Tuesday 2nd September


Early Evening
Island in the Lake
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Dufftown
Scotland

The sun was setting over Hogwarts. For the whole day the survivors who were able to had been helping out with the clear up operation which involved moving the bodies of all the dead. Everyone had been buried by now in a new graveyard in what had been a quiet, secluded courtyard, but would probably now see a lot more visitors. Everyone had died in Hogwarts, fighting for what the castle stood for and that was where they would stay. All the headstones were the same size and shape, all had the Hogwarts Crest and then their House Crest and then their name and age. Flowers had been brought in and laid and the bereft…

Some had gone home, others were helping to clean up the mess of the battle. I had no idea how classes were going to continue, or if they even were and if they were, were they going to even be here? I knew that Lucius had offered his home up for the use of the school, but I didn't know what Albus had planned. Safety checks were going on all over the castle and her towers. From our quiet corner of the island in the lake everyone looked like ants rebuilding the nest.

Abigail and Draco were sat in their favourite spot of the picnicking tree. They were sat close together and talking about something in quiet voices, but I didn't try to listen in.

Charity snuggled into my chest with a sigh and I gently wrapped my arms around her once again remembering how close I'd come to losing her. I was never going to let her go ever again. I kissed her hair, just because I could. I felt her smile. Then she sighed.

"I'm glad it's all over," she said.

"You and me both," I sighed.

"Severus… what happens now?"

I thought about it for a moment. What now indeed. I knew nothing was ever going to be the same again, we were all different, all of us carried scars and needed time to heal and find peace within ourselves. None of us even knew if Hogwarts was going to go back to life as normal tomorrow with classes and meals and raucous laughter. But we had to go on.

"We live and love and laugh."

She turned to me as well as she could and she was smiling softly. "How do you always know the answer?"

"I don't. I just muddle though."

"Like the rest of us," she said. "Oh, Severus…"

"I know, my love. I know."


I only watched people working on the castle for a little while before I turned away. To most people it was just Hogwarts, but to me it was home. So much had happened there, good and bad. But no matter how many bad things happened, the good would always outweigh them. That was the way the world, my world, worked.

Beside me Draco sighed heavily. I'd told him about losing the baby earlier and he'd gone for a long walk around the lake, alone. I'd been worried sick about him, but I knew that it had been best that he be alone for a while. When Sev, Charity and I came over to the tree it was by chance that he was sat in it wanting company. We were sat on our branches, inches from each other looking out at the lake. The sun was reflecting off it gently reminding us all that there was still beauty in the world.

"How are you doing?" I asked quietly. I knew that Sev and Charity wouldn't tell anyone anything that they overheard, but I didn't want them to hear it. This was between me and Draco for now.

"Hope. We should call her Hope," he whispered, hardly able to breathe.

"Ok," I nodded with a wobbly smile. "I like it. Hope Evelyn Malfoy."

He looked at me with surprise. "Malfoy?"

I nodded and waggled my ring finger at him. "She simply has to have her father's name."

He managed a weak chuckle. "I'm sorry. I'm just so sad."

"I know," I whispered. "Me too. As soon as I hit… I knew. And that was scarier than facing my own death… But… well, we aren't ready, Draco. As much as we've had to grow up because of the war… Draco, we're – I'm – sixteen."

He nodded and relief passed through his eyes. "I thought it was just me."

I squeezed his hand. "Sev told me it's not wrong to feel relieved."

"So what now?"

"We live."

"How?"

I looked over to him for the first time and those eyes, those grey, grey eyes were looking at me wide open and honest and the most unguarded I'd seen them for a long time. They were the eyes of our early childhood, so trusting and truthful. And right now they were simply asking me if I had any idea how to move on, to become the people we were before all this was put on our to young shoulders back when we were nine years old. For nearly half our lives we'd been fighting a war that we should have never had anything to do with. We'd been doing it for everyone, everyone we loved, everyone we knew and everyone we didn't.

We'd both done terrible things. Draco never told me what Tom had made him to in the holidays when I wasn't there, but I knew there were things that happened that I'd never know. In some ways I was the lucky one. The worst I'd had to do was hurt Hermione and I thanked my lucky stars, as horrible as it sounded, that she was a willing participant.

"Abbie, what do we do?" he asked, so unsure and so unlike himself.

