Chapter Text
Harry woke up sore after regaining consciousness in his old dorm room bed. After the events of the Second Battle of Hogwarts had been fought and Voldemort, as well as all the man's Horcruxes, had been destroyed once and for all, Harry returned to his old dorm and fell asleep in his old bed without even getting undressed first. Groaning a little as he left his bed, Harry saw he had not been the only one to fall asleep without changing clothing as everyone else in the room was still in the ruins and dirty clothing they had worn from the day before.
Well, at least the House Elves would be busy cleaning up all the grim from the beds which should make them happy. Though he had not been at Hogwarts at all that year, out of habit, Harry moved to the foot of his bed for a fresh change of clothing only to recall that they were in Hermione's beaded bag. He would just have to get some fresh clothing later. Harry thought to himself as he made his way to the connected bathing room to take a quick shower. Not sure if a House Elf would collect his grimy clothing if he took them off, he used a quill and some spare parchment from Dean's bedside cabinet to write a message to any Elf to leave his clothing be for the moment.
The hot water in the shower felt like heaven itself as he had his first real shower in as many months. Sure he could have had a shower when they had been at Shell Cottage but with Fleur, Bill, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook there beside himself, he did not want to waste all the hot water to take a proper shower. The tent he and his friends had been living in had a kitchen and bedroom the bathroom had only been a toilet and a sink. Washing off all the grime that had accumulated on him since his stay in Grimmauld Place took Harry almost forty-three and a half minutes bringing his hair back to its normal wild mess rather than the dank and greasy mess that laid on his head like a dead animal.
The whole effect was only ruined as he put on his mud and blood, and, he did not even want to think what else, stained clothing. Feeling slightly refreshed, Harry headed down to the Great Hall to see if he could get some breakfast. During his trip, it pained him to see the state the castle was in with blasted portraits lining the walls and the floors covered with rubble. He had even spotted two of the moving staircases seeming to be broken one halfway connected to one floor but aimed into space, while the other was not connected on either side with some bodies huddled on it. He hoped they were just some trapped people sleeping, and not corpses that had not yet been collected.
Reaching the Great Hall, he still saw the dead from the battle lying in place with only one single table set up. By the look of it, the table was not being used as anything other than a place for food for people to take and eat wherever they could. Grabbing a plate and filling it with some food, Harry moved to a somewhat sturdy mound of rubble where some others were sitting to eat their breakfasts. Everyone seemed to be lost in their thoughts for besides a perfunctory nod of their heads the group on the rubble just ate their meals while looking at the rows of the dead or the damages in the once majestic room. As Harry ate, he thought about his future with Voldemort finally defeated he had no idea what to do with his life. After a year on the run and surviving by sometimes the skin of his teeth, Harry no longer wanted to become an Auror even if whoever took the lead in the Ministry offered him a job right on the spot. He was just so tired of fighting and the losses that came with it, as his eyes fell on the forms of Remus, Tonks, Fred, and all the others.
Harry was also not sure if he wanted to resume his relationship with Ginny either, it had been fun last school year but so much had changed since then. As if Ginny had been summoned by his thinking of her, he felt someone gently bump into his shoulder causing him to look over to see the redheaded girl in question smiling at him as she sat down beside him to eat her meal. "Well it looks like we both survived again," Ginny said bumping his shoulder playfully with his.
"Not appropriate conversation Gin," Harry said with a nod towards the rows of the dead.
"True, but so is my statement," she said with a look as if she was waiting for him to ask her to get back together right then and there.
"So should we talk about us?" she asked after Harry did not respond but continued with his meal.
"I am not there yet Gin," he said truthfully.
"When do you think you will be ready for it?" Ginny asked placing down her silverware to look at him.
"I don't know Gin, Merlin, I killed a man yesterday," he said putting down his knife and fork.
"So did I, so did a lot of people here," Ginny shot back her voice rising a little making the others on the rubble pile look over towards them.
"I get that, but still just give me some time, alright?" he asked her.
"Just don't take too long," she said with a slight huff as she returned to her meal and a cloud of annoyance seemed to settle on her like a cloak.
Harry could sense some looks from others nearby after Ginny and his conversation leading him to quickly finish his meal. Not knowing what to do with his plate, he just set it down where he had been sitting before he left the hall. Harry did not want to see more of the castle in ruins so made his way outside after his breakfast only to find that the grounds were in no better state with small blast creators and fallen walls. In the distance, he saw at least two of the greenhouses had been broken open leaving jagged holes in them. But at least the lake looked normal as he headed down to it just to sit at the edge to watch the water.
Harry was not sure how long he had been sitting staring at the water alone before Hermione and Ron came over to him. "Well it is finally over," Ron said as if he had not said the same thing last night after the battle and Harry returning the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's grave.
