Epilogue

Cassiopeia Malfoy stood in the middle of the cemetery. A warm June breeze tugged at her hair and rustled the tree branches above her. She looked down at the plain granite headstone.

LUCIUS MALFOY

WHO BORN AND DIED A DIFFERENT PERSON

Cassie sighed as she dropped the single scarlet tulip onto the grave. The Christmas Day of her sixth year at Hogwarts still haunted her day and night. There were moments when the most unrelated of observations were trigger a memory and Cassie had to stop and wait as the nausea, muscle spasms, guilt, and overall revulsion passed over her. Even now, a year and a half later, the memories were just as vivid and horrible.

Cassie swallowed back a shudder and her hand went to the ruby necklace around her throat. She had never taken off the oddly sparkling necklace since the night James had hung it around her neck while she slept. She drew strength and comfort from it when it felt like she had none.

She stood over Lucius' grave for the first time since she had killed him. She had something to say that even she didn't quite understand but she was determined to put it into the right words.

Swirling thoughts made it impossible for Cassie to think in the direction she meant to. She didn't know what it was she had to say to this man; this dead man who couldn't even hear her. Whatever words she said would fall upon the deaf ears of the dead.

"I hate you." She blurted. It was the one coherent thought in her head at the moment. "I was too young to be fighting; to be killing. Yet you forced me to do it. You gave me no choice. Maybe that was your plan though, make me hate myself. There are times I still think that I'm a monster. Everyone says I'm not, but I feel the lure of the power that's already mine. It's there, not that I mean to use it, but it's always there."

Of course, there was no answer save for the calming of the wind.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be the granddaughter you wanted. As much as I hated you and didn't agree with any of your morals, and despite the fact that I killed you, I do wish I had a grandfather. The again, it isn't you that I wanted. I just wanted someone to be a grandfather to me. Because mum's an orphan I don't have one."

Cassie sniffed and laughed humorlessly.

"Of course, you know that. You're sister-in-law was the one who killed them."

She tilted her face towards the sun as a couple of tears slid down her cheeks. "My family is so fucked up." She whispered.

"I pity you, actually." She said to the gravestone. "Something broke you and bent you into a twisted version of yourself, I think. If you had been stronger, maybe you'd be free and alive today. Maybe you could have appreciated the incredible family that's yours.

"Because as twisted as our family is, it's still a family. And we're so strong, I guess." She frowned. "That doesn't sound right. We're… imperfect." She smiled wryly. "That sounds better. Mum's a halfblood, which doesn't matter to anyone anymore, but she's overprotective and has a temper as short as mine. And she's all action in every aspect of her life – work, leisure and family. She's so strong that she doesn't get thrown off by anything.

"Dad's too unsure of himself. He worries that he'll become you, you know? He's terrified that he'll be a terrible father, that he'll ruin the family. He doesn't realize that he's such a good father – he's there for me when I need him and he seems to understand me without really trying."

Cassie swallowed her tears. "Why couldn't you have accepted us?" She whispered. "Me and mum are just the same as you. We're strong. We have just as much magic as you and just as much money. How is it possible that blood meant so much to you?" She sighed. "I'm not getting any answers. This is ridiculous. I'm just spouting nonsense at a headstone. Goodbye, Lucius."

She turned on her heel and walked away, maneuvering carefully through the line of graves. She was surprised that her chest actually felt lighter. She found herself smiling sadly as she walked towards the black iron gate.

James had one of his hands in his pockets, turning the small velvet box there over and over again. He had been doing this for weeks now whenever he thought deeply. The contents of that box was the largest purchase he had ever made; he was terrified of losing it and kept it with him at all times; he also didn't know when the moment would be right to put it to use.

James was standing alone beside the black iron gate when he felt Cassie emerge from cemetery. He turned his head to watch her.

Even now he was amazed by her.

