"The saddest word
in the whole wide world
is the word almost."
"I can't believe that Professor Vector paired me with Granger! Of all people to partner with for a year-long project and I had to get her. . ." A shoulder slammed into his own from behind and soon the wild curls of Hermione Granger entered Draco Malfoy's vision.
"You act like I'm just bloody thrilled about it, Malfoy." He sneered at her.
"You should be; it's a blessing to have such an intelligent partner."
"Quick reminder that I'm first in our class and you're only second."
"Not for long, you swot." She bristled but a malicious grin lifted her lips slightly.
"You say that but it's going on six years that I've been better than you. What makes you think that this year will be any different?" His eyebrows drew close as his eyes narrowed.
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Ooh, so scary, Malfoy. I'm absolutely trembling." With that, she turned on her heel and started off to her next class. Blaise Zabini turned to Draco.
"Damn, mate. When Granger's feisty, she's bloody attractive." Draco gagged.
"Don't make me throw up my lunch, Blaise. I don't need weird images of you getting it on with Granger stuck in my head." The Italian boy shrugged as they turned the corner.
"Hey, I wouldn't mind some of those images coming true." His eyebrows waggled and Draco gagged again.
"Truly sick, Blaise, absolutely sick. I think your hormones are getting the best of you."
"Wow! Did the famous muggle-hating Draco Malfoy remember something from his Fourth-Year Muggle Studies class?" Blaise's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Draco leered.
"Ah, yes, science. The thing that muggles use to explain magic. It's quite a silly way of thinking, mind you, but I do believe that your actions currently are to be blamed by it."
"So you don't think that you could be swayed by the Gryffindor princess to have a go, do you?"
"None whatsoever, you tosser."
"Bet on it then." Draco stopped and stared at his best friend with wide eyes. Blaise's face was stretched wide in a natural Slytherin smirk.
"I-what?"
"Bet on it. I bet that you end up going at it with Granger by the end of the year. If you don't, then you'll have to profess your undying love to her in the Great Hall at the ending feast. If you do, well. . .you got to shag Miss Priss." He snickered. Draco continued to watch him with interest for another minute.
"If I do bed Granger, you have to profess your undying love to her in the Great Hall at the feast instead." Blaise gave Draco a strange look before shrugging.
"Fine. It's a done deal." With that, the two shook hands and made their way to their next class.
"Not like that, Malfoy!" Draco seethed. Hermione had jumped across the table to stop him from writing and her bushy hair was now getting into his eyes. "If you write it that way, you could cause an absolute mistranslation! It needs to go like this. . ." The scratching of her quill on his parchment bothered him to no end.
As he watched her scribble across his notes, he mentally cursed Blaise a million times over. How in Merlin's beard was he supposed to get Hermione Granger down on her knees? Not to mention, for him, of all people.
It didn't matter right now at least. It was only their second meeting in the past two weeks and he was growing increasingly more irritated the more she rambled on.
"So, if we place this rune here. . .and add this transcription there. . .well, no, I guess we would need to put. . .hmm. . .maybe this could work? Wait-no, absolutely not. It would have to go this way, if we wanted it to read-"
"Granger." She looked up. Her eyebrows were scrunched together tightly, drawing lines along her forehead. The circles under her eyes were sunken in, as if she had been punched in the face. Rosy lips bowed downward in a sort of weary pout. She seemed tired. He found it somewhat attractive. "You look like shit."
Her eyes narrowed. Molten copper burned through him and he forgot for a second what he had just said.
"Bugger off." She returned her attention to the runes.
"Maybe we should quit for tonight. It's already nine o'clock." She blanched.
"It's what? Oh, Merlin, I'm so dead. I had to help Harry and Ron with-"
"I don't really care, Granger. Can we just finish this next week or whatever?" She paused, hands full of her belongings as she shoved them into her bag.
"We can't keep doing this."
"What?"
