Before they knew it, it was the Graduation ceremony, Harry and Hermione, as they were Head Boy and Girl, had to write speeches, and both were rather nervous, as neither really liked being at the center of attention, all their friends had confidence in them though; Harry was told repeatedly that he had made brilliant Captain speeches before Quidditch games, and Hermione was always brilliant anyway! McGonagall even told Harry that she had full confidence in him, as both his parents had made fantastic speeches, and she had seen him give people pep talks – he would be perfectly fine!

Dumbledore walked onto the stage erected on the Quidditch pitch, in front of the students and parents, and smiled widely.

"What can I say about your year group?" he started, "Well, we haven't had an uneventful year for a good seven years now; we haven't had that since the time of the marauders...mmm... interesting that one of their children caused most of the activity hmm Harry?! Ever since you appeared at Hogwarts, we have had 7 different Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors, all memorable in their own ways. You've had to grow up fast; the war started and finished, and has made you the people you are today. You are missing a few of your peers as parents and families pulled them out, as well as some sadly passing away. You are also the first year group to achieve house unity, you encouraged the younger years to follow your actions. For that, I am ever grateful, it is wonderful to see so many getting on, which I have not seen before here in Hogwarts. You are the brave ones of your age, the ones who came and protected what you believed in. Your year possesses the most talented witch of your age," glancing at Hermione who blushed as her friends cheered, " The most loyal wizards," looking at Ron and Neville, cheers from the Gryffindors, "the best strategist I have met in a long time," Ron turned red as more cheers came from the audience. "And the most powerful, brave and talented wizard." looking at Harry, who looked startled at the word powerful, and blushed slightly as everyone cheered. "You will all look back and remember these years with joy, I still do," he smiled, "even though that was a long, long time ago! It has been a pleasure to watch you all grow into the men and women before me, and I know you'll be missed, not only by friends, but by staff as well. I know you will all succeed in life, and enjoying every minute of it, as only those who have lived through hard times can. Remember, you will always be welcome here at Hogwarts; no matter if that is in a month's time, or years, for help or just to have a chat. I'll now pass you on to your Head Girl, Hermione Granger!" everyone applauded as he left the stage and she stepped forward.

"Thank you Headmaster. The past seven years have been fun, scary, amusing, sad and so much more. From Lockhart's 'frighteningly scary pixies' - I mean really! To the evil Umbridge, we have had our selection. When I first arrived here, I didn't have many friends, but that all changed when my 2 best friends saved me from the mountain troll back in 1st year, and we've never been apart since, well okay, that's not quite true, but you get where I'm coming from! One major thing I learnt here; friends are the most important things in the world. Never forget them and never take them for granted. The second; when it comes to DADA Professors, they are not always right or good! The only decent ones we had were Professors Lupin and Tonks! Oh, and of course, for those of us in the DA, Harry as well. What can I say? We'll all go on to do great things. Enjoy life, and there is nothing you cannot do, okay maybe not prank a marauder, believe me, we tried and we had the son of a marauder and the Weasley twins helping!" she smiled as the audience chuckled, Remus, who was sitting amongst the parents and guardians, grinned remembering the event, "We'll all go on in life and do great things. Who knows, maybe we have a future minister in our midst, future professors, professional quidditch players and much more. Never forget Hogwarts and live your life to the full! Good Luck with your life, and I hope that we can all stay in touch for years to come. I pass you now onto your Head Boy and Gryffindor Quidditch co-captain, Harry Potter." She then walked off to applause, as Harry walked on and hugged her.

"Thank you Hermione. Believe her, we did try and get Lupin, we almost did; if only he didn't have those damn heightened senses!" he grinned. "When I found out I was the boy-who-lived and a wizard, I was stunned. I was famous and I didn't know it. It immediately explained a few things; why when I was younger I had jumped and landed on the school roof while trying to run form my cousin and why random strangers came up to me and shook my hand; believe me - when your eight and have no idea what their going on about, it kind of freaks you out!" everyone chuckled as he grinned. "I would have to be the first person in our year to say these seven years have really been an, excuse the muggle term, emotional roller-coaster. The first couple of years included saving the philosopher's stone from Voldemort, saving Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets and finding Sirius Black was innocent and my Godfather. Then there was the tri-wizard; I seriously hated forth year! The best part was when the impostor Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret!" everyone laughed, reminiscing and the parents and guardians were imagining turning Lucius Malfoy into one. "As I recall, Ron's reaction was 'don't talk to me, I want to imprint it in my memory forever; Malfoy the amazing bouncing ferret!" Here, everyone laughed again, Mrs. Weasley looked torn between telling Ron off or laughing herself! "Fifth year, well all I need to say is Umbridge, hell of a lot of detentions with a blood quill for no reason, a quidditch ban, but boy did that punch feel good! Then to top it off, Sirius died; the closest father figure I had until that point." he glanced at Remus and smiled at him. "Sixth year, I worked hard, trained and trained. This year, I spent my time destroying mister-I'm-a-seriously-dark-lord-who-can't-defeat-a-seventeen-year-old's horcruxes and himself" Everyone burst out laughing at the name. "Overall, I'm never going to forget this place, and have enjoyed living with you guys for the best part of seven years, okay, I may not know all of you as I should, but I still appreciated your presence. I know you'll all go on to do great things; me - I'll steer clear of Dark Wizards for a long time - I believe I have had more than my fair share of the idiots! Good luck with your NEWT results, and I hope to see you all soon! Now, I'll hand you over to the more than capable hands of Professor Dumbledore." With that he walked off the stage. As Dumbledore walked past him, they shook hands and Dumbledore mumbled something to him, causing a smile from the young wizard.

