All You Need Is Love

Epilogue

Ginny stared at her reflection in the mirror. How had it come to this? So quickly? It seemed like just yesterday she had left Hogwarts. Or better yet, it seemed like just yesterday she'd been celebrating her sixteenth birthday.

But no. Just yesterday, she had been put to one of life's most important tests: how to refrain from killing your mother the day before your wedding.

Now she sat in front of her vanity table, listening and thinking. The wedding was to take place outside. This idea had been last minute, decided only that morning. Ginny had woken up to find it a beautiful, clear, crisp October day and had run straight to her mother's room demanding that they have the ceremony outside. It had been her dream since she was younger, to have an outdoor wedding, but Molly Weasley had put her foot strictly down on this idea the moment she heard it spoken aloud two months ago.

"You can bet that it will be raining or cloudy on your wedding day, Ginny dear," she said. Ginny could tell by her tone that she wanted to have the wedding in a beautifully decorated hall, yet didn't want to sound like she did. "Wouldn't it be safer to make arrangements with Fidanzato Sala?"

Ginny nearly snorted in Mrs. Weasley's face. Fidanzato Sala was an elaborate, extravagant hall in the largest wizarding town in Europe. The town, Veneficus, was located in Southern Italy and it was where only the wealthiest wizards and witches got married. The place wouldn't be too shabby to be married in, but how in God's name were they to afford it?

As it turned out, despite the protests from Arthur and Molly, the Malfoy family ended up paying for most of the wedding. Ginny's father she knew felt shamed that they couldn't afford more than to pay for the floral arrangements and the insanely expensive wedding dress. Molly was quick to remind him that it was the least Lucius Malfoy could do for them. After all, he had caused Arthur humiliations and unneeded stress in his life, hadn't he?

"He deserves very well to pay for our daughter's wedding," Molly said pointedly.

"It's his son's wedding too, Mum," Ginny had added quietly, but had been promptly ignored.

Ginny smiled faintly when thinking of this. It was all her mother could do to forget whom her youngest-and-only-daughter was marrying. In fact, it was all any of the Weasleys could do.

Ginny and Draco kept their relationship a secret for two and a half years. Those first six months were the hardest, Ginny decided - those months had occurred while she was still at school, and trying to find ways to sneak to Hogsmeade to see him, or write him elaborately long letters on her life without any nosy Seventh Years reading over her shoulder had been tough.

She saw him twice a week during those first few months. Every Friday and Saturday night she'd sneak out and fly to Hogsmeade. This wasn't so difficult; after all she'd flown to see him at his house, and the only tricky part of that was the Floo part. Now she had a way to visit him, minus the Floo. But it was staying out with Draco all night, most of the time until five o'clock in the morning, and returning to school to do her loads of homework during the day that got to her. Since it was the final months of school, the teachers piled up the work, giving up to three hours of only one subject. And because of this the week wasn't much better. Ginny walked around half-dead during the weekdays, deprived of sleep and wondering how she was passing all her classes. It was really only during her visits with Draco did she feel alive.

And, on top of not having much sleep, Ginny was just getting to know Draco. Sure, they'd been through a terrible ordeal together, and she'd spent nearly four weeks with him already. But now that they were back in usual circumstances, she was beginning to figure out the real Draco Malfoy. At times this got so frustrating she couldn't believe she was wasting her time on him; couldn't believe she was risking suspension from leaving the castle grounds and her precious sleep to see him.

And then he'd kiss her, or touch her, and she wouldn't think such any longer.

Eventually, as her seventh year drew to a close, she began to understand him. He behaved the way he did only because he didn't know any better. And if you looked real closely, Ginny discovered, you could find subtle hints of his emotions and feelings through the cold mask he always wore. Such as the way his right eyebrow quirked when he tried to hide his amazement. Or the way his jaw muscle twitched when he was sad or disappointed. Or the way his eyes narrowed just a bit - so slightly he probably didn't even know he was doing it - when he was obviously thinking about nothing else besides her. But Ginny's favorite habit had to be the way his eyes turned more blue than gray when he was happy.

