Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling
Her breath. Her Scent. Her touch. If only the world had stopped moving, just so he could hold onto her a little longer.
He hadn't kept his promise. The promise that one day they would meet again. The thought of it was highly unlikely, seeing as that no one would survive this battle. But there was always hope that they could meet again, maybe in an afterlife.
He remembered staring intently at her from within the barrier.
"I need to keep you safe, and as much as I want to stay, it is not doing any good for you," he whispered.
"I know, but-"
"No, Hermione. You know what you have to do. And once this is all over, and we meet again, we could be together."
"Do you promise?" she said under her shaky breath.
Draco breathed in deeply and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Just close your eyes, Hermione. Just close them."
She did as she was told and closed them. He turned around and stepped out of the barrier. He quickly turned again but found nothing but the empty space he had seen just moments ago. He held his hand out and touched the surface of the shield. It felt like a wall, an ordinary wall that concealed nothing but air. But in fact, it didn't, it held the only chance of his survival.
To this day, he continued to stay alive, just for her. His skills quickly enhanced and he became more and more powerful in strength. If he was going to die for love in this war, then he wouldn't be giving up without a fight.
"Legilimens!" his mother shouted.
The power immediately escaped from the tip of her wand and buried itself within Draco's head. He grasped the arms of his chair and tried to block out his Mother's force from his mind. She could feel him trying to find a weak point in the wall he had mentally built up.
The sweat glistened on his forehead as he shut his eyes tightly and continued with blocking his Mother's power.
He felt the power release just as quickly as it had entered his mind. He opened his eyes to find his Mother panting heavily from the opposite side of the room, her wand lowered.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to stand up. Suddenly, he trembled, his legs giving out beneath him. He knelt on the floor and took deep breaths. She rushed over to him and held him within her arms.
"Son, I am so sorry. Maybe we should take a break..." she began.
"No! No, Mother! We have to do this now. We can't just keep stopping when I feel pain."
They began their Occlumency lessons the day he had returned from his trip with the Snatchers, and his encounter with Hermione. He needed the lessons to strengthen his mind, therefore strengthing his chances of surviving the war. And as painful as it may be, he had to continue.
"Draco, I can't. I can't hurt you."
"Mother, I must learn to shield my mind. I have to do this."
She let go of her trembling son and paced the room in a frantic manner. "Why, Draco? Why must you hide your thoughts from the Dark Lord? It is more safe to expose your mind to him then to shield it! What is it you're hiding?!"
"Nothing, Mother."
"Oh, I beg to differ. What has changed, Draco? What has happened to you?"
She gazed directly into his eyes, looking for any sign of fear or unfaithfulness. It was very frustrating not to know what your only son was thinking. He returned her gaze with a hard glare of nothingness.
He wanted to tell her, tell her about how he might have found the love of his life. The only way to protect her was to protect his thoughts.
"Okay, then. If this secret of yours is so dear to you that you won't even tell your own Mother, then let's continue," she said with a stern expression as she returned to her position on the opposite side of the room.
He walked back to his chair and sat down, grasping the arms of the chair once more. As he prepped his mind, he thought back to Hermione.
If they were to make it out alive, where would they begin? Maybe they could run away together, start a new life somewhere luxurious and away from all the chaos. Would she like Paris? Perhaps the Malfoy summer home. Yes, that's where they could begin. They would be able to settle down and live life anew. Surely, she would love the Malfoy library. Yes, a thousand books all for her own pleasure.
He could just picture it, the most perfect image of their future together. Her lounging in the grass of the family gardens, reading a book. Himself, seated next to her, playing with a strand of her brown locks. She would shoo him away with her hand, but he would just continue. She would smile at his stubborness and look up at him. Her smile was so warm and bright. It could brighten up the halls of Hogwarts better than the sun itself.
Yes, that would be their future. No war, no blood prejudice, only freedom.
"Legilimens!" his Mother shouted. His eyes darted to the power emitting from her wand as it hit him firmly on the head. He was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn't given the chance to shield his mind. And the blast from her wand nearly tipped him over in his chair.
