Written In The Body

Poetheather

A/N: Sorry for not posting an extra chapter but my daughter got married on Saturday and so life simply precluded anything but this chapter heading your way. If it's any consolation, it's long… very long.

A/N 2: My file has this fic at over 200k at the moment… very cool.

Still not JKR.

Thirty-Two

It was a different sight from what she was used to seeing after seven years of knowing him, but seeing Harry rush up and hug Luna, spinning her around so that the blond girl squealed happily was quite simply the most adorable Harry moment ever. He had a big grin on his face while he was doing it that was so atypical and his green eyes were only on her. Hermione was so excited at seeing her best friend feeling this alive that she really did not know what to do. This was something new and it made her smile, quite pleased to be witnessing this sweet moment between the two of them. He dipped his girl, still holding her aloft in his arms, and kissed her soundly. When he let her up Luna was giggling softly, her eyes twinkling merrily and looking right at him as if he was all that existed in the world. There was no doubt as to what either was feeling at the moment. Harry set her down lightly and she was slightly wobbly, a blissfully dazed look on her face and a smile that spoke volumes. Then he came over and hugged Hermione in much the same manner, twirling her about.

Laughing, she was grinning from ear to ear when she was put back down onto her feet, thankfully unsnogged. "I've missed you Harry."

"I've missed you too Hermione and I even miss the school believe it or not but the Auror training has actually been interesting. For the most part, this stage of it has been really easy for me, since I know all of what they are teaching and I might actually be a bit better than some of this round of instructors thanks to Moody and what he was trying to drill into our heads." Harry was pleased about everything and looked good, having gained some height and some muscle. Luna drifted over and took his arm, hugging it.

"I'm glad to hear that and I do hope you are studying without needing to be prodded. I know what your study habits are like Harry. Now, what was the whole business with having them put Wild Otter on my broom with a picture of something like my Patronus on it? Are you crazy?"

Harry started snickering. "But Hermione, giving you nose art on your broom is so perfectly you that it's crazy. I am sure it's cute as I actually got to approve the art before I would agree to it. It really does fit. How can you argue with that?"

"I guess you can't. Ginny loved it and wants to do something like that for her broom now. With your luck you've started the newest fad in brooms. Honestly Harry, you can be so weird sometimes. It's a good thing I love you. Speaking of that, I have been worried about you. Have you been sleeping well? Any problems?" She asked worriedly, knowing about her own issues and how they had been affecting her.

"A few, but I have easy access to Senior Healer Bainsley whenever I need it so that's been fine. So he has tinkered with my potions a few times, and there are a couple of other things I have been doing, to deal with some of the spell damage and trauma. It really has been a good help. I am getting better Hermione, really. I am not in the same state I was in when you came back from Oz." Harry did look good and she had to give him that. The Harry she saw in Grimmauld Place when she had come back after retrieving her parents was nothing like this Harry. This one wasn't even like the Harry she had known in school. This was pretty much the best parts Harry and that was wonderful.

This description of his further treatment peaked Hermione's interest, "Oh? Like what sort of spell damage?"

"Oh I don't know… maybe like being hit by the Killing Curse for a second time." said Harry rather dryly, rolling his eyes.

Ginny bumped a blushing Hermione and said, "Granger, stop hogging the Prat who lived."

This earned some laughter as Harry was let go of by Luna before hugged her enthusiastically, lifting her off her feet. He did not twirl her but held her in the air as he spoke, "Hey Gin."

"Hey Harry. Good to see you. Where's my git of a brother?" asked Ginny with a smile.

Harry shrugged and put her back down. "I'm not exactly sure to be honest. He was held up some and I have no idea why. I may have been a little too focused on something when I got here to pay attention to that. Why do you ask?"

The girls scanned the area quickly to make sure there were no eavesdroppers about and then Ginny said, "We're telling him today."

Harry groaned, dropping his head forward. He ran a hand through his messy hair. "Seriously? You're telling him today of all days? Are you at least going to do it before things kick off?"

Ginny and Hermione nodded. Hermione was biting her bottom lip nervously before she spoke, saying, "We wanted to take care of things early, to give him some time during the event to cope with everything so that he might be able to talk to us by the end. After what we have figured out with the PTSD and everything we really are worried about him. Have you had any luck getting him to go see someone?"

"Not yet but I keep trying making it clear to him that it isn't a bad thing and that if it happened to the both of us then it is likely that it happened to him as well." explained Harry with a shrug. "But you know Ron, getting him to do things he doesn't want to do is almost impossible. He keeps saying he's fine and nothing's wrong and to leave him alone about things."