"Mhm," was all Harry said as he kicked a small stone into the water.
"They're looking for you up at the castle," Hermione said, "it seems Kingsley was named the interim Minister."
"What do they want?" Harry asked
"To congratulate you, and most likely offer you a job as an Auror," Ron said as if Harry was being dumb on purpose.
"I don't feel as if I deserve to be congratulated, nor do I feel like becoming an Auror is right for me," Harry said getting to his feet.
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, as rather than head back to the castle, Harry was walking towards the ruins of the bridge.
"I am going to visit Tonks's mom and my new godson rather than face all that," Harry said.
"But the celebrations and the morning?" Ron said.
"As I said, I don't feel like celebrating and when a plan is made for their funerals or whatever they do with them, I will see to it but right now I need to... I don't know I just need to do something, and I hope it is being a good Godfather that Remus and Tonks would be proud of," Harry said before he suddenly recalled that Voldemort demolished the Wards around Hogwarts the night before letting reinforcements in for both sides. This memory led Harry to turn on the spot and Apparate away.
While he had visited Tonks's parents' house before it had been by the flying motorbike during his escape from Privat Drive, so he had no idea where the place had been located. Hoping to find some clue to the house's whereabouts, Harry had gone to Grimmauld Place recalling a book in the library that held information on any property owned by a member of the Black Line. He hoped Andy's place was listed considering Sirius's mom had banished her from the family. Knowing that the last time he had been at Sirus's family home a Death Eater had been brought along, Harry pulled out his newly repaired wand ready to defend himself, but apart from the spectator of Dumbledore, like always, there did not seem to be another living soul in the house.
Quietly making his way to the library, to not wake up Lady Black's Portrait, Harry brought down the book on Black family properties and began to look through it to see if he could find Tonk's place. As it was a more recent property he looked in the back of the book finding property listings for Malfoy Manor (1/4 share, Order Safehouse (full share, and to his surprise #4 Privat Drive (full share. But there was no listing of the place he was looking for. Sitting back in his chair at the library desk Harry thought about what to do next, he would think his next step would be to send a message to Andy to ask where the place was but since Hedwig was dead he had no other means to do it at the moment. He might be able to Floo to the home but was not sure if she would have kept the passage open after what had been going on in the country. With a snap of his fingers, he called for Kreacher.
"What can Kreacher do for you, Master Harry?" the ancient House Elf asked him.
"I have been looking for a way to send a message or to find Andromeda Tonks and my Godson, Teddy since she used to be a member of the Black Family can you manage it?" Harry asked.
"It would be no problem for me to do so," Kreacher answered.
"Can you reach her to ask where she is and if she is willing to have me come over?" Harry asked Kreacher.
"Right away, Master Harry," Kreacher said with a small pop as he disappeared.
Not knowing how long Kreacher would take, Harry headed up to Sirius' old room and took down some old clothing that had belonged to his Godfather, having left Hogwarts before getting his stuff from Hermione. Harry cursed the Dursleys slightly since some of Sirius' old clothes that were in the room were from before he had run away which Harry had been told was either the summer before or after Sirius' Fifth Year. Yet due to his small stature, thanks to the abuse they had done to him growing up, Harry was easily able to fit into the old robes of his fourteen or fifteen-year-old Godfather. Disliking his small size, Harry could not help but like the fact that he was in somewhat more clean clothing than what he had been wearing. Harry was just giving the robes a small tug downward to better settle them in place as Kreacher came into the room. "Mistress Andy and Theodore Lupin are now in the Drawing Room, Master Harry," Kreacher announced.
"They came with you?" Harry asked.
"Kreacher found them not in a home but a magical tent in the woods, Mistress Andy asked to be brought here," Kreacher explained.
"Ah," Harry said leaving the room to head down to the Drawing Room.
"Harry," Andy said getting to her feet and holding a small bundle of yellow blankets which could only be Teddy.
"Mrs. Tonks, let me first say I am sorry for your loss," Harry said going over to the couch she had been sitting in to join her.
"Thanks," Andy said, "and you can just call me Andy." Harry saw that her eyes were red, most likely from crying at the death of not only her husband but her only child from the war. "So what did you want to see me about?"
"I wanted to get to know you, as well as Teddy," Harry said simply. "Can I hold him?" She gave him a small smile as she passed over the young baby directing him on how to hold the bundle. "This feels right," Harry said to himself as he pulled back the yellow blanket a little to look down at the face of his Godson who was sleeping peacefully.
"Surprise you are not celebrating somewhere," Andy said.
