Hey!

Got nothing to say about this, just read and enjoy (hopefully review too!)

As a matter of fact, I own nothing here. Just the plot :)

"You don't know how awfully tired I am of waiting, you can't even begin to imagine how bloody sick I am of this whole situation. You say that it's hard for you because people wouldn't accept it or they'd have a bad time getting used to it; and I admit it, I was fine with it when we started… But we've been fooling around for almost a year now, and I couldn't care less about what other people may think. So yes, this is some sort of ultimatum. I'm not asking you to go public with me, but to stop denying you feel something, and of course, to stop seeing that Slytherin idiot named Astoria. What do you say, Draco?"

Draco couldn't believe what Hermione just said. She was never one to speak her emotions so bluntly, so when she started that conversation, he was already sensing something big was coming… but never something that big. He was bewildered and speechless. Draco's agile mind was screaming "Say something before it is too late", but his lips froze and his tongue was somehow dead inside his mouth. Hermione's stare made him uneasy, it felt like she was trying to penetrate his heart, body and soul with just her firm gaze; if she kept looking she was going to get his answer even before he could say it out loud.

Because he did have an answer. It was tearing up his heart, and it would probably break hers… but he couldn't do it. Pretending he still hated her bloody guts was a lot easier than actually stop doing it. His love for Hermione was pure, but hating her was something natural. She had a way of making him angry; how she always seemed to know everything and the way she used elaborated words when she spoke only helped him to go on with his façade.

"Draco?" she called him. They were already close, but she managed to come even closer. She put her right hand on his cheek and caressed it slowly. Draco instinctively closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

"Please don't make me do this, Granger" it was a plea.

Hermione sighed.

"I guess you already made up your mind" even though her hand was still in place she felt miles away from Draco. Amazing how a simple sentence could change everything so rapidly. His skin was cold and her fingertips were growing numb; it was like touching a cold stone.

"Just think about it" he started "we have all the odds against us. People would never accept our relationship; you'd lose your friends… I can't even start to picture what my friends would do to me and, who am I kidding? What they'd do to you! Hermione, I…"

"Okay. You're right about that, all of it. But you're worth the risk. We're not in Hogwarts anymore, the war ended three years ago… Things are different now. Would it really be that bad?" she asked.

"Yes"

It had been a year since he had last seen her; and two since they had broken up. Right now he was sitting alone, drinking fire whiskey and missing her like never before. It was supposed to be a celebration, the long and tough hours of hard work had finally paid off and Death Eaters were all finally locked in Azkaban.

The end of the Dark Lord had not been the end of his followers, some of them were still out there; killing "mudbloods" and performing really disgusting acts against them. Draco, being a former Death Eater, worked along with aurors and helped them tracking those maniacs down. They were hard to get to; always on the run and they possessed loads of hideouts. He still had a hard time believing they had finally made it, finish them for good.

He never told Hermione he was involved though. Something inside him told him it was better if she didn't know, she would've been sick worried. That's why he never accepted her ultimatum. It was dangerous. If the remaining followers of the Dark Lord found out she had something going on with a pureblood wizard, she would've become a bigger target than she already was. But of course, he kept all of that to himself and his twisted mind ignored the bad feeling stirring inside of his chest, a feeling that grew bigger with each passing day. His task at catching them had absorbed him completely, it took all of his hours and he never really had the time to miss her… until now.

"Come on, Draco. Why the long face?" asked Theodore Nott walking toward him as he drank from his glass of wine.

"You know why" Draco answered dryly.

"You should call her. Tell her the truth," he glared at Theo, shooting daggers "ok, it was just a mere suggestion" Theo said quivering.

Draco almost laughed –once the initial wave of anger passed – at his friend's advice. Merlin, could he really be that stupid?

"Not going to work. Trust me" Draco was dead sure about that. Hermione's big head was already so full of stuff that whatever reasons he had wouldn't fit in there despite how hard he tried.

"Why not? You did it to protect her"

"Yes. And my way of protecting her involved lying to her. So it doesn't really matter what I do, she's either going to hate me because I rejected her, or because I lied to her. There's no bloody way in hell I can win this game. I was destined to lose her the second I decided to keep it a secret" he explained with a bitter tone.

"Should I call her then? We remain friends" Draco felt jealous.

"Have you listened to what I just said? Theo, I lost her! Hermione Granger and I are over. We're done, we're buried in the past and we're never coming out of the pit" Draco spat waving his hands above his pale blond hair.

Then he could see Theo smirk and look behind him. Draco didn't dare to turn, not even to take quick look.

"So you gave up?"

Draco froze right there. It was a miracle his eyes didn't pop out of his skull… It was Hermione's voice the one he heard behind him. Maybe that was the reason why Theo was smirking in the first place? That bloody idiot had seen her coming and said nothing. He was going to kill him.

"I should leave you two alone. Good luck, mate" Theo said lowering his head in Draco's direction, then he turned to Hermione "You too, 'Mione" then he walked away.

He still didn't dare to turn around, his neck hard as rock… and when he heard Hermione's steps walking by his side to maybe sit on the chair next to him, his heart skipped a beat. But she sat in front of him.

"You're paler than usual," she stated "like you just saw a ghost"

Well fuck. She looked beautiful. Her hair was shorter now, but the curls remained just as wonderful and soft as before; Draco fought the urge to lean forward and tangle one of his fingers in a strand.

