Song: You and Me by: Niall Horan (Feat. RTE Concert Orchestra)
"Teddy has been off the walls today." Commented Ginny as she put her face in her hands. "I think Andromeda gave him straight up sugar before sending him over to Harry and me."
In front of them, they watched Teddy run up and down the aisles of books attempting to get his kite to fly indoors.
Hermione told Teddy, "Honey, that isn't going to work out too well. You need to be outside in the wind for it to work properly."
"I don't care!" He proclaimed, continuing to run around Hermione's shop.
After a few minutes, he gave up and collapsed down on the floor in front of Hermione and Ginny.
"Did you finally run out of energy?" Questioned Ginny, hoping his answer would be yes.
Teddy let out a long sigh, "No, I just give up."
"On what exactly?" Further questioned Ginny.
"Everything."
The two grown-ups laughed at him.
Between her laughs Hermione managed to say, "Oh, Teddy you're much too young to be saying things like that."
Teddy narrowed his eyes at Hermione and smirked a little bit, "I know something you don't know."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "What?"
He muttered, "You'll find out soon enough," before running off to go chase Felix.
Hermione looked over at Ginny, "Do you know what he is talking about?"
"No idea."
* * * * *
When Hermione got home from work that day she went straight to the refrigerator to get a glass of water. When she turned around to find a glass to pour her water in she found a note, It read: I'm taking you out somewhere nice tonight. Be ready by the time I get home. Much love, Draco.
That's strange, she thought, he never leaves notes for things like that.
She went and took a quick shower to freshen up a little bit. Afterward, she put some stuff in her hair to make sure it didn't frizz too badly. She also put some makeup on, simple and minimal just how she liked it.
After browsing through her closet for awhile she settled on a long sleeve dress that was semi-lowcut but didn't reveal too much, and to paired with it little black booties.
At 5 O'clock when Draco got home from work, he was already dressed up. He was wearing a white button-up with the first couple of buttons left undone, slim-fitting khaki pants, and some sharp looking shoes.
"Why are you already all dressed up?" Asked Hermione, a little confused. "I thought you just got off work."
"I was on call today." He answered before leaning down and giving his girlfriend a peck on the lips.
Draco went off into their bedroom for a minute to do something. Hermonie could hear him fidgeting around in there, muttering things to himself.
From the couch she called out to him, "I'm ready to go when you are."
"Alright," he emerged from their room, his face a few shades lighter than normal.
"Are you okay?" Asked Hermione, noticing the odd look on his face, "You look a little pale."
"Yeah, I'm fine." He confirmed, a little nervousness in his voice.
Hermione sensed that something was wrong with him, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. She reached out and took his hand, and he apparated the two of them to an alleyway near the restaurant they were going to.
When they emerged from the alleyway Hermione recognized the place. It was where Draco had taken her on their first date.
"Awe, Draco," Hermione slid her hand into his, "this is where we had our first date."
"I know," he commented with a little smirk.
Inside the waiter seated them at the same booth they had sat at the last time. The restaurant was still just as exquisitely put together as it was the last time.
"This feels like Deja Vu," Said Hermione as she sat down in her seat. The waiter poured some wine for them and left them alone with their menus.
Draco was acting kind of weird, fidgeting around with his cutlery. Hermonie was going to say something to him about his nervous behavior, but he spoke first.
Glancing over his menu he asked, "What are you thinking about getting?"
"Hmmm," her eyes skimmed over the menu for a couple of moments, "I'm thinking... the bourbon pecan chicken."
Thinking back to their first date Draco said, "You must really like that."
"I completely forgot!" Exclaimed Hermione, "I got that the last time." Reaching across the table she grabbed his hand. "I can't believe you remembered such a small detail like that."
Draco let his thumb graze the top of her hand back and forth, "I remember more than you think."
"Do you now?"
He continued to hold her hand as he said, "Oh, yes."
The waiter came over and ruined their soft and tender moment by putting glasses of water on the table in between them. "What will we be having today?"
"I would like the bourbon pecan chicken." Answered Hermione, as she handed him her menu.
Draco handed him his menu as well and said, "I'll have the same thing."
"I will have it out shortly." Replied the waiter before walking off.
After taking a sip of her wine Hermione said, "Ginny brought Teddy by the shop today."
"Oh really?" Asked Draco, repositioning himself in his chair.
"Yeah, he was running around the store with a little kite, it was so cute."
Draco commented, "He has that effect on people, gotta love him."
Hermione picked up her glass and took a sip of her wine before asking, "Do you think we'll ever have one?"
"What exactly? A kite?" He questioned as he took a sip of his water.
she gave him a weak laugh, "No, a kid."
Draco was caught off guard, forcing himself to swallow his water the wrong way. After gathering himself he answered, "Yeah, of course." He took a moment to pause before continuing, "We'll have two, a boy and a girl. The boy will take after me in looks, cause if he doesn't it'll be a crime to humanity, but he'll have your mind, your kindness, and your bravery. He'll be unstoppable. The girl, she'll have that out of control frizzy hair you had back in our younger years, but she'll grow up to be tough and decisive. She'll be headstrong and won't take any crap from anybody. She'll be loyal to a fault, and charismatic."
Hermione smiled at him, "Well, you certainly have thought a lot about that."
"Yeah, well I think about a lot of things." He answered, honestly.
Hermione smiled and continued to play along with their little fantasy, "Is there anything else? Do we ever get a dog?"
Leaning back further in his chair he answered, "Oh yes, the kids will beg for one and we'll eventually give in. It'll be one of those stereotypical muggle dogs like a Golden retriever or a lab."
