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Chapter 42: Epilogue: An Unlikely Pair:

"Dearest Granger, what are you pondering?" Draco asked his new wife, as she sat on a chair by the window, legs drawn up to her chin. He walked over from the bed and stood beside her. It was the morning after their wedding night, and they were in her small cottage.

"I'm thinking about where we go from here. We have just been through an amazing couple of days. I feel that we have lived a lifetime in a little over a twenty-four hour period, and now, I just want to know what is out there for us. What's next, you know?" she asked. He came up to her and pulled her off the chair. He took her place and pulled on her waist so that she was sitting on his lap.

"Why do we have to worry about it? It's really up to fate, isn't it? It's not our concern, what happens, happens," he said, tracing small circles on her arm.

"I still worry about it," she said. She examined his face closely. Her fingertips came up to his lips. She traced his lips twice and then leaned in for a kiss. "I just want to know what to expect. What everyone wants from us?"

"But don't you see," he argued, "that's what I am trying to tell you. It doesn't matter what we want, or what we expect, or what everyone else expects from us. All that matters is what happens. Just live our lives, no matter what occurs. Whether the next chapter of our lives is about what happens when we have our first child, or when we first visit our parents, or when we have our first anniversary, well, none of it matters. All that matters is that we do it together, and we share it with our friends. All of our friends who sat and worried about what was going to happen to us in the first story, will help to determine the next story. It's all good." He kissed her jaw. He lifted her hand, and brought her wrist to his mouth. He planted a small kiss on her wrist. He said, "Beloved."

"I like being called your beloved," she said. She placed her face in the crook of his neck. She shivered slightly. He wrapped his arms around her. "Nothing will seem shocking next to our crazy courtship and rapid marriage, would it?" The slender digits from both her hands wrapped themselves in his silky blond hair. "I never want this to end."

"Apparently you aren't the only one," he laughed. "Hey, Granger, I just had a wicked thought."

"We are on our honeymoon, I would expect you have," she laughed back.

"Get your mind out of the proverbial gutter, Granger. I meant I had a wicked thought about the last chapter of our story. It could be about twenty-four hours in bed."

She laughed and even snorted and pushed on his shoulder. "See, I knew it had to do with making love."

"I never said it didn't," he defended. "But, if you recall, this story isn't rated 'Mature', so I am sure it would have to have mostly talking, and not that much lovemaking, so I guess that's not a viable choice after all."

"Guess not," she agreed. She stood up and paced in front of him. The swoosh of her silk nightgown moved lightly around her legs as she walked. "I think the choices for a sequel should be, perhaps what happens the first weekend we spend with my parents. You know, introducing you to all things Muggle, and all. Learning about my childhood, looking at old photographs, the like." She turned. He was feigning sleep. She cocked her head to the side, stamped her foot and said, "Draco Malfoy pay attention!"

"OH, sorry, as soon as you said, 'all things Muggle', I fell asleep," he joked. "Why couldn't the next story be about the first weekend we spend with my parents? You liked to cry so much in the first story, I'm sure my parents will provide you with ample opportunity to cry some more."

"I'm sure," she said sarcastically. She sat on the edge of the bed.

He stood from the chair and sat next to her. He took her hand and said, "Don't Hero Boy and The She Weasel have an anniversary coming up? The story could be placed around that. You know, we would have to deal with Ron and Pansy, that might be fun, plus it could take place back at the Burrow, with all the familiar things that made us fall in love in the first place all around us."

"Yes, but doesn't that feel like it's been done?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Fine, Miss 'I write stories better than the author', what do you suggest?" he asked, falling back on the bed. He propped himself up with one elbow, on his side. She crawled next to him, on her side, and faced him.

"I think it would be a sweet story if it took place at our first wedding anniversary. We could spend twenty-four hours planning surprises for each other, and then have something romantic planned, like a romantic get-a-way or something." He yawned. She hit his arm.

"No, brilliant idea, truly, mind-blowing, I'm just tired, that was an honest to goodness, real yawn," he explained, yawning again. He crawled up to the pillows and kicked back the sheet. She crawled up next to him, and he cradled her in his arms. "We could do a story about this. Our first day of married life, wouldn't that be sweet?" he asked, kissing her forehead.

She looked up at him and said, "Yes, that would be nice, but maybe somewhat limited."

"If you have any other grand ideas to throw out, speak now. I'm on the verge of falling asleep here, Granger," he said.

She placed her hand over his heart. She then placed her ear there. She said, "It would be a nice story if we shared the day of the birth of our first child. Maybe not so romantic, but sort of , dare I say it again, sweet."

He smiled. He put his hand on her cheek. "Yes, very sweet. Perhaps a private moment, not to be shared with the world, but sweet, nonetheless. However, I have a funny feeling that we are worrying about things too much, for as I said before, it is out of our hands, and anyway, there is not going to be a sequel to this story. The author promised one of her little reviewers if she got 1000 reviews, she would write a sequel, and the last time she looked, she wasn't even close."

Hermione sat up in the bed and said, "Perhaps you weren't aware, Malfoy, but she is only 7 reviews from 1000. The possibility of a sequel is becoming a very real thing."

Draco, who now seemed slightly put out, said, "Well now, bloody hell, Granger, how is she to manage that? She just wrote an absolutely gut buster of a tearjerker, which took a lot out of her."

Hermione interrupted, "Yes, but she found it very rewarding, also."

"Too true, but isn't she working on a little romantic comedy thing right now, something about an election, and then I believe she is going to do the final story in that series she's written, 'A Week in the Life' or something. No, she does not have time to worry about us. She has other 'Draco and Hermiones' to worry about," he said. He lay back down and said, "Hush now, and don't even speak of such things. We are all worrying too much."

"But Draco, she writes about a story a month, so it wouldn't be that hard of a thing for her to do," Hermione said, shifting in his arms. "She doesn't seem to have much of a life, so I think she has time."

"Now you have me worried," Draco said. He sat upright in bed. "How ever will she decide on the plotline? This affects us more than it does her! I need to know, and I need to know now, what will our next story be?"

Hermione pushed him back to the bed, and put her chin on his chest. "It's out of our hands. She's going to let the people decide. Whatever they want, they will get. It will be one of the six scenarios, and we don't have much say about it, for we are fictional characters, after all."

"You might be fictional, but I am a real man, Granger, and don't you forget it," he said.

Hermione snickered and said, "Yes, yes, real man, real man. Go to sleep now Draco, and when we wake up, we will, without a doubt, be in our new story, with new adventures, and new possibilities. Like you said earlier, there's not much we can do about it, so we shouldn't worry."

"I am glad to see you are finally admitting that I am right about everything," he said. He looked down at his wife, and her eyes were closed. He said, "At least I know I'm right about everything." He looked up at the ceiling and said, "To all you people out there, you better make the right decision, for this is your last chance to have a peek into our lives, I tell you. In addition, I have a request, might we do this story with a 'Mature' rating? Just a suggestion, we don't have to." He held his wife closer and stroked her hair until he too fell asleep.

THE END to Part I (on to the sequel…"An Unlikely Pair, Again"!)

A/N: Thanks to everyone who made this little story so popular and successful. The story of how the Hermione's parents met and married quickly was my parents' true story. The story of the little white rock really happened to me and my father. There are two sequels to this story….An Unlikely Pair, Again & An Unlikely Pair, No Longer. Happy Reading!