Here We Go Again – Final Update

Hi guys! It's been a real long time. But I promised I'd never abandon this fic, didn't I?

(I'm updating again ten years to the day, actually, because dates are important to me!)

Man, a lot has happened this past decade. I originally didn't mean to take a break from writing this fic. It just became so tedious. And long. (I printed out calendars so I knew exactly where I wanted to go, but it was way too far away.) It wasn't that I lost interest, but that I had so many things I wanted to write about. I did a lot of different fandom fanfiction, as you can see in my page. And then I wrote two original novels for NaNoWriMo.

And then, in 2012 (when I was 16), my mom had my baby sister. And I had to shoulder a lot of her raising. My dad abuser illicit drugs and my mom couldn't handle it all. So it fell to me. I couldn't write anymore, and I didn't write for over 6 years. I didn't have time or energy or support. And then the undiagnosed bipolar really ramped up. Something I had tried to handle my whole life suddenly became an everyday struggle to stay alive. Let me tell you, it's nearly impossible to write when you feel like that.

On a much happier note, somewhere along the way I fell in love with a girl I originally met because she read and reviewed this fic! We got married last June. I recently graduated college. I applied and was accepted to graduate school to study Clinical Mental Health Counseling, which I will start next fall. I'm currently teaching elementary school.

Lately, I write fanfic for Stranger Things, Stephen Kings IT and the MCU. You can follow along at /user/honeycombkiss. I'd love to have you!

You may be asking yourself, what does any of that have to do with Here We Go Again? So we'll go back to: why has it taken me so long to return to this fic?

Well, I always intended to come finish this story. Even admist everything that was going on. But then I just stopped believing in what I was writing. I was 14 when I first started this series. And as I grew up, I just didn't believe in what I was writing anymore. I had been raised in a religious cult, which informed so much of this story. (Like, all the women jobs vs. men jobs I perpetuated in this fic.) As time passed, I didn't want to finish because I didn't like the start.

Over the years, I made so many rough drafts for what would come next. I know now that I will never be able to continue writing the story as it was. It's the work of a 14 year old girl who still had so much to figure out about life. So I finally decided to just share my headcanons/drabbles for what I would write now; what I believe in now. (Side note: This fic has so much Muggle stuff and that is not how I would've written it now. Why so much Muggle stuff, young Lyric Medlie?)

So, without further ado, here's how I think post Deathly Hallows should've went. To me, it feels so much more true to the characters than whatever bullshit JK is spewing now. Because, as a fan, you do not have to accept what canon the author gives you. That's why spaces like this were invented.

Let's start with the Weasleys:

️Bill and Fleur - I do like what JKR originally intended for them. Shell Cottage is beautiful and would be a wonderful place to raise children. I think they'd both be wonderful parents. Also a great support system to their younger siblings. (Also, Teddy and Victoire would still be adorable together!)

️Charlie - This man DESERVES a hot, badass husband. They do dangerous wizard shit together and it's awesome. (I would read that!)

️Percy - Maybe he helps clean up the Wizarding World post Voldemort. And maybe Audrey is a muggle or a muggleborn. And they have their two daughters.

️George - FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN HE DOES NOT MARRY HIS DEAD BROTHERS EX! If he marries, it's someone who isn't also mourning Fred. (Can you imagine how fucking sad that marriage would be? Both of them eternally missing someone, so it feels like they're living with a ghost!) Maybe George's person never even knew Fred! Maybe they're American and went to school at Ilvermorny. And maybe George is gay, because being straight isn't the default. So George and his American Wizard man own and care for Weasley Wizard Wheezes. And it could really be the cutest thing, like George making dumb American jokes and teasing his husband.

️Ron - For me, I think it's appropriate to talk about Ron and Hermione together. So...

Ron and Hermione -

📚After the war they both work at the ministry and they buy a little cottage together. It's on a big plot of land, and it's just lovely.

📚At first they rarely see one another because of how much they are both working. There's a lot to do to clean up the Wizarding World. And the separation isn't a problem because they always come home to one another.

📚And its nice because they have an extra bedroom which is a soft landing place for Harry who often needs it. It's too hard and too scary for Harry to be in one place for so long after everything he's been through.

