And here's the last chapter of my story! :D I hope you guys liked it. Thank you for the readers who supported me, gave me reviews/critiques, and made my story one of their favorites! I'll write more soon. Hopefully you guys still read my stories. Hope this last chapter doesn't disappoint!

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Draco straightened his robes in front of the dormitory mirror for the fifth time that night. Tonight was the dance, the end-of-the-year dance, and he wanted to look his best. For tonight. For Hermione.

Hermione. Just thinking about her made that thing in his ribcage thud erratically. When he'd asked her, sitting under the tree near the lake, he'd been scared she'd say no. But she had said yes, smiling at him with those beautiful brown eyes. And tonight was the night. He was nervous and excited. And he wanted to look good.

He ran his hand through his hair again, trying to make it look tousled but sexy (a trend he had discovered through Muggle media), but he just managed to make it stand on its end. Frowning, he tried again.

"Oh, let me," Pansy sighed as she entered his room. Without knocking, Draco noted, a little annoyed, a little amused. Back when they'd been dating she'd always do that- come in without any announcement, sit on his bed and prod him with a book until he noticed her. Now she just came up to him and fixed his hair, running her fingers through it and pulling on a few strands. "There. Tousled but sexy. That's what you're going for, right?"

Draco had to smile. She knew him well. "Thanks." He noticed her eyes were still red. She was taking his dating Hermione pretty hard, though he knew Blaise was trying his best to "comfort" her. He felt guilty. "Uh… are you going with someone?" he asked, trying to ease the tension.

"Blaise. He asked me a few days ago." She adjusted the collar of his robe. She looked sad. No, not sad –resigned. Draco resolved to actually be nice to her in the future.

"Well… I hope you have fun." He smoothed down his robes and held out his arms. "How do I look?"

Pansy smiled sadly. "Good. You always have." She walked to the door, but hesitated before turning the knob. "Have fun with… have fun with –her." She left. After one last glance at the mirror, Draco followed suit.

xxxxx

"Ginny, does my hair look all right from the back?" Hermione nervously patted her updo. She'd wanted to look good without looking like she was trying too hard, so she'd gone for an updo but left strands artistically framing her face. She felt like the whole thing was going to collapse on her.

Ginny laughed. "You look fine." She picked up a pin from the dresser and pinned an unruly strand. "He won't be able to take his eyes off you." Hermione blushed and Ginny laughed more. Hermione blushing was a new sight. Merlin, Hermione with Draco was a new sight. But she seemed happy and that was all Ginny needed to know.

Hermione spun slowly in front of the mirror, watching her reflection. Her dusty rose dress robes swirled around her. Tonight was the night of the dance and she wanted to look good. She caught Ginny's eye in the mirror and saw sadness in her eyes. She turned around. "I love him, Ginny. I really do."

Ginny grinned. "I can tell. You'd never see Hermione Granger fussing over whether her robes should be dusky rose or sunset red unless she was in loooooove." She drew out the last word in a singsong voice.

"Hmph." Hermione laughed as she swatted at Ginny. She twirled around once and stopped, sheepish.

Ginny smiled a little sadly. She picked up Hermione's bag and handed it to her. "Here. You don't wanna be late."

xxxxx

Draco stood awkwardly in a corner of the entrance hall, watching the stairs. Gryffindor after Gryffindor came down the stairs, but not the one he was waiting for. He was starting to worry she'd bailed on him when she suddenly turned the corner and stumbled a bit down the stairs. Thankfully, Draco wasn't too distracted by how she looked to run toward her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he gripped her arm.

"I'm fine, Draco. These heels are just hard to walk in. It took me forever to get down the stairs," she laughed, taking his arm. She smiled up at him and his stunning gray eyes looked into her soft brown ones and that thing in his ribcage melted. "Remember the Yule Ball?" she went on, breaking his reverie. "You left me among all those fairy lights, right in the middle of our dance."

Draco laughed. "How could I forget? I actually asked if you were all right. Very unlike me." He put his hand over hers. "And then to be thorough, I asked you to dance."

"You never told me why you left, though," she said, pulling her hand away. "We were just dancing and then you drew away and bowed and left." She looked at him. There was no accusation in her eyes. No resentment. Just curiosity.

