Epilogue

-Three Years Later-

A loud thud echoed through out the nearly empty room as Draco dropped a cardboard box on the table before turning to survey the small flat. A grimace appeared on his face. "I still don't see why you're making me move in with you…"

"Excuse me? You were the one who suggested we live together," Ginny pointed out as she placed another box atop a stack in the corner.

"Yeah, at my place," he grumbled in response as she walked towards him, carrying a pile of plates she had fished out of one of the boxes. "Or I could've just bought us a house."

She shot him a look of annoyance over her shoulder as she put the dishes on the counter. "I've already told you. I'm not living somewhere that you frivolously bought with your endless supply of money," she stated tersely, standing on her tip-toes as she tried to push some of the plates onto the highest shelf. "I've worked hard to get my own place and I'm not gonna start relying on you now." Hearing footsteps behind her, she wasn't surprised when Draco reached up and took the plates from her before setting them on the shelf.

"It'd make life a lot easier," he remarked, slipping an arm around her waist. She could almost hear the smirk in his words. "Then you'd be able to spend more time with me."

With a scowl, she spun around in his arms. "Draco…" He let out a huff at her dangerous tone.

"I know, I know. You don't need my money."

"At least you're learning," Ginny replied, pulling away from him. He caught her hand before she could get too far away.

"But you know… Since you accepted this," he began with mock consideration as he played with the diamond ring on her finger, "you kind of agreed to use my money."

She fought back a smile as she wriggled her hand out of his grasp. "No… It simply means that, for some God-forsaken reason, I've agreed to spend the rest of my life with a prat like you," she explained before her lips finally did curve upward. "Money has nothing to do with it." Well, at least he knew she wasn't marrying him for his money… "Now come one. These boxes aren't gonna move themselves."

Draco sighed, following her over to the mounds of stuff that was piled in their living room. The flat actually wasn't as bad as he made it sound — though it was a bit on the small side. 'Cozy' was the word Ginny had used to describe it, but he'd still insisted he could get them a bigger place. After she'd adamantly refused that option, he'd grudgingly consented to buying the 'cozy' flat, splitting the cost evenly with her.

"Couldn't we get someone else to do this?" he complained as she picked up a box that had to be moved to the back bedroom. "Hell, we could even be using magic."

She laughed, a teasing expression in her eyes. "Why? Are the boxes too heavy for you, Malfoy?" He frowned at the jab before snatching the box from her hands.

"No. I just think we're wasting our time."

Ginny lifted another box that also needed to go to the back. "It doesn't hurt to do stuff without magic every once in a while. We don't have to use magic all the ti–" A deafening crack suddenly sounded beside her, causing her to stumble backwards in surprise. Losing her footing, she started to topple over, but a strong hand caught her arm until she steadied herself. Looking up, she found herself gazing at Draco's smirking face, the box he was carrying placed under his other arm.

"The boxes too heavy for you, Weasley?" She pursed her lips and pulled away from him before turning to scold the newcomer.

"Blaise! What have I told you about Apparating in here without warning?" The young man faced her with an apologetic grin as Draco disappeared into hall to put away his box.

"Sorry, Gin." He gestured to the flat's entrance, where the door was still ajar from when they'd been carrying in their belongings. "But hey, your door's open anyway."

Ginny exhaled in an exasperated matter, temporarily putting down the box to close and lock the door before picking it up again. "Yes, but what if someone'd seen you?"

"That would've been an issue," his grin widened, "but since no one saw me, it's not a problem."

"There's still the issue of privacy…" she mumbled as she walked into the hall, passing Draco as he made his way back to the living room with a mildly condescending look directed at his best friend.

"Aren't you supposed to be working now?"

"Technically, so are you," he pointed out with a shrug before holding up a set of papers with sketches of brooms and rows of writing on them. "Besides, I'm here about work anyway. Let's just say the Spitfires are living up to their name…"

Draco's shoulders slumped. "You've got to be kidding me," he groaned, running a hand through his hair before narrowing his eyes slightly. "Wait, I thought you'd fixed those."

