Vestiges of Normalcy

Epilogue

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When the ship finally returned to Durmstrang, a new normal began for Harry Potter.

With the end of the school year, the students were sent off back to their families for the summer holidays. Radomir and Kostya took Harry, Dobby, the Weasley twins and McGonagall back to their manor in the forests of Bulgaria outside of the capital city, Sofia.

The Krum manor was large enough to comfortably accommodate their guests. At the doors, an elderly, dignified house-elf greeted them. Radomir instructed the elf to take the twins and McGonagall to their rooms, leaving Viktor to lead Harry away to his own private quarters. Dobby went off with Radomir and Kostya to negotiate the terms of his service to the manor and the family.

"This is it, my love," Viktor purred into Harry's ear, sending shivers down the smaller teen's spine, "This is your new home."

Viktor's private quarters were at least three times the size of Dudley's bedroom. The room was ornately, but tastefully, decorated. There was unlit fireplace, a king-sized four-poster bed, a carved wooden desk, three large bookshelves, a large wardrobe, and another door that Harry presumed led to the en-suite bathroom.

"I love it," Harry muttered.

Viktor kissed his beloved's forehead, "I'm glad. Now, let us enjoy a quiet moment to ourselves, hm?"

"I like the sound of that," Harry's voice was breathy, as his larger boyfriend guided him into a soft kiss.

The summer of 1995 was by far the best Harry had ever experienced in his entire life.

Many days were spent flying around on the family stock of broomsticks with Viktor, trying and failing to pull off a Wronski feint among other complicated Quidditch moves. Harry even got to tag along to his boyfriend's training sessions to watch him practice with his national teammates.

While it was a privilege for Harry to meet the players of the Bulgarian national Quidditch team, to the twenty young men and women who made up the team, it was an honour of a lifetime to meet the Boy-Who-Lived. Viktor had to intervene many times before his teammates overwhelmed his boyfriend. Even the coach got into the frenzy, propositioning Ash with a reserve place on the team if he so wanted. Harry eventually decided that the attention was too much, and went home early. Viktor apologised on his team's behalf later that evening, and Harry eased his boyfriend of his worries with a night of passionate kissing and love biting.

Other than that little hiccup, Harry spent many of his summer days at the Romanian dragon reserve where Charlie worked. Harcia the Horntail was ecstatic to see her soul-bonded after months of separation. Most of Harry's visits consisted of Harcia showing him off to the other dragons, who revered him with respect almost akin to a deity. It was abundantly clear that the soul-bonded of a dragon, especially to an alpha female like Harcia, was one not to be messed with.

Nonetheless, Harry took it all into stride, and with both Charlie's help and Harcia's constant guidance, Harry learnt the ways of the dragons, down to their individual habits and quirks that made them the unique beings that they were.

From there, the summer went, and many changes came with the new academic year.

The Weasley twins had spent the three months planning their futures in Bulgaria. As Harry learnt as August was approaching its end, the twins had plans to open their own shop in Sofia's magical commerce district by the end of the year. As expected of the two infamous former pranksters of Hogwarts, their main merchandise will be their own inventions of pranks and practical jokes.