Hey, everyone! Sorry for the delay! It took me a hot minute to write up this chapter. And speaking of hot, be forewarned, things get a bit steamy in this chapter, but not on fire. ;)
So... *builds anticipation in her readers* this is this is the last chapter of the story before the epilogue. I want to thank you all for reading and enjoying this story that changed drastically from how I originally had it. It was a joy to write, and is definitely not my last Dramione fanficiton. Look out for my next ones, or check out the ones that I already posted. There's Dramione as well as Druna and Drinny. Yeah, I'm a proud Dracohead. Anyway, here's the last chapter. Enjoy! =)
Chapter 24
The whole Great Hall was a ruckus of laughter and happy and excited chatter. The school, as well as the whole of the wizarding world, was partying, even after a few days of the Dark Lord being defeated. He's gone, so there's a reason to celebrate. The four teens who aided in the destruction of the Dark Lord were not only recognized and received awards at Hogwarts, the Minister of Magic himself came and awarded them for their efforts and they all appeared in the Daily Prophet. Now, Draco has two awards to put on his future mantle.
Annabelle finally came back, after being in an abandoned cottage near to where Hermione had hid, and received recognition as well, in front of the whole school. He glanced at the glowing blue ghost girl down the Slytherin table as she chatted with some girls.
If it wasn't for her, the Dark Lord would still be at large. And, if it wasn't for her, he and Hermione wouldn't have gotten together, at least when they did. He glanced over at Hermione, who was talking with Harry, Ron and her other friends. She caught his glance and beamed. He smiled back. He looked around at some students who were sitting at tables that were not their own house's. He stood up, rounded both the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables and made it to Hermione. She had followed him with her eyes as he walked.
"Make room," he said, and some of the Gryffindors there widened their eyes. Apparently they are still not used to him and Hermione being an item. Either that, or he's doing what no Slytherin student has ever done since the school opened about one thousand years ago.
"Scootch over," Hermione told Ron and he huffed. He scooted over and Draco sat down in between Hermione and Ron. The others near them still had wide eyes.
"What?" he questioned them. "Can't a guy sit with his girlfriend?"
"A Slytherin has never sat at the Gryffindor table before," gasped Pavarti. At least, he thought that was the right twin.
"Well, in case you all haven't noticed, the world has changed. The Dark Lord's gone and a pureblood Slytherin is dating a muggle-born Gryffindor. Why can't a Slytherin sit at the Gryffindor table?"
"He's right," said Shamus Finnigan in his accent. "The world's changed, and I think for the better, and all because that ghost girl predicted the future."
"She had a vision," the other Patil twin corrected. "Back when she was alive one thousand years ago."
"Well, whatever. It's because of her that the Dark Lord's defeated."
Dumbledore had the decency to tell the students a portion of Annabelle's vision. He had said that her vision consisted of he, Hermione, Harry and Ron helping to defeat the Dark Lord, among other things. The whole school and wizarding world doesn't need to know that it was because of her that he and Hermione fell in love.
"You're right," Hermione said. "We all owe it to Annabelle."
Everyone looked over to where she was, still talking with those Slytherin girls. Shamus said, "Blymee, she must have had all the boys chasing after her back then. Too bad she's a ghost now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron demanded, his face a bit pink. "Just what kind of rubbish is going through your head?"
"The same rubbish that goes through your head every time you look at her," Ginny put in from across the table. "He has a massive crush on that ghost girl," she told everyone.
"Will you shut it, Ginny?" he quipped as his face turned a darker shade of red.
"The feeling's mutual," Draco said. "As was said, too bad she's not alive."
"The feeling's mutual, seriously?" Ginny asked in disbelief, and Draco tried to hold in laughter as Annabelle appeared right behind her, and and Ron's eyes went incredibly wide.
"It is," Annabelle said, and those sitting across from Draco whirled around and looked at her. "I admit that I fancied Draco for over a thousand years, but as soon as I got to know that rather handsome and adorable redhead, my feelings changed."
Oooos were heard among their group of friends, and even Harry nudged Ron. One of the Patil twins asked, awed, "You fancied Draco for one thousand years? Golly!"
"It was more an obsession. My vision had him in it, as well as Harry, Ron and Hermione. Actually, I was obsessed with finding all of them. It's shocking that I had to wait one thousand years. It was worth it, though. The world is so much better now."
"Agreed," Harry, as well as a few others, said. Hermione fidgeted next to Draco. She said, "Annabelle, could I speak with you for a moment, please? Like outside the Great Hall?"