"Yeah, we do and that's the problem. We want to do this with as little drama as possible and unfortunately Ron creates a lot of that on his own without help from anyone else. Right now we want to get things started so that he might actually be open to talking to us later, when he calms down. It was the best plan that we could think of. We owe it to him to tell him first." explained Ginny, not bothering to say anything about George, especially since he had figured it out and hadn't been told at all.

"Fine. I wish you two luck with this. Do you think you will need me here? You know, in case he does something Ronnish?" asked Harry, clearly as nervous as they were about the upcoming meeting.

Hermione bit her lower lip again. It wasn't as if it were a bad idea but she could also see the flip side of it. "No, if we do that then he'll think we're ganging up on him. You go hang out with Luna and make her smile more. She's really missed you and could use some Harry time. Gin and I know how much she has been mooning over you and I am fairly certain you have been missing her as well. This way at least someone is happy. We'll go find him and get this over with before the ceremony begins."

With a grin he hugged Luna to him and kissed the blonde's temple before he nodded acceptance as the two girls walked off, looking for Ron. Ginny looked back over her shoulder at the dark haired Harry and the light haired Luna cuddling and commented, "They really are cute together."

Hermione nodded, in complete agreement with her girlfriend. The two of them really did warm her heart when she looked at them. "I'm happy for both of them. Luna lets Harry be the kid he's never been able to be before and Harry gives Luna the love and stability she has needed since her mother died. They really do balance each other out nicely and you can just see how much they adore each other. It is as plain as day. Pushing them together was one of my best ideas ever."

Ginny turned her head and looked at her somewhat confused, "Wait, this whole thing was your idea?"

"Well, knowing how much talking to Luna helped me when I was at Shell Cottage in getting over my… my experience, I figured that she would also be able to help him deal with what he was going through. She really is very insightful and while I do think that some of her creatures are a bit fanciful, some of them actually do make a sort of sense if you look at them from a certain point of view. My time with her helped me see that and to be better able to appreciate her and her way of thinking. I figured, since she and Harry already got along, considering how he took her to Slughorn's party and all, that his talking to her about all of this would be easy for him to do." explained Hermione with a shrug. "If anything happened that would be a bonus."

"Oh and leading him away so you could have your wicked way with me wasn't your point?" teased Ginny, with a happy grin on her face.

"Gin…" Hermione's voice was very chiding, "By the time I had suggested that to him he had already told me to let you know he couldn't be with you because of all of his issues and that he felt he was always letting you down. He was really torn up about it. You know I wouldn't do that, sabotaging a friend like that, especially Harry. Besides at that point I didn't even know about myself and my interest in girls. If I had I certainly thought there was no way that you would be interested in a relationship with me."

Ginny shrugged, acknowledging those points. "I wasn't, well… not really, but you were so awesome and so good to me that I couldn't really help myself. I fell completely in love with you over the summer thanks to everything you did. You treated me like I had always wanted to be treated and that made me feel special. Seriously Hermione, what can I say… you're that good."

Hermione rolled her eyes, of all the things she had ever expected to hear, Ginny stating that she had been turned gay by how incredible Hermione was had to be near the bottom of that list. "Honestly Ginevra."

Ginny was about to retort when the playful smile fled her face as it shut down. She pointed behind her girlfriend and said in a flat and worried tone, "There he is."

Hermione's muscles tensed some at the thought of the upcoming conflict and she put on a somewhat fake smile as she turned about to head towards Ron, with Ginny in tow. As she got close to him she noted that he seemed a bit off. She called out, "Hi Ron!"

"Hermione! Ginny! How have you been?" He came up and hugged them both, his arms lingering around Hermione for a bit longer. Both girls were impressed by how he had filled out since his training had begun. He was a good bit more muscular than before and even looked a bit taller and more broad shouldered than when they had seen him last and the changes did him good. He looked more like Bill and Charlie than before and the physical maturity was working nicely.

"Not too bad. We've been really busy lately with classes and the like." said Hermione, trying to keep things nice and calm at the moment as she could feel her anxiety over this beginning to ramp up. It was making her stomach start to churn and she was hoping she was able to keep it off her face. "Hey… can we go talk over there?"

He looked at her a bit funny when she asked that, as if he wasn't sure what exactly was going on and said cautiously, "Sure."

The three of them headed away from the rest of the people milling about and chatting to an area fairly separated from the rest. It was doubtful that anyone could casually overhear them and they could easily see anyone heading towards them. This was the best she could do. Ron was fidgeting a little and appeared to be a bit worried over what was to come. Hermione couldn't really blame him as how could this have not sounded suspicious when she had spoken? He was a touch accusatory as he asked, "What is it? I figure it has to be bad news or something if you had to drag me over here to tell me. Clearly you didn't want to make a scene."