She was tall and lean; she walked smoothly, practically gliding forward in her confident steps. Her long straight hair was so pale that it glowed in the sunlight. Her features were fierce, not as pointed as her father's nor as delicate as her mother's, but a perfect mix of delicate bones and sharp angles. Even dressed in one of his t-shirts tucked into the waistband of torn black jean shorts, she was beautiful in an unconventional and noticeable way. She was made even more beautiful by the fact that she was completely unaware of it.

And Cassie was stronger than anyone he had ever known; anyone could see that clearly by her features and the way she carried herself.

For months, she had been riddled by guilt over the murder she committed. She blamed herself constantly, but she somehow managed to balance those feelings with her school work and Quidditch. It took James nearly two weeks to convince her to reopen her mind to him and help her ease the muddled feelings the she had hidden from him. She hated the fact that she was burdening him with her problems, but he had somehow managed to convince her that she needed someone's support.

He knew beyond a doubt that this was the girl he was going to marry.

Alarm shot through James when Cassie got closer to him; there were tears streaming down her face. She walked straight into his open arms. He didn't have to ask her what was wrong, she simply told him.

"Why didn't I just listen to you and tell McGonagall?" She sobbed. "Why was I so damned stubborn? I didn't even think about how I would stop him or how it would mess me up if I killed him!"

"Because sometimes you can't think that far ahead. Fear can make you act rashly."

"I shouldn't have killed him!" She was clutching at his t-shirt. "I should have just immobilized him or stunned him and then report him to the Aurors."

"He would have never stopped chasing after you, Cassie." James said, tightening his arms around her. "You would have lived your life looking over your shoulder. He would have found another way to escape and another way to terrorize your life."

"Maybe that would have been better."

James stroked her hair. "Do you know what my father said to me? That day the Aurors left the day of the ball?"

"What?" She sniffed.

"For escaping Azkaban, Lucius earned himself a higher security cell in prison. For threatening an underage witch, he earned a permanent life sentence in prison without any chance of early release. For physically attacked an underage witch and the extensive use of an Unforgiveable, he earned himself a death sentence."

Cassie pulled back, surprised. "A death sentence?"

James nodded. "Your father was the one chosen to perform it. In fact, he volunteered."

Cassie took a moment to soak this in. Her father had volunteered to kill his own father. And Lucius had been sentenced to death. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because I didn't want to bother you with more information. You did your father a twisted favor by killing Lucius. You saved yourself. If you had been killed, I…" He swallowed. "I wouldn't be able to keep living."

"Don't say that!" She cried, beating his chest with her fists.

He grabbed her wrists. "Do you believe me?"

Cassie answered without hesitation. "Yes."

James smiled. "Good. Now, can we go? Your meeting with the coach of the English Quidditch Team is in a few hours."

Cassie looked down at the clothes she wore. "I should probably change."

James smiled at her and apparated them away from the cemetery.

"James!" Cassie shouted down the hall as she walked towards the bedroom of her and James' small apartment. "Have you seen that blue shirt of mine? The one with the pearl-?" Cassie's abruptly stopped speaking as she walked into the bedroom.

James had just slid something into his pocket, trying to compose his face into something of an innocent nature.

Cassie frowned. "What's that?"

"What's what?" He asked with wide eyes.

Cassie put her hand on her hips. "James Potter, I'm not stupid. You have something in your pocket!"

"I can't take you seriously in only a bra." He looked pointedly at her.

Cassie scowled at him. She wore hip hugging jeans and dark red sneakers. "Why won't you tell me? I want to know!"

James picked up a dark blue shirt from their dresser and tossed it at her. "You're going to be late; you only have fifteen minutes to get to London."

She pulled the blouse over her head. "That's not my fault! You distracted me for a couple of hours, in case you'd forgotten."

James blushed under his tan. "I remember quite well, actually."

Cassie smirked. "Now, where's my wand?"

He turned and spotted it on the opposite end table. "It's over there." He was about to reach for it, but suddenly Cassie leapt onto him.

She swiftly pinned his arms and legs to his side and reached towards his pocket. She was straddling his stomach to keep him still.