Draco could hear the worry in her voice, and Annabelle definitely noticed it as well. "Of course." She smiled at all of them, and gave Ron a particularly seductive look. "See you later."
She started floating off and Hermione left the table. He watched her and Annabelle go, not really paying attention to the others' comments about Ron now having a ghost girlfriend. Draco stood up and went after Hermione and Annabelle. Once out of the Great Hall, he saw the two girls over by a window that had noon sunlight shining into it. He walked over slowly and caught what Hermione was saying.
"You never said exactly what happens. You just said that I go there and stand in front of his parents."
She's talking about the confrontation they will have with his parents. They stood before them after the Dark Lord was killed, yes, but that wasn't the final meeting with them. At least, Draco could feel that it wasn't.
"Yes, I did, and honestly, that's all that I saw. I didn't hear any conversation, just you all there in Malfoy Manor. Then my vision switched to you and Draco talking in some garden, probably the one behind the manor. That's how I knew that everything would be fine. You both were smiling happily, and kissing as well."
This was news to Draco. He walked up closer and asked, "You don't know when this is supposed to happen?"
Hermione's eyes widened at seeing him there. Why didn't she want him to be a part of this conversation? Annabelle said, "I am not sure, I just know that it happens sometime after the Dark Lord's death. I think you both will know when the time is right."
Hermione nodded, and Draco came and put an arm around her since she still looked a tad uncomfortable. She leaned into him and Annabelle smiled. "Well, I think I'll leave you two to talk."
She left and some students passed and said hello to her as she entered the Great Hall again. Draco turned him and Hermione around so they could look out the window at the Black Lake with the sun shining on the surface of it. Everything seems so much brighter now. "How come you wanted to talk to her alone?" Draco asked. "This has to do with both of us."
"I just was wanted verification. And... I wanted to talk to her about some other things..."
He eyed her for a moment and saw her purse her lips. "What things?"
"Just... well, I wanted to ask if she knew what comes next. I mean, she mentioned that we live happily ever after, but to what end? If there is one? Um..."
Her cheeks started to turn pink, and her lips pursed again. He thought for a moment, trying to figure out what she wasn't saying. After a few seconds, it hit him. His heart started beating faster. "Did you want to ask her... if we get married?"
Her cheeks suddenly turned pink. "It's a natural curiosity. I mean, Annabelle said that we change the wizarding world by being together, but she didn't say to what extent, just that we go against your family traditions."
Draco wondered about this too a few times, mainly when Annabelle first mentioned her vision to him. That's what made him so revolted with the idea of him and Hermione being together—it all could lead them to getting married. But, he's not against it anymore.
"I admit that I've thought about it, too," he said. "When Annabelle first mentioned it, she wasn't specific on it. I suppose... it could happen."
Hermione gasped and she looked at his face as he had his arm around her shoulder. "Are you serious, Draco?!"
He leaned in and gave her a kiss that lasted only a second. After he drew back, he said right near her mouth in a low tone, "I think so. I'm madly in love with you, and I can't imagine my life without you. Without you by my side, I fear that I will become the same person I was before."
"Is this... a proposal?"
To anyone listening, it would be. "We're just talking about it. But if you want me to get down on one knee, I can do that. It would be quite the spectacle."
"No, no, that's alright," she said hastily. "I've always wanted an amazing proposal anyway, not one in the middle of my school's corridor."
He's going to have to keep that in mind, just in case things do get serious. He couldn't believe that he was actually contemplating proposing marriage because one, he's only sixteen, and two, he would be proposing to someone who has high expectations, someone who's Hermione Granger, a former nemesis. "Well... Annabelle said that we will know when we have to talk with my parents, and I think us talking about marriage is quite the hint."
"We're talking about it, not actually doing it. We're only sixteen, and we haven't been dating for that long."
"I know, but time passes, and I know I'm not going to let you go. Like I said..." He kissed her for a moment again, then drew back. "I can't imagine my life without you."
She remained silent as she stared at him and he noticed tears in her eyes. She nodded. "I can't imagine it, either. Even before all this happened, you were always there."
"Yeah, being a git."
"Yes, but you were still there. And I'm glad that you were because I was able to see what a change you have made to you personality. You're a pleasant person now. You can be a hothead like me, and a bit full of yourself—that hasn't changed at all—but overall... you're a pleasant person."
He smiled at her summation of him. "I'm glad you think so. But I can be unpleasant."
He gave her a devious and an almost seductive smirk, and she gasped and came out of his hold, her face not pink, but red. Draco let out a bit of laughter. "Just what are you thinking, Hermione?"
