Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, plots or stories.

Hogwarts Reunion

"Hermione?"

Hermione turned around to face a pretty, aristocratic woman with curious eyes.

"Yes?"

"Hermione what did you do?" Despite the flush of embarrassment Hermione felt at the question, she tried to smile brightly and shrug it off. Ever since her retransformation back to her old self, she had encountered these kinds of queries from people who had gotten used to her glossier look. It had been a hard choice—trading in her sleek look for her old tangle of hair and her softer curves, but Hermione had never regretted her decision. After the war, it all just seemed so pointless—the fake personage parading around. And for what? No one cared if she was a supermodel. Hermione had been so tired of everyone gawking at her, commenting on every piece of her person, so she had simply stopped pretending. She didn't need magic to be pretty—or happy. The toothy smile spread across her face was evidence of that.

The woman looked pleased with the change, even if it had come as somewhat of a surprise. The last time she had seen Hermione, the girl had been so decked out that it was nearly impossible to tell that the bookish, little know-it-all was really behind all of the glitz. She was glad Hermione had returned to her old self. All of the stuff from school had just seemed so silly and nonsensical. Things were much more real now. Hermione had transformed herself back to what she really was—not a Clique member, not some socialite—just a girl. Hermione Granger.

"Pansy?" Hermione guessed after a second, the smile on her face growing even wider at the familiar face. Pansy, who had tried to keep her well-bred façade up for as long as she could, broke it instantly with a very unladylike squeal, pulling Hermione into a bone-crunching hug.

"Hermione, I knew you were too boring to keep up your rock-star image I gave you," Pansy teased, pulling away to stare at her friend. Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled. Pansy would never change and there was something comforting in that.

"I wasn't sure about coming," Hermione found herself admitting, "with the un-makeover and with everything that's happened—," Hermione trailed off, letting Pansy draw her own conclusions. She had dreaded coming back and having to confront the pretty Slytherin and judging by the greeting they had exchanged, Hermione was beginning to wonder whether or not Pansy even knew everything that had happened. Surprisingly though, Pansy just shrugged, flipping her hand as if it was no big deal.

"Hermione, it's okay—I know," she admitted but Hermione wasn't any more at ease. She avoided eye contact but couldn't help a quick glance into Pansy's eyes. Pansy didn't even look troubled by this though, and gave Hermione a reassuring look.

"Listen Hermione—Draco and I never would have worked out, and besides that—," Hermione smiled at Pansy's flippant response. She knew Pansy would never openly accept defeat, but she couldn't understand how Pansy could have forgiven her so easily.

"—and after all that, how could I not marry Blaise?" Hermione's jaw dropped open in shock.

"You what?" She demanded, the surprise evident in her tone. Pansy smiled, waving a sizable diamond in Hermione's face.

"Well its all because of you Hermione! I would have never needed to make Draco jealous, if he didn't like you, so you got me and Blaise together, and I couldn't be more grateful!"

Hermione stunned, just laughed with Pansy, and together, the two girls headed over to join the larger crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Harry began nobly and Hermione caught her breath. Since the war, he had become so much—older. Everyone had, really. No one was left unchanged and, for the most part, these changes were for the better. Harry though, seemed to glow with maturity and Hermione couldn't have been prouder of her old friend.

"We are here to celebrate, and commemorate all that has happened since our graduation from Hogwarts. But firstly, on a graver note, I would like to memorialize all of those lost to the war by reading out their names in remembrance."

Hermione glanced around the crowd, trying to find one certain person. Ginny was standing close by, gazing in awe up at Harry. Ron and Hannah were holding hands, smiling at eachother every now and then, and Pansy was sitting on the lap of a happy looking Blaise, who it appeared to be in a warped conversation with…Draco.

As subtly as she could, Hermione began to weave her way through the crowd as Harry continued to read the names of those people who had met misfortune during the course of battle.

"…Padma Patil, Gregory Goyle, Remus Lupin…,"

Trying to ignore the moans and stifled cries of the members of the crowd, Hermione kept her gaze locked on Draco. He glanced over, a self-satisfied grin across his face.

He was always happy to see her.

Blaise nodded towards Hermione. The hatred between Slytherin and the rest of the houses had nullified since the defeat of Voldemort, but the house enmity was still present. Hermione tried to ignore it but she had to admit that sometimes it still hurt to know she was despised.

