So, I seem to be really good at writing one-shots that end up NOT wanting to be one-shots. Chapter 1 had some naughty bits in it, but this chapter is like a unicorn - so fluffy I could die! I hope, if you liked the first part, that you like this second part as well! I have a tentative THIRD part planned, too, but I'm not sure how it's going to work, so it could be a while. As always, if you read, please review! Thanks so much for going on this little journey with me!

Draco stared into the floor length mirror in his dormitory taking deep breaths. It had been odd since they'd come out of the spell from that other place, that alternate reality. His feelings for Hermione hadn't changed, and he knew hers for him hadn't changed, but things were so much more complicated now. The Slytherins avoided him as if he had something contagious, which was fine by him. He'd only been gone from them for a few days, but for him it had been months. Months without Slytherin pressures. Months to be happy, to be loved. Their absence wasn't anything he was losing sleep over.

The Gryffindors, who he'd thought would be more forgiving, had mostly turned on Hermione. He could see it eating away at her, even as she denied it and said she was fine. Potter was trying, and so was his girlfriend, but so far, that was it.

From the moment they'd walked into the Great Hall, just hours after they left their world and rejoined this one, it had been them against most of the school. The memory of it had his stomach in knots as if it had just happened.

"Ready?" Draco asked Hermione just outside The Great Hall. His hand kept clamping and loosening around hers, a sure sign that he was nervous.

"Draco," she said, standing in front of him. It was odd for him, looking down on his fiancee - well, not fiancee, not in this world. Or, was she? They needed to talk about that. She pulled her hand from his and put both palms on his cheeks. Her eyes were sad. "If this is too much - "

He kissed her, softly, taking her cheeks in his hand and rubbing his thumbs over her cheek bones. "Don't even think about it," he said, smiling against her lips and kissing her once more. "You're stuck with me."

He felt her smile back. She pulled away and retook his hand. Heart thudding in his chest, he pushed through the doors. The doors clicked shut behind him and silence rippled out from the seats closest to them all the way to the front of the room like throwing a stone in a pond.

Hermione's fingers in his squeezed as she led them - much to his surprise - to the Ravenclaw table where Luna Lovegood sat, reading a book upside down.

"Hello," Luna said into the quiet room, unaware hers was the only voice. She looked up at them through thick, juice-bottle glasses and her eyebrows rose. "Oh!" She smiled. "You're soulmates, how wonderful," she said airily, then nodded. "That makes sense." With a smile, she went back to her book.

Conversation erupted everywhere. Draco felt his cheeks heat - not because of Hermione, not because the thought of them being soulmates shocked him, because it didn't, but because all eyes were on him, judging him, judging them.

Hermione, seemingly unflustered, sat in front of Luna, pulling him with her. They'd just filled their plates - Draco getting extra dessert, because Hermione always said she didn't want any, even if she really did - when Ronald Weasley burst into the Great Hall and came stomping up to the table where they sat, face redder than his hair. It honestly took longer than Draco thought it would.

Granger's fingers found his under the table and held his hand tight.

"What the hell, 'Mione?" he bellowed, causing students who'd been shooting them glances anyway to stop and outright stare. "This git curses you, puts you in the hospital wing, and now you're with him?" His hands were balled into fists and his chest heaved. "Does he have you imperiused? This - " he motioned between them, "is bloody ridiculous!"

Draco glanced at Hermione. He saw her set her jaw, saw her eyes narrow, and for a moment he felt sorry for Weasley. He knew that look, and if Weasley were smart, he'd run.

"Excuse me," she said, her voice low. "But I do believe you're mistaken, Ronald." She stayed seated, staring up at him with angry eyes.

"So you're not together, then?" Ron asked, looking less angry and more confused.

"We are together," she said, squeezing his hand again. "You're mistaken about the rest."

"So what, you get cursed, spend a few days lying in hospital, and now you like this stupid prat?" His voice was angry again.

Next to Draco, Hermione tensed. She looked at him, an apology in her eyes, and his stomach dropped. Things weren't going back to the way they were. He nodded to her, giving her permission to back out of it. They were only a few hours into this new life and already it was falling apart. She let go of his hand and stood. The Great Hall was quiet again.

