I'm not dead - though I'm sure some of you were starting to wonder. Once I finished my papers I found myself with a horrendous cold I'm just now starting to shake. Am I in love with this chapter...eh, yes and no, but I will apologize if you find it a bit boring. It's getting closer to the wedding though - so the hen/stag night is coming up in the next chapters, then of course the WEDDING, and from there I'll figure out if I should keep it all in one story or break off the wedding and everything after into a sequel. I'm thinking of also writing a H/Hr fic next, only to get them out of my system because I nearly went there in the first three drafts of this chapter and then I started screaming at myself to stop it.

So with that said...hopefully you've not lost hope in me yet and enjoy!

PS: In the previous chapter - I know some of you missed it so I'm sorry it wasn't clarified better - the envelope Hermione took to her parents grave from Lucius was a wedding invitation

The press conference on Friday wasn't so much of a press conference as it was a statement by the Minister with Draco, Hermione, and Harry standing off to the side. The moment Kingsley Shacklebolt announced that Lucius Malfoy was in fact alive, the reporters and photographers froze – stunned by the news – until an overflowing dam of questioning broke. The questions were all inaudible as everyone shouted over one another, and it wasn't until Kingsley's deep voice boomed through the atrium of the Ministry with the aid of his wand that everyone quieted down.

"I am only saying this once, so I implore you all to listen," Kingsley stated. "Lucius Malfoy is in fact – alive. He was discovered after information obtained during the raid several months back led us to believe that he faked his own death. Mister Malfoy was not a part of nor did he organize the gathering of Death Eaters that our aurors were sent to apprehend. I repeat – Mister Malfoy had no part in that meeting. Mister Malfoy is not being charged with anything. Faking one's own death isn't a crime in the wizard world – just merely frowned upon. His reasons for hiding are personal, and will not be discussed. Out of concern for the safety of both Mister Malfoy and his family, aurors are being assigned to protect them indefinitely."

"Mister Minister!" a reporter from The Daily Prophet exclaimed. "Are you saying Mister Malfoy is a reformed death eater?"

Kingsley's face stayed stoic. "I believe he has no desire to revive any of Voldermort's followers. I believe we all had our own demons to face after the war, and while I don't condone Lucius Malfoy's methods, I do not believe that Mister Malfoy or his family deserve to have their privacy infringed upon."

"Is this going to impact the wedding?" another reporter asked.

Kingsley looked over at Hermione and Draco, who had their arms linked together, and gave them a wink before turning back to the reporters. "I think it's safe to say the wedding will happen as planned."

"This isn't all that horrible," Hermione mumbled under her breath so that only Draco could hear as Kingsley continued the press conference.

Draco subtly shook his head. "It could be worse," he replied under his breath.

"…is anyone going to comment on the elephant in the room – the fact that a beloved member of the Golden Trio future father-in-law is the same man who allowed his own sister-in-law to brutally torture Miss Granger with the cruciatus curse in his own home?" asked a female reporter from Wizard Weekly in a snooty voice.

"And it just got worse," Draco groaned as Harry took over the podium from Kingsley before the Minister could argue.

"I don't know where you got your information," Harry sternly spoke, "but neither the accounts of Miss Granger nor the accounts of me during our time in the war have ever been made public. Continue with that line of questioning and I will have you charged with slander."

The female reporter mockingly laughed. "Your account and Miss Granger's account may not have been made public, but everyone knows that Mister Weasley has been open and vocal about the Golden Trio and their 'adventures' for quite some time."

"I wouldn't take anything Ronald Weasley says with more than a grain of salt," Harry curtly replied. "Reporting on speculation is nothing but reporting trash and if that's what you're in the business off, I will be sure to see that the press office revokes your credentials and bars you and anyone else from your horrendous magazine for further announcements from this Ministry – are we clear?"

The woman smiled out of spite before replying. "Crystal."

The press conference remained uneventful after that. While most wanted to see visual proof that Lucius Malfoy was back, Kingsley said that they would all see him when he was ready to be out in public, all the while stressing that the privacy of the elder Malfoy, as well as his two valued Ministry employees was to be respected at all times.

The next day, most reports in the printed papers were positive towards Draco and Hermione, all of them commenting on how difficult a transition it must be – especially for Draco. Draco wasn't expecting any of the reports to be fair to him, but the more he read, the more he realized that others were truly recognizing his efforts to become a better person, and that he needed to have a little more faith in what people thought of him as a person now, instead of assuming the worst. Wizard Weekly, however, printed an entirely different story, and it wasn't one that was going to go over well with Harry or Hermione. Draco knew it was rubbish as he skimmed the article, but it still hit a nerve when it shouldn't have.