After a couple of minutes of them talking about their hypothetical future, the waiter brought their food. It looked so good, they couldn't help but dive right into it. After a minute or two of silence, Hermione realized something. The silence that they were sharing wasn't uncomfortable. It was the kind of silence that is reassuring, the kind of silence that says 'I'm right here.'
After a moment Draco broke their comfortable silence, "I think I have finally gotten a good grip on how to handle Merlin's power. I haven't sent any objects flying across a room in the past couple of days."
"I've noticed," commented Hermione, "Have you gotten anywhere with using wandless-nonverbal magic?"
Draco looked around the room for a moment, "watch this." He closed his eyes and concentrated, all of the lights in the room dimmed all the way down and went out for a couple of seconds. A moment later, Draco turned them all back on.
Hermione was impressed, but she whisper-scolded him for doing magic like that in a muggle place.
"It's fine," he reassured her, "To them it was just a short power outage."
The two of them kept on talking about life and magic for the rest of their dinner. It was lovely, it reminded the two of them why they fit so well together. After dinner, they went on a short walk down the busy street, hand in hand. They walked slowly and took in the moment, casually looking into storefront windows and making small talk and flirty comments. In that moment, they weren't two former enemies or two people with a complicated past, they were just simply two people in love. After a couple of minutes of walking Draco whisked Hermione into an alleyway and apparated back to their building.
They made their way to the elevator in the lobby and pressed the button for their floor. As the elevator slowly ascended Draco checked his pocket for the ring and ran his fingers through his platinum hair.
When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, they saw that The hallway was lit with candles that were hovering up in thin air giving off a soft warm light. Further down the hallway, in front of Apartment 23 & 24 stood a pensieve. Slowly Hermonie made her way towards it. Draco followed right behind her.
When she got to the Pensive she asked, "What is this doing here?"
Draco took a vial out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Hermonie. "There's something I want you to see."
She took the vial from his hands and examined it for a moment. "What is this, Draco?'
"Memories, I want you to see them." He answered.
She took the top off the vial and poured it into the pensieve in front of her. While gripping the sides of it, she submerged her head into it and her feet felt like they left the ground. A couple of moments later she gathered herself and realized where she was, St. Mungo's. Memories of the past year and a half started to quickly play out in front of her:
Laying in the hospital bed at St. Mungo's and getting treated by Draco.
Draco apologizing about the past.
Draco eating hippogriff crap and her laughing about it.
Watching Draco try pizza for the first time.
Being stuck out on her balcony together.
Babysitting Teddy together.
Draco oversleeping at her old place and waking up to ice water being dumped on his head.
Her confronting him of being jealous of her and David.
Her hugging Draco after he scared Ron off.
Draco spending the night at her place and talking about their nightmares.
Draco seeing her all dressed up at the Ball.
The two of them dancing together at the ball.
Volunteering to go with her to find Harry.
Sharing bunk beds.
Hermione smirking at him from across the table in Rutland.
Walking around the Rutland countryside together.
Her calling him Draco for the first time after watching him get tortured.
Kissing for the first time in Hyde's park.
Searching for a cure for the coma kids at Hogwarts.
Getting coffee and kissing out on the sidewalk.
Their first date.
kissing in the hallway.
Tending to his black eye after fighting Ron
Making pizza together.
The two of them becoming official.
Watching movies together.
Hermione running into St. Mungo's when it was burning to find him.
I love you's at Blaise and Pansy's wedding.
Dancing together at Blaise and Pansy's wedding.
First time making love together.
Waking up next to each other.
Asking her to move in with him.
The two of them living in the apartment.
Hermione in her book shop.
Once the last memory faded Hermione was jerked back into reality. When she came back out of the pensive, Draco grabbed her hand and started talking before she could say anything.
"These are the moments when I was falling in love with you. It took me a while to realize it, but subconsciously I knew." Draco took her hands in his, "Hermonie, you make me want to be a better man. I have laughed and loved more since you came back into my life than I ever have before. Your smile makes me smile and your laugh makes me laugh. You and me, Hermione, this right here, this is something I want for the rest of my life."
Draco got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his pocket. Hermione put her hands over her mouth and tears started to pool in her eyes.
"Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?" Asked Draco. He had a boyish smile on his face and his eyes glistened in the soft lighting of the hallway.
Hermione shook her head yes and then proceeded to say, "Yes, yes, of course, yes."
She threw her arms around him and whispered in his ear, "I love you, Draco."
He whispered in her ear, "I love you too."
Still embraced in each other's arms, Hermione kissed him gently on the lips.
Just moments later she heard a thud coming from the door behind her. She turned around and peered in the peephole to see an obscure looking Harry backing up frantically.
Looking back at Draco she asked, "Is everyone in there?"
"Yeah," He answered sheepishly, "I needed a little help... Potter can be somewhat useful."
Hermione smiled at him before opening the door to their apartment. Standing in front of them were all of their friends and family. Harry, Ginny, Theo, Blaise, Pansy, Luna, Teddy, both of their parents, and even Ron. Draco yelled from behind Hermione, "We're engaged!" and everyone simultaneously yelled different forms of congratulations.
Author's Note:
The first few paragraphs of this chapter have been sitting in my drats since the summer of 2018. I have always had the intention to finish this book, but life got in the way. The last time this story got an update I had just graduated High School and now I'm a Junior in college. I just can't believe that it took a global pandemic and the Harry Potter side of Tik Tok to make me miss writing so much. Anyways, I will try to update weekly until I finish the book. I only anticipate a few more chapters until I'm finished. If you have any questions you can leave them below.
Thanks for sticking with me for so long.
- MC