Epilogue

The bell above the door rang as it opened. Hermione Malfoy looked up from her inventory ledger to see her son enter the small bookshop she and her husband had opened two years after his birth. She smiled as he tiredly pushed the blond hair from his eyes.

"Sassy is driving me crazy," the eleven year old lamented, dropping his school bags behind the counter. He easily fell into his mother's arms, and she held him tight and close. "Why couldn't I be an only child? Or least have a brother?"

"She loves you, Li," Hermione said softly. "You've been too good of a big brother to her. And speaking of Cecelia, you didn't leave her in Diagon Alley, did you?"

Rolling his brown eyes, Liam pulled away. "No, Dad's still outside. He's got her," he told his mother. Two years his junior, Cecelia Helen was the spitting image of her mother despite her gray eyes. She had been attached to Liam from the beginning, and he had appointed himself her protector the day she came home from the hospital. Unable to pronounce her name, he nicknamed her Sassy, and it stuck. "Does she have to come to the train station with us this weekend?"

"She'll want to say goodbye to you too," Hermione reminded him. Her first born would be starting Hogwarts, and it was a reality she had yet to fully accept. Draco had argued that he not attend their alma mater, but the limited magic their son possessed intrigued him and he wanted to learn more about it. "Besides, you don't really want us to leave her home. Deny it all you want, but you love your little sister."

The little boy merely shrugged his shoulders as his father and sister entered the shop. "Hello, Wife," Draco greeted her, leaning across the counter to kiss her. "Mother and Father have requested that they be allowed to accompany us to the train station this weekend. May I say no?"

"Pop and Gran are coming?" Liam asked excitedly. "What about Mimi and Baba? Can they come too?"

"We should discuss this at home," Draco interrupted, noticing the customers around them. Muggles need not know of Hogwarts, and Draco had little desire to be their educator. "Your summer reading will be done when Mum gets home. Right?" he asked his children. Both frowned, but nodded.

When Hermione arrived home two hours later, Draco had kept his promise. Their reading was done and dinner awaited her. Their days were discussed, as well as plans for the coming weekend. After dinner, Liam hung back to help Hermione with the dishes. "Maybe I shouldn't go," he said, fiddling with a dish towel.

Hermione shut off the tap and turned to him. "Why?" she wondered. "I thought Hogwarts was what you wanted. Don't let Dad's or my fears about you going stop you. It's our job to worry. It's your job to ignore us and do what makes you happy."

"So putting Sass up for adoption is okay?" he asked, earning a laugh from his mother. "Can I be honest? I'm scared. I've never been away from you guys, and magic hasn't really been a part of our lives aside from the couple of spells you and Dad do from time to time. What if I'm bad at this?"

Hermione shrugged, but smiled. "That's okay," she said. "You've never been bad at anything, and I don't think this will be the first thing you're bad at. I'll make you this deal - if you're unhappy after a year, you can leave. We'll either look for another school, or you can opt out of being a wizard altogether. You need to really think about this though, because without a magical education, you can't use magic when you're of age."

Nodding, the pair resumed their task - Hermione washing and Liam drying. Halfway through, Draco absolved him of the chore and sent him off to get ready for bed. "Cece has requested that we deny Liam the right to go to school," he reported, taking up Liam's task. "As much as I want to do that, it seems like the wrong thing to do. I remember being so excited to go that first year. It took a long time for me to dread it."

"We don't have to worry about that now," she promised. "He'll be safe. The things we faced are things our children will never go through. All they need to worry about is passing Charms."

The weekend arrived quicker than anyone wanted. Liam's departure coincided with his parents' tenth anniversary, and he used it as an excuse to delay leaving for school. "I've never missed your anniversary, well this one at least," he argued.

"Nice try," Draco replied with a smirk as he ushered his son into the fireplace. "Cooperate or I'll hold your hand until I have to put you on the train."

Liam frowned when they arrived at Malfoy Manor. "Did Pop do that to you?" he wondered. The snort Draco produced was the only answer he needed. "So, is it bad that I'm scared?"

"Being afraid is never a bad thing," Lucius stated as he joined them. "Your grandmother has a little care package for you, if you want it now."

Smiling, Liam hugged him before running to Narcissa's room. "Merlin, I'm going to miss him," Draco murmured.

His father clapped him on the back, offering his own brand of support. "I'd be worried if you didn't," he replied. Just then, the fireplace roared to life once more and Hermione and Cece stepped out. "Ah, there's my girl."

