EPILOGUE:
It was quiet morning at her London Office, as Hermione Granger sipped at her coffee from behind her desk. Nearly six months after the end of the war, and the reconstruction work had barely just begun. She had been working in the office all throughout the last four years, ever since she had graduated from Hogwarts, unable to run away from England after all that had occurred. Even now, though the war had ended, she could not make herself contemplate leaving. There were still many cases left unsolved in the aftermath of the battles: Death Eater spells and curses that had outlived their masters, Giant riots among those few tribes Hagrid had been unable to persuade to the Order's side, and countless cases of missing persons whose families awaited a long yearned sense of closure.
Who are you kidding Granger? She asked herself, her better sense resonating in her mind in the only voice that had ever truly gotten through: Draco's.
So I'm still trying to find my own closure, she accepted, her heart clenching slightly at the old memory. It had taken her a long time to come to grips with his death and forgive herself for it. Guilt is a strange feeling, often times ignoring all actual reason when it so chooses. But she had let go, for better or for worst, and she was sure that she had grown because of it.
We all did, she concluded, allowing herself the briefest smile at the picture that waved at her from her desk: that of Ginny and Zabini standing with their first born child: Draco Zabini. The two had grown very close in the aftermath of Draco's death, and it seemed fated that they should marry upon graduating. After all, they had been living in dangerous times, so there had been no time to loose. She smiled back at the picture, wondering if the two would have ever found each other had she never dared to make peace with her fellow head boy.
Would I have ever even found myself? She wondered, thinking of all she had discovered through her friend's deep blue eyes. He had challenged her world at every moment, daring her to look beyond what she had allowed herself to see. He had let her know the meaning of true bravery, of loyalty, of sacrifice, of love. And thought it had come at a very painful cost, the result was worth it.
Was it worth dying for, Draco? She considered, not for the first time, though she had long since concluded that it had been. He must have known what he'd face upon entering the Malfoy Manor a traitor, but it had been the price for being right. War does not determine who is right, but rather who is left, and in this process all too many good men and women are lost to the comings and goings of war. She would never fully know what had gone through his mind during his dying moments, but she hoped he had understood the value of his sacrifice. The information he had bestowed on the Order proved priceless in the end, and more lives were saved because of it than could ever be measured. He had taken the hard path, a choice that had cost him his life, but the reward had been immense.
"Miss Granger, you have another case. Another missing person report" announced the voice from the speaker on her desk, and she pushed her thoughts away. For better or for worst, life had moved on, and she knew that little by little, step by step, they were rebuilding a world Draco would have been proud of.
"Send it in" she replied, feeling strong and confident, the memory of her last year at Hogwarts and those precious days with one life altering Draco Malfoy making her the person she was today.
"Please take a seat" she mumbled under her breath as she heard the door close, her eyes busy looking for a new file among her drawers.
"Hello Granger" said the voice as he entered her office and for a moment she didn't glance up, too used to hearing that same voice speak to her mind to truly acknowledge what had just occurred. But as he cleared his throat and stepped forward, she glanced up from her files and saw the face she thought she would never see again.
There he stood, blond hair longer than she remembered, with a scar crossing over his right eyebrow. Her eyes immediately dropped to the stump of an arm above his left limb, a sloppy cut filled with ugly scars, almost as if sawed off right above where a death eater mark would be. But despite his battered body, witness of more crimes and pains than anyone should ever be forced to endure, his eyes still shone with as the same proud blues from her memories and the sight of them made her crumble to her knees.
"I never left London" she blurted out, because she somehow needed to let him know just how much he'd changed her life. He chuckled, a tense sound.
"Neither did I" he replied, though his voice was hesitant. "Dumbledore's penseive... it was incomplete. I... I apologize for that." He paused, looking at his shoes as he fidgeted. He thinks I'm angry at him, she realized numbly as he continued: "But it was necessary. You couldn't know they had saved me... you would have tried to find me... and then you wouldn't have been safe" He was about to add something when she made up her mind that five years of thinking him for dead were enough. Without warning, she ran over towards him and swung her arms around him, burying her face against his battered form.
"Don't you ever do that to me again" she managed, and a trademark Malfoy grin spread through his features. He kissed her forehead, forcing her to look into his eyes for her answer. Wow, she though, finding a depth behind those blues that had been all too lacking in her life. How did I ever imagine myself going on without this? And looking into them, she knew that there was only one last thing to say:
"Welcome home".
Author's Note:
Hope you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for all your support! I will update soon with some DELETED SCENES (Trust me, you won't want to miss these!) Plus some very deserved individual thank you to some very special reviewers and my best reviewer awards!
Oh! Like always, Harry Potter and so forth belong to JK Rowling.
Also, part of this chapter is from a quote from Bertrand Russell which states: "War does not determine who is right- only who is left"
LOVE YA GUYS!
