'Avada kedavra'

The words pierced the night as a flash if green light was emitted from his wand and I watched my old, adored professor fall over the edge of the astronomy tower to the courtyard below.

I could not believe it.

It was done.

The very thing I had been dreading all year was done and I was not the one pushed to do it. As I felt the weight being lifted off my shoulders, I took a deep cleansing breath and looked at my godfather to see a flash of remorse in his eyes. But nothing more. I searched his face questioningly but all he did was put on his fake façade and his attitude quickly changed back to the stubborn git it has always been. He then turned me around and shoved me down the stairs and out of the astronomy tower as quickly as he could.

I was guided through the labyrinth of stairs and corridors quickly, making our way out of the castle I once considered my safe haven away from you know who. Hogwarts was not safe anymore and I made it that way. I let the death eaters in. I was the one who mended the vanishing cabinet. It was all my fault.

Everything was my fault.

I looked up and noticed we were finally making our way through the Great Hall and I started to feel relief as I continued walking and making my way out of the castle just knowing I was not the one who killed Dumbledore and also knowing I would soon be out of here. However, the guilt hit me again and started to become overwhelming knowing I let my family down. I had failed my father, failed the dark lord, and thinking more of it, I had failed Snape. He was forced into this by the unbreakable vow because I couldn't.

Suddenly the sound of broken glass brought me back to reality.

Shit.

I had to go back.

She needed me to go back.

I had to go to the room of requirement.

I stopped then turned on my heal abruptly and ran. I heard the death eaters yelling after me but I did not care enough to listen to them. Snape's voice boomed through the corridor as well but it was not audible to me. I knew I just had to keep going, keep running.

I ran all the way up to the seventh floor trying to catch my breath as I passed the tapestry. The door appeared and with a sigh of relief, I went inside.

The piles of stuff inside the room of lost things lined the walls all the way up to the ceiling. I saw the armoire filled with trinkets and books and I quickly got my bearings. I ran back to the vanishing cabinet and that's when I heard it.

Her sobs.

Sorrow filled me up as I heard them. I was the cause of her distress. She did not deserve to ever feel like this, let alone me making her feel like this. I felt horrible that I betrayed her. I dropped my head and continued towards the wardrobe around the corner that I knew she was in. After this incredible year we had together, I had killed her trust. At this thought I took a long shuddering breath and tried as best I could to calm myself.

I turned the corner.

I saw the wardrobe and my heart sank.

I locked her in there.

I was trying to keep her safe.

I reached out towards the knob and took another steading breath. I quietly grabbed and twisted the lock and as I opened the door she flinched and looked up at me as I looked down at her. She looked terrified.

I terrified her.

I felt sick.

How could I do this to her?

Her eyes were swollen and puffy. I flashed her a look of sorrow and regret but she looked away and pulled her knees closer to her chest.

"Just go away."

She had said it so quietly, if I was not paying attention, I would not have heard her.

I knew I deserved anything she was going to throw at me.

"I am so sorry," I said pathetically as if apologizing would really do anything in this situation.
Unfortunately, I could not find any other words for this moment. She deserved so much more of an explanation but I did not have one at the moment. She saw what I did and heard what was going to happen. She wanted to help me out of this mess but instead I locked her away so she was out of sight and I never told her if I was going to return or what would happen next.

I held out a hand to her. I just wanted to hold her in my arms one more time. I wanted to tell her that everything was going to be alright.

After what had seemed like an eternity, which I am sure was only a few seconds in reality, she took it. She took my hand that I held out to her. She was very reluctant, but what more could I ask for? It made me think that maybe for a split second, she still held a little bit of trust for me in her heart.

I hoisted her up and out of the closet. When she stepped out was when I enveloped her in my arms. She didn't want me to hold her. She started struggling and trying to get away but I would not let go. I just held her closer and tighter until finally she gave in and let me hold her.

She smelled like lavender. Oh how I have fallen in love with that scent.

She started to cry again, but her sobs were muffled into my chest. I smoothed her hair, comforting her wordlessly hoping that some way I may be able to regain her full trust in me.

I stood with her for a time and I finally felt her hands touch my back so that she could hold me closers to her, if that was at all possible. I comforted her and stood with her. I felt like I could do nothing more. Her sobs then started to die down and I leaned away so I could look at her but she kept her head down and tilted away from me.

