Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they are property of JK Rowling.

Rating: R

Summary: Harry is the heir of Grindelwald; he is blamed by the Order for Sirius's death; he is accused by the Ministry to be a Death Eater; Hermione is the heir of Voldemort...and she is the only who trusts him...

Dark Harry-Hermione

Chapter Sixteen

"Regained Freedom"

After their return at Hogwarts, the Hogwarts members went to rest in their rooms...the battle was so long they were exhausted, also after the hours on the Express, in which they had regained energies...however, Harry wasn't so happy as the others...he was blaming himself for Justin's death...Hermione and the others tried to comfort him, but nobody was able to do this...during the night, however, Justin appeared in dream to Harry, and he reassured him...

"Don't worry about my death, Harry...I chose to follow you, knowing the risks it would have implied; so, now, live happy...do this also for me..."

Next morning, when Harry entered the Great Hall to have breakfast with all the Order members, and the Professors, he took place between Hermione and Draco...and he found a copy of the "Daily Prophet" in front of him...it was an extraordinary edition, and the title was:

"We are free!" then the article continued: "Yesterday the Wizarding World had found his definitive freedom from You-Know-Who, when it seemed by now only a dream, with the last attacks, the destruction of the Ministry and of the Order of the Phoenix, and the suspect joining of Harry Potter, the Boy- Who-Lived, to the Dark Lord himself...but, it was the same Boy-Who-Lived, who actually never joined the Dark side, with an Order that he himself had founded, the Order of the Shadows, who destroyed You-Know-Who and all his Death Eaters, attacking directly his whereabouts...

His methods were unconventional, in fact Harry Potter led a Dark Army, composed by werewolves, giants, dementors to obtain this won...but finally he used a secret weapon, the Light of the Lights, the power of Love, to kill the Dark Lord...the Love he felt, and still feels for his classmate Hermione Granger...so, thank you, Harry Potter!"

Harry smiled, reading this, as all the others on the table, then he commented: "But what I have to do to convince them to call him with his name? Even after his death, they call him You-Know-Who..." and all of them laughed; then, after breakfast, Hagrid hugged him, apologizing for having doubted of him, and so did McGonagall...

Next day, all the students returned, but not because the holidays were finished; Dumbledore had proclaimed an annual Yule Ball, from that moment, to cheer the defeat of Voldemort...and, Harry and Hermione had to open the dances...

When Harry saw Hermione, ready for that evening, he remained without words; then, he said: "Mione, you are stunning!"; she was wearing a red robe, which fitted perfectly on her body, exalting her curves...he, instead, was wearing an emerald green robe, which matched perfectly his eyes, and she kissed him briefly, then she whispered in his ears: "You are wonderful, too, my love..."

The Ball was perfect, and Ginny and Neville were one of the best couples of it...the unique trouble was Seamus, who tried all the evening to approach Hermione alone...Harry noticed it, so he controlled him, and fortunately nothing bad happened...however, next morning Harry went to Dumbledore to explain what was happened before the holidays, and Dumbledore assured that strong action would be taken against him...

Finally the term restarted, and the evening of the return of the students from the holidays was signed by an happy event...Dumbledore, before the start of the banquet, stood up, and said:

"We have to thank Harry Potter, all of us together, and to give him our apologies for having treated him and his fellows of the Order of the Shadows so badly..." all of them stood up, cheering at the Order...but Dumbledore noticed that Seamus remained seated, so he added: "And I want to say you, that sadly an expulsion is required...our Head Boy, Seamus Finnegan, before the holidays tried to rape Hermione Granger...so, from this moment he is expelled...and the new Head Boy will be Harry Potter..."; at this the Great Hall was filled by shouts of happiness for Harry and of despise for Seamus...this one, however, took the chance for the last bad action, raised his wand and cursed Harry: "Avada..." he cried; but Harry was quicker, and he cried: "Expelliarmus!" so Seamus' wand flew in his hand, and the curse never departed from the wand...