"I thought I did too," Blaise admitted as he handed the papers to him, "and our deadlines in a week. If we've got any hope of selling them to the Harpies, they need to be done by then."

Draco took a moment to glance over the notes they'd made before turning towards the hallway. "Hey, Gin?"

"Yeah?" her voice responded from the back bedroom.

"Can you talk to your captain about extending our deadline for these brooms?" At this, she came back into the main room, her brow furrowed.

"Why? The Spitfires causing trouble again?"

Blaise nodded with a small frown. "I don't know what's wrong with 'em… All of a sudden they go completely berserk and the rider gets thrown off."

Ginny contemplated the issue as she took a few steps over to the adjacent kitchen and plopped down on the counter. After a moment, she spoke up. "You know, I could test it–"

"No," Draco and Blaise replied in unison, neither of them even glancing at her. She folded her arms over her chest as she rested her head on the cabinet door.

"I'm not a professional Chaser for nothing," she shot back hotly. "I think I can handle it."

"Ginny, they're causing too many problems at the moment," Draco told her dismissively before turning to Blaise. "If worse comes to worse, I'll fly it tomorrow and see if I can figure out the problem."

Her tone was rich with resentment as she retorted. "Oh, so you can fly it but I can't?"

A moment of silenced passed before Draco nonchalantly stated, "If we can't fix it, then you can give it a shot," causing her to smile contently as he returned the papers to his friend and business partner. "I think I saw something in a book that might help," he murmured, turning to the assortment of boxes and gazing at them for a moment before a small frown appeared on his lips.

Blaise snorted. "Good luck finding it in all these boxes."

"I know where it is," Draco bit back resolutely. "Just give me a minute…" He exited the room, no doubt going to dig through the boxes that were stashed in the bedroom.

"He won't be back for at least ten minutes," Ginny commented off-handedly before pausing in a contemplative manner. "Maybe twenty." Blaise chuckled, walking in to the kitchen so he was standing opposite her.

"I'm still in shock that he agreed to move in here in the first place," he said as he leaned against the kitchen table she'd moved in there that morning. "Actually, I'm still can't believe he finally proposed."

"How long as he had the ring?" she wondered, swinging her legs back and forth slightly as she studied the dirty patches on the tile floor, making a mental note to clean them later on.

"Umm… About a year, I think."

"Really?" she murmured conversationally. Then his answer sunk in and her head snapped up with astonishment. "Wait… A year?" Ginny exclaimed, not sure she'd heard his answer correctly.

"Yep."

"And it took him this long?" she clarified with disbelief. Blaise nodded, her expression causing a grin to form on his face.

"Sad, isn't it? Although, I can't blame him for not wanting to deal with–" The rest of his sentence was cut off by a raucous banging.

"Ginny!"

Recognizing the voice, Blaise finished his earlier train of thought with a laugh. "–your family."

"Would it kill him to knock quietly?" the young woman sighed as she hopped off the counter to answer the incessant pounding, but Blaise was already heading for the door.

"Ginny!" Ron's voice shouted, muffled slightly. "Hurry up!" There was a pause, and for a moment she thought he'd stopped, but the rapping continued more urgently a second later. "You'd better not be snogging that bastard!"

It was after that delightful comment that Blaise undid the lock and swung the door open, casually greeting red-head with, "You know, the neighbors are gonna complain if you keep this up, Weasley." The youngest of Ginny's brothers ignored him and stormed into the flat.

"Ginny, what the hell do you–" He stopped, turning to Blaise with a mixture of surprise and confusion before his expression finally settled into one of suspicion. "What are you doin' here?"

"He's visiting," Ginny responded as she walked between them to close the door. "Now, what brings you h–"

"Why are you marrying him? Of all people, you just had to choose that slimy little git!" She was a bit taken-aback by his outburst, but was able to quickly hide her shock with a look of feigned ignorance.

"What are you talking about?" she inquired innocently, causing Blaise to let out a chuckle before trying to cover it with a cough.

"What do you mean, what am I talking about?" Ron continued to bellow, his face flushed with anger as his hands clenched at his sides. "You're wearing a bloody engagement ring!"

