“Auror office stands firmly behind their head couple”, Lyra read the headline and smiled. “Now I see why you were late for dinner”, she glowed at Viktor. “Thank you for defending us, that was very sweet of you”.

“It was very much my pleasure”, he smiled back.

It was not just him. His picture was posted prominently at the front page, promising grim consequences to slanderers and traitors, but there were other interviews, with very similar opinions expressed. Normally, Harry would be the head of the Auror department, but since the changes in law that Lyra initiated were in effect, married couples who worked together were considered teams, and as such, the position of the department head was shared between the two of them. This, in effect, doubled the performance of the office and produced such stellar results that everybody kept asking why nobody thought of it before.

“If I accepted half the drinks the guys at the office offered to buy me, they’d have to bring me home in a wheelbarrow”, he laughed. “As it turns out, they already considered transfiguring Ron into a toad, but they concluded this was even better”.

The door bell rang, and she closed her eyes briefly. “Kreacher.” The elf apparated with a crack. “Yes, Young Mistress?”

“Arthur Weasley is at the door. Please let him in”.

“You have to teach me how to do that”, Viktor looked at her pleadingly.

“Of course”, she smiled.

“Oh, there you are”, Arthur greeted them, and looked around. “I like what you did with the place. You kept the tradition and removed the dark stuff. Very cozy”, he nodded approvingly.

“Hello Arthur”, Lyra smiled and approached to greet him. “It’s nice to see you”.

“I have to apologise for Ron’s idiocy”, he looked at her sheepishly. “It was an incredibly nasty thing for him to do, and I honestly don’t even recognize him any more, how dark he’s become. Ginny was so annoyed with him that she threatened to leave the house, and when he started pointing nasty insults at her, Molly and I threw him out of the house”.

“I heard some of it from aunt Andromeda”, Lyra confirmed. “It’s about time he faced some consequences for his actions. He betrayed Harry multiple times before, and broke Hermione’s heart more than once, and some comeuppance was long overdue”, she nodded.

“He tried to move in with George, but George read the article and threatened to spray him with an instant pox powder from his store”, Arthur laughed. “I hear his attempts in other places didn’t go much better”. His eyes fell to Lyra’s forearm and he gasped. “The Dark Mark isn’t there. Not even the faint scar that was left on others. It’s like it didn’t exist at all”.

“Somebody finally noticed”, Lyra smiled. “I had to hide my forearms for the last month in the Manor. It vanished when I gave my wand to Harry and surrendered my only protection. Something changed – I think I felt Dumbledore’s presence and heard a sentence in my mind that I’m the Mistress of Fear now, and I didn’t know that the Dark Mark was gone until I had a shower that evening and looked. I think it had something to do with the Dark Mark being based on fear, and since fear could no longer command me…”, she shrugged. “Had anyone noticed, I would have been in trouble, but fortunately, it was early enough in the year and I could pull off long sleeves.”

“I’m going to kill Ron”, Arthur whispered.

“You should take a number, because there seems to be a line”, Viktor grinned. “Half the country wants to curse him, and the other half didn’t read the Daily Prophet”.

“I wonder if he’ll learn to feed himself now, or just crawl under some rock, be miserable and starve”, Lyra mused.

“That’s his problem now”, Arthur was firm. “He already had a job in the Auror department, immediately after the war, while you were back to school, but he quit after six months because he didn’t like the actual work and responsibility. Molly and I didn’t say anything but we weren’t thrilled either. Now that he made enemies of you and Harry, not to mention the rest of the office, I don’t suppose he’ll be welcome there either.”

“Oh, it would be quite easy for him to find work with his abilities. He would merely have to grow up and face responsibility”, she nodded.

“When that happens, we’ll have to check hell for snowballs”, Viktor laughed.

“Mr. Krum, may I have a moment of your time, please?”

Viktor turned and looked at the weak, soft man who looked like someone who spent too much time practicing confidence in the mirror. “Yes?”

“I’m from the Daily Prophet. Would you please comment on the recent developments regarding Mr. Weasley’s accusations?”

“I can give you a short version or a long version. How much time do you have?”, Viktor smiled acridly.

The man relaxed somewhat. “I would appreciate a proper comment, if you can spare the time”.