"Thank you both. Harry; I'm going to have to steal that quote; very good and I have to say sounds like something your father and godfather would say! Well, now your Heads of Houses and I shall call your names and you can collect your scrolls." With that Professors Slughorn, Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall joined the Headmaster on stage and called out the names. "Congratulations class of 1998, you have now graduated!" every student cheered and threw their hats up into the air.

The students then joined the crowd of parents. Remus found Harry and hugged him.

"Good speech, I'm with Dumbledore, that certainly sounded like something Prongs and Padfoot would say!" he said laughing.

"It was either that or 'he-who-must-be-hyphenated'! The twins gave me the idea" he replied grinning.

"Good plan by the way; steering clear of dark wizards!" Remus said grinning, "I can imagine you've had enough, I have."

"You could say that again! I was offered a place at the auror academy, but I turned it down; it just doesn't appeal anymore, but I don't know what to do now!"

"Well, I came to talk to you about that." said Dumbledore.

"Professor?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow

"It's Albus now Harry; you defeated Voldemort and you just graduated. I'm offering you the position of DADA professor for a year." Harry's jaw dropped resulting in Remus and Albus chuckling. "You taught the DA successfully; we never had so many O's in the OWL's in DADA. I suppose it would also keep you close to Miss Weasley. I'm also offering positions to Ron and Hermione. Ancient Runes for Hermione and Quidditch Professor and assistant professor to Ron. You don't have to decide now, I'll visit you in a week to hear your decision." he walked off, leaving Harry in deep thought and shock.

"Crafty bit of bribery in there, he would slip in that I'm apart from Gin wouldn't he? But, wow!" Harry said

"You could say that!" grinned Remus, "So, what do you think? If I was in your position, yes I would. It would keep you out of the public eye for a bit! It's up to you though."

"My immediate reaction is me? A teacher? but like D...Albus said, I taught the DA; and enjoyed it, I'll talk to the others though, see what their thinking; I'm guessing Hermione will be a yes!" Harry replied with a slight smile.

"Change of subject, but are you going to tell me where you are going to live now you've finished? You keep avoiding the topic!" asked Remus, Sirius had left a house in Hertfordshire to him, "Because I'm offering a place at mine if it's the Burrow; there is more space."

"Thanks, I'll take you up on it for 2 weeks before I move in. Oh alright! From September, after I visited my parents grave, I decided Godric's Hollow house should be rebuilt."

"You're going to live there?"

"It's pretty much finished, I haven't told Ron and Hermione yet - I have a surprise for the couple." glancing around, "You know there was a large empty plot of land in Godric's Hollow? Well, as a thank you/Wedding present; I mean it's only a matter of time! There's gonna be a house for them! The Potter vault, my trust vault and what Sirius left me are more than enough for me." he grinned, "I'll take you to visit them shall I?"

"Of course! So you living by yourself?"

"Not exactly, well when Gin finishes she'll be invited to live at mine, but if Ron and Hermione don't teach, we'll all live there; they are not getting the house until they are at least engaged!"

"Good plan." stated the older marauder with a smile.

"Oh yeah, Godric's Hollow still has the old place for Moony, plus of course company if you ever want some." said Harry. Remus simply smiled and hugged him

"You are your parents son Harry, and never for second doubt that they are proud of you. Now, you go find the others, I'm going to find Dora, she's here somewhere!" Harry grinned and left the marauder to find his girlfriend while he himself found his best friends. When Harry found his two friends, they looked at each other and simultaneously said

"I'm coming back!", which caused them to burst out laughing.

"So we're going to teach. Weird!" said Ron.

"It'll be fun, and hopefully the most uneventful year!" added Hermione.

"Yeah, but probably one of the hardest, just imagine all the homework and stuff we have to mark! So when are we going to tell the Weasleys and Albus?" asked Harry

"Lets tell him now, then we'll tell Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." said Hermione. The trio soon found Albus and told him, who was really pleased. He didn't have to search for DADA, Quidditch or Ancient Runes Professors for another year, also, not that he would tell anyone this, but he had his favorite students for a year extra. He looked at Harry as a Grandson, and had become quite attached to the time spent with the young man. Hermione and Ron were also looked at as grandchildren, but not quite to the extent as Harry. The trio then found Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. After the congratulating took place the three struck up the conversation.

