Standing in front of the white marble tomb, Severus stared at the etched in name 'Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.' It seemed so bizarre to think that he was standing in front of Dumbledore's tomb, but there he was. So many questions swirled about now.

When he heard a moment later the sounds of leaves crunching underneath someone's feet, Severus adopted a more defensive form out of habit. However, when he saw that it was just Filius, he relaxed slightly. The Charms professor would have the answers he sought. Wouldn't he?

"Good afternoon, Severus," Flitwick said politely.

He inclined his head in return. "Filius." His eyes then returned to Dumbledore's tomb.

"I had wondered if you would come here," the small Charms professor admitted with a sigh.

Severus slowly turned to him. "I don't understand, Filius. This didn't happen in—"

"You're right. It didn't." Flitwick glanced down somberly before he shook his head. "But it's what needed to happen. The Headmaster knew that."

"What?" Albus had to die? Why?

Filius met his look. "You-Know-Who bent the rules, twisted them to change fate, his fate. He created not just one Horcrux, but seven. Seven times he split his soul, and somehow he found a way to remain as close to his true self as he could. That went against nature, against his destiny, his fate."

Severus had figured that much out for himself, but he listened as Flitwick continued.

"Of course, you know this, or rather know of his transgressions. The Headmaster, however . . ." Flitwick hung his head, looking at the floor somberly. "A brilliant man, truly he was, but he meddled not only with people's lives, but with time itself when the occasion warranted it. He was the one, in fact, instrumental in getting Miss Granger permission to use a time turner this year. A thirteen-year-old with a time turner, brilliant as she may be, is beyond reckless. It's downright dangerous."

"So you changed his fate because of that?"

"No." The small Charms professor shook his head. "No. We changed his fate back to what it should have been, Severus." Flitwick sighed quietly. "He was not supposed to live before You-Know-Who was defeated. However, with all the interferences, that didn't happen."

"Albus knew he would die?"

"He did."

"And he was all right with this?"

Flitwick gave a quiet laugh. "He was the one who approached me over the summer, in fact, about righting the wrongs in the first place." Severus's eyes narrowed on him. "You see, I hadn't noticed it at the time, but he recognized my pendant when I interviewed for the available Charms position all those years ago. He always claimed it wasn't why he hired me, but I'm certain it was a contributing factor. He asked me this past summer after Aurora was returned if ever there was a way to rewrite time, to fix it to the correct timeline again, he asked me to see if I could do that."

"Which occurred when the Horcruxes were destroyed, correct?"

"Exactly. With the Horcruxes gone, there was nothing tethering him any longer."

Severus nodded in understanding. He supposed that made sense. "And what of her mother?"

"Ah." Flitwick winced before he glanced down again. "When Syra became ill many years ago, she was not supposed to live. In other words, she cheated her fate just as You-Know-Who had. Instead of using a Horcrux, though, she chose to become a vampire. She was not supposed to do that."

"But without her insight into her serum—"

"That event did not change. She provided Madam Pomfrey with all her knowledge on the serum. What changed, however, was that she sacrificed herself for Aurora."

"Sacrificed herself?"

"You both were very weak when you tied your souls together. Aurora was losing a tremendous amount of blood, and Madam Pomfrey was finding it difficult to heal her properly."

"I had a hold of her. I remember this." He could still recall the Inferi trying to drag them down.

"You did, but her physical injuries needed more attention. Her mother performed the Martyr's Gift on her then and sacrificed herself for Aurora." Flitwick sighed. "I had always wondered if Aurora told you what she saw after she performed the Martyr's Gift with Harry. If she told you she saw me and the others. I assumed with how you acted that she hadn't. I see now I was correct in that assumption."

"She saw you?"

"She did. When one performs the Martyr's Gift, they call onto us to judge if their sacrifice is worth going against the threads of time. With Aurora and Harry, they both were needed still, so we sent them both back. However, by doing that, we drew attention to the fact that rules could be rewritten. You-Know-Who took note of this and attempted to change things in his favor. He tested his limits more. We tried to rewrite it, fix our mistake, but it only led to his sharing his consciousness with Leonidas."

