Hey everyone. Last chapter. enjoy!

Draco looked at his picture of Hermione

Draco looked at his picture of Hermione. They had had precious little time together; both of them were waiting for the war to end, but none of them expected not to be alive when it was over. Actually, he thought to himself, Hermione was talking about what would happen if she didn't survive. He smiled to himself. Oh the irony of it all. The one girl he couldn't let go of had left him as had her father. He knew it. Lord Voldemort had killed himself. He had loved Hermione too much. Her deception had killed him mentally. Her physical death would have put him into such emotional turmoil that his body could have been eaten alive, and he wouldn't have noticed.

Dez was in St. Mungo's recuperating, along with many others from both sides of the war.

Another random moment entered Draco's mind.

"Draco," Hermione had said one night as they lay together in Malfoy Manor, "if I ever die, I don't want you to sit around and mope for me. Get on with your life. Find another woman. Live. And you can honor my memory by doing just that."

Draco had nodded, silently wondering why she was saying this. "Of course love. And I'd hope that you'd do the same for me. I'd hate to cause you any pain, ever."

It was time to move on. He had friends in the hospital who needed help. He had a life to live. And an education to complete. A job to get. There was a whole world out there waiting for him, and maybe, just maybe, he would be lucky enough to find love a second time. With someone new or someone who had know a long time. The world was full of surprises, and he for one, was not going to let them pass by him.

Harry sat in the armchair that was next to the roaring fireplace of the Gryffindor common room for the last time. It was a place he had sat with Hermione and Ron beside him. The three of them had claimed it as their spot. Today, they were missing Hermione. He found it depressing that Hermione Granger, the smartest witch in their class, would not be receiving the honor she had dreamed about.

"Hey Harry," Ron spoke up, breaking the silence, "you remember the time in first year when Hermione thought that getting expelled from school would be worse than getting killed?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know," Ron replied, "I was just thinking if she would still believe that."

"I think," Harry said calmly, "that she found solace in death."

"Like she felt that she helped both sides?"

"Kinda," Harry said. "You know, I don't think she ever really chose a side."

"I don't think she did either," Ron agreed.

It was the last day of school. None of the seventh years touched their food. None of the seventh years listened to the speech. All of them drifted through the day in a melancholy stupor. They barely noticed anything that occurred. The Slytherin table that had been the home of the seventh year Slytherins was almost empty. Draco sat there alone with Millicent Bulstrode, Flint, and Nott. Everyone else was dead or recuperating.

Draco turned his head and caught the eye of young Ginny Weasley. She was the one who had brought Hermione to him. It was because of her that the two of them got around to professing their feelings for each other sooner rather than later. It was because of her he could give Pansy and Blaise an honest ok when they had asked him if they could go out. He would miss them all. Dez had wiped out all memory of the conspiracy at Hogwarts, but maybe, she wouldn't be that bad of a friend. Hermione had known her, and she seemed to have more to her than met the eye.

He sought her out on the train.

"Ginny Weasley," he stated.

"Draco Malfoy," she replied. "What can I do for you today. My last favor didn't work out too well did it?"

Draco stuttered. He thought she didn't remember.

"I have written down every couple I have brought together along with all the details," she smiled sadly. "And besides, do you think I wouldn't remember just because I was obliterated?"

Draco nodded.

"Besides, that was a lousy memory charm."

"I just thought that…" what exactly had he wanted from her? "I thought that you might want a friend."

The little Weasley smiled at him. "Friends I have plenty of, but you on the other hand are in desperate need of them."

"I have Dez," he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

"Dez was a team player. Now she has no team to play for. It will take her a long time to come back completely," Ginny replied calmly, "and no, I wouldn't mind being your friend." She pulled him into an embrace. "Just remember, you're not the only one grieving. We all loved Hermione, and I lost my brothers Percy and George along with Colin."

Draco smiled. He had found someone with whom he could share his sorrow. Someone who understood the war wasn't about right and wrong or good and evil, but about two sides of an argument that were both right in their own views. "Thanks Ginny. Write to me?"

"You bet I will. And I had better get good replies or else I'm gonna fly down to Malfoy Manor and demand to know what happened to you," she replied. They embraced once again before getting off the train and going home.

"What did Malfoy want?" Ron asked while they were in the car.

"A friend," Ginny replied simply.

Harry nodded, "It's time we started bridging the unexplained gaps in this world."

Draco was sitting down at the table with all the Weasleys and with Harry Potter. The two of them had been more than willing to be friends, especially after he and Ginny had developed such a strong bond. Many believed that Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy were more than friends, but he knew the truth and so did she. They were just friends. Two people in similar situations that needed a shoulder to lean on.

He and Ginny had agreed to live with each other. They trusted each other completely and didn't mind when one brought someone else home with them.

He had started up his own Quidditch brooms business. He didn't have the heart to do anything too close to politics. He had lost so much because of it. Many of the hero figures during the war had stayed away from politics. Harry and Ron were both Quidditch stars. Ginny had gone into fashion design. Dez…Dez had disappeared in the middle of the night. Neville had the position of Herbology teacher at Hogwarts.

As for love, Draco still had a long way to go. Ginny had found a handsome American wizard, Gio, and was hoping that he would ask her out sometime soon. Harry Potter was happily married to Cho Chang and Ron Weasley to Luna Lovegood. Draco hoped that one day he would find someone, for her sake. She had wanted him to be happy.

The pain hadn't gone away. He still thought of her every day. He thought of how different his life would have been if she had lived. If they had gotten married and had kids. If they had been able to bridge the gap between the worlds without bloodshed. There were many times when he would be in his office or at home and would think of Hermione. Before he knew it, he would have silent tears running down his face. Even now, ten years later. But Ginny was always there for him on those days, just as he was always there when she had a bad day.

Hermione Granger had been the happiness during his darkest year. His joy in his sorrow, his candle in the dark; and he had been ever so sorry to have to see her go. But life goes on, and he began to ride the waves of life. Because that was what she would have wanted, that was what she was all about: living and accomplishing something.

Hermione Granger was the good in everyone's evil, and they all felt that she had been there for the amount of time needed to make a difference in their lives.

YAY!! It's done. I feel so happy. Like there's a huge weight off my shoulders. I hope everyone liked it. Please do review.

Anyone who has a story idea for me please leave it in a review.

Draco'z Devil