Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters.

Chapter XXXVIII

Hermione hastily lowered her head to the ground as she appeared at the local apparation point in Hogsmeade. It wouldn't do well for her to be spotted out and about on her own. To an outsider, she would have looked entirely conspicuous, standing there wearing a deep blue velvet robe complete with a hood which had been hoisted up over her head to conceal all of her face besides her rosy cupid's bow lips which were slightly parted as she breathed. Her robe had been altered by herself so it now had an empire waist which was completed with a black sash before the skirt flared out towards the floor, hiding all possible traces of her four month pregnancy bump.

She scanned her surroundings, surprised that there were barely any people loitering about Hogsmeade at this time of the morning. Then again, they were in the middle of a war and many businesses in Hogsmeade were crumbling. Nobody had the time or the money to spend on leisurely shopping and so the only thing keeping Hogsmeade afloat was the students from Hogwarts.

Keeping her head bowed, she navigated her way through the snowy paths of Hogsmeade, passing each of the shops that had once been her haven all those years ago during her school years. Life was so simpler back then, when she was little more than a child unknowing that she was on the verge of being thrust into a world of treachery, death, politics and war. She would give anything to have one more day of being a carefree student once more where her biggest worries were her exams or how to keep her two boys out of trouble.

She walked as fast as her legs would allow her, in order to reach her ultimate destination and get her baby out of the cold. She could already feel its discomfort through the slight but frequent flutterings in her stomach which almost made her feel sick, yet she cherished each one of them as she went, trying to resist the urge to cup her swelling belly as she walked. She wasn't too big yet, but she was definitely big enough to be noticed which was why she had taken to wearing full, dark coloured robes wherever she went, hoping that they would do enough to hide her condition for now.

She left Hogsmeade quickly and began up the long country path which would take her to her childhood sanctuary, Hogwarts, but without the shops and houses of Hogsmeade around her to break the wind, it became colder. The exposed, lower halves of her forearms began polka dotting with goosebumps and she had to hold her hood to her head so that the wind didn't blow it off. It wasn't ideal weather for early April but she found that she was enjoying herself since it wasn't often when she would go out. In fact, it seemed that all of her time was spent either at home or the Ministry. She liked being completely alone as she walked, appreciating the natural environment around her. It made her forget about the war as well as all of the pressing matters on her mind concerning her child and she savoured each moment.

She walked along the winding country path until she arrived at the entrance gates. She smiled and was hit with a brief wave of nostalgia. Filch was shouting at many of the students as they all bustled about happily, excited to be going to Hogsmeade. Hermione remembered being just like them. She skirted around the students who took little notice of her, taking her hood down so she didn't appear suspicious so she could see the highest towers of Hogwarts under the blue expanses of sky.

"Excuse me, Miss…?" Came the familiar voice of her favourite professor. Hermione turned around to greet Headmistress McGonagall who was hurrying towards her donned in her usual and proper green and black robes with her traditional witch's hat perched atop her head. Once the Headmistress caught sight of her once favoured student, a smile graced her features. "Miss Granger, it has been a while has it not." She shook her head and smiled.

"It's been too long Professor." Hermione agreed, brushing her curls out of her face. "I know it's incredibly rude of me to turn up unannounced but I needed to speak with you regarding…personal matters…" Hermione stuttered.

"Of course dear, Hogwarts is your home just like it is to all of our students." She turned away and craned her head over the crowd. "Filius! Would you see the students off, I have some business with Miss Granger here." She shouted across the crowd.

"Miss Granger…or should I say Milady? Whatever the case, it is good to see you back at Hogwarts once again." The little wizard bowed to her.

"Please Professors, I'd rather you just call me Hermione." She insisted.

"Of course Hermione, now would you like to discuss whatever brings you here in my office?"

OOO

"Would you like some tea while you're here, Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked. Hermione's eyes widened slightly, she couldn't stand the taste of any kind of tea at the moment since her baby didn't seem to like the taste and made it known to her on multiple occasions.

