The day we met,

Frozen I held my breath

Right from the start

I knew that I'd found a home for my heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave?

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?

But watching you stand alone

All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

-Christina Perri A Thousand Years Part 2

Epilogue: Life As We Know It

September 1, 2011

"Bye Mum, I'll miss you!" said my eldest daughter Lily as she hugged and kissed me before she boarded the train for her 3rd year of Hogwarts.

I watched my daughter, who was so much more independent than I was at that age, meet up with her friends and even flirted with one of her fellow Gryffindor male friends. Something that made Harry a bit uneasy.

"I think I should go have a talk with that boy. Who's kid is he?" he asked me, glaring at the boy as the boy helped Lily with her trunk.

I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder. "That's Ethan Nott, Theo and Tracey's son. He's totally harmless. A perfect gentleman. Just like you."

"Indeed. Still, I should-"

"Harry James Potter you will do no such thing." I scolded. "Besides, you have two other children to worry about yeah?"

We looked down at our twins, Jasmine and Jasper. Jasper looked completely confident and ready. Like his father, he was up for anything and everything. A shoe in for Gryffindor.

"Mum, I see Jonnie, can I go say hi?" asked Jasper and my Jasmine blushed at the sight of Jonathan Weasley, Ron, and Hermione's son, who was waving Jasper over .

"Sure go ahead. But don't get lost." I said as my son took off at my words.

Jasmine, who stayed right next to Harry, grabbed onto his hand. Something she really hadn't voluntarily done since she was seven.

Harry looked down at his youngest daughter, the one that looked like a mirrored, female version of himself, right down to the emerald eyes.

"Something bothering you love?" asked Harry.

Jasmine shrugged. "Its nothing." she said quietly.

I motioned Harry to go on ahead with Jasper. I then knelt down to Jasmine and could see the fear in her eyes.

"Knut for your thoughts Jas?" I said, trying to start off our little joke.

Jasmine forced a small smile. "My thoughts are worth galleons." she replied.

"That's my girl. Now, what's wrong?"

Jasmine sighed. "Promise you won't get mad?"

"Of course not."

"I don't want to be a Slytherin." she said behind closed eyes.

I looked at her and couldn't help but laugh. "And why is that?"

"Because Grandmum says that to be a Slytherin I have to be a proper lady and I can only do that in Slytherin. But Gwen is a Slytherin and she's far from a lady. She's so mean." sneered Jasmine.

After the upset with me not marrying Draco, my mother had my father get her pregnant again, so the Parkinson line wouldn't be ruined. About 2 months after Lily was born, my mother had my little sister, Gwendolyn. She had finally gotten the daughter she wanted because Gwen did everything Mum told her and in having Gwen, she eventually warmed up to her half blooded grandchildren.

Gwen entered Hogwarts with Lily and the two were polar opposites. Lily was sorted into Gryffindor, while Gwen went to Slytherin. Gwen reminded me of everything my mother forced me to be, only that was my actual sister's mannerisms. Though a lot of the pureblood families that were Slytherins when I was in school had looked beyond the pureblood supremacy ideals, a few like my mother, Draco's father, and the Bulstrodes had kept those ideals and passed them onto the future generation. They gave Slytherins a bad name.

"It doesn't matter what house you end up in darling. You will always be the lady that you want to be. Your godmothers are ladies are they not?" I said.

Jasmine smiled and nodded at the mention of Hermione and Ginny. My girls looked up to them the most, especially Jasmine when it came to Ginny.

"And what are they?"

"Gryffindors! Like Lily. But, what if I don't become a Gryffindor? What if I'm a Ravenclaw, or worse, a Hufflepuff?"

"Hufflepuffs aren't that bad Jas." I said, laughing.

"Oh yes they are. Bunch of goody goodies who pretend they are so sweet but really they can be more mean than Slytherins. Lily told me."

"Well, if you end up there, you can be the one that changes that yeah? And Ravenclaws are fine as well. Just don't try to trick the hat into putting you into somewhere else or you will for sure be in Slytherin. Maybe ask it nicely yeah?"

Jasmine smiled and nodded. "I'm not afraid anymore." she said.

I hugged my baby girl tightly in my arms. "You'll be great wherever you go, my darling. Just be sure you are the person you want to be. Always be who you want, and not what others say you should."

We caught up with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Jasper, and Jonnie as the train whistle blew for everyone to board. I hugged my twins tightly and told them I loved them and Harry did the same. I then hugged my godson and watched as the three of them boarded the train.

As Harry and I watched the train depart, I couldn't help but cry. All three of our children were now in school. It was a bittersweet feeling. Both Harry and I had instilled in our children to be themselves always. I hoped that they would continue that during their journey through life.

Lily reminded me a lot of myself, only she had the bravery of her father. Jasper was his father through and through, while Jasmine seemed to be her own exact person. She may have found herself to be shy and fearful, but to me, she had more bravery in her than she could ever imagine and I couldn't wait for it to shine.

As the train disappeared into the distance, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I didn't turn around. I already knew who it was.

"Hello, Mother." I said, still looking in the direction of where the train had gone.

"Pansy. You're looking well." she said.

"Thank you."

"The children look well since I've seen them last."

"They are well."

My mother sighed as she stepped in front of my vision. "Jasmine reminded me a lot of you your first day."

"Did she now?" I asked.

"I'm...I'm glad that you didn't tell her what I told you." Mum said.

That shocked me. I truly expected something snooty or mean.

"Mum?"

"I should have told you the same thing that you told her. Maybe...maybe we would have gotten along better if I didn't force you to be someone that you were not. For that, I am truly sorry."

I felt tears begin to form in my eyes again. My mother never apologized for anything. And here she was, not only apologizing to me, but apologizing to me about something that she had always known was wrong.

"I haven't always been kind to you. But I'm hoping that this will change. And I haven't been the nicest to Harry over the years and I would totally understand if he didn't want to associate himself with me. But I would indeed like for us to have a fresh start."

For the first time since I was at least 10 years old, I gave my mother a sincere, truthful, and loving hug. She returned it with just as much feeling. I let the tears roll as I embraced my mother and allowed genuine love to finally be shown.

I opened my eyes and saw Harry looking at me and smiling. Contrary to what my mother would probably never believe, he was waiting for this day to happen for the both of us, especially since I had lost my father 4 years ago.

That night as I relaxed in the bath I thought back through the day's events as well as my life. I had married the man that I had pined for, I had accomplished being a concert pianist, even though I had to retire early, though I still played for weddings and events. Harry didn't become a professional quidditch player, but an auror who, along with Ron, accomplished a lot and he was now partnered with Draco at his muggle/wizard law firm which made a lot of money for the two of them. Though we didn't have four children due to complications after my pregnancy with the twins, I did have my kids, along with two godchildren from Ron and Hermione, four from Ginny and Draco, and three from Daphne and Blaise. And now, with actual love from my mother restored, life seemed 100%.

And as my husband, who still gave me butterflies after all these years, climbed into the bath behind me and held me close, I smiled as I thought back to the time that I decided to be the girl that I wanted to be, and not the one that society was trying to mold me into. The girl who changed my life for the better, and allowed me to make my life my own.

I had to remember to thank that girl someday.

~Fin~

And that's the end of The Royals.

This story has more followers and favorites than any of my others and I really appreciate that. I also liked writing about Pansy and making her into more of a tolerable and nicer person. I also liked her and Harry's relationship so I'm thinking that I just might have to start writing more about them.

Thanks for everyone that left a review, favorited, and followed this story. Means a whole lot to me. And for the future reviewers thanks for your input as well.

Until the next story. Happy Reading :)