“Sure, why not. There’s a Ministry mess hall nearby”, Viktor pointed the way.

Viktor looked at the man across the table as they got seated. “So, the short version is that Ron Weasley is an attention seeking immature twat who lied about his former friends for his five minutes of fame. I read that article of yours. You got the names printed right, but that’s the only correct thing in there. Haven’t you had enough of that? The first time I met Harry, you were writing all sorts of nonsense about him seeking attention by enrolling himself in the Triwizard Tournament and being in love with Hermione Granger. As it turned out, he was enrolled by an undercover Death Eater in order to serve as human sacrifice in a ritual to raise Lord Voldemort from the dead, his life was in constant danger while he was slandered and laughed at, and I found out that Hermione was more like his sister than girlfriend. Interestingly, the same Ron Weasley then also turned on Harry, joining those who mocked him, when Harry needed him the most. Apparently, the more things change the more they stay the same”, he looked at the reporter with an icy glare, as the man tried for an uncomfortable smile.

“We understand that, in fact. We have been getting lots of angry feedback from our readers, very much in line with what you are suggesting. The reason I came to you is because I want to hear the correct version, from someone who knows the facts, and since you actually live with everybody Mr. Weasley slandered, you are ideally positioned to authoritatively refute his statements”, the man slightly recovered from his embarrassment.

“This is true; I do live with them. Maybe it would have been a good idea for you to have come to me before printing that rubbish”, he pointed out. “However, better late than never, I guess. So, what do you want to know?”

“What are they actually like in person? I understand that you might not want to share personal details about the people you live with, but we would appreciate whatever you could give us”, the reporter pleaded.

“I got to know Harry somewhat at the Triwizard Tournament, and I was shocked at how different he was in person from how your newspaper described him. He looked like someone who just tried to survive, and, if possible, save other people along the way. I saw him flying against that Hungarian Horntail. I wish those who slandered him tried to pull off that death dive. Honestly, I would have probably died if I attempted it. I almost died last Sunday when we had our private match in the back country. We both got carried away and would have probably slammed into the ground at hundred miles an hour, with nobody around to patch us up.”

“What did he do?” the reporter looked genuinely curious.

“He used a spell to burn our speed off. At a hundred miles per hour dive. Both hands on the broom. Not being able to breathe due to air speed. No wand.” Viktor looked pointedly at the man.

“No wand? But…” the reporter was confused. “That can’t be”.

“Oh, it can”, Viktor nodded. “I was as shocked as you seem to be, and asked him about it when we apparated back home. He said his wife has been teaching him how to do wandless magic and he no longer needs a wand for most of it. And yes, I realise. When Voldemort, Dumbledore or Grindelwald were disarmed, they were prisoners, not wizards. They could do some wandless magic, but nothing of this magnitude. Lyra killed all the Dementors without a wand. Harry stopped our fatal descent wandlessly while not being able to breathe and almost at the impact point of a miscalculated Wronski feint. I don’t know if you can even comprehend what it feels like to even fly on a broom at that speed. Probably only five Seekers in the world can do it without passing out from the sheer physical strain, slamming into the ground like a meteor and turning into a pink mist”, he looked at the man, making sure he understood the implications. “Harry did wandless magic, and he made it look easy. He didn’t even think it was anything special. After all, Lyra does it all the time when painting my wife’s nails”, he grinned. “Why am I telling you this? Harry is routinely accused of seeking attention, usually by habitual attention-seekers. He’s just a normal, private guy who loves his family and happens to do extremely impressive stuff when a situation requires it. Things like outflying a bad tempered dragon, dismantling Voldemort’s horcruxes, uniting all three Deathly Hallows, saving people by going willingly to die in a dark forest, coming back from the dead, killing Voldemort in a duel, or saving that stupid Ron Weasley’s life when he ingested poisoned whiskey. Selling out your friend for attention by telling outright lies, after all that, is a truly disgusting thing to do and I hold that man in utmost contempt”, he finished.

“Thank you. But what can you tell us about the accusations that his wife is secretly a Death Eater?”

