Draco quickly went from his mother to his room where he sent an owl to the Potter house. He poured himself a drink and nearly choked when the drink turned itself to water. Pansy's spell was apparently still in effect, he thought agitated. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long for a response. Not five minutes later his owl reappeared telling him to meet at Hermione's. He flooed to Hermione's flat from his mother's room and found Ginny there waiting for him.
"What do you need?" she asked worried. "Your note made it sound important."
"Not here," Draco replied. "I need to talk to you and Potter. Is she still there?"
"She just left," Ginny told him. "She was going to St. Mungo's for a meeting she'd forgotten about. Let's go outside and we can apparate to my house."
Draco nodded and followed Ginny out of the flat and outside. She held out her arm and he slipped his through hers and she apparated them to the front door of Grimmauld Place. She led Draco inside, calling for Harry as they entered. Harry entered the living room a minute later and looked surprised to see Draco with his wife.
"This was the emergency you had to see to?" Harry asked. "What's Malfoy got to do with anything?"
"He needs to talk to us," Ginny told him and gestured for Draco to sit down.
He sat in a chair and Harry and Ginny sat down together on the couch.
"What is it?" Harry wanted to know.
"I'd like to ask Hermione to marry me," Draco told them, giving Ginny a withering look when she squealed and covered her mouth with her hands. Harry looked torn between amusement at his wife's reaction and concern at Draco's words.
"I want to ask your permission to marry her," Draco said with a clenched jaw. "She considers you family and since her parents are gone and Weasley asked me, it seemed like the right thing to do."
"Never thought I'd see the day," Harry muttered.
"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed jumping to her feet and hugging Draco so hard he was afraid he'd suffocate. "Harry of course says yes!"
Draco gently pushed Ginny away and looked at Harry.
"You're serious?" Harry wanted to know.
"Yes," Draco told him with a hint of anger in his voice.
"You're sure?" Harry asked him.
"Yes," Draco replied steadily.
"Her blood status?" Harry questioned.
"Irrelevant and has been for quite some time otherwise you wouldn't have let me near her in the first place," Draco answered.
Harry looked satisfied with the response and stood. Draco stood as well.
"You have my blessing," Harry said, and Draco felt a wave of relief wash over him. "But you should ask Ron for his permission as well."
"You can't be bloody serious," Draco replied. "Ask Weasley?"
"He asked you," Harry told him. "You should ask him. Hermione considers him as much family as she considers me."
"Fine," Draco grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "How the hell am I supposed to get there?"
"Our floos are connected," Ginny said happily. "You can floo to Pansy's house directly and then from there you should be able to floo to Hermione's flat."
"Did you lot just pick a day and connect all your bloody floos?" Draco asked, agitated. "I don't think I've ever met a group of people who had such easy access to eachothers homes."
"We're all family," Harry told him with a shrug. "Two of us work for the Ministry and Hermione can get pretty much anything she asks for. It's convenient."
"Welcome to the family," Ginny said with a massive grin that grew even larger when Draco's face changed to horror when it dawned on him his home would be connected to all of theirs.
"I'm going to block the floo," Draco told them and the Potters laughed in response.
"The floo powder is by the fireplace," Harry said, pointing him towards it. "Good luck!"
Draco grumbled under his breath but walked to the fireplace and disappeared in a puff of green smoke a moment later.
"He doesn't actually have to ask Ron you know," Ginny said to her husband. "Ron wouldn't have cared either way."
"I know," Harry replied with a grin. "But I like seeing Malfoy sweat."
Ginny laughed in reply and then heard James begin to cry. With a sigh, the Potters rose and went upstairs to check on their son.
Draco meanwhile found himself in Pansy's home but it didn't seem like there was anyone there.
"Hello?" he called out. "Pansy? Are you here?"
Ron walked into the living room a minute later holding a chicken leg and looked surprised.
"Er, hey Malfoy," he said awkwardly. "Pansy isn't home."
"I came to see you," Draco replied just as awkwardly.
"Me?" Ron asked, taking a bite of the chicken leg. "Why?"
Draco pulled the ring out of his pocket and opened the box. Ron gaped at him, the chicken he'd just bitten falling out of his mouth onto the floor.
"Honestly, Weasley," Draco snapped. "Manners?"
Ron closed his mouth and stared at Draco. "You're serious?"
"Yes, I'm bloody serious," Draco replied. "Do you and Potter plan your stupid questions together?"
"You went to see Harry?" Ron asked, his eyes wide.
"Yes," Draco replied impatiently. "I saw Potter, got Potter's permission, he sent me here to get yours, I'm going to marry your bloody best friend."
The words hung between them for a moment while Ron stared at Draco.
"Okay," Ron answered and Draco looked shocked at his easy answer.
"Okay?" Draco repeated.
"Okay," Ron said again.
Draco stared at Ron for a minute and Ron stared back. Without another word, Draco turned his back and walked into the fireplace. Unsettled by their easy acquiescence to his desire to marry Hermione, Draco flooed to Hermione's flat and found her sitting on the couch, holding a letter in her hand. She looked up when he came through.
"We have to go!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him out her front door before he could even ask why.
