Two quick things - 1) The text in Itallics are memories, so I hope no one gets confused. 2) This is NOT the last chapter. There's one more to go.

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"No, grab the wand! The wand, you idiot!"

"I can't think of a spell at the precise moment, you cow!"

"Do it the muggle way!"

"She isn't breathing! Hurry!"

Clink. Clink. Clink.

"You would think," a drawling voice spoke, "two people who've just had a showdown at the Ministry, argued like two five year-olds over a box of sweets, who were summoned by the Headmistress upon their immediate arrival, and spent an hour locked in her office with a pair of real snakes, that you would walk with less of a racket."

"Lay her on the floor!"

"Hermione, breathe! Breathe!"

"Pansy, don't slap her!"

"Don't yell at me, Ginevra! I'm trying to get her to stop turning blue!"

"Will both of you shut up? You two dumb witches are making everything even worse!"

There was an immediate eye-roll. "Oh, excuse us. Were we disturbing you?"

"Don't give me that tone, Granger," Blaise Zabini took a step towards the couple in front of him, exposing his handsome, dark features by the candlelight of the corridor. A giant smirk stretched across his face as his pearly-white teeth gleamed tauntingly in the dim light. "It's past midnight and certainly past curfew. I could hear you two stomping your way out from the Head Office as I tried to catch up on some assignments."

Hermione gagged. "Can we please not talk about homework?"

Blaise raised his eyebrow, the smirk still on his face. "What's this? Has the Brightest Witch of the Age finally realized that coursework is the biggest load of dung ever?"

"No," Draco Malfoy replied, more animated than he'd been all night. "It's just that Thomas and Lovegood had been doing their 'assignments' in the grounds and were caught by Filch. And just the mere image of….Thomas and Lovegood working rather hard can put anyone in shivers."

Blaise shook his head while he clucked his tongue. "Oh, those two pesky kids. They were using those quills that were forbidden by the Ministry, eh?"

Hermione and Draco exchanged a look with one another.

In the hectic moment of yelling and insults, Pansy Weasley and Ginny Potter turned to stare at Luna Lovegood with astound eyes. Both of them were struck silent at the mere fact that the corkiest and most eccentric Ravenclaw they'd ever set their eyes on had just shouted at them with such severness. Luna was even frowning at them, looking about a second away from cursing the two other witches.

"If both of you are going to stand there and shout insults at each other, please leave." Luna kept her glare. "The main concern here is to help Hermione not to start a war."

Ginny lowered her head, her red curls sprung around her as she found the floor momentarily amazing.

Though she had been startled—and somewhat proud—by Luna, Pansy scoffed. She turned to the heaving brunette, and with her palm in a fist, Pansy proceeded to punch Hermione's back.

Three loud gasping noises pierced the chamber.

"You see? She needs no bloody medical assistance, just a good hit." Pansy looked down at the brunette nonchalantly.

"Pansy, don't—"

"Maybe just one more," the Slytherin cut Ginny off as she raised her hand at the brunette once more. "Granger!" Slap. Slap. "Granger!"

"Would you wipe that stupid look off your face, Zabini?" Draco snapped, getting tired of hearing Blaise gasp as Hermione explained to him that Dean and Luna were disgracing the grounds of Hogwarts and not breaking the rules over some Weasley's Wizard Wheezes quills .

"Oi, I'm in shock here." Blaise frowned. "I feel like a total prude right about now. There I was, letting Cho sleep peacefully while I decided to do my Potions homework, and all of a sudden the thing to do is violate the castle? Where does that leave me, mate? Where?!" He reached over, and with his dark fingers, he grasped the collar of Malfoy's shirt. "With the Hufflepuffs! That's where!"

"You don't technically know that, Blaise," Hermione pointed out, rolling her eyes as Draco began to turn red in the face as Blaise gripped roughly. (Oh, she could already see it: Draco would hex Blaise, make him cry, question their 'brotherhood', Malfoy would apologize, Blaise would accept, they would share a strange but tight embrace and Hermione would raise her eyebrow and tell everyone at breakfast the following day. Yep. So predictable these Slytherins.)

