The last chapter is here! I know my fics ar short, but thanks to all of you who stick with me through them. I seriously love all of you!

JKR is Queen and owns all.

FYI: This chapter is why the story has an M rating.

With hands that shook for all the right reasons, Hermione opened the door. There, standing on the other side, was Draco. He looked tired, as if he hadn't slept, but he was freshly showered and in clean clothes⏤a black long-sleeved shirt and jeans that hung just right off his slender hips.

As soon as her eyes landed on him she was overwhelmed with a wave of dizziness, but this time she was prepared for it. Her hand went to the wall to steady herself as she wavered.

"Come in," she said, cheeks hot, matching his. He nodded, jaw tight, and walked in.

He avoided touching her, though she longed for him to. And she resisted the urge to reach out and touch him as well.

He walked in and his eyes darted toward the open kitchen, toward the cauldron there, and then to the vial of blue liquid on the coffee table. She could almost feel the wave of disappointment that rolled off of him and she fought back her urge to rush to him and comfort him.

"So, you've thought it over?" he asked, his voice scratchy and rough.

"Please, have a seat," she said, motioning toward the armchair. He sat, his spine straight, and she could see the strain written into the lines on his face. For both their sakes, she would make this as quick as she could.

"I made the potion," she said, and he nodded, jaw tight. "I made it because I wanted to give you a choice."

His brow furrowed slightly. "This is your choice, Granger," he said, and the gravelly timbre of his voice sent chills down her spine.

"I've made my choice," she said. "But I know you. I know that when I tell you what I've decided, you won't want to believe it." His eyes opened a little wider. Hopeful. "So I'm giving you a choice."

His hands were on his knees and his fingers gripped his jeans like claws. "Go on."

"I spoke with Ron." He flinched and she smiled, hoping it would give him some peace. "We ended on good terms, surprisingly." She scooted forward a little, unable to help it. Him being so close was like being caught in the sun's gravity. She understood why he wanted her to make this choice away from him, and she was glad that she had. "Then I spoke with Ginny. And then with Theo, Harry, Blaise, and Luna."

"What?" he asked, one eyebrow quirking up. "All of them?"

She nodded. "They all helped me with this," she said, leaning forward to pick up the vial. "Well, all except Ron."

"Do they know about the bond?" His cheeks were red.

"They do. I told Ginny, but apparently Theo already knew," she said, squinting her eyes a little.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that," he said, looking a little bit sheepish. "He found out on his own. I wouldn't have told him before you, given the choice."

"I know." She smiled. "But yes, they all know. And they all agree with my choice."

Draco nodded, his face falling. He assumed they'd encouraged her not to be with him.

With as much restraint as she could muster, Hermione stood and walked to him. She knelt on her knees in front of him and laid the vial on his lap. He watched her with wide eyes, breaths shallow, but she didn't touch him. Not yet.

"Ginny asked me something while we talked." She swallowed as her mouth suddenly felt dry. "She asked what I would choose if I could never see you again." He closed his eyes, misunderstanding her intent. "She asked if we could only write letters, if I would still choose you over anyone else." His eyes popped open hopeful again. "And I didn't even have to think about it." She bit her bottom lip. "I made the potion⏤well, technically Blaise made it, but that's neither here nor there. We made it so that I could give you a choice." She took a deep breath. "I want to be with you, Draco Malfoy. With or without the bond, I want to be with you." She smiled as tears welled in her eyes. "For the last four years, I was happiest when you would write to me. When you would send a letter to tell me about a breakthrough in a potion, it was all I could do not to stop everything and write you back straight away. Without the bond pulling us, you were the person who gave me the most joy. And the reunion⏤the only reason I wanted to go was because I knew I would get to see you." Tears slipped down her cheeks as he watched her, breaths shallow.

"And you made the potion so that if I didn't believe you, we could take it." He took a stuttering breath. "So you could prove that it was really me you wanted and not the bond," he said, holding up the vial.

Hermione nodded.

Draco's demeanor instantly changed. He moved like a predatory cat who'd just spotted something it wanted. With the grace only a former seeker had, he scooted the chair back and slipped to his knees in the floor only centimeters away from her. He held the vial up between them, then slowly laid it on the coffee table.

"You want to be with me?" he asked, his voice barely a breath.

Hermione laughed a sob and nodded. "More than anything."

Before the final word had left her lips, he was on her. He wrapped his arms around her and hers around him. His lips crashed against hers and she felt warmth spread throughout her body in the most delicious way.

