It was over. This battle, this feeling of being afraid all the time, the despair of losing loved ones, it was all over. Voldemort was dead. Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, The Chosen One, had killed him. Finally.

Everyone was sitting together in the Great Hall. The House tables were set back up, but no one was going by them now. Everyone was just huddled together, comforting each other.

Everyone except the Malfoy family, who were huddled together at the corner of the Slytherin table. Draco was resting on his mother's shoulder, tears flowing down his face. His parents thought that he was sobbing over the loss of the Dark Lord when he was really sobbing over the loss of Hermione.

Images of the last battle flashed through his head. Right after Hermione had left him to go fight, Draco had stayed lying on the ground for a few moments more. Then he got up and chased after her, only he didn't know where she went.

He ran around the grounds during the entire battle looking for her. He supposed he must have looked like a coward who was running away from the fight to everyone else, but he didn't care. His one care was Hermione and her safety.

He found her in the midst of the crowd well after midnight. He watched her face the entire the time when the Dark Lord came out of the forest with his followers, revealing that he had killed Harry Potter. Draco's heart dropped into his stomach at the sound of those words. He watched Hermione, who tried to charge at Voldemort, only to have Ron hold her back.

He then watched as Neville Longbottom ran out towards them, had the Sorting Hat put on his head, and burst into flame. Then he pulled a gleaming silver sword out from the hat and stabbed Voldemort's snake. The crowd of onlookers charged at Voldemort and his supporters, starting the battle again.

It moved inside the castle and Draco tried to get to Hermione, but she was too heavily engaged in battle. Draco engaged himself in whatever fight he could that brought him closer to Hermione.

Then, Harry Potter appeared out of thin air. He wasn't dead. He was alive. And he immediately engaged Voldemort in battle, but only verbally at first.

Draco, along with the crowd that formed around the two of them, listened to what Harry was saying. And he talked about Draco, and Draco's ears perked up at the sound of his own name. He had been the rightful owner of the Elder Wand and hadn't even known it. And then Voldemort shouted the killing curse, and Harry shouted "Expelliarmus!" at the same time, and the jets of light reflected off the other, causing the jet of green light that was the killing curse flying back towards Voldemort. And he was dead. And then there was cheering, and yelling, and everyone was being ushered into the Great Hall as the Deatheaters were rounded up.

And that's where Draco was now, sitting in the Great Hall, knowing that Hermione was only feet away from him, but he wouldn't let himself look at her. He wanted to look at her, wanted to see her smiling face, but he knew that that's what he would not see. She had kissed Ron Weasley. Her smiles were for him now.

And that thought made him cry harder into his mother's shoulder. He felt like a child, but at this moment in time he really was. He was just an innocent child, who had been torn apart by love, and had no idea what to do about it.

He couldn't resist any longer. He pulled his head off Narcissa's shoulder and looked in Hermione's direction.

She was watching him, and by the embarrassed look on her face she had been watching him this whole time.

He glared towards her, and her face widened in shock. He didn't know why, but some invisible force was causing him to get up from his seat, and slowly make his way over to her.

There he was, the first time she'd seen him in months, not just seen him in the fire place or through eyes that were streaming with tears due to tortured pain, but really seen him, sitting across the room from her. She was so close to him. She could walk over to him right now, sit down next to him, and rest her head on his shoulder.

But there was something keeping her from doing that. Like the fact that his head was resting on his mother's shoulder, and his father was sitting on the other side of him. And the fact that he seemed to be angry with her. But why? He hadn't seen… had he? Hermione gasped. He must have.

She looked over to him again. He looked scared, and sick, like he had been for the past year. She couldn't remember what he had looked like before this all happened. Was he ever healthy looking? She couldn't remember.

She felt horrible just looking at him.

No matter what, all she wanted was for him to be happy. And she could tell just by looking at him that he wasn't. Even though this war was over, and he was free now, he didn't look free. She could tell even from this far away that he was still trapped, trapped inside himself. She knew that he was feeling like an evil person, blaming himself for this war, because that was what he did. He blamed himself for everything.

She just wanted him to feel normal again. That is, if he was ever normal to begin with.

She looked between Draco and Harry.

They were so similar. They both were thrust in to something they didn't want, neither of them really had a family, and they both had always been fighting for their lives. They blamed themselves for everything that was going on around them, even if it wasn't their fault to begin with.

Her heart ached just watching him. She had never really stopped loving him. She had tried, and tried, telling herself that they were total opposites. He was a Deatheater, she was part of the Order. They were evil vs. light, and it would never be able to work out.

But she wanted it to. No matter how much she told herself she didn't want it, she knew that she did. And she had thought about that a lot during this war. This battle had shown her how much she really wanted to be with him.

Hermione could not bring herself to stop staring at him. There were people close by that needed her right now, Harry and the Weasleys, but the only person she had eyes for was Draco.

He looked up, and his eyes flicked directly towards hers.

Hermione's breathe caught in her throat. She didn't mean to be caught by him. She didn't want him to know that she had spent this whole time in the Great Hall staring at him.

