Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.
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Chapter 19: The End of it All
With the death of Voldemort, Viktor Krum had snapped out of the Imperious Curse the Dark Lord had held him. One of the first things he did was apologize to the Gryffindor Royal Family and most especially to Hermione. It was quite a sight, seeing the king of Durmstrang on his knees, begging for forgiveness in front of the Queen Mage Knight. Hermione said, "I will forgive you. But I cannot easily forget what happened. I don't think I ever will." After that, Hermione had nothing more ever to do with Viktor Krum.
All of the Neo Death Eaters had perished either in the Battle of Little Hangleton or in the Battle of Snow-Covered Fields. So the threat of dark powers was ended once and for all.
It was decided that the Alliance would temporarily occupy Durmstrang, at least until Krum had recovered from the effects of the Imperious Curse and a new government had been set up. However, the occupation was to be under Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Gryffindor wanted nothing to do with it.
Within days of the War's conclusion, the Gryffindor Armies sailed back to Magiterran along with the Mage Knights. They went back to Godric's Hollow hailed as heroes once again. Harry and Hermione felt so much relief to be finally back home as the citizens of Gryffindor crowded the streets to welcome their beloved king and queen back.
The first person to greet them after Neville heralded their return was Margaret Chapel. She was now dressed in elegant blue robes of the noble woman she was. "Ron!" she called out.
"Margaret!" Margaret ran forward and leapt into Ron's arms. "I missed you," she said. She and Ron shared a long, passionate kiss before she pulled back and said, "I love you."
"I love you, too," said Ron, turning as red as his hair. Margaret finally let go of Ron and timidly faced Hermione.
"Um, h-hello your majesty. I-I am Margaret Chapel…" Margaret would've of continued if Hermione hadn't suddenly hugged her fiercely, completely shocking Margaret.
"Its so nice to meet you, Margaret," said Hermione. She pulled away and beamed at Margaret. "And please, call me Hermione." Margaret made a small smile and nodded.
Other people came to greet the returning heroes: Prime Minister Seamus Finnigan, Valet Dean Thomas, Ladies in Waiting Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, even guards Colin and Dennis Creevy came and greeted the heroes.
What followed was probably the biggest celebration in all of Gryffindor as guests from all over the kingdom crowded in to the Royal Palace. The entire Weasley clan was there and Lord Arthur and Lady Molly were chatting amicably with Sirius and Remus. Mage Knights Alicia and Katie were chatting with General Oliver Wood while Angelina was laughing over the tricks Fred and George performed on Percy. Charlie and Bill were discussing things with Dumbledore. Margaret was a reluctant participator in Lavender and Parvati's gossip as Seamus, Dean, and Neville started dancing around getting drunk.
At one point, things came to a complete stand still when Margaret quite suddenly cried out "YES!" at the top of her lungs. As it turned out, Ron had just proposed to her. Fred and George continued bugging Ron for hours about their baby brother growing up and Ron just scowled at them. For their part, Arthur and Molly were absolutely thrilled about having Margaret as a daughter in law. The Weasleys were all showered with plenty of congratulations as well as backslaps and hugs.
The house elves working in the palace were worked to the brink of exhaustion preparing meals for all the guests. Hermione promised to give them salary bonuses and some extra time off. That reminded Ron of something. "Hermione, what is this spew nonsense I heard about?"
Hermione scowled at her red haired friend. "For your information, Ron, its S.P.E.W., not spew. Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. It's a good cause. You should join as well."
Ron was about to retort, but something else had caught Hermione's eyes and Ron was out of the picture. "James! Lily!" Hermione rushed over to Hagrid who had just come in carrying the twins.
"They've ben waitin' fer mommy an' daddy ta return fer some time," said Hagrid as he passed the twins to their mother. Hermione hugged her babies close to her and let a few tears of joy fall down her cheeks. Harry came up and hugged Hermione with his left arm as he stroked the twins' hair with his right hand.
"Hey you two," he said. "Didn't daddy promise that he would bring mommy back? Daddy keeps his promises." Hermione turned around and kissed Harry on the lips.
"That reminds me of something," she said.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" Hermione nodded and made a small smile. Harry grinned and called out, "Hey Ginny, could you come here for a second?" Looking confused, Ginny walked up to the Royal Family, followed by Ron.
"What is it?" she asked.
Hermione smiled and said, "Well you see, I'm pregnant."
"Oh, when did this happen?" asked Ron with a large grin.
"While we were hiding in a cave under snow," mumbled Harry, as both he and Hermione blushed red.
Hermione continued. "Anyway, we've used a few charms and discovered that it's going to be a girl. So Ginny, with your permission, we'd like to name her Virginia."
Ginny looked absolutely startled as her jaw dropped. "Permission? You don't need my permission. I'd be honored to have your next daughter named after me. Thank you so much!" Harry and Hermione both beamed at her.
"What's this I here about Hermione being pregnant?" called out Remus from the other end of the room. This was followed by whistles from Sirius and remarks from Fred and George that caused Harry and Hermione to blush VERY red. Soon, everyone in the palace was giving their congratulations to Harry and Hermione. Laughter continued to ring out late into the night as the festivities continued.
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That night, Harry and Hermione were once again in each other's arms in their four-poster bed in the west wing. Their twins were in the nursery next door, safe and sound.
"Harry, are you awake?" asked Hermione, her hair spread out on Harry's bare chest.
"Yeah," said Harry. He turned and kissed Herrmione on her forehead. Hermione shivered a little as Harry ran his fingers along Hermione's bare shoulders.
"I was so afraid that we would never be able to be this happy again." A few tears slid down her cheeks.
Harry was puzzled when he saw the tears. He softly kissed them away and asked, "Why are you crying?"
"I'm just so happy," said Hermione she smiled up at him.
Harry drew her closer to him. Hermione snuggled up by her husband. "Lets make a promise to Lily, James, and Virginia," said Harry, "that we will always be great parents."
Hermione smiled. "Yes, lets make that promise." She snuggled up closer and said, "I love you."
"I love you too." The two kissed each other intimately as the night moved along peacefully. And this time, they truly did live happily ever after.
THE END
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A/N So this is the true last chapter. A very special thank you to all the reviewers of "The Mage Knights" who made this sequel possible. And a special thank you to all the reviewers of this fic.