"Let's not think about that tonight, please, love? I don't want something dampening our beautiful evening," Draco replied as they entered the Great Hall. He was grateful for the distraction the decorations caused. The Great Hall looked wonderful. It had been done up in gray and white, and soft white snowflakes fell from the ceiling and disappeared once they hit the ground. Everyone was milling about. He nodded to Blaise and Pansy, who were heading toward the dance floor. Next to him, Hermione waved to fellow Gryffindors. Potter and the Weasely girl were sitting at a table with Loony and Longbottom. Strangely, the Weasel git was nowhere in sight. Draco smirked. His skank girlfriend (probably ex, now) was there, though, with someone he didn't recognize. Hermione tugged on his arm and gestured that they go join her friends. He nodded and allowed her to lead him.

"Hello Hermione. Malf- Draco." Harry winced as Ginny elbowed him in the ribs.

"The decorations are wonderful, aren't they, Hermione?" Ginny smiled up at them. "Hello there, Draco. Enjoying your date?"

"Very much… Ginny." She laughed.

"You still sound very stiff saying my name," she noted dryly. Draco had to smile. The Weasely girl had more to her than he thought. She'd probably make this evening more bearable.

"My apologies. After years of calling you the Weaselette, it's a bit hard to break the habit."

"You'll have to break it now, since you're dating Hermione over here."

Draco looked at Hermione. "Yes. I suppose I have to."

"Your eyes are very gray," Luna suddenly interjected. She had been staring at Draco intently ever since they sat down. "Perhaps you are suffering from a bite from a nargle?"

Draco blinked confusedly at her, but was spared from answering by Ginny's suddenly standing up and announcing, "I don't know about the rest of you, but this is a dance and I fully intend on making the most out of tonight. Come on Harry." She yanked him to his feet and dragged him to the dance floor.

"Perhaps we should dance, too," Luna said and stood up, leaving Neville in his chair, apparently spaced out. He blinked and looked around and, realizing Luna had gone, stumbled after her, leaving Draco and Hermione at the table.

"Would you like to dance too?" Hermione asked, turning to Draco. "Or would you prefer to sit here and make small talk all night?"

Draco took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come with me. I have a surprise."

xxxxx

"Where are we going?" Hermione could feel Draco's hand covering her eyes, but she still struggled not to peek. He had put the makeshift blindfold on her as soon as they stepped out of the Great Hall. She could feel his other hand on the small of her back, guiding her, but she was still nervous (and admittedly a little excited).

"Oh, you'll see." There was a wry note in his voice as he carefully led her down the stairs. She could smell dew on grass and figured they were in the garden. The sounds of the dance were fading, leaving only slight chatter and soft music.

"Here we are," Draco said as he took his hand away, and Hermione gasped.

The garden looked just like it had during the Yule Ball. The blooming rose bushes. The fairy lights. The decorations. The strains of music coming from the castle were the same ones they had danced to that night, when everything had changed. She turned to Draco. "You did this?"

"I've always regretted leaving you that night. I made myself leave, because… Well, because you were a Gryffindor and I was the Slytherin Prince, and even if you were beautiful that night, I couldn't stay. But ever since then… I've gradually come to accept that I don't care anymore. I don't care if you're a Gryffindor or a Muggle-born or a know-it-all who tries to answer every question in class. I don't care because that makes you who you are. It makes you Hermione. My Hermione," and here he stepped closer to her and looked at her, his gray eyes burning with emotion. "So I wanted to make it up to you. I asked permission to do this. Because…," he trailed off, looking down at the ground, shy now, an emotion never seen from him before.

"Shhh," Hermione whispered as she put a finger to his lips. She gently took his hand and put it to her waist, and held the other one tightly. Draco smiled, and together they waltzed across the grass and this time, this time, Draco was finally able to bury his face in her sweet-smelling hair and brush his lips across her forehead and cheek and she blushed and oh, she was so beautiful. A goddess, even better than his dreams, even better than that night years ago. He held her close to him and breathed her in, every inch of her, her very essence, and reveled in the knowledge that she was his. And very slowly, almost timidly, even, he lowered his face to hers and forgot everything –forgot the night, forgot the people inside, forgot all his problems- except the fact that this time, oh this time, he would never let go again.

xxxxx

Et finis.

xxxxx

There you go! I hoped you guys liked the story. I'm a little sad that it's ending, but I'm comforting myself with the knowledge that I'll write again soon. Thank you again to my readers. :D It's been wonderful, receiving so much positive feedback for my first-ever Dramione fic. Hope to see your names in the future!

Love, harlequindreaming