Chapter 17

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The Epilogue

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The reality of the heat all around him snapped Midnight out of his disassociated of the horrifying events surrounding his person.

'Teddy, Hell, Bob…'

Harry's eyes began to burn with an emerald green passion that had been so rarely witnessed that some only referred to it as a myth.

It was fear that fueled him on, fear of losing his friends, fear of losing his lover, fear of being alone. But more than fear, it was hope. The hope of a semi normal life, whether as a war mage or not, the hope of freeing the world from the darkness it hid from, hope…for a brighter future for the younger generations…

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"…To tell the truth…I don't remember much after that revelation," Midnight said with a dry chuckle as he shifted painfully in his bed. "I remember another flash of light and I remember hearing a shattering noise…but that's it."

Dumbledore nodded and let out a sigh of relief. "Well, thanks to your efforts and those of your team, we, the wizarding world, can now enter a time of long awaited peace. Thank you, War Mage Midnight, You are now free."

Harry watched as the elderly man patted his leg and walked out of the room, leaving him alone with his gathered friends.

"I know you know more than that, why aren't you telling him how you had a powerful brain battle with Brushfire and how both you and Voldermort kicked her little weak assed…um…ass!" Hellaine asked quickly as she hopped onto his bed and sat on his feet, effectively making him very uncomfortable.

"Why would I do that?" He asked, "That was the short version of a very long story that involved the death of a Mage, which makes it a Mage affair."

"Quite so…" Aqua interjected, grabbing the now bouncing grey haired girl by the ear to remove her from the bed. "After the memory correction of the school it is imperative that we maintain a low profile. On top of that, I would like to say that both Nightwish and Training Mage Draco will be returning with us to Head Quarters. Nightwish has been assigned to a full time team in need of a researcher and the young trainee will be handed over to a skilled Seer Mage for the duration of his training."

The tall woman smiled softly at her bed ridden War Mage and winked. "And as for you Hero, there will be a warm welcome waiting for you when we return home, the Elders are impressed with the sheer determination and will it took to take on a highly decorated Seer Mage's final attack and win, Saving your team in the process."

A smile touched Midnight's lips at the nickname. 'Hero', as Aqua and Jade were now calling him, was admittedly a lot better than 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'.

Looking around the room, Harry's smile grew as his one red, and one silver eye sparkled from sheer happiness. He was alive; he had his friends surrounding him, Jade to his left, Bloodlust to his right, Aqua to his right, and Quicksilver still on the floor whining about being roughly handled. All was good with the world now, for the moment.

"So I guess this means that that horrible forced vacation has been called off?" He asked, looking over at his one time trainer who simply nodded at his question.

"What War Mage in their right mind would go on vacation?" Quicksilver asked, looking up at her companions from her place on the floor.

"One that is given no other choice you idiot." Jade replied, letting out a yelp the moment the white haired girls' steel toed boot connected with his shin.

"The council felt that it would be best to allow Mage Midnight some time to be with Mr. Malfoy without the added pressure of his duties hanging over his head. But now that Mr. Malfoy has agreed to continue with his training they see no reason to force Midnight to do anything against his will." Aqua replied, finally giving Harry a reason for his supposed vacation.

"I'm glad he's agreed to continue," Harry said as he shifted his gaze down to his hands. "I'm glad Nightwish was able to talk him into it. I doubt he'd have continued if I had been his only incentive."

"That's not true!" Quicksilver shouted, leaping onto her roommate's bed, hugging him tightly. "Just give him some time. In the past two months he's found out the love of his life isn't quite as dead and previously thought, he's found out that he has the potential to be a seer, he's learned that his father, whom he loved with every ounce of his being, is dead, and just recently, he found out that the mage that has been training him everyday was secretly married to Peter Pettigrew of all people, yuck, and had not only killed Voldermort because of her twisted beliefs, but had also tried to kill our team and would've succeeded if she hadn't miscalculated Jade's desire to get back in your good graces, thus transfiguring the emerald she'd trapped the only goodness left in old Voldie and given to Jade as a token of 'love' into a Christmas gift for you!"

