~Epilogue~ 

I sat up in a bed at St. Mungo's, sweating, fatigued, but happy nonetheless as I cradled an infant in my arms. She slept soundlessly.

The door to the hospital room opened and Theodore came in, followed by a Healer and two small boys of the same age. One was the exact image of a small Theodore while the other looked like a young male version of me.

I smiled as Theodore approached and gazed down at his newborn daughter. He kissed the top of my head before beckoning the boys over.

"See, boys? This is your new baby sister," I said.

The boys, Deneb and Altair, looked at the newborn with wide eyes, while Theodore glowed with happiness. "Any name ideas?" he asked me.

"No," I said. "How about you?"

We had been married for six years, and the boys had been born four years after. I had chosen their names: Deneb Cygnus and Altair Aquila after stars and the constellations they were in. Even though I, along with the small remainder of the family, felt the Black family traditions should die, I couldn't help but incorporate my love for astronomy into the names of my children.

"Well," Theodore said, "I do have an idea. I did some research, you see. Wfhat do you think of Vega Lyra Nott?"

"Oh, that's pretty. How did you come up with that?"

"Like I said, I did my research. I'm not an astronomy expert like you are, but I was curious about the boys' names, so I looked them up. I found out that Deneb, Altair, and Vega were the three stars in the Summer Triangle."

"Of course!" I gasped. "Theodore, that's brilliant! I think Vega Lyra is the perfect name."

"Not only is Vega in the constellation Lyra, but I think it would be perfect to name her after you. She looks just like you."

"No, she doesn't," I disagreed. "She looks just like you."

Nine years passed too quickly. The boys, who had been two at the time of Vega's birth, were now going off to Hogwarts.

"Mummy, I want to go to Hogwarts!" Vega whined. "Why do I have to wait until I'm eleven? It's not fair!"

"I know," I told her. "But that's the rules."

"Can I write a letter to Headmistress McGonagall?" she asked. "Maybe I can tell her to change the rules!"

I laughed. "You can try, Veg."

Of my three children, Vega was the most outgoing. Theodore and I eventually came to the consensus that she looked like both of us. Though she had Theodore's blue eyes and light brown hair, she did resemble me to an extent. Honestly, I thought she looked like Andromeda more than anyone.

"Say goodbye to your brothers," Theodore told Vega. He had just finished exchanging words with the boys as they prepared to get on the Hogwarts Express.

"Bye, Deneb. Bye Altair," Vega said. "I won't miss you."

"Be nice," I scolded. "You won't see them until Christmas."

"Mummy, let me go!" she pleaded again. "I can sneak onto the train!"

"No, you won't. Besides, I can't lose all three children in one day! You'll have to come home with Daddy and me."

"Vega," Deneb said, "we'll write to you. It's a promise." He came over and hugged her. Deneb was the most caring of the kids. He had a rather bright personality and was quite outgoing.

"Bye," Vega told him as he released her. "Bye, Altair!" she called to her other brother.

He smiled. "Bye, Vega." Reluctantly he gave her a quick hug.

Not only did Altair look like Theodore, but he also acted like him. For the most part he was reserved and quiet, giving the impression that he was conceited or austere. Mostly he was just shy.

"Mummy, look! There's Aunt Dora!" Vega exclaimed. She pointed to her left. A woman with bubble-gum pink hair was approaching us. Next to her was fifteen-year-old Teddy, his turquoise hair short and spiky. A man and two other children followed them.

"Lyra!" Dora called as she reached the spot we stood. "I thought I'd see you here!"

"Hi, Dora."

"It's great to see you," she said, laughing. I joined in. Dora and I had last seen each other just a few weeks before for Vega's ninth birthday party. In fact, our families saw each other often. "How is everything?"

"It's great. Claire's going off to Hogwarts, as I'm sure you know. Do you think she'll end up in the same house as your boys?"

I shrugged. "I don't even know if the boys will be in the same house!"

"Gryffindor!" Teddy interjected. "Right Deneb?"

"Definitely," Deneb answered. Teddy and Deneb had always been close despite their age difference, reflecting the relationship Dora and I had growing up.

Altair approached Claire, Dora's middle child. She, like him, was very shy, but was close to Altair. She had a ball cap over her currently blonde hair - she was a Metamorphmagus too, though unfortunately was having trouble controlling it.

"She's nervous about going to school without being able to control her Metamorphosing," said a new voice. It was Eric Rogers. Dora's husband.

