The Enemy of my Enemy

The Epilogue

The sound after Avery was destroyed was a mix between disbelief, grief, and celebration.

Those that had survived congratulated Harry on a job well done, while others mourned the loss of their friends and family. Madam Pomfrey recruited the help of Hagrid to take the wounded that could not sustain any of their own body weight up to the Hospital Wing, amongst them was Firenze the Centaur. He was still clinging onto life, although his entire body shook from blood loss.

Harry sat on the deserted Gryffindor table, beside him sat Luna and Neville. Hermione and Ron were assisting the Weasley's in covering Fred's body and making plans on what to do about the funeral. Harry, himself, wanted to join them but felt that he was intruding. He still felt responsible for Fred's death, even though he had not had a hand in it directly.

Ron had made a comment about Teddie being the one to have done it, and no matter how many times Harry tried to explain that she had not been a willing participant, Ron did not believe him. To give some credit to his Slytherin friend, Teddie had just lost her own friend which had resulted in the power surge which had turned her into Faye.

However, given the seriousness of their situation, Harry had not pushed the subject. Both Teddie and Ron had lost loved ones. Speaking of Teddie, she had sacrificed herself to save him and everyone else. He could remember the anguish in Faye's voice when they had witnessed Avery kill Mason, and he knew that it had not been Faye that had cried out.

No matter where Teddie had been shoved away while Faye was in control, she was still able to witness everything around her. He was sure she had broken through momentarily when Mason had died, but then Faye had locked back in and used her magic to stop her mother from doing to everyone what she intended.

He, and everyone else, owed both Teddie and Faye everything that they would gain from their sacrifice. Their lives, their futures.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked and looked up. Daphne Greengrass stood in front of him; her usual shoulder-length blonde hair had been singed so bad it was now below her ears. Her face was scarred in places, and blood stained her cheeks.

"Daphne," Harry said. It was strange calling her by her first name; they were not exactly friends and all throughout their Hogwarts lives they had never spoken to one another. At least not without Teddie around.

"We wanted to say thank you," said Daphne. She motioned to the rest of her small group that stood nearby.

Harry looked over at them. They too had sustained a lot of damages. Teddie's group had always been big, for someone who struggled to make friends, she had managed to find a good bunch at Hogwarts. But now their numbers had dwindled.

Theodore Nott remained. But he was broken beyond repair. His eyes were downcast, face ashen with visible grief. He had not just lost his best friend this evening, he had lost the love of his life, too.

Marcus Flint also remained. He had lost both his friends - Adrian Pucey and Derrick Bole, but he had also lost the one person that meant everything to him. A sister figure that he loved and cared for.

Marlene Weatherspoon also stood with the group. She was covered in cuts and grazes and had to lean against her friend Judy for support. Tears had smudged the blood and dirt that settled on her face, and it looked like her breathing was coming in sharp gasps.

Judy looked unscathed, and Harry could not help but wonder if she had joined the battle late. There was no way she had made it through all these hours without so much as a graze.

"It's you that I should be thanking," said Harry, drawing his attention back to Daphne. "You sustained losses that you shouldn't have for a fight that was never yours."