A/N- Everyone seemed to like the last chapter which makes me so happy! This story has become a constant in my life, something I knew I could always do if I was stressed. Now it's over. Lordy, it doesn't seem possible. Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. Y'all are my heroes. Enough for now, more later.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Leslie and Grace. I haven't made a knut off any of my stories and this one is no exception.

Epilogue

August 4, 2018

Hermione smiled at her oldest daughter. She truly couldn't keep the expression off her face. She reached out and grasped her daughter's hand as she spoke.

"I'm sure that everything will be fine. Your father and I won't be angry no matter who your mate is. We didn't say a single word when Tigris discovered Victoire was his mate the day after your birthday." Aranea let a flash of fear pass through her eyes as she watched Caelum and Lyra finish up their summer homework.

"I don't think he'll accept me, Mum. He's a pureblood and I'm only a halfblood. His family will disown him." Hermione couldn't say that this didn't worry her, but she refused to let her daughter know that.

"Does he want to be with you, Aranea?" Her daughter gave her a slight nod.

"He says he does. He says he loves me already even though it's only been a couple of weeks." Hermione nodded and gave her oldest daughter a soft smile.

"Your father and I have already told you about our story. You've read my book. You know what life was like for us and we still managed to make it work between us. We loved each other and that was enough." Aranea shook her head emphatically.

"I know, Mum. You hated each other growing up and he thought you were scum. When he realized you were his mate though, his parents were dead. What if he had to deal with his father? Would he have still chose you?" Hermione didn't get a chance to answer because Draco appeared through the library door.

"A herd of wild horses couldn't have kept me away from your mother. She is my mate. Nothing could change that and I wouldn't have wanted to." Aranea nodded her head softly and smiled. Hermione reached out and toyed with one of her platinum blond curls as she spoke.

"Just tell us who he is, Ray." She didn't get a chance to speak before Tigris interrupted the conversation.

"It's Thomas Selwyn. Merlin, she's afraid his aunt is going to refuse to let him accept her because of you, Mum. Not sure why she's worried. He told me he loves Ray like crazy and he's not going to let his cow of an aunt run his life." Hermione was startled but she could feel understanding through her link with Draco. A flash of fear went through him, and she was suddenly worried herself. Getting ahold of her emotions, she turned to her daughter.

"Why would his aunt have a problem with me? I don't even know who she is." Aranea remained silent and Draco reached out and put his hand on her lower back.

"Selwyn went to Azkaban after the Final Battle and later died there. His son was three at the time he was convicted. That meant that Thomas went to his closest relation. That was Dolores Umbridge." Hermione felt her blood freeze at the name. Aranea's gaze didn't waver from her mother's face.

"Now you see the problem. He's already an adult, Head of his House, but that was with the stipulation that his marriage was a good one. His aunt loves Dad but hates you, Mum. He said she still goes on about how evil you were for tricking her into the Forbidden Forest." Hermione remained silent as she considered her daughter's predicament. Her gaze turned to her younger set of twins, both going to be fifth years at Hogwarts this year.

This was her first taste of fear for her children. She would lose them if their mates didn't accept them. Victoire had already accepted Tigris. They were a year apart and had grown up together. Hermione had always suspected a crush between them anyways and she couldn't be happier with the way their story had played out. She knew that Bill and Flour approved, even though Bill had to play the protective father part.

She knew for a fact that Caelum and Lyra were veela as well. They displayed every characteristic that Tigris and Aranea had. She could only hope and pray that they were going to have easier mates than Aranea. Hermione hadn't mentioned it to Draco, but she was almost certain that Caelum had a crush on George's daughter Roxy. That would be an interesting match indeed.

Before she could say anything to her daughter regarding the situation at hand, she felt a ripple in the wards. Draco was instantly on his feet, wand out of his sleeve and in his hand.

"It's not somebody who's been here before. Stay here with the kids."

Hermione had grown used to the role that Draco constantly put her in: the useless damsel that needed protecting. It irritated her to no end, but there really wasn't much she could do about it. As their children had grown, he had only become more protective and she finally just learned to embrace it. It meant he cared. Even if she wanted to hex him blue (and sometimes did), she let him protect her. Draco had just made it out of the room when Aranea smiled.

"It's Tommy. He's really happy." Tigris threw his arm around his twin and smiled.

"Told you things would work out, Ray. You never believe me though." She dug her elbow in his side, making him wince.

"That's because you're never right, you prat. 'Come on, Ray, lets go skinny dipping in Grandma's pond. Nobody will ever find out.' Sound familiar?" Tigris blushed slightly at her words. Hermione knew for a fact that he was a miniature of his father and he had played the field just as much as Draco had. However, the incident they were speaking of had occurred when they were thirteen and he had been unable to hide his crush for Victoire.

