Graduation Day. Hogwarts.
July 1998.
Hermione Granger looked suitably smug on the Graduation stage as she accepted the applause and the accolades and basked in her shining moment.
She'd done it. She was at the top of all her classes and had reigned supreme as Hogwarts Head girl. She was one of those who had fought in the war to end all wars and had helped defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort and all his Death Eaters and Nazis who had pushed their Earth to the brink and had triggered Judgement Day.
It was a cathartic moment for her as she looked around at all the smiling faces of her family and friends in the Great Hall. Their world was new now. It had been purged of wickedness and they were finally moving into a golden age. Hermione had her future place at the Ministry secured.
In time she would be the Minister of Magic. It was a certainty.
She could see her two alters in the crowd, smiling with all the others as they clapped loudly. There had been six Earth's in their circle. All had had their Judgement Days. Their old worlds were no more now. The survivors had all merged into this new world.
Hermione glanced to her left as the Head boy, Draco Black, grinned at her.
'Congratulations, Hermione. You beat me by a whisker,' he said to her as he pulled her into a hug.
'It's as much yours as mine,' Hermione replied as his eyes crinkled up, 'You're the reason we're all standing here.'
He certainly was. Draco had figured out the true purpose of the ominous mirror. It was the trigger for this new world. He smiled at her then waved to the Greengrass sister's who were all applauding this lovely moment.
Hermione looked into the crowd and saw her girlfriend, Iris Black, clapping wildly with all the rest. She looked as proud as anyone could look of her brainiac girlfriend. Since their first year and over time, they had been best friends and had fallen in actual love with each other. Hermione's brown eyes crinkled up at the sight of her.
Iris had always supported her know it all ways, even when it drove others to despair.
Hermione's eyes found her parents and gran. They were all smiling warmly at her. Ron was there, cuddling up to one of her twins. Her third other self was hugging her fiance, Cedric Diggory. Three Luna's were swaying gently. All of them were enjoying this lovely day in the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
Harry and Ginny both looked supremely content.
Everyone Hermione knew and loved was here today. Two Albus Dumbledore's were here. Two Minerva McGonagall's. They all looked much younger than they should.
Their world was safe now. It was a more natural world. Magic and Muggle lived side by side. They had merged all their best qualities to make this world a much better place than it had been.
Lily and James Potter stood with Harry with beaming smiles on their faces. Riddle had played with many things he shouldn't. The Ressurection Stone had slowly but surely brought them back to life. The Potter's were now a proper family again. Lily was pregnant with a future little sister or brother for Harry. They had their happy ending.
Sirius was applauding with all the others. Tonks was cuddled up to her new husband, Remus and looked very cheerful. The Weasley family, with some new additions, were all smiling broadly up at Hermione.
The Lovegoods and the Longbottoms stood with the Greengrass family and their many daughters. There were all the faces of those she had grown up with, some were new arrivals, others she had known for years. Lavender was there. Parvati. Two Seamus Finnegans were grinning up at her. A Dean from another world was clapping, so was another Ron. Blaise and Tracey were there. Two Susan Bones were cheering loudly.
There were so many others standing here together.
They could all see the differences now between the new arrivals to their Earth. It now belonged to all of them. They were distinct from each other but everyone in this world had fought against true evil. They had settled down with each other and were now facing the future together.
Bellatrix gave her a thumbs-up as she leaned back into Lucifer. Hermione surveyed them all. Narcissa gave her a polite smile. Pansy was inspecting her nails and appeared to be a little bored by Hermione's speech.
Hermione gave herself a small smirk at that.
Sirius was beaming at her. The entity, Life, had gifted Iris another ring that enabled the wearer to travel independently to Equilibrium. Sirius was the main user. He travelled frequently between both world's to see his wife, Hayley.
The elves had travelled from Valinor to watch the Graduation ceremony. They had even brought a few unicorns with them which only enhanced the beauty of the evening.
Hermione wiped her eyes of happy tears, overcome with all the emotion. They had all pulled together and had saved their world from tyranny.
With a fluttering of joyful emotions, Hermione gave her eloquent closing speech to the masses.
As she looked out at the array of faces, some similar, others different, she found her throat clench with the enormity of all they had accomplished. She made eye contact with Iris. Grey eyes stared back with so much love for her that Hermione faltered.
She had been lucky enough to fall in love with her best friend. They both had been. She blew Iris a kiss as Iris blew one back.
Esmerelda, Iris's golden snake was wrapped around Iris, snoozing around her neck.
Hermione took a deep breath and called out to them all in her clear voice, 'To the class of 1998. We did it!'
There were many cheers and hollers to this. The graduating class threw their hats into the air with gusto as their audience gave them an enthusiastic and prolonged applause.
They all had their N.E.W.T.S now. The Hogwarts Professors were very pleased with this outstanding class.
They had been thrown into the deep end and they had all worked together to vanquish the Dark Lord that had haunted their dreams.
Many had perished fighting for freedom. Their souls had moved on. They knew they would all meet again in the next world which made the pain of their loss more bearable.
Some had chosen reincarnation but many more had moved on to other worlds in the cosmos.
The Angel Gabriel stood with the Angel Lucifer in the background as they watched the celebrations with joy on their faces.
This new world was a sight to behold. They had seen humanity at its worse. Now they were to witness it at its best. Lucifer was grateful to have some calm and tranquillity. Even the Dark side had been exhausted by the wicked ways of Tom Riddle and his motley crew.
Fawkes gave his Phoenix trill as the room stilled for a moment.
They had made it to their bright future.
A lovely night lay ahead. Dumbledore had hired a band and the fire whiskey was to be in full flow. They could all let their hair down.
There was to be much dancing and merriment at Hogwarts that evening.
Later that night, Hermione stood to the side with Iris as they gazed at all the people on the dance floor. Iris had a beaming smile on her face.
'It's so lovely,' she murmured to Hermione, 'And you, top of the class. How wonderful.'
Hermione gave her a gentle smile back as they wrapped their arms around each other.
'It's over,' Hermione murmured, 'We have the rest of our lives to look forward to. You and I. Together.'
'Together,' Iris whispered back. Her eyes were looking at Hermione with an intent focus.
The fire whisky and all the positive vibes in the room gave the room a dreamlike quality.
'We can get our own place soon,' Hermione said.
Iris smiled softly, 'There's that log cabin for sale in Snowdonia. We could take a proper look at that.'
'That sounds perfect,' Hermione said in response as she thought of the picturesque cabin they had passed by on their travels. It was set in the mountains and was surrounded by the most breathtaking views.
'You and I,' Iris said with a tinge of reverence in her voice.
They both had a flicker of excitement at that.
They clinked their glasses together as both emitted happiness at this simple statement.
They both looked out at the Great Hall and the jubilant celebrations of all those brave people who had fought with all they had for what was right.
The future beckoned them all warmly and with open arms.
The End.
Author note.
This has been my first story. It's also on AO3 if you prefer a different format.
It's rather long but I wanted to try a lot of things.
Apologies for any grammar errors.
I hope that you enjoyed it.
Take care.