Disclaimer: Annndddd I still don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does, though. Lucky girl. Er, woman.
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Epilogue:
Despite Draco's complete and utter confidence in Hermione's abilities to discover the reason behind his slight change in nature towards him, she did no such thing.
For a while he was pleased to note that she was putting forward quite a large amount of time and effort into studying him and the motives behind his behavior. It was a wonderful feeling for him to be in her spotlight. Draco was hard-pressed to keep from smiling every time she looked over at him and scrunched up her nose in what he recognized as the expression she made whenever she was faced with an exceptionally difficult puzzle.
The only difference was that those puzzles were all solved eventually, and she never needed to go beyond the library to find the solution.
Ironically, Hermione would have the answers much sooner if she had a bit more faith in her fellow females and their skills of observation. Unfortunately she did not, and instead spent almost an entire year holed up in the library, studying psychology books, to no avail.
Harry and Ron never managed to figure out what she was doing. That wasn't for lack of trying, however. It should be noted that Weasleys in general have a very persistant nature, and Ron was no exception to the rule. On the other hand, the boy-who-lived was slightly less enthusiastic when it came to questioning his friend on her behavior. He can be forgiven, however, because he was quite preoccupied, as there was a formidable Dark Lord who was focusing most of his mind on scheming and plotting ways to kill Harry, thus neutralizing the largest threat to him and his plans for world domination.
Draco, although he is immensely ashamed of it and will probably never mention it out loud to anyone except for Hermione, was unable to keep the promise he made himself in regards to allowing Hermione the time and space to figure him out on her own. Waiting approximately 8 months, however, shows a commendable amount of patience, so it is unlikely anyone would fault him for it.
Nevertheless, one day he just couldn't wait any longer. There wasn't anything particularly special about that day. It was grey and drizzly, like the entire week before it had been, and his schedule was exactly the same as it had been since September. Draco didn't wake up feeling different, and there was no powerful electrical charge in the air. Even Draco himself doesn't know the precise reason behind his actions, but he does know that his hormones are likely to blame.
Whatever his reasoning had been, the facts remain the same.
Draco and Hermione passed by each other in a narrow corridor near the bottom of the Ravenclaw tower. It was completely deserted except for the two of them.
Hermione stared at him the whole time, her inquisitive nature overwhelming the inner voice that told her it was rude to stare, and she should be moving faster because if she didn't get her Charms essay started soon, she would have less than a week to complete it in.
Beyond simply being flattered, and basking in the slight attention he was recieving from her, Draco was actually slightly annoyed that she still remained oblivious. Not only that, but it was becoming harder and harder not to kiss her senseless every time he saw her looking at him.
On that particular day, he failed to remove his gaze from her own. Her soft doe eyes, which sparkled with intelligence, seemed to fill his vision and they were all he could see until she licked her lips nervously.
At that point, his eyes dropped, now watching as her slightly parted lips glistened with moisture, the tip of her tongue flicking over them.
Before he knew what he was doing, Draco had pushed her up against a wall, pressing his own lips to hers.
Shocked and utterly confused, Hermione dropped her textbooks but was unable to respond any more than that, frozen completely as she felt a foreign tongue tracing the outline of her mouth and the sharp corners of cold stones pressing uncomfortably into her back.
Disappointed in her lack of response and feeling rejected and heartbroken, Draco pulled back and turned away, intending to go back to his dorm room and wallow in despair.
At that point, however, Hermione regained her senses and found that she had actually enjoyed the kiss, although she hadn't been an active participant and she was fairly sure there was a rather large bruise on her left shoulder blade. Futhermore, she realized that her close inspection of Draco had, over the months, established a growing affection for the Slytherin within her.
Reaching out, she grabbed his sleeve, catching his attention. When he turned back to her, she placed her hands on his cheeks, then stood on tip-toe, tilted her head back, and kissed him.
Draco could not remember a time in his life when he had been happier.
As for Hermione? Well, she figured Harry and Ron would get over it eventually.
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AN: Yes! It's done! Thank God. I hate this story. It was fun to write, but I keep looking back on it and going, "what was I THINKING??" Um, I hope you guys like it, though. I was seriously considering giving it an unhappy ending, with Hermione never figuring it out and Draco waiting for the rest of his life, but it didn't fit with the mood of the first two chapters, so a happy ending it was. Sorry if it didn't meet your expectations...I can't really say I tried my best, 'cause I wrote this chapter in half an hour or so and didn't edit it. Again. Whatever. I still hope you like it.