Hermione wasn't exactly sure how to say this, as the whole issue with him had been plaguing her for a while and even though her relationship with Ginny was all she had ever wanted and more, this had been hanging over it like the Sword of Damocles ready to fall and ruin things at any moment. She had tried planning what to say but all of those words scattered like frightened rabbits from the look in his face. It took her a moment but she found some words and pressed on. "Ron, look, I've needed to tell you something for a while now, something important but I wanted to do it face to face as a letter would be far too impersonal and it wouldn't be fair to you."

"It's another bloke isn't it!" growled out Ron, clearly jumping to the conclusion. His blue eyes were narrowed in anger. "You're leaving me for some other bloke aren't you? Bloody hell Hermione, you couldn't just send me a letter to let me know or even give me a heads up that something was wrong? You had to wait and tell me face to face?"

She was fighting her immediate response of diving into the fight and screaming right back at him, giving as good as she got, which is what she normally did when it came to him and his asinine responses. Of course Ron would be upset over this; there was nothing about any of this that was a surprise to her. He had every right to be but there really was no cause for him to be this aggressive. Did he have to respond to everything with growling and an urge to attack it? "Ron, I know I told you before that I was not interested in having a romantic relationship with you but knowing you I figured you might be holding on. I didn't want you to be holding on to false hope. I just wanted to make sure that the both of us were on the same page is all."

"Of course I was holding on Hermione! I told you as much the last time we talked! You know how I feel about you. It led me to you. You've known how I feel about you for a while now! I told you when I came back to you guys. I was led there by my heart, by how I felt about you. I still feel that way about you now. I love you Hermione! That hasn't changed." Ron was getting more and more worked up and that was worrying her some. His voice was growing louder and sharper. There was no way that this was going to end without a huge fight. Why did it have to come to this?

"But I did. I changed. I told you Ron when we were at Shell Cottage that what Bellatrix did to me that night changed me… a lot and it forced me think about myself in ways I never had before. It was not a comfortable experience, going through that or having to re-evaluate my life. There was a reason that I pulled away from you Ron, a reason I was no longer interested in having a relationship with you and it's not because you are a bad guy and it's not because I don't love you." explained Hermione yet again, feeling a growing hopelessness within as Ron never seemed to be able to understand what she was trying to say about things. Why was he always so thick when it was important? This wasn't really all that difficult to understand so why was he making it such an issue? How could he be that obtuse?

"Then if you love me what's the problem!" interrupted Ron, cutting into what she was saying abruptly, practically demanding her love in return.

Hermione closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to stave off the growing headache that this was giving her. This was not going like she had planned and yet sadly it was going exactly like she had half expected it to go. She let out her breath in a heavy sigh and looked at him, her eyes tired and sad, everything she was feeling clearly on display. "I am trying to get to that Ronald, so shut up, please."

Ron pursed his lips tight until they were white but his face was red with his anger. It was clear that his emotions were only growing in intensity and the fuse had been lit. She was sure he was going to blow in just a little while and there was nothing she could think of to stop this except to cave in and accept his love. She really didn't need this.

The only thing that she could think of to do right now was to dive right in and tear the bandage off, to not give him any room to find a toehold to keep this dream of his alive. She had wanted to work him around to this but clearly this wasn't going to play out that way. There was no way that he was going to make this easy so there was no reason for her to make it easy either. "Look, what you need to know about me is that the reason I pulled away from you is that I am not attracted to guys."

"Bollocks!" yelled Ron. A few heads turned their way curiously, noting the outburst and Ron's agitation but the three of them were too far away from everyone else to be overheard by any of those others. His face was bright red, eyes narrowed, and his hands were clenched tightly. She had rarely seen him this angry. "That's complete bollocks and you know it. What about those other guys you dated before me and that I know you snogged? I know we snogged and you enjoyed it."

"Yes Ron, I am aware that we did snog. And yes, you're right, I did kiss Viktor and sadly MacLaggen and of all the boys I have kissed you were by far the best of the bunch. However that still does not change the fundamental fact I am not into boys." explained Hermione in growing frustration, hoping that she was able to get through to him. Honestly, this was getting ridiculous and making her rather grumpy. "That's why we never went any farther than the occasional snog."

"So what you're saying is that you're into girls then? Are you seriously telling me that? You know, I guess the only way you would really know that is I figure you're seeing someone then? Are you? Are you dating some girl?" His voice was tense and his hands clenched, even tighter, his knuckles seemed to be growing white.

Despite how much she wanted to lie about this to try and make this easier for Ron, it went against so much of who she was to lie to her friends, even if it might make him feel better. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This had to be done if he was ever going to leave her alone and move on with his life. "Yes I am. I have been seeing them for a while now."