Ginny glanced down at the ring on her finger. "Oh… That," she mumbled awkwardly before her countenance changed to one of vexation. "Well, that's none of your business, Ron! …Wait, how did you find out anyway?"

"That doesn't matter," he growled. "I wanna know why you're marrying him!"

Ginny sighed, resisting the urge to just kick him out of the flat. "I love him, remember?"

"But you've only been dating for–"

"For four years!" she interrupted with an amazed laugh at his stubbornness. "I think that's long enough!"

"Hey, both of you need to quiet down," Blaise pointed out in a feeble attempt to defer any further argument between the siblings. "Yelling at each other like two idiots isn't going to solve anything." Ginny whirled on him, her brown eyes narrowed.

"Don't tell me what to do," she snapped. The young man rolled his eyes, figuring there was nothing to do but let them fight it out. Unfortunately, his interjection dragged him into their row as well.

"Did you know about this?" Ron demanded accusingly.

Deciding it would be better to be honest, regardless of how furious it would make the red-head (or perhaps because of it), Blaise answered, "Of course."

Ron turned back to Ginny with a gob-smacked expression. "How come you told him before you told us?"

"You seriously can't figure that out?" she replied, quirking an eyebrow. "Besides, I didn't tell him, Draco must've 'cause he popped in two minutes after it happened and said, 'So, did ya chicken out?'"

"It wasn't my fault I practically had to push him out the door to go ask you," Blaise noted carelessly. Ginny brushed off the comment and instead faced her brother once again.

"I wasn't planning on telling anyone until he'd moved it," she explained apologetically. "I was gonna tell you this weeken–"

"What do you mean he's moving in?"

Ginny let out a huff of frustration before thwacking him over the head. As he rubbed the spot with a frown, she said, "Ron, just shut up for a minute. Now, how the hell did you find out?"

His jaw clenched, but he crossed his arms and answered in a relatively calm manner. "Some people noticed you were wearin' that ring. George overheard them talking 'bout it down at the shop."

Ginny groaned. "So I'm assuming everyone knows now, right?"

Ron nodded, having seemed to calm down a bit. "Mum wants you and Malfoy over for dinner tonight." He paused before grudgingly adding, "She also said Zabini's welcome to come if he wants."

Almost immediately, a broad grin broke out on Blaise's face as he turned to Ginny. "I keep telling you, your mum loves me." She pushed him playfully as he laughed at her antics before she shifted her attention to the situation at hand.

"Well, I guess it'd come down to this anyway…" She sent Blaise a questioning glance. "Can you come tonight? I could use the back-up."

"Yeah, but I'll probably come late. I don't know how long it'll take me to get the kinks worked out on that stupid broom."

"Brilliant… Another Slytherin to deal with," Ron grumbled.

"Hey, I've been trying to drop this whole petty animosity between our Houses for years," Blaise said with a shrug. "Clearly I'm not the one who has the problem." Ron scowled, but the return of a certain blonde prevented him from saying anything.

"Okay, this should help you fix it." He glanced up from flipping through the book as he spoke only to see Ron standing in his living room. Coldly, he asked, "What do you want, Weasley?"

Ron glared at him, tilting his head slightly in response. "Malfoy."

Ginny simply scoffed — she seriously doubted Draco hadn't noticed that her rather loud and obnoxious brother had stopped in for a visit. "Do the two of you have to act like children?"

"I'm not the one who's acting like a child," Draco retorted airily, shooting a pointed look at the other Weasley.

Blaise was quick to contradict his statement. "Oh please, you're both acting the same way you did ten years ago." When his friend snapped the book shut angrily, he chuckled. "Fine, I get it. I'm not helping, so I'll just be on my way." He reached over and took the book from Draco before facing Ginny. "See you around six?"

She nodded, a small smile on her face. "Yeah."

"All right." Glancing between the two boys, he smirked, quipping, "Trying not to kill each other, will ya?" before Disapparating.

"What was he talking about?" Draco prompted of his fiancée a second later, but Ron beat her to it.

