What Voldemort Left Behind

Epilogue

AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you sm, this is finally over, i finished the whole story wow. I can't believe it's actually done, i started writing this in January of 2019 and it's now March 2020 (a month that will go down in history as an absolutely awful month). I wanna say thank you to my editor accio_horcrux (loljuliannie on instagram) who is amazing, and also thanks to sisdaniel (twilfitt6 on instagram) for making this story be as long as it is, and to etchao (i think? something like that? anyway she's slipperyslytherin on instagram) for helping me since the start and being a character, it was great to have your character Professor Ariana Martens.

25th of December, 2022.

Ginny shivered as she placed the wreath on the empty space she'd created right in front of his headstone. It was around six in the morning and the kids were sleeping at the Burrow, she left early to have some time alone here, in the graveyard in Godric's Hollow. They would come here as a family this afternoon before a fast paced game of Quidditch in the meadow.
His grave was near his parents', a space had been created using magic in the full graveyard especially for him. Ginny thought he would appreciate being in Godric's Hollow, he would not appreciate the special treatment, but Ginny thought he deserved it and many others agreed. She sat on the path beside his grave, which was on the edge so that the hundreds of wizards coming to see him would not walk across the old cemetery and ruin it. The grave itself had been dug by hand by a small group of current and ex Aurors who wanted to mimic Harry's act of remembrance for Dobby during the war. They came to her after reading up on his actions in the war to find something tangible they could do in his memory, Ginny appreciated this far more than the thousands of flowers and cards she received.
She traced the words written in the white marble stone.

Auror Harry James Potter
31st July 1980 - 2nd May 2022
Beloved husband, brother, godfather, father, son in law, uncle and grand-godfather.

No mention of his achievements, to any muggle glancing at it, apart from the title of Auror, Harry James Potter would seem like an average man. Yet every day witches and wizards would visit this spot, leaving an array of new flowers on the otherwise dull and abandoned graveyard.
"Jamie is doing better," Ginny said out loud to no one in particular, it was too quiet.
"He has a girlfriend, really likes her. I haven't met her yet but she sounds nice, Minerva thinks she's a nice girl. Al wanted to spend Christmas Eve with Scorpius, there was no way I was getting him to their house and back, Christmas Eve is a family night. Lily was pretty upset yesterday, it sort of hit her that this was the first Christmas without you."
Ginny was embarrassed as she talked to herself, but it somehow made her feel a little better. She stood up and brushed the dirt from her clothes. Walking out of the graveyard at seven in the morning, she noticed that it was the first time at his grave when no one was watching.
This became a tradition.
-
25th December 2023.

Ginny shivered in the cold, dark graveyard.   Like last year, she laid a new wreath on Harry's grave. The place didn't feel like a part of him exactly, but she appreciated a place to go and think about him that was separate from her home or Albus and Lily's school. She was now 42, older than he ever was.
Two months previously, the Department of Mysteries approached her about researching how the Horcrux connection had affected his mind. At first she was hesitant and refused, but Kingsley talked to her about the good it could do to help others in the future, Harry had died because the damage was irreversible. For the past month she had been working with a team from that department and allowing them to use his stored memories from his pensieve, along with her memories of the same events, from both before and after the Horcrux was removed. On her request, no information from the study would be made available to the public. The magic involved was different than that used to view the memories and none of the wizard researchers would be able to see what they contained, but could use them.
Ginny had also grown close to her father over the last year, both were alone most of the year after losing their life partners and could empathize. Some days Ginny would come to the Burrow to be emotional for a while. James was sad that his dad would never get to meet his girlfriend who was over at the house with him quite frequently. Teddy wished his godfather could watch his son grow up, Al didn't want to show anyone his grief in case he acted soppy over his family, Lily wanted know all the stories that were never told in detail when no one wanted her dad to spiral back into his guilt. Ginny worked to preserve Harry's memory, he was going to be remembered so he needed to be remembered right.
Before dawn on Christmas Day was the quietest she ever saw the graveyard, every other time she'd been there some wizard locals or tourists were visiting. The majority of them backed off when they caught sight of her, leaving or coming back after she'd left. Others didn't recognize her, some knew but didn't care who she was. She liked it when people let her have time alone, that was the only reason she came here. She used her wand to brush up the grave before she left.
-
25th of December, 2032.

