A/N: I promised a few readers I'd extend this Epilogue after writing The Manuscript. So here it is. There are two new scenes at the end of the last chapter and three new scenes at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 29 – Epilogue II

Sixteen years later

Hermione twirled her finger along the edge of the glass, staring at the water to avoid having to look back at Harry's intense stare. "It sounds like you're already giving up, like you're not even going to give these counseling sessions a shot," he was saying.

She looked back at him then, feeling defensive suddenly. This is exactly what she hadn't wanted to happen with all of this, for Harry to feel like he had to pick a side. She didn't want there to be any sides.

"I am Harry, I'm going, and I do all of the homework," they both paused and smirked at each other, "I just – know my heart. And I know his too. I think it's over. And I want to make sure we don't wait too long to end it. We still love and respect each other now. If it drags on…" she trailed off, not wanting to think of what a hostile divorce from Ron would look like. She was so entwined with his family and the kids… no, she would not let it get to that.

"If you still love him then why can't you try-" Harry started in again and Hermione cut him off, "Harry, you're not listening to me."

He looked back at her sadly. Out of everyone they'd told, Harry had taken the news of her and Ron's marital problems the hardest. She sighed, "I do love Ron. He's an amazing father, a loyal friend, and I'm so proud of how far he's come professionally. But I feel like I've extracted every ounce of fulfillment and happiness I can from our marriage. I'm just - ready for more. And I can tell he feels the same."

"You shouldn't have married him." Hermione looked up at Harry, surprised, and found his piercing green eyes boring into hers. "Ginny told me what you talked about before the wedding."

Hermione looked down at her water for a few moments, then looked up and matched Harry's intense gaze. "You're wrong. I made the right decision and I had a wonderful marriage and wonderful kids. I wouldn't have wanted to raise them with anyone besides Ron. We were a great team. But now... we're moving into a new stage, and, well...he's not the right choice anymore."

"So this has nothing to do with Malfoy?"

"Of course not Harry," Hermione retorted angrily. "I haven't seen Draco in years. And he's married. This is about me."

Hermione watched Harry relax a little in his chair. Like he was finally giving in a bit, she hoped. "What do you want me to do then?"

"Just talk to him. Please?"

"Why can't you?"

"I do, but it would be good to hear it from more people. He's stubborn but if he really considered the past few years, I think he'll see that this isn't one-sided. And if we drag this on for too long…" she trailed off and looked back at the water in her glass.

After a time, Harry sighed, "I understand. I'll try."

"Thanks Harry."

"How is Rose feeling about tomorrow?" They were both relieved by the change in subject.

"Terrified, but hiding it well. And Albus?"

"Same."

Hermione stood then and finished the rest of her water, "Well, I should get back. I'll see you tomorrow at the station. Thanks Harry."

Harry stood and gave her a longer hug than normal, then walked her to the door.

"One year, two at the most."

Draco's chest constricted and he felt a hand touch his leg as he tried to refocus on the healer. He couldn't take this anymore. He stood then and rushed outside and started walking up and down the street, blinking back the tears that were forming in his eyes.

Shit, shit, shit. Why was he acting like a child? He should go back and comfort Astoria, she was the one who should be acting out, but she'd behaved calmly through this whole ordeal. He took a deep breath and settled against the wall.

Astoria had told Draco about her blood curse just a few weeks after they'd started dating. He hadn't cared, he'd actually been a little relieved. His healer thought it was because he was able to view her as damaged, like he viewed himself. His healer thought that was one of the reasons Draco had been able to accept Astoria's love, but not Hermione's. Draco admitted that there might be truth to that, but he hated to think of his wife as damaged. She was lovely, and kind, and strong, and funny, and a brilliant mother. And he was going to be completely lost without her.

"We knew it was a long shot," he jumped and turned to find Astoria leaning on the wall behind him, her eyes filled with concern. He pulled her into his chest and she melted into him. He tightened his arms around her and let a few tears fall from his eyes.

"We have to tell Scorpius," she said into his chest, "I know the timing is bad, with him starting school tomorrow, but it'll be better to give him time to come to terms with it all."

