Other bits of magic were full of the feeling of healing, and when Harry followed the red strands around he found that each of those strands were different. Some he could tell were female, and others male. Some of it felt full of comfort, some full of panic, and others a calm strength. Harry straightened up. He knew some of this magic. He didn't know how he knew other than that he'd been on the receiving end of it before. The comforting healing magic was from Madam Pomfrey. He could sense it all around him now that he recognized it. Healing spells used on students with the flu or stomach aches or broken bones from playing Quidditch. One of the red strands was calm and measured, and Harry felt like that strand belonged to Gan. When he reached out and touched it, it felt like it was a bit of magic Gan had done, but that had been given to Harry. This one's mine, he thought. Was it from when Gan had healed his foot at Gemini? Harry didn't think so. This strand of magic felt tied to this place, though Harry wasn't sure where this place was. Was this death? It certainly wasn't unpleasant, but Harry felt trapped here and unsure of where to go to find a door to get into the Hospital Wing. He was in the Hospital Wing. He knew that now. He had to be with all the healing spells lingering there.

He didn't know how long he'd been here. Maybe he'd always been here in this place. Every now and again he heard voices, but he couldn't tell if they were male or female or who they belonged to. He couldn't make out what they were saying either, and they were faint, though not far away. Harry didn't have a body in this place. He felt like he could straighten up, walk around, reach out and touch something, but he had no hands or feet or legs or arms to do these things with. It was just him and the magic, and he was here, and the magic was here, and that was all he knew. This was Harry's world now.

* * *

"Something to eat Severus?" Adeline asked him quietly. She'd come back to the Hospital Wing to check on him and Harry. With all the injuries from the battle, Madam Pomfrey was grateful to have another healer there to mind patients. They couldn't send anyone to St. Mungos because it had been overflowing with Death Eaters and others who had come to Hogwarts to fight against Voldemort. Gan had stayed as well, but it was less to help heal people and more to heal Harry.

"Thank you," Severus said quietly as he accepted the bowl. Severus had barely left Harry's side since they'd brought him to the Hospital Wing. That had been weeks ago, and he hadn't woken yet. He had left just after they'd brought Harry up here, but only to find Draco and ensure he was alive and not in need of medical attention, and then he'd come back to sit with Harry.

"I wish I knew what to do for him," Adeline said. The Hospital Wing had emptied now aside from Harry. Most of the injured were healed or well enough to go back to their dorms. Everyone was troubled that Harry hadn't woken yet. He was alive, and his body appeared healthy, but they were all wondering if that was all that was left of him. No one was sure if his magic would return when he woke. If he woke. There was a lot of uncertainty these days. Voldemort had died, and that was to be celebrated, but the future for Harry, and of Hogwarts was elusive.

When Voldemort died, the wards fell. The anti-apparation wards, the anti-Muggle wards, and the multitude of ancient wards placed by the founders to keep students safe, assign and sort house points, and even just to allow staff the privilege to lock their quarter doors. All of it was gone, and despite all attempts by the staff and the Ministry of Magic, it seemed they weren't coming back.

"I'm not sure what to do," Severus told her truthfully. Gan had already reached out with his healing spells, both by his hands and his wand, and healed what he found in the boy, but there was nothing else he could do but wait with the rest of them. Severus was grateful that Adeline had stayed, and often came to sit with him and watch over Harry.

Many of the Boden students and staff had left now that Voldemort was dispatched. They wanted to finish the school year at Boden and return to life as normal, or at least as normal as it could be after having lived through what they had. August and his family were still at Hogwarts though, determined to stay until they knew what Harry's fate would be. The refugees had also gone home to rebuild their lives, but the Chudley Cannons had stayed, wanting to see their mission through. They'd taken it upon themselves to take groups of students around the grounds and castle to repair what damage they could find and to try to help the Headmaster figure out what was going on with the wards. Hogwarts had never been so exposed before. But as one day turned to the next, and as the grounds and castle were slowly set to rights again, Harry still slept.

The Hospital Wing doors opened and Draco entered. Harry had a regular stream of visitors, and Severus, who liked the quiet and peace of being alone, hadn't been sure what to do with himself when Harry's friends came to sit and talk with him. Severus took some of those moments to go and shower and change clothes and use the bathroom, but other than that, he was with Harry.

"Hey," Draco said, looking cheerful. There was a bounce to his step that hadn't been there before the battle. "Any change?"

"No."

Adeline smiled up at Draco. "You seem very bright this morning," she said.

Draco blushed. "Megan Jones and I spent the morning together."

"I see," Adeline said, a knowing look on her face.

Adeline knew now that Draco was Severus' son, as did everyone, but Severus had yet to give any explanations to anyone. He wasn't sure if he was perturbed or pleased that Harry and Draco both seemed to like Adeline so much, and she liked them in return. Pleased, was what he'd decided, but he wasn't looking forward to having to explain anything to her. The Headmaster and Adeline and Gan had asked, as well as Minerva, but Severus had kept his mouth shut this far other than to confirm that Harry and Draco were his sons.

