Epilogue

The Wedding

August had brought with it a thick blanket of heat. Any journey outside was sure to result in a layer of sweat quickly forming and Hermione was grateful setting up her shop allowed her to spend so much time in the cool interior of her future store. Now, however, she was dressed in the lightest dress she owned, forced to face the weather for Daphne and Blaise's wedding.

Draco had spent the night out for Blaise's stag party and she wasn't certain she wanted to ask what had occurred. Daphne's hen night had been held earlier in the week and had consisted of a quiet, refined dinner and fancy cocktails at the bride's favourite bar. Hermione had in bed with Draco before midnight and he had made no promises of doing the same for his best friend's party.

As soon as she stepped outside, the air was tight around her. It was barely after nine o'clock but Hermione knew that if she was to spend any more than ten minutes in the heat, she would begin to sweat. Ensuring her residence was correctly warded and looking through the front window at just how ready her shop was to meet the world, Hermione smiled as she Disapparated.

She appeared outside the gates of Daphne's home. They had been left open and she walked up the long driveway, feeling sweat collect on the back of her neck. Daphne was waiting to greet her when she reached the front door wearing a silk robe, her hair tied off her face and not a trace of makeup.

"You're late," Daphne said, hugging Hermione and kissing both her cheeks. "Come on, we best start getting you ready."

Hermione followed Daphne up the stairs and into the bedroom which she had stayed in over Easter break. Now, the room had been transformed into some sort of dressing room. Astoria and Pansy were already being tended to, having their nails painted carefully by enchanted brushes. There were glasses of champagne sitting on the tables in front of them and elaborate fruit platters, Daphne rushing Hermione to one of the empty seats.

"Now, leave your things here. Go and put on one of the robes in the bathroom and then they'll get started on your nails and we'll go from there," Daphne said.

"I'd suggest allowing extra time to work on her hair," Pansy commented, eliciting a chuckle from Astoria. Hermione rolled her eyes and Daphne pointedly ignored her bridesmaid as she returned to her seat to have her preparation continue.

Hermione did as she was told, remaining entirely in her head as she changed and returned to the makeshift dressing room and took her seat. As her nails began to be magically worked on, an enchanted nail file working to smooth the edges down, her mind drifted to a niggling thought that had existed in her head since the first night she had spent with Draco in her new apartment. It was something she had been contemplating for a while but had been too busy to focus on. Now, however, with nothing to distract her but the enchanted nail products and quiet conversation between Astoria and Pansy, the thought was free to take over her mind.

She wrestled with the conundrum as her hair was yanked and straightened and curled and pulled up into an elegant ponytail to match the other bridesmaids, and as the last of her makeup was applied and she was zipped into her dress, her steely Gryffindor courage set in and she made her final decision on the matter, determined to talk to Draco the first chance she got. Hermione could hear guests arriving as she waited upstairs with Pansy and Astoria, Daphne being zipped into her dress in the dressing room.

For her bridesmaids, Daphne had opted for dresses which just grazed the floor as they stood in teetering heels, the satin pale pink and crinkled, ruched at the waist and dropping elegantly down. The dresses were spectacular in their simplicity and Hermione was terrified to lean against anything for fear of damaging the material in some way. She held onto the bouquet of delicate white carnations carefully, just wishing time would pass faster and they day would go on.

The door to the bedroom opened and Daphne emerged, preceded by her tearful mother who quickly descended down the stairs to take her seat. Beautiful as ever, the Slytherin had pulled out all the stops for her wedding day. Her dress was something out of a fairytale, with swathes of tulle artfully layered atop each other. With long sleeves, one shoulder exposed, and an intricately beaded bodice, she looked ethereal. Her blonde hair was restrained in a messy bun at the nape of her neck, held in place with a hairpin that glimmered with every step she took.

"Well?" Daphne asked, shifting slightly so they could see the back of the dress and the true artistry of her entire appearance.

"Daphne, you look beautiful. Really, really beautiful," Hermione said, reaching out and squeezing her friend's hand. The sight of her friend looking so radiant and happy brought a thick knot of emotion to Hermione's throat and again, she willed for the ceremony to be over, worried her courage would waver. As the thought crossed her mind again, Daphne and Astoria's father arrived at the top of the stairs, signalling that it was time for everything to begin.

"Are you nervous, Daph?" Pansy asked, handing the bride her bouquet.

"No," Daphne said, shaking her head and dislodging a few locks of hair which fell carefully around her face. "Just excited."

As the wedding was to be held on the grounds, they were able to take their time as they made their way down the stairs, guests already assembled outside and waiting. Hermione was certain her nerves were running more amok than Daphne's were. The bride was the most relaxed out of everyone. Her father had wet eyes and kept clearing his throat as he helped his daughter down the stairs, and Pansy and Astoria both seemed anxious for Daphne who floated down as though she didn't have a care in the world.

When they reached the bottom and made it to the back door, they took their places. Pansy was to be the first bridesmaid, followed by Hermione, then Astoria. The music struck up and Pansy smiled at the group before exiting through the almost-sheer curtains which had been hung up. Hermione counted the beats of the classic wedding march, waiting as they had all practiced until the time was perfect for her to make her entrance. She took a deep breath and willed herself not to trip as she pushed through the fabric.

