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Epilogue

"Honey, I'm home," Draco called out, entering their small flat in the middle of muggle London.

Hermione pulled a tray of Christmas cookies from the oven, placed them on the counter to cool, then greeted her boyfriend. It was their first Christmas together away from Hogwarts, and Hermione planned to make it special. As their relationship developed the previous year, they had opted to stay at the castle for the holidays.

While Draco had reluctantly gone to visit his mother, Hermione spent the afternoon decorating and baking. "How'd it go?" she asked.

Sighing, he sunk down on the couch and shut his eyes. "She's trying," he said. "She hasn't spoken to my father since the incident. She repeatedly asks to see us. Hell, she gave me my grandmother's engagement ring on the off chance I planned to propose to you. I just...I'd still prefer to keep her away from us."

"What kind of ring?" Hermione wondered as Draco side-eyed her. "What? I'm curious."

Draco laughed as she handed him a glass of eggnog. "It's probably cursed," he informed her. "If, and that's a big if, I propose, you're not getting anything from the Malfoy or Black families. We don't need anything else happening to you. I'm not sure I could forgive myself a third time for hurting you."

Sitting beside him, she kissed his cheek. "I trust you," she murmured. "I love you and I trust you, Draco. Neither one of us was an angel when we were children, but we've managed to right our wrongs. A part of me wishes we'd figured this out a long time ago. I like having you in my life. Could we, at least for the holiday, put a moratorium on this pity party?"

"It's not a pity party," he argued. "You're the only person in this world I care about. You said we take care of each other, and that's what I'm trying to do. That's all I want to do."

"That's all?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. Draco groaned and moved to kiss her before she pulled away. "Because I was thinking the tree needs decorating."

Draco laughed as she left the couch, and mumbled "tease" under his breath as she slowly bent over to begin unpacking ornaments. "So, I've got some gossip," she said.

"I already know it," he replied, taking a small popsicle stick reindeer from her hand. "I'm the best man, after all. If you're nice to me, you can be my plus one."

She snatched the ornament from his hand and placed it on a branch. "I can't believe Neville likes you best," she muttered. "He gets engaged, asks you to be his best man, then tells me. I helped him chase down a toad when we were eleven. I should get first priority."

He stifled his laughter, but wondered if she was joking. "Well, to be fair, I think his first priority should be Hannah," he remarked. "I'm sure he would have told you before me if you'd been at the castle. Owls take a little longer to get from Scotland to London. Don't let this ruin your day."

Sighing, she assured him it hadn't. "He seemed so happy," she said. "I like that he's happy. He's had such a rough go at it. He deserves this. No more pouting."

Together they spent the afternoon decorating the tree and discussing their childhood Christmas traditions. He scoffed at the idea of Santa Claus and leaving out cookies for a man who broke into one's house. "We're not letting our children believe that," he declared. "It sounds terrifying. A fat man slips down your chimney, eats your food, and maybe leaves you presents after spying on you all year to make sure you've been good. This sounds psychologically damaging."

"You've put far too much thought into this," she replied. "Kids outgrow it and it leaves no scars, mental, emotional, or physical. It's just something fun to believe in. You'd really deny your children that?"

He sighed heavily. "Well, I guess it's better than I had growing up," he admitted. "Lucius and Narcissa would sleep in on Christmas morning, leaving me to the house elves. I wasn't allowed to disturb them. So, I'd sit in the family room opening gifts by myself. Everything my heart could desire would be under the tree. It just...I think it would have been nice if they cared enough to be there with me."

Kissing his cheek, she assured him their Christmases together would be better. "Do you know what I like about new Draco?" she asked. Brows furrowed, he shook his head. "I like that he cares about people. He takes their feelings into consideration and does what he can to make people happy. He's a pretty good guy."

"Talking like that is starting to freak me out," he said. "But I appreciate it. I did it for you, you know. When everything started changing sixth year, I sort of started to too. Then the next year, you were there tortured and bleeding, and I knew it then. I knew I wanted to help you. I needed to. I had to keep you safe. Maybe I could have come up with something else, but hindsight, right?"

"Despite all that, things have worked out quite nicely," she added. "I've rather enjoyed our time together."

Smiling, he nodded, taking it as a good sign that his Christmas present would be met positively. They ordered takeout for dinner and watched It's a Wonderful Life as they ate. Draco watched quietly, entranced by the film. "I used to think that way," he confessed when the movie ended. "You know, what if I didn't exist? Would the people I loved have been better off without me?"

"Well, I'm glad you're here, George Bailey," Hermione replied, running her fingers through his hair. "I might not be here if it weren't for you. Harry probably would have been killed before he could stop Voldemort. Our world could be a very different place had you never been born."

Smiling, he stood and held out a hand to her. "This was my favorite part about Christmas," he told her, lying down beneath the tree. He extended his hand once more, silently asking her to join him. "My parents weren't much interested in it, but they always had the manor decorated. I'd sneak down and sleep under the tree, and in the morning, the elves would wake me to send me back to bed. They knew, but they didn't want my parents catching me. Anyhow, I love this. And I love you."

"I love you too," she murmured. "You know, this was a Granger family tradition too. Do you think, when we have children, they'll like doing this?"

There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes as he turned to face her, propping himself up on his elbow. "That word has come up a lot today," he mused. "Something you want to tell me? Because I want to ask you something before you tell me one way or another. I practiced a few speeches because this is a really important question to ask, but nothing sounded right. So, instead I'm just going to ask - will you marry me?"

"Yes," she replied, "to both. Yes."

His eyebrows rose as she kissed him. "We're-"

"We are," she confirmed.

"You just had to one-up Neville, didn't you?" he joked, pulling a small black box from his pocket. He removed the small diamond from the velvet pillow and slipped the ring onto her finger. "We're really having a baby and a wedding? Or we could do it the other way around, if that makes you more comfortable."

Instead she turned on her back and stared up at the tree lights. "Let's just enjoy our last couple weeks of normal together," she decided.

The End