Chapter Eight

Over the next few days, things moved quickly. Amelia and Rufus sent Madeye Moody with an MI5 muggles weapons expert who was cleared to know about the magical world to deal with Grindelwald.

The MI5 agent was horror-stricken as he explained to the retired auror that Grindelwald was none in the non-magical world as one of Hitler's worst supporters and that he would take the secret to his grave about what he had seen.

Moody nodded grimly even as he helped to bury the now dead wizard on the ground of his prison. When he returned to speak to Amelia, he found a returned James Potter was there.

James was handing over the goblin healer's report regarding Lily and his returns. "He said that the reason we aged when we left the fade was the goblin king would have used magic to make us the appropriate age as if we had never died."

Amelia asked if Lily and he were officially back when he sighed and told her. "We found that we have access to our funds, Albus tried to access our accounts but due to his throwing Sirius in jail without a trial, he unknowingly froze everything. I do have one issue. A squib named Arabella Figg, the headmaster illegally turned over a house near Lily's sister to the woman. She did a runner, my guess is she heard that Albus was exposed and was scared."

"Not quite. She died the same night that the goblin king took Harry to the Underground." Amelia replied. "I will add it to the items we question Albus about."

"Don't bother. As long as she isn't out there, I am fine with what happened." James answered. "What I do need to know is what is going to happen to Molly Weasley and her two youngest children. I hate to ask Arthur, with all he is going through."

"Molly is facing time in Azkaban, the two children didn't do anything illegal so they will be free to return to Hogwarts. Arthur has agreed that they will be spending time with a mind healer."

"Can he afford that?" James bluntly asked.

"No, but there is a fund that we have set up to help the victims of the headmaster. We are going to pay for the mind healer to be on call for the two of them for a year. After that, they are on their own." Rufus who had been speaking to Moody behind a silencing screen stated after being informed of the death of Grindelwald.

"One other thing..." James looked at Rufus who looked at Amelia then told the returned wizard. "Albus when we mentioned Neville Longbottom confessed to paying someone at St. Mungos to potion Frank and Alice. I heard you paid a visit to the boy."

"We are his godparents," James stated. "Lily suspected as much when we found out how far Albus went to remove Sirius from Harry's life."

"He wanted Neville Longbottom equally isolated," Amelia replied. "We have since learned that he believes that prophecy that Sybil Trewlawny told him before your son was born."

"She was fired from Hogwarts, I heard she fled the country."

Moody was walking out to the lifts with James, apologizing for believing the headmaster's line of manipulation. "He fooled us all."

"No, oddly enough, there were those who saw through him but they stayed silent as it was to their benefit." James retorted as they exited the Ministry a few minutes later.

September 1st

As they crossed the barrier at King's Cross, Harry and Hermione were thrilled to see each other and were both reluctant to tell their parents goodbye. The Grangers watched however as their daughter and her boyfriend took charge of the first years as they came through the muggleborn entrance and helped them on the train and did the same for the half-bloods and purebloods all the while greeting their classmates.

When a handsome tall young man came through the floo wearing the head boy badge, they heard the entire group clapping and hugging him along with a few jokes about his being a vampire and a zombie.

The handsome boy was shaking hands with young Harry when a reporter snapped a photo and quickly disappeared while the upper year students were surrounding the two of them. James reluctantly covered himself with the invisibility cloak when he saw the family of redheads, knowing that the youngest two were not aware that Lily and he were alive.

Into this melee came the Weasleys. The twins quickly joined the insanity around the two boys and pulled the Granger's young daughter into it and began bowing and playing games.

Noticing the time, her parents waved goodbye while laughing at their daughter's futile attempts to escape the wild twins. When Harry pulled her free and using his wand petrified the twins, Hermione rushed over and gave her parents a hug and a whispered I love you before rejoining the melee in an attempt to get the students on the train.

The two youngest Weasleys were standing and watching resentfully as their father was insisting on their staying with him until they were to board the train.

Ginny's eyes were feasting on the handsome dark-haired boy with flashing green eyes while her brother was glaring at the P that was on the same boy's robes.

"Enough, it is time for you two to get on the train," Arthur stated as he escorted the two with the help of their two eldest brothers into the train and into a private car that Amelia Bones had arranged for them. Turning them over to their minder, Arthur warned them. "One misstep and your both coming home. Harry and Hermione both know everything."

