Hey everyone. Sorry it took so long to update. I've been a busy girl, and ending a fic is harrrrrrrd (Especially for the likes of me!) But yeah, just to make it clear...this is the END! no sequels, no begging for sequels...why? Cus who writes a sequel to a sequel? true...a trilogy...however I want to start taking on a few new fic challenges, like my first Oliver wood fic, so you guys can keep an eye out for that! And if you want a really good fic, look out for ILoveMantaRays. She's a good friend of mine and has done some terrific writing. Alright, thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story! I'll give you all shout outz at the end so don't worry your pretty lil' heads about that. Lots of love to everyone!

English-Foxlette

Chapter 15

[Previously]

Their faces were only a few inches apart and a blush crept across both their faces.

"I'm back," Hermione whispered before closing her eyes and kissing him soundly.

[End]

Months had passed by like seconds. Hermione and Draco had become a couple, Harry and Ginny were starting to date, and poor Ronald was left single mingle.

Christmas break was spent at Hogwarts for Hermione and Draco, who took daily walks around the snow-blanketed grounds. They were nearly inseparable the whole time, and when Christmas day rolled around, Draco surprised Hermione with a carriage ride led by two twin thestrals. To top off the romantic dinner that followed, Draco presented Hermione with an emerald encrusted promise ring. Hermione was ecstatic.

[Flashback]

Christmas Day:

"Morning, 'Mione," Draco whispered as he kissed Hermione's cheek. Hermione's eyes fluttered open, and settled on Draco who was leaning over her. She smiled up at him and stroked his arm.

"Morning," Hermione whispered back.

"It's Christmas," Draco whispered. The sheets rustled under Hermione's body as she sat up and looked around. The room – Their room – was decorated in seasonal colors, with two stockings hanging on the fire place, swaying lightly from the blaze that emanated from the fire that was always lit.

"Happy Christmas," Hermione whispered, kissing Draco soundly on the lips.

"Happy Christmas," Draco whispered back, grinning like a mad man after the kiss ended.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked.

"Noon," Draco answered. Hermione wasn't surprised at all. They had stayed up most of the night talking, and had gone to sleep really early in the morning. Hermione's stomach grumbled, and both of them laughed. Draco bent down and kissed her forehead, smiling into the kiss.

"I've already got breakfast ready for us," Draco said. He smiled and led Hermione out into the common room. On the large oak table that was usually covered with books, a huge assortment of foods lay waiting to be eaten. Behind them, several wrapped boxes lay waiting underneath a modest pine tree. Hermione turned her attention back to the food, tempting herself not to look at the presents.

"It looks delectable!" Hermione commented.

"Dig in," Draco said as he pulled out a seat for Hermione then took a seat himself. He picked up a pomegranate and bit into it, the red juice staining his lips. Hermione giggled and started cutting up some Belgian waffles. Hermione ate a few bites of waffle while Draco savored the taste of some freshly squeezed orange juice. Hermione munched quietly on some waffle bites as Draco took another bite out of the pomegranate. The red juice trickled down his lips, and spilled onto his chin.

Hermione set her fork down loudly. Draco looked up and quirked an eyebrow. Hermione got up from her seat and walked around the table. She set one fist down on the table and looked at Draco angrily.

"Look at you! You're a mess! Do I really need to help you clean yourself up?" Hermione asked impatiently. Draco was startled a bit by her tone, but managed to nod meekly. Hermione smirked a Malfoy-like smirk, and leaned in a kissed him. As the kiss deepened, Draco brought Hermione to sit on his lap.

They split apart on habit when the heard a tapping on the stained glass window. Hermione wiped her wet lips with the back of her hand and opened the window. Pigwidgeon sat on the windowsill, small flecks of snow contrasting against her dark feathers.

Hermione untied the letter from her foot and the tiny owl flew in and landed next to a pastry which it began to peck apart. Draco looked on in disgust, vowing to remember not to eat that later.

"Aww. It's a letter from Ron, Harry, and Ginny! They send their best wishes for Christmas and they hope we...Oh dear," Hermione said, refusing to say the last part of the letter aloud. Hermione blushed bright red as Draco peered over her shoulder in curiosity.