Draco sat and chatted with them for a few minutes, and then moved to leave. He turned back to Severus then and took in his father's defeated posture. "He'll wake up you know," Draco said.

"You seem certain."

"Well he's the bloody Boy-Who-Lived," Draco said with a laugh. "If he doesn't wake up, you can always go in after him and drag him out by his ear." Draco left and Severus rolled the idea over in his mind.

"What did he mean?" Adeline asked.

"Legilimency."

"You can't," she said, putting her hand on his arm to stop him from even thinking about it. "There's a reason that practice is banned in healing circles. You don't even know what's keeping him in the coma. The chance that a legilimens will get trapped in the coma with the patient is too high."

"She's right," Poppy said, coming over to check Harry's vitals and spell a nutritive potion into his stomach.

"But I have to do something."

"He may still wake on his own," Adeline tried to reassure him, but Severus turned and looked into her eyes and she stopped talking.

"I promised him he wouldn't be alone," Severus said. "I promised him he wouldn't have to deal with things alone anymore." It was the most he'd said to her or anyone about his relationship with Harry, and it seemed to mean a great deal to him.

"At least let Albus have a chance to talk you out of this," Poppy said, and before Severus could object, she'd gone to her office to send a patronus since the floo wasn't working anymore.

Twenty minutes later, Albus came in with Remus.

"This isn't a good idea Severus," Remus said, sitting on a stool on the other side of Harry's bed. The Headmaster conjured a chair and did the same.

"I have to try."

"He may still wake," Albus echoed Adeline's earlier statement, but Severus wasn't arguing anymore. He stared at Harry and concentrated on reaching his mind. It was his job to save his son.

* * *

Harry was convinced there was something missing that ought to have been there with him... with the other magic in the sea. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, only that there was something that was always a part of him that was gone now. If only he could put his finger on what it was.

As time wore on in this place, Harry tried to recall memories of recent events, but couldn't. There were definitely things he could remember, but he had no context for where in a timeline they belonged. He had tried his hardest to figure out what had put him in this place, but was drawing a blank.

Couldn't you just give me a door? He thought to the magic, reaching out and touching Gan's strand of magic again, and then Pomfrey's. If he could just have a door, he could find the answers he was looking for.

There wasn't a door, but there was something brushing against his mind. It felt familiar, like magic he knew and had dealt with before. What was that? It was in one of the dark spaces in his mind. The dark spaces were abundant now. He knew they hadn't been before. Now there was something brushing against his dark spaces.

‘You're not alone. I'm here. Come out.'

Harry frowned. What was that? Who was that? It wasn't a voice, or at least not like the voices he heard but couldn't understand. It was said in his own voice, but Harry knew he hadn't said it.

‘I'm here with you Harry. We all are. Come out'.

‘Who are you?' Harry asked. ‘I want to come out, but there's no door.'

‘Then hold on to me. I will bring you out.'

‘How do I do that? How do I hold on to you? I don't know how.'

‘Then I will hold on to you. Always.'

Harry felt something grab him then. It was jaring after floating here in this place for so long. It was like a pair of strong hands even though no one had hands here. Harry felt himself being pulled to one of the dark spaces in his mind, only the space wasn't so dark. It was bright and warm and white. Whoever had hold of him wasn't letting go, and Harry was glad.

Harry sat bolt upright in bed and gasped, sucking in air as though he hadn't breathed in years. If that wasn't enough to startle those seated around him, the bright flash of light and wave of energy that exploded out of him when he sat up was.

Adeline gasped and Albus and Poppy closed their eyes as the force of it hit them and then moved away, out through the walls and into the castle.

"What was-" Remus started, but he didn't finish his sentence. Harry was awake, and sitting there looking confused as he breathed heavily.

"Was that wards?" Poppy asked, but Dumbledore was already doing a spell and didn't answer for a moment.

"They're back up," he said, perplexed and relieved.

"All of them?" Remus asked

"All of them. They're all there."

They looked again at Harry who had yet to speak, and Adeline looked at Severus to be sure he was awake and had not taken Harry's place. He was watching Harry as well, studying his face.

The first thing Harry said was, "Did Ginny Weasley kiss me? On the lips?"

They were quiet as Harry looked from face to face, and then nervous laughter broke out amongst them. Harry wasn't sure why it was funny, and found himself being pulled into a hug from his right. It was his father, and he was holding him tightly.

"That must have been some kiss cub," Remus said, "if it's the first thing you're asking about after being asleep for three weeks."

"I think it was," Harry said. He wrapped his arms around his father, and then Remus leaned across the bed and hugged Harry from the other side.

The Hospital Wing doors opened again and August burst in, full of anxiety. "There's something going on," he said quickly. "A burst of light and energy."

"The wards are back up," the Headmaster said, "and Harry is awake."

Harry noted that August's hands were shaking slightly as he came over to the group of people around his bed, but after a moment they stopped and his eyes drank in Harry's appearance. "I'm so happy you're ok," August said, and Harry could hear in his words that he meant it.

Remus let go of Harry, and after another moment, Severus did too.

