Devotional

"The hardest part of dreaming

about someone you love

is having to wake up."

-Unknown

The blonde man, approximately six feet three inches tall, pulled the black, knee-length pea coat closed, fastening the two top buttons only. His black boots, although quite heavy, barely made any noise as he strutted down the abandoned London street. It was well passed nightfall, and most of the city's inhabitants had retreated into their homes due to the harsh snowfall. The wind, in spite of everything, did not displace one hair on his head; not one snowflake had collected on his coat. He had been walking for quite some time, and not even once had he shivered from the negative temperature.

This man was Draco Malfoy. And what he was doing back in London after all these years, even he couldn't fathom. What he was doing walking down this exact street, heading for one specific apartment complex, was beyond him. As he approached the large brick building, he looked up at one specific window, three stories up, second window from the left. It was the only light shining from any of the buildings around.

Draco knew what lay inside that window. More specifically, who lay inside that window. It had been a long journey for Draco Malfoy, and this was his last stop, hopefully. Years had past since he had left the city limits of London without a word of goodbye.

Not that he regretted leaving, he realized as he neared the front door of the complex. It really was for the best of everyone. The longer he was gone, the more time everyone had to comprehend the truth behind The Situation. Yes, it was "The Situation" with a capital 'T' and a capital 'S'. Anyway, that was how Draco viewed it.

Without looking, he pressed the buzzer for 23A. He had been here so often, he knew its exact location by heart. Fourth row, seventh from the top. Regardless of how long he had been gone.

He waited for a response, tapping his foot nervously. Draco Malfoy, nervous? Ask anyone, and you would know that he was not a man usually made nervous by something like this.

But, that was the old Draco Malfoy. The one who clung to his surname with all he had.

Ask anyone, now, and they would say it was only love that made him tense now. Specifically, it was this one woman that made him nervous about love. Not because he was scared of love, he had grown past that fear. No, he was afraid she no longer loved him.

The only woman out there who would not immediately bow down and worship his toes, and he had fallen for her. Of course he would, though, it was how he was. Always wanting the greatest challenge.

The date was January 13th, 2004. He would be turning 23 that year. The woman he was hoping to see that night had already turned 23.

He heard the locked release and quickly grabbed the handle and let himself into the lobby. Shaking off his coat for no reason, other than to procrastinate further, and running his fingers through his hair once more, Draco started up the three flights of stairs that stood between him getting to her.

---

The brunette woman, approximately five feet four inches tall, casually tossed aside another book and let herself fall into the overstuffed chair that sat by the window of her third story flat. The snow outside was whirling around beautifully, illuminated by the streetlamps. Sighing, she noticed the blonde man making his way down the street. She straightened her shirt out, a simple red and black plaid button up, with all but the top two buttons fastened. She wore her usual tight black jeans.

The woman was Hermione Granger, and she had a feeling this afternoon when she woke up, yes, Hermione had slept in (it being the first day of her vacation), that the day she had been hoping for had come. She had not done anything special to prepare, the same black liquid liner on just her top lids, the same long curly hair parted to the side and hanging halfway down her back. She had visited Harry and Ginny, who just gave birth to their first child, not saying one word of her upcoming reunion. Ron and his wife, Lavender, had stopped by for tea later in the night.

Hermione had bought several new books afterward, hoping to stave off the anxiousness her mind was feeling with some light reading. But now that all ten of them had been strewn on the floor, and she saw that man approaching the apartment complex, nothing could help her mind from racing.

Was she really this nervous? It was not as if someone was forcing her to ride a broomstick above the city. Ask anyone, and they would tell you Hermione Granger was a woman that could not be made nervous by something as simple as this.

But, five years had passed since he last walked down this street, except then he had been heading in the other direction. Of course, that was when they were both young and naïve.

Ask anyone, now, and they would tell you the same thing. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy definitely needed to grow up. Love was the one thing that made Hermione nervous. Specifically, love involving Draco Malfoy.

She knew that he had many opportunities to find a woman who would do anything he wished of them, but she was not one of them. Courtship, she thought, was not all about what she did for him; it was about challenging each other. It was not one sided.

Glancing up at the calendar, she realized it was on this day, January 13th, which he had departed five years previous.

The doorbell rang and she stood quickly. Should she let him in, or just press the intercom and tell him to go away? Tell him that, after five years, it was too late?

Resigned to knowing what he had to say, she walked from her bedroom to the hall leading to her door, and pressed the button to release the locks on the entrance door before looking around the room to make sure everything was presentable. He still had three flights of stairs to climb before he would walk through her door and make some witty comment regarding the state of her living space.

---

Draco knocked on the door keeping him from gaining entrance to the apartment he briefly lived in, five years ago. His heart was pounding, and he could not say if it was from the three flights of stairs he had just sprinted up, or not knowing what to say or do when the door opened.

He heard some locks coming undone, and the doorknob started to turn. Before he could breath, or run as fast as he could, Hermione Granger stood before him, looking more radiant than the last time he had seen her. The curly brown hair he loved had gained so much length, and her figure had filled out so much more it seemed.

