So, it's been a year since I've updated, and I'm sorry for my absence. I promise, I'm going to finish this story, I just don't know when. I just started college on a full scholarship, I broke up with my boyfriend of a year (which left me devestated, but you know, you get over it) and I'm very busy with my job (minimum wage is a bitch). I'm in a very strange place personally right now, so writing took a backseat for a long time. But here we are once again. Also, this chapter isn't proof-read, as it is currently 11 o'clock at night and I'm sitting in a computer lab with a double-shot espresso in my hand. Sue me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related. I'm just a little kid playing in Ms. Rowling's sandbox.

You may want to re-read the first three chapters as it has been a while.

In the kingdom of Gryffindor, just outside the castle gates...

Princess Hermione Granger stood outside the castle gates, twisting the heavy emerald on her left ring finger; the snake curled around the gem seemed to glare at her, as if using her new engagement to mock her. She felt the urge to slip the ring off and throw it far into the tree line, but she did not think her mother would very much appreciate that scenario.

"Princess?"

Hermione turned to see her best friend, Harry, walking towards her, several bags in his hand. His mother, Lily, walked in front of him, a sad look about her face. Hermione smiled when she saw the Potters and immediately embraced Lily.

"How are you, Mrs. Potter?" Hermione asked and, upon being given a stern glance back from the woman, sighed. "Sorry, how are you, Lily?"

The woman smiled. "I have been better, dear; although I will be happy to see Remus and Sirius... I will miss Gryffindor greatly. It has and always will be my home." Lily replied, a sad smile on her face.

"I feel the same." Hermione murmured. "But I think this will be alright. I have a good feeling." Lie.

"Alright, where do I put these?" Harry groaned, his knees shaking from the weight of the bags. "Hermione, do you think you could-"

"Why have you not already done it?" Hermione asked her friend confusedly.

"It is a long, very stupid story." Lily answered for her son, taking out her wand and pointing it at the bags. "Diminuendo."

The bags in Harry's hands began to shrink until Harry could carry them all under one arm. He shoved them all inside of a rucksack and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, mother."

"You are welcome. Maybe next time, when you feel like showing off for the Weasley girl, you will remember-"

"PRINCESSLOOKITHINKISEEANEAGLE!" Harry screamed so loud and so fast that his words ran together, and he darted over to Hermione and pointed at the sky. His mother rolled his eyes at him and stopped talking, fully aware of how head-over-heels Harry was for Arthur and Molly Weasley's only daughter. Lily could see the girl across the road, speaking with Luna Lovegood and a few other middle-class nobles. Ginny was a very beautiful young woman- extremely intelligent and fiercely clever- and Lily would not have minded having the girl in her family in the slightest. It was a shame they were leaving... the grandchildren they could have given her would have been beautiful.

"Hermione, are you ready?" King Wendell said as he came out of the castle, his wife on his arm.

"I-I..." Hermione stuttered, looking across the road at her friends. "Yes, father. I just need to say goodbye to the Weasleys."

"Of course, sweetheart." Queen Monica said. "Best hurry, though, if you want to make it to Slytherin by a decent hour." Hermione nodded.

King Wendell and Queen Monica were loaded into a carriage along with Harry and his mother, and a few others- Luna and people with jobs like hers- were loaded into a different carriage. Hermione noticed that Luna and Neville Longbottom seemed to be sharing a very heartfelt goodbye, and if she did not know better, she thought she saw a kiss shared between them. Hermione made a mental note to talk to her father about what could be done for them.

"Oh, Hermione!" Ginny cried and threw her arms around the princess, hot tears trailing down her cheeks. "I-I cannot believe you are leaving!"

"Ginny, shh." Hermione hugged her back. "I will miss you too. This is not goodbye, do you hear me? It is a... see you later." Hermione tried to comfort her friend but only seemed to be making it worse. "I will see you at my wedding, and you may come visit often, and I am sure Harry will want to see you-"

"Harry- ugh!" Ginny wiped her eyes. "I actually thought he liked me. He has not even come to say goodbye."

That idiot, Hermione thought. "I am sure he will come, Ginny." Hermione said goodbye to the girl and moved on to her other friend, Ron, who seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Ron..."

Ron engulfed her in a hug, burying his face in her hair and tightening his hold on her, as if he never intended to let her go. "Do not go, Hermione, please... I will miss you too much."

"I have to, Ron. It is for the greater good." Hermione could taste how wrong those words were in the context of a marriage, but forced herself to say them anyway. "I will miss you too. We will see each other again- I promise." She looked in Ron's eyes and brushed his cheek with her hand. "Goodbye."

"Hermione." Ron dipped down to kiss her and Hermione briefly thought about letting him, but moved her face away from his at the last second.

"I-I cannot-"

"I know." He replied, letting her go. "But who would I be if I did not try?" Ron kissed her forehead and gave her one last glance before turning around and walking away from her.

Hermione nearly stumbled back to the carriage and stepped inside, sitting down next to her mother and leaning into her offered embrace. Once upon a time, when they were just coming of age, Hermione had seriously entertained the idea of becoming Ron's wife. In fact, for a great deal of time before the Malfoys' interference, King Wendell had actually been speaking with Arthur Weasley regarding the possible marriage. It was that serious. Hermione and Ron's love would have been easy, comfortable- they were friends since childhood, got along well, and made each other laugh. They shared many interests and enjoyed the same pass-times; he treated her like an equal, not just some woman capable only of producing children. She felt so comfortable with him. Ron made no illusions to the fact that he was attracted to her and Hermione hid the mutuality of the situation well. They could have happily grown old together if they had been given the time.

What a wasted chance.

