Hey, guys! Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows! They made me so happy! :) Now, as I said in the author note of the previous chapter, BIG THINGS are in store for you all in these final chapters. So stay tuned!

Disclaimer: HP is owned by J.K. Rowling.

At that moment, as Draco captured Hermione's chapped lips in his own, he caught a whiff of something familiar. Vanilla, cherries, and something like books that he'd always associated with the odd perfume Pansy wore. But no, it was what he had smelled in the Amortentia in sixth year. It was her. And,oh, it felt so right to be standing there against the wall, kissing like there was no tomorrow. And if he was with Hermione, he didn't care if there was no tomorrow.

Hermione had never been happier in her nineteen years of life. The night before, she had snogged Draco Malfoy, who, as it turned was in love with her - and she, him. There was only one minor problem. Harry, Ron, Ginny...pretty much the entire student body had yet to find out. And the two weren't sure how they should tell everyone.

"If we even do tell everyone," Hermione said, tapping her quill on her finished roll of parchment for Potions.

"Hermione. We love each other, deeply. Who cares if everyone knows?" Draco reasoned, sitting across from her in his chair, his hair lazily hanging about his face.

"But my friends and yours definitely won't like that, Draco."

"I know, but I won't let them harm you."

Hermione looked up at him and felt color rush to her cheeks as he sent her an adorable smile that made her want to hurl herself at him. "I don't know."

"Wait, I've got it," Draco said, snapping his fingers. "The Halloween Masquerade Ball is coming up, right?"

"Yeah, it's in three days," Hermione said glumly.

"Well, we could go together."

"We could..."

"C'mon, it would be fun. I would die to see the looks on your friends faces when they see us together."

"Don't die," Hermione giggled, wagging a finger at him. Draco rolled his eyes and brushed past her to fix himself a cup of coffee, dropping a feather-light kiss on her head. Smiling to herself, she rehashed the past 24 hours over and over in her head. She still couldn't believe that she was in a relationship with anyone - especially Draco Malfoy! Most of all, she couldn't even fathom the fact that he wanted her or that the feeling was mutual. A month earlier - heck, even a week - she would've laughed (more like punched) the person would've told her any of that would be happening. It was laughable, really! A sick joke, she would've thought. And yet, there she sat, lightly caressing the spot where Draco's lips had grazed her head.

She was tugged from her daydreaming by the sounds of the coffeemaker working its magic. Mustering most of her Gryffindor courage, she voiced the question that had been lingering at the forefront of her brain since their kiss the previous night. "Er - Draco?"

"Mm?" Draco said as he poured the coffee into two mugs.

Awww, how sweet of him to get me a cup when I didn't even ask! she thought, grinning goofily.

Shaking her head, she asked tentatively, "Would it be safe to say that we're - er - dating?"

Draco didn't answer for a good twenty seconds, but finally, mugs in hand, he strode over to her, handed her a mug filled to the brim with coffee - black with a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk, just the way she liked it - sat down and said quietly and thoughtfully, "Yes, love, I'd say we are."

Hermione's eyes lit up when he uttered those sweet words, and a blush crept up her cheeks when he called her 'love'.

"If you're okay with that, of course," Draco said, his smile momentarily replaced by a concerned furrowing of his eyebrows.

"Of course I am, Draco," Hermione answered, perfectly content with his response and his worry for her happiness.

"Just, please don't call me Drake or Drakey or anything of the sort," he said, grimacing at Pansy's 'endearments' for him.

Hermione laughed lightly.

Her laugh reminded him of Christmas. Like a hundred tinkling bells jingling a sweet melody. He was pulled from his daydreaming by Hermione's response to his previous request.

"Okay, I won't call you that," she acquiesced.

"Promise?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Draco, I do have one question, though," Hermione said.

"Is it just one?" Draco laughed. "Or do you have a whole list? Because Hermione Granger never settles for a single question," he joked knowingly.

The Gryffindor rolled her eyes and admitted, "Fine, I have a few questions."

"Fire away, love."

