He knew he was evil, but he had to do it.
He had to kill Hermione Granger.
Not because he hated her with a passion and not because he was a Death-Eater and a part of Voldemort's inner circle.
No, it went deeper than that, beyond those trivial matters.
He had to kill her because he loved her.
It seemed crazy, insane even, but when you thought like Draco Malfoy, it made sense.
Narcissa had died tonight, in the arms of Lucius, the Dark Lord cackling with glee, saying that, now, Lucius could be fully devoted to Him. Lucius did not agree. He stood up with a fury in his eyes that Draco had never seen, and pointed his wand at Voldemort.
Thus, Draco had lost both of his parents tonight. One by the Dark Lord, one by his own wand.
And he did not want that for Hermione and himself, sure, no one knew of their secret relationship, but someone would eventually find out in the future. And there lay the problem, she was his weakness. The one thing that could bring him to his knees and shake with utter joy and desperation at the same time.
As he walked, yes, walked, he did not apparate because he delayed the deed he was going to do, flashes of their time together ran through his head, and he used every ounce of will power not to cry. Still, the tears fell.
Flashback
"Granger," he said in a neutral voice.
"Malfoy," she replied in the same tone.
Time stood still for a few seconds, and then they flung themselves at each other, passion poring out of each of them.
End of Flashback
They had many meetings like that, and although he cherished them with his lower regions, his heart tugged when he thought of how some of their meetings that had ended in a different way.
Flashback
"Granger," Draco said in a monotone voice.
"Malfoy," she said, trying to deliver it as coolly as he had said her name, but simply ended up choking his name out.
His face softened. He held out his arms and she plunged herself into the comfort that was Draco.
They lay there for the rest of the day, even after her sobs had faded; they simply drank in the safety of being held in each others arms.
End Flashback
He wiped away at the tears furiously, he needed to look calm and natural when he met with Hermione.
He took a few moments to gather himself, inhaling softly. Then he raised his hand and knocked on Hermione's door.
Hermione opened the door after a few moments, a playful smirk on her face. "Malfoy," she said in an uncaring voice.
He tried to match her smirk, but ended up giving her a watery grin.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her smirk destroyed when s he began to bite her lip.
"My parents died tonight," he said, not being able to stop the words from being poured out of his mouth.
"Oh Draco," she said softly, holding her arms out like he had for her so many of the times.
He threw himself into her embrace and sobbed quietly in her shoulder. "Hermione, Voldemort killed my mother." He paused to sob even harder before whispering, "Then he made me kill Lucius."
She heard everything he said, yet the only thing she did was play with his hair in an endearing way, murmuring soothing meaningless words into his ear.
She never saw the killing curse coming.
Draco fell to the floor with her still warm body, and he looked into her eyes. Even though they no longer carried the warmth and life they had always seem to, he still found what he always found within her gaze.
Answers.
That is when Draco Malfoy, devoid of emotion realized something.
Hermione Granger was his weakness, but she was also his strength.
"I love you," he declared.
Then, he turned his wand to himself.
A/N: Well, there's a little nice one-shot for ya! Hope you enjoyed it, I had to give you guys something over the summer. Come Autumn, some big changes are going to happen. I'm hoping to update once a month on my other fics.
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Hermione and Draco would already be married with children!