A/N Last chapter guys... can you believe it?! I want to tell you all that I wasn't quite sure what to do for the epilogue. I kept changing my mind and rewritting it many times... I hope everyone likes the ending! Well, here we go!

Epilogue

The sun was setting, sending orange, red and yellow bursts of light flying through the sky. Clouds were outlined with light, the last feeble rays from the sun fading and spearing through the sky.

Draco sat on the window seat, knees pulled up onto the cushions with his arms wrapped loosely around his legs. His cheek rested lightly on his knees as his grey eyes watched the display of colors. Eira lay on the floor near him, eyes closed as she purred softly in her sleep.

His blonde hair shone in the waning light, and a wistful smile was playing on his features. It had been ten years since the battle. Ten years since he had ventured from the house he resided in while in his human form.

After the battle, Draco had left Hogwarts and went to Fred's flat. There he had packed, with no real idea of where he would go. At that point, a destination hadn't really mattered. He just had to get away from everything, from everyone.

The sun finally dipped below the horizon and soon the stars would come in lieu of sunbeams. His smile grew and he stood up. This was his favorite part of the day. Twilight, both day and night, the witching hour, where the world around him became blurred with multitudes of colors.

Standing, Draco stretched his arms above his head as he stared around the room. It was simple and it reminded him of the living room that the Weasley twins had. There was a couch in the middle of the living room with a coffee table before it. Two plush chairs were on the opposite side facing the settee. A few feet behind the couch was the kitchen ladened with muggle appliances.

On the opposite side of the house was the bedroom with the restroom attached on the right. To the left of the bedroom, near the corner of house, was a smaller door and it was there that Draco was walking towards.

He opened the door and was meet with stairs. Something soft pressed against his leg and he looked down to see Eira twining herself around his legs - an impressive feat for the large kneazle. After a moment, she let him be and walked back to the window seat. She jumped onto the cushions and curled up in the ebbing sunshine to fall back asleep.

As he climbed the steps, his mind wandered to the wand that he kept in his dresser. After the battle he had pieced together the mystery of how he had managed to use his mother's wand. His mark - while draining his own magic - had been taking his mother's magic from her. The magic had laid dormant until his own had been completely seized by the Dark Lord. The moment he had touched his mother's wand, her magic had reacted and responded.

At the top of the stairs, there was another door. Opening it, he had reached his destination: the rooftop patio. Sighing, Draco stepped into the night and the door closed behind him. There were chairs there that called him to sit and he obeyed, lowering himself onto a cushion in order to watch the night.

Draco wasn't sure how long he sat there until he heard the door open behind him. A smile crossed his face and he turned his head to stare at the man. "Welcome back. Long day at the shop?"

The twin walked forward with his own smile in place as he went to Draco's chair. "Nah, it wasn't so bad. I had Lee's help."

"How's Angela?"

Fred's grin grew and he nudged Draco. Obligingly, he stood so that Fred could sit before the blonde climbed onto Fred's lap. Sighing happily, Draco curled up so that his head was resting under Fred's chin.

"Good, glad it's over. George is over the moon."

Comfortable on Fred's lap, Draco found it wasn't difficult to think back on the battle. George hadn't died. Once the wall had exploded, he had automatically shifted into his animagus form - the geiko - and his magic acted on its own accord, creating a barrier around the twin to keep him safe from the debris and ruined wall.

Hours after the battle ended, George had found his way out and transformed back into his human form. Years later the redhead joked that he had missed the best part of the fight, but those who understood him knew George was angry at himself that he hadn't been there to help his family and friends.

By the time George had escaped from the rubble Fred had already left. He had followed Draco the moment when Ginny had pointed out that the blonde was gone. Fred barely arrived at the flat in time to catch Draco.

Fred had proceeded to berate Draco, demanding to know why the blonde would even think that Fred didn't want him. Especially since the twin had stated otherwise numerous times. The blonde had just stood there, wide eyed and in shock.

Before Draco could form a coherent thought or rebuttal, Fred took matters into his own hands and kissed the Slytherin soundly.

They had moved to the tiny house and proceeded to keep it secret from everyone, asking Viktor Krum to be the secret keeper. The Bulgarian agreed without hesitation. During the casting of the complicated ward gave Viktor time to admonish Draco for ignoring him for the past two years.

Hermione married Viktor and gave him a daughter named Rose. Harry married Ginny and had three kids: James, Albus and Lily. Ron was enjoying a two year long engagement to Susan Bones. Mrs. Weasley threatened George to make an honest woman of Angela or she would visit him everyday and wake him up at an ungodly hour - no matter what state of undress he was in.

