Fire & Ice - A Draco Malfoy fanfiction

Chapter 77 - Can I murder her? Can I please murder her?

In the end... We only regret the chances we didn't take, the relationships we were afraid to have,and the decisions we waited too long to make.

- Lewis Carroll

"It's weird to think that we'll never walk these halls anymore after we leave", I said, watching the paintings on the wall. Most of them were empty as the inhabitants were still recovering from the war.

"You're going to miss it?" Draco asked, hooking my arm in his.

"Of course, this was my home, my real one at least", I smiled softly. I put my head on Draco's shoulder as we walked through the hallways. Everyone was allowed to stay at Hogwarts for as long as they wanted after the war. To clean up the mess, to mourn the dead and to rebuild the school. Tracey's body had been sent to her family and there'd be a funeral soon, but Hogwarts had held a memorial for the Fallen Fifty just two days ago. I hadn't cried that day.

We walked onto the grounds where the aftermath of the battle was still clearly visible, even though we had been restoring the school for days. The grass around the Great Lake was trampled and scorched in a few places.

"What's that?" I asked as Draco got out a black leather box from his suit jacket. He twirled it around in his hand before opening it.

"It's the original ring my father gave me. I found it when I was clearing out my dorm room", he said, taking out the ring. He was still wearing the one I had given him two years ago.

"Why did you bring it? I expect a nicer one if you're ever going to propose to me", I joked and I smiled for a very short second, but it didn't feel good to smile anymore. It made me feel guilty, because so many people would never smile anymore.

"I'm not proposing to you, at least not yet", Draco laughed. I blushed slightly. Did he want to marry me one day? I knew that we were not even eighteen, although Draco would be in just a few days, but it felt nice to know that that was in our future.

"I want to get rid of it", Draco continued, putting the box back in his jacket whilst he twirled the ring in his hand.

"Why? It's an heirloom", I frowned.

"Yeah, it's an heirloom that stands for power, suffering and pure-blood supremacy. That's not something I want to hand down to my kids or even hold onto myself." We stopped at the edge of the Black Lake and I intertwined my fingers with his.

"Do you want kids?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, I do, do you?" Draco said, looking at me. There was an exciting glint in his eyes that made my heart swell.

"I do too. I want to give them everything I never had", I sighed. "I want them to play in the snow and to run through the hallways and to slide down the stairs. I want them to fall and get back up and I want them to laugh uncontrollably without worrying about how they are presenting themselves. I want to take them to Fred and George's joke shop and I want them to be truly happy."

Draco stared at me, a smile on his lips. He let go of my hand, just to wrap them around my waist from behind, resting his head on my shoulder. He placed a soft kiss on my cheek as I leaned into his touch.

"I'd like that", he whispered. We stared at the lake for a while, watching the sun slowly start to set, colouring the scenery in an orange hue.

"Let's do it", Draco said and let go, looking at the ring one more time. I watched as he swung his arm back before throwing the ring as far as he could, into the depths of the Black Lake.