Author's Note:

Hi guys! So this is the first ever fan fiction I have ever wrote, so I hope you enjoy! This is just a one-shot, but I will be eventually starting a multi-chapter story, so be on the look out for that! Without further ado, here is Flash of White.

- Bella

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, those belong to J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter world is all hers.

Flash of White

It was a flash of white and then he saw her.

"Hermione.."

He hadn't seen her for years, but there she was glowing. Almost like an angel, and somehow, he knew he wasn't far off.

She smiles at him the way he had secretly wished she would smile at him for years. In that innocent, purely adoring way that made his heart clench in want, in simple need of her.

There was a small shuffle in the room Draco was lying in, and though he was watching Hermione now, subconsciously he knew that she was just a figment of his imagination while he was in a coma in St. Mungo's. He ignored that, however, and focused on the honey brown eyes that held his at that moment.

"Draco, honey, why did you just moan for Hermione?"

A feminine voice had asked, and Draco heard it, although the voice sounded about a million miles away. He was too trapped by the sharp gaze peering at him to pay the voice any attention. He knew the voice either belonged to his wife, Astoria, or his mother, but at the moment, he didn't care.

Then she spoke.

"You ruined us, you know."

He didn't have to ask what she meant by this, he knew. He spent years torturing her and putting her down in every way he could.

At first, it was because she ruined the image of him being superior to her by blood. The way she beat him in everything struck a nerve with young Draco. It wasn't right and according to his father, should have been impossible. Unless, of course, Draco wasn't trying his hardest. Which he was, but the Mudblood still beat him anyway.

Later in life, that ideology left Draco's mind. He didn't believe in the crap anymore. Instead, he made fun of the girl because he liked her. This breakthrough took place after the Yule Ball fourth year. He'd seen her on the arms of his favorite Quidditch seeker, and Draco knew he wanted her then. There was no doubt in his mind she was his equal. The realization confused him, so he took his confusion out on her. He never again used the word Mudblood, but he found other ways to make her life Hell.

By the time sixth year came around, Draco knew he wanted nothing to do with the Dark Lord, but his father was in too thick. Draco did what he had to do to protect his mother and everyone else he cared about from the monster. It was after he watched his deranged aunt torture Hermione in his family home that he realized he loved her. He also realized he would never have a chance with her, to show her how he felt.

So Draco never tried to reveal how he felt. After the war, he did his duty as a Malfoy and married the beautiful, younger Greengrass sister, Astoria. Draco did love her, but not in the passionate way he did Hermione. No, he loved Astoria respectful way that most arranged marriages grew to become. He provided his heir, Scorpius, with Astoria and lived his life with her as a good husband and father. He raised his son to not believe in blood purity and to treat everyone equal. He even bit his tongue when Scorpius wrote about his new best friend, Albus Potter. (To say he was shocked a Potter was a Slytherin was an understatement.)

He never fell out of love with Hermione though. Every year once Scorpius turned eleven, he saw her four times. Always at King's Cross Station, when the children either left for Hogwarts or were coming home from Hogwarts. He never approached her, but he did watch her from afar. Her beauty only increased with age, and her smile always froze him. That innocent, purely adoring smile. Every time they made eye contact, he would quickly tear his eyes away as if he wasn't watching her every movement.

No, Draco couldn't shake her even after all those years. He secretly donated to all the causes she spoke out about and led. He was among the first to release and pay his house elves, and he was among the first to support her during her campaign to become Minister of Magic. He was proud of her, despite being heartbroken that she could never be his.

"Maybe we'll have a chance in the afterlife."

His heart suddenly beat quicker at these words. Hermione smiled sweetly at his wide eyes. He wanted to scream out in joy, but he couldn't get his voice to work. Draco wanted to run to her, to touch her as had longed to do all these many years, but his legs wouldn't carry him. He just stood there as his heart beat sporadically in his chest.

He watched her as she suddenly turned and started walking away. She sensed his disappointment and anxiety of her leaving, and she turned to look at him once again. She was farther away now, but he still could see every freckle on her face. He could see every wild curl as is whipped in the soft wind that seemed to surround only her. The glow around her appeared to become brighter, slowly building to blinding glare that made Draco's eyes burn. He wanted to look away, but the light was Hermione, and he wanted to soak up every detail of her before she left.

She mouthed the three words he had dreamed of her saying a million times, and he felt his heart speed up more once again. He could tell she was passing a message through her eyes to him, but with the steady increase of his heartbeat, he couldn't concentrate on it.

He began to hear outside voices again. This time shouts of desperation, and something about not having a whole lot of time left. He knew they were speaking about him when he heard his name pass through someone's lips followed by the declaration that they were losing him. He could hear a loud sob from the female voice he had heard earlier. He felt magic running through him as the outside voices tried to revive him but to no avail. Oddly enough, Draco wasn't afraid of dying. He felt at peace, and part of him was ready to go.

His eyes refocused on Hermione once again, the light surrounding her still burning his orbs.

"Wait for me Draco. I will join you soon."

And with that, everything went black.

Hermione Granger-Weasley, shot up out of bed breathing quickly the morning Draco Malfoy passed away. She felt that morning as if something inside of her had died. The news of his death followed her that day, no matter where she went.

A week later, she collapsed in her home and soon whisked away to St. Mungo's for an unknown cause. The only connection to her illness being a Draco Malfoy - for he was the only other case of this same disease to pass through the hospital doors. Unlike Malfoy, however, she had a stream of visitors come through her door; being a war hero and the Minister of Magic would do that. Her husband, Ron, and best friend, Harry Potter, never left her side, both praying for some magical cure to come and wake their Golden Girl up from her deep slumber.

The woman slept peacefully. Unaware of the anything until a few days later when she saw a flash of white behind her closed eyes.