"Has anyone told Gan?" August asked, and people shook their heads, so he moved off to find him.

"Give him some space," Madam Pomfrey said as she pushed through Remus and the Headmaster to get to Harry so she could check his vitals again. "Normal," she said after long tense moments, "though I'm getting strange readings from his core. Harry dear, take this." She handed Harry his wand from the bedside table and said, "cast something please."

"What do you want me to cast?" he asked, holding the wand limply. It felt wrong to him somehow. Normally when he touched his wand he could feel a slight warmth. The wand usually felt familiar, and he knew it was his by touch. It was just a piece of wood now, or so it felt to him.

"A levitation charm," she said gently. "Or lumos."

"Lumos," Harry said, but the wand tip stayed dark.

Harry felt people shift in their seats around his bed and frowned. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said, aiming at his glasses on the side table next to his father. The glasses stayed firmly rooted to their spot.

"Try again," the Headmaster encouraged, and Harry tried several more spells, but nothing was working.

"With all that has happened," Madam Pomfrey said sadly, "and with the excess of moon fruit, it may have been enough to save him, but not his magic. His core may be depleted."

That didn't sound right to Harry though. He'd been positively bathed in magic while he was sleeping. That hadn't felt like a dream. He reached down to the bed with his hands and could feel no magic there. But there was magic in this place. There had to be. He'd felt it while he slept!

Harry shifted the blankets off his legs and moved for the edge of the bed. Albus stood and scooted his chair back to move out of the way but Adeline and Severus both moved to grab for Harry.

"Harry, your legs will be weak," Adeline warned, but Harry had already moved to the edge of the bed and fallen on the floor. Severus and Remus moved to get to him to pick him up, but Albus held up his hand to stop them. Harry couldn't stand, but he seemed ok. He was crawling on his hands and knees, fingers feeling along the rough edges of the stone for any trace of magic at all.

"My core's not depleted," he said a moment later, relief in his voice. "I can feel the magic in the stones. It was all around me while I was unconscious."

"But the spells-" Madam Pomfrey said. She stopped when Harry raised his hand up towards his glasses on the table on the far side of the bed and they flew to him. He put them on and everything came into focus.

"Would you explain what you just did?" Albus asked.

"Accio," Harry said. He looked back up at the bed above him as though it were a mountain to climb, and Remus and Madam Pomfrey lifted him up to sit on the edge again.

"He was struggling with magery at Gemini," Severus said quietly.

"Apparently not anymore," Albus said.

"Can you do another spell?" Pomfrey asked.

Harry looked at a pillow on a bed across the aisle and reached out his hand towards it and thought the levitation spell. It began to hover above the bed.

Poppy made Harry drink several potions, ran several more scans on his core, proclaimed that she didn't understand why Harry couldn't get his wand to work, and then moved off into her office. Adeline went with her as well, wanting to talk through the issue and figure out what was going on. Remus wanted to fill Harry in on what had gone on since Voldemort had died, but Albus had questions he wanted answers to instead. The Hospital Wing door opened and Gan came in just as Albus began asking Harry about what he'd done to Voldemort.

Gan took Adeline's seat next to Severus and listened as Harry explained about Volemort trying to hurt him with Legilimency, but how Harry's mind had been out in the real world and feeling for magic to use Root.

"You could tell the exact spells that had been used in that spot previously?" Albus asked.

Harry nodded.

"Had you been able to do this before?"

"No. Before I could feel magic in the ground, but not what was there."

Gan cleared his throat and said, "His awareness of Root has become more acute. Some who have studied Root all their lives have not attained such an awareness, but many have."

"It was like," Harry frowned and thought back to the moment it had all been happening. "It was like layers of magic, and the further down I felt for it, the more there was. I found an old ward that had fallen, and wards for the foundations of the school, and wards I didn't know the purpose for. I even felt-" he paused, and looked around at the Professors.

"Yes?"

"The founders."

"The Hogwarts founders?" Severus asked.

"They'd made a pact in that spot... a magical agreement or something to educate young people. It was like I was there with them in the moment. I couldn't understand their words, but I knew what they were saying. They toasted each other, and that made a contract."

"Harry," Dumbledore said. He'd been hanging on Harry's words, mind working to figure out how the wards had reestablished themselves when Harry had woken. "What did you do with the wards?"

"I don't think I did anything with them," Harry said. "I just did what I always do with Root. I felt for the magic in the environment and I pulled it to me so I could use it to cause vines to grow around Voldemort while he was in my head not paying attention. And then when he finally felt them and realized what was going on, I pulled magic to me from everywhere... even from Hagrid's pumpkins to cement him." Harry looked at Dumbledore and said, "He is dead isn't he?"

"He is. The statue you made of him is still in place, covered in vines."

Harry sighed in relief.

"Harry, when you died, the wards fell. Every ward in the school and on the grounds. Even the floo stopped working. The point system, everything," Remus explained. "When you woke up forty minutes ago, the wards exploded out of you and were suddenly up again. It was like a reverse shield. Everyone felt it."

"Even down on the school boundary and in the forest," Gan said. "I was out gathering potions ingredients and speaking to the Centaurs."

