***Hi all! So this is the final chapter of Aftermath, the second half of the Awards Ceremony. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed and followed and all! Hope you enjoy it!

And to Beau2809, I think you had some very perceptive theories…read on to see if you were right!***

Harry's stomach dropped. He just sat there staring stupidly at Kingsley for a moment, until Hermione gave him a small push and whispered, "Go." He stumbled as he got up from his chair, a whine of panic running through his mind. He thought that he had impressed upon Kingsley how essential Ron and Hermione had been to the Horcrux hunt, how he would have died, several times over, without them, how it had been Ron who had destroyed the locket, Hermione who stabbed the cup. No way was Kingsley going to award him the Order of Merlin and ignore them.

And all those other awards? Even if Kingsley had completely misunderstood everything that Harry had told him, surely just the fact that they were at the Battle of Hogwarts should have earned them Second Class. Or did Kingsley think that the Special Award for Services to the School as part of Dumbledore's Army was enough?

The walk to the stage and up the steps toward the Minister felt every bit as long as the walk between the tables when his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire. There was a low murmur going around the hall similar to that occasion as well.

"Kingsley," Harry muttered as he approached the Minister, who did not look as though anything was amiss, "is there some mistake—?"

Kingsley cut across Harry, still addressing the audience. "I have called Mr. Potter up here so that he may accept the last Order of Merlin, First Class, being given this evening on behalf of someone who cannot be here to collect it for himself."

Relief washed over Harry, followed instantly by even greater confusion. Kingsley had specifically said that he would be receiving an award, it was why Harry had been dreading the event so much, but if this was the last Order of Merlin, then it didn't sound like he would be getting anything else. What was going on? And besides that, who was he accepting an award on behalf of? Harry ran through a list in his mind, but couldn't think of anyone who hadn't already received something. But Kingsley was speaking again and Harry directed his attention back to the man, hoping for answers.

Kingsley looked out at the crowd. "For his sacrifice and incredible valor, the recipient of the final Order of Merlin, First Class, this evening is Dobby, the free house-elf."

Harry could only stand there, stunned, as shock and joy rushed over him in equal portions. In a daze, he took the small box holding the medal that he knew would be inscribed with Dobby's name. As he shook Kingsley's hand, he almost thought he could hear a small voice squeak, "Harry Potter, sir!" and he smiled.

Dobby's medal in hand, Harry made to leave the stage, but Kingsley stopped him, as he had stopped Neville. "Not quite yet, Harry," he said. "We are nearly finished with our ceremonies for this evening. There are only three people left to recognize. If Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger would please join Mr. Potter and myself by the podium?"

They both stood up and moved towards the stage. Ron's freckles were standing out starkly against his white face. Hermione was quickly wiping her eyes with her sleeve; tears had been streaming down her face as Dobby was given his award.

Harry felt a rush of affection for his two best friends as they walked across the stage towards him, looking incredibly nervous. As Hermione moved to stand beside him, he impulsively grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. She seemed surprised, but gave him a small, tight smile. Her fingers were shaking and Harry saw her grasp Ron's hand on her other side. Ron gripped her hand so tightly his knuckles were white. Harry shot him a small smile and received a half-grimace in return.

"As I said when Dobby's award was presented, we will not be giving out any further Orders of Merlin tonight," Kingsley was saying. Harry didn't feel concerned about this, but judging by the noises of the crowd in the hall, others did. There was a commotion of boos and hisses and yells that surprised him. He believed Kingsley had something up his sleeve, that he would not have called them up here for nothing, but apparently many of the people sitting in the hall did not have the same amount of trust in the new Minister.

BANG!

There was a sudden loud blast from behind Harry and he jumped, dropping Hermione's hand as he reached automatically for his wand, drawing it as he turned. Several people had screamed but silence fell as they all saw what Harry saw: Professor McGonagall on her feet, her wand pointing straight up in the air. It was she who had made the blast with her wand, which had effectively silenced the hall.

