A/N: Thank you to my four loyal reviewers! I'm afraid I lost some readers when I didn't update for so long…if you people are reading this could you please review? It makes me a lot less depressed when I see that people are reading my story. Even if it's a flame, though I doubt flamers would follow the story to chapter fifty.

This is not the end, I will announce when it is. However, the story is coming to a close very very soon.

charmedsisters: The answer to who killed the Source is in this chapter. Yes, Wyatt is still twice-blessed, even though I sorta screwed that up. I was initially going to write more of the battle, but I realized it would suck, so I didn't. I'm really not sure about a sequel. It depends on how many people want one.

Little Miss Spell-of-the-Week: Yea, I went and got the book at midnight and was finished by the next afternoon. It took me 8 hours to read. If you want to discuss it you can IM me. My screenname is in my profile…I think.

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Chapter Forty-Nine

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"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Hermione asked her friends as they collapsed on the scarlet sofa in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

"After I learned how to beat up reporters who decided to maul me," said Pepper, leaning on Hermione's shoulder.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Pepper and Malfoy, along with the Charmed Ones, Hogwarts staff and a few of the Aurors, had just had a "press conference" about the last battle. It had been held in the Great Hall and thousands of reporters had attended.

"Did any of them want your autographs?" Harry wondered, sprawling out in his seat from exhaustion.

"A few," said Ron. "But they weren't as crazy as the students have been."

For the past few days, Hogwarts students of every house had been asking the four of them and Draco Malfoy for their autographs. Articles about the Final Battle had been coming out in various newspapers every day, though reporters didn't know too much about it until today. The Gryffindors, however, had all gotten their autographs if they wanted them, and now the four friends were able to sit in peace again.

"I just don't want to think about that battle again," Pepper sighed.

"I'd have to agree with you there, Pep," said Hermione, leaning on Ron's shoulder, causing Pepper to lean over more.

Ron and Hermione began to kiss and Pepper sat up abruptly, turning to Harry. She said softly to him, "So are you going to ask Ginny out?"

Harry looked stunned. "But…Ginny likes me?" he said after a moment.

Pepper nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral. She thought it would be best if she moved on from Harry, and he from her. She was too confused about what she felt for him at the moment. And she wasn't entirely sure that Ron was telling her the truth when he said Harry really liked her.

"You like her, don't you?" Pepper said.

"Well…" said Harry, thinking for a moment. Then he broke out in a wide grin. "I suppose I do."

"Good then," said Pepper, smiling as well. "You should ask her out."

"I dunno if Ron would like that very much," said Harry, raising his eyebrow. "Plus, Ginny's going out with Dean."

"Not anymore," said Pepper. "She broke up with him yesterday."

"Maybe I will ask her then," said Harry with a half-smile.

"What're you two whispering about?" Hermione asked, leaning over Pepper to look at her and Harry.

"Nothing," Pepper smiled. "Well, I'm beat; I'm going to bed. Night everyone."

Pepper headed up to the girls dormitory, but instead of going to bed, she decided that she needed to talk to her aunts. An idea was forming in her head. She had a question for her family.

After making sure that no one was around to witness her power, (she wanted to keep her powers private; for the past few days people had been asking her to show them off), she Mirrored to her aunts' tower.

Piper was the only one in the sitting room area; the baby was in her lap. "Hey, Aunt Piper," Pepper greeted. She walked over to the armchair where her aunt was sitting.

Piper looked up from the child's sleeping face. "Oh, hi Pepper," she said softly so she wouldn't wake the baby. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to talk," said Pepper, equally as quiet as her aunt. "How's my cousin doing? Does he have a name yet?"

Piper sighed and shook her head. "We can't find one that we agree on," she whispered, looking down at her child lovingly. She then looked back up at he niece. "So why're you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you, Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige and Uncle Leo."

"Well Phoebe's in her room, and Paige and Leo are off fighting a demon or something…" Piper replied.

"So they weren't all following the Source?" Pepper said, taking a seat in an armchair opposite Piper.

"I guess not," said Piper. "We're a lot safer now, though, with a lot of the demons and the Source gone. It took a hell of a lot of potions, but I'm glad Paige found the one that could defeat him."

"And it's a good thing that you didn't give birth until after the battle. Otherwise you wouldn't have been invincible," Pepper pointed out.

"Well why don't you go and get Phoebe and we'll wait for Paige and Leo to come back," Piper suggested.

Pepper stood and headed to the spiral staircase. She was now standing in a hallway with four doors: three bedrooms and a bathroom. She knew that the second door on the right was her Aunt Phoebe's room, so she knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Phoebe called from inside.

