Frustrated at Malfoy for not speaking to her any more than was absolutely necessary (and carefully avoiding the fact that she had acted in much the same way when she first learned his true identity) Hermione decided to corner him in the kitchen a few nights later.

They took turns making dinner each night, tonight was his turn. As he was distracted, trying to pluck a chicken he'd stolen from a nearby yard, she felt now was the perfect time to have it out with him.

"Dinner shouldn't be too long, once I finish with these bloody feathers," He called over his shoulder, brushing a stray feather from his otherwise immaculate robes, eyeing the offending plume with distaste. "Are you sure you don't know of a spell that can do this for me?"

"What's the matter with you?" Hermione demanded, standing in the doorway, her arms crossed. Malfoy raised one eyebrow, questioningly, brushing his silvery bangs out of his eyes agitatedly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why have you been acting like such a spoilt child? Hermione elaborated, before realising that as the only child of fairly well-off pureblood parents, Draco would have received everything he ever asked for.

"I'm not acting like anything," he shot back, before returning to the chicken.

"Ever since I started practising my Patronus you've been cold and distant and I want to know why." Malfoy flinched at the mention of the Patronus and Hermione knew she had him. So that was the issue. Now she just needed to know why.

"I didn't think it was a good idea that's all."

"Fine. You didn't think I should make contact. Putting that aside, why, after nothing bad happened once I sent it, didn't things return to normal? Once you realised I hadn't put us in danger, why couldn't we just go back to the way things were?" Malfoy turned away, his steely gaze piercing the chicken on the counter rather than meeting her eyes.

"We're not friends, Granger." He replied after a few moments of silence. Despite the fact that Hermione knew they weren't now, nor had they ever been friends, his saying so sounded far harsher than she would have expected. "Whatever's happened here doesn't change that. I'm merely doing what I told Potter I would."

"I never said-"

"And I don't like rodents!" he snapped, unexpectedly, tossing the naked chicken aside to it landed in the sink.

"You don't…" Hermione stood, staring at Malfoy's back as he clenched his hands into fists, desperate to make sense of the random outburst. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't feel like eating. You can finish this if you-"

Hermione raised her wand and aimed for Draco's legs as he started to cross the room. "Colloshoo!" his feet stuck fast to the floor immediately, he overbalanced and fell with a disgruntled sound to the ground.

"How dare you-"

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on," she cut him off mid-growl.

From his place on the floor, Malfoy glared before raising his own wand and crying, "Locomotor Wibbly!"

Hermione fell to the floor as her legs turned to jelly. Now on an equal level, she glared back at him and sent a Bat-Bogey Hex his way, which he managed to dodge by flattening himself against the floor. Malfoy sent a Silencing Charm at her, but she avoided it by sending a Shield Charm up between the two of them.

"Explain." She demanded from one side of the Shield while he glowered on the other, trying to stand, his feet remaining glued.

"I don't like rodents," was all he said, his tone cold, eyes narrowed in anger.

"Yes, you already said that, but I don't know what you-"

"I thought you were supposed to be the smartest in our year." Draco taunted and for the first time since discovering whom her mysterious saviour was, Hermione saw a shadow of the boy she'd grown up hating, the one who made life hardest for her in the castle.

Before she spoke again, Hermione ran his sentence through her mind trying to find the important information. Rodents seemed to be it. Rodents… Her Patronus was an otter, a member of the same family as the weasel… Weasley. It was Ron Draco had a problem with. That much she already knew from their years of schooling together, but what did it have to do- Suddenly she had an idea, ridiculous as it was.

"Y-you're jealous," she breathed, as he fought off her curse and managed to unstick one foot. A triumphant look shining through his anger, before her words registered and he looked at her, appalled.

"Don't be so-"

"We were getting along fine. Not fantastically, but all right. Then I cast my Patronus –an otter- and you completely shut down. You're jealous because my Patronus-"

"What do I care if you're in love with the Weasel?"

"I'm not-"

"I don't care!" Malfoy roared, his face contorted into a mask of such rage, she scrambled to her feet, frightened, as he wrenched his other foot free from the floor. Her attention diverted, Hermione's Shield fell away.