"We can't keep pushing this off. We need to work together more and start focusing. We need to translate this and create a response in order to make an O for our final grade, Malfoy. I do not accept anything below an O."
"Right. Of course you don't." He dragged a hand down his face. "Fine. Thursday night, then. Meet you here at seven." He collected his things and left.
Hermione stared at the tabletop for a moment before she resumed her packing. He seemed rather off tonight.
It had been three months of working together. Their sessions had moved to every evening in the library, seven o'clock on the hour. Hermione was always prompt. Draco seemed to always show up a few minutes late, eyes bloodshot and hair ruffled. She never questioned it; not until tonight, at least.
"Why do you always look like hell?" He glanced up at her, emotionless.
"Why do you?" She blinked. It was a weak comeback. She pushed her book and notes to the side, and leaned forward onto the table.
"Something's wrong."
"What could possibly be wrong with me spending my Friday night in a library translating runes with you?" He quipped at her, before turning his eyes down at the textbook. Two fingers twirled his wand in one hand while the other hand's fingers tapped on the desk in a nonsensical rhythm.
"Malfoy."
"Granger?" His fingers stopped tapping but the wand continued to twirl.
"Are you up to something?" His eyes were empty, but his jaw tensed noticeably. His wand froze.
"I'm translating runes, if that's what you're asking."
"No, that's not what I'm asking, you twit." His eyes narrowed.
"Don't push me, Granger. I do not have to answer you." She leaned back and looked him up and down before she stood up abruptly. For the first time that night, his face showed genuine emotion. Surprise stretched his eyebrows up towards his hairline and tightened his lips into a thin line.
"Let's just pick this up on Monday, what do you say?" Draco watched her for another second before rising as well.
"Very well, then. I will see you Monday, Granger." They each packed their things and walked side-by-side to the library doors. The library was about to close anyways, and so, Madam Pince shooed them out quickly. They had to travel down the west corridor before parting ways and accompanied each other in silence. When they reached the suit of armor wearing the most ghastly set of Christmas wreaths and garland around its neck, they paused.
"Well, goodni-" Hermione had turned to bid Draco goodbye when she saw his eyes directed at the ceiling above her. She, too, turned her eyes upwards. Growing between slight cracks in the stone, hung a blossoming tuft of mistletoe. She felt her jaw drop open.
Hermione's immediate thought was to walk away as quickly as she could; however, Hogwarts' enchanted mistletoe would never let her get away so easily. As soon as her leg twisted itself towards the staircase, she felt her body freeze. When she reluctantly faced Draco again, her body loosened.
"Isn't this just bloody great?" She muttered. Draco had been watching her struggle with her movement.
"Don't you want to get this over with, so we can go off to bed?" His arms were crossed over his chest. She stuck her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him.
"If you're so ready to get it over with, then why didn't you just kiss me already?" His eyes flashed.
"I didn't think you would be too keen on me trying to kiss you," he snarled.
"Some girls appreciate spontaneity, thank you very much. I don't expect you to make it romantic, but at least try to make it somewhat enjoyable. Merlin's beard! It's not that hard to make a girl hap-" Hermione's voice disappeared as Draco's arm slipped around her waist. Soon, their lips were pressed together tightly and his hand buried in her hair. Her own hands slid up his chest to grab at his shoulders and she let her eyes close slowly; if only to take in the way his golden eyelashes curled so elegantly as they fluttered shut and the way his face had flushed when their lips met.
They broke apart and her eyes opened to see the shock of blonde disappear down the steps. She stood frozen for a few moments before taking a tentative step backwards and heading to her dormitory.
It was a week after the holiday break and Hermione was off looking for Harry, who was supposed to be done with his lessons from Snape already. He was nowhere to be found in the lower levels of the castle and so she headed for the upper floors.
"Malfoy?" Hermione was standing at the end of the seventh floor corridor. Draco was leaning back against the wall, hands balled into fists and chest heaving with large breaths.
They hadn't seen each other since she left for the Burrow. Their kiss under the mistletoe had been ignored and they continued their study sessions, albeit with an increased tenseness.
