Hermione slowly lifted her head and turned to look into the steel-grey eyes that were both so cool and emotionless at this moment, that it made a slight shiver run up her spine.

Draco bent his head down until his face was mere centimeters away from her bushy hair, near her left ear. "What are you doing out here, Granger?" he asked and sat down next to her. The sudden closeness to him was startling but soothing at the same time.

"I fled," she whispered and threw another stone into the distance with such force it made a bone in her arm crack tiredly.

Draco rose his left eyebrow as he watched the stone jump across the water's surface a few times before it disappeared. He whistled lightly through his teeth. "I didn't know you could do that," he stated.

"I didn't either," Hermione admitted and tilted her head to one side to look at him. Behind her, the moon pushed past a dark cloud and illuminated the crown of hair on Hermione's head. He smiled faintly.

"Where did you go with Potter?" he asked.

"Some surprise but I left," Hermione whispered and bounced a tiny stone in her palm as she avoided his gaze with determination. Draco opened his mouth to ask another question but she cut him off. "Look, I don't want to fight tonight."

"But -"

"Not tonight," she whispered and leaned closer to him, her breath tickling against his slightly parted lips. Draco's eyes widened in response, his hand brushing over hers.

"What are you doing, Granger?"

"Making a change," she said and smirked in a way that would have made any Slytherin proud. Draco could taste her words because as she spoke her lips were so close to his own that it felt like she would trace the outlines of the letters on his bottom lip. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he reached his hand out, grabbing her neck he drew her closer and their lips crashed together. He could feel the internal debate going on behind her forehead, and he held his breath as she parted her lips.

At the same moment, the clouds above their heads parted and sent down a soft cover of raindrops.

Her sweet sigh of surrender took over his senses as his tongue entered her mouth; her taste was intoxicating and just like he remembered it.

Honey and sugar tickled his tongue.

He clutched her sides possessively and held her firmly in place, adamant that she would not escape his grip again. She placed both of her palms on his cheeks and buried the tips of her fingers into his snow-soft hair so she could pull him a little closer. Each kiss sent a number of shocks through his entire body and he knew that it was enough to make him yearn for more.

Their kiss broke for a brief second and Hermione's heavy eyelids peeled open enough to let her gaze wander slowly across his face. She shifted her thumb and slowly traced the smooth contour of his lips which seemed to beg to be kissed, to be locked in an eternal kiss with her own lips. She smiled softly and wasn't surprised to see the same smile on his face, too.

"You are getting wet," he mumbled and leaned closer to steal a quick but endearing kiss before he realized the hidden meaning behind his words and laughed against her lips, hoping she wouldn't catch on.

"That too," she admitted much to Draco's surprise and he swept a heavy and wet curl of her hair out of her face. Merlin, how much he wanted her right now.

He stared bewildered at her as she rose quickly to her feet and reached her hand out. "Let's go."

"You don't mean it," Draco heard himself ask and looked down.

"I do," she answered truthfully and before he knew what he was doing, he took her hand and laced their fingers together.

Almost immediately Draco pulled her closer to him and their surrounding fell away, there was nothing but them and the rain, his hands on her as his lips found hers once more. She let out a gasp of surpise as he dug his fingers into the thin fabric of her skirt to try and pull her even closer. They ripped and suddenly there were wet fingers on the bare skin of her legs, causing something in the pits of her stomach to burst into a spectacle of warmth, almost like a blinding light, and she couldn't keep her lips and her tongue from getting more demanding. Hermione slid her hands under the hem of his soaked shirt and her fingers began to explore what was underneath; the tight hot skin of his muscles stretching over his ribs, the ridges of his abdomen and a scar on his side she hadn't noticed the last time.

She was so willing, so soft and he tried to stiffle his moan at her outburst of enthusiasm, but wasn't successful; he moaned lightly into her mouth. Draco buried his fingers deep into her hair as he intensified their kiss, whatever she was doing was driving him crazy. He was moaning softly into her mouth, kissing her harder and harder as if he would never be able to stop, never wanted them to part again.

Hermione very much liked the concept of that thought.