"Get out of my way," he demanded, looking down at her angrily. Hermione couldn't move. She was blocking the door, but, despite no longer being cursed, she couldn't budge.

"Move." Malfoy seethed, aiming his wand at her again. Hermione stumbled to the side and he pushed past her out of the room, leaving her even more confused than before.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Bloody brilliant. Draco thought, pacing the garden in the thickening darkness. Snow crunched underfoot as he glared all around, half-mad with the desire for someone to stumble upon him so he could take the full extent of his fury on them. Fantastic. You did a really good job of keeping your mouth shut you stupid git, he berated himself.

This was not supposed to happen. This was unacceptable. It was one thing for Granger to know who he was, but this… A roar of frustration tore the air and he blasted a bush a few feet away to vent some of his anger. It burst into bright orange flames and an owl flew out of a nearby tree with an indignant hoot.

Granger was right of course. He knew she was right. And the worst part was, that after the way he'd reacted, she would know it now as well.

As much as he wished he could just pass his irritation at the otter off as dislike for Weasley he knew. After weeks of only Granger as company, of having nothing to do in the long hours of the night but sit and think, he knew that he was in fact jealous that her Patronus took the form of something so closely related to a weasel. And the way she'd reacted to the redhead being attacked in her nightmares…

As much as it pained him to even just think the words, he hated that she was in love with Ronald Weasley. Because-

"Shut up!" he snapped at himself, kicking a rock and watching it fly a few feet in the air before he blasted it as well and watched a shower of dust rain down to the ground. "Just shut up you stupid…" he muttered a string of foul words, all directed towards himself as he continued to stomp through the dark garden.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Hermione retreated to her room as soon as the front door slammed. She also bolted the locks, something she hadn't felt the need to do in days. Tonight, however, with all the curses fired throughout the kitchen she just knew she wouldn't sleep without the protection of a few locks.

Something told her she wouldn't get any sleep, regardless, and she felt sure that was true. Everything that had just been said had left her so hopelessly confused that there wasn't a chance she'd be able to shut her mind off properly.

Draco hadn't said that she'd guessed correctly. But what other answer was there? His unwilling confession didn't mean anything, of course. It couldn't. But…

And when he said that she was in love with Ron, her answer had come far too quickly for her to even think about, but she knew it was the right one. She wasn't in love with Ron. He was her best friend, but that was all.

Maybe she'd been a little jealous the year before when he was constantly attached to Lavender Brown, but that didn't have anything to do with her feelings for him being anything more than platonic. It was only because he'd been so annoyingly wrapped up in the other girl and didn't have time for anything that didn't include her.

Hermione wasn't in love with Ron. The idea was positively laughable. Although, so was what she'd said to Malfoy. That he would be jealous of Ron, what had she been thinking? That was such a ridiculous thing to say.

"Oh I want to go home," Hermione moaned, aching for her best friends, her parents, Hogwarts, and for so many faces she wasn't sure she'd see again.

Laying on her bed she entered into a fitful rest, not quite a sleep, but close enough that she was able to experience something like a dream, in which she saw all of those she missed, just out of reach, Draco Malfoy standing between her and all the ones she held dear, refusing to let her by.

o.o.o.o.o.o

In the days following the kitchen duel, the snow began to melt and the nights grew warmer, but the atmosphere inside the house remained decidedly frosty. Not a word was spoken by either resident. The only voices to be heard came from the radio, revelling in small triumphs, or listing more deaths.

When the truce finally came, it was completely unexpected.

Late in the afternoon Hermione was picking berries off a bush near the edge of the property, close to the barrier that separated their home from the rest of the world, when she heard footsteps approaching from the direction of the house. Not feeling like another argument, she chose not to acknowledge Malfoy, even as his shadow fell across her and made her task near impossible.

"I'm sorry," he said after a few moments.

Hermione had picked all the berries but she was continuing to search the branches, rather than giving in and turning around.

