It was nearly midnight when Hermione Granger walked through the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry hidden beneath Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. She was on her way to meet the love of her life who was a secret to all but her closest friends. They had planned to meet at midnight on the Astronomy Tower, the most romantic place in the castle; all inhabitants of the school had to be asleep or they would risk exposure of their romance. It was the last night that the two of them could ever see each other, for he was set to marry someone else the next day. They had known from the start that their relationship could not last, that it could only be a fling. But they had truly and deeply fallen in love with each other and it hurt them more than they could bear that they would have to be separated for good.
Hermione approached the top of the Astronomy Tower just as midnight struck. She pulled off the cloak, saw that her lover was not there yet, walked to the edge of the tower and looked out at the grounds displayed before her. The moon was reflected in the Black Lake and the stars shone like diamonds in the sky.
"It really is beautiful, isn't it?" a soft voice said from behind her.
Hermione turned around to see a seventeen-year old young man with sleek blond hair.
"Yeah, it is," Hermione said, a tear sliding down her cheek.
"Why are you crying, my love?" Draco asked, wiping away the tear.
"Because it's the last time I will ever see you," Hermione said, tears falling thick and fast down her face.
"Hey. We'll still see each other around," Draco said, taking Hermione in his arms and kissing the top of her head. He conjured a couch from the end of his wand and led Hermione to it. They sat down on it, Hermione's head resting on Draco's chest.
"Yeah," Draco said, his voice full of resentment. There were a few seconds of silence before he spoke again.
"Let's elope."
Hermione's eyes were wide when she moved her head to look at Draco.
"Draco, as enticing as that offer sounds, I'm only sixteen and I really want to finish school. It's different for you. Voldemort doesn't care if you are fully qualified or not. As long as his Death Eaters can torture and kill people, he's happy. I need to graduate so I can get a job."
"I don't want to marry Pansy. I can't stand her. She's awful. And she's not you," Draco said, looking down at Hermione.
"Voldemort commanded that you marry her, though. Do you really want to go against him?"
"If it would mean marrying you. Yes. I would do everything and anything for you, Hermione. You know that."
"I do. And I love you for it." Hermione lifted her head and kissed Draco full on the lips. "But I can't let you."
"What do you mean?" Draco asked.
Hermione said:
"I am here to tell you, we can never meet again,
"Simple really, isn't it? A word or two and then,
"A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when,
"You think of me, or speak of me, and wonder what befell,
"That someone you once loved so long ago, so well."
Draco looked at Hermione and said:
"Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by,
"You don't have to ask me and I need not reply,
"Every moment of my life from now until I die,
"I will think or dream of you and fail to understand,
"How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand,
"Is it written in the stars?
"Are we paying for some crime?
"Is that all that we are good for?
"Just a stretch of mortal time,
"Or some God's experiment in which we have no say?
"In which we're given paradise,
"But only for a day."
Hermione kissed Draco. "Marry Pansy, Draco. You can't defy your father or Voldemort," Hermione said, tears no longer in her eyes. "I'll be okay. Really."
"Are you sure, Hermione?" Draco said, concern in both eyes and voice.
Hermione nodded and said:
"Don't you see?
"Nothing can be altered,
"There is nothing to decide,
"No escape, no change of heart, nor any place to hide."
Draco sighed and responded:
"You are all I'll ever want,
"But this I am denied,
"Sometimes in my darkest thoughts I wish I never learned –"
"What it is to be in love and have that love returned," Hermione interrupted.
"Is it written in the stars?
"Are we paying for some crime?
"Is that all that we are good for?
"Just a stretch of mortal time," Hermione repeated Draco's words.
Together they said:
"Or some God's experiment in which we have no say?
"In which we're given paradise,
"But only for a day."
Draco bent his head down to Hermione's and pulled her into a kiss. They both knew that it would be the last one they ever shared and put as much love and passion into it as they possibly could. When they pulled apart, the two star-crossed lovers looked at each other for a few seconds before Hermione stood up and walked to the door of the Astronomy Tower.
At the entrance to the stairs Hermione looked back at Draco who said,
"I will always love you."
"And I you," Hermione responded before walking down the stairs, her heart broken, and leaving an equally broken-hearted Draco Malfoy watch her disappear from his life forever.