The scowl that was marring her face couldn't be wiped away. She still couldn't understand how she had been conned into this weekend away. She knew exactly how she had been blindsided into a weekend with her friends.

Pansy Potter.

She could get anyone to do anything without you realising what she had done until you had already agreed to a weekend away in a cabin in the woods with all your friends who were all in a serious relationship, engaged, or married. Harry and Pansy, Ron and Astoria, Ginny and Blaise were all coming to the cabin that Harry had rented for the weekend. How he had convinced Pansy that a muggle cabin was the best idea, she wasn't sure. Hermione had initially told Harry thanks, but no. She had no desire to spend a weekend surrounded by happy couples when she was a couple of cats away from being a crazy cat lady. She hadn't been on a date in at least two years, despite the best efforts of literally all of her friends.

They were two weeks away from Christmas and the weather had been taking a turn. The snow had been coming down for a few hours now and Hermione knew if she wanted to get to the cabin, she needed to hurry. Having no one there she needed to impress, she threw a couple of pairs of leggings and a few jumpers in her overnight bag and headed downstairs to meet the car Harry had arranged to take her to the cabin. Since they were staying in a muggle dwelling, they couldn't Floo and couldn't apparate since they hadn't been there before. Two hours later, the driver pulled up to a beautiful house in the woods. Hermione could see smoke billowing out of the chimney, the lights coming through the windows, giving the snow on the ground a beautiful glow. The driver carried her bag to the porch and hurried back to his car and pulled away. With a sigh, Hermione knocked on the door.

"I can't believe you came! Did you not get my message?" Harry asked her, grabbing her bag and ushering her inside.

"What message?" She asked, peeling her coat, scarf, and hat off, hanging them on the coat stand next to the front door.

"There's a blizzard heading this way, no one else is coming. They don't want to risk getting stuck in the snow. I sent you an owl."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You sent an owl out in this weather when you knew there was a blizzard coming?" she scolded. "Poor thing. You should be ashamed of yourself Harry Potter."

Before he could respond, Pansy walked into the room, looking beautiful as always in a pair of dark wash denims and a cream off the shoulder jumper, her hair swept back in a neat chignon. Hermione immediately felt frumpy in her leggings and old Weasley jumper with a golden 'G' that she had nicked from George at least three years before. Pansy kissed both her cheeks and grabbed her hand, leading her into the sitting room where a roaring fire was crackling away, bathing her in its warmth.

"You'll have your pick of the rooms. Harry and I are on the second floor, first room on your right." Pansy gestured to a cup of what Hermione hoped was spiked hot chocolate, taking a sip, she let out an inappropriate moan as the firewhisky warmed her from the inside out.

"You need to get laid, Granger," Pansy smirked.

She flipped Pansy two fingers and took another sip. "I'm fine, thank you very much."

With a roll of her eyes, the raven-haired witch walked toward the kitchen.

"We had Dolly pack enough food for the weekend so we won't starve, thank Merlin," Pansy told her.

The two began unpacking the food from the basket Dolly had sent while Harry was putting her bag away in her room. Hermione and Pansy had become friends during their return to Hogwarts after the war. It was an unexpected duo but most of their friends said the two of them just made sense. They were both full of opinions and just knew they were right when speaking about any subject. Hermione had reintroduced Harry and Pansy and had been instrumental in getting them together. Pansy was just what Harry needed and they had fallen deeply in love very quickly.

As they put the food away in the refrigerator and cabinets, the two chatted about their friends and what they had planned for the week.

"Ron's planning to propose to Astoria on Christmas morning. I told him that was a bit cliche but he insists she'll love it." Hermione told Pansy.

Pansy scoffed. "Of course he did. Astoria will say yes because she loves him but I guarantee the moment she has all of us ladies alone, she'll tell us how cheesy it is."

"I think Ginny is pregnant," Pansy told Hermione quietly, looking around to see if Harry had come into the room.

Hermione turned, her eyes wide. "Why? They've both said they don't want kids or even to get married any time soon." It was well known that of all their friends, Blaise and Ginny were the least likely to settle down anytime soon.

"An anonymous source sent an owl into the prophet a few days ago saying that Ginny was taking a leave of absence from the Harpies," Pansy said primly, re-filling their wine glasses.

"Huh, well we'll need to talk to her as soon as we're able to get in touch with her. She'll need our support if she is and we all know Molly will have kittens if her little girl is pregnant out of wedlock." Hermione said before taking a long drink of her wine.

