The Truth Behind the Veil ✔️

Epilogue: Good Enough

May 2nd, 1998

Fawn was annoyed that she had to go through sixth and seventh year again despite having done so before. She was even more annoyed that she was stuck doing a Potions assignment for Professor Snape on, not only her birthday, but also a Saturday.

Yes, Snape was still the Potions professor. Why? No one knew.

The good thing was that Fawn was acing the class with ease. Hermione was thoroughly annoyed by this but was glad that Ron, Harry and Sawyer weren't coming to her for answers all the time anymore.

Sawyer Tonks was another Gryffindor student in their year. Apparently, Andromeda and Ted had decided to have another kid in the midst of the war. Fawn hadn't prepared for that but was glad it happened anyway. He was great and funny, a perfect medium for their group.

He and Fawn may also be dating at the moment but that wasn't important.

Fawn had spent her morning opening dozens of gifts, receiving free points to Gryffindor from Professor Lupin and Professor Potter—James had taken the Transfiguration post while McGonagall had become Hogwarts' Headmistress—, and eating a delicious breakfast.

But now potions work was spread out in front of her as she basked in the sunshine by the Black Lake.

Just like in the Marauders era, she had already been accepted into Gringotts for Curse-Breaking so really doing this work was quite pointless. Harry and Ron reminded her of this fact constantly but there wasn't a whole lot to be done about it.

Lily Potter was a head healer at St. Mungo's, specifically of the Janus Thickey Ward where she had reversed many of the side effects of the trauma Fawn had endured back in nineteen-eighty-one, including bringing her voice back.

Alice, Frank and Sirius were Aurors in the Ministry and good ones at that. As stated before, James and Remus were professors. Dorcas had started her own shop in Diagon Alley focusing on wards against dark magic and it was thriving.

A memorial had been put up in the lobby of the Ministry for Marlene and Peter, recognizing their bravery and sacrifice. The Marauders and Co. visited the memorial every Halloween.

The rest was a secret. None of Fawn's friends knew the part she had played in the war. It was best that way. Maybe one day it would all come tumbling out from James' lips during a drunken dinner party but that would be dealt with as it happened.

Fawn never wanted to be a celebrity. Fawn never asked to be sent back though she was glad now that she had been. She got to relive her young adult years without worrying about war, about saving lives or answering hard to answer questions and she desired to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Of course, Harry was still famous, he was destined to be. It was a good fame though, only good fame.

His parents had raised him to be humble to avoid a bloated ego.

New people thought he was a hero but everyone else that knew him knew he was just Harry and that was how it was supposed to be. Harry Potter may have been the "Boy Who Lived," the "Chosen One," the "One Who Vanquished the Dark Lord," but really he was just a sass-mastering quidditch jock who was madly in love with Reese Lupin-Black—a Slytherin boy who had been orphaned during the height of the war and was adopted by Sirius and Remus—and valued his friends above all else.

Harry Potter was a teenage Bisexual disaster, had sass that scored him detention at least once a week, and couldn't go five minutes without integrating quidditch into the conversation. He was everything he was supposed to be without the trauma of being nearly killed following him every year.

Harry also had siblings in this timeline. A sister who was two years younger; Hope, a Slytherin that was dating Draco Malfoy, who was still frowned upon by the Golden quintet but wasn't altogether terrible anymore. Then there were the twins; Hayden and Harmony, a Hufflepuff and Gryffindor who were in their first year and were completely adorable.

In Hayden and Harmony's year was Maverick Longbottom; Neville's younger Hufflepuff brother. The three of them formed the most amazing trio and Fawn couldn't wait to see what became of the three of them by the time they were her age.

Lastly, Fawn and the rest of the wizarding world had no knowledge that one of the most traumatic battles was to have ended just a few hours earlier. Fawn had no clue that Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Colin Creevey, Lavender Brown and others were supposed to be dead right now. Fawn had no clue that she had saved more lives than the Marauders and Cedric.

Perhaps that was a good thing. There was no reason to bear the knowledge of death that had no chance of happening now.

Fawn closed her Advanced Potions textbook and put away her quill and ink pot. She leaned back and felt the breeze caress her face and run through her waist-length hair.

She had refused to cut her hair ever again.

There were still rough scars crossing over her visage but she had become ignorant to them now that nearly three years had passed.

The bangs she'd worn for so many years had grown out. Never again would she wear them.

Things were good, but trauma left scars, scars that not even the most advanced magic could cure. Fawn could barely pick up a steak knife without shaking. Nightmares ravaged her—so much so that she cast a silencing spell over her bed before she lay down to sleep each night for fear of waking her roommates.

Fawn was exhausted. Balancing two lives had been rough and she still hadn't fully adjusted.

So, while she sat admiring the warm spring afternoon, her thoughts wandered to simple days in sixth year spent with Lily, Marlene and Alice, dipping their toes into the Black Lake, talking about summer plans that were now long gone.

She would never truly belong in either timeline again and it grieved her some days but she knew she wouldn't have it any other way. She knew what she had with Sawyer would never be anything close to what could have been with Regulus, Ron's jokes would never compare to Peter's, Ginny never would be quite as badass as Marlene. But, in the same vein, Lily's conversations never compared to Hermione's rapid rants about House Elf Rights, Sirius' laugh was never as filling as Ron's, James' Quidditch skills would never match Harry's. So, Fawn would take what she was given and make the most of it even if nothing was quite as fulfilling as she would have liked.

Life was good. For everyone else, life was good. For Fawn, life was getting there and that was okay. Fawn had fought to give everyone else a good life and if that meant she had permanently sacrificed her own well...so be it.

For now, the breeze rustling through her hair, the sun on her skin, and the reminder that she was well and alive was good enough.

The End

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A/N

So it's over! I might go back and edit some stuff but this story is officially finished fifty four chapters later.

I can not thank you all enough for your support! Please keep commenting and tell me what you thought of this ending.

I still believe Fawn would have severe trauma and a sense of not belonging so I included it. I know the ending is more bitter than sweet but it was always meant to be that way.

Please check out the other stories on my profile!

Love you all!!

— Riley <33