Harry stepped inside the carriage not a moment later, slumping down next to his mother and staring out of the carriage window.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Lily asked him.

"Are we ready, your highnesses?" The horseman shouted from outside.

Everyone looked to King Wendell who, in turn, looked to Harry. "I do not know. Are we ready, Harry?" The two seemed to have a wordless conversation and Harry adopted a mischievous glint in his eye, standing up and throwing open the carriage door.

"No, your highness, we are not!"

"Harry! Where are you going?" Hermione stood up and poked her head outside the door of the carriage to see Harry running in the direction of Ginny.

Harry Potter ran as fast as his legs would take him, his chest heaving as he tried to breathe but failed. Ginny was standing next to one of her brothers and her shoulders were shaking, so Harry assumed she was crying. As he neared closer to her, he slowed his pace to that of a slow walk, fear beginning to prickle at him and begging him to turn back around.

"Ginny!" Harry yelled, causing her to turn and look at him with watery eyes.

"Harry? What are you-"

Before Ginny could get another word out, Harry closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers, his hands on either side of her face. Ginny, momentarily caught off guard by the suddenness of his actions, relaxed into his hold, clutching onto his arms for dear life. Arthur Weasley flinched and was about to interrupt the two but received a sharp jab from his smiling wife in the side. Harry Potter, Arthur supposed, was not the worst suitor his daughter could have taken a liking to.

Harry let go of her face and broke their kiss, taking her hands in his own. "I will write you every day; I swear on my life that I will come back for you." He breathed out, smiling crookedly at the girl.

Ginny simply nodded and smiled, her words escaping her.

Many hours later, in the kingdom of Slytherin...

"When are they to arrive?"

"Any moment now, Draco. For Merlin's sake, take a seat."

Draco shook his head and continued to pace the floor of the grand room. He muttered to himself and walked endlessly in circles, much to the dismay of Queen Narcissa. He was just so on edge about all of it: his bride's coming to Slytherin, King Wendell looking at him in distaste, and his people's quiet qualms about their future queen. He would be seen as week and pitiful by much of his kingdom, even some of his friends, all because of one girl.

And what infuriated him most?

He... he actually kind of liked the girl. She had fire. She was nothing like the women who had entertained Draco in the past- she had spirit, she was an excellent fighter and- most unfortunate of all- she was pretty. Draco just wasn't willing to call her beautiful... the term seemed too intimate.

When he first saw her, he did not think much of her, for he never took the time to actually look at her. But after spending so much time replaying their encounters- even the ones where they were just screaming at each other- he noticed her face. He noticed the quiet, humble beauty in her features. He noticed how she did not particularly try to look beautiful but managed it anyway.

Dear Merlin, it infuriated him.

He recalled a certain encounter between the two that bothered him to no end. It had been the day before he returned to Slytherin, just a week before she was to come to him. It had been night time and she was standing in the moonlight in a garden, in the middle of roses. She had just been staring up at the moon, a distant look about her face.

Draco walked through the gardens, his hands in his pockets as he kicked several stones out of the way. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her standing there, just up ahead, staring at the moon. He couldn't read her expression, but he knew that she was not there. She was somewhere very far away, lost in her own thoughts.

He suddenly felt like he was intruding, like he had stumbled upon something he was not meant to see. But he just could not bring himself to look away. Her hands clasped in front of her, her face illuminated by the moonlight, she looked... beautiful. In a different place, a different set of circumstances, he would have approached her, told her just how beautiful she was, and made her his.

But she was already his. They knew that. It was not until then that Draco realized how wrong this was. They both had a claim to each other but it certainly was not in any right way.

For some reason, it made him immensely sad to think about.

It was then that had Hermione turned and caught him. He remembered how hurt she had looked, how invaded she must have felt. She had scowled at him and said, "Merlin, I know you hate me, but there's no need to follow me and make me feel worse than I already do." And right after she had run past him, looking like she was about to cry, he had wanted to grab her arm and tell her no, he did not hate her. He was not sure he liked her, but he did not hate her.

What bothered him the most about that was the look in her eyes. The genuine look of hurt and vulnerability, alongside what he could clearly see was betrayal. She felt as though he had taken whatever small amount of trust they'd had and crushed it. They had been less hostile towards each other and learned how to tolerate each other, and to her, he had ruined that by sneaking up on her and scowling at her.

He hated that she was coming to Slytherin. He hated that he had messed up. He hated that they would never love each other. He hated, hated, hated everything about this marriage.

But he did not hate her.

"Your highnesses, the Gryffindor royal family have arrived." A guard broke Draco's concentration as he announced the arrival of his bride. Draco straightened up and looked to his parents; his mother looked joyfully expectant while his father masked his distaste with a fake smile.

The doors opened and Draco greeted Queen Monica with a kiss to her hand before bowing to King Wendell. Harry and Lily Potter entered then, and he greeted the two with a fake smile, just as his father did.

Then came his bride.

"Gra- Hermione." Draco said, using her actual name, much to the girl's surprise. He took her hand and attempted to bring it to his lips, but she had pulled her hand from his at the last moment.

"Malfoy." She replied.

Welcome to Slytherin.

My Lord,

The mudblood is due to arrive at Slytherin castle in a day's time. The Greengrass girl has already found a way into the castle, under the guise of a chambermaid. She seems to have become much less careful in her approach and has never made her presence known, so I will speak with her regarding her ignorance.
All preparations have been made and everything will be set in motion in a few day's time. I will alert you should anything go awry.

-S.S.

The Dark Lord smiled and pushed the letter aside, gazing out the window and into the darkness of the night.

The world would be righted soon. In due time.