"The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen, nor touched...but are felt in the heart."
-Helen Keller
When Hermione Granger slowly opened her eyes, she couldn't quite understand why it was still dark.
Where the hell am I?
Closing her eyes and opening them again, she made the same discovery.
Darkness.
The muscles in her arms protested as she gingerly brought them too her face, softy batting at her eyes to make sure that they were, indeed, open.
At least my eyes haven't been gouged out - that's always a plus.
Her slight movement caused a figure to stir beside her.
"Who's there?" Hermione asked, her voice raspy from lack of use.
The figure leaned closer and Hermione instinctively recoiled.
"Hermione?" A deep, gentle voice asked as a hand came to rest on her forehead.
"Draco," Hermione breathed in relief, closing her eyes. "What happened? Where am I? It's so dark...I can't see anything."
His hand caressed her forehead for a moment before he spoke, "You're in St. Mungo's. It's just past...two in the morning. You've been asleep for three days."
"Three days?" Hermione asked in disbelief, as she learned into his touch.
And suddenly, after a brief moment of silence, she bolted up erect in her bed.
"Hermione!" Draco cried as he stood, placing his arms on either side of her. "What - "
"Harry?" Hermione dared to whisper, "What happened - please, Draco, is he...is he alright?"
The side of the twin bed creaked as Draco's form sank down beside Hermione and pulled her gingerly into his arms.
"Harry's fine," he said softly, running his fingers through Hermione's tangled hair. "The Dark - err...Vol...demort," he corrected, finally daring to speak the dreaded name, "...is dead."
Hermione slowly pulled away from his embrace and looked up at Draco.
"I can't see your face."
She heard him rustle through his robes and a moment later, a dull light from the tip of his wand lit up the tiny hospital room.
Draco's face looked down at her, as handsome as Hermione had always remembered it to be. The strong, angular line of his jaw was set as his gaze rested carefully on her face. His gray eyes were intense, as always, but fatigue and worry were etched all along their outer contours.
"Voldemort's dead?" Hermione asked. "And Harry...Harry's okay?"
A small twitch of a smile graced Draco's lips as he nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. Potter's been here several times. He was...quite worried about you."
"He's dead," Hermione repeated, testing the sound of the words on her tongue, "Voldemort's dead. It's...it's finally over."
"Yes."
Hermione's hand reached up to Draco's face. An angry red burn adorned her wrist from Voldemort's cursed cords. She hesitated slightly - her fingers curling back for a brief moment, but she regained her courage, and her hand lightly rested on Draco's cheek.
"You're okay?" She asked as her eyes searched his.
His expression seemed almost exasperated, "Yes, I'm okay," he replied with an incredulous smile, bringing his own hand up to cover hers. "It's you that I've been worried about."
Hermione blushed and rested her head on his chest, "So, what's the prognosis, doctor?"
She felt his hands tangle their way into her wild hair, "Plenty of rest - and no overexertion."
"I think I can manage that."
Draco chuckled, and her head moved with the rumbling in his chest, "That's doubtful. Why do you think I'm here, keeping guard? My duty is to physically restrain you from bolting out the door at any given moment to do...whatever it is that your brain would feel compelled to do now that Voldemort is defeated."
"And what would it be?" He asked aloud, as his hand ventured to her upper back, rubbing his fingers into methodical circles, "Write a thesis on what led to Voldemort's demise? Field research on the aftermath of so great an accomplishment? Or perhaps - "
"Geez," Hermione cut in, lifting her head so that their lips were a whisper's breath apart from each other, "...and I thought you were just here to see the invalid."
Draco allowed another light-hearted chuckle as he gazed down at her fondly, "Well, that too, I suppose. Not much gets past you."
"No," Hermione agreed, as her eyes flickered back and forth between Draco's lips and eyes, "Not much does."
"How," Draco asked carefully, as Hermione's lips edged closer, "...how are you feeling?"
"Well enough to do this," Hermione replied as she gently captured his lips.
The kiss was tender - delicate. Compared to their frantic snog in the rain, it was undeniably less fierce - but somehow, infinitely more intimate. Draco's lips were careful, precise. His hand managed to untangle itself from her hair and gently caressed her cheek as Hermione leaned in and deepened the kiss.
After a stolen moment, Hermione pulled back and looked into Draco's eyes. The make-shift light from his ebony wand - now carelessly discarded at the side of the bed, created a deep shadow across his face.
"I don't remember if it was a dream," Hermione began as she reached to tuck a strand of blond hair back behind his ear, "...or if it was real. But, I want you to know...that I lo -"
"It was real," Draco's deep baritone cut in. His hands reached to cup her face - his thumbs grazing her cheeks.
