Chapter XXXVI – Celebrations

They all landed in the Great Hall, exhausted as everyone let go of the port keys that they were assigned. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand in his and pulled her close to him. He didn't say anything he just pulled her close, but Ginny didn't need words, she understood perfectly. She followed him to the hospital wing so that they could both be checked out – mostly her arm as Harry refused to let Madam Pomfrey see his cuts saying that they had been healed by Ginny so he didn't need anyone to look at them. She had of course, bullied him into getting checked over anyways.

Once Madam Pomfrey was done with Ginny she began to move onto all of the other members of the D.A. who had all been told to go straight there for a check up even if they didn't think that they were hurt. As Madam Pomfrey left them alone, Harry pulled Ginny into his arms and just held her close.

Ginny snuggled into his chest, enjoying the warmth and comfort she felt from being held by him. "I love you."

Harry kissed her hair. "I love you, too."

They just sat like that, watching the commotion around them as everyone was checked by Madam Pomfrey and small cuts and injuries were healed. Both were perfectly content.

Ron paced back and forth, nerves wracking his entire system as he watched Madam Pomfrey bend over Hermione. She had been hit by some spell damage; she insisted that it wasn't serious, but how the hell could you believe her? She was downright stubborn! He looked over again and he saw that the matron was putting something on her side and his hands tightened into fists. One of the Death Eaters had hit her in the stomach, calling her a filthy mudblood, he hadn't been able to stand it, and once he'd bloodied the guy up a bit, he'd felt better. But it wasn't going to change the fact that he had hurt his Mione.

He stopped pacing abruptly. When had he started to think of her as His Mione? He glanced over at the bed again and his heart just filled with love. He loved her. He loved her so much that it hurt inside. He was so afraid that she would take a look at him one day and wonder why the hell she was wasting her life on a … nobody like him. He didn't have anything grand to offer her. He was dirt poor and he wasn't really smart or anything she was … what did she even see in him? He looked over at Harry and noticed that he was holding Ginny tightly in his arms. His sister was everything to Harry and he knew it. He wondered what his friend was feeling after knowing that he had just defeated the darkest wizard of all time. Ron knew that if it wasn't for Ginny, Harry would be worrying about what he had done, but Ginny was there, holding him just as much as he was holding her, and Ron knew that they both needed the warmth.

Damn it! He needed the warmth! He glanced over at Hermione again, relief pouring through him as he seen Madam Pomfrey leave and move onto Michael Corner. Ron was at her side in a minute.

"Are you alright? What did she say? How seriously are you hurt? What did she put on your arm? Did you tell her that –"

"Ron!" Hermione said laughing. "I'm fine really. It was just some minor spell burns." She placed a hand on his cheek. He had the beginning of a bruise forming there but other than that, he seemed to be pretty good. "Did Madam Pomfrey look you over?"

Ron shook his head. "No, I'm not hurt." He pulled her close to him, just wanting to hold her the way that Harry was holding Ginny. "God, Mione, when I saw you with those three Death Eaters I thought … I thought I was going to lose you and it almost killed me."

Hermione smiled. "I'm fine, Ron, I'm right here in your arms, exactly where I'm supposed to be."

Ron nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too." She ran her fingers through his hair. She had never seen Ron like this before; he was honest to Merlin dead worried about her.

"Mione, I know that we talked about it before and we said that we weren't ready but … I love you and … would you … will you … hell, just marry me."

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. When she remained silent for more than minute, Ron began to get nervous.

"Okay, so this wasn't exactly the most romantic way to propose, and I don't have a ring or anything, but I can get one, and I don't have a job yet, or have tons of money like Harry does. I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my life yet, but really … Mione, say something."

Hermione could feel her heart beating in her chest as the happiness soared. The man she loved was asking her to marry him … well, sort of, if you could call that a proposal. She licked her lips before speaking, trying to keep her voice casual. "If you call that a proposal, Ronald Weasley, then you've got something else coming! You don't tell a girl to marry you, you ask." He looked like he wanted to scream at her but instead he bit his lip and knelt down in front of her. "Ron, what are you doing?"

