All I Ever Wanted

DISCLAIMER: Warning! I make no claim to any property of J.K. Rowling's, and am in no way profiting by this. I do offer her my sincerest thanks for allowing us this garden of the mind in which we play. Further Warning! This story...and likely any I ever write…are dominated by gay themes and characters. That's how it is, if this in any way makes you uncomfortable...do not read further.


All I Ever Wanted: The Epilogue....by Samayel

As the months flew by in a comfortable haze of friends and celebration, Harry and Draco settled into a life of contentment and ease. In due time, they held a gathering of considerable size at the Manor, to commemorate their swearing of Oaths to one another, and to bind themselves in a handfasting ceremony, which bound them as a man and wife would be bound.

Although wizarding law did not consider such unions legal, they did not expressly forbid them, either. The ceremony was magically binding, and the Oaths were sworn with friends as witnesses, and that was good enough for them.

The honeymoon lasted nearly a year, and Harry and Draco traveled the globe visiting sites of interest, Muggle and wizarding alike. It was a truly magical time for them, and during that time they learned more of the differences between them, and how the depth of their affection for one another helped them to overcome those differences.

Upon their return, Draco poured himself into charitable works, funding aid and relief for victims of the war, and into magical research for the curing of spell damage and other common post war ailments. As a result, the name Malfoy ceased to be spoken in whispers and alongside curses, and became synonymous with heroism, fidelity, and kindness. Draco achieved his dream. The gardens were always full of friends and guests, and the name Malfoy stood at the pinnacle of wizarding society once again.

Harry, on the other hand, exercised his Legilimency skills by learning to heal the minds of patients in St. Mungo's. It took a great deal of effort, and each case was unique and required considerable study, but Harry felt better about his work than anything else he had ever done.

After lengthy study and many exhausting sessions of treatment, Harry finally effected a cure for the Longbottoms, and Neville, now a war hero in his own right, finally had his family beside him again.

Neville did quite well for himself, having gained considerable self confidence from his brief wartime experience. He mastered Herbology and authored several texts on the subject, which led to his eventual position at Hogwarts, replacing the retiring Professor Sprout.

In the fullness of time, Neville Longbottom became a Headmaster of the school he loved, and was cherished during his long tenure in a way that was reminiscent of Albus Dumbledore (although, to the great regret of the student body, Headmaster Longbottom tended to keep more nutritious snacks in his office.)

Ron Weasley proposed to Hermione less than a week after the war, and after a lengthy engagement (to wait for Harry and Draco's return), they were wed in the Malfoy gardens on a pleasant day in late spring. Ron easily won a contract with the Chudley Cannons, and after a difficult start as a Keeper, he shifted positions at his own request, turned out to be a sensational Beater, and finally had the career he'd always dreamed of.

Hermione Granger continued her studies for years after leaving Hogwarts, and despite periodic breaks to give birth to, and care for, a growing brood of red headed children, Hermione eventually surpassed her teachers and became a noted lecturer on Theoretical Magic.

It was Hermione’s tireless work that eventually led to a breakthrough only made possible by Harry's enormous power. Five years after the war had ended, with the cooperation of the Ministry, Harry pierced the Veil and brought Sirius Black home at last.

Sirius spent most of a year just rediscovering the world of the living and completely redecorating Grimmauld Place, and enjoyed a life of leisure and travel, stopping regularly to visit his loved ones, only to then rush headlong into his next adventure.

Albus Dumbledore passed away quietly one night, just a few days shy of what would have been his one hundred and sixtieth birthday. The funeral that marked his passing was the most widely attended event in modern wizarding times, and even those who had once been at odds with the former Headmaster paid their respects politely and sincerely. There could be no doubt that, if a century could be indelibly marked by a single man's efforts, then the previous one clearly bore Albus Dumbledore's brand.

Harry and Draco inherited a bewildering array of artifacts and texts from Dumbledore's considerable estate, and it took quite some time to make sense of most of it, but the most cherished item of the lot was the Pensieve that came to occupy Harry's den in the Manor.

Minerva McGonagall succeeded Albus as Headmaster of Hogwarts School, with the full support of the school's governors. Her lengthy tenure saw the return of Remus Lupin, who, in the light of werewolf-friendly Ministry legislation, taught Defense Against The Dark Arts quite successfully until his retirement.

Remus' fondest memory of those years was coaching Harry in his Animagi training alongside Sirius, until at last Harry could transform himself into a stag, just as his father had once done.

On a moonlit night in a carefully warded section of garden, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs the Younger finally ran again! One year later, they were joined, not by a rat, but by a white ferret, who, despite many indignant protests, was assigned the name Squeaks.