He looked at her with blank eyes and pushed away from the stone. His shoes tapped against the floor as he started towards her. She felt herself back up as he got closer.
Her retreat only made him quicken his steps, and soon he had gathered her in his arms. Before she realized what was happening, his lips crashed upon her own. Their teeth clicked against each others but their movements evened out quickly.
Her arms were raised, hands flat open in the air. His own arms tightened around her waist and his fingers bruised into her hips. She let her eyes close, but she had noticed the dewy drops clinging to his eyelashes before she relaxed into the embrace.
This kiss lasted longer than the first and they only broke apart upon needing breath.
Draco's eyes remained closed, but his hands were left to rest on her hips. Slowly, he dropped his forehead against her own.
"Why did you do that?" Her voice was a whisper and she refused to move. Her hands now settled on his shoulders and pushed at him gently.
"I thought girls appreciated spontaneity." His voice was hoarse, as if he had been sobbing for hours. Hermione tensed.
"Well, yes, they do. More than likely though, they also have feelings for the bloke, you know." His eyes opened at that.
"Do you have any type of feeling for me at all, Granger? Of any kind?" She watched his pupils dilate. She never thought ice could burn like steel left in the hot sun all day.
"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" His eyebrows creased.
"We've spent almost four months just working together and getting to know each other without Saint Potter and Weasel around. We've known each other for six years." She pushed out of his arms.
"For those six years, you have ridiculed me, Harry, and Ron so don't think that that counts as knowing each other!" Her eyes narrowed at him. "And if you think four months is enough time spent with each other, I think you might be a little delusional, Malfoy." He straightened his back and slipped his hands in his pockets. She then noticed that he wasn't wearing his robes.
"I've come to care about you, Granger. I'm sorry to hear that you still feel the same about me as you did our first year."
"He was almost in love."
"I never said that I loathe you!"
"But you did loathe me at one point!"
"That doesn't mean that I do now." Hermione was flushed. Draco noticed.
"Then how do you feel?"
"Does it matter? This would never work."
"Prove it."
"What?"
"Prove that it would never work. Let's try it, and if it doesn't work, then it doesn't work." She stared at him with her mouth dropped open.
"Are-are you absolutely mental, Malfoy?" He shrugged.
"Possibly." She took a step backwards. "I'm not sure what I am, but I do know that I care about you in some sick way. I don't know what kind of game the universe is playing by making me feel this way, but I do. It seems only natural to try it out and see what happens." He remembered Blaise's teasing and the claims that he could end up falling for Hermione. Inwardly, he cursed his best friend for even suggesting the inevitable truth at all.
"Who are you and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?"
"Ha ha, very funny, Granger."
"What are you trying for?"
"I'm not trying for anything!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I have never had a choice in any matter, and suddenly, I do! Anything I do could get me killed, so why not go out with a bang?" His eyes were wild, fingers twisting through his hair.
"What do you mean, 'get you killed'?" Her voice was a whisper. He stared at her, jaw tense and eyes shadowed.
"I can't tell you."
"No, you can't just do that." She took a step towards him. "You can't say that you want to try- whatever this is -out and then not open up to me. If I open up to you, you have to open up to me."
"Granger, I really can't tell you. It could get you killed."
"Malfoy, please. This is a bloody war. I'm going to end up getting killed anyways." She pointed at herself. "Muggle-born, remember? Harry Potter's best friend? The brains of the so-called Golden Trio?"
"You are all of that, but you are also just Hermione Granger. You've never seemed to understand that."
"What's so special about being Hermione Granger besides all the things I mentioned?" She looked thoroughly confused and Draco bit back a groan before stalking towards her. She walked backwards until she hit the wall and he leaned down to look her straight in the eye.