They should have more than enough food for the weekend as Dolly had packed for all of their friends to be there. As they walked back into the sitting room, Hermione saw that someone was sitting with their back towards them on the sofa. Harry's eyes widened as she and Pansy came into the room. His face flushed, he rubbed the back of his neck. The man in front of her stood and turned towards her. The moment his eyes met hers, Hermione squeaked, grabbed Pansy's arm and hauled her back into the kitchen.

"Why the fuck is Dean Thomas here, Pansy?" Hermione whispered, a hint of venom in her voice.

"Oh, you didn't know Dean was coming? I could have sworn I told Harry to tell you." Pansy smirked at her.

Dean had been filed away in Hermione's mind. They had had a brief, purely sexual relationship during their make-up year. She had admired him during their early years but they had never had much interaction. They had been paired together as year-long partners in potions when they had returned and they spent a lot of time together. One night in mid-November they had come together in the library, snogging until they were both breathless in the restricted section. They had barely made it out of the library and into an empty classroom. Dean had been everything Hermione had wanted in a man and he had been her first just as she had been his. The two spent every free moment together that they were able to escape from their friends, Dean often sneaking into her room and fucking her thoroughly after her roommates had fallen asleep for the night.

They had never spoken about what they were to one another, both just enjoying the time they had together. When they had left Hogwarts and started their own lives, Hermione at the Ministry and Dean going off to Muggle University, they had rarely seen each other. Crossing paths rarely, the awkwardness of their previous relationship kept them from seeing each other often or even talking when their friends all came together. Hermione had hoped that they would continue their relationship but when Dean had never reached out to her, she put in a small box in her mind that she rarely looked in.

The only person who had ever known about her liaison with Dean had been Pansy. Hermione couldn't help but think this was some sort of set up.

"What did you do? Does Harry know?" Hermione demanded.

Scoffing, Pansy sat at the table. "Harry doesn't know anything unless I want him to know." She kicked the chair across from her out with her foot. "Sit. You've been pining for Dean Thomas since you were eighteen and from what I've heard, Dean hasn't moved on from you either."

Hermione sat with a huff and crossed her arms. "So you set this up?"

"Well, I didn't plan for the blizzard but yes. I figured if I shoved you both in a cabin for a weekend you could overcome whatever happened all those years ago and finally be happy." Pansy told her.

"It's been six years, Pans. I highly doubt Dean still thinks about me. I mean, did you see him? He looks incredible."

Rolling her eyes as she stood, Pansy grabbed the bottle of wine off the counter and returned to the table, pouring them both a healthy glassful. "I take it you haven't looked at yourself lately, then? You're a catch 'Mi. You're gorgeous and any bloke would be lucky to have you, Dean Thomas included."

"Thanks, but you're my best friend so you're biased. I guess there's nothing for it. We might as well go back in there, they already know we're talking about them in here." With a sigh she stood, taking not only her glass of wine but the entire bottle with her and the two women walked back into the sitting room.

Harry and Dean both stood from the sofa as soon as they got back in there. Harrys face still a bit confused. Dean only had eyes for her though, he was staring at her like a man starved.

"Hermione," Dean started. "I...could we speak, in private?" he asked her softly, a small smile on his face.

Glancing towards Pansy who nodded at her.

"We can go in the kitchen," she told Dean quietly and turned to walk away, not bothering to see if he followed her.

She stood with her back to the kitchen door, staring out the window above the sink, watching as the snow was falling so quickly you couldn't see anything beyond.

"You look good," Dean told her, his voice quiet.

Turning, she found Dean standing on the opposite side of the small table, staring at her. "So do you," she told him.

Hermione watched as Dean scrubbed his hands over his face. "How did you make it here in the storm?"

"My mobile died and by the time it started snowing so bad, I couldn't turn back. I figured I had a better chance of making it here then I did turning around and trying to make it back to London."

She hummed under her breath. "Is that where you live now?"

Dean nodded. "I have a small flat in muggle London, not far from Diagon Alley. After I finished university I wanted to stay in the Muggle world. I'm opening a pub, I have enough money saved up now that I have a decent-sized down payment for this empty building on the opposite end of the Alley from the Leaky."

Forcing herself to stop twisting her fingers, she pulled a chair out and took a seat. "So, what did you want to speak with me about?"