Severus Snape retired to a small villa in the south of France, and devoted his time and effort to a personal vineyard. His vintages were so memorable that, within a few years, the name Snape was spoken with breathless admiration instead of dread at dinner tables throughout the wizarding world.

He also penned a new series of Potions textbooks that finally capitalized on his long held belief that his own techniques were superior to the common standard, and these books eventually dominated the market, ultimately becoming the new standard textbooks at Hogwarts, as well as most other wizarding schools.

Severus visited Malfoy Manor often, and enjoyed his visits immensely, claiming that 'without Potter's usual bumbling to correct, life had become quite dull.' Despite his long inclination towards stoicism, sarcasm and occasional vitriol, rumor held that, after a sufficient number of brandies, he was occasionally known to smile and laugh, but this cannot be completely verified.

Gregory Goyle became a quiet and taciturn man. After much testing and training, and with the help of his well placed friends, he finally became an Auror, and spent his life hunting down and arresting renegade wizards. It surprised no one to hear that, when the occasion demanded it, Greg ALWAYS played 'the Bad Cop' while questioning suspects.

Very late in his life, Gregory Goyle rescued a widowed witch from a pack of thieves, and to his surprise, as well as his friends', he wound up marrying her shortly before his retirement, and remained by her side for the rest of his life.

Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson married only two months after the war. This may have had something to do with Pansy's pregnancy of three months, but it ultimately made little difference. The Zabini and Parkinson fortunes fell to them, and their union turned out to be quite a happy one. Draco chided some years later that they were trying to 'outbreed the Weasleys, and he was all for it', but they never did quite catch up to Ron and Hermione's enormous brood.

Nonetheless, many young Zabinis cavorted in the Malfoy gardens, joined by hordes of red headed Weasleys. It was a spectacle Draco often wished his father had lived to see, if only to have watched Lucius attempt to contain a Grand Mal seizure.

Theodore Nott drank himself to death before his thirtieth year, rambling alone in the dilapidated house of his ancestors. As he was a recluse, as well as something of a thorough bastard, it was quite a while before anyone noticed, and far longer before anyone cared. There was good reason to believe that even his last words were likely interrupted...by a sudden compulsion to comment about his astonishingly tiny penis.

In an interesting side note, Luna Lovegood, whose wartime participation in Dumbledore's Army went largely unnoticed, inherited the Quibbler empire and Lovegood fortune. She promptly funded and led a proper hunt for the Crumple Horned Snorkack. It took several years and several teams to scour the globe, but at long last, on an empty and windswept Asian plain, she located the last living herd of Snorkacks.

It was quite difficult, as the creatures were terribly shy, but she eventually introduced herself into the herd, and while her staff observed from a considerable distance, she lived among them for a full week.

In a twist of truly bitter irony, while Luna learned of the gentle nature of Snorkack social structure, she returned the kindness by introducing something of her own to the herd. The common cold.

Centuries of separation from humanity had left the poor creatures with no immune defense against such a thing, and they were dead before the second week was out. That was the last of the Crumple Horned Snorkacks, and Luna never forgave herself, eventually sinking into depression so severe that it required institutionalization.

Her estate published her private journal notes regarding her experiences among the Snorkacks, however, and Luna Lovegood's 'Snorkacks In The Mist' eventually broke all sales records previously held by Gilderoy Lockhart.

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Draco found to his considerable surprise that he actually like children. He had little choice, since their friends had simply oceans of them, but it certainly helped that he found the little tykes adorable and amusing.

If Draco had a single regret, it was that he would have no heir. He had regained everything his family had lost and more, but it would vanish like mist when he and Harry were gone. This matter worried him more and more as time went on, and though Harry seemed to understand and sympathize, Draco took it harder and harder with each passing year.

One day, Draco and Harry took a long vacation, as they so often did. They sent letters from exotic locales, and made Firecalls periodically, but they remained away for just over a full year. No one, not even their closest friends, knew precisely what they had been up to, but when they returned home, they brought with them an infant child, whom they introduced to the world as James Malfoy, their son.

Magical investigation was required to establish paternity and inheritance rights, and clearly indicated that the boy's parents were Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, but the two never spoke of or explained how this miracle had come to pass. Even Hermione and Ron never managed to get more than a shy smile and a wink out of the new parents, and when asked if they planned to pull a stunt like this again, they only shook their heads sadly and asserted that, not by choice, James would be an only child.

James Malfoy was a quiet and fey child, with nearly white blond hair, and striking green eyes. He cried but little, was given to long rounds of staring at things with remarkable intensity for an infant, and quickly became quite social. He learned to speak distinct words at less than nine months of age, and continued to develop with a swiftness that astounded even veteran parents like Molly Weasley.

