Burying the bodies of the fallen and informing the families was devastating. Harry had never felt such guilt as he saw the faces of those who died fighting for him.

He didn't want to think that Draco and Kit had never gotten to know that he was really alive. He didn't want to think of the fact that they would never learn that their sacrifices had been the key to winning the war, because with their deaths, Voldemort's control had broke, and Neville had killed Nagini after pulling the sword of Godric Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat that Draco had torn off of his head.

Their friends had been in shock. After all that Kit and Draco had survived, they had met their end far too young. The only comfort they had was knowing that it had been painless for them, and that they had died holding each other, never to be apart again, not even in the afterlife.

But things changed for the better almost immediately.

They used their pain and turned it into drive for improvements. Policies and therapy and talks that had them discussing how to better their world so that no such thing would ever happen again.

Blaise and Hermione were the first to wed from their little group. They had returned to Hogwarts to finish their seventh year properly, and when they had graduated, he had proposed. The next summer, they married, and eventually, they both began to work in the Ministry to enact all the change they sought out firsthand. Partners in fighting the establishments and using the law and their logic to demand rights for those who'd never had any before. Succeeding, starting a family, moving into a beautiful house near the forest with a patio that Blaise himself had built with hanging lights so that he could ask Hermione to dance with him every night, if she wished to, and a gigantic library with more books than what'd even been in Zabini Manor. Blessed with two daughters and a son, Katherine Alana Granger-Zabini, Isabelle Athena Granger-Zabini, and Nathaniel Edward Granger-Zabini, the children got to grow up with the patient and loving Edward and Jean Granger, reunited with Hermione, as well as the enthusiastic and kind Harriet Zabini, who had grown much closer with Blaise over the years. They got to live with the best older cousin, Nancy, and their kind aunt Andrea and uncle Nehemiah.

It had taken Su and Ron some time, but they worked their way up not long after. They both went into the Auror program, seeking to create a stronger group that would continue to work as a part of the Order of the Phoenix, and after they were certified, Su asked Ron to be her husband. It took them time to decide on where they wanted to live, but they settled on a house with a field big enough to serve as a Quidditch pitch in the back, which was absolutely perfect when they began to have kids. Alexander and Arthur Weasley were born as fraternal twins who grew quite close to their uncles Fred and George, as well as their cousins George and Fred, respectfully. With parents who were strong, hard-working Aurors but as always, Quidditch fanatics, they grew to love the sport and got to travel all over Europe to watch matches in real time, which helped them and their cousins become very good players by the time they went to Hogwarts. They never had to know poverty or not having a parent around, rather got to enjoy being taught to fly and being encouraged to do their best, always.

Harry had proposed to Ginny not long after she started playing Quidditch professionally. They had had a quiet wedding, with just their family and friends, but had been the highlight of the media for long after, who marveled at how the famous Boy-Who-Lived had managed to catch the affections of the Holyhead Harpies prodigy. Harry had watched her matches diligently in between training to become an Auror, but had deviated from his job not long after their first son, James Sirius Potter, was born, as Ginny wanted to retire and work at Hogwarts as the Flying Professor and Quidditch referee. Harry had begun to study to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, and was a stay-at-home dad between his studies in order to care for a toddler James and the little Rubeus Aberforth. He became a Professor by the time their final two daughters, Lily Luna and Molly Minerva were born, and the children got to be raised in the most magical way that Harry could have hoped for— something he wished he'd have had when he was younger. Troublemakers, like their parents, but each with the qualities of their namesakes, brave and caring like no other.

It took much longer for them, but in 2014, Terry and Anthony were legally allowed to be married to each other. They had traveled together in the years before that, cleverly using the stock market to their advantage and becoming successful in offering economic and legal advice to many of their friends, following their studies in order to be granted degrees in those areas. When they were able to be recognized as a proper couple, they celebrated for days with the love and attention of their unofficial nieces and nephews who were overjoyed that their uncles could finally be happy, and acknowledged in the world. They adopted a little baby boy not long after, named Francis, who became the light of their life and a very adorable new addition to the growing family of friends that the pair had acquired since their Hogwarts days. They worked hard to give their son a comfortable life filled with laughs and the sort of acceptance that neither had had in their youth. They planned to adopt another child by the time Francis was old enough to have a say in it, wanting their family to progress the way that they deserved, because they were the perfect parents for any child who had lost theirs.

Though Alana and Sirius never had children of their own, they tied the knot soon after their reunion, and served as wonderful influences for the children of the others, especially their eldest nephew Teddy, who was raised by Remus and Tonks with lots of help from his grandma Andromeda. Years later, Tonks and Remus had had one final child, and saw it fit to name him Draco Raphael Lupin, born on the exact same day as Blaise and Hermione's daughter Katherine. That day, they shed quite a bit of tears.

Together, they had enforced the change that was needed. They honored the sacrifices of their friends and family members, fostering a world where no child would ever grow up abused and ashamed, the way Kit and Draco did. They helped to write laws that would help lycanthropes like Remus, Bill, and Lavender Brown be seen and not discriminated against. They advocated for curriculums that would teach young minds the truly important things in life without restriction.

They missed Kit and Draco every day. They hated that they'd been lost in the manner that they had, but they knew they were watching over them, and did not regret their sacrifice. After all, what better way to go out, than fighting for what they believed in, and to defend the family that they had made after their own had not fostered the best environment.

They were blood traitors, but they were damn selfless ones.