Harry, Ginny, and the boys came over to Draco and Hermione's that Saturday afternoon, James chomping at the bit to show off his new kid sized quidditch quaffle to Draco. Ginny looked a bit worse for the wear as she handed Albus off to Narcissa – blaming it on Albus and his never ending bouts of teething but Draco could tell she'd been crying that morning.

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny asked Draco as they congregated in the kitchen like always.

"Upstairs in bed," he replied. "She woke up with some kind of head cold. She sounds awful, but I'm sure she'll be down in a bit."

"But she's awake," Ginny said.

With a nod, Draco watched Ginny disappear up the back staircase. He looked over to Harry, who shrugged in defeat. "So she read the article."

Harry nodded. "I don't know how many ways I can tell her nothing happened. Though as promised – I had the magazine's press credentials revoked."

"What did you revoke?" James asked, piping in to make his presence know.

"Nothing," Draco and Harry chimed together.

James huffed, not wanting to be out of the know. Lucius entered the kitchen, using his cane in one hand and holding a book in the other. He peered down at James who looked up at him curiously. "I remember you," James said to Lucius. "My daddy says you're Uncle Draco's daddy."

Lucius wasn't sure what to make of James, the evidence written all over his face as he had no idea how to interact with a precocious child like the one before him. "I am Draco's father, yes," he finally said.

"Why do you gots a cane?"

"Because I do."

"Did you hurt your leg?"

"Not really."

"Then why do you use it?"

"My child, do you always ask this many questions?"

"Yes," James stated.

Harry stepped over to James, bracing his hands on his son's shoulders. "My apologies, Mister Malfoy," he said. "James…you cannot just ask people you've just met so many questions. It's overwhelming."

James looked up at his father. "But how does anyone ever know anything if they don't ask questions?"

Draco and Harry laughed. "They usually just find out when they're supposed to," Draco replied.

James frowned. "Well, I don't like to wait."

"We know," said Draco. He took the small quaffle out of James' hand and marveled at the size of it before handing it back. "You want to go throw this outside?"

Pumping his small fist in the air, James ran towards the patio door and Harry followed. Draco looked back at Lucius, who was still staring at the small child. "He grows on you," Draco said. "You should come read your book outside."

"Yes," Narcissa said, reappearing with a large blanket over one arm while holding Albus on her other hip. "We're going to go out and enjoy the nice day. Join us."

His wife's response was more of a request than Draco's, forcing Lucius to follow his wife's command and followed them outside. Lucius found himself a patio chair relatively in the shade of the morning sun while Narcissa found a nice spot in the shade and with the help of her wand, spread out the blanket for her and Albus to sit on while they watched Harry, Draco, and James play. Albus was much more reserved than James was as the baby began to show his personality. While James always needed to do something, Albus seemed content just to watch and observe.

With the quaffle in hand, James chucked it to Draco, who lightly lobbed it back at him. "Uncle Draco – have you ever seen a shark? Like a real shark."

Draco shook his head no. "Have you ever seen a real shark?"

"No. Just on the telly," James said, rather pathetically as if his life had been completely meaningless because he'd never seen one in person. "Hey Mister Malfoy!" he shouted.

Lucius looked up from his book, his lips pressed in a perturbed manner. "Yes?"

"Have you ever seen a real shark?"

Draco could see how absurd his father found the question by the look on his face, though oblivious to James. "Why would you think that I would have ever seen a real shark?"

James caught the quaffle thrown to him by Harry. "I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Cause you're old…and if you're old, it means you've been around longer than me, and that means you might have seen a real shark. I'm only four and a half, you know."

"Yeah," Draco chimed in, much to his own father's chagrin. "He's only four and a half."

"Just so we're clear, I'm only responsible for the small one," Harry jokingly reminded Lucius.

James threw the quaffle back to Draco. "I was watching this show on the telly with Uncle George the other day," he continued, speaking directly to Lucius who by now had given up reading as the book was resting on the patio table. "And it was all about sharks and did you know, Mister Malfoy, that if a shark and a person swim together, the shark could get hungry and then…" his face got really serious as he walked a bit closer to Lucius, forgetting he was in the middle of playing catch. "The shark eats the persons arm," he finished, whispering loudly.

