Once she was dressed, Hermione took a moment to glance out of the window in her dorm room. From where her room was located in Gryffindor Tower, she could see the area where the graduation ceremony would be held in just a few hours' time. A pile of seats were in place standing in front of a makeshift stage with a big white wall for them to screen the memories on.

Turning away from the window, Hermione picked up the backpack on her bag and glanced around the room in case she'd missed anything. In the bag were all her possessions that she didn't want to lose. Because they had no idea just how today was going to go, she had no idea when, or even if, she would be able to collect her belongings. As such she'd packed a bag and would give it to Snape, so he could ensure it made it safely to the manor. Chances were no-one would be able to tell that all her stuff wasn't in her room, so Hermione wasn't worried that after the event someone would look through her stuff and find things missing.

Quietly Hermione left her room and made her way downstairs. Luckily it was still early so no-one was around to question where she was going carrying a bag. Sneaking out of Gryffindor Tower, she made her way down to the dungeons without being seen. Depositing her bag with Snape, she checked he was ready for the day ahead before heading back up towards Gryffindor Tower.

Halfway towards Gryffindor Tower, Hermione was suddenly grabbed and pulled into an alcove. Her first instinct was to pull her wand out and lash out at her captor, but almost instantly she recognised her boyfriend's familiar scent and relaxed.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "If you blow this now, I'll kill you."

"Relax, most people are still asleep," Draco retorted. "I just wanted to check you were ready for today."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Hermione replied. "I just wish we could predict what's going to happen. It adds to the nerves, not knowing what sort of outcome we're going to get."

"Are you regretting your decision to expose Dumbledore?" Draco asked. The original plan had just been to kill the old man, but now they were exposing his lies to the whole world and killing him was something they still didn't know how they were going to achieve.

"No, this is the right move to deal with Dumbledore and the rest of the Order," Hermione answered firmly. "I want everyone to know what liars they all are. We can deal with his disposal once the dust's settled on today."

"And are you sure you're ready for this?" Draco checked. "You'll be surrounded by the Order when all this comes out. Are you sure that's safe?"

"If things get dangerous, we have our connection," Hermione replied. "But like I said yesterday, we're not revealing that unless we have to. I don't want anyone knowing our magic is connected unless it's vital to reveal it."

"Don't worry, I won't do a thing unless you give me the signal," Draco said reluctantly.

Hermione had made him promise not to act unless she gave him a pre-arranged signal, but much to his displeasure she'd made it clear she would only issue the signal if things got out of hand. She was going to do her best to ensure the day ran without anyone finding out their magic was connected. Something inside of Hermione told her that they could need their secret later on in life, and it would be better for them if no-one knew just what they could do together.

"I have to be getting back," Hermione said, glancing at her watch. "I don't want anyone getting suspicious."

"I'll see you later," Draco said. Before Hermione had a chance to leave the darkness of the alcove, he pulled her into his arms and crashed their lips together in a searing kiss. "I can't wait for tonight," he whispered in her ear as he let her go.

"Nor can I," Hermione replied with a smile. Blowing Draco one final kiss, she darted out of the alcove and headed back to Gryffindor Tower before anyone got up and realised she wasn't there.

Luckily Hermione was back in Gryffindor Tower before anyone was up and noticed her absence. When Harry and Ron trooped downstairs, Hermione was settled in front of the fire with a book. Harry and Ron settled down beside her as they waited for it to be time to go to breakfast. The second Ron knew The Great Hall would be open for the first meal of the day, he jumped up and insisted they went to eat.

The Great Hall filled up much earlier than it usually did on a Sunday morning, but most of the students eating breakfast were seventh years or other students who would be attending the graduation ceremony that afternoon. The ceremony was always held on a Sunday, and attendance was always optional for any younger students. Hermione herself had attended the graduation ceremonies of Percy's year and the twin's year, alongside Ron, Ginny and Harry.

"I'm so nervous I can barely eat," Harry said, pushing his breakfast around the plate.

"What's there to be nervous about?" Ron asked, piling yet more scrambled eggs onto his plate. "We sit there while Dumbledore makes a speech about our last seven years of school, before everyone gets a certificate. It's not like we have to make a speech or anything."

"Maybe nerves isn't the right word," Harry amended. "All I can think of is the people who won't be here. My Dad and Sirius should have both been here, but they're not."

"I know what you mean," Ron said, his face dropping as he placed his knife and fork on his half empty plate. "Dad won't be coming to the ceremony. Mum wrote to me last week and said he still wasn't up to leaving the hospital."

"I thought he was on the mend after his attack," Hermione said. In actual fact she'd forgotten all about Ron's family as she'd dealt with them and didn't want to inflict more damage on them unless she had to.

"Physically he is," Ron answered. "But he's still struggling mentally. He's not coping with his disfigurement and his loss of eye. Mum was hoping he'd be home before now, but it's looking like we'll be finished school before he leaves St Mungo's."

Breakfast was finished with both Harry and Ron moping about the year they'd endured. Luckily it was time to head back to Gryffindor Tower before either of them got started on the subject of Athena and the Death Eaters. Settling back down in Gryffindor Tower the trio enjoyed one last morning together before they headed back downstairs to start preparations for the graduation ceremony.

As Head Girl, Hermione had to assist the Professors in last minute preparations but Harry and Ron could just sit back and relax with their friends for a few hours. Less than an hour before graduation, coaches began making their way up from Hogsmeade carrying parents of the seventh years and other guests. All the students were milling around where the coaches stopped, greeting their parents and heading off to grab the best seats for the ceremony.

