So, due to so many reviews and wishes that I had made a more Dramione ending, I've decided to add an epilogue to the story. To be honest, I'd considered turning this into a Drarry fic towards the end there, and that's why I was hesitant to make any pairing in this. But you guys convinced me to go with my original intent, and finish it up with some Dramione loving. I hope you enjoy, this is a treat for my lovely readers! Please tell me if you liked it!

It had been eleven months since Draco had returned from the dead.

Eleven months since his biography had been published, complete with the narration of his revival and the conspiracy that the Ministry had cooked up.

Eleven months since Draco had fallen in love with Hermione Granger.

It had crept up on him out of nowhere. It wasn't like Draco had had time to even consider the fact that Hermione was indeed a woman, and that he couldn't imagine life without her anymore. He'd been contemplating his eminent death, not thinking about his love life.

But as he'd lay in his hospital bed, all he could think of was seeing Hermione again, hearing her laugh as she joked with him, and telling him about her day. When Draco had been deemed healed enough to return to the mansion, he realized how lonely it felt without the bushy haired Gryffindor there. How his corporal, warm flesh longed to touch her, as he couldn't before.

Merlin, it's only Granger! He reminded himself. He tried to conjure up the disgust that he'd held for her during their years at Hogwarts, but the hate didn't come.

When he slept for the first time since he'd died, he dreamed of her voice.

After that, Draco Apparated as quickly as he could and got out of the country.

.

A couple of months in the sun does a Malfoy good, that's for sure. Hermione thought. She was holding the newest issue of Witch Weekly, a horribly trashy teen magazine, that was showing the 20 Best Beach Boy Bods… and Draco Malfoy was being featured on the beaches of Fiji. That wasn't exactly how Hermione wanted to see the blonde, but at least she knew he was happy and healthy… Very healthy, from the looks of it. Draco was toned and he'd developed an attractive tan. He even seemed to be sporting some stubble. Hermione told herself that she was admiring him from a strictly clinical view, not because she liked him, or anything. And that kiss months ago hadn't meant anything! She'd just wanted to comfort a friend who was possibly going to disappear forever. That was a reasonable excuse, wasn't it?

She wasn't going to take the fact that he'd fled only days after she'd revived him personally. She was only a little perturbed at the fact that he hadn't said goodbye. It was in Draco's nature, anyway.

Ron grumbled that he was ungrateful. Harry wished he would come back because Teddy wanted to see him again. Hermione wanted him to come back because she missed him.

With horror at that thought, she tried to crumple up the magazine, but Ginny stopped her hands.

She reached across the table and snatched the magazine back from her friend. "What do you think you're doing! I'm going to tape this up on my wall!"

Hermione blushed. "Ginny—that's just awful! Not to mention disgusting. I mean, aren't you the one who hates Malfoy so much?"

Ginny eyed her seriously. "I may hate Malfoy, but would you honestly turn down that body? Besides, I didn't say I was going to tape the ferret's picture up, I wanted to put Oliver's up! He's on the next page, but you were obviously too focused on Malfoy's, weren't you, Hermione?"

"I wasn't!"

"Well, while you're in denial, I know what I want… and that's Oliver Wood's abs on a platter. After sandwiches, of course." She giggled, finally picking up her menu, which had been left forgotten on the café table.

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed in a scandalized tone.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I'll frame Malfoy's shirtless beach photo and blow it up for you." She winked.

"Don't you dare!"

.

Draco was lounging on the beach, lying on a lounge chair in the shade. He did have delicate skin, after all. Through his sunglasses (he actually liked these muggle inventions) he noticed a gaggle of girls watching him from a drinks shop a few feet away. Though they couldn't see his eyes, which were rolling, they giggled when he turned his head in their direction.