"Giving you a goddamn proper proposal! It's what you want isn't it?" When a small smile formed on her lips, he took a deep breath. "Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"

Happiness soared through her once again, and she forgot that they were in the hospital wing, and she forgot that there were people around being treated; she jumped into his arms kissing him softly, and when she pulled away, she looked into his eyes and grinned. "Yes."

Ron sighed in relief. "I thought that you were going to say no, or make me do something else like recite poetry or something."

Hermione laughed. "It was perfect. I love you, Ronald. But I want to wait a while before we get married."

Ron nodded. "Whatever works for you; as long as I have you I'm happy. Though I suppose I need to get you an engagement ring."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, you do." She kissed him softly and snuggled herself into his arms. "Just hold me for a while, will you?"

Ron sat down on the bed, holding her in his arms. "Gladly."

The days went by slowly for Harry. The whole school was buzzing with the idea of Voldemort really being dead, and that Harry had killed him! Harry was really famous again, but this time he didn't mind, because it wasn't only him. Members of the D.A. were looked at with awe all around the school because rumour had it that they had helped Harry fight. When McGonagall made an announcement at breakfast a few days later, saying that there was going to be a special celebration in the castle rewarding those for what they had done, speculation on what actually had happened became more intense. Harry was worried about the ceremony itself. He didn't know what was going to happen or what the ministry was going to do. As of this moment he knew that the ministry was still trying to keep everything in a calm and organized fashion.

Lupin had come up with some sort of spell to link the Death Eaters who had managed to get away with the ones who were caught … it all had to do with the mark on their arms. It caused some sort of glowing symbol on the map and then the Aurors were sent that way to find them. It had been one week since the battle had happened and now almost ninety-five percent of the Death Eaters had been captured and were awaiting trial in front of the ministry. As far as he knew, they had to yet to choose another Minister of Magic either.

When he sat down at the table next to Ginny later on that evening, he looked up at the main table. He didn't recognize the witch and wizard that had joined the table. The Great Hall was filled to the brim with Ministry officials and families as well as every member of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry was pleased to see the Weasleys there. He listened to the chatter around him, but he didn't partake in it, instead he stared straight ahead, waiting to see what this celebration ceremony was going to be about.

"Harry, it will be fine." Ginny took his hand in hers and offered him a bright smile. "Don't worry." She kissed him softly, relaxing when she felt him soften a bit. Then she turned her attention back to the front just as McGonagall began to speak.

"Welcome every one to our celebration ceremony. I'd like to introduce Miss Dolly Randolph and Mr. Jonathon Berry from the Ministry of Magic. They are here as our guests. Mr. Berry has some things he'd like to say, Mr. Berry?"

A short man with a large brown moustache, not unlike Uncle Vernon's, stood up and cleared his throat loudly before speaking. "We are honoured to be here. Hogwarts seemed to be the perfect place to host this party, considering how well some of your very own classmates did in the battle. That night is what I am here to talk to you about, along with some other important decisions that need to be made. First of all, the ministry has realized that we have made some terrible mistakes in the past involving You-Know… Lord Voldemort. We might not have admitted that he was back and when we finally did, well, it was almost too late. When Cornelius Fudge was asked to step down as minister, we put Rufus Scrimgeour in charge, why many of you ask? Because he was good at his job as a law enforcer, and that is where we went wrong. You don't choose a general to lead your country because you make the wrong decisions, what we need is a new Minister of Magic, one who has a level head, and who is intelligent enough to make good decisions for the country. Now normally we wouldn't be doing this here at Hogwarts, normally it would be done at the ministry and we would all choose. However, we've already done that and we've had a surprising amount of letters from everyday people who have asked for this person to become the new Minister of Magic, and after much reviewing and looking over possible candidates we have decided that the public has made a tremendously well-thought out decision. He has never run for office, but we're hoping that he would like to take the job. Arthur Weasley, will you please come up here."

