A very hassled Ginny was fumbling around with her own dress when Hermione groaned in frustration.

"I cannot do this. Not even for Malfoy!" the brunette said in an irritable tone, tugging and pulling at her hair.

"You clearly should have been paying more attention when Lavender was teaching us these spells." the pregnant witch chided.

"Well. Fine."

Ginny chuckled and helped Hermione put up her hair. They had both decided to get ready at Hermione's flat. Hermione would have needed some help and Ginny wanted to surprise Harry for a change, for it was rather boring to attend parties when your husband had seen you in dirty pajamas right before you decided to turn into a bewitching version of yourself. So now both Draco and Harry were due to meet the witches and take them to the ball sharp at half past six.

Now that she was ready, she was feeling impatient and was constantly trying to either fix the dress or the cushions or even the curtains, much to Ginny's chagrin who had now developed a migraine by just watching the other witch.

Ginny finally decided to state her annoyance. "Will you stop fretting?"

Hermione knew better than to annoy a hormonal Ginny; Harry had warned her of course. Despite all that, Hermione had said thanks and enveloped Ginny in a tight embrace the moment she had arrived at the flat. For if not for Ginny, Draco and Hermione would probably never profess their love for each other. Ginny had wept tears of happiness, which in turn made Hermione feel emotional about how all their lives were now changing.

Ginny had convinced Hermione to purchase the gown that made her look like Gryffindor princess that she truly is. Her gown was a strapless number with a deep maroon ombre that merged into black towards the top and hem. It had a sweetheart neckline that perfectly complemented her decolletage and the material wrapped itself and was tucked on the right to show off her slim waistline. It began as a dark shade, bled into a deep maroon, and finally, as it descended upon her legs, the flowing silhouette turned into a crimson black.

The earrings that Narcissa had sent across glimmered green on her ears, a stark contrast against her Gryffindor inspired dress. She had decided to wear them tonight for the occasion to make Narcissa happy before returning them to her the next day. She wore no other jewellery and with her hair all tucked into an elegant updo, courtesy Ginny, she looked elegant, classy and ravishing all at once. Draco Malfoy would have approved a hundred times over.

Suddenly with a pop, the gentlemen appeared. Harry wore a smart tailored suit, with a pocket square to compliment Ginny's lavender dress. Her dress had small cap sleeves on them and the soft material hugged her at the top and then gracefully fell over her baby bump, almost hiding it at first glance. Ginny Weasley was a proud mama-to-be, but this dress had made her fall in love at first sight and she just could not resist the impulse to buy it.

Draco could not take his eyes off Hermione. While Harry moved towards his wife to give her a kiss, Draco stood at the fireplace looking dazed. She not only looked radiant, but she looked sexy and every bit the powerful and clever witch that she was. Hermione inched towards Draco and gently closed his gaping mouth with her hand.

"We don't want you to swallow any flies now, do we?" she asked feigning innocence.

Draco gulped and before Harry and Ginny could turn their way, scooped his witch into his arms and stole a kiss that left her breathless and wanting for more. They broke apart when Harry cleared his throat to get their attention. The Slytherin Prince and Gryffindor Princess stood blushing at the Fireplace looking like two teenagers caught snogging in the hallway by Professor McGonagall. Ginny chuckled as she pulled Harry to join them as they Flooed to the manor one by one. Butterbeer wasn't pleased to share his human with another as he sat judging them beside the sofa. But he was slowly getting used to all the attention that the blonde human would give his mistress because it made her happy and that in turn made Hermione happy enough to feed him more and scratch him more.

They appeared in the fireplace in the library at the Manor. Hermione smiled at all the memories she had of being here with Draco a few centuries ago! How surreal could life be! She might have spent more than half her life as a witch, but the possibilities never ceased to amaze her still. Draco held out his arm for her to hold as Ginny and Harry followed them out through the endless maze of hallways at the Manor. Hermione was almost tempted to ask Draco if they could take the secret passages that they had used back in time. All those memories from an era gone by flooded her mind. She felt like she had already spent a lifetime with Draco Malfoy, and it was a rather happy one at that. She could not help but smile at the warm feeling that bubbled up in her chest at the thought.

