A/N: Just a quick one: Thank you to everyone who has read, and thanks for all my reviews. I've just finished replying to them and I have to admit, I got a little emotional lol I always do when I'm getting to the end.

So here's the final piece, I hope you all enjoy it.

xBx

~ Chapter 30/Epilogue: Thirteen Months Later ~

Hermione struggled through the door of their apartment just after six, satchel and multiple files in one hand, her house keys in the other, her phone sandwiched between her ear and shoulder. As soon as Hermione and Draco had left Hogwarts, it had only taken them a couple of weeks to find an apartment they both liked, in Knigtsbridge, right in the centre of London. Two weeks later, after all the papers had been signed and payments made, they moved into their spacious two bedroom home, and had been living there happily ever since.

"Beth, hang on two seconds," Hermione said, struggling to pull the key from the lock, "I just got home." She explained, finally wrenching the key free, bumping the door closed with her body. She walked along the hallway, depositing the files down on the side table and took the phone back in her now free hand.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Hermione asked, and Beth repeated her question about an email she had sent her with the details of a potential property in Newcastle that was about to come onto the market.

"Yes, I looked it over on my way home," Hermione said, "It looks good, but it depends on the price – any chance you can get hold of the seller, start up discussions before the place goes up online?" she asked, as she made her way to the end of the hall and went into the large, open plan living space, that spanned the entire length of the apartment.

"I spoke to him this afternoon, asked if he could hold off putting it on the market until after the weekend," Beth admitted, "It would be great if you could get up here on Saturday," she hedged, "Take a look at the place? If it looks as good in the flesh as it does in the photos it would be perfect. And the sooner you see it, the sooner we can start negotiating."

Hermione sighed, "I guess I'll see you Saturday." She said, as Draco came out of the Kitchen with an almost nervous smile and a glass of wine, "I have to go," she said, giving Draco a shrewd look, "Draco has a nervous smile, so he's either done something bad, or he's up to something."

Draco frowned, even more so when he heard the laughter from the other end of the phone.

"I'll call you tomorrow to finalise an itinerary for Saturday," Hermione said before hanging up and putting her phone on the long dining table.

"I haven't done anything wrong," Draco said, handing Hermione the glass he was carrying, before giving her a quick kiss, "Hi." He smiled.

Hermione smiled back, "Hi." She replied, only then did she take in the dining table, set for what looked like a three course dinner for two, table candles already lit. "What's going on?" she asked shrewdly.

Draco shrugged, "Can't a guy be romantic every now and then?" he asked, turning back into the kitchen, from where some delicious smells were coming.

"I guess so," Hermione said, "Why today though?" she asked, wondering if she had forgotten some sort of anniversary.

Draco had been hoping she would ask that, "It's July 23rd," he told her with a smirk.

Hermione frowned, "What's special about July 23rd?" she asked warily.

Draco's smirk widened, "Absolutely fuck all." He said, and Hermione felt the stirrings of a memory tugging at her mind. She smiled when the memory dawned on her,

"That's what I said about today's date, back at Hogwarts, when you asked me why I hated Valentine's Day." She remembered the conversation from their final year. "I can't believe you remembered that."

Draco shrugged, "It's surprising what I remember, I actually have a really good memory." He bragged, "Anyway," he said, changing the subject as he checked something in the oven, "How was your day?"

"Long," Hermione said, "I got an emergency call out this morning, a Hippogriff escaped from a farm in Derbyshire, ended up wondering down the main street in Ripley, resulted in a lot of paperwork." Hermione said, rolling her eyes, while Draco laughed.

"I would have loved to see those Muggles' faces." He chuckled,

"There were some priceless expressions," Hermione admitted with a laugh, "How was your day? I didn't see you in the Ministry this afternoon. Do you want me to do anything, by the way?" she asked.

Draco shook his head, and steered her back to the dining table, "I have everything under control," he told her, "Now sit. And I wasn't at the Ministry this afternoon, I took it off." He told her without giving her an explanation.

"Alright for some." Hermione muttered as Draco went to serve up the first course. When they started eating, Draco asked her about the phone call she was on when she got home, and Hermione told him of Beth's find for the next clinic development.

"So I will be going up to Newcastle Saturday morning. You should come too," Hermione suggested, "We could make a weekend of it."

Draco nodded his agreement, "Sounds like a plan. I don't think we've actually been away together, on a proper holiday, have we?" He asked.

"What are you talking about," Hermione laughed, "We've been to Italy and France, for a week at a time."

"Yes," Draco conceded, "But we went for business, mainly."

