We all knew this day would come.
And as much as this pains me (I'm eating a bucketful of M&Ms as we speak), it's time to upload the last chapter of HLM/HLMN.
But wait! Don't fret!
If you haven't read my reviews (which I strongly encourage you to do), let me just say that this is not my last fic. I'm currently writing one entitled "Sweet Revenge" and I have big plans for a sequel, probably called "You Didn't Hear It From Me." It's going to be longer.
So, without further ado, here is the last chapter, chickens.
Chapter Seven
"Well," Ron said after the couple finally broke apart. "This changes things a bit."
"Are you finally going to accept that Draco's going to be family?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"FAMILY? Oh, forget it, I'm not going to ask," Ron grumbled.
Harry looked Draco up and down. Ginny waved her wand and the Shield Charm vanished. Harry stepped closer to the couple. "Look, Draco, we're never going to like each other-"
"Oh, I don't really hate you any more. Well, not so much at least." Draco shrugged, but his broad grin ruined the effect.
"And why is that?" Harry asked curiously.
"I was jealous of the attention Ginny was giving you. And since she's obviously over you now-" he gestured at their conjoined hands "-you're just another slimy Gryffindor git."
"I could work with that," said Harry.
Hermione stepped up to them, shamefaced. "Sorry," she mumbled.
Ginny smiled kindly. "It's okay. I would have assumed things too."
The older girl broke down and Harry patted her back, making soothing nonsense noises. "Mione, it's okay," he muttered. Then he pulled his girlfriend in for a kiss.
"Ugh, is that what we looked like?" Ginny muttered aside to Ron.
"Worse, because it was my sister," he mumbled back, averting his eyes from the couple.
Draco just laughed.
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"Has anyone started talking to you again?" Draco said, tracing circles on Ginny's back.
She sighed. They were sitting by the lake, about ten paces away from the beech tree where they had first begun to talk last September. The spring leaves were just unfurling; Easter Break was days away. "Nobody other than the usuals." This was Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"They'll come around," said Draco, squeezing her shoulder. "They just haven't gotten used to the idea yet."
The redhead laughed. "It is fairly hard to get used to the idea that the Death Eater's son and the Order Members' daughter are in love."
"There's time."
"What are you going to do, next year?" she asked him anxiously. This was a topic that often cropped up in their conversations.
"Probably going to have to go into hiding," he admitted. "I don't think my father would be too keen on me becoming an Auror or an Order Member."
"Yeah, somehow I don't see that." Ginny grinned.
"It shouldn't be funny, but it is," Draco agreed.
They watched the giant squid toss around a fish in the distance. A colorful splash of wildflowers dotted the grassy bank on the opposite shore of the lake. Hagrid's hut sat cozily behind them. Ginny leaned her cheek on her boyfriend's shoulder.
The sun was setting in a blaze of purple and red-gold glory. It made the tops of the trees turn yellow.
"I love you," she whispered into his ear.
"I love you more," he whispered back.
"Don't."
"Do too."
"Don't."
"Do too."
"Don't."
"Do too."
"Don't."
"Do too."
"Fine! I give up!" Ginny threw her hands into the air.
"You do realize that this means…" Draco turned to her, eyes wide. They had an agreement that if Draco won the "don't" "do too" contest, they would both stay for Easter Break. If Ginny won, they would both go home to their families.
"I know. I don't think my brothers would be too happy to see me now. Plus, Ron and Luna and Harry and Hermione are staying too."
"We could study in the library," Draco said, waggling his eyebrows. His girlfriend shoved him.
"You are beyond disgusting!" she shrieked at him, throwing a clump of grass in his face.
"Well, Harry and Hermione are the PDA couple of the year. Seconded only by Ron and Luna."
"True, but that doesn't make it any less disgusting," she laughed.
He kissed her breathlessly. "Whose table is it today?" he asked, lying back so that Ginny could put her head on his chest (she liked that a lot. Good Ginny!).
"It's your turn to sit with us at the Gryffindor table," she said teasingly. He groaned.
"Oh no. Is that Creevey kid going to ask me if I've ever used an Unforgivable again? It's like they think all Slytherins are Death Eaters."
"Your parents are Death Eaters," she pointed out.
"So why does that make me one?"
"Are you asking me to explain Colin Creevey's logic? 'Cause he doesn't have any."
"Come on," Draco said, pulling Ginny to her feet. "We have to go in for dinner."
As the couple headed back to the castle, the final rays of the sun winked out. The first stars of the night were beginning to show through. Ginny thought about making a wish, but she didn't. She already had everything she had ever wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't you just love sappy stories with equally sappy endings? I know I love them too.
Well, chickies, tell your friends about lil' ol' me and have a happy whatever-day-it-is. I have to go back to my writing! Fic #2 will be out soon, I promise! Don't forget to write! (Yuk yuk yuk. Lame joke, I know)
Till then!
Kisses,
Lovee : )
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