"N-Nevermind. Let's get back in to lunch, shall we?"
She turned and he strode up next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. At the door, she stooped, so he did, too. She looked up at his face. "I love you, Draco, and because of that, we should talk to your parents. I think the time is right."
He nodded. "Yes, I believe so, too. How about this weekend. Saturday? We can leave in the morning and you can spend the day at my place."
Her expression told him that she wasn't thrilled about spending a day in Malfoy Manor, but this has to be done. She said, "Alright. I suppose it will be interesting to see where you grew up."
"Right. And..." He leaned in close to her face, and he knew that people could clearly see and some walking by could probably hear. "I love you, too."
She smiled and they walked back to where they were sitting at the Gryffindor table. Draco watched as Hermione started talking with her friends and he had her hand as he did so. The Gryffindors seem to be fine with him now, or they just tolerate his presence. Nonetheless, he's there, with Hermione and her friends. And soon, it will be him and Hermione facing his parents. He's not all too concerned about his mother since she seems to tolerate it... but his father. He is the real problem. He may just have to get a head nod and that's it. Anything. Or not even that. Maybe Draco will just say he's staying with Hermione and that is that, and his father will have to deal with it.
"Golly, Draco, you grew up here?"
Saturday came faster than Draco anticipated. He was still wondering how he's going to address his desire to be with Hermione to his parents. "I did. I was born in this house actually."
"Really?" They both looked up at the three-story Gothic mansion whose three towers in the front went up five stories. "It must have been lonely with just a three-person family in this massive house."
Draco bit his bottom lip from the inside. Should he tell her who else has walked about his house? "It hasn't been just us. Not including house elves and other servants, others have roamed around. This manor has been the base of operations for the Dark Lord. He's been here more times than I want to count, and other Death Eaters had walked about the inside and outside the manor as well. It's a good part of the reason why I never liked coming home for a holiday or vacation. Yes, it's nice to get away from school, but to a place where I witnessed someone being killed..."
She gasped. "Professor Burbage was killed in your own home?"
"Yes." He eyed her as they stood there on the gravel driveway leading up to the manor. "You knew her?"
Hermione nodded. "I did. All the muggle-borns do. I was a teacher's aid in her class the whole of my fourth year, even. I was devastated when I found out that she died."
"You knew all along how she died?" he asked with surprise.
"Yes. When you told me you witnessed someone being killed, that was shortly after she passed away. I just put two and two together."
Draco never should have told her that he witnessed Professor Burbage being killed. "I see. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. You're the one who saw that horrible incident. I'm surprised that you haven't obliviated your mind of it."
"I want to remember everything, so I know exactly how I and the whole world has changed."
She took his hand and he looked down at her—he's grown several millimeters since they started dating. She gave him a small smile. "Yes, you and the world has changed for the better." They looked back up at the manor. "Well, shall we?"
"Yes. But we're not going through the front door."
"We're not?"
"We're apparating somewhere. Hold on tight."
They suddenly zipped away and landed in a large room with a four-poster bed with a dark green comforter, a fireplace with a sitting area of burgundy sofas, and paintings of various landscapes adorned the walls, all of which moved—waves rolling in the sea, grass swaying in the wind, and birds flying. They stood on a large Isfahan rug that took up most of the wooden floor. No lights came on, but the sunlight through the tall ceiling-high window brought sunlight into the room.
"Wow, what a spectacular room!" Hermione gushed and looked around at the paintings, as well as a large bookshelf against the wall on the right side of the fireplace. She gasped after she walked over there and scanned the books for a second. "Oh my word, these are all first editions! Draco, this is fabulous!"
He snickered at her excitement over the old books, and went and stood next to her, his hands in his black slacks pockets. He had on a deep green sweater vest as well, the same color as the blanket on his bed. "I knew you would like that. I've read maybe half of them."
"Truly?" She pulled a book off and flipped through it. "I wouldn't mind doing that." She looked up at him. "Is this your room?"
"It is."
Her face suddenly flushed pink and he had to snicker at that. "Do I want to know what's going through your mind?"
Her eyes widened and she looked away from him. She put the book back. "Um..." she began in a small voice. "I've... never been in a boy's room. I mean I have—Ron's, but Harry was there and we all were hanging out. It's just..."
She trailed off. Draco put a hand on a shelf and leaned down in her hair as her back was to him. He said in a low tone as he felt his pulse rise, "You just haven't been alone with a boy in a bedroom before."
"No."
"I see."
