A/N: Sorry this took so long. I kind of lost interest in wrapping it up, but here I am again. It was hard to think of a good enough ending to this; there will likely be a prologue at some point to kind of tie up the storylines of the other characters.

I don't own HP or anything, I do this for fun.

The danger had passed, and Hermione was back in her flat with Teddy after her abrupt packing and leaving. She knew she'd been rash; she had felt that it had been too good to be true at the time, but judging by the way Ron had been checking in and mentioning Harry over the Floo the past week, she realized she might have judged his motives incorrectly. Her brain whispered, "or maybe you were just flat out wrong, Hermione." She shook her head to rid herself of the guilty thoughts.

Sighing, she set down the stack of completed paperwork. She'd fallen out of love with her job lately, distracted by the fact that she had split the Trio apart again. As she stood up to stretch and go to bed, she heard a knock on the door.

Feeling rather worried, she crept to the door and peeked out the peephole. Harry. She always wondered whether he could sense when she was thinking deeply about him and would show up, and after a few minutes of arguing with herself over this, realized she needed to make a decision. Oh well, no better time than the present to get on with it.

Harry, on the other hand, was actually trembling on his side of the door. What if she ignored him? Or what if she was asleep, and he was waking her? He couldn't risk one more sleepless night worrying over how he'd spent the last years treating her, he had to apologize in person or else he was going to have to buy a share in a coffee shop.

Hermione swung the door open. "Harry," she breathed, her voice not louder than a whisper. "I— come in."

"Thanks," he responded, stepping inside the flat and looking around. "Nice place, last time I came, I was in a bit of a rush."

"Yes, well, it fits us," she said as she moved to the living room. She gestured to the couch. "Sit, please. I'll make tea." As she turned to leave the room, he held onto her arm.

"Please," he whispered, "please don't do this. I don't want to pretend things are just okay, I want to make them okay. I'm sorry. You should have just let me finish, Hermione."

"I'm listening," she responded in an even tone as they both sank down onto the overstuffed couch.

"Well, I was on the way to see Ginny in her holding cell. To be honest, I'd seen her already, before then, in St. Mungo's. She told me under veritaserum that she'd always been jealous and bitter about you being my closest friend, and I knew right then that it was never going to work with her." He stared at the fire as he recalled the events.

"I was on the way to the holding cell to ask her one last question: who is Harry?" He chuckled, "and I still went there as soon as they healed me. I had to know." He leaned back on the couch, feeling more comfortable as Hermione clearly was not going to hex him. She merely waited, quietly, for fear of interrupting during something important yet again.

"She told me plenty of things about me, but she never got me. Who I am, who I have always been, because I am someone totally different around her. You were right, I think," he said.

"Harry, when will you learn that I'm always right?" She asked, a small grin on her face. "And I'm glad you got the answer that you apparently needed. But I don't know about…"

"No, wait, I know what you're going to say. You don't know about us. Yes. I know. I don't know about us either. I don't want to find out what there is besides 'us,' though, because I can't lose you again. So I'm here to make a proposition: six months of twice weekly dates, starting tomorrow night. And the dates have to be for both of you, because I need to get to know Teddy as much as you. He is your family."

She smiled. "I think that's a good idea. I like it, and I think tomorrow is good."

He stood to leave, offering her a hand off the couch. "As much as I'd like to talk all night, I don't want you to be tired for tomorrow, so I should go. I'll be here at 6."

She nodded, yawning as she realized how tired she really was. When she walked him to the door, he leaned in, giving her a very brief kiss. "I hope you realize I really won't be swayed again, Hermione. I was stupid before. Now I'm older and wiser."

Smacking him lightly on the shoulder, she laughed. "Oh, Harry. You are as wise as Percy is humble."

"I resent that, you know!" he remarked as she closed the door behind him. For once, this felt right.

It had been a wonderful three months "dating" Harry, and slowly they'd spent more and more time together. He had toilet trained Teddy on one long weekend while she was away at a conference, and she had managed to get him to redo Grimmauld Place so he wasn't in such a bad mood when she sent him home in the evenings to that dark and dusty house. They spent most evenings together, Harry cooking elaborate meals. Hermione had no patience in the kitchen and so Teddy was finally expanding his palate beyond pasta, chicken and takeaways. He even had a little bedtime routine with Teddy now, where they would always start with building a tall tower of blocks and crashing it to the ground. She had to smile; she and Harry were acting like parents, but not quite a couple, and Hermione had resigned to thinking of it as co-parenting.

