Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EDT/-4.0/DST' instead in /home/draco3/public_html/modules/displayword/displayword.php on line 77

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/draco3/public_html/modules/displayword/displayword.php:77) in /home/draco3/public_html/modules/displayword/displayword.php on line 77
Excerpts on the Aftermath by Lyndsie
Story Notes:
This story is based on the premise that our choices define our destiny. It is post-DH AU, though technically the two important choices in question could be canon, though I imagine things didn’t happen this way. The first occurs during the battle at Hogwarts, and the second is Ginny’s choice to write and publish the article shown. I postulate that after the fighting stops, there is a war of ideas. The style is as though it is composed of selected excerpts from a book written after the war.
Selected Excerpts by Lyndsie
Author's Notes:
This is unbetaed and probably choppy. It'll probably get a little revision. I also don't have my copy of Deathly Hallows with me, so I apologize profusely for any errors, even the deliberate ones.
Excerpts from The Second Voldemort War: Twenty Years Later by Gary Milton.

From the Introduction.

As of the time of writing this, it is the nineteenth year since the final defeat of Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. When I first began to write this book I thought that I should end up with a rather dry analysis of the events through a historian’s perspective. Indeed, it was intended originally for my fellow scholars, but as I began to investigate the literature of the period I realized that this time in our history could never be entirely scholarly when the words of those involved still speak to us so profoundly. I hope that this work gives you a greater appreciation for the world as it is today.

GM


From Chapter 6: Collected Articles: Thoughts of the Period.

Notable because it was one of the few firsthand accounts by someone actively involved in the battle at Hogwarts and relative of members of the Order of the Phoenix, this article by then sixteen-year-old Ginevra Weasley was the first call to take a step back from sensationalism. Though written earlier, it was published, at her request, after she had completed her education at Hogwarts, which fell just after the first anniversary of the battle at Hogwarts.
My name is Ginny Weasley. You might have heard of me, or know my family. You might have read about us in the papers, or heard about us on the streets. Some call us heroes. I don’t believe that; I think that we did what we had to do, and that was that. I also believe that as humans our destinies sometimes lie on the edge of a knife: one choice, no matter how small, one thoughtless decision, even, can change the course of a life.

I was asked to tell my story, to tell the tale of the final battle at Hogwarts against Voldemort. Actually, others were asked before me, but declined. I have accepted, because I have seen how one opinion can shape the opinions of others, and I also believe the truth should be preserved as best as it is able.

It was once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Like anything else taken out of context we can make our own meaning from these words, and that meaning is clear. We are defined by our actions more than anything else.

Harry Potter killed Lord Voldemort. Neville Longbottom, through great courage, prepared the students of Hogwarts for the fight, and destroyed the last bit of Voldemort’s soul so that Harry could finish the task. Lavender Brown, a seventh year Gryffindor, is still recovering at St. Mungo’s, and may never heal completely. Several of her fellow students and teachers are gone forever, including one of my brothers. Severus Snape, the latest headmaster of Hogwarts and always Dumbledore’s spy, was murdered by Lord Voldemort in a last minute bid for power. Through his actions, he demonstrated that true courage and heroism lies not in the acclaim of others, but in the deeds and causes one truly supports, even if it might appear otherwise. We will never know how many people chose to take action and assisted in the defeat of the Death Eaters that day, whether they were at Hogwarts or not, and the sacrifice of those who perished in the fight will never be forgotten, because their choice lives on in the shaping of the world today.

The world is not black and white, good and evil. I was at Hogwarts that day, and I saw things I will never forget. I saw anger and fear, hate and sadness, and I even saw love. It was Parvati Patil protecting her fallen twin. It was strangers covering each other as they broke through a line of the Dark Lord’s servants. It was my mother, a housewife and Gilderoy Lockhart fan, shouting at and dueling one of Voldemort’s top lieutenants.

At some point near the beginning of the battle, I was cornered by several young Death Eaters, and I saw my life ending, only to be rescued at the last moment by Draco Malfoy. He saw I was in peril, and chose to take action. For me it was easy; I saw what was bad and I sought to destroy it, much like weeds are pulled from a garden. But for him it must be so much more complex; to have to turn my wand on people that I grew up with and cared for is not something I can fathom. I think that I and my family have had it easy; we didn’t have to choose between what was right for the world and what was right for ourselves and our family.

Before condemning anyone, I would ask that we all think about what it means to be a hero, and to think about your own actions. What is right is not always what is easy, and one cannot be judged merely by what is assumed.

From Chapter 7: What Happened After

After the battle at Hogwarts, any of those students who were unable to attend or finish their education because of the Ministry’s takeover were allowed to make up the work and take the N.E.W.T.s at a later date. Harry Potter saved the world and got the girl. At least, until her first article was published in The Victory Quill, the widely-read underground paper published because The Daily Prophet continued to report sensationalized exaggerations of events. The article was taken as support of Death Eater families, many who were again getting off on technicalities or the Imperius defense. Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter had a highly-publicized breakup two months later, and there was speculation that there was tension within her own family stemming from its publication and of those that followed.

After the article was published and his trial completed, Draco Malfoy left England for reasons unknown, though Lucius Malfoy did take action to change his will shortly after the Weasley article, changing it again shortly before his death. Draco Malfoy returned to Britain after the death of his father and took up control of the Malfoy business interests.


Married ten years, Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy share a modest home on the Malfoy property in Wiltshire with their two children. In correspondence with Mrs. Malfoy, she admitted she feels now that her first article was “ridiculously childish and naïve,” but that its message still holds true. “I hope to instill in my children one of the wisest lessons of Albus Dumbledore,” she continued later, “that the world is not divided into good and bad, Gryffindor or Slytherin, and that only in unity can we achieve peace.” She would not respond to questions about the allegations of anti-Pureblood practices in the new Ministry, and would not comment on the nomination of Hermione Weasley (nee Granger) for Minister of Magic.


This story archived at http://www.dracoandginny.com/viewstory.php?sid=5549