Hermione smirked, "Your business took all of two days. I hope you didn't consider the rest of the time as 'business', otherwise I will be offended." She teased.

"That was a lot more fun than business," Draco smirked back, "But still, I think we need a holiday." He said again, clearing the first course and bringing out the second.

"Alright," Hermione agreed, "We'll go skiing."

"Skiing?" Draco said warily, Hermione had described the muggle sport to him some time ago and he thought it sounded ridiculous – or rather, he had a vague suspicion he would look ridiculous attempting it.

"Yes, skiing." Hermione smiled, "We'll go at Christmas or New Year, I'll take you to my family's chalet in the Alps. You'll love it. And if skiing really isn't your thing, there are plenty of other things to do." She assured him.

"Alright," Draco conceded, and then changed the subject, "What kept you behind so late? Surely the Hippogriff didn't cause that amount of paperwork?"

Hermione laughed, "It took a good couple of hours, but no, it wasn't the hippogriff. I've been drawing up some new legislation on elf rights. It really is a ball-ache trying to get the wordings right. I'm not even a fifth of the way through it all yet, and I've already re-written things three times over to make sure it's thorough and correct." Hermione ranted, and Draco couldn't help but smile.

Sure, she moaned about all the paperwork, but he could see it in her eyes just how much she loved her job, and she was proud of her job as well. And Draco couldn't blame her for that, hell, he was proud of her and all the work she was doing. Only one year out of Hogwarts and she was one of the most respected members of her department. As a hunter, she was certainly the best, nothing was too difficult for her, and she always made the catch. Her paperwork was always done efficiently, in detail, and handed in early (no matter how old she got, he suspected she would never be able to let go of that obsession for being top of the class).

On top of her job, she was working with contacts in Wizarding Law, and finding time to draw up legislations and laws to promote the welfare and fair treatment of house elves. Not to mention running the development of her family's business. With the help of Beth, Hermione had purchased her first commercial property in the city centre of Nottingham within one month out of school, and within six months the place had been renovated, kitted out to the highest specifications, staffed and opened. It was bringing in a steady clientele that was still continuing to grow. And now that the place had been going successfully for six months, Hermione and her parents had agreed the timing was right to start on the next clinic.

Draco had also been fairly busy since leaving Hogwarts: he had taken up a position in the Muggle Business Liaison office in the Law Department, much to everyone's surprise. But as Draco had a couple of Muggle business ventures under his belt, what with the cocktail bar in York, and one of his Italian vineyards, it seemed like the logical place to go. Their bar in York was continuing to thrive, and had once again become the place to be seen. He and Hermione had also begun to discuss the possibility of turning the place into a chain, and opening other clubs in other cities – they had even begun looking for somewhere in London, but as Beth would be taking on the development project, they had decided it would be best to wait until the Newcastle clinic was open, before stealing away her focus. Earlier in the year, Draco had also purchased another winery, this time in France, and thanks to his very public connection with the Roseby-Grangers, Draco Malfoy was slowly becoming a household name in the Muggle world.

Hermione's parents continued to do a lot of charity work, and now that Hermione was out of school, she and Draco were always guests at any function or fundraiser that her parents hosted, and before long Hermione and Draco were considered to be the hot couple that everyone wanted to be, in both the Muggle and Wizarding world alike. The Malfoy's public profile was beginning to take a definite upturn, although a lot of the Wizarding world still disliked the family, and the crimes of the father were never going to be forgotten or forgiven, they began to see Draco in a different light, and slowly but surely, more people were beginning to give him a second chance. At Hermione's suggestion, they had started hosting their own benefits and fundraisers for various Wizarding causes and foundations that had sprung up in the aftermath of the war, the first ones of which Harry graciously allowed to be hosted at Grimmauld Place, but the most recent had been successfully held at Malfoy Manor. It was now very clear to everyone that Draco Malfoy and Hermione Roseby-Granger were an unstoppable force, and heading to be the most successful entrepreneurs before they even reached twenty-five: Separately, their success was great, but together they were simply phenomenal. And Draco knew this, he had known it for a while: he loved her more than life itself, together they could accomplish absolutely anything, and he knew as soon as they started their life together in Muggle London that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life and after.

"So why did you take the afternoon off?" Hermione asked, after giving Draco a full rundown on the part of the legislation she was working on.

Draco shrugged, "Had to stuff to do," he said evasively, which immediately made Hermione suspicious.

"What stuff?" she pressed.

"Damn it, woman, why do you have to know everything?" Draco said, beginning to get uncomfortable.

