Declaration: I write for my own pleasure and not for profit. I do not own Harry Potter Universe.

Chapter 15:

Ten months later:

Months of travelling around the country dodging ministry sponsored snatchers, death eaters, hunting and destroying horcruxes finally brought Harry and Hermione to Hogwarts for a final confrontation with Lord Voldemort. After surviving another killing curse from Voldemort due to the horcrux in his body, the prophecy that was a thorn in Harry's side since his birth was finally fulfilled. The killing curse that Voldemort cast at Harry rebounded on him ending the life of the worst wizard after Grindelwald, as the Elder wand refused to harm Harry, its true master. Ending the suffering of millions of people, Voldemort was finally killed at Harry's hand moments after Hermione finished his top lieutenant, Bellatrix Lestrange with a cutting curse aimed at her throat.

Sitting on the steps leading into the castle, Harry was joined by Hermione and they snuggled into each other ignoring the others. While the rest of the world was celebrating they were left to grieve the fallen warriors, countless of whom were unknown to them but especially Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, Fred Weasley, Colin Creevey, Dumbledore and even Severus Snape who turned out to be on their side after all. If Harry and Hermione thought that the heavy burden on their shoulders would be lifted after Voldemort's defeat they were sadly mistaken as they felt that their souls were tainted by the deaths of many innocents. They were joined by Professors McGonagall and Flitwick who knew the real extent of the hardships they faced to defeat the dark lord. Finally letting go of their emotions the four were able to cleanse their souls and felt free for the first time for more than a year.

The funerals for the Lupins and Fred were the next occasion that brought more tears to the pair. They did their best to console a distraught Andromeda Tonks who lost not only her husband but also her daughter and son-in-law within a matter of months. Harry and Hermione offered to take little Teddy Lupin off her hands but she wanted to take care of her grandson and regarded him as a lifeline for her sanity.

The throngs of people waiting for an opportunity to meet their heroes failed to realize that Harry and Hermione wanted nothing to do with their congratulations. With people following them everywhere they could not get enough privacy to grieve in silence and recover from the ordeal of running around the country with barely enough food to eat. So they finally decided to visit Hermione's parents who were now working in Nigeria for the British Red Cross, as a means of relaxation and giving them the good news. Promising to contact Andromeda and McGonagall as soon as they come back, the pair quietly disappeared from public view for a month's holiday.

Enjoying the bright sunshine offered by the prairie lands and in the company of loved ones, Harry and Hermione slowly left the ghosts of the war and their torrid past behind. Good food and plenty of rest brought them back into their old selves and they began to enjoy the holiday filling their days roaming the country and occasional romps in the wide lands in their animagus forms.

As promised Harry proposed to Hermione in front of her parents under a moonlit sky in the Nigerian wilderness. Taking a break from their hectic work Dan and Emma Granger accompanied the teens on a camping trip and enjoyed a night in front of a camp fire after Harry's proposal. With a promise to extend the rental lease on their house and to wait till their graduation before getting married Harry and Hermione returned back to Britain after a well-deserved holiday.

Their good mood vanished on return when they met Andromeda Tonks. The loss of her family hit the elderly witch harder than she cared to admit and with the stress of looking after a very energetic baby, her health was rapidly deteriorating. Harry and Hermione spent some time trying to get her spirits up and even the intervention of the healers at St. Mungos' did not help. It was a very somber couple that met Mrs. Tonks in her house and Harry tried to put her concerns to rest and probably for the first time took a decision without consulting Hermione, "please do not worry about Teddy Mrs. Tonks, I have decided to legally adopt him. That will ensure his well-being." After arranging with her to collect them both early next day, Harry and Hermione left the house.

Harry led Hermione to a small park near Mrs. Tonks house and began, "I am sorry sweetheart I should not have taken that decision without consulting you. After all you are going to be Teddy's mother."

"It's alright Harry, I know that you are doing the right thing and I love Teddy." Happy that they did not have to fight over a good thing the couple returned to Grimmauld Place for the night.

The next morning they were met with some resistance in the child services department, "I am sorry Mr. Potter but you cannot register Miss Granger as the mother. You are not married, and no being engaged does not give make her suitable in the eyes of the law."

Even though Harry was angry, he did not want to make a scene and Hermione's hand on his arm calmed him down sufficiently. Exchanging an all-encompassing glance with Hermione, he decided "Alright then, please register Miss Hermione Granger as the godmother and the next in line to get the custody after me. Then it will be Daniel and Emma Granger with Arthur and Molly Weasley as the final couple."

It was only a few days later that they were left with the entire responsibility of taking care of Theodore Lupin Potter as Andromeda Tonks finally succumbed to her grief. The brief ceremony was attended by only a very few people most notably Professors McGonagall and Flitwick.

Carrying a sleeping Teddy in his arms, Harry and Hermione were intercepted by McGonagall to discuss their return to Hogwarts. "I know that it may be difficult for you with having to take care of Teddy, but have you planned to return to Hogwarts for your N.E.?"

Hermione answered, "Yes Professor, we want to finish our schooling" and with a wry smile continued, "Hopefully with Voldemort gone we will finally have a quiet year."