"I shouldn't… I shouldn't have acted the way that I did. It's just… he's not here. The Weas- Weasley, I mean. He wasn't the one taking care of you. I was. I suppose a part of me…"

He mumbled something she couldn't understand, but sounded like the word 'gratitude'.

"If Ron could have been the one nursing me back to health, he would have been," Hermione replied, relenting to face him when it was obvious Draco was waiting for a response. "Because we're friends and he cares for me the way that I do him. Just because my Patronus… Just because you took care of me these last weeks, doesn't wipe clean the last few years. You can't possibly expect my Patronus to reflect some aspect of this… this new relationship, after so short a time, when, before now you've been nothing but awful to me."

"I don't expect- Look Granger-" Looking decidedly uncomfortable, Draco cleared his throat. "This is all very strange to me, all right? Being here with you of all people, having to protect myself, cook, pick up after myself… I've never done any of this before. I don't know when I'll be able to go home, if I even have a home to go back to," Draco sighed, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment as he steeled himself for what he had to say next. "But I'm sorry that I snapped at you. You must realise, though, that this is a very tense time."

Hermione was reminded of something he'd said earlier, about how his parents would be killed for his betrayal. She felt an instant flare of pity. It hadn't been easy for her to abandon her parents, but she'd done her best to ensure they would be safe. Draco hadn't had that option. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye. She understood how heartbreaking it was to leave, all the while not knowing. Still, he needed to know he wasn't the only one with something –someone- to lose. He wasn't alone in worrying over the days to come.

"Of course I know that this isn't easy. I've spent most of the last year trying to avoid being captured and killed, camping in remote areas and searching for-" Hermione cut herself off her eyes wide. Desperately hoping he wouldn't notice her mistake, she hurriedly turned back to the blackberry bush and busied herself looking between the bare branches again.

Bewildered at the turn in conversation, Draco blinked and latched onto her last words, dropping down to her side.

"Searching for what? What is it that Potter and Weasley are doing? What are they looking for? Does it have to do why Bella thought you'd been in her vault?"

Hermione bowed her head silently; ashamed that she had almost told the secret she was forbidden to share. They'd promised. They weren't to tell anyone. Her heart thumped wildly as she felt his grey eyes searching her face. She couldn't look at him. It would be too easy for him to draw out the information if she did.

Crouched beside her, Draco leaned forward. He could sense he was on the verge of something important. "Come on Granger, you can tell me," he cajoled. "You have to tell me. I risked my neck to get you out of that place."

He wanted to be gentle about this, to coax the information out carefully, but it was difficult to hold back from just demanding she tell him. She had information, very important information, and he felt entitled. Amazingly, it seemed that for once, Hermione Granger was at a complete loss for words.

"I know you did," she replied after a few beats of silence. "And I… I will be forever grateful. But it's not up to me to tell you, it's Harry's-"

"Well he isn't here either, is he? It's just you and me, you're the only one who can tell me. It's something to stop You-Know-Who, obviously. What is it?" Hermione hesitated further and as he waited, a realisation hit him. "You still don't trust me. You think as soon as I know the plan I'll run back to the Dark Lord and tell about what you've been up to? Haven't I proven myself to you yet?" A look of hurt and anger flashed across his face as Draco's eyebrows knitted together and he suddenly ripped back his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark, burning brightly on his forearm. "I left without permission. I didn't answer his call. When he catches up to me he's going to kill me. Don't you realise that at this very moment my parents could be dead because I developed a conscience?"

"Keep your voice down," Hermione warned, looking around nervously. No one had noticed them at the Potter's cottage so far, but she wasn't one to tempt fate. "Let's go inside." she sighed, running a hand through her hair wearily. "I'll explain the situation as best I can."

Malfoy looked mildly surprised to hear that, but trooped around to the front of the house nonetheless, as if he thought if he said another word, she would change her mind again.

"Horcruxes." Hermione said, sitting across from him in the sitting room. The blank expression facing her was entirely expected. Nervously, Hermione continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's- well, it's Dark Magic. Quite advanced. What it means is that You-Know-Who split his soul into several pieces and hid those pieces in objects that had a great significance to him. Then he hid the objects in places that also were important."

