Chapter 9

---

The Burrow -Ides of March, 1999

"Welcome, everyone! It feels so good to have the whole family over!" Molly Weasley greeted her guests cheerfully. She had invited the entire group who would form the full circle for dinner, as well as Severus and Katie Snape. "I haven't gotten to cook for everyone in such a long time. And I certainly didn't used to have the funds to do it the way I wanted, thanks to dear old Albus, so I want you all to enjoy." The Burrow had been rebuilt after the war, bigger, but still eclectic and warm, full of the energy of all the Weasleys. There were small portraits of the missing boys, who added jests and jibes to the conversation at the table.

The food was spectacular, two large prime ribs of beef, fresh asparagus, lightly steamed, with vinaigrette dressing, mashed potatoes, fresh baked bread, mushrooms sauteed in a butter-wine sauce and then for dessert, a lovely flan, some trifle, and in honor of Harry, treacle tart.

"Molly, this is sublime! Better than most of the restaurants I've ever been in," Narcissa complimented.

Everyone else agreed enthusiastically. More than one of the girls at the table swore they were going to ask Molly for cooking lessons.

"So, how is everyone doing on their assignments?" asked Molly.

Cho answered, "We're all spot on, Mum. We have, at Draco's request, practiced melding our magic in small ways to make sure we can do that as needed. It's been working well."

"Cho is underplaying how well things have been working. Together, usually in small quarter-circle groups, all of Hogwarts has been repaired and magically healed." Severus smiled proudly at all of his family.

"Also, the Ministry buildings have all been strengthened," Arthur and Lucius spoke in chorus, then chuckled. They had been finding many similarities, now that they were essentially family.

"Hermione and Viktor have been writing a book on how to merge magic for couples with compatible magic. It should be amazing and revolutionary once it is published," bragged Draco.

"Isn't that a bit much, Hermione?" Molly asked, garnering knowing chuckles from everyone.

"Not really, Molly. Viktor already had most of it written down, as part of his lesson plan for the rest of us. I'm just polishing it. Anyway, it is a good break from my researching and warding design. I'm not super-witch, I just get bored easily." Hermione grinned self-deprecatingly.

Viktor smiled at his wife, then turned to Molly. "Draco is helping break the spells down into Arithmantic formulas ve are including in the book at the end, in a kind of index."

"I think I know why I want Harry back," said Bill.

That stopped the group cold. They all looked at him expectantly.

"You're all complete. Hermione and Viktor are just like one magical jewel with two interesting facets. And you see how much they love to learn from each other and work together. Draco and Luna would never seem to fit, yet they do, and well. I could say the same about each and every couple here. I did not have that with Fleur, and I want it." Bill looked at them, challenging them to find fault with him.

"That is an excellent reason, Bill," said Luna. "Now you just need to figure out why Harry, and not anyone else."

"She's right," interjected Hermione when Bill looked upset at not being able to say he was done.

She looked at Viktor because the rest of the explanation was his. "I haff been speaking to the elves. They cannot bring him back because although they have kept his body in stasis, his coya, vhat is vord, soul, is not fully anchored. If you do not know exactly vhy Harry, it may not vork."

That explanation resonated with all of them. More than one couple squeezed their hands together in solidarity.

"I'm so glad we were always able to be together, love; you really are the other half of my soul," Hermione told Viktor as she took his hand. He looked shaken at the thought that they could do all this research and magical experimentation, and it would still not work.

Bill looked thoughtful, his scarred face ruggedly handsome. "I see that. I didn't have that connection with Fleur, and deep down I knew it was missing." He took a deep breath and came to a decision. "Fine. You know, all I know about Harry the person is the little I remember of him. I did find him attractive, in a 'hey, he might be hot when he's older' sort of way; the messy bed-hair and those eyes of his are amazing, and as much as everyone said he looked just like his father, his bone structure is a bit finer, at least what I remember from pictures. I bet if he were fed properly, he would look quite a bit different. He is smart, but didn't apply himself, he's brave to the point of idiocy, which I can appreciate, and he's loyal. I find all of that attractive and would love to have it in my life," Bill said to the room at large.

