AN: And here it is, ladies and gentlemen! The final chapter of this little story of mine.

Thank you for all of my readers, to Bex for pre-reading, and to my reviewers for giving me encouragement along the way.

The Journal

Chapter Thirty-Five

Draco found it difficult to sleep. Instead, he lay in bed watching Hermione sleep soundly in the moonlight. Her chest rose and fell softly with each breath.

She had been miserable for the last two weeks. Her muscle spasms were frequent now, and her headaches and nausea were nearly non-stop. She slept more than she was awake and hadn't left the house in weeks.

A seizure had hit her hard the previous day while she took a shower. Luckily, Draco had been in the shower with her. He was able to catch her as she fell, just barely.

He watched the clock on the wall as it inched closer and closer to daylight.

It was finally time. Or it would be, if the sun would ever hurry the fuck up and rise already.

He sighed deeply.

In a few short hours they would be on their way to St. Mungo's. They had watched the procedure several times now. Today it would be her turn. She would be the one lying on the table.

She would be the one walking out of the hospital free and clear of the curse that had plagued her for years.

"Go to sleep, Draco." She mumbled in a sleepy voice. "Watching the clock won't make it move faster."

She slid her arm over his stomach and rested her head against his arm.

He sighed again before kissing her forehead and holding her a little tighter. He concentrated on breathing in and out. Soon he drifted off to sleep with her in his arms. When he opened his eyes again, the sun was up and she was watching him sleep.

"We should get up soon," she said in a quiet voice. It was as if she didn't want to break the silence of the morning.

"We should." He answered just as quietly before pulling her in for a slow kiss. As anxious as he was to get to the hospital, he was also perfectly content simply lying in bed with her.

Slow kisses turned into soft touches, which could have turned into so much more. Instead, she pulled away from him and stood up carefully.

He sighed to himself, then followed her to the shower. They prepared for the day side by side but in complete silence.

Draco was nervous and anxious. He imagined that she was feeling the same. There was no reason for him to believe that anything would go wrong. Still, there was always a chance.

They stood together in front of the fireplace in silence for a long moment.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked her finally.

"I can't believe it's finally here." Her hand shook as he took it in his own.

"In a few short hours, it'll all be over." He kissed her gently on the forehead.

"Let's go get it over with then, yeah?"

"After you." He held his hand out to motion for her to go through the floo first.

She disappeared in green flames. He took a deep breath then followed her.

The next six hours went by incredibly slow. Draco was by her side every single minute. Harry, Ron and Luna sat in the observation room.

Bill Weasley took the lead breaking the curse. He started by putting her into a deep sleep to ensure she didn't move during the procedure. He was meticulous. He took his time and made sure that he got every single trace of the curse unraveled and broken.

When he finally finished, his body sagged against the wall out of sheer exhaustion before sitting heavily in a chair.

"It's done?" Draco asked him.

Bill nodded once and Draco breathed a sigh of relief.

The healer that had been watching from the observation room stepped in quietly. She had a vial of their purple potion in her hand. Before waking Hermione, though, she ran her wand over her sleeping form to ascertain the level of damage prior to taking the potion.

Draco watched without paying much attention. He was just anxious to see her open her eyes. He wanted to see them free of pain.

The healer smiled brightly at him. Then she spoke the spell to wake his sleeping wife.

Her eyes opened slowly and blinked several times before finally meeting his own.

"Miss Granger," the healer stepped in between them.

"Mrs. Malfoy," she responded as she focused on the healer.

"Oh, of course! I'm sorry, Mrs. Malfoy. I need you to take this potion now." She handed the vial to Hermione.

She took the vial from the middle-aged woman. She held the vial in her hand and looked at it. A smile spread across her face.

"Are you okay, Miss...Mrs. Malfoy?"

"I am," she answered. "It's just the first time I've held it."

Draco focused on her hand holding the vial and realized why she was smiling. Her hand was steady. Completely steady. No tremors. No shakes.

