A/N: This is the final chapter... Thank you all for leaving such lovely reviews! I decided to take this turn because I was not expecting the relationship between Narcissa and Hermione to go down well in the Wizarding wold.

Chapter 11

(8 years later, 7 years after the fall of Voldemort)

Pain does not fade the same way time does. Time slips away into nothingness but pain is an everlasting reminder. But it never goes away. It lingers in memories, in thoughts. It hides in tears and in smiles. It creeps into conversation or into silence. It follows you, wherever you walk. It will not allow you to hide and it will now allow you to feel freedom.

Hermione shivered when she felt Narcissa's hand reach for hers. For a brief second she had forgotten where they were and that they were together. For a brief moment everything had seemed different. Now the grey darkness covered them and swallowed them up once again. It was a dreary, grey and rainy day. Heavy grey clouds had packed up in the sky over their heads and a cold sharp wind blew through the leafless trees. There was nothing else but silence here.

Hermione's eyes found the white marble headstone that marked the grave. The words sunk into her again. Like all the times before. Draco Malfoy. Lost in a battle he was never to win.
She looked beside her. She saw the tears slide down Narcissa's cheeks. Her blonde hair rested on her shoulders, partially hidden underneath her cloak. Her hand held Hermione's. Slim fingers traced the palm of her hand. Blue eyes focused on the white, cold marble that carried the endless reminder of her loss.

Narcissa turned to face Hermione. "Why do we keep coming here?"

"Because you need to, my love," Hermione whispered softly and she reached up to brush a tear from Narcissa's face "Because we both need to" Narcissa rubbed her face against Hermione's hand, her eyes fluttering shut under the warm gentle touch. "Do you remember, my love?"

Narcissa remembered. She remembered everything. She remembered every day. It had been seven years since the fall of the Dark Lord. Seven long years that were meant to heal and close the wounds that had been so painfully ripped into their hearts and souls. So many lives were lost. So many souls were taken and destroyed. As she stood here, laying down her white roses on her son's grave, the painful reminder of her loss found her once again.

"I know Cissy," Hermione whispered softly, her lips trembling and she shivered as the cold wind picked up again. She tried to hide deeper into her cloak and longed for the warmth and comfort of the fire in their living room. "I feel your pain."

They mourned their loved ones in loneliness. The world did not recognise them. The world could not accept them. Her friend had left her the day she decided to leave the Burrow. No one ever spoke to her again when the truth about her and Narcissa was revealed. Whispers still followed them wherever they went, eyes followed them every day. People did not speak to them. They had just abandoned them, left them alone to deal with all their grief. It was as if no one cared. Loneliness was perhaps an even worse emotion than pain that could not be shared.

Hermione sighed. Standing in this cemetery was a cold reminder of all she had lost but which was not carrying a headstone. Lupin, Tonks and Fred Weasley had all died in the War. Bellatrix, Narcissa's favourite sister, died that same night. And with them so many more died.
Draco had fallen only a year later, as he was hunted down by Aurors of the Ministry. He had been with several other Death Eaters, amongst them was his father. Lucius was taken prisoner and would spend the next three years in Azkaban before he died, alone and rotting in his cell.

But it was not only those who had died she had lost. She had not seen or heard from Harry, Ron or any of the others for all these years. She had stopped sending them letters a long time ago, when the owls kept returning with the parchment still attached to their paws. She had stopped hoping to hear from them. She had stopped believing they were just ignorant. She now simply believed it was an illusion and that perhaps numbness wasn't so bad after all.

"Maybe we should stop coming here," Narcissa said as blue eyes looked up to meet brown. She could see Hermione shivering and her hands felt cold. Her pain reflected in the depths of her eyes. "I know how much this hurts you, Hermione. And I do not wish to cause you any more pain."

"Life will always cause us pain, Cissy. It appears to be the consequence of our love," Hermione answered softly and Narcissa could do nothing else but nod in agreement. "Once a year we come here, only once a year, my love. You only want to come here one on Christmas Day. But I know you miss him so much more, Cissy."

Narcissa leant in. Soft lips brushed against Hermione's. She tasted the sweetness mixed with the salt from her tears. Softly she answered her kiss. Their hands united before blue and brown eyes dropped down to look at the marble stone one last time. They turned around and began to walk back to the entrance of the cemetery. It was when they were halfway down the path a figure caught their eye and Hermione stopped. Narcissa froze too.

Slowly the figure became clearer and the image of a woman appeared. Emerald green eyes sparkled friendly behind a pair of glasses. Grey hair that still betrayed the ash blonde colour it once knew dangled from underneath a black cloak. A white scarf was wrapped warm and safely around her neck. It was when she found the two women standing still that a smile broke through on her face. Hermione realized she had aged so much in the past few years and only now she realized Minerva McGonnagal was indeed much older than she ever remembered her to be.