"Perhaps you could all listen to what the Minister has to say before starting a riot," she said coldly, her voice echoing around the now-silent room. "You three can put your wands away," she added as an aside and Harry realized that, like him, Ron and Hermione had their wands out and pointing at McGonagall. Stifling a laugh, though his heart was still pounding furiously from his momentary fear, Harry pocketed his wand and turned back around to face the hall; Ron and Hermione did the same.

Kingsley seemed to be fighting a smile as he continued. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall," he said as she returned to her seat, her mouth a thin line. "As I was saying," he said to the room at large, "we will not be giving out any further Orders of Merlin tonight. That does not, however," his voice grew louder to drown out the few angry mutters that people had dared to utter, "mean that we are going to neglect to acknowledge Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger and their astounding contributions which directly led to the end of this war." The mutters subsided and silence fell once more; everyone was now hanging on Kingsley's words.

"There was quite a lengthy debate on this subject among the awards committee. The Order of Merlin remains a highly prestigious award that is not meant to be given out lightly. However, many of us felt, upon discussing the events, not only of the past week, but of the past year, that certain deeds deserved an even greater recognition than the Order of Merlin, First Class. Was that enough, we wondered, for someone who willingly, in cold blood, faced death? Was it enough for those who faced the Darkest substances that magic could muster? Who not only faced them, but defeated them, and lived to tell about it? Was it enough for three people who, even as young as eleven and twelve, proved themselves willing to give their lives to stop a war? Was it enough for someone who faced the Killing Curse twice and survived?"

The silence in the Great Hall was complete. No one spoke, no one moved. There wasn't even a cough or a sniffle to break the utter stillness.

As Kingsley was speaking, images had been flashing across Harry's mind: his walk into the forest; Ron bringing the sword down on the Horcrux; Nagini emerging from Bathilda's throat; Hermione throwing a curse at the snake; Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement; Ron being struck across the head by a towering white chess piece; a piece of paper clutched in Hermione's Petrified hand; Ron, swaying on a broken leg, telling Sirius he would have to kill all three of them; Hermione swearing she would do whatever it took to save Sirius, then crumpling to the ground hours later as purple fire streaked across her chest; Ron pounding on a cellar wall while Hermione screamed above them; Voldemort's face lit from below by a fire in the middle of the forest as he raised the Elder Wand; and his earliest memory of all, a bright flash of green light, accompanied by a high, cold, cruel laugh. Harry swallowed hard.

"After many hours of discussion," Kingsley's voice boomed out, shattering the stillness, "we decided that it was not enough. Though some of the committee were reluctant to disrupt that which has been established for centuries, they finally admitted that the world has changed. And these three," he gestured towards Harry, Hermione, and Ron, "were instrumental in bringing about that change. And so we felt that the best way to acknowledge their deeds and to showcase our gratitude for what they have done was to create an entirely new award."

The silence was now stunned, rather than expectant. Harry, too, was shocked. An entirely new award? Specifically because of them?

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered and Harry gave a small nod of his agreement.

"Professor McGonagall, if you would present the medallions?" Kingsley said.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding three royal blue ribbons with some sort of pendant hanging from each one.

"Well done, Potter, Miss Granger, Weasley," she said, smiling as, one by one, she hung the medals around their necks.

Harry looked down at his to see that the pendant was actually shaped like a phoenix, its wings spread as if it were flying upward. His heart leapt into his throat as he read the words engraved around the edges of the wings: "The Phoenix Award—In Memoriam of Albus Dumbledore and In Recognition of Outstanding Courage." In the middle, right across the phoenix's chest, in large letters, it read, "HARRY POTTER."

"It gives me great pleasure to present to you tonight, in remembrance of Albus Dumbledore and in recognition of pure nerve and outstanding courage, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger, the first ever recipients of the Phoenix Award." Kingsley beamed as he looked at them and he and Professor McGonagall began to clap.