Harry couldn't help but stare at the girl who was currently wrapped around his upper body, that had been the most fully thought out and well said thing he'd ever heard from her in all the time they'd been rooming together.

"Alright…" he murmured, giving Quicksilver a bright smile. "I'll give him some time then."

"Good!" She replied, hopping off the bed again to stand by Bloodlust's side.

"Hey, since we're on the subject of explaining previously unexplained events," Harry said as he looked down at the sterile white bedding he was currently housed in. "Why are we at Hogwarts and not at Mage HQ?"

After a moment of various glancing at one another, Bob finally answered the boys' rather astute question.

"The battle took a lot out of us and this was the closest place to apperate."

"Why didn't you just use the phasing dust?" Harry asked, referring to the gold dust Mages always carried on them.

"Would you believe none of us were carrying any?" Bob replied simply.

Laughter rang through the room in varying degrees, from Jade's deep rumble, to Aqua's graceful chuckles.

It was very 'scoobie-doo' esque, Harry didn't mind. He was going back home soon. Back where life made sense…were the only things he had to worry about were the Cafeteria's 'special' and whether or not he was going to die on his next mission.

Only one thing was holding them up…

"Where are they…" Harry asked with a small scowl, his mouth twitching in annoyance.

The door burst open as if on command and both Draco and Nightwish tried to shove their way through the unrelenting frame.

"I swear, Why you need so many plushies is beyond me." Came Draco's highly annoyed voice from a mound of soft multi colored animals in his arms as he finally shoved his way into the room.

"My darlings are nothing compared to your suitcase of hair care products." Nightwish shot back, his smile beaming in triumph.

"Shut up…" the blonde huffed as he dropped the immobile projectiles onto the growing pile of trunks in the middle of the room.

Ignoring the other mages in the room, Draco went over and kissed his boyfriend with a passion that made the room seem to raise a few degrees. He had taken to doing that after he had learned of his lovers' near death experience.

It didn't matter that he was still confused on whether he trusted Midnight or not, or if he was positive of the War Mage's feelings for him. All that mattered was that they had time to work it out, and work it out they would.

"Well, looks as if we are finally ready to go…" Jade remarked, helping Midnight from the bed as soon as the boys had ended their mid-day make-out session.

"Everyone close their eyes and hold hands," Aqua instructed, taking hold of Hellaine's deeply tanned hand and Nightwish's gently pale one. "And when next you open them, we shall be home."

Harry took one last look around his one time home and sighed, closing his eyes. No more 'what if's'. He had all he would ever need by his side, as that meant the world to him.

No matter what lie ahead for him, Midnight knew that this was now his path. This was a true War Mages Path.

Owai

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Oh My God…it's finished! I never thought it would happen! This is amazing…I know it ended very oddly. I basically copped out and decided that a revision would be better than never finishing it.

So I have to thank every single reader that has stuck with me through the years. It's been tough, but I hope it's been worth it.

A lot has gone on in my life that I would like to add to AWMP and hopefully that will happen soon. I am going to keep writing 'Don't Speak' and all the others that haven't been updated yet, so look forward to those this summer.

And if I have enough request for it, I will write a sequel continuing Harry and Draco's relationship and Draco's training.

But I'll need you to ask for it ^_^

Thank you thank you thank you. With out all of you, this never would have been finished.

LOOK FOR THE REWRITE SOON!

Your ever devoted Author,

Kathleen S.

Angel Shinigami 4:08 am. 05-30-06

P.S. Hey everyone! Two years later and I am finally ready to post the sequel! I have worked with this last chapter so that everything flowed better and I gave you some more details on how Harry ended up with Voldermort's soul.

10:22 p.m. 11-23-2008