"They came from me?" Harry asked.

"I believe you may have pulled them into yourself," Dumbledore said. "As long as you were in a coma, they couldn't get out."

"When I was unconscious," Harry said, "I knew I was in the Hospital Wing because I could feel all the magic. I could feel all the spells healers had done here, and I could tell which ones were Madam Pomfreys, and I even found one from you Teacher," Harry said, turning towards him. "I knew it was one you'd given to me. There was other magic there too. I didn't understand all of it. Some was woven together like a tapestry and felt like what happens when we add our magic to a shared shield."

"It had to be the wards," Albus said.

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble," Harry told the Headmaster.

"It was not any trouble dear boy," he said fondly, patting Harry's shoulder. "We are only glad that you are alive and well."

"There is still the issue of his magic," Severus said. Gan asked what he meant and Severus explained it to him.

"He may simply not need the wand to channel magic anymore," Gan said, "Or-" They all looked at him. "His magic may now be tied to the school wards. We would know for certain if he could still perform magic off of Hogwarts grounds."

"He's not leaving until he can stand up on his own!" Poppy called from her office. She'd left the door open and could hear them talking.

Gan smiled and so did Remus. They rose with Dumbledore a few minutes later to leave Harry and Severus alone. Adeline and Poppy were still in Poppy's office chatting and had now ordered tea.

"Thank you," Harry said after they were silent for a few moments. "For not leaving me in there alone," he clarified.

Severus looked at him and said, "I told you I would not."

"I- until now I've never had someone that would stay by me."

"Mr. Weasley."

"Except maybe Ron," Harry agreed. His mind flitted to Ginny and that kiss again though and he wondered if she wanted to date him or had just wanted to kiss him. He'd always liked Ginny, but had always been so preoccupied with staying alive or just trying to make it through classes that he'd never considered dating her before. But she'd been thinking about it apparently.

"So thoughtful?" Severus asked, wanting to know what he was thinking about.

Harry's cheeks tinged red and he cleared his throat and said, "I was wondering where Ginny was."

"I will fetch her if you wish."

Harry gave him a surprised look. "Really? The Potions Master would run errands for the Brat-Who-Lived?" Severus gave him a consternated look. "Didn't think I heard you call me that before, but I did," Harry teased.

"I will keep apologizing to you until you believe me."

"No- I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry. I was just teasing."

Severus was unaccustomed to bantering with Harry. He and Draco had done so for years, and had even more since Draco had found out the truth. Sometimes he even bantered and teased with Minerva and Albus, but never with Harry. But if Harry wanted to tease...

"I will find her and tell her she is being summoned to make out."

Harry choked and sat up, coughing, a look of panic on his face. "No! I'll wait til she comes up on her own!"

Adeline stuck her head out the door of Poppy's office at the sound of Harry choking and gave Severus a stern look, followed by soft words. "Don't get him so riled Severus. Poppy might come out there and give you a calming draught by mistake instead of him."

Harry looked from where Adeline's head had just disappeared back into the office to Severus, who was watching Harry and smiling.

"Are you this mean to Draco?" he asked, realizing Severus had been joking.

"Frequently."

They were quiet for several moments as Harry fidgeted with his fingers.

"Do you need help tucking something away?" Severus asked.

"No. I was wondering- how you were... I mean, I didn't realize you and Lily had been together before Draco's mum said something."

Severus leaned back in his chair. He'd been prepared to explain to Harry when he'd returned to the castle, but Harry hadn't wanted to know. He wondered what had changed.

"Your mother and I were best friends in school. As I am sure you have heard, James was not pleased she was friends with, and later dating a Slytherin, especially one he deemed poor and unpopular. He believed she should be dating him or an upperclassman in Gryffindor, which is where most of the tension came between he and I. She did date him for a few months in our seventh year, but broke up with him and got back together with me." Severus watched Harry's face to see what he thought of it all. The boy was soaking up his words.

"We were together for almost a year after we graduated, however I became jealous of her continued friendship with Potter. I believed she preferred to be with him." He leaned forward then and said quietly to Harry, "I do not have much advice to give a young man about dating, but I will tell you this: insecurity is very unappealing. I would advise you not to make an ass of yourself as I did with Lily."

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Between the two of you?" He seemed desperate to finally know the truth.

"She broke up with me. It wasn't long after that... a few months perhaps, that she was together with James. Nine months after we split, you were born. I truly believed you were James Potter's son."

"And what about Draco?"

"I was feeling very sorry for myself, and made the mistake of taking comfort with Narcissa Malfoy. She had always liked me in school and was a year ahead of Lily and I. When Draco was born Narcissa informed me that he was my son and named me his godfather, but told me that if Lucius ever found out he would kill her and the baby. Draco was never told, and I kept my distance aside from seeing him at birthdays, on holidays, and in school."

