While the battle against Ron and Dumbledore and the rest of the Order had gone spectacularly, it took a long time for life to get back to normal, if you could call it that, for Hermione. However, Hermione had long accepted that life would never be normal for her, probably even before she found out that she was a witch.

Things were changing now.

Although Harry had helped out immensely in the fighting, things between them had grown tense. Once Hermione and Evan were no longer under immediate threat of death, he could no longer justify working with Voldemort. As it stood almost no one could believe that he had willing fought alongside a man who had been trying to kill him his whole life. Voldemort made it clear that there was no bad blood between them anymore, but it might take a lifetime for Harry to ever grown to trust him.

Further, he was even in more turmoil over the deep betrayal of the man that had mentored him since he was eleven. Once the mask had been pulled back over what a despicable chess master Dumbledore had been, Harry was having trouble reconciling the two sides of the man.

Harry made it clear to Hermione that he had nothing against her, but told her that he needed some time to himself to figure things out. Harry could understand why she was so upset with Dumbledore, but he couldn't pretend to understand her love for Voldemort. He knew that she said he'd changed, but he found that he couldn't just wipe the slate clean.

After fighting for so long, Harry finally found himself with an abundance of time on on his hands. Hid bank account had only grown larger in the seven years that he'd been in school, and he decided that it was finally time to put some of those galleons to use. Reaching out to Neville, he settled on seeing the world. The two wizards would travel from country to country, simply enjoying being alive. The two had become close after realizing how similar they were. They had both lost so much, including their parents, but they still had their own lives to live.

Both declined to come to Hermione's small wedding ceremony.

Four months after their showdown with Dumbledore, Hermione and Tom were rebonded in front of their friends and family, wanting to strengthen the damaged bond from the Diary. Hermione was touched that Voldemort had suggested it, knowing that it was probably something he'd never imagined doing. She knew that this time they were both doing it for the right reasons and she knew that it was just as much for him as it was for her.

She looked resplendent in an off white, backless lace wedding dress. Many of their friends were there, including Bellatrix, the Malfoys - including a very pretty Astoria Greengrass. Some of her old Gryffindor friends even came, including Seamus, who she was surprised to see. He explained that he had seen her all those months ago in Ireland, but had wanted to keep her secret. It was a small ceremony, however, that was perfect for them. Severus walked her down the aisle and then sat with Evan for the ceremony.

The bonding was short, but, just like her "first" wedding ceremony, it left her feeling even closer to Voldemort than she had before. It was if she hadn't been whole before, and now she was complete.

Most of the wizarding world had been very uncomfortable with Voldemort doing the right thing. To this day, they continually questioned his motives, with various opinion pieces being written to try to dissect why he did what he did. The Ministry had, of course, jailed and charged Ron and Dumbledore, but when the news broke, there was somewhat of an uproar about it.

Rita Skeeter was on point, writing hideous after hideous story about how Hermione had broken Ron's heart or how she had always secretly been a Death Eater, using her dark feminine wiles to convert a hormonal Harry Potter. The Ministry had even investigated Voldemort but they could find no evidence of any wrongdoing since 1979 and he was therefore not charged with anything. Some of the Death Eaters, including Bellatrix and the Lestranges and Dolohov had to lay low, and didn't spend much time in public.

The tides changed, though, after the wedding ceremony. Hermione had made a deal with Rita. She would have exclusive rights to an interview with the Riddles. The story would get final edits by Hermione, and then she would never write about the Riddles ever again. When subtly reminded about her little animagus problem, Rita readily agreed.

In the interview, Voldemort was mostly taciturn, with Hermione answering the majority of the questions. She explained everything with the Diary and how she believed that Tom Riddle had changed. They discussed her treatment with the Order, and why she decided to team up with Voldemort. They even discussed Hermione's NEWT results, which were some of the highest in a century - the board noted her innovative use of magic not taught within the Hogwarts curriculum. This lead to Hermione explaining their platform for education reform that they were planning. Voldemort was only asked one question directly, which was if he loved Hermione. He freely said yes.

The article included a picture of the little family. Voldemort smiled without showing his teeth, but Hermione smiled brightly, and so did Evan. Evan was such a mini Tom Riddle in looks, but he seemed to have Hermione's bright temperament.

After the article was published, public opinion changed drastically. People were very sympathetic to Hermione's story, especially hearing how Ron had tried to kill Evan, a fact corroborated by Minerva McGonagall. They were also intrigued by the idea of education reformed. They were no longer worried about muggleborns, seeing as they proposed education begin at five, which would allow muggleborns to be better integrated into their society. Plus, if Voldemort would voluntarily marry and have a child with the most well known muggleborn, it was a good sign that his beliefs had changed.

Hermione began teaching Arithmancy that fall at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall rejoined the staff as Transfiguration teacher, but declined to be Headmistress. That honor was instead bestowed on Professor - Headmaster Snape. Katie Bell, though she still worked at St. Mungo's, had been spending a lot of time with the snarky Slytherin. They tried to get Draco to be the new Potions Master, but he declined...if only until Astoria graduated that is.

Thor was happy to spend his days at Hogwarts, running around the expansive grounds, hunting in the Forbidden Forest, before returning home with Hermione and Tom. Thor had broken ties with Fenrir's pack by protecting Hermione from an enraged Fenrir, once. Fenrir was upset that he was no longer allowed to terrorize children and blamed Hermione. When Voldemort held firm, Fenrir took his pack and left for Albania.

Theo was living the bachelor's life of travel, wining and dining pretty witches, but he always kept time in his schedule for Hermione. The still remained close friends and kept steady correspondence.

After a year of waiting, however, it was finally time for Ron and Dumbledore's trials. Ron had been charged with attempted murder of a child and Dumbledore was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, false imprisonment and endangerment of a child (Hermione). Harry had been called back to testify them both as had several other key witnesses like Snape and the Weasley's. Ginny Weasley had been charged with perjury after lying on the stand about hearing Ron announce his plan to kill Evan in the Great Hall. Molly Weasley was charged with obstruction of justice, after she tried to burn some letters Ron had sent her, detailing his plans with regards to Hermione and Evan. Both Weasley women were sentenced to five years in Azkaban.

Ron's trial was somewhat of a fiasco, but he was eventually sentenced to seventy five years in Azkaban, without possibility of parole. The fact that Evan was just a newborn was a very large factor in his sentencing, especially considering that Hermione had brought the little boy to every day of the trial. He left the courtroom shouting that he was a hero. Dumbledore was sentenced to the Kiss.

Voldemort had gone with her to watch Dumbledore's execution, but, like she had heard Snape say once before, it was unbearable to watch. Although she may be more open to dark magic now, she still did not enjoy seeing people suffer. She had never used the Cruciatus curse again.

However, all in all, Hermione was a little bit happy that Dumbledore had put her in the Diary. Even though it completely changed her and ensured that her life would never again be normal, it helped her find her other half - a man so completely suited for her. She never would have been able to find such an intellectual match. It also gave her Evan. It was very fun to watch Tom and Evan interact with each other. He really seemed to want to take a strong role in their son's life.

Voldemort was contemplating running for Minister of Magic the next fall, so he was quite busy. The public was warming up to him a lot, especially once they saw that he had a lot of good ideas, none of which involved muggleborn extermination. And, his new looks didn't hurt either. Despite the busy schedule, he always made sure he spent a lot of time with Hermione and he had become much more open to affection. So much more open that they were actually expecting another child, to be born in July.

And while her life may never be normal again, Hermione wouldn't dare to dream of different one.

THE END.