"How long?" He growled out, glaring at her in building fury.

"Ron does it really matter? Isn't enough to know it's happening?" she asked, trying to deflect this whole line of questioning. This was heading closer and closer to an explosion and she had no idea how to defuse this. It was like watching a disaster in progress but being unable to do anything.

"How long!?" he yelled, his voice not carrying as far as his earlier shout but much more spiteful.

Hermione flinched from that and wished that she could find shelter in Ginny's arms right now, but this really wasn't the time for something like that. If she did that things might actually come to blows and that needed to be avoided at all costs. "If you really must know, since a few weeks before school started."

Ron glared at her, his mind clearly at work churning over all of this information. His blue eyes cut over towards his sister who had been standing off to the side, quietly watching this whole time, her own hands clenched tightly together, knuckles white, looking on uncomfortably. It was clear she was trying to restrain herself from moving or saying something in comment. He looked back at Hermione and then back at his sister before his eyes widened in realization, taking a step back in shock, "No! Bloody Hell! No! You didn't!"

"Ron, please!" Hermione was begging him to listen to him.

"My own sister? You and my sister? That's… that's… that's disgusting! How could you? And you!" He turned to face his sister, his eyes blazing with pure hatred. "You knew how I felt about her!"

"Yes Ron I did but what was I supposed to do about that? I also knew she wasn't interested in you. I didn't plan on it I just fell in love with her!" Ginny yelled right back, not giving her brother an inch. She was not going to yield to Ron over anything, especially anything important like this.

His eyes narrowed and he asked accusingly, "Well, what about Harry?"

"What about Harry? He dumped me again, at the beginning of the summer and Hermione was there to help me pick up the pieces, even before she knew she was into girls. She was there for me when I needed someone after Fred died. All she's ever done is be there for me and show me love and kindness. So yeah, we didn't plan on this, didn't plan to ruin your perfect little dream relationship but I am happy with her and I don't bloody care!" Ginny stepped forward challengingly, daring Ron to do something.

Ron stepped closer to her, the distance separating them dwindling. "My own sister betrayed me, turning on her own family, how pathetic is that!"

"I didn't betray anyone you bloody idiot! She told you that you weren't together anymore, a couple of times, and anyway you kept doing dumb things that were only driving you apart, even if she had been interested in you. Besides, you're one to talk about betrayal!" spat Ginny, her own eyes blazing to match Ron's.

"Ginny!" yelled Hermione, shocked by what her girlfriend had said to her brother. She couldn't believe how vicious this whole thing was getting. "Shut up and move over there. You are not helping!"

Ginny glared at Ron and moved off over to where Hermione was pointing, never taking her eyes off her brother. It was clear from the way that she was holding herself that she was ready to jump into the fray if needed at a moment's notice. The tension in the air between the three of them was palpable and charged with their magic. It was creating enough static energy in the air that she could feel her hair begin to frizz ever so slightly. Hermione sighed in frustration; this was going oh so well. She needed to find some way past this impasse if this was ever going to work. "Look Ron, I'm sorry that things turned out this way, I really am. You are one of my best friends and I never wanted to hurt you with this. Just because we are not romantically involved does not mean I don't want to be friends with you. You and I have been friends for all these years; can we please just get past this? I just want you to be happy for me and I want you to find your own happiness."

Ron glared a bit more at Ginny, and then he looked back at Hermione and shrugged. It was easy to tell that he had given up on the argument. "Fine. Whatever. I don't know. Let me think about it."

He trudged off, clearly upset by all of this, and his mood seemed to follow him like a miasma of despair. Hermione groaned, wanting to scream, smack Ron, maybe even yell at Ginny for her interference but none of it would be helpful and when she turned Ginny was there with her arms open, looking contrite. "I'm sorry Kitten, I really am. I'm such a git. I shouldn't have yelled at him."

Hermione slumped against her, the stress of that confrontation making her feel a bit weak and jittery. "It's okay Vixy. You were only defending me. We knew he wasn't going to take it well, I just thought he might take it better than this. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it 'mione. It's not like we planned for it to go badly. So I guess this means we have Ron and George covered, in terms of letting them know. Now all we have to do is tell everyone else." Ginny grumbled in frustration, obviously not partial to the idea. "Oh Merlin, I hate this."

"Well, Bill might also know, since Fleur already knows." added Hermione helpfully as she freed herself from Ginny's arms. "But I'm not sure if she told him. She may keep it secret since it is out business."

"I keep forgetting that you told her everything before you told me how you felt." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Like I was going to tell you how I felt at that point?" countered Hermione. "I didn't even know if you were interested."

