Disclaimer

This story is based on the characters created and owned by J K Rowling. I do not own these characters or the absolutely wonderful Wizarding world. It is the ingenious creation and imagination of J K Rowling. I have no claim on her property.

Merry Christmas, guys! I'm not Christian but my best wishes, all the same. I know all of you are going to be quite busy at this time of the year but here is little treat for you...

Chapter 6 - Deaths

"Mum was right. They really do look like each other," Hugo piped in, adding insult to injury.

Victoire shushed him but the damage was already done. The adults in the room froze, the young adults from the future face-palmed while the others just looked lost.

"What do you mean by that? Everybody knows that they are identical." Ron said, not understanding the implied meaning or perhaps not wanting to understand the meaning. He couldn't imagine something happening to the twins or something that would make them different from each other.

Nobody answered him. Teddy and Victoire looked at each other, having a long conversation while the long stares of their family looked at them for answers. Finally, Victoire nodded, and then with a tired sigh, she explained.

"We're sorry we had to hide it from you," said Victoire, grimacing, "You see, the future is not all sunshine and rainbows. The war was terrible. We lost family, we lost many friends. Our family still hasn't recovered. It probably never will."

"That is the truth of war," said Dumbledore, smiling sadly as if he already knew what they were going to say. He most probably did anyway.

"Who among us…?"McGonagall tried to say, her voice breaking down at the end.

"Professor Dumbledore passes later this end of school year," answered Teddy.

Needless to say, the room was shocked. Albus Dumbledore couldn't just die. He was Dumbledore!

Taking his eyes off the wedged surface of the table, he dared to glance at his godfather. Gleaming emeralds stared back at him, their impossibly green depths brimming with cold anger.

"You are lying," said Harry, rising from his seat. Ron and Hermione also rose from their places, Hermione tentatively moving forward to be near him. They knew this Harry. It was the side of their friend they had frequently seen the previous year, the one whose temper was always at an end.

However, only silence met him. Teddy looked away, unable to see the hurt in his godfather's eyes. Everyone around them was shell-shocked but very much aware of the state of his temper.

"He can't die," Harry said to the suffocating silence. He turned to the Headmaster, and said, "Tell me you don't believe him."

"Harry," said Dumbledore, an unbelievably kind and loving expression directed at him. Yet it was filled with sadness when he continued, "Mr. Lupin is not lying. Please calm yourself."

"No! I won't," he shouted, shaking off the hand Ron had laid on his shoulder. "I won't accept this. Not another death. Not you too."

"Harry," Remus started but was instantly cut off by him.

"No!" he shouted at Dumbledore, "I won't allow this. How can you accept this, knowing that you would die?

"There is an end to everything, Harry," the man whom he considered as a grandfather told him, "People live, they love and then they die. They go on to the next great adventure. You must accept this."

Seeing her young father so upset, Lily climbed down from her chair and went to him, not a bit afraid of being scolded. Her father could never be angry with her. She took his hand with her small ones, his strained muscles loosening under that soft touch.

"Daddy, are you sad?" She asked innocently, bending her neck to look into his eyes.

Harry looked down, meeting the eyes of his daughter, the eyes they had inherited from his mother, and said in a low voice, "Yes, Lily. I'm sad."

Despite the low tone, everybody heard him. The occupants of the room were surprised to see the sudden change in his face. Ron and Hermione the most. Never in their six years of friendship with Harry had they seen him look at someone like this. The closest was when he was with Sirius or when Hagrid told them tales of his parents. But this little girl who could barely reach his waist could calm the volatile emotions of their friend.

"Don't be," she replied, and then extended her hands up in the air in an indication to be picked up. Harry acquiesced and lifted her into his arms. Lily twined her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck. Through the auburn strands of her hair, Harry could see the lightness in the Headmaster's twinkling blue eyes.

"As you can see, Harry, there is always a speck of light in midst of darkness," said Dumbledore, "As a drop of happiness would always be there amidst a sea of despair."

Harry swallowed and nodded, unknowingly squeezing Lily closer to his body. Seeing this, Ginny fell a little more in love with the boy she had loved since she had known what love is, with the man that boy was turning into.

Breaking the silence, Teddy said, "Do you want us to continue?"

Harry nodded before setting down Lily on the space he had vacated. He remained standing, one of his hands holding his daughter's shoulder.

Clasping Victoire's palm in him to draw the courage, Teddy continued, "In August, Mad-Eye Moody died during a battle with Death Eaters. It is where George loses his ear."

"They say he was killed by Voldemort himself," added Roxy.

"He would have liked that. Going out in a blaze of glory," said Tonks, tears flowing from her eyes as she thought of her gruff mentor and friend.

"And by your previous question, I would guess that I'm also not in the future you come from," said Snape, his hypothesis more of a statement rather than a question.

Teddy just nodded in answer while Victoire said, "Yes, in the final battle."

To this, there was a mixed reaction. All of his students hated him, undoubtedly, but even they didn't wish him to die. The adults felt sad that one of their colleague and comrade fell while fighting for a better world. But the most unusual was that of the headmaster. His blue eyes held a sadness that was tinged with the barest of happiness, as if he knew the Potion Master's deepest desires.

"Who else?" asked Harry, not sure if he wanted know the answer to his question.

"Dobby the house-elf," said young Louis who loved visiting the little grave near their seaside cottage. It was something he did with Uncle Harry, his godfather. He knew about the loyalty the little elf had for his uncle, his eccentric fashion sense and how he had saved his uncle and aunts' life. His godfather had many house elves but Louis knew that Dobby held a special place in his heart.

