Of Endings and Beginnings
In the coming weeks, the marriage law was overturned and all marriages that had taken place as a result of it were dissolved if the parties wished it so. Of the ten couples married under the law, only Hermione and Draco stayed married. Kingsley had been silent all that time until he publicly announced his resignation a month after the gala. The very next day, several older wizards announced their intention to run, including Susan Bones. The public was as Draco had predicted, and helped orchestrate, ready for a fresh face holding the highest office. Many had asked Hermione about her intent to run but she firmly told them every time she only intended to continue her work with her representation firm and now with the Foundation for Muggle-born Equity in Education. The wizarding world wanted a new Minister seated for the start of the Hogwarts term, so on August twenty-ninth elections were held and the next morning Susan was sworn in as Minister for Magic.
In that time, Hermoine in concert with the Headmistress organized the first ever Muggle-born summer school introduction. On August eighteenth, Hermione along with many volunteers welcomed twenty Muggle students and their families to Hogwarts. Hermione and Draco had met with the families at Kings Cross and had crossed Platform 9 ¾ to board the Hogwarts Express. It had long been overlooked that Muggle parents dropping off their witch or wizard would not be able to locate the entrance to the platform as the entrance was heavily warded with Muggle repelling charms. The presence of a greeting party at the Platform helped guide the parents past the charms and through the gate. Once loaded on the train, they were introduced to all the joys of the Hogwarts Express and educated on its history. It turned out the conductor was a wealth of knowledge and loved to share it, but so few children ever cared to learn and the few Muggle-born students who would have benefited would never have known to ask. Arriving at Hogwarts, the students and parents were taken via carriage and an education on Thestrals was given when one of the students jumped at the sight of them before looking around and realizing no one else was scared. Draco had seen the child jump and moved quickly.
"Hi, my name is Draco, I am guessing given your reaction you can see them too," Draco slowly turned and patted the Thestral on the flank, "I am sorry you can see them. You see Thestrals are a very special type of magical creature you will learn more about in school, but can only be seen by witches and wizards who have seen death," Draco said gently.
He glanced up at the father standing with his arm wrapped protectively around his son and had to swallow back emotion as he remembered his own father. The stark contrast from the way his own father protected him and this father comforted and protected his son was painfully acute. Draco took a steadying breath before rising to his feet and meeting the father's eyes.
"It was his mother, she had cancer and we both held her hand as she passed on. He had insisted despite all my protests but in the end it actually provided him a measure of peace seeing her drift off to sleep in peace after so much pain. She passed only last year," the man said, his voice thick with emotion.
"I am sorry for your loss," Draco said sincerely, but then cleared his throat and continued on with his explanation of the Thestrals. "They won't hurt you, they are very scary looking but are gentle giants. They are like a bird of prey but the herd here at Hogwarts are well fed and highly trained and would never attack unless under undue distress. Meaning if you are kind to them, they will be kind to you."
The little boy wrinkled his nose at that, and Draco chuckled, "well now that we have covered the scary looking flying horse creature shall we move on to the castle?"
"A reminder to all parents your children will see the castle as it is long before you do. You will see only a ruin until we pass through the wards that protect the castle," Hermione said over the din of parents and children seated in the carriages.
The group continued on to the castle and as expected the children began to squeal with delight the moment the castle came into view.
"As you pass through the wards you will feel a prickle of magic so be aware. I cannot say what you parents will feel as there have never been non-magical people within the wards since they were erected. It is perfectly safe for you but we just don't have a frame of reference so I would appreciate any and all feedback from you," Hermione said with as much authority and calm as possible.
In truth this had been one of the biggest areas of concern. The wards had been examined to ensure nothing would harm the Muggle parents, but they had no idea if they would feel anything as they passed through. Hermione had wished they could have asked the parents of some of her Muggle-born friends but most of their parents wanted nothing to do with the wizarding world after the war and Hermione couldn't blame them. The moment of truth came and as they passed through the wards the first set of parents passed through without consequence, it was the same for all of them. The most any of the parents noticed was a tingling warm sensation as they crossed the threshold of the wards.
The families were settled in the great hall and dinner was served and the families were noticeably nervous, but most were excited. They were given an itinerary for the next two weeks and a welcome speech. After dinner all were shown to their accommodations and tucked in for the night. The two weeks went off without much in the way of concern, despite Peeves's best efforts. The families departed Hogwarts feeling more confident about the place that would educate their children for the next seven years, along with the world they would one day join.
"Hermione," Draco called up the stairs and waited for her to appear. "McGonagall sent a letter about the first week of school and the difference because of the program. Apparently, it has been a wild success just as you knew it would be," Draco said before pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head.
Hemione beamed up at him.
"I am so pleased, thank you for helping make this dream a reality," she said with a smile.
"I really just footed the bill my love, this was your dream," Draco said, kissing the tip of her nose.
Hermione scrunched her nose and smiled before extricating herself from his embrace to grab her mug of tea. She felt his eyes on her as she pulled out ingredients for breakfast.
"I can feel your eyes burning holes in the back of my head," Hermione said with a smile.
Draco remained quiet for another moment as she continued prepping breakfast.
"I was just thinking about how lucky I am. A few months ago I was returning home after years abroad with no real direction or plan for my future. I honestly didn't know what my future would hold," Draco said quietly, Hermione turned to look at him, "I got that letter and felt cold dread. I thought for sure that I was going to ruin your life. I never imagined we would become friends much less anything else. I was terrified that our wedding night would be a horrible experience that required both of us to have to take calming draughts for. Instead I found myself falling for you a little more each day and then my fear turned into being an unrequited love, but I was determined to love you anyway even if you didn't love me. I know you told me several months ago you had never been loved like I love you; well I never imagined I would ever be loved the way you have loved me. I have done nothing in my life to be worthy of the devotion you have shown me and you do it anyway. My life would be hollow without you—"
Hermione had come around the counter to pull him into an embrace.
"Draco," Hermione said looking into his shining slate grey eyes, "You never had to do anything to be worthy of devotion but you have proven over and over that you are willing to work to be the best version of yourself that you can be. I am so proud to be your wife. Even if I can't believe I live in a reality in which I would say that; it doesn't diminish the fact that is true. I look forward to every moment that we have together, working side by side to build a life we could only have imagined as children, or maybe I could imagine. I imagine you didn't really dream of the same world I did given your view of the world at the time. Besides, it's not like you have a choice, you are stuck with me, remember," Hermione said with a teasing smile.
"Yes, let's build the world of your childhood dreams as mine would be a decided step backwards, I was a bit of a prat if you recall," Draco retorted.
They laughed for a moment before she caught his cheeks in her hands, her face serious. Draco pulled in a shaky breath as she held his gaze for a moment before she leaned in slowly to place a kiss on his upper then lower lip before slowly pulling back and whispering.
Animo meo tibi alligo ab hac hora usque ad mortem
Draco's heart soared. He had found the other half of his soul in a person who he had been to blind to see for too many years, but he wouldn't waste another moment lamenting over the past. From this moment, only the life they built together mattered and together they could do anything.