June 2021

Ever since the defeat of Delphi, things began to change for the Potters and the Malfoys in the best ways possible. We all began to keep in contact with our kids more, writing to them every chance we got. Albus and Scorpius were doing great in school and they seemed to enjoy Hogwarts more now than they did at the beginning of the year. I always enjoyed receiving Scorpius' letters.

The moment I woke up today, I had a feeling that it was going to be a good day for everyone, especially for me. The end of term for Hogwarts students was today, which meant Scorpius was coming home for the summer. Draco and I were looking forward to spending more time with him ever since what happened at the beginning of the year. We thought it was best to be around Scorpius more. After all, we felt bad about neglecting him, and we didn't want to do that again. So, Draco and I were going to make an effort to be better parents to our son, which I hoped Scorpius would see. But most of all, I just wanted him to be happy again. Actually, I wanted all of us to be happy again.

I got dressed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair. Once that was done, I headed out of the bathroom and into our bedroom again, getting the flowers that were on the dresser. I went downstairs to find Draco already had a mug of coffee for me.

I smiled at him. "You already got coffee for me?"

"You know I'm always prepared," he replied, smiling back.

I placed the flowers on the table and grabbed the mug from him. "Thank you." I gave him a peck on the cheek.

"You're welcome," he said.

Draco and I had been working on our marriage, more specifically, communicating with each other, ever since we made up. We tried to set up some time for ourselves to just sit down and have a conversation about whatever we could think of and we had to be completely honest with each other. We both enjoyed it and we thought it was really beneficial for our marriage. We agreed that communication and honesty was the key to all of this and we were glad that this was all working out for us. It was great that we were able to move past our rough patch.

"So, will you and Scorpius meet up with me after you pick him up from King's Cross?" I questioned, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Yes," he said.

"You know where?"

"Yes, you've told me a million times now," he replied.

I grinned. "I just wanted to make sure you remembered."

"My memory isn't that bad..."

I chuckled. "Well, I should get going. I'll see you later." With that, I put the mug down, grabbing the flowers and giving Draco one last kiss before heading for the door.

"Max." I turned around, facing a happy Draco. "I love you."

My face brightened. "I love you, too." I gave him one last smile before leaving the house, closing the door behind me.

I wished I was able to walk to where I was going. Instead, I Apparated to the top of a beautiful hill. I had never been here before, but I only knew about it because Harry. I scanned around, trying to find what I was looking for. I walked around for a bit when I finally spotted it. There, standing before me, was a gravestone, and carved in it was an unforgettable name:

Cedric Diggory

1977 - 1995

A son, a friend, a hero.

I got down on my knees and leaned the flowers against his gravestone. For a while, I just stared at the stone, tracing my hands along his name, tears forming at the corners of my eyes. "It doesn't seem like it's been twenty-six years, does it?" I sniffled, composing myself before I went on. "I'm sorry, Cedric. I'll never forget everything you did for Harry and I." I smiled sadly, wiping the tears from my face. "You were good, you really were."

"Yes, he was," Harry said from behind me. I turned around and noticed that he wasn't alone. "Albus, do you mind giving us a minute?" He nodded his head and walked away from Harry, strolling by a huge tree I passed by when I got here.

"Any reason why my nephew is with you?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Well, I may have persuaded McGonagall to let me go ahead and have Albus leave with me for the summer," he explained, kneeling down beside me. "I wanted to show him his grave. I'm surprised you didn't get Scorpius from school to bring him here."

"That's because I wanted to come alone," I told him. "This is my first time here. I needed to be here by myself and tell Cedric some things."

"Like what?"

"You know, the sappy stuff that is totally cliché but totally true."

He sighed. "I always tell him the sappy stuff, too."

"Imagine how life would've been different if he had lived. It wouldn't be like it is now."

"No, it wouldn't," Harry agreed, shaking his head. "I hope that no one forgets him."

"That'll never happen," I said. "Just like no one will forget us."

Harry grinned. "What, how much trouble we were?"

"Well, it wasn't just trouble..." I smiled at him.

"Double trouble," we said in unison.

He huffed another sigh, looking at me. "We really just had our final adventure, didn't we?"

"Yeah, we did," I answered, almost disappointed. "It's going to suck, not saving the world anymore."

"Well, in all honesty, let's hope we won't have to do it again," Harry insisted.

"I mean, yeah, but that's when we really bonded, you know?"

He snorted. "Okay, whatever, Max."

I laughed. "I'm glad I got to save the world by your side, Harry."

Then, without warning, Harry pulled me in for a hug. "Me, too."

We stayed in a tight embrace for a moment, then pulled away when we both saw Draco and Scorpius standing where I Apparated at. I bid Harry goodbye and went to the others, giving Albus a quick hug before he left to join his dad. Scorpius ran up and hugged me tightly, catching me by surprise, but was glad that he was happy to see me.

"Nice to see you, too," I told him, chuckling as he pulled away.

"Was that Cedric's grave?" Scorpius questioned, curious.

I sighed, nodding my head. "Yes. I wanted to come by and say sorry."

"I'm sure he appreciated that," Scorpius said.

Draco took my hand, staring at me. "You're a strong woman, you know that? You've always been one."

I scoffed. "No, I haven't. I'm still afraid of some things."

"You're joking," Scorpius scoffed.

I shook my head. "I wish I was. Believe it or not, Scorpius, I have fears just like everyone else."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Like losing my family for good. Being alone. Bees."

"Bees?" Draco and Scorpius inquired at the same time, their eyebrows raised in shock.

"What? Harry's terrified of pigeons!" I protested.

"But they're both harmless!" Scorpius pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. "We know that, but you know what I'm definitely scared of? It's being a mother and a wife. Sometimes, I feel like I don't know what I'm doing and that makes me think I failed both of you."

Scorpius shot me a sad look and took my hand. "You're a great mother," he assured me, a smile forming across his face.

Draco squeezed my hand tighter. "And you're a great wife," he added.

I smiled at both of them. "Let's get out of here. What do you say?"

"I like that idea," Draco stated.

Before we left, I turned around and looked back at Harry and Albus, who happened to be looking back up at me. Harry and I gave each other smiles, making my heart fill up as full as it could get. It made me realize what we had done to get here. After all that Harry and I had gone through, we made it. We were put through hell and somehow we got out alive. We finally got the lives that we deserved.

I knew deep down, because of my twin instincts, that Harry was thinking exactly the same thing.

THE END

~~~~~~~

A/N: Wow. Oh wow. It's over. It's really over this time.

Fun fact: Bees really scare me. I don't know why, but they just do.

There will be a FINAL Author's Note at the very end.

Song above is Finale by Elmer Bernstein.

Comment, vote, it's over now. </3

-A