Disclaimer:Do you seriously think that JK herself would write this story? She'd be horrified if she saw this story.

A/N: Straight to the thank yous. sniff sniff Chantal J - You're about to find out what happens. mysticdarkraven - It's here, would have been up yesterday but it needed tweaking. SnapeSeraphin - Takes a bow Thank you, thank you very much. I wanted it to be more but I'm useless at writing battle scenes, you just need to read my first fic to work that one out. But I'm glad you liked it. hotskittles - Awwww, you're so sweet, in the words of the immortal Casper, 'Can I keep you?'-) Serpant Clara - I get the feeling you didn't like my last chapter much, but then it's not for everyone. I went back and clarified the Death Eater situation and I rectified my mistake with the Voldemort sentence. The rest I hope is explained enough for you in this chapter. Thanks for helping me. GinnyGin -I'm glad you liked the spell, I kinda stole the idea from Charmed but some of it is in a poem I wrote. sarcastic - I wasn't sure how to fit the Order in, so I made them late instead. PainsOfThePast - A new update at your service. mya - You don't have to wait too long, the update is here. seerofsorrow - Did you get to read Chapter 25 as this is now 26. I hope you did. SongOfStars - The next is here. I didn't want to spell my name out but I can never think of anything original and this was the best I got. Pernille - The next chapter is written and here for your perusal. CharmedLeoLvr - Do you think I'm that cruel?...You'll have to read on. allana - And all your questions will be answered...hopefully anyway. kat lupin - I'm still writing, but not for long on this story I'm afraid. angelzeus - I've updated but you've gone shopping.-)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hermione started to wake up but felt too drained to open her eyes. She rolled onto her right side, feeling her muscles ache in protest. She finally started to open her eyes and looked straight ahead. She saw a blue curtain and when she followed it to its end she noticed it went all the way round the bed she was in. She spotted a glass of water on the bedside cabinet and started to sit up to get it.

"Let me get it." A familiar drawl offered from the other side of the bed. She let herself fall back onto the pillow. She watched with a smile as Lucius walked round the bed and came into her view. He looked tired and ruffled. His usual smart appearance was rough and messy, he looked like he hadn't had a shave in days and his blond hair had wisps coming loose from its black bow. She sat up a little while he held the glass for her to take a sip from it. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he put the water back down and sat at the edge of her bed.

"I feel as though I've been slammed against a wall and then done fifty laps round the school grounds." She croaked out, her throat felt raw and like she was swallowing glass. "Where am I?"

"The hospital wing in Hogwarts. You've been here for nearly a week now." Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "You didn't honestly expect to perform some powerful magic with only a few years training behind you and be perfectly healthy afterwards, did you?" He gave her a smirk that confirmed everything. Voldemort was gone and she had been a part of it.

"Where are the others?" She whispered to prevent her throat hurting anymore. He soothingly started to smooth her hair down as he spoke.

"They're in the next few beds. None of them have woken up yet. Where did you learn that spell, Hermione?" He had been so worried that she wouldn't wake up again. Even Dumbledore was speechless at the spell, having only vaguely heard about it. But it wasn't without a doubt that he couldn't have been more proud of them.

"In a book, where else would I have learnt it?" She teased him. He laughed softly at her joke. "So what happened?"

"Absolute pandemonium broke out when you four decided to collapse. All the Death Eaters started fighting back, trying to get their wands. But the Aurors arrived and thankfully there were no fatalities with the students. A few have been seriously injured but it is to be believed that they will be fine." He relayed the events to her. Snape and he had avoided every spell thrown at them just to pull Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione out of the crossfire. He had always known that his master had feared Dumbledore and for the first time that night, he knew why. Knowing that the students were safe from Voldemort, Dumbledore had unleashed his wrath on the Death Eaters there. Even the Aurors couldn't keep up with his power, and it was then that a deep respect was formed for him by Lucius.

"I want to see the others." She stated, forcing herself to sit up. He tried to make her stay put until Madam Pomfrey had seen her, but she refused. Instead, he resigned himself to holding her while she stumbled over to Neville's bed first. She noticed that all the beds in the wing had curtains pulled around them. Lucius led her into the bed to the left of hers.