Harry thought about it and realized that Snape hadn't really given preferential treatment to just Slytherins, but to just Draco. He and his friends had always assumed Snape hated Gryffindors, but thinking back on classes with the man now, Harry realized he hadn't treated all Gryffindors poorly, only Harry. He'd believed James had stolen Lily and had the son he'd wanted to have with her. Suddenly Snape's anger at thinking Harry had stolen things from Draco at Gemini now made more sense as well. Harry was floored, and felt suddenly like he had a little bit of that perspective Gan had talked about at Gemini.

"You're very quiet," Severus said, and Harry wondered if it was anxiety he detected in his father's voice.

"When we started school, Draco and I got off on the wrong foot, we still might have ended up friends though. But we saw how you were treating Draco versus how you were treating me every day in classes and when we'd gotten into arguments or scuffles, and that just fed our dislike of each other. But how you were treating us was based off of misconceptions just as much as how Draco and I reacted to each other was based on misconceptions." Harry looked at him and said, "We've got to stop doing that. We turned out just like each other and just like you, and we all thought we were so different."

"When did you get so wise?" Severus wondered aloud.

"Didn't you hear?" Harry teased with a smile, "I traveled the world and now I'm cultured."

* * *

A lot of boys were ribbing Harry about the kiss with Ginny they'd all heard about but not seen. That the first words out of Harry's mouth upon waking after three weeks were, ‘Did Ginny Weasley kiss me? On the lips?' had passed around the school several times by the time Harry had gotten out of the Hospital Wing a few days later. The teasing wasn't so bad though, because no one meant it to cause him any trouble. Ginny reacted to it by telling people if they didn't keep quiet about it she'd do it again in public, and she did two days after Harry returned to his friends. She kissed him in the Entrance Hall in front of a large group of students and Harry lost count of how many seconds it lasted for. When she finally pulled away she looked at him and said, "And don't forget it this time!"

She walked away, but she turned to give him a smile as she did, and Harry couldn't do anything other than stand there in the Entrance Hall and listen as the kids cat called at him and asked when they'd started dating or were going to start. Truthfully, he didn't know and wasn't sure where he stood with Hermione or Ginny.

Harry's friends spent days filling him in on things he'd missed during the battle and afterwards.

After Harry's friends had run out of the Great Hall when the attack first started, they'd tried to stick together but had been separated quickly. Ron and Draco ended up with a group of Slytherins out on the grounds, hunkering down in a muddy crater. It was a group of Slytherins who had been on Voldemort's side as well as some who had been uncertain which side they should be on. At first Ron and Draco had stared around at the group with fear, realizing their mistake in diving into that particular crater, and wondering if their classmates would murder them. A Ravenclaw who ended up trapped out on the grounds jumped into their crater several moments later however and looked around at the faces of her peers. "What's going on?" she asked when no one said anything.

That was when Ron looked his peers in the eyes and gave a speech, though Draco took pleasure in correcting Ron when he started to embellish his speech too much in the retelling of it. "A friend once told me that even though we're all in different houses who have their own values, we're all the same. He said he'd seen Slytherins be brave, Hufflepuffs be smart, Gryffindors be cunning and Ravenclaws be open minded. I didn't understand what he was saying when he said we were all the same and that together we'd be stronger. I didn't understand it when he said that if we were divided we were weak. I understand now. Each house only protecting themselves... well we're not four separate houses are we? We're one school. We eat and go to classes in the same place and walk down the same halls. We have friends that aren't in our own houses. So why don't we fight as one school together?" Ron moved forward towards the group of Slytherins and they looked wary, wands out and aimed at him, but Ron continued over to them. "One school," he said, making eye contact with a seventh year girl and then with Crabbe. "We can take our enemies down side by side."

Then Draco had raised his wand and said, "Let's make it a Hogwarts win." That was all it took. The Slytherins raised their wands in solidarity and said, "For Hogwarts." They exited the crater together shouting as they charged a group of Death Eaters and surprised them from behind. Later, when all the fighting was done, Draco would ask Ron who this friend was, and Ron had told him it was Harry.

"Harry said you were as much a Gryffindor as he was a Slytherin."

"Figures," Draco had told him.

The two boys continued to tell that story for weeks to whoever would listen. They were both very interested in school unity, and wanted everyone else to want that as much as they did.

Harry also found out that at some point in the first week after the battle Draco had owled Gringotts and emptied his portion of the Malfoy vault. He'd instructed the goblins to leave a note in the place of the money he withdrew with everything he'd always wanted to say to Lucius about how he'd treated him.

The Headmaster had a story to tell too apparently, and called Harry into his office a few days after he'd been released from the Hospital Wing. Harry met Neville on the way to the Headmaster's office and found out Neville had been called too.

"I never found out," Harry asked Neville as they walked through empty corridors. "Did the last horcruxes get destroyed?"

"I killed the snake," he said proudly.

"Yeah?"

"Ginny and I got separated from everyone else. We had the sword. Ginny went down and I couldn't wake her up, and then I saw the snake coming in to have us both for dinner. I took it's head off."

"Awesome," Harry said. He'd heard a lot of stories of bravery and the smart use of tactics from students. Students from the DA had enjoyed coming up to him at meals or in the halls to tell him how they'd used what he'd taught them to survive and to save their friends and even their teachers.