Harry and the entire Weasley family looked up in surprise. Arthur looked a little peaked, but he stood up and walked to the front. Harry grinned; no one in the world would be a better minister.

Mr. Berry smiled and shook Arthur's hand. "Arthur Weasley, we would be honoured if you would become Minister of Magic. What do you say?"

Arthur grinned, and he turned around and looked over at his wife, who was grinning, tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded at him. He turned back to Mr. Berry. "I would be honoured too."

The entire room cheered, Harry leading the applause. Tears were pouring down Ginny's face as she laughed and smiled, clapping for her father. Cheers erupted from all over the room and finally after about ten minutes of cheering, McGonagall stood up to make everyone calm down. Once the room died down, Mr. Berry began talking again.

"Well, Mr. Weasley here, has kindly told me to continue on with the presentation. Let's have one more round of applause for our new Minister of Magic." Once the applause died down he spoke again. "Alright, so the night of the final battle, Harry Potter led a group of students from a secret club known as Dumbledore's Army, down to an ancient crumbling castle where Voldemort was hiding with his followers. A secret organization that had been formed during the first war by Albus Dumbledore himself, called the Order of Phoenix was also present in this battle along with our fellow allies, the goblins. From the information that I have gathered, every single person that fought that night was superb and the ones that died, died fighting as heroes. I know that you have lost some fellow students and I know that some of you have lost relatives and friends as well. That battle changed everything. We managed to bring the Dementors back onto our side, and back under our control. The giants have been given an area for them to stay in, something that we should have done years ago, because if they'd had what they really wanted, Voldemort would never have lured them on to his side in the first place. The trolls have been given a place in the mountains as well, where they promise to stay. They are quite happy there. And for the first time, almost every single Death Eater has been taken into custody, with the exception of Severus Snape, who was in fact working against Voldemort as a spy from the inside. The werewolves are also caught, and will be put on trial for their abnormal behaviour against human beings. But the real miracle of that night was that Harry Potter once and for all destroyed the darkest wizard of all time."

Harry felt his skin heat up and Ginny leaned over and kissed his cheek before whispering in his ear. "'Cause when you're a celebrity, it's adios reality."

Harry grinned and she laughed. "That's what I was looking for, now stop being embarrassed and pay attention."

Harry nodded. "Yes ma'am." He turned his attention back to the speaker.

"Now from what I understand it was Harry's ability to love that hurt Voldemort, the most because he had become so evil and so consumed by hate that he could not feel any emotion, and this is what ultimately destroyed him, is love. From the evidence I have gathered, Harry used wandless magic and propelled his energy into Voldemort along with all of the love that he felt, however, the most interesting part to this, is that Ginevra Weasley's hand was wrapped in his, propelling not only his energy towards Voldemort, but hers and her love as well. This killed him. Harry Potter really was the Chosen One. As a token of our gratitude, we would like Mr. Potter to come up here and accept the Order of Merlin, First Class."

The entire hall began to clap as Harry stared up at Mr. Berry in shock. He felt Ginny pushing him to get up and he finally headed to the front. The award was pushed into his hands by Miss Randolph; he managed to mutter a thank you before he turned to face the Great Hall after Mr. Berry urged Harry to say something. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but when he started talking, everything came pouring out as if he had meant to do it all along.

"I don't think that I deserve this award for doing something that was my destiny. Voldemort … or his real name, Tom Riddle, has been a part of my life forever. Before I was born, a prophecy was made by Sybil Trelawney proclaiming that a baby would be born at the end of July to parents who had three times defied Voldemort, and this child would be able to destroy him. Severus Snape, a faithful Death Eater at the time overheard it, but he only heard that part as he was caught and taken away. He told Voldemort about the prophecy and they were forced to wait and to see who the child would be. Funny thing about that prophecy that I learned, it may not have applied to me. Two children were born at that time whose parents had three times defied Voldemort. Me, and Neville Longbottom."

There was a gasp in the crowd as Neville looked up at Harry in surprise.