He was like a code, Ginny realized. A code that had to be read carefully. And as time went by, and she spent more time with him, she began to decipher that code. Now she was certain she could read him unlike anyone had before.

Once Ginny completed Hogwarts things became much simpler. She moved out of the Burrow before the month of June had come to a close, and moved into her own apartment in London with a job as a waitress in a high-class Muggle restaurant. She had plans of making a career in the wizarding world of course, but she was to start taking classes in September, and needed a job to make money to live. Her hope was to start working in the Department of Magical Catastrophes, and this wasn't an easy department to get in to. So she had decided to go back to school (a school that was all about the Ministry of Magic; it wasn't nearly as grand or as popular as Hogwarts) to better her chances.

Living on her own had given her the opportunity to meet with Draco often. Even though he was still living at home he found many excuses to meet her in the city, sometimes staying entire weekends in her apartment.

The next year and a half went by like that, despite Ginny's return to school.

Ginny found it astonishing that after nearly two and a half years she still was in love with Draco. She had thought that eventually she'd grow tired of him, or become fed up with the way he was. But just the opposite was true. She started to appreciate him more now that she knew what he was all about; now that she knew just about everything there was to know about him. If anything, she was more in love with him after so much time, because now she respected him.

And apparently his thoughts weren't too much different from hers, because he didn't show any signs of wanting to leave.

His eyes still became blue whenever he glanced at her.

That was good enough for her.

Ginny knew, though, that he'd never propose to her. He'd go on meeting her secretly for the rest of their lives if he could. But Ginny had already put off telling her family for two and a half years, and she needed to tell them.

She wasn't going to tell them for no reason, however.

While snuggling together one night on the sofa in front of the television set Ginny had bought one year prior, she had turned to him and popped the question. She had merely rested her chin on his shoulder, her lips inches from his ear, and whispered, "Marry me, Draco?"

His eyes narrowed a bit, and he stared straight at the television for a moment longer. Then he turned his head to look at her, and his eyes were the bluest she'd ever seen them.

Twisting his lips into a smirk, he drawled, "I think I will."

It wasn't the ideal reply, of course. But Ginny knew that with Draco, you couldn't listen to what he said. You had to go by his reaction. And if his eyes were anything to go by, then he had basically meant, "I love you, and hell yes, I'll marry you!"

So then she had a reason to tell her family about them. A very good reason.

Telling the Weasleys about their secret love affair of the past two and a half years had to have been the hardest thing Ginny had to do. Originally she had planned on telling all of them at once, but decided that would be equivalent to begging to be locked away for the rest of her life, and then paying someone to kill Draco. So she had told her mum and dad first.

If anything, her parents had been hurt that they didn't know about her "boyfriend". And they were polite to the fact that it was Draco Malfoy.

"Well, Ginny," Molly had said, forcing a smile, "if you love him, and you really think it's the right thing, then it's all right with me."

"I trust you, Ginny," Arthur had told her, but he didn't even attempt a smile. "If you think he's a good person, then I am going to trust you. But the moment he doesn't make you happy, then you put an end to the marriage. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Ginny?"

She had understood. But mostly, she had been relieved that they had taken the news relatively softly.

Her brothers, on the other hand, were an entirely different story.

She had told each of them individually, thinking they'd be less deadly when they weren't brought together. Yet it didn't make much of a difference. When she told Ron, Hermione declared she would have to sedate him if he didn't calm down in the next five minutes. When she told Fred, he had run straight to the next room where George was waiting for his turn to "hear the big news" and shouted incoherently at the top of his voice. Once George had managed to understand the three words Ginny, Malfoy, and marriage, he had joined in with the yelling. She had ended up leaving the two screaming at each other, feeling awful. When she'd told Percy, he began lecturing her on what a big step marriage was, and how long had she known Malfoy anyway? After ten minutes she had blocked him out. She told Charlie when he came home one afternoon, he had grimaced, demanded to know why he hadn't known they were dating, and asked if she'd slept with Draco yet. She'd left the kitchen with a bright red face.