At first, being stared at by Muggle girls had made Draco feel extremely uncomfortable. Almost slimy, even. Then he'd realized that they weren't interested in him because of his family history, but because they superficially found him attractive. That made his ego feel a little better, but he still wanted nothing to do with them. Sure, all the girls who ogled him were cute, flirtatious, and he was pretty much in every guy's dream situation. But they weren't Hermione.

He knew it was very, very wrong to compare perfectly lovely girls to Hermione, because he was trying to avoid thinking about her. He liked to call it Operation "Granger-Detox". That was why he'd fled to flippin' Fiji, to distract himself from thinking about deep chocolate brown eyes and bushy hair.

After that he'd encouraged women's advances a little more. He'd even invited one back to his hotel room. But he'd found the passionless sex to be completely disappointing and not worth his time. After weeks of giggles and flirting and fruity alcoholic drinks that he could barely name, he just found them annoying.

One of the girls he was rolling his eyes at, Angela Gilbert, didn't know that. So she gathered courage (mostly at the teasing from her friends) and walked towards where the blonde boy was sitting.

"Excuse me, I was just wondering where you're from. You don't look like an island boy." She asked.

Not the best attempt at subtlety. Draco internally snorted as the girl twirled a lock of her curly, dirty-blonde hair nervously. It was a habit that Draco couldn't stand, and one that many girls seemed to share.

Hermione didn't ever mess with her hair. Then he forced that mutinous voice into the back of his head. His Fiji rehab wasn't working as well as he'd hoped.

"Good observation. I'm from England, actually." He hoped his sarcasm wasn't too obvious.

"Oh. Did you come alone?" She asked, obviously hopeful.

"Yes, I did. And I'd planned on staying that way."

The girl looked startled at his firm dismissal. Maybe she wasn't used to being brushed off so quickly.

"Well, I… um, would you mind taking off your glasses? I don't like talking to people if I can't tell when they're looking at me." Angela said. She really just wanted to see his eyes.

Draco stared at her for a fraction of a second, than slowly took off his black shades.

He chuckled. "I admire a girl who knows what she wants."

Angela thought that he was as beautiful as she'd imagined. He had striking grey eyes, even if they were a bit cold, and a nicely angled bone structure.

Draco saw the friends give the girl the thumbs-up.

Merlin, women were impossible.

"I'm Angela. People call me Angie." She said more confidently. She sat on the edge of his lounge chair.

"It's a pleasure, Angie. I'm Draco."

Angela was sure that she had him, now. "Draco? That's an unusual name. How did you parents come up with that?"

"I was named after a constellation. It's a tradition of my family's."

Angela practically swooned. A brittish accent, model looks, and a seemingly-cultured family?

"My family is pretty boring. We don't have good taste in names like that. My brother's name is James and my older sister's name is Hailey." She grimaced.

"Well, as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I'd expect that if the people who spawned you are boring, you probably are too. And you're wasting my time, so get off my chair." He said, the smirky-smile never leaving his face. Angela processed what he said, and then finally looked insulted.

She stood up in a huff. "I hope you have fun on your pathetic little vacation, you loser. Now I see why you're here alone."

You don't know the half of it, sweetie. He thought, and put his sunglasses back on. He decided that his mood was ruined, and he'd gotten enough sand in his shorts for the day. Draco packed up the chair and carried it on his back away from the beach. He walked down the road and headed towards the house he was renting. It was expensive, but what was the point of being a Malfoy if you didn't blow a little money once in a while?

Surprisingly, he'd had fun over the past few months. He'd tried his hand at surfing, and found it to be lacking in comparison to Quidditch. But he did enjoy the challenge. And if anyone had told him that Draco Malfoy would be playing volleyball on the beach with a bunch of muggles, he would have laughed at them. The joke was on him, he guessed. He'd even tried working for a while, but discovered why Malfoy's never had occupations that involved customer service. But one thing he couldn't pretend that he liked was all the bloody walking.

