29. Good Things

Author's Note: With the exception of the first couple of sentences, I wrote this whole chapter today. And I am exhausted. I even stayed up past my bedtime to finish it! So hopefully it's okay. I'm finding it hard to tie up loose ends with only a couple more chapters, so I can only imagine what JK is going through with writing the 7th HP book. It's not easy ending things!

Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews! I was surprised (and delighted) to see that some of you did, in fact, like other-world Hermione (or in the very least, didn't mind her). But like I said, I totally understood why some people didn't like her, and I'm completely cool with how anyone feels about her - as long as they feel something. Ah, but enough blah blahing from me. On with the chapter.

Disclaimer: After 29 chapters, I still don't own the real thing. Le sigh.

"Someone you should have a lot in common with," he replied with a smirk.

Hermione gasped. "You're not talking about – you mean she's here?"

Draco nodded. "You think I decided on my own to come back to see you? Of course not. I needed a Hermione Granger to kick some sense into me." He snorted. "She seems to enjoy insulting me. You're going to love her."

Hermione giggled as they neared their tower. "This is going to be so weird. I used to have these fantasies growing up that I would find out I had a long-lost twin, and she and I would share clothes."

Draco glanced sideways at her. "Is that so? You don't even want to know what I had fantasies about when I was growing up."

"You're right," she agreed. "I don't."

Draco smirked as they approached the portrait.

The knight gaped at them as they neared. "Hey, you're not the new one!" he exclaimed, glancing up and down at Hermione.

"Nope, I'm not," Hermione grinned. "It's nice to see you again, Marius."

Draco could have sworn that the knight had blushed as his jaw dropped open. Marius had immediately taken a liking to Hermione when she became Head Girl – probably because she had taken the time to learn his name, something Draco had never done. In fact, he never knew until that very moment that the knight even had a name.

"Miss Granger," Marius whispered. "Is it really you? No substitute?"

"Yes, Marius, it's really me."

"B-but…but you're…dead!"

"It's a long story," Draco said impatiently. "And if you don't mind, Miss Granger here will fill you in later. But right now, we'd like to go inside. So…sugarplum."

Hermione glanced up at him in surprise. "You're still using that password? I'd have thought you would have changed it by now. I thought you hated it!"

Draco shrugged. "I did hate it," he mumbled. "But you liked it, so…" Damn it - he could feel himself starting to blush as well.

"Aw," Hermione said, playfully hitting him on the arm.

"Disgusting," Marius said, rolling his eyes. "Get a room, why don't you?"

"Well we would, if you'd open up the bloody portrait hole," Draco snapped.

The knight glared at him, then gazed over at Hermione fondly. "You must come talk to me later, Miss Granger!"

Hermione nodded. "Don't worry, Marius, I will."

As she slipped through the portrait hole, Draco pointed a cautionary finger at the knight. "Don't go breathing a word of this to any of your other little portrait friends just yet," he warned.

"Oh don't worry," the knight spat. "None of the other portraits ever believe a word I say, anyway."

Draco scowled at him for added effect, and then joined Hermione as she headed for the common room.

They both stopped in their tracks as soon as they entered the room. Draco stared ahead in amusement at a large, impromptu banner that had been hung from the ceiling. It read, quite simply, "Welcome back, Hermione!"

"SURPRISE!" a voice yelled suddenly, startling both of them.

Hermione's jaw dropped open as a girl who looked identical to her jumped up from behind the couch with her arms in the air, and a huge grin on her face.

Draco stifled a snort and said to the girl next to him, "Hermione, meet…Hermione."

"I'm so happy to meet you!" the other Hermione cried, bouncing over to her twin and throwing her arms around her in a tight embrace.

Hermione looked over the other Hermione's shoulder at Draco, with wide eyes and an expression of mock fear.

"Down, Granger," Draco said to the other Hermione. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her away. "You don't want to scare yourself off now, do you?"

She scowled. "I'm not scaring her off." She turned to Hermione. "I'm not scaring you off, am I?"

"I, uh…" Hermione's voice trailed off as she continued to stare incredulously at herself. "No?"