"I don't know.. what I'm doing," Draco suddenly whispered against her lips, his voice was hoarse. He felt Hermione's body tense at his remark, her eyes snapping open in incomprehension. Every fiber and cell of her body rebelled, screamed to make him continue with the intoxication that was coming from his actions but he merely grinned at her, his eyes soft as they touched hers. He stroked a wet fingertip against her cheek and her body shivered in response.

"When it comes to you," he continued "I'm even more insecure about everything. I don't know what to do...it's because you are all the things I've never even allowed myself to dream of for myself but yet you are here. It's addictive, mind blowing to say at least." He paused momentarily, remembering himself that he needed to breathe. He smiled nervously before the swipe of his tongue hinted at her bottom lip, swollen from the cold, crisp air.

"Draco," she whispered suddenly, and for a reason she could not identify, she was frightened of what he was about to say.

"You're the most incredible, moral and compassionate person I've ever met. You're brave and intelligent and you allow yourself to be so incredibly proud of who you are but you actually have a reason to be proud of yourself, not like me. I pride myself on my name but it all loses any kind of insignificance when it comes to you." His voice broke into a small cough, he was shaking like a leaf.

His shaking was nothing compared to Hermione's. She stared with wide eyes at him, a tint of horror painted around her pupils.

"I know this won't make a Knut's worth of sense to you, I can see it in your eyes," Draco observed and chuckled. "You are so lost inside of your head sometimes, so absorbed with your beliefs, that I wish I could follow you and make them to my own beliefs, too." To stress his statement, he touched his fingertip lightly to her temple and smiled warmly. "Tell me, what you are thinking."

"I am...confused," she muttured so quietly, she wasn't sure he'd heard it over the loud sound of the rain.

"How are you feeling right now? In this moment?"

Hermione tilted her head up to catch his eyes and, after a sad silence, she said. "I am confused."

"Obviously," he said and clenched his eyes shut, remaining still and silent. He had never done anything like this before, he had absolutely no idea how to talk about feelings. It was bred into his bones, knocked into him by the same dull answers he had always received when he had approached his father in an attempt to talk about them.

'Feelings can be used as weapons against you, my son. Do not reveal them, you understand me?'

However, he had just spilled his heart out to Hermione and all she could offer him were three words.

Three words were enough to crush him.

What did you expect?

Certainly not those three words.

He didn't have a clue what to do any more. After all, telling her how he felt hadn't been much of a success, he thought glumly.

"Draco?"

He peeled his eyes open and glanced down at her, taking in the deep frown on her forehead that told a story of confusion. He exhaled deeply and watched her breath in almost simultaneously, as if she was trying to inhale his breath.

A spark of hope ignited in the core of his chest.

"Let's go," he mumbled quietly and stepped away, releasing her from his embrace as he turned on his heels. He couldn't see the wave of anxiety cross her features as he let go of her. "Let's get you warm," he shouted over his shoulder and listened how she began to walk to catch up with him.

They walked in silence as they made their way back toward the Castle. As always, the Gryffindor brunette had left him feeling somewhere between utterly lost and safe at the same time. It was a feeling he had grown used to already but it left a bitter taste on his tongue all over again. He didn't particularly like the feeling of being lost; he was lost as it was already and she just happened to make it worse.

He glanced sideways at her, marvelling how her hair, despite the heavy rain, hadn't lost its infamous puffiness yet. Affection gushed up inside him and he couldn't conceal a small smirk to cross his lips.

His smirk didn't slip her attention and, while they both remained silent, Hermione reached her hand out and laced their fingers together, giving his fingers a soft squeeze.

He returned the squeeze gently and together, they entered the castle.

He swallowed loudly and lidded his eyes. "Are you alright?"

Hermione blinked in bewilderment as she shut the door to her dorm after them and turned to look at him. "I'm fine."

"Good," he mumbled.

Suddenly, Hermione rushed to his side and grabbed his face between her ice-cold hands. A flash full of admiration illuminated his grey gaze and she sighed in relief as her thumbs instinctively stroked over his pale face.

"What were you thinking?"

He lifted his head and released a shaky breath. "What are you talking about?"

Hermione slowly removed her hands from his face and dropped her gaze to his chest together with her hands. "You can't just go and tell me things like that."

Ah, things.