"How-"

"Shh!" His voice had been far louder than she'd expected. And even though they were alone, with a warning system in place, should anyone else enter the house, Hermione was still extremely nervous about what she had to say.

"But how did he do that? Split his soul? Why?"" Draco hissed urgently, bringing his own voice down to match hers. He was stunned by this news.

"He did it by killing. The more important the murder, the more powerful the Horcrux. He wanted immortality, because he's afraid of death. And with these fragments of his soul hidden around the world… he'll live forever." Draco moaned, dropping his head into his hands, but Hermione continued on rapidly. "Harry's already destroyed two, and Dumbledore did another before he died. I'm certain Harry and Ron would have continued their search, even without me. They'd better have. I think there must be something hidden in Bellatrix's vault, and that's why she reacted the way she did at the Manor. We don't know what the other Horcrux's are, but we believed they were connected to the other Hogwarts founder's, as there were two that once belonged to Slytherin.

"And once they've all been destroyed, these…"

"Horcruxes."

"-Horcruxes," he repeated, wanting to catch up, to understand. "Then the Dark Lord can be killed?"

"That's what Dumbledore believed."

"Well good." Draco nodded, murmuring to himself, a dark, menacing look on his face. "The sooner we're rid of him the better."

"You surprise me," Hermione told him. "For as long as I've known you it's been all 'pureblood this' and 'the Dark Lord that.' What happened to change your mind?"

"He happened." A wry smile played at Draco's lips as he answered. His eyes however were utterly devoid of any and all humour. "He came back and… it was only ever an idea, you understand? A story my parents told me. They always put a spin on it to make Muggleborns sound vile and evil stealing from those of us that were of pure blood. But then he came back and it wasn't like that any more. People started to disappear, orders were given," Draco swallowed, before continuing on doggedly. "And I was forced to watch murders in my own home, before being told to kill my headmaster."

Hermione felt sick to her stomach. She knew most of this, the way that many pure-blood families thought, and how things had been when Voldemort first returned, but she'd never stopped to really think about what it was like for those in the same house as him.

Before she could say anything, Draco was continuing, finally free to spew out all that he'd been withholding for so long.

"That whole year I was a mess. I didn't know what to do. The Dark Lord said… he said he would kill my parents if I failed, and I did fail. Somehow he let them live, but who knows how long that lasted? He could have ended them the moment he arrived that night. Watching Dumbledore die… I wanted to die." Draco's voice cracked as he looked at Hermione, almost pleadingly, desperate for her to understand. She watched as he forced himself to continue with great effort. "I'd never really liked the man, never agreed with his beliefs. But he was supposed to be the one to stop You-Know-Who. When he died, I lost all hope. That was one of the worst nights of my life. But then Potter disappeared and you, and I knew what you were doing. I knew you were working at a way to bring him down. And when she was torturing you… Merlin, I wanted it to be over then! I wanted to die. More than any moment in my entire life, those were the worst. I couldn't stand the sounds you were making, your screams... but I couldn't do anything to stop them either. I'm sorry. So, so sorry that I didn't step in. I wish there was a way that I could…"

Hermione wanted desperately to console Draco. Tp tell heim that he'd more than made up for it, getting her away from there, and taking care of her in the weeks since. But she couldn't speak. A lump had formed in her throat when she saw the first tears glistening in his eyes. Talking about Dumbledore seemed to be his breaking point, he couldn't stop the emotion that came over him as he recounted the most horrifying year of his pampered existence.

"And when I saw your Patronus," he continued, looking into her eyes, unashamed –or possibly unaware- of the tears in his own, she felt certain her own eyes would be wet, but she was numb to it. "You were right, I was jealous. Stupidly so, but I was. Anyone who has ever looked at you and Weasley could see it. That you were going to end up together. I had thought it myself, it was a perfect match. As Aunt Bella would say, 'a blood-traitor's just as bad as a mudblood.'

The word seemed to cause Draco pain, as if there were knives attached, slashing at his throat, but Hermione didn't even flinch. For whatever reason, having the foul word carved into her skin seemed to lessen its effect. That wouldn't make Bellatrix happy, Hermione thought wryly.