"It was real," he repeated.
It was barely a whisper.
"Because," he continued - his eyes searching Hermione's, "...I, myself, wondered if I had strayed into a dream."
"But when you said that...that you loved me, I had never felt so alive."
Hermione's lips parted into a magnificent smile. Her heart fluttered and she felt a freedom emerge within her that she could not recall having ever been inside her before. Finally, Voldemort was gone. Defeated. Never to return. That, alone, would have given any witch or wizard unbound elation. But to have found love - that obscure, but all encompassing emotion that so many speak of - but few truly find...now that, that was cause for extraordinary joy.
"Draco, I - "
"I love you, Hermione," he interrupted, his eyes blazing with emotion, "I know...I know that I have a dark past," he began, motioning for her to let him continue as she made to cut in, "...but that is not the person I am today. If.." he faltered for a moment, then met her fierce gaze, "...if I know what love is, it is because of you."
Hermione's mouth was open for a retort, no doubt on the comment regarding his past, but his ending statement startled her so greatly that she blinked at him in silence for several moments.
Just as she was about to speak, the door to her hospital room creaked open and a dark head poked its way in.
"Malfoy?" Harry Potter asked, "I thought I heard something...is everything okay? Is Hermione awake?"
"Harry?" Hermione asked, her voice laced with emotion.
Harry crossed the room with a few purposeful strides and then gently flung his arms around his best friend, while Draco took a few careful steps back.
"Hermione," Harry breathed into her hair, "Oh, Merlin, Hermione...you don't know how good it is to see you."
They embraced in silence for several moments, rocking gently back and forth under Hermione's muffled sobs until Harry finally pulled back.
"I have been so worried about you," he whispered.
Hermione smiled and looked past Harry to Draco's standing form, "I'm fine. I'll be just fine."
"Malfoy hasn't left your side since he brought you here," Harry said, turning around slightly to make sure Draco was out of earshot, "...we were all so frightened that...that you wouldn't ever wake up."
Hermione smiled at Draco for a few moments before turning her attention back to Harry, "I just need some rest, is all. But you - Harry..." she trailed off and met his emerald eyes, "...I mean...it's done?"
He nodded in confirmation.
"Oh, Harry," she cried as she pulled him into another embrace, "You're finally free of everything - you can actually live your life now..."
"Yes," he whispered as he pulled back, "...and you..." he trailed off, glancing over his shoulder at Draco, who was standing quietly in the shadows, "...you can...go on with your life - in whatever way you choose..."
Hermione looked down at her swollen hands and fidgeted nervously with the hem of the white sheet on her bed, "Harry...when we were back at Malfoy Manor...and we were running up to the library..."
Harry regarded her quietly until she looked him fully in the face.
"I meant what I said about Draco."
Several moments of silence passed before Harry spoke.
"I know."
Hermione looked beyond Harry to see Draco shuffling his boots and looking up at her every few seconds.
"I just...Harry, I need your blessing - "
"Hermione, you've never needed my blessing. I'm not your - "
"Yes, I do, Harry," Hermione insisted. "You are the closest thing I've ever had to a brother. You should know by now that your approval at anything I do means more to me than words could ever express."
Harry swallowed and his Adam's Apple bobbed for a moment.
"Hermione - you don't need to ask for my approval on this, because you already have it."
Hermione raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Hermione," Harry said, once again looking over his shoulder at a fidgeting Draco in the far corner, "Malfoy saved our lives that day. Because of him...I was able to kill Voldemort. We wouldn't have gotten out of there alive without him."
"Despite...everything, despite our past," he continued, "I cannot overlook the fact that he saved our lives. Whatever hatred is ingrained into our souls...that will surely fade with time."
Hermione regarded him warily.
"That...," Harry continued in a soft whisper, "...and the fact that he hasn't left your side since he carried you in here three days ago. I think he should go take a bath."
Now that comment elicited a wide smile from Hermione.
"Oh, Harry," she whispered softly, "...thank you. You don't know how much that means."
Harry smiled softly and fidgeted with his glasses, "He'll never replace Ron - "
"I'm not trying to replace Ron, Harry," Hermione cut in. "I loved Ron like I never thought I could love a person. And we'll always have our memories of Ron - puking slugs, trying out for Quidditch, the time he actually attempted to put me on a broom...we'll never lose that. But Harry...I love Draco - in a way that almost makes me ache. The way I see you look at Ginny. You didn't want me to be alone forever, did you?"
