On the Nature of Daylight

by Ikorous

Hermione Granger wanted to lose control. And Draco Malfoy wanted to take it. : Takes place in HBP. Enemies to Lovers. Dark, possessive, smutty, and everything you want it to be. ;)

23. Chapter 23

A/N: I spent more time on this chapter than probably any of them before. Literally been working on it every day since the last update so I hope it turned out okay.

Chapter 23

---

Hermione tossed over in her bed. The blankets shifted with her, pulling tightly around her body. She tucked her face into the pillow, chestnut curls resting under the hand that she pulled in close to her face. Her brow creased a little as a small noise came from her sleeping form. She took a deep breath, eyes racing behind her closed lids.

"Ron!" she cried out and he rushed towards her. "Ron, please!" His footsteps were heavy as they pounded down the black tiled corridor.

"I'm here," he ran into her, grabbing her hands and pulling her along with him. "I'm with you."

Hermione clasped his hand tightly in hers and started off with him, running towards the door at the end of the hallway. They burst through into the large circular room. She knew it well. The doors started spinning and somehow she lost hold of Ron's hand.

"Ron!" she screamed out, watching the doors speed past her. As they began to slow she tried to catch her breath, eyes darting to each one as it passed. Which one should she go through? Where was Ron? Were there Death Eaters behind any of them?

She took a step forward, unsure where to go or what to do, but she knew she couldn't stay here. She needed to find Ron and then Harry. They needed to get out of here before the Death Eaters found them.

A door opened, creaking slightly as it swung towards her. It was dark inside, so dark. She couldn't see anything. Hermione held her breath, but no one came out. She took a step back. She didn't know what was in that dark room, but she knew doors shouldn't open on their own.

"Oh thank Godric!" Ron's voice sounded from behind her. Hermione spun around to see him surging through another door. "Hermione, I've been looking all over for you! Hurry he's-"

"Granger…"

His deep voice echoed around in the room and in her head. Her Death Eater had found her.

Slowly she turned and saw him standing there in the dark doorway, his black robes making him almost invisible except for the cold metal mask and shining silver eyes locked onto hers.

Hermione sucked in a quick breath and held it, unable to breathe out.

"Hermione! Come on!" Ron called to her.

The silver eyes narrowed knowingly and his head tilted to the side.

He held out a hand covered in a black leather glove. "Come with me."

Her heart… oh, her heart. It had been broken, bruised, and beaten, but with those three words it filled to the brim with everything she felt for him.

Hermione stared into his silver eyes. She knew those eyes. She knew him. Draco.

She had missed him so much. So much she wasn't sure it was possible. How could someone miss someone else like this and still be able to function?

Well, she wasn't. She was just barely getting by. If she thought Draco ending things with her before was bad, that was nothing, nothing, compared to how this felt. This was… Empty. Open. Awful.

But staring into his silver eyes, it all came back. The bubbles, the flutters, the beating, the blood, the love.

Draco…

Hermione took a step towards him and his eyes shone.

"Hermione, no!" Ron shouted.

It was wrong. It was all wrong. It had been wrong all along and she had always known that, but… Oh God, it felt so good.

She was only a few feet from him and heard the leather stretch as he flexed his fingers out towards her. Hermione lifted her hand.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ron shouted.

Hermione took a shaky breath, her chest trembling as it filled.

His eyes gleamed.

Her hand landed in his.

"Hermione, no!"

Draco pulled her towards him. Her body fell against his, hardened by a leather doublet under his black robes. His hand ran down her side and around her to rest on the small of her back.

"Oh Sweetheart," he breathed out through the mask.

Hermione shook all over. It was so wrong… he was a Death Eater! But she wanted him. She… loved him.

"You just can't help yourself, can you?"

Ron's shouts faded in the background as her blood rushed in her ears.

She felt tight and loose all at once. Being here, in his arms, was so familiar, but also terrifying now. She knew what was on his arm, but what really scared her was that there was a part of her, a part bigger than she ever wanted to admit, that didn't care. That just wanted him.

Mark and all.

Hermione whimpered as he pulled her into the dark room with him, door closing behind them.

He waved his wand and his mask faded away into silver smoke, leaving the smug, smirking face she knew so well in its place.

"Love me?" His smirk spread and one eyebrow raised slightly.

Hermione opened her mouth, no sure what was going to come out.

"Yes."

"Good girl."

Oh God…

His arms snaked around her again and then lifted her. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself against him. He slammed her back into a wall. Hermione gasped as he growled, pulling her legs around him. Her body gave itself over to him, wrapping around him, letting him roam it, reign it.

He buried his face in her neck, mouth sucking, biting, kissing her skin. Hermione leaned her head back against the wall, running her fingers up into his hair. She could smell the sweet mint of him mixed with the creamy parchment as she mussed his hair, pulling it a little and pressing his head further into her.

"Oh Draco…" She closed her eyes as her body came alive again. Passion burned in her veins and her heart beat wildly as his hands grabbed at her, simultaneously holding her to him and pressing her into the wall. She had missed this feeling, his control, him.

"I'm here, Sweetheart," he whispered in her ear, voice soft but words loud. "And I'm never going to let you go."

Hermione moaned as his lips crashed onto hers. He tasted like crisp mint and Hermione opened her mouth, letting him have it, letting him claim her.

Then it wasn't just her mouth and his tongue.

It was him.

Everywhere.

Draco thrust himself inside her with a deep grunt. Hermione gasped, feeling him stretch her, fill her, take her.

It was so much, too much. It was everything she wanted, and everything she could never have again. Except for right now, right here.

"Draco," she gasped. "Please… yes…"

Draco groaned from deep within and quickened his pace.

"Fuck, Granger," he said in a raspy voice. "You want it?"

"Yes," she whimpered.

"You fucking want it?"

"You. I want you."

Draco groaned again and pushed himself in her so hard her entire body surged up with it. He growled, pushing her harder into the wall, stilling her so he could indulge in her further.

"You're mine."

"I'm yours. Oh God, Draco, I'm all yours."

He looked deep into her eyes. "My whore?"

Hermione felt like she was about to burst. "Yes," she gasped.

"My girl?"

"Oh God, yes!"

"Come. Come with me."

Hermione's body tightened and closed in around him. It was about to happen. She was going to come. With him. Her Draco. Not Malfoy. Not the Death Eater. Draco.

He looked deep into her eyes, "I love you, Hermione."

Oh… oh… Oh!

Hermione's eyes flew open. She was staring at the paned window beside her bed, breathing heavily.

A dream. It was a dream.

Her body still surged with want and desire, but she was alone. No Draco. No Malfoy. No Death Eater. Just alone.

Cold crept into her chest, displacing the heat of passion there and coiling tight around her ruined heart.

She blinked her eyes and stared at the window. The moon was all but a sliver of white against the dark sky, barely anything more than a wisp of light. She closed her eyes tight for four seconds, willing the tears not to come. And with the strict self-control she had practiced for years, her body obeyed.

The burning in her eyes faded, the tightness in her throat loosened, and the lust and love that her dream Draco had awoken in her settled into cold ash inside her.

Hermione opened her eyes. Blank and empty, but at least they weren't filled with tears this time.

---

The fact that Gryffindor had won the House Cup and the news that Harry was now dating Ginny swept through the school, igniting everyone's conversations with their names along with Ron and Hermione's thrown in every now and then.

The weekend after the match had passed quickly with Harry and Ginny trying to spend some time alone and Ron awkwardly talking out his feelings about it with Hermione. She patted the seat next to her and Crookshanks quickly jumped up into it. Hermione shrugged a little as if to say 'too bad' and Ron rolled his eyes, taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

"Do you… do you think he's always liked her?" Ron asked, still not exactly comfortable with the fact that his best friend and his little sister were somewhere on the grounds canoodling.

"Harry's always liked Ginny," Hermione answered.

"Yeah, but, you know… like like her?"

"Ronald, it's happening. You can't stop it."

"I'm not trying to! I just… I always figured he thought of her like a sister too!"

"Well, obviously not," Hermione chided, although she was slightly entertained by Ron's discomfort. She scratched Crookshanks under his chin and he lifted his head, closing his yellow eyes happily. "People's feelings change over time, evolve."

"Yeah…" Ron trailed off, brows hanging heavily over his eyes. "I guess so."

Would her feelings change? Would she ever not feel this deep ache in her chest? She wished she could forget the way he made her feel and the feelings he inspired in her. But she couldn't. And it made the ache quake so deep in her she felt it in her bones.

"Don't worry, Ron," Hermione said, sighing a little. "Harry is a good guy, he's going to treat her right. Between the two of them, I'm more worried about him than Ginny."

Ron smiled and laughed a little. "Yeah, you're probably right. You always are."

Hermione glanced up and gave him a small smile. Very small, but… at least she was able to give him that much.