Draco took a few deep breaths, trying to clear the sobs that were forming in his chest. "You're right. We'll tell him tonight."

She pulled back and looked at him, then wiped the tears from his face, "And the war? Are you going to tell him about that too?"

Draco nodded, suddenly feeling very bad for Scorpius and the difficult conversations he'd have to endure tonight. He was so young, but they'd waited as long as they could. Astoria was right, the sooner they told him about her condition the better. And the war, well there was never a good time for a boy to hear that his father had fought on the side of the mass murderer during the war, but he definitely didn't want him to hear it first at Hogwarts.

"Look who it is," Ron said darkly, looking over at three figures standing at the other end of the platform.

Hermione looked over and her heart dropped when she recognized Draco and Astoria with a young son who looked very much like Draco had at that age. Draco caught sight of the group staring at him and gave them all a curt nod before turning away.

Hermione allowed herself to breathe again. She'd seen him around, of course, their world was small, but her reaction was always like this. He literally took her breath away. She wondered if it was the same for him. She hadn't spoken to him since that day in the alley years ago. She heard Ron whispering to Rose, "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," Hermione said in a stern voice, "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," Ron said, but his expression was nasty and he looked very not sorry. Then he added, "Don't get too friendly with him though, Rosie," at this he gave Hermione a dark look, "Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

Hermione rolled her eyes, then Rose went to greet James who had just appeared with some news. She gave Ron one last accusatory look before turning to see what James wanted to say.

She wondered if Ron would bring this up in their counseling session today. Tell the story of how she'd ruined his marriage proposal by bringing up her relationship with his school rival. She shook her head. No, that wasn't fair, he had never been cruel to her. They were both just on edge about sending Rose off to school for the first time and taking it out on each other today. Even healthy couples did that.

She bent to give Rose a final hug before she climbed onto the train, then watched the train start up and make its way down the track. Hermione felt a pang in her chest as she remembered her first train ride. She'd been so nervous, sure they'd kick her out as soon as she got there, that there had been some mistake. She thought of how far she'd come since and couldn't help but smile to herself. She was way more confident than that scared, bossy girl. When the train disappeared out of sight, she turned back to look at Ron.

He gave her a small smile and she wondered if he was thinking of that same day. The day he'd met Harry Potter, it had surely changed his whole life. He leaned over and gave her a small, forced kiss on the cheek then and said he'd see her in their session later that afternoon.

He and Harry left to go back to work and she and Ginny had planned to take the younger kids for ice cream to cheer them up since they were sad about being left behind.

Ginny was staring at something behind Hermione and she turned to look and spotted Draco sitting alone on a bench at the other end of the platform. The other parents were Disapparating around them and after a few minutes the only people left were she, Ginny, the kids, and Draco. Hermione stepped toward him, instinctively, then caught herself. She couldn't go talk to him now, she had plans with Ginny and the kids. She looked back at Ginny who was watching her with a sad look. Then the two of them shared a silent conversation spoken only with facial expressions.

Please Ginny, I haven't seen him in so long, I just want to say hi.

You are married!

So is he, it's not like that. We used to be good friends.

Fine, I'll take the kids, meet up with us soon.

Thanks!

Ginny huffed, then said to the kids, "Come with me, Aunt Hermione with catch up." Hugo and Lily didn't care, ice cream was the only thing on their minds right now. Ginny walked with them to the entrance to the platform then turned back to Hermione and whispered, "I know things have been strained, but you are still married."

For now, Hermione thought, but all she said was, "I know, it's not like that. I'll catch up with you soon."

Hermione walked slowly over to the bench and sat down next to Draco. He didn't look up, just continued looking out at the tracks.

"Hi," she said lamely and he responded after a while with, "Hi."

She wasn't sure what to say now and was second-guessing her decision to come over here. She started fiddling with her necklace, then noticed that he was watching her and was staring at the necklace she was wearing. It was the one he'd given her almost twenty years ago.

"Oh," Hermione said, "I wore it today, because, well, in honor of Rose starting Hogwarts." She looked down at it and the tiny lion roared. "The animals still move."

He laughed to himself and said, "They better, they cost a fortune."