The committee members on the stage took up the applause, rising to their feet behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It was swiftly picked up in the audience as Hagrid, Neville, Luna, the Weasleys, Flitwick, Sprout, the other teachers, the members of Dumbledore's army, Mrs. Longbottom, the Creeveys, and hundreds of other people he didn't even know all rose to their feet, applauding, not just clapping, but cheering and crying and calling out. The words Harry heard most often, repeated constantly above the din, were "Thank you!"

The applause went on for ages; no one seemed to want to stop. By the time it finally began to die down, Harry's face was burning, Ron's was nearly purple and his ears were flaming, and Hermione was bright red, with tears in her eyes.

When it was nearly quiet, Harry reluctantly caught Kingsley's eye and the Minister gestured towards the podium. Harry winced. He had been afraid of that. He was going to be expected to make some sort of speech. He glanced at Ron and Hermione. Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile as Ron grimaced. With a sigh, Harry stepped up to the golden podium, gripping its sides hard to stop his hands from shaking.
Looking out at the audience, he caught sight of Ginny's face. She looked radiant, her features lit with a fierce pride as she gazed up at him. Gathering courage from her eyes, Harry took a deep breath.

"I'm rubbish at speeches, so this should be short." There was a murmur of laughter. "On behalf of Ron, Hermione, and myself, I just want to say thank you all, very much. As you can tell from everyone who has received an award tonight, we couldn't have defeated Voldemort alone, I couldn't have done it alone. It's all down to everyone in this room tonight, everyone who resisted him, who refused to join him or just let him take over everywhere, even if it meant risking being tortured or imprisoned or worse." There was a renewed bout of cheering and applause at these words and as he waited for it to die down, Harry turned quickly to the other two. "Either of you want to add anything here?"

They both shook their heads and Harry turned back to the quieting crowd. "Well, er, that was really all I had. I said it would be a short speech." There was a ripple of laughter again. "Just, er, thank you, again, everyone, for these awards and for everything. Minister, is there anything else?" Harry asked, turning to look at Kingsley, nearly pleading for him to take over again.

"That's all, Harry, if you'd just thank everyone for coming and wish them a good night," Kingsley said, making no move to approach the podium.

His hands still shaking, Harry said, "According to Minister Shacklebolt, that's it for this evening. From the Minister and myself and everyone up here tonight, we want to thank you for coming and being a part of this awards ceremony." Harry had no idea where those words had just come from, but he thought it sounded rather good. "I hope you all have safe journeys home and a good night."

Glancing at Kingsley to make sure he was finished and receiving a nod, Harry stepped quickly back away from the podium. The sounds of people getting to their feet and chatting and moving toward the doors into the entrance hall began to fill the room.

"Nicely handled, Harry," Kingsley said quietly. "After you spoke, I doubted that they wanted to hear any more from me tonight."

Harry laughed as Ron, Hermione, and McGonagall joined them.

"Kingsley, Professor, thank you," Hermione said, wiping her eyes as she looked at her medal.

"Yeah, thanks, this is brilliant," Ron said, examining his own engraved phoenix.

"You are quite welcome Miss Granger, Weasley, Potter," Professor McGonagall said, still smiling; Harry had never seen her with a smile on her face for this long before. "They are very well-earned. I daresay Professor Dumbledore would be thrilled."

Harry grinned. "He'd probably think it was almost as good as being on a Chocolate Frog card."

They all laughed. As he looked up, Harry suddenly realized that they were surrounded by the half dozen committee members, all of whom were looking eagerly from Harry to Kingsley and back again. The Minister recovered himself at once.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, I would like you to meet the Awards Committee, a subset of members of the Wizengamot who oversee the presentation of Orders of Merlin and, now, the Phoenix Award." He rattled off their names as each approached first Harry, then Ron and Hermione with their hand out, eager for a few moments conversation with the young heroes.

