A/N: I own none of this, and J.K. Rowling owns everything!

This is the final chapter! Thanks to everyone who stuck with the story!

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Hermione and Draco cautiously made their way to the end of the main road in Hogsmeade. They looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching, and then quickly clasped hands. She let Draco take the lead, since he knew where they were going. The unpleasant sensation of being squeezed through a pipe that is too small overwhelmed her. But soon, her feet hit hard earth.

She opened her eyes, expecting to see the hustle and bustle of London's streets, but instead her eyes rested upon a large manor house that looked all too familiar.

"What are we doing here?" She asked, panicking slightly. The last time she had been in that house, Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured her.

"I know, it's not London," he explained hastily, "but I didn't think that you would come here if I asked you flat out."

"You're 100% right about that one," she snapped angrily. "What the hell are we doing here, Draco?"

"You'll find out," he started softly, grabbing her hand.

She yanked it away from him.

Draco looked exasperated. "Come on, Granger. For Merlin's sake, nobody's going to hurt you in there."

"I have a hard time believing that," she muttered, more to herself than to Malfoy. Seeing the old manor house caused a wave of unpleasant and frightening memories to flood back. She knew Bellatrix Lestrange was dead, but the thought of entering the building where she had been tortured by that woman caused Hermione to break out in a cold sweat.

Draco put a soft hand on her shoulder. His thumb rubbed her sweater reassuringly.

"I know you're thinking about what happened last time," he said quietly. "But trust me; what's waiting for us in there is nothing bad. In fact, I think it's absolutely brilliant."

She threw him a skeptical look. "Are you serious?"

"I've never been more serious, Hermione." Draco replied honestly. "I won't do anything to hurt you. I swear on my life."

Hermione was touched by his words. Her stomach slowly started to unclench as she reached her hand towards his face and lightly stroked his cheek. She took a deep breath.

"Alright," she said slowly. "I'll go inside with you."

Draco's face lit up. He kissed her, quick and fierce. "Let's go," he said excitedly, grabbing her hand once more.

He began to pull her towards the house. She walked slowly and dragged her feet so he was practically tugging on her arm as they moved.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" She asked him playfully. "The house isn't going anywhere."

He looked back at her and laughed. "I just really want to show you what's inside." He tugged her forward so she was walking next to him instead of behind him. "I think you're going to love it."

Hermione was still doubtful. "Alright," she said. "If you say so. But you better move your ass!" She tore her hand away from his and sprinted towards the front door, as she laughed manically. When she got to the porch she stopped and turned to face him, panting heavily. He was giving her a strange look.

"Why didn't you just do this?" He asked, before disappearing and reappearing next to her with a crack that sounded like a car backfiring.

She laughed. "Running is better exercise."

"But Apparating is quicker." He countered.

"And lazier." She grinned at him.

He growled. "Come on Granger," he said, grabbing the door knob and giving it a turn. "Let's go inside."

Hermione took another deep breath to steady herself. The house was just as she remembered – lots of stone, high ceilings, ancient furnishings. It practically reeked of old money and arrogance. She slapped herself mentally. You're with Draco now, Granger, she thought. You have to stop thinking like that.

Draco led her down a hallway to a large sitting room. She was surprised not to find Lucius or Narcissa skulking in the hallways.

"Aright, wait here." Draco said excitedly. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," she said uncertainly as he dashed from the room, closing the door behind him.

Alone, she observed her surroundings with detached interest. Regardless of what Draco said, she felt uncomfortable. She wished that Harry were there with her. Or Ron. Or Ginny. Or anyone who would make her feel less strange in this cold, unwelcoming house. She still couldn't believe that Draco had grown up here.

She ran her hand over the horse-hair couch as her eyes drifted towards the window. She went to it and was examining the elegant tapestries when she heard the door open. Thinking it was Draco, she didn't turn away from the window. If he wanted her to be surprised, he was going to have to work for it.

"Hermione."

That's funny, she thought. That doesn't sound like Draco. In fact, in kind of sounds like…

She froze, her hand still on the tapestry. It couldn't be. It COULDN'T be.

Hermione would've stayed frozen for the rest of the day had Draco not come over to her. He put a hand on her waist, causing her to jump.

"I think I'm hallucinating." She whispered frantically to him.

"No you're not," he said reassuringly. "Now turn around."

With his hand guiding her, time seemed to slow as she turned. She kept her eyes to the floor, not daring to hope in case she really was hallucinating.

"Hermione," the voice said again. "Look at me, Hermione."

She dragged her eyes up from the floor to the face of her mother. A face that Hermione hadn't seen in almost 18 months. And standing next to her, with an indescribable look on his face stood her father.

"You know who I am?" Hermione whispered, terrified of the answer.

"Of course we do, sweetheart." Her father answered.

Hermione didn't know how it happened. One second she was standing with Draco, and the next, she was in her mother's arms, holding her so tightly she thought her mother might suffocate. She felt her father's arms go around both of them, holding on just as closely.

Hermione's face was buried in the crook of her mother's neck, and the tears flowed freely.

She didn't have words. All the months of worry, the dread, the panicking all washed away as she sobbed openly. She could feel both of her parents crying as well.