The gargoyle statue opened for them when they arrived and they went up the spiraling stairs. Severus, Remus and Dumbledore were waiting for them.

"Have a seat boys," Dumbledore said, and Harry and Neville sat in the only two empty chairs. Dumbledore was silent in thought for a moment, and then said, "You both know of the prophecy... Harry whom I told, and Neville who heard it when it broke in the Ministry."

Harry and Neville both looked at each other, and then nodded. "Yes sir," Neville said.

"What you don't know, is that either one of you could have picked up that prophecy. It only listed Harry, but it was about you as well Neville."

"Me sir?"

Severus and Remus were leaning forward in their seats now, listening intently. Apparently this was new information to them as well.

"Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies," Dumbledore recited. "Both of you were born a day apart at the end of July. Both of your parents defied Voldemort three times. Voldemort marked Harry as his equal." Dumbledore pointed to Harry's scar, "and Harry did have power he didn't know about, from his time at Gemini."

"How is the prophecy about Longbottom?" Severus asked.

"Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives."

"I don't understand," Remus said.

"Prophecies are fickle things. They can be interpreted many different ways, which is why prophecies are frequently mislabeled, or why some never appear to come to fruition, even though they have." He pointed at Harry with one hand and at Neville with the other. "Neither," he said with heavy emphasis on the word, "can live while the other, (Voldemort), survives."

"That is stretching the interpretation," Severus said, sitting back in his chair.

"Is it?" Albus asked. "Both boys were vital in destroying Tom Riddle. The prophecy repeated itself, referring to two different boys. At first it says of one boy it will mark him as his equal but that boy will have a power Voldemort knows not. Then later it says the one with the power to vanquish him will be born as the seventh month dies. Two boys fit the prophecy. Two boys are described in the prophecy. These two boys both played vital roles in fulfilling it."

"Me sir?" Neville asked again.

"Harry destroyed Tom Riddle's diary, the first horcrux in his second year. When Harry met Tom in the graveyard after the tournament, the locket horcrux was destroyed to bring Tom back. Neville brought the ring to my attention and helped me find it so that Severus could destroy it, and then Neville killed Nagini. Tom would not be gone now if we had not destroyed the ring and snake as well."

Harry looked to Neville for an explanation about the ring, and Neville said, "All these years, my mum and dad kept asking about a ring. ‘Where's that ring? Neville, get the ring.' I thought they'd just lost mum's wedding ring, because we could never find it. I've been looking for a ring for years, and when I couldn't find it I started researching it. I started looking into what they were doing before they were tortured. I looked into the cases they were working as aurors. It wasn't until we went to the Department of Mysteries that I got a clue about what the ring was. Lestrange cornered me when Luna and I got separated from everyone else and kept taunting me about how my parents would never give up the location of the ring even though they tortured them out of their minds. Then I asked Professor Dumbledore about it."

"Neville shared his research with me, and I was able to determine that it was one of Tom's family heirlooms. We retrieved it together when you were away from school Harry."

"You said there was one last horcrux," Severus said then, leaning forward in the chair. "What is it? When was it destroyed?"

Dumbledore pointed to Harry's forehead where his scar had started to fade. "The scar. When he killed Lily, he inadvertently turned Harry into a horcrux. It died when Harry did."

Harry shifted in his seat uncomfortably when he realized they were all looking at him now. "It's gone," he said.

"Are you certain?" Remus asked.

"When I was unconscious and all I could feel was magic, I realized there was a part of me that was missing. I didn't know what it was until now."

"Perhaps that is also why your wand no longer works for you," Dumbledore said. They'd determined that Harry did still have magic, as Severus and Gan had taken Harry off of school grounds to test him and he'd been able to use root and regular spells he knew. "The cores of your wand and Tom's were the same. The wand chooses the wizard. When you got your wand it may have chosen you because it sensed Tom's horcrux."

Severus handed Harry his wand then, and motioned for him to try a spell with it. The wand felt different than Harry's old one had, but he could feel the magic in it. Harry said, "Lumos," and the tip lit up. He grinned.

"A trip to Ollivander's is in order then," Dumbledore said with a smile. While Harry could perform a lot of spells without a wand now, it was difficult to perform spells he was still trying to learn without one since he had no wand to wave to make the movements. He would be happy to have a new wand that would work for him.

Harry and Neville left the Headmaster's office together, their professors opting to stay behind so they could talk. In the corridor alone, they stopped outside the stone gargoyle and looked at each other.

"The boys who lived," Harry said. "I like it."

"But you're the Boy-Who-Lived," Neville said. "I barely did anything."

"We were tied together all this time and didn't even know it."

"I wish we could have been tied together by something less dire."

Harry surprised Neville then when he hugged him. "Don't change Neville, yeah?" Harry let him go and laughed at his surprised look. "Dean was right, you make Gryffindor proud. You already did and I bet you'll keep doing it."

"Yeah, well you just tell my gran that," Neville said with a short laugh.

"I will."

They walked away to tell their friends what they'd learned.

