Ten and a half years ago, former enemies became friends, then lovers. Ten years ago, they said good-bye for the last time. What happens when a shared dream brings memories long thought to be forgotten back to the surface? When subconscious thoughts and what ifs invade conscious emotions? A tale of regret and love lost…or is it?

Categories: Angst/ Romance

Possible Trigger: Unhappy marriage, thoughts of infidelity, infidelity, and divorce are all things that MAY end up in this fic.

Rating: M for adult situations

Disclaimer: I wish I were creative enough to have come up with the universe we all love to play in! Sadly, I am not. Anything that is recognizable belongs to JKR and the only compensation I receive from this fic are your responses.

A/N: This was supposed to be nothing more than a cathartic one shot, but after receiving some mind-blowing feedback from a fantastic Facebook group, I've decided to expand it into a multi-chapter fic. As this is my very first, I have no idea what updates are going to look like. Thank you anyone who decides to go along on this journey with me.

Edit: I added and changed some things around to try to alleviate some of the awkwardness. If anyone is willing to Beta read, I would be forever grateful 😊

Ch. 1 See You Soon…I hope

Knock knock knock

The curly haired witch smiled to herself as she heard the sound. She closed the cover of the book she was reading and placed it back on her nightstand before she stood up and stretched as she walked across the room to open the door for her, much anticipated, visitor. He'd been acting distant recently, so she wanted to do her best to snap him out of whatever funk he was in while he was over. She had guessed that something had been bothering him and she wanted to get to the bottom of it by the time he left. Such was her nature. Hermione Granger was, after all, a problem solver. At least she had something planned that she knew would make him smile tonight. She'd been working on it for quite some time and was looking forward to seeing her wizard's reaction.

"Hello, love" she said with a smile as she swung the door open to reveal a tall, pale, and very attractive blond man on the other side. She immediately circled her arms around his neck and leant in to press her lips against his in greeting. She felt long arms surround her and pull her in tight to his body as he responded and returned the kiss. Well at least he's still showing affection, she thought. When they broke off the kiss, she looked up at him with a grin. "I've got a treat for you today. I finally figured out the trick to getting my battery-operated television and video player to work. We're going to have an old-fashioned muggle movie night."

The blond man looked at the woman currently in his arms and gave her a sincere smile. Leave it to that girl to know just what to do to try to make him happy. He knew his witch. He knew that she could tell something was distracting him. The truth was, he had been trying to pull away and distance himself for a few days now. Ever since he'd received that blasted owl from his parents… It's for the best, he reminded himself. He had, in fact, come over with a very specific purpose in mind, and it was not going to be pleasant for either of them.

He was not, however, expecting the woman to try to fulfil one of his secret desires. Yes, it was true. Draco Malfoy had actually wanted to experience what it was like to watch a film. Ever since the Ministry mandated Muggle Studies class, the Pure-Blood Heir had a fascination with certain aspects of muggle life. Namely the technology they used to improve their lives without the use of magic. What he really found to be bloody brilliant, if he were being totally honest, was that muggles had managed to essentially make a magical photograph last well over an hour's time. He'd wanted to watch the muggle version of magic ever since it was talked about. He'd expressed his interest to Hermione in the past, but never thought she'd figure out a way to get it to work here in the magical world.

"How did you stop the magic from interfering with the electic city?" he asked with wonderment. Damned that brilliant woman. She was succeeding in distracting him from his ultimate objective. He could hardly do what he came to do now…it would be rude and ungrateful if he were to dismiss her gift. Draco Malfoy was raised to show nothing but the most proper of manners.

"Electricity" she said on a laugh "and it was actually just a shield charm cast around the device. To be honest, I don't know why it took me so long to figure out, or why no one else has even tried for that matter."

He shook his head in bemusement. Did the woman not truly understand how amazing her mind was? "If anyone would come up with a way to integrate muggle technology in the magical would it would be you, Mi.

She blushed at the compliment. "Well, thank you. What do you say we get this evening going?" She asked gesturing to the electronics in front of her.

"I'm ready when you are" He said with a grin. Clearly the urgency of his mission had been temporarily forgotten about in his glee.

The two walked into the sitting room area of her dorm hand in hand. Both enjoying the comfort of the other's touch. She felt satisfied that her plan was working, and that she would soon see her wizard return to normal. He was avoiding what he came to do, what he had to do before the night was over. He wasn't ready to let her go.

She moved to sit on the sofa, her back leaning against the arm, and he leaned into her arms.

Hermione could sense that he was still feeling quite tense, so she put her hands on his shoulders and started to try to rub the tension out of him.

Draco looked up, his grey eyes full of wonderment. "Why are you so kind to me?".

"You've shown me you're deserving of kindness." She shruged. They'd been through this before.

"Hermione, no one is more deserving of kindness than you, and I was the exact opposite of kind while we were in school."

