Author's Note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Voodoo Magic, Task #9 : Write about a community event.

Warnings: Canon character death and grief.

Stacked with: MC4A; Eternal Rhapsody; Remains of War; Hogwarts

Individual Challenge(s): Gryffindor MC; Slytherin MC

Representation(s): Battle of Hogwarts commemoration

Bonus challenge(s): Second Verse (Machismo); Chorus (Found Family)

Tertiary bonus challenge(s): NA

Word count: 836

Summer Bingo entry information:

Space Address: 1E

Prompt: Sacrifice

More Than Enough

Ginny slipper her hand in Harry's and took his arm.

"You don't have to do this."

They had talked about this before, as May 1st and the ceremony got closer and closer, but she had never been this blunt before.

"I do," Harry said. "People will wonder where The Boy Who Lives has gone if he isn't there. Besides, I've written the damned speech."

It was a bad joke, and Ginny didn't humour him.

"You were tossing and turning more than the baby was last night. Public image isn't worth your peace of mind, Harry. You know this."

"I do," Harry said. "And I'll go anyways. I appreciate you saying that, but I have to. You know I do."

He saw Ginny chew her lip in the mirror's reflection, but she eventually dropped the subject and turned away.

"I'll go get the boys ready," she said.

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll be down to help in a minute."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Tonks came with Teddy early. She'll scare some sense and possibly breakfast into them," Ginny said. "Take your time, love."

Eventually, it was Mrs. Tonks herself who came upstairs to find Harry.

"Hello," he said. "Sorry, I'm taking forever…"

As he tried to rush through fastening his shirt cuffs, he got clumsier and missed. Andromeda swatted his hand away and did it herself.

"I understand your nerves," she said.

She looked up at Harry and it hit him, as it often did, how put-together and graceful and elegant Andromeda Tonks looked for someone who had seen as much as she had. In her elegant black dress, sensible heels and shawl, she could have fit in with any Muggle royal family. Her silver hair pinned back in a low bun and silver earrings hung at her ears. She still wore her wedding ring.

"Last time I had to go through all these commemoration events for the war, I was living in a haze," Harry said. "My last moment of clarity for, well, for the year after the Battle was going to bed that night, after shaking hands with the wounded and tallying the survivors. I don't know how I got through all the funerals and the speeches and the vigils and the testimonies. Everyone says I did well, but I don't know how I'm going to do it again—even if today is just one day and one ceremony. I don't know what people are going to think..."

"You were a child, Harry," Andromeda said. "Ted was always so shocked that wizards were considered adults at 17… he was right, I think. And so ultimately, you were a child soldier who dealt with more than any of us could possibly imagine. Nobody has any right, or any grounds, to hold the way you dealt with the things that happened against you."

Harry swallowed hard and nodded.

"This time's different too, because I have kids," Harry said. "I have Teddy and two sons and a daughter on the way. And I think I've done okay at explaining to them what they need to know as we go along—"

"Very well," Andromeda nodded.

Harry chewed his lip and nodded. Mrs. Tonks was not one to entertain him if he was wrong, this he knew.

"It feels like there's more at stake now, because of this new generation and all this time that's gone by," Harry said. "Because I've spent more time with Teddy than his parents, because I've had kids like Fred or Colin never will…"

"You do not have to apologize for being alive, Harry," Andromeda said. "Not to the living, and I promise the dead don't care. Trust me. I'm a widow and the mother of war heroes. It took me a long time to be at peace with how Ted, Nymphadora, and Remus would want me to represent and honour them."

Harry's stomach churned. "And what did you decide?"

"That they wouldn't care," Andromeda said. "Mourning is not a group activity, Harry. Our community today is coming together to celebrate ten years since the Battle of Hogwarts. Ten years of peace in the Wizarding World. But there's personal hells that will go unspoken in the midst of the celebration."

Andromeda put a hand on his cheek.

"You've done so much, and you never owed the world anything in the first place," Andromeda said. "Remember that. I don't know who told you that you did, but they were wrong. You've sacrificed your childhood and so much more for this world. Today, you are doing more than you need to by going to the tenth anniversary commemoration and giving a speech. Let that be enough."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded.

"Thank you," he said. "For talking me down."

She smiled.

"You may have adopted Teddy, but don't forget that I've adopted you," she said, pinching his cheek. He laughed. "Now comb your hair before coming downstairs."

"I have."

"You most definitely have not," Andromeda huffed. "Give it another go, and then join us."

"I will," Harry promised.