He leaned down farther, taking in her lilac scent, and almost kissed her neck, but she moved away from him and looked at a paining of a raging sea, and the waves rolled across the canvass. Draco let out a sigh in disappointment and looked over at her. God, she's beautiful. Those strong and wonder feelings from when she was on top of him that time, and other times her body was against him, flowed through his body. He started breathing heavily.
"Hermione..."
"This painting is beautiful. All of the paintings in here are. It makes me wonder what other masterpieces you have in this house." She gasped and turned to him. "Do you have a library?" She noticed his state. "Are you alright?"
His pulse was at its height, and his whole body felt heated. He ran a hand down his face as he tried to get a hold of himself and his emotions. "I just... dammit, you're just so bloody beautiful, I can't take it. I want to..."
Her features turned empathetic. "Draco..." She came up to him. "I... want to also."
His eyes widened wider than they have ever been before. "What?"
Her face red, she looked down at the rug. "I, well, I suppose there has been one thing on my mind as I thought about coming here today, besides talking with your parents. I knew that you would want to show me your room, and we would be alone..."
He took her heated face in his hands and their gazes met. "I admit that I thought about it a lot, too."
They stared at one another for one long moment, and Draco's heart pounded through his head and those feelings became stronger. He leaned down and kissed her, not really being able to help himself. He felt her lips over and over as she responded and reached her arms up around his neck, which caused his arms to move and wind themselves around her petite and curvy body that made him want to pine at her mouth even more. He found himself picking up her light body and walking her over to his bed. He's never ever done this before, but he kept on going regardless. They came to the bed and fell onto it, and he found Hermione staring up at him. Without saying a word, he leaned down and continued kissing her, and he felt her arms wind around his back and one of her legs move in between his legs. A pleasurable shiver ran through him and he groaned, and he heard her groan as well through their kissing. Their legs completely entwined and the whole of her body pressed against him, giving him more of those intense feelings, that honestly, made him want to rip her clothes off.
Her hand slithered up his sweater vest, and due to the thinness of his white collar shirt, it felt as if her hand was on his bare back. He slid his hand under her deep red sweater and felt hot, smooth skin. He's never felt anything like it before. It felt so good against his fingers. Those fingers slid up her back and hit something. What is it called... a bra? He's heard boys in his house talk of those things. How does he get the thing undone?
Mouths still moving, and sweat developing in various places around his body due to the heat, he tried, but was unsuccessful. He fiddled with it a bit more, and it finally gave way. He felt the thing move on her chest against his front, and he felt the cushion and how it moved with their movements. He felt her grip his shirt and it came untucked from his pants, and her hand moved up his back on his bare skin. He groaned in pleasure because of it and the continuous intensely pleasurable feeling that was making him lose his breath and groan over and over, and she made similar noises.
His mouth moved off hers and went to her neck and he kissed her there. His hand went more up her back and wound around it until he felt something rather squishy with his fingers. It that her...?!
"Draco..." she said and he brought his head out of her hair and looked down at her, at her shining hazel eyes and pretty face. He breathed heavily, as did she, like they finished running a kilometer, and his whole body felt intensely heated.
"I'm sorry if I went too far..." he said breathily as those feelings he was feeling started to dissipate.
"No, don't be. I thought I was going too far. I..." She undid her hold on him and rolled over and sat up, her back facing him. "I liked that too much. The fact that I would have gone all that way... It was scary. But wonderful."
He scooted up behind her and put a hand on each of her shoulders. He said into her frazzled hair and smelled the lilacs, "I agree. You're just... blymee, you're hot, Hermione."
She chuckled at that. "Thank you. No one has ever called me that before."
"Well, you are. Why do you think I was going crazy a moment ago?"
"For the same reason I was. You're hot, too. And... you're wonderful. Your intelligent and mindful of what others think now, and... you're a good person. No doubt other girls fancy the new you now."
He wrapped his arms around her from the back and she moved into his lap. His mouth touched her right cheek. "I don't want to look at any other girls, Hermione. I don't even want to think about it. I just want you. I want you and only you, and forever."
He noticed her body start to tremble. "You... mean that?" she asked in a voice laced with emotion.
"I do."
"I want you, too. It's shocking, considering our history, but I do."
Draco held her as thoughts started to swarm his mind, mainly the memory of their conversation in the corridor a few days ago. "Hermione, I really think that I won't be able to feel about another girl the way I feel about you now. I know it hasn't been long since I fell in love with you, and not long since we started dating, but..."
She turned around in his lap as he still had a hold of her, and tears gathered in her eyes. "Draco... are you really asking me..."
"I think I am. If you want me to be. If not, then this can be another instance where we just talk about it."