"I just can't see the point. I mean sure I understand the Dark Lord is finally gone, but at what cost? I also do not feel like celebrating having to take a life from someone, even him. I just wanted to be with family. And as of right now that is Teddy," Harry explained.
"You got me as well if you will have me. I know I need someone, after all, that," Andy said giving him a one-armed hug to not disrupt Teddy too much.
"Thanks, I think I will," Harry said giving her a small smile.
Without even being aware of it a month had gone by as Teddy and Andy had joined him in living at Grimmauld Place. It was not as if he was avoiding everyone, no it was more than that Harry was getting used to helping Andy take care of Teddy as well as getting situated. Harry received countless owls a day many asking for interviews, others for him to show up in public forums to give a speech. He ignored them all, the only letters he responded to were the invites to the funerals. Harry also responded to his friends and even met up with Hermione to get his stuff back from her before she went in search of her parents accompanied by Ron.
When Harry went to a funeral, he made sure to arrive late and stay in the back to not get noticed, being so thankful for the Magical World's use of cloaks meaning he could just put his hood up and he would seem like any other Magical with a young child. There were only two funerals which he did not take these actions for. The combined funeral for Remus and Tonks as he joined Andy in the front row offering her some quiet support as he paid his respect to his parents' last friend. The other funeral had been the one for Fred where he had still arrived late but had kept his hood up and kept his distance, not for privacy but due to the amount of Weasley family, there had been in attendance. He was not sure anyone but Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur saw him, the trio giving him small nods of thanks for coming.
When Harry received no notice of any funeral planned for Snape, he looked into it to find that no one was doing one. Having learned what he had from the man's memories, Harry did not like that so he decided to give the man one himself. Not knowing if the Potions Master and his secret protector had any friends who were not Death Eaters, Harry ran an announcement for the event in the paper rather than send out invitations. Since he had planned the funeral he was the first one there and was a little disappointed that no one was showing up as the time for the start grew closer. Harry feared he was going to be the only one in attendance since he had left Teddy with Andy for the event. But five minutes to the door opened as Narcissa Malfoy and Draco walked in, along with their escorts a pair of angry-looking Aurors. Harry was thinking this was going to be a lovely service with just the three of them, he was not counting the Aurors when the door opened again and Professors Flitwick, Sprout, Madam Pomfrey, the newly appointed Headmistress McGonagall, and Filch, entered taking some seats. Harry was rather glad he had shared with Professor McGonagall the memories Snape had given him before he died so that they could learn the truth about him as well.
It was still a shorter ceremony than the others Harry had been to since the Second Battle of Hogwarts, made more so without Snape's corpse being present. As he was in charge of planning the event rather than leaving after the ceremony had finished as he normally did, Harry stayed around to talk to the other mourners and thanked them for coming.
"You arranged this Potter?" Draco asked incredulously as Harry thanked his formal rival and mother for coming.
"I thought someone should do it," Harry said with a small shrug.
"But you hated the man," Draco pointed out.
"I did but before he died he showed me that he had been working to keep me safe and had even gone to bat for me when it seemed that Professor Dumbledore had raised me as a lamb for the slaughter," Harry explained.
Draco gave him a strange look but before the blonde could say or ask anything one of the Aurors came over and barked out, "Enough you were given small leave to come to this bastard's funeral, nothing more."
"We are in the middle of something here," Harry said glaring at the man who sort of flinched as he recognized Harry.
"I am sorry, but I am just doing my job they were only permitted to get out of house arrest for the ceremony and only due to it being for this Death Eater bastard's Godfather," the man said using his grip on Draco's shoulder to shake the blonde rather harshly, in Harry opinion.
"He is no more a Death Eater than I am," Harry said.
"He is, the mark has been found on his arm as well as his bitch of a mother," the Auror said with a slight snarl as he turned to spit at Draco's mom's feet. Harry was surprised when rather than do anything about the man's rudeness to his mother, Draco hunched his shoulders slightly in defeat.
"If it was not for both Draco and Lady Malfoy, I would never have been able to kill Voldemort," Harry said smiling inwardly as he saw the Auror flinch a little at the Dark Lord's chosen name while Draco looked surprised that Harry was standing up for him.
"Share it with someone who cares," the Auror said the look of wonder and awe that had been on his face from recognizing Harry now completely gone.
"Oh, I will," Harry said.
After returning to Grimmauld Place after Snape's funeral, Harry began to get in contact with Kingsley to request a meeting with the interim Minister of Magic. It took another month before the meeting took place, wherein Harry attended more funerals and Teddy began to scoot around on the floor a little. "What can I do for you, Harry?" Kingsley asked when Harry was led into the man's office. "Are you finally coming to accept a post in the Auror's department?"
