EPILOGUE:

EMIGRATION

And they all lived happily ever after is one of the lies we are taught young. As if once all the hurdles are overcome, they will go away forever, and life can be simple and happy. Even having lived the lives they had, even knowing what could have come, Harry and Dany allowed themselves to believe that the worst was over.

Which was true to some extent. Voldemort was dead, and so too were many of his followers. Voldemort may not have been all of the evils of Magical Britain, but he gave them a focal point.

But Voldemort was believed long dead by many, and with Cedric dead, and Dany and Harry already known to be able to transform into dragons, whispers began steeping further in venom. The Ministry of Magic was already looking into ways to prosecute the Boy Who Lived for destroying the majority of the Dementors of Azkaban. And this new incident, where so many noble Purebloods were wiped out by a pair of vicious creatures, gave them an opening.

Not that it happened straight away. No, once they got back, they were accosted by Mad-Eye Moody, who dragged Harry away, Dany following. He subdued them both, and revealed himself to be the one who put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore arrived in time to save them, revealing Moody to be an impostor: Barty Crouch Junior, who was smuggled out of Azkaban by his father at the behest of his dying mother.

However, any chance of Crouch facing justice for his crimes were sunk when Fudge, bringing along a Dementor 'for his own protection', caused Crouch to be Kissed. And then, Harry got into an argument with the fatuous politician, as did Dumbledore. Fudge was outraged at Harry and Dany's claims, and left. However, Dumbledore had a premonition that would not be the end of it. He spirited Dany and Harry, along with Jorah, to Sirius Black's ancestral home of 12 Grimmauld Place, having made arrangements with the fugitive earlier, just in case.

And just as well. A warrant was soon issued for the arrest of Harry Potter and Daniella Targe, along with John Mormont. Dumbledore soon related to them that the surviving Death Eaters who had escaped the graveyard had bribed Fudge into doing so, and when DMLE head Amelia Bones refused to, Fudge overrode her, sacking her and placing a crony in her stead.

There was considerable public backlash, helped by Rita Skeeter as her parting article before joining Harry and Dany's party on their adventure to another world. She exposed what she knew of Fudge's dirty dealings, as one last big fuck you to Fudge, who had made too many demands of The Daily Prophet. Rita Skeeter didn't consider her journalistic integrity anything to speak of, but she had her pride.

Even with Fudge's star on the wane, though, it was too dangerous a climate for Harry and Dany, along with Jorah, to emerge from this place. The time had come for them to head back to Dany's homeworld. To begin preparing for Dany's ascent to the Iron Throne.

The two teenagers were in a melancholy mood as they sat in the living room of 12 Grimmauld Place. For Dany, she was returning to a land where many would seek either her demise, or to exploit her, all because of her lineage. For Harry, he was embarking on a new life to a world that was different to his own, lacking in technology others took for granted. They were intending to bring some across, some that Westeros could duplicate, and some that they'd need to ferry across for replacements and repairs. As Dobby could ferry them back and forth between worlds, this wasn't a complete farewell, even with many coming with them.

But it sure as hell felt like it.

"…But the Lands Between were abandoned by the Great Will when the Demigods made war over the remnants of the Elden Ring. Thus were the Tarnished called back from their exile to the Lands Between, where their story truly began." Dany frowned as she finished reading the blurb of the book in her hands. "A strange tale. It sounds so much like the songs and tales told back home, even if it is unfamiliar to me."

"Where did you get that one from, anyway?" Harry asked.

"Luna gave it to me. Her mother wrote that tale, having seen events on another world through her own gift." She peered at the book, with a complex interlocking symbol of a trio of rings, accompanied by the words Elden Ring in golden letters, on the cover. "She said I needed distracting while we were making the final preparations to go home. Only…is it home?"

Harry caught what she meant swiftly. "Home is what you make it, Dany. I know you spent so much of your life on the run throughout Essos…"

"Yes, but Hogwarts…it was beginning to feel like home for me. I considered, more than once, giving up on coming back to that world, staying in this one, to live out my life with you, and to the Seven Hells with the Iron Throne." She chuckled bitterly. "Destiny has a tendency to force one's hand."

"No, that was Fudge being an idiot," Harry said bluntly, which got a more sincere chuckle out of her. Bitter still, but bittersweet. "…I'm sorry you didn't get the chance for a normal…well, not remotely normal when I'm a wizard who can turn into a dragon, and you're a princess who can do the same. I mean a good life."

"Hmm…a good dream. But some dreams will scatter on the wind like ashes, and others are simply blown around," Dany murmured. "Reality is cruel to them, and to those who pursue them. Still, Jorah told me once of a man he served with in a mercenary band by the name of Griffith(1), who claimed that a man or woman without a dream was little more than the walking dead, beneath contempt. While I would not go that far, dreams are more important to us than many people would believe."