Harry and Draco doted on their child, and rebuilt their lives around a single task: raising James as well and wisely as they could.

James was an uncanny child, and possessed an openness and innocence that seemed unfazed by life's little cruelties. James was raised with the absolute knowledge that his parents loved him more than anything in the world, and having been raised with so much love, he seemed willing to share it with the world.

Unfortunately, this innate kindness and basic gentleness resulted in his being sorted into Hufflepuff, which left Draco in tears for almost three days.

On the bright side, James quickly established himself as uncommonly gifted at magic in general, incredibly popular with other children of all houses, and a natural on a broom. With so much to boast of on behalf of their son, Draco eventually got over the trauma of a Malfoy Hufflepuff, and prepared for the emotional roller coaster ride of having a teenaged son.

Blessedly, James conducted himself in a largely gentlemanly fashion, despite having access to a certain Cloak and Map. His teenage years passed with only the most marginal of rebellions, and he grew into a handsome and charmingly confident man. He married his school sweetheart, who met with Draco and Harry's approval, and promptly began to produce grand children at an alarming rate. Once again, the Malfoy gardens were full of children, and Harry and Draco basked in contentment.

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Harry James Potter, The Boy Who Lived, Saviour of the Wizarding World, was working in his beloved garden on a pleasant summer day…when his heart gave out quite suddenly. He passed so quickly that his spirit was gone almost before his body slumped to the earth he'd just so carefully spaded.

He was only a few weeks past his seventy-eighth birthday. It was quite young by wizarding standards, but the magic he had used to save the world had carried with it a high cost, taking years off the end of his life.

The wizarding world mourned as deeply as they had for Albus Dumbledore, but no one mourned as Draco Malfoy did. He stopped eating and locked himself in his rooms, even snapping at his beloved son and grandchildren. He finally emerged after a week long bout of depression, and attempted to put on a facade of coping.

Despite many well wishers and concerned friends and family, he slowly distanced himself from others, spending more and more time in his suite, surrounded my pictures and mementos of his Harry.

Draco Malfoy lasted only nine years longer than his lover. At the last, he barely spoke or left his bed for more than a few hours at a time. He could dote on his grandchildren and great grandchildren, but he found it increasingly hard to remember all their names and faces. Everything hurt, and he was so terribly tired all of the time. It was quite vexing, but when he returned to his suite he felt better.

When he was certain that no one would see him in such an undignified state, he would pull the pendant jewel out of his nightshirt, stare into the twinkling depths, and weep because the wonderful man who made it for him years ago was beyond his reach, and because the bed they had once shared might as well have been an empty desert without Harry beside him.

One night, Draco woke suddenly from a rather pleasant dream. There had been dark and messy hair, green eyes that brimmed with boundless love, and the sound of laughter. Draco's breath was short, and his chest began to ache. He was frightened, and clutched the pendant at his chest while he gasped for breath. He wanted to call out, but he simply couldn't muster the strength, and then as quickly as it had come, the pain slipped away.

Draco looked down at the bed, and saw himself contorted among the sheets, his body gone slack at the last moment. If he'd still possessed lungs, he would have sighed with relief. Nine little years. They had felt like an eternity in darkness.

For all that he loved his family, he was so very glad his time was done. There was somewhere else he needed to be, and he could hear voices calling to him in the gray distance. One voice among the many was distinct and clear to him, and when he heard it, the oppressive sorrow that had darkened his last days was gone in an instant.

When Draco Malfoy left behind the world of the living, he left without a single regret, for he'd truly had all he ever wanted.

THE END.

Author's Notes: Frankly speaking, this has been the most gratifying and educational project I've ever undertaken. I've been writing consistently for the last five and a half months, which is a personal best. The urge to write is still firmly in place, fueled by the same enthusiasm I started with, and tempered by considerable practice.

The sheer volume of people I should thank is so countless as to be unwieldy in document form, but there are two special thank you's that I must make. The first is to Jennavere, without whom none of this would have been attempted, much less posted. If I hadn't realized that fan fiction could be good, I never would have tried, and I would have missed out on so very much. Second, my personal thanks to the staff at The Hex Files, who pummeled me until my atrocious abuse of English improved, and without them I could never have managed to edit my own work with any degree of consistency. Finally, my thanks to everyone who reviewed AIEW here or on any other site. Those who corrected my mistakes helped me grow, and those who shared their happiness and excitement over something I wrote made all the effort completely worthwhile.

Thank you all so very much! This is not the end of me writing fanfiction, but it may be a couple of weeks before I do anything more than back edit my existing material, or prepare new stories for the pre-editing stage. I shall return. Samael/Samayel