He stood, pulling her with him, never relinquishing her mouth. Her hands touched every inch of him that she could and he gripped her ribs and left fiery trails along her skin.

"I've waited⏤" he said between kisses, "four years⏤" his lips trailed down her neck, "for you."

She gasped and let her hands slip beneath the edge of his tee-shirt to touch the overheated skin of his back.

Suddenly, it occurred to her that he'd been saving himself, and she needed him to know⏤

She pulled back, gasping, and held him at arm's length. His cheeks were red and his hair was askew and she smiled as she caught her breath. "I need you to know," she said, gasping, "that Ron and I never had sex."

Draco's eyes went wide. "You were together for four years. How did you never⏤"

"It never felt right," she said, swallowing heavily. "It always felt like something was holding me back."

A slow smile spread across his face. "Just so you know," he said, "it wouldn't have mattered to me either way."

"I know," she breathed. Being this close, this free, it felt as if she could sense his intentions. It wouldn't have mattered if she'd been with one man or ten before him. All that mattered was now.

"I love you," he said, closing the distance between them and pressing his forehead to hers. "I just needed to say it out loud."

Hermione felt a grin split her face as she pushed up onto her toes so that she could look right into his eyes. "I love you, too."

She felt his joy like sunlight radiate through her and in a moment, she was lost in him.

The next few moments were a blur. He kissed her and she kissed him and together they stumbled from the living room toward her small, modest bedroom.

"We don't have to⏤"

She cut him off by kissing him harder as she fumbled for the doorknob. He groaned and helped her with it as they fell back into the bedroom, stumbling a little.

"If we do this, we⏤" he said against her mouth.

"We seal the bond," she breathed as she kissed his jaw.

"And there's no going back." She could feel his hesitancy, even now, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Good."

He smiled down at her and a new feeling⏤warm and exciting⏤pooled in her stomach.

In spite of how her body was screaming to rip the clothes from his body, they slowed down. With labored breaths, she slid her hands under the hem of his shirt and slipped it up over his head. She saw the sectumsempra scar again and placed her hand over it, then she looked down at his forearm. She hadn't even noticed his Dark Mark the first time she'd held him without a shirt, but now she really looked. It was faded and gray and didn't look as intimidating now as it had when they were young.

She trailed her fingers over it then looked up into his face. She picked up his hand and laid it over her MUDBLOOD scars, then covered his Mark with her other hand.

"We both have a lot of scars," she whispered.

He nodded and dipped his head down to kiss her, softly.

"Maybe we can help each other heal," she whispered against his lips and he groaned as he pulled her to him.

His lips were soft, but insistent as she led them back toward her bed. He slipped her flowy white top off and kissed down her sternum, pulling up short when he came to the large, white scar that Dolohov's curse had left on during their fifth year. He kissed it, softly, and she set to work undoing the button of his jeans so that they fell to the floor, pooling around his ankles.

With gentle pressure, he guided her back to the bed, his hands touching her everywhere they could. When he peeled her jeans away, and they got stuck on her ankles, they both laughed. When he slipped her bra off and his mouth found her breast for the first time, she gasped and gripped his hair. When his boxers were removed and he'd slipped her knickers down her legs, she felt as if she couldn't breathe and was happy to never breathe again.

"This is my first time," she breathed as they lay on their sides, legs intertwined, facing one another. "Ever."

He didn't stop rubbing his hands up and down her arms, her side, down her hip.

"Mine too," he admitted, and her eyes went wide. "It never felt right," he said with a small smile, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Even before we knew about the bond⏤" she kissed him softly and reveled in the way it felt to have his bare body pressed against hers, "we were meant for each other."

"I'm so glad it's you," he said as he kissed down her neck. His hand pressed her stomach so that she was lying flat and then slowly moved between her legs. She gasped as he laid the flat of his hand over her warm wetness.

"And I'm so glad it's you," she echoed, gasping again as he gently touched her for the first time.

With that touch, it was as if a spark had been lit. She squirmed beneath him as his ministrations grew more heated. "Draco," she breathed, and he lightly bit her shoulder.

He moved so that he was lying on top of her, between her legs, and she lifted her knees and pressed them into his hips.

"I'm ready," she said, holding his face. "Are you?" Her eyes were wide and he met her gaze with an equally awestruck expression.

To answer her, he moved his hands away and positioned himself at her entrance. He lowered his mouth to hers and she took his bottom lip into her mouth as he gently pressed into her.

She gasped against his mouth and he groaned as he settled himself inside her.