The other Hermione stuck her tongue out at Draco and said, "See? I told you." She grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her over to the couch, where they both proceeded to sit down. "We have so much to discuss!"

Draco took that as his cue to leave. "I'm going to head out for a while," he said. "I'll let you two get acquainted."

Hermione stared up at him with an uneasy look. "When will you be back?"

"I won't be gone long," he assured her. He turned to the other Hermione. "Behave yourself, Granger. I'd better not come back to find you've taken her off to your world."

"And just how would I be able to do that, hmm?" she asked. "You have the charm."

She was right; he was still wearing it around his neck. Nodding, he said to the girls, "Have fun. See you in a little while."

"Goodbye!" the other Hermione said, beaming.

Draco exchanged a small smile with his Hermione before turning on his heel and heading toward the portrait hole.

It was nearing the end of the school day, so Draco had to act fast if he wanted to catch Harry getting out of class. He headed straight for Snape's classroom, since Potions was Harry's last class that day. He still had about fifteen minutes until the bell rang, but he quickened his pace regardless. He wanted to make this as easy as possible for himself – meaning he didn't want to have to search all around the castle for the scarhead.

He was just rounding the corner near the classroom when he bumped into Blaise.

"Hey!" Blaise snapped. "Watch where you're -"

The boy stopped when he realized it was Draco who had run into him.

"Oh, hey," he said with a smirk. "Draco, old pal, how have you been?"

Words could not adequately describe the contempt he was feeling for Blaise Zabini at the moment. With everything that had happened in the last couple of days, he'd practically forgotten about him. Draco hadn't seen him around the halls since the Veritaserum incident, so he figured he was still under house arrest. But apparently, judging from the fact he was standing right in front of Draco, he was a free man now.

"I am not your pal, Zabini," Draco growled.

"Oh, but you were at one point. Don't you remember those good old days?"

Draco glared at him. There were so many things he wanted to say to Blaise; so many places on his body he wanted to either punch or kick. But he was currently on a mission – one more important than getting revenge on Blaise – so it would have to wait.

So he brushed past him, knocking into Blaise's shoulder in the process, making the boy stumble back slightly.

"Oh, come on, Draco," Blaise said as Draco began to walk away. "Aren't you even going to say goodbye to me?"

Draco stopped. He turned around, narrowing his eyes at him. "What do you mean, 'goodbye'?"

Blaise lifted an eyebrow. He motioned to the luggage that Draco hadn't even noticed he'd been carrying with him. "Haven't you heard? I've been expelled from Hogwarts. Unfortunately, it's against school rules to poison mudbloods."

Draco wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug grin off of Blaise's face, but luckily he was able to restrain himself.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Draco said without an ounce of sincerity in his voice. "The part about you getting expelled, that is."

"Ah, it's okay," Blaise said with a shrug. "Luckily, I don't need a completed education to become a Death Eater."

Draco scoffed, shaking his head. "I feel bad for you, Zabini."

"Oh yeah? And why is that?"

"Because you're a tool," Draco replied. "You'll become a Death Eater, and you will follow the Dark Lord's orders like a good little minion, all the while believing that he actually gives a shit about you. You'll go to war for him, but your side will lose. If you don't die during battle, you'll get sent to Azkaban where you will spend the rest of your pathetic, soulless existence being tortured with the realization that your life could have gone so differently if only you hadn't ventured down the wrong path so early in life." He paused for a moment, staring at his former best friend. He couldn't see the boy that was standing right in front of him. All he could see was what he would one day become.

"Blaise," he said softly, "it's not too late."

Blaise, who had been clinging to every single word Draco spoke, scoffed. "It's a lot later than you think, old friend." He pushed up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the Dark Mark on his forearm.

Draco shook his head sadly. He wasn't shocked to find that Blaise had already been initiated as a Death Eater. He was, however, gravely disappointed.

"So I guess I'll be seeing you in battle, then," Blaise said, patting Draco on the shoulder. "Take care, Draco."

Surprisingly, his voice was not completely devoid of emotion. In fact, Draco could detect that the boy was being somewhat sincere. Those were probably the last sincere words he would ever speak.