"Okay. That's a fair point. I'm not upset about it and was mostly teasing, to lighten the mood you know. So is there anything else we need to do be doing before this whole crazy event you set up starts?" asked Ginny, looking around at the crowd.

"I just need to check a few last minute things with Percy but everything is good on my end. I am looking forward to this being over so I can collapse for a while. Go grab our seats and I'll be right there." said Hermione.

Ginny nodded and squeezed her arm before she headed off towards the Great Hall, where everything was already set up and decorated for the ceremony. Hermione was able to find Percy with a bit of work and was able to confirm that everything was ready on both sides of this event, both the Hogwarts side and the Ministry. Everything was prepared and once the ceremony was over, everything would be cleaned up by the more than willing house elves and there would still be the usual Halloween dinner tonight for all of the students. The house elves had assured her that they could do all of that with no problem and she believed them but it did seem a bit crazy to her. The fact that they looked excited by the challenge it presented was disturbing. She would never understand them. They just didn't make any sort of sense.

Once she was done checking in with Percy she headed off to find Ginny who was supposed to be sitting up near the front with Harry and Ron and the other survivors of the battle. As she neared the entrance to the Great Hall a pair of people moved to intercept her in a nonthreatening manner. They were dressed quite fashionably, predominantly in black and one had a very familiar head of white blond hair. She paused and watched Mother and Son come toward her slightly cautiously.

"Miss Granger, might we have a moment of your time?" asked Mrs. Malfoy, looking far less haughty than she used to.

"Certainly." Hermione moved away from the flow of traffic into the Great Hall and the two of them followed. "How can I help you Mrs. Malfoy?"

"I know that when we last saw each other it was under… rather poor terms. I would like to apologize to you, especially for my sister's abhorrent behavior." Narcissa was clearly uncomfortable with this but it was clear that she was working to move past her issues to accomplish this.

"I would like to apologize as well Granger, uh… Miss Granger for how I behaved to you while we were classmates. There was no call for that and it reflects poorly on me and my family." Draco looked physically pained to be saying this and he bowed his head slightly.

Hermione was completely stunned by that development. The whole idea of the Malfoys ever doing something like this just boggled her mind. What had happened to have made them come to her of their own accord and apologize to her? Whatever it was it had to have been pretty big. She figured she had to say something but she had no idea what. "Thank you both for that. Especially you Draco, I hope you didn't pull something while saying that." Her smile softened her words some and Draco gave her the ghost of a familiar look. "I know you didn't have to do this."

"We owed you this at the very least Miss Granger. Draco told me that you, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley saved him from the Fiendfyre that one of his… friends so foolishly cast? I owe you three so very much for that. My son means very much to me." Draco was blushing as his mother spoke, clearly embarrassed by what she was saying.

"Mrs. Malfoy, despite our combative relationship there was no way we were going to let someone die in that. I am just glad that we managed to get out of there. It was a pretty close thing." She said, with a bit of a smile. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out what else she needed to say. That they were doing this at all was interesting. It was possible that she could milk this for more as it was quite possible that Draco owed them a life debt but she wasn't sure. Perhaps the situation simply warranted some degree of closure. "I accept your apology. Thank you for that."

Draco barely withheld a grimace at that though his mother was able to smile at her graciously and then glide into the Great Hall. Hermione shook her head, amazed by the whole thing. Who would have believed that had just happened? She was sure that Ginny would simply stare at her when she told her about this. Heading into the Hall she moved down the aisle where she waved at her parents as she walked by them. They grinned at her and waved back, clearly impressed with the school. It made her sad that this was the first time they had seen the school that she loved so much. But they were here now and that was something. She took her seat next to Ginny and squeezed her thigh. Ginny shared a grin with her and they waited for things to begin, which wouldn't be long as she had been one of the last people inside.

Once it was clear that the crowd was seated, the Frog Choir walked up on stage and sang a few songs, under the direction of Professor Flitwick. They were really good, as usual, and helped quiet down the audience and get them focused on the front of the room. Once that performance was over Kingsley Shacklebolt walked up to the podium and looked out across the mass of people filling the room. "Thank you Professor Flitwick and the Hogwarts Frog Choir for those songs you performed for us, truly a wonderful way to begin this event. Ladies and gentlemen, students, thank you all for coming here today. Today is a special day, a day to remember those who have done so much for us. On the evening of this day, seventeen years ago the first Wizarding War against the forces of the Death Eaters and their master, Lord Voldemort came to an end."

There were some gasps, but not as many as usual. Hermione guessed that it was the fact that the most feared villain of the wizarding world was dead and had been dead for months helped matters. It was a sign that people were getting better that they could hear that name without as much fear as before.