Narcissa made a horrendous face. "James, that is positively dreadful! Your Uncle George let you watch that?"

James nodded. "Uncle George says it builds character."

Harry groaned. "Remind me to tell Uncle George that after his sister jams a foot straight up his –"

"Anyway," James cut off his father. "Did you know, Mister Malfoy, that if a shark and a human swim together and the shark bites the human's arm off, the human doesn't get the arm back?"

Lucius blinked a few times as if it was going to keep his lips from curling upwards slightly in amusement. "I'd imagine if a shark ate an arm, that the person would in fact not get the arm back."

"Exactly!" James exclaimed. "And Mister Malfoy – did you know that if a shark and a human swim together and the shark bites off the human's arm off, the human doesn't get the arm back but muggles can make you a toy arm. That's what I saw on the telly, anyway. But I don't think you can do a lot with a toy arm…cause it's not real. You couldn't catch with it. Uncle George says though that it could be a pretty good beater baton in quidditch though. I think Uncle George is right too. He's super smart like that."

By the end of James' story, both Harry and Draco were howling, and even Narcissa was laughing at how fervently James spoke to Lucius about the sharks and the humans and the toy arm. Lucius raised one of his eyebrows at the boy, pursing his lips together shortly before speaking. "You have quite an impressive vocabulary for someone who is four."

"Four and a half," James automatically corrected.

"Four and a half," Lucius repeated.

"Mummy says I talk like a grown up because no one talks to me like a baby."

Lucius nodded. "I see. Your mum sounds smart."

James nodded. He held up a hand to the side of his mouth as he took a few steps closer to Lucius. "I think my mummy is the smartest person ever. But don't tell my daddy," he whispered, rather loudly. James might have had an impressive vocabulary, but he had yet to master the art of whispering.

Lucius looked over at Harry, who was still laughing with Draco about James' story. "I don't know…I think your father's pretty smart."

"Mummy says Daddy's brave and that's different than being smart 'cause if he was smart, he wouldn't have catched himself on fire when he was at work."

"Your mum has a good point," remarked Lucius.

"She always has a good point," James replied. "And she'll tell you, too."

Hermione was propped up in bed, watching one of the 24/7 muggle news channels when she heard a knock. Turning her attention towards the door and saw Ginny peak her head in. She motioned for her to come in, and Ginny followed, shutting the door behind her.

"It's kind of weird…being in here," Ginny said as she looked around the bedroom.

"It's my room too – no need to feel weird," Hermione replied as she blew her nose.

Ginny frowned. "You look awful."

"I woke up with it," Hermione scoffed. "I think it's my body's way of telling me I'm exhausted."

Nodding, Ginny walked closer to the bed. "Maybe."

"Climb in," Hermione motioned. "It'll be just like old times."

Laughing, Ginny climbed into bed with Hermione, lying on Hermione's side, as it was evident by the nightstand nearest to Hermione that she was propped up on Draco's side. They used to lie in bed together all the time at the Burrow, gossiping and chatting with one another about Harry and Ron. Ginny was Hermione's best – and only real girlfriend growing up – the two of them shared many tears and triumphs together over the years. Ginny saw the newspapers and the WizardWeekly magazine at the end of the bed and sighed. "So…I take it you saw it already."

Hermione looked over at the magazine and shrugged. "I did."

"Did Draco?"

"He threw it on the bed this morning when he came back up to check on me and said, 'feel free to take a look at the trash on page thirty-four,' so I feel safe in saying yes, he's seen it."

Ginny sighed. "I got upset at Harry about it," she said timidly. "I'm so embarrassed – I acted like a complete child and I cried and of course he just stood there not knowing what to do because I wasn't going to be happy with whatever he did and he knew it and I just…I feel so stupid!"

Hermione blew her nose again and sighed. "Nothing has ever happened between us," she said. "If your brother didn't have such a big mouth and a chip on his shoulder…nothing happened, Ginny. I swear."

"I know nothing happened," Ginny said, sniffling a little bit. "But it's not knowing what happened that bothers me so much. Harry doesn't talk about any of it and it drives me insane. I don't know how Draco deals with it."

"I've told Draco bits and pieces," Hermione said. "But he's never heard the whole story from me."

"I just wish he'd just tell me."

"It will never happen."

"But why!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm his wife! Why does he bloody think he has to carry everything alone?"