"He's gentle and has a really dry sense of humor, when he would let himself laugh at things. You would like that," said Ginny, seeing where her brother was going and joining in enthusiastically.

"He's fiercely protective of his friends and those he considers family," added Luna.

"I want to get to know him, the Harry who is friends with my wife and my best friends," said Draco.

"I admire his tenacity. He never let me break him, and I was ordered to try," Severus choked out over his emotions.

"He is a hell of a Quidditch player," said Katie, which made everyone laugh, including Severus, who squeezed her hand gratefully.

"He's my brother, and I want him back," Hermione begged softly.

"Thank you," said Bill. "This helps a lot. Maybe you can all give me some stories, those you wouldn't mind sharing, so that I can get to know Harry, not the Boy-Who-Lived."

They all nodded, resolving to give Bill the best and the worst and the in-between, so he would have a complete picture.

---

While they were working on "Operation Getting to Know Harry," Hermione had found that Harry's vaults were being kept under goblin control. They were doing what they did best, protecting their interests. They really wanted him awake to pay what he owed them.

Oddly, Kreacher was quite pleased to find out that she had discovered this.

"Missy Nin has found way to return Master Harry?" Kreacher asked.

Hermione smiled at the fact that even the elves were calling her Nin now. "Yes, Kreacher. Viktor, my friends and family have found a way to do circle magic."

"And his mate, has you found a suitable one?"

"Yes, we found him Bill Weasley." Hermione was curious to see what Kreacher would say to that.

"The wolfy-Weasley?" Kreacher nodded approvingly. "Can Kreacher do anythings to help?"

"Yes, Kreacher. Tell all the elves that Volfy-Veasley vants stories of Harry to fix him in his mind. Anyone who vishes can tell him directly, or write it down," Viktor responded. He had a knack with the elves.

"Kreacher will go now. Good Master Harry helped Kreacher finish what Good Master Regulus started." He popped out proudly, glad to have a chore that would help his master.

"Have you decided what you are going to tell Bill, Viktor?"

"Yes, Nin. I am going to tell him of vhen Harry spoke to me before the third task, and told me that as long as I made you happy, then he vould be happy. He vas so young, and yet so mature. Efer since that day, I admire him wery much. I vas sad to know Dumbledore vas setting him up to die. Vhat vill you tell him?"

"There is so much, love. He was such a caring little boy. Ron only came to find me that first Halloween because Harry had guilted him into it. He came to talk to me every day when I was petrified second year. Did you know that? Third year, he was upset about the broom, but he later told me that he never doubted I cared about him; he had just wished I had done it differently. That fourth year, I was so afraid he would die, and he went into everything with that bravado, even though he was scared. Fifth, he was hurting so much, and none of us listened when we should, and neither did he. I almost died for him. I was willing to, but all I could think was that in his stupid need to save everyone, he had taken me away from you. Sixth year was a disaster, and that last year was such a horror, but he tried so hard. I wish he hadn't believed Dumbledore, but it was who he was. I think if he had thought that killing himself would work for whatever reason, he would have done it; it was just part of him being Harry."

The two wrote letters with their stories and sent them to Bill, then went to bed.

Bill started collecting all the stories he was being given by everyone about the Harry they knew. He thought Harry might like to see what everyone thought of him once he was back. Viktor's made him smile with pride, while Hermione and Ginny's stories made him cry. Katie amused him by telling him Quidditch stories and amazed him with what Harry could do on a broom even as an ickle firstie. The Malfoys astounded him with their candor, Draco telling him of their rivalry, fueled by jealousy. Lucius told him of his anger and reluctant admiration of the boy when he conned him into freeing Dobby. Narcissa told of the joy she had when Harry told her Draco was alive and her willingness to lie for him. All of the Malfoys reiterated that there was just something about the boy.

Neville sat and talked to Bill for a long while. Again, Bill cried. Neville told him of their long discussions, about their similarities and how Harry always believed that Neville could be a hero. "He made me believe it, you know. I just saw how misled he was, but Dumbledore had played him so well, he couldn't see it. Hermione saved the rest of us, but she always hoped she could convince Harry to join us." Daphne had not much to say, except that Harry never painted all of Slytherin with the same evil brush that Ron did. She did wonder what Harry saw in Ron, though. Bill could sort of agree there.

