This is! The final chapter! It's rather short but I believe it wraps things up quite nicely.

Draco stared at the woman across from him as she wrung her fingers, clearly trying to figure out what to say.

"I have feelings for you," she finally stated, not meeting his eyes. "And I know I shouldn't, because I love Ron, I really do, but when I'm with you it feels… different." She looked at him then and he saw the worry, the curiosity, and the hopefulness behind her eyes. "I know you feel it too."

Draco shook his head, looking away from her. "It doesn't matter how I feel. Ron's a good bloke and I have too much respect for him to let anything happen between us."

"But—"

"I think you need to go home, Hermione. Go home and think about what you really want."

He shut the door slowly and waited until he heard her footsteps walk away before letting out a shuddering breath. He went to his kitchen once more, finally throwing back the second tumbler of whiskey he had poured himself.

He didn't know if he should be patting himself on the back or kicking his own arse about turning Hermione away now that she finally admitted having feelings for him.

And the truth was he had feelings for her, too. He glanced at the calendar and realized there was just a little over two weeks until the wedding. Maybe he should just give them over to Blaise, avoid Hermione all together. Then, maybe, he'd finally be able to move on. Perhaps even let his mother set him up again, or maybe he could attempt things with Astoria once his head was clear.

With determination to take some time to focus on himself, Draco went off to bed, making a mental note to talked to Blaise about taking over the Weasley-Granger wedding.

"I don't understand," Blaise said as Draco spoke to him the following day. "Why do you want to pass off a client to me now? There are only a few weeks left."

"It's complicated," Draco grumbled under his breath. He had yet to tell him of Hermione's declaration of feelings and seeing as how Blaise's clients just pulled up, now wasn't the time to delve into the story just yet.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Let me look at my schedule more closely later today."

Draco's shoulders nearly sagged in relief. "Thanks, mate. Pints after work?"

With a nod, Blaise turned his attention to his clients, greeting them and escorting them to his office.

Later that day, Draco was busy going over details for another client when there was a knock on his office door.

Looking up, he saw Ron standing there.

"Hello, Ron," Draco said with a nod in greeting. He stood and walked over to shake the man's hand, as he did with all of his clients when they stopped by. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Ron ran a hand through his hair and blew out a sigh. "I wanted to ask you something…"

Dread pooled in Draco's stomach. Did Hermione tell Ron she had feelings for him?

"Oh? What is it?" he asked calmly.

"It's Hermione," Ron said. "She's been acting, I dunno, different I suppose."

"How so?" Draco asked, trying to hide the fact that his heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest.

"She just seems distant. Whenever I try to talk to her about the wedding, she changes the subject. I'm starting to wonder if she's changing her mind—"

"I'm sure that's not it," Draco said automatically.

"I'm starting to wonder if I'm changing my mind as well," Ron said, his ears turning pink at the admission.

Well… Draco certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Oh," the blond managed to say. "Have you spoken to Hermione about it?"

Ron shook his head. "How can I? We've always talked about getting married and starting a family. I can't take that away from her. My brother, George, reckons I'm just having cold feet."

Draco nodded in agreement. "It could be; a lot of my clients go through it."

"Yeah?" Ron asked, somewhat hopeful. "Do they still end up getting married? Or do they go their separate ways?"

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, they go through with the wedding and are still together for years to come."

"And the other one percent?" Ron asked.

"Well, there was one or two who cancelled, or in the very rare instance, left at the altar," Ron paled slightly, "but those are very rare instances. And if I know Hermione, she wouldn't do that to you. She loves you too much."

"I suppose you're right," Ron said, chuckling. "Must just be nerves."

"I'll tell you what I say to all my questioning clients: Think on it. If you're still feeling the same in a few days, talk to her and make a decision together."

When Draco hadn't heard from Ron or Hermione over the next couple of days, he assumed that the two were still going through the wedding. He worked out his schedule with Blaise—as well as filling his friend in on what had happened—and while he didn't mind finalising the details, he found that he couldn't bring himself to attend the actual wedding ceremony.

During the last meeting he had with the pair, he informed them that something came up and he wouldn't be able to be there for the wedding. He reassured them that Blaise was caught up to speed on all the details, and he would be an excellent replacement.