It had taken him weeks to get used to not carrying his wand. But after enough weird, curious looks from people, he knew that a piece of wood sticking out from his swim trunks wasn't normal (at least not his kind of wooden stick). He still felt like a Death Eater Hater was going to pop out of nowhere and Avada Kevadra him to oblivion. He'd died once, and he'd rather not do it again.

But other than walking… the Muggle world wasn't so bad. He'd survived this long without hexing anyone innocent, so Draco supposed he'd be okay for at least another year.

He only had one person waiting for him back in the Wizarding World, and she was the last person he wanted to see…

.

"It's been like a year, Hermione. Don't you think it's time for you to try to contact him?" Harry said. They were doing inventory on the new bookshop that Hermione was opening in Diagon Alley. Hermione hadn't given up on her ambitions of political influence, but she was satisfied with a prominent chair on the reformed Wizengambot… for now.

"If he wants to come home, then he will," Hermione said, "I'm not his mother, Harry. I'm not going to tell him what to do. He just got a new lease on life, I think he deserves some time to enjoy it."

"There's enjoying life, and then there's running away." Harry said. He levitated a box of books up to Hermione, who was waiting to arrange them while standing on a stool.

"Well, I'm not going to chase him. Why does everybody want to tell me what to do when it comes to Malfoy and I? I swear, between you and Ginny—"

The two had been hinting that she actually missed the wizard. And even if she did, that didn't mean that she appreciated Ginny or Harry pointing it out all the time.

"We just don't want to see something good go wrong, that's all. And I'll admit, I have a completely selfish reason for wanting the ferret back. Teddy hasn't stopped asking when he can see his cousin again since he met Malfoy in the hospital. And you know what's coming up…"

"Teddy's birthday." Hermione confirmed.

"Right. I think it would mean the world to Teddy if he could see a member of his family other than Andromeda. He might look up to Malfoy, you know."

"And you're okay with that?" Hermione gaped. Years ago, Harry would have rather splinched himself than consider Draco a potential role-model for his precious godson.

"Draco and I may not see eye-to-eye, but he's a good guy. And I promise I would only hex him a couple of times if he came to the party."

Hermione's hands were on her hips, and she was directing the rest of the books with wandless magic, "And that's really incentive to get Draco to come back."

Harry grinned. "It's the best I can offer. I'm just asking you to send him a simple letter, Hermione. He's more likely to listen if it's from you, I think. And I know you know how to find him, thanks to that Witch Weekly that Ginny showed me."

Hermione reddened. "Fine. I'll do it. But don't tell Teddy… I don't want him to be disappointed."

.

Draco wanted to come home.

Even though he didn't really have a home to return to, he knew that he wasn't made to live in the Muggle World for much longer. The days were monotonous, and unless he planned on snapping his wand, he knew that his time was up. He'd ran out of things to try alone.

Hermione's letter offered him the perfect way out. As he read it, he could practically here her warm voice in his head,

Dear Draco,

I know we haven't spoken for a while, but I wanted you to know that I'm thinking of you. The Wizarding World isn't the same as you left it—a lot can change in a few short months. But I'm hoping that you'll come back and see for yourself. It's Teddy's birthday, and he really wants you to come. It would be a small gift, but your presence would mean the world to him. If it's convenient, come to Andromeda's home (I'll leave a portkey in the Malfoy Manor for you at 11 in five days days) and celebrate with us. I hope that your holiday has been enjoyable, but don't be a stranger!

-Hermione

How could he ever be a stranger to Hermione, when she was the only person to whom Draco had confessed his deepest fears and dreams? She'd been connected to his soul!

He missed her. It felt like his heart was being torn in half.

Draco then decided that it was time to go home.

.

Hermione was finishing up some last minute decorating for Teddy's birthday. The streamers were all up, the decorations were all snitch-themed. The sky had been enchanted to look like a Quidditch field, with the hoops and everything.

Ron whistled at her work, carrying in the enormous chocolate cake (shaped like a broomstick, of course). "This is pretty impressive, 'Mione. I especially like the wall-paper… do you think Andromeda will keep it?"