"I didn't know what to say to you at first. I've thought about you a lot since we left Hogwarts but didn't know if you would want to hear from me." Dean sighed and took a seat across from her at the table, his eyes never leaving her face. "After so much time had passed, it became harder and harder to find the right words to say to you."

She scoffed. "You could have sent me an owl at any time, you could have asked Harry for my phone number since you've been in contact with him."

"And say what, Hermione? I miss you, I've never stopped wanting you? I think about you every single day." He let out a mirthless laugh. "I'm sure that would have gone over well after so long."

Hermione glared at him. "You just left. You went off to university and I never heard from you again. I thought...I thought I meant something to you but I can see how it was just about the sex for you."

When he began to interrupt, she held up her hand. "I don't need any more excuses, Dean. It's been a long time and we're both adults. We'll just get through this weekend as painlessly as possible and then go back to our regular lives."

With that, Hermione stood and stalked from the room, not bothering to see if he followed her or not. When she entered the sitting room, she found Harry and Pansy sitting next to one another, speaking quietly in front of the fire. Grabbing her bag from where she had sat it on the sofa, she stalked up the stairs to find her room, ignoring the calls behind her.

The room Harry had put her luggage in was beautiful. A large picture window took pride of place along the eastern wall with a cosy window seat that had several throw pillows and a blanket. A queen-size bed in the middle of the room was covered in a soft comforter in red and black plaid. Her suitcase was sitting on top of the bed, so after taking stock of the room, she began unpacking. A small part of her was irritated that she hadn't brought anything nice to wear, having only packed leggings and oversized sweaters. Pushing those thoughts away, she finished putting her clothes in the dresser.

She couldn't lie and say she had never thought about Dean. She thought about him constantly, she had fallen for him during those nights at Hogwarts, wrapped around one another but had never gotten up the courage to tell him. Perhaps that had been a mistake but after the war, she had barely been holding herself together and wasn't willing to put her heart out there and potentially be heartbroken.

It wasn't fair to put all the blame on Dean like she was currently trying to do. She could have easily figured out a way to contact him, an owl, using their old DA coins that she knew he still had carried with him at the time. She had immediately thrown herself into her work at the Ministry, rarely leaving before eight in the evening, determined to work her way up the ladder of the Ministry and make a difference in creature rights.

The few times they had crossed paths, neither had spoken to the other unless necessary and was never anything more than formal greetings. She had often felt an ache in her magic after those brief meetings, a part of her yearning to pull him close and kiss him senseless. Now, after even the brief meeting they just had, her magic was aching to go back down the stairs and be close to Dean, to tell him she still wanted him, that she had loved him as a broken eighteen-year-old and now as a mostly put back together twenty-four year old, a part of her knew he was who she needed.

Always the pragmatist, she stamped those feelings down, taking several deep and calming breaths. A gentle knock at her door made her heart stop for a moment and then begin beating erratically. She walked over, her hand shaking as she turned the bronze handle and opened the door.

She thought she might collapse from relief at the sight of Pansy leaned against the doorway, a full wine glass in her hand that she offered out to Hermione.

"Thought you might need this," she said, pushing off the doorway and sauntering into Hermione's room. "You look like you've been up here plotting your escape."

That pulled a reluctant laugh from Hermione. She took a deep drink of wine and sat on the window seat, pulling her legs up underneath her. "Not quite. I just decided the best thing to do would be to get through this weekend as easily as possible and then we can go back to how things were before, never seeing one another." She didn't dare look at Pansy for fear her best friend would be giving her the signature look that Pansy always gave people when they were being incredibly stupid.

"That's the dumbest thing you've ever said and I'm including the time you drunkenly told me Muggles have things that can go to the moon." Pansy scoffed.

"They do, Pans."

The dark-haired witch rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, that's not my point."

"And just what is your point then?"

"My point is, you've been in love with Dean Thomas forever. He's never stopped loving you either. You've both been given the chance-"

Hermione scoffed. "Tricked."

Pansy raised her voice. "Given the chance to start over. You're both adults now. You have an entire weekend to find out if there's still something between you and by the way your rubbing that spot on your chest, I'd say your magic is already telling you that there's more than a chance."

She hadn't even realised she had been doing it. It was always the same spot, right in the centre of her breast bone that ached for days after they saw one another. It was worse now that they had been so close, actually spoke more than greetings towards one another. It was taking all of her energy to ignore it and not act on it.