It had taken Dora a few long years to get over Remus and return to her life as an Auror. She vowed to never marry again, but then she met Eric. He was an Auror like us (I had become an Auror after training for four years following the completion of my final year at Hogwarts with Theodore) and had come from a half-blood family that had suffered severely during the war. Eric himself had lost the girl he loved to Death Eaters because she had been a Muggle-born. Dora and Eric eventually realized that they wanted to be a couple despite their losses, and Dora eventually agreed to remarry because she wanted Teddy to have a father.

The train whistle blew. The four departing children turned around and hurried toward the doors.

"Bye," I said to the boys as I hugged them each. "Write to us; tell us which house you get Sorted into!"

"We will!" Deneb said. "And if I'm not in Gryffindor, will you tell the Headmistress to get a new Sorting Hat?"

"I don't think so. It's never been wrong."

"But they got a new Sorting Hat after the war, didn't they? You said You-Know-Who burned the other - "

"Yes, they did, but you'll learn about that in History of Magic. The train's going to leave; you'd better hurry."

"Come on, Deneb! We need to get good seats!" Teddy called. "There's this group of girls I know; maybe they'll let us sit with them!"

"He's only eleven!" Theodore hissed in my ear.

"Lighten up," Dora told him, obviously not bothering to apologize for overhearing. "That's just how Teddy is." I saw a sadness cloud her eyes for a second. Dora had hoped Teddy would end up like Remus, but he reminded the two of us of someone else...

"He's just like Sirius," I murmured.

She smiled. "He sure is."

The train whistled loudly.

"You two should hurry onto the train," Eric said to Claire and Altair.

"Come on," Altair said gently to Claire. "We'll sit together."

"Goodbye!" someone shouted. The rest of us - Dora, Eric, Theodore, Vega, Dora's eight-year-old son John, and I - all turned to see Deneb and Teddy waving out the window. Sure enough, they were sitting next to a group of girls.

"That's Victoire Weasley!" Dora shouted. "See the blonde girl Teddy's sitting next to? That's Bill and Fleur Weasley's son!"

"I see the resemblance," I remarked, noticing how veela-like Victoire looked. No wonder Teddy's attracted to her."

We were silent for several minutes as we watched the red train depart from the station. When we could no longer see the train along the tracks, I asked, "What next?"

"Let's go to Florean Fortescue's!" John exclaimed. "Please?"

"Yeah!" Vega said. "I want Pumpkin Pasty!"

"I'll pay for it," Eric offered.

"Ice cream!" Vega and John yelled as Eric led them back through the barrier and into Muggle King's Cross.

Dora sighed. "He's a good dad."

"He is," I agreed.

"I'll never forget Remus, but it's good to not be lonely anymore. The kids are great. Claire has my Metamorphmagus powers, and John reminds me of Remus in a way. I'm not sure what it is, though."

The only thing I could think of was his name: Dora given her son Remus's middle name. And after being given a name as wild as ‘Nymphadora,' I wasn't surprised that she insisted on more typical (possibly more Muggle) names like ‘John' and ‘Claire' (though Claire's name had been chosen by Eric - it was the name of his girlfriend who had been brutally murdered by Death Eaters during the war).

We walked through the brick wall into the Muggle world before heading to Diagon Alley. After we got ice cream, we returned home. It was late in the evening and Vega was in bed. Theodore and I were chatting leisurely in the living room of our home, which was situated in the countryside beyond London.

I yawned and decided I wanted to go to bed, but just then a beautiful large owl rapped on the window.

"That's Altair's owl!" I said, recognizing the pet we had bought him in Diagon Alley. "Those must be the boys' letters!"

"I'll get them," Theodore said. He went to the window and retrieved the letters. The owl flew off immediately.

"I wonder what houses they're in," I said as Theodore sat down next to me and began to tear open the parchment envelope. He took the letter out and unfolded it. We both read the words scribbled in Deneb's handwriting:

September 1st, 2013

Dear Mum and Dad,

Altair and I were just Sorted. Mum, you'll be happy to hear that the new Sorting Hat placed me in Gryffindor just like you! I already like the common room and the other Gryffindors I've met so far. Claire is one of them. She was sorted into Gryffindor with me.

I am a bit sad about one thing though. Altair was placed in Slytherin. It's strange knowing we're not in the same house! But we'll still see each other in some classes.

It's really late as I write so I'm going to send this now. Altair let me borrow his owl. I have classes first thing tomorrow, so I need sleep. Altair says he's excited too, but mostly for Quidditch. Since first years are now allowed to play, he's going to try out for Slytherin Seeker. Anyway, his owl just pecked me so I'm going to send this.