"No, thank you Professor." She said politely, taking a seat opposite the Headmistress who was perched in the chair once occupied by Dumbledore. He had stepped aside shortly into the war handing the position of Headmistress to McGonagall and taking on her role of Deputy Headmaster so that he could equally divide his time between the Order and Hogwarts.

"I must congratulate you on your position Miss Granger, it's not every day that a witch as young as yourself manages to secure Senior Undersecretary. I would have done so earlier, but it has been years since I have heard from you." She sighed wistfully, pouring her own cup of tea.

"Unfortunately." Hermione agreed. "But as you said, these times are bad indeed and the war has consumed most of my time now." Hermione admitted. McGonagall nodded along and placed the teapot down on the tray before turning to Hermione again.

"So Miss Granger, what is it that I can do for you?" She asked. Hermione fidgeted and knotted her hands in her lap. She had recited what she would say during her walk up to the school but now she couldn't quite manage to get the words out.

"It's going to sound awfully rude Professor, but before I can continue I need to know that you won't let any details of what I'm about to say out to anybody. It could really harm me if it got out."

The older witch eyed Hermione wearily. "My dear, are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No! No, of course not. It's just something which is best kept a secret."

"I understand, you have my word." She promised.

Hermione took a deep and shaky breath. "Professor…I-"

"Call me Minerva, I insist." The older witch interjected.

"Of course…Minvera. Just before the war began, I...fell in love. There were so many complications that would stop me being with him and so for a long time I didn't do anything about it. We both carry high prices on our heads by the Death Eaters and so I was scared that we would be used against each other. Anyway, a year or so ago, we became promised to each other and it was said that we would wait until the war was over until we married. But something happened and…well…I became pregnant…so we decided that perhaps we should get married before the child was born. But nobody knows about us so we didn't know who to ask to marry us, and I wanted to ask you, Prof-Minerva. If you wouldn't mind of course, but I know I can trust you to keep this a secret." Hermione finished. Her hands were shaking in her lap now, afraid of what the older witch might say.

McGonagall clasped her hands together in front of her mouth, marvelling at how incredibly tragic and yet romantic the little tale that Hermione had told sounded. "I would be honoured, Hermione." She finally spoke, causing Hermione to look up to her old Professor through teary eyes. "I have a few questions first, however."

"Ask away." Hermione replied.

"Who is this young gentleman?" The curious Headmistress asked. Hermione flinched, knowing that the old witch was in for the shock of her life. The corner of Hermione's mouth twitched into a sort of smile before she spoke.

"Draco Malfoy." She said shyly as her cheeks flushed with colour. As predicted, the Headmistress was flabbergasted she sat back in her chair with her hand on her chin, appearing to be in deep thought.

"What an unexpected turn of events." She announced. "It's understandable of course…but good Godric…that was rather a surprise!" She chuckled to herself.

"I know, who would've thought, right? It makes it easier to conceal at least but with this little bombshell-" She looked down at her stomach and smoothed her dress over it to reveal the slight curving of a bump before patting it lovingly. "-things might not stay hidden for too much longer, which is what I'm dreading." She said worriedly.

"Poppy knows some excellent charms that will keep it concealed for you." She offered. Hermione looked in shock at her old Professor. "It isn't as though we haven't had our fair share of unprepared young mothers here at Hogwarts over the years." She chuckled mischievously.

"Really?! But the books…" Hermione trailed off.

"You didn't really think we'd allow them to publish that did you?" She grinned. "Now anyway, about this little ceremony, when is it taking place?"

"We're hoping for as soon as possible really. I don't know when Draco is going to be ordered away from me again nor do I know how long for." She sighed. McGonagall's heart went out for the poor girl, since she too had had her fair share of heartache over her lifetime. "We're just going to elope really, in all sense of the word. Nobody will know outside the three of us and eventually our baby."

