3 Years later.
"Look at them, Hermione!" Harry whispered, unwilling to disturb the sleeping bundles wrapped in knitted blankets beside her bed.
She smiled tiredly, leaning back against her husband. "They're pretty amazing," she allowed.
"You made those."
"Yes I'd noticed," she replied dryly. "I haven't seen my own feet in months."
Ginny snorted, picking up one of the twins gently to rescue him from Jamie's searching hands. "Gently," she commanded, pulling her son onto her lap alongside her new nephew.
"We get to cuddle Katerina now, right?" lavender checked, brave enough to ask now Ginny had disturbed them.
"Go ahead," Vicktor laughed as three-year-old Daisy almost combusted with excitement when the new living doll she was determined to play with was plucked from her crib.
"How's Uncle Severus taking the news that he's officially a Great-Uncle?" Ron teased, smiling down at the tiny girl in his wife's arms, his own daughter straining in his in her attempts to reach her.
Hermione gave a soft huff of laughter but it was Viktor who answered, "He will probably curse me for saying it, but the wizard cried."
"Snape cried?'' Harry checked, sounding so disbelieving Viktor laughed.
"Yes, apparently meeting Elian Severus was enough to reduce his tears," Hermione smiled. "I wonder if Katerina Harriet will have the same impact."
Harry froze. "What?"
She inclined her head towards her daughter, repeating, "Katerina Harriett."
"Oh," he whispered, his eyes turning glassy.
"It would appear it does," she mused as Harry all but threw himself at her, hugging her so tightly she squeaked.
Dennis Creevy walked down Diagon Alley, feeling a pang of sadness for the ghost town it had become. His own home was now a bustling place where people came for new and innovative items they couldn't get anywhere else. Their inventions were exported internationally, and their Masters sought after, even his own photography studio, set up in memory of his brother, was so busy it was hard to keep up with demand. He thought Colin would be proud of what they'd achieved, all of it, not just the four apprentices he had under him sharing Colin's passion with the world, but the community they'd built, the way they still watched each other's backs, the way they'd taught the Wizarding world not to underestimate the muggleborns and the half-bloods, the way they'd managed to eradicate the blood purity rhetoric in their tiny corner of the world. Hell, even Draco Malfoy was polite now.
He stopped, seeing the stooped form of a once tall man, sitting morosely inside one of the almost empty cafes, hesitating before he went inside.
"Hello Minister."
Kingsley Shacklebolt raised his head and scoffed, "I'm no one's Minister."
Dennis hummed, "Oh?"
Kingsley sighed heavily, "I resigned when it became clear that the Wizengamot wasn't fit for purpose and never would be." Dennis sat down warily. "I just…gods. Once upon a time I wanted to make a difference. And now…now I'll go down as the Minister who destroyed magical Britain."
Dennis nodded thoughtfully. "And yet you stay."
"Where the hell else would I go?"
"You could come back with me."
"So I could be lynched?"
"So you can apologise and make yourself useful. We could use someone who knows how to spin things to get a point across."
Kingsley froze, "What point?"
"Oh Hermiones always got a crusade of some description. And Dean, Seamus, Theo and Lee want to push to ensure the rights of same sex couples in as many places as possible. Dean and Seamus just adopted a little girl last year, that wouldn't have been possible here. Theo and Lee opted for surrogacy. Their Son's due in a couple of months."
"That's…amazing." he replied finally, "But I can't imagine they'd want me."
Dennis hummed, "I won't lie and tell you they're not angry, but they're also not stupid. We know you didn't want this. They are angry because you pushed the agenda instead of taking a stand but they'll forgive that. Eventually."
"WIll they?"
"Hermione might curse you first," he admitted, "And unfortunately Viktor's library's rather old and rather large, her repertoire has only gotten bigger since we left. It's…wise to stay on that witch's good side."
Kingsley gave a huff of laughter, "I can imagine. I heard she'd gotten married."
"Yup, she had twins all of two months ago."
"Did she really?"
"Oh yes," he grinned. "Severus adores them, no one else gets a look in. "
"Severus…Severus Snape?" he checked.
"She calls him Uncle Severus," Dennis laughed, "It was hilarious watching him learn to just give in and accept it."
"You're…you're all happy."
"Mostly." he agreed, "We have our moments, there's rather a lot of us and we've only added more people since we moved, but we all have each other's backs. You'll have seen The Centre is thriving, we've people requesting premises quicker than we can build them, which is amazing. We've all found our niche. I won't say it isn't difficult at times, Merlin knows it was, but we've managed and we've built something i think we can all be proud of."
"I am sorry you know."
"I know," he agreed, "But it won't be me you've to convince. Coming?"
"Now?" he checked.
"Well, no time like the present, I was only here to visit my Mum. I popped in here for old times sake. It's not looking great."
"No it is not," Kingsley agreed heavily. "Something to do with missing a significant portion of the population."
"Yes, well trying to take away people's freedoms tends to do that."
"I am aware," he groaned.
"Well then. You can pop back for your things if you decide to stay."
Kingsley took a deep breath, not at all sure this was wise, but Merlin knew it had to be better than what he was doing now.
"Very well then." he placed his hands on the bottle Dennis held out, disappearing in a pop of magic in the hopes of eventually finding peace on the other side.