Blaise snorted at her. "Oh, I know everything," he retorted at her with some tone of defense. "And let me tell you, my once-virginal-bookworm," he took a step back, letting go of Draco's shirt as he aimed a punch towards his face as he mentioned the dirty deed that caused the Gryffindor Princess to be as impure as Luna Lovegood. "I was told by Goyle, who was told by Parvati, who was told by Romilda Vane, who heard it from Lavender, who overheard Weasley talking to Finnegan and Potter that he was told by Pansy, who had a talk with Millicent, that Ernie McMillan has decided to wait until their wedding to consummate their physical relationship."

Malfoy furrowed his brows, a look of disgust starting to emerge onto his expression. ""Why the hell are you even concerning yourself with Bulstrode's sex life?"

"Because she is currently having one and I am not!" Zabini hissed.

"Pansy, she's suffocating not going deaf!" Ginny finally snapped, reaching over and pushing the dark-haired witch away. "Hermione, are you all right?"

Looking up at the redhead with a slight blur and aching parts of her body, Hermione nodded her head at the girl. "I'm fine, Gin. Completely fine."

"You see?" Pansy snorted, shoving Ginny back to the side so she could get a clear view of the brunette. "She just needed a few slaps to react, that's all."

The redheaded Gryffindor glared. "You're a complete beast."

"You don't have to be so brutal, Ginny, I know what I'm doing," Pansy replied. "After all, I reacted the same way so many times that the only thing that helped was being slapped out of it by a fellow Slytherin. And believe me, those bitches are worse. When they get a chance to attack with permission, they're not the fairest of witches."

The three other girls in the background glared at Ron Weasley's new bride.

"You sure you'll be fine, Hermione?" Luna asked, speaking quickly before Ginny could lash out at her sister-in-law. "We can always reschedule this. There's still a few more days of school left, I'm sure the Headmistress would grant you an extension."

"No, no, Luna." In a very shaky manner, Hermione stood from the armchair with some caution; smiling gratefully at the blonde as she stretched a hand out and helped her steady herself. "I'm ready. It's just…when I saw everything put together, I couldn't help but grow weak. I mean, after everything that's happened these past few weeks, it all seems so surreal now. I've never been used to so much peace that I can't bear it."

Sticking her tongue out at the redhead, Pansy turned to grin kindly at Hermione. "Well, you better start believing it, Granger. Things are starting to change—they've been changing ages ago." This time without trying to injure her—which came purely from the heart, mind you— Pansy placed a palm on Hermione's shoulder. She slowly gave her a light spin towards the mirror on the wall. "Now all we've to adjust to are the things we're getting from it. Times are no longer the same, nor will they ever be, but believe us, it's for the better."

In the tall crystal glass, Hermione saw Pansy smile at her with the sincerest expression that she'd ever seen on the Slytherin's face, especially directed towards her. And in the mirror hanging on one of the chamber's walls, she also saw her two other friends emerge from the back; the three of them standing behind her as the white dress on Hermione's body glowed dramatically on her reflection.

"Where are we going?"

"Dunno."

"I say we just let him continue walking and make a go for it," Draco suggested as he held on to his fiancée's hand while they followed the footsteps of Blaise's fuzzy slippers. "He'll never notice. "

"How do you know that?" Hermione mumbled, her eyes kept forward as Blaise turned the corner and they continued to follow.

"Because, my Gryffindor," the blonde wizard said with a bored tone and a small smirk appearing on his pale face, "Zabini likes to concentrate on his walking. He imagines himself strutting down a catwalk from a muggle runway that he puts all his focus on every expression he makes as he walks. It's a completely barmy, but he never pays attention to the things around him."

"Really?" The brunette asked, mocking laughter threatening to spill.

"We're here," Blaise's voice rang through Hermione and Draco's laughter; making Hermione embarrassed as her eyes quickly scanned the floor and landed on the Slytherin's magenta slippers.

"What exactly is here?" Malfoy questioned, his irritation quickly coming back to him as his best friend returned the smirk he had on behind his back. "You're not going to tell us, are you?" Draco added, glaring even more as Blaise shook his and just pointed to the door where they'd stopped.

"Children," Hermione huffed, pushing her fiancée away as she reached for the doorknob and twisted it open.