Ginny's eyes narrowed as she glared at her father but went into the small compartment where the medi-witch minder was waiting for them. By the time that the train was chugging along the tracks towards Hogwarts, she was seated with a serene expression on her face while her mind ran through scenarios in which she could gain Harry's attention.

Her mother's words still rattling around in her head about how much Harry had lost with the death of her mother and how that she resembled Lily and would be able to use that to get his attention. She didn't like how close he was to Granger, but after all, Granger was only a muggleborn and would be no threat to her.

Her brother, Ron, however, was fuming as he sat there, muttering complaints about how Harry always won and that he had everything. "It's not fair."

Their minder just kept track of everything that was going on so she could report it immediately to the new Hogwarts headmaster. She was almost smirking with the need to chuckle as she used legimacy on the girl and listened to the boy, knowing that their plans would take a serious turn for the worse when they learned who the new headmaster was.

Harry and Hermione were greeted by their friends as they walked the length of the train during their time patrolling. Neville was excited to see them and so wasn't Seamus, Dean and the two girls that Hermione roomed with.

Neville was asked to save them space in his compartment and he mentioned that other than Luna Lovegood his was empty. "Sue is coming to the school with her aunt and I think that Hannah is too."

By the time that they had greeted their fellow fourth years, Hermione was grimacing as she realized that only Nott, Zabini, Greengrass and Davis were left in the Slytherin house fifth years. "I wonder how Draco is dealing with the changes?"

"Sirius mentioned that the Malfoys landed in Australia. It was the only country that would accept them without returning them to us, but there are strict rules. I can just imagine how Draco is going to deal with his new reality." Harry replied with a grin as he thought of how all witches and wizards were equal in the land down under.

"What about the rest of the Slytherins?" She asked.

"From what I overheard, Crabbe and Goyle's dads were arrested and their mums took them to the United States because they get a free remedial education there. Bulstrode is returning but she wasn't taking the train as she actually lives in Scotland and that is one of the changes that they made. As for Parkinson, her family fled and her mum and she were stuck in Canada when her father was arrested. Seems like Mr. Parkinson thought that Canada was a pureblood's paradise. Now they have no money and she is stuck attending school there."

When they had finished their patrols and had reported to the head boy and girl, Cedric and their very own housemate Angelina Johnson, Harry and Hermione spoke quietly to the twins who soberly apologized for what their mother had attempted and what their father had told him of his unwitting part in.

"We don't blame you two," Hermione replied with a small smile on her face. "In fact, when I was looking for a way to save Harry this year before I landed in asking the Goblin King for help, I considered the two Masters of Mayhem but realized that your mum was watching the two of you too close to get you involved."

"Master's of Mayhem?" Fred repeated then with a wicked grin looked at his twin and said "Master?"

"Yes, Master?" George with a bow his way replied.

"I think that these two have given us our name, thank them for me." He directed. Harry and Hermione gave a laugh and quickly fled calling out to them they were very honored but would prefer to be thanked at a later date, February 31st would work well for them.

The Weasley twins released the tension that they had been hiding as they looked at one another. Harry had rejected their offer to return the monies he had won in the TriWizard tournament and had written to them that he still considered them his friends but they knew that they had to have a face to face meeting to be sure after all their family had intended to egregiously harm them out of greed.

Neville looked up and smiled when Harry and Hermione rushed into the compartment and quickly closed and locked the door. "What is going on?"

"The twins were threatening to thank us," Hermione replied then shaking off her amusement, introduced herself to Luna Lovegood and recalled seeing the small ethereal blond wandering the halls of Hogwarts and spending quite a bit of time in the library.

Thanks to Remus Lupin they were aware of her history and Harry had been furious to learn that his former crush Cho Chang had been one of the cliques of girls responsible for the younger girl's misery. He was looking forward to the Opening Feast when they would soon learn that things were going to be a changing at Hogwarts and that bullying and tormenting your classmates was to end.

Neville settled back into his seat, petting his plant and explaining to Hermione what it was and did. "Harry's dad gave it to me when he came to explain how his wife and he were my godparents and how they were hoping I would spend some time with them. Thanks, Harry."

"Dad said he talked your grandmother into getting you your own wand, did it work?" He asked.

"Yes, I even was given a magical dispensation for the last two weeks so that I could get used to using it before returning to Hogwarts," Neville said with a huge smile on his face that faded into a look of uncertainty as he told them what the hospital had told him. "Healer Chadwick was taken off my parent's case, it turns out that he was using potions given to him by the headmaster to keep my parents as they are. Like with Harry he was trying to control my life by having my grandmother raise me. She was found to have compulsion charms on her."