"I can do whatever I want," he replied cooly and sneered, grabbing her hands he pushed them gently away from his chest and stepped back before he seated himself on the edge of her bed. He took back one of his hands to fish his wand out of his pockets and aimed it at her.

"Draco, what -"

A swooshing sound, much like the sound of gently lapping water, cut her off mid-sentence as a hot wave hit her face and the rest of her body. She was dry again within a few seconds.

"Thanks," she mumbled but Draco shrugged and pointed at himself, repreating the procedure.

Slowly, Hermione walked over and sat down next to him, surpressing the urge to touch him. Merlin, how much she wanted to touch him, it was a deep buried craving she had just recently discovered, a need that was constantly asking to get satisfied. A need she didn't understand but enjoyed nontheless.

"Do you still think I am evil?" Draco suddenly asked, fixing her with a fierce glance. Beneath his attempt to sound careless, Hermione heard a little strain of pain in his voice and guilt formed in the pits of her stomach.

"You aren't evil," she answered truthfully and nodded her head his way. "You've made mistakes, you've made the wrong choices...but that doesn't make you evil. Nor does it make you one of them," she added and watched him intensely.

He swallowed away the lump of relief in his throat and bit down hard on his tongue. He had stopped considering himself a Death-Eater a long time already, or just never really thought of himself as one of them to begin with. What was he more than a puppet? A puppet out on a suicide mission? Everything was fucked up, there was no denying, and he had the feeling that his relationship to her would just add more to the list of things which wouldn't work out but still, here he sat, thinking that she was the only good aspect of his puppet life.

"Is that why you never told on me? Never told anyone about my - you know." He flinched at the mere thought of his Dark Mark in the knowledge that she didn't like thinking about it as much as he did.

Hermione sighed sadly and frowned at the expression glued to his face. Slowly, she shuffled a little closer to him and carefully reached out to stroke her fingers across his jaw, encouraged not to stop when he didn't push her away. "I had hope."

"You were hoping for what?" He asked in disbelief and his eyes seemed to suddenly glisten.

"Hope that you would change and realize that you were misled. That you are strong enough to break free and leave the burden of your mark behind," she explained and raked his hair out of his forehead. He laughed, whether at her explanation or her hope, she couldn't tell. "I told you that I always look for the good in people, I told you that I can feel that you are a good person. I even told you that I care about you. How much more do you need to hear?"

Draco stared with wide eyes at her. Never would he have believed that something like that would come out of Hermione's mouth. Hoped for it, yes. But never thought it would actually happen.

"See, I look at you and I immediately stare right at the mess I made," Draco suddenly chocked out and reached his hand up to stroke it against her cheek. She shut her eyes as he did but opened them again as soon as she spoke herself.

"What mess?" She couldn't explain herself why she was so persistent or what she was actually hoping to hear. When did their conversation take this sudden turn? Why did he look at her that desperate? A little feeling of hope raised in her chest and she waited for his response.

"You shouldn't do this, Granger. You shouldn't even be here with me - you shouldn't spend time with me, even less want to spend time with me," he began and his eyes locked with hers. The honey color seemed to fade away and turn to moisture but she held his gaze.

"They've got their hooks in me so deep and there is no chance to get ouf there, even if I had the entire Order of Phoenix standing behind me," he added with a bitter laugh and shook his head. "Once a Death-Eater, always a Death-Eater. They consider me their property, even though I don't want to be part of this anymore. Especially since I am spending time with you, Hermione. But even though you are right infront of me right now, I feel as if you are miles away from me." Draco ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the ceiling of her dorm.

"This doesn't have anything to do with you being a mudblood and me being a pureblood," he continued and dropped his eyes to hers again. "We are in two different kinds of worlds not because of our heritage but because of the sides we choose. I chose the evil to protect my family - " His voice became quieter and Hermione stared at him with wide eyes.

"But I have to protect my parents, too. I wouldn't -" she began but he cut her off immediately.

"Would you join the Dark Side to protect them?" His voice was cold again and she drew in a sharp breath.

"Never," she stated without any doubt. He merely nodded at her and dropped his hand to his side. "There are always other ways, Draco."

"The Dark Lord isn't threatening you to kill them off in the first place," he heard himself say and he forced his gaze away.

