Hello all! This is the final chapter of M'anam chara! Sorry it took so long! Leaving Cert is a pain in the ass! Hope everyone is having a great Easter or whatever else you guys are celebrating! I know I'm completely stuffed full of chocolate! :)
anyway hope you enjoy!
Thanks to everyone who has read this story and a special thanks to all of you that have reviewed!
Special thanks to Mimi, for being the greatest friend ever! I couldn't have written this story without her! :)
Hermione was once told to stop saying "I love you". When she was younger she loved her dog, her doll, chocolate, the man on the moon and her parents, of course. She understood why now. Why her grandfather told her to keep those words for the one person who deserved them. Saying that eight lettered phrase should be sacred; meant for someone you truly love, meant for someone you can't live without … no matter how hard you try to.
"I love you" is, perhaps, the most overused, mundane and clichéd phrase in the entire universe. Sometimes it means nothing. But sometimes it means everything. Those three syllables can change your life.
There are hundreds of different languages to choose from. Je T'aime, S' Agapo, Wo Ai Ni, Ich Liebe Dich, Ti Amo, Táim i ngrá leat- just to name a few ways. But they all mean the same thing. They all tell the recipient of these hallowed words how much you care for them and how much you never want to be apart from them again.
There are a thousand better ways to covey the same message. But still those three simple words seem to win out in most cases. But not today though…today the words were spoken in Irish.
Whispered exchanges of love during sacred vows.
Two silhouettes stood bathed in moonlight. Two souls about to be joined in marriage. Two lovers who wanted nothing more than to be together forever.
They faced each other, barely hearing the words the priest spoke. Hermione wore a blissful smile. Her eyes were only for her soon-to-be husband, as his were for her. Their audience of family and friends were forgotten in the shadows of the trees that were surrounding the forest clearing.
"Hermione, an toil leatsa bheith i do bhean chéile agamsa?" His grey eyes bore into her eyes with unyielding intensity. His voice was quiet but there was no denying the love that ran threw it.
("Hermione, do you consent to be my wife?")
"Is toil. Draco, an toil leatsa bheith i d'fhear céile agamsa?" Hermione sounded like her usual confident self but inside her stomach was doing somersaults.
("I do. Do you, Draco, consent to be my husband?")
"Is toil. Glacaim leat mar bhean chéile agus bronnaim mé féin ort mar fhear céile —"
("I do. I take you as my wife, and I give myself to you as your husband-")
"Glacaim leat mar fhear céile agus bronnaim mé féin ort mar bhean chéile —" A small smile spread over her face as she said the words.
("I take you as my husband, and I give myself to you as your wife.")
"chun grá a thabhairt dá chéile go dílis, más fearr sinn, más measa, más saibhir, más bocht, más tinn nó más slán go scara an bás sinn." Each syllable was so drenched with unadulterated adoration that no-one could doubt the love that existed between this couple.
("to love each other truly,
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
till death do us part.")
An ní a cheanglaíonn Dia, Ná scaoileadh duine é. Go neartaí Dia leis an toil atá tugtha agaibh dá chéile agus go mbronna sé go fial oraibh a bheannacht. The Priest's booming voice echoed around the small clearing.
("What God joins together man must not separate. May the Lord confirm the consent that you have given, and enrich you with his blessings.")
At that second the feelings of happiness and love threatened to explode inside of Hermione's heart. She couldn't remember the last time she was so happy. She was his. He was hers. And she knew that she would never let anything tear them apart.
It was real. They were man and wife. It wasn't just another elaborated plot conjured up by her imagination. She had spent the last five years wishing that she had never left him, hoping to find him again. And, now, here he was, standing in front of her, looking at her with those eyes. She had forgotten how much his gaze affected her and, right this moment, as he looked at her as if he was drinking in every detail, she blushed. She couldn't help it. She was powerless. Strangely she didn't care.
When they were apart the hurt and the sadness had almost consumed her heart and devoured her soul. But she made it through. They had made it through, both her and Draco. They still carried the scars. They had memorised the hurt.
But they had learned lessons along the way. Not to be afraid of your feelings for one and not to be afraid of other people's reactions to their relationship. Hermione knew that she would never let fear hinder her again. She would never be ashamed to say that Draco was her husband, that she was Mrs. Malfoy.
***
She advanced towards the sleeping figure. She smiled silently to herself. The moon seemed to radiate as he lay snoozing on the floor of the crisp, cool grass. She knelt down beside him, trying her utmost not to wake him. She wanted to savour this moment. She brushed some stray hair off his forehead, dipping her head to place a kiss on it.
She was so caught in a trance recalling forgotten memories that she didn't see his eyelashes begin to flutter.
"Hey" he murmured, rubbing his eyes.
"Speaking English, are we?" Hermione asked. "I was starting to think you had a mild aversion to your native tongue"
"Well, we're not hiding our relationship anymore. There's no need for it"
"I guess you're right." Hermione replied as she lay down beside him. He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled into his chest.
"So, how were your first few hours of being Mrs. Malfoy?" he asked into her hair.
"They were perfect, until my husband decided to escape from our wedding reception and have a catnap at Hogwarts Lake. Mrs. Goyle said she wasn't surprised though. She said it was about time you realised that you had made the biggest mistake of your life, marrying a Mud-blood that is."
"Don't mind her. She's always been like that, an opinionated old busy-body"
"I know" Hermione said softly. She fiddled with one of the buttons on his white shirt. He had already thrown his cravat and his black jacket aside.
"Hermione?"
"Hmm?" she answered, not looking up.
"I'll never finish loving you. Not now. Not ever. I can't imagine a time that I could live without you by my side. Not again. I love you. I won't let anything tear us apart again."
Hermione raised her head, laying her chin on his chest. "I love you too" she said. Then she kissed him. She let herself get lost in the kiss. She felt his arms pulling her closer. He kissed her softly but it was a kiss she could feel all the way to her toes.
It felt like a kiss you'd get from your soulmate….from your anam chara.
She felt like she would never get enough of him.
She could do this forever, for the rest of her life.
She didn't know what the future would bring but she was ready to face anything.
With Draco.
Always with Draco.
Together.
As man and wife.
She liked the sound of that.
Hope you liked it!
Please Review!
Lots of Love,
Shadowdustxxx
