Here it is! This is the last chapter of my little story. (Oh, don't cry, I'm sad too :( )( and freakin' tired! it's 5 AM when I;, posting this because I'm going out of town! Don't you guys feel loved for me not wanting to wait until I come back to post?

What If?

Neither one of us wanted to answer the door. We both started creeping towards the back door when we heard a voice speak.

" It's me! 'agrid! Open up, would ya! It's bloody cold out here, ya know!"

We didn't trust who ever was on the other side, even if they did claim to be our friend. It wasn't until we heard a roar of Sirius motorcycle, (yes, he finally decided to go to his own home), did we begin to relax.

"Hello Hagrid,"

"'Lo, Sirius. Heard the news did ya?"

We could tell from the sounds of their voices that they were excited. Sirius had a key to our home and let himself in, with Hagrid walking in behind him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, still unsure of the sudden arrivals. Sirius ran in and, careful not to hurt Harry, pulled us both into a giant hug and laughed.

"What's going on?" James questioned, pulling back a bit before Hagrid joined into the hug.

"He's gone!"

There was a pause in the air of disbelief. There was no need to ask who.

"What?" James stumbled through his word. My eyes were widened and mouth hung open.

"It's true!" Hagrid called out. " 'eard from Dumbledore me self."

Sirius jumped up and down, not being able to contain his excitement.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I was working at the Ministry when the call came in! He's gone!" Sirius started running around the room, giving kisses to everyone, even Hagrid. When he came to Harry, he took him from my arms!

"Oh, I love you, Harry! Even if you are a Chudley Cannons player for Halloween!" I glanced over to my husband, who was just as shell shocked as I was.

He's gone. Voldemort is gone.

In the days to follow, we learned the full story. Though Harry was thought to be the one spoken of in the prophecy, it turned out that it was really about Nevile LongBottom. Earlier on Halloween night, Voldemort had entered the Longbottom's home. Instantly killing Frank, he trapped Alice and Nevile in the nursery. Alice had begged for mercy for her son, and had willingly given her life to protect her son. Because of that, Voldemort's death curse had no effect on baby Nevile. Nevile was left with a small scar on his forehead, which was to remain there for the rest of his life.

As for me and my family, we moved on. After the fall of Voldemort, James had a tough time at work, gathering all the Death Eaters. Most had claimed there were under the Imperius Curse. Others had willingly given up after telling the names of other death eaters. There were still a lot the Auruors hadn't caught who would try and keep the mission of Voldemort alive. Eventually, they were all caught.

In the years to follow, I had two other children, a boy and a girl, who we proudly named after our dear, fallen friends, Alice and Frank. Nevile ended up living with his grandmother, and we visited often to help her with what we could. Harry and Nevile became great childhood friends, and once they grew up, found themselves both in Gryffindor and befriended Ronald Weasly and Hermione Granger. The great quad went through many adventures together in their years at Hogwarts.

Sirius eventually matured long enough to find a wife, a muggle, and we helped them through as they started having kids. James had been his best man at his wedding.

Remus lived a happy life. He married Tonks, a relative of Sirius, and had only one boy, Teddy.

In the years to follow, when Voldemort regained power and the final battle landed on the precious school ground, James and I fought alongside our friends and children and it was Nevile who finally defeated the Dark Lord, and destroyed that Elder Wand when he finally claimed it as his own.

...

If only, right?

...

That's what we wished happened, isn't it? I know that's what I wanted to happen. After all we had been through, in the back of our minds, we held to the belief that good defeats evil. That all the struggles we went through in our life, in the war, that we would be rewarded and be able to see a day where friends didn't betray friends; coworkers didn't kill coworkers! I realize now that, because of our son, people do experience that. Just not for me and James.

No, we all know what really happened towards the end. We changed our Secret Keeper to Peter, who betrayed us. That Halloween, it was Lord Voldemort that came to claim our lives, not our friends rejoicing his death. The prophecy was about baby Harry, not Nevile. Harry faced many hardships in his life and he was forced to face them alone.

In the After, you can't help thinking of the "What if's" in life. What if Dumbledore had been wrong about the prophecy being about Harry? What if we never changed our Secret Keeper from Sirius to Peter? What if James and I had been there for our son when he was growing up. When you are standing here, in the vase emptiness of what could only be the After, you need to realize that there is no changing the choices we made. That prophecy had been about Harry. We did change our Secret Keeper. And as much as I hate to admit it, James and I were not there for our son when he hit the milestones of his life. James had long ago accepted what had happened and I guess I need to as well.

...

But I can't help wonder, what if?

There we go! We are finished! It feels a little weird to have finally seen my baby grow up! You know, coming up with the idea is like ... *cough* adult relations *cough*. Actually writing the story is like it a maturing in my tummy. First publishing it is like giving birth. Each chapter is like my baby growing up with every review, story favorite or story alert a distant relative or godparent supporting the story. Finally, the last chapter is me seeing my baby in their wedding, ready to make their own *cough cough* stories.

So I really want to say this. I had initially written this story so they would survive. I felt like I had the power, as a fan fic writer, to undo what the author has created. I think I've said that before, actually. In fact, when I uploaded the first few chapters, they were alive. It wasn't until I found out my grandpa died that I rethought about it. As much as I wanted my grandpa to come back, I knew that it couldn't happen. I actually updated this a little earlier than I wanted because I will be out of town for a while to go to the funeral and help with that.

Not wanting that to be the final mood of the story, please tell me what you thought! I love hearing what you say; I really do!

Thanks so much my little gleasures!

TheKikGeek