BPOV

Ugh, my head was killing me and my body felt stiff, as if I hadn't moved it in days, but that was nothing compared to the tremendous pain in my side. I reached down and felt bandages covering my entire right side. I groaned. This was going to take a while to heal.

My eyes snapped open as I remembered what had happened. I had done it. I had killed Voldemort! Against all the odds, I had killed him and ended up saving a lot of people. I tried to sit up and gasped in pain. I instantly fell back onto the pillows, and it was then that I remembered how I had ended up in here. Bellatrix had thrown her knife at me, and it had obviously hit its target.

I felt a hand clasp around mine and I snapped my head up to see Harry. He smiled at me faintly and I could see the exhaustion and worry on his face. I would bet anything that he had rarely left my side since I had been here. This had to have been the third or fourth time this year that Harry has had to wait by my bedside in the hospital wing. He must have been getting tired of it, because I knew that I sure was.

"Hey," he said tiredly. "How are you doing Bells?"

I winced. "I hurt everywhere, bro, especially my side," I said, my voice raspy from not talking in who knows how long.

Harry grimaced at my answer and handed me a glass of water from my bedside table and I happily gulped it down. "Don't worry Bella. You're going to be fine. Madame Pomfrey said that you would make a full recovery. We were all just waiting for you to wake up."

Harry's words stirred something in me. "How long was I unconscious? What happened?" I asked, not really sure if I wanted an answer.

"About five days. After you fell, everyone either surged around you or went after Bellatrix." A dark look full of hatred came over Harry as he said Bellatrix's name. "You were immediately rushed to the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey started working on you right away. No one knew if you were going to make it or not. There was so much blood. We all just sort of waited."

Harry took a deep breath and then continued. "Madame Pomfrey finally came out a few hours later and told us that you'd be fine, but she wasn't sure when you'd wake up. Draco and I have barely left. It took me forever to convince him to leave just to shower. He's been a real mess, Bells, even worse than me, and that's saying something."

I sat silently as I soaked everything in. Harry had said that a lot of people had gone after Bellatrix, so I was assuming that she was dead. I also thought about Draco, and happiness washed through me. We would finally be able to work things out between us. I had missed him more than anything over the past few days before Voldemort came. I wished that he could have been with me through all of that mess, standing by my side and helping me through all of the chaos. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to see him. To apologize for hurting him and all of the other stupid things that I had done.

"Harry, can you please get Draco? I need to see him," I said, and even I could hear the desperation in my voice.

Harry scrutinized my face for a few seconds, and must have seen the absolute need written all over it because he nodded his head and quickly made his way out of the hospital wing.

I leaned back against the pillows and relaxed, waiting. Over and over, I kept running things through in my head of what I could say to Draco. All I wanted was to be back with him. To hold him, kiss him, be there for him and have him be there for me, but there was a possibility that Draco wouldn't want me back, and that thought terrified me.

I tried to think of something that I could say to Draco, but my thoughts were cut off by the door opening and a tired and weary Draco appearing in the doorway. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and I instantly felt guilty that I was the reason he wasn't sleeping.

"Bella," Draco breathed, his soft voice caressing me and causing me to instantly relax. He always had that sort of effect on me. "You're awake. You're finally awake. Are you alright?"

He quickly hurried over and sat down in the chair beside the bed that Harry had previously been sitting in, and grabbed my hand, causing butterflies to appear in my stomach and for a blush to spread across my face.

"I'm fine," I croaked, my voice still hoarse despite the glass of water that I had chugged down when I had first woken up.

Draco reached and grabbed another glass of water from my bedside table and gently lowered it to my mouth. "Here, drink this."

I hungrily gulped this glass down too until it was all gone. "Better?" Draco asked.

I nodded. "Thanks."

We didn't say anything for a few seconds, but I couldn't hold it in any longer. I had to tell him how sorry I was about everything.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I'm so, so sorry," I burst out, unable to control myself.

Draco's eyes widened. "What are you talking about Bella. What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"

Tears silently started falling as I said, "for what happened between us. For what I said and for not believing in you. In us. And for being such a coward."

Draco squeezed my hand harder and gently wiped the tears away from my face with his free hand. "Oh, Bella. Don't worry about it. We both said stupid things that night and I am so sorry that I hurt you so badly."

With tears still pouring down my face, I launched myself at Draco, ignoring the pain in my side. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest, trying to calm myself down.