They spent the weekend in a very similar fashion, Harry and Ginny wandering back in after dinner. It was obvious they were trying to hold back for Ron's benefit, or at least Harry was. Ginny was thrilled, often leaning over and giving Harry a quick peck on the cheek just because. Hermione watched as Harry's face flushed red and then the small glance he would throw her way, green eyes brilliant.

She was happy for them, honestly she was, but it was hard to see two of her friends in such an affectionate, happy relationship when her own had never been that way even at its best.

They had always had to hide. Always had to lie. But she had just thought they were lying to other people, not each other.

She once again had considered telling Harry about Malfoy's mark, but he was so happy with Ginny and Harry didn't have many things like this in his life so she held her tongue.

But overall it was… nice to hang out with her friends in her common room so when Monday morning rolled around, Hermione began to get very nervous at breakfast. She kept glancing over to the Slytherin table, looking for him. Whether or not she wanted to actually see him, Hermione hadn't completely made up her mind, but eventually on one of her sweeps down the table Hermione caught the eye of Blaise Zabini again.

His face was mostly covered by a steaming mug as he took a long drink of his coffee and Hermione's chest contracted a little at the deep look in his dark eyes. He knew. Did he know about Draco's mark too? Draco liked to brag, but… he was also fairly secretive when it came to his personal life. Or at least he was with her, was he the same with Zabini or Pansy? She didn't know. She felt like she didn't know him at all anymore.

Zabini sat his mug down and inclined his head a little in her direction looking like some sort of formal greeting.

She had the sudden urge to go talk to him. Did he know where Draco was? How Draco was? It had been reckless of her to visit him in the hospital wing and she was grateful that he had been asleep and stayed asleep the whole time she was there. But a small part couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like if he had woken up. If she had gotten to speak to him. Would she have told him?

"Come on, Hermione," Ron said loudly and she tore her eyes away from Zabini and to Ron who was standing up. "We don't want to be late for Charms."

He threw a dark look over to the Slytherin across the Hall. Blaise's lip curled slightly and then he turned back to his coffee.

Hermione stood up and tucked her wand into her pocket. She was keeping it close by her now even though Draco- Malfoy had been absent ever since his run-in with Harry in the bathroom. She half expected him to hunt her down again, but he had kept his distance. In fact, she hadn't seen him at all. But today they had classes again and she couldn't help but wonder if he would make an appearance.

"Mr. Nott!" Professor Flitwick squeaked at the end of class. "Mr. Nott, will you please take these to Mr. Malfoy?"

Malfoy.

Hermione turned around to see Nott slumping towards Flitwick on his pile of books and took a handful of parchment, crumpling it and shoving it in his bag while Flitwick looked on in disapproval.

A few Hufflepuffs congratulated Ron on his performance at the match and he ate it up, finally getting more attention for Quidditch than Harry was, since Harry had been in detention and unable to play.

Good. He deserves it for using that spell on Draco.

Hermione shook her head. What Harry did was wrong, but he hadn't meant to hurt Draco. Malfoy. He hadn't meant to hurt Malfoy. And anyways, Harry said that Malfoy tried to curse him first and honestly, she wasn't surprised. He wasn't the type to sit around and have long, meaningful conversations.

Well… except with her.

Hermione shook her hair back and lifted her head high. She was making herself get through this. Her heart might be breaking into smaller and smaller pieces, but her Gryffindor pride was as strong as ever. She shoved it forward and let it carry her down the corridor and to the Library where she spent her lunch, researching.

Harry's potion book, the Prince's book, it was the cause of this. It had the spell in it that he had used on… Malfoy and she didn't trust it one bit. And she didn't trust the Prince. Who was this Halfblood Prince? How did he or she know all of this while they were just a student at Hogwarts and who was making spells like that?

She scoured records of students around the time of the books publication, but had no luck. But Hermione had spent more time in the Hogwarts Library than anyone else at the school and she had never given up before and she wasn't now.

As her lunch period ended Hermione packed up her bag again and headed down the stairs to Potions. She let her mind wander, hoping that something would come to her when she pushed open the door to the dungeon classroom and there he was.

Hermione stopped dead in the doorway.

Draco had his back to her, but somehow had noticed her and slowly turned his head over his shoulder and his storm grey eyes landed on hers.

She wasn't breathing. She wasn't moving. She wasn't doing anything but staring at him.

Draco's face was completely emotionless; only his rain grey eyes seemed to have any human quality to it and she saw a flicker of something that looked like desperation or longing before it quickly slithered away.

He kept his eyes on her though, trapping her in his gaze where she was too… weak to pull herself from it. Or maybe she just didn't want to. Or maybe she wanted to run to him. Or from him. Or-

"Hermione, over here!" Harry waved her over and Hermione finally came back into her body. Her legs moved stiffly as she walked over to her normal table with Harry, Ron, and Ernie MacMillan. She felt his eyes on her, but didn't look back over at him, instead placing herself carefully in between Harry and Ernie and set about taking out her book, wand, and quill.

She barely heard Slughorn as he gave a brief revision on Wit-Sharpening Solutions and then let them have at it. Hermione couldn't concentrate. Her hand kept shaking when she tried to pour in the armadillo bile and eventually set the vial down and rubbed her forehead.

Harry was working away beside her, struggling as he and Ron shared a copy of Advanced Potion Making. Harry's Prince copy was still hidden somewhere in the Room of Requirement and Hermione had the notion maybe to go look for it herself, but quickly banished it in fear of what else she might find in there. Or who else.

She did her best on her potion, knowing it wasn't her finest work and as soon as Slughorn dismissed them, waved her wand to vanish it and grabbed her bag, throwing it over herself before she swept from the room.

She didn't stop until she was out of the dungeons, past the lower levels and two flights of stairs up. Only then did she lean against a cool wall and sink down to the floor.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she wasn't entirely sure how because she was pretty sure it was lying in shreds somewhere around her navel, but the blood rushing under her skin was undeniable. Just like the mark branded into his.

Hermione ran her fingers into her hair and closed her eyes. Oh God.

She just wanted this to stop. Just wanted this to end. Just wanted… him.

Someone sat beside her.

Hermione looked over, mouth open in surprise when she saw Luna folding her legs up and looking dreamily at the wall across from them.

"Luna," she gasped. She was the last person that Hermione expected to see right now.

"Hello." Luna turned her pale blue eyes to Hermione now.

"What… what are you doing here?" she asked, unable to make it sound any more polite.

"Sitting with you," Luna replied. Hermione continued to stare at her and Luna, mercifully, elaborated. "You seemed like you wanted to be alone. And if you're sitting here on your own people are going to stop and talk to you. But if they think you're with someone, they'll leave you be."

Luna's logic was… odd, but not incorrect. She was right after all. If people saw her sitting alone in a corridor, they would stop and ask if she was okay until she couldn't stand it and was forced to join in their company just to get people to leave her alone. Having Luna here… protected her from that.

Luna gave her a serene smile. "You can still be alone with me here."

Hermione blinked and turned to stare at the wall as Luna did so too. This was… a kindness she had not expected from a person she had not expected it from. Hermione made a mental note to make more of an effort with Luna. Ginny was Luna's best friend and now that she was dating Harry, Luna was sure to have more free time. Free time that Hermione could make try and get to know her better.

She could do it, she could… move on. Start to live her life again. See her friends, re-read her favorite books, and brainstorm with Harry about potential Horcruxes. She had given so much of her time, her energy, herself to Draco this year and now that was over. Wasn't it? She couldn't possibly see a future where she and Draco- MALFOY were together.

…Right?

No.

She would devote all of that to helping Harry and Dumbledore and the Order. To making herself valuable to them, to being someone who they could use in the war that was surely coming.

She could be Hermione again. She never had been to him anyways.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered.

Luna didn't say anything, merely nodded and started humming happily to herself.

---

June rose quickly as days began to rush by. Professors started reviewing topics that they warned would come up on final exams, students wanted to spend the warm days out on the grounds instead of inside studying, and Draco was drinking himself stupid every evening.

He stopped eating unless Blaise brought down food into the dungeons.

He stopped sleeping, unless he had passed out from the whisky.

He stopped going to class, unless Snape threw him into a classroom.

Draco lurked in the corridor, hanging out in a small dark alcove where some statue used to be and stared at the door to Ancient Runes where she was sitting somewhere on the other side.

It was too hard to be in the same room as her. To be so close to her and not be able to look at her, touch her, talk to her. His girl.

Was she still? Weasley was always around her now. Potter kept fucking off with the Weaslette, leaving Granger alone with Weasley way too fucking much. They ate together, walked together, and disappeared into their fucking common room together.

She was too fucking smart. She made sure she was never on her own anymore. If she wasn't with Weasley, then it was Potter, and if it wasn't with Potter then it was Weasley's brat sister. Or Loony Lovegood. Or fat ass Longbottom. Or just a big fucking crowd like the one she had placed herself in before she slipped inside the Ancient Runes classroom, leaving him to stare at the door.