I tipped her chin up with my finger and looked into her red, swollen eyes. Her normally radiant chocolate brown eyes were blood shot and dry tears had made tracks down her beautiful and flawless face.

My heart sank even more as I brushed away the remaining tears on her cheeks with my thumbs.

Then.

Just then.

With out thinking even.

I did it.

I crashed my lips down onto hers. I could feel the shock that went through her, but I continued to kiss her. She finally gave in.

Thank Merlin.

She gave into the kiss so then I deepened it. I deepened the kiss with as much passion that I could muster.

I licked her bottom lip, asking for entry and she let me in. Merlin she tasted delicious. Her essence alone makes me weak at the knees. I dipped my tongue into her mouth and tasted her essence. It was amazing and then she moaned into my mouth and I thought I was going to collapse. She started moving her hands. I felt them leave my back and go up my torso slowly. She brushed them over my chest and wrapped them around my neck.

Then she stopped.

Why did she stop?

I looked at her questioningly and she dropped her gaze to the floor. I knew what she was thinking and I was dreading the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She opened her mouth to say something then closed it again, almost like it pained her to say it.

Then she opened her mouth again. It was a whisper, "I can't do this anymore, Dragon." She looked down again and I saw more tears run down her face.

My heart sank.

This couldn't be happening.

I tilted her head up so she would look at me and wiped away her tears. "I can't stand to loose you." At that, she backed away. I felt her hands slip away from me and almost immediately I felt empty without her touch.

"Everything is going to change now isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Are you one of them now?"

"I have to be."

At that, she shivered and hid her face behind her hands. I heard her shuddering breaths as she breathed deeply, trying to keep her emotions to herself.

"Show me," she said. We both knew what she meant by that. I took a deep breath and unbuttoned the bottom of my sleeve. I slowly pulled it up over my forearm so that she could see the mark for herself. I looked up at her and noticed that she had gone completely pale and looked like she was going to get sick. She turned away from me and started walking towards the doors out of the room.

"Hermione!" I screamed after her, "wait."

I followed her quickly and caught her arm and pulled her to me. She tried to resist again.

"You didn't even let me explain."

She looked into my eyes giving me permission to tell her my side of the story.

"I had to do this for my family. If I would not have taken the mark and accepted this horrible task that was put on my shoulders, then my family would have been in jeopardy and I would have been killed. I was doing what I could to protect my family and myself from this monster that has now deemed my home, where I grew up, his lair."

At this thought I started to feel anger course through me and I clenched my fists. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself.

I felt a hand close around mine and I opened my eyes to see her staring at me with understanding.

"I can't even stand to go to my house because I can't escape him. Also, if you think about it, I can't even think of Hogwarts as my safe haven either because it was just overrun by death eaters. I can't escape this Hermione, and the last thing I need is the one person that keeps me sane is this war to leave me when I need them the most."

I looked down at her for any sign of acceptance of what I just said.

She stepped into me and wrapped her arms around me again and relief spread through me as she said two words.

"I'm sorry."

At this, her hold on me strengthened. "I didn't understand."

"You are my only light that I have in this war right now. I can't loose you too. Stay with me , Hermione."

She looked up at me and again, I closed the gap between us when my lips met hers.

** This time, she deepened the kiss herself as I felt her tongue brush mine and she moaned into my mouth. My hands moved to her waist and held her tight to me as I broke the kiss and started trailing kisses down her chin and to her neck. I felt her hand come up to the back of my neck, then rake through my hair as I continued my assault on her beautiful skin.

I felt the hem of her shirt on my fingertips and I started to gather it up slowly. My hands brushed her torso as I pulled her shirt up revealing her midriff, then her beautiful brazier and finally, her supple breasts. I finished pulling it over her head and watched as her curls bounced down around her shoulders. The shirt fluttered to the floor, completely forgotten as I kissed her even more. I pulled her body close to mine and ground into her so she could feel me against her. I could feel the shock run through her body. We have never gone that far before and she knew that tonight was not the night to hold back.

We needed this. Who knew when we would be together again?

Her hands came up and started undoing the buttons on my shirt. When she made it to the last button, she brought her hands back up and pushed the shirt from my shoulders, down my arms and to the floor to meet hers by our feet.