"Papa, make Li-Li stay with us," she demanded as he picked her up. When he said he couldn't, she huffed and demanded that he put her down.

Hermione chastised her and sent her to sit quietly. Despite her attempts to apologize to her father-in-law, Lucius dismissed them. Narcissa and Liam joined them, and they departed for King's Cross Station. "Your parents couldn't join us?" Narcissa asked Hermione as they followed behind their husbands and the children.

"Liam said his goodbyes earlier this morning," Hermione replied. "They're still not comfortable with all this. Plus, there's the whole running head on at a wall that makes them a bit nervous."

Over the previous decade, the women had managed to form something akin to a friendship. When Hermione and Draco announced that they planned it remarry, it was Narcissa who suggested the first of September in the Malfoy gardens. After all, it was the date they had first met. She had worked with Hermione to plan a small ceremony, and took care of Liam while the newlyweds spent a weekend together for their honeymoon.

"They didn't see you off when you were a student?" Narcissa asked, appalled by the thought.

Hermione shrugged. "The first couple of years they did," she replied. "They'd stay on the muggle side. When I was older, I went with the Weasleys. It was easier for them. I do remember wishing they were there though. Everyone else was with their parents, except for Harry. Seeing you with Draco on the platform, it was the only time I was ever jealous of him."

"Your children will never feel that way," Narcissa assured her. "He's changed so much, hasn't he?"

Hermione smiled as she watched her husband. With one arm around Liam's shoulders, he pointed out the train and told him stories about his journeys aboard it. "It's all thanks to Liam," she admitted. "If it hadn't been for him, I don't know where we'd be now."

"You'd be together," Narcissa said. "The two of you would have found your way back to one another eventually. Liam just nudged you along."

Smirking, the younger witch shook her head. "You'd never have allowed it," she retorted. "He'd be married to Astoria Greengrass."

"Bite your tongue, Wife," Draco replied.

"That would hurt, Husband," Hermione joked.

Liam, standing between his grandfather and sister, looked at his parents with longing in his dark eyes. "I'm gonna miss that," he said sadly.

"Christmas is only a few months away," Cecelia reminded him, holding onto her brother's arm. "And I'll write to you, tell you every funny thing they say. Don't worry, they'll be short letters."

The train's initial warning whistle blew, and Liam's heart raced. He wrapped his arms around his little sister, holding her close. "I love you, Sassy," he murmured. "You're my favorite sister."

She laughed despite the tears in her eyes. "You're my favorite brother, Li-Li," she replied, pulling away. Turning, she wrapped her arms around her grandfather's waist so no one would see her cry.

Liam turned his attention to his grandmother. Narcissa cupped his cheeks in her hands and kissed his forehead. "Sunday dinner won't be the same without you," she told him. "We'll set a place for you anyhow though. Be good, my sweet boy."

He stopped next in front of his grandfather, who still comforted his little sister. "Be like your mother," Lucius advised. "Be kind, be smart, be good. Remember that everyone in that school has magic, regardless of their heritage."

Liam next moved on to his parents, who pulled him out of the earshot of their family. "You have nothing to prove to us," Draco told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to be top of the class like your mother was. You definitely shouldn't be the biggest bully like I was. Be you, Li. Have fun, make friends, learn a lot."

"And write to us every day," Hermione interjected. "And if you're not sorted into one of our houses, your father will not disown you. He has an awful, unfunny sense of humor, and should be ignored. You know you have two parents who are and always will be proud of you."

Liam nodded, wrapping one arm around his mother and the other around his father. Taking a deep breath, he pulled away. "You're welcome," he told them.

"For what?" Draco wondered.

"Keeping this family together," he said with a wry smile. "Don't let all my hard work go to waste when I'm at school."

Hermione shook her head while her husband led Liam to the train. "Don't let the compartment door hit you in the-"

"Draco!" Narcissa and Hermione said in unison.

"I just meant I'm glad the two of you didn't give up on each other," Liam clarified. "What kind of world would it be if Sassy weren't in it? A quieter one, sure, but a little bit more boring."

Liam boarded the train, disappearing from sight until he found an empty compartment. The window slid open and his blond head popped out as they began to move. He waved to his family as the train pulled out of the station.

Draco put his arm around his wife. "Thank you for not giving up me," he said.

"Thank you for making it so difficult to give up on you," Hermione replied. "Happy Anniversary, Husband."

Smiling, he kissed her. "Happy Anniversary, Wife."

The End