"I doubt it… You know, I'm a little worried that he won't like my gift—I mean, I really don't know what young boys are interested in at this age." Hermione said nervously. She looked at Ron pleadingly.

"As long as you didn't get him a book or something like that, I'm sure he'll love it." Ron assured her. At Hermione's frown, he groaned.

"You didn't! Why would you think that any normal boy in their right mind would want a book for their birthday?"

"Well, I like to think that there are some children who want to stretch their minds and like using their imaginations! I loved books when I was his age!" Hermione said defensively.

Ron just threw up his hands. "You're hopeless! He can barely read yet!"

"Maybe it'll encourage him to learn." She said.

Harry walked in then, and Teddy ran in after him. He bounced around with excitement at the balloons floating around the room and went to try to pop one.

Harry chuckled. "If anyone can turn him into a bookworm, it'll be you." He told his friend.

"If he's got half this girl's brains, then Teddy will be more than alright." Andromeda Tonks joined in their laughter. She stood a full head taller than Harry, and smiled at the boy, whom she now considered like a son, fondly.

"The guests are all showing up on the lawn. Those portkeys were a brilliant idea, Hermione—now we don't have to worry about any of those "fashionably late" people." Andromeda continued.

"Well, I'd better collect the birthday boy so that he can greet them!" Harry said, and went to scoop Teddy, who was salivating at the sight of the cake, into a hug.

The room was soon full of people—Ginny, Luna, Neville, George, Ron, Victoire, Bill, Fleur, Gabrielle, Blaise, Angelina, Dorian (Blaise's son), Hugo (Ron's nephew), Freddie (Angelina and George's son), and Andrea (the daughter of Alicia Spinnit and Lee Jordan).

The children scurried off to admire Teddy's pile of presents on the end of the table. Hermione had just started chatting with George about a collaboration project with Wizard's Wizard Wheezes when the entire room suddenly fell silent. The atmosphere was one of shock, and all the guests were distracted and open-mouthed at the sight of something at the door. Hermione turned to where the others were looking and her eyes met the grey ones of Draco Malfoy.

.

Draco was being stared at, but he only saw Hermione.

She'd changed since he'd last seen her, but not in a way that he could pinpoint. She still had untamable bushy hair and large brown eyes. She was gaping at him, a plastic cup with broomsticks on it in one hand. He was surprised at the fact that she wasn't in her wizarding robes, and had instead donned a white lace dress and blue flats. It was strange because she looked so much like a muggle, yet it didn't put Draco off at all. Maybe he'd become immune to muggleness during his vacation.

Hermione took a step towards him… and than plowed into him at full-speed. Draco's had the breath knocked out of him as they collided, and Hermione hugged him with all of her strength.

"Draco… you're back!"

He couldn't stop the smile that came to his lips. He put his arms around her waist and tried to his smile in his hair. It wouldn't do for Potter and his friends to see him emotional, for Merlin's sake.

"Obviously, Granger." He said.

She pulled back, hurt plain in her expression. "I thought we were past the whole "Granger-Malfoy" business?"

"Of course we are… Hermione. I just called you that for old-times sake." He said, and wanted to cringe at the warmth in it. He hadn't sounded so damn happy since he'd made Weaselby cough up slugs in their second year.

"I'm just glad you're here." She said quietly. She didn't want Ginny to hear, or she would probably die of mortification. Although from how close they were standing, she supposed Ginny could probably guess what they were saying easily enough.

"I couldn't miss my only cousin's birthday. How heartless do you think I am?" He smirked. "Although, I'll admit… I may have come back to see you, too."

Teddy interrupted their reunion by thoroughly pestering Draco. The blonde was so patient that is was endearing. This seemed to ease the tension in the room, because the guests all returned to their separate conversations. This left Hermione to continue with theirs after Teddy went to play with Andrea.