Enough was enough. She started to scowl, feeling her temper at his self-loathing flair up. "Draco, what's going on? We've been through this before. You were a spoilt, entitled, pompous git in school, yes. But that wasn't your fault. You can't blame the sins of the parents on the child." The mention of his parents made him bristle under her hands. She hoped she hadn't pushed him to far by bringing up the elder Malfoy's but she hated when he was acting so down on himself. She stopped rubbing his shoulders and moved into a position so she could look him in the eyes. "You've apologized many times, and even before the end of the war you'd started to show your true colors. You were forgiven a long time ago, Draco." She took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh before she continued. "I'm not sure what has been bringing you down lately, but please, don't let your past taint your present."

Damnit all to hell, this witch really cared about him. He still found it miraculous that she would even give him the time of day. Here she was rubbing the tension out of his back, trying to make him feel better about himself when he'd come here all the while knowing he would leave her with a bruised heart. 'If only she knew how close she was to the mark about my past' he thought to himself with disgust. "you are amazing, Hermione, and I truly don't deserve you. Thank you, for the shoulder rub and the movie."

"Always, Draco. You don't have to thank me. I'm happy to do it." Sometimes she just couldn't understand how he could think so little of himself. She moved back into position with her leaning against the arm of the sofa, and Draco lying in her lap.

As the opening credits began, she started to comb her fingers through his silver blond hair. He had let it grow out in the days since the war, and no longer slicked it back with gobs of hair gel, and she found she really enjoyed getting to run her fingers through the silky locks. It was as calming for her as it was for him. She'd started to feel comfortable with physical contact, more than comfortable, it made her feel whole. Now that's a scary thought and not something to think about now… She could still sense how tense he was beneath the movements of her fingers, though, and it worried her.

While it hadn't been nearly long enough for what she was feeling to be love, there was no denying that she felt something towards the man currently in her lap. The air around her was foreboding. Draco may be enjoying her movie, but he wasn't relaxing. Try as she might to ignore it, to deny it, she knew… Whatever was occupying his thoughts was big, and she had a feeling that it certainly wouldn't be good for her when he finally broke down and told her.

They watched the movie in near silence, the tension suffocating. Both of them were too lost in their own thoughts of the inevitable that was to come to be able to engage in conversation.

The ending credits began to roll across the screen. The movie was over. Her time, and his, was up. He shifted his body so that he could look at the girl he'd come to care for in the last six months. What he saw nearly made him fall to the ground. Her eyes were full of anxiety and something else he couldn't dare look at too closely, lest he drop his mission altogether and pull her into his arms with no intention of ever letting go. It wasn't possible now, and it didn't do a bit of good to waste time on what might have been. Time to get things moving along.

As he stood, he held out his hand for her to grab on to and pulled her up so she was front to front with him. Her heart was pounding. He wrapped her in his arms and held her just a little too long and a little too tightly. The man was clearly conflicted about something. On the one hand, he was pulling away from her, yet he was also unwilling to let her go, literally, as he still held her in his arms.

A full minute passed until he finally ended the embrace. He looked at her, his eyes looking grey and lifeless. He couldn't do this. He couldn't stand to cause her any more pain than he already had. He couldn't be a witness to the effects of his actions. So he made a decision. He would just leave. He'd try again a different day. After all, what kind of a thank you would breaking her heart be? "I'll see you" He said, his voice wavering with uncertainty as he walked away from Hermione and headed towards the door.

He should have known there was no way Hermione Granger was going to let him get away with that.

It was now or never. He was leaving, and something told her that once he walked out that door, he would never walk back in. She took a deep breath shaking her head side to side gently "No" She lifted her head as he stopped and turned around. She looked right into his eyes, her chocolate piercing his ice grey. "you won't."

Damnit all to hell, he could see the tears forming in her eyes. He knew he was hurting her. For Salazar's sake, he was hurting himself. But what choice did he have? "The year's almost up and we're just delaying the inevitable." He tried to avoid looking into her eyes.

"I knew that you were leaving, Draco." She had confusion written all over her face. "The year is coming to a close in a few weeks and you already told me that your parents needed you to join them in France after the school term ended, but that doesn't mean we have to break up." Was this what was nagging at his mind, the fact that he's leaving? This hardly means the end of our relationship.

He tried to put as much of his old snark and malice into his words as possible. Maybe if she's angry at me, she won't hurt as much he thought. He wanted to make her mad. Old Draco was famous for getting a rise out of the Gryffindor Princess. "Not much of a point in continuing with me being in another country, Granger."

"Well I know it won't be as easy for us to be together as it's been in school, but there are plenty of ways we can make this work. We've got floo calls, apparition, portkey. Merlin, there are even muggle modes of communication and transportation that would make it possible for us to continue on despite the distance." It had been her goal to get him to see the possibilities before he left after graduation. "We still have a month left of the year to work out the details. Is this why you've been acting so distant lately?" Could he really not see that he was being rash in his decision? Did he not know that she wanted to keep him in her life? "I don't think it's fair to cheat ourselves out of what could be a wonderful relationship. People make long distance work all the time, even muggles can do it and they don't have instant transportation." All of a sudden, a sobering thought hit her mind with the strength of a troll hitting a wall. "Unless" she said, her voice just above a whisper.