Bill, on the other hand, took it the best. He too had been home for the afternoon, and merely shrugged at her. "Well, if he makes you happy, then go for it, Gin," he'd said.

Ginny smiled broadly at her reflection now, glad that that whole ordeal was over and done with. None of the Weasleys were happy about the marriage, per se, but they had learned to live with the fact.

All of this had happened in August, and was followed by two months for the planning of the wedding. Surprisingly Draco had an active part in planning, beyond donating the money for most of the expenses. He had been right there with her when choosing the colors they were to decorate the marriage and reception halls, had been there beside her making a list of guests to invite, had even suffered through several dinners at the Weasley household. And he had done an excellent job, Ginny thought. He had been wonderfully polite, even complimented her mother on the superb cooking.

She hoped that her family would see how happy she was with him, and how well he treated her. Despite their frequent, minor arguments over the stupidest things, he was really quite a gentleman when it came to handling her.

Well, if they had or they hadn't, the marriage had stayed on for October 21^st, and Draco had yet to be found brutally murdered. As the time came closer and closer, Mrs. Weasley became a lot more nervous than Ginny. After all, she had married him before. It wasn't like this was her first time. Besides, she was absolutely sure she wanted to marry him. She'd never been more certain about anything in her life.

The final week before the wedding, Molly had gotten on Ginny's last nerve. Every day she wanted to take Ginny back to the bridal salon to make sure her dress still fit.

"Do you honestly think I'm gaining that much weight, Mum?" she had demanded angrily. "It'll fit! It did yesterday, it will today, and it will on Saturday."

Molly had chosen to ignore her.

And when Ginny had woken up that morning to find the bright sunshine streaming through her hotel window, she decided in an act of defiance that she wanted her wedding outside. It was only six in the morning, but she had hurried into her mother's adjoining room and woken her up with a brief nudge.

"I want," Ginny declared with flourish, "my wedding outside."

Thinking back on it now, she realized it was rather mean and selfish of her. Her mum only wanted her to have a nice wedding, after all. Fidanzato Sala had looked spectacular, green silk covering the walls, the thick carpet magicked to glitter silver, flowers of every color hanging on the altar, around the entire room. Even though Ron had nastily demanded to know why the Slytherin colors had prevailed as the main theme, it was easy to see even he found it breathtaking.

Yet that morning, Ginny had been so fed up with her mother she really didn't think of all these things; really didn't care how her mother was thinking in terms of making her wedding beautiful. She just knew that outside it was sunny, cool, and the blue sky was cloudless - and that was all it took. She was going to have her wedding outside, even if she and Draco had to elope.

From about seven AM to a half hour before the wedding was to take place (which was at two o'clock), the hotel was in complete chaos. The wedding had been moved from Fidanzato Sala to the hotel's courtyard, and somehow they needed to get owls to all the guests saying the location had been changed. They needed to set up enough chairs for everyone, and an organ needed to be set up for music. An altar needed to be set up as well, and decorated, but for the most part, the lovely flowers in the courtyard were decoration enough.

At noon, Mrs. Weasley saw Ginny strolling through the courtyard, watching the progress of several hotel assistants using magic to set up chairs. She hurried up to her daughter in a panic.

"Ginny! It's one o'clock! Why aren't you getting ready?"

By then, Ginny was so thrilled that her dream wedding was taking place that she didn't even feel irritated. "Sorry, Mum. I didn't notice it was time already."

Molly nodded absently, and took a minute to shout at Fred and George that they, too, needed to get dressed.

"Mum?" Ginny asked a bit timidly, feeling her first pang of guilt for causing her mother extra stress. "Would you come in shortly and help me? You know, with my hair and makeup."

Molly turned to her with a gentle smile. "Of course, darling. I'll be right in."