He could have gone in. Sat there. Stared at her. But he couldn't drink in there.

Draco took a swig from a slim bottle and then tucked it back into his robes, sucking his teeth as he braced himself against the burn. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to glare at the door again.

What the fuck was he doing? Being a fucking prat, following around some girl that didn't even want him anymore.

Yes she fucking did. Granger loved him. Granger loved him and she was his girl and she belonged with him.

Why couldn't she see that?! Because she had seen the mark.

He leaned back and took another drink. She had seen the mark and ran. She didn't even know the worst things about it. She didn't know what he had been sent back into Hogwarts to do. She didn't know about his training sessions with his aunt Bellatrix. She didn't know that he was a fucking killer.

"Focus, Draco!" Bellatrix screeched. "You need to be ready, at a moment's notice. No thinking. Just reacting. Again!"

Draco aimed his wand at the furry face in front of him. The hound sat happily, tongue lolling out of the side of his long snout and panted.

Draco stared into the big, dark eyes of the dog he had raised from a pup. This was one of his prized hunting hounds. His father used to take him hunting. Before. Before the Dark Lord's return and he got too busy to do things like that anymore.

"Now!"

His hand shook. He pinched his lips in concentration.

"Like this," Bellatrix whipped her wand in front of her. "Avada Kedavra!"

The dog didn't yelp. It just collapsed into a pile of fur and bones, pink tongue still hanging out of its jaws.

Draco stared down at what had been his dog only moments before and was now just a dead thing at his feet.

"Call the other one over and try again. Focus this time!"

His vision slipped a little and Draco took a deep breath, steadying himself against the wall behind him. Bellatrix had made her way through half of his hunting pack before Draco had been able to produce green sparks. It took the other half in order for him to finally get it right.

He hadn't practiced all year. Not until the other day. Not until he realized that his only option, his only choice, was the same one it had always been- kill Dumbledore and then take his place as one of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters. For good. Forever.

And here he was, fucking about in a corridor hoping to catch a glimpse of her because he hadn't had a good one of her since this morning when she walked from the Greenhouses to go eat lunch with her friends. At least she had sat next to the Weaslette and talked to her mostly instead of that ginger prick who kept throwing long sad looks her way.

Draco wanted to pull the Weasel's glazed eyes out of his head and crush them under his heel. But he didn't. Because it would upset her. And he had done that enough.

So he stood there, in his shadowy little alcove and waited as the door to open and Babbling dismissed them. He recognized most of his classmates as they walked out, talking and laughing and joking and being so bloody happy he wanted to curse them all, but he didn't see her.

Where was she? She didn't skive off classes. Draco took a step forward, about to duck in to check for her when a curly mess of chestnut and caramel appeared falling around her face as she struggled with her oversized bag.

Fuck, she looked good today. Huffling a little as she tried to get her bag to close properly. She was balancing it on her thigh, making her skirt to lift up just a little, but enough for him to get a quick look at her creamy thigh and holy fuck yes Salazar…

She gave a small noise of frustration and shoved it to the side. Her chocolate eyes found him as if they knew he was there the whole time. Draco hadn't stepped back into his shadowy alcove yet and she stopped moving when she saw him there.

It was like the other day in Potions; Granger was frozen in place, her cute little face dropping open in surprise and her eyes… fucking hell her eyes widened looking like two pools of melted chocolate and her pink lips parted and fuck… he could practically taste her, see her eyes fill with passion as he pushed himself in her, feel her thighs-

"Hey, you ready?" Weasley's dull, dumb voice called out from a little ways down the corridor.

Granger turned at the sound of it and he could see the apprehension slide into her expression.

Don't worry, Sweetheart. I'll take care of him. Then I'll take care of you.

"Uhm, yes," she said breathily and started towards Weasley.

Fuck. No. She couldn't go. Not when she was right here. Not with him.

"Granger," his voice was raspy from disuse.

Her head turned back in his direction and she looked almost terrified.

"Can…" Draco paused and took a step closer to her. "Can we talk?"

Say yes. Fucking say yes, Granger.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Come on, Harry and Ginny are already-" Weasley stopped talking as he saw Draco standing there. His expression changed from cheerful to sour as soon as his eyes landed on him.

Granger turned her head quickly between the two of them, making her loose curls twist and bounce.

Granger's curls bouncing and she fucked herself on his fingers. Granger's curls in his fingers as he ran his hand through her hair. Granger's curls spread out around her as he lowered himself into her.

"Yes." She said and Draco felt something rise up in him. Yes. She said yes! Take that you fucker. "Let's go."

Shit. She had been talking to him. To Weasley.

She started past Weasley who was still glaring at Draco, looking like he wished he could curse people with his eyes alone. Draco knew how he felt and if Granger wasn't standing right fucking there, he would have pulled out his wand and taught the Weasel a lesson he wouldn't soon forget- that Granger was his girl and he wasn't sharing.

Draco felt a sick coldness spread through him and Granger and the Weasel walked away from him down the corridor.

"What did he want?" Weasley asked her, leaning in close.

Get the fuck away from her.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Same as Zabini, just wanted help with Potions."

"Glad to see you learned your lesson."

"What?" she gasped and stopped walking.

The fuck did you just say? Draco took a quick step towards them.

"I'm glad you're not doing it anymore. Helping out Slytherins."

"Yeah… right." Granger turned and started walking again. Weasley followed after her, staying close to her and glaring back at Draco one last time as they reached the far end of the corridor and then out of sight.

Draco pulled out the bottle and took a long drink.

"She's not helping anyone, asshole. She's fucking me. She's fucking me because she loves me. Me, not you, me."

Draco looked to his left and saw a small Ravenclaw boy looking at him with shock and terror on his face.

Shit.

He glowered at the little boy who gasped and stiffened with fear. There was a time Draco would have hexed him, just for fun. But now… he leaned over and hissed in the little boy's face which paled to the shade of death and he almost fell over in his desperate scramble to get away from the sixth year Slytherin whom he'd surely been warned about.

Draco took another quick drink and stuck the cork back in the slim bottle before tucking it back in his robes and deciding to follow Granger down to the Great Hall and fucking stalk her through dinner and then up to her common room, where he'd pick out another nice dark corner in the corridor outside and finish his whisky while he'd sit and stare at the side of another wall keeping him from her.

---

Hermione breathed in deeply as she climbed through the portrait hole. She hadn't given up on trying to find out more about the Prince and since Harry and Ginny were… taking some time for themselves she thought it was a good night to return to the Library and do some research.

Ron had offered to come with her, in fact, he practically insisted.

"You've got your Transfiguration you need to finish," Hermione chided.

"I can work on it there."

"You're almost done. It would take you twice as long if you pack it all up, walk all the way down there, unpack it all, and then try to start working again."

"I don't mind," Ron said with a smile, blue eyes crinkling around the sides.

Hermione sighed. She had enjoyed having Ron with her recently and it had been nice to have the comfort of her best friend but… she had to start living her life again. She had been careful to not run into him, but Malfoy seemed to be just as happy to leave her be.

Except for this evening. She'd have to think on that.

Another reason for Ron not to come with her.

He had been so considerate lately, but she knew he also liked the fact he had someone to hang out with all the time now that Harry and Ginny were together. Ron was a social person and thrived off of interaction. He had been attached at the hip, and other places, to Lavender when they were dating and once they broke up, he took up his mantle as Harry's right hand man again.

Now that Harry was… happily distracted Ron had latched himself onto her. There might have been residual other reasons, but she wasn't focusing on those. All she was doing was appreciating the fact that she had a friend who she could spend her time with while she tried to nurse the wound Draco had left when he ripped out her heart.

But it didn't mean that she needed him to follow her around constantly. She was trying to put her life back together and part of that meant getting back to things she had always done; like spending time in the Library, burying herself in a book in order to find the answers to questions that her brain kept coming up with.

And Harry and his awful Potions book was the perfect distraction right now.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ron asked as she stood up.

Hermione sighed. She wasn't. But she was trying to be. "I will be. Thank you for asking," she added, giving him another small smile.

Ron breathed out heavily as his lips split in a wide grin. She watched him reach out for her and it looked like he was going to touch her hand. Hermione lifted it to tuck a lock of curls behind her ear, looking down at her feet.

"You know, I'll just come with you. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually read one of the books in there this time."

"Ronald, if you don't sit back down and finish your Transfiguration I will put a permanent sticking charm on you and that chair." Hermione's smile spread a little bit. She was trying. She was… getting there. Somewhere.

Ron grinned up at her again and relented. "Fine, fine…. Godric, I never thought I'd see the day when Hermione Granger didn't want someone to go to the Library."

Hermione gave a small laugh and Ron's head shot up.

"Oh… wow…" he gaped at her.

"What?"

"That's… that's the first time you've laughed since…"

Hermione's smile faltered and she felt the heaviness settle back in her.

"I won't be too long." She didn't want to talk about that. She didn't want to think about him because when she did she couldn't help but remember the way he had called out her name. Her name.