He took a deep breath and then spoke. "Can I come in, love?"

When she heard the knocks, a part of her mind wanted to ignore it, pretend she was not home, or sleeping. It was now or never, though, and she knew this. Time had been good to him, she realized immediately upon opening the door. Hermione looked over Draco's face. His hair was still as straight and blonde as the day he left, and his eyes were still as grey and soul-devouring as ever. The only big change was the facial hair, because she had always remembered him being clean shaven. The scruff was barely a week old.

Other than that, she could tell, there was something changed about him that was deeper than appearance.

She took a step back and gestured with her hand to welcome him into her home. The blonde nodded and smiled as he gracefully entered the threshold, heading directly for the living room. Hastily, she followed him.

Draco turned around to face her as they stood in front of her small cast-iron woodstove. He fondly remembered so many nights spent in front of it, sharing stories, drinking tea, and laughing for no real reason. Her mouth opened, and he knew the question she was about to ask.

He placed his index finger over her mouth to stifle her speech. "I left because I had unfinished business that needed to be dealt with," he replied. "It just happened to conveniently fall into time with our argument."

Hermione looked up at him. Damn, he was tall. She felt so small in comparison. She grabbed his wrist with her hand, letting her fingers linger on his skin for much longer than needed. Somehow, there still was a spark when they touched. "Did you complete your mission?" she asked simply, trying to hold back the hurt in her voice, as she folded her arms across her chest.

Draco felt his body wash over with emotion, a shiver flowing through his spine. He nodded. "I would have contacted you, but I was not to tell a single soul where I was going, or what I was doing," he explained quickly. "If I hadn't stormed out that night, things would have been so different."

"I remember waiting for you to come back," said Hermione, unwanted tears starting to fill her eyes. "I remember waiting in my chair by the window, for nothing at all."

"I had a job, love," he pleaded, placing both his hands on her shoulders and making his face level with her. "Please forgive me, I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you."

Hermione pushed him away with all the strength she had in her and turned away from him to wipe tears from her face. "How could you possibly make up five years?" she asked ruefully.

"I'd start by cleaning this place up. Obviously, you've let your 'creative chaos' take over once more and let your belongings fall into disarray while I've been away."

"AWAY?!" she shouted, turning to face him once more, her hands now fists by her sides. "You left me for five bloody years, no note, nothing! I knew you would come back to me, but five years? And then you have the audacity to joke that you'll clean my flat for atonement? Do you even remember what happened?"

Draco nodded. "I think my exact words, before I slammed the door and left, were 'You are the most prude woman I have ever had the displeasure of meeting'," he answered.

Her hand struck his cheek hard, and he raised his hand to it. "If you wanted it rough, love, you could have just said that way back when," he joked with a little smirk.

Oh the things Hermione wished she could do right now, all at once. She wanted to beat him silly, hex his balls off, pull all of his hair out, and gouge his eyes out with her thumbs before throwing him out the window. Sadly, what she wanted most was for him to kiss her. "I sodding hate you, Draco Malfoy!"

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Ms. Granger, keep talking dirty like that, and I just might have to throw you down and ravage you until you scream my name," retorted Draco as he nuzzled into her hair. She stayed stiff, her hands tightly balled fists once more by her hips. The feeling of his whiskers tickled her.

"I bet you haven't changed one bit," she spoke to him. "I doubt you've grown up at all in the past five years."

He sighed, letting his lips kiss her neck slowly. "It's actually quite the opposite," countered the blonde. Just as he remembered, her skin smelled sweet and tasted even sweeter. "Besides the obvious, which is the beard I have decided to grow so people stop asking to see an ID at the bar. In fact, Granger, I have decided that I am going to make you my wife."

"Well you might want to try asking first, Malfoy," said Hermione angrily. He had no right to use his lips like that anymore on her. He had no right to be holding her like this again. "I'll save you some time, actually. My answer is 'no'."

He laughed against her neck and pulled her even closer, letting his head rest upon hers. "I'm not who you always thought," he explained, his eyes closed, reveling in this moment. His one constant dream from the past five years was coming true. Though they were both five years older, what was in their hearts had not changed much. Hermione may hold some resentment towards him; he was hoping his words could help ease her pain. She was crying still, and it was not tears of joy. "I may bear the Darkmark, and I may have the astounding good looks of my father and mother, but I am a changed man, Hermione."

This was the only man who could just speak her name and make her heart melt. No, she thought, he hurt you, he left you alone.

Once more, she pushed him away, making sure the space between was several feet. "Prove it," she demanded as she sniffled. "Demonstrate that you are a 'changed man' as you say."