She quickly dragged him outside and apparated them away. Draco and Hermione landed in front of the entrance to the Ministry of Magic.
"What are we doing here?" Draco asked.
"You were summoned," Hermione said, biting her lip nervously. "By Kingsley. Blaise wrote you as well. He's going to meet us here."
"Why was I summoned?" Draco wanted to know, a sick feeling settling in his stomach.
"I don't know," Hermione said helplessly. "I have no idea."
"Wait," Draco replied, intending to propose to her right there.
"We can't wait, we have to go," Hermione told him and dragged him into the phone booth.
Once inside Hermione moved quickly through the Ministry to Kingsley's office. Once they arrived she didn't bother to knock, simply strode passed his secretary and into the room with Draco jogging behind her trying to catch up. Kingsley sat at his desk with Blaise and Luna in front of him. There were two empty chairs.
"Why was Draco summoned?" Hermione demanded to know.
"Hermione, Mr. Malfoy, please have a seat," Kingsley said, gesturing with his hand to the open chairs.
Hermione thought about responding but Draco touched his hand to her shoulder and guided her to the chair. She sat with a huff and Draco seated himself next to her.
"You wanted to see me Minister?" Draco asked, holding his head high, trying to ignore the weight of the box in his pocket.
Before Kingsley could answer his door flew open again and Harry, Ron, Ginny, Gina, and Pansy all came through. Kingsley raised an eyebrow at the group.
"Blaise wrote us," Harry said. "Just wanted to be here in case we were needed."
Kingsley gestured for them to come in and Harry shut the door behind him. He conjured five chairs and they all sat in a row behind Blaise, Luna, Hermione, and Draco.
"The reason you're here," Kingsley said. "Is you still have two weeks left of your rehabilitation yet Ms. Lovegood believes we should allow you an early release."
All the heads in the room swiveled to Luna. "An early release?" Draco asked. "What do you mean?"
"It means you'd be done," Luna replied. "Done with rehab, you could have your wand back and you can resume your life."
"I brought you here because I wanted to see for myself," Kingsley told him. "I was going to ask you a number of questions but being that you arrived with Ms. Granger and then this lot showed up in some sort of showing of support, I daresay Mr. Malfoy, I'm inclined to believe that you have in fact been rehabilitated."
"He has Kingsley, he-" Hermione started to say but Draco put his hand over hers and stopped her.
"Minister, I would like to apologize for my actions both prior to, during, and after the war," he said. "I have over the last five and a half months seen that I chose to fight for the wrong side but more than that, that my beliefs were unfounded and a number of my actions based on lies that I was told from the time I was a child. I am a different man than I was. "
Kingsley nodded, looking pleased by Draco's speech. "Very well then," he said. "Mr. Malfoy, the final phase is officially complete."
At his words, Draco's wand appeared on his desk. Kingsley picked it up and handed it to Draco. Draco wrapped his hand around the familiar Hawthorn wood and felt as though he was finally whole again.
"Thank you, sir," Draco said, standing and holding out his hand.
Kingsley shook Draco's hand and then looked at the group. "You're all dismissed."
Everyone rose from their chairs but Draco stopped them. "Wait, one minute," Draco shouted and they all stopped. "I have one more thing I'd like to say."
Draco stepped toward Hermione and took her hands in his. She looked at him with a smile and a slightly puzzled look on her face. "Draco?"
"Hermione Jean Granger, I love you," he said. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone and for some reason that I can't even fathom you love me back. You have been my rock over the last few months and you have become the most important person in my life. I don't ever want to be without you."
Hermione's jaw dropped when Draco smoothly slid down to one knee. He released her hands and reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring.
"Will you do me the absolute honor of being my wife?" he asked, looking up at her. Hermione stared down at him, tears in her eyes, her heart full of love for the man in front of her.
"Yes," she said, the tears spilling over as Draco removed the ring from the box and slid it on to her fingers. "Absolutely, yes."
Draco jumped up and scooped her into his arms and kissed her and their friends cheered. Ron and Harry even managed to look happy for Hermione. Kingsley ushered them all from his office and offered his congratulations. In the hallway outside of his office Draco hugged Hermione tightly to his side.
"Let's go home," she whispered in his ear.
They said goodbye to everyone and returned to Hermione's flat. Back in her living room they sat down on her couch.
"You're free," she said with a sad smile. "You don't have to work with me anymore."
"I'd like to stay," Draco replied, looking at her hopefully. "I think we should finish what we started."
Hermione threw her arms around his neck, knocking him onto his back. "I was hoping you'd say that," she said in his ear.
Draco wrapped his arms around her back and held her close. A few minutes later, Draco sat up and shifted Hermione so she was in his arms. He stood and shifted her so she could wrap her arms around his neck. Hermione held up her hand and smiled as the light glinted off her ring.
"I love you," she said, pressing her lips to Draco. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
"I love you too," he replied, kissing her back.
It wasn't the final phase that had ended, Draco realized as he looked at Hermione and she beamed back at him. It was the first of many, he thought. And it was just beginning.
A/N: I'm going to post the epilogue in a minute but that's it. That's the end of my story. I just want to say thank you again and hope that, now that it's done, even more people will get to enjoy my story.