"Draco?"

The man stood in her direct line of sight, that sly smirk of his playing on his mouth. His eyes shone with an unknown happiness she had never witnessed on him before. His pale blonde hair hung around his face, softening the sharpness of the angles of his face. She knew that face well.

She looked at what was around her then, wondering where she was. Everything was white for miles; she couldn't see the end of it. Turning her attention back to Draco, she had questions. Her mind spun with possibility after possibility, but nothing seemed to make sense.

She suddenly sensed an outside presence. Something or someone had grabbed her hand, but when she looked down at her hand, nothing was there.

"Surely we heard her wrong; surely she didn't just mumble Draco."

Hermione knew that outside voice. It was Ron, but she didn't have any idea where he was. All she saw was Draco, who appeared to be laughing at what Ron had said. Hermione cocked her head and stared at the man before her. Not once in her life had she seen this man laugh in such a carefree way that wasn't malicious and directed towards her or someone else. Granted, she hadn't honestly seen the man since before the days of the war.

He noticed her attention on him, and he stopped laughing to look at her. He continued to smile though, and Hermione's breath was taken away by how beautiful that smile was. His teeth were perfectly straight and white, and two small dimples appeared. It shocked her because, in her many years of knowing Draco, she had only ever seen a sneer or frown upon his face.

He gleamed at her, and she felt the urge to smile back, so she did. For the first time, there were no harsh words spoken between the two, just a comfortable silence and smiles.

"I've always loved you, you know."

Draco's voice seemed to surround her entire being and probably would have caused her to stumble if she could move. She blinked at his confession. Her mind tried to wrap around the idea of Draco Malfoy loving HER, regular old Hermione.

He'd made her life Hell. In fact, half of the things she was self-conscious about came from his constant picking. She learned the word Mudblood from him; she learned the truth about blood prejudice from him. Her hair was too frizzy; she was a prude and an insufferable know-it-all. Her mind spun from all the insults he threw at her, so much she began to feel herself get angry at his confession.

But then she looked into his eyes, and she saw the truth. Hermione saw the tiny things her mind ignored all those years ago. She saw his terror at being lesser to a muggle-born. She saw Yule Ball fourth year when he began to change. Hermione realized he stopped using the word Mudblood. She saw the pain in his eyes as he made fun of her with his friends around. She remembered how she felt his eyes on her in classes all the time. She remembered the time she accidentally bumped into him running to class, and he apologized. She saw the emotions in his eyes when he watched her while his aunt did awful things to her in his home. She remembered how he kept mouthing "I'm sorry" repeatedly until he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and pain. She remembered seeing him at King's Cross Station with his son - watching her. She remembered it all.

Her mouth dropped open slightly as she realized that despite all he ever did to her, she could never hate him because there was part of her that knew he never meant it all. She glanced up at his glowing figure and saw the way his eyes betrayed every emotion he had concealed for years.

The floodgates opened then and every hidden emotion she ever felt revealed itself.

"You told me to wait for you, so I did."

She gasped as his memories shoved themselves into her mind, and she finally understood why she woke up breathing so hard that morning a week ago. Love filled her heart as she felt his pain and suffering. It filled her so much she began to feel like a balloon about to explode from the push and pull of emotions inside of her. Draco smiled softly at her and began to step towards her slowly. When he reached her, he held out his hand.

Hermione stared at the hand before her, the fingers long and slim, but strong as they reached for her. She hesitated, but before she could talk herself out of it, she let her fingers slip into his. Both individuals gasped at the sudden flow of magic that ran between the two of them. They looked at their joined hands and let out a breath simultaneously.

Tears filled Hermione's eyes as regret filled the air of what could have been between them. She sobbed and fell forward into the arms of the man before her, and he held her tight like a vice, unwilling to ever let go.

"Don't cry; we're together now."

She felt Draco's deep voice from within him and latched on tighter than before. Her heartbeat was slowly increasing as she held on for dear life. She knew the end was near for her old life and it was time for her to move onto the next world. She also knew she wouldn't be alone in this transition because Draco would never leave her side. A few days ago, her mind would have reeled at the thought, but she was comforted instead and glanced up at his face.

When they made eye contact, her heartbeat increased more once again. In the back of her mind, she felt the outside presence and heard the sound of someone telling her to hold on, that she would be alright. She listened to the sounds of Healers rushing into the room, determined to save the war hero despite knowing the truth that they would not be able too. She heard the quiet sounds of crying from her family and friends in the room as this took place. But all of that was forgotten as Draco leaned down and connected their lips for the first time.

And her heart stopped.

"Your life will flash before your eyes right before you die."

That's something people always say. In a way, they are right, but it doesn't happen in the way we believe. It's not the memories or the best moments of your life relived. It's not a list of regrets you wish you had or had not done. Your life is a person; it's the individual that made you a better person in the end.

For some people, that is their lover. Others, it's the person they could have loved, it's their "what-if" person. Or, maybe it's their best friend or a parent. Some people have more than one person.

For Ron, his life was Harry and Hermione. For Harry, it was his wife, Ginny. For Ginny, it was her mother, Molly. For Molly, it was her children - all seven of them.

Seeing how everyone's life is different, it is scarce that two people are each other's person. Something about the way life works makes it hard for two people to affect each other in the same way. Twins are commonly a part of this rarity, such as Fred and George Weasley, but occasionally there is another set that is even rarer. That set is a couple that is a result of true love. In most of these cases, those couples fall in love during their time on Earth, and they die within a week of each other as a result of heartbreak. But in the case that they never live their lives together, they spend it longing after each other, only to fall short, and come to each other in the afterlife. The magic of love bringing them together in a way that others do not experience.

That was the case of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. They were each other's person.