* * *

There was one more story to tell as it turned out, and it was Harry's. Gan and Adeline approached him one evening as he sat out on the grass near the lake, his skin warming in the last rays of evening sun. Harry was enjoying the feeling of not having to be anywhere, and not having anything expected of him. He was enjoying the feeling of normalcy, and of not being anxious about an impending fight or the loss of friends.

"Are you meditating Harry?" Gan asked when they approached. He tilted his head back from where he was lying on his back and looked at them upside down with a grin. "No teacher. Just enjoying the sun."

"May we enjoy it with you?" Adeline asked.

Harry sat up and said, "Of course."

They sat down on either side of him, facing the lake.

"It's a beautiful spot," Adeline said, admiring the view.

"My friends and I come down here sometimes," Harry said. "It's best in the fall when all the leaves are orange and yellow. And in the spring on the other side of the cove there's a huge pink tree." He pointed, and they looked, but all the trees were bare now as it was winter. It was a rare warm day, which was what had brought Harry out.

"We wanted to ask you about something," Adeline said, and Harry nodded. A lot of people had wanted to ask him things lately. Ministry officials had come and asked how he had killed Voldemort and wanted details. Ollivander had asked why Harry needed a new wand. And students had been asking why Harry hadn't asked Ginny Weasley out yet.

"At Gemini, you seemed afraid of Professor Snape at first," Adeline said.

"He didn't used to treat me very nice," Harry said. "What I said at Gemini was true. He was always on my case at school, or putting me down, or giving me detention when I didn't deserve it. There was no way for me to prove to him that the worst things he believed about me weren't true."

"But he is your father," Gan said.

"We didn't know that," Harry said. "Not until after Gemini."

"We have asked Severus," Gan said, "but he has not told us anything other than that it is complicated."

"It is," Harry said, and then corrected himself, "was."

He didn't know quite how to explain to them about Snape, or about his life really without telling it all to them. It would leave too many gaps and make them ask too many questions if he left things out.

"I live with my aunt and uncle and cousin who hate magic, and who hate me. They're Muggles. I didn't grow up with a family." He reached down past his knee to play with his shoelaces. "The only people I had were here at Hogwarts... my friends and Remus and my Godfather Sirius."

"The one who died?" Adeline asked, and Harry nodded.

"After Gemini, Professor Snape... my dad I mean, told me I could stay with him for the last couple weeks of summer, and that we'd tell the Headmaster that he was training me. He didn't, I mean, I just got a couple weeks to do what I wanted."

"Why did you need to lie to your headmaster?" Gan asked.

"He had custody of me in our world, so he got to say where I stayed on holidays. He said when my mother died protecting me it placed a protection spell on me that was only good if I lived with my family. I went to Gemini because it was a chance to spend the summer away from them."

"I'm sorry to hear that Harry," Adeline said. She touched his arm the same way Harry had seen her do with his father several times, and then pulled her hand away and Harry continued.

"Staying with him went ok, considering we didn't get along before that. And when school started again we were still spending some time together so I could learn Occlumency. Then the first attack on the school happened." He explained about being sent away by portkey to the village and meeting Narcissa and what she'd told him.

"That's why you ran away," Adeline said, finally understanding.

"Yeah. I didn't tell anybody but Draco. I stayed at Boden for a while." He looked at each of them and they nodded. They already knew that part. He explained about his stay with Remus, and the fire, and returning to Hogwarts to deal with Snape.

"He was just so different when I came back," Harry said. "Like it wasn't even a question for him that he'd be there to help me with whatever I needed. That was all new to me. I'd only had my friends before that, and Remus."

"And you are happy now Harry?" Gan asked. "To stay with Severus and Draco?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It's nice to have family and to know what that's like. It's good to have someone that will be there no matter what."

They talked for twenty more minutes as the sun went down, about Harry's new understanding of Root, and about what was next for him if he wished to pursue Root. They got up since the sun had gone down far enough to hide behind the treeline, and the air had grown chill.

"Teacher?" Harry asked Gan.

"Yes."

"Do you have a tree at Gemini?"

"There is a tree hanging out from the cliff over the ocean on the other side of the compound from your tree that grows pandafruit. It is used in calming draughts. Like moonfruit, it is magical and only grows in certain places, typically high in the mountains or on the steppe of Mongolia in winter."

On their way back to the castle Gan told Harry that he would be leaving soon, and Harry was sad to see him go. He would miss him. Gan told him however that if at any time Harry should wish to learn more about Root, he would be welcome to study with Gan, and that arrangements would be made.

Adeline it turned out, was not leaving so soon. She wanted to spend some time with Harry, Draco, and Severus, and was thinking of staying until the end of the school year. She had already taken a leave of absence at Beauxbatons, and since there was more than one healer there it wasn't an issue.

Later that evening Harry visited his father and told him about Gan's offer, and then asked if Severus had a tree at Gemini.

"I did get to attend for one summer, on scholarship from the Ministry."

"Did you have a tree?"

"Only students who spend an inordinate amount of time in the woods have a tree." Harry was looking at him expectantly though, so Severus continued. "Mine is deep in the woods, almost off of school grounds. It grows mangos."