"That's how I felt when Potter and I took that stupid break right before he proposed. You know what it means, 'Mi. He's the other half of your magic. The one that was made for you. Of all people, you know how rare that is to find." Pansy took a long sip of her wine.

"I might have never found Potter if it wasn't for you. I would be in some loveless marriage set up by my idiotic parents. So now, I'm returning the favour. You know it's right."

There was no doubt in her mind that Pansy's words were true. She remembered back when Pansy and Harry had broken up briefly, she had been scared and unsure if Harry had been the right one from her. Hermione remembered when Pansy had shown up at her flat at three in the morning, two days after the break-up. She had never seen the Pure-blood witch so dishevelled. She looked as though she hadn't slept in weeks, her hair a mess, her face paler than usual. Pansy had told Hermione of the awful ache in her chest that no matter what wouldn't go away.

Hermione had thrown herself into research, trying to find out what was wrong with her friend. Learning that, though it was rare, magic occasionally picked out the other half of you. You're magic identified with the other person magic on an entirely different level. You could go your entire life without knowing you had what was essentially, a soul mate. The only way to know was a deep ache in your chest that never truly went away after you had been with the person sexually.

After finding that out, Hermione had instantly known that the ache she had felt since the moment she had left Hogwarts was her magic reaching out for Deans but she had ignored it. Not wanting her or his entire lives to be decided on by something that hadn't known about. Pansy on the other hand and ran back to Harry the moment Hermione had told her what she had discovered. They had been married two months later.

"Just, take this weekend and don't fight anything. Be here with him, talk to him, get to know him now as an adult. Promise me that you won't run from this as you have been. I want you happy."

Hermione brushed a few stray tears that had fallen her cheeks. "I don't want him to want me just because of our magic."

"You're such a Muggle sometimes," Pansy told her harshly. "You've ignored it for this long and you could probably carry on ignoring it the rest of your life. But you and I both know that you wouldn't be truly happy unless it was with him. Your magic knew who the perfect person for you was before you even did."

"I'll try, I'm not promising anything but I'll try," Hermione told her quietly.

Pansy smiled at her brightly. "That's all I ask."

She allowed Pansy to shuffle her out of the bedroom and back down the stairs. They found Dean and Harry sitting on the sofa, bought nursing glasses of whiskey. Harry turned slightly as the two came down the stairs.

"Ah, there they are. We thought we were going to have to come looking for you." Harry said, his tone of voice one Hermione was familiar with when he was trying to move past something awkward that he didn't quite understand. Hermione watched as Pansy sauntered around the sofa and plopped herself on Harrys laugh, kissing him before she looked up at Hermione, an eyebrow raised.

With a disgruntled sigh, Hermione walked around the sofa and sat next to Dean, trying to ignore the way her magic was practically singing at being so close to him. Their arms brushed against one another whenever either of them would take a drink and Hermione was actively working to slow her breathing down.

"Dean and I were just talking about going outside to grab the rest of the firewood from the shed behind the house," Harry told her with a nod towards Dean.

She looked around and found that there wasn't much wood stacked by the fireplace but had assumed they would use magic to keep it going. "Why don't you just light it with your wand?"

Pansy interjected at that point. "We've decided this will be a Muggle holiday since we're staying in the Muggle world," she told Hermione and Dean, a smirk on her lips.

Hermione rolled her eyes before draining her wine glass. "Well, I don't envy either of you going out into that storm. Please be careful, I didn't even see a shed out there so I imagine it's pretty easy to get lost."

"Neither of you want to come help us?"

Laughing, Pansy stood to grab the bottle of wine that was on the coffee table. "I should think not. We'll stay here where it's warm. We'll get started on dinner while the men-folk weather the storm to bring us heat." She winked at Hermione before leaning down and kissing Harry soundly on the mouth.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione pushed off Dean's thigh without even thinking about it and jerked back at the electric current of magic that jolted through her skin at the contact. She glanced over at Dean to see his reaction and found him staring at her with wide-eyes. She cleared her throat and turned her back on him once more, following Pansy into the kitchen.

Dean and Harry were gone for almost half an hour before the front door slammed open. Hermione and Pansy ran into the sitting room and found the two men covered from head to toe in snow, both layden down with firewood. They watched as Dean kicked the door shut behind him before carrying the massive stack of wood in his arms in front of the fireplace. Harry followed suit and they both began pulling off their coats, hat, scarves, and gloves. They were shivering so Hermione immediately ran forward, grabbing a blanket that was lain over the back of the sofa and wrapping Dean in the blanket and rubbing his arms quickly, trying to put some warmth back in his body.