"You are brilliant, bossy, impatient, demanding, independent, ruthless, bold, sassy, quick-witted, fearsome, and downright compelled to demolish your opponents." He paused and she opened her mouth to retaliate, but he continued. "You are also beautiful, kind, optimistic, strong-willed, brave, and fearless of all obstacles in your way. You are willing to give others the benefit of the doubt, such as being open enough to having this conversation with me, of all people. You shatter every perception people ever make about you, and you do it with absolute grace. You are something I will probably end up dying for, but I don't care anymore. I am sixteen years old and I have never lived for anything before."
They stood there frozen together for a moment. Hermione pushed herself off from the wall and encircled her arms around his neck, pulling him down to meet her in a searing kiss. He lost his balance and crashed them both into the wall, his hands landing on either side of her head to keep from crushing her.
She let out an, "oompf!", but didn't separate from him. Slowly, he let his hands drop down to her hips again.
Three months had passed. Draco's fingers trailed across the soft skin of Hermione's neck, before tangling to the curls there at the base.
"Hey! We need to finish this translation first; we're getting so close to finishing it." His lips vibrated as he hummed against her cheek.
"Am I a distraction, Granger?"
"Always, Malfoy." She let him twirl a curl around his slender middle finger before she shifted away to look at him face to face. "We need to talk."
"What about?"
"Harry thinks you're up to something." His entire face tensed, and she noticed the twitching of his left eye that he always tried so hard to cover up.
"Doesn't he always?"
"That's besides the point, Draco." His eyes relaxed slightly. Whenever she said his name, he would melt in her hands and she grasped parts of him he had never given to anyone.
"She was almost good for him."
"Do you believe him?" She looked down at his hand which was now flat against her bare thigh. His other hand was rubbing the soft material of her skirt between two fingers.
"You know I do, because you are up to something. I'm just not sure what." Pale lips pressed against her forehead.
"You will never know. I won't let you get in the middle of this, Granger." She sighed.
"I know you won't. I just wish I could help-"
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"If you did, you would only be losing the war for yourself." With that, he stood and began to pack his things. They were usually the only two people in the library at such a late hour, and had hidden themselves away in the farthest corner. She watched him with wet eyes.
"Draco, I-" He turned to look at her. She was the most vulnerable she had ever been. He felt his entire chest collapse, and then she had hurled herself into his arms.
"You need to leave tomorrow, before night falls." Draco's voice shook. Hermione pulled back to look at him.
"What?"
"It's happening tomorrow night. You need to leave the castle."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to. I won't let you get yourself killed."
"Oh, and you think I'll let you go and get yourself killed instead?"
"Just trust me, Hermione, please." She remained silent. After a moment, she pressed a kiss to his lips and stepped away. He watched her pack her bag before she locked eyes with him again.
"I will not let you die in this war." She left the library. Draco stood there for another few minutes before sinking to the floor and crying into his hands. He had never felt so vulnerable.
"Snape killed Dumbledore. Malfoy brought Death Eaters into the castle. He almost killed Dumbledore himself, but he couldn't do it. He was lowering his wand." Those words speared Hermione's brain so badly, that she had stopped thinking at all. Her lungs collapsed on themselves and her legs dropped from beneath her. Ron's lanky arms caught her and Harry's calloused fingers were wiping away tears she hadn't realized had begun to fall.
"What happened?" She had managed to croak out before Harry started to ramble about the night's events. She didn't listen.
"You found me." Hermione sat on the crest of a small hill, a few feet from the Weasley's protective barriers. Draco had apparated at the base of the hill, face lined with worry and eyes gray as ash. He started up towards her slowly. She watched him with a careful eye.
"You don't trust me." Her eyebrows raised and he shrugged, finally settling down next to her and facing the sunset.
"What gave you that ingenious idea, Malfoy?" He winced at the grating tone she used when saying his last name.
"Hermione. . ." She whipped her head around to face him, smacking him in the face with her curls.
"No! You don't get to run away and do something irrevocably stupid and then come crawling back into my arms and expect everything to be right again! I trusted you, Draco, and yet you went and pushed the final catalyst into place for this damn war to begin for real! Do you really expect me to sit here and take any apology you may have?"