All he could do was watch in horror as his Mother entered his mind, and skimmed through each and everyone of his thoughts. His hands yet again grasped the side of the chair, his eyes open and watching what was occuring in his mind.
At first, she looked into his childhood, and his times at Hogwarts. He had to relive his weakest moments, his weakest being when he was punched by the very girl he could be in love with. He hadn't thought to tell his Mother this, otherwise he would have never heard the end of it. She skimmed through all his thoughts, and even some of his most private moments.
It was a disturbing reality to have his Mother look in every crevice of his mind, and at this point, he understood why she was doing this. She would have stopped if she didn't know he was hiding something from her. She was looking for that moment his life changed and something within him had snapped. And without a doubt, she would find it.
He then found her looking at the moment Harry Potter had casted a curse at him that left him bleeding on the bathroom floor. It was a pain that could not be described, and just reliving it made him shudder. All other moments were skimmed once more until she landed on the one thing he desperately tried to keep.
Hermione.
She watched awestruck as they encountered each other on that street corner. Their run in with that shopkeeper who had chased after them. Their dance on the roof of the building. She was at least respectful enough to skip over their very intimate night and move toward their moment just outside the Great Hall. The day he made a promise to meet her again.
He felt her power strengthen in determination as she looked for another encounter with the girl.
She found their moment in that forest, when she saved him from being caught by Potter. The last thing she looked at was her son, kissing her fallen tears and leaving her within the barrier.
The power escaped his mind as he fell from his chair in sweat and tears. The relief overwhelmed him, but now that the truth was open, it made him hurt. Narcissa watched her broken son lie on the floor in shambles.
This girl. That is what changed him. A mudblood.
"Son, what I just witnessed, was that all true?"
She watched as he gave her a nod, his eyes shut tightly from her threatening gaze.
"How could you, Draco? It will bring shame to our family? That girl will bring filth to the Malfoy line!"
He opened his eyes, his gaze seemingly darkened. He stood up from the floor and walked towards his Mother.
"How dare you, Mother! That girl is the only reason I'm still alive. I've survived this war to keep her safe, to make sure that one day I could see her again! And she is not FILTH! The Malfoy line is already filthy enough as it is in this world. Once the war is over, the reputation of the Malfoy's will cease to exist! Can't you understand!"
She searched his eyes, something to tell her that the person she was looking at was not her son. Nothing but a menacing gaze glared back at her.
"Mother! ANSWER ME!"
She finally said, "I do understand, Draco! I know that already! But I thought that once they won we could move along with our lives...together."
He inhaled deeply at this, finally understanding. "Mother, I'm ready to move on. It's time I took my life and make it into something better, just for the greater good. I could start over, with Hermione."
This brought tears to her eyes. She never thought she would see the day her son finally fell in love and would decide to leave her.
To be honest, she hoped she would have been dead by then.
She laid a hand on her son's cheek and looked at him lovingly. "Do you really love this girl, son?"
He paused and thought for a moment before replying, "I do, Mother."
The whole mishap was kept a secret, and neither spoke a word of it. The walls had ears, and thankfully none had heard what had happened. Only they had to be more careful, they never knew who was listening .
Draco stood next to his Father who was seated in the chair next to him, his Mother holding onto his hand. They listened to Bellatrix ramble on about the Dark Lord's plans, regardless if they heard the same news a thousand times.
They stood in the dining hall, the chairs and table all moved to a new location. This was once a place of holiday parties and social gatherings, only now it was a place where the next victim would be tortured if the dungeons were full.
Suddenly, each Malfoy turned their head at the sound of a group of people apparating just outside of the Malfoy wards. Bellatrix noticed this and asked, "Well who is coming?"
Neither Malfoy said a word as they heard the door to the Manor open and a group of men come up the stairs and into the room.
The leader approached Bellatrix and bowed down in her present. She lifted her wand and nodded, as she usually did when approached by a stranger. These were no strangers, however, they were Snatchers.
"We brought someone here that might be familiar to you," the man said, snapping his fingers. The men behind him brought forward three people, but not just ordinary people.
The three, or maybe just one, that everyone was looking for.
