A/N: Almost to the end now! I'm not yet sure if chapter 19 will be combined with the epilogue or if it will stand on its own. Either way, we are 1 or 2 chapters away. Enjoy!

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Weasley opened the floo access and brought us all through. We landed in yet another kitchen, this one far more old fashioned than I had expected. The house itself had the feel of old pureblood magic, much like the manor, which greatly confused me until Weasley said, "this is 12 Grimmauld Place, it's a Black family estate. Sirius left it to Harry."

Before I had a chance to respond, Ginny Weasley appeared through the kitchen doorway and upon spotting her brother and his companions, let a wide grin spread across her face. Crossing her arms she said, "well well well, if it isn't the happy… trupple?"

"Blimey, not now, Gin. We're here under urgent circumstances," Weasley said, gesturing to me.

As soon as Ginny's eyes landed on me, her entire demeanor shifted to one of pure, unbridled hatred.

"What are you doing here?" she said through gritted teeth.

Weasley stepped forward and started to say, "Gin-" but she put her hand up and said, "Quiet, Ronnie cakes, this does not concern you."

Weasley turned, if possible, even redder.

Ginny's eyes were searing holes through me. "Get out," she said, in a slightly louder tone.

"Look I hardly think it's up to you to determine whether I stay or go," I said, trying not to lose my patience, and to my surprise, succeeding. I was actually surprised by the modicum of calm in my voice.

She stepped forward and squared her small from to me as if she was preparing for a physical fight, and perhaps she was.

"I am speaking on behalf of Hermione. If she knew you were here she would-"

"Well why don't we just let her be the judge of what she would do, then? Go and get her."

She continued to glare at me until I said, "Please," and a small wobble was noticeable in my voice. Her eyes softened, and I could feel Weasley, Pansy and Tracey all turn their heads to stare at me.

I swallowed, and felt something hard in my throat. I had not come all this way just to be turned out without so much as catching a glimpse of her. If she did indeed want me to leave, she could tell me herself, and I would respect it.

Just then, the kitchen door swung open once more, revealing Potter, followed closely by…

"Hermione," I said. And everyone else froze.

"Draco," she said. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes were red. Clearly, she'd been crying.

I felt an actual pain in my chest at the thought. That I had caused it.

Ginny turned to face Hermione and leaned in close, but I could still hear her say, "we can make him leave, you don't have to-" But Hermione had already put a hand on her friend's shoulder, and shook her head.

"Well," Potter said, awkwardly looking around the room. "Welcome all… perhaps we can give these two some privacy."

"Not necessary," Granger said, stepping in front of him and walking towards me, her eyes locked onto mine.

Miraculously, she took my hand and began guiding me out of the room. "We're going upstairs. You're all staying down here, and don't try listening in because I'll be casting protective charms and so help you Merlin if you try them."

If I hadn't actually been in love with this witch already, I fell again in that instant.

She trudged up the rickety old stairs and pulled me into a bedroom before turning to cast a number of protective charms on the door. Then, she spun around to face me, and I saw that her eyes were filled with tears once more.

I could physically feel my heart drop.

I stepped forward and opened my mouth to speak, but she held up her hand, so I stopped.

"Did you mean to say it?" she asked, with an emphasis on the first word.

The question hung in the air between us as I tried to discern what it meant.

"Did I-" I began, but she cut me off.

"Did you mean what you said? Do you love me, Draco? Or did you just think that's what you were supposed to say?"

I struggled to decide which question to answer first, and instead what came out were a bunch of stuttering noises that I'd never heard myself make before.

"Because if you don't really feel that way," she cut in, and I stopped my rambling. "Then… that's fine. Because I've felt that way about you for quite some time now, and I can wait longer if need be, just…" she paused, shutting her eyes, and I saw fresh tears roll down her beautiful cheeks. "I just can't bear it if it's a lie for my benefit, I just can't. In fact, I refuse."

At that, I rushed forward. I placed both hands on her cheeks and looked her straight in her eyes and said, "Hermione, I…"

My mouth hung open and I struggled to find the right words. I just knew I needed to correct her perception. I knew I needed to stop her from hurting. Because she was wrong.

But the words were reluctant to leave my mouth. I stuttered a bit, searching her eyes as if looking for a steady foothold. Something to grasp onto so that I could feel safe enough to make a move.

She sniffed, but held my gaze. I could sense her yearning to hear what I would say next, mixed with a sense of patience that I was unaware could be conveyed through a look.

It was astonishing to me that she could hold onto such a sense of confidence while in this vulnerable a position. No doubt, it was one of the things that always drew me to her. One of the things I wanted to learn from her. Was learning from her.

It was her bravery. An overwhelming amount of it.

And it beat my headstrong approach by a greater distance than I could even fathom.

I moved my thumbs to graze both her cheeks, wiping a fresh tear that had just dropped from where it'd been pooling, and I summoned all the bravery I possibly could. Moving my hands to her shoulders, I said in barely a whisper, "I love you so much that it terrifies me."

