I still own nothing here.

Time won't leave me as I am
But time won't take the boy out of this man...

I'm getting ready to leave the ground

- U2, "City of Blinding Lights"

Hermione sat in the foyer, pretending to read but glancing at her watch about every thirty seconds, her patience completely gone. She had to stop him.

She was so caught up in this that she didn't notice Draco until he was standing behind her, ready for their departure.

He was the one surprised this time, as she threw her arms around him.

"It's a trap; I know it's a trap. Please, don't do this."

"He needs to pay." He said as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "He needs to pay for using me, pay for the lives he's trampled on. Pay for benefiting from the sacrifice of those who believed his lies."

"I don't want you to go." She whispered. "We need you here…"

"We?" He asked, holding her so she faced him.

She sighed, "I don't quite understand what exactly has been going on between us in the past few weeks, but…"

"I was hoping you could tell me." He replied. "When I look at you, when I touch you, it all feels… real. I feel like things matter. Like I can do something that will make a damn difference."

She reached out a hand to touch his face, cupping his cheek in her palm. He placed his hand over it.

She exhaled sharply.

"What am I to you?" She asked

"You… you are what I still need to define."

She looked up at him for a while before turning her gaze to the floor.

"Draco, I can't go with you." She said finally. She was almost in tears, eyes red and vision blurred. "You have to find me a true answer before I can go with you. You need to give me something real."

He looked down at her for what seemed like forever.

"Oh for God sake, say something." She cried.

He reached down, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

"I'm going to do something worthy for once." He said. "Can you at least believe in that?"

"I…" she started, before whispering. "Yes."

"Just don't go to the manor right away." She then said in a normal tone of voice. "That's what they want. Make them think you're not coming at all. Can you do that?"

He seemed to consider his own restraint before nodding.

"And be careful. Remember they're expecting you."

He bent down so their noses were touching. "If you think so."

At this she kissed him, the first she had ever initiated. He held her face to his, deepening the kiss.

"Don't you dare think this is over." He whispered against her lips. "I'm coming back for you."

He cupped her face one last time before turning swiftly and walking out the door.

She stood staring at the closed door for a while before sliding down the wall to silently cry.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When Ron awoke, the first thing he noticed was Luna was gone. Wasn't she just there moments ago? He then realized that it was, in fact, morning. Light was streaming in through the window and the fire had gone out. A heavy blanket had been draped over him though, sometime during the night.

"There you are!" Harry's voice came from behind him, making him jump. "I've been looking everywhere!"

"Wha…" Ron started.

"Everyone's been running around like mad this morning… how could you have slept through it?"

Ron still looked dazed.

Harry rolled his eyes and sat down.

"Malfoy is gone."

"What?" Asked Ron, now fully awake, "He's…"

"Gone. Left some note about how he's through taking orders. He's gone to face Voldemort himself."

"That… lunatic!" said Ron. "That selfish, egotistical…"

"And the worse part is." Said Harry. "We could have used him around."

Ron sighed heavily. "So… now what?" He asked.

"Carry on, I suppose." Harry looked down.

"A lot has changed lately, hasn't it?"

Harry looked up at him.

"I mean… a lot has happened in a short time. Here we are wishing we had Draco Malfoy back. If you told me last year I was going to want that…"

"I know." Said Harry. "It does make you question what you think you want."

"Yeah," Ron replied slowly, now looking down at the blanket and thinking about nothing but that slow song…

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When Pansy Parkinson heard the news, she ran through the halls, not to see if it was really true, but to see if her advice had been heeded. She smiled broadly when she saw Hermione Granger sitting alone in her bedroom.

Pansy stood in the doorway, hand against the frame.

"You stayed." She said. "I'm glad you stayed."

"You were right." said Hermione, turning around. "I can't save him."

Pansy nodded slowly. But stopped as Hermione said,

"I think you were wrong about one thing though. I think he has changed. He's crazy, but he's changed. This war has changed us all."

"Why is that?" Pansy asked.

"You have." Said Hermione. "It's hard for me to accept, but you have. It's hard to see a person who hurt you as anything but."

"I can understand that." said Pansy.

"But you have changed." Hermione continued, "And I see now I have. What I want has changed. And, I think I owe you an apology. For what I said, about you being selfish. You were just trying to warn me."

"I owe some apologies myself." Pansy replied. "But thank you." She smiled.

"Still, I can't pretend I haven't done what I've done. I can't just ignore what I feel. He deserves a chance to prove himself. If he does come back, I think I'd like to give him that chance." Hermione said.

"So what will you do now?" asked Pansy.

"Tonks is headed out on a mission to Spain tomorrow. I'm going to go with her. I have to find my own way. I can't be just an aside of someone else's story."

Pansy raised an eyebrow, before saying, "I don't know if I really understand that." She sighed. "Harry is never going to understand."

"I know." Said Hermione.

"So, how can you…"

"You love him, don't you?" Hermione interrupted.

Pansy's eyes became very large before she shut them tightly and said, "Of course I do."

"Then take care of him." Said Hermione.

"So, this is goodbye then?" Asked Pansy. She suddenly, uncharacteristically, seemed unsure.

Hermione looked up at her and actually smiled.

"No. I don't think it is. I'm afraid we've become too entangled in each others lives."

"I don't think I will ever understand you though." Pansy sighed.

"And I you. Maybe we were never meant to."

The two women watched each other, both thinking of the questions that would never be answered.

"Good luck then." Pansy said finally.

"To you as well." Hermione replied.

Pansy then left the doorway, headed for the solar to sit with her flowers. The next time they saw each other, nine years had passed.

Thank you so much to all my readers! So sorry about the delay. I had a difficult time making this chapter just right.