Draco watched as Blaise strolled down the hallway, whistling merrily along the way. He could honestly say he was glad to see Blaise go, especially since Hermione would be resurrected, so to speak, within the next couple of days. He viewed Blaise's departure as one less person he'd have to worry would harm her.

He probably would have stood there for a moment longer mourning the fact that he had lost his best friend to the Death Eaters, but the bell rang, indicating the end of class. Quickly, Draco bolted around the corner and ran over to the door of Snape's classroom, dodging students as they began to exit.

Harry emerged from the classroom with Ron by his side, both engaged in what was probably a really boring conversation. They both seemed oblivious to Draco, until he spoke up.

"Potter," he hissed, tapping Harry on his shoulder.

Harry spun around to face him with an infuriated look on his face. "Malfoy," he spat. "Why the hell weren't you in class? Have you forgotten that we are working on a project together?"

"What the fuck, Potter," Draco said impatiently. "What's the big deal? We've already finished our project."

"No," Harry said. "I finished it. You didn't even attempt to help me."

"You didn't even give me a chance to help you, you bloody git!" Draco said defensively. "And you haven't even asked me how everything went with Granger."

"I had Dumbledore fill me in," Harry said. "I try not to speak to you if I don't have to."

Ron snorted. Draco scowled.

"You'd better watch it, Potter, or else I won't show you what I was going to show you."

Harry narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you talking about?"

Draco sighed. "There's something very important that I need to show you - all of you. So we'll need to go round up the Weaslette and her little spacey friend."

"We will do no such thing," Ron said, glaring at him. "We're not going to get them involved until you tell us what it is you want to show us."

"What's wrong, Weasel? You don't trust me?"

"You bet your arse I don't," Ron grumbled.

But Harry was glancing at him curiously. "Ginny and Luna are supposed to be meeting us here in a few minutes. They just got out of Transfiguration."

"Harry," Ron hissed.

Harry held up his hand to silence him. "If you don't want to see what Malfoy wants to show us, Ron, then you are free to stay behind. But I, for one, am very curious."

Draco smirked. "You made the right choice, Potter. And Weasley, if you know what's good for you, you'd better come along too."

"Is that a threat?" Ron said, his freckled face turning red.

"Nobody is being threatened," Draco said. "I'm merely trying to say that you will be pleasantly surprised by what I'm going to show you, and I would hate for you to miss it."

"Miss what?" piped up a feminine voice.

Draco spun around to see that Ginny and Luna had snuck up behind him. Ginny was glancing at him quizzically, while Luna was staring at the wall with what could only be described as intense interest.

"Malfoy here wants to show us something," Ron replied, "but he won't tell us what it is, and frankly I don't trust him."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh honestly, Ronald."

"What?" Ron said in exasperation. "Have you all gone completely mad? Why am I suddenly the only one questioning Malfoy's sudden interest in showing us something that is supposedly good?"

"Good things come to those who wait," Luna said quietly. She tore her gaze away from the wall and stared at Draco with her big eyes. "I'm interested in seeing what you have to show us."

"Me too," Ginny said.

"Same here," said Harry.

Ron stared at all of his friends in horror, but finally decided to give in. "Fine! I'll go, too. But don't complain when I have to keep telling you 'I told you so'!"

Everyone ignored Ron as they began to follow Draco back to the Heads tower. Whenever one of them would ask him to give them a clue as to what kind of surprise they were in for, he just told them to be quiet. He was surprised that they had all followed him so willingly – well, all of them except for Ron – but he figured that perhaps if Harry had been able to pick up on his feelings for Hermione, then probably the rest of them had been able to as well. And they probably all figured that if he was once in love with Hermione Granger, he couldn't be all that bad.

When they arrived at the portrait, Marius groaned at the sight of them all. "More guests, Mr. Malfoy?"

"What does he mean by more?" asked Ginny.

"He already has two girls in there," Marius said. He crossed his arms, stuck his nose in the air and said, "Humph."

Draco glared at the knight, hoping he wouldn't give away the surprise too soon.

"Two girls?" Ginny said, scrunching up her face. "Ew. Malfoy, why did you bring here us to see two girls?"

Suddenly, Ron was looking a little less irritated, and a lot more interested.