Percy told Bill of how annoying Harry and Ron could be, laying about when they should have been studying, which amused him no end. Susan told him of his kindness to everyone who was remotely kind to him, and what a good teacher he was during the DA days.

Charlie sat with his brother one day on a rock out by the Black Lake, the two dangling their feet and skipping rocks, much like they did when they were students, holding bottles of cold Butterbeer, and told him how amazed he was when Harry out flew the dragon during the first task of the Tri-Wizard tournament, and managed not only to out maneuver her, but got through without causing an injury to either the dragon or her eggs. "I remember that, Charlie. Both Harry and Fleur caught my eye that day, but he was so young." The brothers sat for a long while, enjoying the sun, when a familiar voice interrupted their reverie.

"What are you two doing drinking cold Butterbeer?" Cho thought everyone liked it warm, at least in Britain.

Charlie laughed. "That's my fault, love. One of my good friends at the dragon reserve in Romania is from California, and he drinks everything he can ice cold, even tea. I got to enjoy the taste of cold Butterbeer and I've since corrupted Bill here."

Cho nodded. "OK, hand it over." Charlie did, and Cho took a drink. "Not bad, but I think I still prefer a warm mug. Were you telling Harry stories?"

"Yes. Do you have one?" Bill raised an eyebrow at her.

"I was such a mess after Cedric died. I guess having your first love die a horrible, needless death at the hands of the Dark Lord's minion is not conducive to much of anything but lots of tears and misery. Harry was so kind, getting me through the worst of my depression, but I mistook it for something more. So, that Christmas of his fifth year, I kissed him under the mistletoe. Nothing ever came of it, of course, and I still can't believe I blamed Hermione for my own insecurity and stupidity, but I would really like to see him to tell him how sorry I am for using him back then. I realize now that I had no idea what love was really like."

Bill put his arm around his sister-in-law and pulled her close. "I'm sure he won't mind at all and forgive you easily, if even half of these stories I'm hearing are true."

Cho smiled at him through her tears.

"Cho, does that mean you know what real love is like now?" Charlie asked, then winced. Bloody hell! She's going to think I'm some sort of needy pansy.

"Yes, Charlie. I love you," Cho replied.

Bill took that as his cue to go back to his rooms and compile some more of the notes and letters.

Charlie couldn't speak, he was so overcome. He just pulled his wife close and kissed her with everything he felt for her.

"I guess the girls were right," was the last coherent thought Cho had for a while.

Bill looked back over his shoulder at his closest brother and his bride and became even more determined to find a way to that kind of happiness. Bill treasured every comment, every scrap of paper, every odd conversation with a multitude of house-elves. Who knew that Harry liked to go talk to the elves in the kitchens late at night?

A picture of a complicated young man began to emerge from the snippets of Harry's life, one Bill could easily see himself falling in love with.

---

Walpurgis Night 1999

"Are we all ready?" Hermione asked. Cho had headed out to the site with Charlie, to map out the magic and get the area ready for the circle. The pairs and Bill all nodded. Bill had a firm idea of who Harry was and who he could be, and he had a clear vision of a future with him firmly in mind.

A respectful distance away stood a few reporters and people who had wrangled an invitation from Severus to attend. Few had ever seen any type of circle magic, but most had heard of it. The students of Hogwarts all stood where they could see, but far outside the sphere of influence of the fertility magic, a distance figured out by Draco. The reporters and most of the attendees were also out of the range, but there were a few, those who had convinced Severus that they fully understood what it meant to be in the circle's range of influence, who were allowed to be closer.

The pairs walked out of the castle and joined up with Charlie and Cho, who had delineated the area they needed to surround with their magic. The Hogwarts elves had shown them a place where there were plenty of crystals they could use for ward stones. Neville and Daphne set up their censer with powdered dragon scale, citrus peel and lemongrass. They smiled when Susan walked over with a green herb. "A pinch of rosemary for remembrance!" Luna painted the runes for strength, healing, forgiveness, power, and love with the potion Hermione had created out of phoenix tears, basilisk venom and treacle. There were some other things, but oddly, those were the primary ingredients. Severus had been quite thrilled to find out you could use both phoenix tears and basilisk venom in a potion if you used treacle as a stabilizer.