He smiled, as if he had expected this very command from her, and bent down on one knee, retrieving a small box from his pocket. He opened it and held it up for her to see. It was an ornate white gold diamond ring, an intricate pattern traced along the circumference. One large princess cut diamond set in the center, with two smaller ones one each side of it. "I never meant to upset you so much before I departed," said Draco. He had been planning this speech in his head since the moment he arrived back in London with this ring. "We should never have fought over sex, of all things. You were just the first woman to actually reject the offer, and my pride wouldn't allow it. But I now know that, regardless of my needs, it was about respecting you. I want it to be perfect for you. If you want to wait until we are married, then I'm willing to wait. Although, I would prefer to throw you to the floor right now, but that's not the point. What I am trying to say is, Hermione Granger, though I have not been able to see your smile or hear your voice for years, it's all that I've dreamt of."

"You couldn't even tell me you loved me when you left," interjected Hermione. Though her anger seemed to have been replaced with confusion when he had presented the ring, her mind, as always, stayed right on point. "Need I repeat it's been five years? How can you leave someone for five bloody years, and then realize you want to marry them before you could even admit you love them?"

He stood up quickly, still holding the ring towards her. "I love you, Hermione," he exclaimed. "I love you with every blonde hair on my body! I hate your lack of neatness, but I love you!"

She broke out in laughter. "Only you would find it fitting to throw a remark into a declaration of love."

"What do you say, love? Will you make my dreams come true?"

Hermione looked at his face once more. She too had dreamt of only him for the past five years. The first few months had been the hardest without him. Though they had only just became romantically involved before he left, only having a dozen or so snogging sessions in the brief month before he disappeared, she had known, for a fact, that she, Hermione Granger, had fallen for none other than Draco Malfoy.

Once the war had ended, and she and Ron decided it best for the both of them to remain friends, Draco had suddenly appeared once more, as if from ashes. He wanted friendship, and somehow he had found it within the Golden Trio. It had taken time, but after several months of working together on ridding the world of as much evil as they could, they all would spend many nights at bars together, going to dinner, making time for each other on their lunch breaks from work.

Ron had found Lavender once more, and Harry suddenly became wrapped up in Ginny again. That left Hermione and Draco to go to the bars together, holding each other up as they stumbled down the dark streets, giggling madly as they talked of how silly they had been as children.

Barely seven months later and he was gone. She had waited for five years, just hoping a man she spent one month dating would return to her.

Hermione sighed and brought a hand to her forehead. "I... I can't possibly decide this right now," she answered. "You've been back for five minutes and have already proposed to me."

Draco took the ring out of its box, took a quick step forward and grabbed her left hand before she could act. "Then take this as a promise, as my proof," he explained as he slipped the jewel on her ring finger. "That I will try my hardest to fix what I've broken, and that I will wait until you are ready to take it any further."

She let her hand stay in his. She whispered, "Don't do this to me again. Please."

He kissed the top of her hand then proceeded to kiss each individual finger. "I love you, Hermione Granger," said Draco sincerely. "With all my heart."

"I love you, too," she replied with a small smile. The air surrounding them seemed to push them together, and found their lips colliding in a long awaited kiss. His kiss was full of love and passion, regret and deep need. She responded back with her own show of compassion and desire.

As they broke away, he grabbed her hand and beckoned her to follow him to the bedroom. This time, her smile was much larger.

"No funny business," she said as they closed the door behind themselves. He removed his jacket and slung it over her chair by the window before closing the curtains and turning back to face her.

She had unbuttoned her shirt to reveal her still flat, smooth stomach and a lacy bra underneath. He approached her slowly with a questioning look in his eye.

"You said no funny business..."

"Am I not allowed to change into my nightclothes?" she asked casually, letting her fingers slid the shirt off her shoulders before she unbuttoned her pants and pulled them off, revealing a matching pair of panties. She smiled seductively before turning around and opening her wardrobe to retrieve a silk red nightgown. With her back still to him, she unclipped her bra and let it fall to the ground, allowing him full view of her bare back and barely covered bum. The panties were cut so he could see the perfect curve. His view was cut off, however, as she slipped on the nightgown, which fell a few inches above her knees.

He followed suit and removed his shirt, discarding it on the floor before removing his trousers. "Do you still have—" he barely caught the pair of pajama pants she threw towards him.

She climbed into the bed as he pulled the pants up, facing her all the while. She had seen his bare chest before, but it had been such a long time. It was broader than she remembered, and it only made her want to lay her head upon it even more. His abdomen was even more toned than she could remember.

Draco placed himself beside her on the bed and leaned back onto the pillows. Hermione leaned forward and kissed his lips once more before laying her head on his chest and pulling the comforter over both of them. "Thank you for coming back to me," she spoke softly, her eyes closes.

He reached beside the bed and flicked the light switch off and then kissed the top of his loves head. "Thank you, my love," he replied. "For waiting."

About an hour later, Draco was looking down at his beloved. She was sleeping peacefully, her head still on his chest, with a smile on her dreaming face. He had waited five long years for this moment, and he was more than willing to lose some sleep in order to commit to memory this moment.

"To be your friend was all I ever wanted;

to be your lover was all I ever dreamed."

-Valerie Lombardo

Author's Note: So I had this plot bunny running around my head and had to finish this story in one night. Fluffy, short and sweet. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if a prequel should be done. I was thinking of making this into a series of one-shots...?

Love you all,

LeeLee the Lunatic