Finally, after their third or fourth turn, they reached a much larger and grander hallway where guests were appearing through a fireplace and a side entrance from the gardens. This entire hallway was done up in gorgeous decorations of black, mahogany and gold. The burst of colour was so rich and royal, Hermione briefly wondered if Narcissa had probably borrowed anything from the British Royal Household! Long tables with dark drapes welcomed guests with some light drinks and appetisers, a magnificent ice sculpture of dragon stood in the middle, proudly showing its beauty. It must have been enchanted with a cooling charm because it was showing no evidence of melting in the rising heat as the number of guests swelled.

Finally, they made it to a set of gilded doors. Doors that could put Ghiberti's Gate of Paradise at the Florence Baptistery to shame. The doors depicted stories from long ago. Long before Merlin was there, long before Hogwarts was created, but only when magic was enough.

Hermione was itching to ask Draco about what those images meant, but decided it was for another time as she entered the hall behind the Potters. A happy looking elf announced the arrival of the Potters to the ball but asked both Draco and Hermione to wait till he could assemble everybody inside as Narcissa wanted to announce their entry and make it grand. Draco almost groaned at his Mother's need for theatrics and Hermione wanted to go hide somewhere but landed up comforting a mildly irritated Draco instead.

Once everyone was inside and looked at a radiant looking Narcissa standing near the doors, she began.

"Today, I am extremely proud and happy to host this ball to honour my brave, brave son, Draco and the ever brave and brilliant, Hermione!" Narcissa sounded so proud that the couple felt enveloped in her pride and happiness.

They walked in, with Hermione looping her arm through Draco's. A thunderous applause swept the room as they crossed the threshold. They took in the huge crowd that stood in front of them, all faces beaming at them. This felt a lot like the ball that the Ministry had organised to mark the first anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, yet it seemed a lifetime ago to Hermione. The two boys she had walked in with then, stood in front of her today, clapping for her like proud maniacs. The loneliest and most misunderstood grieving boy back then, stood tall and proud next to her as the brave man she now loved.
She loved him. It wasn't a grand revelation to her. She had known it for a while now but just needed to come to terms with it until now. It wasn't a feeling that had washed over her suddenly. Rather, it was something that crept under her skin and grew upon her gradually and slowly. The feeling didn't surprise her. Instead, it made her feel liberated to openly be able to accept it to herself finally.

Tall windows overlooked the gardens where fairies lit up the bushes, making it all look like a beautiful night time scenery. Dark drapes hung from the gilded ceiling which had frescos within gilded panels. A large chandelier hung proudly from the centre of the room and one could have probably seen their own faces from the polish on the floor. A majestic marble fireplace stood in the centre of the tall windows and added to the charm of the ornate Malfoy ballroom.

Draco sensed how Hermione must be feeling overwhelmed because he was feeling the same. He quietly murmured, "I love you." as an assurance. The smile and blush that crept on her face as she replied, "Me too." was enough for him to be happy for the night.

Draco had murmured sweet nothings and dirty little things into her ears all night. Couples were dancing on the floor and no matter how rude it may have looked, Draco did not let anyone else steal Hermione's dance from him except for their school mates and the former Order members. He even danced with his Mother, which made her tear up with some pent up emotions. He did not quite understand women, but the fact that Hermione wore the earrings she gifted her had deeply touched the elder Malfoy. And with all honest humility, Hermione had, not surprisingly, volunteered to return them post the dance.

Once everyone had had a little too much to drink and with their bellies all filled, the night got a little more casual with everyone just enjoying the ball however they wished to. Long gone were the days of being prime and proper at all times in a pureblood household. Now, it was seen as rude behaviour.

Once Draco was sure that even Harry and Blaise were too caught up to pay any attention to them, he sneaked Hermione out to the gardens. After walking a substantial amount, Hermione's ankles had now started to ache in the heels that she was wearing.