"Mum's lost her mind and insists that you come over for dinner."

Draco stared at him for a moment as if he'd lost his mind before matter-of-factly announcing, "I'm not going."

Ron grinned mockingly. "Running away again, Malfoy? I guess you're still a bloody coward…"

Draco scowled, but before he could spit back a biting response, Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, murmuring, "Just give me a second to talk to him." Releasing his arm, she went over to her brother and unceremoniously dragged him into the kitchen, Ron protesting along the way. Once they were kind of out of ear-shot, she spun around to face him with a stern expression and, in a hushed tone, wondered, "Do you have to be like that?"

"Ginny, he's a Slytherin!" Ron argued, not even trying to be quiet. "They both are!"

"I know that!" she countered before returning to her earlier volume. "But Blaise has been making an honest effort to get along with you since you got out of Hogwarts, and I'm sure Draco would look past it if you would."

It was quite apparent that Ron was still annoyed, but a more serious look came over his features as he wondered, "Why him? Why are you marrying someone like him when you could've chosen Harry instead?

The question caught her off guard, and she simply stared at him for a moment before realization struck her and she glanced over at Draco. From the vacant expression on his face and the way he was slumped back on the couch, she could tell he'd heard. Returning her gaze to her brother, she uttered emotionlessly, "You should be happy for me regardless of who I marry. I've obviously made my decision, and I wish you'd respect that."

Ron frowned — she had to be really upset if she didn't respond in her usual hot-headed way. "Gin, I didn't mean it like that–"

"I'm not a kid any more, Ron," she muttered icily. "You don't have to lie to me — I know you don't like him, and honestly, I don't think he's all that fond of you. But for God's sake, can you try to be civil towards him."

Even though he seemed slightly sickened by the idea, he nodded. "Fine…" he agreed before shooting a glare over her shoulder at the blonde. "But most of the family's gonna be there tonight, so he'd better not try anything."

She smiled weakly — that piece of news only meant she'd have to deal with them all at once as well. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. Now, go tell mum we'll be able to make it tonight, okay? And Blaise too."

Ron hesitated briefly. "…Alright." Then, to her mild surprise, he pulled her into a quick hug, mumbling, "I'll see ya tonight," before Disapparating. When he did, she saw Draco look over out of the corner of her eyes.

"You heard him, didn't you?" she sighed, traipsing towards him.

"And if I did?" he replied crisply. His grey eyes followed her as she flopped down on the sofa, her lips curving into a slight smile as she leaned over to kiss him warmly.
A moment later, she pulled away with an amused shake of her head. "I still can't believe after all these years you still let Harry bother you…"

"Let's face it — you and I both know your family would be a lot happier if you were engaged to him." She wasn't going to lie… It seemed like everyone in her family had hoped that Harry would be the one to sweep her off her feet.

"Maybe…" she mused, pulling one of her legs up on the couch so she could face him better. "But I'm quite happy with the way things are now, and since I'm the one who decides who I marry, that's all that really matters," Ginny continued as she leaned in once again with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes as she stole another quick kiss. "That still leaves the issue of tonight though…"

"I had a feeling that's what you were getting at," he remarked with a smirk, surprising her by abruptly standing up before turning around so he was staring into her expressive copper eyes. "And I'm not going."

Ginny let out an irritated growl, also rising from the couch. "Four years, Draco! Four years and you've never been to the Burrow."

"That's not true," he drawled as he made his way to the kitchen before busying himself with getting a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she retorted sarcastically. "You stopped by once to meet my parents after I got out of Hogwarts, but I've been to your house loads of times." Oddly enough, Narcissa had accepted her with open arms, even if Lucius hadn't. Eventually though, she'd formed what could at least be called a cordial relationship with the man. Exhaling softly, she said, "Draco, this means a lot to me, and you should've known you'd have to get along with my family when you proposed."

Draco frowned as he considered the situation. "…It's only going to be your parents, right?" To his confusion, she responded with an awkward laugh.

"Umm… Not exactly." That wasn't the answer he was hoping for.