"Pepper," she answered. Phoebe beckoned her in and Pepper opened the door.

Phoebe was sitting on her queen-size bed, painting her toenails blue. "Hey Pepper," she said, twisting the cap back on the nail polish bottle and fanning her toes. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you, Aunt Piper, Aunt Paige and Uncle Leo," Pepper replied. "I know Aunt Paige and Uncle Leo aren't here yet, but if you could come down to the sitting room…"

Piper was in the hallway, closing the door to her room, as Pepper and Phoebe left Phoebe's bedroom. "I was putting the baby down," Piper explained. The three of them headed back to the sitting room.

Surprisingly enough, Leo and Paige were already down there. "Ah, good, you're all here!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Pepper wants to tell us something," said Piper, her eyebrow raised. They all sat down on the various couches and chairs in the room and Pepper began her proposition.

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Their faces were on the front page of the Daily Prophet the next morning. Pepper, Harry, Hermione and Ron all grabbed their copies from their owls when the post came. Smiling at them from the front page was a huge picture of the four of them, Malfoy, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Giancarlo, Sprout, Snape, Flitwick, Sinstra, and Vector, Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo, and a group of Aurors and Order members that Pepper did not know. Harry was in the front of the picture, of course, because the Ministry and the Prophet loved to endorse the Boy-Who-Lived.

The picture took up the entire front page and squeezed below it were the words Full Interviews Inside. Flipping through each page; Pepper saw that most of the newspaper was full of interviews about the war.

"I hope they haven't twisted our words too much," said Hermione as she turned the page to read the interviews. "Ah, Harry, yours is first."

"That's a big surprise," Ron mumbled.

Hermione read aloud, (half of the Gryffindor table was listening in), "Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, as finally defeated You-Know-Who, as we all have suspected he would.

The son of late Lily and James Potter, Harry has been going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for six years. He spends his summer holidays at the home of his Muggle relatives. Mr. Potter is a very talented wizard and possibly the most talented Quidditch player Hogwarts has seen for years. He plays the position of Seeker on the Gryffindor team and has only lost one game in his playing history.

Potter has had more hardships in his sixteen years of life than most people will have in their entire lives, including having his parents killed by You-Know-Who when Harry was just one year old. He has faced He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named several times in his years at Hogwarts, and every time has come out unscathed. This time, however, instead of merely escaping You-Know-Who, young Harry destroyed him. With the help of his rumored girlfriend, Pepper Halliwell, and his best friends Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, Potter was able to find You-Know-Who and incinerate him."

"Rumored girlfriend?" Pepper said loudly, interrupting Hermione. "Where do they get these things?"

"Continue, Hermione," Harry said, trying not to reveal that Pepper had rustled his feathers with that comment. That proved it: she didn't like him. He was definitely going to ask Ginny out now.

Hermione went on, "When asked what exactly went on that night, Potter divulged that Pepper Halliwell found out where the Death Eater meeting was taking place and from there he and a group of witches and wizards attacked the meeting. The battle was long, said Potter, and there were many unnamable demons and Death Eaters to defeat. It seemed that You-Know-Who—"

"They're still too afraid to print Voldemort's name!" Harry exclaimed.

Hermione continued with the article. "It seemed that You-Know-Who had teamed up with another powerful being, called the Source, (see page 6 for more information on the Source), and the two were difficult to beat. Said Potter, "If it weren't for Pepper and her aunts and uncle, there's no way we could've won. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was nothing compared to the Source." Potter said that after all of the Death Eaters and demons were dead, he was able to get to You-Know-Who. With assistance from Pepper Halliwell and Ronald Weasley, Potter was able to weaken He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and when You-Know-Who threw the Killing Curse at Potter, Potter was able to reflect it back to him using a shield charm and focusing on his loved ones. Love seems to be You-Know-Who's ultimate end.

"They didn't alter it too much," commented Harry. "I still can't believe they won't print Voldemort's name. Do they think he'll come back from the dead and kill them if they say it?"

"I want to hear your interview, Hermione," said Ron. He slipped a hand around her waist.

"But Pepper's is next," Hermione replied. As she opened her mouth to begin reading, Malfoy came storming over to their table.

"Move over, Granger," he snarled, shoving Hermione over on the bench and sitting next to her. Lavender Brown, who was sitting on the other side of Hermione, seemed very surprised to now have Draco Malfoy sitting next to her. In fact, it seemed to make her a little giggly.

Malfoy brandished the Prophet in front of Pepper's face across the table. "What, Malfoy?" Pepper asked. "I know the picture of you is bad, but that's not my fault."