"I can't walk anymore Draco! My feet hurt! Why can't we just stop here?" she pleaded.

Draco had not uttered a single word ever since they left the ballroom, which had greatly unsettled Hermione.

He let go of her hand that he was holding and walked behind her. In one swooping motion, he had picked her up bridal style and despite her protests, just smirked at her as he kept walking.

"What the hell Draco Malfoy! Put. Me. Down!"

"In a bit." he smirked without even looking at the angry witch in his arms.

Hermione's fury was no match for his Seeker arms so she finally settled for grumbling in his arms instead. She then noticed how the sky seemed to be devoid of any clouds and what a beautiful sight it was to see the sky fill up with stars!

A while later, Draco gently dropped Hermione to her feet.
He took her hand in his and looked intently into her eyes. Hermione could feel her heartbeat pick up pace.

"Hermione?"

She nodded with wide eyes staring back at him.

"Promise me?"

"Promise you what?"

"That you will not question what I do in the next ten minutes?"

"You cannot kidnap me to ravish me!" she said appalled.

"No, that's not why I brought you here! I wouldn't kidnap you if I wanted to ravage you. I prefer seduction to kidnapping Hermione!"

She looked down sheepishly, "Oh. Okay."

"Okay, what?"

"You can do whatever you want in the next ten minutes." she said blushing.

"You trust me, don't you?" he asked with gullible molten silver eyes boring into her honey coloured ones.

"With more than just my life." she said without a moment of hesitation. That seemed to give Draco the boost of confidence that he needed. With that, he pulled out his wand from under his robes and before Hermione could react, cast a spell around them.

A silver ray shot out of Draco's wand and created a large sphere around them as if trapping them within a large life-size snow globe. Hermione looked on in awe as the sphere around them shimmered and as more sparks flew out of Draco's wand. He held her hand in his as the sparks surrounded them both.

Soon Hermione found herself standing in the Malfoy Manor, but on a different day. It was broad daylight with looming dark clouds in the sky. The Manor looked as imposing as ever.

Hermione gasped as she took in the clothes that they were wearing. She was now wrapped in a red gown with short sleeves and Draco stood in much old-fashioned wizard's robes.

"You made us travel back in time! Draco you know we shouldn't..." but the witch was quickly shushed as Draco put his finger to her lips.

"It's just an illusion. Something I borrowed from Weasley Wizard Wheezes' Live this life storybooks. We are living a moment of the time where we fell in love."

"Oh." Hermione asked. She reached up, to kiss him because she did not know how else to understand what he had done for her. This had her feeling all warm and giddy inside and all she could think of was how she wanted to wrap her hands around him and kiss him senseless to show her appreciation. But before she could do that, Draco stopped her.

Hermione looked at him puzzled. The young Malfoy suddenly looked a lot like the young nervous ball of nerves that he had been after his release from the Wizengamot after the war. 'What was troubling him?' she thought.

Draco snapped his fingers and took a step back. His eyes never left hers as he knelt down and sat on one knee.

He sat there for a while and all Hermione could think of was the sudden burst of butterflies in her stomach and jittery nerves that were making her heart hammer in her chest.

Draco spoke after a moment.

"Hermione, I am so glad for the day I was called into Kingsley's office for this assignment that brought us together. I am also glad for the day you were born as a witch, else it would have taken me much longer to find you in the Muggle world.
Yes, longer, but I would still only find you.
I would only want you without even knowing you because now that I have you, I know what it would be like to look for you everywhere. Even if you were a simple muggle, I would have loved you as crazily as I do. I have spent almost a lifetime trying to relearn things about you.
Back at Hogwarts, I knew your schedule, your habits, your mannerisms, but now I gradually got to know your soul.
I am glad for Adelia and Silvius' magic, even though we have no idea where they might be. Their magic took us back in time and showed me what I would have missed out on if I did not have you in my life.
I love you, Hermione Jean Granger, I really do. I have spent several lifetimes; one while at Hogwarts being horrible to you, another in getting to know you, and now a third chance that I was given to have you.
I thought long and hard and by convention, it may seem odd and absurd, but Hermione will you be my real bride this time? My wife for all our lives? Will you marry me?"