She watched as he pushed himself up and out of his seat and slowly made his way towards her. He looked angry.

He's coming over here! Her brain screamed. What do I do?

But she had no time to think, because he was standing in front of her right now.

They were both silent as they looked at each other.

"Draco," she began.

"I have one question, and then I'll leave you alone. Why, Hermione? Why did you lie to me?" he cried.

"Lie? I've never lied to you, Draco! What are you even talking about?" she exclaimed.

"Don't pretend like you don't know, Hermione! I saw you! I saw you kissing Weasley!" he shouted, not caring who was listening, or if anyone was listening for that matter.

Her eyes widened. "I can explain that," she whispered.

"I don't even know if I want to hear it," he said while turning away, but Hermione grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving.

"Well you will hear it!" she shouted at him. "I thought he was you, Draco," she whispered.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" he exclaimed.

"Wait, hear me out, please. Draco, I haven't seen you in months. I have to make due with daydreams and frequent imaginings of you. And I had been thinking about you so frequently that my dreams and reality seemed to mix together. It was a difficult night, Draco, you must see that. I'm tired, things got fuzzy, reality slipped away. I didn't mean anything by it, Draco. You have to know that. I love you, I am in love with you, not Ron. It was a mistake, a horrible, horrible mistake, and I'm sorry for it, you have to understand," she pleaded.

"I don't understand. I don't understand it at all. Hermione, I love you, but you betrayed me. And I don't think I can trust you, I'm sorry," he said before walking away, and Hermione didn't stop him.

That night, Hogwarts was opened to those who didn't want to go home. The Great Hall was laid out with sleeping bags and that's where everyone stayed now.

The Trio lay next to each other, but only Ron was asleep. Harry and Hermione lay awake, talking.

"Harry, can I ask you something?" Hermione whispered.

"Hermione, you can ask me anything," he responded.

"You and Ginny…?" she trailed off.

Harry sighed. "I don't think it's going to work out like I had hoped. I saw her tonight. We talked for a while, and we just have nothing in common besides Quidditch. I realize that… I just liked the thought of her, and the thought of having a girl who loved me for me. But Hermione, she didn't, not really. She saw me as the Chosen One, that's it. And I don't blame her for it. We'll still stay friends, but I don't believe that anything more will happen between me and Ginny," he explained to her.

Hermione rolled over onto her side and grasped her best friend's hand. "I'm sorry, Harry," she said.

"Don't be, Hermione. It's fine. But you know that me and Ginny not working out has nothing to do with you and Draco, right? You two will be able to work things out. Ginny and I weren't in love the way that you two are," Harry told her, sensing the real meaning for asking him that question.

"I don't think so, Harry. He said he didn't trust me anymore," she cried.

"And you told him what happened? The truth?" he questioned.

"I told him, he doesn't believe me. And why should he? I haven't given him any reason to trust me," she whispered, tears leaking out of her eyes.

"Hermione, don't say that. There's no one more trustworthy than you. Don't worry, Hermione, he'll come around. I know he will," Harry told her, giving her hand a squeeze.

After Hermione had fallen asleep, Harry got out of his sleeping bag and made his way through the rows of sleeping people until he found the person he was looking for.

Draco once again looked peaceful as he slept, but that peace was about to be disrupted.

Harry covered Draco's mouth with his hand and whispered, "Wake up," harshly.

Draco's eyes widened and he pulled Harry's hand away from his mouth.

"Come with me," Harry said. "Now," he added fiercely when Draco didn't move. He pulled Draco up out of his sleeping bag and out of the Great Hall.

"Potter, what is wrong with you?" Draco exclaimed once they were out of earshot.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you, Malfoy? What gives you any reason not to trust Hermione? This is killing her, thinking that she's lost you. How dense do you have to be?" Harry nearly shouted, his hands shaking with rage.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I saw her snogging Weasley? That's good enough reason for me to call it quits," Draco shouted back.

"Malfoy, you listen to me, right now. Hermione is IN LOVE WITH YOU! Do I have to get that fact plastered to the inside of your skull just for you to remember that? She loves you, more than I've ever seen her love anyone or anything in all these years of knowing her. She doesn't love me, or Ron, or anyone else, just you. It was a mistake, kissing him! You haven't seen Hermione this past year the way I have. This war, and not being able to see you, has taken its toll on her. She made a mistake, and she feels awful about it. But she didn't mean anything by it. She just wants to be with you, but for what reason I don't understand," Harry shouted at him.

Draco just stood there, gaping at him.

"Draco, please. Give her another chance. She deserves that. After all I've put her through, I want her to be happy. And I know that the only person she'll be happy with is you. I hope you take my words to heart," Harry said before he walked back into the Great Hall, leaving Draco standing in the middle of the corridor like he had just had the leg-locker curse put on him.

Author's Note: Finally, here's the next chapter. This one was tough. I had two different endings for it, but I figured this one was the way to go. As always, please let me know what you think. I love hearing people's thoughts. And thank you for reading! :)