So here it is, the conclusion of I Still Love You….:

)O(

Hermione sat on the bed she and Harry shared, the bed she had just given birth on, and stared listlessly out the window at the night that seemed so dark and deep. She didn't hear the door open, so she was startled when Harry and Lily were suddenly right beside her.

She smiled at the two of them. "Did it work?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Bellatrix is gone," he promised. "Are you okay?"

Hermione slowly nodded. "My…" she whispered. She cleared her throat and Harry noticed the tear slide down her cheek.

Harry reached for her hand, already knowing what his wife wanted to tell him. When Anita had come to tell Harry that he could see Hermione, she had also informed him that Hermione's uterus needed to be removed. Anita had explained that, in addition to the scarring, the stress of the pregnancy and the sudden intense labor had virtually destroyed the organ. Hermione was to be taken to St. Mungo's for the surgery in just a few short minutes.

"I know," Harry said softly, squeezing Hermione's hand tightly. "Anita told me. She said that it's quite serious."

Hermione nodded. "Yes," she whispered. She reached for the baby and smoothed Lily's dark hair. "I'm sorry," she whispered before she met Harry's eyes. "I'm sorry I can't give you the family you wanted."

Harry shook his head. "You have given me the family I've always wanted," he said. "I have you for a wife and now we have a beautiful daughter." He leaned forward and kissed Hermione. "My life is complete," he whispered. "And if our family isn't, we can always adopt other children. Do not ever feel inadequate. Do not ever feel as though you have failed me. You have made all of my dreams come true. All that matters right now is that you are well again."

Hermione nodded and reached for Lily once more. The baby fussed as she was passed from father to mother but quieted quickly when she found herself in Hermione's warm embrace.

)O(

After the procedure, Hermione was wheeled into a room in St. Mungo's where she would spend the next two days while Anita monitored her recovery. Harry sat in the room with their newborn daughter in his arms. He watched Hermione as she dozed from the effects of the potions and eventually put his daughter to rest in a small cradle that had been brought in. He brought his chair to Hermione's bedside and reached for her head. He could tell by the frown on her face that her dreams weren't entirely pleasant.

Harry sighed as he stroked the back of his wife's hand and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He saw the crease in her forehead ease away and the tension seemed to melt away from her body. "It's over," Harry whispered in her ear. This time, he actually believed it.

Hermione's dreams seemed to echo Harry's words, as if she somehow heard him in the midst of the images playing behind her closed eyes.

She found herself in the cell for the last time. She knew it was the last time because she was looking at it as though she was visiting it again after being away for so long. She was dressed comfortably once more, her sweater almost more like a security blanket than a sweater itself. Her soft jeans and warm boots made her feel entirely relaxed and she knew that nothing could harm her now. The feeling she felt was a feeling she equated with looking at a house you had been in for years and were moving away from. Except that this house was one room filled with a thousand nightmares and horrors that Hermione would rather not remember.

She looked at the cell from the outside in. The iron bars were open to her and she swung it wide before she willingly stepped inside for the first time. Sitting on the straw with her arms and feet in the cold metal shackles was Bellatrix. Her head was bowed forward and her hair hung in ropes around her face. She was dressed in Hermione's old rags. Hermione felt as if it was justice finally being served.

Bellatrix looked up as Hermione approached. "Hello, mummy," she sneered. "Come to mock me, have you? You've won and there's nothing I can do about it. Why are you even here?"

"Because I needed to know you were gone for good," Hermione softly replied.

"Whatever it was that your Golden Boy did while they were finishing up with you made the girl beat me well and truly. Now that you don't even have a uterus to have more little ones, I have officially failed to exact my wrath. You've won. What more could you possibly want?"

"You to stay here, in this cell, and have the worst night of your life replayed over and over so that you might actually have an idea of how it felt to be me all of these years," Hermione softly whispered. She stepped up to Bellatrix so that the broken woman had to strain to look up at her. Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the apparition. "Go to hell," she whispered before a burst of bright red light exploded from the tip of Hermione's wand. A moment later, Bellatrix and the cell were gone. Hermione stood alone in the warm and inviting living room and felt as though she was finally free of the terrors that had plagued her for so long. She smiled as she sighed heavily and sat down on the overstuffed sofa. "I'm free," she whispered to herself.