How long the three of them stayed in their embrace, she couldn't say. But when they finally broke free, the questions started coming out of her mouth so quickly they tripped over each other. But even while she word-vomited all over them, she kept both of their hands clasped in her own.

As to how they were found and their memories restored was attributed to Draco, they told her. As it turned out, when they got to Australia, they lived peacefully for a while on a sheep farm. But soon, both of them began having vivid dreams of their life back in England, and in particular, of a young woman.

"Me?" Hermione asked.

Her mother smiled. "Yes. Although we didn't realize at the time that you were our daughter."

"I guess you were just too special to forget," Draco whispered in her ear.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the corniness of the statement but was too happy to shoot back a snappy retort.

"So what happened? Because when I went to find you, you had gone." Hermione asked hastily.

"We left, in hopes that we would find you." Her father answered simply.

"But you didn't." Hermione said softly. "Where did you go?"

"All over Australia." Her mother explained. "For some reason, we knew that we couldn't leave the continent. That we had to stay there, or else we would be in danger."

"I'm so sorry, mum." Hermione said tearfully. "But that was part of the spell I put on you. And you were right! I didn't want you coming back to England. The Death Eaters would've come looking for you, I'm sure of it."

Her mother clasped her hand comfortingly. "It's alright, Hermione."

"So how did you end up back here?" She asked.

"I think I can answer that," Draco chimed in. "When you told me about your parents and what had happened to them, I sent out a few owls to some contacts of mine in Australia. Some of them in the Ministry of Magic."

"You have contacts in the Australian Ministry?" Hermione asked, surprised.

Draco grinned. "Sometimes it pays to be well connected."

Hermione groaned, which made him laugh.

"Anyway, I explained to them the situation, and asked them to search."

"And they agreed?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well some of them had to be… persuaded." Draco answered, not quite meeting her eyes.

"You mean, you had to pay them." She said simply.

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"You are unbelievable." She said, annoyed. "Money can't buy you everything, you know."

"But in this instance, it helped," he offered rationally. "Now, do you want to hear the rest of the story, or not?"

"Yes," she grumbled.

"My Ministry contacts found your parents in Sydney, and took them their version of St. Mungo's. The Healers were able to reverse the effects of your spells, with some difficulty because it was a good bit of spellwork, but when I received notice that they were going to be alright, I arranged for them to come here."

"When did you get here?" Hermione asked her parents.

"Only this morning." Her mother answered.

"I just can't believe it." Hermione expressed. "I can't believe that you're here, and you're alright, and that you remember me…" she trailed off as she began to cry once more.

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The light streaming in from the window began to fade to a dusky pink. Hermione knew that she and Draco had to return to Hogsmeade soon, but she was not anxious to have her parents leave her sight.

But Draco was two steps ahead of her.

"I've arranged for them to get lodging in Hogsmeade," he explained.

"What?" Hermione asked, shocked. "But only witches and wizards live in Hogsmeade."

"I've explained it to the village elders, and they agreed to the arrangement. For a short time, anyway," he added hastily. "It's not permanent, but they understand about you wanting to keep them close."

"Really?" Hermione breathed.

When Draco nodded, she whooped in delight, hugging both him and her parents again.

"Will they Apparate back with us, then?" She asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately no," Draco answered.

"We're getting escorted by some bloke named Kingsley." Mr. Granger explained jovially.

"That man had a lovely telephone voice," Mrs. Granger noted.

Hermione gave Draco another questioning look. He shrugged under her glare. "Kingsley said that if it was for you, then it wasn't a problem."

"You are unbelievable," Hermione said. She meant it in a good way though. No one had ever gone to such great lengths for her before, save for perhaps Harry.

"But we better get going," Draco suggested. "I wouldn't put it past Potter to try and get me expelled."

Hermione thought about that for a moment. "I wouldn't either," she agreed. She turned one last time to her parents. She hugged both of them fiercely.

"I love you," she told them.

"We love you, too," Mrs. Granger responded.

"I'll see you really soon." She promised. "Sooner than you might think."

"Alright, love," her dad said. "Travel safely."

"You too." Hermione said, taking Draco's hand. They walked towards the entrance to the drawing room again, but Hermione dashed back to give her mum and dad one last hug.

She was silent as they made their way down the long lane that led to the edge of the property. When they reached the end, Draco grabbed both of her hands and spun her towards him.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned.

Her face split in to a dazzling smile. "I've never been better," she answered. "I can't believe you did all of this. That you found them. For me, of all people."

"They're your parents, Hermione." Draco explained rationally. "They're important to you. That means they're important to me too."

She threw her arms around his neck, so happy and light she felt as if she might float away. She pulled away slightly to look him in the face.

"You said something to me, a little while ago," she began. "That I wasn't ready to hear."

Draco knew exactly what she meant. "And are you ready now?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes. Yes, I am."

"Then Hermione Jean Granger," he began slowly. "I just want you to know that I am in love with you. And I would do anything to make you happy."

Her cheeks felt flushed. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. But her voice was steady.

"I love you, too."

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And that's all she wrote folks! Thanks so much for reading! This was my first ever fan fic, so I hope you enjoyed it!