I kissed down her body to the top of her jeans and slowly undid them. I pulled them down, revealing her matching panties and beautiful legs. Her jeans pooled at her feet and she kicked them off as I stood up.

I looked down her body one more time and seeing her Slytherin green and silver lingerie completely undid me.

I picked her up in my arms and she wrapped her legs around me. I held her with one hand around her and another on the back of her head guiding her through another aggressive kiss.

I started walking, trying to remember if there was a place that I could put her down and have my way with her, when suddenly the room shifted.

We watched as the tall piles of junk and furniture shifted into a bedroom. On the far side of the room, there was a large four poster bed. On the wall next to the bed was a fireplace with two plush chairs facing it and a coffee table. On the table was a statue of a lion and a snake.

"I guess even in the most intimate of times, the room still has a sense of humor," Hermione stated as she saw the statue in the light of the fire. All of the other lights in the room had gone dark.

I made my way over to the large bed and gently put her down on top of the covers. I looked into her eyes and silently asked for permission to continue what I had started. She gave me a small smile which I translated into an ok, so I crawled on top of her. She sat up just enough so I could undo the bra she was wearing. I pulled it off of her revealing her beautiful mounds and nipples to the cool air. I watched as they hardened before my eyes, which made my cock twitch.

I took my tongue and gently licked her one nipple. I brought my other hand up to caress the other one. I kissed her breast lovingly then switched to give the other one attention. I could feel her chest heaving as I continued my ministrations on her breasts for a moment and when she least expected it, I reached between her and started to caress her folds through the panties. I started to feel her getting wet so I pulled away from her breasts and took both of my hands to pull down her panties.

The garment was thrown aside as I smiled up to her. She gave me a smile back. I slid my hands up her legs and opened them so that she was presented to me. My cock twitched again and with that, I leaned down and licked her little bud ever so softly. This made her buck her hips toward me, so I continued. I swirled my tongue around her gently, then sucked her lips into my mouth. I did this a few times to get her nice and wet then went back up to her and kissed her so she could taste her essence on my mouth. As I kissed her, I quickly undid my belt, button and zipper of my own pants and slid them down my legs, revealing my black boxers. She started pulling at them, trying to get them off of me but it was no use. She was in such a daze, she just ended up fumbling with the top of them until I pushed them down. I revealed my member to her and her eyes widened.

"Don't worry. I will be gentle," I whispered to her. I stole a reassuring kiss from her then licked my fingers and caressed her folds again. I saw her wince at the feeling when I started to prepare her for me. I put two of my fingers inside her and felt just how tight she was.

Then I felt it.

Her haymen.

I looked back at her. She reached up to me and pulled my head down so she could say something to me.

"I want you to be my first and only."

At those words, I came unglued and quickly positioned myself. I couldn't believe it. Even after everything that just happened, she was going to give me a gift that was so precious. Ever so slowly, I moved my cock into her tight wetness until it hit her barrier. I saw her wince again so I stopped so she could get used to the size.

Her chest was heaving, her hands were grabbing at me and she leaned up to touch our foreheads together.

"Make love to me Dragon."

With those words, I pushed into her fully and she cried out as I stole her innocence from her. I put her back down on the bed so she would be comfortable and started to move inside her slowly so she could understand the concept. I held her close to me as I continued to move in a out of her as gently as I could.

"Faster, baby." She said it so quietly I hardly heard her. I looked into her eyes and kissed her again as I started to move faster in and out of her.

Her moaning increased and I could feel myself on the verge of climaxing.

"I'm going to come, baby," I said to her. I saw her face twist in pleasure and a smile spread across her features.

"Me too."

I pumped into her again and felt our climaxes release at the same time. She cried out in ecstasy as I plunged my seed into her and collapsed into her arms. She held me tight for a while until I moved off of her and laid next to her smoothing out her hair as I looked down at her beautiful lust filled eyes. **

This was it. I had to tell her how I felt. We may not make it through this war so I had to tell her now. I took a cleansing breath and leaned down to her ear.

"I love you, Hermione." I said with a full smile on my face.

She looked at me and was speechless for a moment. Then she smiled beautifully up at me. "I love you too, Dragon."

I leaned down again and gave her a final kiss before I snuggled her in my arms and fell asleep for the night.