"Unless what"

She took a deep breath and backed away from him a few steps before she raised her head to look right at him. "The only reason I can think of for you wanting to end this now is that you don't have any sort of feelings for me, and you don't think a relationship with me is worth the effort it would take." She said in as steady of a voice as she could manage. She refused to let the tears fall now. Once he left, because she had figured out that is what he was doing, she would break down, but now she refused to let him see her crumble. "So tell me, Draco, have you been toying with me this entire time? Was this just a passing fling with no emotions tied?"

Damnit, so much for the easy way, he thought bitterly. He had wanted her to come to that exact conclusion. He thought it would make it easier for him to leave if she were angry, if she no longer wanted to see him. As with many things in his life, Draco was wrong. She wasn't angry with him at all! Where was the clenching fists, why wasn't she reaching for her wand to hex his balls off? Why wasn't she screaming and kicking him out of her room telling him to never come near her again?

No, it wasn't anger he was getting from the witch. It was defeat. He could see the pain in her eyes, even as she tried to hide it, Gryffindor courage and all. Should he let her continue on believing her false assumptions and walk away as he had originally planned? It would certainly be easier, and the old him wouldn't hesitate to leave. Of course, the old him wouldn't be with a woman like Hermione Granger in the first place. The old him wouldn't deserve her, and Draco had worked very hard to be someone worthy of her. Granted, he didn't feel like he was there, or would ever get there, but he was trying. He knew that for some Salazer for saken reason she dealt with self-esteem issues, specifically when it came to the opposite sex. She didn't feel desirable to men. She couldn't see her beauty or her appeal. If he let her think he didn't care about her, she would fall back into that same pattern. He couldn't do that to her, no matter what it cost him. He had to tell her the truth.

"No, Hermione. Its not that I don't think a relationship with you wouldn't be worth it, but we still can't continue together once the year is over. He tried his best to keep the sadness and desperation out of his voice. "It wouldn't be good for you to stay with me." His fists were bunched at his side, the frustration of the whole situation showing. "If we stayed together, I'd just be holding you back."

She came up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "I think that's for me to decide, not you." What could she do to stop him from leaving?

"Bloody woman, I'm trying to do this for you, can't you see that? I do think a relationship is worth fighting for, but why? I'm not good for you. You could have your pick of wizards and if you're with me, you wouldn't have to opportunity to see if you could find a better fit. Someone who could bring you up instead of down."

She shakes her head at him. "Draco, I don't want anyone but you. Can you not see that?" The look in her eyes was almost pleading.

He grabs her to him and pulls her close, arms grasping her tight against his body. The kiss that follows was full of every emotion he couldn't put into words. His hands run up her back and into her hair deepening the kiss. She shivers as tongue seeks hers. He pulls away, but only to place kisses across her neck and nibbles the area below where her ear was attached.

The need to feel skin takes them both. She grabbed his shirt at the hem and lifts it over his head. She needs to touch him. Her hands run over his body as he reaches for her blouse. Her hands temporarily removed from his chest as he pulls it over her head leaving her in only her bra.

They had shagged in the past, but this was something different. They savored, they tasted, they enjoyed each other. When they finally joined, there was no wildly burning fire that couldn't be doused, there was no animal like mating. What they did could only be called making love. Though it was slow, it was no less passionate. When they jumped off the cliff of ecstasy, they did so together.

The next morning, found the couple in each other's arms as the sun was rising. "Hermione, love it's time to get up." He gently nudged her shoulder. "It's morning."

She groaned in dissatisfaction at being woken. One chocolate eye opened slightly to look at the man in front of her. "Don't go…bed's too cold without you" she grumbled.

He chuckled lightly at the sight of the disgruntled witch next to him in bed. "I've got no choice. Lucius and Narcissa are expecting me." There was a distinct sense of aggravation in his tone as he spoke his parents' names. Something that, had she been more alert she's have noticed immediately. As it was, she simply rolled over as soon as he had left the mattress and tucked the blankets around her like a cocoon.

"I'll see you soon, love." He told her as he leaned down to give her a kiss. This time there was no passionate fire, no unlocking of an emotional floodgate. This was quick, like a habit; a simple lip to lip kiss like it was something they would do every day of their lives. He smiled softly at her as he walked out the door.

Once the door had closed behind him, he leant up against it for a moment. "I hope" he sighed softly as he turned to walk away.

They hadn't spoken since.

Hermione woke with a start. Images of the last time Draco Malfoy walked out of her life fresh in her mind for the first time in nearly 10 years. "Draco" Her breathy voice whispered his name with a sad smile.

Meanwhile in Malfoy Manor…

Draco Malfoy, laying in his giant bed next to his wife, was mumbling a name in his sleep…" Hermione, Hermione, Hermione…I'm sorry"

A/N: So, that's the first chapter! What do you think so far? Also, would you like me to go back a little way to see how the Draminoe of it all began, go into detail about what happened after the door closed, or jump right into the present day? Let me know 😊

Ravenpuff Professor