"—and lastly, Lucius Malfoy," Harry ended grimly, although Hermione had to admit that he didn't look as sympathetic as he had when he was reading some of the other names.

Draco flinched, but smiled at Hermione who was looking at him to make sure he was alright.

So much had happened since the war, and yet—it was always in the back of their minds.

"And now, please join me in welcoming Hermione Granger who will present us with a speech she has prepared for the occasion."

Hermione gave Draco a quick kiss on the cheek, who reassuringly squeezed her hand tightly, wishing her good luck, before taking a reassuring gulp and walking on stage. Whispers trailed after Hermione from people who hadn't seen her since her un-transformation but Hermione was pleased to note all of them were positive. She even heard Parvati hiss to her companion that, "Padma would have been proud to see her again."

Reaching the place where Harry stood, she smiled at him and allowed him to give her a brief hug before turning to face the occupants of the Great Hall. She gripped the podium for support.

"If somebody told me that I would have to give a speech to the entire year when I was Head Girl, I think I would have had it written by the second day of school," Hermione paused as a ripple of laughter floated through the crowd. When there was silence once more, she smiled and continued. "But now, I don't need a piece of paper to remind myself of what we've all been through."

There were nods of approval, and some tearful bursts, all of which prompted Hermione to continue.

"A few years ago, if someone had told me that a Slytherin would save my life, or that I would have consequently developed significant feelings for said Slytherin, I would have been horrified." Hermione paused, glancing to an embarrassed-looking Draco who appeared cowed by this encomium. "Thankfully though, I have finally opened my eyes—along with many of you—to the people we have always chosen to ignore. After all that has happened during the war and because of it, I have realized exactly how much I depend on being accepted, and accepting the help of others.

"It is only together that we can work on bringing back our community. Years of hatred will have to be forgotten in order to work towards a better future. The past, and all that has happened, will be hard to disregard, but we must learn to forget our prejudices and our ignorance in order to band together for a stronger, more united front. This is not to say that we can all forget all of the wrongs that people have done to us in the past—believe me, I remember them more than anyone. The aforementioned Slytherin is still paying for some of his transgressions," another wave of laughter rippled through the group. Blaise, who was standing with Pansy, reached over and gave Draco a playful punch in the shoulder, whispering something to him that made him blush even redder. Emboldened, Hermione continued. "Despite all of these wrongs however, we have to realize that in order to create the future we want, we have to forget our internecine battles and start to see people for who they have become, not the people they were."

There was silence as Hermione concluded her dialogue, nodding slightly towards Harry who was lingering near the podium for his cue to return and begin the evening's planned festivities. Then, as she was descending the small stairway back onto the floor of the Great Hall, there was a roar of applause that brought a distinctive flush to Hermione's already-rosy cheeks.

As she made her way down the platform though, Hermione had one thought in her mind and that was returning to her Slytherin paramour. Draco, who seemed just as agog in finding Hermione, laced his way through the crowd in order to meet her halfway.

"That was some speech," Draco whispered, slipping his arm around her waist and leading her back to where Blaise and Pansy were telling a very bored-looking pair about their recent nuptials.

"It was nothing," Hermione blushed, shrugging it off. "I just—I wanted to try and inspire something. A change in the way people think or something like that—I guess that's kind of silly though, huh?" Draco shook his head, pulling her close.

"Naw—I think it was pretty damn brilliant if you ask me. Quite inspiring, actually," Draco smiled, whispering into Hermione's tangle of hair. She laughed, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Oh really? Inspiring? How so?" She demanded, turning to face the blond boy who she had come to admire over the past few months. Seeing him step up to the challenge of executor of the Malfoy estate had really changed him in Hermione's eyes. After his father's death, there had been so many ends to tie up, so many things to take care of, that Hermione wondered whether Draco was even capable of managing it all. To her surprise though, he had done it all. He had managed to tie up all of his father's business dealings without gaining many enemies in the process. He had undone the various fear tactics Lucius had been fond of employing on his workers, which had created a level of trust among the house elves (which Draco flat out refused to let go, despite Hermione's pleading). He had even stepped in and taken care of his mother, who seemed lost without Lucius' domineering ways.

Like so many of her classmates, the war had changed Draco. Fortunately though, it seemed that the change had been for the better.

"Hermione! Draco!"