"You and Weasley have always been so close," Draco continued, unable to keep the envy and sadness out of his voice. "All three of you have, annoyingly so. If it wasn't going to be Weasley it would be Potter. And why not? He's the champion of the Wizarding world, and you… you're one of the smartest people I've ever known. It would make perfect sense. But somehow while we've been here –you'll think me completely insane for saying this, but I've got to get it out- things have changed. For me, something has changed. And when I saw your Patronus, I hated it."

"My Patronus… It doesn't mean anything." Hermione whispered, finally locating her voice. "Ron is important to me, but not like… not in that way. I've never felt like that about him."

"But you at least have positive feelings for him. You care for him,"

"Draco, are you telling me," it felt entirely natural to use his given name. It was the first time Hermione had ever done so, but it just rolled off her tongue as if she'd been saying it for years. "Are you saying that you… that you have feelings-"

"I don't know!" Draco stood up so suddenly that Hermione jumped. He grabbed a fistful of his hair and began pacing the room. "I'm not sure what- but it's different. I don't know what any of this means, but I know that I feel differently."

Unable to speak, Hermione sat, staring at the boy pacing back and forth in front of her. His face was pink with emotion and there were the faintest of tear tracks down his cheeks. He looked like something completely new to her, as if she had never seen any incarnation of him before this moment. She realised then, as she watched him move with grace and precision, even in his agitated state, that he was just a boy. He was her age and he had been forced to watch and do horrific things. Just like Harry, he never had a choice in any of it. She and Ron at least were able to choose to join the fight, but those two boys were thrust into it all against their will, through circumstances of their births.

Then, just as suddenly as he had moved, she did too, stepping in front of him and forcing him to stop barely an inch from her. His chest was heaving and every time he fought for a breath, they came closer and closer to touching as he stared at her, mystified.

"What are you-"

"Shhh. Just, I just want to see…" and then she was leaning forward, bridging the gap between them and pressing her lips to his.

His hands were on her instantly. One cupped her cheek, while the other gripped her shoulder, almost vice-like, but she didn't object. In that moment she wanted him to hold her as tightly as he was able. She in turn, lifted her hands until she reached his hair, and sunk her fingers into the silvery blonde locks that were just a little too long. She could taste the tears, whether they were his or her own she couldn't tell, but their saltiness mingled in with the kiss all the same.

When he pushed her away, she couldn't help the whimper that escaped as she stared at him, her eyes wide.

"What- what was that? Why… What were you thinking?" he demanded, his breathing laboured, his hands buried deep within his pockets.

"I…" she couldn't articulate the words. For the first time in her life, Hermione Granger didn't have an answer when called on. "I don't-" she shook her head and took a step forward, reaching for him again, but he retreated further back. "Draco-"

"Don't," he warned, stepping around the couch so there was something between them.

"But I-"

"You don't know what you're saying. What you're doing You should… You should go rest and-"

"I don't need rest! I'm not delusional. My mind is perfectly sound. I kissed you because-"

"I need to go-"

"Colloportus!" Hermione aimed her wand at the front door and locked it. She then shifted the couch so that, instead of being between them, it blocked the door to the kitchen, trapping them in the room together. "You're not running away again. You've been doing it for weeks. I understand it now, you've been out there, 'checking the boundaries', to avoid being in the same room as me, but I won't let it continue."

"You can't—"

"That's finished with. The avoidance and the silences. It's done. We've got to sort this out. There's a war going on and we can't afford to be distracted by—"

"No matter what you say… what I tell you now, I'll be distracted. If we fight, when we fight, I-I won't be able to keep my mind on it. I'll be desperate to know where you are at all times and if you're all right. I can't talk about this with you. That- that cannot happen again. What I need to do now is work on forgetting. I need to remove you from my mind altogether, because unless I do that… he'll find me and before he kills me he will use you against me."

"I would never-"

"He would hurt you to get to me. He would kill you and he would force me to watch. I know it. It's the worst thing he could do to me now. It's what… it's what I would do if I were him."