"No," he immediately replied, "No...I never wanted that. It's just...it will be different to see you with someone besides Ron." Harry turned around to see Draco looking intently at them from the corner. "But know this, Hermione," Harry said as he turned back to her, "I would never let you be with someone who wasn't deserving of you. I think...I think that he has a lot of potential."
"He does. You just haven't seen it yet."
"Fair enough," he replied with a smirk worthy of Draco himself.
Hermione's eyes darted again back to Draco, and he took it as invitation cross the room. Harry stood from the side of the bed and took a step toward Draco. After a moment, he extended his hand and said with a smile, "Watch your back, Malfoy. I'm engaged to the woman who mastered the Bat-Boogey hex - and trust me...I'm a fast learner."
Draco smirked and took Harry's hand, "I'll consider myself warned. Through I trust you know that I've learned a thing or two since our little dueling club."
Harry grinned, "Whenever you're ready for a rematch - you let me know."
"Gladly."
Harry bent over and kissed Hermione on the crown of her head, "Get some rest, Hermione. I'll see you soon."
"See you soon, Harry," Hermione returned.
Harry crossed the room and closed the door shut quietly behind him. Draco's wand still cast a dull light across the darkened room.
"I think he likes you," Hermione said softly as Draco sank onto the bed next to her.
"Well, you can tell him that I don't really swing that way."
Hermione chuckled as rested her head against Draco's chest again and they fell into a peaceful silence.
"It just seems so surreal," she said, finally.
"What does?"
"This," she gestured with her right hand between the two of them. "Us...the fact that Voldemort is gone - it's as though there's all this pressure that has finally been released...it's unbelievable."
"I know what you mean," Draco said softly as he stroked her hair.
They sat in that manner for several minutes. Listening to each other's breathing - feeling one another's heart beats. Draco bent his head and kissed Hermione's forehead before saying, "You need to rest. The healers said that's the only way you're going to fully regain your strength."
"I've been asleep for three days, Draco."
"Rest," he urged, as he made to extricate himself from the bed.
"Wait," Hermione called - immediately halting Draco from moving any further.
"I need to know."
Draco's eyebrow raised slightly, "To know what?"
Hermione brought her burned hand to her mouth and covered it, as if she was too afraid to speak what she desired.
"To...to know who didn't make it."
Draco's face instantly fell.
"Not tonight, Hermione. It's late, and you're still quite weak - "
"Draco, please don't patronize me. I...I need to know."
Draco stood rigid for a moment before sinking back on the side of the bed next to her sitting form.
"Okay," he said quietly, "...okay."
He seemed to be preparing himself to hear the words exit his own mouth. He hesitated several times - and with each hesitation, Hermione's heart began to pound more frantically within her chest - constricting her breathing.
"Snape...Snape didn't make it."
"No," Hermione breathed, covering her mouth with both hands, "No, not Snape...please don't tell me - he said that I should leave...that I needed to - "
"Hermione," Draco said with strain in his voice, "It is not your fault - he made his choice. You did nothing wrong."
"But...but...he was like your...father."
Draco nodded, "Yes. Yes, he was."
Hermione momentarily lost control. She began crying softly and her shoulder's shook with each breath as Draco gently gathered her in his arms. "Hermione," Draco soothed, "Hermione, listen to me. He would not be the father figure that I've always admired had he done anything less than what he did. He was a true war hero - the best man that I ever knew."
Hermione nodded against his chest as she wiped her eyes with the backside of her hand.
"A true war hero," she repeated as she looked up into Draco's eyes.
"Yes."
"Who...who else?"
"Hermione - "
"Please, Draco. Who else?"
"Bill Weasley...Moody...and Hagrid."
"Hagrid?" Hermione asked, her eyes brimming with more tears.
Instead of replying, Draco gingerly pulled Hermione closer - if that was at all possible.
"Shhh...it'll be okay."
"How can it be okay?" Hermione asked, sniffing loudly into Draco's shirt.
"You just have to have faith."
"Yes," Hermione whispered in return.
"Faith."
The memorial the Ministry had set up for the fallen witches and wizards of the final battle seemed strangely impersonal - given the massive amount of familiar faces that turned up for the occasion. The Daily Prophet would later hail it as one of the most emotional, honorable tributes to fallen heroes that had ever been held in Britain. Hermione somehow had doubts on that supposed fact, having remembered reading of the fallen members of the original Order of the Phoenix just after Voldemort's first demise.
The memorial was at Hogwarts, and Hermione found it fitting that it should be. Hogwarts had long been considered home to many a witch or wizard who claimed to be lacking such a thing. And Snape's haunting figure wandered into her thoughts at that sad sentiment.
