Six Years Later (2004) \\ The Beginning of Forever and Always \\ WICELA

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series nor everything that comes with it. The rights go to J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is the holes in her stories that I filled with my fantasies.

Draco Malfoy walked into the Ministry of Magic. He caught people staring at him. They looked away the minute they knew Draco had seen them. He hated that. He hated the fact that people recognized him, but didn't surprise him anymore. He'd talked to Hermione Granger the other day and it made him somewhere feel good. They had talked. She actually let him talk to her, while everything had happened. Draco worked in the Ministry of Magic at the Department of Mysteries. It had been hard, but it had been his chance. His family stayed unharmed after the war, because of the fact his mother saved Harry Potter and later on they joined them. That was enough for the Minister of Magic, Kingsley, to give him a job he deserved. Draco was grateful for the opportunities he got and for the way he could live, but that didn't mean he didn't had haters. Haters who sent him Howlers and other stuff. The ministry was doing their best to avoid those things, because their status was cleared by them. Sometimes, Draco saw his fellow Hogwarts classmates in the Ministry. His best friend at Hogwarts, Gregory Goyle was one of the people who got a second chance too. His parents, however, were send to Azkaban. Gregory became a Quidditch player after the Ministry refused to let him work at their place. Draco had seen him once and when Gregory had seen him, they had talked some time. They were both very busy men, so catching up wasn't something they'd done after that meeting. The first time Draco heard from him after that, was when he'd sent Astoria and him a card to congratulate them with their engagement. It told them too that he was currently married, to Pansy Parkinson. Someone else Draco had seen from time to time was Blaise Zabini. The boy was a potioneer and brought his potions to the Department of Intoxicating Substances. Rumor has it he's brewing an amazing new drink. Then there was Hermione Granger, with whom he'd talked the other day. She was working on the rights for magical creatures like house-elves. Harry Potter was already the Head of the Auror Office - this wasn't really a secret; everybody talked about it. Daphne Greengrass worked at the Administrative Registration Department together with her Hogwarts-friends Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis. There was this one time when Draco saw her walking there and her sister Astoria. He knew her name and saw by the looks they were sisters, but that was all. Astoria looked like whole different person compared to Daphne. By the discussion the two of them had when Draco saw them, Draco had understood Daphne wanted Astoria to work at the Administrative Registration Department too, but Astoria just nodded and said she wanted to work at the Department of Mysteries. When Daphne saw him, she'd stepped to him, gladly, and asked him softly where he worked. When he told her his department, Daphne faded a little and Astoria laughed. After that, Astoria and he weren't just two people anymore. They already had a bond because of this and it grew and grew. By the time he fell in love with her, he was just as shy as she was to admit it, but eventually they did and now they were engaged. They both wouldn't wish it had ended otherwise. From her he knew that Blaise ended up with one of Daphne's friends, Tracey. It was good that people let it go and moved on.

"This is the Auror Office, Mr. Malfoy. I'm not sure what you're doing here?" It was a boy he didn't recognize. He looked irritated.

"And who're you?" The boy became more irritated when Draco asked him that.

"Mr. Macmilan for you." Draco hadn't the slightest who he was, until he saw the bookcase of the boy. Oh. He was that smartass. That guy, who had been this idiot for most of his Hogwarts time.

"Ernie Macmilli!" Draco couldn't help himself. It was laughable that Macmilan ended up as a secretaris instead of a big Auror, but it was more of a joke if you realized he was the secretaris of Harry Potter. For others it would be the greatest honor and they would only ask the best of the best to do this job and that was perhaps exactly why Macmilan had got the job, but for Macmilan it wasn't a honor. It was for a smartie as Macmilan an insult to be placed under someone who wasn't as clever as him at Hogwarts. There was loads to say about Harry Potter, but he wasn't the cleverest. That didn't mean it was a good remark from Draco. He probably shouldn't have done that.

"Excuse me? I'm asking you on behalf of everyone here to leave this room, immediately!"

"Macmilan why the screaming?" said the Auror himself. Harry Potter had stepped into the little office of Macmilan.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" He said, when he saw him.

"I thought we needed to talk." A surprise flickered on Potter's emotionless face.