By the end of his speech, Hermione had welled up. Draco pulled out a rich and elegant looking jewellery box from his pockets and opened it to reveal the ring that she had worn back in time as his bride. She gasped, her tears were waiting to fall when she smiled at him through her happy eyes and managed to squeak a yes.

"I thought it was only right that this ring belongs to you again, rightfully this time."

Hermione squeaked a yes before Draco managed to push the ring onto her left ring finger. She looked at the ring to let the reality sink in when she noticed the stone in the middle. It was a beautiful ruby, shining in the middle of a band of emeralds. She looked up at Draco who was now standing with her.

"A Malfoy bride with Gryffindor pride." he said a little too poetically for his own liking. But he would be lying if he said he had not thought about how to explain it to her easily.

Hermione lunged at him and kissed him passionately. With their moans, the clouds also descended upon them and soon it was raining all around the hungrily kissing newly engaged couple.

Soon the sphere's spell around them wore off and they back in the Malfoy gardens in the present times in their clothes, yet the feel of the engagement ring that sat on her finger now felt different, more powerful, more real.

"I found this next to the ring in the vault." Draco said in a somber tone.

Draco handed her a small envelope from within his pockets. In a neat cursive handwriting, the letter was addressed to the two of them. On the right-hand bottom corner were the two initials from the senders.

A.M. & S.M.

Realisation hit her like a ton of bricks! There was a single line written near the opening in the envelope.

Only open this when you need the ring for Hermione, and open it with her.

Adelia and Silvius had either been through this time recently or were here! She looked at Draco who encouraged her to open the letter. With nimble fingers, she pried open the envelope and took out the letter from within.

Dearest Draco & Hermione,

Congratulations for we assume you are reading this letter after Draco has already asked you to be his wife! You both should have no doubts about how suited you are for each other even through different time periods.

We are extremely sorry for creating this inconvenience, however, we are not sorry at the same time as it brought you together.

Destroy or hide this letter if you want to keep it for I am about to divulge our biggest secret to you.

We travel through time with those earrings. However, we can never go beyond your time and never before our own.

Adelia and I were blessed with a baby son. He has the signature Malfoy blonde hair, but his eyes are a pristine blue like his mother's. He is young, so until he grows up, we shall move around and until we feel the need to settle with him, we shall continue with our travels.

Thank you for understanding us and for being a beacon of are extremely proud of you all, especially you Draco.

Now we shall have to bid adieu. Stay safe. Take good care of each other and congratulations!

-Eos, Adelia & Silvius Malfoy

P.S. You should probably keep an eye on the family tapestry.

The two young lovers held hands as they raced back to the Malfoy Manor and up to the tapestry. An elf was at their heels, trying to keep pace.

Once they reached the tapestry, Draco Malfoy found Silvius's name back on the Family Tree, with Adelia and Eos mentioned with him.

"I guess it was just about the head of the family accepting their love for their names to appear here once again." Hermione reasoned.

Suddenly, Draco's eyes traced the tree to the bottom to his name on the massive silk tapestry. His eyes widened as he moved in closer to inspect if what he was seeing was correct!

Hermione beside him was tracing the names of Silvius, Adelia, and Eos and smiling to herself without realising how the tapestry has added her name besides Draco's.

"Hermione?"

She turned and smiled at Draco who looked extremely worried suddenly. "Draco? What's wrong?"

"Did we perform a protective charm?" Draco asked anxiously.

"What kind of protective spell are you talking about?" she asked before her gaze wandered where Draco's finger lingered on the family tree.

Her own name had appeared next to Draco's, but that was expected since she was his fiancée now. What shocked her more was the little empty circle that had appeared in lineage below their names.