"I'll be here," Ron's face was warm and bright. Strangely enough, she felt guilty as she looked back at him before heading out into the corridor. She gave herself the walk to the Library to ponder this.

Hermione knew Ron's feelings weren't all friendly ones, some of them were… deeper. And she knew what it was like to have feelings for someone who considered you a friend instead of returning them. She also knew what it was like to have feelings for someone who hated your very being. The feelings she had for Draco were very different from any of the feelings she had ever harbored for Ron.

She let that line of thinking fall back into the recesses of her mind as she browsed the shelves, looking for something that might lead her to a clue as to who the Halfblood Prince was.

She paused. It was… Half-Blood, not Halfblood. The Prince had put a hyphen in the word… why? Hermione blinked as her brows pulled together. She felt her brain start to fire up, moving quickly, racing as she questioned, sorted, and organized this information.

Maybe the Prince wasn't a Halfblood and after all, it was normally Purebloods who cared about blood purity and it was odd for someone to boast about being Halfblood. She tilted her head. There were people who did that though, as if it made them any better than Muggleborns. They claimed to be above the barbaric Muggleborns, even if it was just by one rung on the ladder. A ladder the Purebloods would never let them climb.

So if the Prince wasn't talking about his or her blood status then… maybe they were half a prince? But she had gone through the annals of wizarding history, looking for any reference to royals or titles or positions. The only ones she had ever found were Purebloods centuries ago who had held certain positions in the Muggle court like Brutus Malfoy who she had read about in-

Her mouth dropped open. Why hadn't she thought of it before?! "The Sacred Twenty-Eight" documented every Pureblood born into the British families; maybe there was someone who had married into some sort of title or… no. They wouldn't marry. Maybe a title was bestowed on one? Or-

Oh Godric! Hermione squealed and nearly tripped in her effort to turn as quickly as she could towards the Restricted Section and Hogwarts copy of "The Sacred Twenty-Eight" even if it was an abridged version, it still contained the names and she couldn't believe it took her this long to figure it out-

The prince wasn't a title, it was a name.

She whispered the password and pushed the creaking gate open, hurrying forward.

Half-Blood Prince! She could see the scrawled black ink on the inside of Harry's book so clearly in her mind now. It was hyphenated. It was capitalized. It was a name!

Hermione turned down the thin aisle she had found the book before and skimmed her eyes until… wait. No. This wasn't the right aisle at all.

She looked around. Yes it was. Right, left, straight, left…

Right? That… that was the way she went, wasn't it? But the book wasn't here. This wasn't even the right section. This was all about raising dangerous beasts and how to… goodness, breed chimeras for battle.

Oh no… She had gotten lost. She had been in such a hurry to get here that she didn't pay attention to how the Restricted Section twisted, turned, and changed. Normally she was able to keep her wits about her and not get distracted, but she had just been so excited that she finally figured it out. She had felt like her old self again and it was the best she had felt in-

"Hermione."

Her spine turned to stone and then crumbled inside her.

It was his voice, his deep, low voice, but it was saying her name.

She couldn't turn around. She couldn't move. Her brain wasn't working right. It had screeched to a halt and everything had crashed forward and she couldn't… couldn't….

"I've been looking for you."

No… no no no. It was too much. She was shaking. This evening in the hall had been hard enough to see him standing there, bloodshot eyes and rumpled clothes, but not here. Not in this place.

"Fucking turn around."

That was more like it. Snapping and snarling. That was the Malfoy she knew. Malfoy, because she had never known Draco. It had all been a lie. It couldn't have been real because then she would be in love with a Death Eater and she couldn't-

He grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. Hermione looked up into his grey eyes, storming like a hurricane. He hadn't sounded angry a minute ago, but now his rage seemed to seep from him like a poisonous gas. His fingers twitched on her arm and she gasped as he dug them in a little further.

Touching her, Draco was touching her. It had been so long since he'd touched her and she felt her skin heat up under his hand, missing it, craving it.

Draco wasn't touching her, Malfoy was touching her. A Death Eater was touching her. Hermione jerked away from him and his eyes stormed above her, marble face twisting as the anger behind it turned him cold.

"You don't get to touch me anymore," she said, voice shaking but firm. She had been doing so good, so good, but now she felt… felt it all. All the hurt, all the love and it was all so confusing! It was crashing in. She was crashing in. Draco was looking down at her and… no… her thin line of defense was falling down down down…

Draco… She still felt like his.

But she wasn't. She wasn't his little plaything anymore and she wasn't his girl anymore either. She was Hermione Granger, and she wasn't going to fall for any more of his tricks. Or him.

Hermione whipped out her wand and held it out in front of her.

"Great minds," Malfoy smirked. His own was pointed right at her, right at her heart.

"There is nothing similar about you and I," she snapped. Hex him, curse him. Do anything but talk to him.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He mused then his expression darkened. "Did you feel it? When I touched you? Did you feel how fucking good we are?"

No. No no no no no no no.

"Stay back."

Draco's eyes gleamed like silver. "No."

"Impedimenta!"

Hermione turned and ran. Draco swore behind her and she knew the jinx would only slow him down for a moment. But that was all she needed. Just a few extra moments to get out of here and back-

A stream of light shot past her, hitting the shelf she had just rounded. The way back to the gate should have been clear but she'd already gotten turned around once tonight so she glanced at the shelves next to her, hoping to find a clue as to where she was so she could try and find her way out of here.

His footsteps were getting louder. She didn't have time. Picking a random aisle, Hermione tore down it. She could hear him behind her and threw another jinx over her shoulder. She… she didn't want to hurt him, she just wanted to get away.

More books crashed to the floor and she knew he must have blocked it, sending it into the stacks. Hermione kept running, left, right, right, left, straight, right, it didn't matter, all that mattered was she kept moving. Eventually she'd find her way out, right?

Wrong.

Hermione slowed. She couldn't hear him anymore, not over the beating of her own heart in her ears. She took a few gulps of breath and looked around. She had been here before, the section on curses and other nasty spells. This was where…

Hermione looked at the wall of books. This was where she had let him in the first time.

A cold realization crept over her. He hadn't fallen back, she hadn't outrun him. Draco's legs were much longer than hers and… no. Hermione took a step away from the shelves. He had led her here, herded her here.

Just like the Death Eaters had in the Department of Mysteries last year.

Oh God! That's what this was like! Her dreams! Running down dark corridors, chased by… by him.

"I knew you'd come back, pet." He sounded so smug.

Hermione looked at the end of the aisle. Draco- Malfoy was standing there, dressed in black, the only thing missing was the metal mask. Same voice, same stance, same silver eyes she had haunted her sleep so many times.

She wasn't going to let this end the same way. That was a dream and this was real. His mark was real.

She sent a silent stunning spell at him which he nimbly jumped to the side to avoid. Damn Seeker. But then she heard a pained grunt and Draco grasped the side of his stomach, bending over slightly.

His wounds! He must have been hurt still from his duel with Harry. From that awful Prince's spell and part of her stunning spell must have grazed him.

"Draco!" Hermione called out before she could stop herself and rushed towards him.

Oh, she didn't mean to hurt him! She hoped it was all right, maybe she could-

Draco stood up tall and shoved his dark wand against her chest, silver eyes shining triumphantly. Hermione's heart fell.

Another lie. And she'd fallen for it.

"Incarcerous." He smirked and Hermione felt thick ropes wrap around her, snaking up her body, pinning her arms to her frame tightly. They coiled around her, tightening. She jerked against them, trying to fight them off and fell against the shelves heavily.

Draco reached out and grabbed her, pushing her back into the thick books and held her there with his solid body.

"Get off me!" she screamed and tried to twist her wrist to aim her wand back at him but he pried it from her fingers, sneering at her.

"Behave, Granger," he growled.

She stilled. Oh God, she didn't mean to, but she did. No… Hermione whimpered. She didn't want him to have this hold on her. But he did. Oh God, he did.

"Good girl," his voice slid over her like velvet and Hermione turned her face away from him, closing her eyes.

"Oh Sweetheart, don't hide those pretty eyes," he cooed. "Look at me."

No. She didn't want to see his rain grey eyes. She didn't want to see him.

"Granger…" he said patronizingly, as if she was an errant child. "Look at me."

He grabbed her face and turned it back towards him. She kept her eyes closed tightly, shaking in his grasp. If she opened her eyes, if she looked at him he would see. He would be able to look in her mind and see that she still loved this. Honestly, he probably would be able to see it just on her face, plain as day.

He sighed. "Have it your way then," and tapped his wand against her temple.

The pressure behind her eyes filled her head and then he was there.

Hello, Sweetheart.

No…

Images upon images of Draco surged forward, every touch, every glance, every kiss… everything.

He sorted through them quickly, lingering on… more pleasant ones and making her see them again. She didn't want to. She didn't want to think about them or him. Not knowing what he was now. Then he was lying in the water next to her. She was unbuttoning his shirt and there it was. The awful black mark on his porcelain white arm.