Harry tried to be polite and interested, but in the end, the only name he managed to remember was that of Griselda Marchbanks, who gripped his hand with surprising strength. "Yes, Mr. Potter, that award is quite well-deserved," she said, looking up at him, her wrinkly face crinkled in a smile. "But I'm not surprised, of course, I seem to remember that you did quite well in your Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L., yes, Professor Tofty made a particular point of mentioning it."

By the time the committee members had made their rounds and Harry, Ron, and Hermione finished saying their good-byes to Kingsley and Professor McGonagall, the hall was nearly empty. Clustered at the foot of the stage stairs, however, were the Weasleys and Hagrid.

Mrs. Weasley looked very ready to throw her arms around them, but Hagrid got there first. As they reached the ground, he swept all three of them into a bone-breaking hug.

"All down ter you three," he said, beaming down at them as he finally let go. They staggered slightly, all three of them gingerly rubbing their ribs. "Knew yeh'd be the one ter beat 'im, Harry, with Ron and Hermione helpin' yeh, o' course. And the Phoenix Award, in honor o' Dumbledore. Tha's just—tha's just great." Hagrid didn't seem able to continue. Tears were leaking out of his beetle black eyes and he blew his nose with a great honking noise into a handkerchief the size of a tablecloth. Hermione patted him gingerly on the arm and Mrs. Weasley took the opportunity to pull both Harry and Ron into a tight hug, nearly knocking their heads together.

"We are so proud of you," she whispered, and there were tears on her cheeks. "Your father and I couldn't be happier, Ronald," she kissed him on the cheek, then turned her head to kiss Harry's cheek, too, "and Harry, dear, it's really just wonderful, such an honor for all of you." She released them to hug and kiss Hermione as well and Ginny promptly flung herself into Harry's arms.

Harry hugged her tightly, not daring to do more in front of her entire family, especially because he could see over her shoulder that Charlie, Percy, and Ron were all glaring at him. Ron he could deal with, and possibly Percy too, but Charlie was rather intimidating. Ginny, who seemed oblivious to her brothers' expressions, kissed him on the cheek before releasing him. Harry felt himself blushing again, but chose to stare defiantly back at Ron, who snorted and turned away, only to be grabbed by Fleur, who kissed him on both cheeks before congratulating him.

Harry caught Ginny's eye and grinned while Hermione glared over Mrs. Weasley's shoulder. He looked quickly away from Ginny's expression, though, as Fleur caught and kissed him, too, saying, "Eet ees a very great honor, 'arry."

"Yeah, thanks," Harry muttered, turning redder. He spotted George's expression as Fleur released him to hug and congratulate Hermione. George looked almost gleeful for a moment at Harry and Ron's embarrasment. Then, it was as if he turned to say something to someone, but saw only empty air beside him. The glee slid off his face to be quickly replaced by another emotion so raw that Harry couldn't look at him anymore.

He was grateful when Hagrid provided a distraction by saying, "Well, it's been good ter see yeh all, but I'd best be gettin' home, Beaky'll be gettin' worried and it's time fer Fang's dinner. Sure I'll be seein' yeh soon!" And waving a massive hand, Hagrid strode off towards the entrance hall.

There was now no one left in the hall besides themselves; even McGonagall and Kingsley had disappeared.

"Well, Arthur, I think it's high time we were getting home, don't you think?" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Absolutely, dear," Mr. Weasley replied.

Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry and Hermione. "You're coming home with us, of course?" It wasn't so much a question as it was nearly a command, but Harry appreciated the certainty that was in her voice that they regarded the Burrow as "home."

"Sounds good to me," Harry said. Looking sideways at Hermione with a grin, he added, "Unless, Hermione, you were wanting to sleep in the tent again?"

She shook her head. "Absolutely not. I'm never going camping again. Going to the Burrow is the best idea I've heard since last August."