Their eyes met once again and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

She opened the vial and tilted it back, letting the potion slide down her throat. Her eyes slid closed again as the potion began working to repair her blood vessels.

When she awoke, Draco was still sitting by her side. Bill had eaten some chocolate and was looking much better, and the healer had left, promising she'd be back in a few minutes. Potter, Weasley and Luna had left the observation room and were crowded along the wall on the other side of her bed.

She smiled at them and squeezed his hand. She looked tired, despite being asleep most of the day. He knew from watching others have the same procedure that it was normal. She had been through one hell of an ordeal. The curse was gone, but she still needed to recuperate.

The healer came back in and ushered them all out the door so she could do her final diagnostics. A few minutes later she opened the door and ushered Draco back inside.

"Everything's okay then, right?" He asked as he sat down next to Hermione once more. She was sitting up on the edge of the bed, so he sat on the bed next to her rather than in the chair.

"Everything looks great," she agreed. "Your wife is one hundred percent PCS free."

They turned towards each other and embraced. He held her tightly as relief flooded through him.

It was gone. The curse was gone.

The Powers That Be had allowed him to keep her. They had decided his repentance was complete and had given him salvation.

The healer cleared her throat. They separated just enough that Hermione laid her head on his shoulder.

"The babies are fine as well," she stated.

"I'm sorry. What?" Hermione sat up straight and focused on the woman in the white coat for probably the first time all day.

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy." She handed over a piece of paper - a test result. "You're pregnant with twins. I'd say you are just about eight weeks along or so."

Neither of them said a word. They sat in shocked silence staring at the paper that said "pregnancy —- positive".

"Ok," the healer said somewhat nervously. "You'll want to follow up with a specialist, of course. Otherwise, you're free to go."

She shook both of their hands and left.

Hermione stood up and started pacing in the small room. Draco was having a difficult time figuring out if she were happy about the news or upset.

As he watched her, he imagined her with her belly protruding with child. Then he imagined her holding a baby in each arm. He felt a smile spread across his face.

"Maya," he waited until she stopped moving and turned to look at him. "It's the last thing on your bucket list."

A smile slowly spread across her face as well. He lifted her up and spun her around in circles before kissing her deeply.

"Oh Merlin, Draco! We're having a baby. No! Babies!" She held on to him and he relished it.

—-

An hour later Hermione sat at a table in a small Italian restaurant surrounded by their closest friends. Draco was next to her, of course. Then there was Blaise and Wendy. Theo sat next, followed by Astoria and Ron. Harry and Luna completed the circle.

They had all wanted to celebrate her newfound health. And though she was tired, she wanted to celebrate as well.

A year ago, she didn't think this day would come. She had been working towards the cure, but she had doubted herself even then.

As she looked around the table, she realized that she was surrounded by friends. By family. A year earlier, she didn't have that. She didn't have anyone. Not really.

Now, though. Now she had everything she could ever ask for. She had her health. She had friends. She had an amazing husband, and they were expecting two babies in a few short months.

She smiled to herself and squeezed Draco's hand under the table. He didn't stop his conversation with Blaise, but he did squeeze her hand back.

Harry and Luna were adorable together. She should have seen it before. They were taking it slow, dating and getting to know each other outside of work. But it was so obvious they belonged together.

Ron and Astoria had taken the wizarding world by storm. What started as a quick fling had turned into a love affair with the media. They both loved the spotlight and they made waves wherever they went. Despite that, the smile on Astoria's face was genuine and the look in Ron's eyes when he looked at her was more than just lust or appreciation. Hermione suspected that he was truly happy for the first time in many years, and that made her happy for him.

Blaise was doing a fantastic job with Wendy. He had taken to fatherhood like a duck to water. Wendy was adjusting well to the new magical world that she found herself in.