Draco sighed. "Sugarplum, Marius. Open the damn door."

Marius obeyed, but said in a huffy voice, "One of these days, you will learn to respect your portraits!"

Draco stood aside and ushered everyone inside. "Stay here," he demanded, wanting to check out the common room first before they headed in.

Neither of the Hermiones were in the room, and for a brief moment Draco panicked. Where the hell could they have gone? But then he heard laughter coming from the direction of Hermione's bedroom, and he sighed in relief.

"So who are these girls, anyway?" Ron asked casually.

Draco ignored him as he headed for Hermione's room. Her door was shut, so he knocked on it.

"Hey," he called to her through the door. "I'm back. Open up."

"Just a second!" Hermione called back. He wasn't sure which one, though.

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Luna slowly made their way over to Draco.

"That voice," Harry said. "It sounds like -"

Suddenly, the bedroom door flew open and Hermione – their Hermione – appeared before them with a grin on her face. The other Hermione bounced over to the door, giggling

"Hey! We were just -"

Hermione stopped when she saw the crowd of people behind him.

Ginny gasped, while Harry and Ron's jaws hit the floor. Luna tilted her head sideways and said, "Hmm," in a dreamy voice.

"Mione," Harry whispered. "What…how…what?"

Draco took hold of Hermione's hand and led her out of the room. "It's a really long story – one that I'm sure she will be willing to tell you all. But for now...this is what I wanted to show you," he said. "Hermione. Our Hermione."

Everyone stared at her with looks of confusion. Draco smirked at the thought of what must have been going on in all of their heads, seeing two Hermiones, wondering how theirs could be standing there before them.

But nobody was about to question it just yet.

"Oh Merlin," Ginny said, covering her mouth with her hands. Draco could see the tears forming in her eyes. "Mione? It's really you?"

Hermione smiled and nodded. "It's really me, Gin."

That's all that the redheaded girl needed to hear. She immediately lunged forward, throwing her arms around Hermione's neck. "It's you! It's really you! But how?"

Hermione giggled, hugging Ginny back forcefully. "Like Malfoy said, it's a long story. Let's just say for now that I'm alive. In fact…I was never even dead to begin with."

"Bloody hell," Ron murmured. Slowly, he walked over closer to Hermione. He grabbed a hold of Ginny and said, "Sod off, sis. Save some hugging for the rest of us."

Ginny glared at her brother, but instinctively let go of Hermione.

"Mione," Ron breathed. "I can't believe…I don't understand."

"I'm not surprised, Ronald," Hermione said, pulling him into a friendly embrace. "You don't understand a lot of things."

"Hey!" he said defensively. But he hugged her back tenderly, blushing the entire time.

"Hermione, it's great to have you back," Luna said, after Ron was done with his hug. She looked over Hermione's shoulder at the other one. "You too, Hermione."

The other Hermione smiled uncomfortably as suddenly everyone's gaze was upon her.

"What are you doing back here?" Ron asked her. "And what are you doing alive?" he asked the real Hermione. "None of this is making any sense! This is all just an elaborate trick of Malfoy's!"

"Weasley, shut the hell up," Draco said.

Hermione chuckled. "It's no trick, Ron. In a nutshell: I never died. Dumbledore just wanted you all to think I had died, for my protection. Meanwhile, I just spent the last two months in the Room of Requirement, in a coma until Malfoy found me and woke me up. See? It's all so simple, really."

Ron stared at her, dumbfounded, as did the rest of her friends. Everyone except for Harry, that is.

Draco watched as Hermione's gaze fell upon her best friend, as if she hadn't quite seen him until just now. He watched as her face turned a slight shade of red…as a pleasant smile slowly crept over her face.

"Hello, Harry," she said quietly.

Harry said nothing. He just took two steps forward and threw his arms around her, his shoulders shaking slightly as if he were crying.

Hermione held onto him tightly as she began to tear up herself. And suddenly, Draco could no longer watch this little reunion.

Quietly, he crept away, heading for his bedroom. He figured it would be nice of him to give her some alone time with her friends. But really, he just couldn't stand the sight of Hermione and Harry embracing.