"Who else?" If it was her oldest brother — Bill, if he remembered correctly — and his wife, he figured he may be able to survive. However, judging from Ginny's apologetic smile, he knew that wasn't going to be the case.

"Everyone?"

Draco had to resist the urge to jump out the window on the spot. Instead, he settled for letting out a groan. "Are you out of your mind? I can't deal with all of them at once."

"Oh, come on. It won't really be everyone. I think Charlie's still in Romania and Percy's probably working late, so it won't be that bad," she insisted brightly. He almost believed her, until something else came to mind.

"Wait…" His eyes narrowed. "Does this include Potter and Granger?"

Realizing she had forgotten to ask, Ginny decided she may as well prepare him for the worst. "Uh, I would assume so." The look that passed over his face was hard to describe, but if she had to, she would say it looked like he'd just seen Dumbledore prancing through a field of flowers. "But Blaise'll be there, so at least he can help you cope with the trauma," she added hastily, as if they were the magic words that would make the situation ten times better. Sure, having Blaise would make it a little more bearable, but still…

After a moment, a heavy sigh escaped his mouth. "The things I do for you…"

"So you'll go?" she piped, practically beaming.

For a second, she thought he was going to take it back, but he mumbled, "…Yeah."

A delighted expression was plastered on her face as she pecked him on the lips in gratitude. Then she turned back to the living room, a look of determination flitting across her face. "Now, let's finish sorting out these boxes…"

Draco smiled slightly as he watched her move away. It'd seemed like ages since she'd walked — or rather, been shoved — into his life… It was because of her that everything had changed. It all seemed so perfect when she was around… And yet, he had the feeling that, no matter what life would throw at them, things would only get better in the years to come.

A/N - Wow... It's kind of hard to believe that it's over, isn't it? Hopefully you guys thought the ending was worth sticking out six months for : ) I may come back later and write a little one-shot about the dinner at the Weasleys, but that won't be any time soon...

Thanks to all of you who answered my survey last chapter! For those of you who haven't, please take a few minutes to answer the following questions. It would mean a lot : )

1. What do you like best about this story? What do you like the least?

2. Who's your favorite character and why?

3. What's your favorite chapter and why?

4. How did I do with characterization?

5. I'm always working to become a better writer. Any suggestions?

Finally, I'd just like to take a second to say thank you so much to all of you for reading this fanfic, and I'd like to give an extra special thank you to those of you who reviewed. I really loved writing this and I'm sad to see it end, but this definitely won't be the last thing I write on this site. So, keep an eye out for me ^ ^ As always, I hope you all enjoyed the story and, once again, thank you for all of your support : )

Lots of love,
-Twilight-Songstress

***Revision note, 2011*** - For the most part, I just changed some small things, like fixing any spelling errors/typos I noticed and changing a few sentences that I didn't really like. However, there are two things that I changed in response to the reviews...

First of all, I never really addressed the possibility of a relationship between Blaise and Ginny. I mean, obviously I acknowledged that there could have been a relationship between them, but I didn't explain why there wasn't. In response to that, I added on to the scene right before Draco and Ginny actually get together in Chapter 10 with the hope that it would make Blaise's feelings a little clearer. I had thought about having him not have feelings for Ginny at all, but that really wasn't what I had intended as I wrote it. So instead I opted for just having Blaise be extremely honest with himself and acknowledge that, despite his feelings, being in a relationship is kind of a two way thing and Ginny didn't feel the same way. And so he moved on. Hopefully that cleared up a lot of things and you were able to get that out of the scene as opposed to my clumsy explanation here ^ ^'

The second thing I changed was really small... I got a lot of comments about Draco's moodiness in regard to his relationship with Ginny when she doesn't come back after break. Honestly, I was really trying to stick with the plot shown in the books and justify why Draco decided to look for the diadem for Voldemort. It really is a feeble justification on my part, but I tried to make it a little better by adding on to the second to last scene in Chapter 18.

Hopefully the revisions made the story a bit better, but if you guys still have suggestions, I'd love to hear them! Again, thank you so much for sticking with this!