-Deneb

"Gryffindor!" I exclaimed

"Slytherin," Theodore said. "You know, I'm not really surprised they were split up. I had a feeling they would end up in those houses."

"I didn't think about it much," I admitted. "But it does make sense."

The next four years passed slowly yet far too quickly. Altair's goal of becoming Slytherin Seeker had been achieved, but there was another Quidditch player among us - Vega. When she began Hogwarts, she was instantly Sorted into Gryffindor and soon proved to be an excellent flyer. She was now in her third year and had shown everyone that she was an exceptional Chaser.

Now that Vega was thirteen and the boys were fifteen, they were pestering Theodore and I more and more about the war. We had told the boys a few stories because after all, they were only a few years younger than we had been when the turbulence was at its peak. At times we wanted to leave it to Professor Binns, but that was never how things worked; the boys always got us to spill.

After a discussion with him, Theodore and I agreed that it was nearly time to tell the full story. But there were other matters to consider as we walked up the path to a large manor with snow and icy-cold wind swirling around us. It was Christmas break, the kids were home, and we were going to celebrate. This wasn't a normal celebration. It was the first time that our family - as in, the whole of the remaining Black family - would be together for the holidays, and I couldn't ignore the knot of anxiety in my stomach.

We walked up to the front door, gift-wrapped presents weighing us down. This wasn't my first time visiting this place, but the creepy air the manor gave off never stopped sending shivers down my spine.

I reached up and lifted the door knocker, which looked like an ancient family possession that had been passed down for generations. Luckily I knew that the rest of the house didn't look quite so sinister on the inside though many people would probably expect it to. This was the Lestrange Manor, the place I had lived the first year of my life.

I knocked three times with my free hand. A moment later the door creaked open and a man greeted the five of us who stood there, shivering in the winter weather. He beckoned us inside and allowed us to take off our coats.

"Lyra," he said.

"Dad," I breathed. I was panting slightly. The long trek to the house and the cold air had left me breathless.

Rodolphus Lestrange looked more or less the same as he always had, though he had a small amount of silver strands in his receding hairline. While he generally had a tendency to look cold and serious, today he looked lighthearted and relaxed.

"I'll help you with those," he said, taking some of the gifts from Theodore and me. He put them underneath a Christmas tree decorated in few ornaments but festive nonetheless.

"Andromeda's not here yet, is she?" I asked.

"No," Rodolphus said. He seemed rather quiet when he answered. "But she's coming. The Malfoys are here, though."

Oh. That explained his uneasiness. I looked across the room and immediately recognized Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco. With Draco were his wife, Astoria, and their son, Scorpius. Draco looked over at us coldly; our rivalry never exactly died. Scorpius glared in our direction - but then I realized he was glaring at my children. I knew Deneb and Vega didn't get along with Scorpius at all. Altair apparently tolerated him due to being in the same house, but even they weren't close.

Then again, Altair claimed Scorpius held a grudge against him ever since he began to get all the glory for the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Scorpius was a Beater for Slytherin but didn't have the same talent as Altair. Due to this, Altair seemed to loathe Scorpius more than Vega and Deneb.

"Hi," I said awkwardly, breaking the silence. "Merry Christmas."

The only one to return my greeting was Narcissa. Ever since the war's end we were on pretty good terms.

A number of knocks sounded on the door again. Scorpius glared at the door. Everyone in the room knew who it was.

"I'll get that," a new voice said. Someone else had entered the room: a woman with thick, shiny black hair.

"Hi Lyra, Theodore, kids," Bellatrix said as she reached for the doorknob.

Sometimes I still couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe we were the family I'd always wanted us to be but the one that would've been absolutely impossible. With Bellatrix free from Voldemort, Azkaban, and the insanity both had caused her, the divide between her, Rodolphus, and me was able to close. We were all scarred - we would always be - but here we were, living as a wholesome family in a Voldemort-free world.

Andromeda was coming into the house now, followed by Dora with Eric and their children.

Bellatrix exchanged a friendly hello with her sister. Often it was hard to believe Bellatrix and Andromeda ever fell apart. Andromeda was beyond happy to have her sister back in her life, now that Bellatrix was back in the right mind, and Bellatrix, we believed, actually felt remorse.

That was the big difference between my mother and her former master. Voldemort, unloved, had no idea what remorse was. But Bellatrix had been loved before her Death Eater days. She was able to make some amends without Voldemort hindering her. Blinding her.