"What does this mean?" She turned to ask Draco in a rushed voice.

"It means that a little Malfoy is on its way a lot sooner than expected."

Draco smiled softly, gauging Hermione's reaction. He knew neither of them had discussed or even thought about having children. They had just gotten engaged and a child was not on their mind, but probably in the throes of passion, both had forgotten to cast any sort of protective charms. But he could see himself adjusting to the role of a father. He had already seen the transformation in Harry, despite the fact that Ginny was yet to deliver the Potter prodigy. Draco might not know how to be a good father, but he definitely knew what not to do to be a good father. He had learned from his own Father's mistakes and the last regrets the old man had in his cell in Azkaban. Draco was willing to try and learn along the way, embrace it with open arms.
With Hermione beside him, he could imagine learning and be doing almost anything! Nothing made him fearful anymore, not even his emotions or those of others. He no more saw them as weaknesses.

On the other hand, Hermione had recently made the decision to quit the job at the Ministry and start her Organization. An S.P.E.W. but for all kinds and forms of magical creatures and muggle rights. She had realised that she could get so much more done on her own than by the bureaucratic channels of the Ministry. She had given a notice of three months after which she had planned to take a little break and then start over. The two had discussed how she could also help Draco in his research for potion brewing for the charities he did and otherwise. This was not part of her plan. Not at all. This was a surprise completely to both of them and Hermione did not know how she felt about it.

"Hermione?" Draco said holding her hand in his. "I know there are muggle methods to uh...not have a child. We don't have to do this if you don't want. I am okay with whatever you would be fine with." he assured her.

She smiled and asked him to head back to the ball which must have been wrapping up by now. They moved at a slow pace, a sudden weight on their shoulders. Hermione thought of every possible thing. Finally, she made a decision.

Right before Draco opened the doors to the ballroom, where she was sure only their closest friends were waiting for them, she held his arm and stopped him.

She looked at him straight in the eye and said, "Draco, it will be Granger-Malfoy. Not just Malfoy. And I guess I could put my vacations to a different use to. It's not like I can't run campaigns aor brew potions with a baby in tow. If Molly could do everything with seven, including Fred and George, then I think I will be able to manage with one."

Draco realised he was holding his breath until she finished. So they were going to have a baby! He was going to be a father and Hermione would be the mother! He could barely register it all. All in the past one hour, he had acquired a fiancée and a child. It was too surreal and for the first time in Draco Malfoy's life, everything was perfect and he felt over the Moon.

He crushed Hermione in his arms and kissed her beside the gilded doors with her back pressed against a marble pillar. They were both now laughing as they kissed, hands roaming and cuddling everywhere when Ron and Harry happened to walk out of the door and made their presence felt with a collective, "Ew. Get a room you both!" and walked right back in.

They had left to go find their best friend and her boyfriend who had vanished in between the ball. Little did they know that they would stumble across their best friend snogging her fiancé and the father of her to be born kid. It was truly a strange day at the Malfoy Manor.

And nightmares for these two lovers had finally ceased as dreams of the future and of their heated escapades replaced all and every reminder of their collectively scarred past.

(A/N)

AND IT'S A WRAP!

Can't believe that 'Vexed' has come to an end. The storyline is officially over, I might put in an Epilogue for fun's sake.

All reviews are welcome! Even those of you who find this story much later are most welcome to leave reviews; I will definitely get back to all of you!

And thank you for reading it, you all! And Happy Valentine's Day! (Though I am late by a day almost)

And in case you really like the story apart from the beautiful characters and setup that JKR owns, the do read my stories on Wattpad. I shared the links to my Wattpad profile on my last chapter. My user names is thisgirlisfeisty on Wattpad.

I hope each one of you had as much fun as I had in writing this story and my favourite ship- Dramione.

I am going to miss the rush of waking up to crazy reviews on Vexed that made my day! But well, another story for another time perhaps.

Until next time (Or the Epilogue)

Bye and take care you all and stay as amazing!