"I learned this from Professor Dumbledore when I heard the prophecy at the end of my fifth year. I asked him then, well then why me? Why had Voldemort gone after me and not the Longbottoms, and if it had applied to Neville too, then how come I had to destroy Voldemort. It was because Voldemort chose me. The other half of the prophecy, the part that Voldemort did not hear, was that he would mark his equal. For some reason, he chose me over Neville and when he tried to kill me that night sixteen years ago my mother sacrificed herself for me. By doing so she placed a protection over me that Voldemort could not penetrate … love. Therefore, when he tried to kill me, it backfired and I was landed with this scar on my forehead."

He took a deep breath before he continued. "As I later learned, Voldemort didn't die because he had created horcruxes. These are ordinary objects that he placed a piece of his soul in. He split his soul seven times. To create a horcrux you must kill someone, therefore to create seven … but I don't think he cared. Voldemort feared death. Dumbledore sent me to live with my mum's sister and her husband, who were muggles. He didn't want me to grow up in the magical world not understanding why I was so famous. He wanted me to have a normal childhood. I never knew about my parents or anything about the magical world until I got my Hogwarts letter. Almost immediately after I entered the magical world, signs of Voldemort's return appeared. It was like he had been waiting for me. In my first year, I learned that Professor Snape hated my guts. I didn't understand why, but I later learned that it was because of a childhood feud with my father. Professor Quirrell, well I learned that he was sharing his body with Voldemort. Together, Ron, Hermione, and I went down into the trapdoor to try to protect the Philosopher's Stone. We had originally gone to Professor McGonagall first, but she didn't believe that anyone could get the stone so we went down ourselves. That was the first time that I faced Voldemort. I survived, Quirrell died and Voldemort escaped." Harry stopped for a moment to look around the room. Everyone was staring at him in awe and curiousity, so he continued on, still not sure why he was saying all of this.

"At the end of the year I asked Dumbledore: why did Voldemort want to kill me when I was only a baby? What had I ever done to him? But Dumbledore told me that I was too young to understand and that when I was older I would know the truth. In my second year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened again. Everyone believed that I had done it, because at a duelling club I discovered that I could speak Parseltongue. Dumbledore told me that he believed that I could speak it because Voldemort could, and that when he gave me this scar he must have unintentionally also given me some of his powers. This scared me. My first thought was well then I must have dark powers like him, but Dumbledore assured me that it was our choices that dictated our life, and that I didn't have to worry. I found the diary of Tom Riddle, who I did not know at the time, was Voldemort, in this diary I learned that Riddle had falsely accused Hagrid of opening the Chamber the first time. Meanwhile, more students were being attacked and no one knew how to stop it. Ron and I went to go visit Hermione in the hospital and we found a crumpled page from a library book in her hand talking about a great basilisk, and Hermione had written pipes at the bottom of the page. Suddenly everything made sense. You see, I had been hearing voices from within the walls talking about death, and now I knew that the reason. I had heard it was because I could understand Parseltongue. Ron and I then started going over all of the clues in our head and we came to the conclusion that the entrance to the Chamber must be in the girls' lavatory, where Moaning Myrtle likes to hang out and throw her tantrums. We decided to go tell Professor McGonagall right away. We hurried to the staff room and just as were about to show ourselves we learned that Ginny Weasley had been taken into the Chamber and that Professor Lockhart was going to try to rescue her. We went straight to him, planning to tell him everything that we knew in order to help him. But he was planning on running away."

Harry's eyes found Ginny's before he continued. "Ron and I forced him to come with us and we went down into the Chamber. Lockhart managed to get Ron's wand, which was broken, and he tried to do a memory charm on us, but it backfired and hit him instead. The rocks tumbled down and I was blocked from Ron, so I continued on to find Ginny. That night I learned that Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort, and that he had possessed Ginny to get her to open the Chamber. She didn't remember anything of what she had been doing but she remembered afterwards and she fought back. But Riddle still had the upper hand and he basically was slowly trying to suck the life out of her, so that she would die and he would return to power. With the help of Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, I destroyed the diary and killed the basilisk. I later discovered that this diary was a horcrux. So I had destroyed one piece of Voldemort's soul." Harry's eyes moved back over to Ginny. She was pale, but she was smiling at him and it pleased him to see that Bill was holding her in his arms. He knew that she would need that comforting support, and he wasn't surprised to see that it was her favourite brother offering it to her.