"Oh, Neville..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she thought about how dreadful Albus Dumbledore truly was and how he had projected an aura of goodness.

"The new healer has been weaning them off the potions and they are expected to be at least alert by Halloween." He replied with a slight smile returning to his face. "I just don't understand why he would do such a thing over a prophecy told to him by Trelawney."

Luna smiled at Neville and resting her hands upon him, told him. "It does no good to try to understand why that wizard did what he did, I am sure that it was merely the flubber biggets taking control because no one is born that evil."

Arthur was in his room changing into his work robes, his mind on all that he had learned that summer. He had been horrified to learn of what his wife and the headmaster had been doing not only to their world but also to young Harry.

That he had played a small part that thankfully his father had ripped up still shook Arthur as he realized that going forward, he needed to lead not to follow others. James Potter and when he had found out Sirius Black had made very clear that that were not going to accept his excuses.

When Arthur had claimed to be relieved that Sirius had torn up the contract, there had been a moment's silence then James had informed him that it had been he who had done so. Arthur had sunk into a nearby chair and told the two wizards that his wife had lied while under veritiaserum, that she claimed Sirius had done so.

This had resulted in Molly ending up requestioned after being forced to take a purging potion. The truths it had unlocked had shaken his entire family when Arthur was directed to St. Mungos where he was admitted so that he could take a very strong purging potion.

When Arthur had been offered his new position upon exiting Hogwarts, he had almost turned it down out of shame but had been convinced by the Potters, Black, and many others that he was needed to help guide this new world.

At Hogwarts, the train was coming into the Hogsmeade Station and the professors and the new headmaster was preparing to greet them as they gathered in the Great Hall. Minerva McGonagall was placing the sorting hat on its stool as she informed the new headmaster that Hagrid's replacement had gone to gather the first years for their boat ride across the Black Lake.

Hagrid's shock and disbelief at what Albus Dumbledore had done had been compounded by learning that it had been his mentor who had kept him for regaining his wand. Hagrid had taken the offered position with the dragon preserve in Romania to escape from the new reality.

The new Headmaster looked at his staff, Severus Snape who was seated next to Remus Lupin his DADA's professor, followed by Sirius Black who was going to be teaching history. He was mentally considering attending a few of the animagus' lessons having been surprised at how out of date his own lessons had been.

The newest Care of Magical Teachers Professor, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank was giving Sirius a wide berth as he kept standing to pace back and forth out of excitement at being a professor, her look of amusement had the new headmaster chuckling as she leaned over to speak to Pomona Sprout.

Professor Flitwick was next, bouncing excitedly at the thoughts of the changes to the school. Beside of him was the empty seat belonging to Minerva McGonagall. On his other side, was Lily Potter who had taken over the muggle studies class that was going to be a requirement for graduation of every single student going forward. Lily was going to continue working on her charms mastery with Filius Flitwick but was also going to be teaching.

As his eyes drifted over Rolanda, Irma whose greatly expanded library had thrilled the woman, Poppy who upon hearing of her new responsibilities to give each new student and this year all current students a physical had made her quite happy as the former headmaster had ended those the year that Harry had started Hogwarts.

Aurora Sinistra was arguing with Horace Slughorn about the importance of moon cycles while Bathsheda Babbling and Septima Vector were clearly gossiping as their eyes kept going to the three male professors seated at the opposite end of the table and giggling.

Hermione and Harry helped their other prefects escort the first years to their boats, Harry feeling a bit of regret at the loss of Hagrid but knowing that his old friend had written to him apologizing for what part he had played in his terrible childhood and had asked Harry to write to him at the dragon preserve.

When they were seated by themselves in one of the final carriages, Harry was telling Hermione how his dad was going to be attending the Opening Feast. "He is going to be staying at the castle but leaving every day so that he can get our family estate back into order."

"Are you excited that your mum is going to be teaching?" She asked with a grin on her face.

"Yes and no. With the abilities unlocked by the founders, I am going to be taking Arithmancy and Runes as well as Care of Magical Creatures. Plus, she has already warned me about being caught with my cloak, so..." Harry gave Hermione an impish grin then said "Moony and Padfoot, however, didn't tell her about a certain map that is going to come in real handy when we are patrolling through."