So here Ginny was, sitting in her wedding dress (corset free, thank God) and staring at her own face in the mirror. Her hair was drawn up in a sexy twist, with several tendrils hanging down her neck, and her veil sat on top of her head perfectly. Her dress was exquisite - even more so than the one she wore at her first wedding. It was the color of faint ivory and made of satin. It had spaghetti straps - far more attractive than bushy sleeves, she thought - and the neckline didn't plunge so low. The bodice was decorated with beaded embroidery in what looked like a vine, trailing down past her waist and onto the skirt. It was expensive, of course, but with most of the other things already paid for by the Malfoy family, the Weasleys had been able to afford it.

Yet her surroundings were less than elegant. In Fidanzato Sala she'd had her own little "dressing room" right across the hall of where they were to be married. But now that the ceremony wasn't taking place there, a new dressing room had to be erected. This new one consisted of four walls of sheets, held up to the ceiling by magic, right near the door that led outside to the courtyard. The only thing that was there in her little dressing room was her vanity table, and the box that held her shoes. She had yet to put them on.

Ginny had just shooed everyone out of the place, because she wanted a few minutes alone. She could hear the music, and knew from rehearsal last night that the flower girl was going up the aisle now. Soon, it would be her turn. Soon she would be going up to meet Draco. Marry him out of her own free will.

She felt nervous, there was no doubt about that. But unlike last time, where her entire body felt like a solid block of ice, now it was only her feet that felt numb. This really was cold feet. Everyone got them. It was natural. That knowledge was more soothing than frightening, oddly.

As Ginny stared into her own eyes, several things flashing through her mind, one thing stuck out in particular: how did her life come to this?

It wasn't the sort of oh-what-have-I-gotten-myself-into question, as most people might ask themselves. It was more of a curiosity question. Who knew that the one person she never thought as a human being would end up being her life's partner? Certainly she would've never guessed it. But a lot had changed over the past two and a half years, and she knew it now. She knew now that things aren't always what they seem.

"Ginny?" her father's voice called. "Ginny, are you ready?"

"Yes, Dad," she replied.

Leaning over, she put on her shoes. Then she glanced in the mirror once more, and smiled brightly at her image.

A moment later, she stepped out of her pathetic dressing room. The last of her bridesmaids were stepping through doors into the courtyard. Hermione flashed her a wide grin before disappearing into the bright sunlight.

"Ginny, dear," Arthur said kindly, holding out his arm. "It's almost time."

She smiled back at him, and took his arm. But she didn't reply.

Ginny stared ahead at the doors. Really, there was only one door, but someone had used a Stretching Charm on the wall to add another one and give it a chapel effect. She was grateful to whoever did it.

"Are you ready, Ginny?" Arthur asked her softly, and she turned her head to meet his eyes. "I mean, really?"

"Yes, Dad," she answered genuinely. "I am."

He half-smiled, looked sad, and patted her hand. "I can see that he loves you," he said quietly. "I can see it. And I know you love him. I just hope that it's enough."

Arthur then glanced away and stared ahead.

A smile spread across her face as she studied his profile. Oh, he really was too good to her. Her entire family was. She was too lucky.

The double doors opened by magic. A blast of bright sunlight reached Ginny's eyes, and she blinked. Immediately after, the music began right on cue. They began walking in step, and for the second time in her life she started walking down the aisle towards Draco Malfoy.

"All you need is love," she whispered fiercely.

All you need is love.

All you need is love,

All you need is love, love.

Love is all you need.

~The Beatles

* * *

A/N: Well, that's it. That's the end. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Even though it was painstaking, frustrating, and plain annoying at times, overall it really was kind of fun.

One final thanks to everyone - you really make my days! I could never say thank you enough.