“Lyra became a Death Eater to buy her parents another year of life after they fell from Voldemort’s favour. She was a perfectly innocent girl who happened to be born into a family that foolishly sided with Voldemort, but when they changed their minds later, seeing what Voldemort is actually like and where all that is leading to, it was already too late. She fought for three years to save them, and succeeded. I wouldn’t have lasted three weeks there, and I’m not actually known to be a wimp”, Viktor looked at the reporter with eyes that could bend steel beams. “Lyra is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met, and if anyone has anything bad to say about her, I will personally challenge them to a duel to defend her honour and by Merlin’s beard I swear it won’t end well for them”, he glared.

The reporter gulped. “Mr. Krum, I thank you for your time. I will make sure your words get printed without distortion or omission”, he nodded.

“He miscalculated horribly”, Andromeda smiled at her niece and her husband. “That interview was the stupidest thing he could have possibly done. He forgot he’s no longer in school, and it’s no longer the dark years where the Death Eaters would amplify such nonsense and it would find fertile ground. Half the community saw Harry challenging Voldemort, making him look like a fool and killing him in a duel while Voldemort held the Elder Wand. It’s too early for proper backlash, but I talked to some people and they are furious”, she grinned. “His parents evicted him from their home last night”.

“What?” Harry and Lyra were both shocked. “I thought they would die first and he’d starve in that armchair waiting for mommy to bring lunch”, Hermione joked.

“Well, he obviously forgot that they know things. The actual truth, not rumours they heard somewhere about Harry. Things like Harry saving Arthur’s life, or saving Ron’s life, or training their children to near-Auror level of combat proficiency which made all but Fred survive the most deadly battle in living memory. Not to mention slandering the woman who is publicly accepted as the patron saint of motherhood and who inspired the laws that protect women in general and mothers in particular, and publicly praised his parents before the Wizengamot, while berating her own parents for exposing their only child to mortal peril. Also, Ginny was absolutely furious and made it clear that she can’t wait to move out of the house because she can’t stand him. In the end, it got so heated that Molly and Arthur drew out their wands at him and gave him fifteen minutes to pack and get out. I heard it all from Molly. She’s mortified at his ingratitude and the degree to which he was ready to outright lie and counterfeit history in order to slander his former friends”.

“I expect he’s trying to find a place to live now”, Lyra mused.

“He will find that a harder nut to crack than he expects, since all his school friends owe their lives to Harry, and their mothers all but have house altars dedicated to Lyra”, Andromeda snickered maliciously. “For the first time in his life he will have to own up to his nonsense or learn how to live on his own without either money or a support structure”.

“Idiot”, Viktor mumbled, bringing coffee from the kitchen. “Every single bit of his troubles is self-inflicted”.

“His parents agree”, Andromeda nodded. “He managed to screw up his engagement with Hermione, his friendship with Harry, and instead of getting his life in order he stayed at home, turning into a dark ghoul, annoyed his sister to the point of threatening to leave, and horribly offended his parents with that slanderous interview. They are absolutely mortified and kept calling people to apologise, which is how I heard the story”.

“You know, I thought about him last night – could this have been me? If I didn’t own up to my mistakes and worked to make things better, could I have ended up a miserable, bitter person feeling sorry for myself and blaming everybody else? I mean, my father set me up for failure. He filled my head with the things I repeated and instantly made enemies of all the best people, and then I was surprised when that happened, not understanding what was even wrong with it”, Lyra mused.

“No”, Hermione was adamant. “You were nothing like that. It is true that your father set you up for failure while Ron’s parents set him up for success. He behaved in ways that instantly made him friends with Harry and me. He was insecure, but he was loyal, brave and all that. He had correct political attitudes that he picked up at home. It was no virtue of his own, and your bad mouth was no fault of your own, and yet he reaped the benefits while you suffered the consequences. That part is true. However, you overcame your handicap with courage, dignity, virtue and brains, while he managed to waste all his advantages by slacking, cutting corners, lack of motivation and being an idiot. You went from me having the first impression of you being a spoiled brat and a stupid cow, to me worshipping the ground you walk on. He managed to go from me having a crush on him for years and almost marrying him, to me being so done with him that I never want to see him again or hear his name”, she smiled, and embraced Lyra who was trying very hard to stop the tears from flowing, with little success.