"You do realise, dear, I can't get outside of Scotland." The Headmistress said grimly. She was right, because of the war, Theo had put tight restrictions over apparation over country borders and only the authorities could be granted access which was why Hermione managed to get into Hogsmeade in the first place.

"I do, which was why I was hoping we could do it here. Of course I understand that you can't leave Hogwarts and after all, this place was once my home and means a lot to me. We don't care for the location, the decoration or the detail…we just want to be married."

"I'd be proud to marry the two of you, my dear." McGonagall nodded as she spoke, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying. For Hermione it was already too late and the floodgates burst, she could blame it on pregnancy hormones if need be but for now anything she did say would be incoherent over her sobbing. Her old Headmistress rose from her chair and embraced the crying witch whilst letting a tear of her own escape unknowingly.

McGonagall had never had children of her own, and so she felt maternal instincts over all of her students and sometimes she saw them as her own. Hermione however had always held a special place in her heart for if she were ever to have had a child, she would be everything like the little witch crying in her arms because when McGonagall looked at Hermione, she saw her younger self. And even though Draco Malfoy had been a difficult boy during his school years, McGonagall would gladly accept him if Hermione loved him and he took care of her.

OOO

Hermione stood in front of the floor length mirror in her parents' old bedroom as the last of the daylight was engulfed by the darkness of the night. She hadn't moved for about fifteen or so minutes, eyeing her reflection in the mirror. If only her parents could be here to see her now, off to get married. If they were alive she would have told them, she would have wanted her Mother fawning over her dress and hair as well as the little grandchild that she carried. She would have wanted her Father to give her away at the short and sweet ceremony that would consist of only three people. She would've wanted them to be here to give her their blessing but it could not be. They were dead. Perhaps wherever they were, they were watching her. Perhaps they were with her right now and she just didn't know it. Or maybe she just pretended that they were there so she didn't feel alone.

Tonight was the night. The night that they were going to elope.

"Mistress, yous looking so pretty!" Pinky sobbed as she put the finishing touched to Hermione's hair. Hermione smiled at her little elf as her big eyes misted over again. Pinky turned away and fetched the dark blue, floor length cloak that she was to wear over her dress. Partially for warmth, since the long lace sleeves would be a little chilly in the coolness of the Scottish nights and partially to keep her hidden from anybody who might see.

She took one last look at her dress before Pinky draped the cloak over her shoulders and buttoned the singular button at the front. Her dress wasn't new, she didn't see the need to go out and buy an extravagant dress if nobody were going to see it, besides she'd rather go for a more traditional approach and so she had altered her Mother's old wedding dress which had been stored in the attic for almost 30 years. It had needed some alterations to bring it up to the times as well as some loosening around the midriff to allow her protruding belly to get into the garment.

It was ivory in colour since going for a virginal white would be a little silly considering her condition, with a double v-neck which on the front, covered her modestly whilst showing a little skin below her neck while the back dipped quite low, ending towards the middle of her back, exposing all of the skin there. The sleeves were long and made of lace, and were altered so that they fitted closely to her arms to rid them of the bagginess that had been the 70's trend when her parents had wed. They had brought the waistline up so it was now had an empire waist allowing her more comfort with her small bump which was just visible through the loose and flowing skirts. There wasn't a train, since Hermione, much like her Mother before her had opted for simplicity over extravagance and she had also chosen not to have the veil either, since she was wearing a cloak.

Pinky had insisted on doing her hair and so Hermione had given her free reign over her wild and unruly curls and surprisingly, she had done an exquisite job. All of her bangs had been swept away from her face and piled up high in an elegant knot towards the top of her head, whilst the under layers of her hair had been tamed, the frizzes had been smoothed out and Pinky had managed to force them into soft little ringlets that fell down her back. Pinky had applied some light makeup making her look a little brighter and definitely more attractive and Hermione honestly didn't recognise herself. She patted her small bump affectionately before the sound of the floo roaring to life alerted her downstairs.