Much like their first kiss, it was like fireworks were going off, only now she could feel them all through her body. Pulses of heat and light that filled her to the brim with something she could only describe as pure unadulterated joy.

She smiled up at him and he grinned, his face reflecting the same thing she was feeling, as a tear slipped down her cheek. He kissed her, once, and then began to move.

Her first time should have been uncomfortable. She'd read up on it many times in preparation for giving her virginity to Ron, but this was anything but. It was as if the magic of the soul bond was carrying them both and she was grateful for it.

They moved in tandem, sharing breaths, as a wave of pleasure began to build in Hermione's gut. She found herself nearly panting with the intensity of it and she pulled him to her. A breath before it crashed over her, she was right on the brink, he put his lips near her ear and breathed, "I love you."

And then, she was lost in a wave of euphoria that shook her to her core. She could feel him following her as he gripped her, limbs shaking, and she wrapped her legs securely around his waist to ride out the last few moments of pleasure.

When it had passed, she forced her eyes open and were met with his⏤pale gray and full of unguarded love.

"I love you, too," she said shakily and with a smile. He only grinned and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Hermione woke a couple of hours later. She reached for Draco only to discover his side of the bed empty, but still warm. She stretched, smiling as she felt him in the other room. She was pleasantly sore and realized that he must have performed a cleaning charm when he woke.

With a smile that wouldn't go away, she grabbed her bathrobe⏤a ratty old offwhite thing with a small snitch embroidered on the lapel⏤and slipped it on, before following the beacon that was Draco to her kitchen.

He was back in his boxers, but nothing else, and he was carefully making a pot of coffee.

When he felt her, he turned and smiled as she eagerly walked into his arms, pleasantly surprised to realize that the intensity of their bond had lessened some. Now, touching him just felt like slipping into a warm bath.

"I was going to bring you some coffee in bed," he said, kissing her hair. She kissed his chest and laid her cheek there to hear his heartbeat⏤steady and strong.

"I found I wasn't very tired anymore." She smiled. "Seems I missed my soulmate," she said cheekily.

He kissed her again and laughed. "The term soulmate isn't technically correct, you know. As it's really like two halves of one soul, rather than two separate souls that need to be mated."

She laughed, thinking back on her conversation with Ginny, and kissed the scar on his chest.

"What?" he asked, and she just shook her head and kissed him again.

The coffee pot beeped and he kissed her nose before releasing her. As if he'd done it dozens of times, he pulled down two mugs and poured rich, black liquid into each. She stepped back and watched as he leaned against the counter, mug in hand, as if he'd been here forever, and she smiled as she sipped her beverage.

"Is that a snitch on your robe, Granger?" he asked, smirking broadly.

"It was a gift from Harry," she said with a small shrug. Draco's grin stretched across his face and she narrowed her eyes. "What?" she asked.

He put his coffee down, then took hers as well, and pulled her to him, arms around her waist. He leaned back to look at her, his smile wolfish, and said, "Please tell Potter thank you."

"For what?" she asked, smiling even though she wasn't sure why.

He put his lips beside her ear and whispered, "Because I finally caught the golden snitch."

She laughed and tried to push him away, but he wasn't' having it. With a squeal, she was lifted into his arms, her own going around his neck. She didn't protest when he kissed her, or when he took them back into her bedroom and shut the door behind them.

Eight Months Later

"I can't believe they asked you to be in their wedding," Padma said as she put another bobby pin in Ginny's hair. "It seems...insensitive."

"Oh, no," Ginny said, applying a final coat of lip gloss. "It makes sense really. We've become very good friends."

"Still," Padma said, then stood back, satisfied with her work. "There. How's that?"

"Brilliant," Ginny said with a smile.

"Terrence will love it," Theo said as he peeked in the room. "But don't try and steal the show, Ginevra! That's bad form."

"Oh, shut it," she said with a smile. "I could never steal the show at this wedding. It's the most talked-about wedding in a decade at least."

"Why?" he asked, examining his cuticles. "Because a former Gryffindor and Slytherin are getting married? That seems to be going around these days."

"No," she said, smacking his chest. "Because someone finally managed to lock down the Harry Potter! And that someone is a complete idiot." She smiled and kissed his cheek, but he only smirked in return.

"I'm glad you're my best man. Or, best gal." He quirked one eyebrow up. "Best lady?" he said.

"Weren't Draco and Blaise just livid you chose me over them?" she asked with a smile.

