AN: Here it is guys! The last chapter! Let me know what you think.
I was considering doing a short epilogue, but I'm not sure it's necessary. :)
Big thanks to Edwin for assisting with this one.
Pansy was visibly relieved when Hermione shut Ginny's bedroom door behind her. The bride had turned from where she'd been looking out the window into the Burrow's back garden.
"Hey Pans, you look absolutely stunning. Are you ready? Can I get you anything?"
She shook her head as she tried smoothing the front of her dress down, scowling at one piece of lace that wasn't sitting quite right. She smiled gratefully at Hermione when the other witch cast a quick spell to force the fabric into submission. "How are you doing, Mione? Did you and Harry talk it out yesterday?"
"I'm fine. I talked last night, but he was mostly silent. At first, I thought he was just processing everything, but when he hadn't said anything for several minutes, I just left." She gave Pansy a sad smile, "you know what they say, 'no answer is an answer."
Pansy crossed the room and pulled Hermione into a hug, "I'm sorry. Want me to hex him?"
She let out a strangled laugh but shook her head. "No, but thank you for the offer. As much as I've loved seeing everyone I'm ready to go back to France." Pulling herself from Pansy's arms she gave her a genuine smile, "but that's enough about me. Are you ready to get married?"
The ceremony was over and, before Hermione really registered what was happening, it was time for the bridal party's dance. She bit her lip as she approached Harry, but without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms, and as the music began he led her across the dance floor.
There was something undeniably different in how he danced today. Their practice had been so rigid and cold, but now he held her close as their bodies swayed to the music. Hermione closed her eyes as they danced along, and for a moment she could almost convince herself they were back in the tent again.
The song was finished sooner than Hermione would have liked. She stepped back from Harry, acutely aware that Draco was watching her from the other side of the dancefloor, and looked at him for a long moment. When it was apparent that he wasn't going to say anything she turned and left the reception tent.
She'd only made it a few steps outside when she ran into someone. "I'm sor-"
"Hermione?"
She looked up into the smiling face of Viktor Krum.
Harry had just thanked the bartender for his drink when he felt someone beside him. Turning he inwardly groaned when he saw Draco glaring at him. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
"When Hermione left for France, did even care? Did you ever ask Ron or Pansy how she was, or where you too busy feeling sorry for yourself?"
"What are you talking about?"
Draco shook his head, "when Hermione and I first ran into each other in France we didn't become friends because we enjoyed spending time together. It was just easier to spend time with someone you hated than to be left alone with your thoughts."
"Why are you tell me this?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows.
The other wizard gave a derisive snort, "you really are dense, aren't you? Hermione was heartbroken. It took months of friendship to figure out it was you who rejected her, and not Weasley, and then another year for her to confide to me what happened while you were on the run."
Harry looked away, a faint blush coming to his cheeks.
"You don't deserve her, but for some reason she still wants you." He ran a hand through his hair, "but I want to make something clear to you, Potter. You need to decide what you want and decide quick. If I have to put her back together when we get home, I will, but I assure you this will be the last time I let you close enough to hurt her."
Harry stared dumbfounded as Draco finished his own drink in one gulp and strode away as if the interaction had never happened. He wasn't sure what to make of the information that Hermione had fled to France heartbroken, but he did know that he needed to talk to her. Scanning the room, his eyes stopped when they found her. She had just reentered the tent, on the arm of Viktor Krum.
His first thought had been to approach her and ask to speak with her in private. That plan, however, was thrown aside when Viktor glared as he approached. Taking the hint, Harry changed course and decided to wait at a nearby table for when the burly wizard left her side.
As the reception came to a close, Harry was disappointed to realize that he wouldn't get a chance to talk to her. The few times Viktor left her side were the dances she shared with Ron's brothers, who Harry was dismayed to find were also sending glares at him. However, he refused to give up hope of catching her alone, until she and Viktor left the tent together not long after Ron and Pansy had taken their leave.
That night Harry felt into a restless sleep as he dreamed about bushy hair tickling his nose as he and Hermione cuddled in the cold of the tent, and the feel of her against him as they danced close.
Early the next morning Harry was surprised to find Draco, wearing nothing but green plaid sleep pants, getting a mug of tea in the kitchen of the Burrow. He'd nearly made it to the steps when the other wizard stopped him.
"You just missed her," he yawned. "She left to go home about an hour ago. It was the earliest port key she could get."
Harry sat on the bottom step and let his head fall into his hands. "What am I going to do?" He mumbled.
"I don't know, Potter, that really depends on what you decided yesterday. Are you ready to pull your head out of your arse?"
He looked up at Draco and nodded. "I've spent the past five years in love with a girl that I thought wanted nothing to do with me, and the last two weeks fighting the hope that maybe I was wrong. Honestly, I'm confused." He glared when Draco laughed. "But, I can tell you, I'm not going to give up on her so easily this time."
Nodding, Draco reached into the pocket of his pants and tossed something at Harry. Unwrapping the paper from around the object, he found himself holding a key and the paper had an address written on it.
"Don't fuck this up, Potter."
Hermione let her bag fall from her shoulder when she entered the cottage. It'd been a hard day, work had backed up with her being gone, and though she'd been back for nearly a week, she was far from caught up. She was ready to heat up leftover take out and go to bed.
The first thing that caught her attention was the smell of something cooking in the kitchen. Though Draco wasn't due back for another week, she assumed he'd been worried about her and decided to come home early to take care of her. Smiling, she shook her head and walked toward the kitchen.
The sound of music caused her to stop just outside the door, her smile leaving her face.
You charmed the heart right of me
To my whole life, you hold the key
"Draco, you know how I feel about this song." She closed her eyes and fought back the tears that threatened to spill out before pushing the kitchen door open.
"I'm not Draco."
Hermione stood in her kitchen doorway in total shock. Unsure what to say she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "How did you get in here?"
Harry began shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Draco gave me the address and his key." He held up the key as if he needed to provide proof.
She nodded stiffly, "So, uh, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to you. It seems I've made a mess of things and I didn't realize just how bad until Draco cornered me at the wedding."
"Maybe we should both sit down?" Hermione gestured to a table in the corner of her kitchen.
When they were both seated, Harry continued, "I have spent the last 5 years convinced that you left because you were heartbroken over Ron. I thought that our time in the tent was just you seeking comfort from a friend, and nothing more." He reached out and took her hand, "but it was more to me, Hermione. I think a part of me had always known I was in love with you."
He took a ragged breath, "I thought I'd buried those feelings, but seeing you again brought everything back to the surface, and seeing you happy with Draco just made it that much worse. I'm sorry for not coming to you before Hermione, but if you'll have me now, I swear to you that I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you. I may not be a smart man, but I learn from my mistakes, eventually."
She let out a quiet laugh. "I've waited so long to hear this from you, Harry, but I'm not sure how this will work. We live in different countries. How are we supposed to make that work?" She chewed on her bottom lip.
Harry shrugged, "The portkey isn't so bad, and I can afford to get one once a week, more often if you want. Then when the time is right, and you're comfortable with it, I'll move here. I can be an auror anywhere, Hermione, but I can't replace you."
With tears now streaming down her face, she nodded. The couple stood, and Harry gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, before pulling her into his arms and spinning her around the kitchen. All thoughts of the dinner he'd been making her forgotten.