—Four Years Later—

Hermione laughed as she watched Lily, Orion, and the other children take part in a game of tag in the back yard. She and Harry finished setting up the table filled with birthday presents and treats. Lily squealed with laughter as she chased the other kids and tried to catch just one of them. She was just as Hermione had always imagined her: Long curly black hair, pale skin, and Harry's emerald green eyes.

Lily and Orion were joined by their brothers and sisters. The differences were easy to spot. The two platinum blondes belonged to Draco and Cassie. The brunettes were Harry and Hermione's. Since losing the ability to bare children, the couple had adopted three more children to grow up with Lily, giving Harry the big family he had always wanted. There was one redhead in the group, the youngest of the seven children running around, who belonged to Anita and her fiancé, a fellow doctor at St. Mungo's.

They gathered the children around, sang "Happy Birthday", and ate cake before Lily opened her birthday gifts. The party lasted well into the evening when all of the children had finally tired themselves out. Harry and Hermione said goodbye to the friends who were more like family before they carried their children to bed. When they finished cleaning up the party, Harry sighed as he pulled Hermione close to him.

He smiled happily as he kissed her sweetly. "Who would have thought that eight years ago we would be here today?" he asked.

"Technically you did," Hermione replied with a smirk.

Harry chuckled as he nodded. "True," he replied. "Thank Merlin I still love you because if I didn't, we really wouldn't be here today."

Hermione smiled at her husband. "I think we should say 'thank Merlin I still love you,' because if I didn't, I wouldn't have agreed to give you just one more kiss for old time's sake."

Harry chuckled as he kissed Hermione. "Speaking of which, the kids are all asleep," he said with a grin. Hermione could see the mischievous gleam in his eyes and knew that whatever thoughts were playing themselves out in his mind were not wholesome or virtuous. It was a knowledge that she found exciting.

As Harry and Hermione snuck upstairs, Lily woke from her light doze with the feeling that she was being watched. She walked up to the window of her bedroom and looked down at the back yard where they had spent the day playing and celebrating her fourth birthday. As always, she could see the woman dressed in dark clothes standing nearby, watching and waiting for something to happen. Lily pressed her palm against the glass of the window and shook her head. The message was clear: You can't have me. She couldn't remember who the strange, invisible woman was, but she knew that the only reason it was around was to take her life away from her. She knew that this woman was important, but she also knew that this woman couldn't hurt her as long as she remembered that she was never alone.

The years would seem to fly by in an instant. Lily would continue to see the woman she would later come to learn was Bellatrix Lestrange for the rest of her life. She would be haunted by false promises of greatness and the lure of darkness. When the temptation began to grow too strong, Lily remembered that she had parents who adored her and two brothers and a sister who looked up to her to always make the right decision. She refused to give in, but at night, when she was fast asleep, she could remember a time when she hadn't been strong enough to do that. She could remember a time when she was held in her father's embrace and he was telling her that he loved her and that she was strong enough to beat Bellatrix. She could remember the emptiness that came with letting the ghost's false promises win over her own reasoning. She had no knowledge of when it happened or if it was even real, but she knew, somehow, that it was true. If she gave in, that's what would wait for her. And that was why she never let Bellatrix win. She was stronger than some non-corporeal apparition that could only talk at her. She was strong enough to win and continue winning for as long as she should live.

* * * The End * * *

AN: Final chapter. Wow! This has been an interesting 2-year journey, hasn't it? For the longest time, I haven't really been able to work on this story because I haven't been sure of how to end it and I knew that it needed to happen. These last two chapters were both written in a two-day span because my muse FINALLY showed up! lol

I don't think there was really a plan when I started writing this. I wanted to do something with Harry and Hermione and I wanted it to be an awesome story. I wanted there to be tragedy and conflict. I wanted them to come together again after a horrendous event tore them apart. I wanted them to have a happy ending. I didn't think that I was going to have Hermione haunted by a ghost. I didn't think that I was going to have Blaise Zabini turn into this heartless jerk, and I didn't think that I was going to have Harry be the best friend of Draco Malfoy. Those things just kind of…happened. I'm glad they did. I think they gave this story flavor and spice.

I'd like to take a moment to thank you all once more. It amazes me every time I post a chapter for this story and I see the hits and views skyrocket. All of your reviews have helped me write this story and I don't think it would have come this far without you. Yes, I mean you. ^_^ And you, too. You've all been pretty awesome.