"In my third year, I learned that Sirius Black was innocent and that he was my godfather. Peter Pettigrew hadn't died, but he had faked his own death, and had been living twelve years as a rat. You see, he was an unregistered animagus. He escaped that night and he returned to Voldemort. In my fourth year, during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, Cedric and I arrived at the cup at the same time. We argued for a few moments over who should take the cup. Finally we agreed that we should take it together, after all, it would still be a Hogwarts victory. However, the cup was a portkey and we found ourselves in a graveyard. Pettigrew was there with Voldemort. He killed Cedric, and then he tied me to a headstone and began to brew a potion. This potion gave Voldemort back his body, which he needed my blood to complete. I duelled with him and I escaped, taking Cedric's body with me as I grabbed onto the cup. When I returned, Fudge refused to believe me that Voldemort had returned. That summer I learned about the Order of the Phoenix and that Snape had been a Death Eater but when he discovered that Voldemort planned to come after me as a baby, he warned Dumbledore, who told my parents to go into hiding. From then on, Snape was double-crossing Voldemort. That year, we got stuck with Umbridge as our Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. She refused to teach us any practical defence. Hermione came up with this idea for me to teach people defence. At first, I thought the idea was crazy, but then I realized that quite a few people were interested. Hence the D.A. began. We met many times over the year and I taught them as much as I could, getting lots of help from Sirius and Remus Lupin who taught me spells to teach them. At the end of that year, Voldemort had tricked me into believing that he had Sirius Black and planned to kill him, naturally, I ran to rescue him. He was the only family that I had. Ron, Neville, Ginny, Luna, and Hermione came with me to the Department of Mysteries. It was a trap."

The hall was silent as he spoke. "Voldemort wanted to hear that prophecy from so long ago. We fought Death Eaters until the Order arrived to help us. Bellatrix Lestrange killed Sirius. I ran after her, wanting to kill her, but I couldn't do it. I sent an Unforgivable Curse at her and nothing happened because I didn't truly mean it. Then Voldemort was there and so was Dumbledore and they were fighting. Dumbledore told me to leave and to hide, saying that I didn't need to be there. But then Voldemort possessed me, telling Dumbledore to kill me. Dumbledore wouldn't do it, and Voldemort couldn't stay in my body. I later learned that my heart was too full of love and grief over losing my godfather and the goodness had been too much for someone so evil, which is why he could not possess me for any longer than a few minutes. When we returned to school, Dumbledore told me the prophecy. It was that year that I learned I had to kill Voldemort or he had to kill me. The prophecy stated that both of us could not exist together and that we had to kill each other. I was fifteen years old and I had just learned that my life was either going to include murder or end in murder. It wasn't exactly comforting. The next year, Dumbledore began to train me. I learned all about Voldemort's life and about the horcruxes. Dumbledore had many theories about what Voldemort might have used to be horcruxes, but we had no idea where they were or if the ideas were even the right ones." He glanced over at Snape before he continued. "I went on a mission with Dumbledore to a cave where he believed one of the horcruxes to be. We found it and we appeared back on top of the astronomy tower. Dumbledore was very weak because he had to drink this potion to get the horcrux. Draco Malfoy came running up onto the tower with his wand pointed out, and Dumbledore froze me in place. I was invisible at the time as well. He talked Malfoy out of killing him. Malfoy had been told to kill Dumbledore or Voldemort promised that he would kill his parents. Just as Malfoy lowered his wand, Snape came running up and he did kill Dumbledore. I was furious. I still couldn't move. Finally after a few minutes, the spell wore off, but Dumbledore was dead. I chased Snape and Malfoy down the stairs and found myself in the middle of a full-blown battle between Death Eaters, Order members, teachers, and the D.A. I fought my way out, but I was going after Snape. My only thought was that Dumbledore had trusted him. But I was too late, they had gone. I knew it was now my mission to find the rest of the remaining horcruxes and to destroy them before I could even go after Voldemort because as long as he still had a horcrux out there, he couldn't die.