He heard Hermione gasp. "My parents are in just as much danger as your parents are, I think in more danger even," Hermione said even though her voice became weak at the mention of her parents. "They are Muggles, god damn it. Voldemort will kill them if he wins at power again. He will most likely kill every single Muggle connected to Dumbledore. Thats why I will have to hide them, to make sure they stay safe."

His head turned back toward her and he cocked an eyebrow. "You will hide them?"

Hermione sighed and nodded. "They will begin a new life under different names, without any memory of the Wizarding World - or me, as a matter of fact."

He shook his head quickly. "Don't erase their memory, it's too dangerous."

I know what I'm talking about. I almost fucked your brain up.

He looked into her eyes, really looked into them and hoped that her parents wouldn't have to suffer because of him, just like her daughter had already suffered because of him.

"Less dangerous than letting them go on as if nothing was wrong. Eventually, he will find and kill them and I simply can't risk that. You ought to understand," Hermione pleaded and blinked to hide away the upcoming tears.

"I think it's time for you to do it," he heard himself ask, ignoring the anxiety inside of his chest.

"No, I'm doing it this summer...I'm not ready to let go yet," Hermione whispered and began to wring her hands again. He grabbed her wrist and forced her attention back to him.

"No, I mean that it's time for you to just run away," Draco declared. Hermione's eyes went wide. "You should go with them and hide until all of this is over. I want you to be safe, Granger."

Don't leave me, he thought over and over again, hoping that she would somehow hear his thoughts and understand how painful the thought of her leaving him was.

She broke away, her eyes wide and searching as she tried to take in what he had said. "You want me to leave?" she repeated and brushed her hand through her long curls, cursing at the knots she left. Sympathy rushed through Draco and he reached his arms out awkwardly.

"Until this is over - "

She held her hand up and shook her head. "You can't know how long it will last. It might take years to defeat Voldemort."

Draco flinched, he hadn't thought about that. All he heard was her sharp intake of breath and whispered words falling from her lips. "I want to help you, Draco," she whispered and her eyes searched for his.

He sighed.

"You should have stayed away from me, especially after you found out that I am a Death-Eater. But I am glad you didn't. I am glad that you didn't give me up," he finally declared and before he could even finish his sentence, Hermione lunged herself at him and threw her arms around his neck. He remained completely still and unresponsive until the shock of her sudden outbreak faded away and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.

"When you love someone, you don't categorize the things you love about them—there isn't anything about them you'd want to live without. Your Mark may be a part of you but it doesn't define who you are, which is why I can tolerate its existence," Hermione whispered against his shirt, inhaling the scent of his skin. She felt inexplicably safe where she was; warm and comfortable.

The look that washed over his face was pure incredulity. Outside, the rain had not stopped in the slightest. Quite the contrary was happening, raindrops as huge as Mrs. Weasley's yearly easter eggs hammered against the single window of Hermione's dorm as Draco carefully took in what she had revealed.

'When you love someone.'

Did that mean she was in love with him? After their encounter in the Room of Requirement he had gotten to terms with the fact that her body somehow replied to his actions, that she was attracted to him on a level which was strictly physical.

This now, was a complete new level.

The rain was pounding against the window as they sat in silence, listening to one another's slow breathing. They were two teenagers whose only achievement was to have fallen in love but nobody could tell what the future held for them. The reality of the War hung over their heads like a sword, ready to crash down.

Draco tilted his head down and his eyes searched her face, slowly, as if he meant to memorize it. Autumn-colored hues peeked up at him, aware of his studying glance and she measured his expression. There, craddled in his arms like characters in old fairy tales, she realized how intoxicating his presence was. It was like having just a little bit of a drug now and then - but it always made you want more. There was nothing sweeter in her life than Draco's kisses. She could lay like this forever, forgeting the outside world. And that was a good thing, she thought, because she knew all to well that there was much depression in the outside, forgetting about the happiness that was possible. She could always come back to this, this welcome, this sweetness, this esctasy.

She felt warm and strong arms around her, and instinctively nestled into them as a feeling of love and appreciation pulsated through her. Her heavy lids fluttered and Draco's body shifted, sinking against the headboard of the brunette's bed as her lids slowly sunk down and she was drawn into her dreams. Seconds before she fell asleep completely, a single plea left her lips and Draco smiled to himself.

