"- They did so much for her and Harry during school. Like a second mother. A second family. And then when her parents passed away - natural causes, thank Merlin - they sort of adopted her. It was all so sweet. And they both accepted me right away. Well, Arthur did, Molly took a little convincing, but I did the dishes once and she never forgot."

Tony laughs. "It sounds so exciting."

"It was. The whole time we spent together after school ended was amazing. I hated myself for the longest time for teasing Ron and Ginny like I did. But they all forgave me, and now -"

"There was nothing you could do, dad."

I hear Draco sniff. A warm breeze washes over me. We must be on the beach. I open my eyes briefly and find the sky above me swirls of colours. The underside of the umbrella.

"I was going to do something really special for them on their wedding anniversary. Next week. But now it's too late to do anything."

"It's never too late," I croak, sitting up on one arm and looking at my men in front of me, turned around in disbelief.

"I'm so glad you're awake," Draco grins, but I see hischeeks have been stained with tears.

"I'm so glad you haven't killed yourself."

Draco turns his head, staring back out to the ocean.

"It's not your fault. Did Remus say how it happened?"

"She went to go get him from work one night to surprise him. They were already there waiting for her. He was already dead, the coroner said. He had been dead for hours before she arrived. None of them knew anything about it. Otherwise he wouldn't have gone to work."

"Oh."

I don't know what else to say. They were like my family after mum and dad died. They accepted Draco so easily. They accepted me so easily after I had announced my love for Draco. I don't know how much they knew I cared. I didn't know how to ever tell them how much it meant to have them there for me through the years. And Draco's right. It's too late.

But it's not.

Here's my epiphany.

"Let's go camping."

"What?" Tony asks disbelievingly.

Draco is looking at me like he knows what I'm saying.

"Let's go camping," I repeat, wilder this time, sitting all the way up.

"That's cr-"

"Okay."

I smile at Draco.

"And we'll take all our old school friends and their families," he adds.

"And you can bring Kris," I tell Tony. He's still looking at us as though we're from another planet, but I can tell he's going to want to.

"When will we go?"

"When the laundry is finished," I smile, getting up and dusting the sand off me. "Anyone for a swim?"

As I run off to the waves I distinctly hear Tony ask Draco "what is she on?"

"Life," was the response. And it's true. If I only have less than six months to live, I want to live it to the fullest, with the people I love. I hear the other two splashing behind me, and I turn to be embraced by Draco. Tony joins the hug and we fall, splashing and yelling, into the on coming waves. If only Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Blaise were here. It would be just like old times.

A horn honks from the beach and the three of us look up. No kidding. There they are, the girls and Blaise running into the water to join us.

"You're alive!" Ginny yells, laughing as she pushes me back into the water.

"Yeah," I gasp, grinning from ear to ear at her. "What did you do to your hair?"

Ginny gets up and twirls for us to have the full view.

"Do you like it?" she asks, running her hand through the wet spikes. "I needed a change for the summer."

"It's a change, alright," Draco smiles. He slaps Harry and Ron on their backs as they join the rest of us in the ocean.

"Good to see you guys again," Harry says, grinning at Tony especially.

"I can't believe you didn't invite us!" Ron exclaims, and Luna slaps his arm.

"It was a family outing," I say, knowing full well that that won't pass for them.

"And we aren't family?" Blaise asks, laughing, as he pushes me down into the water.

"It was immediate fam–" Draco begins, but Ginny pushes him into the water before he can finish his sentence. I can't stop laughing.

"Oh yeah," Ginny grins, trying to fend off Harry who has begun to splash her, "because we're all so distant."

I can see Tony out of the corner of my eye, laughing at us all.

"What are you laughing at?" Luna asks him suspiciously, and he takes off through the water. We all watch Luna take him down into deeper water, and we all cheer.

"Argh! Not cool!" he shouts as we all run out to them, dog piling and splashing in the waves.