"I don't just like him," she said, her voice steady as she leaned her hands on the table and looked at Ron across from them. She looked around the Hall, where dozens of people stared at her and she gritted her teeth. "All right," she said with a deep breath, her voice steady. "Everyone listen up! I'm only going to say this once, though I don't owe anyone an explanation for anything." Her tone was biting. "Draco and I love each other. I could stand here and tell you all how it happened, tell you all the reasons why I love him, but I won't, because frankly, it's none of your business. You can like it, or not. I don't care, but please - " she focused her attention back on Ron, "if you can't accept it, then leave us alone."

Hermione retook her seat and took a bite of her dinner. Draco, as shocked as everyone else in the room, followed suit. Ron stared at them, face crimson, before he stomped off.

After a few moments, people went back to talking. People whispered, and pointed, but they were left alone. Just as Hermione had asked.

"You thought I was going to leave you," Hermione said after a moment, smirking at him. He faced her and shrugged, ashamed that he'd doubted her.

"Things are different here," he said, shrugging again. Smirk never leaving her lips, she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Only if we let them be," she whispered. The murmurs around them grew louder, but he didn't care. He kissed her again, closing his eyes and imaging them in Fortuna Books, or in their flat, anywhere but here for just a moment.

"Want to share my treacle tart?" he asked. She laughed, her warm brown eyes sparkling, and nodded as he put the overloaded plate between them. She smiled when she saw it, pressing her shoulder into his.

"See?" She took an overly large bite. "Nothing has to change unless we let it."

That had been weeks ago, and while she'd been right - their relationship hadn't changed - things were still different.

They didn't live together anymore. He was back in the dungeons and she was back in the tower, and he hated it. He hated going to sleep without her. Hated having to wait to see her, instead of being able to go to her whenever he damn well pleased.

But not all the changes were bad. They had most classes together, and studied together in the library. Like in the bookstore, she often took him to find a book and wound up kissing him senseless against a shelf. In their downtime, they sat in the courtyard and talked, strolled by the Black Lake, or found hidden corners to kiss.

Still, even with all the changes that weren't so bad, he missed so much. He missed holding her in bed. Kissing her face, her body, making love to her. Planning a marriage with her. Since they'd come back, they hadn't talk about that.

They'd talked about the attack oh Hermione. They'd found the man who sent the cursed object - a lower rank Death Eater who had a particularly strong hatred for muggleborns. He hadn't been a major player during the war, and the theory was that he wanted to gain some sort of notoriety for taking out the wizarding world's favorite muggleborn to become infamous. But Draco had recognized the object - a pendant from Borgin and Burkes. If he hadn't touched it as he tried to knock it from her hands, she would have been trapped in that alternate version of reality alone.

Draco looked at himself in the mirror one last time and brushed his fingers through his hair. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, and he was to pick up Hermione from the Gryffindor portrait.

He'd done some shopping via owl over the last few weeks, and looked at his purchases in the mirror, feeling more like himself than he had since they got back. Muggle jeans, a fitted tee shirt with horizontal stripes, tennis shoes - if his father were to see him, he would disown him, and Draco was surprised to realize he didn't care. He'd missed these clothes, missed what it felt like to be the Draco who was engaged, who had a small flat with the woman he loved. Dressing the part helped.

He patted the pocket of his jeans, his heart stuttering when he felt the small lump there. He checked his watch - he'd had one in the other place, and missed it on his wrist - and left the dungeon, not even bothering to try look up as he left.

He was just about to knock on the portrait when it opened and Hermione was in his arms. He laughed as he caught her around the waist.

"That was risky," he said, leaning back to tuck a curl behind her ear, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I could have been anyone!"

"Not really," she said, kissing his chin. "The Fat Lady told me it was you." She grinned, her cheeks pink.

He took a step back to take in her appearance. Her hair was up in a bun, held together with a stick the way she'd worn it with her wand, back when neither of them knew what a wand was. She wore jeans, too, and a green tee shirt that hugged her curves. He smiled, seeing his Hermione, and she shrugged.

Draco pulled his wand and a coin from his pocket and transfigured it into a daisy, then slipped it behind her ear. He was rewarded with a darker blush that showcased the freckles on her nose.

"So, so cheesy," she said and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

"Hermione, are we - " Potter stopped in the portrait hole when he saw them, pressed together. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor, then the ceiling. "Oh, Malfoy. Hey. I was just wondering if we were leaving for Hogsmeade yet."

