A/N: And this is it! The last chapter. Thank you all for encouraging this fic. I've had so much fun writing this, and I hope you've all enjoyed it half as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm sorry again that it took so long to finish, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Without further ado, the epilogue.

Chapter 13 - Epilogue

Five Years Later

Hermione smoothed her hands over the gentle bell in the skirt of her dress. The butter-yellow of it complemented the subtle tan she'd gotten over the summer months, and she knew that Draco preferred the colour to offset the charcoal grey suit he'd become obsessed with since she'd taken him to the Muggle tailor in London.

Hermione smiled at herself in the mirror, her gaze tracing her figure in approval. With a wave of her wand, her hair swept itself up in a neat chignon—a trick Ginny had taught her since Draco's recent business endeavours had landed him in several wizarding news articles. A final coat of her favourite matte lippie and loosening a few curls from her updo saw that she was ready to go.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and Hermione looked up, happiness bubbling up inside her as Draco swept into the room, his tie hanging haphazardly around his neck. Despite the fact that she was standing before the mirror just opposite the door, his frantic gaze missed her, and he hurried into the bathroom calling her name.

"Hermione?" The loo door swung open once more, and a harried Draco slipped into the room, relief creasing his brow when he saw that she was dressed, sans shoes. "Are you ready to go? I'm expected at Mungo's in half an hour for the dedication of the new treatment center." He stalked up to the mirror beside her and began fiddling with his tie, muttering under his breath.

She watched him for a moment, mirth fighting to escape her in laughter, and finally took pity on him after he managed to tangle his tie into a crooked knot and started trying to undo it while cursing Merlin and every other magical being that he could.

"I swear to Morgana, I'm going to—"

Hermione stepped between him and the mirror, resting her hands on his elbows. "Let me?" She gently pulled his fingers away and loosened the knot, easily sliding it into place before weaving it into a neat Windsor. She leaned up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek and smiled fondly at him. "There. All done."

Draco heaved out a sigh and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "What I would do without you, witch?"

"It's a good thing you'll never have to find out then, isn't it?" Hermione picked up the necklace she'd laid out to wear—a simple teardrop diamond, Draco's gift to her on their first wedding anniversary—and held it up to him. He took it and slipped behind her, clasping it behind her neck while she watched him in the mirror. When he looked up and made eye contact with her, she leaned into him.

His hands slipped around her waist, and they gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. Hermione sank into the still moment, one of the few they'd had together since Draco had started his new position with St. Mungo's.

He'd name the ward after his mother: the Narcissa Malfoy Ward. Though there had been some initial pushback from the public to allow such an infamous former Death Eater access to such vulnerable patients, any hesitation had been quickly calmed when Harry had been interviewed by the Prophet. Since then, Draco had been interviewed countless times and asked to be nominated for Witch Weekly's Most Eligible Wizard, to which he'd kindly declined and taken his relationship with Hermione public.

The ward was so successful that other wizarding communities around the world had started to contact Draco for consultations. What had started out as a small department of four under strict observation by the hospital's board of trustees had quickly grown into a full research department staffed by some of the wizarding world's most promising young minds. With Molly and Hermione's connections at Hogwarts, Draco had been able to negotiate an internship program that allowed Hogwarts grads to begin working in the program the last half of their seventh year, and many of them had graduated with guaranteed jobs in the program.

Overwhelmed by the support of Mungo's and the rest of the wizarding world, he'd extended an invitation to Blaise and Theo to join him. Despite Hermione's initial doubt that the two would provide more distractions than assistance, they'd been remarkable assets for Draco. Blaise was just a smooth enough talker that he'd been able to convince some hesitant donors to invest in the ward. Theo had taken over the public relations position, using his charm to coordinate events with St. Mungo's.

With new investments pouring into the program, Draco had developed another ward that sought to combine Muggle and magical treatments for maladies that blurred the lines between the magical and non-magical world. To the wizarding world's shock, he had started to work with Muggle doctors—all carefully selected for their prowess and discretion—to begin developing treatments for diseases that so far lacked medical answers.