Life at Hogwarts became very happy now for the Order; they were cheered up by everyone, Harry was elected Gryffindor Captain, so he regained his place in the team...Professors were so kind with them, and never scolded them, even if they were distracted...their marks reached the top quickly, and nothing could be more perfect...

One day, at breakfast, Harry noticed Minister Fudge near Dumbledore, and suddenly three reporters of the "Daily Prophet" entered; then, Minister started to speak, and called the Order near him; at this point, he awarded all the members with the Merlin's Order First Class; there was one also for Justin...

After having awarded all the members, Fudge arrived to Harry, and said:

"And this is for you, Harry Potter...the Order of Merlin First Class for having defeated the Dark Lord..." and suddenly many flashes started to work, as the reporters took many photos of Harry and the Minister...

Next morning, on the newspaper, Harry found himself in the first page, and there was an interview given by the Minister:

"All of us have to learn from what has happened that the appearance many times is deviating...nobody of us knew that Harry Potter was creating one Order on his own, for example...we thought he was creating a dark association to help Voldemort to conquer the world...we thought he tricked the Order of the Phoenix, that night, to consign them to Voldemort...and we thought he revealed their whereabouts to the Dark Lord...but we were wrong on all this things, so I declare Harry Potter cleared from all the charges we had put on him...he is again a free wizard..."

Hermione, reading this couldn't help to hug him and kiss him under all the Great Hall's eyes...after this, an huge clapping of hands filled the room, and Dumbledore looked them with the love he one time had showed for Harry, before all the happenings of the last two years...

That night, Hermione and Harry completed their happiness, in their Head Boy/Girl rooms, being intimate for the first time...after this, Harry hugged her, and whispered: "I love you so much, my Mione..." and she replied: "I love you too, Harry...with all my heart..." and then they kissed passionately...

Almost a week later, Harry gained the permit to visit London, so he Apparated there, after having left the castle grounds, and he entered the most famous jewellery of the capital; when he exited, he had a small package with him...and he Apparated back...

The same night, Harry took Hermione before dinner, he brought her to the lake, where he had prepared a surprise for her...there was a romantic dinner for them, with candles light, and for her a bouquet of red roses...she had happiness tears on her eyes, seeing all of this, but nothing could prepare her for what happened after dinner...Harry extracted the package, went on his knees, and asked her:

"Mione...do you want to marry me?"

She remained without words for some minutes, able only to nod, while crying for joy...then she hugged him, kissed him, and she whispered: "Finally my dream comes true...I love you, Harry...and surely I'll marry you..."

After some minutes, Harry summoned his Firebolt, and took her for a fly in the night...even if she feared flying, he grabbed her waist, not letting her to fall, and she felt so sure, embraced by her unique true love...

Finally, the last day of the term arrived, and after having received the results of their N.E.W.T.s, the seventh years attended to the Graduation Ball...Harry and the other Order members were extremely happy, because all of them gained the maximum grades; Harry and Hermione gained 15 N.E.W.T.s, while the maximum was normally 14, because Dumbledore created only for them a special mark in DADA:

"Light of the Lights", referring to the weapon used by Harry to defeat the Dark Lord; then, the Ball started; Neville and Ginny were by now officially together, while Draco was with Luna...they seemed so happy together...but they never could reach the happiness glowing from Harry's and Hermione's eyes...

The feast lasted all the night, then next morning they boarded on the Express for the last adieu to Hogwarts...as students, at least...all of the seventh years were very sad, and Harry had even tears on his eyes, but Hermione comforted him all the travel...when finally they reached King's Cross, Harry and Hermione said hello to the others, then started to move toward the exit...but suddenly Hermione stopped, leaning on a wall...

"Mione...what's happened? Are you ok?" Harry asked, concerned...

"Yes, Harry...I'm only a little nauseous...I've already been this way..." she said smirking...

Harry understood, and hugged her, a huge grin on his face...