"Harry!" She said shoving him a bit in a playful manner. "You're supposed to be a prefect and here you are bringing in forbidden objects to Hogwarts."

"In truth..." Harry leaned over and whispered to her in spite of there being no one else in the carriage. "It's not forbidden. They were never actually caught with it and Filch who was fired by the new headmaster never actually knew what it is."

Arriving at Hogwarts, Harry grinned at his mother but frowned when he didn't see his father or the new headmaster anyplace in the Great Hall, he found Hermione and himself a seat closest to where the newest first years would be seated.

Looking at the small two-seater table at the very end of the Gryffindor table and how Ginny and Ron were being ordered to sit there then charmed to stay seated by their medical minder, Harry lost his smile as he saw the glare coming his way. "Ron and Ginny are here."

Hermione turned to look at the twosome and then saw the odd looks coming their way from the rest of the Gryffindor housemates. "I wish..."

"Me too," Harry replied to her unspoken statement. "I just wish that I had known the truth five years ago. I hate that he hid how he felt all these years, that I didn't see how jealous he was. I mean... I did but some part of me was willing to accept it so that I could have a friend... yet..."

The first years entered and Hermione reached under the table and gripped his hand tightly in hers while giving him an understanding look because if anyone understood what Harry wasn't saying, it was her.

Minerva McGonagall turned to the front of the Great Hall and nodded at Arthur Weasley, in a break from tradition was going to speak before the first years were sorted.

"Welcome, students old and new." Harry saw the twins flick a silencing charm at their two youngest siblings when their father stood from where he had been seated under a disillusion charm in the headmaster's chair. Not the ornate throne that Albus had used but merely a chair seated in the center of the table.

"I am Arthur Weasley, the new headmaster, here at Hogwarts. I am honored to be placed in charge of guiding the future of the magical world, that future isn't myself, no our future is all of you. There are going to be many, many changes as we move forward in our world. Change isn't a bad thing in spite of what you may have been led to believe. Change is the inevitable result of life.

As you walk the halls of Hogwarts, the upper year students will notice that the halls, portraits, and even the armor seem to exude magical power, this is because we have begun these changes by strengthening the foundations of this great institution.

We are one society, one people and it is time we start acting like, now Deputy Headmistress McGonagall is going to get our newest students sorted into their houses, but for the students, both old and new, we must not let this sorting create barriers keep us from making friends in all houses, because only by standing as one will all of us, pureblood, half-blood and muggleborn but most importantly, magical blood will we survive as a society."

As the students watched, the first group of students to attend Hogwarts after the purge of Albus Dumbledore's toxic beliefs began to be seated, Harry noticed his father arriving through the double doors and grinned at him as he went to be seated next to his mother at the head table.

Hermione looked around, noticing that the new students were being equally distributed to the houses, that there was a new sense of change In the air. Her plan had been put in place to save Harry and it seemed as if by saving Harry, she had managed to save Hogwarts and to a lesser extent the entire magical world.

Noticing an owl that resembled Hedwig but that wasn't that particular raptor, she smiled widely when she noticed that it was seated on the rafter next to an ebony colored owl with very distinctive green eyes.

Nodding as if to bow her head, she mouthed thank you to the Goblin King and blinked back her tears as the two owls flew out the open skylight. Feeling a strong warm hand gripping hers, she turned to Harry and leaned in to whisper. "I think that everything is going to be all right from now on."

EPILOGUE

Twenty-three years later, Harry Potter was standing at the departure point in King's Cross Station as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station. Looking for his wife and hopefully soon to be Minister of Magic, he saw her speaking to Susan Diggory and Hannah Longbottom.

"So, do you think that they are solving all the world's problems?" Cedric asked as he watched the trio of women who were still talking as their children chugged off towards Hogwarts.

With a rueful grin, Harry replied "No, in truth, I rather fear that they are gossiping about the news from Australia regarding Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy. That was not one I was expecting."

"Hey, stranger things have happened. According to Hannah, Draco actually matured, she was shocked when she ran into them at the Runes convention in Mexico. She told me that she was certain that it was someone polyjuiced to be Draco until he actually apologized for his past behavior." Neville replied as he joined the two wizards. Noticing the woman with the pink hair who had joined the women, he asked Harry. "Did you hear that Severus Snape was given a knighthood from the French for discovering the cure for werewolves?"