Hermione looked at him like he was stupid, "I'm Hermione Granger, it's what I do." She reminded him. "So come on, where did you go?" she pressed.

"Shopping," He said evasively, as they finished the main, and he immediately set about organising dessert.

"Shopping?" Hermione asked, laughter in her voice, "Since when do you shop? What kind of shopping?" She bugged him.

Draco sighed as he sat back down and topped up their wine, "Seriously Hermione, can't you just leave it?" he whined, "Does it really matter?"

"But you never shop," Hermione pressed, really not letting it go, much to Draco's annoyance.

"You're ruining it." He said simply, "You're taking away all the element of surprise with all your questions. Just let it go, please?" He asked her.

"What surprise?" Hermione asked, looking a little wary now, but determined to find out none the less.

Draco actually let out a little growl of frustration, "Sweet Salazar, I can't take this," he muttered, "Fine, I went ring shopping. Happy now?" he told her.

Hermione frowned, "Since when do you wear rings?" she asked.

Draco actually snorted, "You know for someone so smart, you can be so stupid sometimes." He told her, pulling out a square box, from his pocket, and putting it on the table, "I don't. But I want you to wear one. I was going to propose, and it was going to be romantic. But you and your bloody incessant questioning drained the romance somewhat." He told her, and for once Hermione didn't have a retort.

She stared at the box sat between them on the table, looked up at Draco, back down to the box once more, before resting her eyes on Draco again.

"Oh," she said, completely lost for words, "Was?" she asked then, and Draco smirked, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across is chest. "Does that mean you're not going to ask any more?" She asked him.

Draco shrugged, "Don't know now," he teased, "depends if you want the ring or not."

Hermione gave him a smirk to match his own, "I never said I didn't want the ring, this hand always does seem a little bare." She commented wiggling the fingers of her right hand.

Draco's eyes narrowed, but his smirk remained, "It wasn't made for your right hand." He told her.

Hermione grinned wickedly, "Well it's not going on my left unless you ask me the question." She countered.

"You are hard work, Granger." Draco said, shaking his head, but he was smiling as he reached out and took the box, opening it and retrieving the ring inside.

He took a deep breath, "Hermione Granger-"

"ah-ah," Her smirked shaking her head slowly from side to side, interrupting him. Draco frowned and Hermione looked significantly down to the floor, jabbing a finger in the same direction, before looking back up at Draco's scowl.

"Seriously?" was all he said.

"And here I was, thinking you were wanting to be romantic," she teased.

"Fine," Draco glared, but Hermione could see he was fighting back the urge to laugh, as he left his seat and went down on one knee in front of her. "Lady Hermione Roseby-Granger," he started again, saying her full title this time, in a way that made Hermione glare, "Will you marry me?"

Hermione grinned then, her scowl forgotten, not taking her eyes from his she nodded, "You bet your arse, I will." She said and held out her left hand, causing him to laugh.

Draco slid the ring onto her finger, where it fit perfectly. Only then did Hermione look at the ring: It wasn't small, but it wasn't as big as that ridiculous ruby she had once worn. The main stone was a diamond of brilliant clarity in an old European cut set on a platinum band, with a smaller emerald on either side, it was simple, tasteful, yet elegant and screamed expense without all the ostentations.

"It's perfect." She said, grinning up at him.

"I know." Draco said smugly, before kissing her. When the kiss ended, Draco took his seat again and watched Hermione admire her knew ring, a broad smile on her face. She looked up soon enough, giving Draco a glance and starting to bite her lip.

Draco rolled his eyes, "You want to go tell Weaselette and Potter, don't you?" he said, knowing her well.

"Little bit," Hermione admitted, grinning. "And Ginny made me promise, swear an oath and everything, that I not keep anything like this from her again. Seriously, it took all my strength to convince her not to do an unbreakable vow, she was adamant I had to tell her things as soon as they happen from now on." She admitted.

"Fine," Draco conceded, "But can we at least finish dessert first?" he asked.

Hermione gave him a sly grin, "I thought we'd save dessert until we got back." She told him suggestively. "So the quicker we go tell the, the quicker we can come home…" she trailed off.

Draco barely thought about it, he simply stood up and grabbed Hermione's hand pulling her up with him, "Lets go." He said, before apparating them to the top step of Number 12.

"Could you at least have let me grab a jacket?" Hermione complained as she knocked on the door.

"It's summer, Hermione. Suck it up." Draco teased, as the door opened and Kreacher let them into the house with his usual smile and greeting, before leading them up to the drawing room where Harry, Ginny and Ron were all gathered.