Draco looked at Hermione, confused, the small lump in his pocket against his thigh.

"Harry and Ginny wanted to join us in Hogsmeade," she said, a pained smile on her face. "They want to get to know you."

Draco took a look at Hermione's face - her hopeful eyes and her tense expression - then looked at Potter, who'd been joined by Ginny. "Where to first?" he asked. Hermione sank into his side and kissed the fabric over his shoulder. Potter grimaced. Ginny smirked.

"The Three Broomsticks," Ginny said, leading Potter out by the hand. "You're buying," she said, patting Draco's shoulder rather roughly as she passed.

Draco couldn't help but laugh. "I think we're going to get along, Red," he said, and she looked back at him over her shoulder with a grin.

"Stranger things have happened," she quipped before pulling Potter's arm over her shoulder and leading the way.

Hermione snickered and laced her fingers with Draco's as they followed. "Thank you," she said quietly, looking up at him through her dark eyelashes.

"I love you." He shrugged and she kissed his shoulder again and she laughed.

As promised, Draco bought their drinks at The Three Broomsticks. Draco ordered a dragon ale, while they others got butterbeers. The conversation was awkward at first, but Red - who Draco was beginning to really like - saved it with her blunt, overprotective nature.

"So, Malfoy," she said, sipping her butterbeer, "can I ask you a question?"

Draco was leaning back, his arm around Hermione's shoulders, her soft body pressed into his side. He narrowed his eyes at her and took a sip of his dragon ale. "Go for it, Red," he said with his signature smirk.

She met it with one of her own and leaned forward. "In that other reality, the one you two were trapped in, you two had a life. Right?" She lifted an eyebrow. Beside her, Potter was quiet.

"Yes." Another sip of dragon ale, bitter with a bit of sweet at the end.

"Well then, tell me," she leaned back into Potter's shoulder. "How did you two meet?" She grinned at her cheek and took a drink.

Draco relaxed. He peered down at Hermione, who looked up at him and shrugged, giving him permission. "Well," he said, finishing his drink and placing the bottle on the table. "For starters, we were muggles." Ginny's eyebrows shot up into her hairline, meaning Hermione hadn't told her that part. Interesting. "Granger owned a bookshop, Fortuna Books, and one day I walked in, looking for a book."

"Wasn't it a cookbook?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"I think so," he said, smiling down at her. "I don't remember. I ended up not buying anything." He kissed her forehead and turned back to Ginny. "So, I walk into Fortuna, and this tiny little brunette behind the counter turns from where she'd been restocking bags or something, and as soon as I see her smile, I forget what I'm there for. All I could think about was how pretty she was."

Hermione laughed. "It was really very cute," she said, sitting up a little and repositioning herself against his side. "He stumbled over his words, his cheeks got all red, and after just a few minutes of incoherent rambling, he left."

"It wasn't that bad," Draco said, lifting an eyebrow at her, and she laughed.

"It was adorable," she assured him.

"So," he said, shaking his head and looking back at Red, who was watching them with a small smile, "I started making up reasons to go back. The second time I went in, I bought a book after letting her recommend one and I learned her name. I was pretty proud of that," he said with a nod.

"But it took weeks for him to properly ask me out," Hermione said. "On the plus side, he bought over 20 books. It was very lucrative for Fortuna."

Draco laughed and shook his head.

"That sounds really nice," Ginny said, then looked to Potter. "Doesn't it Harry?"

To his credit, Potter nodded with a look that suggested he meant, and Draco found his estimation of the man go up. "And not at all surprising that in an alternate reality, created in Hermione's brain, she would own a bookstore," he deadpanned.

Draco laughed aloud. Hermione swatted his chest. And the conversation flowed much more freely after that.

After drinks, the four Hogwarts students walked around Hogsmeade, stopping for sweets in Honeydukes and new quills at Scrivenshafts. The longer they walked, the more comfortable Draco became with Hermione's friends, and the more anxious he became about the small item in his pocket. He tried not to fidget with it but he couldn't help checking for it every so often.

While Hermione and Harry went into Zonko's to look for something to send George, who was just getting his joke shop up and running again, Ginny rounded on Draco with a cat-like grin.