"Because in his mind, a lot of people died for him. His parents, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Lupin and Tonks, Fred…he doesn't see that people died in the war because they were fighting a bigger cause. He personally feels responsible for all of it," Hermione explained.

Ginny rested her head on Hermione's shoulder and sighed. "I just hate how my mind just unravels when I read or hear lies. I don't understand why I'm so insecure still. He's married to me. We have two children. I'm not an idiot – I know he loves me."

"You're still young," Hermione pointed out. "We all are. Just because we live like adults doesn't mean we always act as such."

Linking an arm with Hermione, Ginny sighed. "I never understood why nothing ever happened between you and Harry."

Hermione coughed out a laugh, reaching for more tissue. "Are you mad? Me and Harry? Ginny it's always been you."

"But look at you, Hermione. You're beautiful and you're smart and you always understand him…"

"But I'm not his soul mate," Hermione gently spoke. "Plus – you're gorgeous and you're brilliant and you get Harry so more than you give yourself credit for. Harry adores you – it's why he lets you get away with so much."

Ginny giggled, stealing some tissues out of the box. "Like threatening his aurors."

"Exactly," Hermione said, laughing. "Or the Minister for that matter."

"I did threaten Kingsley a bit," Ginny sheepishly admitted.

"Just a smidge."

Ginny blew her nose and sighed. "Do you think Draco is your soul mate?"

Hermione leaned back into the pillows entrenched with Draco's scent and smiled. "I don't know. I always thought my soul mate was Ronald…but now…I hope it's Draco. I don't ever want to be with anyone else. No one has ever loved me the way Draco loves me…and when I feel insecure about it, I remember that, and the insecurity I feel at that moment…just melts away." Sighing heavily, she coughed again, covering a hand to her mouth, clearing her throat as she continued. "I think once the wedding is over, I'm going to talk to Harry and see if we can just save everyone the trouble of the rumors and the hurt feelings by giving an interview from start to finish about that final year. If we put it all out there, then just maybe this madness can cease once and for all."

Ginny nodded. "If Harry will agree to it."

"He will," Hermione replied. "It's been five years. It is time for us to conquer the skulking shadows of our past. I don't think we'll ever completely move forward if we don't."

"You don't sound like you want to do it, though," Ginny said quite cautiously.

"I don't," Hermione honestly replied. "But I have to." A sneeze crept upon her, and she quickly buried her face in the crook of her arm to keep from sneezing all over Ginny. "I cannot stand being sick."

Ginny laughed, handing her the box of tissues. "You sound like James. Nothing puts a burr in that child's behind more than being sick."

"Only because it means he has to slow down," Hermione replied. "I honestly don't know how you keep up with him."

"I'd complain," Ginny said, "but chasing after him constantly is what got my ass back into these skinny jeans I'm wearing, so I should probably thank him. Thank Merlin Albus is much more…well, unlike James. I don't know where he gets his calm demeanor from, but I am grateful for it."

Hermione nodded, covering her mouth as she yawned. "Can I ask a question?"

"Sure," Ginny replied.

"Was it hard…I mean, when you and Harry decided you wanted kids. Was it hard to get pregnant?"

Ginny laughed. "Well considering how quickly we had James after we were married, no. I was pregnant with James by the end of the first month we were married. In fact…we had just a had a huge fight about Harry signing up to become a field auror because he did it and didn't discuss it with me. I was seething at the fact that he wanted to jump back into the trenches instead of being assigned to Kingsley's security team and I nearly took his head off with a hex or two."

Hermione laughed. "I remember him telling me you were furious – though I told him you had every right to be."

"I know," Ginny replied. "I just remember standing in the kitchen, screaming at him and jamming my finger into his chest with each word. I told him that I'd be damned to be left alone raising our family because he had some sort of twisted need to consistently put himself in harm's way and as I went to punch a finger in his chest again he grabbed my wrist and said, 'our family?' like he was questioning it."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione grabbed some more tissue. "He's so ridiculous at times."

"He is," Ginny agreed. "And when he said that, I told him, 'of course – our family – I want a family with you and I can't very well do it if you're dead' and before we knew it our clothes were off and we were shagging against the kitchen wall. Nine months later…James appeared."

Hermione gagged as Ginny laughed. "I don't want that mental image!" she exclaimed. "I'm never going to look at your kitchen the same again!"

"Whatever – it was fucking hot," Ginny replied.

"Ugh…that's like me telling you about sex with Ron."