He entered his room and was about to shut the door when the other Hermione placed her hand upon it, keeping it open.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"Not at all," he mumbled, motioning her inside. "Be my guest."

She gave him a relieved smile and walked into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. "That was a bit awkward," she said.

"Tell me about it," Draco said, plopping down onto his bed.

"That girl is so lucky," she said sadly, sitting down next to him. "To have friends who are so happy to see her. Did I tell you how they reacted to me when I arrived back home in my world?"

Draco shook his head.

"They didn't react to me at all," she replied quietly. "Apparently, they want nothing to do with me."

"I'm sorry," Draco muttered.

"Oh, I'm not," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I mean, they were all once my best friends, and I loved them. But they had already abandoned me a long time ago, so it didn't really affect me as much as it should have. Besides, I had Draco. And Pansy and Blaise. So it was all good."

"I'm glad," Draco said, forcing a smile.

"Hey, cheer up," Hermione said, placing a hand on his knee. "That hug you just witnessed out there is nothing but a friendly hug. Trust me on this. I just spent the last half hour or so with the girl. I know where her heart is right now."

Draco chuckled. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied with a grin. "And you have nothing to worry about." She paused for a moment, and then giggled. "She is so great. And I'm not just saying that because I'm biased. She really is one of a kind – which is really weird for me to say, seeing as though I'm another version of her. But still – she's funny, she's smart, she's just…amazing. And do you know what the first thing was that she wanted to do with me? Try on each other's clothes!"

Draco laughed. "Well, that has always been one of her fantasies."

"It was always one of mine too," she said. "Having a twin is great. Too bad I'll never get to see her again." Her smile faded slightly as she stared down at her hands in her lap.

Draco's laughter subsided. "Oh yeah…that's right. The connection will be lost after this trip, right?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah. And then I'll never see either one of you again."

Draco found himself actually regretting that fact. He had grown to like this Hermione, though not nearly as much as his Hermione, and he would indeed miss her greatly when she was gone.

They sat in somber silence for a while, listening to the excited voices outside of the door. Not long after, however, the voices subsided and soon after that came a knock on Draco's door.

"Come in," he said.

Hermione opened the door slightly and poked her head in. "Hey! Why did you two leave?"

"Just giving you some alone time with your friends," Draco replied in a strained voice. "Speaking of which, where did everyone go?"

"Oh, they left. I told them that I was tired and that I would catch up with them a little later."

Draco nodded. "That's great."

The other Hermione smiled. "I'm so happy that everything has turned out so wonderfully here," she said. "But I should be going now."

"No!" Hermione protested. "But you practically just got here!"

"I've actually been here too long," she said, getting up from the bed. "The Ministry is probably wondering what happened to me. I should really go back before they come here to retrieve me."

"Oh. Yeah," Hermione said, frowning. She walked over to her and embraced her. "Well I'm so glad that I got to meet you, at least."

"Me too," the other Hermione said, quickly wiping away her tears. "Gosh, I've only known you for such a short time, but I'm really going to miss you."

Hermione grinned. "I feel the same way."

Draco stood, removing the chain from his neck that held the charm. "Here," he said, handing it over to the other Hermione.

She shook her head. "No, you can keep it as a reminder of me, so that you'll never forget."

"I don't think that's possible," he said with a warm smile. He pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear. "Take care, Granger. And please, take good care of the other me."

She giggled. "I'll be sure to keep him in line."

He grinned as he pulled away slightly. He stared down at her. "Thank you, Granger. Thank you for everything."

"It was my pleasure," she said, letting go of him. She reached out and placed her hand over his – the one that was holding the charm. "Aperio."

The portal appeared before them for one last time.

"Wow," Hermione breathed, staring at it in wonder. "That's beautiful."

The other Hermione grinned. "It is, isn't it?" She glanced at Draco, and then over at Hermione. "I wish you both all the best."

"Thank you," Draco said.

She smiled. She turned to enter the portal, but Hermione immediately stopped her. "Wait!"

The other Hermione stopped and turned around, looking at her curiously.

"I want to give you something!" Hermione said. Quickly, she ran out of the room, leaving the other Hermione and Draco to exchange a quizzical look. A few seconds later, she came running back into the room, with one of her muggle shirts in her hand.