"Mum, we've decided what jobs we're getting." started Ron.

"And..." she asked, expectedly, glancing between the three.

"Well, I'm going to be the Ancient Runes Professor." said Hermione

"I'm assistant Professor and Quidditch Professor." added Ron,

"And I'm going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, we've got the positions for a year." finished Harry.

"Congratulations!" hugging the three, "We'll celebrate when we get home! And you'll be able to keep Ginny company next school year!" said Mrs. Weasley as Mr. Weasley shook Harry's hand, hugged his son and Hermione.

Once all the parents and Guardians had left, the 7th years and staff returned to the Great Hall for the end of year feast. The three soon found Ginny. Harry gave her a soft kiss as he sat down.

"Gin, we've got something to tell you which is best kept secret for a bit, don't worry, it's good news. We'll go to the Head Common room after."

"Okay, so how did your speech go?" she smiled, "I'm sure it was fine!" Earlier, Harry had been saying it would go wrong, but Ginny was adamant it would be fine.

Once they were dismissed, the four wandered up to the Head Common room, Harry muttered the password; Voldy sucks, and they entered the circular room and made themselves comfortable on the sofas. Ginny looked expectedly at Harry. He smiled at her.

"So, as you know, we didn't know what we were going to do after Hogwarts. Well, we've been given an offer."

"What is it?" asked Ginny, excited for them already,

"I'm coming back as Quidditch Professor and assistant Professor - I'll help in any given class which I can." said Ron, smiling at his sister.

"I'm coming back as the Ancient Runes Professor." smiled Hermione

"Which means..." Ginny said hopefully, turning to face Harry, he grinned and nodded,

"Yeah, I'm coming back Gin, as DADA Professor." She threw her arms around his neck,

"That's fantastic! Not only do we get an excellent DADA and Ancient Runes Professor, as well as a referee that is quicker, but I'm not gonna have to go ages without seeing you!" she said happily, then hugging Hermione and Ron. "Also, mum won't worry about me as much!"

"That's true, from what I gather, she was really worried about Bill when he started, not so much for the others as there was more than one here. She has to stop worrying so much, she'll make herself ill." said Ron thoughtfully.

"It's in a mother's description to worry over her children!" said Hermione hotly,

"I'm not saying anything against mum, she just needs to tame the worrying down, she really will make herself ill."

"Oi! You two, stop it!" interrupted Harry, as he saw Hermione ready to retort back, "Agree to disagree alright! Come on, we should go to the common room and join the celebrations."

The next morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna boarded the Hogwarts Express for the last time together. The trio updated Neville and Luna about their positions, which they were both happy for them. Neville explained why he wasn't sad about leaving Hogwarts;

"After a year traveling with a herbologist, I'm coming back as Professor Sprout's apprentice and assistant, so in five years time, when she retires, she knows the plants are in safe hands!" he said proudly. Neville had changed after the Ministry battle in their fifth year, and for the better. He gained the confidence he had lacked in his younger years, and had grown out of the forgetfulness. He, under Harry's help, had also become very good at defense, which was certainly helped by his own wand, rather than his fathers. Luna had become more grounded, although still believed in the many creatures that very few believed in. The six teens played countless games of exploding snap, and ate a lot of sweets between patrolling the corridors. Once the war began, the numbers of prefects had increased - two more per house so that they could keep a better eye on security. Once the train pulled into Kings Cross Station, Ginny pulled Harry aside.

"So Harry, where are you staying?"

"I'm going to stay at Remus' for a bit; full moon is coming soon I think, plus I haven't really seen much of him recently. Also, I can pick his brains for September! Of course you can visit, and I will visit you" replied Harry, wrapping his arms around her waist, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Okay, I guess you're not going to tell me something - I know you're keeping a secret!"

"Gin, I want to surprise you okay?! I just need some time to make sure it is ready." then kissing her, "I'm going to miss you, even if I'll probably see you in a couple of days."

"Or sooner. I'll miss you too. Come on, you have to tell mum that you're not staying with us." she said, taking his hand, pulling him towards to Weasleys, and then received the mandatory Weasley hug from Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley, I'm staying at Remus' for a bit. Don't worry, I'll visit!" Harry smiled.

"Okay Harry. Now, I've told you before, call me Molly." She smiled, giving him another hug,

"Sorry, old habits!" he grinned back, "I'll see you soon." Harry then said goodbye to his friends, gave Ginny a quick kiss, and apparated to Remus' home.

"Hey Mooney!" he called as he apparated into the entrance hall.

"Hey Emeralds" Remus said, entering the hallway, smiling. "Come on, I'll show you your room." guiding Harry upstairs, "Here's your room, it was always your father's room when we stayed. I'll leave you to unpack. I'll be making dinner, so come down to the kitchen when you're ready." Harry quickly unpacked and joined Remus in the kitchen to help make dinner.