She couldn't quite name the look in his eyes when he glanced up at her. It stirred something in her memory and she allowed the box she kept locked away of her memories of them together. He was looking at her the way he had after the last time they had slept together. She could remember it like it was yesterday. They were laying together, covered in her comforter. Dean was leaning upon his elbow, running his fingers through her hair. The look on his face was pure contentment, full of love, desire, and happiness.

Pulling herself out of the memory, she couldn't help but let a tender smile break over her face as she looked down at him. Dean reached a hand up out of the blanket and cupped her cheek. Without conscious thought, Hermione leaned into the touch. Though his hand was cold, Hermione could feel the magic begin to flow through them at the skin to skin contact. Harry, Pansy, the storm, everything seemed to fade away as they stared at each other. It could have been hours, days even that she stood there, leaning into his hand when a throat cleared somewhere to the right of her. Shaking her head, Hermione pulled her face away and looked over to find Pansy smirking at her and Harry looking between her and Dean as though he was finally putting together the final pieces of a difficult puzzle.

Taking a small step back, she shook her head and walked back into the kitchen without a backwards glance. Bracing herself against the sink, she took several deep, gasping breaths. Trying to get herself and her magic under control. Placing one hand against her breast bone, she pressed hard, trying to stop the ache that was worse than ever before. She felt someone come up behind her and didn't even have to look to know it was Dean. The moment his hand touched her back, the ache vanished in an instant and her magic started humming with contentment. She allowed him to gently turn her around until her back was to the sink. Still, though, she didn't look up at him, keeping her eyes firmly on her sock-clad feet.

A finger under her chin, lifting her face to look him in the eye, tears immediately filling hers.

"Can you feel it?" he asked her. " Our magic is calling out to each other. It wants us to be together."

Her cheeks coloured instantly. "I don't want you to want me because your magic tells you too." Hermione pushed away from him, stalking from Dean.

It was unreasonable, she knew that, but she wouldn't allow herself or Dean to be forced into a relationship because magic wanted it. How did they even know if they still had anything in common? Just because their magic was compatible didn't mean they were.

"You're thinking so loud, I could hear you downstairs." A voice called out to her.

She hadn't even realised she was on the covered porch towards the back of the house until Harry's voice broke her out of her circular thoughts.

"I'm fine," Hermione said darkly.

He laughed. "Oh. You're walking a hole in the carpet. I might not be the most observant bloke but even I see that there's something between you and Dean. We've been friends since we were eleven, 'Mi. I think it's time you tell me whats going on."

With a sigh, she threw herself down on a nearby chair and crossed her arms.

"Dean and I were together during the last year at Hogwarts. We kept it pretty quiet and it ended when we finished school. Nothing else to say." She refused to look at him, Harry always knew when she was lying.

"Nothing else to say, she says. You are and always have been a horrible liar, Hermione Granger." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him sitting across from her, staring.

"There's something more. I get it if you don't want to talk about it, but I think you need too. It was Pansy's idea to invite him but she wouldn't tell me why. Did he hurt you?"

Jerking her head up in shock, she stared open-mouthed at Harry. "Of course not. It just ended and time moved on." She sighed. "You know the magical connection you and Pansy have?"

At his nod, she looked down at his hands. "Dean and I are soulmates. Like you and Pansy. I didn't know what it was until I helped Pansy figure it out."

Harry sat back and stared at her, his face turning red. "Why...Hermione why in Godrics name are you denying you both that?"

And there it was again, that this connection should be the only thing that mattered, that it was the answer to all of their problems. What if she just accepted the connection, they would live happily ever after like in some fairy tale she had read as a child.

"I want him to want me for me," she cried, jumping to her feet and began pacing around. "I don't want magic to push us together."

He grabbed her hand as she walked past him. "Sit down," he said, pulled her onto the arm of the chair he was sitting at. "Magic isn't forcing you together. You're magic found the one person on this earth you are most compatible with. The one person who will love you for you." he scowled at her.

"You're denying you both the most amazing love you could ever ask for. Just because he's your soulmate doesn't mean you'll never fight. Hell, Pans and I fight all the time."

With a sigh, Hermione laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm an idiot."

He tugged on a stray curl. "Well, I wasn't going to say it."

