Events at the Ministry had a wide spread effect and changes were made both at Hogwarts and outside of the school. The first thing that happened was the entire wizarding community discovered that Harry and Dumbledore had been telling the truth all along and that Voldemort had indeed been back. Harry was also hailed a hero for defeating Voldemort before he got a chance to wreak more havoc on the world.
With the truth about Voldemort revealed Fudge looked incompetent for denying his return and promptly lost his job as Minister. As one of Fudge's biggest supporters, Umbridge also lost her position both at Hogwarts and at the Ministry. Her departure at Hogwarts left the door open for Dumbledore's return as Headmaster.
Dumbledore's return was treated as a celebration amongst many, hence the feast that Draco and his friends were currently forced to attend. Everyone else in The Great Hall seemed to be having a great time, but not the Slytherins and especially not Draco. The blond was distinctly unhappy with events at both the Ministry and Hogwarts. With Umbridge gone her Inquisitorial Squad had been disbanded, meaning Draco was back to just being a prefect. While he was unhappy about his loss of power Draco was more concerned about the fall of Voldemort, and more importantly how his daughter was faring with losing her father.
Since Easter Draco hadn't managed to get The Dark Lady out of his head. For the first week of term all his thoughts had been about their growing attraction and potential relationship, but since Voldemort's death his thoughts had been filled with concern for her. Draco desperately wished he could contact her and tell her how sorry he was for her loss and comfort her in person, but the best he'd been able to do was write to Lucius and ask his father to pass on his condolences.
Lucius had also been dragged into events of the Ministry, although he'd emerged without a blemish to his name much to Draco's relief. After Voldemort was killed Potter and Weasley both swore that the Death Eater that tried to get the prophecy was Lucius. Lucius however denied the allegations and produced a cast iron alibi in the form of a few officials from the French Ministry. Despite his alibi, Potter and Weasley refused to back down and would rant on to anyone who would listen that Lucius was lying and that he'd been at the Ministry.
Unfortunately for Potter and Weasley it was there word against Lucius's and despite his father's dark reputation, he was the one people believed. It didn't help Potter and Weasley's case that none of their friends could back them up. Lovegood and Longbottom didn't know Lucius to say whether or not it was him and the Weasley girl had only met him briefly a few times, so she wasn't sure either. Potter and Weasley's best chance of being backed up came in the form of Granger, who was apparently held hostage by his father as he tried to get what he wanted from Potter. Granger however had been struck on the head sometime during the altercation and her memories of what had happened were fuzzy, meaning she couldn't remember the voice of the Death Eater who threatened her life.
"Ugh, I'm so sick of this." Theo grumbled from beside Draco. "Who wants to celebrate having bloody Dumbledore back as Headmaster?"
"Tell me about it." Blaise complained from Draco's other side. "As if having him back wasn't bad enough there's the Gryffindors to contend with, smug bastards. I swear if Potter's head gets any bigger he won't be able to fit into the place."
Draco agreed with his friend as he turned to glare at the Gryffindor table. Potter was sitting right at the centre of the action with Weasley and Granger sitting at either side of him. Almost everyone nearby was hanging on his every word and looking at him as though he was something special. The Weasley girl was sitting a few seats away from him and Draco felt sick witnessing the love-struck looks she was throwing Potter's direction.
"I've had enough." Draco declared, tearing his eyes away from the Gryffindors. "I'm getting out of here."
As Draco stood up, Theo and Blaise scrambled to their feet and joined their friend. The trio had made it to the back of The Great Hall and were about to leave the room when Dumbledore's voice drew attention to them.
"Mr Malfoy, Mr Nott and Mr Zabini, where do you think you three are going?"
"I'm feeling nauseous." Draco answered. With all the gloating and celebrations floating around the room he wasn't lying, he did feel sick.
"Mr Nott, Mr Zabini, are you also feeling ill?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Yes." Blaise nodded. "I'm as sick as a dog."
"Me too." Theo added. "If I stay here much longer I'm going to throw up."
"Well I suggest the three of you head back to your common room." Dumbledore said.
"That's what we were trying to do, you stupid old fool." Draco muttered as he pulled open the door and strode out of The Great Hall.
Once out of The Great Hall the trio of Slytherins headed outside for some fresh air. Wandering down towards the Black Lake they sat on the banks of the moonlit lake and threw rocks into the water.
"What do you think is going to happen now?" Theo asked.
"What do you mean?" Blaise asked.
"I mean the Death Eaters." Theo explained. "Do you think they'll carry on or will The Dark Lord's demise stop them?"
"I think we should wait and see." Draco told his friends. He didn't know for sure but something told him The Dark Lady wouldn't leave her father's death unavenged and he could certainly see her taking over the helm with the Death Eaters.
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With a great deal of effort Hermione managed to join in the celebrations after events at the Ministry and she was confident no-one realised she was faking her happiness. Both Harry and Ron were pretty unbearable to be around as they gloated over what had happened. Once Umbridge was sacked and Dumbledore had returned they were even worse, and the constant attention they were getting wasn't helping their over inflated opinions of themselves.
The only time the pair were less than happy was when Lucius produced an alibi for the night of the battle at the Ministry. Even after the alibi was produced Harry and Ron continued to swear Lucius was there and they would tell anyone who would listen that he was a liar. The pair were also disappointed when Hermione claimed not to be able to remember much of what happened at the Ministry, therefore she couldn't pick out the Death Eater who'd grabbed her. Hermione suspected Harry and Ron were disappointed that she didn't just agree with them, but considering the circumstances they didn't argue when she said she couldn't remember.