📚Ron's state of well-being quickly deteriorates though. There is so much loss and the overall shock and pain of the last couple of years settling in. It feels like he's reliving those horrible days over and over again while working as an Auror. In typical Ron fashion, he doesn't talk about it. It all comes to a head when he breaks down sobbing one evening after a work trip to follow and catch an ex-Death Eater. Hermione just holds him as he cries.

📚The next morning he calls in and takes the day off. Harry comes over to check on him and together the golden trio just talk. Hermione asks Ron what he wants, and he just shrugs. He has no idea.

📚 So he takes it slow. He takes some shifts at Weasley Wizard Wheezes. And he listens to Neville dream about becoming a Hogwarts professor. And he sits in on meetings with Hermione, just to see. There are so many options, the world is so big. And he'd never seen it like that before. One time he lovingly jokes about opening up his own little shop down in Hogsmeade.

📚Hermione goes back to Hogwarts part time, and begins building a department at the Ministry for important work she thinks is going undone. And maybe she even is allowed the use of a time turner again because how else would she manage all of these tasks? Hermione is so motivated and driven, and feels so fulfilled doing those things.

📚Hermione becomes a name magical creatures know and trust. And one day, when Ron and Hermione get married, she doesn't take his last name.

📚Ron and Hermione talk about kids before they even talk about marriage. It comes up one day, after one of their Hogwarts classmates announces their pregnancy. Hermione feels 100% fulfilled as she is and hates the idea of slowing down. To her, children mean having to put a pause on what she's accomplishing, and she just can't. The work she's doing for magical creatures is so important. She needs to be there for them and continue to push forward.

📚So, one day, they're sitting there in their back garden having a Sunday brunch and Ron shares his perspective and this idea he's had: what if he stayed home with the kids? He's not sure what direction his career is going in and his mom loved being home with them. He's always imagined having a family, because that has always been the most important part of his life. Family is everything.

📚So they go for it; how hard could having a family be? So Rose is born, and Hermione works up until the day she's born. In fact, Rose is born on a Friday, and Hermiones back in the office by Monday. Healing after birth is more exhausting than she imagined, so she takes it easier with Hugo's birth. Giving herself three weeks of working from home (and going insane) before she's back in her beloved office.

📚Being a parent is everything Ron imagined it would be and more. He adores being home with them. There's cooking and cleaning and learning new spells to tame curly hair. There's bedtime stories and kissing hurt knees and teaching the kids to ride brooms across their property. Ron's there for every moment of their childhood, and when Rose gets on the Hogwarts Express for the first time, Ron is so proud. (But he also sobs as soon as she's out of view.) And Hermione gets to have both of those worlds; she's happier than she could've imagined.

📚They do get married before they have children. Only because when they finally sat down to talk about marriage, the conversation was so easy. Neither wanted anything big. They sketched out the whole wedding in an afternoon. Their wants are simple. Ron wanted to be married in the yards surrounding the Burrow. Hermione wanted Harry to marry them. Ron wanted matching robes and Hermione wanted logical and thorough vows. (And Ron didn't get drunk because he's not an asshole?!) They would've eloped if they had thought Molly and Arthur would've ever forgiven them.

📚Ron plants a garden! The first year, nothing grows. So year two he uses magic and by year five the whole thing is beautifully and authentically his own. There's cucumbers and giant pumpkins (that he grew from little seeds!) and so much squash! He still hasn't mastered tomatoes, but he's sure he'll get there one day.

📚One day, the Headmaster at Hogwarts invites Ron to come teach. Rose and Hugo (both students!) pretend to moan and groan about how embarrassing this will be. But they're both secretly so relieved to have their dad around again.

📚Hermione is promoted to Minister of Magic. And she deserves it because she's amazing.

Harry and Ginny -

️ they don't get back together after the battle of hogwarts

️in fact, they don't really talk. ginny aches to, but harry isn't around a lot—he's a bit of a recluse. ginny ends up sending him a letter through ron (it's full of 'this isn't your fault' and 'you cannot blame yourself' and a bunch of other really direct and borderline aggressive platitudes.)

️months later, they're both at the burrow the same night and ginny approaches him and they just talk. and then somehow it's 3 am, and they're both a little buzzed from the fire whiskey and they're laughing so hard they're crying and then they're just crying. but it's so good.

