As Thea already knew, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Weasley didn't react well to the news of her wanting to leave.

"Where?" They asked when Thea had decided not to tell her destination. The truth is that even she didn't know where she wanted to go... she just wanted to escape. The desire to be free was greater than anything in the world.

"You can't go!"

"Can't I?" Questioned the Potter heiress with frustration and a little anger in her voice. "Yes, I can, I can do whatever I want. I've given up too much. You don't understand, do you? I have to find out who I am, I have to live for me for the first time. Since I was born my destiny has been decided by others; since the Prophecy, I don't know who I am. I was an orphan, a student, a pawn, a fighter, a savior from the magical world... but what does that make me? I had to fight a war that I didn't choose, I had to fight and solve problems that others should have solved a long time ago. I just want to live in peace, and be happy."

"You can't, Amalthea." Exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, her face even redder than her hair. Whether out of anger or trying to contain her crying, the young woman didn't know. "Fred wouldn't want that."

"Fred would want me to choose what I think is best for me and would support my decision." Thea said, and even though she didn't invoke the spirit of the dead Weasley twin, she knew that what she said was nothing more than the truth. "My choice is made... Please accept it. I'm choosing for myself for the first time."

The family matriarch burst into tears. Arthur Weasley didn't say a word, his face showed more and more traces of age when he pursed his lips, and wrapped his arm around his wife in a gesture of comfort.

Amalthea could say that none of them understood her decision, but they accepted it even though reluctantly.

Days later the joy and celebration still spread its roots in every part of the magical world. Of course, Voldemort devoted himself mainly to England in his reign of evil, but that didn't mean that the rest of the world was unaware of all the terror they had gone through, and that their hearts were not with people in suffering and fear for their lives.

A few days later Amalthea made an appointment with the goblins of the Bank of Gringotts. With all due respect to the magical creatures she studied once, and knowing that they might still be slightly resentful of the damage done to the bank when she escaped on the back of a dragon, she informed that she would travel and that she didn't know when or if she would return, and she would like to take her money and goods with her.

To solve this problem, the goblins gave her a golden key and a small box, which would never open to anyone else, and that the moment the heiress Potter puts the key in the lock, she would be able to access her bank accounts and withdraw whatever she needed, wherever she was.

Amalthea also made a point of donating a generous amount of money to Hogwarts to help rebuild the castle, and also gave a fat amount of gold to the Weasley family (who wouldn't accept it, but Thea wouldn't take no for an answer). And of course, an account had also been opened in the name of little Teddy, her godson.

To her surprise when the pretty woman was already getting up to leave, the goblins presented her with something she thought she would never put her eyes on again. The sword's silver and rubies sparkled when she touched the sharp blade.

"Why?" Asked Amalthea.

The goblin's smile had been mysterious and sharp, with a mouth full of pointed teeth. He replied: "Only a person of honor, humility, and courage has the right to carry it and I think that Gryffindor's sword will only let the person who died to save humanity touch it. The sword cannot be drawn by anyone else. And believe me..." The Goblin commented. "We tried."

With a grateful smile and a slight farewell, Thea returned home. She had no idea where she was going, how she would live, what she was going to do.

She was sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a green blanket, and in front of the fire while she examined a map in her lap. Her translucent companions occupied different spaces in the living room of the house she had inherited from Sirius.

"Canada or Greece may be a good choice," Sirius said, with an amused smile.

"Or Portugal. You always wanted to visit Portugal." Suggested Fred looking at the map.

Amalthea shook her head full of shiny black hair, picked up the mug on the small table next to the sofa, and took a sip of hot tea. A look of pure concentration dominated her beautiful face.

"I don't know... There are so many places to choose from."

"Or you could choose none."

Startled, the young woman lifted her head, black curls flying in various directions while her eyes focused on the figure of her father who was sitting on a sofa opposite to her, next to his red-haired wife. Both mother and father looked fondly at their daughter.

