Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Depressing, but true.

Oy, friends. So sorry for the wait… It wasn't intentional. My grandmother passed away suddenly and I've been spending some time on the road to go see family. These past couple of months have been pretty sucky in the family emergency department, hey? Horribly, horribly sucky. I know that's a perfectly valid excuse not to be posting, but I still feel like an asshole. I'm bad at this not-posting-every-day thing! I always feel like I'm forgetting to do something! Anyway, now I'm back and I will carve out some time to finish up the story. Promise it won't be too long. In the meantime, enjoy the reunion. Please review! xo

"You came back," Draco said, feeling dizzy as he stared at her from across the room.

She was thinner, certainly, and the scarf was a new addition, but she was still her. In one piece. Not even seven feet away. Relief flooded his chest, and he felt his shoulders relax. One by one, his muscles started to ease up after having been scrunched into tight knots all week.

She was there. She was really there.

He almost didn't believe it.

Hermione nodded, still frozen to the spot, looking equally filled with relief and anxiety. Her wand was stowed away now, her fingers fidgeting at her sides.

"I thought you weren't going to return," he said, dazedly. "I thought you didn't want to see me again."

"Of course I did," she said, her voice shaky. "Of course I do. I just needed some time."

"Did you have enough?" he asked, warily. If she was about to leave him again, he didn't know what he would do. He couldn't handle it; he could see that now. He would crawl into a hole and never come out. It was ridiculous, but it was true. Even now, having her across the room felt wrong somehow. She was meant to be closer. Always.

"I... I think so," she said. "I did a lot of thinking."

His stomach flipped unpleasantly at her words. What did that mean? Was that good... Or bad? What sort of thinking? What had she decided? Panic began to mix with his feelings of elation, and his vision swam, her face becoming blurry before snapping back into focus. Gritting his teeth, Draco begged his brain to stay on track, but he knew his body couldn't take much more of this. Constant anxiety had frayed his nerves and buggered his mind, not to mention the damage it had done to his heart. This love business was absolute shite for one's health.

"Did you reach any conclusions?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"A few," she said. "I'm still working on them a bit, but yes… I did sort some things out."

"Oh. That's good."

"Um, yes."

They both resumed their frozen silence, staring at each other like frightened animals.

It occurred to Draco that this quickly becoming the most awkward conversation he had ever had, and he was no stranger to awkward conversations. So much was being unsaid that the air was practically buzzing with questions. Stupidly, they were both too scared to come right out and talk about it. Hermione was so tense that she looked like she might shatter if she moved an inch.

Still, they had to work this out. Their lives had gone completely pear in the past couple of weeks, and if they didn't figure out where they stood, things would only get worse.

He didn't want things to get worse.

He had to make her talk.

"I couldn't find you," he said, cautiously. "I know you said not to look but… I… I couldn't…"

"I know," she said. "It's okay."

"It's not okay. Hermione," he said, shaking his head. "I can't function without you."

"You seem to have made it through the week in one piece," she said, quietly.

"Barely," he snorted. "If Blaise wasn't force-feeding me, maybe not at all. Worst week of my life, easily, and that's saying something, considering I used to live with Voldemort."

Surprise registered on Hermione's face, and then resignation. "I had a bad week too," she admitted. "Really bad, actually. I think I'd choose Bellatrix before doing that again."

Draco felt a flicker of hope in his chest, but he bit his tongue to let her continue.

"I feel like I'm broken," she said, her eyes becoming unfocused. "I can't get out of this pattern of dependency, of inevitability. After the War it was pills, and now it's you. I don't even know what to do about it anymore. I mean... When did I become such a mess? It's like the person I was before the War just vanished. I used to act strong because I felt strong. Now I just act to cover up my weakness."

"Weakness? Are you mental?" Draco said, frowning. "Hermione, the War fucked everyone up. Look at me if you want to see a mess. Look at Harry, or the Weasel, even. Everyone changed, sometimes for the worse, and we're all still trying to figure out how to cope. You're not weak… You're doing the best you can with what you've been given."

She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off impatiently.

"Listen: I don't care about the drugs, and I don't give a rat's arse about the trait. Those things don't define you, just as my past doesn't define me. Nothing is broken here. In fact, maybe this was all meant to happen. My father was right… He said the trait unites people who have the capacity to love each other regardless. I can see that now. Whether or not we're destined for each other is beside the point. What matters is that it's made me realize how much you mean to me. You are the strongest person I've ever met. This is not weakness. Love is not weak."

He finished, realizing with mild horror that he had done the opposite of playing it cool. He had just emotionally vomited all over her. And he'd admitted to being in love with her, which they hadn't actually discussed before.

She blinked several times, stunned.

"Christ, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off like that," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm not very good at this."

A shy smile crept across her face. "It's okay. I don't mind. Maybe I need to hear stuff like that every now and then. I guess I tend to overanalyze things."

