There's no happy ending, not when you've gone through as much in life as she had. Oftentimes it can be said that if things aren't working out, if people aren't happy then it isn't the end. You can't say that to somebody who has lost their entire life. Lived everyday waiting for the moment they will take their last breath. Just to be reunited with what was once held so easily within their grasp.

xxx

She paced back and forth in her office, slowly. One hand on the wall for support, the other braced to catch herself if she were to fall. She was weak, very weak and had been for some time. The end was near she knew and pretty soon she would be swept away from this world. She wasn't scared though for she had much to anticipate in death. The main thing being she would no longer be alone.

Completely exhausted she rested herself down on her desktop for a brief moment. Realizing it may take more than only a moment, she shuffled around to her more comfortable chair. Placing her head back she let her eyes slip closed, but not before she caught a glimpse of the view beyond her windows. She'd worked in this office for nearly two decades. It had taken nearly a quarter of that time for the company to formally become her own.

The security detail at Malfoy Co. had searched relentlessly for their boss. Ultimately though they came up empty handed. Draco Malfoy had been pronounced dead a little over four years after his disappearance. During that time Hermione Granger had taken over and learned the ropes of the company. She had steered them through tough times and gave up her position of the Ministry of Magic to do so.

After Malfoy's death was proved, his will was opened. To Hermione's utmost shock he had left everything, not just the company but his personal wealth, to her. Most single women would have been ecstatic to learn that overnight they had become one of the wealthiest people in the world, but for Hermione the bitterness disguised the sweetness. It had only been released to those select few people in the know that Draco Malfoy had in fact committed suicide. The guilt that Hermione felt would never leave her from the day she was informed of that information, until the day she would die. It didn't help that deep down, the rational side of her brain kept screaming at her that she was not to blame for his decisions. The guilt was overwhelming nevertheless. Guilt was a powerful tool.

That revelation had been the straw that broke the hippogriffs back. The sleeping potions and alcohol that she had sworn she would give up went from not only being a nightly tradition, but one that interrupted lunch hours and morning coffees.

Her skin which had once held a youthful lustre even as she progressed into her thirties was now long gone. Having been replaced by a hardened exterior that showed the stress and abuse of her life. Her hair had been next. It had begun falling out in clumps not long after her fingernails became ridged and brittle. She was not a well person and her body showed it, but never did she try to reverse the damages. Instead she embraced them. She had simply given up.

To say her life had been successful would have been an understatement. Before she had left the Ministry she had been offered the position of Senior Advisor which she had accepted. It had always been her dream promotion and thus she felt she had to take it. She did the job for a little over a month before handing in her resignation. She had achieved her dream, at least she was able to say that about one thing.

At Malfoy Co. she had been a whirlwind. Managing to do things with the company that so many generations of Malfoy would never have even attempted. Although the Malfoy name had been tarnished during the past century, they had once been a great family. Hermione vowed to return that respect to the Malfoy name, even though there was no remaining line. To say she had succeeded wouldn't begin to describe what she had done. Single handily she, a muggle born witch had restored the honour to a now dead family that had always relied on the males of the family for success in business.

Probably the hardest thing for Hermione to swallow about Draco's suicide was how desperate he must have been. To die without leaving an heir was even beyond Hermione's ability to comprehend. She thought she knew the Malfoy family, and they cherished their heritage and their future like no other family that had ever existed. Except for maybe the Blacks. For Draco to disregard the fact that his death would end one of the greatest lines to every exist in the Wizarding World proved that he was a very heartbroken man. Hermione guilt about that also plagued her. She had played a part in ending that line and she had also played a part in trying to produce it. That thought would then bring her full circle and she'd become depressed once more about her daughters death. Although that depression never really left her.

Hermione's career success had astounded the public. Primarily those that didn't know her couldn't help but commend her actions of dealing with what life had thrown at her. It was only those closer to her that knew better. Her parents and close co workers feared she would commit suicide as well to end all of her pain, but every day she surprised them all and stood to walk another day. For Harry and Ron though they knew that Hermione would not just choose to end it one day. She had already made that decision a long time before and set it into motion then. No, she would not string up a rope, or leap into the raging sea, but she was killing herself. Day by day she would drink herself into a restless slumber and each time Ron and Harry were there to pick up the pieces. She was dying a little bit more every day in front of their eyes.

What Hermione was doing was inflicting pain on herself. She was dragging out the inevitable and she was succeeding. She had stopped taking care of herself and as a result she fell apart. Behind closed doors she was a mess. Only inches away from leaving a world that had been all to unkind to her. She was counting down the days.

A part of her knew that she should feel awful for doing this to Ron and Harry but she too was a desperate person. The depression hurt too much now for her to be able to overcome it. She had lost her will to fight. One day they too would meet again.

Her eyes were heavy as she slouched down deeper into her chair. No longer could she feel her limbs, she felt like she was floating away. Was this it? Would she finally get to see them again?

She cracked her eyes open and prayed that she didn't see her office walls. The office walls that Draco had looked at, his father before him and his father before that. She had revolutionized the way Malfoy Co. and all other wizarding businesses were to be run from that point on. She had opened the door for women to emerge as the new leaders.

The snow was floating down. Huge snow drifts framed the pathway that she was standing on. All her pain was gone. It felt as if she had been transported back to her youth when she was invincible. It was truly magical.

Off in the distance she could make out the bobbing heads of a crowd of people. She willed her feet to move and she set off towards them. As she neared the figures, they began to come into focus. The were standing in a formation and they appeared to be waiting for her. At the forefront were two distinct figures. Their hair told the whole story.

She broke into a run. Those curls, those beautiful white ringlets that had pained her so much to see disappear were once again before her.

"Momma!"

No words could escape her lips, but the tears made up for it. She fell to her knees and scooped up the little girl that she hadn't held in over two decades. Suddenly she felt a pair of strong arms envelope her. They were all together. This was how it was supposed to be. Surrounded by family and friends that she hadn't seen in years she had been reunited. Nothing could go wrong now. She was safe. This was where she was meant to be.

In her pocket she felt the weight of the stone encrusted ring. It never left her.

"I've been waiting for you."

xxx

a/n Well I did have to fight back tears momentarily there. I hope that you did too, and I hoped that you enjoyed this story. I can't believe I've finally finished it. This has been a long time in the making and I am so happy with it. Please, please review and give me your final thoughts, and I hope to hear from you again on some of my future stories. Thank you to all my readers. Cheers.