Draco stared out into the gloaming darkness. He ignored his reflection in the perfect glass. Muggles made glass with no character. It was perfect and impressive in its featureless plane.
He hated it.
To be honest, he hated most things.
He hated his reflection. He hated the bright red umbrella that was heading toward his flat with perfect accuracy. He hated that the whiskey was gone from his glass. He hated being trapped between duty and desire. On good days, he hated her.
It made things easier.
This wasn't a good day.
He closed his eyes. Today he loved two things, and neither one would do him any bloody good. He just wasn't that lucky.
The knock at the door wasn't a surprise. The quickening of his pulse was as unwanted as it was predictable. She'd arrived at her scheduled time. His three hours. His last three hours. Her last three hours. He didn't know anymore.
He opened the door and took in her prim and proper shell. Perfect. Like muggle glass. He stepped back and let her pass by him into the flat.
Her trench landed on the dark wood of his floor as he closed the door. He closed his eyes and tried to find the resolve he needed. He heard her sigh and turned to take in her now disheveled appearance.
This was his witch. Her hair wild and her magic racing under her skin, she grinned and tossed her cardigan over the back of his chair. The bright red of her silk camisole was eye catching. She dropped her glamours and revealed the constellations of scars on her body. She was lovely. She was powerful. She was his. His witch, not theirs.
"Why are you standing by the door?" She planted a hand on one hip.
He moved closer to her. He could feel his body warming. Just a few moments in her orbit and he was trapped. He forced himself to stop.
"We need to talk." Draco clenched his fists against his legs.
She blinked. Once. Twice. He could see her processing. He saw it hit her.
"You passed." She dropped onto the couch.
"I did." He nodded. "The paperwork should clear the ministry by the end of the week."
"Why?" She pressed her teeth into her lower lip.
"Did you think I'd stay here? Be your dirty little secret forever?" Draco took a step closer to her. "Or just until you were ready to accept your assigned Weasley and start producing the next generation of ginger nightmares? My interviewer was happy to leave me the latest news."
He tossed the paper down on the table. It was folded to reveal the picture of her. Her escort for the evening was not showing. Charlie Weasley. Gryffindor perfection, glowing with his light side pedigree, was hidden.
"It was for a good cause." Hermione waved her hand at the paper. "He didn't do anything untoward."
"Listen to you." He shook his head. "Untoward? You can't escape it. The very presence of that rag, and you're reverting."
"Reverting?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Want to button up?" Draco smirked. "Be their good little witch? How many snotty, red heads are required to confirm your status with them?"
She fidgeted, and her fingers worked at the silken hem of her shirt. He'd hit the bludger square on.
"Part of you is burning to hex me, and part of you just wants to flee back to your safe little world." He stepped next to the couch and trailed his fingers along the arm of it. He fought the urge to touch her. "Poor little witch, caught up being a warrior for the light. Do they believe that you're like them? All kittens and rainbows? Are you fooling them or are they using you? It's one or the other."
"It isn't that simple." She shook her head and set her curls free from the last traces of confinement.
"Will you walk with me down Diagon Alley?" Draco took a deep breath. "Hold my hand? Kiss me? In front of the world?"
He watched the color drain from her features. He'd known the answer. He'd known it all along, but knowing it and seeing it there in her face were different things.
"I can't. They'd destroy me." Hermione grabbed his wrist. "They'd use it to hurt us both."
He jerked his hand away from her, and rubbed his wrist with his other hand. She hasn't hurt him, but he needed to remember where his goals lay. Any actual contact with her would weaken his resolve.
"You can't have me and them." He rolled his shoulders back. "Finding my place in our glorious new society will be hard enough without you showing up for your nibbles of darkness."
"So, this is goodbye?" She blinked at him and looked away. He knew her, knew that her eyes weren't glassy with tears. She'd learned to control those a long time ago.
"There was never a hello. Not really." Draco looked at her. "I'm a shadow in your life."
She had the grace to let it be. He couldn't have listened to her denials. She looked up at him. Her brown eyes studied him.
"Why did you decide to go back?" She settled her teeth on to her lower lip.
"You are not the only one with responsibilities." He looked down at his hands. "Father is being released. Your new government has allowed a compassionate commutation so he can die at home. I can't leave my mother alone for that."
"So, this is it." Hermione nodded.
"This is it." Draco looked out the window again. He watched her reflection rise to her feet behind him. He wanted to close his eyes. Watching her walk out the door would destroy him, but he couldn't look away.
Hermione looked around this place where she was real. It was just a place. Without Draco, it would be hell. Without Draco, her life would be hell. She clenched her fists against her stomach.
She couldn't leave.
She knew she shouldn't stay.
None of it mattered.
The smart choices be damned.
"So, you want me to hold your hand and stroll down Diagon Alley with you." Hermione nodded. "How do you expect your father to react to that? I can't imagine he will praise you for choosing a filthy mudblood."
He turned toward her. She watched his eyes. They always gave him away.
"You want me gone." She pressed her lips firmly together. "I'm inconvenient. I'm your dirty blooded secret."
She watched his nose flare and his eyes slide over her. He couldn't hide from her. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder. She didn't want to lose everything, but none of it mattered if he was already gone.
"You wanted me to leave and suffer in my guilt." She stepped closer to him. "You wanted me to know that my life was a lie. Well, I do. I don't want to play the good little kitten anymore. I want to be the lioness I am. I want you, and I'm not afraid of it."
She met his gaze and watched his storm cloud eyes assessing her. He needed another push.
"Did you think I wouldn't figure it out? Did you think I'd roll up in my emotions and forget that you're you?" She shook her head and made a soft tsking sound. He hated being caught out. "You don't get to be the noble one here."
"Nobility has nothing to do with this." Draco growled and slammed the flat of his hand against the glass behind him. "I need someone that will put me first."
"And you think I can't?" She planted her hands on her hips. "You think I'm too self centered for you?"
"No. I think you're too loving. You live the whole bloody world." Draco slumped forward and held himself up on his arms. "I think you tie yourself in knots to make everyone else happy. I think you're too afraid to stand beside me and tell the world to bugger off."
"I'm not." She grabbed his arm and hauled him toward the door. "Grab your coat. We're heading to Diagon Alley."
"I'm not clear to go until the end of the week." Draco pulled back. "Paperwork and bureaucracy."
"Fine." She didn't release his arm. "We will go to Scotland."
"I can't go to Hogsmeade either." Draco shook his head.
"We are not going to Hogsmeade." Hermione smiled. "Wizards still recognize weddings performed at Gretna Green. I know the Ministry doesn't recognize most muggle weddings, but Marrying over the anvil remains part of our tradition."
"You want to get married?" He blinked rapidly. She smiled and rubbed a small circle on the inside of his wrist.
"How many snotty, little blondes will I have to produce?" Hermione smiled before he pulled her close and kissed her. They could weather the storm. It was time to quit hiding behind other people's perceptions. It was time to be Draco and Hermione.
She centered her mind on her task even as she kissed him. She broke the kiss and grinned up at him. He examined her face intently for a moment before nodding.
Hermione took a deep breath and whirled them away through time and space. It was time to start their life together.