She smiled, then asked, "Is your son starting this year?"

Draco nodded and she pressed, "Is he scared?"

Draco went back to watching the tracks, then said, "I think so, but I'm probably more scared. I'm worried – well, we'll see how he's treated, for what I did." He sighed, and started rubbing the spot on his arm where his Dark Mark had been.

"He's been mostly shielded from the details of the war. I had to tell him more than I'd ever intended though, last night, just so he didn't hear first from some bully that his father tried to kill his headmaster and a few fellow classmates."

"Well I can guarantee he won't get that treatment from anyone in my family," Hermione said confidently.

"Well that's good, that covers off on half the school population, I think," he teased.

She rolled her eyes. Then said, "Rose was scared, but she didn't want to admit it. I used the dream spell last night, and walked her around the castle, at least how I remembered it. I always think of you when I use it, my kids love it."

He gave her a sad smile, "I don't use it anymore, too worried about setting off another mental breakdown."

They both laughed awkwardly, then she said a little boldly, "Let me take you somewhere then."

He shook his head, "You don't have to."

"I want to, if for no other reason than as a thank you for introducing me to such a lovely spell. Where do you want to go Draco?"

Draco's mind was drawn to the last time someone had asked him this. It was his mother, the day before he'd left on his curse-breaking assignment. His answer now was the same as it had been then. Except this time he spoke it out loud, "Seventh floor, east wing, behind the portrait of two dragons."

Hermione's eyes widened and she hesitated, and he thought she wouldn't do it, but soon they were there, and they were their younger, 19-year-old selves. They stood in front of the window seat facing each other. They stared more openly than they dared to at the station and drank each other in. Draco raised a hand to her cheek and brushed it with his fingertips and she leaned into his touch.

Hermione let herself stay there for ten seconds. That was all she'd allow.

Ten…nine… Hermione's heart was beating hard and fast in her chest and she wondered if Draco's was too.

Eight…seven…six… Draco's grey eyes were boring into her own and the expression there was intense, but otherwise unreadable.

Five…four…three… His lips turned up slightly and she wondered what he was thinking.

Two…one. Hermione grabbed his wrist and gently pulled his hand away, "We shouldn't," he pulled his hand out of her grasp then, "not even in here," she added and he nodded back in response as she dropped the dream spell.

They were back on the platform and sat in silence for a while, not looking at each other. Then Hermione said softly, "I was so convinced we both deserved a happy ending. That had to be how our story ended. But it did, didn't it? We got our happy endings, just not – together."

"Are you happy Hermione?" Draco asked then, turning to look at her.

No. She had been, for years. But something had shifted recently, and she felt lost. She lied, "Of course, are you?"

Draco nodded, but his eyes were devastated.

"You're lying," she said.

"So are you," his eyes narrowed, "but I didn't push."

Hermione dropped her eyes, suddenly feeling guilty. He had a point, she didn't have a right to question him like that, they weren't close anymore. But Draco went on to explain about Astoria's blood curse and how they'd exhausted all of their options and had just found out she had only one or two years left to live.

"I think it's my punishment for my part in the war."

"What?"

"Abbreviated time with the women I love. First you, now Astoria," he dipped his face in his hand and Hermione refrained from placing a comforting hand on his back, like she wanted to. "But it's not the worst punishment," he continued, "The limited time with her, both of you, I think it was worth it. And I have Scorpius now. So when she does leave, I won't be alone."

Hermione's heart broke and she could tell he was struggling to hold it together. Draco pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. She saw a glint of copper, then grabbed the watch out of his hand. "You still have it," she whispered, recognizing the penny she'd made him pick up on his 19th birthday stuck on the inside of the watch.

"You told me to keep it forever."

"I remember amending that," she said. Then they looked at each other awkwardly, both remembering that conversation and what he'd said.

I'll keep it as long as I love you.

He dropped his eyes, and she put a soft hand on his arm.

"After all this time, Draco?"

"As long as I can dream, Hermione." He gave her an intense stare without a hint of shame or embarrassment, and she matched it, feeling a twinge of longing rise in her chest.

"But Astoria," she whispered and he shifted away from Hermione.