"So," she said, arms crossed, smirking again. "What's is it you keep fidgeting with in your pocket?"

His face flamed as he set his jaw, trying for nonchalance. "I'm not sure what you mean," he said, crossing his arms as well, a nervous weight in his gut.

"Are you going to ask her to marry you?" Red asked, squinting.

Draco felt his shoulders fall. He looked into the shop's windows, seeing Hermione and Potter near the back. With a resigned sigh he pulled the small ring from his pocket and showed her.

In that other world, he'd never given her a ring, but they'd planned to get married. She'd said she didn't want a ring, that he didn't need to spend the money, but there had been one ring in a little shop that he'd seen her look at, that she'd said was beautiful. So he'd saved and he'd bought it. It was all wrapped up under their Christmas tree, but they'd never opened gifts. That man had broken in, Hermione had killed him, and they'd been brought back here. So he had one made that looked exactly like it.

The band was rose gold and thin with a round moonstone in a classic setting. It wasn't what he'd ever envisioned giving his future wife, but that was before Hermione. He would give her whatever she wanted, always.

"It's very Hermione," Red said with a smile. He slipped the ring back into his pocket and shrugged.

"In that other life we had, we were going to get married," he said. "She'd picked out this ring, but I hadn't given it to her yet." He sighed. Ginny was watching him with earnest eyes. "I don't know how to ask her," he said with a grimace. "I thought I might do it today, but I don't know if, in this world, she'll say yes."

Red laughed and patted his arm, a genuine smile on her face. "I've known Hermione since I was ten. And in all that time, I've never - ever - seen her like she is with you." She turned and faced the store beside him, and watched as Harry and Hermione paid for the purchase. "You should ask her however you would have asked her in that other place." She bumped her shoulder against his. "And make sure she knows, after she says yes, that I get to be her maid of honor."

Draco laughed as Harry and Hermione walked outside, meeting them.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked, slipping an arm around Draco's waist.

"Red and I were just getting to know each other a little better." He looked at Potter and smirked. "She's something else," he said, and Potter actually grinned.

"You have no idea."

Ginny elbowed him and he laughed. It was weird seeing Potter so normal. Weird, but not terrible.

"I don't want to be rude," Ginny said, slipping her arm through Potters, "but I was sort of hoping for some alone time today." Ginny looked up at Harry, and he blushed. "You don't mind, do you Hermione?"

"Of course not," Hermione said with a laugh.

"It's been fun, Potter," Draco said, offering his hand. Potter took it without even missing a beat, and nodded. Not terrible at all.

"See you," he said as they walked way, jumping when Ginny pinched his butt. She looked over her shoulder and winked at Draco just before they rounded a corner.

"Thank you," Hermione said again, wrapping her arms around his waist. "For being so wonderful with them."

Draco leaned down and kissed her. "I love you," he said in explanation against her lips.

She smiled back, her lips curling into his in a wonderfully familiar way. "Good."

"So," he said, leaning back, "where to now?"

Hermione leaned back and looked at him with a coy smile. "Well, there's a new shop that I thought we could check out." She was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "A book shop!"

Draco laughed and kissed her nose. "Lead the way, Granger."

Hermione practically dragged him to the other end of Hogsmeade. On the way, they passed Ron with his new girlfriend - a seventh year Hufflepuff named Aimee - and as soon as he saw them, he pulled Aimee into a kiss that made both Hermione and Draco cringe with how crass it was. Even though Ron and Hermione hadn't dated in months, he was really taking her new relationship with Draco poorly.

They passed the kissing couple quickly, ignoring the look Ron was giving Hermione as he kissed the younger girl, forgetting them as soon as they walked into the shop called Serendipity.

It didn't look anything like Fortuna Books had. Where Fortuna was small and light, Serendipity was floor-to-ceiling books and dark, but in a pleasant way. Despite the differences, walking in felt like coming home for them both.

Hermione beamed up at him. "Let's browse," she said, one corner of her mouth lifting as if she'd said something scandalous. He put his hand on her waist and pulled her close.

They made their way through the shelves, all the way back to a section that Draco had never seen in a wizarding book shop - Muggle Fiction.

They slowed here, and Draco's finger trailed along the titles. Hermione was pulling books from the shelves, making a stack on the floor. He recognized most of them - books he'd bought from her in that other existence - and smiled.

