Chapter XIV

Reports of the snogging session spread even faster than the news of the breakup. By the time the pair had arrived at Healing (late), Madame Pomfrey herself only gave them a small smile and shook her head before she motioned for them to sit. Lavender's grin wasn't half as rewarding as Mathias' look of horror. Draco even had the nerve to wink at him.

At dinner, Harry and Ron pointedly avoided Hermione's eyes, just as they avoided any topics that had to do with Draco, Slytherin, snakes, or the colour green. Ginny, on the other hand, was ecstatic, and her ceaseless questioning drove the two boys to another section of the table. It took them a few days to work up the courage to move back, and it was another month before they could even talk about green again.

Draco didn't have nearly as much of a problem with his friends. Mostly Crabbe and Goyle just went along with whatever he said, but Blaise was particularly happy about the match. He even shot Hermione a smile from across the Great Hall. His own relationship with Susan Bones had only improved, and the four of them often accompanied each other to the library to study.

Pansy Parkinson, on the other hand, saw to it that Draco's father was not left out of the loop. She owled him straight away with the news. He reacted in much the same way that anyone would have expected him to. His disdainful letter arrived within a few days, full of demands for the relation to end and unsightly comments about the girl herself. It ran on for four cramped pages, but the general argument was that absolutely no good would come from the match. Draco didn't let Hermione read it herself, but he did tell her that he would take care of the matter directly. He was true to his word. Draco promptly responded with a long list of benefits that a relationship with Hermione Granger would provide, including some that he would have blushed to show to her. He didn't receive a response from his father, but his mother sent her own personal blessing.

As for the couple itself, they had their quarrels, their miscommunications, and their banter at times. Of course they did — neither Draco nor Hermione had awoken one fine morning with a brand new persona. But they also had laughs, and games, and jokes that only they shared, and classes, and walks . . . they were simply two people that had come to understand and accept each other. Neither of them knew why it had taken them so long in the first place, and neither of them wanted, ever, to part.

Yeah, I figured one final epilogue wouldn't hurt. How'd you all like it? Please review!