"It has also been almost eight months since the second Wizarding War against the same forces ended in a pitched battle right here on the grounds of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. We are here today in order to recognize those brave souls who fought in that battle and to commemorate those who have died in the fight against that Dark Wizard who sought to destroy all that was good and noble in our country." Minister Shacklebolt stood proud and tall, ignoring the occasional flash of a wizarding camera as he spoke. He appeared to be the absolute perfect image of a Minister of Magic quite unlike Fudge or any other person who had held this spot since that bowler wearing fool.

"It is also a time for us to right past wrongs and to celebrate justice. It is a time for us to pull together as a nation and move past these horrors and the bigotry that spawned them. It is a time for us to become the great society that we always had the promise to be." He paused for applause, waving people quiet after a short while. "Thanks to the hard dedicated work of the Wizengamont, it gives me great pleasure to inform you all that the trials of the captured Death Eaters have been concluded, their wealth seized and their sentences have been carried out. Since many of these cases were held during closed sessions of the Wizengamont and under a press blackout I know you all were not aware of everything that had transpired. For the exact sentencing of the various surviving Death Eaters you can see the stories being run in tomorrow's Daily Prophet."

There was a good deal of applause at that. It was a nice surprise to hear that. Hermione was aware that there had been a lot of prisoners captured after the battle and if all that had been dealt with that was indeed good news.

"Now we need to make some corrections to the public perceptions of several individuals who gave their lives to defeat Lord Voldemort and his forces. These people were true heroes and need to be remembered as such. First off, Sirius Orion Black the Third." There were several gasps when he said the name and he continued on, clearly unconcerned with people's reactions. "He was innocent of the charges brought against him and he had been falsely confined to Azkaban Prison without trial. The real traitor to the Potter family was Peter Pettigrew who was the real secret keeper for the family, and who has since had his Order of Merlin, First Class stripped from him and given instead to Mister Black. The man escaped Azkaban prison with the sole intention of protecting his godson Harry Potter and he did so. While on the run from the Ministry he continued to fight against Death Eaters and the man died fighting in the Ministry of Magic the night it was confirmed Lord Voldemort returned. The man was a hero and should be remembered as such."

The room was silent and then Harry started applauding, coming to his feet, tears in his eyes. Hermione and the Weasleys were the next onto their feet followed by the other members of the Order of the Phoenix who had also known the truth. The rest of the room nervously followed suit, clearly taking their cues from the acknowledged heroes. Hermione was just so happy that Sirius was getting the recognition that he deserved. Clearly Harry was very moved by the whole thing, which she could understand.

After a few moments Kingsley gestured for everyone to settle down before he continued, "I must also speak about Severus Snape, Potions Master and former Headmaster of Hogwarts. While it is true that the man was a Death Eater, he had been working as a spy against them since the first War. He approached this task with a singular dedication and focus, giving his life wholly to the task of defeating his enemy Lord Voldemort even though he had to appear to be a true believer of that which he most detested. He was so successful in his role as a spy that even many of the Order of the Phoenix doubted him. For his years of work toward fighting against this menace that cost him his own life at the hands of a madman he has been awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class."

The applause was again started by those who knew the full story and then spread slowly out. He then spoke about the Potters, the Longbottoms, Madeye Moony, the Battle of Hogwarts, talking about the fallen, giving awards to Lupin and Tonks as well, and then saying that those students who had fought in the battle were given Orders of Merlin, Third Class, even the fallen. To say that the students who had fought were stunned by the gesture was an understatement. They just sat there as the room exploded in applause.

Then the teachers who had fought and defended the school were recognized and given awards, with Headmistress McGonnagall being awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class for her work to protect the school and her work in the Order of the Phoenix. The Minister then said, "Could Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley please come to the stage."

When the three of them walked up and stood next to him, Kingsley continued speaking, "These three, members of the group known as Dumbledore's Army that was founded by Harry Potter, led the underground rebellion in the castle while it was under Death Eater control. Through their work they organized the students and managed to smuggle students who were in danger out of the school and to safety. They routinely put themselves in harm's way for the good of their fellow students and in doing so protected many from torture and possible death. For this both Miss Lovegood and Weasley will receive the Order of Merlin, Second Class. Mr. Longbottom, who in addition to those activities stood up to Voldemort directly when it was thought that Mister Potter had died and then Mr. Longbottom killed his snake with the Sword of Gryffindor. For that, he has earned the Order of Merlin, First Class."

The applause was loud and long for those three and Hermione was so proud of her girlfriend that she could burst. She just gazed at her girl lovingly, her smile almost hurting her face with how broad it was. While she had expected to get an award herself, she had not expected to see so many given out or for so many awards to be given out for past actions. That the Potter and Longbottom families now had awards for their services was beautiful. This was wonderful.