He was annoyed and offended, "I can love more than one person, and I'd never act on it Granger. I should go," Draco reached out for the watch that Hermione was still holding.

"Right," she handed it back to him and stood up, straightening her skirt.

He was standing watching her, and his previous annoyance had passed. Now he was just smiling to himself. Mercurial Malfoy is back, she thought. She wanted to hug him, but knew that was probably inappropriate, especially given his admission and her own lingering feelings that had unexpectedly risen to the surface today. She held out her hand instead.

He looked at it questioningly, then smirked and grabbed it firmly.

"I'll see you around, Malfoy. It was good talking to you again."

"You too Granger."

"It's Granger-Weasley," she corrected.

"Maybe in this life," he said cryptically, and they both stared into each other's eyes, each aching for what could have been in another time, or another life, before they broke contact and Disapparated.

Three years later

Once the platform had emptied Hermione made her way to the bench Draco was sitting on. Meeting up after the Hogwarts Express left had become their tradition, since that first day she and Draco had talked after sending their kids off to Hogwarts for the first time.

The second year Hermione had looked over expectantly and seen both Draco and Astoria lingering on the same bench. She'd been about to leave when Astoria had waved her over. Hermione thought Astoria meant to scold her. For longing for a dying woman's husband and daring to spend that time last year alone with Draco. But when Hermione reached the bench Astoria was smiling and greeted Hermione with a hug. Hermione was alarmed by how thin she felt and how utterly exhausted she looked.

The three of them spent the next two hours catching up. Draco and Astoria were good together, and Hermione felt a pang in her chest at the irony that this couple, who clearly still loved each other, would be separated by a blood curse while she and Ron, who were perfectly healthy, were being separated by a lack of love.

She'd been reluctant to leave that day, and was still surprised that Astoria hadn't minded her coming over, especially since she seemed to suspect a little of Hermione's lingering feelings toward Draco. But Hermione had an appointment at the ministry that day, to finalize her divorce to Ron, though she didn't tell Draco and Astoria her reason for leaving at the time. Her divorce was heavily publicized a few weeks later and she couldn't help but wonder what Draco had thought when he read about it.

The next year, the first year Hugo went to Hogwarts, Draco was alone on the bench. Astoria had passed away just one month before. Hermione had approached warily, then taken the seat beside him when he didn't protest. Draco was completely still, and she'd asked if he wanted her to leave. He shook his head, then told her he'd appreciate the silent company, if she didn't mind. She sat with him for an hour before he finally got up to leave. She placed a comforting hand on his arm in silent farewell and he smiled sadly back at her, then left her alone.

Today Hermione didn't know what to expect as she approached him. Draco gave her a smirk when he saw her walking toward him and she was brought back to when they were young. Before she could sit, he stood, then reached his hand out to her, "Come on, let's go for lunch."

Hermione hesitated, but she wasn't sure why. She'd been coming here to talk to him, hadn't she? Why couldn't they do so while eating? But would it look odd if anyone saw them? She was single, had been for years, and his wife was dead a year ago. But this wasn't a romantic request anyway, surely not –

He cut into her thoughts. "You're overthinking this, Granger."

"Am not," she argued back.

"Oh you most surely are. Wondering if this is romantic, if anyone will see, what people will think. Am I over my departed wife? Are you over your ex-husband? What about our kids?"

"I hadn't gotten to the part with the kids yet," Hermione admitted, crossing her arms and blushing slightly. His hand was still held out to her but she just glared at it.

"Hermione," his voice was gentle and she shifted her gaze to his grey eyes. They were soft, but intense. "Let me put your mind at ease. This is a date. Now can you give me your hand so I can Apparate us there?"

Hermione stepped back, surprised and confused, and a little scared too. "You just assume I'm going to go on a date with you? After everything?"

Draco smirked again and took his hand back so he could cross his arms, matching Hermione's pose, "Of course you are."

"And how do you know that?"

Draco dropped his arms and stepped close to her, "Because you love me."

Hermione lifted her head to look at him, shaking her head, "You're so convinced I still love you? Why?"

