A/N: So I've revised this author's note to say I will not be posting the second part of this fic unless I receive enough requests to do so. Anyway, I hope this fic was an enjoyable experience for you, and thank you for reading it. Be sure to check out my other Dramione fic Lineage. Thanks again.

Epilogue

September 1, 2016

Platform 9 ¾ was jammed packed with family members sending their students off to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts express. Draco was among them and was sending off Scorpius. He waved to his son who already found a compartment on the train. His boy adjusted the window and stuck out his arm to bid farewell to his father and little sister.

"Bye, Dad! Bye, Wendy!" he shouted and Draco smiled at him. Feeling a hand resting on the back of his shoulder, he turned around and faced his tired fiancé who groaned in faux dismay when Wendy lifted up her little arms in a demanding gesture to be held by her mum. She stooped down and picked up the child, awkwardly maneuvering Wendy around her hip, making sure the little girl's leg was placed strategically around her stomach.

The engagement ring on her finger was not his grandmother's ring, or any kind of jewel from his Malfoy and Black inheritance. It was simply just a pretty ring found at a jewelry shop. The band was white gold and had three diamonds designed into a princess cut. Beautiful but a million could be found just like it, but his fiancé had wanted it regardless.

When Draco proposed to Hermione five months prior, it wasn't extravagant or romantic in the slightest. Their relationship was not chocolate covered strawberries and moonlit dinners on top of the Eiffel Tower. Their relationship was realistic, and for the last few years, long distance. With him still residing in Wiltshire, they had often resorted speaking by Muggle cellphones and the ingenious Muggle invention called Skype due to the Floo Network's 'in progress' plan to go across the pond.

Eighteen months following Wendy's birth, Hermione had enough of England and told Draco of her plans to take their daughter and resume hopscotching across Europe to progress her wealth, thus, causing problems in their relationship. He had not wanted her to go and definitely not with their daughter, pointing out the girl needed stability. Arguments and expletives were tossed about which resulted in Hermione threatening to end their relationship that caused him to take a step back and allow her to continue opening stores, never staying in a place longer than six months.

When Wendy was close to three, Hermione resided in Dublin for a full year before telling Draco she was planning on opening a shop in Salem, Massachusetts and had already looked into some bank-owned property. Again, he let her go even though it went against everything inside him to do so, but he even helped her set up a pleasant cottage with a nice back yard where their daughter could play.

For two years, Hermione and their daughter lived in Salem and because of the distance, Draco was not able to visit them as often as he had when they were living abroad in Europe. His once or twice a month drop-ins had decreased to 'a few times a year' thing. Getting a Portkey to the States required going through all kinds of red tape, especially if it was for personal reasons. Sometimes, she would visit him, as well, like on holidays and such.

His last visit had been on Valentine's Day, and it was surprisingly brilliant. They didn't argue like they usual did during his stays, and Wendy actually called him daddy for the first time instead of Draco. The little girl had finally accepted the recurring blond man was indeed some sort of paternal figure like her mummy. When she was put down for bed that night with a sitter, he took Hermione out to dinner and then brought her back home and shagged her good and proper before returning to England. Two months following, Hermione called like she had many times before, telling him about all the cute things that Wendy said or did, her work, the new friends she had made, and all that rubbish. And oh, she's pregnant.

Draco talked her into taking a holiday from work and portkeying back to Britain where they could talk things over. After compromising over lunch, Draco took her to a jewelry store, pointed her to the cases specializing in rings, and told her to pick one. He did not get down on one knee, nor did he tell her that he loved her, or made a whole bunch of promises that may have evoked tears of joy and hope.

While the jeweler was adjusting the size of the chosen ring, Draco had told her to not look at the ring as a sign of a wedding to come in the near future. He told her to look at it like it was a promise ring, that someday they would get married when they were ready.

They spent a few days together, he and Hermione with the kids and then she had to return with Wendy back to Salem. Three weeks later, she called him saying she was 'preparing herself to become ready' to get married, and she was planning to return to London.

For good.

"You seem distracted, Draco," Hermione said, her hand caressing his back while her other arm supported their daughter.

"I'll miss Scorpius." Draco shrugged and slithered his hand around her expanding waist. She rested her head on his shoulder and gently nodded up and down. He smiled and gazed down at her brown curls, remembering when they had been straight and blonde.

Hermione nodded. "I was talking with Ginny and Harry over there. They were asking if we've picked a date yet."

Draco did not comment. He vaguely heard what she said, and the words were similar to what Hermione had said sixteen years prior when showing off her engagement ring to her friends.

Sometimes Draco wanted to give her back the memories she hid from herself all those years ago. He kept the counter-potion George had given him years ago and stored it in his personal safe in his office building. All this time he had it just in case he decided to change his mind and go through with it. A part of him worried if he did, Hermione might leave, but that wasn't the main reason he hadn't.

Unlike Astoria, he actually felt like he could be a husband to Hermione. He hoped that their promise to each other would be enough for her to stay and enough for him to not be a selfish git, to settle down with each other, and to love each other like a husband and wife and not like married parents of children.

Draco loved her, but it wasn't the same way he loved her all those years ago. Back then, their love would have been about the engagement, wedding, honeymoon, and the first child. He and Hermione skipped all that and went straight for the child part and started a journey to a mature kind of love at their place of 'new beginning' which had occurred on a kitchen floor and involved a near death experience. Not in the bookshop with Peter Pan and definitely not after the strawberry ice cream and the Doctor Faustus debacle.

Neither of them fell in love. It just evolved that way, and it wasn't like an epiphany. Draco recalled the event to be more along the lines of acceptance. When they had told each other of their affection, it was an agreement and not an epic event. In fact, they were not even in the same country when professing their love. Skype was quite useful in that way. Not romantic in the least but useful.

The Hogwarts Express whistled loudly before chugging along. Draco gave one last wave at Scorpius as did Hermione and Wendy. While the train started chugging along slowly, leaving the platform, Draco spoke up.

"So what about next June when Scorpius is out of school?" Draco suggested, referring back to Hermione's statement. "Would it be too soon?"

She titled her head in consideration and then hesitantly nodded with a ghost of a smile. "I think that would be okay."

The End