"But you're not!" Hermione insisted, just as desperate for him to understand as he was for her to. "You're a good person Draco. You've proved that! Why won't you let me-"

"I can't! Don't you see? I can't let you in any more than this. I never should have let it get to this point, because when I lose-" Draco cut himself off and turned away. Hermione expected him to move the sofa out of the way, or simply climb over it, but he only stood with his back to her, fighting to get his breathing under control.

"When you lose me?" Hermione finished, gently, taking a small step forward. "Do you think, once this is over, and we're allowed to go back to our lives that I'll just pretend that nothing ever happened here? That you didn't save my life and comfort me when my nightmares chased me here? Do you really think I'll just forget all that's gone on here? I've been fighting this too, like you, I thought it might be some symptom of hero worship, or some such nonsense. But that's not it at all. I've resisted it, but I can't do that now. I-"

"Please don't say it," Draco begged, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Don't say any more." He looked weak. Exhausted. More so than he had in all the time they'd been there, sharing James and Lily Potter's home. Hermione wanted nothing more than to wrap him up in her arms and convince him to let her be the protector for once while he slept, but he wouldn't allow that, not until he knew.

"I'm falling in love with you." She told him. She didn't raise her voice. She just spoke, knowing that the words would reach him no matter how hard he tried not to hear them.

Everything seemed to leave Draco then. The resistance, the denial. He looked as if he was folding in on himself. His eyes were closed and his head fell so that his chin hit his chest. Then, with all the fight gone, something else took him over and his face became a mask of pure contentment.

"I already fell." He replied, his head still bowed and his eyes closed as she crossed towards him and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. Draco didn't resist that time as Hermione lifted herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his once more.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Later that evening they lay in front of the fireplace on a pile of the blankets Draco had conjured their first night there. The radio tuned to a wizarding station and the Weird Sisters singing 'Do the Hippogriff.'

"What's the matter with us?" Draco asked, his fingers caught in Hermione's thick brown curls as she leaned her head on his chest, her eyes closed.

"You grew up with the idea that people like me were inferior, being ingrained in your mind. And when we met, I thought you were a pompous git. This was always going to be the only way we'd ever have an opportunity to change our minds," Hermione replied with the air of someone who'd thought on the subject a great deal.

"And what do you think will happen? When we get back to the real world? I mean, provided that we survive what's coming…"

"We'll survive it. I have no intentions of losing-"

"We here at Potterwatch have heard a very odd, very exciting rumour." Lee Jordan was speaking from within the radio, cutting short the song that had been playing. Hermione sat up, her eyes glued to the wireless. "Our sources say there was a break-in at Gringotts bank earlier today."

"What?" Hermione gasped, as Draco moved beside her.

"One of the high security vaults, way deep within the depths of the bank was the target it seems, though which one it was, is yet unknown."

"It's them," Hermione whispered. She knew it. It just had to be.

"Of course everyone will know who was responsible for this severe security breach. Our very own Undesirable Number One. Who knows what the hell he was after in there? But I can tell you that not long after he and his companions were detected within the vault, a very large, dragon-shaped shadow was seen flying over London and off towards the countryside."

"They took a dragon?" Draco repeated the word, disbelieving, as if he were testing out the taste of it.

"Seems like something he'd do. I'm sure many of you remember the illegal flight of a Ford Anglia back in '92." Lee added, and there was a chuckle from someone on his end. "That's all we've got for now. Password for next time will be 'goblin'-"

Hermione turned the volume down and turned to the blonde boy beside her, her face alight with pleasure.

"They got another Horcrux, didn't they?" Draco asked, hopeful.

"They must have. Oh that was so stupid of them, going in there! What were they thinking?"

"That they want this to end just as much as the rest of us. They'll want you back of course," he added matter-of-factly. He knew now that if she were taken from him he'd do everything in his power to find her again, and it had only been a little over a week that he'd accepted that he cared for her. The two boys that had broken into the bank had depended on her presence for years. "They probably think defeating him will be the only way for that to happen."

