Disclaimer: Everything Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Forgiveness

She ran to him. She knew he would be at the office trying to fix this disaster; a disaster that was out of his control like all disasters are.

When she entered his room she could see he was affected by this death more then the others. She saw papers on the floor that were normally in a neat organized stack. His computer was in two as was his chair that she had bought for him after the promotion. But HE was nowhere to be seen. It was at this realization that she began to truly worry. She slammed the door in anger, but when that didn't help she screamed until her voice was raspy from the intensity of her frustration. She thrashed and kicked and punched and yelled though no noise came from her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow pass by the office. She froze at the click of the lock turning and the door opened.

There he was.

She stared frozen in shock. He stood taking in the scene in front of him. What was she doing here? What did she want from him? Why, after all this time, after all that was said between them, did she show up here, now?

Anger began to build in him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with a sharpness in his voice that caused her to flinch just enough for his heart to skip momentarily.

She hesitated. Why was she there? Did she think she could help? Help with what exactly? He was staring at her now. She had to answer. She had to say something.

"I thought I could help." She squeaked.

He couldn't stop himself. He was always so weak around her. He walked up to her and took her into his arms. As much as he didn't want to admit it she could help, he needed her and she was there. After a moments hesitation she wrapped her arms around his chest just as he began to shake. His whole body was trembling now. Trembling with emotions he didn't know he was holding in. Feelings of fear, sadness, hate, love, hope. He was exhausted and having her arms around him only made him weaker. He sank to the floor taking her with him. He put his hands on his face to hide the tears from her. Softly she kissed his head, then his hands, then she leaned him into her as his body relaxed and he let her comfort him.

*TWO MONTHS EARLIER*

A book flew by his head close enough to make him think she wanted to hit him.

'Well that was unnecessary' he thought.

"How DARE you embarrass me like that. After I stuck up for you, for US!" She was crying now, he hated it when she cried.

She was throwing books again. He told himself he wasn't going to try and fix this. It was for the best, although she would never know that. To her it was just classic Draco playing his games and becoming the Draco she knew from school: bored with what he had and fucking the next thing that threw themselves at him. But when the next book hit him in the chest knocking the air out of him momentarily, he decided he had enough. If he was going to go through with these lies, he had to leave before his pride took over and tried to win back the one woman he'll ever love. So he turned his back on her and began to walk out of the room.

He should have known Hermione was not going to let him go that easy.

She stormed in front of him and reached the door before he could turn the knob. He looked at her and saw the fire burning within her. He was proud. After everything she had discovered, she still wanted it to work. Although it was a ruse to get her to leave him, Hermione didn't know this and yet she was still fighting for them.

"Don't even think about leaving, I'm not done with you." She said through clenched teeth, her fist turning white from the intensity of her stance. As casual as he could, he sneered taking a step back and put his hands in his pockets to stop them from reaching for her.

"What do you want? Don't you know when to give up? I don't love you Granger. It was all a ploy to get you into bed. To my surprise you were a lot better then I would've guessed, which is why I let it go on for so long. But I'm bored now, so if you don't mind..." He motioned to the door but she didn't move.

She stared at him. Searching for the truth. All she could think about was the night he cried over the death of his friends after the Battle of Hogwarts. He looked so innocent, so different from the man in front of her today. Then there was the night they first kissed in the common room of the Heads Dorm. She was upset after catching Ron snogging a fellow classmate. Draco comforted her, calmed her down by telling her sweet nothings. She didn't have the energy to question his motives; she just sat there and welcomed the feeling of his arms around her. When he leaned in and kissed her, the sparks that ignited between them were so intense she thought of it as a drug. After they came back from their embrace it took everything she had not to kiss him again and again, never wanting to let go. She was addicted. And when they hooked up the first time they had been up late, having long conversations about the future and their wants for a better Wizarding World. She was about to bid him good night when he grabbed her hand and embraced her.

There was something different about this kiss. It was filled with a desire and a feeling that she had never felt, not even with Ron. She wanted him. She wanted to be everything to him, for him. She was finally ready and willing to give her whole self to him. She told him this silently as she took his hands that were now tangled in her hair and lead him to her bedroom. He stopped in the middle of her room in awe, almost as if he didn't know what was happening. So she sat him on the bed as she stepped back to look at him. As she stared at him she slowly took her shirt off. After a moment of hesitation her pants followed and fell to the ground. As she reached for her bra Draco jumped up and walked to her kissing her with such force she was afraid she was going to forget to breath. After what seemed like an eternity he looked into her eyes with foreheads touching and asked if this was what she wanted. Hermione's reply made Draco feel unworthy of her. She told Draco that she didn't want anyone else but for him to have it. In that moment Hermione didn't know if they were going to be together forever or just for the night, but she knew that without a doubt Draco was the man she was saving herself for. In that moment she really did believe that her virginity belonged to him and she wouldn't have it any other way.