The garden had been decorated beautifully, again looking as though it was out of a woodland fairytale. Flowers seemed to blossom from everywhere and magic was heavy in the air, in aura and atmosphere, as Hermione followed Pansy down the aisle. Her focus was on Draco, waiting at the altar, grinning at her with pure joy. For a brief moment she imagined herself in a white dress floating on an aisle made of flower petals. She took her spot beside Pansy, opposing one of Blaise's cousins on the side of the groomsmen, and gave a relieved laugh as she looked at Draco. He hadn't taken his eyes off her for a moment.

After Astoria joined them, the wedding guests stood up. The music climaxed, and Daphne appeared, her arm linked with her father's. She glowed as they took their time on the aisle, and the general attitude Hermione could garner from the guests was that of awe.

"Holy shit," Blaise said. The wedding party laughed quietly at his exclamation. Hermione was certain she had never seen a couple as in love as the one about to get married and was greeted again by the thick knot in her throat.

Daphne took her place at the alter and her father returned to his seat, and the ceremony was lost to Hermione in a blur of inexplicable tears. They cleared up as Draco pulled the rings from his inside pocket, a pair of platinum rings crafted to look like snakes caught in loops. As the rings were put on, Blaise and Daphne were instructed to take each other's left hand in their own.

"It is with the greatest pleasure," the wizard officiator said, withdrawing his wand from his robes, "that I enter you into the bond of matrimony." Gold sparks fell from the end of his wand as he waved it over their linked hands, the magic settling into their skin. "And now, I am honoured to pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The couple needed no prompting as Blaise pulled his wife into a lengthy kiss, holding her close as the guests stood and applauded. Hermione looked to Draco, knowing he hadn't taken his eyes from her since she first began her walk down the aisle. The ceremony began to dissolve around them as complex enchantments turned the area into a location fit for the reception. Hermione followed Pansy and Astoria back inside, looking back at her boyfriend as he moved congratulate Blaise and Daphne.

Once inside, they quickly abandoned their bouquets and moved to clean themselves up. All three of them had cried and Hermione felt like the emotional outburst had brought them closer in some odd way, a thought only further reinforced when Pansy actually offered her a hug as they gushed over the ceremony. Hermione was able to chime in occasionally, though having had her vision obscured and a ring in her ears, her observations were few and far between.

"We should get back down there before the dancing starts," Pansy said. "There's never a better time to hook up than at a wedding, and I think Draco might combust if he doesn't get his hands on you soon, Granger."

Hermione laughed and joined the pair in their discussions of available men who were in attendance. By the time they returned to the party, the entire area had been transformed into a dream wedding reception. The otherworldly theme had continued throughout and Hermione's breath was taken away by the beauty of it all. She searched through the crowds of people, waiting until there was Draco's flash of blonde hair. He found her at the same time and they met in the middle, right on the edge of the dance floor which was soon to be utilised.

"Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards," came a smooth voice from nowhere clear, though it boomed over the whole party. "Allow me to introduce, for the first time, Mr and Mrs Blaise Zabini."

There was raucous applause as all the guests turned to the back doors to face Blaise and Daphne as they exited, holding hands and looking almost impossibly radiant. At the top of the stairs, they paused and shared a kiss. From somewhere in the crowd, Theo whooped loudly, leading their audience to laugh. The couple broke apart and made their way to the dance floor, slow music starting up as Daphne looped her arms around her husband's neck and Blaise pulled his new wife close to him.

Camera flashes went off as the pair began their first dance as a married couple, spinning elegantly around the dance floor. When the music ended, Blaise dipped his bride and sealed the dance with another long kiss, to more applause from the guests as others began to fill the floor. The music gained in tempo and Hermione followed Draco onto the floor at his insistence.

He held her against his chest, her head on his shoulder and swayed with the music, increasing their steps as the beat quickened. His lips pressed to her forehead and she smiled into his suit jacket.

"You look-," Draco began.

"Draco," Hermione interrupted. She pulled back slightly, looking up into his face. "I love you."

For a few moments he was silent, her heart sinking into her stomach. At the same time, something rose in her throat, an awful fear that she had quashed since the beginning of their relationship, the horrific doubt that Harry and Ron had been right, that Draco was using her for her name, to regain his family's status. All in a rush, she felt nauseas, dizzy, too cold and too hot at the same time. Just as she was about to break away, shattered, Draco leant down and kissed her.

It was like their first kiss, mind-blowing, heart-stopping. In the middle of the dance floor, as a hundred other people twirled around them, dresses fanning out as they dipped and spun, Hermione felt herself melt away underneath Draco's touch. So caught up in the kiss, she lost all knowledge of their place and of societal norms, letting herself get lost, arms wrapped around his neck, fingers tugging lightly on the hair that tickled the nape of his neck.

Breathless when they parted, she couldn't keep the smile from her face. "Does that mean you love me, too?"

With the familiar Malfoy smirk, he kissed her once more, this time softly and slowly. "Something like that."