He then understood. "You knew? You knew where she was all that time and you didn't—"

"I cannot interfere, Severus. None of us can."

"She was—"

"I know," Filius squeaked back with a pained look. "We could not interfere, though, with a fixed point. You found her eventually, and you've both been healing from those wounds ever since."

"It could have been—"

"No, Severus. It could not have been. You-Know-Who had to be contained. The darkness that followed, what you experienced, was short-lived and solely remnants from the Horcruxes. Once all Horcruxes were gone, we had to strike. We had to restore the balance. Their deaths have done that."

"But at what cost?"

"None." At hearing Severus's scoff, Filius went on to explain further. "You-Know-Who will no longer corrupt and spread his darkness on this land. Syra gave her daughter the ultimate gift in response to all the years she had caused Aurora pain instead, and the Headmaster recognized that his purpose was over and stepped aside. There is no cost. It's over."

"Until some Death Eater decides years down the road to avenge their master," Severus replied.

"Perhaps that'll be the case, but there will be no more deaths at Hogwarts. Not this time."

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Filius shrugged. "Live your life. It's all you can do, Severus." He turned a moment later and left.

Live his life. It seemed that's all anyone ever told them anymore. Live their lives.

Harry sat on the edge of the bench in the abandoned courtyard looking out onto Black Lake. It didn't seem real anymore. First, they were running, and now it was suddenly over? For how long this time, he found himself wondering glumly. A week or two? Frowning, he kicked one of the loose rocks at his feet and propelled it through the air before it tumbled back to the ground.

"What did the rock do to you?" a soft voice asked to his left.

He glanced up slowly and smiled faintly at the dishwater blonde girl. "Luna, right?"

She smiled in return and nodded. "That's right, Harry." She then motioned towards the empty spot on the bench beside him. "May I?"

"Sure." He scooted over a bit and turned his attention back to the lake as she sat down. "It's peaceful out here, isn't it?"

She nodded silently before she laughed. "Well, it was until the Thestrals showed up."

"The what?" He turned towards her, narrowing his eyes. There was no one out there besides them and a few birds.

"Thestrals." She then pointed towards the shoreline. "You don't see them?"

Squinting, he followed her arm to where she was pointing. He didn't see anything, though. Nothing but sand and every now and then the giant squid out in the middle of the lake.

"They pull the carriages up to the school," she explained. "Most people find them to be unpleasant, but it's only because they're misunderstood. Like us," she said with a smile.

He felt horrible, but he needed to tell her the truth. "I'm sorry, Luna. I, well, I don't see them," he admitted quietly. He had always wondered what pulled the carriages truth be told, and invisible creatures certainly made sense. At least as much sense as anything at Hogwarts could.

"Don't apologize," she replied, her gray eyes hovering on him for half a moment. "Not seeing them means you haven't seen death. That's a good thing, Harry." She then turned back, folding her hands in her lap silently.

Biting his lower lip, Harry thought on what she said. Only those who had seen death could see these Thestrals. That would explain the dark omen she was talking about with them. His eyes then narrowed on her. "Wait a moment. You saw someone die?" He kicked himself when he saw her look of pain instantly. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid question. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to." She smiled softly, though.

"It was my mother," she answered with a faint smile. "She was very talented, but liked to experiment unfortunately. I was very young when she died."

"I'm sorry."

She cocked her head to the side and stared at him. "For what?"

"That you lost your mother."

She shrugged gently. "You lost both of your parents at an early age as well." She then leaned towards him. "You do still consider James your father, right? He may not have been your biological father I know, but he did help raise you for a short time."

Harry nodded in response. "I do. I mean, I consider myself lucky in that I have another set of parents now, my dad and Aurora." He then winced. "That came out wrong. What I meant to say—"

"It's all right. I understood what you meant," she said with a quiet laugh.

