Epilogue- 19 and ¾'s Years Later

Well here we are. It's been a great ride to write and I hope you have enjoyed the story. Thanks all the guys who have been so loyal with their reviewing you know who you are, I really appreciate the support. Don't worry I won't be gone for long. I'm gonna take a break for a month or two but then I shall return with a story which promises to be far bigger in scale and length than this, Harry Potter and the Book of Ancients. It happens between the end of Deathly Hallows and this epilogue and I have hidden some clues in here.

Hermione Weasley tidied away the remains of her husband's breakfast whilst looking out at the early signs of spring in their small garden. What with both of them working at the ministry they had decided that it was silly for them to live anywhere but London. It was a bit of a sacrifice though she thought to herself as she used her wand to move Ron's plate and glass over to the sink where they started to scrub themselves. Ron had been keen for the children to have the same space he had had as a child. Here they just had a tiny walled garden in which broomsticks were of course banned. They were also quite far from their friends and family most of whom lived in the country. Of course they were all connected to the floo network but to someone who very much still a bit muggle at heart like Hermione was it just wasn't the same. She sighed and moved upstairs to get ready. Ron should have been at home as well as they always had the day off for their annual trip to Hogwarts. However there had been reports of a new werewolf attack in Devon and he had had to go into the auror office. Hermione privately thanked her luck that she had recently transferred into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as in her old position in Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures she would also have had to go in. She didn't doubt that Harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean would make their way to the school later.

"Are you ready to go Hugo?" she called into her son's room.

"Yep" came her sons muffled voice as he staggered out of his room struggling to pull a fluffy jumper over his head. Yanking it down Hermione smiled at her son who looked so much like his father it was scary.

"Why do I have to wear it mum? It's too small and it itches." He moaned his face all red and bothered.

"Because your grandma loves it when you where it okay. It's only for a few hours and then you can come home and wear whatever you want. Deal" she replied pulling the collar of his shirt out of his woollen jumper.

"Anything I want." Hugo said considering the possibilities "So if I wanted to I could just wear nothing at all?"

"No you have to actually wear clothes. But you don't have to wear the jumper okay." Hermione said with a laugh.

"Sure" he replied with a shrug.

When they got downstairs she took her pot of floo powder off the wall and threw some powder in the fire before stepping in and saying loudly,

"Green Vales Cottage" and then she was being sucked through the darkness before landing in Harry and Ginny's kitchen.

"Morning Hermione, morning Hugo" Ginny said walking into the kitchen.

"Morning Auntie Ginny" Hugo said after a nudge from his mother as he dusted himself off "where's Lily?"

"Out in the garden" Ginny replied and Hugo ran off to find his cousin.

"Don't get dirty" Hermione called after him as he raced away. She took a seat at the kitchen table as Ginny poured made them some coffee.

"Did Ron get Harry's owl?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Yes he left straight away" Hermione replied "did he call of three of them in?"

"Yeah he thought it good to be safe. Sugar?" Ginny said handing Hermione her coffee.

"No thanks. So did he know how long they would be?" Hermione asked.

"He thought it probably wasn't anything major, if it was true at all. But ever since the crisis two years ago he doesn't like taking any chances with anything. That was how it started then after all. Werewolf attack." Ginny replied absent mindedly stirring her coffee.

"Hopefully it will be nothing and they will get there on time." Neither of them said anything for a moment. It had been a worrying time for them both, the crisis of two years ago. But then that's what you get when you are married to an auror.

"I suppose we'd better get those two to my parents" Ginny said as Lily and Hugo raced past them laughing their heads off.

"Hugo, Lily. It's time to go to see your grandparents" Hermione called and the two kids ran back into the kitchen. Hermione assessed her son's condition and was glad to see that he had not managed to get any mud on his jumper.

After staying at the Burrow for a good half hour Ginny and Hermione excused themselves saying that they really had to go and apparated to Hogsmead. They walked the road to Hogwarts in silence and once through the gates they made their way up to the familiar spot. Waiting by the graveyard were Neville Longbottom, Pavarti Patil, Lavender Brown, Ernie and Hannah Macmillan, George and Angelina Weasley, Luna Scamander, Roger and Cho Davies, Demelza Robbins, Dennis Creavey and Anthony Goldstein.

"Where are the others?" Neville asked as they got closer.

"They were called in to the office." Hermione replied.