"And now for the final awards of the day, I would like to call to the podium Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

The audience cheered for them and Hermione blushed as she made her way up to the stairs to stand next to the Minister. She was so caught up in the moment, in catching Ginny's happy eyes and her parent pride filled eyes that she only barely registered that the Minister was still talking. When she glanced at the other two through the corner of her eye, Harry looked awkward and uncomfortable, clearly not wanting to be there. She had to admit that she didn't feel much better, her stomach churning some. Ron looked like he was vacillating between pride and getting ready to vomit, his face somewhat pale. This felt so strange, being up here, looking out across this huge crowd that filled the Great Hall and getting lauded for what was essentially doing everything she could to stay alive and keep her best friends alive. In a way it felt wrong to be praised like this, like it was cheating somehow. She was not really anyone special, was she? Naturally her parents and Ginny thought so, but she was just a girl who loved to study and was curious about everything. If that curiosity had helped keep her and her friends alive that was all to the good, right. She knew that her knowledge that allowed her to make the expansion charm certainly helped as did several other things. Her left forearm itched uncomfortably and she shifted some, rubbing her scar with the palm of her hand to relieve the pressure. It was getting warm up here and she kind of wanted to sit down.

This was not something she had ever asked for; she had never pursued an accolade such as this and really what had any of it gotten her? Pursued like an animal for months, scarred, tortured, petrified, bloodied, hurt time and again, all for the privilege of standing there in front of all those people who had no true idea what she had gone through for what? For this? For these people who thought she was a second class citizen? She caught Ginny's eyes and the girl was looking at her worriedly. Those compassionate brown eyes made her check her thoughts and realize where they were going, how they were spiraling, made her realize that she was gripping her left forearm. Ginny mimed deep breathing and she followed along, letting the breathing help calm her and her jangled emotions, allowing her to give a bit of a smile.

The applause startled her a little as did the presentation of the award. She smiled as genuinely as she could manage at that moment and once the noise died down followed the other two down and back to their seats. Once she was seated, Ginny took her hand, squeezing it, which helped her nerves settle even more. The room hushed again. "One more thing before we go outside to see the monument to the victory here at Hogwarts that we will dedicated to those fallen heroes, also during those closed sessions of the Wizengamont it was decided that the wealth of the dead and prosecuted Death Eaters would be put to use. After much debate it was decided to split the collected wealth in fourth. One fourth shall be given to the Ministry, one fourth to Hogwarts, one fourth to those who fought here or the families of the fallen and by a unanimous decision the remaining fourth is to be divided amongst the Golden Trio for their years of service to the wizarding world."

The room again burst into applause but a number of people both students and parents alike were just sitting in their seats, stunned by that revelation. Hermione's head was reeling, just how much money was that? There had been some very wealthy families involved in Voldemort's forces and if all of that wealth that hadn't already been used had been collected and divided… she practically swooned at that realization. She had gone from being a poor student with great prospects to a wealthy student with great prospects. Harry braced her from the other side and smiled at her nervously, shrugging at her as if unsure what to say. This was another thing they hadn't planned on. Ron looked as if he had been hit in the head with a Troll club, eyes unblinking and mouth fallen open, gaping at the Minister.

"Thank you all and let us give all our heroes our heartfelt congratulations and thanks with a warm round of applause." If anything the noise got louder, shaking the room with its intensity.

When they stood, Ginny came over and hugged Hermione, "Congratulations 'mione, you totally deserve it. It couldn't happen to a better person. Good job Harry. Congrats Ron, I always knew that you would make something of yourself."

Ron blinked and then it looked like he finally realized that he had indeed done something that no one else in his family had done, given that he had an Order of Merlin, First Class and was a recognized hero of their whole world. That caused him to grin broadly and say, "Thanks Gin. You didn't do too bad yourself."

Ginny then asked tentatively, "Friends?"

His face clouded a little, as his high dropped a bit as the memory of earlier intruded on his happy thoughts. "Not yet, just give me time."

"Okay."

He congratulated Harry and then went off to find his parents. Harry draped an arm over Ginny's shoulders, hugging her gently, "It'll be okay Ginny, he's in pain right now. I know it wasn't easy but you guys did the right thing in telling him but it had to have hurt. He'll get over it, he always does and then everything will be back to normal. You'll see."

"Thanks Harry." Ginny smiled faintly, hugging him back.

Hermione's parents found their way up to where she was standing, her mother giving her a big hug. "Congratulations sweetie. We are so very proud of you. The Headmistress explained to us that this is like getting the Victoria Cross or the Order of the British Empire."

Her dad snickered, pulling her into his arms and said, "I suppose this means that we need to start calling you Dame Granger from now on."