"Don't go," she whispered tiredly. "Let me sleep in your arms just for one night."

As if he would have wanted to leave.

Draco kissed the top of her head as he shut his eyes, her scent lulled him into his own land of dreams and together they fell asleep without a care about the world but with a care for each other.

The moment Hermione awoke she knew that Draco was gone, even before she opened her eyes. She wondered why the light hadn't woken her. From the position of the sun, it had to be early evening already.

God damn it. Sleeping like the dead gets a whole new meaning.

She sat up slowly, her chest tight with a jolt of emptiness. The covers next to her were pushed aside, the sheets under her tightened and straightened. He must have pulled at them before he left, maybe to get rid of the contour of his body he might have left or just to be tidy. Despite everything, the thought of him hovering over her and maybe giving her a good-bye kiss before he had left gave her a feeling of happiness.

It was only when she sat up further and stretched her heavy limbs that she noticed the folded piece of paper on the nightstand. She picked it up with a smile ghosting around her lips, unfolding it she scanned the first lines and a sudden sensation of dread washed over her:

"'Il est un endroit secret, le pays des larmes'. I'm sure you recognize this quote, I've allowed myself to pick it out of 'The Little Prince', a book I think you know of. I woke up in the middle of the night, but unlike any other nights I didn't wake up because of nightmares - for the first time in so long I've dreamed peacefully and I was able to catch up on sleep. I must thank you for that. However, while I was laying next to you, I came to realize how true this quote is. It is such a secret place, the land of tears, isn't it? But with you, there is no land of tears for me anymore, no secrets needed because I can open up to you like I've never been able before. It's a land full of emotions and feelings I never had before. My father always thought I was weak. And in the moment that mattered most I was. I couldn't be strong when you needed me to be. I've been pushing myself to prove him wrong, and pushing you away, not knowing that by trying to prove him that I wasn't weak, I was weaker than I have ever been.

I am knowingly full of shit, Hermione. I have never cared about anybody or anything in my entire life, and people have accepted that. And then you - you didn't think of me that way. I have never known anyone who actually believed that I was good enough until I met you, and then you made me believe too. My world wouldn't be my world without you in it, I can't bear the thought of leaving you forever, any more than I can bear the thought of losing you forever. If i just see you, I know that everything else will be alright."

The rest of the letter seemed to wash together into a meaningless blur of letters; she had to read it over and over again to make any sense of it. When she did finally understand, she stood in the middle of her dorm staring down at it, watching the paper flutter as her hand shook.

She had no recollection, later, of having decided what to do, or of having realized what he was asking for, but somehow she was rushing to get dressed in something which seemed appropriate enough. Dressed in a slender summer's dress, she rushed out of her droom, the letter still in one hand.

The corridor in the seventh floor was filled with the echo of cackling heels as Hermione paced up and down infront of the particular wall which hid the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Strands of her hair had begun to fall out of her bun, the silver pins holding her hair together already piercing into her scalp. Her hand shot up and she fiddled nervously with her hair, trying to fix as much as possible while she accelerated her steps, her eyes nervously flickering from side to side.

'It was wrong to come here - I'm making a fool out of myself', Hermione told herself as the clock hit eight.

'He is late', she acknowledged with a sigh and closed her fingers around the piece of parchment that had waited this morning for her to wake up and told her to wait here, for him. She faintly remembered how puzzled she had stared at his note, her fingers had gently stroked over his words. Her inner demons started to yell at her, reminded her of being reasonable and realize that this must be a joke. Draco Malfoy wasn't someone to do things like this. But for the first time ever, Hermione had listened to her heart.

Now she was standing here, imagining what he could have planned. He didn't seem to be much of a planner, but then again Hermione didn't seem to know Draco Malfoy all that much. Slowly, she turned around and leaned her back against the wall, the cold touch prickling on her bare shoulders as she slid down the wall and sat up against it, exhaustion washing over her. Her eyelids slipped shut and she drew in a deep breath, Draco's face appeared immediately, his gray hues piercing into hers, examining her face with his characteristic smirk toying at his lips.