Still, some breaks would never be mended. Dora resented Bellatrix and said she always would. It broke my heart, but why would anyone forgive the person who betrayed her family and tried to kill her niece?

The Malfoys were another matter. Narcissa got along with all of us, but Lucius, Draco, and Draco's family wanted nothing to do with Andromeda's family or mine. It wasn't surprising. Some scars would never heal; our family would never be totally reunited. But the fact that we were where we were was phenomenal enough.

"Shall we start with dinner?" Bellatrix asked. "I've been cooking all morning - "

"No, you haven't," Rodolphus interrupted. He sounded amused. "You bought all that food from the wizard caterer down the street."

"We all know Bella can't cook," Narcissa laughed. "When we were kids, she tried to bake a cake and ended up filling the whole house with blue smoke."

"I remember that," said Andromeda. "The manor reeked for days."

We all sat around the table and enjoyed our dinner. The Malfoys were mostly quiet, but I was surprised by the amount of cheerfulness that buzzed in the atmosphere. Even Dora was enjoying herself.

However, besides the Malfoys there was once person who wasn't enjoying himself: Eric. He kept shooting hostile glances at my parents and the Malfoys. I knew that Eric didn't trust any former Death Eaters. My parents assured the family that they hadn't been her murderers, but still. Even after working with him in the Auror office for so many years, it had taken him a fair amount of time to trust me again after I decided to show him my Mark.

The Mark was something that was now an ugly scar on my wrist, which Theodore insisted that I "showed off" instead of hid. Like he always used to say, it was a mark of enduring the pain of the war and surviving all the hardships I'd faced.

"Do I see this becoming a family tradition?" Theodore whispered to me.

I shrugged. "Maybe."

The way this first family reunion was going could only make me wonder.

The sun was setting over a Muggle campsite in the woods. The sky was clear and the August heat was intense. A bonfire blazed brightly outside our tent. Deneb, Altair, Vega, Theodore, and I were eating our dinner. The scene before me was so different than the one that had existed the last time I was at this very place, the Quidditch World Cup campsite.

England was hosting for the first time since the 1994 World Cup when Ireland played Bulgaria. This time it was England against Germany, and I was lucky enough to get five tickets from my Ministry job.

"When does the match start?" Vega, now going on fifteen, said.

"We're meeting Dora after dinner by her tent," I told the general audience. "She's closer to the stadium than we are."

"You still haven't answered my question," Vega said. She was almost whining, and I was growing annoyed.

"Soon," I told her.

Once everyone was finished, we left and went to Dora's tent. She was with Eric, Claire (who was seventeen and able to control her Metamorphosing, but usually settled for plain blonde hair), and John. Teddy wasn't with them; apparently he was meeting us in the stadium with Victoire Weasley, with whom he was engaged to be married.

The all-too-familiar path in the woods lit up, showing us the trail to the stadium. We followed it.

"Who else are we meeting?" Dora asked me, walking at my side.

"Besides Teddy, we're meeting Andromeda and my parents. And um...the Malfoys will be there."

"Oh," she said coldly. "Right, then." And she walked ahead with Eric.

After minutes of hiking through the woods for several long, tiring minutes, we reached the grand stadium, which I swore was bigger it had been at the last World Cup I'd been to.

It took twenty minutes to climb stairs and fight through the crowd to find our seats. Everyone we were supposed to meet was already there. Our group sat down and gazed at the huge stadium where the match would soon be playing. The countries' mascots danced and did tricks on the terrain far below.

"It's a lot different now, isn't it?" Dora asked me.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"Remember when we came here last time? We were with Mum and Dad..." She paused at the mention of Ted. A felt a pang of sadness too when I thought about how he had enjoyed the last match with us. "None of us will ever forget what happened after the match."

"Of course not," I said.

I ran my fingers over the scarred-over Dark Mark on my wrist and thought about that night after the world cup when the campsite had been filled with panic and terror and burning tents and flying spells and Death Eaters. I relaxed when I thought about how tonight I could sleep peacefully in my tent without having to worry about feeling pain in my wrist.

The players flew out on the field, making the spectators in the stands go wild. Vega and Altair jumped out of their seats and waved their flags, screaming their excitement. The mood right now was definitely cheerful and festive.

The scene of the Dark Mark glimmering above the trees in the campsite flashed into my head for a final time, but I pushed it away. Everything had changed; it was all different now. I wouldn't feel the Mark burn tonight. I wouldn't feel the Mark burn ever again. Some scars would never heal, but that one had.

And with that memory out of my head, I enjoyed watching the match.