To say she was proud of him was an understatement.

Hermione, to no one's surprise but her own, had been approached by Kingsley to work under him in preparation to eventually become the next Minister for Magic. With some prompting from Draco, she had agreed.

It wasn't that she didn't want to become minister—she did, desperately, and she had dreamt of earning the position for quite a while, even in her early Hogwarts days—but she couldn't help but feel as though she was cheating. She hadn't worked her way through the ranks; she didn't have years of experience under her belt that helped inform her politics. But with Draco's gentle encouragement despite arguing all the reasons she shouldn't run for the position, she'd thrown her hat in the ring on a whim.

Hermione had started small, developing a grassroots campaign that tried to learn what ordinary wizards and witches needed from the government post-war. And she researched—of course she researched. She started with creature rights and worked all the way up to parental leave for witches and wizards, lobbied for—and successfully drafted legislature that passed—the election of the minister by wizarding citizens, and tried to ensure equal representation for all beings, creature and human alike. Hermione was surprised by how well her proposals were received.

It seemed as though more had changed after the world than even she was aware of.

Now here she was, three years later, with a large following who had willingly voted her as Kingsley's successor, and she was due to take the position when he retired the following spring. Her time working under him had been rewarding but challenging, and though sometimes she missed the relaxed pace of Flourish and Blotts, she would be lying if she said the change wasn't invigorating.

She still couldn't quite believe that it was reality some days. The wizarding world trusted her to step up and be their leader. She went to bed every evening thankful for the tumultuous past few years, and even more grateful for the wizard who slung his arm around her waist to fall asleep tangled in.

"I can see the steam from you thinking too hard." Draco nuzzled her neck, bringing her back to reality. "We need to go, love. Somebody has to keep Theo from imbibing too much before the speeches. Merlin knows what would come out of his mouth."

Hermione laughed. "Likely some half-cocked attempt at joking to pick up some witch or wizard in the audience."

"You are not wrong." Draco groaned. He spun her around and appraised her. "Merlin, I am one lucky wizard." His eyes lingered on the way her dress clung to her curves, and Hermione tilted his head up with one finger, laughing.

"Eyes. Up here," she chastised, though her heart wasn't in the complaint.

"Well if you didn't want me to stare, then you shouldn't look so beautiful. And on my birthday, of all days. Merlin, why did you let me schedule this today?" Draco nudged past her hand and sprinkled a line of kisses down her neck.

Her laughter tinkled between them. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

Together, they strolled to the Floo, and Hermione rested her hand on Draco's elbow so she could slip into the heels she'd chosen for the outfit. Once settled, she rocked up onto her toes once more to plant another kiss on his cheek. "You're going to be brilliant. They love you already."

Draco smirked as he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and strolled into the grate. "I know. And they'll all be jealous that I'm arriving with future Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger-Malfoy." He winked, then shouted his destination and disappeared in a flash of green flame.

Shaking her head, Hermione lifted her own handful of powder from the cup and entered the grate. Her smile was still on her lips as she spun toward her destination, thanking the universe once more for an ill-timed butterbeer mustache.

Once again, thank you SO much for reading this. As my first multi-chapter fic, it is quite special to me, and I appreciate you all taking the time to read it. Whether you simply read or read and reviewed each chapter, I'm glad to have been able to share this with others in the fandom. For those that encouraged me when trolls were rude, thanks for kicking my butt into gear and making me write again! It was worth it.

Lastly, if you're looking for a change of pace and want to explore a new WIP—with regular updates, I promise. I have nearly fifteen chapters prewritten and more to write tomorrow because this thing is a monster and keeps flowing—you should check out my newest WIP Queen of Swords. It's a Voldemort Wins AU with some pretty dark themes, so be sure to double check the triggers at the beginning; your mental health is important. Thanks again for reading!