Draco examined each of them. Ronald Weasley, a man who looked like a deformed version of Harry Potter, and-
Oh Salazar, save him. It couldn't be.
Hermione Granger.
Damn Potter and Weasley for not protecting her enough from the snatchers.
He watched her eyes dart frantically across the room until they connected with his.
Draco.
Their last encounter was only a few weeks ago in that forest. Never had she thought she would see him again. His hair was disheveled and his eyes bored into her own. Everything about him made her quiver, not in fear, but in the full blast of emotions she got whenever she was near him.
It was only a few days ago when she realized she was truly in love with him. During the time Ron had dissapeared, she had a lot of time to herself to just think about what she wanted out of life once it was all over. Her first thought was to marry Ron and live the life that she was meant to live. But what if that wasn't enough? Was she ever going to get that rush of passion when she was near him? Was she ever going to get that thrill of excitement at being pressed up against him?
Never.
But with Draco, it was different. He was probably the only other student in her grade at Hogwarts that held at least an ounce of knowledge, something Ron did not possess.
And now being in the same room with him was just throughly...intoxicating. Not once did she look at Bellatrix or the others in the room, the only person she could look at was Draco.
She watched as he was brought up to Harry and asked if he recognized him. The snatcher's grip tightened on her forearm as his eyes looked over Harry's deformed features. Thankfully, she was able to cast that spell in time so they wouldn't recognize him. But from the looks of it, Draco could tell it was him. He quickly glanced at Hermione, who struggled to return a gaze with the Snatcher's tightening grip.
They moved him away from Harry, but her eyes followed Draco's every movement. It was like all the sound had blocked out of her ears, and no one's voice really mattered anymore.
She didn't even notice what Bellatrix had said to her. She didn't notice Harry and Ron being taken away into the dungeons. The only thing she noticed was the sudden look of horror on Draco's face at what they were about to do to her.
Merlin, no. They can't do this to her. Bellatrix, she can't.
Hermione didn't even seem to notice until she was tackled onto the floor by his twisted aunt.
That was her first scream.
His panicked gaze traveled over to his Mother, who held a firm grip on his arm. She mouthed the word, no. Why couldn't it have been the Weasel? Why did it have to be the one girl he loved.
Hermione kept refusing, she refused to say a word about Harry or Ron. A bead of sweat traveled down his temple at the sound of another scream escaping her lips. It was such a painful sound that he could almost feel the pain as well.
His aunt was writing something on her arm, her hair covering up the letters. This was definitely dark magic.
Each scream echoed within the manor, and all he could do was watch the girl he loved be tortured.
Or not.
He quickly escaped his Mother's grasp and before he could throw a hex at his deranged Aunt, a wand was held up to his neck. Only this time, it was his Mother's.
"Draco," she whispered, "don't do something you will regret." She backed him up against the wall in an attempt to hold him down.
"Let me go, Mother!"
Their words were muffled by the sounds of Hermione's constant screaming.
"I promised I would protect her!" he yelled again, tears traveling down his pale face.
"And I promised I would protect you, and that is what I am going to do!" she boomed.
"Obliviate!" she boomed once more.
The blood from the hateful word traveled down her porcelain skin, but that pain didn't matter now. The only things that mattered, was the man across the room, who now looked at her with empty eyes.
She saw his Mother casting a spell on him.
Did she know about them?
The pain in her heart was almost too much to bare, but maybe this was how it was supposed to end. He would never know about their times together, nor would he ever care about her.
She never got the chance to find out if he truly loved her.
Was this destiny's cruel way of showing what we want but can't have? The feeling of having a safe place to be, in someone's arms, and just having it taken away, it completely masked the terror from Bellatrix's cruel word.
Must it have ended this way, a person's love being taken away by a spell? The darkest point of magic, when it fails to recognize feeling in one's heart.
A tear fell from the corner of her eye as Draco turned his back to her, not even acknowledging her anymore.
"I love you," she whispered, before her eyes closed into unconsciousness.
A/N: So this is where it ends. Destiny does have a cruel was of showing what is meant to happen...
OR DOES IT?
Follow my account to see if Destiny might just give them another chance ;)