As midnight came upon them, they all began to chant:

Beltane's fires, protect this earth!

At dawn's first light, the veil thins

The wheel of life brings rebirth

With love and magic, our task begins. ⁴

They finished the third round of the chant, then they all cast their joint Patronuses at the center of the circle. The beautiful, magical animals attacked the elf magic, until it lowered in a pulse of bright magic that was felt as far as Hogsmeade. As the light faded, the still body of Harry was seen on an altar of rock in the middle of the circle. Bill stepped forward, and thinking of all he had learned about Harry and everything he looked forward to learning with him, he cast his Patronus. When the falcon landed on Harry's chest and nuzzled him, the final barrier fell, and Harry's eyes opened. Bill helped him sit up, then as Harry faltered when he tried to stand, he swept him up into his arms and carried him toward the castle, against the backdrop of the rising sun.

There were some great sighs heard from the crowd at the romance of it all.

The circle followed Bill and Harry into the castle. Healer Solange was ready to check him over, and he decided he was well, but everyone needed to rest after all that magic. He sent the participants in the circle off to bed.

As they walked off, Molly smiled when she overheard Viktor say to Hermione: "So, loff, you vant to make baby?"

"Yes, Viktor, I most certainly do!"

That conversation was repeated over and over throughout the castle.

---

May Day 1999

Bill was sitting in the Hospital Wing, waiting for Harry to wake up. Apparently stasis was nothing like normal sleep, and he needed to catch up on that, from his time on the run over a year ago.

Harry looked over and saw him. "Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey, yourself, Sleeping Beauty. How are you doing?" Bill asked in response.

Harry ran his hand through his hair. Bill found it endearing, not knowing, not that anyone alive could know, that it was indicative of just how nervous he was. "I'm OK, I think. But of all the things I could hear when I was in stasis, I never found out what it was that happened for you to get me out. I don't want you to feel obligated..."

Bill interrupted, reaching out and placing his index finger over Harry's lips. "I'm not feeling obligated. I was alone, in a swarm of people who had paired up and paired up well, even if it was by the machinations of an insane Dark Lord. I wanted, no, want what they have, and I was willing to be considered to be the single in the circle to get you out. Then I followed Luna's instructions and got to know you through your friends, the bad and the good, and I knew when I was in that circle that I wanted you out so I could continue to get to know you. What do you think?"

Harry smiled in response. He nodded, afraid that he would choke up if he spoke.

"Good," Bill said, "Now, I think there are people here to see you if you are up to it." He had heard them in the corridor.

Harry swallowed. "I need to see Hermione, if that is OK."

"It is more than OK, Harry. I'm here!" In a move reminiscent of the scene in the Great Hall after she was un-petrified Hermione raced over to him and they hugged.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione, I should have listened to you. I heard you after the battle, from the in-between place. It looked like the Gryffindor Common Room. Remus did something to the mirror and we could see you, too. Can I just say that my Mum thinks you are brilliant? Oh, and can we set up some tutoring? I want to take my NEWTs. I don't want to be a trophy spouse." The sound of desperation in Harry's voice was, unfortunately for him, comical, and made his audience laugh.

"You want to take them as soon as possible?" Hermione asked gently.

Harry nodded. "I want to take Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration and Potions. That should give me a good background to figure out what I want to do."

Luna chimed in with what everyone was thinking. "Harry, when did you study Runes and Arithmancy?"

"My Mum, Remus and my Da all helped me. The place I was in was like the common room, and we found a whole set of books there for Seventh Year. And Mum was an Unspeakable. She really knew her Runes and Arithmancy. I spent lots of time getting to know them and they taught me all sorts of things."

"Potter, I mean Harry, you didn't mention Black," said Severus.

"I know. He couldn't grow up, not even dead, and Da told him off. Dobby says they will be reunited again when Sirius realizes why they were so upset with him. He's not in trouble or hurt, he just needs some time to see what his thoughtlessness can do to his friends."