Draco smiled, closing his eyes, enjoying the company and the light breeze. Mrs. Weasley, naturally, successfully married off one of her twins. The happy couple now had a beautiful witch to add to the growing Weasley clan. Once George's child - Draco's and Fred's god-daughter: Jacqueline Cissa Weasley - was a month or so old, the proud parents would bring the little witch to their home for a visit.

"Come on, Blondie, let's go to bed."

Draco, who had been dozing off shook himself out of his stupor to rise to his feet. "Fred, I think I'd like to go visit Hogwarts."

He turned to see Fred staring at him, hope shining in the elder wizard's eyes, "As Pup or..."

"Me. Just me." He held out his hand and Fred clasped the palm in his own.

Fred smiled gently down at Draco, his free hand cupping the blonde's face. He leaned forward so his nose was bumping against Draco's. His brown eyes softened as he stared into bright blue ones. "I love you, you know."

Draco's lips turned up, a soft sigh escaping him. Releasing Fred's hand, he wrapped his arms around the Gryffindor's waist, bringing them closer. His fingers massaged Fred's back through rough material. "And I you."

Closing the short distance between them, their lips met and Draco let the worry leave him. He knew he would be able to survive venturing out into the world. He had no need to hide as Pup anymore. He would lean against Fred when he needed to.

He would step out from behind his mask and truly live.

A/N ... DONE! You have absolutely no idea how excited I am! This was my very first attempt at writing fanfiction and I hope you have all enjoyed this crazy ride with me. Can you imagine I only planned for it to be seven chapters? o.O I hope the ending gave this story justice. I know it's sappy and fluff filled, but I thought: "What the heck? All the rest of it was just angst so I can get away with it... right?" Lol. When I go through to rewrite this whole story, I will change this ending - I already have more ideas of what I want to do instead of just all this fluff. .

All of you are simply fantastic for reading all of this. For all of you who have been with me since the beginning: You have no idea how joyful I am that you stuck with me and encouraged me to keep writing this monster fic (well, monster fic for me). Thank you all so much!

To those who have reviewed: THANK YOU! Whenever I got writers block, I pulled up reviews to help me get back into the zone of writing. I know I am terrible at replying - I feel like I'm more annoying than anything if I reply as I've never been able to express myself... correctly? well? - , but I'm pretty sure I squealed and/or clapped many times when I saw a new review (my family knew immediately what was going on when they saw me bounce up and down in my seat while smiling. I think they laughed at me quite a few times as well. Hahahaha). Your reviews made me so happy; they let me know that you guys were reading and were enjoying the story.

You are all amazing!

A HUGE thank you to my mommy (AJ Freas) who has read this, edited this and dealt with me agonizing over this story. She is fantastic and she's writing an awesome Slytherin!Harry story. You guys should go check it out if you haven't already. (hinthint, nudgenudge) :p

To those who are curious to what will be coming next from me: 1) Eradan's sequel. Dun dun DUUUUNNN! (I was finally convinced to keep going... gah, people! ) For those who haven't read it, it's a crossover between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter... it was also supposed to be a one-shot... I'm almost done with the next chapter. 2) A dark/grayish Harry and Hermione fic (and I have no idea if they will be a pairing yet... probably not with how it's been going.). I'm 23 chapters into this one. 3) A crossover between the Avengers movie and Harry Potter (where Harry grew up in S.H.I.E.L.D.) This one I have 32 chapters. 4) My own twist on a Slytherin! Harry. Literally, I started this on May 21 so I don't have any chapters finished...

If/when you comment, let me know which one you want me to focus on. :) I feel as if I should warn you... I am completely angsted out so 3 out of 4 of the stories above are not going to center around that so much. And I would also like to ask if you guys prefer to have me write the entire story first or to post as I write it. If I write it all first, I can make sure everything is consistent. If I post as I go, it might have plot-holes and I won't be able to make any changes that I might think of later. Both have pros and cons and I would love your input.

Also: if you have any ideas for me - oneshots, multi-chapter fics etc. - let me know. I'd love to try whatever you guys throw at me. :)

Again, thank you all so much! It has been so much fun to write Behind the Mask, and I am hoping to rewrite this to fix any plot holes (I already have a list started) and to write the beginning chapters better. Let me know if I left out any major plot holes that you've noticed if you feel like it!

Alright, I'm going to stop gushing or I'll just end up making the A/N longer than the actual epilogue... Thanks again for taking the time to read Behind the Mask! :)