"Mangos?" Harry asked, and then his brows creased in thought. He felt like mangos were an ironic fruit to grow on his father's tree because they were such a bright, tropical, cheery fruit, and everyone knew that Snape was neither cheery or tropical. But no- that was before. That was before Harry had gotten to know him... before he'd let his relationship shift with the man to one where they could joke and tease. To one where he knew his father would always be there for him. Harry still sometimes felt like he didn't know this man at all; like he was something exotic and new. Perhaps he was tropical and cheery, when he wanted to be.

Harry just wanted to relax and not have to think about anything other than summer.

"Father wants to know if you want takeaway," Draco said, sticking his head out the back door of their home on the Isle of Coll.

"Indian?" Harry asked.

"Of course."

"Who's he sending to get it?"

"Unlike some people," Draco said with fake sarcasm, "I just earned my apparation license and I'm not bored of apparating out to bring food back."

Harry laughed and Draco went back inside. He closed his eyes as the breeze rippled through his hair. In a few days Gemini would start up and Ron and Hermione would be attending classes on another part of the island. Draco mentioned possibly sneaking over there to go to a bonfire with them, and Harry wasn't opposed, though he was a little nervous as there wouldn't be many teachers there he knew. He'd heard McGonagall was taking a turn teaching this summer, but he didn't want to get on her bad side when he still had a year left at Hogwarts.

Ron was excited about spending a summer at Gemini with Hermione and Harry knew his friend hoped to rekindle his relationship with her. Harry wondered if he would. He didn't mind if he did and hoped it worked out well for his friends. More than anything he hoped Ron learned as much about himself and about other cultures as Harry had during his time there.

A noise to his left made Harry open his eyes. It was his father sitting down on the outdoor chair next to Harry's.

"Miss Weasley called for you in the floo a few minutes ago."

Harry sat up and looked interested, and his father gave him a knowing look. "I assume you'll be flooing to the Burrow this evening?"

"If that's ok. I'd like whatever Draco brings back for dinner first."

"As long as you return by ten."

Harry had already been to the Burrow a few times since school had ended last week, and had spent lazy hours playing Quidditch or reading magazines with Ron and Ginny. With Ron getting ready to head to Gemini, Harry was looking forward to spending some time with Ginny alone. She'd come to see him frequently while he was recuperating in the Hospital Wing and later in his father's quarters, and hadn't left his side much during free time during the rest of the school year. Harry hadn't realized before just how fond of her he was until he looked back at their time together as friends before he'd gone to Gemini, and then after defeating Voldemort. He realized that when they were apart, he missed her quiet companionship and more little things about her than he could count. Not to mention the two very public kisses they'd had.

"Such thought over a trip to the Burrow?" Severus asked. "Do you wish to spend the summer there?"

Harry looked up at him and laughed then. "Maybe once Ron is at Gemini I can invite Ginny to spend some evenings here if Mrs. Weasley will let her."

Severus snorted and shook his head with a small smile. "You realize I will be the one held responsible if there is any impropriety while Miss Weasley is here?"

"I'd never do anything-" Harry tried to assure him, but Severus held up his hand.

"I never expected it would be you who would," he said. Before he could elaborate, Draco reappeared from inside and called them to come get their dinner.

Draco was only going to be here a few nights a week, as he was spending the other nights with his mother who was in Paris, and Harry was happy to be getting to know him as a brother now that they had the time. Harry and Draco never told Severus, but they were both glad to be staying with him for the summer. With no threat of Voldemort or his Death Eaters hunting them down, with school behind them for a few months and no place they had to be, the three had a shot to make a go of it as a family, and that was something Harry was glad he had returned for. Remus had been right, as had Falk, and even Gan. Life was hard, and life was often complicated, but the reward of working through things was worth it. He looked up as his father laughed at something Draco had said over their meal and grinned to himself. It was well worth the trouble.

* * *

Once Dumbledore had sent Harry to Gemini to gain an advantage, and he had. It wasn't magic or meditation or new defensive tactics that Harry used to his advantage though, it was allies. He had become friends with Draco (and Narcissa was aware of it and spared Harry). He had become friends with Axle, who was willing to let Harry hide out at Boden. And he had gained something that Voldemort never had and Dumbledore never expected Harry to have either: a father... an adult that cared about him and was willing to teach him and direct him down the right path, even if he sometimes did so in a way Harry wasn't always pleased with.

Harry spent many more summers on the Isle of Coll, though not at Gemini. He didn't return to Gemini until years later when his own children were almost old enough to attend Hogwarts and he took up cabin 18 as a professor and taught Occlumency and Magery amongst other things. That summer his father lived in the cabin next door, and they remembered the summer long ago that they had spent together there, getting to know each other, and learning to walk in each other's shoes. It was a good summer, but there was never another like the first they'd spent there. There was also never another year like The Year Of Exchanges. So many students had gone to other schools for a term because they'd been displaced by the war (even Harry), that The Year Of Exchanges was written about in history books about the war, about Voldemort, and about Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army.