"Remus and Tonks told me. I was more shocked to hear that he had found a wife while in France." Harry admitted with a sheepish grin on his face. "Turns out there is hope for all single wizards out there if Snape can find someone to marry him."

"Doubt that you include Ron Weasley in that list," Cedric replied while shaking his head. The youngest male Weasley had not improved with age and his jealousy combined with his laziness had resulted in his father expelling him from Hogwarts after he had received his OWLS. The redhead used to work for his brothers and lived in the family home with his now squib mother after even they fired him for attacking their wives, Daphne, and Tracy who used to be members of Slytherin house.

With a grimace, Harry replied "I had to go speak to Arthur about his behavior last week after he had tried to spread rumors about Hermione at the Ministry. Thankfully, his sister has stayed out of matters."

"Her husband insists on it." With a nod towards their wives who were heading their way, Neville quickly added: "I heard that Nott made her take a vow to obey him when he was stuck marrying her after getting her pregnant."

Cedric shuddered as he recalled how Ginny Weasley had attempted to seduce him in her bid to garner Harry's attention, but thankfully Susan had saved him. When she had given up using jealousy, she had attempted to make it look as if a Slytherin student had attacked her, unfortunately for her, Harry had believed Nott and so had her father.

A quick test later and she was found to be pregnant with Nott's child and that young man had reluctantly decided to marry her. Now she was a mother in name only as Nott didn't trust her alone with her own children.

Hermione came over to speak to the wizards and then Harry and she apparated to Potter Keep. "It is too quiet here."

Harry chuckled and pointed out that their three children might be at Hogwarts, but that the house was full of house elves. "I am sure that if you were to ask them they would make things nosy enough that you wouldn't miss Sasha, Siri, and Jacob. Besides, think of it this way, the twins have been looking forward to attending Hogwarts and terrorizing their godfather since learning of it."

Hermione had a small satisfied smirk appear on her face as she thought of Remus and Sirius aka Padfoot dealing with their twins and their ten months older sister who were all first-year students at Hogwarts that year. "Did you give them the cloak and the updated map?"

"Would I do something as irresponsible as that?" Hearing a scoff, Harry turned to wink at his father who was playing innocent.

"So that is a yes?" She asked then hearing her mother-in-law went to speak to Lily while the two Potter males spoke about the estate and the company that they had started. Harry had taken it over after attending muggle business college while James had moved over to take an interest in politics.

Finding Lily preparing to return to Hogwarts where she was now the charms professor, she grinned at the picture her mother-in-law made as she charmed the books that she had dancing to her trunk. "I thought you took the books already?"

"I did these are the muggle novels that I offered up to Mr. Thomas as he is taking over my old position as muggle studies professor." She replied then looking at her daughter in law, gave her a thorough but conspiratorial look. "Have you told Harry yet?"

"Not yet, I am planning on doing so this evening." She replied then when James and Lily had left, she tracked her husband down and found him feeding Hedwig who was now too old to be a post owl but was still a beloved family member. "Hello, Hedwig. Have you decided to go to the Underground?"

The aged owl nodded as if he understood her then with a nip at Harry's hand Hermione called for the goblin king and watched with teary eyes as Harry's familiar went below.

Jareth who looked the same to them as he had twenty-three years before gave them a small nod then reminded them that they would see Hedwig again, "Just not for a long, long time. You have done well, in helping to guide your world."

"Thank you," Hermione replied while Harry regained control of his emotions. "I saw Sarah escorting your son to the Hogwarts Express. She barely had time to wave, I heard the call."

Jareth chuckled and told them "Christoff was thrilled because it meant his mother couldn't hug him in front of his friends, he is at that age where he is too grown up for hugs. I wasn't so sure that his having above ground magic as well as our magic was a good thing but the seers have told us that he was meant to meet his future at Hogwarts."

Jareth told them "Unfortunately, I have to go help Sarah with the runner she had to answer earlier. I will see you at Mid Winter."

With that, the goblin king returned to his castle at the center of the goblin city in time to see his wife send the wished away to the nursery and to change the wisher into a goblin.

"Did you tell them?" She asked knowingly as her husband tugged her back to his throne and onto his lap.

"That their daughter Siri is destined to rule over our lands?" He asked with a smirk. "No, I don't think that Harry would like the thought of his little girl being married, just yet. That she will choose to live with us when she finishes Hogwarts... no."