"Not at all Kingsley," Harry said with a smile at the shaven-headed magical. "I actually came to discuss what is being done with Draco and Lady Malfoy."
"Oh, not you too," Kingsley said laying his head on his desk.
"Not me too what?" Harry asked.
"You heard that all they got were House Arrest rather than be sent to Azkaban like Lucius and now you want me to send them there as well," Kingsley said speaking into his folded arms under his head.
"Not at all," Harry said making the dark-skinned man raise his head a little. "I want to see about getting them free due to how they helped me during not only the final battle but a little bit before as well."
"Well that is new," Kingsley said raising his head from his arms and desk, "tell me everything." Harry did, sharing with Kingsley the events that had taken place at Malfoy Manor a month before the Second Battle at Hogwarts where Draco had recognized him and had lied about it. How during the battle he saved Draco in the Room of Requirement as well and Draco decided to step away from the Death Eaters. A decision that almost led to his death later in the battle as Harry and his friends under the Invisibility Cloak had saved the blonde from another Death Eater. Harry ended by sharing how Lady Malfoy had been called forward after his "Duel" with Voldemort in the forest where she lied to the Dark Lord so she could reach her son, somehow getting past the man's attempt to most likely use Legilimency on her to make sure she was telling the truth.
After he had finished his story, Harry watched Kingsley stroke his small beard in thought for a couple of minutes. "I will do what I can, but I can only see them getting free by having a trial and you revealing all this to the Wizengamot yourself. I know you are letting Molly control your votes, but she will be unable to take part in the trial due to conflict of interest," Kingsley said.
"What?" Harry asked confused.
"What about what?" Kingsley said.
"What do you mean Mrs. Weasley controls my votes?" Harry asked.
"You know in the Wizengamot for your family seats," Kingsley said giving Harry a strange look.
"Um, no I don't," Harry said.
"Huh. You should probably talk to her about that then," Kingsley said not sure what else to say about it and had no desire to get involved with Molly himself finding the woman was too much of a busybody and her voice grated on him.
"I will do that," Harry said, "please let me know when the trial is to take place when you get it organized in the meantime."
"I shall," Kingsley said, "it has been nice to see you again Harry." With a quick handshake, their meeting ended leaving Harry to head back to Grimmauld Place wondering how to broach the subjects of his votes and family seats to Mrs. Weasley.
He did not get that much time to think about it as he arrived back at Grimmauld Place finding both Mrs. Wealsey and Ginny waiting for him in the kitchens. Just as they had been during the summer they had been at the house previously. "What can I do for you both?" he asked them.
"Well, since you have not been around we thought we would stop by to go through the details," Mrs. Weasley said pulling out a large book and placing it on the table.
"What details?" Harry asked.
"Your wedding of course," the woman said smiling at him.
"I was not aware I had one coming up," Harry said.
"Of course, you do, Ginny will be of age shortly so we want to have the ceremony before she returns to Hogwarts," Molly explained still giving him the same gentle smile.
"Ginny I get that you like me and want to get back together, but I am still not there yet," Harry said turning to the younger red-headed woman.
"But the contract states you and Ginny are to be married when you both are of age," Molly said.
"What contract?" Harry asked.
"Your Marriage Contract of course," Molly said.
Seeing Harry's confused look, Andy who had been sitting at the other end of the table asked, "Did you not know about this contract?"
"I don't even know what type of contract you guys are talking about. Well by the name I can guess it has to do with marriage but other than that no clue," Harry said turning towards Andy.
"Did you sign anything to say you would marry, young Ms. Weasley?" Andy asked.
"No we just dated last year," Harry said, "and while it was great, I broke it off after Dumbledore's funeral knowing I might not survive."
"But you and Ginny have had a contract for years," Molly protested.
"How long exactly?" Andy asked Molly.
"Oh it is hard to say," Mrs. Weasley said sounding evasive all of a sudden.
"Do you know if your parents perchance set a contract up between you and Ms. Weasley?" Andy inquired.
"I don't know, but I doubt it," Harry said, "after all, I was told they went into hiding before my first birthday which was before Ginny had been born."
"Can you produce the contract?" Andy asked who just like her late husband Ted was a barrister.
"I did not bring it with me," Molly admitted.
"So you expect Harry to take the fact that he and your daughter have a contract on trust?" Andy asked.
"Well, no but we just came here to start on the planning for the wedding, I could bring it during the next meeting," Molly said.
"There will be no more in this meeting without us getting a look at the contract," Andy said dismissing both Weasley women from the place. "Harry, I know you have been avoiding Gringotts from what happened when you and your friends were there last, but I think you need to head there to talk to your Account Manager about this contract," Andy advised him when they were alone in the house once more.