A/N – First of all, I wanted to say I had NO IDEA the kind of response I would trigger when I said I could be persuaded to write an epilogue. I had FORTY-NINE reviews, more than I've EVER gotten before. It was insane. But I thank you all for liking my story so much.

Before I get any complaints this time, I want to warn you this isn't a normal chapter, it's an EPILOGUE, and it's short. Also, I had some requests as to what the epilogue should include, and ignored them all, muahahahahaha. I hope I don't disappoint you, but I took my own spin on it. I hope you like it.

It was Hermione's birthday. Draco had insisted on spending the entire day with her, much to the chagrin of Harry and Ron, who had hoped to be the ones sharing her day. Hermione just laughed when they protested, and she was sure Draco was only doing this to annoy the two.

When they had found out about Hermione and Draco being together, they had at first thought it was another scheme concocted by Draco to use Hermione and then discard her again. Then they thought the pair was joking, playing a trick on them. It had taken a few weeks, but soon they had seen that they were indeed serious about their new relationship.

Draco's mother had been delighted when she found out, to say the very least. Lucius, on the other hand, had passed out in a dead faint when he heard the news, and promptly disowned Draco when he awakened. Narcissa had said not to worry, that she would take care of her husband and all would be settled by Christmas. Hermione and Draco had shared a laugh at that bit of news.

Hermione's birthday had turned out to be a sunny autumn day, and Draco had taken her on a picnic in the park near the Ministry that was one of Hermione's favorite haunts in fair weather. They had finished their picnic lunch and were now ambling through the trees, taking in the beauty of the various flowers that grew in the park.

"I have something I wanted to ask you," Draco said conversationally as they walked.

"What?"

"Well, it's sort of your birthday present."

"You know I told you not to get me anything!" She stopped walking to glare at him with her hands on her hips. Draco stopped walking as well and stood facing her.

"Did you think I'd actually listen?"

Hermione smacked him on the shoulder in a playful kind of way, but she couldn't hide the spark of curiosity in her eyes. Draco smiled.

"Close your eyes."

Hermione eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then complied. She heard some rustling of paper and robes and turned her head slightly to hear better.

"No peeking," Draco admonished her. She growled and shut her eyes tighter. Draco chuckled.

"Laughing at me, are you?" she asked, irritated. This only caused Draco to laugh still harder, before falling silent again amid the rustles of paper.

"Open your eyes," Draco said softly at last. Hermione did. He was holding a medium-sized box in his hands, wrapped in a paper that looked like it was covered in real ocean waves, all moving and crashing in rhythm even as he held it out to her. She smiled and took the present from him, turning it slightly to watch the waves for a moment.

"Are you going to open it or stare at it, Granger?" Draco asked teasingly. She shot him a glare but pulled at the ribbon that was tied around the box. The wrapping paper immediately dissolved into a shower of blue sparks and disappeared, leaving Hermione holding a very old book. She gasped when she read the title.

"Through the Looking Glass, first edition!" she squealed with delight, hugging it to her and nearly jumping up and down. Draco raised an elegant eyebrow as he watched her, a smile creeping across his face.

"How did you know about this book?" she asked him after a few moments, opening the book and examining the title page. "This is a Muggle book," she added, looking up at him through her hair that had fallen into her face. Draco smirked.

"What ever made you think Lewis Carroll was a Muggle?"

Hermione started, but then laughed. Then her eyes fell on a ribbon that was sticking out between the pages of the book like a bookmark. It was new and bright red and looked like it didn't belong with the book at all.

"What…" she muttered as she turned the book on its side and noticed the pages weren't lying completely flat, as if something were wedged in between them. She thumbed open the book in the middle where the ribbon was sticking out, and gasped.

Lying on the page she had opened to, glittering in the sunlight with the ribbon tied through it, was a ring.

The band was silver and plain, but set in the middle was a perfect diamond, the biggest and clearest one Hermione had ever seen.

Draco dropped to one knee. Hermione struggled to breathe. The book fell from her hands, but Draco was ready, and he caught it deftly before it could even fall a few inches. Setting the book on the ground beside him, he took the ring in his right hand and pulled the ribbon from it, never breaking eye contact with her.

"Hermione Jean Granger," he said softly, taking her left hand in his. "Will you marry me?"

Hermione couldn't speak. She could hardly breathe. Several seconds passed, and Draco began to look uncomfortable as she remained silent. Finally she choked out a reply.

"N-not a cursed ring, is it?"

Draco burst into laughter. His face split into a wide grin and he threw his head back and laughed, clutching his side with his free right hand. He laughed for a full minute before Hermione found her voice and she was laughing, too.

"No," Draco answered finally, gasping for breath. "It isn't cursed. I want you to marry me, Hermione. For real this time, will you be mine?" She considered him for a moment.

"Say 'please.'"

"Malfoy's don't say 'please,'" he countered, mock-glaring up at her.

"Well that's the first thing I'm going to change," she replied, looking stern. Draco growled.

"Woman, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm in an extremely exposed position here, not to mention my knee is starting to hurt. Could you please get on with it?"

Hermione laughed. "Yes, yes, Draco, I'll marry you."

Draco sighed and pushed the ring onto her finger. Then he stood to his feet and caught her up in his arms.

"You're not getting away ever again, you know that," he muttered, and then his lips crashed down on hers and her brain disappeared into that now-familiar haze that she was rapidly becoming addicted to. He pulled her close against his long, lean torso and she sighed and melted into his strong arms. His kiss was the only thing that could effectively stop her mind from functioning and turn her into a puddle at the same time.

They finally pulled apart, gasping for breath, and Draco rested his forehead against hers, his eyes shut and panting slightly. Hermione chuckled roughly and brought her hands up from his shoulders to play with his hair in an absentminded sort of way as they both tried to slow their pounding hearts.

The ring sparkled in the sun and she turned her attention to it, turning in Draco's arms so her back was to him. She leaned her head back against his neck and he turned his head to smell her hair, his breath tickling her ear a bit.

Hermione twisted the new ring on her hand, examining it carefully.

"What are you doing?" Draco murmured into her shoulder.

"Nothing…"

Suddenly she gave the ring a great tug, startling Draco out of his reverie and causing him to shout.

"Hey!"

Hermione giggled, and held up the ring in her other hand to show him. He continued to look at her, nonplused, and she laughed again and shrugged her shoulders.

"Just checking."

-

THE BEGINNING

A/N 2 – No, I'm not writing a sequel. That just means that it's the beginning of their new lives together, not the beginning of another fic.

So this time, review and let me know what you thought, no complaints! Lol. :D

Oh, and that bit about Lewis Carroll was inspired by a part of another fic I read called This Subdued Fire by BeautifullyMalicious. You can find it on Coloured Grey, if you like. It's an excellent fic. Meanwhile, I just really thought Hermione would like that book, and it seemed appropriate.

Yes, and thank you to Wudelfin for the suggestion of Lucius passing out…it was the only suggestion I used because I thought it was hilarious and perfect, lol. I don't even think you meant it for a suggestion, but I'm taking it anyway. :P Thank you again.

And thank you to the rest of you for coming on this wild ride with me. Some of you have been here since I posted the very first chapter, and I appreciate it more than I can put into words. Some of the reviews I received last chapter were beautiful and even tear-jerking…:sniff: I'm going to miss you guys! Thank you all. :D