Hermione felt as though she were in some surreal world as she walked down the aisle, firmly clenching her father's arm to keep her steady. She felt both light-headed and nauseous from nerves and anxiety. Life as she knew it would be over in a few precious moments. When she walked back down this aisle, she would be married to Draco Malfoy. At that moment, she caught sight of Draco and felt heat flush her cheeks and warm the pit of her stomach. Their eyes met and she realised with a rush that her feelings were mirrored in his eyes. Once again, he had not abandoned her. They would get through this together, much in the same way that they would be there for each other over the course of their life together. Abruptly, the aisle, which had felt all to short to Hermione, seemed never-ending as she tried to reach her love. Then she was there, her father was placing her hand in Draco's, and Hermione was home, lost in his grey-blue eyes which were trained on her face drinking it in, a huge smile on his face.

Hermione didn't hear much of the ceremony, nor the speeches or the Ministry official's words as he droned on and on. Her concentration was entirely focused on Draco's (her soon to be husband's!) warm hand enveloping hers, his thumb stroking hers. Then it was time for their unity ceremony. Instead of the muggle candle tradition, they mixed sand. The idea had actually been Draco's. He had been inspired by Hermione mentioning the candle lighting tradition and had tailored it to represent their relationship. His sand was black and hers was white. The colours mixed together in intricate patterns that would be unique to them no matter how many other people did it. Dark and light, mixing to form something beautiful. She couldn't stop crying as she did it, so overcome was she with happiness, which made her cry even more out of guilt for all of her doubt. It felt completely cathartic and when they were done all that she wanted to do was say the two magic words, "I do."

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long, and when she said the words she began crying all over again, spurred on by the fact that tears of joy welled in Draco's eyes as she vowed her undying love to him. When the Ministry official announced that he may kiss his bride, Draco all but yanked Hermioen to him as he dove in to kiss her, his wife, in earnest. Never before had he been so happy. Never before had he felt that he deserved happiness, but now with Hermione, he realised that he did, because when she broke apart and looked up at him in utter contentment, he realised that he made her happy, that he complete her. And that told Draco that for once, he was finally doing something right. Impulsively, he leaned down and kissed her again to happy titters from the onlookers. As they walked hand-in-hand down the aisle as a married couple, it crossed many people's minds how they were witnessing something that a year ago would simply never have crossed anyone's mind; the concept would have been beyond absurd, almost indescribable in its unlikeliness. Yet here Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were, walking down the aisle as man and wife, smiles a mile wide and clearly very much in love.

The wedding reception afterwards was a wonderful celebration of that love. Everyone roared with laughter when Parvati caught the bouquet and Blaise the garter—fitting, given that they were to be wed ten days from now. The reception was awe-inspiring. Hermione and Draco had opted to have their reception in the newly repaired Room of Requirement, and it had gloriously risen to the occasion. It had stretched to an ideal size—big enough to be spacious and not cramped, but not too big to lose its intimacy. Plates of food whisked themselves around on silver platters accompanied by golden goblets filled with spirits. The floor looked like sand and the walls looked like a stretch of ocean, giving that wonderfully exhilarating feeling that you get when you stand at the beach and look out across the ocean feeling as though you were really at the end of the earth. Draco and Hermione had chosen this theme in honour of the honeymoon they couldn't presently have. The music was a mix of Hermione's favourite muggle jams and Draco's favourite wizarding tunes, both of which kept the guests on their feet when they weren't congratulating the happy couple and telling them how fantastic they looked. While the newly-wed couple was having a great time, they were both also eager to leave and begin the next step. Hermione was feeling quite nervous though, and given Draco's history why wouldn't she be? How high of standards did she have to live up to? Sensing this, her mother pulled her aside to have one of those terribly awkward conversations that parents insist on putting their kids through that in the end, are extremely useful.

"Hermione dear, I know that you're feeling very nervous. Without going into gory details, I'm just going to say this: whatever he may have done in the past, just keep in mind that Draco will be with you tonight because he loves you. It's very different, and it will never be able to compare with anything he's done before. Now. Let's talk about something else...like how beautiful you looked today! Oh my, I couldn't stop crying, I soaked through both of your father's handkerchiefs!"

Just like that, her mother was off on another subject, crying again, and though Hermione chatted with her normally, she was busy processing what her mother had told her.

Soon enough, it was time to put her mother's theory to the test. Hermione and Draco found themselves alone in their room. Their friends had made a big show of casting muffliato charms over it as Draco carried her over the threshold. "Well. This has been an eventful day!" Draco joked. "And the happiest one of my life," he added softly, looking at her with that look of utter happiness, the deepest kind, that he had had when she'd met him at the altar. As he was saying all of this, his hands had been busy unzipping the back of her dress, pushing it down her shoulders, until she stood before him in the lingerie he had chosen using her Christmas gift. His selection surprised her—a black, modest, lacy dress type thing that fell just below her hips. It emphasised all of her assets but didn't overtly show them. Even so, Hermione felt heat flood her cheeks and she said, "Give me a minute okay," rushing to their bathroom as she said so. Once there, she splashed cold water over her cheeks and tried to regain control. Her mother's words echoed in her mind, and she pondered them. Suddenly, her mind was full of images and memories of Draco—the glowing way he looked at her whenever she entered a room, his face as they exchanged vows, all of the messages he had sent her as her "Secret Admirer," his thumb stroking her hand as they held hands waiting to be married...when she thought about all of that, and how utterly happy he made her, she realised that this next step was utterly right and felt completely natural. When she emerged from the washroom, she was wearing only the earrings that he had given her on Christmas Eve, sparkling with their symbolic ambiguity. Draco's eyes widened in surprise and his huge smile expressed appreciation. Something else did too, making her blush. Heat burned in the pit of her belly which tightened in happiness as when he came up to her, his eyes and hands lingered only on her face, caressing it, as though it were the most precious thing in the world. "You are so beautiful," he murmured, "I'm so lucky."

"As am I," she replied. This time it was she who took charge of the undressing, ensuring that he became as exposed as she. With that, they began the intimate dance that was the final step of exposing themselves to the other, as well as of expressing their deep love. And as Gryffindor and Slytherin became one, it did not cross their minds for an instant how this would never have happened six months ago, because now, it felt so right.

Hope I adhered to the rating. ;) Gosh I'm so happy that they're finally at this stage, its been quite a rocky journey! I'm trying to decide how much detail/how many chapters to include between now and the pregnancy/baby because really, it'd either have to be everyday boring or arguments they have now that they're married, and really, I don't want to make them argue more. :/ if you have any ideas, please do share—review, review!