"I don't expect anything from you. Well, I expected the yelling. . ." He trailed off as her lips pursed. Then, she leaned over, buried her face in her hands, and began to laugh. He watched her with curious eyes.
"I. . .cannot believe, that this is happening. . .right now." Hermione had sat up now, choking on tears as she continued to laugh with hiccups breaking through her sentence. "This is. . .absolutely mental."
"You did call me that when we decided to start this." She glanced over at him. Draco was gazing at her with pain strung across his face.
"Because you are!" She pushed into him with her shoulder and he almost toppled over before catching his balance.
"I may be mad, but only for you."
"At least you admit that you've gone completely bonkers." He was silent, watching the sky. She turned her eyes to the grass between her bare toes as she wriggled them nervously.
"You're leaving, aren't you?"
"You left first, Draco."
"He almost stopped her."
Draco's eyes met hers. Hermione felt like she had been swallowed by a whale. Her lips dropped open and she took a deep breath.
"I can't make you stay then, can I?" She shook her head slowly. He nodded in response before turning his attention back to the ever-darkening sky.
"Come with us."
"You know I can't. Those two dimwits would kill me on sight." She knew he was right.
"Don't call them dimwits."
"When do you leave?" His hand had found hers and clutched it tightly, as if to leave his fingerprints branded on her skin.
"Probably tomorrow night, after Bill and Fleur's wedding."
"A wedding? It's the middle of a war."
"Best time to do it then, isn't it?" They both turned to each other at the same time, before their gazes dropped to their intertwined fingers.
"I. . ."
"Yes?"
"I was going to wait, but you make a solid point. . ."
"What do you mean?"
"I wanted to give you this." Draco slipped off a thin silver chain from around his neck. Hermione accepted it with raised eyebrows. It was made of goblin's silver, charmed with ancient magic, and decorated with a startling bright emerald which was stuck in between the chains of silver. "It belonged to my mother."
"Is she alright?" His eyes were cold and hard as he met her stare.
"Is anyone?"
"Valid point." She clasped the chain around her neck, adjusting it to a comfortable placement. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I started a war that we're probably going to die in."
"You had no choice."
"I didn't, not until I got to know you."
"Why did you even bother to get to know me?"
"It's stupid and you'll probably slap me for it." Her eyebrows raised again and he lifted a single blonde eyebrow in return.
"I will neither agree nor deny that claim. Tell me."
"Blaise bet that if I could get you into bed, then he would profess his undying love for you at the end of year feast." Her jaw dropped.
"You-smack-idiot-smack-how dare-smack-you bet on-smack-such-smack-a ludicrous-smack-thing!" Hermione's hand connected with whatever parts of Draco she could reach.
"I won the bet, though! Aren't you proud?" His face was flushed and a coy grin lifted his pale lips. The dark circles under his eyes bunched up and lines crinkled across his face, showing the physical effects his situation had on him.
"Glad to know that sex with me is so meaningful, Malfoy."
"It's to die for, Granger." Exasperation filled her face as she stared at him.
"You're impossible."
"Meet me tomorrow evening, before you go." His eyes sparked. "Right here is where I'll be."
"I'll try."
"She almost waited."
As the sun set and the wedding finished, Hermione looked towards the grassy hill. She knew the time was coming soon to see him.
A large crash and a jet of black smoke filled the tent. Guests screamed and bodies hurtled into her from all directions.
"The Ministry has fallen. The Minister of Magic is dead. They are coming," Kingsley's voice boomed. Her heart dropped. Ron was rushing towards her and she saw Harry, who still portrayed the image of Barny Weasley, running after Ginny.
She took another glance at the hillside, before slipping her hand into Ron's and hurrying after Harry.
Her screams echoed through Malfoy Manor's halls. Draco was frozen, eyes glued to the writing form under his aunt.
