Onward
Ron's arm rested easefully on my shoulders as we walked into Tonks's room, where she and Remus Lupin were both sitting, exhausted, with an adorable baby boy in Tonks's arms. Tonks looked up at me and smiled, and so did Lupin. She'd given birth just hours before, and Ron and I had only just made it to the hospital to see them both. Draco was trailing behind us, and when I glanced back at him, I could tell that he felt astonishingly out of place here.
"Oh, he's adorable," I said softly, and felt Ron squeeze my shoulder.
I smiled as Tonks gave him to me. Relieved of the burden, she screwed up her eyes and attempted to morph, but failed; Lupin immediately squeezed her arm and said warningly, "Nymphadora, if you try that again, I will have them put restraining bonds on this bed."
She opened her eyes again and looked balefully at him. "Fine…"
He smiled, leaned forward, and kissed her, and her balefulness disappeared immediately.
I looked down at the baby boy in my arms and rocked him slightly. He opened his eyes and looked up at me, one tiny thumb stuck in his mouth. He had Lupin's blue-grey eyes. "Is he a Metamorphmagus, or a werewolf?" Ron asked them jokingly. Even Lupin smiled.
"We won't know until he gets a bit older," Tonks said, taking the baby back into her arms and rocking him gently. "But I'm sure we'll manage…hold it right there, Miss Granger." Hastily, I tried to withdraw my left hand, but she'd caught hold of it and was staring at it in awe. "Remus, tell me if I'm seeing things," she said dramatically, and Lupin leaned forward. I glanced at Ron; he was blushing furiously, and Draco was smiling that new, cocky smile of his, leaning back against the wall of the room. "Can it be true?" Tonks continued, and then looked up and winked at me. "Miss Independent, actually engaged?…"
"Yes, I am," I said indignantly, and Ron wrapped his arm around my waist, smiling even through the furious red of his face.
"Hermione Granger Weasley," Tonks said thoughtfully. "Sounds good to me! Come here and give me a hug, both of you…"
As Ron and I leaned down to hug Tonks, the baby only protesting mildly before dropping off to sleep again, Draco said, "I'd better get going, my train leaves in an hour."
"Are you sure?" I asked him, turning to watch as he roused himself from his position against the wall.
He nodded. "I'm sure." He shook Ron's hand. "See you around, Weasel."
"Same to you, ferret," Ron said, mock-scathingly, and both men laughed.
Draco hugged me, and then whispered in my ear, "I'll be back for the wedding." He waved a goodbye to Lupin and Tonks, and then left the room, his small suitcase in his hand.
Lupin watched him go, then turned to me and said, "He's changed."
I nodded. "For the better."
We went back to admiring their son, and as Ron's hand tickled my waist, I grinned up at him. Everything, finally, had gone right.
"Ouch!" Draco snapped as, in the midst of the crowded train station, something or someone bumped into him, sending him toppling to the ground. Annoyed, he got to his feet, pulling his luggage with him.
"I'm so sorry," the girl was saying, scrambling to pick up her fallen things.
Something turned in his heart; she looked to be about his age. "It's okay," he said quickly, "let me help." He knelt down and helped her gather up her spilt luggage, and as he handed some of it back to her, their eyes met. For a moment, he just stared into the vivid green-grey of her eyes, the exact combination of smoke and jade, and felt his heart skip a beat. Her hair, long, dark brown, and very curly, fell to her mid-back, and she looked slightly harassed, in a hurry. He saw the wand poking out of her pocket and smiled slightly. "Didn't go to Hogwarts, did you?"
"I did, actually," she said, smiling back at him. "I was fourteen when Dumbledore…" She trailed off. "What train are you catching?"
"The three-fifteen to Edinburgh," he said, his heart clenching when she mentioned Dumbledore. She looked slightly surprised.
"That's the one I'm getting, too," she said, and they both got to their feet. "Shall we go find it?"
"Sure," he agreed.
As they began to walk, she said thoughtfully, "You look a little like Draco Malfoy, you know…"
He smiled, just a little. "Funny story about that, actually."
As the train left the station, the two sat down together in a compartment, talking and laughing, and, accelerating swiftly, another adventure was puffing out of sight, leaving the world behind in a blur of everything that once was, and everything that was yet to be.