“You know, when we were kids, and you and I didn’t talk, I never felt jealous of Ron and Hermione for being your friends”, Lyra told Harry as they lay together in bed that night. “I was frustrated that I was not the fourth person in the group. I was frustrated that they are your friends while I wasn’t. I was locked out, and most of it was my own fault for insulting your friends in your face, as if any normal person would do that and expect anything different to happen. But I felt the injustice of it all, of not being allowed to make amends and break through to you any more. I never wished Ron or Hermione to go away so that I could take their place with you. I didn’t want their place; I wanted my own. I wanted you to want me, as me. I was afraid of Hermione, because she could have easily ruined me. I felt she could easily take you, because she was a trusted friend and I was an enemy. She could tell you things against me and I would lose any chance with you, forever. I was incredibly happy, and also impressed by her, when I realised that she never did any such thing; in fact, she argued my case with you. I’m so happy to have such a wonderful woman as my friend, I could squeal. But Ron, I must admit, feels like someone who merely lucked into meeting you early on and making a good impression, and your friendship persisted because you were loyal, generous and kind. I feel that you deserve having Hermione as a friend, and since I’m also very protective of her, I feel that she deserves having you as a friend, too. You have a friendship based on virtue, loyalty, mutual support, kindness and intellectual compatibility. That’s one of the reasons why I was afraid of her – she would be a good wife for you, and the idea scared me more than anything, especially later, when you placed me in the “other” category, “not like other girls”, and yet, it was Hermione who told you that I wasn’t in the “other girls” category because I’m in the “wife” category. So, my perception of Hermione was between admiration and mortal terror, because I felt she’s a true threat. She could say a word and she would be your wife. I will be forever grateful to her for letting me have you.”

“I agree with you about Hermione. She was always a true friend. There has never, ever been a single moment when she betrayed me, turned on me or acted as anything other than the best friend I could wish for. As for Ron… I am sad, disappointed and hurt because of how he acted, and because it isn’t the first time. He turned on me several times before. He would be the best friend I could wish for, and then something tripped a switch inside his mind and he would become… whatever it is that he is now. Jealous, nasty, malicious, hostile.” Harry shrugged, obviously troubled. “I’m having very complicated emotions about this. Mostly frustration, betrayal and pain, though.”

“Let me cheer you up then”, she smiled and nibbled his earlobe. “My period is two weeks late and I’ve been having slight morning sickness. I think I’m pregnant.”

“Woah”, he smiled brightly. “That’s wonderful. No more beer for you, though”, he joked as he kissed her.

“I’ll survive”, she snickered into his neck. “But let’s celebrate this properly.” She looked at him very suggestively as his grin widened.

…

“Will you allow me to crush your hand again, some nine months from now?” Lyra joked with Hermione.

“You’re pregnant!”, Hermione glowed and embraced her.

“Just a little bit”, Lyra laughed.

“Well, this might be a good opportunity to reveal my little surprise as well”, Hermione grinned impishly.

“No!” Lyra gasped “How long?”

“I’m almost three weeks late”, Hermione glowed.

“Almost the same”, Lyra embraced her friend. “I’m so happy. Does Viktor know?”

“Yes, but we waited until I was sure it’s not a false alarm, and by now I’m pretty sure”.

“We have to tell Harry”.

“Tell me what?”, he smiled as he entered the room and saw two glowing women hugging.

“I think I’m three weeks pregnant”, Hermione looked at him with a bright smile.

Harry knelt down beside them. “That’s amazing”. All three of them touched heads. “I love both of you so much”, he whispered.

“Woah, I wish I had a camera”, Viktor smiled as he walked in.

“The girls are both pregnant”, Harry looked at him, smiling. “I just found out about Hermione. I love all of you”.

“I love you too, buddy”, Viktor fist-bumped his shoulder. “Lyra too? Then congratulations are in order”, he kissed Lyra’s hand. “How long?”

“I’m just over two weeks late and I’m getting queasy in the mornings”, she smiled at him. “If all goes well, we’ll be giving birth within a week of each other”.

“We’ll have to notify the Ministry”, Viktor smiled at the glowing woman. “It’s good that work has been incredibly slow lately. Dark sorcery went out of fashion, the Death Eaters have all been dealt with, the Dementors are extinct, and all other threats are minor. We may all end up being fired”, he joked.

“Now thats’ a drawback of doing your job too well, but I’m not complaining”, Harry laughed. “The three of us can always brush up and play Quidditch professionally, and Hermione can be our cheerleader.”