Hermione wailed once more as the blade sunk deeper into her arm. Bellatrix's cackle rung in his head like a church bell on Hallows Eve night.
He did nothing.
Curses splintered in the air surrounding him. To his left, he saw Pansy drop to her knees and begin to pray over the fallen body of her old dorm mate. He had never seen her care about anyone but herself before. On his right, Blaise dodged a jinx and then hurled a hex to the offender. Draco's own hand shook as he pointed his wand at a masked attacker.
He hoped the Death Eater didn't recognize him.
A few feet ahead of him, he saw a bushy head of curls dart around the corner and come face to face with him. He paused, arms raised to show that he wasn't going to attack. Her wand was pressed against his adam's apple and he swallowed thickly.
Her eyes burned with passion, exhaustion, and anger.
"I'm sorry, Hermione." He let the words fall from his mouth. She blinked, before she lowered her wand and stepped closer.
"Draco. . ." He slipped his arm around her waist and drew her in to him, their lips meeting in a deep and desperate kiss.
At that moment, he didn't care who saw. He didn't care if Voldemort were to round the corner right that second. He didn't care if God himself came down from the Heavens to banish him to the burning fires of Hell for the rest of eternity.
All that mattered, was that she was alive and in his arms at that moment. If he were to live to be a hundred, this would be the moment he would remember as he died.
This was the moment he knew that Hermione Granger loved him.
They broke apart and she looked at him for another minute, as if memorizing each dimple, mole, and wrinkle that created the dips and curves of his face.
"Be safe." And she was gone.
Draco continued to fight with a renewed vigor.
Harry was dead. Hermione's scream had been deafening. Ginny's wail was worse, but by far, McGonagall's had been the pitfall.
Draco's parents called for him.
On the opposite side of which he stood.
He saw Hermione's head swivel towards him, her eyes begging him to stay.
He took a step forward. She looked away.
He crossed the open battlefield, were he was stopped in the middle by Voldemort himself. This inhuman beast drew Draco into a hug, causing the seventeen year old boy to want to throw up immediately. He was released from the skeletal grip and joined his parents.
Hermione had begun to cry.
Neville was speaking. She couldn't hear. She couldn't think. Harry was dead, Draco had changed sides, she was going to die. Blood rushed through her ears and she felt faint. Ron's hand gripped her upper arm tightly to help her stay steady and upright.
Ginny screamed next to her, bringing her back to the surface. Harry had rolled out of Hagrid's arms. He was running towards them. She stared at him; mouth gaping open, eyes wide.
He had no wand and yet he still continued to fight.
She wasn't the only person to realize this.
Draco shot out from between his parents. He had his wand in his hand, and his feet pounded against the crumbling stone of the courtyard. Hermione moved forward, voice caught in her throat.
"He almost lived."
"Potter!" Draco cried out towards him. Harry turned to see Draco's wand fly right at him. He caught it and with a quick twist, he landed a blocking spell at Voldemort who had begun his attack.
"Draco, no!" Hermione's voice finally began to work. He turned towards her as he ran forward, arms pumping and eyebrows creased in determination.
A stream of green light crackled through the air and Draco froze, his face pale as snow. He crumpled. She wailed.
Her knees hit the stone, eyes burning with tears. She crawled the few feet left to reach him, and turned him over.
His eyes were blank; the icy grey cold and empty. Pale lips dropped open in a silent cry and his forehead was slightly gashed. She brushed his blonde hair away from the clotted blood and dropped her head upon his chest.
Her blood boiled. Her tears fell. Her skin prickled.
Hermione stood and faced the wall of dark masks.
"You gave him no choice." She hurtled herself back into the fight, rage leaking from her eyes and magic sparking from her fingertips.
The darting lights of spells glinted and shimmered across the flash of silver and green around her neck. The chain was burning against her throat, itching like the trail of his fingers over her skin.
A curdling scream ripped from her jaw as she launched herself at her opponents.
Anyone she battled, fell to the ground as stone cold as her fallen lover.
"They almost made it."