A tear escaped her eye and she put a hand on his heated cheek. She smiled softly. "I think that it can be just another instance when we talk about it. Even if we're in love, and we don't want to even think about being with anyone else, we're only sixteen."
He nodded, understanding that, and taking it, even though something pinched his chest in disappointment. "Alright." He wrapped his arms around her and held her again. "Makes me wonder how many times we're going to talk about it."
"I don't know. Draco... I'm nervous about talking with your parents. Well, your mother seems alright, but it's mainly your father I fear facing."
"It'll be alright. Like I said before, he won't do anything rash." She nodded and a clocked ticked somewhere in the room several times. "How about I go and get us something to eat?"
"That would be lovely."
They undid themselves form one another and Draco straightened out his clothing and tucked his shirt back in. He noticed Hermione struggle to put her bra back in place under her sweater. He smirked. "You know, those contraptions are a menace. I had a hard time getting that undone."
She laughed. "Sometimes even I do, and I've undone and put them on hundreds of times."
"Maybe next time I'll be better at it." Her eyes widened and he had to let out a bit of laughter. "What? That's not going to be the last time we do that, right?"
She cleared her throat after securing her bra. "Um, right. But let's set boundaries, like if you unlatch my bra, we stop."
He didn't like it, but he wants to make her happy. "Sounds like a good idea. I might rip off all your clothes otherwise, and you might do that to me, too. In fact, you almost did. I never knew you were such an animal."
"You were the one who was turned into a ferret!"
She had to bring that up. "And you were turned into a cat. That makes us even."
She gasped and got of the bed and came up to him. "You know about that?"
"Of course. Word got out our second year that Hermione Granger was turned into a cat and was coughing up hairballs in the hospital wing. I had a good laugh for a week straight."
She smacked his arm and he laughed. "Alright, alright, we both have made our point. Now, weren't you going to go get us something to eat?"
"Indeed. Don't go anywhere."
"I won't. I don't want to risk running into your parents."
He nodded to that and left the room. As he walked down the long hallway of paintings and a suit of armor, he thought about what just happened between him and Hermione. He almost went all the way. He would have if she hadn't said his name. It alarmed him. He never thought that he would go that far with a girl until after Hogwarts and the girl was someone he wanted to marry.
Well, isn't Hermione that now? Does he want to marry her? As he has said, he doesn't want to look at any other girl or love any other girl. Is Hermione really the one for him? Maybe so. Annabelle never mentioned them getting married.
But she did mention that he and Hermione will have to talk with his parents. Now that he knows that he never wants to be with anyone else, talking with his parents should be easier since he's not going to budge.
Evening came, and Hermione and Draco stayed hid up in his room. They sat next to each other on the sofa facing the fireplace as the evening light dimmed and the torches high up on his walls lit up on their own accord. A fire roared in the hearth. Hermione let out a long sigh.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm just... nervous."
He tightened his hold around her shoulder as she had her head on his shoulder and they both stared at the orange and yellow flames of the fire. "I am, too. I think we should just go and talk to them now. Get it over with."
"Do they even know you're here?"
He recalled hearing both of his parents talking in the drawing room as he was on his way to the kitchen earlier. He never stopped to talk. "No. It will be a total surprise to see me here. And you, too."
She leaned out of his hold and stood up from the sofa, and the firelight flickered on her hair. Determination gleamed in her eyes. "Let's go. Now. I can't take any more anticipation."
She walked on to the door and he followed her. "Hold on, you have no idea where you're going."
"Then lead the way."
They exited his bedroom and walked down the long hallway lit with torches, and Hermione ogled at the paintings on the walls, as well as that suit of armor just before the staircase. He felt her hand take his as they stepped down the stone stairs, and she squeezed tightly. She really is nervous. Well, this is the ending to Annabelle's vision, and they don't know what comes after. The unknown is scary, mainly since he was so used to knowing what comes next.
They stepped down the stairs and came into a massive entry corridor. Hermione gasped. "Wow, look at the size of this room!"
"I know. Wait until you see the living room. That's where my parents would be right now, after dinner. Mother would be reading a book, sipping tea, and Father would be reading over the Daily Prophet, making remarks about the articles in it."
"I take it that they've had this routine for a while."
"Yes. Even with the Dark Lord gone, I suspect their routine hasn't changed."
She nodded and they walked through the massive corridor that had a large hanging chandelier hanging from its ceiling, with lit candles adorning it. They came to the opening of the living room and there, as Draco had said, his mother was sitting on one end of the sofa facing the giant lit fireplace, sipping tea and reading a book. His father sat in an armchair next to that sofa, the Daily Prophet open in front of him. The room was lit with light from the large fire and the torches lining the walls. The curtains were closed, not letting the evening light shine into the huge room.