Once things had calmed down, Hermione was finally able to sneak off and visit her father. Voldemort had survived the battle with Harry unscathed, but with every visit Hermione could see him getting weaker and weaker. She slowly watched as her father lost more magic and started to look his age. As sad as it was, Hermione was just grateful that at least he was still alive. Even with his magic rapidly fading he hadn't as of yet slunk back into the terribly weak state he'd been in during the early years of her life.
As well as visiting her father, Hermione kept in contact with Lucius. Almost immediately after the incident at the Ministry, Lucius had gathered the Death Eaters and announced that The Dark Lady was grieving, but would call a meeting when she was ready to announce her plans. Lucius had also told everyone to keep a low profile and he was constantly checking on a few of the more troublesome Death Eaters to ensure they didn't step out of line.
Satisfied that Lucius was managing the Death Eaters and her father was still okay, Hermione turned her attention to her upcoming exams. If everything went according to plan she would be in charge of the Death Eaters and would never need her exam results to get a job, but school was still important to her and Hermione was determined to finish the year as she had done her others, as the top student in her year.
When the final exam was over, Hermione was confident she had achieved her goal. All the exams had gone swimmingly and she hadn't struggled with any of them. Harry and Ron were a different matter altogether and as the trio headed outside after their final exam the boys did nothing but moan.
"Will you two stop complaining." Hermione said as she sat down on the grass beside the Black Lake. "Exams are over, you can't do any more. I'm sure the pair of you did the best you could."
"Yeah, we did." Harry agreed. "We've only got another week or so left at school, I suggest we enjoy it and stop worrying."
"I can't believe it's nearly the summer again." Ron sighed, lying back on the grass. "The year's passed so quickly."
"That's because it's been non-stop." Harry chuckled, lying down beside Ron. "Between Umbridge and Voldemort, we barely had a moment's peace."
"Do you think next year will be boring?" Ron asked. "I mean, there's no more dark wizards out there to cause trouble."
"I hope next year is peaceful." Harry said. "But there is still a potential danger out there. Voldemort wasn't alone, his Death Eaters might still carry on his work."
"But they've been silent since his death." Ron argued. "I bet they've all gone into hiding."
"We can only hope." Harry sighed. "But Sirius reckons the Order are still proceeding with caution. They're prepared for retaliation, but they're hoping it doesn't come."
"When did you speak to Sirius?" Hermione asked Harry. "I thought it was too dangerous for him to owl in case it was intercepted by the Ministry."
"I haven't told you yet, have I?" Harry grinned excitedly as he sat up.
"Told us what?" Ron questioned.
"When we go home, I'm going to live with Sirius." Harry announced. "Dumbledore's spoken to the new Minister and he's going to give him a pardon. Sirius is going to be my legal guardian and I don't have to go back to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon."
"That's great Harry." Hermione said. "How long have you know this?"
"A couple of days, but with exams I didn't want to get too unfocused so I kind of pushed it to the back of my mind." Harry replied. "Anyway Dumbledore caught me in the corridor and took me to his office. He apologised for the way he's been treating me and explained what he's done with Sirius."
"Did he say why he was treating you so badly?" Hermione asked. She'd never quite understood Dumbledore's behaviour towards Harry this last year as previously he'd never made any secret of the fact Harry was a favourite student of his.
"He was trying to keep me safe." Harry answered. "He was worried Voldemort might target me even more if he knew Dumbledore was so fond of me."
Hermione thought the excuse was pitiful, but Harry seemed more than content with it. Instead of saying anything she merely smiled and asked Harry more about the situation with Sirius. When Harry explained that Dumbledore had managed to get a pardon for Sirius merely by talking to the new Minister of Magic, Hermione frowned. A pardon shouldn't have been issued without some sort of proof of innocence and the fact the new Minister hadn't bothered with proof and just trusted Dumbledore's word was bothersome. Hermione made a mental note to talk to Lucius about the new Minister, if he was someone that was close to Dumbledore they needed to get rid of him.
"This summer will be so cool." Ron declared happily, drawing Hermione out of her worries about the Minister. "We can spend nearly all of it together."
"I know." Harry grinned at his friend. "Hermione, you'll have to try and come over some time."
"I'll try, but I'm usually busy in the summer." Hermione replied. "My parents like to spend time with me since they don't see me that often."
It was true that Hermione was often busy in the summer and spent time with her parents, but this year she would be even busier. The summer holidays seemed much too short for all Hermione wanted to accomplish and all she would have to do as she took control of the Death Eaters and planned the downfall of Dumbledore and the Order.
To Be Continued.
A/N – So this is the end of The Dark Lady Rises. Part 2 – The Dark Lady Rules, is already finished and the first chapter should be posted before the end of the week. Part 2 is going to be rated M, due to the developing relationship between Hermione and Draco and for a couple of darker chapters. It's also a lot longer than this part and will deal with year 6 and 7 at school, which given events of this part will mean things will run very differently.
I want to thank everyone for reading this story and for leaving such great reviews. I hope you continue to read The Dark Lady trilogy, and I hope you all enjoy what's to come.