A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took me so long to put up, but I had really set on rewriting it, but that never happened. So... I'm posting it as is, and if later I feel I need to do some major revising (which I'm sure I will) I will change it. Please enjoy!!!

o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o

I'll say what I should and just hope you believe me

But it never gets easier

Sink into myself again

I can't hear a word you've said

The syllables

The sounds just aren't sentences

And all I really want to do is tear straight into you "Do you need to leave now? You've been here for hours already. You might as well spend the night. If Ron doesn't have a clue by now what you're up to…"

Draco walked from the kitchen to where Hermione was sitting by the fireplace. As he approached her she held her hands out to receive the tea he had brought for her.

"I know, Draco. I'm sure he's figured something out."

Hermione looked into her cup held between her hands. Her eyes were a sea of confusion.

"What's wrong Hermione? If you're scared to back, I'll go with you."

"It's not that. Did I tell you that Harry and Ginny know about us?"

Draco looked surprised. They were always so careful. When they were in public they always refrained from showing any part of their relationship outside of their friendship.

"How long have they known? And how did they find out?"

Hermione continued to stare into her cup as she said, "Remember three weeks ago when went to Diagon Alley to shop? We picked those pots for you and I bought that picture of a coast in Italy."

"I remember" Draco said, urging Hermione to continue.

"Before we ate we were walking and we passed a flower stand right outside that café we at once."

"And?"

"You grabbed a small bouquet of lilies and gave them to me, then you whispered in my ear and kissed me on the cheek."

Draco smiled briefly at the memory and then said, "But no one could have seen that, we were behind the stand, not right in the alley."

"But Harry and Ginny were in the café and they saw us walk by. Harry got up to say hello and saw you just as you kissed me. Then later the next day he and Ginny confronted me. I promised them I'd stop seeing you, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop Draco."

Hermione finally looked into Draco's eyes. "I should have told you earlier. I'm sorry."

"No, no… it's alright. They're just two less people in the world who will be surprised when we get in the open."

Hermione let out a frail laugh as she spun the tea in her cup. "I guess you're right. You're always right." She took a small sip and looked up at Draco. "Let's go."

"What?"

"Let's go. Right now. We'll tell Ron and then I'll pack as much as I can and we'll come back here."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I've never been more sure."

Draco could see that she was lying, but her face showed that she felt it was now or never.

"Okay. Just let me grab my wand."

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Ron was sitting on their bed talking aloud to himself.

"Where is she? Where is she? I swear, if she's not back in…" he looked at the clock, flashing 12:50, "ten minutes I'm going to get her. Wherever she is… I'll bring her back."

Ron was saying the same thing for hours: "ten minutes, ten minutes."

He watched the time tick by, slower by the minute. He dreaded the change from one minute to the next. When the clock changed to 12:59 he stood up and started pacing around the room. Walking back and forth, looking at the clock. 1:00.

"Shit!" Ron yelled as he heard a loud crack coming from another room.

He pulled out his wand and quietly put a charm on his feet, so not to make a sound. He could hear harsh whispering as he started walking out the room. The flat they lived in was unplottable, but that didn't mean that the few remaining Death Eaters couldn't find it. Ron and Hermione were told to use the utmost discretion when revealing their living quarters. Harry and Ginny were of the few that knew where they lived.

As Ron stalked through the hallway, his auror training flashed through his head. All the warnings he had to memorize, the rules of engagement that became automatic flooded his mind. Moody taught him to act and then ask questions. Do then think. The easiest target is the one caught in thought. Ron readied his wand as he approached the living room. The whispers were getting louder, but were still unclear. The time to act was now, while the enemy was unaware of his immediate presence.

Ron hurled him self forward and screamed "Avada Kedavra!" while trying to aim towards the voices. Somehow, during the war, Ron's instinct changed from stupefying to assuming an enemy is better dead than being allowed to remain an enemy.

As the flash of green lit the room Ron hit the floor with a thud. He fell on his side with such force that his shoulder popped out as he landed. His head spun with the sudden pain and he was aware of nothing around him. As he struggled to open his eyes and sit up, he heard a cry of such misery that he thought he was back on the battlefield listening to moans of loss.

But he was brought back to reality by a scream of "You! You! You killed her!"

The room suddenly lit with a bright yellow light. Ron blinked several times before looking on a scene he hoped was nothing but a hallucination. Malfoy was kneeling over the slumped body of Hermione, her lifeless eyes wide open. Malfoy was rocking over her body while stroking her hair and holding her limp hand. "No… no…," he whispered.

Ron was motionless. He didn't even know what he was looking at. That wasn't Hermione. She wasn't dead. She couldn't be. That was someone else. A Death Eater. An intruder. Anyone but Hermione.

Draco stopped moving. He looked over at Ron, hate in his eyes. He stood up and walked over to Ron, still unmoving. "You did this to her. You know what this means." He grabbed Ron off the ground and with a quick jerk popped Ron's shoulder back into place.

"A duel. Now." With a wave of his wand, Malfoy made the furniture move away and the walls shift to give them a proper room to fight.

Ron, too stunned to react, stood frozen in front of Malfoy.

"Prepare to defend yourself or suffer the pain you deserve." Malfoy steadied his wand hand and waited for a reaction.

Suddenly, Ron was back in the war, facing Lucius Malfoy. Ron raised his wand and stood in the dueling position.

"Crucio!" Malfoy screamed, aiming at Ron's heart. Ron deflected the curse and quickly returned with the stupefying charm.

Malfoy merely whirled his body around to avoid the spell as he screamed "Crucio!" again. His speed and aim were true as Ron fell to the ground screaming and convulsing in pain.

Draco stood still, breathing and watching Ron thrash on the floor. "You deserve this. You took her away from me!"

"NO!" Ron managed to yell out between the cries of torture.

An endless moment later Malfoy muttered, "Finite incantum". Ron lay motionless, panting heavily. Slowly he stood, muscles twitching, but still strong and looked Malfoy in the eyes.

"I didn't do this to her. You did. The day you took her from me you condemned her."

"NO!!! You killed her. You killed her." Draco peered into the eyes of Ron.

"No, I loved her."

"I LOVED HER!" Draco screamed. "You don't know what love is. What we had was love. What you felt was something else. It wasn't love."

Ron stood there, breathing heavy. "Well, now neither of us have her, do we?"

"And you'll pay for that."

"She was mine Malfoy. You had no right to take her from me."

"I didn't take her. She came to me. If it weren't for your idiocy, we would've never even met again. So I guess I should thank you. Your foolishness led to the happiest time of my life."

"LIAR!! She would never choose to be with you. She would rather… she would rather…"

"Die? Well you arranged that didn't you."

Ron's face emptied of color. He killed her. He killed the only person he's ever loved. But he didn't mean to. It was his fault. If Malfoy had only been standing in her place, he'd be the one dead.

Ron raised his wand. Malfoy raised his. They looked each other dead in the eye, hatred filling both. They both held their breath, waiting for the other to flinch, make any sign of movement. But both stood still, their vision fogging with emotion.

Ron blinked and took a deep breath. Now. Now was the time to attack.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" both shouted at the same time.

One fell, but through the green light he saw a face, smiling at him with those hazel eyes. They were shining and he heard a faint "I love you."

A/N: The final one... so. yeah. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review letting me know what you thought/felt/want to rant about. idk. Thanks for reading!!!!!