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Chapter : 39 A New Dawn

          I walked out of the Great Hall, as I thought I would give Draco some time alone with his parents, and made my way towards the grounds. I saw Harry, Ron and Hermione all sitting on the steps leading to the entrance, and when I reached them Ron invited me to join them. We were all looking at the pale orange sky which grew brighter as the sun rose higher.

'Now what?' asked Ron.

'Now.... now we see what happens next', said Harry. Hermione inched closer to Ron and rested her head on his shoulder.

'What are you going to do now, Ava?' Asked Ron.

'I don't know... the Malfoys have invited me to stay with them. But I think I will go back to Spinner's End, I grew up there'.

'We're sorry about Professor Snape. I know how much he meant to you', said Harry.

'Its alright, we had already said our goodbyes.' For a few moments, we sat in silence, until Harry broke it,

'Ava, can I talk to you for a moment? Privately?'

'Yeah, sure', we both got up and descended the stairs until we reached the bottom.

'Who did you see? You know... when you were... dead?'

I stared into the distance as I recalled it, 'My parents.... I saw my parents, for the first and last time.'

'What did they say?' A drop of tear rolled down my cheek.

'They said they were proud of me. And when they told me about the choice that I had to make, whether I wanted to stay there or to come back here, I almost didn't want to come back.'

'I am glad that you did.'

'Who did you see Harry?'

'I saw Dumbledore. He made me realize everything, about Snape, about you.... he really loved my mother, didn't he?'

'More than you could ever imagine. He always talked about her to me when I was younger. I know you have never met her Harry, but I can tell you, she sounded like a really fun person', we both giggled.

          Soon, we were joined by Ron and Hermione, who stood beside Harry, and Draco, who wrapped his arm around me. Anyone looking at us would have thought that we had been friends for centuries. It was as if the dawn brought with it a new freshness, as if the world had been upgraded to some higher definition.

'Hey Malfoy', called Harry, 'now that the war is over, is it right that we continue like this?' I looked up at him confused, so did the others.

'What do you mean, Potter?' Asked Draco.

'I mean to say that, why don't we put an end to this rivalry, and become friends? Technically, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to defeat Voldemort.' Draco looked a little unsure at first, but then he nodded his head, and shook Harry's extended hand. Ron and Draco also shook hands while Hermione and I hugged each other.

'Well, another great outcome of the war. Honestly, I was starting to get a little tired of your bickerings', snickered Hermione, 'Now you boys better play nice, or Ava and I will walk out on all of you.'

'Hey, we won't promise you that', whined Ron.

'I am sorry, Harry. And I would be more than happy to put our differences aside and become friends', said Draco. In response, Harry grinned widely.

          We all walked back together to the Great Hall and found the four House tables arranged in their original places with everyone sitting around it, disregarding their houses, and having food from the feast which appeared on the table. Harry, Ron and Hermione went to sit with the Weasleys. I spotted Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy huddled together in an aisle between the tables, and started to make my way towards them, but Draco grabbed my hand.

'No, not yet. Can we go together somewhere, just us?' I slowly nodded and followed him as he made his way to our secret spot. He sat down on the grass and pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my hands around his neck and looked into his grey eyes.

'Can I ask you something?'

'Of course, Draco.'

'Do you miss your parents?'

I thought about this for a while, 'Honestly, no, I don't. Uncle Sev never let me feel their absence in my life. And I have seen them now, so I am happy.'

'What do you mean?' He asked confused.

'Nothing.....' I smiled as I planted a kiss on his soft lips.

           My world was right again, I had the person I loved most by my side, my friends were safe, and I knew Uncle Sev and my parents were looking over me from above, smiling. There was no doubt about it, this was the happiest moment of my life.

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That's it guys!!! I have an epilogue ready too, which I will upload tomorrow, and that will be the end of that! So keep an eye out for it!