Ice seemed to crystallize inside her chest as his voice called out her name from far away, "Hermione?", he almost whispered as if he wasn't aware of her presence. Not trusting her voice to be steady enough she simply cleared her throat and looked down the corridor where his body had emerged out of darkness. He moved toward her, almost tripping over his own feet - Draco Malfoy, who never stumbled, never did an ungraceful move.

His eyes were lidded, thoughtful. "You really came," he said, his tone almost musing. Hermione's hands trembled in her lap. They were cold, white and trembling. She laced her fingers together to try and stop the shaking. It helped a little.

"I came," Hermione whisphered as he moved toward her and held his hand out for her, hesitantly she took it and rose to her feet. His hands were inexplicably gentle and his eyes seemed very dim, maybe because darkness layed heavily around them. maybe because of something else. She could see her reflection in each of his pupils, his silvery gray hues unnaturally dilated.

He said, "I wasn't sure if you'd come," and brushed his thumb almost tenderly across the back of her hand before he slowly, reluctantly dropped it.

"I wasn't sure I'd come either," Hermione admitted and dropped her gaze lightly, raking her hair out of her eyes. There was an unpleasant silence until she burst out, "Why do you want me here? What do you want?"

Draco sucked a breath in, his eyes were blazing and she realized he had never expected this reaction. The look on his face said as much. Suddenly, his hands came up to cup her face; she felt the warmth of his fingertips so close to her skin; she stood frozen, staring up at him.

"You don't understand," he said. His voice shook. "I've never felt this way about anyone. I didn't think I was capable of loving, not with the way - how I grew up - "

Hermione reached up and covered his hand with hers, his warm breath on her face was oddly soothing her. They stood frozen in this moment, unaware of how many seconds, minutes or even hours had passed already. Snapping out of their reverie, Draco dropped his hands from her face and he moved away from her, her heart did a slow somersault as he did. Her eyes wandered over his face as she could hear the desperation of his words as he spoke again, "If we both feel the same way - we can make it work, Hermione," he whispered, his lashes throwing dark shadows across his cheekbones as he looked down, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Hermione could see that they were shaking, too. Just like hers.

"I don't have control over the future, Hermione. At all", his words were almost soundless, barely a whisper. "This could be the my last chance before... - our first and last night - on this world. I have only so much control over things to make it worthwhile, to make it the best night of our lives", he breathed out, his voice was light and his mouth curved in an half smile as his eyes wandered gently, exploratorily over her face. It was a sad smile with something else hidden underneath, something Hermione couldn't quite grasp no matter how hard she tried.

"Our first and last night?", she repeated slowly. She wasn't good at controlling her voice, she could hear the pain in it, like a wound just under the surface. She couldn't hide what she was feeling and now she felt as if Draco could look right through her as if she were glass, could feel her pain like it was his own.

His hand shot up and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her swiftly yet very softly toward him. Hermione stretched out to wrap her arms around him like she had wanted to do for a long time already, his arms slid around her waist, his hands pinning her head to his shoulder. Draco's hands were warm on her bare shoulders, the only things that were warm in the cold surrounding them. He burried his nose in her hair and heard a sound like a sigh rush through his lips, a wave of noise that told about the dizzying sense of weightlessness in his body. Nothing else mattered but feeling her body pressed against his, he held her as if he wanted to crush her into himself, to reassure himself that she'd always be with him.

"Hermione", he whispered, his voice shaking. "I destroy and poison everything I love. Not deliberately, of course. But I don't want to destroy you too. Not you too."

His lips touched her hair very lightly before he disentangled their bodies and stepped around her to face the wall. Hermione watched a grin appear on his face as he closed his eyes and clearly spoke his desire inside of his mind until an old, with odd signs ornated double door appeared out of nowhere. Turning around he held his hand out for her, his expression full of hope. Hermione didn't hesitate and took his hand. Together they opened the door and entered the Room of Requirement.

Do you guys think this chapter is a bit too much? I wasn't sure if the mush and fluff wasn't a bit too overwhelming but I hope you like it nontheless, let me know.

For those who didn't get the translation in Draco's letter, here it is again.

'Il est un endroit secret, le pays des larmes - It is such a secret place, the land of tears.'

I've read your past reviews and it was interested to see who you think Blaise is in love with, I promise you will find out soon.

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.

Enjoy this chapter.

Love,

Letmesignxx