"I didn't say 'still,' I think 'finally' is probably the better word."

Hermione was confused, then he explained, "Hermione, I left because you saw me as this impossible person who I didn't think I could be. Confident, healed, unburdened. And you saw him every time you forgave me, but you never really loved the broken wizard I actually was. Astoria did," he added sadly and his eyes darkened briefly.

I did too! You just couldn't accept it from me, because of your guilt. Hermione didn't argue though, it was too late for that anyway. Instead she asked, "What are you saying?"

Draco smiled at her then and the image took her breath away, "I got there. It took me, what? 21 years? It took losing you, falling out with my parents, loving and losing Astoria, raising a child, and countless healer appointments. But I'm him, finally, the man you fell in love with." He was smiling widely now, "And I'd like to take you, Hermione Granger, the woman I fell in love with and have never stopped loving, on a date."

He stepped back and held his hand out for her again. Hermione's heart was beating hard and she watched him closely. Then, slowly, she put her hand in his. His fingers closed instinctively around hers, and she noticed their hands fit perfectly, as if the 20 years apart had never happened. She saw a glint of triumph and anticipation cross his eyes before he apparated them away.

Draco and Hermione's date lasted six hours. They spent the first two hours moving food around on their plates at a nearby muggle restaurant. They were so busy talking that they never got around to eating. Then they'd moved on to tea at a cafe once the waitress at the restaurant finally kicked them out to make room for more customers. After tea they started wandering around the city, neither of them ready to part ways. They had a lot to catch up on, but Draco reasoned there was plenty of time for that. They had nothing but time now, especially since all of their children were at Hogwarts.

Draco had thought this first lunch between them would feel strange, and that it would take time for him to open up to her again, especially so soon after Astoria's death. But that hadn't been the case at all, and he was sure Astoria would approve. He knew it wasn't for nothing that she'd invited Hermione to talk to them on the platform two years ago. And in her last weeks, she'd urged Draco not to wait too long after her death to move on, worried he'd "miss his chance to be with someone great for him if he didn't act quickly enough." That statement hadn't been hard to decode.

Draco knew there was room in his heart for both women. He'd loved Hermione all these years but had never let that unrequited love take away from the affection he felt for his wife. He guessed in a way the heart expands to accommodate more people, just as it had when Scorpius was born. Draco never suspected in his youth that he'd become an expert on matters of the heart, but here he was.

He was walking her back to her flat now and Hermione was talking about her parents and explaining the efforts she'd taken to heal that fractured relationship. She'd done most of the talking today, as always, but he didn't mind. He loved listening to her. And she seemed like she'd been missing having someone listen to her for years.

They climbed the stairs to her flat and finally arrived at a dark green door. "This is me," she said awkwardly.

Draco froze in place. Should he kiss her? He wanted to, but he didn't know if that would be too fast. Why did he suddenly feel like a nervous teenager again? Hermione was looking back at him expectantly, then a hint of amusement glittered in her eye and it gave him the courage to lean in and place a chaste kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, she grabbed his collar and kept him in place, then kissed him more thoroughly. Hermione Granger had always been thorough, one of the many things he loved about her.

She gave him a small smile, then unlocked her door and stepped inside. "See you around," she said softly, before turning and closing the door behind her. Draco turned to leave, smiling to himself and wondering how long he'd wait to owl her (maybe 2 minutes after he got home) when he heard the door click open behind him, "Draco."

He turned back and waited for her to continue, "Do you think inviting a man into my flat after just one date would make me a slag?"

Draco smirked, then made his way back down the hall, stopping to lean against the wall when he was several feet from her, "Absolutely. But I feel inclined to point out that this isn't our first date, it's technically our third."

Hermione nodded seriously, moving her fingers along the edge of the door, "That's certainly a more respectable amount of time to wait before inviting someone in."

"But I need to warn you," Draco slunk closer to her, "If you invite me in, I'll probably never leave."

Hermione looked back at him with an unreadable expression, then a seductive smile came across her face, "Well in that case…" she pushed the door open then.

Draco didn't waste any time. He rushed toward her and picked her up, then walked them both through the doorway, kissing her ardently. "I love you," she muttered between kisses, tightening her arms around his neck.