On the other side of the room, Harry flinched but held on to Lily. He felt a small hand on his arm, firm and reassuring. Looking sideways, he discovers its owner to be none other than Ginny who had moved closer when she heard the name of the eccentric house-elf. He gave a small smile before laying his arm on her shoulder.

It was a good thing he did because the next name Victoire said was Colin Creevy's, one of Ginny's best friends. This time Ginny wept into his sweater, unable to stop the tears as she remembered the friend who had instantly forgiven her even if she was the reason he was petrified in their first year and became her friend. Harry just held on to his future daughter and the girl he had begun to love, giving them comfort though his touch.

A moment later, Teddy took a long breath, steeling himself before he said, "Remus and Tonks. Granddad Tonks too."

Remus closed his eyes in despair, the rest of the room inhaling sharply as the information hit them. Tonks had already reached to that conclusion on her own when she had seen the glances her son had given her, as had the werewolf. But the news of her father's death was unexpected.

"No!" Tonks cried, burying her face in Remus' chest. Remus enveloped her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her newly turned dreary-brown hair. She wondered how her mother coped after losing her husband, daughter and son-in-law to a war with an infant who depended on her.

"Wh-when?" Remus asked, his voice hoarse.

"In the same battle as Professor Snape," said James, unusually serious. "Teddy was a month old."

Albus rose from his seat and went to his brother in all but blood, laying a hand on his shoulder. James followed his brother's lead, and went to Teddy to support him on the other side.

Tonks smiled through her tears, proud of the Potter children and Harry and Ginny to give a happy life to her only son.

Molly cried into her husband's chest, her heart clenching as she realized how similar Teddy's situation was to Harry's. How much Tonks was similar to Lily. Both young, beautiful and talented witches. Both married to a Marauder, both sacrificing their life for their child, leaving their only son as an orphan.

Harry, however, couldn't take it anymore. "What is with that man? Hasn't it been enough for him? My parents, Sirius, Cedric. Hasn't he taken enough from me?"

This time it was Ginny who went to him, and to everyone's surprise, he didn't pull away from her when she hugged him. To him, she was someone who could understand him without any explanation from him. Maybe it was their shared past with Tom Riddle or maybe something else, but in some instances she understood him better than even his best friends could.

"He's not a man anymore," Harry heard her whisper into his neck, not realising how true it was. He shivered and grasped her tighter, not caring if her parents or brothers saw them like this.

"Please don't say that there are more," pleaded Bill, his face pained to hear all the deaths. Fleur took his hand in hers, reassuring him with a beatific but sad smile.

"I'm sorry," said Al, truly apologetic. "This is the first time we are meeting our Uncle Fred."

There was a deafening silence, the people from the past unable to process the information they had been provided. George was completely frozen while Molly was obstinately shaking her head. It was impossible. Her dear Fred who was sitting just in between Ginny and his twin couldn't just…go away. He can't! She won't allow this!

"No, No! Not m-my Fred, n-not my baby," cried Molly, running towards her true middle child and enveloping her arms around him.

Fred was now eighteen years old, an adult in the eyes of the Ministry (never to his family, though!), but at that moment he felt like he was a toddler again. A small child who felt safe only when his twin or his mother were near him. As he felt the eyes of his friends and family on him, felt the surprisingly strong arms of his mother around him, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He had died for them, so that his brothers and sister could live their lives peacefully, so that his niece and nephews live in a world not ravaged by war.

However, he was worried for his twin. He had always known that George was the stronger than him. Truth be told, he couldn't imagine a world, a life without his twin. The existence of his children proved that he had moved on in his life, even if it was without him.

"Fr-Fred," said the trembling voice of his sister. Fred looked to his side just when Ginny buried her head in his chest. She cried like she had never cried, not even when she had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets by Tom.

Fred would never get to see his sister married, or tease her when she was bloated with her child or teaching her sons to play pranks even if they are doing quite a good job judging by the tales the time travellers had shared with them. Still, he would always wonder.

"It's okay, Ginny," said Fred, his voice soothing as he brushed back the red locks of hair from her face. "I'm f-fine."

"H-how can you say that?" said George, to everyone's surprise. Fred didn't know his twin had the ability to speak anymore. He wouldn't have if their situation were reversed. He had always joked that he was stronger and more handsome than him but once again, his twin had proved to him wrong.

"How can you say that you're fine as if you weren't just told that you would die in a few years?! What's wrong with you?" shouted George, unleashing a temper mostly seen in the Weasley matriarch's face.

Fred slowly freed himself from his mother and sister's embrace before approaching his twin. Grasping his brother's shoulders, Fred firmly said, "Calm down, brother. We both knew something like this could happen. Regardless of that, I am happy. I will die fighting for what I believe in, protecting my family and friends from that noseless git."

"But protecting yourself comes first, you idiot," said Ron, his voice gruff and trembling. All the Weasley brothers rose from their seats and gathered around Fred.

"You really do have the emotional range of a teaspoon, Ronald," said Ginny, quoting his best friend as they hugged Fred.

"Don't start, now," Bill warned, pulling his tall brother closer to him. "We don't need a Weasley-brother-sister spat right now."

"Is 'zere anyone else?" asked Fleur once the Weasleys had dispersed.

"No," said Rose, and relieved sighs from all the people from the past.

"Good," Molly said firmly. "No more of this dreary talk." With that, she floated in a basket of blueberry pies from the house, instantly gaining the attention of the boys. As everyone was busy in relishing Molly's delicious pies, nobody noticed George move his wand or Freddie's smirk directed at the two Potter boys.