Harmony Bond (Completed)

Chapter 34: Epilogue

Over the rest of August the Potters and their allies gradually recovered from their injuries and tried to define a new normal to life. For Harry and Hermione that meant staying at Potter Manor rather than returning to the Grangers. It was an adjustment for Neil and Jean, but the two couples often got together on the weekends and for dinners.

One major milestone came shortly after Ginny's birthday when OWL results were sent for all fifth year students. Hermione didn't surprise anyone when she was the top in her year with nine Outstanding OWLs. Harry himself was happy with five Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations. His Outstanding in DADA was also listed as a special merit for being the highest score in the entire ICW, which shocked him, but not his wife.

The rest of the summer passed fairly quietly at Potter Manor with most of the group of friends enjoying visits with each other as much as possible. For some though the visits weren't as easy as others. Ginny was recovering fairly well from her burns, although she still needed bandage and salve changes and wore a hat everywhere she went. Ron was another matter though, as he remained distant with everyone and barely even talked to his family. Most of the time he stayed in his room and let his mother send up trays of food to him, wallowing in self-pity. Worse of all, he refused to see Luna, who was still struggling over the loss of her father and then had the compounded loss of her boyfriend to deal with. She had accepted Hermione's offer to stay at the manor at least and appreciated the additional support.

Of their other friends, Blaise remained the only other with lasting serious injuries, but he took an opposite approach from Ron. Rather than seclude himself, the ordeal had drawn him closer to Susan, as well as Aunt Amelia. In the last weeks of summer he had finally come around to calling her auntie as well as his relationship with Susan had reached a new level. Susan seemed to have matured as they took more time to discuss what each of them needed and she gave him more latitude to be a man, while still supporting him.

As the month drew to a close the day approached for the annual school supplies trip to Diagon Alley. All of the allies, as well as additional school friends, met up at the Leaky in a raucous and fun group that split up along a gender divide as they all decided to go their separate ways. Amazingly Ron was in the group after much discussion and with Arthur once again having to assert control over his wife who had wanted to do the shopping for their youngest son. Ron was sullen, but he had at least decided to use the magical prosthesis that St. Mungo's had offered him, even if he still needed a cane for balance. Luna stood nearby, looking at him longingly as she went off with the other witches.

Blaise was a bit self-conscious as he watched Susan leave with their friends. He hadn't been out in public since the battle and he was no longer the handsome young man he had been a couple of months previously. The healers were still working spells, potions, and salves on his scars, but the fiendfyre had burned him to the bone and they weren't sure how much progress they would be able to make against the dark curse's effects. His face was now a web of dark pink mesh over his brown skin that extended down his shoulders and arms. Even in the heat of summer he wore a special light silk shirt that was charmed to remain constantly moist over the salve that was still trying to keep his new scars from binding up. As for his head, the healers had warned him that it was unlikely that he would ever grow much hair. At least they had been able to repair his eyes enough that he was able to blink again, eliminating the constant irritation that he had experienced in the first weeks. Steeling himself and focusing on the jokes that Fred and George were cracking, he tried to ignore some of the glances that other shoppers were giving him and instead made his way with the others into the apothecary to start crossing off the first items on their shopping list.