Ch. 163

The old man slowly turned around at the sound of the door creaking open. He found himself looking at a familiar figure, one that he hadn't seen in years now. It had taken Albus Dumbledore weeks to recover from the injuries he'd taken at Voldemort's hands, and when he'd woken up, he'd found himself in St. Mungo's. After he'd recovered, the headmaster had resolved to only serve one more term as the head of Hogwarts before passing that mantle on to Minerva McGonagall. He'd gotten his wish, and bought a cozy little cottage on the coast to retire to, with the calming sounds of the waves crashing onto the shore nearby.

"What can I do for you, Harry?"

The young man was silent for a long while, and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I just came to… say goodbye, I guess."

Harry hadn't been in contact with anyone for years, making like a recluse in Nair'i'caix. The last Albus had heard from him was that Bella had given birth to a daughter. The old headmaster had sent him a card then, to which he'd gotten a curt note with "Thanks" in return. It had been seven years since the wizarding world had seen the last of Harry Potter, after he defeated of Voldemort.

Dumbledore suspected that Harry was still in contact with Cuthbert Mockridge, who was currently serving his second term in office - in fact, it looked like he would go on to serve a third, with the votes of most of the magical creatures behind him. It was thanks to Mockridge, really, and, probably with Harry in the background, that the wizarding world was slowly undergoing reforms that would eventually make it a more cohesive whole. Laws prohibiting the rights of magical creatures were abolished and replaced with fair contracts, and while the ban on some of the more dangerous magical creatures remained, it wasn't uncommon these days to see goblins walking around Diagon Alley, or to see squibs, goblins, and centaurs enjoying a drink together in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Goodbye?" Albus mused. "A strange thing to say when you have already been gone for years."

"I just… Bella and I are getting ready to cut all ties with the wizarding world. We're finally ready," Harry said. "I… I sort of felt I owed it to you to check up on you before we left for good."

Dumbledore sighed. He'd been practicing for this particular conversation for years. By now, he even had memorized exactly what he was going to say. "I'm glad you did, Harry… I owe you an apology for what I have put you through, but I know that it will never be enough."

"Yeah… I was… pretty bitter for a while, there," Harry admitted. "You tried to do what you always do, manipulate people. You did it for the good of the world, but that still doesn't make it right."

"I wasn't referring to that, Harry, though I am also terribly sorry for that." A slight twinkle returned to the ancient wizard's eyes. "I failed you as my charge when you needed me most. I failed to believe in you, failed to investigate further, because I was so blinded by the fear of everyone around you. I have over a century of experience in dealing with people, and I let others control my opinion. I didn't believe in you, despite knowing everything about you, everything you had done."

"You're not the only one," Harry muttered bitterly. The Weasleys, with the exception of Molly and Ron, had come around to seeing the colossal mistake they had made. Of course, the twins did everything they could to rub their faces in it and get some payback for Harry, knowing that Harry would never go to get it himself. The pain from their betrayal had kept him far away from the Weasleys ever since the last day of battle, with the exception of the twins.

Ginny had tried to apologize and actually prostrated herself before him, begging him to kill her or torture her for her betrayal, but he couldn't bear to watch her like that, and had left. He didn't know how to deal with her, didn't want to deal with her. He had his own demons to deal with.

His anger at her for almost having killed Bella and their child had stood between them for a long time, until he was finally able to let it rest. Last he heard, Hermione and Ginny had gotten around to getting therapy for both of them to deal with the guilt. While a lot of people in the wizarding world were quick to blame Ginny and label her as a traitor for her actions under Voldemort's influence, their protests had died a quick death when more and more people were discovered to have been under a spell or potion of some sort.

The wizarding world had gotten a good, long look at itself, and the sight hadn't been pretty, because, as many unwitting traitors there were, there were even more who had voluntarily served Voldemort.

Eventually, over the years, Harry had forgiven Ginny, and they had made small steps to a tentative friendship again, much like he had with Hermione, though their relationship was still very strained and uncomfortable. He had, in fact, taken Hermione aside one day and screamed, yelled, and cried at her for all he'd been through. The brunette girl had just stood there, taken it, and comforted him when he'd broken down. Unlike with Ginny, their friendship was still a little skittish, but it was well on the road to recovery.

It certainly helped that Hermione and Bella seemed to get along rather well, but their contact had been very infrequent ever since Harry and Bella had sequestered themselves away from the wizarding world a few weeks after Voldemort's death.

The only person who'd remained with them, to their great surprise, had been Neville. The day he'd had an argument with his parents about Bella was the day they had given him a choice: leave with them, or stay and be disowned.