She stared down at it, just like she had that night, refusing to accept, but unable to reject the proof. She felt Draco pulled back from that memory, shoving it hard to the side and pulling up the chaise, the Forest, the Library…

Hermione whimpered. It felt like her heart was breaking all over again.

Then Ron. Ron over and over. Laughing, joking, studying, eating. Ron reaching for her hand tonight, her lifting it away to tuck her hair back. Ron smiling at her, telling her a joke at lunch the other day. Ron's arm around her, crying into his chest and- ow!

"You're not serious with whoever it is and… I am. I'm serious." Ron moving closer, his lips parting. "Let me show you."

"I will always be here for you."

What had Harry told her about Occlumency? She had to clear her mind, make it empty. He had hated those lessons, and she had tried to help him by going over the tactics-

Draco took a sharp turn in her mind, making her spin.

Potter?

Then it was all Harry.

Years and years of friendship. Playing Quidditch, summers at the Burrow, helping Sirius escape, D.A. meetings, researching, Harry lying in the hospital wing, the Hall of Prophecies, Lucius Malfoy holding out his hand…

She could feel Draco push that memory away into the back of her mind. More recent memories flooded forward.

"Of course, Harry, you're my best friend. I'll always be here for you."

"I don't know what I would do without you, Hermione."

"You'll never have to find out. Like it or not you're stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere."

Harry… no. Draco couldn't see the things Harry talked about with her; his lessons with Dumbledore, discussions about Voldemort.

As soon as she thought his name she felt Malfoy recoil. Thank Godric. She barely had time to take a breath and register this before he pressed in again.

"He's a Death Eater, that's what he was doing in Borgin and Burkes!"

"He's up to something in the Room of Requirement and I'm going to find out what it is."

"I wished you believed me. About Malfoy."

He pressed harder and felt her hesitation towards Harry's theory, that she didn't believe her Draco could do that. Would do that.

The pressure decreased, feeling a bit more like a heavy blanket than a crushing weight.

Good girl.

Hermione tried to push him away, physically and mentally.

Draco dove back in.

The hospital wing. Sitting there, staring at him while he slept. Talking to him, tell him… everything. Everything she couldn't say when he was awake.

"I thought I loved you."

His lips crashed onto hers. Draco grabbed onto her face, forcing it open for him to snake his tongue in, tasting her. No… please… if he didn't stop soon she wouldn't… wouldn't…. would kiss him back.

No… why… why was he doing this? Making her relive this? The painful surge of love that she felt in that moment. The heartbreak as she realized he was never who she thought he was.

It hurt. Feeling this again hurt. Hermione did the only thing she could think of to get him out; she hurt him back.

"I want to forget you."

He pulled himself from her mind and her mouth, breathing heavily.

Hermione's eyes opened and she looked up at him, dizzy and disoriented from his intrusion. She was barely able to hold herself up and was pretty sure that if the books weren't behind her and Draco wasn't pressing his body into hers she would simply sink to the floor.

"You want to forget?" Malfoy breathed out heavily, angrily. "Is that what you want? You want to forget me?" His minty breath spread across her face, cool against her wet lips, but mixed with just a hint of fire whisky. He wasn't drunk, but he had been drinking.

"You think you can just forget how it felt? How I felt?" he growled. "I saw it, Granger. I saw how you felt when I was inside you, fucking you. How much you love it, love me."

Hermione struggled against the ropes holding her.

"I know you remember. It felt so good, didn't it, Sweetheart?" His voice was hoarse, desperate. "I can make you feel it again."

Fear spiked through her. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe in to scream, to do anything but stare up into his hungry eyes, boring back down into her.

"I'm going to make you forget," he panted, pressing his wand back to her face. "That's what you want, kitten, isn't it? And don't I always give you what you want?" He ground his hips against her.

No… this couldn't be happening.

Draco buried his face into her neck, biting it hard. He dragged his lips up to her ear, breathing heavily into it and pressed himself harder against her as she began to violently struggle.

"It's not going to hurt." She could feel his lips pulling up against her ear in some version of a smile. "I promise. It's going to feel just like before."

"Stop… please…" Hermione's voice cracked.

He pressed the tip of his wand harder against her temple. "I'm going to make you forget you ever saw it. Forget my mark. I'm going to take it all away, the hurt, the pain. It's going to feel so good, I promise. It'll be just like before."

Her body shook as relief and revulsion both passed through it. He wasn't going to hurt her, but he was going to… violate her. Her mind, her memories. He was going to take it away and she wouldn't know anymore. She'd feel just like she had and she'd… she'd love him.

Hermione twisted against the ropes, knowing it was useless, but unable to stand there without at least trying. She felt betrayed. Betrayed by the part of her that wanted him to. In a few seconds, Malfoy could make all the agony of the past week go away. He could give her back the bubbles, the feeling she missed so much. The love. He could give her back Draco.

"Please…" she cried softly. "Draco, please don't… Don't do this."

He was gasping for breath, pressing his head against hers. He was… struggling with this. He… he didn't want to do this, not really. He just wanted it back, just like her. And this was the way his twisted, dark mind had come up to achieve it.

"I can't…" he breathed out. "I can't stand this. I have to have you. You can't leave me."

"Please…" Hermione begged again, feeling his muscles straining. "If you…" she gulped down a breath, this was her one and only weapon and if it didn't work… "If you love me, don't do this."

Malfoy growled from deep within and slammed his hand into the shelf next to her head. Hermione flinched. At least his wand wasn't pressed into her temple anymore. Draco was still on her, but her gambit had earned her a few inches of space from the threat of Obliviation.

"You… you wanted to talk. I- I want that too." It was the truth. She had tried to avoid it, to ignore it, but there were things she wanted, needed to know.

"No. You don't." Malfoy sounded like he was in pain.

"Because of earlier? I… I was scared. But… I'm not. Not with you."

He wasn't going to hurt her. He didn't want to. He had a chance and didn't take it. He had multiple chances, and had never taken them. Hermione let out a small sobbing breath, her chest shaking with it. That statement was true on both fronts.

Draco lifted his head and looked at her. His eyes were rimmed with red and… a little wet. The muscle in his jaw was tensed and twitching. His granite grey eyes were unshielded and searching hers, not prying into her, in fact like were almost pleading.

"You're not scared of me?" He asked, blinking away the faint line of moisture.

Hermione bit her trembling lip and shook her head. "Not of you." Not of Draco. And he was. She could try and call him Malfoy all she wanted, but he was, this was, still her Draco.

Mark and all.

His expression eased a little. "You left with him."

"I… I know."

"You left me."

"You deserved it."

She might have been tied up and trapped by him, but she was still Hermione Granger and her Gryffindor Pride was as strong as ever, no matter how weak her heart felt right now.

Draco pulled back a little. "I know."

She couldn't believe it. He… he was agreeing with her?

"Will you let me go?"

Draco's grey eyes stormed. "No."

Hermione felt a shiver run down her spine. "Please take the ropes off."

Draco looked down, running his hand over them. Then down her arm, then grabbed her hand. Hermione let him twist his fingers into hers, trying to keep herself upright as her chest collapsed in on itself a little.

"Draco," she said his name softly. "Please."

"You'll run." He said sadly, like a misbahved child.

"I won't." She meant it. Draco lifted his eyes up to hers. "I promise."

He studied her for a few moments. Did he still trust her? She had tricked him last time. No… now way Draco was going to fall for-

He tapped the ropes with his wand and they fell away, landing heavily on the floor around her. Hermione was shocked into stillness.

Draco took a step back and ran his hand through his hair. She was shaky on her own and still felt a little dizzy. "I need to sit down," she said in a small voice. Hermione sunk down to the floor, rubbing her arms as she did so.

She had said she wouldn't run. She had meant it. She had meant everything.

He took the place directly across from her against the other shelves. Stretching one leg out, he bent the other and rested his elbow on his knee, holding his wand lazily in front of him, vaguely pointing it in her direction.

Draco bent his head, but kept his eyes on her. He wouldn't meet her gaze instead choosing different parts of her to train his eyes on. Anything that wasn't her face.

Well, at least he was staying on his side of the narrow aisle. She supposed that was as much as she could ask for right now. She reached out and grabbed her wand off of the floor where it had fallen. Draco didn't move to stop her.

"Are you going to jinx me again?" he asked glumly.

Good Godric, he was pouting.

"Do I need to?" She asked back, raising her chin a little. She had agreed not to run, but if he made one false move she was not going to hesitate to stand her ground.

Draco shook his head. He didn't say anything for a few long moments and then pulled a thin bottle out from inside his robes and popped the cork on it, taking a large swig of the amber liquid inside.

"So you're drinking again."

Draco shrugged. "My girlfriend left me."

