Draco Lucius Malfoy didn't win any father of the year awards, but he tried his best.

He felt the pain of not having Ronnie by his side every single day, but the letter had somehow made it easier to bear.

That first summer without Ronnie, Draco spent it making new memories with Scorpius and Freida. Sometimes his mother was there to help, but mostly she left Draco to it at his insistence.

And every now and then, he allowed himself to indulge in their past memories; sometimes even taking Scorpius and Freida with him into the Pensieve. They particularly liked seeing their first date; when Draco had gone with Ronnie to the Yule ball. Although he was careful to pull them out before that unexpected fight/kiss happened. That memory was their private moment; his and Ronnie's.

And they had had many of those.

"Mummy says a lot of naughty words," Freida had scowled when another loud beep issued from Memory-Ronnie's mouth (Draco had to make sure it was child friendly before he could let his kids see it. This meant that their ears were usually ringing from of the vast amount of beeping going on.).

"She was never one to hold back," Draco had chuckled, looking adoringly down at his little girl, who despite resembling Ronnie in looks, was very much a mini him in personality.

He talked to Ronnie all the time in his head, heard her voice as clearly as if she was in the room with him.

She was there with him when he waved their daughter off to Hogwarts for the first time. She was there with him when Scorpius brought his girlfriend home to officially 'meet' him ("Longbottom is just a name, Draco." She had said in his head when he tried not to let it bother him. "If Rose makes him happy then that's all that counts.").

He watched their children grow up, was there for every event in their lives. Graduation, marriage, and children.

When he held his first grandchild in his arms, he couldn't help but let out an aching sob. It was those times when he felt Ronnie's absence the most.

Scorp and Rose, like himself and Ronnie, had a boy and then a girl; Jack and Madison. Freida never married, instead forming a partnership with her lifelong best friend; Sara.

He remained supportive and understanding of all their choices and decisions in life; making sure to keep good relations with Ronnie's family. Including with the Potter's, although he found it difficult to completely forgive Ginny and Potter for snubbing Ronnie all those years.

And he missed her, oh how he missed his Ronnie. He woke up most mornings reaching out for her, his arms feeling horrifically empty when she wasn't there. How he longed to touch her, kiss her, hold her. In the days that he missed her the most, he would lose himself in the Pensieve, hating that he could see her, hear her, but never touch her.

And he never did meet another woman. How could he have done? No one compared to her. He belonged with Ronnie, even in death.

So the years rolled by, and Draco grew older, but his heart always remained with Ronnie.

And one night, at the age of seventy six, after a long tiring, yet eventual contented life, Draco Lucius Malfoy climbed into bed, closed his eyes and never woke up again.

It was finally his time.

*****

Draco jumped as the red door slammed shut behind him.

He was confused. He couldn't work out where he was and what he was doing there.

Looking around, he realised he was in a small white room which was empty except for a few unoccupied chairs, and one other door.

A green door.

And it seemed to creak open slightly as he looked at it.

Draco knew he should go through it, and was surprised at how agile he felt as he crossed the room.

And, as he stepped through, he knew the wait had been worth it.

*****

The great oaken door closed slowly behind him as the sounds of excited chatter rose around the Entrance Hall. Music was drifting out of the Great Hall and inside he could see the outlines of figures dancing and twirling.

There was something oddly familiar about this.

He realised he was dressed in old - yet new - dress robes. And he was no longer the old tired man that had gone to bed for the last time. If anything, he thought, looking at the reflection of himself in a window, he was just as young as when he last walked the halls of this particular castle.

A loud cough sounded from somewhere above, and Draco Malfoy's eyes swivelled straight to where a figure was descending the marble staircase.

Red hair, blue eyes, dressed as though a trifle had thrown up on her; there she was.

His beautiful, fierce, perfect Ronnie. The Gryffindor; the Keeper; the woman who stole his heart whilst wearing a hag's dress.

"You're here," she grinned, her eyes twinkling at him through the creases in her smile, looking no older than seventeen herself. "You're finally here."

"You were worth the wait," he grinned back, holding out a hand to her as she approached the bottom of the stairs. "You always were."

And then their fingers met and he almost cried out in the gloriness of her touch. He could actually feel her; she was as solid and as real as she looked.

"Is this... are we-?" He stuttered, hardly daring to believe it.

"It's us, it's here, it's everything," she nodded, grinning broadly back at him.

He pulled her to him, sighing blissfully at the feel of her body against his. "Oh Ronnie, oh my beautiful Ronnie."

"You did good, Draco," she murmured, her voice muffled against the crook of his neck. "Our kids are happy, and that's all thanks to you."

"And you," he said with conviction, "Ronnie, you were always with me, I took you in my heart. You never left my side, just like you said in that letter."

"Yeah, well I got a telling off for writing that," she laughed sheepishly, "but if it helped you with the kids and brought you back here, to me; it couldn't have been a bad thing."

Draco let go of her, just for a second, so he could look at her again. He could scarcely believe this was happening.

"God, Ronnie," he breathed, his eyes greedily taking the sight of her in, "I should have always known that you were my heaven, even in this monstrosity."

Ronnie pulled irritably at the vulgar dress that was clinging to her. "I have no idea why I'm wearing this again." She admitted. "It was a crap bargain purchase from my dear mother. You know, you could have always bought me a new dress for that night, you tight fucktard."

"Forgive my fourteen year old ignorant self," Draco smirked, pulling her back into his arms and brushing his lips against hers. "But I'll have you know, I fell in love with you when you wore this dress, so it doesn't surprise me that you're wearing it right now."

"So, what do you want to do?" She sighed blissfully, brushing her lips back against his. "We could go in the Great Hall and dance with the ghosts of our old school mates, or..."

Draco felt an old familiar stirring as she cocked a coy eyebrow.

"Or...?" He smirked back.

Her lips moved to his ear, sending tingles down his spine. "Or...." she whispered as his arms tightened around her, "...we could go and laugh at Harry in Saturday detention with Snape."

And, as he took her hand in his, readily agreeing, they skipped off into the depths of the halls of Hogwarts together; the echoes of laughter following behind them.

They were Draco and Ronnie; the love story that never really was...

...the end

******

A/N: Ok, so please don't hate me for how I ended this. My idea was that I'd give Draco and Ronnie the 'ultimate' happy ending. It may not sit well with all of you but I felt for me I had to end it this way. Ronnie has definitely been my absolute favourite character to write; I've felt so close to her and sad for her; even angry at Draco for the way he treated her (who I know it's my own fault he's been that way!). I've appreciated all your support; the readers who have stuck by me and followed this story have made it everything. And I know you all begged me to save her and I'm so sorry, but I had my plan from the start, and I wanted to stick to it to make the story work.

Anyway, thank you for reading the Ronnie and Draco story. I've loved them till the end.

Not sure where to go from here.

Fem Neville anyone?

*****