"I'll go in first," Draco whispered to Hermione. "Stay hidden behind the wall for a moment."
"Alright."
He walked into the living room and his father looked over after noticing Draco come in. He put the paper down. "Draco? What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"
Narcissa looked up from her book and gasped. She put her tea down on the coffee table in front of her, got up and embraced Draco as soon as she came over to him. That flowery scent of hers overcame him and he hugged her back. "Hello, Mother. I apologize for startling you both."
"Don't apologize, Draco. It's so great to see you. We saw in the paper you and your friends receiving awards for what you did."
Friends. He called him, Harry and Ron friends. He smiled at that. "Yes. I'm just glad it's all over."
"We are, too. We don't know what to do with ourselves now. We have so much free time and there isn't the constant fear of the Dark Lord suddenly showing up in the entry corridor."
"It must be nice."
"No doubt it's nice for you, too, now that you don't have to perform any horrid task anymore."
"He wouldn't have fulfilled them, anyway," Lucius said as he stood up and came up to him. His long hair shined in the light of the fire and torches. He held his handy claw cane. "Every task he was given, he failed at doing."
Draco's gut pinched and he let go of his mother and faced his father. Edge caught his voice. "Aren't you relieved that I didn't have to kill innocent people, Father? I suspect that you thought Dumbledore didn't deserve to die, and even though she's a muggle-born, you wouldn't want me to end Hermione, either."
He rose his chin, and Draco saw the battle in his eyes. "Regardless, it was what you were asked to do."
"We just feared that the Dark Lord would hurt you if you didn't do what you were asked," Narcissa said and took his shoulder. Tears gathered in her eyes. "We wanted you to fulfill your requests because we feared for your life. And ours."
Emotion caught his throat and he nodded. "I know. I understand that. But you both should understand why I couldn't fulfill those tasks."
Lucius stayed silent on that, but Draco knew what he was thinking. Narcissa said, "Yes, we do. You didn't want to hurt an innocent person. Both of us are so proud of you for that. Aren't we, Lucius?"
She gave her husband a pointed look, and she rose her thin brows, indicating she wanted him to respond. He huffed through his nose. "Yes, I suppose so. He wouldn't have accomplished what he was asked, though, if it weren't for that mudblood. You were so determined to do what you were asked, Draco, until she stepped in."
Draco pulse rose in irritation. "Father, she made me a better person."
"I would say that she made you a weak, sentimental fool."
"Lucius!" Narcissa hissed and Draco frowned. This is the start of it. He has to be completely serious with both of them.
"I love her, Father."
He scoffed. "You don't even know what that is, Draco. Stop this lunacy and put your head back on straight."
"I'm serious, Father. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't remember a time when I was happier than when I'm with her. She has accepted me and forgave me for the hell I put her and her friends through in the past. And... I accept her, too. As a muggle-born. I don't care about that or what blood a person is anymore."
Narcissa's mouth opened in surprise, and Lucius's glare flamed. "I was right," he growled. "She has made you a fool. You should know that blood matters in this family, and I am not going to allow you to frolic with a muggle-born!"
"Lucius, he is only sixteen," Narcissa said, going over and taking his arm with both hands. "Allow it. Let some time pass and maybe he will eventually have his head about him."
Draco's chest pinched. He thought his mother was okay with this, but really, she's just hopes that he will snap out of it. He took a breath, and knowing that Hermione was nearby listening, he said, "I'm not going to change my mind. I love Hermione, and I don't think I'll be able to love some other girl that you two will most likely present to me. I may only be sixteen, but I'm serious about her. More serious than I think the both of you know."
They stared at him, Narcissa in shock, and Lucius's lips pursed thin. Draco knew that came before and outburst. He stood firm, ready for it, when both of his parents looked behind him. Draco turned and saw Hermione come up.
"You brought her with you?" Lucius demanded.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione greeted. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I hope you both are doing well."
"Hello, Miss Granger," Narcissa said, and Lucius looked away.
"I apologize if this is difficult for the both of you," Hermione said. "I am the last person you would want your son to be with, and I understand why that is so."
"If you understand, then you will stop all this," Lucius said, meeting her determined gaze. "He has become a weakling because you."