"What are you two doing here?" Harry asked pleasantly, "I didn't know you were planning to drop by."

"We weren't, but apparently Weaselette has to know everything immediately," Draco scowled, taking a seat on one of the chairs and pulling Hermione onto his lap.

Both Harry and Ron looked confused at this explanation, but Ginny grinned and her eyes widened.

"Oh my god," Ginny said, looking directly at Draco, "You did it, didn't you? You asked her?" she said, struggling to contain a squeal.

Draco's brow furrowed, "How the hell do you know I was planning on asking anything?" he asked.

"Blaise." Ginny said, as if Draco was stupid, and it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Of course, I should have known that git couldn't keep his mouth shut."

"What are we missing?" Ron asked, getting fed up of being left out of the loop.

Hermione answered, the smile that had been on her lips since she had arrived widened as she spoke, "Draco proposed." She said, holding out her left hand to show off her ring, "We're getting married." She declared.

Ginny finally let out her squeal, jumping from the couch to grab Hermione's hand, yanking her off Draco's lap to pull her into a hug, "Congratulations!" She said, before pulling back and scrutinising the ring, "Nice," she commended, looking over Hermione's shoulder at Draco, who smirked in response.

Ron offered his congratulations next, giving Hermione a hug, "I'm really happy for you, 'Mione." He told her, before going over to Draco to shake his hand. There was still some awkwardness between the two of them, and they would never be the best of friends, but they were certainly more than civil to each other nowadays, all enmity long forgotten.

"Congrats, mate." Ron said, "You make a great couple, I really mean it," ho told Draco truthfully. "Just make sure you keep making happy, otherwise you'll have the wrath of the Weasleys to deal with." Ron warned, with only the tiniest hint of a joke.

Draco grinned, "I wouldn't expect anything less." He said.

"So, just to be clear," Harry said, with a small sly smile, "This one's legit, right?" he asked Hermione, who scowled at him before slapping him hard on his arm.

"Yes, this one's legit!" Hermione scolded, "will you ever let me forget about that?" she asked.

Harry grinned and shook his head, "I don't think so," he teased, "Do I get to make a speech at your wedding?" he asked and Hermione scowled, but before she could respond, Ginny let out another excited squeal.

"The wedding!" She exclaimed, "Have you set a date yet? Have you decided on the season at least? And is it going to be Muggle or magical?" she asked, "Because you both have high profiles in both worlds. Oh my god!" she said, suddenly getting even more excited, causing Hermione to step back in alarm.

"Do both!" Ginny declared, "Have two weddings, you can afford it. Oh please let me help you plan, this will be spectacular." And then she went off talking about dresses and flowers, about catering and themes. Hermione sank back into Draco's lap, still looking slightly alarmed at Ginny's fervour.

"We have to keep Ginny away from Mother," Hermione whispered, looking up at Draco, "I didn't know she had this in her. Can we go home yet?" she asked

Draco chuckled, "You wanted to come here, you're going to have to deal with the fallout." He teased. Ginny was still going full flow, saying something about bridesmaids and ushers, "It sounds like our wedding is going to be getting out of control pretty fast." Draco commented

"Wedding?" Hermione said, "I think you mean weddings. Bet you're wishing you hadn't asked me now, aren't you?" She joked.

Draco looked down at her and smiled, "Not at all." He assured her, before placing a loving kiss on her lips.

"OI!" The were rudely interrupted by a pillow hitting both their heads, "Are you even listening to me?" Ginny demanded, as Hermione and Draco rested their foreheads together, sighing in unison, before chuckling. Yep, they were in for their fair share of headaches before they made it down the aisle.

Fin

A/N: So there it is, the end. Okay so I realise this is a lot shorter than all the other chapters, it was actually shorter than I had planned, but there is a reason for it.

A couple of people had mentioned the idea of doing a sequel in their reviews, and while I hadn't intended on doing one, this idea has rooted itself in my mind, and it seems I already have the the general outline and part of the first chapter written lol.

If anyone is interested in reading the sequel, it will be called Enlivened by the Future and I will try an post the first chapter in a month or so, and you''ll be able to find details about it on my profile. I have started working on another fic which I will start posting next week, so I'll be writing the both along side each other.

I would just like to say a final thank you to everyone who has read, thank you for adding me to favourites and alerts, and most of all, a huge thank you to for all my wonderful reviews. It's been so much fun writing this fic, and I'm a little bit sad that it's come to an end, but I can't wait to start on the sequel. You guys have been amazing!

I love you all

xBx