Draco gently rubbed my back and whispered comforting words in my ear. I pressed myself closer to him, immensely enjoying the feeling of being back in his arms. I didn't care that we hadn't spoken in what felt like months. All I cared about was that I was back in his arms, back home, back where I belonged.

The door opened and Draco and I slowly drew a part to look at Harry who was looking sheepish. "Sorry about the interruption. I'll just be going now," he said, blushing and slowly backing out of the room.

Draco and I laughed once he was gone. "That was awkward," I stated, cautiously lying back down on the bed, wincing as pain shot through my side.

Draco looked down at me and I noticed that he looked nervous again and was unconsciously biting his lip. "Bella, I do regret what happened that night, but I also stand firm in what I said. I don't want to be with you if you have very little faith in me and in us. I do love you, Bella. So, so much, but my decision on this is final."

More tears sprang to my eyes as I looked up at him. "Oh Draco, I love you too! And I regret everything that I said as soon as it left my lips. I know that with you by my side, I can do anything and that I have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. I also realized that as long as you are in my future, I shouldn't worry and that I should be happy that you are still a part of my life, even if I don't get to see you as much as I do now."

Draco's whole face lit up and he squeezed my hands so hard that it actually hurt. "I am so glad Bella," he said, his beautiful voice filled with emotion. "And you're right. I will always be there for you. To love and protect you. Forever and always. But I'm not too sure about the part of not getting to see me much," he said, playfulness evident in his eyes. He knew something that I didn't.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you talking about? What aren't you telling me?"

Draco's smile widened. He was clearly enjoying this. "My parents are here and the other day they told me some very interesting news."

I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to continue. I had no idea what he was talking about. "How does this relate to anything?"

His grin grew bigger and I began to grow impatient. "This relates because my parents just so happened to tell me that they had bought a new house and that they had decided to give it to us for after we left Hogwarts."

My jaw dropped as I stared at him. I had definitely not been expecting that. My heart pounded in my chest as I thought about it. I would actually be living with Draco. I would never have to be a part from him.

Draco grew nervous at my silence. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. You don' have to live with me if you don't want to," he trailed off weakly.

"No!" I practically shouted, shocked that he had come to that conclusion. "I would love to live with you Draco. I'm just in shock. It's a lot to take in."

He smiled at me, relieved, but still a little bit uneasy. "Are you sure? Because it's okay if it's not. I mean, I don't want to rush you."

I gingerly sat up again and brought my face closer to his. "I'm sure," I said just before crashing my lips on his with a passion that could have set the room on fire. He eagerly matched my intensity, and I realized that he must have missed me just as much as I had missed him. I tangled my fingers into his hair and pressed myself as close to him and I possibly could. He gently wrapped his arms around me waist, trying not to hurt my sensitive, bandaged side, but at this moment I could care less about my injuries.

We kissed for a few more minutes and I enjoyed ever single moment of it, trying to commit it to memory. The exact feel of his arms wrapped tight around me, the way his soft lips slowly moved against mine, and the wonderful taste of his mouth on mine.

We pulled away panting and smiling at each other. He kissed my nose and heat coursed through me. I always felt that way after he touched me and I never grew tired of it.

A cough sounded behind us and we both whipped our heads around to see Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny standing there watching us with amused and slightly disgusted expressions on their faces.

Draco and I both turned scarlet and slowly let go of each other. Harry laughed. "I'm glad to see that you two have finally made up."

I blushed redder and slowly nodded my head, still too embarrassed to say anything. Harry smiled and came closer to us. "Well, it's about time you two finally stopped acting like idiots and got back together."

"Gee thanks," I said sarcastically, grinning up at Harry. Harry was joking around right now, but I knew that he was secretly very glad that we had made up. I knew he had been worrying about us before the attack.

Hermione ignored our conversation and ran over to me, tears filling her eyes. She wrapped her arms around me and I nearly turned purple from lack of oxygen. She was holding onto me so tight. "I am so glad that you are alright Bella. I was so worried about you and I didn't know if you were going to survive. There was so much blood," she sobbed into my shoulder.

I squeezed back, glad to have my best friend with me. "It's okay Hermione, I'm here now and I'm all right. You don't have anything to worry about."

She clung to me a little bit longer before pulling away and wiping tears away. "I know, Bells, I know. I'm just in shock I guess. It all happened so fast."