"I told you so," he responded.

She pushed back and he kept a firm grip on her, "You're obnoxious, why can't you just say you love me too?"

"Why do you always have to be so critical?" he countered.

"Prat."

"Are you done? I'm not a teenager anymore, so I'm not going to be able to stand here holding you for much longer."

She smiled then and tightened her legs around his waist, then resumed kissing him as he walked the rest of the way into her flat, slamming the door hard behind them.

Two years later

Hermione's eyes were closed as Ginny talked her through her wedding day again. Hermione smirked when Ginny first suggested it. She knew Ginny used this a lot to calm her kids when they were younger, but she hadn't tried to use it on Hermione since that day over twenty years ago in the bridal shop.

"Rose is standing in a beautiful gold dress, ready to walk down the aisle," Ginny was saying.

"Is she scowling at me?" Hermione cut in.

"Uh, uh. This is a happy vision. So she walks down the aisle, smiling widely. Then it's your turn. You take a deep breath and grip your flowers, then began the slow descent down the aisle.

"You catch the groom's eye as you turn the corner and he smiles widely, then begins bawling like a baby. The crowd gasps. He has a heart? Who knew?"

"Ginny…" Hermione opened her eyes and started laughing, pushing her friend playfully.

"Close your eyes!"

"Fine."

"So you walk toward him, and he smiles back. He's finally managed to get the crying under control. Then you stop, right in front of him." Ginny paused and Hermione pictured Draco in what she knew would be a dashing set of dress robes, smiling back at her.

"Well, how do you feel? Standing there with him?"

Hermione was silent for a while with her eyes closed, thinking back on the incredibly long journey she'd taken to get to this day.

She thought making her way back to Draco had taken long, but while dating they'd had a lot more struggles. The backlash from the public when they learned the Minister for Magic was dating a former Death Eater. The mixed response from their children and friends. His disapproving parents. But they'd finally made it.

Hermione wiped an errant tear from her eye, careful not to smudge her makeup, then she opened her eyes and looked at Ginny. "I'll feel...it's hard to describe. A sense of release, incredible happiness, maybe some disbelief that it actually happened. I mean, a part of me still thinks it might not happen."

"Mum," They looked up and saw Rose in the doorway and this one, unlike the one in Hermione's vision, was scowling. "I was sent to tell you we're starting in fifteen minutes."

"Okay thanks hon-" but before Hermione finished Rose was gone. She sighed and looked back at Ginny. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

"For marrying the father of the guy she likes? Or for remarrying first and crushing her hopes that her parents would get back together?"

"Both."

Ginny shrugged. "It's common for kids with divorced parents to hold on to a fantasy that their parents will figure it out. She'll be fine." She smirked, and added, "And the Scorpius thing. Well...you did see your Malfoy first. And no one can deny how happy you two are. Not even Ron."

"What about Ron?"

Hermione turned to find Ron and Harry in the doorway.

"Merlin Hermione, you look incredible." Ron approached Hermione and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then she threw her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.

"Thank you for being so wonderful through all of this Ron. I don't think I would have made it to this day without your support."

Ron patted her on the back and when she pulled away he said, "She'll be fine Hermione, really. She's just being a moody teenager." Hermione smiled, not surprised that he'd so easily guessed what was making her upset.

"You too Harry," he gave her a quick hug. "And thank you both for trying to make an effort with Draco."

"Yeah," Ron said. "But I will say drinks with my ex-wife's soon to be new husband who I used to hate were pretty awkward."

Hermione smiled back at him. "Maybe just think of him as your best friend's new husband who you have recently forgiven."

"I never thought I'd see this day," Blaise said as Draco inspected his appearance in the mirror again.

"Yeah, me neither." He turned back toward Blaise and Scorpius, "How do I look?"

"No one is going to be looking at you," Blaise pointed out.

"Well, most people won't be," Draco admitted, "but hopefully she will, and that's all that matters."

"When did you turn into such a disgusting romantic?" Blaise quipped.

Draco shrugged. "Astoria did that."

The three men looked sad, then Scorpius said, "I miss her."