She stepped up to the both of them and said with fierce sincerity, "Draco is a special young man. I am sure that you both have seen that in these past few months as he was trying his hardest to accomplish a task he didn't want to do, and dealing with that painful pressure. I believe that has caused him to really self-reflect and choose to not cause hurt to people. Everyone has seen that change in him, as I am sure you have as well. As much as you think so, him not not killing me, but associating with me, saving my life, and falling in love with me, did not make him a weakling, but made him stronger than you or I or anyone has ever seen him to be."
Draco stared at Hermione, truly touched by those words. It left his parents speechless.
"And I have become a better person because of him as well," Hermione continued. "I used to be so proud, thinking I could go about the castle on my own and defend myself when danger arrived, and thinking I was above everyone else in smarts... Draco helped me see that I was wrong. He saved me more than once from danger, not including when he saved me life, and he beat me in academics by passing my up on the school's honors list. I think I became more humble and less selfish because of him. Actually..." A tear escaped and she wiped it away. "I think he's the best thing that has ever happened to me, aside from going to Hogwarts and making the friends that I did, and performing spells for homework. It's no wonder I fell in love with him as quickly as I did."
She sniffed and he put an arm around her shoulders. He looked to his parents, and his mother had tears in her own eyes, while his father's mouth was a flat line.
"Draco truly passed you up the honors list?" Narcissa asked.
"Yes, he did. Draco is very intelligent. He always has been, it just hasn't been seen until now."
"And that's my own fault," he added. "Studying became a retreat for me, a retreat from the horrid things that were going on in my life." He gave Hermione a loving look. "And Hermione was another retreat."
"One that caused you to disobey the Dark Lord," Lucius said, and stood tall, both hands on top of his cane. "Miss Granger, I do appreciate you coming here in person and saying such things about my son, but I am afraid your admiration of him is where this needs to stop. Draco is to be with a pureblood, a pureblood of our choosing. I will allow the both of you to say your goodbyes and final words, but after today, this relationship will cease. Am I understood?"
Lucius's voice was calm, but deadly serious. Draco has to fight this. "Father, I already said that I don't want anyone else."
"You will come to your senses after some time passes. Now, you both should go back to school. It's getting late."
He turned and started to walk on out of the room, Narcissa following him, saying his name, like she didn't want the conversation to end there. Draco's heart hammered inside of him. He has to say it.
"I want to marry her."
Narcissa and Lucius stopped and turned around with wide eyes, and Hermione even stared at him with a shocked expression. "Draco..."
"It's the truth," he told his parents. "I don't want to be with anyone else, and I know that if I'm not with Hermione, allowing her to set me straight when I need it, and love me, I might go back to the way I was before."
"You're speaking nonsense, Draco," Lucius remarked with an amused chuckle. Draco's features turned grim.
"I'm serious. She has made me a better person and loves me despite what I have done in the past. I'm not going to agree to marry anyone else, and if you try to push someone at me, your efforts will be in vain." He came up to them, desperate. "Mother, Father, please. The Dark Lord is gone. The wizarding world and world itself is made new, and our family can be as well. All the traditions that we have followed for generations, they can be done away with."
"You dare say such things, Draco!" Lucius exclaimed. "The Dark Lord may be gone, but our family is still the same."
"Yes, it is. There's you, Mother and me. We can still be a family, even when I'm with someone you don't agree with."
"Someone that thinks the world about him, just as I do," Narcissa said and Lucius gave a wild, disbelieving look.
"Narcissa!"
"Lucius, for heaven's sake, Draco's right. The Dark Lord is gone and the three of us can finally be a family, a supportive one. I believe that Draco's affections for this young woman and her affections for him are true. If you keep them apart because of old and nonsensical traditions, then our son will forever dislike us and will never speak to you again." She put both hands on his arms, desperation in her own eyes. "I don't want that to happen. Please, Lucius."
Draco saw the battle playing in his father's features. He and Hermione may not be able to convince him fully, but his mother sure can. There has always been two people that Lucius Malfoy has fully respected and wanted happy in this world, and it has been the Dark Lord and Narcissa. Now, Narcissa is the only one left.
"She is good for him" Narcissa continued. "I had my doubts before, but after hearing what they both have said... allow it. She and Draco can be the change that this family needs."
Draco was shocked at hearing his mother say such words. Thick silence encumbered the room, aside from the crackling fire in the large fireplace and the grandfather clock ticking. Draco, and most likely Hermione, held their breath for Lucius's response.
Lucius let out a long breath. "I don't like it. I never will."
Draco's heart lifted tremendously. That's as close to an acceptance as they're going to get! "Thank you, Father."
"And keep that in mind, Draco. Keep in mind that I will never be thrilled about you being involved with a mudblood."
