Aria Black and the Battle for Hogwarts

Epilogue: 19 Years Later

Little Sirius Remus walks next to Fred with his head down and shoulders slumped. He is not going to Hogwarts today like his siblings.

We enter the crowded station as Sirius asks, "What's Hogwarts like?"

14 year old George Arthur pushes his cart with a large grin on his face. He looks almost exactly like Fred, but he has my eyes. "Hogwarts is great." He tells Sirius. "So many people to prank!" He already has the label of the newest prankster at Hogwarts. James Sirius, Harry's son, is soon to come next, but it's only his third year.

His twin, Angelina Danielle shakes her head. She's always the clear-headed one. Angelina has smooth light skin and brown hair. She throws a glare at George. "You'll be going soon, Sirius. Think of the bright side-"

2nd year, Jordan Leigh snorts. "There is none." She stops pushing her cart and looks down at Sirius. "We'll write you though, Sirius. You'll get to spend more time with Teddy. Go to his Quidditch games." Jordan is my only Slytherin in the group so far. She's witty, sarcastic, cunning, and bold. Jordan and Sirius are extremely close. She has my dark hair and tan skin.

"Yes you will!" Angelina cries, glad to have support on the matter. "That's good, isn't it?"

Sirius nods dejectedly.

"Where is Teddy, anyway?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

Teddy is now nineteen years old, and a pro Quidditch player. He's living with his grandmother Andromeda now, and taking care of her too. But every week Teddy goes over to our house for dinner three times, and Harry's house for dinner three times. Twice a week he brings Andromeda over. I'm very proud of the man he has become, and am going to sit down and have a serious discussion with him about his parents when he turns twenty. Fred and I will tell him things that a twenty-year old young man should know about his family.

"I believe I saw him snogging my sister just a minute ago." Dominique Weasley says, popping out of nowhere. She's Bill and Fleur's daughter, and she always seems to appear mysteriously. Dominique smiles at her cousins. She is the twins' best friend.

I roll my eyes. Teddy is dating Victorie Weasley, Dominique's 17 year old sister.

"Of course he is." Fred says, laughing. "He just used the excuse, 'see her off'."

Dominique smiles at her godfather. Her and Fred are very close, and have a bond I don't even understand. I'm her godmother, but I could never dream of being as close to her as Fred is.

A small family of three stand a bit away from us. Fred and I smile at them.

Draco smiles back, drapes an arm around his wife Astoria, and kisses little Scorpious on the head.

I tell Fred that I'll be back in a moment, and weave through the crowd to see Draco.

Daphne and her husband Theodore Nott, who stayed back to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, and a nice-looking Ariel stand by Draco.

The group smiles at me.

"Hey." I say.

Daphne looks older than since I last saw her three months ago. Her dirty blonde hair is darkening, and she has wrinkles of worry on her face. But even then she seems happy and smiley. Her and her wiry and quiet husband have no children yet. Daphne has taken the Astronomy position at Hogwarts, and is Jordan's godmother.

Ariel seems more at ease with her nieces than I've ever seen her with anyone. Ariel is not one to keep in touch, so I haven't seen her since her trial, where I spoke for her and kept her out of Azkaban. I hear she's got a job in Knocturn Alley now. Dark and mysterious, that's Ariel.

Draco almost looks as if he was never a Death Eater. He is very happy with Astoria. Now Draco works in the Ministry, and is rebuilding his family's reputation. We made him Jordan's godfather. He's even letting his beard grow!

"Looks like you've been busy." Ariel remarks snidely, looking at my gleeful family.

I roll my eyes playfully. "You could say that."

Young Scorpious, who is going to school this year, looks up at me. "Are you Aria?" I nod. "Daddy's told me lots about you. He says you're very cool. Are you very cool?"

I feel my cheeks getting red, and I up look at Draco, embarrassed. "Really?" I say.

He smiles. "I must've been talking about another Aria."

Oh, Draco. You've grown so much.

I give the group another smile, and bid them farewell.

When I reach my family again, I see Jordan hugging her friends, Louis (Dominique's little brother), and Lorcan and Lyssander Scammder (Luna Lovegood's twin sons).

Louis is in Slytherin with Jordan, and the twins are in Ravenclaw.

"We'd better get going." Jordan says, hugging Fred and I. "Bye Mum, bye Dad."

"Don't forget to tell Professors Daphne and Neville we say hello!" I exclaim, but she's already conversing about Quidditch again. She's the Keeper for the Slytherin team.

George, Angelina, and Dominique are going to leave too.

"Goodbye Mum, goodbye Dad." Angelina says. "We'll miss you. Write us if you need anything."

"Bye Mum, bye Dad." George says simply.

"Farewell Mr. and Mrs. Godparents!" Dominique cries, laughing.

She hops on George's back, and he carries her away, Angelina laughing and following them, shaking her head.

Fred smiles, and points to a family with a mixture red black haired people.

We make our way to Harry and Ginny.

They are alone with their nine year old, Lily Luna.

"Hi Ginny, hi Harry, heya Lily." Fred says. He kneels down next to Lily. "I heard you turned nine a few weeks ago. Is that true?"

Lily smiles, and begins telling him all about her birthday.

I smile. Fred always had a way with kids.

Sirius moves to listen to Lily, and I turn to Harry and Ginny.

"Albus go okay?" I ask them.

They nod. "Although James wouldn't stop teasing him about being in Slytherin, so he was worried about that." Harry says.

I sigh. "Why was he so worried? Slytherins are great."

"We made the mistake of telling him Voldemort's house." Ginny says.

I nod in understanding. "If he does get into Slytherin, I'll tell Jordan and Louis to welcome him with super open arms."

They both smile at me.

Someone taps me on the shoulder. Teddy Lupin, my adoptive son, smiles at me with a bouquet of roses in his hands. His hair is blonde at the moment, probably because of his snogging session with his blonde girlfriend.

"Here you go Aria." He says, handing me he bouquet. "I thought you'd need some flowers."

Teddy started getting me flowers last year, when Jordan went off to Hogwarts. It was his first year not being there, so he went and picked me up some roses. He's so sweet.

I smile. "Thanks Teddy. I heard you were-"

Teddy seems to know what I'm going to say. "So, Aria," he interrupts. "Roxanne is going to America!"

I grin at his ability to change the subject. "Good for her."

I'm about to continue, but the train honks, and begins to move. I run to the front of the crowd, and wave at my three kids, who look so happy to leave me.

Fred comes up behind me and kisses the top of my head. "New beginnings, Ari." He murmurs. "New beginnings.

I don't have baby Teddy to look after anymore. Remus is not there for me when I need him. Ariel knows her nieces, and Mary Taylor is no longer treated like a fool. Dolohov has come to terms with his deeds, and only has one more year left in a Dementor-free Azkaban. George is no longer smirking and cracking jokes.

New beginnings, indeed.