"Anything serious?" Pavarti asked a scared look on her face.

"I don't know" Ginny replied with a shrug. "Harry didn't think so. He just wanted to be sure is all."

"Shall we wait a bit then?" Lavender asked.

"I think so" Neville replied "Let's give them half an hour." They all stood around in silence in the sharp spring air. It wasn't that they had nothing to talk about. They had become quite a tight group since the war. But these reunions were solemn affairs and the absence of the aurors from the group was causing them to worry as well. They needn't have fretted though. Within ten minutes they could make out four figures walking through the grounds towards them.

Harry and Ron were at the front talking quickly their heads bowed, but they were smiling and that was a good sign. Seamus followed behind holding Dean's arm. The group could just about make out what they were saying.

"For the last time I don't need you to lead me Seamus" Dean's cross voice sounded out through the air "I'm an auror for goodness sakes."

"Yeah well that's what I was saying. We should make it seem like you need someone to lead you around as a kind of cover. You know to fool spies." The Irishman replied.

"You're such an idiot" Dean said wrenching his arm away from his friend and striding after his two auror colleagues.

"You see that's your problem mate" Seamus replied "you're not thinking like a secret agent."

"Well I'm not a secret agent am I" Dean said "I'm an auror and everyone knows it."

"Hmmm you have a point." Seamus replied with a laugh breaking into a run to catch up with the others.

"False alarm everyone" Harry said warmly as he arrived "turned out the werewolf was just a particularly hairy bum. We still had to check it out though." Now that everyone was here they all started to chat away to each other.

"I wish I could see it again" Dean said turning his head in the direction where Seamus said the castle was "one more time."

"How are they?" Hermione asked gazing at the strip of cloth which wound around Dean's scarred face, where she knew his now useless eyes lay.

"The upside is they don't hurt anymore" Dean said. "The downside of course is that they still don't work either. You don't think you could try and……"

"I'm sorry Dean" Hermione said knowing what he was going to say "I've already tried everything I know. It was an ancient curse."

"I know. Might as well ask though." He said turning his head in the direction of her voice.

"Still mate" came Seamus' voice from next to Dean "there are upsides. This way you can't see what I get up to with Gabriel."

"Oh Seamus that's harsh" Dean said with a laugh.

"What? You married a right hottie, what am I supposed to do. I'm a man aren't I" Seamus said ducking under Dean's fist as it swung.

"You see it's attitudes like that which are why you haven't got a wife Seamus" Ginny said with a smile. Seamus turned towards his cousin with a fake angelic look on his face.

"I'm only 36. You can't expect me to settle down yet. There's too much fun to be had."

"All right" Ginny said with a wry smile "but I bet you wouldn't be saying that if things had turned out better with Lavender would you."

"No well they didn't did they" Seamus said keen to move the conversation elsewhere.

"Everyone……Everyone………PEOPLE" Neville over the talk. They all fell silent.

Everyone walked to the area just in front of the graves and stood in a big line facing the still perfect white tombstones.

"Okay five minutes starts now" Neville said and they stood there in perfect silence for five whole minutes. This was their yearly ritual, it never changed and neither did their hearts. They still shed tears for those they had lost all those years ago. When the five minutes were up Hermione raised her wand as she did every year and over fifty identical rose bouquet's appeared in mid air and drifted slowly down to rest at the end of each of the graves. Suddenly there was a loud crack next to them, just as there was every year, and they all turned to see Kreacher standing before them, just as they did every year.

"Dinner is ready for you and your friends Master Harry" Kreacher said bowing low. Then as a group they slowly made their way up to that familiar castle where many of their children were currently learning the same lessons they once had. They all smiled at this point, every year, for each one of them was recognizing that this what they had fought for all those years before, this was what their friends had died for. And for those next few hours as they ate and had fun together they all had the exact same feeling. All was well.

I'm going all teary eyed. This has been a gargantuan task for me as it was the first piece of fiction I have ever written that was more than two pages long and I have enjoyed it immensely. If you have any questions about the making of the story and about anything that happens in the story or even any comments on the story as a whole please feel free to ask me through the reviews page or pm's. If I get lots I will post an FAQ as a new chapter. Otherwise enjoy the Christmas period and I shall see you all in the New Year for my next Harry Potter adventure.

I just have a few short words to say before I leave you. And here they are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!