"Black?" said Malfoy, drawing the paper away from Pepper's face. He put it down on the table in front of him; right into Hermione's breakfast. She sneered at him. "You're a Black?" he continued.

"Oh, yea, I am," Pepper said. "Wait, how'd you find that out?"

"It's in your interview," replied Malfoy.

Pepper picked up her own copy of the newspaper. Pepper Halliwell-Black is the orphaned daughter of ex-fugitive Sirius Black and Prudence Halliwell, a late Charmed One. For those of you who don't know anything about the Charmed Ones, they are…

"I didn't tell them about being a hyphen," Pepper said, furrowing her brow. Then she remembered the first time she met Mr. Weasley. "Halliwell-Black, isn't it?" Mr. Weasley had asked. "Yes…" Pepper'd said. "How'd you know?" "I work for the Ministry of Magic," had been Mr. Weasley's quick explanation.

"But the Ministry knew," Pepper continued. "And now so does everyone else."

"We're second cousins," said Malfoy, glaring at Pepper.

She shrugged. "I guess so." Pepper grinned at the furious look on his face.

"So, Malfoy, are you good now?" Harry asked, somewhat jokingly. "Since you took that potion, I mean? Your daddy isn't here to order you around anymore. Hell, you don't even have to be in Slytherin anymore! We could have you switched over into Gryffindor!"

"Shove it, Potter," Malfoy said angrily.

"But shouldn't we be on a first name basis now, since you're going to be our roommate?" said Ron.

Malfoy got up and left, leaving the Gryffindors to have a laugh at the Slytherin's expense.

"You're Sirius Black's daughter?" came a question from a younger Gryffindor.

"Isn't that what it says in the paper?" Pepper snapped. "I did give the interview myself."

Meanwhile, a few of the first and second year Gryffindors were coming over timidly, asking Harry to autograph their copies of the Daily Prophet. "Honestly," said Hermione in disbelief, "they see Harry every day."

But when the group spread out and started asking Hermione, Ron and Pepper for their autographs as well, all Hermione did was turn pink.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" a first year asked Hermione, who turned even pinker.

Ron tightened his grip around her waist. "Shove off, midget, she's taken," he said gruffly.

Pepper and Harry laughed, but Hermione said, "Ron, don't be so mean!" The first year just bent his head and walked away.

"Oh Pepper! Ooh! Pepper! Can I have your autograph? I just adore you so much!"

Pepper looked up, recognizing the voice, and saw Alana hurrying towards the Gryffindor table, waving a paper frantically in imitation of the eleven-year-olds. Pepper laughed as her friend came over. "Move over, Granger, if you would," Alana said, much like Malfoy, and squeezed onto the seat without Hermione's consent. "Hey, Halliwell," she greeted with a grin. "Looks like you've been busy."

"Yea, I have been," Pepper replied. The pile of first and second years was thinning. "Where's Blaise?"

"With Draco, no doubt," Alana said, sounding slightly miffed.

"What happened?" Pepper asked.

"We don't want to know about your personal life, Stoke, so if you'd leave, we'd all appreciate it," said Ron, none-too-friendly.

Alana turned to Ron, who was leaning over his girlfriend to talk to the Slytherin. "I'm not talking to you, Weasel, I'm talking to Pepper. Besides, you should be glad I'm sitting here: I'm shoving your girlfriend onto your lap."

Ron didn't say anything more. Alana rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Pepper. "I broke up with Blaise," Alana continued.

"What? Why?" Pepper wondered.

"He was getting too boring for me," Alana said, though Pepper could tell there was something more to it. "Well, I'm going now. I'll see you later, Halliwell." Alana got up and left the table; Hermione slid back over into her seat.

"Why are you friends with her, Pepper?" Ron asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I can be friends with whomever I wish. Plus, now that Voldemort's gone, there shouldn't be so many rivalries," Pepper pointed out.

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Miss Halliwell-Black just started Hogwarts this year and has proved to be one of the top students of her year. She lives with her three aunts and her uncle. Though Miss Halliwell would not confirm this herself, Hogwarts students revealed to this reporter that Miss Halliwell has special magical powers, such as freezing time, cloning herself, the power to deflect objects, and telekinesis. These reports seem sensible, since Miss Halliwell's own mother was a Charmed One.

On the night of the Battle, Miss Halliwell reported that she was able to find the location of the Death Eater meeting through careful study and planning, and a little spying. Professor Dumbledore had most of the side of Good gather in Hogwarts' Great Hall to devise a plan to ambush the meeting, and it appeared to work. "I hope this will be the last battle I ever see in my life," said Halliwell. Though she is used to killing demons, she had never vanquished any humans before. That is, if you could call the Death Eaters human.

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