Of course, their skinny dipping party had been interrupted by Hermione herself. Both her children, both of Bill's girls, and both of George's sons had all been on the receiving end of her wand. All six children had clutched their backsides the whole walk back to the house, all complaining about her stinging hexes. Tigris just rolled his eyes at his twin.

"One time, Merlin, woman, let it go." Hermione tuned out the argument that broke out between her children, one where Aranea continued with her examples of his stupidity. Only a few minutes passed before she felt a burst of happiness from Draco and she knew in that moment that everything would be alright. Moments later, Draco and Thomas Selwyn entered the library together, both smiling.

Thomas rushed to Aranea and pulled her into a crushing embrace. She watched her daughter's arms snake around his waist and hold him to her. Draco's arm wrapped around her own slender waist while they waited for their daughter to remove herself from her mate. When the pair finally separated, Thomas smiled at Aranea and spoke.

"I told Aunt Dolores about us. She refused to let me marry you since you're only a halfblood. I shrugged my shoulders at her and told her that I didn't care, that she could disown me. Then the old bat changed her tune, said you were actually a great match because you're a Malfoy and you're related to Harry Potter. She insisted that we marry this coming spring." Aranea squealed and threw her arms around Thomas' neck so she could kiss him. Hermione cleared her throat when it appeared that the kiss was about to turn indecent. Thomas hastily pulled away and met Hermione's gaze.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Malfoy. How rude of me to not even introduce myself." Hermione held up her hand to stop him and smiled.

"No apology necessary, Thomas. I've been in your shoes and know all too well what this feels like for the pair of you. That being said, if you hurt my baby girl and Draco or Ti don't rip you apart, you'll discover exactly why everyone is scared of me when I'm angry." Tigris spoke up, expression serious.

"Don't worry, mate. You hurt her, I'll kill you straight out. You damn sure don't want any part of what my mum will dish out. She can be downright evil sometimes." The whole room burst out in laughter at Tigris' words. After few moments, Hermione broke the silence.

"Well, your father and I have plans and I believe Vic is going to be here in just a bit, Ti. Go bathe. Cae, Lyra, finish your homework or you won't be meeting James and Albus in Diagon Alley tomorrow. Ray, you and Thomas can do as you like, but I expect you both to be presentable at dinner." Draco remained quiet but she could feel his amusement through their link.

Tigris jumped off the couch and began to make his way up the stairs, to shower she assumed. Caelum and Lyra nodded quietly to her, both continuing their homework. The pair had both made it into Slytherin and they knew which battles to fight. This was not one of them.

Aranea and Tigris had both been lions, but Hermione knew that Tigris was a born Slytherin. Aranea had been sorted first, and as her mother's daughter in almost every way, she had been placed in Gryffindor. Tigris had admitted later that the Sorting Hat had wanted to place him in Slytherin, but he had asked for Gryffindor.

Apparently, on the train to Hogwarts, some older Gryffindors had teased Aranea for knowing so much about Hogwarts already. They had called her slimy spawn of a Death Eater and made her cry. When she had been placed in their House, Tigris had requested to go with her so he could help protect her. Hermione had been both saddened about the situation, but proud beyond measure of her son.

Hermione took Draco by the hand and pulled him towards the entrance to the garden. Once they were fully ensconced in the roses, Draco pulled her to a stop and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"What exactly was that, Angel? More Slytherin subterfuge as you like to call it?" Hermione brushed strands of her husband's long hair off his face.

"You could say that. Remember when I accepted you? Would you have wanted an audience?" Draco chuckled as he began to rain kisses on her face.

"As I recall, we did nothing forbidden. You accepted me, I told you we were having a boy and a girl, and you rushed off to go owl Molly and George." Hermione couldn't hold back the giggle that bubbled up inside her.

"Merlin, I forgot about that! Thirty-eight years old and I'm already losing my memory. See what you all have done to me?" Draco laughed outright at her before he bent to slant his mouth softly against hers.

"We may have made you lose your mind, but we would all be lost without you." She hummed at his words before grasping his hand and pulling him further into the garden. As she met his gaze, she smirked.

"You owe me a romantic walk in the garden and a good shag against the fountain." Draco burst out laughing as he began pulling her towards the fountain.

"Come on, Angel. I would never want to disappoint."

Hermione didn't say a word, just flashed him a smile, followed his lead, and let him remind her of how much she loved him.

A/N- FF still hates me and won't allow me to reply to reviews...I don't want y'all to think I'm ignoring you or ungrateful. This is the official end. It's been a hard ride, but it was worth it. I'm going to start working on an outline for the next story so hopefully it won't be too long before I start it. I'll be sure to post here so those that want to follow the new story can. Thanks again, guys.

Love,

A