"From my past, maybe," and just like that, he gained back a little of his self-control. Not fully though, his pulse was still accelerated "what are you doing here, Granger?"

It took her by surprise. The Granger thing. He could see it in her eyes.

"Theo called me" she answered. Why wasn't he surprised? Of course Theo had called her. That sad poor little creature could be the only one to blame.

"Why did you come?"

Hermione sighed.

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted to see you, know how you're doing" she lowered her head then, unsure of what to say next.

"Well I'm fine" Draco said bitterly. He was aware of the fact that he was acting like he was the one who had been "betrayed", but the truth was he still loved her. And if acting like a total git was what it took to make seeing her less painful, then he was willing to act like the biggest git ever.

"Looks like you're not in the mood. Maybe this was a little bit too soon; I should leave" Hermione said standing up.

Draco wanted to say "Yes, you should", but instead he just glanced at her pretty face, scrolled his eyes down her body and then he saw it. Granger was still wearing the bracelet he had given to her for her last birthday. The last they spent together.

"No, please stay" he said all of a sudden.

"I came here to actually talk to you. That involves more than just a two word sentence from you"

"And what do you want to talk about precisely, Granger? I mean, right here and now is not the best place to have the chat I believe you want to have" he had a point. They were not alone; there was loud music playing and people drinking. A party was never a good place to have a serious talk.

"You're right about that. Care to leave?" Hermione suggested.

"No, not at all"

Draco had wanted to leave the second the party had started, but people had forced him to stay. Since he had been a major piece in the team, they wanted to celebrate along with him. He stayed because he was polite, but now that Hermione presented him the opportunity to leave, he happily accepted.

They went to a café, nothing excessively fancy. Draco helped Hermione with the chair and then he sat in front of her. His heart was beating wildly inside his chest and the air felt so much heavier on his shoulders. He didn't realize until now just how much he wanted to talk to her; becoming aware of that specific feeling made him just a little more nervous. But he was Draco Malfoy by all means, of course he was never going to let her know how much he had missed her, how much he needed her… He was going to keep his cool exteriors.

"Look, I don't want to be so forward, but Theo told me there's something you wanted to tell me about that night," Hermione said. By that night Draco assumed she was talking about the night he openly admitted he couldn't care less about their relationship" now I dare to say I have some sort of idea of what happened, but I need you to explain it, Draco" then she clasped her hands together and brought them to her mouth, as if she was stopping herself from saying something else.

Here we go.

Draco explained everything to her. How he helped the aurors, how he lied to her and how much he truly loved her. He was utterly surprised she kept silent the whole time, just paying attention. Her big brown eyes widened every once in a while, but that was all the movement she ever did. When he finished, he took a deep breath and leaned backwards on his seat.

"What about now?" she asked.

Draco looked dazed.

"What do you mean what about now?"

"You said you loved me back then. Do you still love me?"

Right. He had a flashback of the time when Astoria had tried to go out with him, seduced him and kissed him. When he told her he couldn't do it, she went crazy. Astoria yelled and said:

"But of course you can't go out with me. It's because of that mudblood Granger. You believe nobody knows, right? It's more than obvious there's something going on between the two of you. And I think it's pathetic"

That was just a few months ago, and short after that, he saw a big announcement on a paper saying Astoria Greengrass was getting married. Draco didn't care enough to read who the poor bastard was.

"Draco?"

He shivered. The way she called him sounded just like the way she done it years ago, just before everything went to the…

"Yes?" he replied before his mind could go any further.

"I won't beat the answer out of you. But I got to tell you, trying to move on from you is not easy, a hell of a task actually. I've been trying, but everything I do reminds me of you, music, books, I even remember all the inside jokes we had. The main reason why I needed to have this talk with you is because I don't believe myself capable of letting go of you unless you tell me you don't love me anymore. So please, have the courtesy to answer" Hermione begged.

That was it. She still loved him.

"I still love you, 'Mione. I really do," he answered. Her face lit up, he could see the weight of the world falling off of her shoulders as she smiled for the first time. Merlin, he missed her smile "I'm sorry it took me so long. I'm sorry I didn't go after you"

"It is okay, Draco. We were struggling with our lives back then; maybe it was necessary to stay apart for a while. Maybe now we can try again?"

"Sounds nice" he said as he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. She tasted so amazingly sweet, of vanilla and strawberries. He would never get enough of her flavor… He would never let her go again.

On the way back to her flat, they talked about what they'd done lately. It was rather nice finding out how much they had changed and how they still could fit perfectly with each other. It never crossed Draco's mind how someone could be so much like him and yet so different, less when that someone was Hermione Granger.

He held her hand as they walked, afraid she'd walk away from him.

"So, if I had never showed up today… You would've let me go?" Hermione asked. Draco squeezed her hand a little tighter; he wasn't expecting that sort of question.

"I believe so, yes. I thought you were better off without me," Draco answered honestly "would've you showed up someday if Theo hadn't called you?"

Hermione looked at him straight in the eye and nodded.

"Wow" was all he could say.

"Guess we should thank Mr. Nott," she said smiling "he saved us"

Draco was about to say how much he hated that bloody idiot when Hermione stopped walking. They had reached flat. She searched her pockets and when she finally found her keys, they both entered the building. Draco was not a fan of elevators, so they both used the stairs. Hermione lived in the last floor and he was fighting for air when they got to her door.

"Do you want to-"she was about to ask when he put he interrupted her.

"Oh I'm coming in, Granger. Don't even bother to ask" he smirked.