Mrs. Weasley smiled happily. "It's settled, then," she said briskly, "everyone's staying at home tonight. Everyone," she added dangerously as Percy and George both opened their mouths to argue. Wisely, they closed them again.

Bill glanced at Fleur, who shrugged. "We can sleep in my room, if Charlie doesn't mind sharing with Perce."

Charlie didn't seem to mind, but Percy looked a bit uncertain; Harry, remembering Charlie's snores in the tent after the Quidditch World Cup, thought he knew why.

Harry felt the loss of Fred sharply as they all left the Great Hall, chatting comfortably, broken up mostly into pairs. Bill and Fleur were holding hands, their heads close together, while Charlie and Percy seemed to be having some sort of argument about the sleeping arrangements. George was walking beside his father, who was talking to him in a low voice so no one else could hear. Hermione was describing to Mrs. Weasley some of the disastrous meals she had prepared in the tent, and Harry was between Ron and Ginny, the former of whom was chuckling as he listened to Hermione and his mother's conversation, while the latter had entwined her fingers with Harry's. He smiled down at her as they approached the gates, guarded by the winged boars, and she beamed back.

"I think this is far enough," Mr. Weasley said when they were a few yards beyond the school grounds. "Everyone set to Apparate back to the Burrow? Ginny, it'll have to be Side-Along for you, you're not of age yet, so find a partner."

"I think I've got one," Ginny said, gripping Harry's hand more tightly. His stomach fluttered as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

Mr. Weasley raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as, one by one, they all turned on the spot and vanished.

Harry and Ginny were the last left standing in the now empty road.

"Finally," Ginny said, and before Harry realized what was happening, she was kissing him, harder and fiercer than she'd ever kissed him before. Harry kissed her back enthusiastically, losing track of time, not paying attention to anything besides Ginny and the feel of her lips on his, and the strands of her hair in his hand, and how gentle her hands were as they wrapped around his back.

"OI!"

The sound startled Harry, but he recognized the voice well enough to risk finishing the kiss before backing away. Slightly breathless, he grinned at Ginny, who grinned back.

"Had to congratulate you, you know," she said.

"Thanks," Harry replied, before finally turning to Ron, who was glaring at them both with his wand out.

"Finished?" he asked nastily. "Dad sent me back when you two didn't appear right away with the rest of the family, wanted to make sure you were planning on coming straight home," he emphasized the last two words.

"Oh get over yourself, we're coming," Ginny said. Ron opened his mouth to reply angrily, but before he could, Ginny threw her arms around his neck.

"For the record, I'm proud of you, too," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

Ron looked slightly mollified as she released him, but was still suspicious enough to say, "You two first, then."

Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry before reaching for his hand.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her, eyebrows raised.

She smiled. "Always."
Ron groaned but Harry's heart leapt and he had to remember to focus on the familiar building as he turned on the spot, pulling Ginny with him into the compressing darkness.

As the bands released around his lungs, Harry took in a deep breath of evening air, lightly scented by the buds of the apple trees in the orchard. Rising in front of him, lights already blazing, was the Burrow.

A "pop" beside him announced Ron's arrival. Still holding Ginny's hand tightly, Harry pointed his wand at his friend and asked, "What happened in the Room of Requirement, right before we left so it could become the Room of Hidden Things?"

Ron looked confused for a moment, then a smug expression stole across his face. "Hermione kissed me," he said. He kept his own wand pointing at Harry as he asked, "And what did you say then?"

"I believe it was something along the lines of 'Oi, there's a war going on," Harry said, grinning as he pocketed his wand.

Ron laughed as they started to walk towards the house. "I stand by what I said before. It was now or never, mate."

Laughing, Harry and Ginny still holding hands, the three of them walked up the garden path to the kitchen door. Looking around at the overgrown garden, the Wellington boots and rusty cauldron beside the door, and hearing the chatter coming from within the house, Harry felt a great sense of peace and contentment steal through him.

He was home at last.