Okay, here it is, the last chapter. Enjoy!

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When Hermione awoke, she was alone in the Slytherin's bed. Panic struck her immediately. Sitting up and looking around, Hermione found a piece of parchment on the pillow next to the one she was just using.

Waking next to you makes my day.

The feel of your arm draped over my chest,

Your head safely nestled against me,

I know that I could not be more blessed.

I admire your beauty that glows while you dream,

The smile that grows with the deeper you sleep.

I can see the peace you have found

While knowing I'm forever yours to keep.

I almost lost you, my love.

It nearly killed me as you walked away.

But I won't let that happen again,

For all will be set right today.

I felt it in the air last night,

We get to start anew.

We get to show the world our love,

And our love will see us through.

Thick and thin, right and wrong,

Day and night, our love is strong.

Our love will never die.

It will keep the world at bay.

So be happy my love,

Rejoice the day!

Hermione smiled reading the poem Draco wrote. She never saw him as a poet, but it touched her deeply thinking that he must have woken early and wrote this. As she reread it, she noticed the post script:

Hermione, I woke up early this morning, wrote you this poem. You are my muse. I'm taking care of the Head duties, didn't want to wake you.

Draco

Hermione glanced out the window for a quick reference of time; it must have been around nine in the morning, maybe a little later. Draco must have woken up very early. Hermione couldn't help but wonder when he'd be back. Her wonder ended as she heard the portrait creak open and then close again. Hermione strained to hear footsteps, but Draco must have been making quite an effort to be silent. She laid back down and feigned sleep as she heard Draco approach the room. He crept in and went towards the bed, just to make sure that all was well. Hermione appeared to be fast asleep, so he started moving out. As he got closer to the door, he heard a sudden movement behind him. He turned quickly only to spin around and have a pillow hit him square in the face.

Hermione couldn't help but burst out laughing after seeing the look on Draco's face. She honestly didn't think her aim was that good.

"What in bloody hell was that for?"

"What? The pillow? Wasn't me. Really."

Draco looked at her with a smirk on his face as he moved toward the bed, pillow in hand. "Oh, good. Because if it was you, I'd have to do this." He proceeded to throw the pillow at her (sadly missing), pick her up in his arms, and then drop her back on to the bed with a slight thud.

"Hopefully, the misfit saw that. Whoever it was would never throw a pillow at you again, knowing the punishment would be a pillow flying by their head and be gently put down on the most comfortable bed."

"Funny, very funny. I write you a sonnet and all I get is a pillow in the face and cruel mocking."

"Draco, it was hardly a sonnet, but I loved it nonetheless. It is beautiful. And, I guess a proper thank you will come at another time. For now you'll have to settle for a regular thank you. So…Thank you. I loved it, I really did."

"I'm glad you like it. When I woke up this morning, it was a little before sunrise. Then the sun started coming up, and the way the light hit your face, it was truly inspiring."

"I love you, Draco."

"I love you, too."

"Is the great hall still open? I could use some breakfast."

"Yeah, and I didn't eat yet either. So, do you want to go down together? Are you ready to face the reality of an open relationship?"

"I think I've been ready for a while. And after getting the hard part over with, I'm definitely glad we decided to come out. How about you, Draco? Are you ready to face the reality? You haven't even told your friends, or your family."

"I don't want to bother with my family right now. There's nothing they can do to me while I'm here. And I don't care what they do. I'm done with them. I'm done with being a Malfoy, a pure-blood, and a prat."

"Oh Draco, I love you, no matter who you are. We're together now, I'm yours and you're mine. All we need is each other."

Draco looked deep into Hermione's eyes. Love and happiness swirled in her eyes, and he was drawn into them. They pressed towards each other and their lips met in a burning kiss. Their lips crashed together with a passion that confirmed their need for only each other. They were complete.

Hermione broke the kiss as she heard Draco's stomach rumbling. They both were hungry, and they both realized it.

"Draco, give me just a few minutes, and then we can go to breakfast, together."

After a brief kiss and an embrace, Hermione rose out of bed and headed to her room to dress quickly. She returned to Draco, who was looking out of the window. He must have heard her because he said, "You know, this is the first year my room has had a view. The Slytherin dungeons always were without windows, and the only light was from the fireplace and candles. I sure was missing out, wasn't I, love?"

"Yes Draco, you were missing out. But you have the best view now." And she was right. The view from the Head Boy and Girl room looked out from one of the towers out onto Black Lake.

"Draco, are you ready to go to breakfast? If you're not, we can go separately, or get some food brought up to our room again."

"No, I'm ready. Let's go."

Draco moved towards Hermione, hand held out and a hopeful smile on his face.

As they walked to the Great Hall they held hands and ignored the rude looks of others. The just smiled at each other, knowingly. When they entered the large enchanted room, silence and the stares of students filled the room. Draco glanced around the room, first looking at the Slytherin table, where his so-called-friends were shooting daggers at him. Then his attention was called to the Gryffindor table, where Harry was waving them over to join him, Ginny, and some other Gryffindors. Hermione looked at Draco and saw the hesitation in his eyes.

"Draco, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I do want to. Let's go, I'm starving."

Hermione gave his a beautiful and encouraging smile. They released each other's hands as they sat down amongst the other Gryffindors. Hermione could see that everyone around them was dying to ask questions, and Hermione just looked at all them and said, "Good morning. So how's everyone doing?"