And then it happened. She was cleaning the dishes after Harry had left to put Teddy to bed one night, and humming to herself. She found hands on her hips that gently spun her around, and a voice in her ear that said "Merlin, Hermione, you could drive me crazy forever but I don't want to wait any longer." Suddenly, lips were on hers and she sighed into the kiss while she ran her hands through his shaggy hair. They snogged their way to the ground, and then breathlessly, Hermione sat up.

"What on earth was that?"

"What do you mean," Harry said, a little irritation showing on his face as he hadn't wanted to be interrupted.

"I mean, are you having me on? Or are you not getting enough because of us?" She looked genuinely puzzled.

"What are you talking about, Hermione? I thought I was dating you!" he said, incredulous at her assumptions that he wasn't having enough dates because of her. "I don't want any other dates, I just couldn't wait any longer for you to send me a signal or something…" he drifted off as he stood up. "Bloody hell, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just thrown myself at you, I—"

He was interrupted by her abrupt standing and throwing herself on top of him, snogging him senseless.

Once they finally made it to the couch and needed to breathe for a while, he looked at her. "It is you, you know. I want to be with you."

"I know, Harry. I just don't want to rush—"

"It's not rushing if you've waited since you were 11," he cheekily replied.

"I wasn't aware you wanted me, as I recall, you've had your share of girlfriends," she retorted.

"I wasn't always aware, either, but I have always needed you," he said, burying his head into her hair as he wrapped her in a tight hug, pulling her onto his lap. "You are like water and air to me, Min."

He felt her shudder, and heard her crying. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"No, Harry, you finally said something just right." She sniffled and he wiped the tears away that had drifted down her cheeks.

"I told you I was wiser," he joked as he pushed her hair away from her face. "You are beautiful, and I really hope you'll be mine."

"I will."

"Hermione. You were supposed to wait for me to pull out the ring, but as it's in the pocket you're on top of—"

She gasped and stuttered as she fell off of his lap onto the couch next to him. "Harr-I-what?"

"So marry me." He pulled out a small ring box, a simple yet large diamond solitaire ring inside. "I need you."

"This is rather sudden," she responded in a daze, and for a second he was worried she'd say no, so he thought quickly to seal the deal.

"Like I said, it's not sudden if you've needed it your whole life." He kissed her gently, and waited. "So?"

"Yes," she said, through tears falling more quickly. "Merlin, yes." She felt relaxed and yet like her stomach was doing cartwheels, happy and on the verge of throwing up, it was just so emotional. But underneath it all, she knew she'd made the right choice. He was a real father to their son, ambitious but not arrogant, and he was in love with her. It was what she'd silently hoped for all along, and now, it was finally real, finally hers.

"Then every single stupid thing I've ever done to you has been worth it to get here," he whispered into her ear as he hugged her and slid the ring on her finger.

They spent the rest of the night discussing weddings and who to invite, and opened a bottle of wine to celebrate. Yet, there was one thing they hadn't discussed yet.

"So," she started, hoping to find more courage after she began the sentence, "we... will have to move in together."

"Well, that's the idea, isn't it?" He gave her a cheeky grin, and she rolled her eyes.

"I think I should be upfront with you. As it stands now, I can barely afford this apartment and I'm on the verge of losing my job anyway. Right now, Teddy's trust pays for a good portion of it, but.."

"Wait, Min. What's this about your job?"

She sighed as he looked so genuinely concerned. "I just got so far behind while in hiding, and I've spent months catching up, only to hear my boss angry every time I have to spend a day at home because Teddy's sick. It's not an office meant for mothers, and I've been thinking lately about starting an elf rights organisation if I can find sponsors, which is my plan if I get fired. But I have to tell you, things may be chaotic and I don't have a lot of money to throw a wedding right now."

"So we'll elope. But really, I have money," he insisted. "I'm not going to let you starve and I can afford a wedding."

"No, it's not the starving. I may have to give up this apartment though. But I don't know what we'll do. I don't know if you want us living with you before the wedding or even when we can get married."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Min, you are getting much too worried. You will always have a home with me, you don't need to worry about money even if you'd turned me down, because I am your friend first and always. I wouldn't let you get put out in the street and I wouldn't say no to you two moving in with me tomorrow because you are my family."

She kissed him. "Thank you for being understanding. It's not easy admitting that I might have been less than successful at something."

"Min, you're successful at the most important thing, being a mother," he said, genuinely. She was touched.

"Okay, okay. So let's tell Ron and Luna tomorrow, and plan a wedding, shall we?" she laughed. Harry smiled and for the first time, she didn't shove him through the floo as she went to sleep. He snuggled against her and thought about how happy he was to spend the rest of his life like this. He was getting his family, his best friend, his happiness in one package: Hermione and Teddy, and he sincerely hoped she felt the same way. From the warm smile on her sleeping face, he guessed that she might feel that way, too.