Magic Never Dies (Harmione)

Chapter 1

Official Fine Print: Nope. Not mine. The brainchildren of the mighty pen of JK Rowling. Just playing with them. Honest.

.A/N: Hi! To those of you who were reading Here With Me, I WILL finish it shortly. I knew I should have posted before I got HBP, because now I'm having Snape issues. The jinxes er... Hermione kept coming up with all seemed to result in disfiguring boils and painful death. I'm very on the fence about old Snapey - I'm pretty sure there's more going on there than meets the eye, but I'm just too pissed off at the moment to be kind.

So, for a distraction, this is my take on picking up right after Book Hex, um Six. I personally loved a lot of it and actually wasn't really all that bothered by Ron/Hr because 1) I like H/Hr's relationship better no matter who goes home with whom 2) No matter what JKR says, I LOVE my delusions, and I think I'm going to cry over H/Hr's relationship in the final book no matter what level it's on anyway - how could I not? And 3) it leaves the door even wider open for my own imagination, and I like my sandbox better anyway. JKR has to deal with the press, God bless her - I'd rather she throw R/Hr to the vicious navel-gazing literary critics of the world and keep H/Hr safe and happy on Portkey anyway! See, I'm beyond delusional. So there.

Before you get started - and this will likely be another long winded, 20-30 chapter type deal because that's just the way I am - I don't do dark, broody introspective Harry. I do blindly faithful, good hearted, trouble-magnet Harry, and usually take awhile to get to the, um, good parts because...stuff happens. I like to work with a liberal R rating. Harry has been known to get hurt. Hermione always makes it better. I only do H/Hr, so this may start out the way Book 6 left off, but it sure ain't gonna last long. No evil Ron - I LIKE Ron, I just don't like him with Hermione. I believe the trio need a healthy sense of humor to survive the Dark Wanker, and I do my best to see they get their daily dose. You are forewarned. Pats on the head and whacks on the bum are equally welcome in response - you live, you learn. I try to respond to all reviews, but given a choice between posting and catching up on reviews, I post first. If you still want to read, hope you enjoy!

[Magic Never Dies]

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The wedding was okay. Maybe not the last, golden day of peace he'd hoped, but still nice, even life affirming in its own way, he supposed. Fleur had been predictably lovely, Bill predictably not, but clearly deeply happy despite the vicious scars that still marked him.

Mrs. Weasley had herself, according to Hermione, placed the promised goblin-made tiara from Great Auntie Muriel atop Fleur's fair head, and Harry hadn't heard a single Weasley slip up and revert back to 'Phlegm'. Fleur's unquestioning acceptance of Bill's altered appearance and her undaunted support of his decision to continue on as an active member of the Order had at last won over the entire family.

Harry had tried hard to stay in the moment throughout the day, to imprint upon his memory the images of the people he loved most - the ones that were left - as they indulged in the happy traditions a wedding provided. Many of his friends and teachers from Hogwarts were there, most of whom he had not seen since Dumbledore's funeral. It had been a strange period for Harry, the brief time between leaving Hogwarts and arriving at the Burrow for the wedding. At times he felt himself floating, disconnected, replaying over and over again the events that lead up to Dumbledore's plunge from the parapet, dead already by Snape's hand. He knew he could not change them, had learned from Sirius the finality of his loss. He believed fiercely that the only way he could honor Dumbledore was to make sure he missed nothing, not the tiniest significant fact, of his last living moments. Dumbledore had been acutely aware that Harry was frozen, immobile and invisible, beneath his cloak those few meters away while he had brought Draco Malfoy to the realization he was unable, in the end, to carry out his Master's plan. Dumbledore had clearly known the outcome of that particular confrontation; but would he have still cast the spell on Harry if he had understood the true evil lurking in the heart of Draco's keeper?