️without asking, ginny evaluates where the relationship is between them. she still loves him so much and she knows harry loves her too. but they're not at hogwarts anymore, walking between the gryffindor common room and charms class. harry is full of a grief that feels so enormous it's like another person is sitting there between them

️it's like they were best friends and the end of the world was imminent, and they had been so close to being in love. but that time is far and gone.

️so they don't talk about them. but they talk about what happened while they were apart and how they get through the nights where the missing is so intense you're heaving over the toilet again

️harry is ginny's favorite person to tease. once, harry tells her that she's one of the only people who treats him like a normal person

️he comes to every single one of her quidditch games when she plays with the Hollyhead Harpies. sometimes he even trains with her.

️and when ginny falls head over heels for a girl on her quidditch team (the seeker—and how's how that for irony?) harry is the first person she tells. this is the first time she's fallen in love since she pieced herself back together after harry. and so she takes him out to drinks at that new, hot and coming wizarding quidditch themed bar, and he's decked in full Hollyhead merch, and after a round of shots—so her mind can't fight back, or decide it's not a good idea—she tells harry.

️harry smiles, and it's so bright it nearly blinds her—reminds her why she fell in love with him, even if those feelings have faded over time. he tells her all this bullshit advice—"you have to tell her!" and "at practice, hide a note in the snitch"—and she's laughing so hard she snorts her drink (a passion dragon the menu had called it) through her nose. he guffaws, until he's laughing just as hard.

️the next mornings copy of Witch Weekly has a full cover page and middle fold story about the chosen one and Weasley girl rekindling their romance. ginny keeps the magazine, a physical reminder of a relationship that could've been but luckily wasn't

️harry lives in a little cottage near Hogwarts—the first place he ever called home—until ginny goes to visit and there's a note that says he's staying elsewhere for now.

️that happens a lot. sometimes he's staying on a cot in the attic at shell cottage. other times he's in the guest room at ron and hermiones little home. if he's feeling especially masochistic he can be found holed away at grimmauld place, surrounded by the phantom ghosts of all those he couldn't save

️harry works alongside ron and neville (and many other ex-DA members like parvati and lee jordan and angelina) to round up rogue death eaters and voldemort sympathizers. it's an important job, but harrys already done so much and is clearly unhappy now. ginny tries to help, but it ends up taking her, hermione, ron, neville and luna holding an intervention before he agrees to take some time off.

️h: what will i do now though? / hermione: why do you have to decide right now? / l: what about being a hogwarts professor? / g: luNA! that is a brilliant idea!

️so ginny does ask out her team mate. and they're so good together, ginny sobs herself to sleep feeling so overcome with gratitude.

️sometimes she has a glimmer of what her life could've been, had her and harry fought for their relationship.

️like when harry takes teddy out for a fun day, and ginny comes. they eat lunch and play games and buy him toys. and it's like they're a little family for a moment. (she reminds herself that the family they decided to build instead is better)

️or when they take a trip with ron, hermione, luna and neville and she gets paired with harry for most of the touristy stuff. and it's so fun and lighthearted. and when she goes home she misses staying up all night laughing and talking and giggling.

️but there's also the fighting. they don't see eye to eye on a bunch of things. and ginny has a hot temper, often times struggling to know when to stop. and harrys been tough for a long time, but sometimes his feelings do get hurt.

️sometimes ginny thinks about had they both settled for the first person they'd loved. had it been real love? of course. but this friendship? even better.

️ginny goes on to be one of the best and most acclaimed quidditch players of all time. and then probably coaches once she retires.

️harry obviously teaches at hogwarts. it's the first place that ever felt like home. and he discovered what an amazing and attentive teacher he was all those years ago.

I think I (and many others, maybe even Harrys character, too) wanted Harry to marry Ginny so that he was an official member of the Weasley family. As if this final tie (and Ron and Hermione's marriage, too) would turn this rag tag group of friends into family. This is erasure of found family and how fucking powerful it is. Harry was part of the Weasley family way back in Sorcerers Stone, when Molly knit him a sweater and Ron stayed behind on Christmas holidays to be with him. Or maybe that was too soon, but what about the twins and Ron sneaking out to rescue Harry? Or every summer Harry spent with them? We don't need Ginny to marry Harry to bring him into the Weasley family. We don't need them to both give up so much of their character for the other. Harry had a really shitty and traumatic life. As an adult, it doesn't make any sense to me that he would turn around and just live this perfect, nuclear life.