A shiver ran down Hermione's spine. She could get used to being called 'love'.

"First, were you ever actually in love with Pansy, or was that just something that your parents had arranged?" There was a underlying note of hesitance in her voice; she didn't want to assume too much.

"No, I've never loved anyone until you," he said with a dazzling smile, which caused Hermione to blush again.

Good Godric! Why am I suddenly blushing all the time? I hope dating isn't turning me into one of those Witch Weekly cover girls!

"And yes," Draco continued, "Pansy and I were to be part of an arranged marriage, but then her parents decided that the Malfoy name was too tarnished for their liking." Here he grimaced. "Anyway, it was for the best. She's dating Theo Nott, and I'm dating you." Again with that stunning grin and that irritating blush!

"Mm. My next question..." Hermione began, mentally checking off the 'Pansy question' from her list. The next question she wanted to ask was a bit darker and a little dangerous, so she decided to save it for the end of her questionnaire. Curiously, she inquired, "Did you really ever hate Harry, Ron, and me?"

Tilting his head to the side, he prepared to give a thoughtful and detailed response. "Did I ever hate you guys..." he repeated to himself. "No, I never hated you. To be honest, I only ever acted that way because I liked you." Hermione snorted. "I know, I know! Guys do dumb things when they like girls. Anyway, the only reason I ever called you that awful name was because my father had impressed the opinion upon me that Muggleborns were scum - worse than the dirt underneath my shoe." He said all this bitterly. "I never really loved my father, not really. It's quite sad, I know, but the closest thing I ever felt to affection for him was...that I aspired to be strong, powerful, and to get what I wanted, just like he always was and did. I'm getting sidetracked. In short, I never hated you, no. I will admit to hating - or rather harboring a strong dislike - toward Weasley. For some reason, he always bothered me. I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was always flirting with you."

"What?" Hermione interjected, a confused expression dawning her face. "He never flirted with me."

"Well, no offense, Hermione, but if you think that's true, then you must know nothing about flirting."

Hermione was about to argue, but she bit her tongue and admitted, "You're right. I don't. But...I don't really need to because now I have you," she concluding, a small smile accompanied by that pesky blush graced her facial features. "Anyway, sorry for interrupting. Go on."

"Yes, ma'am," Draco quipped. Then his face became serious once more. "So I disliked your redheaded friend, but I really hated Potter. You know, it's strange because I honestly think I'd rather befriend him than the Weasel. Sorry. Weasley," he corrected at her reprimanding face. "I think I hated Potter because I always thought he was trying to gain attention, and as you must have noticed, I craved attention. So when Potter came along, I assumed that he was trying to steal my spotlight. And as you know, I didn't really take that very well. So I hated him up until seventh year. Well, my seventh year, your 'hunting for Horcruxes' year or whatever you want to call it. So yeah, that about sums everything up." Hermione nodded. She was really discovering a lot about Draco that she'd never known.

"I have a few more questions," she said. "Just a warning, some of them are a little...darker."

"Oh, no!" Draco exclaimed, dramatically throwing his head back and resting the back of his hand on his forehead like a damsel in distress. Hermione giggled.

"Really, though. Be prepared. So, my next question is: did you ever want to be a Death Eater?"

If that question surprised the blond, he didn't show it. "To put it simply, no. At first, I thought I wanted it because I wanted to please my excuse for a father," he spat, which made Hermione flinch. Draco noticed this and immediately apologized. "I thought I wanted it because it would give me the power and attention I'd always yearned for. But, of course, I was wrong. Instead of gaining power, I felt more powerless than ever before. Instead of getting attention, I felt more alone than I'd ever been. So, no, I never wanted to become a Death Eater, and I have regretted taking this mark ever since it was branded on my arm." In the spur of the moment, he rolled up his left sleeve and revealed is Dark Mark to her.

She held her breath, trying not to gasp. She knew it must've taken a lot of courage and trust to show something like that to her, so she cherished the moment and locked it away in the core filing cabinet of her brain.