"They hope we won't forget to use protection?" Draco asked incredulously. The pair looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Hermione quickly scribbled a letter and sent Pigwidgeon back to the Burrows. They spent the rest of the day walking in the snow and opening presents. Then Draco proposed the idea that they go to Hogsmeade, for he had reserved a small table for them in a nice little bistro. Hermione readily agreed.

Hermione's attire for the evening was quite elegant. She wore a cream strapless dress, with black tubing, and a scalloped edge at the bottom. She accompanied the dress with black high heels, a black handbag, and simple makeup. This was surprising, because she never really was one for makeup. Draco, meanwhile, sported a classic black tuxedo. His shoes shone in perfection, and the chain of a gold pocket watch hung regally out of his pocket.

Once the pair were outside, Hermione gasped a took a step back. Before her was a big, open-air carriage, with black leather benches, and a plaid lap blanket sat on one of the benches. What caught Hermione off the most was that it was led by large thestrals. Hermione hugged and thanked Draco, and then Draco led her up into the carriage. Once they were both situated on the seat, Draco motioned for the little driver to start their evening ride.

The bistro was small and intimate, with a waiter for each table. The dinner was excellent; Hermione had a filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes, while Draco had Duck al'orange with white rice. For dessert, they shared a few dark chocolate truffles.

"Draco, today has been..."

"Magnificent? Unforgettable? Stupendous?"

"All of the above," Hermione laughed as she took a sip of some French pinot noir.

"It gets better," Draco whispered. Hermione looked at him while she drained the remnants of her glass. She quirked an eyebrow as she saw him fishing in his pockets. He smiled when he found what he was looking for.

Extending his long, lean arm across the table, he opened his fist and left a blue velvet box in his wake. Hermione gasped and looked up at Draco.

"Go ahead, open it," Draco coaxed. Hermione gulped and opened the box.

"Oh my gosh! I love it!" Hermione nearly screamed, trying to keep her voice down inside the restaurant. Inside the velvet confines, sat a thin silver ring. On the band, it had 'Draco and Hermione Forever' etched on the underside, while a single emerald glittered on the top.

"It's a promise ring, so hah, it's kind of the best I can do for now," Draco laughed. Hermione looked up, tears shining at the corners of her eyes.

"It's beautiful," Hermione whispered.

"As are you,"

"I love you, Draco Malfoy,"

"And I love you, Hermione Granger,"

[End Flashback]

Ron, Harry, and Ginny spent Christmas vacation at the burrow in Ron's bigger than big house. The twins made a few appearances, although Charlie and Bill were nowhere to be seen. Harry asked Ginny to be his girlfriend on Christmas, and Ron surprisingly kept his cool. Ron meanwhile, was presented with a brand new broomstick, signed by the entire Chudley Cannons Quidditch squad. Ron was tickled pink, hugging each and every person inside the Weasley household.

Spring came, and with it, came the Quidditch House Cup. The masquerade that was supposed to be held on Valentine's Day, was cancelled, due to swamp spell gone wrong. Hermione secretly cursed the Weasley Twins, because she knew they sold the swamp-in-a-box kits, and she knew from experience that even just the wrong amount of water would easily mess the spell up.

The swamp was supposed to be set up underneath Snape's chair, but it ended up flooding the entire Great Hall. And just like before, it took quite a while for the ingenuous teachers and caretakers to figure out how to clean it up. It wasn't until the end of the month that the Hall was completely swamp free.

The dance would have been rescheduled, had not the House cup semi-final and Championship been coming up. All the teams were too busy training and preparing for the days at hand. The Slytherin's especially, weren't about to let this house cup out of their grasp.

[Flashback]

Draco took a deep breath, and mounted his broom. He nodded to his teammates behind him, and the door was pulled open. The group flew out in unison, and flew over the screaming fans. Draco smiled because he knew Hermione was one of those screaming fans.