"That you do," he said, looking at her cautiously. She seemed to have taken his slip of the tongue remarkably well. She was still smiling, at least.

They fell back into silence again, but the space between them was much less tense.

"You don't have to stay so far away, you know," he said, deciding to chance it. "I don't bite." It wasn't eloquent, it certainly wasn't smooth, but it was honest. If he could accidentally tell her he was in love with her, he could hint that seven feet of space between them was a little excessive.

Hermione hesitated, like she was cycling through a million possible reactions in her mind, looking extremely conflicted. Draco's heart sank. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say after all. It was official: he was fucking hopeless. The person who meant the world to him was almost within reach, and he was somehow managing to push her away.

Suddenly, to his great surprise, she ran towards him and threw her arms around his neck with such force that she nearly knocked the air out of his lungs.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as he gasped in shock. "I got scared. I don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore, but I know I don't want to be away from you. That's a start, right?"

Then, before he could respond, she caught his mouth in a frantic kiss, the slightest of sighs escaping her throat as their lips met.

Draco felt as though his body was suddenly filled with light, everything else falling away like ash.

The shock passed, and he returned the kiss vigorously, wrapping his arms around her waist with crushing enthusiasm, relishing the brush of his fingers against her skin. And her mouth… Merlin help him. She tasted like tears and spearmint.

He never wanted to taste anything else again.

This was everything he wanted.

This replaced the darkness from the War, the craters in his heart from what he had done and what he had suffered.

This negated his struggles in the aftermath, the poverty, the panic, the helplessness.

This took the shell of who he had become and filled it up with something worthwhile.

This was it. If he never had anything else, it was enough. Nothing mattered but her.

"Oh my God," he murmured, in between kisses. It was the only thing he could think of to say. Everything in his brain had turned to mush. His mind had checked out and now his body was operating on automatic. It was a coup; an emotional takeover that he was happy to lose. If being ruled by a tyrannical trait felt like this, he would be a willing subject. Benevolence was lovely in theory, but by Gods, he could be a slave to this feeling. He deepened the embrace with a groan.

Hermione hummed her approval without breaking the kiss, her hands sliding out from behind his back and travelling up his torso, grasping everything in their path. Fingers everywhere all at once, running along his jaw, digging into his shoulder blades, grazing the curve of his arse. She nipped his lower lip and he groaned again, trying to will his cock to behave. It didn't listen, and quickly stiffened in his trousers.

Before she noticed, he pulled his mouth away from hers and leaned their foreheads together, breathing heavily. She smiled, tracing her fingers over his lips.

"Hermione," Draco whispered carefully. "I know you're probably aware of this, and I don't want to freak you out, but I am absolutely crazy about you."

"Feeling's mutual," she said, leaning forward and catching him in another kiss.

The feeling was mutual. He had never heard a more brilliant sentence.

"But… How? You were able to stay away." Kiss. "I went completely mental." Kiss. "You were fine."

"Fine? I wasn't fine," she said, coming up for air, looking embarrassed. "I just didn't give myself a choice."

"Come again?" he said, touching her cheeks gently, planting small kisses along her jawline. It seemed impossible to get too close to her, to touch her too much. Now that he was able to, he never wanted to stop. His hands slid down over the curve of her thighs, slowly, caressing every inch, the front, the back, gently grazing over the heated centre where they met. His hands stayed there, tracing circles, skipping teasingly over her fly. Another kiss on her jaw. Another lick on her collarbone.

She made a distracted sound, leaning into his touch as her fingers threaded their way through his hair.

"I sort of… Uh... What... Where was I?" she mumbled.

"Exactly," he said, nibbling her ear, smirking when he heard her gasp.

"You know, it's quite hard to be articulate when you're doing those... Those things," she panted, grabbing his belt loops for support.

"Do you want me to stop?" he said, applying a little more pressure, enjoying the feeling of her hands brushing his stomach as she fumbled with her grip.

"Of course not," she groaned.

"I'm glad. Now what did you mean when you said you didn't have a choice but to stay?" His fingers touched her more urgently. Caressing her jeans was well and good, but he was suddenly burning to divest her of the pesky fabric. Imagine the things he could do if there was nothing separating them. Imagine what lay underneath.

"Oh," she said, fighting to focus. "Uh, well, I charmed myself inside of a building and made sure I wouldn't be able to break out unless I blew the place up."

Draco paused, suddenly noticing the smell of burning and the char marks on her clothes. He blinked. He pulled back to look her in the eye.

"You're not serious."

"Of course I'm serious," she said, frowning. "I think you'll find I'm usually serious. Do you really think I would have been able to stay away if I wasn't magically confined? This wasn't a walk in the park for me, Draco. I had to make sure I gave myself enough time to think without making it easy for me to come back."

His curiosity was peaked, and he looked at her with fascination. "Which building?" he asked.