Neville Longbottom answered first. He leaned towards Hermione and whispered, though not quietly, "Bloody hell, Hermione, that's Draco Malfoy." He said this as if Draco wasn't sitting right next to her.

"Yes, Neville. This is Draco Malfoy. He's a seventh year Slytherin, Head Boy, and my boyfriend. Any questions, anybody? Might as well get them over with."

Lavender Brown was next. "How long have you two been, you know?"

Draco answered this one. "We've been together since Halloween."

Seamus Finnigan dropped his spoon of porridge back into its bowl. "Since Halloween? Are you serious?"

Their conversion took a different turn as a familiar voice added, "Yes Draco, are you serious?"

Draco turned around to face Blaise Zabini, his best mate. "Yeah Zabini. I am serious. Hermione and I have secretly been together since Halloween."

"You mean you and that you and that filthy smart-ass mudblood have been fucking since Halloween?"

Draco stood up and pointed his wand right at Zabini. "You better get the hell out of here Zabini, before I curse back to Halloween. You have no right to talk about Hermione like that, ever."

Blaise backed up, hands in the air. "Well Malfoy, I guess you have chosen a new path, different than the one the rest of us thought you were destined to take. I guess I'll see you around."

Zabini walked away just as McGonagall walked to their table. "Mr. Malfoy, is there a problem here?"

"No, Professor. No problems."

"Are you sure?" she asked as she eyed the other Gryffindors. They all nodded in unison.

Harry Potter added, "There's not a problem here, Professor."

"Okay then. Let's make sure it stays that way then-problem free." She turned and walked back to the table to join the rest of the professors.

Draco turned to Hermione, "I'm sorry about him. I really am."

"Draco, he's your best friend."

"Well, when a man loves a woman, he'll turn his back on his best friend if he puts her down."

"You didn't have to."

"Yes I did. He leads a different life than me now. You're my best friend now. And these guys," as he swept his arms, pointing to the Gryffindors, "These friends of yours, they can be my friends too. That is, if they are willing." Draco looked around at the table full of apprehensive faces.

"Well Malfoy, if Hermione accepts you, I don't see why we can't." It was the first time Ron spoke. Everyone looked at Ron, who must have recently joined the group.

"Thanks Ron, that means a lot to me."

"No problem Hermione. You know that we all trust your judgment. The most brilliant witch in our class can hardly make a mistake when it comes to such decisions." As Ron said this, he was looking directly at Draco, who was looking right back. Neither had hate in their eyes, though there was a tinge of jealousy and sadness in Ron's eyes.

Draco continued to look directly at Ron as he said without a drop of contempt, "Thanks Weasley." And everyone could see that he meant it.

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Hermione and Draco were returning to their common room after visiting the house elves.

"I'm glad we went to visit those elves. Not only do I know where the kitchens are, but I also know how hard those guys work here."

"Yeah, they do work hard. But they do love it. I just wish that they'd realize how nice taking a break is."

"Hermione, honestly. They love working. They LOVE it, nearly as much as I love you."

"Draco…." Hermione's words were cut off by Draco's pressing kiss.

As he pulled away from her, he looked deep into her eyes. Though he could not see the future in them, he could see their future-it was good.

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Okay, I figured that I'd slip a poem into the last chapter. I did write it and I hope that everyone liked it. I might post it separately later. I also have to give some credit to Percy Sledge, who wrote 'When a Man Loves a Woman', which I stole a line from.

Now---I'm done! I'm done! With my first fanfic, baby! Okay, now for the thank you's. You all deserve medals or something for dealing with my overuse of commas, exclamation marks, the extreme OOC-ness, the stupid romantic banter, bad dialogue, and so on.

First and foremost, I want to thank my sister. She was my beta for most of the chapters, and she put up with this story and encouraged my even though she isn't a fan of Draco/Hermione.

Dragon 3712: Thank you. You were there for me when I needed the support the most, at the beginning.

Peasant Girl: Thank you so much for reviewing and encouraging me to update quickly.

blondiexoxo: Thanks for the review. I hope the story turned out good.

Stormy91: I'm so happy that you think my story is/was beautiful.

MysticalStormz: Hey girl! I'm so glad that I found a fellow fanfiction reader at our school. Thanks for the honest and critical review. I really think it helped my writing.

Jessijewels: I love you so much for reading my story and my poems. It means so much to me! Thanks again for all of the reviews. Each one means so much to me.

Marla1: Thanks for all of the reviews. It is so nice knowing that there is someone out there who likes my story and continues to read it and review it. Thanks!

Viktor Krum's lazyllama101: That is one crazy and unique name. Thanks for the review!

Nalye: Thank you so much for reading my story and reviewing. For some reason, I feel like we know each other now. It is a good relationship to read and review each other's stories. I hope that you update soon, and you can be that I'll leave a review!

kittyluvr: Thanks so much for the honest reviews. I appreciate a critical and honest review more that anything else. Your reviews really encouraged me!

ronhermione4eva2314: I'm really glad that you like my fic, even if it is a Draco/Hermione!

Lovelylady90: Thanks for the review! I try to update as often as possible. I hope you liked the rest of the story!

And another big thank you to my sister! THANK YOU!

Now that I'm done with this fic, I can finally get started on what I hope to be a couple of oneshots that have been dying to be written. One of them will be a Lily/James and one will be a Draco/Hermione, so keep a look out for those!

Thanks again for reading and don't forget to review one last time!