She smiled when she saw Neville. He looked peaceful and relaxed and like nothing would scare him again. She moved slowly to him and took his hand before leaning down towards his ear.

"Wake up." She whispered to him. He started to stir but settled back into his slumber. "Neville Longbottom, wake up this instant." She whispered more harshly.

"Five more minutes, Gran." He mumbled sleepily, his throat just as croaky as Hermione's.

"Come on, Neville, we have to wake Harry and Ron up." She urged standing back up. Lucius was stood at the end of the bed watching her with fascination; friends were truly everything to her.

Neville's eyes flickered open and blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light of the hospital wing. His eyes suddenly searched his questioningly.

"Did it work? Did we really do it?" He winced as he sat up to look at her properly.

"You did it, Neville. It was you the prophecy was talking about." She proclaimed excitedly, ignoring the pain of talking. He frowned at her. "The spell came out of your wand; we just helped to increase the power." A glazed expression passed over his features as he thought back to them doing the spell. Harry had been through all of that through his life only for Voldemort to have the wrong boy. He started to get out of bed with the help of Hermione.

"Lead the way, Lucius." Hermione requested as Neville and her gripped onto each other for support. He opened the curtain for them to step back out into the wing and led them to Ron's bed on the other side of Neville's. He pushed the curtain back for them and decided to stay outside while they woke him up. There was some whispering before a loud croaky voice could distinctly be heard saying, 'bloody hell' followed by shushing noises. Finally they went to the last bed. Lucius left them to it while he went to get Madam Pomfrey.

Harry had barely opened his eyes when the nurse came swishing through his curtains. She never spoke a word while she forced them all to take a Pepper-up potion and did a check-up. The four patients watched her in silence and once she had finished, she pulled them all into a bear hug that would rival Mrs Weasley's.

"There will never be any one like you lot and I'm proud to say that I know you." She spoke through tears and then raced out into the wing to check the rest of her patients.

They were all still in silence sat on Harry's bed when she left. They had so much to say yet not sure where to start. Ron opened his mouth a few times and then closed it again.

"You look like a goldfish, stop it." Hermione scolded with a smirk.

"It's just….are you….." He kept stumbling over what he wanted to say when finally Harry stepped in for him.

"We trust Malfoy. He did more than enough to prove himself last night." Harry stated while twiddling with the edge of his bed sheets.

"You mean last week," She corrected, "We've been out for a nearly a week." Their reactions mirrored hers when she had found out too. "Apparently the spell was more powerful than I thought."

"Anyway, are you really going to marry him?" Ron spat out finally finding what he wanted to say. Usually it would have been asked with more venom, but after seeing Lucius protect the students and Hermione the way he did, his trust in him had improved greatly. It was definitely a fresh start for them all. Never in a million years would they have seen a Malfoy love a Muggle born, but it was happening.

"I've not changed my mind; I just hope that you have this feeling one day. I don't know how I lived without it." She told them with a deliriously happy smile across her face. Lucius was outside listening in with a smile to match Hermione's. He had thought she had forgotten but didn't want to push her.

"Just don't let him hurt you," Neville added to the conversation, "Or I'll have to do some serious damage to him." All three of them choked at Neville's words.

"Your confidence has certainly improved." Harry laughed, giving him a playful punch on his arm. Neville blushed at the compliment and let his head drop in embarrassment.

"Do I have your blessing?" She questioned nervously, her eyes darting between the three males. There was a long silence before they all nodded with a smile.

Dumbledore strolled in to the hospital wing later that day with a bright smile and laughing eyes. He found the heroes of the war still gathered on Harry's bed with Lucius lingering around outside the curtains.

"Go home, Lucius," Dumbledore chuckled, "You need your rest and she'll still be here when you come back refreshed and alert." The blond slowly nodded. Without saying a word, they shook hands and Lucius left with one last look at Hermione through the crack of the curtains.

Dumbledore walked through the curtains, causing their chatter to come to a halt. He was positively beaming at them now.

