Heroes Assemble!

I've Never Been More Than Each Of You Created

Harry flopped onto the Granger couch and leant back, cradling the cup of tea in his hands. It was nice to simply relax and, for some reason, it was easier to do so here than in his own house. Grimmauld may be much cleaner and less dark than it once had been, but it still held far too many memories for Harry to ever be completely comfortable in it. Really, if it wasn't for Kreacher, he would have sold the place years ago. But the ancient house elf would die of a heart attack if Harry did that, so, for now, he kept it.

Harry'd spent most of the day pottering around the house, inspecting the library for useful books and even reading one of them. But what should have been a relaxing day ... wasn't. To be honest, he was still too wound up from the night before.

The party should have been just that, a party full of fun, laughter, good food and drinks and catching up with old friends. But seeing them all, hearing about their lives, it'd struck a nerve, giving him a picture of what his life could have been. Safe, predictable and oh, so boring. Just like the Dursleys' always said life should be, only with a magical twist. And to top that, seeing how insular Lavender had become, one of the most popular and out-going girls that he knew at Hogwarts, was simply a travesty.

He wished that he could change the opinions of the magical idiots that couldn't see that a simple disease didn't stop a person from being good and worthwhile. Oh, he knew that he probably could, at least he had the potential to make a difference. Hermione over the years and Andy the other day had pretty much told him that he had the political clout to do so. And while it'd be a good thing to do, he simply wasn't ready to devote his life to magical Britain and to give up the life of adventure that he'd, well, not quite built, more like fallen into.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, breaking into his thoughts. "Good, you are here. Mum said that you were, you were simply being so quiet that I wasn't sure if she was mistaken."

Harry looked up and smiled slightly at her. Hermione paused as she was crossing the room to look at him. When her smile morphed into a frown, he started to worry.

"You're brooding," she stated. "I thought you'd got over that particular bad habit before you even left Britain."

"I'm not brooding," Harry protested, before withering under her disbelieving gaze. "Well, maybe a little."

With a few quick steps, Hermione finished crossing the room before settling on the couch beside him, one leg under her so that she could fully face him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, taking his hand.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Harry replied.

Hermione gave him a nonplussed look, a look that he knew all too well.

"Just thinking about last night," he finally conceded.

"What about it?" Hermione asked. "I thought that it was fun; it's not often that we all get together like that."

"And why's that, Hermione?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, we all have our own lives to lead," she frowned. "A bunch of us are married and those that aren't might as well be married to their jobs, I guess."

"Exactly!" Harry replied. "You all live such ... such normal lives. Family, work, quidditch for those interested in it – either playing or following. And that's it. Life in a nutshell. What happened to the group of people bent on changing the world?"

"What do you mean? We are changing the world," she frowned, "at least in our own way. Those of us who work for the Ministry have been working hard at changing those repulsive laws that got put in place under Fudge and Umbridge. The ones who own businesses make sure that there's no prejudice wherever they can. And you can be sure that none of our children will be anything like some of the gits that we went to school with."