Sarah thought over the last two decades as she heard her youngest children chasing the goblins. Resting her head against the hollow spot in her husband's neck, she mentally thanked Hermione for the millionth time that she had needed her help and had returned her to be beloved.

In a prison cell, a slightly decrepit old man was trying to hang himself using only his beard as he was without magic and had been for over twenty years. His life had been so grand, his future so bright but it had all ended when he had underestimated that small slip of a muggleborn.

His lover was dead, killed by one of his oldest friends with a muggle weapon called a gun. His dreams crushed and the world one that he didn't recognize anymore, but the worst part was that he had been forgotten by all except one who visited him yearly out of vengeance.

Sirius Black who had never forgotten how he had manipulated his godson and had left him with muggles regularly paid him an annual visit. It was how the forgotten wizard kept track of the years that had past.

Sure enough, after failing to have the courage to kill himself, Albus heard the sound of footsteps and saw the middle-aged wizard entering the corridor of the very prison he himself had stuck his lover in.

"Hello, Albus." Sirius looked at his former headmaster and smirked in a rather cold fashion. "You should know there is a new minister."

Feeling a bit hopeful as each new minister learned of his imprisonment, he had hope that they would see that his crimes had been minor and that he deserved freedom from his unjust sentence that quickly faded as he was told who the new minister was.

"No! There is no way that a muggleborn is Minister, it isn't to be born." He cried out in anger.

"Not only is Hermione Potter the newly appointed Minister, but her father in law is also the new Chief of the Wizengamot. James has spent years undoing the damage you did to our world. By the way, this incoming class at Hogwarts is the first to have attended the new primary school that was set up to integrate the muggleborn students early."

"You are violating the..."

"We are violating nothing, old man. You were set in your ways that you were damn lucky to not have exposed our world to the non-magical, but we have no fears of that any longer."

"You are destroying our world, our traditions!" Albus shouted.

"The world has changed, Albus, and I didn't come here to argue with you, in fact, my wife would have preferred that I did not come at all, but I decided that one last visit was apropos. Goodbye Albus, may you have a long life stuck here with only your ego for company."

With that Sirius apparated out of Nuremberg and returned to Hogwarts where he went to track down his wife. Pressing a kiss to Aurora's cheek he asked how long they had to the Opening Feast.

"An hours, so let's change and head down. I know that you're excited that your godchildren are finally coming to Hogwarts." She replied as she went to change into her dress robes. "Arthur is trembling in his boots at the thought of all three Potter children being in the same class, he might need some shoring up."

Sirius mentally compared the man he had just left to the man who had replaced him as Hogwarts headmaster. Arthur had set the tone for his stewardship of Hogwarts on the night of his very first opening feast, with a warmth and honesty that he still had all these years later

Thinking on the old man locked in the tower, he had given the old man a gift out of compassion that he hoped for the sake of those who had moved on past the manipulations he used.

An old man picked up the muggle weapon, unsure how it worked and why it would be in his cell. Tilting it so that he could look down it's round barrel, holding it by it's handle, he never heard it going off and not really understanding what it meant until he felt the pain then nothing then blackness before he realized that he wasn't going on the next Great Adventure, no, from the looks of things, he was someplace very hot!

A hundred years later, Harry and Hermione made the decision to go to the Underground and spoke to their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who had made the choice to live in the aboveground world.

They had lived full and happy lives. They had made a difference in their world and were quite happy to leave it in the hands of those who were to follow them.

With a final hug given to their two children who had chosen to remain aboveground, Hermione called not for the goblin king, but for the king of the entire Underground.

There was a soft rumble of thunder and then two owls arrived and turned into their fae forms. Words were unnecessary as they handed them two crystals and within seconds they were in a large castle where Harry looked at his wife and wiping their tears turned to his parents who had gone through this choice twenty-five years earlier.

Hugs were traded and then Hermione looked at Jareth and Sarah who were standing nearby with their daughter and son in law and asked: "Now what?"

"Now you watch over your world, but you have left it a much better world than the one you came into," Jareth replied then with a smile, held onto his wife's hand as they popped away.

Their daughter, the new goblin queen hugged her parents yet again and asked: "Do you want to meet your newest grandchild?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Hermione asked as Harry and she went forward to their next great adventure with an excited Hedwig flying above them cawing out his greeting, thankful that a wish to the goblin king had granted them a long and happy life aboveground and now that they had the same future in the Underground, because forever, it wasn't that long at all.

The End