She tried to ignore the wink that Ginny sent in her direction.

"He's grown up a lot since I last saw him." Draco observed.

Hermione nodded. "He's growing like a weed. Apparently Professor Lupin was the same way when he was a child. And he's already transforming his nose! We showed him a picture of Professor Snape… after he got over his terror, he matched his hooked nose perfectly!"

Draco burst out laughing at that. "I would love to see that some day!"

She wanted to ask why he'd left so suddenly. She wanted an explanation, and maybe even an apology, but she knew that Draco hadn't done anything wrong. She'd just thought that they'd gotten closer while she was writing the book, and that they'd even become good friends in the process… but maybe she'd overestimated their friendship.

"So… how have you been, Hermione? Are you and Weasley getting married yet?" He asked. He didn't really want to know the answer to that, though.

She winced. "Ron and I broke up months ago… which you would have known if you'd stuck around." Hermione said. She could have bitten her tongue for sounding so pathetic, like some scorned and dumped girlfriend.

"Okay, I deserved that one." He admitted. "But I couldn't stay, Hermione. I couldn't stay and have to watch Weasley step all over you. Not when I—"

He stopped and swallowed.

"Not when you what, Draco?" She asked gently. He averted his gaze, but Hermione wouldn't back away. She waited in silence for him to answer.

"I know everything about you, Draco. Nothing that you tell me could make me think less of you."

Fear welled up inside him, and the words bubbled out.

"I couldn't stay when I loved you!" Draco blurted out. At Hermione's astonishment, he stood up abruptly from the couch and stalked away, his face burning. Ginny was looking at him in confusions and curiosity, but he didn't stop until he was outside and away from those big brown eyes. He let out a few shaky breaths and leaned against the house wall.

How could he have been so stupid! Things would never be the same between them now. He'd probably lost Hermione for good… he'd just screwed up and lost his best friend. He should never have come back at all…

"Umm… this is rather awkward, isn't it?" Hermione said from the doorway.

Draco didn't answer.

"You know, I meant what I said. I would never think any less of you. I'm flattered…"

"But?" Draco asked bitterly. He was bracing himself for the rejection that he was sure was coming. Why did he have to be in love with the Gryffindor Golden Girl? He was a slimy Slytherin, who was hated by everyone for being a Death Eater. He was evil, and yet he loved the purest girl in the whole world. Where was the fairness in that?

Hermione paused. "But, nothing. I like you too, Draco."

Maybe I should just go back to Fiji… nah, too many sunburns. Maybe I'll try Italy. Then Venice, I can ride the gondolas every day…

"Did you hear me, Draco?"

He finally looked at her. "You don't have to be nice about it, Hermione. I know that this—us—would never work out. I don't know why I told you in the first place. So don't try sparing my feelings, or any of that girly bullocks."

"I'm not 'sparing your feelings'. I'm trying to tell you that I feel the same… but from what you just said, you don't want us to be together."

Draco whirled on her. "What?"

"Every moment after you left, I missed you terribly. But I realized that it was more than just that… I was probably in love with you. I mean, it's not so strange when you get so close to a person…" Hermione flushed in embarrassment.

"Then why didn't you ask me to come back?" He asked incredulously.

"What right did I have to make you come back, when you obviously didn't want to? I thought that I was just upset over my fights with Ron, and that the feelings would fade after I stopped seeing you so often. I was just coming to terms with my feelings, and by the time I knew that it was real, it was already too late… besides, I had no idea if you even felt the same!"

"Well, I do." Draco said. "So, now what?"

"What do you mean, 'now what'? I suppose things just go back to the way they were. Because you don't want to date me, you've made that clear." Hermione spat.

"Why are you mad at me?" Draco said, catching her tone.

"Because this mess is all your fault! If you hadn't confessed, than I never would have told you how I felt, and things wouldn't be all weird between us! Why would you even tell me if you didn't want our relationship to progress any further! It just—it's just idiotic!"