The mark had faded considerably to a dull grayish color, but it still looked sinister. Noticing the scared look in her deep brown eyes, Draco quickly pulled down his shirt and cleared his throat. "I - I'm sorry if that was too much for you."

"No, Draco, don't be," Hermione assured him. "Honestly, it means a lot that you showed it to me," she said, reaching across the coffee table and placing a small, warm hand on his own large, cold ones.

"Do you have any more questions?" Draco prompted, turning his hand to intertwine their fingers.

"Two more. First, did you want to be in Slytherin?"

She could tell that question had come as something of a surprise to the Slytherin. "You know, that's a good one. I've never really thought about it much because it was always planted in my brain that I had to become one. But I think my final answer would be yes. I've always liked snakes. I know, that sounds like a very stereotypical Slytherin, but there's something about the clever, quiet, calm way that they move that is very...interesting to me. But, honestly, if I had to be sorted into another house, I'd probably say Ravenclaw."

"Not Gryffindor?" Hermione asked, quirking a brow and smiling.

His face was completely serious. "Hermione, I'm smart, not brave," he said, and she could tell that he was just telling the truth, not bragging. "And even then, I'm not that smart."

"Draco, that's not true! You saved me twice! Three times, actually, counting the time you helped Harry, Ron, and me during the Battle! Once at Malfoy Manor and once again during my encounter with Alecto Carrow! Of course you're brave! And smart!" Hermione insisted.

"Really, you call watching you be tortured by my demented aunt brave? Or smart? I regret that moment every single day!" Draco cried in earnest. "At night, I have nightmares, and they're always about you writhing on that floor! I didn't save you, not until the damage had already been done!"

Recounting that horrific night hurt him so badly he almost started to cry. Rein it in, Draco. Don't cry.

"I was such a coward!" he shouted. At that moment, Hermione leaned forward with a hard, serious look in her face. Her eyes were dark with anger. At first, Draco thought that she was furious with him, but then she said this:

"Draco Lucius Malfoy. You were not a coward. Yeah, you may have acted cowardly at some point in your life, but that makes you no different from the rest of us, Death Eater or not! So don't even think for a moment that you are cowardly, or foolish, or asinine, or whatever it is you are tricking yourself into thinking you are!" By the end of her statement, she was out of breath. The golden flecks in her eyes were dancing around like flames. Finally, Draco looked up at her, a tear threatening to trickle down his cheek. He tried not to blink so as to hold it in, but his eyes began to hurt. So he blinked. And the tear fell. Oh, Salazar's robes, this is embarrassing! he thought, mortified.

But instead of making fun or pointing out the tear, Hermione gently wiped away the tear with her finger. Then she stood up, rounded the table and stood right before him, her arms stretched out wide. For a moment, Draco was utterly confused. But then, it dawned on him that the witch wanted to hug him. He hesitated, not used to being hugged or being asked to give a hug. But then, he relented. Standing up slowly, he practically fell into her waiting arms, letting loose all of the emotions into Hermione's shoulder. A quiet string of swear words, which Hermione surprisingly did not rebuke, admittedly a few tears, and a few mumbled words along the lines of, "I love you, Hermione," to which said witch whispered back,

"I know. I love you."

It was a sad hug, yes, one wrought with pent-up emotions that had almost caused Draco to doubt the purpose or importance of his existence numerous times before he'd begun to forge a relationship with Hermione. But now that he was in a relationship with her, he knew that he'd never have to hide his feelings from her, however embarrassing or even shameful they were. Just as he was there for her, she was also there for him.

Wow, I'm pretty sure that's my longest chapter yet! Yes, I know...I went from happy and relieving to dark and angsty and just plain real in a hot minute! I hope you enjoyed reading about Draco finally letting down his walls, if only for a short while. Lmk what you thought! Please! And don't hold back any suggestions for changes you'd like me to make with this story. Different descriptive words, new characters, less of this, more of that... A-NY-THING. Just remember, only a few more chapters left! So yeah, a bunch of stuff is going to happen. Just you wait.

-RunningMyRace