He was gentle and their night was filled with a passion that only a few great writers could describe. He treated her not as a prize she once thought Draco might, but as a woman who deserved to feel the love between them. He took his time making sure she felt everything she could feel. The pain was momentary but it was a pain that was fulfilling, and her moans were telling him to not stop. She wanted to stay in this moment forever. It was in this moment she knew that she, Hermione Jean Granger, loved Draco Malfoy. As if reading her mind, he stopped moving. Leaning his naked body on hers, his member still inside her, he took her face in his hands so she was forced to look into his eyes as he said the words that she thought she would never hear from him.

"I love you."

And with that they began their climb without taking their eyes off each other. Their bodies intertwined as they moved in unison, they reached their peak. In a moment that stretched into eternity they cried out their love for one another collapsing into each other, now one soul.

Coming back from the memory, she shook her head. As she looked back she couldn't believe that the man from that night is the same man in front of her now, the same man who wanted to leave. She looked at him, this stranger, and said her peace.

"If you ever loved me you won't leave."

With only a moment's pause he laughed shaking his head and walked past her out into the cold. Only after hearing the door slam did he apparate to his mother's house.

Hermione collapsed against the door exhausted. Did she see it, or was it a trick of the light? Because in that moment she saw hesitation. She saw desperation and fear and sadness and a look on Draco's face that could only be described as love.

*SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER*

Hermione was picking up her coffee at her favorite muggle coffee shop when she saw it. Just a small blurb on the TV,

"…2,067 are now confirmed dead. Amongst them are several dozen police officials' and a few dozen children and educators..."

Without thinking she ran. Once she was out of eyeshot she apparated to the office. Upon arrival she was thrown into chaos. Everyone knew very well that the incident was no accident and that it was not a random execution. They had targeted them. The aruors had been searching for the last of the Death Eaters when they were given a tip to where the head quarters might be. Most of the time they were dead-ends or traps. Several aruors had been killed over the years trying to catch these monsters but this was the first time they were ambushed and that muggles were harmed. Hermione ran to the head aruors office and sighed with relief when she saw Harry at the center of the desk with several other important aruors discussing strategies, Ron being one of them. After she knew they were OK she got to work. Hours passed and she did everything she could to help with relief efforts as well as helping set up momentary refuge for the victims and their families. It was then that she thought of him. She didn't see him at the table with the others. So she ran.

*PRESENT*

They were sitting against his desk now. Neither talking. It had been hours since he walked in and found her waiting. Most everyone in the office had gone home to be with his or her families, or to help with whatever they could at the bombsite. But alone, against the desk, they were content. Sitting in silence was a thing they were used to from their days as Head Boy and Girl. Draco spoke first.

"Why did you come?"

She sighed, because truth is she didn't know. In a voice at barely a whisper she said, "I guess I still love you. My mistake."

Suddenly, being in that room made her feel as if she was suffocating. Getting up she headed to the door only to be pulled back by his hands. He kissed her and pushed her against the door.

'NO!' She screamed to herself.

She pushed him off and turned her head away from him, wrapping her arms around herself.

He ran his hand through his blond silky hair and turned his back on her. Before she could change her mind she began to open the door. Again he stopped her and begged her not to leave.

"You know as well as I that this isn't going to end well." She replied in a whisper hoping if she said it quiet enough it wouldn't come true.

To her shock, he punched the door splintering it and causing his hand to bleed. After a few curse words and a flick of the wand he sat on the desk cradling his hand. It was then he realized she was still standing there, staring at him with a look in her eyes that tore into him, it was painful but he was happy to see it. She looked at him with love.

"I lied." He said.

Without hesitation she asked, "Why?" Because she knew exactly what he was talking about, that dreadful night two months ago.

"To save you from me." He looked away, ashamed. "I destroy everything. It was only a matter of time before you saw the monster that I am and left me. I did it to protect you and because…because I'm selfish. I couldn't watch you leave me." He was standing in front of her now but didn't touch her.

A moment passed and they were crying now. He took her in his embrace because they knew that it wouldn't be the same. They could never be together but she forgave him and he forgave himself and that's all that it took. Forgiveness for something that couldn't be fixed but it was over now and they could finally move on. When they kissed they knew it was the last time. They kissed each other with a desire to remember everything about this moment. With this kiss they touched each other's soul and they knew it was the end. After they came out of their embrace she hugged him. She wanted to never let go but she would. So after looking into his grey eyes one last time, with a smile on her face she turned and left. Although they would meet again, that was the last time Hermione would see the man she fell in love with, the man she gave her everything to. As he watched her leave, Draco knew he would never be the same and he knew he would never again love anyone the way he loved Hermione.

...

Hermione Granger went on to marry a man she met through the Weasleys and had a beautiful life with him. They had many children and grew old together and lived a life filled with love and happiness.

Draco Malfoy left the Ministry to take care of his mother when she became ill. After she died he took on the family business and married an old classmate he reconnected with through his old friend Blaise. They had one child, a son, who would go on to fall in love with a beautiful girl whose mother was a muggle born witch.

As much as they tried it seemed that fate would always bring them back to each other, because although they couldn't be together their children found love and were able to live the life that Hermione and Draco were meant to have but never could.