The Grangers arrived with Molly and Lily, and by the time they arrived Hermione was back with Harry and Ron having finished her Head Girl duties. Ginny had also joined them as she was attending the ceremony to watch Ron graduate. After greeting the teenagers, the adult's attention all turned towards Hermione's ring and her engagement to Ron.

"Welcome to the family, Hermione," Molly gushed, sweeping Hermione up into a bone crushing hug.

While Hermione tried to extradite herself from Molly's clutches without being rude, she watched Lily hugging Harry and telling him how proud James would be of him. As Harry's eyes filled up with tears, Hermione felt a wave of guilt wash over her but she pushed it aside as she thought about how James had killed her mother. She felt bad that Harry had to lose his father, but James had gotten everything that he deserved.

"Shall we go and take our seats?" Molly questioned. "We don't want to be stuck at the back."

The group made their way towards the back of the castle, where the stage was set for the graduation ceremony. Apart from a few reserved seats for people from the Ministry, people could sit wherever they wished and the students usually chose to sit with their families. Spotting the Longbottoms taking their seats, the group headed over to join Neville and his parents. The seating was arranged so all the youngsters sat together, and Hermione found herself sitting in between Harry and Ron. She had been hoping to only sit next to one of them and she couldn't help but be wary of sitting in between them considering what was to come. However, she couldn't move without appearing suspicious so she remained sitting in between the duo.

While everyone was chattering amongst themselves and looking forward to the graduation ceremony, Hermione took the time to study the crowd. Specifically she was looking for the Malfoys so she would know where to look if she needed help. It only took Hermione a few minutes to locate Lucius, Narcissa and Draco sitting a few rows in front of them with a group of other Slytherins and their parents. As if sensing someone watching him, Lucius casually looked around and caught Hermione's eye. Giving her a barely noticeable nod, he continued to look around the gathering crowd before turning his attention back to his wife and son. Satisfied that her backup was well in place, Hermione turned her attention back to the people surrounding her as the Professors made their entrance and took their seats up on the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore announced from the centre of the stage as everyone quietened down to watch the ceremony. "We're here today to celebrate our seventh years."

For the next hour, Dumbledore spoke about the students that would be leaving them in just a few weeks' time. At the end of his long drawn out speech, he began the part of the ceremony where every student headed up on stage to receive a certificate to commemorate their years spent at the school. As Head Girl, Hermione was first up alongside Terry as Head Boy. After that it was an alphabetical procedure as everyone trooped up to get their certificate. Once the last certificate had been presented to Blaise, Dumbledore one again took centre stage.

"This year we have something special to round off the afternoon," Dumbledore announced. "Our brilliant head students, Hermione Granger and Terry Boot, have been working hard on creating a tribute to Hogwarts, its staff and the time the students have spent here. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present a memoir of the last seven years of Hogwarts."

Placing a pensieve in the middle of the stage, Dumbledore produced the vial of memories from his robes and poured them into the basin. Waving his wand and muttering an incantation, a light appeared on the blank screen at the back of the stage and images of Hogwarts began to appear, accompanied by a voice over that Hermione had provided.

"This is brill, Hermione," Ron whispered as Hermione's voice introduced the memoir.

Hermione merely smiled back at Ron as she settled back to watch the memoir. The first part of the memoir was an overview of the last seven years and it contained a vast array of memories. Several times, the crowd laughed out loud as humorous anecdotes from the past played out in front of them. Once the first part of the memoir was over, each Professor had a section dedicated to them. With each passing Professor, Hermione felt her nerves grow and when it came to Dumbledore's part she'd practically stopped breathing.

Dumbledore's section started exactly the same as it had on the original piece, with Hermione doing a voice over and speaking about what a wonderful Headmaster they'd been blessed with. A few clips of Dumbledore around school were then shown, before the scene abruptly changed and showed him in charge of an Order meeting.

"What on earth?" Hermione whispered with a frown, playing the part of a confused Head Girl. "What is this?"

"Don't you know?" Harry asked, watching as Dumbledore jumped to his feet and tried to stop the memories without success. "I thought you put it together."

"Not this bit," Hermione replied. "I haven't got a clue what this is."

As Dumbledore continued to try and stop the memories, the scene shifted again and Dumbledore, James, Arthur and Sirius were shown creeping around a house in the dark. By this time murmurs and whispers could be heard around the assembled audience, but they turned into full on gasps of horror as Dumbledore and James killed the couple in the bed. The murmurs then continued when Dumbledore announced he was going to take Athena.

"What is the meaning of this?" Terry Boot's father yelled. "What are these memories?"

"It's all a mistake," Dumbledore said as he desperately tried to get the memories to stop playing but every spell he tried failed to make any difference.

"I would think cold blooded murder and kidnap is a bit more than a mistake," Theo Nott's father remarked.

"Quiet," Lucius bellowed. "I for one, would like to witness the rest of these memories and see what else Dumbledore is hiding from us."

Lucius quietened the crowd with ease, and everyone watched as Dumbledore announced that he'd kidnapped Athena to his most trusted circle in the Order. Mouths dropped open as it was revealed that Dumbledore had placed Voldemort's daughter with a couple in the muggle world. Then Dumbledore mentioned just who Athena was, and all hell broke loose.