"—Surprise!"

The Ravenclaw, the Gryffindor, and the Slytherin—the three witches in the background, watched with misty eyes as the brunette shined beautifully in front of them. How delicately and magnificent the beads on her strapless, satin dress gleamed with the light of the sun entering from the tallest window in the chamber. And even how dazzling that hairpin that was made up of two snakes with emeralds attached wonderfully as pupils looked as they joined as a heart on the side of Hermione's head; pulling her waves away from her face and exposed her beauty more to the public.

"Who would've thought," Pansy whispered, trying not to break the tender moment going on as her black eyes connected with the emeralds on the hairpin, "that an object passed by generations of Slytherins and Purebloods would look so breathtaking on the Gryffindor Princess?"

"I think it's lovely," Luna murmured as well, sounding a little distracted as she gazed down at the diamond on her finger; feeling her own chills race up to her spine as she thought of how close her wedding date was. "The fact that you refused to wear a veil but instead that Black heirloom that the Malfoys gave you. It just gives it the perfect touch."

Ginny nodded, agreeing with the two other girls. "As if the ceremony won't officially turn you into a Malfoy, that hairpin adds their form into who you are, 'Mione."

Giving her bridesmaids—who were all dressed in deep-emerald dresses—a watery gaze, Hermione inhaled deeply as she inhaled some of her courage. "It's time."

And it was.

X

Jumping back a step and colliding with a hard chest, Hermione squeaked at the sudden uproar exploding from the small chamber she had just entered. "What in Merlin's—"

"What's all this, Zabini?" Malfoy asked, settling his fiancée as she continued to waddle as several pairs of excited eyes stared enthusiastically at them.

"This is us," Blaise pushed past the frozen couple and joined his fellow classmates inside of the Weasleys chamber, "celebrating your unholy, lovely union!"

"With my help, of course," a hand was raised in the air and Harry Potter smirked at his best friend. "We couldn't have you return to Hogwarts without making a festivity, could we? It's not every day that your fellow Gryffindor and Slytherin are joined together to face the most sacred of unions by will, is it?"

Said Slytherin and Gryffindor frowned.

Harry rolled his eyes at them, uncaring. "Come off it, we needed to celebrate this."

"Besides, we're tired of all the drama," Pansy spoke from her couch as she tighten the hold on her bathrobe. "Not that it isn't delightful that the two of you are together—"

"Or that it will finally stop Blaise from updating me on every step you two make," Cho said from the seat next to Pansy, her pajamas wrinkly as they can be as she attempted to straighten them out. (What Ravenclaw likes to look like a total mess?)

"Not that we don't care," Luna—sitting on Dean Thomas' lap from a chair across the room—added with a dreamy smile.

"But whatever it is that you've to say, you better make it snappy." From her position next to the Boy-Who-Lived, Ginny yawned loudly. "It is past one, and we were told that you had something very important to tell us that couldn't wait until morning. And as much as I love you, 'Mione, I've exams come sunrise, so please.."

"Harry," Hermione groaned as she was pushed in to her friends' chamber, the door shutting behind her and her soon-to-be husband. "Couldn't you not have said anything?"

Potter shrugged casually. "Sorry, Hermione, but it's important."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Blaise interrupted the conversation between the two Gryffindors. "Potter should've kept his trap shut, but he didn't—now tell us!"

There was a shove. "Would you get out of the way?"

A snort was met with the angry retort and another shove was given in return to the prior one. "Excuse me, but this is a very important day for me. I've to make sure that every hair is in place." A pair of deep eyes looked into the mirror, causing a sneer to reflect from the crystal. "I can't go out there and look like a common Gryffindor, can I?"

"Oi!" Ron Weasley—who was laying lazily on a small couch, trying to take a nap between the bickering—frowned at the two wizards arguing over the mirror. "I resent that!"

"Would you get away—"

"Oi, oi! Watch it! This is fine silk! Wait your turn!"

"Zabini," from the shouts the wizards were giving, no one seemed to hear when the door to the chamber opened, "would you please move away from the mirror? You had your turn two hours ago. Malfoy needs to finish." Harry Potter frowned at the two Slytherins while a blue-haired toddler grinned greatly at the scene.

