A/N: As always, I appreciate your feedback and encouragement. Sorry to tease you about the mirror in the last chapter. I'll just say that everything is not as it seems and leave it at that. Yes, I know I'm evil. To be honest with you, I had not intended this story to be so long. But Caroline made me continue, that nasty little girl. ;) So you tell me, how long is too long? I don't want you all to get bored with Caroline or the story.

Disclaimer: All characters (except Caroline and Stefan) belong to JKR. At Last by Etta James.

*****

Chapter 25

The Great Hall was filled with hundreds of people, yet Hermione felt lonely. Something or someone was missing, and she felt empty.

Getting up from the table, she looked around to see couples and groups of people having fun. Even Ron, that wanker, looked like he was enjoying himself with Lavender on his arm. Feeling a bit melancholy, she decided to leave and walk around a bit. As she left the Great Hall, Harry was coming in from a long day at the Ministry.

"What's up, Hermione? Leaving so soon?" asked Harry.

"It's a little hot in there, so I'm just going to walk around a bit," she smiled sadly at him. He could tell something wasn't right, but couldn't put his finger on it. She just seemed…unhappy.

"Okay, but remember that we're all meeting in the astronomy tower at midnight to see the fireworks. Fred and George promise to put on a good show," said Harry.

"Sure, Harry. I'll be there." She kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Hermione meandered throughout the halls and was pulled toward the library like a magnet. She could still hear the music coming from the Great Hall. She looked at her name on the plaque and shivered. Since her days at Hogwarts, the library was a sanctuary for her. Now was no different. She opened the door and slowly walked into the massive library.

The first thing she noticed was the warmth of the place. It felt like home. The smell of books gave her comfort and immediately lifted her spirits.

She let her fingers run over the spines of some of the books as she picked out her favorite, Hogwarts: a History. She never tired of the massive volume.

Kicking off her shoes, she sat down on one of the leather couches with her feet tucked under her and started to read.

*****

Draco, dressed to the nines, opened the huge double doors to the Great Hall. He scanned the crowd searching for Hermione – or Stefan. Clutching his wand tightly in his hand, he entered the room and headed toward a familiar face.

Stefan was sitting with the Patil twins, one on each side. Stefan must have said something funny, because all three were laughing. All of a sudden, Stefan stopped laughing when he felt the tip of a wand at the back of his neck. He turned around and to find the deathly, ice-cold stare of one Draco Malfoy.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your head off. Where is she?" hissed Draco. "What have you done with her?"

Both Padma and Parvati inched their way away from Stefan. There was no way they were going to be around the angry blond when he looked like that. Stefan looked at him like he was crazy. "First, lower your wand. Second, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Granger," Draco said through gritted teeth. "I heard all about your plans with her, you low-life sack of shit."

Blaise rushed over to diffuse a possible tragic situation. He grabbed Draco's arm and pulled it down. "Hold on, Draco. Stefan is innocent in all this."

Both Draco and Stefan looked at Blaise waiting for his explanation. Draco raised his wand once again. "Innocent my arse," said Draco. "Caroline told me all about what your cousin's plans are for Granger tonight."

"Well, about that, you see, um…" Blaise lowered his head with his hands in his pockets.

"Spit it out, Blaise," said an impatient Draco.

"Yeah, cousin, what have you done now?" asked Stefan with his hands on his hips.

"Caroline was so unhappy that you weren't coming to the Ball, so I thought you needed a little push. I kind of told her what to say," admitted Blaise.

Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean to tell me you coached my daughter on what to say to get me here?"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it? You're here and that's what counts."

"Making my daughter say that Stefan was going to get some pussy from Granger is going a little too far, don't you think?" Draco ground out.

"What? Did you really tell her say that, Blaise? She's just a little girl. She doesn't know what that means. And to hang your own cousin out there like that, I can't believe you'd do such a thing. I could have gotten killed by your lunatic friend."

"Okay, maybe I used bad judgment," said Blaise hanging his head. "No harm, no foul, right? Draco's here at the Ball, and Stefan is still alive with all his bits. I'd say that's a success, wouldn't you? The ends justify the means – it's the Slytherin way."

Stefan looked at him with disappointment. "It might be the Slytherin way, but it's definitely not the family way." He turned and left the group. Luna looked at Blaise and shook her head. She, too, turned around and left.

"Aw, wait you guys. I'm sorry…"

Harry and Ginny saw the heated discussion and walked over. "What's going on here?"

"Granger," said Draco. "Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, she left about an hour ago. Said she was going to walk around a bit. I don't know where though," said Harry.

"You guys are so clueless. Where is the one place you could always find Hermione when she wanted to be alone?" Ginny flipped her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms and looked pointedly at Draco.

He nodded at her in understanding and turned to leave with his robes billowing behind him.

*****

When Hermione fell asleep on her side on the leather sofa, the book she was reading fell to the carpeted floor. A shadow crept closer to her and a pale hand reached to the floor to pick up the book. He tossed the book on a nearby chair and sat on the coffee table with his arms leaning on his knees.

And he watched her sleep.

Caroline was wrong. Her mother wasn't pretty. She was beautiful. Her hair was in a half up-do with curls cascading down her back. There were little purple flowers shattered throughout her hair. He reached over and touched one of the curls. He pulled it down and released it so it would spring back to its original state. There were a few loose strands covering her face, so he tucked them behind her ear.