Harry threw his arm around her shoulder as they walked back into the kitchen, finding Pansy and Dean pulling food from the refrigerator and placing it on the stovetop and into the oven.

"I thought some of Dolly's shepherd's pie would warm these two right up," Pansy said, shooting Hermione a look that said they would be speaking later.

She watched as Harry walked forward, placing a kiss to his wife's upturned cheek before washing his hands.

"Dean, could we uh, could we go into the sitting room?" she choked back a laugh as he shot around the table, hurrying to follow after her.

They both stood in front of the roaring fire, neither knowing how or what to say.

"Dean I-"

"Please just-"

They both laughed and blushed. Dean gestured for her to speak.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I've been ignoring the ache, the ache that I know you feel, for a long time. I didn't know what it meant at first but once I did, I should have, at the very least sent you an owl."

Dean looked abashed. "I didn't know what it was at first either. I just knew there was something wrong and every time I saw you, it would just get worse. I did some research and found out what it was recently."

Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed her hand. "There's so much we have to learn about each other and I think we owe it to ourselves and our magic to see if there's something there between us still if we can be something."

Taking a hesitant step forward, Hermione grabbed Deans other hand and allowed him to pull her up against his body. He ran his hands up and down her sides before one hand came up, once again cupping her cheek.

"Being this close to you," he whispered, his lips so close to her own. "My magic is singing. I'll not love you. I want to lose myself in you, be with you always."

Without waiting, she leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. Her magic thrummed with contentment, she could suddenly feel Deans magic mingling with hers. To think she had denied them both this for so long brought tears to her eyes even as she continued to melt against Dean. When they pulled apart, still wrapped around one another, they grinned.

"Fucking finally." Pansy not at all quiet voice could be heard from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Pansy, shut up," Hermione called, never taking her eyes off of Deans.

They both laughed as they heard Pansy grumbling as Harry pulled her back into the kitchen.

Dean leaned his forehead against hers. "She'll be unbearable now."

One Year Later

Though not the blizzard it had been just one year before, the snow was falling gently around them as they pulled up to the same house they had stayed in with Pansy and Harry. This time, Hermione and Dean arrived together. They had been nearly inseparable since last Christmas, moving into Deans flat just a couple months after returning to London. Everyone had an opinion on how fast their relationship moved but they didn't care. It also helped that they had Pansy telling everyone to mind their own business. It hadn't been easy, they both had to work past a lot of heartache and resentment they held for one another. Their first fight had been the stuff of legends and had taken them several weeks and Pansy intervening. They didn't always agree and the times they didn't just remind Hermione that they had a choice in being with each other, being soulmates was just a bonus.

Walking into the house, Hermione expected everyone to be gathered in the sitting room and was surprised to see no one there. The fire was crackling away merrily in the hearth, the entire room decorated for Christmas, lights twinkled, a tree standing tall in the corner with decorations covering it. The house smelled like Christmas cookies and looking around, just seeing the place that had brought her and Dean back together brought a smile to her face. If neither of them had made it in the storm last year, they probably still wouldn't have acknowledged their bond and would be just as miserable as they had been.

Hermione dropped her bag and turned to find Dean standing behind her, hands in his pockets, a sheepish smile on his face.

"What's...going on?" she asked slowly.

He walked towards her, leading her until she right in front of the fire.

"One year ago in this exact spot, my magic met yours. I love you more than anything, Hermione Granger and I never want to be without you."

He knelt onto one knee, pulling a small box out of his pocket and opening it.

"Will you marry me?"

Her hand covered her mouth and she nodded her head. As Dean slipped the ring on her finger, he stood and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. She barely heard the hoots and cheers from somewhere behind her. When they broke apart, they turned to see Harry and Pansy with her hand resting on her massive bump, Ron and Astoria, and Ginny leaned against Blaise who was holding a small bundle wrapped in his arms, all smiling and cheering for them.

"Did you lot know about this?" She demanded, pulling away from Dean but still keeping a firm grip on his hand.

Pansy laughed as Hermione pulled her in for a one-armed hug. "Of course, whose idea do you think it was?"

Spending their first weekend as an engaged couple, surrounded by their friends, the people they loved most in the world had been perfect. Sitting in front of the fire, sitting between Deans thighs, his arms wrapped loosely around her shoulders, their fingers intertwined, Hermione's magic hummed with contentment. Glancing over at Pansy who shot her a wink, she knew that this was exactly what was meant to happen.