I smiled at her. "I know exactly how you feel."

Hermione grinned at me, extremely relieved to see that I was alright, but then suddenly her expression became stern and she glared at me.

"What?" I asked, confused as to why she had gotten so angry all of a sudden.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again Bella! You have no idea what I went through. I didn't know if Voldemort was torturing you or if you had already been killed, and you didn't even tell me what you were going to do or even come to say goodbye!"

I put my head down, ashamed that I had done this to my friends. She was right. I shouldn't have taken off like that without talking to them. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I really am. Can you ever forgive me?"

Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she stared at me and at this moment, I really wished that I could read minds. Because I had absolutely no idea what she could possibly be thinking about while she stared at me like that. She finally stopped scrutinizing me and ran over to hug me. "Of course I forgive you," she sobbed into my shoulder. "You're my best friend."

I held on tighter to her and enjoyed the feeling of being back with my friends and family. Having near death experiences helped you appreciate these types of things. "I love you, Hermione. You're not my best friend, you're more than that. You're my sister."

Hermione pulled away and smiled at me. "I love you too sis."

Ron cleared his throat, interrupting our moment. "We're here too you know," he said, impatiently tapping his foot and feigning sadness about having been forgotten.

I laughed and opened my arms. "I could never forget about you Ronald. Now get over here!"

He quickly obeyed and came over to hug me. "I'm so glad you're okay Bella. I was so worried about you. Who would have been my partner in crime if you had died?"

I laughed, pulling away from him. "I'm sure you could have found somebody. But now that I'm better, well have to get to work on some good pranks."

"You've got it Bells," he said, winking slyly at me.

Once Ron had finished talking to me, Ginny came over to hug me. "I am so glad that you're alright. Please don't ever scare me like that again."

I smiled at her. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises. Danger seems to find me like a magnet."

Everyone laughed at my joke and we spent the rest of the evening talking about what had happened since that night. They told me that Mrs. Weasley had ultimately been the one to kill Bellatrix after she had thrown the knife at me and nearly killed Ginny with the Killing Curse. They also told me that Voldemort's body had been removed, but none of them knew what had happened to it. Apparently reporters from the Daily Prophet were also dying for a chance to get to speak with me about what had happened. I wished I could just skip that, but Harry grimly told me that it was inevitable and that I might as well get it over with. Harry wasn't happy about the reporters. He thought it was disrespectful to me for them to only care about interviewing me when I had nearly died.

After talking to them for about half an hour, James and Lily came into the room and rushed to my side. They hugged me as best as they could with all of my injuries. They said pretty much the same things that my friends had. Things like how glad they were to see that I was okay, how I better never scare them like that again, and how they had been so worried about me.

I assured them that I was fine and they both eventually calmed down. We all continued talking for about an hour until Madame Pomfrey came in and ordered everyone to leave, stating that I was still very weak and needed my sleep, and I couldn't help but agree. I was so exhausted and desperately wanted to snuggle into the warm blankets and sleep.

James and Lily kissed me on my forehead before leaving, promising to be back tomorrow. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny each gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving, also promising to come back tomorrow. Draco was the last person to leave.

Once everyone left, he came over to my bed and softly pressed his lips to mine. "I'll be back tomorrow," he whispered, once he had pulled away to lean his forehead against mine.

Smiling, I said, "I can't wait."

Draco smiled and kissed me one more time before standing up and leaving. I watched him go, wishing that he could have just stayed here with me.

I laid back down in my bed and pondered everything that had happened. Everything seemed to be so perfect at the moment. Voldemort was dead, Draco and I were back together, and all of my family was here with me, safe and sound. Well, not all of my family, I thought to myself, thinking of Snape.

I wished more than anything that he could have been here with me. For as long as I could remember, whenever I was in the hospital wing, Snape had always been there when I had woken up. Always. And I wished that that could have still been true, but I knew that it wasn't. He was gone and he wasn't coming back.

I sighed to myself, turning off the light on my bedside table. At least one good thing came out of all this mess. Voldemort was dead and he wasn't coming back to destroy any more families. Ever.

Author's Note:

I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter. I am so sorry that it took me so long to update. I have been extremely busy the last few weeks and have not had a chance to write anything. Thank you for everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I love hearing from you! Please don't forget to review this chapter!