She grabbed onto her skirts and dashed down the stairs and into the lounge where the silhouette of her soon-to-be-husband was brushing himself off. She leapt into his arms and began smothering his face in kisses. They had been apart only a day and yet she still missed him as if he had been gone for weeks. He gently set her down and tilted her chin up so that he could look upon her face properly and he almost lost his breath once she showed him her dress. A smug sense of pride washed over him when he gazed upon her swollen belly, knowing that he was the one that put it there. She was, as they say, glowing with her impending motherhood and Draco was in half a mind whether or not to keep her this way.

"Ready to go and legitimise our child?" He teased.

"What a romantic way of putting it." She rolled her eyes. "But yes I am ready, are you?"

He pulled the hood of his own black cloak over his head, hiding his trademark silvery blond hair from her view. "Dearest, I've been ready for years." He replied, before kissing the tip of her nose and pulling her own hood up over her carefully constructed hairdo. "You look positively exquisite, you know that?"

"It may have been mentioned, and you don't look so bad yourself you know." She said playfully.

"So I've been told. Although, I still prefer you without any clothes on at all when you're sporting the thoroughly shagged look." He remarked which earned him a slap to the shoulder. When he had finished laughing at his soon-to-be-wife, he curled an arm around her delicate little waist with the tips of his fingers grazing the side of her bump. She took out her wand in order to apparate when he yanked it out of her hands and tucked it away inside his own cloak. "There's no way you're apparating in this condition, so let me do the honours." He smiled as she huffed in annoyance, pulling her into him, he latched his lips onto hers and apparated wordlessly into Hogsmeade.

OOO

Headmistress McGonagall, Blinky and Pinky were waiting for them in the Clock Tower Courtyard, standing in front of the fountain as they had previously arranged. The darkness was shrouding them from any onlookers who might be watching as they each took down their hoods. There was no romantic setting under the moonlit sky, in fact the moon and stars were shrouded tonight by the thick grey cloud that blanketed the sky above them. The only noise to be heard was the trickling of water in the fountain behind them and each of their breathing.

"Declare yourselves." McGonagall began, drawing her wand out of her robes as Draco handed Hermione back her wand and took his own in hand.

"I am Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and leader of the war effort."

"I am Hermione Jean Granger, daughter of Richard and Anne Granger and Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic."

McGonagall nodded and they both pocketed their wands. "Join your hands." They turned towards each other and took each other's hands. She smiled a sweet smile at him which he returned without thought. "The commitment of marriage is binding. The Wizarding World is strengthened or weakened on the success or failure of its most basic bonds, those of family, of partners. To fail in this commitment is to fail Wizard kind. You will cleave to one another. You will forsake all others. You will produce children that you will raise up to be worthy members of the Magical Community. You will do this together. Are you agreed?" They both turned to McGonagall and nodded eagerly, she gave them both a small smile in return. "Mr Malfoy, the ribbon if you will."

Without releasing Hermione's hands from his own, he summoned the ribbon from the pocket to his dress robes and kept it levitated in front of McGonagall. It was an old Wizarding custom to include the binding of the hands in the wedding ceremony. The ribbon was chosen by the groom which would be used to bind the hands and then once the vows had been said, the ribbon's magical properties would jump to life and would produce two rings, unique to the married couple. No wedding ribbon was exactly alike.

The ribbon that Draco had chosen had not been bought, but had been painstakingly hand crafted by his two devoted house elves. As they had made the ribbon, they had woven every magical protection enchantment that Draco wanted into the fabric of the ribbon so that once the ribbon turned into rings, the protective enchantments would be bound to the gold itself and they would never be removed. It was a silver coloured ribbon, and the stitching on either side of the ribbon looked ivory like her dress but she couldn't tell due to the darkness.