Theo was an enigma. He didn't say much throughout the meal. Occasionally he would answer one of Astoria's direct questions or help Wendy cut up her food. Hermione thought she caught a glance or two between him and Blaise. She suspected there was something going on there, but she didn't ask. If it were so, they would tell their friends when they were ready.

The group talked and laughed as they ate. Somehow the conversation got turned to their many adventures at Hogwarts. The Slytherins at the table learned about things they had never known before, and they revealed a few of their own secrets that had the Gryffindors laughing along.

After a while, Hermione sighed and laid her head against Draco's shoulder.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked her quietly.

"Yes. This has been nice, but I'm ready to celebrate in private now."

She didn't have to ask him twice, but she did need to say one more thing before they left.

She tapped a fork against a wine glass to get everyone's attention. Once the conversation had stopped and everyone was looking at her, she spoke.

"I wanted to say thank you to all of you. The last few months have been extremely difficult, but every one of you were there to support me. To support us, really. A year ago, I thought I was going to die alone. I would have, too, if it hadn't been for Draco and a set of journals that I created years ago. Without them, our lives would be so much different today."

"Hold on a second," Ron cleared his throat. "Technically, I threw out the journal which allowed Malfoy to get his hands on it in the first place. So really, if you think about it, it was me and the journal that saved the day."

"Well, I found that box of books and let Draco rummage through them," Blaise piped up. "So, I'm the hero here, really."

Hermione laughed and Draco chuckled next to her.

"I think we can all agree that it was a group effort," she said.

With that, they bid their farewells. Hermione hugged everyone before leaving with Draco. Together they walked hand in hand through Diagon Alley.

When they arrived home, Draco wasted no time. He kissed her the moment they walked through the door, then he swept her off her feet and carried her to their bedroom. They made love as the sun set and after, they slept soundly together.

—-

The next morning, Hermione woke for the first time in years with no pain whatsoever. She took a deep breath and stretched her muscles out. She could see through the curtains that it was going to be a beautiful day.

She showered and went downstairs to make breakfast. Draco joined her shortly after. While they were eating, he told her that he had a surprise for her. A gift.

"Draco, I have everything I could possibly want or need already."

"Just trust me," he responded. Of course, she couldn't say no to him when he blinked those big silver eyes at her.

She nearly changed her mind when she discovered that she would have to ride on a broom of all things. But he gave her those eyes again and reluctantly she settled herself behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

She had to admit, the flight was beautiful. He didn't fly too fast or too high, so she was able to relax a little and enjoy the sunshine and the slight breeze.

She didn't pay much attention to where they were going, so she was surprised when he started to descend. She looked at her surroundings then and her breath caught in her throat.

They were at the top of a small cliff overlooking the ocean. There was a big tree by her side and a large white house with a wrap-around porch and green shutters sitting in front of her.

A strong sense of deja vu washed through her.

"Draco, I've been here before. I dreamt of this place." She could remember it clearly, even now. In her dream she was standing on the porch, listening to the ocean. He came up behind her and promised to keep her safe. "I dreamt of being here with you, before I knew it was you on the other side of the journal."

"Did you really? So did I." He took her by the hand and showed her through the house.

There were six bedrooms, three bathrooms, an informal dining room and a family room. There was also a large room that was perfect for a library, another room that would work well as a lab, and a beautiful conservatory on the back of the house.

When they finished their walk through, she stood on the front porch and leaned against the railing. He walked up behind her and placed his hands to either side of her. She sighed deeply and leaned back against him.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"I think it's perfect." She smiled to herself.

He moved his hands off the railing and slid them around her waist to settle against her stomach. She placed her hands over top of his.

She could see it now. A little girl with curly blonde hair. A little boy with straight brown hair. Playing together in the yard with a little yellow puppy.

Their family.

Their future.

Their happily ever after.

The End.

AN: Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this whole story. I hope you all enjoyed the ending. Please leave me a note and let me know you finished reading, whether you like it or not. : )

Nothing but love for you all,

Mezy