"Good. I'm glad." Harry then rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Why was it so hard to talk to her? It was never this hard with Hermione.

"Do you think they know how easy they have it?" Luna suddenly asked. When he glanced at her, she pointed towards a young couple, a pair of sixth-years he decided, walking along the shoreline.

The feeling of déjà vu hit him hard the second he heard her. She had said that to him just a few weeks ago, or had she? He was so confused now. He could see why his Grandmother Eileen hated spatial distortions and things that messed with time. It was so strange and mind boggling.

"No," he replied with a shrug. "How could they? They've never had to worry about anything other than when they were going to snog one another again. Or, you know, when their next Potions exam was," he added. When she laughed, he smiled. It was slowly getting easier to talk with her. She then stood up a second later. "Is something wrong?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Then why are you standing?"

Without turning from Harry, her smile widened and she said, "Good afternoon, Professor."

Harry's eyes widened instantly before he noticed his mum approach Luna from behind. How did Luna know it was his mum? He hadn't even noticed her. How had she?

"Good afternoon, Miss Lovegood," Aurora replied kindly.

"I'll see you later, Harry," Luna said before she finally turned away and left. Harry's eyes remained on her, though, watching her head towards the castle.

"So . . ." his mum teased, crossing her arms.

"What? We're just friends." At least he thought they were just friends. Then again, that was what Hermione and Draco always said too, and it was clear that wasn't true.

"Uh huh. Sure you are."

"We are. Honest, Mum. We're just friends. I don't even, you know . . . I'm not even thinking like that. We're just friends." He thought.

She nodded, though, deciding to let that sleeping bear rest. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Fine, I guess. How are you, though?" After all, she was the one who came back to find out that her mother had died twice now.

"Still confused, but you know."

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding. There was certainly a lot to be confused over. "Do you think we're safe now? Like, it really is over for good? No more Voldemort? Vampires trying to kill us all? It's just over with for good?"

"I don't know. I certainly hope so, though. I'm ready to move on. To see what the future has in store for us. To be a family for once."

Harry nodded. He hoped for the same thing. A thought then occurred to him. "Mum?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you and Dad still engaged? Or did that even happen here?" He caught her soft laugh instantly and saw her smile.

"Considering that I am still wearing the ring your father gave me, I think that's a yes," she said, holding up her ring finger where the simple ring was.

"Good. Because we can't just end there, you know? Without you two getting married."

"Oh?"

"Well, I mean we could, but—"

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "But Minerva would kill us as would Septima. Not to mention, Pomona would throw a fit."

"What?" He then noticed her biting her lower lip nervously. "Mum, why would they be upset?"

"Well, Minerva would be upset on the whole principle of the matter. Septima would be because she'd be convinced that I wouldn't go through with it. And Pomona, well, she wants to catch the bouquet, I think, and drag poor Filius to the alter screaming."

"What?" Harry's mouth dropped. "You mean it's true? They're really, you know, together?"

"Yes, but you didn't hear that from me." Her face then scrunched up for half a moment. "Didn't I tell you that before?"

"If you did, I don't remember it," Harry replied with a shrug.

"Ah. Well, yeah, they're together. It's probably the worst kept secret at Hogwarts."

Harry snorted. "You mean, besides you and Dad?"

"Hey, your dad took a little persuading before he saw it my way."

The young man rolled his eyes. Yeah, sure he did. "So, what now, Mum?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I truly don't. We've gone from crisis to crisis for so long that I don't know what comes next, Harry."

"But whatever comes next, we're together, right? You, Dad, and me?"

"Of course." She smiled at him kindly. "You're stuck with us now." She then sighed, running a hand through her curls. "Just like I'm going to be stuck with Eileen. Who knows, though? Maybe I've grown on her." At Harry's look of disbelief, she nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Probably not."