“I never tried to catch a snitch in inclement weather while pregnant”, Lyra grinned. “That might be quite something, but I think I’ll pass”.

“Safety first”, Harry nodded and kissed her forehead.

“I can’t wait to tell Teddy and Andromeda”, Hermione smiled. “They said they’ll be here this afternoon”.

Crookshanks the cat came to see what the commotion is about. “Oh hello”, Hermione cuddled with him. “Nice to see that you haven’t forgotten about me altogether”, she smiled.

“Kreacher”, Harry whispered and the Elf apparated with a crack. “I thought you’d like to know. Both ladies revealed that they are pregnant again. We’re going to have more babies in the family.”

Kreacher smiled. “This is very good. The family will go on. When Master and the Mistresses are ready, tell Kreacher how they want the nursery set up”.

“It will be at least half a year from now, but thank you, Kreacher”, Hermione beamed at him. “But for now, I think Lily and James woke up; let’s bring them down here”.

“Have you seen this?” Ginny was waving a copy of the Daily Prophet where Harry could see Ron’s picture and a title about him and Lyra accompanied by generic slander of some kind.

“No, but I’m not too surprised”, Harry shrugged. “I’ve seen Ron in similar phases twice. Let me guess: we’re all frauds, he has us all figured out, and we hate him because he knows the actual truth about us, but he’s done covering for us and is ready to tell it all like it is”.

“Pretty much, except this doesn’t look like a phase”, Ginny was fuming. “It looks like a final choice of personality. It’s like he’s been balancing between nice and nasty, and now he unapologetically chose nasty and feels like he found his true self. Honestly, Dean and I are serious and if he doesn’t ask me to marry him soon, I’ll ask him, just so that I can get the hell away from that place. He’s constantly moping there like a dark cloud. Lyra, you might test that anti-Dementor spell on him. Fits his character perfectly”, she managed a half-smile.

“When Hermione left him, he switched into that energy, and from there he decided that he feels more powerful being Harry Potter’s enemy who can pretend to be a credible source of gossip, rather than being known as Harry Potter’s stupid and useless friend, whom Hermione left because he was infantile and passive”, Lyra nodded. “In his current state, he feels as if he removed the mental shackles that were binding him to the ground and took flight. He feels powerful when he’s nasty and hateful. It’s what weak people do when they want a cheap way of feeling powerful. He’s getting more attention now and it’s making him feel valuable. It’s much easier than facing the actual issues with his character and doing something constructive”.

Ginny looked at her with mouth agape, and then at Harry. “No wonder you married her and not me”.

Harry smiled uncomfortably and changed the subject. “I don’t think his state of mind will improve until he finds some reason to be a positive person again, something that will give him more energy than he thinks he’s getting from hate and resentment. Is he seeing anyone? It would be good for him if he fell in love”.

“I wish. That would have him leave the house at least once in a while. No, he’s just sitting there being a mommy’s boy and hating on Harry the fake Messiah, Hermione the back-stabbing traitor and Lyra the Death Eater who deceived everybody. Honestly, Harry, by Merlin’s beard, I will hex him so hard that even Mom won’t recognize him and will think it’s a swollen garden gnome”, she was pacing angrily. “I don’t even know what kind of a girl would want him when he’s like that, unless she’s a fellow Dementor”.

“Oh, hi”, she noticed Hermione who came to see what the commotion is about. “You dodged that bullet so hard; only it’s not even a bullet, it’s a cursed dart of fuck my life”, Ginny smiled at her. “I know, he’s my brother, I should be on his side, but honestly if we had another war I don’t care whose side I’m on, as long as I’m allowed to fire curses at him. Please tell me what it feels like to be permanently rid of him because I want to live vicariously”.

Hermione hugged her and laughed. “Yeah, Ron will do that to people. What does it feel like? It doesn’t feel like I replaced him with another person. It feels like I replaced the version of myself that had to tiptoe around his weaknesses and insecurities, with the version of myself that can just exist at full volume”.

“I envy you so much”, Ginny sighed. “I hope to become Mrs. Dean Thomas soon and fly into the sunset, before I end up in St. Mungo in a room next to Neville’s poor parents”.