"I want you to have this," she said, handing it to the girl.

Draco smirked, knowing exactly why she was giving away a piece of her clothing.

The other Hermione seemed to get it as well. Grinning, she took the shirt, and then proceeded to remove her own shirt, leaving her with just a tank top on, and handed it to Hermione.

They were sharing their clothes.

"Thank you," Hermione said, beaming. She gave her twin one last hug. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye," the other Hermione said sweetly. She glanced over at Draco. "You treat her right, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Draco said with a smirk.

And then she entered the portal, and she was gone. Forever.

Draco and Hermione let out a collective sigh at the sudden empty feeling that filled the room.

"It's been such a long day," Hermione said suddenly.

Draco nodded in agreement. "That it has."

"So I'll be rejoining all of my classes tomorrow."

"I figured as much."

"It's going to be a very interesting three months."

"Very interesting, indeed."

They both walked out of his bedroom and headed for the common room.

When they passed by her room, Hermione said, "You know what's weird? The fact that you were able to enter my room to get my teddy bear. Whatever happened to the spell I had cast upon it earlier this year? The one that was supposed to keep other people out?"

Draco shrugged. "Your 'death' must have somehow voided it. You must have lost your connection to the spell. I hope you don't mind that I went in there to get it?"

"Oh, no," she said. "Not at all. I mean, it's not like you went in there and read my diary or anything."

Draco practically tripped over his own feet. He gulped. "Yeah…uh…"

Hermione burst out laughing. "Don't pretend like you didn't read it, Malfoy. Hermione told me everything."

Silently, he cursed the other Hermione for having a big mouth. "Look, Granger, I didn't want to, but…well, she made me do it!"

"Save it," Hermione said, holding up a hand to silence him. "Unless you tell me that she held a wand to your head and threatened to Avada you unless you read it, I really don't care to hear your excuse."

Draco sighed. "She…held a wand to my head and threatened to Avada me?"

"Nice try," she said, poking his arm playfully. She gave an overly exaggerated sigh. "I guess I'm going to have to find a new hiding place for it now."

Draco was shocked at how carefree she was being about the whole thing. She didn't even seem upset with him about it.

"You're not angry?"

"Angry?" she said. "No. Humiliated? Definitely. I take it you probably read what I wrote about you."

"I did," he said slowly.

"Everything?"

"Pretty much."

She groaned, covering her face with her hands. "I'm such a loser."

Draco smirked. He reached over and gently pried her hands away, taking them into his own. "You're not a loser. I very much enjoyed everything you wrote about me. Well, excluding everything you wrote for the first month or so, that is."

She chuckled. "Sorry about that," she mumbled.

"Nothing to be sorry about, Granger. I was a complete git to you. Considering that fact, I'd say you were quite generous in your descriptions of me. But…perhaps you were a bit more generous later on in your entries."

She began to blush. "You mean, all that stuff about how I -"

"About how you were madly in love with me and wanted to have my babies? Yeah, that's what I meant." he teased.

"Oh, shut up!" she exclaimed, pushing his shoulder playfully.

Draco chuckled. "It's okay, Granger, because I was madly in love with you too."

They both froze at his words. Hermione's eyes widened a bit as she gazed up at him in surprise.

"In fact, I still am," he continued softly. He didn't even think before saying it. The words just rolled off the tip of his tongue as if they were the easiest words he had ever spoken in his life.

"Well what do you know," she said softly. "Yet another thing we have in common."

Draco sighed. It felt good to get these things out in the open. Finally.

"You know," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, "that Luna girl said something very profound earlier. And I think it applies perfectly to us right now."

"Oh yeah?" Hermione asked, arching an eyebrow. "What did she say?"

"She said, 'good things come to those who wait'."

Hermione closed her eyes and smiled dreamily. "I always knew Luna was a smart girl. She is a Ravenclaw, after all."

Draco chuckled. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. He rested his forehead against hers, and brushed a hand against the side of her face. He gazed deeply into her eyes, and he began to fall in love with her all over again.

He was really looking forward to the next three months.