The Slytherin team swept across the sky, and coming more and more visible from below, the Gryffindor team made their grand entrance. Soon, Madam Hooch was out among the two groups, whistling for the game to begin and the balls released. First came the snitch, which unfurled its wings, stretched them a bit, and then whizzed out of sight. Next came to quaffles, which were tossed high in the air. The whistle was blown as the bludgers were set loose. Crabbe and Goyle set out after the bludgers as Draco soared high above everyone else to keep an eye out for the snitch.

"How are you and Hermione doing?" Draco heard a voice next to him yell. Without looking up, he knew it was his new...acquaintance, Harry Potter. Draco couldn't very well call Harry his enemy, as they were now more tolerable of each other, but they definitely weren't the best of mates quite yet.

"Fine, fine. What about you and the mini Weasel?"

"Ginny and I are great, too," Harry replied, completely ignoring Draco's attempted insult.

"No matter what happens out here, no hard feelings!" Harry called out. Draco turned to the Boy-Who-Lived and nodded, adding with a smirk:

"May the best man win,"

Nearly fifteen minutes passed, with nary a sighting of the golden snitch. Draco noticed that Harry was enthralled with watching Ginny speed around below him, tossing and catching the quaffle about with fellow teammates. He would occasionally cheer obnoxiously loud when Ginny managed to score. Draco rolled his eyes and flew in a different direction.

His sharp eyes scanned the pitch. Suddenly, he saw the snitch jump through one of the three rings, and through the spread legs of Blaise Zabini. The snitch then flew left, right, and finally spiked upwards. Draco who had been leisurely making his way over, went into overdrive. He dove down beneath the snitch, to try to come up from under it, catching the floating ball by 'surprise.'

Then, with a turn standard of a snitch, it flew left, out of Draco's grasp, and flew higher. Harry, who had seen Draco fly frantically to his right, sped over. Harry too, had caught sight of the snitch. The snitch hovered in the air as both boys flew closer and closer at their top speeds. Both held a hand outstretched, the other keeping the broom straight. The boys were about to collide, and of course the snitch dove down. Harry tried to pull up, stopping inches away from an imminent collision. Draco, however, slowed only slightly, then kicked off of Harry's broom, propelling himself downwards.

Draco stretched his hand out, and snatched the snitch (AN: sounds funny to me, lol). The crowd exploded in applause, and Draco pumped his fist in the air; The crumpled wings of the snitch sticking out from the gaps between his leather gloves.

"And Slytherin wins the Quidditch House Cup!" the announcer shouted. Hermione squealed, while the girls and boys around her groaned and applauded sadly. Hermione frowned slightly when she looked at the people surrounding her. It was tough having a boyfriend in another house!

Draco landed softly on the ground, and was immediately swarmed by teammates, friends, and anyone else who wished to mob the platinum blonde boy. Through the rush of people, Draco could see Hermione pushing her way through, until she was finally hugging onto him for dear life. Hermione kissed him and squeezed him, while Draco received the large golden cup. He raised it high above him, and passed it around to his teammates.

Hermione got on tiptoe and kissed Draco's cheek.

"I'm so proud of you!" She repeated over and over. Draco smiled, and picked up Hermione, bridal-style. He pumped his fist once more and shared a few knowing winks with the likes of Blaise before setting off towards their room, where only Hermione and Draco knew what went on. But everyone knew they weren't going to talk about it any time soon...

[End Flashback]

The last few months passed even faster than the proceeding months, and soon, it was their graduation day.

[Flashback]

Hermione stood proudly in her black robes, with the Hogwarts Crest over her heart, and clear tears collecting in her eyes. She stood on a platform with her fellow 7th years, arranged in alphabetical order. She peered down the row, and saw Draco looking solemnly out at the crowd, and beyond him, Harry was leaning out, the tassel of his hat hanging in his face, and was waving slightly. Hermione smiled and waved back.

"Attention everyone! These past seven years, I think we can all agree, were very eventful indeed. Our very own students managed to stop the Dark Lord on several occasions, escaping with only a few scratches. I've watched these fine young men and women grow up before my very eyes. I am very confident that with these fresh young minds holding the reigns of the future, the future will be bright and prosperous for all of us!" Dumbledore said to the crowd. The parents, teachers, and former students all stood up, clapping as loud as they could. A few even stomped their feet in time with each other.