"You've grown up, Harry," Hermione said with wonder in her voice, then hugged him again. "I will set up your tutoring. You can talk to Uncle Severus about setting up the testing. And once you are ready, we have to have a long talk."

"I know. Can we have everyone in the circle there? I have a lot of questions, and a couple of messages to pass on." Harry sounded eager, which made Hermione take pause. Her friend had come back changed, and it seemed it was for the better.

That night, they all came together, and they all told their stories. There were a lot of tears and a lot of laughter. Many wounds were healed.

Harry kept his promise to his father, and apologized to Severus, giving him and the rest of the couples in the circle a copy of Mysteries of the Unknown.

"Potter really said that?" Severus was flabbergasted. "Truly?"

"Yes, Uncle Sev, he really did." Harry was smiling mischievously.

"Did you just call me Uncle Sev?"

"Well, yeah. Hermione is the closest thing I have to a sister, making you my Uncle-in-Law. But Uncle-in-Law Sev is just too long."

The group erupted in laughter when Severus chased Harry around the room, then applauded when he caught him, hugged him and mussed his hair affectionately.

After looking through the Potter book, Viktor and Draco both swore to look for a version of that in their own homes in order to add to it, if there were such a volume, and if not, to start one of their own.

The next week, they set up a tutoring schedule. Harry laughed in delight when he saw his was color-coded. "Hermione, I'm so glad you are still you, even after everything."

Harry was ready for his NEWTs in two months, taking them right along with the seventh years. He passed all of them.

He and Bill got married on Lammas Day (August 1) and the circle used the power of their bonding to raise the wards at Hogwarts, with Severus as the single. Just as the winter wedding the year before, the display of power and the sparkling of the wards became the stuff of legend.

Katie and Harry both couldn't wait until they could join in. They figured there would always be some projects that could use a bit of circle magic.

Bill really liked the rune puzzle Harry gave him as a wedding gift. Really liked it. He didn't let Harry out of bed for a few days.

---

"That book is going to be full of their exploits," James said proudly.

"James, how could you watch that? That's your son down there!" Remus was caught between being completely horrified and a wee bit aroused.

"Hey, I'm dead, not comatose." James flinched after Lily whacked the back of his head.

"All right, you two. We've been here long enough. We have a Headmaster to torture." The unholy glee in Lily's voice made the two men flinch.

"Oh, I'm so glad I'm not the one she's angry at."

"I agree, Prongs, I agree."

As the Griffyndor common room faded from around them, they felt a familiar presence. "May I join you?"

The joy was palpable as the third Marauder rejoined his friends.

---

It was the dawn of a golden age for Britain; as for the members of the full circle, all of them were remembered in history with the same reverence as Merlin and the Founders. Dumbledore and Tom Riddle became footnotes, mere bogeymen for generations.

---

Eleven Years Later

"It is amazing, isn't it, Nin? Here we are, with our oldest heading off to school, and so much has changed: no vands, open government, peace. It is vonderful!"

"Absolutely, Viktor. And to think we started it all when I overheard you with your uncle."

The two looked at their friends, and the children who were scrambling to get on the train, and smiled.

---

Many thanks to my alpha and cheerleader, Kyria of Delphi, and the first look with a critical eye by sempra. Many thanks to bambu for her hard work and suggestions. A final thanks to Rose of the West and Kyria again for the final beta pass.

Prompt from Rageful Jewel: Is there a chance of there being a companion piece in which Harry, in the afterlife, learns that he died for nothing?

Endnotes: 1, 2, 3 are quotes directly from "Dumbledore's Hubris," the prequel to this story, by blue artemis (the quotes are in chapter 1).

4: written especially for this story by Kyria of Delphi. The idea of Viktor's sex-ed class was also taken from one of her stories with her permission.

Percy's story about Susan capturing him with biscuits is my slight re-telling of a story I read a long time ago in the Los Angeles Times. They were talking to then-Dodger catcher, Mike Scioscia, who was telling them about how his wife caught his attention. Most women waiting in the players' parking lot had other sorts of things on display. The future Mrs. Scioscia was leaning against his car with a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I thought it would suit a Weasley.