Draco had taken a chance to look at Hermione, and he saw that she was fighting back tears but nodded at him, saying that she understood. Ron, who was oblivious to Hermione's emotions, had shaken Draco's hand and thanked him for all the work he did over the last few months before taking Hermione's hand and leading her out of the office.

Call it self preservation or call it cowardice, but Draco couldn't watch the woman he was falling in love with marry another bloke. So, with Blaise in his stead, Draco took a rare day off. He had originally planned on staying in and watching the telly to get his mind off Hermione. When he got bored, he set out to a local eatery for some fish and crisps before taking a walk, hands stuffed in his pockets as his feet led him wherever they wanted. Even though it was a crisp December evening, Draco didn't care, and he wasn't surprised when he found himself at a park—the same one he met Hermione at many months ago. He saw that they were starting up another movie, so in a last-minute decision he purchased a bag of M&Ms from the vendor and went over to the same spot as before. As he leaned against the tree, the projector started the film, and he let his mind get lost in the story as he picked out red candies from the bag.

His cell buzzed in his pocket and a quick glance told him it was Blaise. Shaking his head, he sent his friend to voicemail; he'd get the update on the wedding tomorrow. Tonight, he just wanted to forget all about—

"Draco?"

His heart hammered in his chest at the unmistakable voice, and Draco turned to look at the woman next to him.

Hermione gave a small wave and a hesitant smile. "Hi…" she said quietly before leaning against the tree next to him. She eyed the candy in his hand and raised a brow. "Why are you only eating the red ones? I thought you said they all taste the same;"

Draco blinked a few times before smirking and huffing out a chuckle. "Someone once told me that the red ones taste better. It must have stuck with me."

Hermione laughed softly as she plucked a candy from his palm and popped it into her mouth before turning her attention to the movie. He watched her for a moment before asking, "Hermione, what are you doing here? Where's Ron?"

The corners of her lips twitched. "On his way to the airport, I suppose. We didn't want the tickets to Australia to go to waste after he spent so much on them."

Draco frowned. "I don't understand… Shouldn't you be going on your honeymoon with him?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, seeing as we didn't get married. He's taking his mum on a much-needed vacation instead."

It took a full ten seconds for Draco's brain to catch up with what she said. "You… You didn't get married?" he asked.

Once again Hermione shook her head, her curly hair brushing against her shoulders. "No. Ron and I… It seemed we both came to the same conclusion. We love each other, yes, but we've only ever loved each other. We never gave ourselves the opportunity to do things on our own, to become our own person without the other. We started dating in high school and have never stopped. Getting married was the next logical step, but when we really thought about it, we realized we were getting married to make everyone else happy... Not us."

His eyes searched hers, her breath visible in the chilly air as she continued. "We want different things in life. He wants to have kids right away; I want to continue my work and eventually have kids a few years from now. He wants to see every football game he can attend, while I want to travel and visit famous libraries around the world. I want to experience new things with new people, so does he. There was a lot we realised five minutes before the wedding started, but it came down to this: we wanted to find our own lives. We'll always be friends, but we've become more like roommates than a couple and that's not what we want."

Draco listened as she spoke and swallowed thickly. "And what is it that you want?"

Hermione bit her lip as she looked shyly up at him. "To be honest? I'd like to dance with you, if that's all right?"

She asked at the perfect time, just as a slow ballad played in the background of the movie. Draco extended his hand to her, and she smiled in relief as she took it. He led her through the same dance they did before, twirling and dipping her until she was nearly breathless with laughter.

Her cheeks and nose were pink from the cold, and he was sure his were as well but he couldn't stop himself from smiling down at her.

Draco hesitated for a moment before dipping down to kiss her, but Hermione surged on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

It felt like magic, kissing her.

A warmth radiated from his toes to the top of his head, and when they broke apart, their heads resting against each other's, he asked, "Now what?"

She smiled up at him and kissed him once more. "Anything we want."

~The End~

Thank you all for reading this story! I greatly appreciate each and every one of you!
Major kudos and thanks to NuclearNik who has been my rock-star beta! Make sure to follow me as I have plans to start posting another WIP I've been working on for a while now.

Until next time!
xoxo HufflepuffMommy