Her cheeks flushed red and she looked deeply embarrassed. "Harry's guest house."

There was a loud bang and a string of muffled profanity outside the main door. Hermione glared in the direction of the noise and shot a quick spell in the vicinity of the eavesdroppers. It was followed by a muted but unmistakable cry of pain from three separate voices. "Rude," she chastised. "That'll teach them to listen in."

Draco's expression had darkened, the smile dropping off his face dramatically. "Harry's guest house?"

She nodded.

"Did Harry know you were there?" he said, trying to keep his breathing calm. All this time? All this time she was somewhere he could have reached her? Magic crackled around him, and the lights flickered. Hermione looked around with alarm.

"Draco, that's enough," she said, sharply. "Harry had no idea. Seems like he almost never uses the place, which is why I chose it. He's on about a hundred acres – it was easy to cover up my presence with a few spells. The main house is tied up tight with security, but this spot is fairly easy for me to access." She frowned. "Well, it was easy to access... I suppose it doesn't really exist anymore. Regardless, I had planned to stay there for two weeks to give myself time to think things over, but after five minutes I started to regret the spell. All I could think about was getting back to you, but I felt so guilty over the fact that I would have to destroy Harry's property that I forced myself to stay put."

"But you ended up doing it anyway."

"Don't remind me," she moaned. "It's just rubble now. Amazing I was able to get out with only a few burns. My shield charm was sloppy. I haven't really had an appetite all week, so my brain is a little slow to react."

A lazy smirk spread across Draco's face.

"I can't believe you blew up a building to come here," Draco said as he leaned in to resume kissing her jaw. "That is so hot."

"What other option did I have?" she huffed. "I could sense that you were uncomfortable... That someone was trying to seduce you. I couldn't just let that happen!"

"But I never would have gone along with it," he said, flattered and amused. "The thought of being with anyone but you makes me ill. Besides, I'm starting to realize that it was probably a setup. Blaise was trying hard to look innocent today, which is never a good sign."

"Well, it's the principle of the thing," she grumbled before breaking out into a shy smile. "Do you mean that? About not wanting to be with anyone else?"

"Of course I mean that," he said, nibbling her ear. "It's all or nothing for me. You're it, Hermione."

She smiled widely, her entire face lighting up, before her expression became more troubled.

Draco's stomach dropped. "What is it?" he asked, concerned. "You're not leaving me again, are you?"

"No no," she said, shaking her head. "It's just that… Well... I'm not like your mother."

"Thank Merlin," he grimaced, cocking his head sideways. "Rather odd thing to say, frankly."

She rolled her eyes. "What I mean is... I still want us to have time to get to know each other. Magical trait or not, fated or not, we need to pace this. The past couple of weeks have been completely barmy, and I want the insanity to slow down. No shotgun wedding. No talk about joining the family yet. Just a nice, normal courtship, if we could. As normal as can be, anyway, considering it's us we're talking about."

"Of course, of course, that's fine," he said. "Whatever you need. Just tell me."

"Well, if the offer still stands… Could I take you up on that date?"

Draco grinned widely. "Absolutely."

She smiled with relief, and leaned in for another kiss. He tutted her away and resumed kissing her neck.

"Not so fast, Granger. I have a question for you too."

"Which is?" she said, sounding flustered.

"What's under the scarf?"

"Oh," she said, blushing, touching the lavender piece of fabric that was hiding her hair. "I actually don't understand what's going on with it, and I look ridiculous, so I'm covering up until I figure it out."

"Figure what out?" he frowned.

She thought about it a moment, and then reached up to pull the scarf off her head. Draco's eyes widened. The brown curls were still there, but there was a strip of white down the centre of her head, and two thick stripes stretching back from her temples.

"I look – "

"Beautiful," he finished.

"Like a skunk," she finished, dryly. "Or a candy cane, if I'm being generous."

"I like it," he said, grinning. "Seriously."

"Really?" she said, wrinkling her nose. "But it's so bizarre."

"Yes, because you and I are the epitome of normalcy."

She smiled at him. "I suppose you're right. But honestly, I'm flummoxed. I kept waiting for my whole head to change, but it just stayed like this," she said, tugging at one of the white chunks. "What do you suppose is going on?"

Draco ran his fingers along one of the lighter strands, admiring the contrast in the colour. "My mother might have an explanation, although she was fairly convinced you'd go full platinum."

"I suppose we can ask her," Hermione said, shrugging. "But not right now. In fact, I was sort of hoping we could go on that date."

"You're speedy," he grinned. "And what would you like to do?"

A mischievous smirk took over her face. "How about a trip to a Muggle movie theatre?"

"But I don't know anything about Muggle movies!" he whined.

"Oh really?" she said, innocently. "Did you know that it's in a dark theatre with comfortable seats and a back row?"

Draco stared. "How soon can we get there?"