"But I've got to be perfect!" Zabini complained, getting shoved out of the way by Teddy Lupin; the boy nudged him on the legs with his small hands.

Rolling his eyes behind his glasses, Harry came to stand behind the once-bouncing ferret. "Scared, Malfoy? You look terrified."

Fixing the emerald tie over his perfectly white shirt, Draco Malfoy moved his silver eyes towards the top of the mirror, checking to see if his blonde hair was still currently in place after struggling with his self-centered best mate. "I'm about to get married, Potter, what do you think? This is the biggest thing that I've done that didn't involve me getting a mad-man's symbol burned on to my skin," being past the terrible choices he'd committed in years past, Draco was keen to see the shutter that Potter gave him. "I've been through everything with Hermione that marriage seems so silly."

"That might be true, Malfoy, but think about it the way that I did," the Chosen One said calmly, taking the advantage to fix the Slytherin-green vest he had over his robes. (Curse Hermione for giving Narcissa Malfoy the permission to add a bit of their ancestral colors into the wedding scheme.) "Marriage might seem so foolish, meaningless after all you've gone through with that person, but the connection you have with them will intensify. And it will solidify your bond even more, making it unbreakable."

"…I…I've never had someone to call my own," Draco admitted in a murmur, swallowing his pride as he remembered that his two past arch-enemies were in the room. "I was always surrounded by witches that wanted the respect my surname had, or the wealth that I would inherit, but none of them were ever interested in me. And then Hermione came along, and she loathed me. She would've given me a go if she could have, but yet, she always tried to see the very best in me…And in the end, she brought it all out. She gave me a sense that there were better, wicked things to life."

Putting a hesitant palm on Malfoy's shoulder, Harry gave a nod. "When you love a person you pull them out from their miserable abyss if you can," he mumbled awkwardly at the Slytherin Prince. "Ginny held on forever to the hope that she could get rid of all the overwhelming things in my life. And when times were the most daunting, she was the only light I saw. And once it was all over, loving her was so simple that it didn't feel right…Once we got married and the Minister pronounced her as a Potter…well, I knew that I was getting the product of all of Ginny's hope. And that finally, I'd be happy."

"…It's just the step to your future, Malfoy," Ron chirped in from where he lay, his ears perked up at the interaction between his brother-in-law and the blonde wizard. "I almost hid under my mother's skirt when I started hearing that it was my cue to stand by the alter. Fear of committing to someone in such a level shook my insides, and George had to pull me out by the ear like a child and force me by wand-tip," the Weasel King shook his red hair, snickering at himself, "and that was with me loving Pansy with all I had."

"It's just typical for the bloke to be more frightened," Blaise said as he adjusted Teddy's robes on his little body. (After muttering a, 'No kid that's been dressed by Blaise Zabini will go into the ceremony looking like a savage troll.') "It's natural."

Chuckling to himself, despite the rapid heartbeat in his chest, Malfoy seemed calm. "It happens to you all the time, mate."

Blaise glared. "Does not!"

"Does too!" Teddy chortled, smirking like his second-cousin had showed him. (Oh, he had made Draco so proud that day.)

"Is this where you explain to us why you didn't think about telling us about your daft choice?" Ginny hissed towards the brunette. (Just because she was tired didn't mean that she'd forgotten that Hermione was going to do the stupidest thing imaginable and she wasn't even going to be given the chance to shout at her because her memory would've been wiped clean. No one tinkers with Ginny Potter's memory and gets away with it!) "I almost blew Harry up when he explained to me where he was after Ron's wedding."

"Forget her, why didn't you tell me?" Zabini interjected. "I thought we'd broken down those barriers of house rivalry. I'm offended."

Trying to remain neutral and not show much emotion over that touchy subject, Malfoy said, "it's not something we actually wanted to discuss with the public, Blaise. It just happened." A part of him still feeling hurt that the love of his life—that's right, he admits it, love of his life—was going to tear herself away from him.

Two years ago Draco would've graciously made sure she swallowed every drop of that potion, but things had changed since then. And the mere thought, the mere memory of thinking she was so close to disappearing was enough for him to recoil.