"This past summer I began having lessons from Aurors, Lupin, and McGonagall about ways to protect myself more than anything. And then, with the help of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny we found the remaining horcruxes and destroyed them. After we had destroyed the last one, I called upon the D.A. and I asked them to make a decision. I asked them for their help in this final upcoming battle and they agreed. We began to have meetings once again and I began to teach them as much as I could of what had been taught to me that year. When we learned that Scrimgeour had been kidnapped we knew it was time. Snape, who I had learned had really been on our side the whole time, and that Dumbledore knew he was going to kill him, helped us to get into the castle and told us exactly what we would find. We encountered giants, trolls, dementors, werewolves, and then Death Eaters. Then I went after Voldemort. It was my ability to love and to be loved along with a mixture I suppose from Ginny as well that allowed us to destroy him. I can't really explain what happened as I don't know how it happened but we combined our magic and our love and we shot it at Voldemort. It was too much for him and he died, exploding into a million pieces. It was like fireworks, only ashes that erupted. Then the last piece of his soul floated up and I destroyed it. So again, I don't think that I deserve such an award because it was my destiny, and I hardly did it alone. Thank you."

Harry hurried back to his seat and sat back down, his face burning. The Order of Merlin, First Class was a great honour and he knew it … but did he really deserve it? And why had he made such a long speech?

"No one deserves it more." Ginny whispered.

Harry turned to grin at her. "You always know."

She laughed. "I know. It's because I love you. That was wonderful, Harry, the explanation about everything. That's what everyone has wanted to hear for a long time."

"I don't know what made me do it. I just looked out at the crowd and suddenly it started pouring out."

Ginny smiled. "It was brilliant."

He grinned and kissed her softly before sneaking a curious a look at what he had received. It was a like a trophy made with mirrors and gold of Merlin, standing high, his wand pointing upwards. He had also received a certificate with the trophy explaining why he had earned it as well as a medal with the Ministry symbol on a gold coin and three ribbons with the British flag hanging down from it. On the coin it simply said: Order of Merlin, First Class. Ginny turned to grin at him, and then she pinned the medal over his heart before turning her attention back to the front.

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter. And I must say, that was a fine speech. I'm sure everyone is relieved to truly hear exactly how you finally destroyed Voldemort. Now, we have some more awards to give out as well. First we would like to present the Order of Merlin, First Class, to Miss Ginevra Weasley because she also helped defeat Voldemort."

Ginny glanced up in shock and Harry grinned, pushing her forward. She walked up to accept her award and when she came back to sit down, Harry pinned her medal over her heart before whispering in her ear. "'Cause when you're a celebrity."

Ginny laughed and kissed him as the applause for her died down and they turned back to the front. Mr. Berry smiled. "Yes, congratulations, Miss Weasley. Now would Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger come up here please."

Harry watched as Ron and Hermione made their way up to the front of the Great Hall. Mr. Berry smiled at them. "For your exceptional strength and talent and for all of the help that you have given Mr. Potter over the years and in the final battle, I would like to give you both the Order of Merlin, Second Class."