"Cassie, don't!" He shouted. "Stop it! C'mon, would you just-." He gave up when her hand fished into his pocket and drew out the little box.

Cassie slumped slightly. James was able to free his arms. She stared at the box; he could see that her hands shook slightly.

"Sorry." She said softly, putting the box down on his chest. "I probably should have listened."

"Probably." He picked it up with a sigh and twisted it between his fingers.

They sat in that position for a while; an awkward silence falling between them.

"I've had this thing for nearly a year, trying to figure out when the right time to give it to you. I was going to do it at graduation, but it seemed a little cliché."

James felt surprise run through her mind.

He laughed slightly. "You actually doubted that it was for you? Who else would it be for?"

She looked at her hands in shame. "A secret lover or something."

James smiled and reached up to brush her pouting lower lip. "I'm surprised you were so oblivious."

"I wasn't expecting it. I mean, we just graduated a couple of months ago and we only recently got the apartment. Aren't we young?"

"Does it matter? I've known since we were kids that you were the one I wanted to marry. Age won't change that." He ran his finger over the top of the lid, feeling where the velvet had nearly worn down to the box underneath from his own absent fingers rubbing over it.

"How are you so certain about such serious things?" Cassie asked quietly.

"How are you so unsure?"

"I'm not unsure!" She scowled. "I'm just… cautious."

"Those are synonyms, honey."

Cassie's frown made a crease between her brows. "So you've had that thing for a year. What? Just sitting in your trunk?"

James smiled. "Nice subject change, there. And no, it was in my pocket."

"For a year?"

He nodded. "Every minute of every day."

"Oh." She said softly. "And all this time, I had barely ever thought of… marriage."

James flipped the box open and set it on his chest in front of her. "Why don't you think about it now?"

He felt Cassie's leg tense around him slightly. She stared down at the ring that sat nestled against the crisp black velvet. She swallowed as her eyes followed the smoothly arched band and settled on the large diamond set between two smaller diamonds. It was so simple and yet so beautiful that it took her very breath away.

James saw darkness creep into her eyes. He knew exactly what she was going to say before she said it.

He caught her wrist and forced her to look down at him. "Listen to me, Cassie. Nothing could make me stop loving you. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past or what you're going to do in the future. Nothing will change the way I feel about you."

He didn't realize that that was exactly what she had needed to hear, so he was completely taken by surprise when she pulled him up slightly to kiss his mouth hard.

It was the kind of kiss that neither of them wanted to end, but one of them had to eventually or else they'd never stop.

James fumbled onto the blanket, where the engagement ring had fallen off of his chest. He lifted it between them as Cassie moved in to kiss him again. She pouted.

Fine.

He smiled. "You have to let me do this the right way." He cleared his throat. "Will you, Cassiopeia Malfoy, marry me? Will you make me the-?"

Cassie couldn't help herself. She knocked him backwards, kissing him again. Her happiness overflowed into his mind. Yes. Yes! Forever yes.

James grinned against her mouth, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her closer. His mouth melted against hers. She tugged him as close as she could and then closer.

Your meeting… James began.

"Shit!" Cassie shouted, leaping off of him. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" She grabbed a blazer from her closet and made her way towards the door. "I'll tell you as soon as I know the final decision. Merlin, he's going to kill me!"

James walked after her, amused. "Cassie!"

She whirled. Her eyes were wide. Her lips were swollen from their kiss. "What, James?"

He held out the box in the palm of his hand. "You're sort of forgetting something."

She grinned. James grabbed her wrist, yanking her towards him. He slid the ring onto her finger. As soon as he released her, she was kissing him again.

He put his hands on her hips and pushed her away. "Go, Cassie."

She pouted and pecked him again on the mouth.

"I love you." They said at the exact same moment.

Cassie's mouth lifted up in a smile. James pushed her towards the door. She stuck her tongue out at him before apparating with a loud crack. James apparated a moment later, heading towards his family home to tell her parents the news.

They both arrived at their destinations with wide smiles on their faces and full of charged happiness.