When his finger found a familiar spine - Dune by Frank Herbert - he stopped and pulled it from the shelf. Hermione laughed.

"You never did read it, you know," she said, grinning before turning back to the shelf.

Draco laughed. He watched as she shifted books from one arm to the other before remembering her stack on the floor. How many times had he watched her stack books just like that at Fortuna, even though she owned the store?

Their lives together in that other place hadn't been real. They'd lived, they'd loved, but it had been in their heads. But this - the here and now - was real.

While her back was turned, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. "Granger," he said, his voice husky.

"Hmm?" she asked, not turning around.

"Granger," he said again, a grin on his face as he watched her, totally obliviously wrapped up in the books before her.

"Yeah?" she asked, her fingertip trailing spines.

"Hermione!" he said, a laugh in his voice.

She turned, an almost annoyed look on her face, until she saw the ring he held out. The books in her hand fell to the ground and her eyes popped wide.

"What are - "

"I had a plan," he said, holding the ring out. "I was going to let you open your Christmas gifts at home, then, at the very end, after I gave you a giant box of your favorite chocolates, I was going to give you this. I was going to tell you how much I loved you, how our lives together in our flat was perfect. How I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."

Her hands were over her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.

"But then we came back here. Back to the real world, where you were in Gryffindor and I was in Slytherin. Only, everything was different." He wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. "Here, we don't have a flat or an established life together." With a deep breath, he lowered to one knee, and a sob escaped her covered lips.

"We woke up," he said, voice low, "and all I knew for sure was that I loved you. We didn't have a flat, or a bookshop, but when I looked into my future, all I could see was you. Our future together." He swallowed and wet his lips. "I'm sorry I waited too long there to ask you properly, and I know here, things are different, but I want to ask you now." He looked into her eyes - the same eyes he'd gazed into for months, that he wanted to gaze into for the rest of his life - and smiled. "Hermione, I love you. More than anything. And I need to know, in this world, the real world, will you marry me?"

Hermione's hands fell from her mouth and she was smiling at him, even as tears laid tracks down her face. She fell to her knees in front of him and took his hands in hers, kissing his knuckles.

"Of course I will," she whispered, smiling through her tears, her voice choked with emotion. Draco took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger, then stood, pulling her with him, lifting her off the ground and kissing her with all he had.

When he sat her down, she was laughing. She looked at the ring and laughed again. "It's the ring we saw in that little shop," she said, then kissed him again. "The one I loved so much."

"I want to give you everything," he said, and she leaned into him, books forgotten.

"You're so cheesy," she said with a teary laugh.

"Cheesy looks good on you, Granger," he said, rubbing his thumb over the small ring on her slender finger.

"We're getting married," she whispered, looking up at him with joy etched into her features.

"We're getting married," he said with a laugh.

Her arms went around his neck and she kissed him again, smiling into his lips, hugging him so tightly he could barely breathe. They stayed that way for a long moment, before leaving the bookshop wrapped up in each other.

They walked back toward Hogwarts as the sun set. Hermione twirled the ring on her finger as Draco held her other hand, a smile on his face.

"We have to go tell Harry and Ginny," she said with a smile, nearly skipping.

Draco laughed and ran his free hand through his hair. "Of course," he said, then squeezed her hand. "Red has to be your maid of honor, by the way."

"She knew?" Hermione turned surprised eyes toward him.

Draco shrugged and brought their joined hands to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. "She figured it out. Gave me some advice while you and Potter were shopping." He kissed her hand again. "I think I like her."

Hermione sighed, letting go of his hand to slip against his side, her arm around his waist. The daisy he'd given her earlier was still behind her ear and he reached up to tuck it more securely into her hair.

"Do you think McGonnagal will give us our own private rooms now that we're engaged?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Hermione laughed and kissed his shoulder. "I don't know about that. But tonight, I think between Harry, Ginny, and me, we can probably sneak you into Gryffindor tower, if you're willing to spend a night in the lion's den."

He kissed her hair, wishing they were already there, wrapped up in her blankets in the dark. "For you, I'd go anywhere. Even Gryffindor tower."

"So cheesy," she said, leaning up to kiss his jaw. He smirked and pulled her against him as they walked into Hogwarts, the sun setting, the large doors swinging shut behind them.