Her bruised heart flared to life. Why was he saying this now? Now that it was too late? Now that he was a- but no, he'd been a Death Eater all along. Still…

"Girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend, whore, girl I lo-" he sighed and lifted the bottle to his lips again. "You know what you are."

No. She had no idea what or who she was to him anymore. She should, but she didn't.

"I thought I was just a Mudblood to your kind. Isn't that what your Lord calls us?"

Draco's eyes cut back up to hers. He wanted to talk? He wanted to hear what she had to say? Fine.

Draco didn't reply. He drank instead.

"I'm not going to have this conversation with myself," she snapped, anger flaring up from her nerves. "And I'm not going to have it with you if you're drunk. I had enough of your inane babble the other night, thank you very much!"

Draco paused and then slowly put the cork back in the bottle and tucked it back inside his robes. "Better?" he asked.

Hermione glared at him. Yes. No. She didn't know. Nothing about this was good or better.

"You said you wanted to talk?" he asked, putting it forth as if he was doing her a favor.

Angry flames heated up inside her. He had followed her here, attacked her, invaded her private thoughts and then almost stole them. And he was going to sit there and act moody now?

Why was she even bothering to try and talk to him? If he had his way he would plunge her back into the darkness and lies she had been living in for months. And he would keep her there. With him.

And she wanted to be with him. She wanted to be with him so much it made her bones quake. She wanted him not to be a Death Eater, not to be a Purist, not to be a liar.

But he was all of those things. And Godric help her, she still loved him.

"What's the point?" Hermione leaned her head back and looked up at the floating blue candles overhead.

"You're not dying to ask me annoying-ass questions?"

"No." She watched one of the candles float until it passed out of her line of sight.

She heard Draco shift across from her. "Why not?"

"You won't tell me the truth anyways. You've been lying to me this whole time. Why would you suddenly be honest now?"

She brought her eyes back down to see Draco staring at her, his expression unreadable again, hidden away behind his marble mask. Of course. That's what he'd always done. Run and hide. Every time she did something he didn't like he had stormed off, he had-

He stuck his hand back in his robes. Great, he was going to drink some more. Same Draco as he'd always been. Hermione sighed. So why did everything feel so different now?

"Here's to you, Sweetheart," he muttered and she looked up to see a small clear vial in his hand before he tossed it back, swallowing the contents whole.

He closed his eyes as he gulped and took a deep breath before opening them again.

"What did you just take?" she whispered.

"I've been in Potions with you for six years, Granger, don't try and tell me you don't recognize Veritaserum when you see it."

Good Godric. Had he really?

"You know taking that alongside having alcohol in your system-"

"Enhances the effects, yeah," Draco dropped the empty vial into his pocket. "I'm aware."

It would be near impossible for him to lie to her now. He was cunning, but… it would compel him to tell the truth, making him speak, and combined with the alcohol it would be extremely difficult for him to fight it. Both were inebriating substances and mixing them together was never advised.

Hermione gaped at him.

"Have at it, Granger," he spread his arms wide. "I'm all yours."

Oh… Wow. She blinked her eyes wide. She could ask him… anything. Anything and would get the truth, at least, for the most part. He might be able to tweak certain things, but-

"How do I know you won't just get up and leave when I ask something you don't like?"

Draco gave her a wry smile. "Like I'm going to let anyone else catch me in this condition. Only you, Granger, you know that."

Oh my… okay. She had to make the most of this. She needed information, for Harry, for the war. She had to be smart about this, strategic.

"Where is Lord Voldemort?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I don't know."

She eyed him. He could be able to say that, thinking along the lines that he did not know exactly where Voldemort was at this exact second, but... she couldn't second guess everything. It was better to move the line of questioning along and get what she could while she could.

"Where is Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"My Manor. Next."

Good Godric. She had a Death Eater willing to spill all his secrets but why? Why had he taken that potion? Why was he sitting here across from her? Why was he letting her ask everything she wanted?

The answer was hidden in the grey of his eyes, hazy, but there. Beating against the black, like a fist, like a heartbeat.

"Your Manor? You're living with her?"

"I'm living at Hogwarts currently," his eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you want to sit here and talk about all my relatives or do you want to get down to what you really care about?"

"And what's that?" Hermione snipped.

Draco smirked. "Me."

"You think I'm going to give up an opportunity to interrogate a Death Eater?" she narrowed her eyes and made sure she made her tone harsh.

Draco clenched his jaw and cast his eyes to the side. "If all you care about is information on the Dark Lord then you should just hand me over to Dumbledore and his lot and let them torture it out of me."

"They wouldn't do that," Hermione countered.

Draco let out a sharp laugh. "You must not know much about your precious Order then, Granger."

"And you do?" she breathed out. The Order did… what they had to, but torture? She had a hard time imagining Kingsley Shaklebolt or Remus Lupin casting the Cruciatus curse on anyone.

"Like you said," Draco dragged his eyes back to hers. They were hard and cold. "I'm a Death Eater."

There it was. He said the words. The actual words. The truth.

Draco sucked his teeth and looked away from her again.

"I'll tell you what you want to know, but you've just got to decide what you want to know most."

She pulled herself up a little straighter and stared hard at him. "Just because you rifled through my mind doesn't mean you know what I-"

"Oh, but you told me."

She froze.

"In the hospital wing. Snape jinxed me, but I was awake, just petrified. But I heard everything."

Hermione blanched. He had shifted through her memories of that night, but… he had known this whole time. He knew she loved him and from the gleam in his eye she could tell it was driving him mad. His black shirt was wrinkled, his hands shaking, and his eyes were bloodshot. Whether that was from the fire whisky, lack of sleep, or… anything else she wasn't sure. But it was obvious that Draco was breaking.

And this man sitting slumped against the dark shelves across from her was what was left. The man who had followed her, chased her, attacked her, and forced himself into her mind.

She knew the answer, but wanted him to have to say it. "Why were you going to modify my memories?"

"So you'd come back to me." Draco lifted his eyes up to her, storm grey and full of thundering pain and lightning strikes of shame until he couldn't hold her gaze anymore and dropped them back down. "So you'd love me."

"Did you really think that would work?" Hermione asked harshly. "What about the next time I saw it? Would you just go on, meddling in my mind each time?"

Draco stared at the floor. "If I needed to," he said moodily.

Hermione felt her anger rise up. How selfish could he be?! Lying to her, tricking her, taking her memories… but he hadn't. He had stopped himself. Just like the night in the destroyed classroom, Draco had stopped himself.

"Why did you go through my memories then? If you already knew what was in there. The hospital wing, the… the mark," she couldn't help but whisper it.

"I wanted you to remember. Remember how good we are together. Remember me."

"And Ron and Harry? Those have nothing to do with you, you had no right to spy in on those-"

"I wanted to see how you felt about Weasley. And you brought up Potter. I was just… curious."

"Curious?" He was curious so he broke into her mind?

"You said he knew. I wanted to see for myself."

"You could have asked me," she countered.

"You could have lied." Draco lifted his eyes back up to hers, face set like stone.

"That's your move, Draco, not mine."

"You lied to me in the closet."

"So did you."

Draco shifted a little. Hermione tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.

"Technically," he started, "I never lied." Hermione was about to open her mouth to scream at him when Draco held up a finger. "You asked if I was in trouble. I'm not. You are."

"Is that a threat?" she snapped.

Draco leaned forward, storm grey eyes locked onto hers. "That is most definitely a threat."

Hermione raised her wand up.

"You really think I'd hurt you?" Draco asked softly.

Hermione faltered for half a second. She… she wasn't sure. Yes she was. Hermione lowered her wand.

"So why am I in danger then?"

"Granger, you're a Mu-"

"I thought you didn't use that word anymore."

Draco sneered at her. "I was going to say Muggleborn."

Hermione glared back at him. "Sure you were."

"Veritaserum," he quipped and Hermione blinked. Oh. Right.

"So why are Muggleborns in danger?" she said, trying to direct him back.

"It won't be long now before we make our move. Once I-" Draco winced as he tried to stop talking. "Once I… finish."

"Finish what?"

"My task," he said through clenched teeth.

"Which is?" Hermione leaned forward.

Draco was obviously trying to hold this back. His muscles were straining and a vein stood out on the side of his neck. "Murder."

The word was forced from him, spilling all the air from his lungs with it. Draco gasped in a breath, trying to get himself under control.

"Murder… Dumbledore?" Hermione had suspected as much. She had spent enough time thinking about the attacks when Ron was in the hospital wing and everyone knew that both of them were designated for Dumbledore, but had failed to reach him.

Draco was breathing heavily and looked up at her from under heavy lids. "Yes."

"Why?"

"He's the fucking head of the Order of the Phoenix, Granger, why the fuck do you think the Dark Lord wants him dead?" he snapped. The Veritaserum had placed the truth in there, but it did nothing to stop Draco from being cruel in his answers. The alcohol surely enhanced that as well.

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm not your girlfriend anymore, remember?"

There. That shut him up.

