It took another three hours before Draco came stumbling out of his room, his mind made up. "Hermione?" he called.

"Draco!" Hermione said from the couch. She got up to help him, and he blinked at her blurrily. "Are you okay?"

"I think I might pass out," he said, frowning.

"Come here, on the couch."

"But I'm hungry right now."

"Don't be such a baby and lie down and tell me what's wrong."

"Suddenly very snarky," he bit back, and Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed him onto the couch. She sat on the coffee table across from him and eyed him critically.

"Hermione, I have to tell you something, but I'd rather—

"I've got a hangover potion right here," she said, whipping the vial out of her pocket and handing it to him.

Draco smiled. "So prepared for everything…I have to do it," he muttered to himself. He uncapped the potion and swallowed all the liquid down, making a face before groaning. "Goodness, that's nasty stuff," he said, wincing.

"I know. I've had to taste it more than usual because of Ronald," she said with a sigh.

"Do you have any coffee?"

"Yup! It's in the kitchen."

"Wow, I really wasn't joking when I said you were always prepared," Draco said, half in amazement as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Yeah, Ginny came out and told me that you were drunk," Hermione said, pouring him some coffee.

"What else did she tell you?"

Hermione was a little taken aback by the hardness of his voice. "Nothing. She just kept shrugging."

Draco sighed heavily. "Well, you better sit down. I have something else to tell you."

Hermione frowned and acquiesced. "Don't tell me you're getting married."

Draco scoffed. "To who, exactly?"

"I don't know who."

"Be quiet. I have to say this now before I go mad." Draco closed his eyes to compose himself and looked Hermione in the eye. "Hermione, I…I'm in love with you." He tried to ignore the shock on her face. "I…I got drunk because I was insanely jealous of your ex. I've been in love with you for two years, and it's been so hard living with you and being just your best friend. I…I don't know what else to say," he told her, his usual condescending voice reduced to hesitance.

It was silent for a long minute, and Draco couldn't meet her eyes anymore.

"Are you finished?" Hermione finally asked, and Draco expelled a breath and nodded. Hermione bit her bottom lip. "Draco, I…" She took a deep breath. "It's been a hard two years when we became really close, especially with Ron getting so jealous. I loved Ron, but when he asked me to move in with him, I didn't want to leave you. It was…strange to him, and he got very sensitive after that, and I don't blame him.

"I think…I mean…Merlin, I can't get the words out! You were always there listening to me, being with me, hanging out with me; you tolerated all my friends, my relationship ups and downs; you were just…my best friend. But that night I got drunk, the time before I accidentally took Benzodiazepines, I realised that I could, in fact, imagine us being together because we were such good friends. I mean, it seemed almost natural, like us being together wasn't as terrible as Ron made it out to be. I mean, cheating on him would definitely be wrong, but for the first time, I actually could see…well, us…dating. So, I guess, to cut myself off before I start ranting—"

"Too late," Draco said with the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face.

"—I…I do like you. But I want to take it slow, you know? Ron said the same thing to me before we started dating. I've liked you for a long time, blah blah blah."

"I'm not Weasley," Draco said, unable to stop smiling.

"I'm really glad you're not," she answered with a bright smile of her own, and Draco picked her up off the chair, squeezing her to him. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed. "I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd be going out with Draco Malfoy."

Draco put her on the ground and leant down to kiss her cheek. "I never thought I'd ever go out with you." He planted another kiss on her forehead.

Hermione giggled. "Well, I'm glad both of our 'never's' came to the present."

Draco raised his head to smile. "What fools we were to just assume." And he bent his head down again to kiss her.

The passion of their romance had quieted, and Draco, as he had predicted as a love-sick bachelor, wasn't so intensely affected by his wife all the time. They were too busy taking care of work, themselves, and their two little children, Scorpius and Damaris, to rekindle that spark in their relationship every once in a while.

One night, the night after sending Scorpius to Hogwarts, Hermione was lying on the grassy hill in Scotland, in the middle of Draco and their little daughter. Damaris was asleep, and as Hermione stared at the stars, tears began to come out of her eyes. Draco noticed her silent tears, and he turned to her.

"Why are you crying?" he asked softly, and Hermione sniffed.

"Little Scorpius is already gone," she replied, and Draco smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Yes, he is. He's growing up, Hermione."

"I know." She kissed him, and Draco felt the old spark he'd felt as a younger man kick in again. He pulled away, pressing his lips together, and looked down at his beautiful wife. His heart swelled the longer he looked down at her, and, when he felt like his heart would burst, he smiled down at her. "I love you," he whispered, and leant down to kiss her again.

Hermione smiled against his mouth. "I love you too."

"Mummy, let's go home," Damaris suddenly whined, awake. "I'm sleepy."

The couple got up and Draco held his daughter with one arm, his other arm around his wife. He kissed Hermione's head, closing his eyes briefly as he took in a whiff of her hair. It smelled like shampoo and fresh grass.

"Home we go," he said with a satisfied smile. His wife smiled back.

For as long as he lived, he would never find someone like Hermione Granger ever again.

finis