Draco squeezed his shoulder, "I know Scor, me too."

"She'd be happy for you Dad, you know?"

Draco smiled back at him. Scorpius had been unbelievably supportive during his and Hermione's relationship. He'd been hesitant at first, but as soon as he saw that Hermione had no intention to replace Astoria and was more than willing to discuss her openly, Scorpius was fine.

Hermione had even shared every memory she had of Astoria from school, which were mostly from eighth year and just confirmed how great of a friend she'd been to Draco when he was struggling to recover from the war.

"I know everyone says you look like your father," Blaise said, "but everything else about you is Astoria."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, your father is not nice."

"Oh, yeah. I know."

They were interrupted by Rose who announced, "Mr. Malfoy, you're all supposed to start lining up in five minutes."

"Okay, thanks Rose, but I keep telling you to call me Dra-"

She disappeared before he could finish and he rolled his eyes.

"She is so angry you two are getting married," Scorpius said unnecessarily.

Blaise smirked at him. "You know why, right?"

"Yeah. She doesn't want to spend more time with me than she already has to. I mean, we're already forced together by Albus, and now we'll be family."

Draco cocked an eyebrow at Blaise who grinned back before saying, "I think you might be missing something there Scor."

"What?"

Draco shook his head, thinking it would be better for his son to figure this one out on his own. "Come on, let's go out there. If I'm late she'll probably call the whole thing off."

As Hermione made her way toward Draco, the world around her disappeared. She was only focused on him. She smiled as she watched him wipe a few tears from his eyes and remembered Ginny's joke from earlier.

When she finally reached the spot in front of him, she took a deep breath and savored the feeling. She'd been right before. She felt a release, extreme happiness, and like she was home. She'd finally made her way to where she was supposed to be.

Draco took her hands and they faced the officiant. But Hermione was barely listening, focusing all her energy on Draco. When it was time for their vows Draco took a deep breath before he started talking.

"I loved you from the moment I entered your mind when pretending to teach you Occlumency. Though it took me a while to figure it out. I experienced the love you felt for your friends and your family and I wanted desperately to have someone love me like that. But not just anyone, I realized later that year, you." Draco raised her hands to his lips and kissed them before continuing.

"But I was so broken, and I know you still would have had me, but I wasn't ready for you. I'm so happy we were able to find our way back to each other, even after I bungled it. I love you, and I'm yours, as much now as that day I said the same in your room, though maybe less pieces."

Now it was Hermione's turn. She took a breath, like he had, then started talking, ignoring the vows she'd written down.

"I started falling for you when you showed up at my room with a bottle of fire whiskey. You told me I was fun and that you no longer found me repulsive and it was so romantic." They both laughed.

"And I'm not going to lie, loving you that year was a lot of work, mainly because you were so determined to push me away. And eventually you got your way. But I don't regret the time we spent apart. We both had wonderful partners and created beautiful families. But I'd been so sure I belonged with you. And I was right, I just needed to wait for the right time."

The officiant completed the ceremony. Then Draco kissed her a little desperately, and Hermione wondered if he, like her, had expected something to go wrong today to prevent this from happening. When he released her he was beaming at her and she returned his smile. Then they turned to face their friends and family, ready to finally start their lives together.

A/N: This is the first story of any length I've ever written. It was terrifying posting each and every chapter (most of all the one with Draco's memories, then secondly this one) but all of your support made it worth it and helped me power through. Thank you for reading!

When I set out to write this, I wanted to write the characters as realistically as possible and I wanted it set during their eighth year. I intended for them to end up together following school, but about 2/3 the way through I realized they couldn't (not the way I'd written them at least). Then I tweaked the story a bit to get it to fit with the Epilogue from the original HP series, and I kind of like the idea of a Dramione romantic interlude that fits in with canon. But of course, I still needed to add an HEA, so they got it, just a bit delayed.

I was kind of disappointed they had to spend 20 years apart in this story, so I wrote another story (The Manuscript) where they meet a little later after the war, after Draco has had a chance to work through some of his issues on his own. That one has a more traditional happy ending.

Thanks again for sticking with it, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.