"Minerva," Hermione said and she let go of Narcissa's hand. When she felt Minerva wrap her arms around her and pull her into a tender, warm embrace she realized that the kindness and warmth of friendship had left her feel so lonely and cold. "It's so good to see you again."

"The feeling is very much mutual," Minerva said as she brushed some brown hair out of Hermione's face before her green eyes met Hermione's chocolate brown. She smiled. "I had almost forgotten you had grown up so much. I can still remember the day you were a student" She let go of her and her eyes found Narcissa who was standing in the middle of the path, unsure what to do or where to look. Minerva approached her and Hermione watched how her old friend unexpectedly pulled Narcissa into a comforting embrace.

"Cissy, it is good to see you again" Minerva said and suddenly felt how Narcissa's was shaking as tears of pain dripped down into Minerva's cloak, soft sobs escaping from her throat. "I've come to pay my respect to Draco. I have been doing so since the day he died." Narcissa looked up. Her blue eyes were still full of tears. "And I have come to see you and Hermione. I know it has not been easy for the both of you. I know people cannot accept you and I wanted to tell you that I can change it."

"Minerva?" Hermione whispered softly. She felt confused and slowly approached her mentor, who was still holding Narcissa. "What do you mean, you can change it?"

With one hand Minerva took the necklace from behind her cloak and showed it to Hermione. Her green eyes found brown. For the very first time she saw how Hermione had turned into a beautiful young woman, though somewhere deep beyond her eyes she could see the pain caused by the past seven years. "I know you know what this is, Hermione. I know you remember."

"The Time-Turner," Hermione whispered. Her eyes had widened in surprise and she now rushed to Narcissa's side "Minerva, you can't!"

"I can and I will," Minerva answered, her voice suddenly betraying some of the firmness she held as a teacher and she looked at the two women standing before her. "And I think we all know what it will mean. If you make this choice, everything will change. Nothing will be as you remember it; though nothing will ever become the way you know it."

Narcissa looked at Hermione. "What does she mean?"

"Cissy, the Time-Turner is the object I used to travel back in time all those years ago. It's where I first met you. It can take you anywhere in time," Hermione answered and she glanced at Minerva, who was still holding the necklace "Minerva is offering us the only chance to ever truly find happiness. To live in a world where no one knows us and no one ever will. Where people have not died, nor will they ever. But we have lost them in this life. We can never lose them again."

Narcissa looked at Minerva. "Why are you doing this?"

"I have watched and observed how life has been treating you. It is not right, nor is it fair. I have no power to change one's mind or heart but I have the power to change time and life. I am offering you this only chance," Minerva said "If you take this Time-Turner with you, it will be gone forever. And with that, it will die in this time. No one will ever find it. It is the last of its kind."

Hermione reached out her hand and with trembling fingers took the golden chain into her hand. Her eyes found Narcissa's. She did not have to ask. She knew she had chosen. Her eyes found Minerva, who tenderly smiled. "Do not hesitate. Somewhere out there life is waiting."

Hermione flung her arms around Minerva's neck and pressed her face against her shoulder. "You are a remarkable friend, Minerva. I can only hope that one day I will find a friend that is even half like you. Please, take care of yourself. And if you ever see Harry or Ron or anybody else, tell them I said goodbye. They may not think of me, but I think of them, in whatever time."

She let go and stepped back, placing the chain safely around her neck and Narcissa's. Her lover's hand found hers before she began to spin the hourglass. She turned it round and round, and again and again. She could feel Narcissa cling on to her arm as around them images flashed by, noises finding their way into their ears. Light and darkness changed as wind was pulling their hair. And eventually Hermione stopped. The hourglass stopped spinning and slowly their surroundings changed into their normal shape.

It was still dark. Thousands of sky riddled the black sky. A familiar cold wind pulled their hair and Hermione looked beside her. Narcissa looked back at her. Her hand found Hermione's. The tree that they had been standing under only seconds ago had disappeared and the ground around them did not hold as many headstones. The cemetery was abandoned, there was nothing but silence.

"Where are we?" Narcissa whispered, though her voice betrayed her curiosity and excitement. Her blue eyes captured Hermione's and her lips vaguely curled up into a smile.

"Does it matter?" Hermione smiled too and she safely hid the necklace underneath her cloak. For now, they were safe and whatever was out there could very well be hiding their new future. Somewhere in the distant she heard a church bell and she reached for Narcissa's hand. "As long as I am with you, anywhere is home."

"Perhaps second chances lie in the past where no one's future yet exists," Narcissa said as she and Hermione slowly started walking down the path and left the cemetery. In the distance they saw the lights of a small town and they just started walking. If there was magic around somewhere it would find them somehow and it would lead them onto a path that was yet to be created. For now it was just them, the way they had known each other to be. And they started walking.

But to where exactly neither of them knew.