McGonagall waved her wand and the ribbon wove itself around their hands until there was no possible way that either of them could even move a finger. Then the two ends of the ribbon magically joined so that the ribbon was never ending.

"State your vows." McGonagall ordered. "Hermione, you first."

"Where do I begin…" She chuckled nervously. "Draco, I love you. And when I say that I love you I mean that everything within me, from the most analytical thoughts complete with pro/con lists, to the fluttering and the butterflies and the little voice inside my mind tell me that I could want nothing more than to start building a life with you." She took a deep and shaky breath trying to blink back the tears that were threatening to surface. "I cannot wait to become your wife, and to start a family with you," She continued, glancing down at her little bump lovingly, before becoming lost in the silvery depths of Draco's eyes once more. "to share my life with you until we are old and grey and surrounded by our children. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, my most tender care, through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future, I promise to be faithful to you. I promise to love you, to commit to you, and support you. I pledge to respect your unique talents and abilities, to lend you strength for all of your dreams. You have shown me what love feels like and for that I thank you." She finished, sniffling slightly as tears trickled down her cheeks. The ribbon that bound their hands was glowing golden as the magic worked.

"I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you. I had been told to live my life in a certain way, my future had already been mapped out for me and I couldn't even lift a finger in protest. But then I befriended everyone who was supposed to be the enemy, I fought for the opposite cause and that's how I came to get to know you like I do. You make me a better person, everything that was once impossible now seems possible because I know I've got you beside me and no matter what this life, and this war throws at us that we can conquer it. You and me, together and eventually our baby and any other children we would be blessed to have. It was a long road, Hermione, but we finally got here despite what we both thought and though the rest of the future is unclear, we've made it this far and I don't intend to stop now. I promise you that I will love you with every fibre of my being, I will comfort you, I will be faithful to you, cherish you and protect you from everything and anything that threatens you or our family. You're the only other woman I've loved or will love and I promise you that I will love you until the last breath leaves my body." He finished and saw that she was crying and smiling at him. Even McGonagall had tears in her eyes, she knew if anybody could take care of Hermione and her baby it was Draco and even though she had doubted him as a boy, she had no qualms about him now.

The ribbon glowed bright gold, illuminating their faces and breaking through the darkness of the night. It glowed at a brighter intensity before vanishing completely. Now, sitting on the third finger of her left hand sat a beautifully unique ring and the ribbon couldn't have got it more right. Hermione wasn't really a diamonds sort of girl, she thought them far too overused and so, on her finger sat a band of white gold which split off into two different strands which interwove around each other, extending out around the centre of the ring where a dazzling white opal was encased by smaller diamonds. Draco's was made of the same white gold but was thicker than hers, there were the same two bands that interwove around each other although there were no gaps between where the two intersected like there were on Hermione's and on each band was a line of tiny diamonds which went around the entire ring in addition to a larger diamond that sat central to the ring. What Hermione didn't know was that the diamond in Draco's ring and the opal in hers were connected in more ways than she thought possible. The ribbon that the elves had made couldn't have been more perfect.

"Draco Lucius and Hermione Jean, I now declare you bonded for life, and I personally would like to wish the two of you a very long and happy marriage." McGonagall smiled. Draco wasted no time, and curled his arm around his wife's waist. It was so good to finally be able to call her wife and now he was about to kiss his wife for the first time in their marriage. He moulded his lips to hers and then they were seemingly lost to the world, wrapped up in each other's love. Everything was perfect.

Hey guys, so I was a little unsure about this chapter. The wedding ceremony was actually made up as I went along and because there are literally thousands of Dramione weddings which are all the same out there, I wanted something completely different although I'm quite proud of the ribbon thing if I do say so myself. It took me ages to try and think of someone who could marry them both because obviously they wanted to keep it a secret and all, but you need a witch or wizard to do it and then McGonagall just popped into my mind. After a little deliberation I managed to swap some things about in the plot line and so we will be seeing some more of McGonagall since she's now the only other person who knows about them.