This is the first Harry Potter fanfiction I've done so please don't be rude. I'm planning it as a one-shot but if I get enough reviews wanting me to continue I will. I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER! Here goes nothing.

The Curse He Bears

It was five years ago. Five years since Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. Hermione Granger woke up shaken from her latest nightmare.

"Harry" she screeched as the Dark Lord sent a jet of green light towards the Chosen One. His body fell and it landed next to Ron's. Tears poured down her face as she fell over them, her best friends. She heard his high laugh as he walked to her and she looked up and saw the pale face, the burning eyes. All around were the bodies of the people she saw as her family. The Weasley's, Tonks and Lupin, all her schoolmates who had stayed to fight. The Death Eaters stood over the bodies laughing but there was one whose mouth was not in his usual smirk. She met Draco Malfoy's eyes as Voldemort aimed his wand at her. "Avada Kedevra" she heard but the green flash never reached her, never killed her, and she woke up in her bed with her heart pounding and hair wild.

It was always the same nightmare, always. Although she knew perfectly well Harry was alive; and Ron, it never left her mind, the alternate reality that could have been. She thought of the end of her dream, watching Malfoy as she died. Nobody had seen Draco Malfoy since Lord Voldemort's death and as an Auror, Hermione was curious as to where he'd been the past five years, but no one had found a lead on him at all. She got out of bed and started getting dressed. The witch would have preferred calling in sick to work, but she didn't think they would be able to stand her absences from work much longer. Everyone was hit hard by the war, but Hermione had been specifically affected by it and no one knew why.

She opened her front door to be stunned into freezing. The one man she never thought she would see again as standing at her door. Draco Malfoy had seemed to be in debate about knocking on her door. When her door opened he stepped back, refusing to meet her eyes at first. But the task he was determined to complete gave him courage.

"I need your help Granger." He spoke to Hermione, but returned his eyes to the floor after his last word.

"So I'm not Mudblood anymore? What is it, Malfoy? I'm late for work. Unlike you I've shown up in the world and people expect me to be around."

He thrust his left sleeve up and pushed his mark in her face.

"This Granger, damnit, this! It follows me like a curse. I can't get rid of it. Did you know some wizard shopkeepers ask to see your arm to make sure they're not serving a Death Eater? I want it gone. It's my past, and as long as it stains my arm, I can't have a future."

"Why do you all come to me? You're not the first to ask me about this. I don't know how to get rid of it! Why do you think I can?"

Both of their voices had risen, and Hermione pulled Draco into her flat when she saw one of her Muggle neighbors watching.

"It's because you are Hermione Granger. 'The greatest witch of our time.' Every Daily Prophet I see, you're on the front page for some new spell, potion or another Order of Merlin, First Class. All the others know it too, that's why they come to you! If anyone can get rid of this shame, it's you. At first I wanted this mark, too show I was important. Now it's embarrassing and I can't stop thinking of the horrible thing's I've done. Help me get rid of it… Please."

He tacked on the please because he thought it could help him if he was polite to her.

"Malfoy, I can't do it. I've tried, there's no cure. I'm hopeless!" she muttered and her shoulders slumped forward.

He didn't say anything, but leaned forward and captured her mouth with his. She was surprised at first but she responded warmly after she realized what was happening. His lips were cool against hers and she mentally compared it to Ron's kisses. Draco's were better, she decided. His had more feeling, more raw emotion, and more unpredictability. She fell into it headfirst and was upset when he pulled away.

"I shouldn't have done that. The Weasel-"

"Is married to Lavender Brown now." she cut him off. "I've never been his type. I've been in love with you since I punched you in our third year."

"I've been in love with you since the troll attack in first year and it spread around that you had gone searching for it alone. I win there."

"Where were you the past five years?"

"Around. Some France, some Italy, even Australia. I left every time I was recognized until I realized I had to come back to England, to my cure and my heart. Will you at least try to fix my arm?"

Her eyes dropped to his arm and a smug smile flickered onto her face.

"I don't have to," she said, pointing to his bare arm. "Lord Voldemort wanted his followers to be purebloods and to only love purebloods. That kiss and what we said countered his mark. Dumbledore always said love was stronger than Voldemort, here's proof."

"I thought you didn't know how to get rid of it."

"I didn't until I saw it disappear and put two and two together."

"Huh. Maybe you are the brightest witch of our time, Hermione."

She blushed and he leaned in for another kiss, enjoying the taste of her lips connecting to his, where they were supposed to be.

R&R tell me what you think. PLEASE!