The area surrounding the grave was a mess nowadays, trampled by so many witches and wizards, even some muggles would visit as they saw the crowds and wondered what all the fuss was about. Ginny didn't mind, but it made Kreacher quite upset to see his master's grave so untidy, so she made the effort to fix it up before the elderly house elf saw.
Ginny spent most of her time at home, writing. She documented everything, explained as best as she could without making it a sob story, how Harry grew up, his time at Hogwarts and how it was cut short after his sixth year, the war and his part in it, edited to keep some information private, some of his recovery, time as an Auror, their brilliant children, and finished when she reached the present day. This rather long collection of information was never to form a book, but copies kept by the Ministry and Ginny's future heirs as history. She knew her husband would play a big part in the history of the Wizarding world, and that it was up to her to make sure it wasn't written by Rita Skeeter. Hopefully, this would also help to erase some of the negativity surrounding Professor Dumbledore's life, many wizards still looked to the Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore for the truth.
Ginny did also write Harry's first official biography, it was much shorter than the historical documents, but contained many of the same truths. Simply titled Harry Potter, it was plain and simple on the outside, but that did not stop the rush of wizards outside Flourish and Blotts three weeks ago when it was released. All the money raised from sales would go to their family charity and the books were charmed to never be resold for a profit, the only money earned was to the shopkeepers.
She missed him, it was especially hard spending time with Ron and Hermione together, it was an odd fit without him there beside her. It was their tradition to come to the grave on Christmas Eve with their now grown kids, after Hermione remembered going with Harry to that same graveyard on the 24th to visit his parents. Ginny always went on Christmas Day, once alone and then a second time in the late afternoon with her family. As she was leaving, she moved towards the middle of the graveyard to place a second wreath onto Harry's parents' headstone. She shivered involuntarily as she read their familiar names, James and Lily Potter, on the grave.

25th of December, 2042.

Ginny's Christmas morning tradition continued into her sixties, conjuring a wreath on Harry's grave and sitting there for a while. She had so much time, it seemed to stretch endlessly ahead, allowing her to do anything. Harry's time was always limited, everywhere he went death seemed to follow, waiting. As an Auror, his breaks were rare, most of them occurring after an accident while he was out in the field, there was never much time that he wasn't doing something. Ginny had the privilege of time as well as money, and she used it to her advantage. Ten years previously, she had begun to build the first Wizarding orphanage. Tom Riddle was raised in a Muggle orphanage and grew up wanting to kill and torture, Harry grew up abused by his aunt and uncle. There was nowhere in the Wizarding world capable of caring for children who had a traumatic start to life as it was, until now.
Ginny didn't work there full time, but all of the funding, the building (Grimmauld Place was renovated for the second time since 1998), and costs of running the place came straight from Harry's savings. She spent a lot of time at the orphanage, getting to know each child, their likes, dislikes and dreams for the future, she would help each one achieve their full potential, even once they moved away. For now they were satisfied having someone there to play Quidditch in the garden, who bought them good quality brooms for their birthdays and Chocolate Frogs for Christmas.
Ginny's own children were adults now. James married Anna, his girlfriend who he started dating a few months after his father's death. He was still sad sometimes, but learned coping mechanisms that meant he could live a normal life. They had a baby a few months back and were both stay at home parents for the meantime. James was the most involved in the orphanage, he would spend a couple of days a week there, teaching Quidditch since his desire to be a professional player didn't work out. Albus shared a house with his best friend from school, Scorpius Malfoy, after Albus offered him a room a year after they left Hogwarts. Scorpius didn't have a lot of money with only a small starting salary at the Ministry. Albus, who was on the same salary, was backed by a large amount of family wealth that he was happy to share with his friend. Neither married or had children, but they were very happy which was all Ginny cared about. Lily started traveling after Ginny published her father's biography, she stayed at home to help with the research which was complete a few years after she left Hogwarts. On her travels she met Lysander Scamander, her godmother Luna's son who had spent his life traveling, looking for magical creatures. Lysander was ready to settle down and the couple moved back to England so that Lily could continue her research into family history. When they married, Lysander changed his surname to Potter in recognition of Lily's desire to keep her family's name.
-
Ginny passed away nearly a hundred years after her husband, after watching her children surpass twice the age their father had been.