"…Well, I guess if I did have a dream, it'd be to be with you. I mean, we met each other in our dreams, didn't we? The girl of my dreams, Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen…well, at least we can both say that at least one of our dreams came true."

"No. More than one. I owe you much, Harry. Without you, I would have succumbed to despair from my brother's increasing madness. Without you, I would have never known this world. Without you, I would not have known the joys of dragon-riding as my ancestors did. You have given me so much, and I have given you so little in return, aside from friendship and joy. Precious treasures they are, I know, and yet…I wish I could do more for you."

"Dany…your friendship, past, present and future is all I truly need. That, and knowing that, whatever you do, you can do it with as few regrets as possible, including claiming the Iron Throne. I am not your servant, or your subject. I am your friend. And in a way, whatever we do on your homeworld, we'll be trying to do good for others, right? That's what I want to do, and without this Boy Who Lived crap clinging to me."

"And yet, I am the one shouldering the burden of destiny now, hmm?" she said, sending a wry smile his way.

"We're shouldering it together. Remember what you said before. Only a single ruler may sit on the Iron Throne, but it doesn't mean you're alone…"


It felt like running away. Dany had spent most of her early life on the run, with her brother pulling her along, ever wary of the knives in the dark from the Usurper's pursuers. She was so sick and tired of running, and she thought, when she ended up at Hogwarts, that she would never have to run away again, even when Skeeter spoke about the actions the Ministry may take against Harry.

And yet, it wasn't like those times with her brother, where they had, at best, a few loyal guards who eventually died, and her brother soon died within his very soul, leaving behind something that pretended to be her brother. She was surrounded by friends, all of recent acquaintance barring Harry, true, and yet, they felt more real to her in their friendship than many a noble who housed them in Essos, claiming fealty and friendship for a season, before casting them out when they overstayed their welcome. These people cared, and she would treasure them more than any army.

She would need an army, though. It would take time to get one, even with Jorah's information about the various sellsword groups, to say nothing of the Unsullied. But she would wait. She was young, and Robert Baratheon was drinking and whoring himself into an early grave. She would wait patiently for her moment to return.

Viserys' problem was his lack of patience, despite his claims to the contrary. Well, it was one problem amongst many. True, Dany had a certain impatience herself, to assume her birthright, but tempering it was a pragmatism beyond her years. For all her self-admitted naïveté in wishing to conquer the ills that beset Westeros, and indeed the rest of her world, she knew she faced an uphill battle in reaching any of her goals, especially with a minimum of blood. Her family's words might be Fire and Blood, but it didn't mean she wanted them to come to pass.

She remembered her long discussions with Luna, about what could be. Perhaps her greatest fear was that her family's madness would one day rear its ugly head. That one day, she would approach, and perhaps surpass her father in atrocity. Too often, she found herself staring at flames with fascination, and to tell the truth, she enjoyed the screaming the Death Eaters made as she immolated them while rescuing Harry. But they at least were cruel men who delighted in cruelty, and a cruel demise befitted them.

She just had to make sure she didn't indulge in too much cruelty, lest she slip into the abyss.

The time soon came for them to depart to Westeros, with Winterfell being their first stop before heading over to the manse in Braavos that Sirius had procured, to act as their base in Essos, and indeed that world in general. She made her farewells to the Weasleys and a few others Dumbledore allowed into 12 Grimmauld Place. She intended to visit them again, or at least have Dobby bring them over to visit.

The Grangers were coming, along with the Lovegoods, the Tonks family and Remus Lupin. Skeeter had already made her way over to that world, and Sirius was awaiting them. More might follow later.

Before she made the transition, holding onto Harry, she thought about one of the things she learned in this world. About how when Julius Caesar, the first of his line of the Roman Emperors, crossed the River Rubicon, knowing it would spark conflict between his supporters and his enemies. And he spoke three words in their language: Alea iacta est. That is to say, the die is cast. That there has to come a time when one might go past a point of no return, and one should chance it, like rolling the dice.

So, as she made the final nod to Dobby, she thought to Julius Caesar, a man much like her ancestor Aegon the Conqueror in many regards, and cast the die…


Harry and Dany, upon arriving, spent some time speaking with Lord and Lady Stark in that chamber beneath Winterfell. The others had been sent along to Braavos at once, but Dany wished to speak with her brother-in-law, if only by a brief marriage. Then again, she had already begun to consider Lord Stark in a similar manner to how she considered Jorah, as a father figure and a mentor, the former of which she sorely lacked, since Ser Willem Darry died.