"It isn't – because there's no way sex with Ron was ever going to be good – the clumsy bastard. Sex with Draco on the other hand – you can feel free to tell me about because he is sexy, Hermione. Don't get me wrong – I find Harry incredibly sexy but there is something about Draco Malfoy that is positively alluring to the inner thirteen-year-old in me."

Giggling like a silly schoolgirl, Hermione found herself coughing again, both actions at the same time wreaking havoc on her congested chest. "Ginny Potter you are terrible!"

"I can only imagine how big he is," Ginny egged on. "I mean, Harry's pretty big – which I was completely and totally surprised by –"

"Keep talking about your husband's penis size and I will die - literally die," Hermione promised.

"All I'm saying – is that there were some pretty amazing rumors around school regarding Draco Malfoy and his wand…if you know what I mean. So throw a girl a bone here and tell me – is it as big as everyone says it is? Is it?"

Hermione could feel her skin turning nine shades of red. "The rumors are true," she finally confessed, clapping her hands over her ears as Ginny squealed. "You tell anyone about this conversation and I'll kill you."

Laughing, Ginny sat up in the bed, shaking her head. "We're not in the Gryffindor Tower anymore, Hermione. Who am I possibly going to tell?"

She had a point. "Right."

"So sex with Draco…"

"Is amazing," Hermione finished, her cheeks still blushing. "I never thought I'd ever enjoy sex as much as I do and he doesn't make me feel self-conscious or embarrassed…he's incredibly sweet about it."

Ginny grinned. "I figured once you found someone who knew what they were doing you'd love sex."

"But it's not just the sex," Hermione explained. "He makes me feel sexy...all the time. I wish I could explain it –"

"I get it," Ginny replied. "Harry makes me feel the same way. I could be fat and pregnant, and all Harry gives me is this look, and I know that he's telling me…everything he wants is right in front of him…even if it's packaged like a whale for the time being."

Hermione playfully swatted Ginny in the arm. "Harry loves it when you're pregnant. He tells me all the time."

It was Ginny's turn to blush. "I know…though I don't understand why – I'm the size of a house when I'm pregnant."

"He loves it," Hermione sweetly replied.

"But back to your original question – why did you ask if it was hard to get pregnant?" Ginny redirected.

Shrugging, Hermione cleared her throat of the tickle threatening a cough. "I don't know. I guess I'm just afraid that I want children with Draco so badly that it won't happen. I guess I'm just paranoid."

Ginny reached out a hand and grabbed a hold of Hermione's, squeezing it gently. "It'll happen. You just can't stress about it. I know you – and you're waiting for the other shoe to drop with Draco and trust me when I say it's not dropping. You two are perfect together, and you'll have perfect children, and hopefully you have daughters that can marry my sons because I can't imagine allowing my sons to marry just anyone."

Hermione barked out a half laugh half cough at Ginny while she smirked. "Ginny that's terrible!"

"It isn't," Ginny replied. "Just wait – the other day I was thinking about James growing up and getting married and in an instant, I understood everything my mother felt when Bill brought home Fleur. I decided then that I'd much rather my sons marry your daughters."

"Well, I hate to tell you this – but I don't think the Malfoy seed produces females. I've seen the Malfoy lineage – it's pretty male dominated," Hermione replied.

"Yes, but that was before Draco met you," Ginny argued. "And let's be honest – no one on this planet deserves a handful of daughters more than Draco Malfoy. It would be the ultimate penance, in a sense."

Hermione blew her nose, nodding her head as she rubbed her nose into the tissue. "It would be, wouldn't it?"

"And you know what – no one deserves granddaughters more than Lucius Malfoy," Ginny replied with a smirk. "Good thing he's around now, isn't it?"

Laughing, Hermione agreed. "We'll just have to see what happens then, won't we?"

"We will," Ginny said. "But until that happens, we have more important plans to discuss."

"Such as…"

Ginny grinned. "The hen night."

Author's Note: I have a four and a half year old sister (I'm 27...I have a 26 and a 23 year old sister too...apparently my parents got bored once we were all out of the house) - and over the weekend, she told me over skype how my other sister let her watch that "Soul Surfer" movie and if you take out the quidditch and muggle references...we essentially had the same conversation and I was losing it the entire time. My parents are also threatening to minimize her skype time with me from daily to weekly because she's starting to sound like she's 4 going on 24, so it's nice to know that even 3 hours away, I still have my big sister influence :D