"How are you all feeling?"

"We're all fine, Headmaster, but we were wondering-" Hermione started for them.

"You were wondering what happened to Harry." His eyes were dancing as he spoke.

"I remember what was happening, but it was like I was watching myself. And the power….." Harry still felt as though he had imagined it all.

"It's to do with his mother, isn't it?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Yes." He nodded. "It doesn't surprise me that you have worked this one out. You truly are one of the brightest witches we've had in a long time. Maybe even since Lily." Hermione blushed at his compliment.

"Everyone is always mentioning how Harry has his mother's eyes. For his eyes to be that distinguishable, then it surely had to mean something. And it all fell in to place when he took control of what was going on. There was a fire and passion in his eyes that I had never seen." Hermione explained how she had come to the conclusion of how Harry had gained such power with her chest puffed.

"Does nothing get pass you?" Ron asked incredulously. Neville started grinning at him. He always knew that Hermione knew everything even though he wasn't as close to her as Ron.

"You see, Harry, your mother was a very powerful witch and had a power that hadn't been seen for centuries. She had the ability to see into a person and find out who they really were. It was even possible for her to tap into their powers should they not be someone she didn't like." Harry frowned at this new information.

"Why someone she didn't like?" Neville questioned.

"Your mother never got it wrong, Harry. If she didn't like that person then you would always find them to be a follower of Dark magic or Voldemort himself. Her power would give her the ability to use their own magic against them. It made its presence known when she was extremely angry." Dumbledore explained to him. He could still remember her using it as though it was only yesterday.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Harry demanded a little annoyed that he hadn't known about this before.

"I couldn't be sure that you had inherited it. Yes, you had your mother's eyes, but the power had to make itself known first."

"But I didn't know what I was doing and if I can tell the difference between someone who is on our side or Voldemort's side, then why didn't I trust Lucius Malfoy straight away?" Harry replied indignantly. He wasn't sure if he liked a power that took complete control of him.

"You didn't trust Mr Malfoy because your power hadn't come to light. But it has now."

"How do you know that for sure?" Ron demanded for Harry.

"What made you pick seven spies for the American ministry and take them away from the Death Eaters?" Dumbledore questioned with a knowing smile.

"I don't know. They just seemed to have this honesty about them." Harry answered honestly as a realisation dawned on him. So that was how he could tell the difference between the trust-worthy ones and the unworthy ones.

"And who'd thought the prophecy was about Neville all this time?" Ron suddenly asked placing the attention on a blushing Neville.

"Where did you find this intriguing spell?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Hermione found it in a book about family magic. She thought that the power Voldemort doesn't know and that would defeat him is love." Harry explained to him. Dumbledore nodded in thought.

"I just thought that with Tom not knowing any real family and having no one to love him as a child, he wouldn't know what sort of power it could hold; especially when he was the heir of Slytherin. Salazar's priorities were to keep the bloodline pure, not his family and love." Hermione told him her theory with pride. Dumbledore smiled widely, she never failed to impress him.

"It still doesn't answer the question as to why Voldemort thought I was his enemy when it was Neville all along." Harry felt very put out about how his life had turned out. Although he would never wish it on anyone, he just felt like he had been robbed of his parents for all the wrong reasons.

"I believe that Voldemort would have paid a visit to Mr Longbottom had his spell not recoiled back on to him when he tried to kill you, Harry. Both of your parents defied Voldemort many times and they all paid dearly for it."

"But he's gone now and I don't want to talk about him anymore." Neville defiantly announced to them. It still hurt him now what had happened to his parents but he couldn't dwell on it.

"Does this mean I can leave the Dursley's now?" Harry asked excitedly.

The exams came and went with a lot of tempers frayed, hair pulling, frustration, blood, sweat and tears. For those that didn't have O.W.L's or N.E.W.T's were rewarded with no end of year exams. A care-free, happy atmosphere had passed over the school; that was if you didn't count the studying students. A silent mutual understanding had passed between the Slytherins and the rest of the houses. There was still plenty of rivalry but it was a lot friendlier than it had ever been.