Leaning her head in a gesture of curiosity, Amalthea opened her full, pink lips and said, "I thought we decided this was a good idea."

Her father smiled playfully, his eyes behind his glasses sparkled with excitement. "Oh, and it is, sweetheart."

"So what do you mean by that?"

Leaning back on the couch and opening an even wider smile, James began to play with his wife's hair while his daughter and Fred looked at him with confusion, and the other companions with amusement. "You don't necessarily need to choose any of those locations."

Amalthea blinked in amazement, asking her mother, "Was he that confusing in life, or was it death that made him like this?"

Lily laughed: "He was like that, nothing has changed. Honey, explain what you mean."

"You guys ruin my fun!" Protested the man pouting like a child before he moved anxiously on the sofa and began to speak excitedly. "This is a family secret, you know. From the Peverell and Potter family. "

Amalthea's heart skipped, set the mug down again, and tossed the map aside giving her father her full attention.

In fact, all attention was now on the black-haired man and he seemed to enjoy that moment. Thea had always heard from others that her father was a bit vain in his youth, but she could see that even in death he hadn't changed that much.

"You already know one of our legends, something that everyone thought was impossible. Three brothers were walking along a river, and after having cheated death, they received three things: The Elder Wand, The Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility: together they make the Deathly Hallows. For others, it was just a story to tell children at bedtime, a fantasy that helped people to assume and believe that one day they could have power over something that everyone feared more than anything: death. But it wasn't a mere story, was it? It's real, and we all know that. You're in possession of all the Deathly Hallows... You, Amalthea, the last survivor of the Peverell family, who somewhere along one of the lines of the three brothers became the Potter family. You are the Mistress of Death.

> This story is even older and it is not about three brothers, this story is about two. Twins, Harlan and Hamish. It's about how close these brothers were and it's about how one of them disappeared on a stormy night. The thunder was heard that night, roared so loudly in the dark sky that it seemed to want to burst the earth. Strong winds seemed to want to take with them the small farm where the mother, father, and children lived. They were all lying in bed trembling in search of warmth when they heard a loud sound outside and the cattle broke free. Father and children quickly got out of bed and ran into the cold night while the heavily pregnant mother, anxiously awaited their return. They had to recover the cattle that had run away, it was their livelihood. Gradually they managed to find the animals and, amidst the rain that fell torrentially, they were directed to the corral.

> Soaked to the bone they just wanted that night to end, they wanted the comfort of their home, the warmth of the fire, and their beds. They were all back when their father's prize horse broke free again, a beautiful black stallion, the horse bit the younger brother who tried to contain the animal, but the stallion ran away towards the forest.

> Harlan started running after him, while his father and brother shouted for him to come back. The screams grew quieter, the sound of thunder and rain drowned out everything around him. Just as the youngest brother disappears through the trees, a huge lightning strike hit one and an intense fire quickly covered the forest. The fire was huge, so hot and scary. The falling rain couldn't put it out, and it went on all night.

> Time was passing by and as much as they expected, Harlan still hadn't returned with the horse. The moon gave way to the sun, the storm stopped, the fire was extinguished. The forest was burnt and there was a father, mother, son, and neighborhood in search of little Harlan.

> They searched everywhere, searched every corner where he could have taken shelter, checked every bush, every hole, every shadow. They went to the four corners of the world and still did not find him, he was thirteen and had disappeared without a trace. Some said he ran away, others said he was kidnapped. But the truth is that the younger brother of the Peverell family wasn't anywhere and was presumed dead..."

Silence dominated every corner of the house when James' words stopped, everyone looking thoughtfully at the man who leaned back against the sofa, with an expression of contentment on his handsome face. Beside him, Lily snorted and mumbled something: a mixture of reverence and frustration for her husband.

Sirius and Remus smiled as if they had heard it before, and waited for a question or answer from Amalthea.

The fire rose, tongues of red roaring in the silence, and small sparks flew out of the fireplace and disappeared as they landed on the floor. The sun outside was going down as it got dark, an orange light coming in through the window as they waited for night to fall.