The gown. The gown was molded to her body and was real 'flowy and sparkly' just like Caroline said. He picked up one of the layers of the deep purple fabric and ran it through his fingers. He couldn't help but want to touch her, even though she would probably wake up. Lightly tracing the top of her bodice with his finger, she gasped awake.

A little disoriented at first, Hermione blinked a few times before the blond man in front of her came into focus. She sat up and adjusted her dress.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't going to come to this shin-dig, but Blaise and your daughter manipulated me into coming."

"My daughter? Manipulated? How?" asked Hermione.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," said Draco. "But I will admit I fell for it hook, line and sinker, so it worked," he chuckled.

They looked at each other in a few moments of silence. They both began to speak at once. Hermione closed her mouth and nodded at him to go first.

"Look, I'm sorry for being such a huge pain in the arse. I'm an insensitive clod and should have known better than to provoke you with your past. Sometimes I just don't know when to quit."

"Even though you are an insufferable pain in the arse, I shouldn't have let my temper get to me. I had no right to go off on you like that," she said.

"Oh, I think you had every right. I deserved much worse." He stood and offered her his hand to help her stand up.

Draco lifted her chin with his finger. "You look so beautiful tonight," he whispered.

She snorted. "You're the only man that has told me that while actually looking into my eyes. The other pigs are more interested what is below my neck."

He looked down at her cleavage. "You've got to admit, those are pretty impressive," he said with a half smile.

She playfully batted his arm. "All you men are the same - only interested in one thing."

"Actually two. They do come as a pair, am I right?" he smirked.

She growled. "You're so infuriating." She walked toward one of the tables and straightened a couple books. "You waltz into my library…"

"Oh ho, your library is it?" He walked toward her with a knowing smile. "Well, I guess that is your name on the plaque by the front door." He smirked again.

She suddenly got the hint. "Wait a minute. You? You were the one who donated all the money to fix the library?"

He raised an eyebrow. "It's no wonder you're the brightest witch of your age."

"But why? Why name it after me?"

He walked closer to her and reached out and put his hands on her waist. His voice was so low, she had to strain to hear him.

"Why wouldn't I name it after the woman I love, Hermione?" His eyes were boring into hers with such intensity that it literally took her breath away.

She was speechless for once in her life. She stared at him with her mouth slightly open. Finally she came to her senses.

"This must be a dream. I don't know what shocks me more; the fact that you said you love me or you calling me by my first name."

"You're shocked? I can't believe I actually said that out loud." He walked her backward until her legs hit the edge of the table. He leaned into her and brushed his lips lightly against hers. He kissed her again, with more force, causing her to lean back on to the table.

"I still hate you, Malfoy," she breathed heavily, her eyes half-lidded.

"There's a fine line between love and hate, Granger. And I'm going to pull you to my side." He whispered in her ear causing her to shiver.

"Don't bet on it," she said as she pulled him on top of her. She was still breathing heavily, her chest was rising and falling at a fast pace. She reached up and pushed the fringe out of his eyes. This time she kissed him. She didn't know if it was lust she was feeling or something else, but she wanted closer contact with him.

Draco smirked down at her. "I'd like nothing more than to fuck you on this table, but first things first," he said as he pulled her upright. "I want to go back to the Great Hall and dance with the most beautiful woman at the Ball."

He laced his fingers with hers and started pulling her toward the door. "Wait," she said, "I forgot my shoes." They walked back over to the couch where she was sleeping before and found her shoes.

He lowered himself on one knee and put her shoes back on her feet. He caressed her legs while doing so. She cleared her throat and pulled him out of his thoughts. He smiled up at her. "I was just inspecting your legs to see if there were any scars from the burns," he said cheekily.

"Did they pass inspection?" she laughed.

"Oh, yes, most definitely. But just to make sure, I'll need to inspect them again later. And there are other parts of you I'll need to inspect as well." He wiggled his eyebrows as he grabbed her hand once again.

*****

Heads turned as Draco and Hermione walked into the Great Hall holding hands. Most people thought they were still bitter enemies and were shocked to see them come in together.

They walked toward the dance floor as the band started to play a slow song. Draco put one hand on her waist and clasped his other hand with hers. She put a hand on his shoulder, and they started slowly swaying to the music.

At last
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song

People on the dance floor were staring at the couple and whispering to each other. "I can't believe what I'm seeing." "Don't they hate each other?" "Wow, look at the way he's looking at her." "That's pretty hot."

Ohh yeah, yeah
At last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you

They ignored the stares and comments and just kept looking at each other – his gray eyes locked with her chocolate brown ones. No one else was in the room; it was just them. The rest of the world was shut out. They continued to slowly move around the dance floor. As they danced, other couples moved away to give them more room.

I found a dream,
That I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known

She smiled up at him, a genuine happy smile. At that moment, she felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. She finally opened up her heart and realized that she was dancing with the man she loved. Her throat closed up, and a tear ran down her cheek. He smiled back at her and wiped the tear off with his lips.

Ohh yeah, yeah
You smile, you smile
Oh and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven

He dipped her backwards so that her hair was barely touching the floor. Looking into her eyes he pulled her up and kissed her passionately on the lips. As he kissed her, she whispered, "I love you, too."

For you are mine at last.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

Far, far away in a big mansion, a curly blond-haired girl slept snugly tucked in her bed. There was a smile on her face as she slept. Sighing deeply, she rolled over and hugged the toy lion and dragon close to her chest.