Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows SPOILER
EPI-EPILOGUE
5 Years Even Later
Harry stood on Platform 9 3/4, trying not to catch
Ginny's eye. It was strange, he couldn't remember that
he, Harry, had ever really decided to marry her. It
seemed as though at one moment it had been 1999 and he
had been not quite 18 years old, caught up in the
exhiliration and grief of that final victory over
Voldemort, and then an instant later it had been 2018
and he was here at King's Cross, not in the way he'd
expected to be, but stuck somewhere toward the end of
the 20 years of stultifying boredom that had been his 20
marriage to Ginny. It had never been a decision. It
had simply happened, as if Ginny was preordained, had
been written into existence by some all-seeing Author
for the sole purpose of marrying him, Harry.
Harry watched his daughter Lily run to meet Dudley's
daughter, Verna Dursley. Thick as thieves, those two. Verna
was showing Lily her new owl; Lily had had to make do
with one of Neville's toad's grandchildren. Money was tight.
The book contracts had helped, especially once he'd turned down
Auror training-- the MOM offered to waive the NEWTs
he, Harry, had missed, but to be honest Harry wasn't
that fussed about being an Auror any more. It seemed
pretty dull after what he'd been through. The real
blow had been Gringotts confiscating all the gold in
his vault to pay for damages.
"Come to see them off?"
Harry turned to see his old friend Hermione. "Ron's
here," he warned her warningly.
"I know that," she said knowingly. "But they're my
kids too. Besides--"
Harry only half listened to what had become an endless
litany of complaints. He had heard it all before. He
felt like telling Hermione that she had known Ron was
a prat when she married him-- she could hardly have
missed his condescending reference to "letting" her
destroy a Horcrux, could she? But he didn't want to
hurt her feelings.
"Still enslaving house elves?" Hermione asked finally.
"The Wizengamot awarded 12 Grimauld Place to Ginny in
the settlement," he said simply. "Kreacher went with
it."
He, Harry, missed his Kreacher comforts.
Hermione's look was a little too understanding, and he
had no desire to discuss the whole Luna Lovegood
thing. He changed the subject hastily. "Is Ron
still--"
"--obsessed with the Elder Wand? Yes," said Hermione
agreeingly. "He keeps saying it's bigger than his,
more powerful, that he could do more with it. And
here's what's got me worried, Harry--"
He guessed her thought. "Now that McGonagall's retired
as Headmistress, you think he's going to--"
"All I know is he keeps calling the Elder Wand 'my
precious'."
The whistle blew, and just as the long scarlet train
began to move, Ron darted in an open door.
"Looks like there's more work for us to do," said
Hermione simply.
5 Years Even Later
Harry stood on Platform 9 3/4, trying not to catch
Ginny's eye. It was strange, he couldn't remember that
he, Harry, had ever really decided to marry her. It
seemed as though at one moment it had been 1999 and he
had been not quite 18 years old, caught up in the
exhiliration and grief of that final victory over
Voldemort, and then an instant later it had been 2018
and he was here at King's Cross, not in the way he'd
expected to be, but stuck somewhere toward the end of
the 20 years of stultifying boredom that had been his 20
marriage to Ginny. It had never been a decision. It
had simply happened, as if Ginny was preordained, had
been written into existence by some all-seeing Author
for the sole purpose of marrying him, Harry.
Harry watched his daughter Lily run to meet Dudley's
daughter, Verna Dursley. Thick as thieves, those two. Verna
was showing Lily her new owl; Lily had had to make do
with one of Neville's toad's grandchildren. Money was tight.
The book contracts had helped, especially once he'd turned down
Auror training-- the MOM offered to waive the NEWTs
he, Harry, had missed, but to be honest Harry wasn't
that fussed about being an Auror any more. It seemed
pretty dull after what he'd been through. The real
blow had been Gringotts confiscating all the gold in
his vault to pay for damages.
"Come to see them off?"
Harry turned to see his old friend Hermione. "Ron's
here," he warned her warningly.
"I know that," she said knowingly. "But they're my
kids too. Besides--"
Harry only half listened to what had become an endless
litany of complaints. He had heard it all before. He
felt like telling Hermione that she had known Ron was
a prat when she married him-- she could hardly have
missed his condescending reference to "letting" her
destroy a Horcrux, could she? But he didn't want to
hurt her feelings.
"Still enslaving house elves?" Hermione asked finally.
"The Wizengamot awarded 12 Grimauld Place to Ginny in
the settlement," he said simply. "Kreacher went with
it."
He, Harry, missed his Kreacher comforts.
Hermione's look was a little too understanding, and he
had no desire to discuss the whole Luna Lovegood
thing. He changed the subject hastily. "Is Ron
still--"
"--obsessed with the Elder Wand? Yes," said Hermione
agreeingly. "He keeps saying it's bigger than his,
more powerful, that he could do more with it. And
here's what's got me worried, Harry--"
He guessed her thought. "Now that McGonagall's retired
as Headmistress, you think he's going to--"
"All I know is he keeps calling the Elder Wand 'my
precious'."
The whistle blew, and just as the long scarlet train
began to move, Ron darted in an open door.
"Looks like there's more work for us to do," said
Hermione simply.