He eyed Hermione and she came up to them. "Even if that is true," she said, "thank you for allowing it. I promise, I will take good care of Draco."
Draco gave her a look. "I thought I was the one always taking care of you. Who was the one who saved you from Crabb and Goyle, and disobeyed Dark Lord just to keep you safe?"
She smirked. "We take care of each other."
"That's true."
"Alright, alright, enough," Lucius demanded. "Just go back to school, the both of you."
"Right." He put his arm out. "Shall we?"
"Yes." She looked to Draco's parents. "Thank you both again. You have an incredible home, and I'm grateful I could see it."
Narcissa nodded, and Lucius stayed silent. Hermione took Draco's arm and they zipped away. Hermione looked around and saw trees, grass, rose bushes, a fountain...
"Draco, this isn't school."
"I know. Remember how Annabelle said she saw us in a garden? The garden behind the manor?"
They both looked over and up at the majestic manor. "Oh. So... this is the end of her vision."
"I believe so. The rest is up to us." She looked back at him and stared at him for a moment. Wind caught her hair and his, and the setting glowing sun barely could be seen behind the trees. "What?"
"Draco... you were serious in there, about saying you wanted to marry me. Those weren't just words to convince your parents, were they?"
He rose his hand and gently caressed her soft cheek with his thumb. "No. I was serious."
He saw tears gather in her eyes. "Is this just another instance where we talk about it?"
There was really only one answer to her question. He took his hand off her cheek and got down on one knee. She let out a loud gasp as he took the hand that was not covering her mouth in shock.
"I don't think so, Hermione. Listen, what I said in there, and what I've said before, is all true. You changed my life. Yes, Annabelle started it all, and I'm eternally grateful for that, but protecting you and falling in love with you has been the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I want you, Hermione. I don't want anyone else, not ever." He took a breath, and not believing that he is about to ask it, but... "Will you be willing to marry the boy who has called you mudblood, has bullied you and your friends, and has been a thorn in your side for six years?"
She whimpered and she shook her head. His eyes widened in shock and his heart plummeted. She's shaking her head?! After everything that they're gone through?
She suddenly knelt down and embraced him, and her body shook as she cried. "Draco, golly..."
"Hermione, you shook your head."
"Yes, I did."
"So... I take it that's a no."
She looked back at him and he saw her bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks that some of her hair was sticking to. "No, I shook my head because I couldn't believe that you were actually asking me, and... I couldn't believe what my answer is."
"What's your answer?"
Her lips met his and started moving rapidly. Draco wrapped his arms around her form and responded. She leaned more into him, and that made him fall backwards onto the grass, with her landing on top of him, still kissing him. He held her, and loved the feelings of her. He loved her.
Her mouth withdrew from his and he could feel her hot breath. "So... is that a yes?" he asked.
"What do you think?"
He stared up at her and saw a smiled spread across her lips. He shouted with glee and hugged her as they lay there, and they rolled around in the grass as the both of them laughed happily. When they stopped, she was on top of him again, and he felt her whole front. That feeling came back but he didn't do anything about it.
"I think we should head back. I want to tell Harry and Ron."
"And Annabelle," he added. "She's going to want to know this more out of anyone."
"She would."
Silence ensued and he brought a hand up to her cheek. "You really want to marry me?"
"I do. And do you really want to marry me? What about us being sixteen and your parents being passably accepting of our relationship?"
"At least they were. And... you already know very well that I want to marry you."
She leaned down and kissed him, but only for a second. She rolled off of him and stood up, brushing off the grass from her jeans and sweater. He stood up as well and brushed himself off as well. "We should go," she said.
"Alright."
She took his hand and they zipped back to Hogwarts, into a lone corridor that Draco guessed was on the south side of the building. He and Hermione walked hand-in-hand as they headed to the Gryffindor common room. He couldn't stop smiling, and neither could she.
"This is the end now," he heard her say.
"Or, it's a new beginning. The vision has ended and it's up to us to live out the rest of their lives. Everyone's going to be shocked silly to find out that Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are engaged—it might even make the news after I find a ring to put on your finger."
She laughed. "Better not be a flashy one. I know your family is wealthy. A simply one with a single diamond will due. And give it to me after graduation."
"I'll keep that in mind." Some students passed them as they walked down the corridors, and the low evening light shone through the passing windows. "You know, this was meant to be one thousand years ago. Annabelle saw us change the wizarding world in more than one way, and she saw us go against the infamous Malfoy family traditions."
"Yes, and once we see her next, we need to thank her. It's all because of her that all of this happened."
"Indeed it is. One thousand years in the making."