As she spoke, Hermione's cheeks reddened. Draco found her adorable when she was angry… as long as she wasn't hexing him or breaking his nose. She gave a tiny huff when she was finished, and crossed her arms.

He took one of her hands in his on instinct. Really, he just wanted to touch her. He'd longed to for months, but hadn't allowed himself to even consider actually doing so. She looked at it like she was being scalded.

"I love you, Hermione. And my escape to Fiji made me realize just how much I need you. I've never met anyone like you, and I doubt that I ever will. I just—I'd never expected you to reciprocate, not in a million years."

"Well, we both seem to enjoy surprising each other. I never thought that I would fall in love with you either, Draco. But it just happened. And I personally want to see where it goes."

"If this were a normal situation, I would agree, but…" Draco seemed disappointed, but resigned. He loved Hermione, but that didn't mean that they would have a fairytale ending…

"Oh, just kiss her already, Malfoy! I didn't think you'd be such a pansy, of all people!" Ginny's voice said impatiently, tapping her heeled foot on the floor. Hermione peeked back into the room, and saw over a dozen pairs of eyes staring back at her in amusement. Ginny shook her head in disgust at her friend.

The entire party had seen she and Draco fight.

And consequently confessed their love for each other.

Seeing their audience, Draco moved away from the door, taking Hermione with him until they were out of Ginny's potential vision.

Then he kissed her, just as he'd imagined doing. There was no nervousness or fumbling like he would have expected, considering he was kissing Hermione (it was unkind of him, but he thought she'd be incredibly inexperienced compared to other girls that he'd kissed in the past). In fact, Draco swore that he forgot to breathe as their lips moved together.

It was probably the best kiss that he'd ever had, because it actually meant something to him. Sure, he could kiss thousands of Angies, but they would never be anything compared to Hermione Granger.

When they pulled apart, they didn't talk. They didn't have to.

.

Hermione thought that she could get used to the sensation of Draco's hands on her skin. He'd been constantly touching her since the party, and he'd used any and every excuse to do so, even if it was something as innocent as his hand on her back as they walked when she showed him around.

She'd wondered what touching Draco would feel like when she'd visited the Manor months ago. But he wasn't corporeal, so it had all be curiosity.

Now she knew that he sent shivers up her spine.

She ended her short tour in the doorway of her bedroom (totally unintentional, of course). Draco wagged his eyebrows at her and said, "I think we can stop here. I'd rather get well-acquainted with this part of your apartment."

She tried not to smile. "You certainly know how to flatter a lady."

"You haven't seen me when I'm really trying, Hermione. Trust me, it's an unforgettable experience." He murmured.

Now, Hermione Granger was not an easy girl by any means. But when an extremely handsome, tan, and well-muscled Draco Malfoy is making advances on you and he really means it… it's difficult to turn down.

He lifted her into his arms and Hermione squealed.

"Wait, wait, what are you doing! I'm too heavy, put me down!"

"Stop trying to control everything and just let me be the man for once!" He said, and carried her to the bed despite her protests.

His kisses started innocently enough, but the gradually headed south from there, until she felt his breath on her neck. She wondered if it was possible to spontaneously combust from making-out.

Then the sensation was gone, like a light being turned off.

"I don't mean to spoil the mood… but what in Merlin's name is that?" Draco asked breathlessly. Hermione pulled herself back to reality and followed his gaze.

Hermione looked up and screamed. On her ceiling, there was a poster of Draco Malfoy, swim-trunk clad on the beaches of Fiji.

"I-I-I—I'm going to kill her!" Hermione screeched, thinking of Ginny, and all the foul things she was going to do to get back at the redhead.

"You won't need that poster anymore, because now you have the real thing." He said, covering her mouth with his.

In a matter of seconds, Hermione forgot what it was she was angry about, because she was being ravished by a certain shirtless blonde boy. And Draco was right… the poster really couldn't compare to the real thing.