~ Epilogue ~

"Remind me why we're doing this again," Ron said.

"It's for interhouse unity," Hermione said primly. "You know, like that illicit party you went to, but without booze." She wrinkled her nose. "We shouldn't need to rely on alcohol to get along with them, after all."

Once again, it was a Friday night, and they were headed up to the Room of Requirement. This time, however, Hermione had been the one to organize the event, and Harry suspected it would be considerably less fun.

"Of course we don't need alcohol to get along with them," said Ron, and Harry could feel both his friends staring at him pointedly. "We need alcohol to make it fun."

Hermione shot him a withering look and began to walk faster.

"We will have plenty of fun," she said as they arrived at the seventh-floor corridor. She paced up and down the hall three times, and Harry offered Ron a shrug.

Inside the Room of Requirement, a number of eighth-years were already milling around. Harry was a bit surprised to see a small group of Gryffindors and Slytherins chatting animatedly amongst themselves rather than huddled in their own separate clusters like last time. Draco was standing off to the side of the group, and he smiled when he caught Harry's eye.

Harry smiled back, keenly aware of his best friends watching him. For an awkward moment, he wondered if his friends would feel abandoned if he spent the evening with Draco, but then Hermione sighed and said, "Oh, just go."

He felt eyes upon him as he crossed the room and looped his arm around Draco's waist, and he was sure he heard a few giggles. With an impish look on his face, Draco leaned in and kissed Harry soundly in front of all their friends, and he heard more than a few giggles this time.

Harry would've been content to go on kissing Draco, but the sound of a throat being cleared brought him back to reality. He pulled back with a guilty blush.

"I don't know about you, but it looks like there's enough interhouse unity going on already," Seamus stage-whispered nearby. "Not sure why this party was necessary."

"Especially since there's no booze," Ron grumbled.

"Who says there's no booze?" Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Seamus pull something from his pocket and hand it to Ron.

Amused, Harry slipped his hand into Draco's and headed over to join his friends. Maybe this party wouldn't be so bad after all, he thought.

Harry didn't know what time it was when they woke up the next morning, but it felt late. And he felt a bit hungover. Once again, he was waking up beside Draco, in their own private little room. Whatever Hermione's original plans had been were clearly no match for all the firewhisky that had been smuggled in.

Sometime later, he and Draco left their cozy little nest for the main room, freshly showered and perked up with hangover potion — once again, Draco had come prepared. Most of the eighth-years who'd passed out in the main room the night before were now waking up, groaning and squinting in the bright sunlight. Some of the others were passing out hangover potion, and a table was being set up with a late breakfast, courtesy of the house elves. As Harry watched, one of the doors opened, and Ron and Hermione stumbled into the main room.

"I'm never drinking again," Hermione moaned. "I told you alcohol wasn't necessary. This is our punishment for disobeying school rules."

"Nonsense," Seamus said, handing each of them a vial of hangover potion. "We're allowed to have a bit of fun."

"Yeah, it was nice to see you loosen up for once, Granger," said Parkinson, and Harry couldn't help laughing at the shocked expression on Hermione's face. "Come get some breakfast. It'll help."

"This was a lot of fun," Harry said as his friends sat down at the breakfast table. "We should make it a regular thing."

Hermione still looked worried. "I don't know if the Headmistress would approve of us drinking and partying all night."

"But she would approve of us getting along," said Draco. "I mean, you wanted interhouse unity, didn't you? It looks to me like we've got it."

Harry smiled as Hermione gaped at him. Having Draco around would be good for her, he thought. She clearly wasn't used to losing arguments. He bit into a piece of toast and leaned back in his chair, feeling content.

By the time Harry left the Room of Requirement with his friends, it was almost lunchtime. None of them were very hungry, having just eaten, so they headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Plans had already been made for next week's party, which even Hermione had grudgingly agreed to.

"All right, I'll admit it," she said. "You guys were right. Everyone is getting along better than I expected. Maybe we should invite some of the younger students sometime. You know, lead by example."

"That's a great idea," Ron said, and they smiled at each other.

Harry rolled his eyes and was about to tease them when a flash of movement from a dark corner up ahead caught his eye. "What's that?" he wondered aloud.

Ron and Hermione followed his gaze, and Ron started to laugh. "Looks like a couple trying to get some alone time," he said. "Wonder who it is."

The three of them continued down the hall, and the couple slowly came into view. Harry caught a glimpse of long, blond hair, and heard a feminine giggle. Then he noticed a flash of long, red hair further in the shadows. It was two girls — two very familiar girls.

"Ginny!" Ron gasped. "And — Luna?" He stared, looking utterly bewildered as the pair broke apart and Luna turned to face him.

"Oh, hello, Ron," she said. "Ginny and I were just practicing Euphoria charms on each other, for class." She turned back to Ginny. "I think we've got it. I'm feeling very euphoric right now, aren't you?"

Ginny burst into giggles and waved the trio off before pulling Luna in for another kiss. Ron gaped at them for a few more seconds before Hermione rolled her eyes and tugged on his hand, leading him away.

"Well," said Harry, "I'd say the younger students have enough interhouse unity of their own."

"But, Ginny—" Ron sputtered as they left the girls to themselves. "When in Merlin's name did that happen?!"

Harry shrugged. "Who knows? I'm just glad she's moved on."

Ron stared at him. "Yeah, all right," he said at last. "Still, I can't believe that — my sister and Luna Lovegood! What is the world coming to?"

Hermione snorted. "I don't know, Ron," she said. "After everything that's happened lately, I can believe anything."

~ fin ~

Note: I have come to the realization that this is a crackfic and shouldn't be taken too seriously. I mean, Hermione actually admits someone else is right at one point. Still, it was fun to write.

Thanks for reading and/or reviewing!