A/N: Hey! It's been a while and I had sooooo many requests for some other kind of ending for this story…so, bowing to popular pressure I am going to write an epilogue…however, I'm not sure how well I'll go…if you were one of the very few people who were happy with the other ending I would urge you to just stick with that…that's where I always intended for this to end. For those of you who were desperate to have something else to hang onto…I give you this, as a token of my appreciation. It will be short…I don't think I can come up with a couple of thousand words for this sorry! But I'm hoping it will give some closure.

Disclaimer: come on, if Harry Potter belonged to me…well I'd be very rich and not working in a supermarket…I am, so I can't own anything.

Epilogue

Hermione Granger twisted uncomfortably in her bed, the flash of green light exploding behind her eyes. Her breathing became shallow and tears slipped down her cheeks, not again. Gripping her pillow she rode out the dream, it came every now and again, usually if she was run down. She wished every time would be the last time. Sometimes she was sure it wasn't ever coming again. But it always came.

She saw Draco's eyes, lifelessly staring at the ceiling. Lucius Malfoy staring at his wand disbelievingly. But worst of all she always heard the applause of the crowd. They thought this was a show…just a show. She would scream in her sleep sometimes. Sometimes she would soak her sheets with cold sweat. But she always cried.

For the first few months Harry or Ron would sleep with her to stop her hurting herself. After that the dream started to come less frequently and her best friends took to sleeping in their beds again.She learnt that sometimes the best way to avoid the dream was to stay awake all night.

Most people hadn't understood the fits. It was Draco Malfoy, didn't she hate him? It broke her heart to hear people whisper those things. She had loved him. What right did anyone have to question her?

After competing her NEWTs Hermione had decided to study as a healer. She was excelling at her studies. Easily the brightest witch of her age it was easy to keep up with schoolwork and the rest of her life. She had retreated from most of her friends, making time only for Harry and Ron.

Suddenly Hermione sat up tears streaming down her face. She threw the covers of her bed off trying to stop the cold sweat breaking out all over her body. Covering her eyes with her hands Hermione Granger took a series of deep breaths, slowing her breathing and stopping her body shaking. She had had this dream one too many times, it was getting to breaking point and she didn't know how much more she could take.

The warm water of the shower finally stopped the trembling of all Hermione's limbs. She splashed the water into her face to wake herself up; she had a feeling that she wasn't going to sleep for the rest of the night. Letting the water cascade over her, Hermione touched the small scar on her abdomen, Draco's face popped into her head and she stopped. Life was hard without him, it might seem strange, they were only together a month, but to her it felt like a lifetime. That month meant more to her than all the rest of her life.

Towelling off, Hermione pulled back her wet curly hair and made her way to the kitchen of her small two bedroom flat. She patiently boiled the kettle and made a cup of tea. She was used to this, it happened at least once every three months. She took her mug into the living room, picked a book off the shelves lined against the back wall. She smiled at the selection, it was her old, battered copy of Hogwarts A History, the book was more than 10 years old. She opened it and began to read.

The hours slipped past, soon the sun was peeking through the open curtains and it was time for another day. Hermione was a morning person; the sun seemed to ignite something in her. This morning she began pulling out a frying pan, bread, eggs and bacon. She began frying the food and turned on the radio quietly, singing along to the older Billy Joel song playing. She smiled hearing the sounds of the morning, the neighbours going about their routines and the traffic outside beginning to become louder.

"Mummy?"

Hermione looked behind her and smiled. She hadn't expected him quite yet but it was nice to have him there all the same. Her son was her one joy, 3 years old and already showing signs of being as intelligent as his mother. In every other way he was his father's son, his white blonde hair cut sort was tousled from sleep and his grey eyes were still squinting in the brightness of the kitchen. His face was rounder than his father's had been but she was sure he'd grow out of that. In his pyjamas he certainly was the cutest child she'd ever seen, though she suspected she was a little bias.

"Yes honey?"

The little boy walked across the kitchen and wrapped his arms around his mother's legs. Looking up he smiled at her. She smiled back at him wishing with all her heart that Draco could be here to see him. It broke her heart to think that her son would never know his father. She feared that the world wouldn't accept him, most of the wizarding world still considered Draco to be one of the bad guys.

"I love you," the small boy said giving his mum another smile. She bent down and picked him up sitting him on the bench next to her. She continued to cook while her son looked on.

"Mummy?"

"Yes baby?"

"Did daddy look like me?" He asked his little face suddenly very serious.

"Yes, you look exactly like him," Hermione said, her voice sounding sad.

"I think I had a dream about him last night," the little boy said, "he smiled and said that he loved us both very much. Do you think he's in heaven mummy?"

Hermione stared at her son in disbelief, she'd never even explained about Draco. She thought it would be a better conversation for when he was a bit older. Now she wondered.

"Yes honey, I think he's in heaven. Your daddy was a very good man."

The little boy examined his mother and nodded as if he suddenly understood everything.

"So mummy, can I have some food now?" He asked changing topic.

"Thomas Draco Malfoy, you never take your mind off your stomach do you?" The little boy shook his head giggling as he was placed on the ground. He ran to the table and sat there looking expectantly at his mother. She rolled her eyes at him. But inside Hermione felt happy for the first time in what felt like a long time. She was the mother of a beautiful boy.

She knew that that one month gave her the best thing in her life, along with the worst. Both revolved around the most important thing in anyone's life, unconditional love.

A/N: We all a lot happier now?? I hope that this has settled a lot of people and that everyone isn't angry at me now…oh and always R and R!

Later dayz

Manda

xx