AVK (Yep, that's right, Ginny's a seventh year and Draco's out of Hogwarts. Thanks!), Rose Fay (haha, thanks!), Serena Black (ha, everyone seemed to like the horse. And Draco's just not the type to come right out and say he loves her!), LilyAyl (yes, it's certainly the thought that counts. It doesn't matter if their marriage was legal - they had another one!), Sonya Rose Jaime Potter (Well, Draco had grown quite attached to the horse, so Dumbledore thought he should have it. Haha.Thank you!), hopelesslydevoted2HP (yes, Ginny's in her seventh year. Sorry for not making it clear! Thank you very much!), Lizzie Malfoy (yes, it's wonderful, isn't it?), SilverBlue (Thank you! You said plenty, and I really appreciate it), Giova (thanks!), chocagirl23 (terribly sorry to keep you from your report, I'm sure you were just dying to get to it . . . *cough* But anyway, thanks one final time for always giving me such thorough reviews on every little part. I love reading them!), erika sullivan (thank you! I try to make them human as possible ;)), Caillean, Matrices (Thank you very much! Hope this doesn't come out while you're in the middle of something important), Frangelicah (I'm glad you appreciate the lack of smut. Haha. It would be funny, wouldn't it?), pepsibabe2 (thank you eternally for your long reviews! But yeah, I wasn't too satisfied with the Dumbledore scene myself. I tried to alternate it as much as I could, but I suppose it just came off as seeming like I was rushing through the part just to get it out of the way. Sorry! One more thanks for always leaving such wonderful reviews!), wild prefect (thank you! Besides, we have no proof Narcissa is evil, so I just kind of left her as I thought she would be. Thanks again!), Jaheira (ah, thanks! Glad it seemed to flow nicely ;)), Kimby (not too many chapters, actually. Thanks!), Silverstria (of course I don't mind! I'm rather flattered actually), Gin The Gemini (well, Tom Riddle ceased to exist when the world did. Sorry that I didn't make that too clear! And about the chlorine . . . I, uh, honestly have no idea! And you're welcome for including you in the thanks - you're review makes my whole day!), madcat, HoplelessRomantic122 (thank you so much!), jhlseaz, aweasley (yes, school is inconvenient, definitely. Hope you're b/f isn't too far behind Draco!), Katja (I try to make the pairing as non-gag-inducing as I possibly can. Just because Draco has strong feelings for someone doesn't mean he's going to drop his hard-faced act instantly. It'll obviously take time, so I just try to keep him like he is throughout the entire story. And I appreciate the "long, winded, fangirlish congratulations"!), Mel*Star (ha! Poor guy. I almost feel bad for him . . . staying behind Draco isn't easy, I bet. Yes, Serpent's Bride is a wonderful fic, glad that I'm right up there with it. And if you want to read why I made Lucius react the way he did, go ahead and read my author's notes. Thanks!), Caitlin Allyana (hope to convert you!), gally, J.A.A., gryffindorphoenix (sorry to confuse you!), BabyBerry38 (thank you very much! I'm glad I made them perfect for each other, hee), Day RainP (I'm terribly sorry that you didn't get much sleep! Hope you take lots of naps ;) Anyway, thanks for such an incredible review, it really made my day! By the way, "twee" is an awesome word, I'll have to use it from now on ;))

And thanks to all those who went above and beyond reviewed and actually drew pictures for my story.

Thanks to Stacy (Archer - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firespriteandmochabutterfly/files/FanArt/Stacey%28Archer%29%27s%20Art/), Julia (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DracoGinnyFanFic/files/Fan%20Art/princessginny.jpg) [you'll have to join the groups to see these pictures], and Agata *Princess* Seymanski (http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/a/g/agata/ginny.jpg.html, http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/fanq/a/g/agata2/fanart20.jpg.html, and http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/fanq/a/g/agata2/fanart21.jpg.html). Also to SilverPhoenixWings (or Dani) who emailed me her spectacular drawing. They're all very beautiful and I thank you for drawing them for me.

Also special thanks to Catherine Danielson for her beautiful version of chapter 17. Try the link: http://www.fictionalley.org/fictionalleypark/forums/showthread.php?s=67999089d95669c945646080178f25e8&threadid=13337 and see if it works.

Great, huge, big thanks to Christine, who when I started was my beta for quite some time. And then great, huge, big thanks to Tia for taking over and being another wonderful beta. And also to Elaine, who read over some of the chapters to make sure they sounded right, and whose long emails always entertain me.

Thanks to you all!

If you'd like to read final author's notes, go here: http://fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=417885&chapter=20. It would just be too long to add on here ;). It's just about characterization and comments on sequels.