They discussed the circumstances leading to them fleeing Magical Britain, for now. After they spoke, Eddard gave a grim smile. "It seems that you had quite the adventure. But is this warlock, this Voldemort…is he dead now?"

"Dumbledore is looking into it," Harry said. "People thought he was dead when he vanished after trying to kill me, but…well, who can say? I'm just hoping he is. I…I'm not even sorry I killed him, or all those people, his followers. What does that say?"

"Those men were dishonourable and vile, believing those without magic to be inferior," Catelyn said. "While it is not good for one as young as you to be so inured to killing, I daresay you did your world a great justice, even if it does not believe so."

"But do not get too used to killing," Eddard said. "Not so much that you forget what it means to take a life, anyway. We have a saying here in the North, that the man who passes the sentence must swing the sword. That one should take responsibility for the justice one metes out. It's a harsh lesson that we learn young, Daenerys. If you go for the Iron Throne, you will have to see justice done. When it happens, look them in the eye, hear their last words, and know that you are sending them from this life."

"I understand, Lord Stark…or at least I hope to understand it fully, one day. Ser Jorah spoke to me of that practise, and he explained it to me," Dany said solemnly. "But I do not regret the deaths of the Death Eaters. They were responsible for the murder and rape of so many, all for a false creed. Cedric Diggory died simply because he was surplus to requirements, even though he was a Pureblood. In the end…as a ruler, I will have to get used to killing. One simply cannot gain a throne with pretty words alone, as much as I wish it were so. But I intend to do it as cleanly as possible, so that if I do look back, I will not be lost to regret if I can help it."

"Fine words, Daenerys. I hope you may never regret them," Eddard said.

"I do have a question for you, Daenerys," Catelyn said. "Jon…our nephew…when will you be bringing him into your household?"

"Once we are settled and secure in Braavos, I will send for him. We will have to concoct a suitable cover story. Sirius has already arranged for a cover identity for myself. There are plenty of families in Essos through whom the blood of Old Valyria runs. I'll have to learn the details when I get to Braavos. It will also allow us to communicate with less suspicion via raven if need be, though I believe Sirius has left communications mirrors?"

"And a wonder of fast communication they are," Eddard said. "In any case, we will await your message…"


They spent some more time speaking with the Starks, before resolving to communicate with them again, and then heading to Braavos. Sirius showed them through the manse that would become their base…and their home, for the next little while. He showed them rooms where the technology they had gathered from Earth awaited, ready to start dragging this world into, hopefully, a better era. Rooms filled with books and artifacts from the magical world, many of them plundered from Sirius' former home.

But it was in the last room that they saw something that had the pair of them excited.

Dany gently stroked the scaled chin of the chirping creature, one of three. "You managed it?"

"Charlie and Moony did most of the work," Sirius said. "Getting three of them was difficult. We have books on how to raise them ready, too. It was sheer coincidence that they hatched soon before you arrived."

Dany giggled as the three baby dragons crawled onto her body, perching onto her. She and Harry embraced, the dragons clambering over them. They would learn that they both would bond with the hatchlings.

Of course, there would be trouble with the dragons, that keeping them secret in a city like Braavos would be near-impossible. That they would have to work hard to suppress the news of dragons being reborn in the world, even if the eggs came from another. And that unwelcome attention would come to them sooner than they wished, from many corners.

But for now, they revelled in the achievement, and the hope it ignited for both of them. That something marvellous had come back to the world. This part of the story had ended in a not-dissimilar manner to how it began. In a manse in Essos, with a union of dragons…

THE END

EPILOGUE ANNOTATIONS:

So…there you have it. The end of this story. I…don't think I'll be writing a sequel, and if I do, it won't be for some time. Sequels in general have palled for me, and some of you who follow my works will have noticed that I deleted and archived a whole bunch earlier this year.

Still, after so long, this story has been finished. And hopefully, to your liking.

Before I go, we got some interesting George RR Martin-related news between the previous chapters and these last two, right? I mean, aside from the new series focusing on the Dance of the Dragons, there's also the exciting news about Elden Ring. Since the last chapters I posted, as you may or may not know, I've gotten into the Soulsborne games in a big way, and I've posted a number of fics based on Bloodborne and Dark Souls (plug, plug), and I am really excited for Elden Ring, partly because George RR Martin has done the worldbuilding for that game. Maybe when it comes out, you'll see a Harry/Melina pairing, or another, depending on the characters from that game. Hence my little shoutout earlier in this chapter.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this fic.

1. Griffith and his ideology comes from Berserk, a dark fantasy manga whose creator, Kentaro Miura, sadly died earlier this year.