And it shut her up for a little bit too. Maybe she wasn't ready for those kinds of comments either.

Draco looked down at the floor. "I miss you."

She definitely wasn't ready for those.

"Let's stay on topic."

"Is that what you want to do? Ask me questions about the Dark Lord? Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have many answers for you."

Hermione sat up. "Then let's talk about you."

She watched his face turn back into the marble mask. Cold. Distant. Formal.

Beautiful.

"Draco," she said softly and his granite eyes softened to rain grey. Either he was letting her in or the potion was making it hard for him to mask his emotions because she could see his apprehension and anxiety breaking through. He was nervous. Oh God, his hand was shaking. "Why did you… take the mark?"

He closed his eyes and swallowed. A muscle in his neck twitched. Then his arm.

"You of course know about my father and what happened last year."

"Yes," Hermione's voice was soft. "I was there."

Draco opened his eyes and looked right at her. "Right. Well, as you're aware he failed in his mission. He was arrested and sent to Azkaban."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"I took his place." The words slipped from his lips so fast he seemed surprised to hear them as well. Draco let out a long breath and then allowed them to flow freely.

"In order to save my family and the Malfoy name I agreed to replace my father as the Dark Lord's servant. He gave me a task, one only I could do. Once I have completed it, I will be expected to return to my Master and-"

Draco winced and drew his arm in close to him. His left arm.

"Are you okay?"

Draco shook his head. "It hurts. All the time. If I think about it, or… talk about it, it's worse."

"Is it supposed to do that?"

"We are supposed to feel it at all times. A reminder of our oath."

Hermione felt sick hearing him use words like servant and Master and oath. Draco took a deep breath and uncurled his arm before continuing. "Then I will take my place as one of his Death Eaters in his circle. My father will be released and be allowed to return home."

Hermione tried to commit every word to memory. She wanted to go through it all carefully and pick apart any detail, every minute bit of information when she had the time.

"Did you want to?"

"No." Again it came out quick, sudden.

She felt like a weight had been lifted from her, one she hadn't realized she had been holding. He hadn't chosen this fate; he had been pushed into it. But… Did that change anything really? It didn't make him stop being a Death Eater just because he didn't want to be one and based on his previous answer he had no question in how he would be leading his life from now on.

"Did you believe him when he said he would release your father?" Voldemort was not known for his mercy and Lucius had failed him terribly by letting the prophecy get destroyed. It was a miracle he was even still alive.

Draco's head shot up and his eyes widened. "What else was I supposed to do? Let him rot in there? Let him die?" he snarled and then sighed. "But that's what I'm doing now so… I suppose I'm just as much of a failure as he is."

"What are you talking about?"

"My father is dying. The Ministry won't do anything to help him. They sent a healer, yes, but…" he scoffed. "It's that place. And I can get him out, today. But I'm sitting here fucking talking to you instead."

His mindless dribble the other night made a little more sense now; at least, she thought it did.

"You don't want to do it. You don't want to…" kill "hurt anyone."

"There are plenty of people I want to hurt, Sweetheart." His eyes were as hard as granite as he brought them back up to hers.

Crafty. Just like Harry had said.

"You don't want to be a killer."

"Already am." He sighed and leaned his head back against the books behind him.

Hermione's eyes went wide. She lost the feeling in her fingers for a moment and almost dropped her wand before she quickly squeezed it hard in her hand. He had already killed someone. The man, the boy, sitting in front of her, the one she had been sleeping with for months, the one she had fallen for, was a killer.

"You… you killed someone?" This changed everything.

"A Muggle," Draco lifted his head back up. He looked disgusted and Hermione opened her mouth to reprimand him for his view of Muggles when she realized his revulsion was for himself. "A few days before I had you jack me off at Leaky," he added with a cold smirk.

He was trying to hurt her because it was all he knew how to do. He had never bared his soul to anyone before. He probably barely ever allowed himself to delve this deep down, instead choosing to drink these thoughts away.

"Tell me." Hermione steeled herself. She wanted to know what kind of man he was. She needed to know who she was in love with.

"Christmas night, a few of us went… celebrating," he shook his head. "Found a little family. Bellatrix played with the kids." Draco's eyes glazed over. "Rabastan entertained the wife." He gripped his wand so tight his knuckles turned white. "And Uncle Rodolphus and I discussed the finer points of the Crutiatus curse with their father."

Hermione stared unbelievingly at him. This… this couldn't be real. Couldn't be true.

"I left him on the floor and Bellatrix set the house on fire." His voice was hollow, empty.

Something in Hermione's brain jumped. "Christmas… Draco, was this near Gloucester?"

He stared at her for a moment before barely nodding.

"You… you know they got out, right?"

He was so still, she could have sworn he turned into a marble statue.

"I remember reading about this in the Prophet. They made it out. Aurors and Healers reported to the scene, they were hurt, badly, but… they're alive."

He wasn't moving. He didn't blink, he didn't breathe and then Draco slumped forward, cradling his head in his hands.

"They… they got out?" he glanced up at her, eyes shining.

Hermione nodded.

"Oh thank Salazar!" He exhaled deeply, forcing all the air from his lungs. "Oh fuck… they… they got out."

Hermione watched him. He was relieved, elated almost at this. The man had to spend almost a month in St. Mungo's due to the injuries he received, but they said it had stopped right at the point of no return. He would have nerve damage and memory issues, but he would be able to return to his life.

She gave him a few minutes to absorb this as he clearly needed it. Draco sat there, eyes wide and staring without seeing. His chest rose and fell quickly and he ran his hand through his white blond hair only to drag it down the side of his face before it fell into his lap.

"You're sure?" he asked suddenly, turning back to her.

Hermione nodded again. "Yes. I've been keeping up with all the attacks and disappearances. I remember that one because they said it was particularly-" she stopped as Draco paled. "I remember that one because it happened on Christmas."

He carefully pulled his face back into an impassive expression and settled his body back against the shelves again.

"I'm glad to hear they… recovered."

"I'm glad you feel that way."

Draco looked back at her with that unreadable expression, except… she thought she saw something deep behind the hazy grey of his eyes. Something… soft. Happy.

Oh, Draco. She wanted to reach out for him then, but couldn't bring herself to. He didn't want to be a Death Eater, he never had. He didn't want to kill anyone and was thrilled when he found out he hadn't already. Draco wasn't the villain she had tried to paint him as since she'd seen his mark, he was… he was her Draco.

She should have kept asking questions about Voldemort and the Death Eaters, but the Veritaserum would be wearing off soon and… she had to know some things for herself too.

"Why did you start this?"

Draco's brows pulled together.

"With me," she clarified. "I know you said you had… thoughts about me, but you had taken your mark, why would you try and act on those thoughts?"

"That's exactly why," Draco said. "I had taken the mark. I thought I'd be out of here by the holidays. When I came across you that night well…" He shrugged. "I figured might as well."

"Might as well?" Hermione asked, a little offended.

"If you turned me down I was no worse off than I was and if you were interested… well…" He smirked.

"Well what?" she snapped.

"Well then I'd get to fuck that sweet pussy of yours. And fuck… It is sweet."

"I told you to watch your mouth," she snapped, trying her hardest not to blush or feel the heat pooling below her navel.

"Blame the Veritaserum. I'm not really in control of what I'm saying right now, if you haven't noticed."

"So you would have sat here and lied to me then." Every time she felt like she was getting somewhere…

Draco looked at her a little sadly, like he was almost disappointed. "I would have told you what you wanted to hear."

But he had. He had said he didn't want to be a Death Eater, that he didn't want to kill anyone, that he had only done those things to save his family.

"Just like I always have," he admitted. "You asked me if I was a Death Eater, right? And what did I say?"

Hermione blinked. "You… you didn't say anything. You stormed off. And I… I felt bad for asking you because it clearly bothered you so much."

"And then?" He raised his brow again.

"And then I apologized and…" Hermione's heart clenched.

"And you let me fuck you. Right here." Draco's eyes heated into a smoky grey.

Hermione turned her face away from him and took a moment for herself now. She had felt guilty asking him that question, doing it more to prove herself right over Harry than anything to do with him. And he had such an adverse reaction to it that it had changed the way she saw him. A little. It made him more… human. He had seemed repulsed by it and it made her think maybe he was something a little more than the Purist ass she had always known him to be.

But had he really… no. He hadn't tricked her into anything. It wasn't like she didn't want him and after she hadn't felt guilty, she had been… happy. She liked it. She had wanted to do that. With him. And that's why she had kept doing it, kept going back to him. She had felt guilty about lying to her friends, but never about what she did with Draco. Not until now.

"When did you start having feelings for me?"

"When you blew me in that closet." Draco's eyes went wide. "Oh fuck."

Hermione's expression mirrored his. "That was… Godric, that was back in February! Are you sure?"

"Fuck, Granger, don't make me say it again," Draco groaned. "It's embarrassing."