"Well, I'm too busy for reunion-chitchat, so don't bother me or Macmilan with that…crap." So Potter was now to old and wise for the word 'shit'? Draco laughed in himself and looked at him.

"You know where I want to talk about and I'm sure you've got loads of time. You've already locked up every possible Death Eater, haven't you?" Potter almost laughed, but let him in.

"So, Malfoy, you're in my office now. Should I be afraid?"

"With all those protecting spells in here and everything? I think I should be afraid." Again, an almost-laugh.

"You wanted to talk?"

"Yes, indeed. I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I think we both know we made it a habit in the war to save each others life and I want to thank you for that. For saving my life. Twice."

"You saved mine." Potter said simply. "And your mother did."

"It's not that simple. It's just…you know…if you wanted, you could've made my life impossible. You could've gone to Kingsley and told him you didn't want me working here. Everybody would agree with you."

"Do I look like someone who would do that? I'm not that kind of person, Malfoy. I know how it is to never get a chance, because everybody already has a mening for their own. It isn't right to steal away your chances."

"Potter…I want to ask you for a white slade. I'm not asking you to become friends or something, just…acquaintances."

"Yeah, alright, I think." This time, Potter didn't hide his surprise.

"So, uhm, I should congratulate you with your engagement? A Greengrass, I saw? I thought I knew a Greengrass…?"

"Thanks." Draco said, surprised by this. "You might know Daphne? She's Astoria's big sister. You?" Potter nodded.

"Yeah, I remember. I? No…I'm still…it's complicated."

"You know…the war is over. I know you lost many people, but it is right to care again, I think." The way Potter looked at him made Draco feel like he had gone to far, but after a few seconds, he just laughed.

"It's strange to hear something like that from your mouth, but I think you're right. Many people have talked to me, but perhaps I should do it."

"And you're the Great Harry Potter, it's not like she's gonna say 'no' to that!" Potter rolled his eyes and opened his door for him.

"Well, good luck, Malfoy." He said. Draco waited a second, not knowing what to do, but then, something plopped into his head. He offered him his hand like he had done so many years ago, but this time Potter shook it.

Dean Thomas woke up with a girl in his head. Parvati Patil was the only girl he could think about. She was so incredibly beautiful and nice. She'd helped him with so many things. What had it been? A day? A week? A month? Maybe even more. Parvati was just so right. She looked at him and helped him, like she did over and over again. He couldn't live with it. He just couldn't.

"We need to talk." He said, when he saw her sitting at the breakfast table. He had been sober since that morning. They hadn't had any romantic moment since and Dean craved for her. She turned him on, more than anyone ever did - even more than Ginny had done before. She made him feel alive again.

"First, breakfast." She said, while putting him on a chair and she almost pulled the food in his mouth. He hadn't resisted before, but this time he grabbed her arm firmly. She was shocked. His brown skin on her light brown skin fitted perfectly. He sighted and let her arm go. He didn't want to see how good they fitted together.

"Look Parvati, I can't let you save me again. You're here, in my house, and you're saying this is your job, but do you get money from this?" She looked down and took the other chair.

"No, I don't."

"Let me at least pay you."

"No, no, no, that's not what I want. I mean, you know what I get from this? I have a home to stay and food and…and at least I don't have to stay with my parents, because they're to traumatized of the war that they can't even look at Padma and me. We've done a Healer education, but we don't like to cut into people or to heal them. I like this, though. To…rebuild you. To help you stand up again and think beyond the war. You pay me by that. Oh, and it's not like you can really pay me. I've looked into your post - sorry - and your parents wrote you like a year ago that they wouldn't support you anymore in financial way, because they haven't seen you in a long time, plus they've heard of your drinking games and they don't want you to only spend money for that kind of business." Dean shook his head and sighted.

"Okay, Parvati, you saved me in the war. You saved me here. I know you from school and…I can't lie anymore. I'm twenty-four now, I'm old enough to tell you about my silly crush on you." She raised a brow. Okay, so that went wrong.

"Silly?" She said.

"Well, maybe something more than silly. It wasn't when I was with Ginny, though. She…kinda broke me, even when I knew she was in love with someone else. It was when we were in our last year and I was on and off at Hogwarts. I was feeing of course, but when I was gone, I missed my best friends…and you." Parvati blushed at bit and looked down.