I looked back into those guileless eyes. My heart hammered and I let myself feel absolutely everything I'd been denying myself for the last couple of years. His hair which I'd always admired for its pale but shining colour and straightness was growing out again, to his shoulders and in artful layers, his perfectly crafted face was perhaps a little thinner than I would have liked, but I knew that was because of fatigue and stress and I hated to see him anything other than healthy. He was more my Draco than he had been since we were nine, but he was still so locked away.

Draco now was caged and fearful and tired and weak. He'd been putting up such a good front for all of us, but now that it was over he was pale and small. It broke my heart to see him like that. But I knew, I knew that he could be something like my best friend again with love. My love.

Yes, I loved him. I hadn't let myself because I had convinced myself that it was safer for him if I hadn't, but what if one of us hadn't made it? I didn't know if we'd stay together for ever, but if one of us hadn't survived we'd never know. I'd been so stupid! So selfish!

But I could change that. I would change that. Right now.

"I'm certain you need therapy. I'm certain I need therapy, but…" I bit my lip and blushed.

"Abbie?"

I leaned forward and kissed him.

When we'd been forced together we'd never kissed apart from the chaste kiss at the wedding. To do it now, freely, of my own accord was amazing in and of itself. For a moment he was too surprised to move, but then he gently kissed me back.

His lips were warm, soft and responsive. I wondered why I hadn't done this before for a moment, but then a couple of things clicked into place. If we'd got together during the war we would have had to hide it from everyone in the castle, from all the Death Eaters, Severus, his parents, Tom… from everyone who played a roll in our lives. I couldn't have lived like that, and what's more neither could he.

And neither of us had been able to completely be ourselves. Even in our down time we'd had occulation shields up. Now we didn't have to. I wanted to feel this. I wanted to feel every single touch, every single emotion.

And what I felt… For the first time in months I felt warm inside. Everything felt warmer and the air felt fresher and I was sure that when I opened my eyes everything would look greener and brighter.

Draco pulled away but leant his forehead against mine. "But…"

"But I'm damn certain I love you and have done the whole time."

He smiled and kissed me again, but I pulled away sharply, suddenly uncertain. What if I was wrong? What if he was too different? What if I was too different?

"I'm sor –"

"No," I said firmly. "No one said this was going to be easy."

He nodded. "I really want to hold you."

I smiled and moved over to his branch to sit between his legs and rest my back against his chest. "That I can do," I said. "And, Draco?"

"Yeah?" he contently asked.

"Never let go."

"I never have."

"Oh well abou' time the pair of yous!"

I wasn't normally a violent man, believe it or not, but at that moment I kind of wanted to punch Hagrid. But then I saw that he was with a host of other people and he'd brought food. My stomach rumbled causing Charity to laugh and then I wanted to kiss the half giant and all of his companions. It had been over a year since I heard her laugh.


"Hagrid!" Abigail screeched, jumped down from the tree – twenty feet high and gave me a heart attack – and ran over to Hagrid and threw herself into his embrace.

"'Ello, Abigail!" he boomed because somehow they hadn't seen one another yet. "How are yeh?"

"Great! Lupo!" she grinned when he frolicked around her.

Draco joined her and they played with the dog for a few moments before pulling their friends into hugs.

The adults of the group– Filius, Pomona, Albus, Minerva, Narcissa and Lucius (apart from Hagrid, who climbed) – apparated into the tree and sat with Charity and me. Draco and Abigail sat in a sunny patch with Harry and Ginny, Hermione and Ron, Fred and George, Luna and Neville. The familiars, Lynx, Pollo, Loki, Erebos, Hedwig, Lupo, Pig and a couple of others that I didn't know as well as all of their pigmypuffs, and all of ours, lay and sat around them either getting fussed or lazily playing with one another. With the exception of Pig who flapped from one person to the next, for once not annoying anyone.

They all laughed.

It was music.

"They will be fine," Minerva said. "If they're able to laugh now, so soon and freely they will all be just fine."

"… can smell pizza," Ronald, of course, said and looked in our direction.

Abigail turned too and leaned on her elbow. "Sev, are you hogging all the food?"

"Me?" I asked quietly. "Evidently not as I am not fond of –"

"Oh, whatever," she said.

She walked over and began to climb the tree. Draco was only a couple of paces behind. Then the others looked at one another, shrugged and walked over too.