It was nearing dusk, and a beautiful sunset cast a golden glow on the grounds of Hogwarts. Dumbledore's tomb shone brightly as the alabaster reflected the setting sun. Next to Hermione stood Draco, his arm around her waist to support her. It had already been two weeks since Hermione had awoken at St. Mungo's. Her recovery had been slow and tedious, frustrating to one who was trying to keep herself together. After standing for so long, the Minister of Magic had been addressing the massive crowd for nearly an hour, now, she felt herself leaning into Draco's sturdy form.
"You okay?" He whispered, bending down slightly. An early summer breeze ruffled his normally kept hair.
Hermione looked solemnly ahead as the Minister continued to rattle off the accomplishments of the fallen soldiers.
"After today, they'll all be forgotten."
"What makes you say that?" Draco asked.
"This was how it was at Dumbledore's funeral...at Ron's. Everyone expressed condolences, shared sorrows, but then it was as if those people never really existed. The Minister has been going on for an hour about all of their great deeds, but it's all for naught. No one really remembers."
"I know you don't believe that, Hermione."
Hermione sighed and leaned further into Draco's side. "It's just...I wish that there was something more that could be done. A memorial seems...almost crass when compared with who these people were, their souls, their thoughts, ideas, dreams...their hopes. They'll never be able to dream again."
"What if they still can?"
Hermione raised an eyebrow and turned to regard him for the first time since the Minister had begun speaking. "What do you mean?"
"The world is full of magic," Draco began, turning back to the ceremony, "...there are ghosts, portraits, all kinds of evidences that those that go on never truly leave us. You were raised by Muggles, Hermione, you can't tell me that they don't believe in something after this life, that there is something more."
Hermione chewed on her lip pensively, "It's true, there are several Muggles who believe in a life after death - some that even swear by it."
"And what do you think?"
"I think...I have to believe...that there is something more out there, to have hope that the sun will rise again...that this, whatever we are living in right now, is not the end."
Draco looked fondly at her and smiled, "Well said, Hermione. Well said."
The Minister concluded with his epitaph and the invited guests slowly began to mingle around the grounds. Harry and Ginny quickly found their way over to Hermione and Draco. Hugs were exchanged, tears shed, and hopes for the future revealed. Hermione remained unusually quite until Harry and fiance excused themselves and headed over to Minerva McGonagall.
"Come on," said Draco softly, taking Hermione's hand and pulling her toward the front of the congregation. Hermione obeyed and tailed a few paces behind him. Along their way, Hermione passed Lupin and Tonks, each of whom gently grabbed her shoulders with a reassuring squeeze as they proceeded in the opposite direction toward the castle.
After what seemed to be a long time, Hermione felt Draco stop in front of her. Coming around to stand by his side, Hermione found herself directly before Dumbledore's beautiful tomb. Reverently, perfectly to its right side was a new tomb. Blinking back the inevitable tears, Hermione read the inscription.
SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE
1960 - 2004
Cowards die many time before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.
Hermione eyed the inscription for several minutes before she looked up at Draco. His pale, stoic face was completely still - a few tears slowly making their way down his cheek. Reaching into his cloak, Draco procured a single rose - completely black, a rare, and astonishingly beautiful thing. With a final glance at the gift, Draco gently leaned forward and placed the rose on the black, granite tomb.
"Goodbye," he whispered, his voice cracking.
Hermione turned back to the tomb, the inscription, and the newly deposited gift. Bending on shaking knees, she knelt eye level to the stone. After a few moments of silence, she brought her fingertips to her lips, gently kissed them, and then placed her fingers on the tomb.
"Thank you," she said.
The warm breeze suddenly picked up and blew her hair into a fury. It felt comforting, like an assuring hug, wrapping itself around her until a smile appeared on her lips.
Draco, too, smiled.
"Come on," Draco said, pulling Hermione to her feet, "Let's go."
Hermione stood and embraced Draco fiercely, the soothing wind tangling their hair. Draco pulled back, tucked Hermione's hair behind her ears as best he could, and whispered, "I love you."
Hermione smiled, for the second time that day, and met his gaze.
"Oh, Draco," she quoted from the vague memory of his voice in her dreams, "I have loved you to the point of madness."
A/N: Well, there you have it! There is still an epilogue to come - so I hope that everyone sticks around for one more chapter. I'll make it worth it! Again, I just want to thank Karmabur for all the wonderful help on editing. A HUGE 'thank-you' to everyone that left a review. Reviews were what made it worth writing the next chapter! This was my first fanfic, so I appreciate everyone for humoring me a bit. I want, and plan, to write an other fic soon - possibly of a different pairing, but I hope all you kind folks stick around. Cheers!!