Harry and Ron were probably in great danger. More than they had been before. The Ministry wouldn't stand for this –breaking into Gringott's releasing a dragon- surely efforts to capture them would be increased. And Voldemort would be doubly angry. With that in mind, Hermione suddenly felt very little desire to celebrate, though a part of her was still thrilled that they'd managed it.

"That's four. Another two and He won't be any more than a powerful wizard. It's almost over." Hermione was so happy it took her a few moments to realise Draco didn't share her feelings of merriment. "What? What is it?"

"Nothing. I-"

"You're still thinking I'll change my mind, aren't you? You think when we get back and I see the way my friends look at you I'll realise that I hate you and I never want to see you again?" He flinched at the word hate and Hermione grabbed his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. "I love you Draco!" she insisted.

"You say that now, but, when you're with them… they'll get in your head and-"

"-They will respect my decision. I love those boys, but they are not the bosses of me. I decide what I want and who I want to be with, not them. They won't be happy at first. I know that. But Harry at least saw something in you that made him think you could be trusted. Ron will come around eventually and anyone else…" Hermione shook her head, as if to dismiss the rest of the world. "I've made my decision, and unless you're trying to tell me you've changed your mind-"

"Of course not!" Draco sputtered, his grey eyes widening in surprise. Hermione allowed herself a small smile.

"Good. It's settled then. We-"

"Urgent message to all members of the resistance to the Chief Death Eater. Any supporters of Potter who are able to fight should get themselves to the Hog's Head as soon as possible." Lee's voice was trembling with emotion. "It's time people! We fight tonight. His tyrannical reign on our society ends tonight, Merlin-willing. I repeat, get to Hogsmeade now. The curfew's still intact, so Apparate directly into the bar -the Hog's Head. Aberforth will get you where you need to go from there. It's show time."

Lee's latest announcement came and went so quickly that Hermione and Draco had barely even turned away from one another and to the radio before he stopped shouting and disappeared from the airwaves once more.

"Tonight," Draco repeated, listlessly.

"We have to go!" Hermione announced, jumping into action. "We need to get there. Now!"

"Wait-"

"We don't have time to wait, Draco! Weren't you listening? It's happening now! We need to get-" Draco crushed his lips against hers, cutting off the rest of her frenzied speech. When they broke apart, Hermione was smiling at him blissfully. Draco tucked a piece of hair behind her ear tenderly.

"Now we can go," he breathed, as he wrapped his arms around her in a protective embrace. "As long as you promise me when it's over you'll be back in my arms, just like this." Hermione smiled, closing her eyes briefly and savouring the moment. With Draco by her side, she felt invincible.

"Of course I will." She replied, her warm brown eyes looking up at his cool grey ones with such gentle love, Draco's heart ached at the thought of leaving her side during the impending battle. Though a selfish part of his mind screamed for him to stay right there and protect Hermione always, a larger, better part knew that he must fight. They both had to fight, not just for their possible future together, but for the entire world, both theirs and the Muggles. For all the lives that had been lost and ruined in this war and the last, and those that stood to join them because of the Dark Lord's rule.

He knew that he had to fight in order to right all of his previous wrongs. For Albus Dumbledore and all the others he had seen murdered for Voldemort's cause.

Burying his face in Hermione's hair, Draco drank in her scent one last time, committing it to memory. He would be brave and selfless for her sake. He would fight, not only for the freedom of their people, but to be worthy to stand beside her. After victory, maybe then he could become a man Hermione deserved, one she could be proud of. Draco pulled away from her, his face set with a new determination.

"What are we waiting for then?" Draco asked briskly, standing quickly and helping Hermione to her feet. Running from the room, Hermione snatched up her beaded bag and a traveling cloak she had procured during the month in Godric's Hollow, before racing back downstairs to where Draco stood waiting at the door.

Together they walked quickly through the darkness, silent as they approached the spot on which they would be able to Apparate. And then, holding tight to one another, they vanished.

o.o.o.o.o.o.

This is it people. One more chapter, and then the sequel. Is it strange that I had the sequel completed before this? It's been sitting here, demanding attention for quite a while now. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

o.o.o.o.o.o

TBC