The Death Eaters that had attacked the school were sent to Azkaban with no trial. They had been caught red-handed attack the school and using illegal curses. Dumbledore had been given a stern reprimand off the ministry for putting his students' lives at risk. They had even asked him to resign but they were inundated with letters from parents saying that they refused to allow him to resign until he wished to resign.

Every student had received a recognition award for what they had done, along with all of the Order and teachers. Hermione, Harry, Ron and Neville had received every award known to wizard kind. They had fan mail coming to them by the sack-full. But they didn't get off lightly with their exams. If anything, they were constantly picked on to show how a spell is done.

It was the last week of school and with nothing to do but laze around Harry and Hermione could be found sitting by the lake. Ron was having a broom races with the Gryffindor quidditch team.

"What are you going to do when we leave, Harry?" Hermione asked lazily as she picked at the strands of grass absentmindedly.

"Move as far away from the Dursley's as possible." He told her with a hint of venom in his voice. He had been looking forward to this day for so long. Sirius had left him Grimmauld Place and that was where he was going to live. With it being lived in for the past three years, he wouldn't have to worry about doing a thorough clean of the place. "You have to come and stay with me." He smiled at her.

"I will after the summer, but I have to be with my parents for a little while." She was so excited that she was going to see them in less than a week. "Lucius has been to see them and they love him." Harry laughed as he lay back with his hands behind his head.

"Who'd have thought you'd be marrying a Malfoy and that Lucius would actually want to spend time with Muggles." Hermione grinned at the thought. If someone had told her last year what would happen then she would have made them go to have a check-up. Lucius was civil with Harry and Ron and they had even had a full conversation on the last Hogsmeade weekend without Hermione there to be a buffer. They could never be friends but they tried for Hermione's sake; they wanted her to be happy.

"What do you see when you look at Lucius, Harry?" Hermione had been wanting to ask that question since she had found out exactly what Harry's new power did but was scared of what he might say. He looked at her for a moment before smiling widely.

"I've never seen anyone love someone as much as he loves you. He still has his beliefs firmly etched in him but he seems to fight them all the time, he loves you too much to lose you over them." He told her honestly. "And yes, I would trust him with my life now. Not so much junior but him I would." Hermione jumped on him and crushed him with a Mrs Weasley style hug. They sat in silence for a moment when she finally let him go.

"So are you going to train to be an Auror or are you going to go with a Quidditch career?" She asked him as she lay on her side to face him with her head propped up on her hand.

"Quidditch. If I haven't gotten good marks in Potions then I'll be stuck with no career if I turn down my offers. So I've taken up the Magpies offer." He started training with them in September and was really looking forward to doing what he loved for a living. "Has Ron told you he's been taken on by the Cannons?"

"Harry, I was there when he started shouting in the common room. I just happened to be studying, which is what you two should have been doing." She scolded playfully.

"You don't think we'll lose touch, do you?" He asked as he lifted himself up to face her.

"I love you both to much to let that happen. Who's going to keep Lucius in form if you we don't?" She asked him rhetorically. They had been through so much that it just wouldn't be possible for them to lose touch. Harry nodded. He never thought that this day would come; they were happy, carefree, and worry-free and school was nearly over.

"When do you start your training?" Harry asked. It hadn't surprised him when her chosen career was to teach Arithmancy. She had always loved that subject and she was always good at explaining things.

"Beginning of October. Can you believe it's time for us to leave Hogwarts and be adults now?" Even though they had been through some tough times, it had all gone so quickly.

"Let's hope that we don't get ourselves nearly killed so often, it was beginning to wear thin with me." He joked, causing Hermione to slap him playfully. He laughed as he stood up and pulled her up with him. "I'm starving."

"Tell me again, Harry, what exactly is your mother's power like?" She questioned as they walked back to the entrance of the school. It was a rare gift that he had and Hermione was jealous that she didn't have the knowledge of what it was like.

"I've told you a million times." He sighed as they reached the steps.

"I know, but tell me again."

A/N: This isn't the end...yet.-)