Like they were infatuated in high school, basically. Because the world was ending. And they're like really good friends and they both understood the other one. And that's so beautiful. But they didn't need to get married.

I think, too, that because these were kids books they didn't get as deep as they could've and maybe should've. Harry lived such a hard and dark life, and I don't think that his healing would've been easy.

Honestly, why does JKR think Harry "ptsd" Potter is gonna immediately settle down in to a long term relationship with someone he's known since he was 12 and it's all going to work out perfectly fine and he's not going to be restless and unhappy and irritable which are all traits we have seen of him. Let Harry have several years of living in a cottage in the woods away from everything so he can find peace again and then let Harry become, ding ding ding, a professor at Hogwarts because he's better at teaching than anything else and him wanting to be an auror at fifteen is like wanting to be a firefighter as a kid.

Give me hippie Harry Potter, communing with the Forbidden Forest & sleeping on Hagrid's couch as a 26-year-old vagabond, constantly barefoot & reading holistic magic guides, finally straddling the line between coming to terms with all that happened to him and letting it go in order to concede to inner peace is the Harry Potter we deserve and the best we could relate to.

Luna:

💖Luna tries all kinds of jobs. She's like the jack of all trades, or Barbie! She's a magical seamstress and then she's an inventor and then she's off backpacking in the Himalayans looking for some magical beast only ten people have actually seen. Her field notes are acclaimed among the philosophers of her field.

💖She's too creative to be tied to one field for the rest of her life.

💖Also, bisexual Luna. It would've been much more interesting and relatable had she come out and explored her sexuality in unique ways.

💖And then, like maybe ten years after Hogwarts, Luna eventually realizes—while talking to a friend—that not everybody sees their best friend the way she's always seen Ginny. She had thought it was a girl thing, because hadn't that always been thrown at her? Apparently thinking your best friends lips look pretty, and their curves alluring, their smile warming your whole insides and giggle the only thing you ever want to hear means you're probably in love with them. And the realization is like whispering 'lumos' in a dark room—instant, comforting, warm. It's like the feeling had always been there, there just hadn't been a word for it.

💖So she does the only thing Luna would do—writes her a poem and has it delivered via the strangest magical creature. It's charmed so that it's read in Luna's airy, tinkling voice.

💖And Ginny's last relationship ended nearly two years ago. She hasn't been lonely—because she's too independent and too busy and her families too big and her team mates too over powering for that to ever happen—but she has felt that tug you get in your chest when it feels like something (or someone) is missing.

💖So Ginny listens to the letter like ten times and she's smiling so big, a giggle escaping her lips. Because she's like so fucking happy? It's like she had never thought about being in love with Luna, but she's always known somehow. They've always fit together and understood one another. Luna had always felt like a warm and safe place, a person that somehow always understood her before she even understood herself.

💖They don't even have to talk about their relationship, it just falls together. Luna comes to every quidditch game—wearing cooler and more bizarre themed outfits each times—and Ginny adores all of the adventures they go on for Luna's career. Somewhere along the line, more of Luna's things are at Ginny's home than her own.

💖Their wedding is the cutest thing ever. Luna's eccentric femininity and Ginny's boisterous, firecracker energy creating something so unique and lovely. Luna's dress is enchanted to sparkle, and Ginny's pant suit fits her like a glove. People cry—Ginnys vows conveying so much in the simplest words, Luna's vows flowery and kind of hard to understand, yet beautifully flowing together. It's not the first wedding to happen in Summer at the Burrow, nor will it likely be the last.

Sometimes I still reminisce about the next gen. James and Albus and Lily were such a huge part of my life. And they will always be special to me. But from where I stand now, I just don't think it's right or fair to Harry or Ginnys character. It just doesn't fit to me.

Thank you soooo much for reading. I would love to hear what you think. Please review and let me know what you think and how you've been. You guys have always meant more to me than I could ever explain. You gifted me confidence and love during a time I really needed it.

With all my love and gratitude forever and ever,

Lyric Medlie