"They were none too happy, believe me. But I told them, you made the ultimate sacrifice that led to me finding my one true love, so I owed it to you."

She smacked him again and rolled her eyes.

"Are we almost ready?" Draco asked, popping his head in. When he saw Ginny in her long, heather gray dress, his eyes popped wide. "Red!" he said, calling her the nickname he'd given her nearly eight months before. "You look stunning. Only one witch here will outshine you." He winked and Ginny faked a gag.

"Are you talking about me?" Hermione asked with a grin as she walked out from behind the divider where she'd been getting ready. She and Ron would stand at Harry's side, as they always had, while he got married to Theodore Nott.

"I most definitely was," he said, moving toward her like a wave toward the shore. The others groaned as Draco kissed her, careful not to mess up her carefully pinned hair, but they were almost used to their overly dramatic displays of affection by now.

"This is my day," Theo reminded them with a smile. "Now, let's not keep my husband-to-be waiting. Alright?"

Hermione walked to him and hugged him around his waist. "I'm happy for you, Theo," she said before kissing his cheek.

"Yes, yes," he said, cheeks turning red. Hermione grinned and let Draco walk her out of the room where they lined up for the processional.

After the wedding, their hodge-podge group sat around the head table. Speeches had been given. Dances had been had. And the elf wine was flowing freely.

"You make a beautiful bride, Potter," Draco said with a crooked smile, one arm draped over Hermione's shoulder. She elbowed his ribs and Harry scowled.

"Will you ever not be an obnoxious git?" Harry asked as Theo kissed his cheek.

"No, I'm afraid not," Draco said, and Hermione elbowed him again. "But seriously. I'm happy for you both," Draco said, still smiling. "It's good to see you both so happy."

Ron, who sat beside Harry, said, "Here, here," and lifted his glass in a toast. Beside him, Padma rolled her eyes, as he was clearly already half-smashed, and smiled.

"And look at the lot of us," Blaise said. Luna had opted to sit in his lap rather than in her own chair, but that was nothing new. "Slytherins and Gryffindors and Ravenclaws all together, intermingling, as it were."

"Yes, yes. We're all living a very happily ever after moment, aren't we?" Theo asked, his grin roguish.

"Speaking of happily ever after," Ginny said as she snuck a bit of dessert off of Terrence's plate, "when are you two going to get married?" she asked pointing at Hermione and Draco.

"We're all wondering," Ron said, smiling as he took Padma's hand in his own. "What with your illustrious soul bond and all."

Hermione laughed and leaned her cheek on Draco's shoulder. "We will when we're ready. We have forever, right?" she asked looking up at him. He smiled down at her and kissed her softly.

"Right," he said. He looked at Theo, and then at Harry, and they both smirked. Draco cleared his throat. "Speaking of." He cleared his throat again. "Granger," he said, slipping away from her. "I think we're ready."

With the grace only a former seeker should show, he slid his chair aside and sank to one knee beside her chair. Harry leaned his cheek on Theo's shoulder as Ron playfully rolled his eyes. Ginny's eyes popped wide, but no one's expression quite matched Hermione's.

Draco pulled a small black box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal a slim silver band with a pale blue stone inlaid in it.

"I could give a speech," he said, "but we both know I don't need to." He carefully pulled the ring from the box and took her hand in his. She was smiling so broadly it hurt and everyone around the table was quiet. "You're the other half of my soul, but more than that, you're the person I like talking to most in the world."

A tear slipped down her face even as her smile grew.

"So, Granger, ready to start forever with me?"

Hermione bit her lip and let out a single, excited breath. "You know I am."

He slipped the ring on her finger and swept her up into a kiss that left them both breathless. Around their table was a chorus of awes and fake gagging, but they didn't hear any of it.

Ron grumbled, "He's always gotta show the rest of us up, doesn't he?"

Harry looked at Theo and said, "Why did we agree to let him upstage us at our wedding, again?"

Ginny looked at Terrence and grinned devilishly as he turned beet red.

Luna laughed and kissed Blaise's cheek, her own wedding ring snugly around her finger from their secret elopement a few months prior.

When they finally stopped kissing, Hermione looked around the table, at the couples that consisted of the most important people in her life, and sighed.

After they accepted their congratulations and hugs from everyone, she and Draco slipped away to dance. She laid her cheek on his chest and inhaled his clean, musky scent.

"I'm so thankful for our last year at Hogwarts," she said, "and that you became my study partner." She felt his laugh in his chest.

"Me too, Granger," he said before kissing her curls. "Me too."