"Now, let us begin the ceremony! Miss Hannah Abbott!" Dumbledore read off the names, and hugged and shook the hands of the students as they passed. Professor McGonagall stood beside him, handing the students their diplomas as they passed.

"Miss Hermione Granger!" Dumbledore said the name fondly. The crowd clapped, and Draco whistled loudly.

Hermione stepped forward, careful not to trip or fall or do anything embarrassing like that. She made her way over to Dumbledore, tears blurring her vision. She embraced Dumbledore tightly, smiling all the while. She reluctantly let go of the bearded headmaster, and made her way to Professor McGonagall. Minerva smiled weakly, tears forming in her own eyes, as the two women embraced. Once they separated, Minerva smiled softly and proudly handed Hermione her diploma. Hermione smiled back at her favorite professor as she walked down the steps to sit with her fellow students.

Soon it was Draco's turn. Draco came up, nodded solemnly to Dumbledore before shaking his hand. But Dumbledore's grin proved to be infectious, as Draco felt a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. The two men shared a hardy handshake, and Draco stepped towards Professor McGonagall. He nodded out of respect, and the professor pulled him in for an impromptu hug. Draco coughed, and hesitantly hugged back. Once they separated, Minerva smiled a disarming smile at him, and handed him his diploma.

Once the students had all walked past the Headmaster and received their diplomas, Dumbledore turned to the students.

"To the students of the year of nineteen hundred and ninety eight, you've made it!" Dumbledore said as everyone erupted in applause, the students throwing their caps up in the air in triumph. Hermione ran over to Draco and they kissed passionately as their friends shook hands and hugged around them.

[End Flashback]

After graduation, Hermione, Harry, and Draco all enrolled to become Aurors, and started training immediately. Ron on the other hand, got involved with the ministry of magic, in the muggle department. The likes of Luna 'Looney' Lovegood got into newspaper business, working under her father but as a photographer. Lavender and the Patil sisters opened their own chain of fashion stores, claiming that their mission was to redress the wizarding world. No one really knows what happened to Blaise Zabini, although he mentioned something about heading to America to charm the girls there. Crabbe and Goyle worked under the Ministry as well, doing all of the various grunt work required in Britain.

Years passed by slowly, with only a few words here and there from their old schoolmates. Ron had become Head of his department in the Ministry, and word had spread that Blaise was marrying a woman from San Francisco. But that was all Harry, Hermione, and Draco heard from their friends.

The minute the trio graduated from their Auror training classes, they were immediately put to work. Hermione and Draco were to pose as a couple in muggle Scotland, looking into death attempts on the Puddlemere United quidditch team, which boasted that they had the best keeper in world, Oliver Wood. Harry was to go to the South of Italy, to penetrate an Italian wizarding mob.

One night, after Hermione and Draco had arrested the author of the death threats, they lounged around in their second floor flat. It was very modest, since they were hardly ever there, yet it was still plush and comfortable. The two were enjoying a night of cuddling and consoling while thirty odd white candles flickered about.

"Hermione, can I ask you something?" Draco asked, shifting nervously on the couch.

"Sure, what is it?" Hermione asked in return, running her fingers through his soft blonde hair.

"Do you love me?"

"I do, with all my heart. Why do you ask?" Hermione questioned. Something was up, but she kept her cool, and kept touching Draco's hair and face. Suddenly, Draco stood up and looked down at him, paranoia and excitement written all over his face.

"Hermione..." Draco started, as he lowered himself to the ground.

"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" Draco asked pulling a box seemingly out of nowhere.

Hermione gasped, and stared at the diamond that glittered back at her. Tears sprang to her eyes as she tackled Draco to the floor in a flurry of kisses.

"Of course I will!" Hermione yelled. Draco smiled, and from his position from underneath her, he removed the promise ring from her ring finger, and placed on the wedding band.

"I love you," Draco said softly.

"I love you, too darling,"

FIN

Alright, here's a HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed: You guys seriously ROCK! it's people like you that make me want to write! So thanks for everything guys! It's great to open my email every day and be reminded that I'm the author of a fic that so many ppl like, so ::tear tear:: THANK YOU!!!!