Hermione glared at her dad. Sometimes she just wanted to smack him like she did Ron and Harry. "That's not funny."

"Sure it is. I think it's plenty funny." He grinned at her, clearly pleased with his joke.

Her mother patted her father on his arm almost pityingly, "Of course you do dear."

Ginny and Hermione giggled at this.

"Martin, Patricia, so good to see you!" called out Mr. Weasley as he made his way over with his wife.

The fathers shook hands while the mothers hugged in greeting and then Molly descended on the girls, hugging them tight. "Congratulations girls."

"Thanks Mum. It just sort of happened, you know." said Ginny with a shrug, downplaying everything.

"Yes well, I am so proud of all my kids." replied Molly, giving her daughter an extra squeeze.

"So now what are we supposed to do?" asked Mr. Weasley, looking around the Great Hall curiously.

"We're supposed to go outside for the monument unveiling and then there are some refreshments before it is time to go." replied Hermione from memory, very familiar with the schedule since she was one of the people who put it together. She had even dreamt of it a few times. At the odd looks she got from some of the adults she said, "What? I was the Student Liaison who planned this. I worked with Percy to make this whole thing happen, so of course I know the schedule by heart."

"Well everything has been wonderful Hermione." said her mother. "Was it you who made all the arrangements for the non-magical parents to come here?"

"No, I just reminded Percy that it would need to happen, especially you two and the Creevys. There were others who needed to be here as well but those were the ones I knew absolutely had to happen. I told Percy that I would hurt him if he didn't get that arranged and taken care of personally." stated Hermione.

Everyone laughed at that, despite the fact that Hermione hadn't been joking. She really had threatened Percy if he hadn't been able to make those arrangements happen. Percy had actually looked a bit shocked and cowed, given that his mother had trained him to fear and obey women that strong.

"Well, let's go then and see this monument. I am sure it will be special." said her father.

Ginny fell behind with her as they trailed the rest of them as they headed out and asked, "Are you doing okay? You didn't look all that great up there on the stage for a little bit before you started breathing properly again."

"I think I need some potion and then maybe I need to skip the monument for now. This whole thing has been a bit too overwhelming for me." Hermione's smile was weak as she was feeling fairly drained at the moment, as her energy felt so sapped that she almost wanted to fall over. Her emotions had been all over the place today and if she went outside it would only get worse.

"That's fine. We can make that happen." said Ginny kindly. "Topsy?"

The House Elf popped up next to them, looking up at them attentively. "Yes Miss Weezy?"

"Can you get Hermione one of her small bottles of calming potion and some pumpkin juice, please?" asked the redhead politely.

"Of course Miss Weezy." She vanished and returned shortly, handing those things over before vanishing again.

Hermione tossed down the potion, with the usual face at the less than pleasant taste all medical potions seemed to have, and then had some of the juice to wash away the tang with its thick flavor. The potion's effects were quick and she could feel the tension and anxiety she had been feeling building up start to drain. She sighed, the band of tension around her chest loosening. "That's better."

They walked out of the Great Hall and spotted Harry off to the side being held by Luna, out of sight from most people. From the way his shoulders were moving it seemed as if he was doing about as well as she was with all of this. Hermione headed that way and cleared her throat, hoping to get his attention, "Harry, I was just checking to see if you had any single doses of calming draught with you."

His voice was thick as he answered, not turning to face them. "Uhm… no. I didn't think of it."

Luna gave her a look of thanks as Hermione got Topsy's assistance again to provide Harry with one of her bottles. Harry thanked her before he drank it down. It was clear that he was having some of the same issues she was and the two girls walked on, leaving Harry in the more than capable care of Luna, who had been stroking his hair and back gently, doing the same things that Ginny often did for her. They didn't speak as they moved to the area where the refreshments were set up, grabbing a few snacks before they moved off to one of the windows that looked out over the grounds. They talked about inconsequential things, anything to help Hermione stay relaxed and keep her mind off past events, especially the reason there were all those names carved into the monument. That was helping her unwind from the emotional turmoil she had been in until Cameron found her.

"Hermione, there you are. Thank Merlin." He seemed a bit worried and slightly frantic.

"What is it Cameron? Is everything okay?" Hermione felt a bit on alert, worried that she might have to rush off and solve some problem. She checked her wand and scanned her surroundings unconsciously.

His frown made his answer to that last question clear which did not make her feel any better. "Remember on the train when I told you about how my House had some issues with how they were treated before the battle?"

Hermione felt a feeling of dread creep up her spine, cold and animalistic. This was giving her a sense of impending doom and that was the last thing she needed today. "Yes."

"Well, now thanks to the Ministry and those damn Orders of Merlin and that money for everyone who stayed and fought, I think it just got worse."