Amalthea exchanged a look with Fred, both with confused expressions on their faces. Fred was so handsome in that light, his hair kissed by the fire, his blue eyes, the freckles on his face. He was beautiful and he died before his time.

"Who knew James Potter was so good with words." Fred commented, playful as always.

That was enough to break the silence and for the laughter to dominate the room. Amalthea closed her eyes for a second, a warm feeling making a home in her chest at that moment. The laughter sounded like music in her ears, laughter from all those she loved and missed so much. It was a good time and one that she would keep forever in her memory.

She addressed her father, who was bent on laughing when Sirius commented on how much those words were rehearsed, and all the times that he had told that story over and over again since he passed away.

"It was good, dad, and you know there's nothing I like more than hearing about our family, but I didn't understand the purpose of this story. What does that have to do with my current situation?"

James wiped the tears away - could a ghost even cry? -, Amalthea was not sure, but she let her father have his dramatic moment and waited for the Potter man to respond.

"But the story isn't complete, daughter. We haven't even gotten to the interesting part yet. Continuing..." He broke into a huge smile, his white teeth gleaming in the firelight from the fireplace. "The years passed and the brother was never heard from again. Father, mother, and son lived their life with a new addition in the form of a little girl, who was in the mother's belly when the brother disappeared. Death came and claimed the parents, who closed their eyes without ever knowing the location of one of their cubs. Brother and sister grew up, each had their families, each went their own way...

> But on a stormy night, when Hamish and his family were already in a deep sleep, there was a knock at the front door. Hamish got up grumbling, the pain of old age was already felt in his bones. He opened the door and what is his surprise when he saw a face exactly like his on the other side. The same eyes, the same nose, the same mouth. Stunned, he saw his brother entering his house, wet from the rain that was falling outside.

> "Hello, brother." Said the long lost twin.

> There was an exchange of looks, and blood knows blood. Magic knows magic. Hamish knew that Harlan had returned, they embraced after many years without seeing each other. Formerly black hair was now gray, young faces now had their wrinkles expressing age. But none of that mattered because they were reunited again.

> The older brother's wife and children joined them that night, and finally, Harlan Peverell talked about where he had gone all those years ago. He spoke of waking up in a place he didn't recognize, remembering chasing the black horse in the forest... remembering the fear, the rain, the heat of the fire, and waking up buried in snow, saved by a man who sheltered him in his home. He spoke of wolves, lions, deers, and dragons. Spoked of roses, trouts, krakens, and suns. He lived a happy life in a world that wasn't his, where he became a lord of a small house, died very old in his castle surrounded by employees who admired their lord. He never had children or a wife, but he was happy and never forgot about his family. When he took his last breath on his bed, he closed his eyes on that world only to open them again in this one."

Amalthea knew that her facial expression must be minimally funny because even Fred, who was just as stunned as she was, laughed for a moment.

"But this is impossible!" Exclaimed Thea. "Other worlds? It is impossible to believe."

"Oh, is it now?" Sirius asked smiling.

"Yes! Where... How? How is it even possible?"

"Magic..." Said Remus, affectionately.

The black-haired girl's mouth opened and closed as she searched for words to say.

"There are many things that are considered impossible." Her mother started saying, getting up from the couch where she was with her husband, and sitting next to her daughter who was looking at her in shock. "Things like someone being the Mistress of Death, for example."

And with those simple words, Amalthea had nothing to refute. She nodded understandingly, even though she was still perplexed, and addressed the man she looked like again: "How come I never heard that story before?"

A flicker of sadness appeared in James' hazel eyes. "It's a family story Thea, and I... I never had a chance to tell you about it."

The desire to cry haunted Amalthea's body at that moment when she heard the sadness in the voice of the man who wanted to take care of her, to see her grow... but who never had the chance.

Clearing her throat, she asked, "How do we know if it's true?"

"Well, you're the Mistress of Death, aren't you? Summon the brothers and ask them."