Hermione and Draco, both slightly miffed at not being able to continue their private talk, turned to face Harry and Ginny who were heading their way. Ron and Hannah it seemed had gone off in search of a quieterplace to continue their evening. As Hermione and Ginny embraced jovially, Harry and Draco exchanged an obligatory nod at eachother, each standing next to their respective girlfriends. Although Draco and Harry had agreed not to bicker and leave their petty elementary arguments behind, they were nowhere near friendship and oftentimes found themselves at a loss for what to say to eachother. The only thing they had in common was Hermione, and as much as she tried to coax them into something resembling camaraderie they found it was too hard to do, even for Hermione. They still tried though, and for that Hermione was eternally grateful.

"You were great up there," Ginny praised, smiling at Hermione. She was beaming and had been since Harry had proposed, a few short months after the war. Everyone it seemed was swept up in the feeling of their own mortality, and had since been doing the live-like-you-were-dying bit which ranged from proposals, declarations of love, and general feelings of restlessness—a few of which had been cured by entering equally dangerous tasks.

"Thanks—I was praying that no one could see how badly my legs were shaking," Hermione admitted, waving off the praise. Draco shook his head, giving Hermione's side a gentle squeeze that bumped her back into his side.

"Not tonight Hermione. You were amazing up there," he agreed, growling delightfully into her ear.

"He's right Hermione—you really got to people. Everyone's talking," Harry said, nodding in Draco's direction. It was the closest he had come to acknowledging the fact that Draco may have said something right, and Hermione saw it as definite progress.

"Well, thanks then. I was just hoping not to flounder."

"You were amazing—but I think if we don't go try and find Ron and Hannah now we'll lose them altogether," Ginny laughed, tugging Harry along behind her in search of her wayward brother. Hermione and Draco watched them go, smiling at the picture they made. Despite how you felt about them, you had to marvel at their affection for one another.

"Quite the inspiration, don't you think?" Hermione pondered nostalgically, looking to Draco. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, and nodded instead.

"You know I've never tried to copycat Potter," Draco began, fumbling in his pockets for a tiny velvet box, "so all I can say is that this is after Blaise and Pansy's impromptu—if not slightly disturbing—union."

Hermione paused, shock coursing over her. It was true that she and Draco had been together for quite a while now, but somewhere, deep in the back of Hermione's head, she always feared that he would one day "snap out of it", realizing that she had just been the ultimate rebellion against the life his father had created for him. Now though, Draco seemed so genuine and honest.

They would never be a perfect match. Their vastly different upbringings often led them to various quarrels where they were pitted against eachother in a vicious verbal exchange. He didn't get along with her friends, and his friends didn't much like her. But to Hermione and Draco,

None of that mattered.

Hermione smiled, wiggling her newly-bejeweled finger so that the diamond caught the light.

"Well?" Draco urged. Hermione had been quick to accept the ring, but she had yet to vocalize her consent. She smiled, leaning in so that their lips were almost touching.

"Well, if this isn't a testament to what I was saying up there, I don't know what is," Hermione laughed, giving Draco a quick kiss on the lips. He smiled.

"So that's a yes?" Hermione nodded.

"Of course." Draco smiled, relieved. He had figured that Hermione would say yes, but he wasn't entirely sure. Her assent however was greatly appreciated.

"I can't wait to see the look on everyone's faces when we tell them," Hermione laughed, admiring her ring again. Draco smiled thoughtfully.

"Potter may very well have a heart attack on the spot," he mused almost hopefully. Hermione swatted his chest, rolling her eyes at his grim expectations. Draco smiled. "Well, what are we waiting for, the wedding? Let's go tell him!" Hermione laughed out loud, pulling Draco back towards her. She smiled.

"I think that we can wait a minute or so before we tell everyone," Hermione suggested to a puzzled looking Draco.

"What? Why?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could take Ronald's advice and find a," Hermione paused, smirking devilishly, "quieter place to celebrate by ourselves first." Draco smiled, catching on to Hermione's suggestions. Over the course of their courtship, Draco had endured numerous comments from his Slytherin friends regarding the chastity of his relationship with Hermione, but Draco was positive that they were all wrong. His friends didn't know anything. She would be a Slytherin in no time. Hermione smiled. Harry and the rest of her friends would be horrified by her less-than-proper actions.

But the Clique, which Hermione had come to regard as a distant, yet pleasant, memory, would heartily approve.

THE END