Chapter Text
This is the story of the power that Lord Voldemort—and Petunia Dursley—know not.
When Harry sneaks alone out of the war-torn Hogwarts Castle after Tom Riddle’s ultimatum on the second of May in 1998, he knows he is going to die. As his fingers toy with the golden snitch in his pocket, Harry realizes that however much the idea once appealed to him—however many of Dumbledore’s plans within plans within secrets required him to be the willing martyr—he doesn’t really want to die. Sure, he’s bone-weary. Sure, he’s living a life that’s never been his to live. But he can imagine one that is.
One where he can race Victor Krum on a professional Quidditch pitch or take Hagrid to Romania to visit Norbert. One where he’ll move into his first place and realize Hogwarts doesn’t teach any housekeeping spells, and laugh with Hermione when he calls her up and they both realize it was one thing they never bothered to study during a million hours in the library together. One where he’ll probably trip while proposing to Someone down the line, because isn’t that his luck? One where Someone will manage to, in between laughs, snort out ‘yes’ anyway…
Harry doesn’t want to die, but he goes into the forest anyway, not because he thinks, anymore at least, that his life is worth less than those of the people back at the castle, but because he loves them all fiercely. Before he does, however, he retrieves the resurrection stone and—because he knows now it’s not a weakness to ask for help—says: “Mom, Dad, I’m afraid.”
“We’ll be with you until the very end, Harry.”
This is the story of how Harry Potter Will Never Be Fine, and that’s okay.
There is no hesitation at King’s Cross, and no hesitation when Voldemort faces Harry across the Great Hall and demands to know how he survived again, how he stole mastership of the Elder Wand: “Wouldn’t you just like to know, Tom?”
Harry is the one to raise his wand first, because while in another life he may have given poor abused Tom Riddle, so like Harry himself, one more chance at redemption, in this life Harry has learned that people only change when they want to—Tom Riddle doesn’t want to change any more than Aunt Petunia does.
And Harry is done wishing for other people to change while they hurt him and the people he has learned to love and who taught him how to love and live over the past seven years.
After all is said and done—the cheering and tears, the congratulations and adulation—a friend asks him: “—and tomorrow? What then?”
Harry looks forward to the fuzzy future he’s just beginning to flesh out, and because he’s always been the pragmatic sort, he replies, grinning: “Sleeping in for as long as the nightmares let us.”
Harry knows he will always have scars: the visible ones and the ones that curl at the back of his mind more insidiously than any horcrux. He still has trouble asking for help. He still is wracked with the occasionally guilty confusion when he catches himself missing Aunt Petunia. Neither the end of the war nor adulthood brings any sudden wisdom: he still has mostly no idea what he’s doing. But neither, it seems, does anyone else really. So maybe it’s okay.
This is the story of how Harry Potter learns that Love is a stronger magic and greater knowledge than anything they can ever teach you in school.
Harry Potter [Master of Death, Savior of the Wizarding World, Vanquisher of Voldemort, Order of Merlin First Class, etc.] does not care for titles. He never has. Nor does he care much what the Ministry and the wizarding world expect a war hero to do and say. For the first time in his life, Harry can look towards his future and know that it is entirely his—and even though he has no idea what he wants it to look like, he’s not afraid it. Not when he is surrounded by friends and found family who are helping him build enough good memories to smother the bad ones—because finally, finally, building memories is something Harry looks forward to.
Because at the end of the day, despite everything, Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived—not just survived. And that’s one title he’s beginning to appreciate.
This is the story of how, if you can Love yourself, you will be alright.