
Ginny nodded. "That's why I'm only wearing one," she informed him. "As soon as I turn seventeen though, the world will know."
Harry bit his lip. "I think we should have a real ceremony."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Why? We're already married."
Harry shrugged. "Still. I think one of the hardest things about this for your mum is the fact that she won't get to plan a wedding, because we're already married. And we should have that ceremony so people won't ask questions about how or why we got married so quickly."
Ginny considered for a moment, letting herself think about an actual ceremony, with her in a white dress, and bridesmaids, groomsmen, a crowd of wedding guests. Almost against her will, she found herself wanting that. She nodded slowly. "All right," she allowed, but knew that Harry had seen how much she had warmed up to the idea.
"We'll talk to Sirius, Minerva, and your parents tonight," Harry said simply, before settling back down and pulling her with him.
They spent the remainder of the day relaxing in the sunlight.
XXX
As soon as Sirius and Amelia returned to the Castle shortly before dinner, Harry asked Sirius, Minerva, Molly, and Arthur to join them in the library to speak privately.
Eventually, he knew that the group would stop spending all their time together, but for the moment, they were all reluctant to return to their homes. Fred and George had spent the day in the Alley, helping with cleanup and getting their shop back together. Bill and Fleur had also been assisting in the Alley, while Arthur had begun helping with the cleanup at the Ministry. Charlie had gone with his brothers to help, as he didn't need to be back at the dragon reserve for a while. Frank and Alice had spent the day at the Ministry, while Augusta, Remus, and all three Tonkses had been at the Alley.
But once the day was over, they all returned to McGonagall Castle, and each other.
Concerned, the adults followed Harry and Ginny as the pair took a seat on one of the couches in the library. Once they were settled, Harry took a deep breath, before he informed them of the decision he and Ginny had reached that morning.
Understandably, they were a little concerned about Ginny wearing the ring in public, but knew they didn't really have a say. Even without the soul bond, since Ginny was sixteen, Harry could formally ask her parents for permission to become engaged to their underage daughter.
Molly was thrilled that she could help her daughter plan a wedding. "Oh dear, it will be so wonderful!" she cried, hugging the couple tightly.
Ginny nodded, understanding now what Harry had been saying.
Minerva smiled and hugged them both when Molly pulled back. "Have you thought about when you want the ceremony?" she asked curiously.
Harry and Ginny shared a look. "Ginny turns seventeen at the beginning of August, so after that. Before Ginny goes back for her seventh year."
They all agreed, and promised to help with the details of the ceremony, before they left the library, heading down to the dining room to join the rest for dinner.