Sharing a chuckle with the two McGonagall continued, "Then I would like you two to be the heads this year."

Harry objected immediately, "Thanks for the offer headmistress but we think it would be better if two of the new seventh years get the positions. After all we missed a year of schooling."

"Oh! Do not worry. The last year was an abomination on schooling with death eaters in place of teachers. Due to this the governors and the faculty have decided not to promote any students, there were no N.E. anyway and no students graduated. All the students will have to repeat the year so you have not missed a school year." She turned pensive, "Besides we need strong leaders to recover from the lack of discipline for the last, dare I say, three years. Umbridge left a lot of problems which have still to be sorted out."

She saw that the two were communicating in their own trademark glances and drove the point home, "look at this way, you will have separate rooms of your own and will not be a problem for the little tyke."

That swayed both of them and they quickly accepted the proposal and as a parting shot McGonagall gave them some advice, "You should talk to Winky and get her to take care of Teddy during classes. Kreacher may be a good elf but I think he is too old to run after an exuberant toddler."

Spending months traipsing around the country while sharing a single bath in a small tent removed any body modesty between Harry and Hermione. Though they decided to wait till their wedding night to make love, they still found ways to mutually satisfy their sexual hunger. After riding the crest of their orgasms, the tired but thoroughly satisfied couple cuddled together in the master bedroom at 12 Grimmauld Place. Catching his breath with Hermione resting her head on his chest, Harry voiced his concerns about their future "I wanted to open a trust vault for Teddy but our finances are not large enough to do it properly. Following the wills of Remus and Tonks, I got the goblins to consolidate their savings and transferred them into a vault in Teddy's name." Letting out a sigh, he continued "The sale of Mrs. Tonks' house netted a fair amount of gold but most of it was used up to clear their debts. The entire amount is now in Teddy's vault but unfortunately, it is not a sizeable amount."

"How much is in there harry?"

"The final amount is about 20,000 galleons Hermione." Sensing her disbelief Harry clarified, "Yeah! Apparently they were in heavy debts, Mr. Tonks did not have a proper job for some years and you know about Remus. Most of Tonks' salary went towards clearing her educational loan" Harry sighed.

After a few moments of contemplation Hermione offered, "My parents wanted me to use the money for the house rent as a coming of age gift, Harry. Unfortunately, due to their charity work they are forced to use their savings for their living. We can put some of that money in Teddy's vault."

"Hermione, converting that into galleons will not give us much. As we have some money in Teddy's vault already, it is better to save it for any other children we may have." Seeing her blush Harry countered, "You want to have kids right."

Hermione immediately exclaimed "of course" after swatting him on his chest, gave him a quick squeeze and a kiss in answer.

Harry continued "We will start putting some part of our salary into Teddy's trust and some into a separate vault for our other kids from next year. Adding on to what you are saving from your parent's house rent it will be a good amount. It is not much but we will manage."

"We will manage Harry, we always do. We will have some money left from your trust vault, as it is we do not need much to live and we already have this house. Teddy has 20,000 galleons to his name and it is a good start and we will build on it once we start earning."

The opening feast at Hogwarts also hosted the ceremony to award 'Order of Merlin' to a few people. Harry, Hermione and posthumously Severus Snape were honoured for their resilience and unparalleled bravery in combating the threat of lord Voldemort. After the end of the ceremony and the feast, Kingsley Shaklebolt, the interim minister pulled Harry and Hermione away and whispered, "The ministry is short of cash and so we are unable to give you the 50,000 galleons that go with the award. The ministry has to undergo an audit of the finances and I hope that by Christmas time everything will be sorted out and you will get the gold."

Harry was disappointed; the gold would have helped them in boosting their finances and allow them to add more money to Teddy's vault bringing up the amount to 50,000. Putting up a brave face he whispered back, "It's alright Kingsley, we will manage somehow."

Their last year at Hogwarts was quickly coming to an end. Harry and Hermione were glad to have a normal year for a change, well as normal as you can expect taking care of a toddler and head duties. The love they had for each other and for little Teddy Potter meant that the days were filled with happiness and laughter. Unfortunately for them, Shaklebolt was not elected as the minister and was replaced by a wizard from an old family which valued traditions and pureblood philosophy. By Christmas, the departments at the ministry underwent massive personnel changes and in the ensuing melee the small issue of giving the 'Order of Merlin' prize money to Harry and Hermione was forgotten.

Finally at the end of the school year Harry James Potter and Hermione Jane Granger graduated with distinction. Harry earned 'outstanding' in the subjects Ancient Runes, Astronomy, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration all that he sat for. Hermione also achieved the same grades in all the subjects, also taking Arithmancy, setting a record for the highest marks for N.E. overtaking Lily Evans's record. Leaving with fond memories of the institution that they spent more than eight years of their lives in, the newly graduating students left to forge new career paths.

One month after their graduation, the newly wed Harry James and Hermione Jane Potter along with 18 month old Teddy Lupin Potter, began their new life hoping for a time free of struggles and filled with love, laughs and cheerful kids.

THE END