She raised both eyebrows in surprise and then reached up to wipe her eyes.

"You… really?" she said.

I nodded, and felt something hot trickle down my cheek. With a small intake of breath, she reached up to brush away what was apparently a tear.

"Is that why-"

I was shaking my head. "I just… I don't know. I hadn't planned on saying it, I didn't even know I felt it until the words left my mouth, and then you said it back, and I just… I just…"

"Lost your bloody mind?" she said.

I let out a startled laugh, which she then joined in on.

We laughed, our foreheads pressed together, for what could have been thirty seconds or an hour.

I couldn't really perceive time.

She was there in front of me. Everything was out on the table between us. And nothing else seemed to matter or even exist.

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Her friends were all smart enough not to try her protective charms. We stayed in the room a while longer, talking and kissing. It felt like I suddenly existed in a parallel universe, one in which no harm could come to me, and only positive experiences lay ahead.

Logically, I knew that this was not the case, but I allowed myself to revel in it nonetheless. It had been so long since I had truly encountered the feeling.

And it wasn't because she loved me, though that was certainly not hurting my mood.

It was because I was… proud of myself.

I had navigated the situation, well, not perfectly, but I had done the best I could with what I had available to me. That was something for me to be proud of.

And that was exactly what Michelle reflected to me when I called her the next morning.

"I know, I actually had that same thought last night."

"Ugh, that's great," she said in response. "And I hope it doesn't seem condescending for me to say that I'm proud of you too?"

I laughed and said, "No, not at all. But only because I said it first."

She laughed, and I told her I would see her the following week. I also reminded her about the ball mother was planning, and she said she'd be there.

I wasn't sure which part of the scene seemed stranger in my imagination, my life coach at the manor in a gown, or having Hermione Granger on my arm.

Being in love with Hermione Granger, and her loving me back.

Yep, my life coach in a gown was a stranger thing to imagine.

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Potter came over on Saturday as planned. I was surprised by how quickly he got right to business, rather than asking me a lot of questions about what had happened with Hermione.

I supposed she'd either filled him in or forbid him to question me. Probably the latter. I smiled to myself at the thought of my witch and her ability to be so assertive as to inspire obedience in her closest friends. Obedience by way of respect more so than fear. I admired that about her as well.

Potter was extremely impressed with my potions lab, and we spent hours going over my plans for the apothecary. It was a lot of anti-dark magic materials, and he was more enthusiastic about my ideas than I expected by a longshot.

Even more surprising was what he said to me at the end of the day.

"Well, I think I've seen all I need to. I wanted to be sure before I made you any sort of offer."

"Offer?" I said, an eyebrow raising not in suspicion, but intrigue.

"Yes, you see… I was left a rather large sum by my Godfather, and I've been thinking lately that I'd like to invest it in some business venture or another. I just haven't had any particularly good ideas myself," he said, and then he grinned at me.

I stared at him, dumbfounded. I hadn't thought for a moment that this was the sort of outcome of our meeting that Potter had had in mind. He'd let nothing on prior to that moment.

"Am I to assume from your face that you're interested?"

Shaking myself, I said, "I, er... sorry, I'm just a bit thrown off. I had no idea-"

Still grinning, he cut me off, "I know, it's been really fun not telling you. Just from what Hermione shared with me I was already pretty sure I was going to offer."

I continued to stare at him blankly, and he continued on un-phased.

"Of course, this will likely help you as well if your father ever finds out that you double crossed him. Now you don't have to worry about your business being tied up in his money. You won't need to rush to get married just to be autonomous."

My eyes went wide. I hadn't even considered that. My plan had been to chance it, and to cross that bridge when forced. But this… this seemed a much more attractive path.

"Potter," I said, "I'm not sure whether to hug you or hex you for being so insufferable."

He shrugged. "I'll settle for a handshake. I daresay I've owed you one since our first year," he said, and extended his hand. I looked down at it, fighting the lump in my throat that was threatening to materialize.

We shook hands. We scheduled a follow up meeting to go over logistics. He left.

I hastened to the garden where mother was tending to her roses and shared the news with her.

Her excitement was so great as to be considered uncouth, but I just smiled and laughed at her.

She got so excited that she decided to invite the entire Weasley family to the ball, having only excluded them because she'd thought they might feel obligated to attend and therefore uncomfortable.

"But if you and Harry Potter are to be business partners, then surely you're held in high enough regard by his surrogate family!"

"I'll ask Granger to deliver the invitation herself, just leave it for me whenever it's ready."

She grabbed my face and kissed both cheeks before announcing that she'd go and wash the earth from her hands (which was now also on my face) and get started on it right away.

I stood looking out over the grounds of the manor, the setting sun beating steadily but not harshly on my face.

My sense of gratitude and contentment in that moment could not be overstated.

And for once, the sensation that the other shoe was about to drop was, mysteriously, absent.

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A/N: As always, I love to hear your insights about this story! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!