"You know," she said, "it's not silly. I mean, it's not like every girl in our year wanted to date you."

"Nah, that's not true. Mostly they wanted to date Harry." She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"That's just such a lie. Not every girl at Hogwarts is such a nitwit. Except for his real girlfriends though. Cho and Ginny were never nitwits. But they talked about you too, of course. How couldn't they?"

"And you? Did you talk?" She answered with a little kiss.

"Mwah, perhaps. Does it really matter?" He smiled.

"The only thing what matters is if you feel the same as I feel right now."

"Well, than I'm in." She said and he kissed her. Now it was right. Now he could make it up too her. Finally.

Cho Chang was walking in muggle London when she realized it suited her much better than magical London. The war had given her scars and now, she was almost afraid to use magic. Magic could be so wonderful, but also so damaging. It was intriguing to hear muggles talk about magic. Mostly it was in situations they couldn't explain or it was too beautiful to explain. 'Look at the snow, it's like magic!' It was a sentence which had been said many times at Christmas time. Cho loved Christmas. It could be very magical at Hogwarts or at home, but it didn't feel like home. Her parents were both wizards and both wanted her to do a magical study and things like that. Cho didn't want it. And this time, she saw why. Muggle London made her want the simple things in life. Things, like love, a normal job, a small apartment, things like that. Her parents had agreed on an apartment in the middle of muggle London, because it would be much cheaper than an apartment in the middle of magical London. Cho had find herself a job in a muggle bar and met some people who were non-magical. To her best friend Amy, she'd said some things about Hogwarts and being magical. Amy had accepted it and knew that Cho was right about what she said. She didn't think of Cho that she was a freak or something. She accepted it and smiled. They were best friends, they could share anything. Amy had brother Patrick who was really kind and handsome too. Amy had told her she needed to tell Patrick her story too, but Cho felt insecure. It was Patrick where they were talking about and she was kinda falling in love with him.

"Patrick?" Cho said, while they were walking towards the Big Ben.

"Yes?"

"I need to tell you my story." Cho breathed slowly in and out. It was true, she needed to do that. Patrick looked at her. He knew there was something about the girl. Nothing went wrong, she was always perfect and he wanted to know how she fixed it. Also the very first time he met her, Amy had told him before he mustn't ask for her history. Patrick never did, she would come along on her own time, he knew. And now, she finally did. The story was the most crazy, but believable story he ever heard.

"Can you…show me?" He said. Cho looked around.

"We're in the middle of muggle London!"

"Muggle?"

"Yeah, well, you and Amy for example. People who doesn't have magical abilities."

"Sure you can do something small?" Patrick was very curious and couldn't wait any longer. Cho sighted laughingly and showed him a stick.

"This is my wand." She told him and within a second she'd changed the bird in her other hand into a cup.

"Wow, that's awesome!" Cho smiled at him, with tears in her eyes.

"No, it's not. I mean, there isn't only good things this wand can do. There are bad things and I've done bad things. There was a war and we had to fight against those…those bad people and we needed to use spells I didn't want. I think I even killed people in the war."

"In the war? You mean the same war that was like ten years ago?"

"Six, last year was the Five Years of Piece anniversary."

"You aren't a killer Cho, I know that. You just aren't like that. You're a good person and maybe you killed someone, but you did it for the greater good. That person must be bad." Cho nodded a bit and bited her lip.

"It was horrible, but it's all over now." Patrick smiled at her.

"I have to tell you something too." Cho looked up and there weren't words anymore. Patrick just kissed her.

George Weasley and Angelina Johnson are happy to announce their marriage.

Angelina Weasley-Johnson has given birth to a son and a daughter! We call them Fred and Roxanne.

Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley are happy to announce their marriage.

Victoire Weasley-Delacour has given birth to a son! We call him Louis.

Ginny Potter-Weasley has given birth to a son! We call him James Sirius.

Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger are happy to announce their marriage.

Audrey Weasley has given birth to a daughter! We call her Lucy.

Ginny Potter-Weasley has given birth to a son! We call him Albus-Severus.

Hermione Weasley-Granger has given birth to a daughter! We call her Rose.

Hermione Weasley-Granger has given birth to a son! We call him Hugo.

Ginny Potter-Weasley has given birth to a daughter! We call her Lily Luna.