The Great Hall cheered loudly as Ron looked astounded that he would be getting such an award and Hermione blushed furiously. They both took their seats and Mr. Berry continued. "Now will every member of Dumbledore's Army please come up here as you will be receiving awards as well. Will you please come forward to claim your award when I call your name to accept the Order of Merlin, Third Class? Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Parvati Patil, Michael Corner, …"

Harry watched as every member who he had taught and who had fought beside him went up there to collect their awards. He clapped loudly after each name was called, and grinned at the look on their faces. Mr. Berry smiled as the last student took their seats. "We would also like to give every member a medal of honour. It is simply a ribbon with the name of your accomplishment on it. When I call your name, please come up to receive them. Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Ginevra Weasley, Hermione Granger …"

Harry accepted the ribbon from Mr. Berry and was surprised when he realized he was getting two. One said: Vanquishing the Dark Lord and the second one said: Fighting in the War, Part Two. He took his medals and went to sit down. Once everyone had received them, he repeated the operation for everyone who was involved in the Order of the Phoenix. Each member also got two awards if they had also fought in the first war. He clapped loudly for everyone as Ginny put Harry's new medals on him before her own.

"You have to wear them." She whispered before she kissed his cheek.

As the last person accepted the award, Mr. Berry spoke up. "Excellent. Now that you have all been given awards for your amazing services to us all, I'd like to give out some last minute awards. But first, I'd like to give a toast to the fallen. These extraordinary people sacrificed their lives to help fight in the war. I have an Order of Merlin, Third Class as well as medals and ribbons for the families of those that have fallen. Will the families of the following please come up here: Susan Bones, Padma Patil, Denis Creevey, Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, Dedalus Diggle, Hestia Jones, Mallory Davidson, and Mundungus Fletcher." Families or friends of the people who had died in the battle began to make their way up to the front to accept the awards. They each also received an award of 200 galleons. Once the last person had sat down, Mr. Berry spoke up again. "Let's raise our glasses to the fallen." He raised his goblet along with everyone else in the room and said. "To the fallen."

Everyone repeated the toast in a moment of silence and then he continued. "I'd like to pass the talking over to our new Minister of Magic now, Arthur Weasley, who would like to say a few words."

Arthur looked surprised by this, and quite worried, but he walked back up to the front and cleared his throat. "Thank you everyone, I am so surprised and honoured that you want me to be Minister of Magic. I suppose I go and make it all official with the forms and everything tomorrow at the office. Well, I was there that night at the battle and you all did incredible. I was very impressed with Dumbledore's Army and their skill for which they were able to keep up with the Death Eaters. You were all just incredible. My speech will seem like nothing now after that fantastic one given by Harry earlier, but Voldemort is gone, and now the world will once again be safe. I really can't say much else except for congratulations to everyone and let's give everyone a big round of applause for their fantastic work." As everyone clapped, he stepped down and everyone said their farewells and the students were dismissed.

Harry took Ginny's hand in his and they walked over to congratulate her father in person, just as Lupin tapped Harry on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Harry nodded and he let go of Ginny's hand to walk over with Lupin. "What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that … Tonks told me yesterday that she's … well …"

Harry grinned. "Remus, what is it?"

Lupin gulped. "She's pregnant."

"That's great! Congratulations! I mean you are happy, right?"

"Yes, I just … well, we were thinking of moving the wedding up, nothing big, just something really small, like this weekend, and Tonks said that you had agreed to be my best man. So er … can you still come?"

Harry grinned. "I'm there, and I think that this is great news."

Lupin grinned. "Good, so I'll see you and Ginny at Grimmauld Place on Sunday. Tonks already has robes for you two to wear."

"We'll be there." Harry gave Lupin a hug and then went to go congratulate Tonks, thinking that this day turned out to be alright after all. He headed back over to the Weasleys to congratulate Arthur on his promotion.

After everyone cheered his success, Ron cleared his throat. "Um, everyone … Hermione and I well … we decided to save it, to say it all at once and we … er."

Hermione sighed. "We're engaged."

Harry grinned. "That's great!"

Hermione began to tell everyone about Ron's proposal, which Ron didn't find very amusing, especially when Mrs. Weasley gave him a dirty look and lectured him on romance and telling him that he obviously didn't have a romantic bone in his body. But soon, the celebrations were underway once more as Lupin and Tonks told everyone about the pregnancy. When Harry went to bed that night, his thoughts were filled with happy moments and it made him smile.

For once in his life, things were going his way.