Hermione felt a small tug at her lips. "It's sweet." Oh no… what was she doing? She hadn't taken a truth potion; she shouldn't be saying things like that.

Draco looked at her intently and she saw a mischievous glint in his eye. "You think I'm sweet?"

Hermione blushed and looked down at her lap, letting her thick curls fall around her face as a curtain.

"Spread your thighs a little wider and I'll show you how sweet I can be. I'll even let you lick it off my lips when I'm done."

Oh dear Godric!

"Draco, stop," she ordered. She couldn't sit here and listen to him say things like that to her. She couldn't let him make her feel things like that. Not anymore. Draco let out a breath and dropped his head a little.

"There's a few things I need to know." The Veritaserum would start losing its potency and she wanted to be done with this before then. She didn't trust Draco not to spin this and start to weave his web of lies around her again.

"Ask me, Sweetheart."

"What did you do to Cormac?"

"I hit him. I broke his hand. I had Crabbe and Goyle beat the shit out of him."

She knew it; she had just wanted him to own up to it.

It didn't make it any easier.

"Were you trying to kill Harry in Myrtle's bathroom?"

"No I'm better with the Cruciatus than I am the Killing Curse so I tried to throw that one instead."

Torture Harry. He had tried to torture Harry. Like he had the Muggle. But he felt bad about that… so why had he tried to do it again?

"Why?"

"I thought you sent him after me. I wanted to send him back a little worse for wear."

Okay, maybe she didn't want these answers.

"Are you still going to try and kill Dumbledore?"

"I-" he stopped and looked like he was choking a little. He opened his mouth, but nothing passed through. "I don't know."

He had to tell the truth, but this wasn't an answer. Or maybe it just wasn't the one she wanted him to give. Hermione sat for a moment, going over this before she picked her next question. He was doing this to save his father and his mother. What lengths would she go to protect her own parents? If it came to it, would she do terrible things as well to keep them safe?

Draco cleared his throat loudly. Hermione remembered Slughorn's lesson on Veritaserum earlier this year and recognized it as one of the signs of the potion losing its effects. She didn't have much time left. Time for the lightning round.

"What do you know about the Gaunt family?"

"Old Purebloods. Died out a generation or so ago."

"Ever heard of the name of Prince?"

"No."

"Can I have your copy of "The Sacred Twenty-Eight" to look in?"

"No."

Fiddlesticks. Hermione paused, thinking hard about what she wanted to ask while she still could.

"What are the Death Eaters planning on doing next?"

"Once Dumbledore's dead we're going after the Ministry."

We. Not they. We.

"It's coming, Granger. The war is coming."

Hermione looked up at him with fearful eyes. Harry. So soon then… she thought they'd have more time. Time to research and plan. Time to find horcruxes.

Time to change his mind.

"Do you still believe Purebloods are better than Muggleborns?"

"Yes." Draco cringed.

"Is that a lie?"

"No," he snarled.

"Why?"

"It's in our blood. You might not be as…" he struggled to say the right word. "Low as I once thought, but I have centuries of breeding in my blood that's made me who I am today. I'm not some lucky coincidence."

Hermione felt his words like a slap. It wasn't luck that she was a witch; she was born this way. It was in her blood the same as him. It was who she was.

"And you think you were bred? How do you explain Squibs then?"

"Flukes. Like you. Fuck!" Draco bit his tongue. He actually held it in between his teeth and clamped down to stop it.

"I'm a fluke? So I should have been a Muggle like my parents."

"Hell no."

Hermione gasped and Draco coughed hard.

"So I should be a witch? Should be magical? Sounds like you're confused."

"You think?" he growled, clearly annoyed.

"What are you confused about?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"Everything."

"That's not giving me much."

"Yes it is." Draco said seriously.

The Veritaserum must have started to wear off. He was still telling the truth, but only bits of it. The compulsion to speak was fading and soon so would the truth and she would only be left with Draco and his lies.

"How can you still believe in things like blood purity? You see the rules don't make sense! How can you still adhere to those values? Want to live in that world?" Her voice rose with each question.

"I have to. It's the only one I have." Draco leaned forward again. "It's the world I was born into, the world I was born for. If I don't have that… I might as well pitch myself off of the Astronomy tower."

"No, you don't! Draco, don't you see? You don't have to live like that. You don't have to follow in your father's footsteps. You can choose your own path! You can change."

Draco glared at her and then at the floor as if he wasn't sure what or who he was angry at. "There's only one way to stop being a Death Eater," he said darkly.

"Snape did it."

His eyes shot back up to hers. "That's a lie."

Hermione inched forward. "No, it's not. Snape… is part of the Order."

Draco laughed. He laughed right in her face. "You know, you really are just so fucking adorable."

Hermione lifted her chin. "I'm right too."

His laughter died out and was replaced by a wary look in his eyes. "Snape is a Death Eater and loyal to the Dark Lord."

Slughorn had said that people could give false information while under the influence of Veritaserum if they believed what they were saying to be true. Draco cleared his throat again.

"Do you care that I'm a Muggleborn?"

Draco clenched his jaw. "No."

Her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Was this real? Was this possible?

"Are you still going to try and erase my memory?"

"No. I'd like to, but no."

Well, that was something. He had the thoughts, the urges, but he was holding himself back. Once again, Draco didn't want to do these things, he only did them when he felt… pushed to. He had only attacked Harry because he thought Harry was there to attack him. He only tried to erase her memories because he thought it was the only way to get her back.

It still didn't make those actions right though.

Draco stared right at her as she let her thoughts fade. "I'd like to tie you back up, take you with me, and then take sweet my time on you. Oh, Granger, the things I could do to you…"

"I told you to stop saying things like that!" She knew he was trying to distract her. Draco had actually been in class the day of Slughorn's lecture and she was sure he could recognize the signs.

"Why?" He leaned forward. "Because you don't like it? Or because you like it too much?"

"I don't have to answer your questions," she snapped.

"Then ask me yours. Ask me how hard I got the first time I went down on you. Ask me how many times a day I think about fucking your mouth. Ask me how it felt when I came in your tight little-"

"Stop talking or I will make you stop." Hermione's vinewood wand was pointed right at his smirking mouth and a single spark flew out of it as his tongue darted out to lick his lips. "You can't say things like that to me anymore!"

Draco tilted his head. "Why not, Sweetheart?"

Because I still love you.

"Because I'm not your girl anymore." Hermione's voice shook. "And I never was, not really."

Draco's face fell.

"You're a Death Eater. And I'm a…" she trailed off. It was all lies. It had to be. Because if she started to let herself think parts of it were true then…

"Please don't say that." His voice was soft. Weak. So unlike him yet at the same time, undeniably his.

Hermione's eyes were large as she stared at the pained expression on his face. Her mouth parted and there were a thousand things she wanted to say to him right now, but all that came out was, "It's true."

"I told you not to fucking SAY SHIT LIKE THAT!" he roared, jerking forward.

Hermione jumped back, hitting the shelves behind her again. She lifted her wand and saw that he had done the same. The pain and anger storming in his eyes like a hurricane.

"You're mine," he growled and slowly lowered his wand back down.

"You don't get to just decide that-"

"And you don't get to just end it," he snarled.

Hermione kept her wand on him. "I didn't. You did."

The pain won out and Draco slumped back, letting his chin hit his chest. He took a few shaky breaths and then asked, "If I would have told you back when you asked me, would you be with me now?"

"I guess we'll never know."

Draco's lips thinned. "Yeah, we do. You'd have never given me a second chance if you knew what was on my arm."

Hermione looked up at him. "You don't know that."

"Well you aren't now," he said wryly.

She wasn't sure why, but Hermione asked, "Should I?"

Draco looked at her like she was the most interesting thing on earth. Then he closed his eyes, shutting her out.

"No."

How many times was he going to break her heart? Hermione felt the pain stab into her. Once more.

"Do you love me?"

His eyes flew open and his lips parted. Hermione's breath hitched in her throat. Draco snapped his mouth shut. Hard.

"Draco?"

"That's cheating."

"You broke into my mind. Let's call it even."

He groaned, pinching his lips together tightly.

"Do you love me?" she repeated.

"Granger-" He glared at her.

"Malfoy." She glared back.

"Please… don't make me say it. Not… now."

Hermione sat stunned for a moment as he physically struggled to try and stop himself from speaking. Did he not want to admit it? Or… did he not and know that would put an end to all of this?

But it was already at an end. Wasn't it?

Oh dear…

Draco was breathing hard through gritted teeth. He was right. Whatever the answer was, she shouldn't make him admit it under the influence of Veritaserum. Hermione took pity on him and asked him a different question.

"Okay, fine Draco." He stared right at her, barely containing himself. "What… color are my eyes?"

There. That was easy enough.

Draco lunged himself at her, toppling her over before she had a chance to even breathe. He ran his fingers up into her hair and pressed himself back against her.

"Brown. Brown like a doe's when you blink and they go big. Brown like melted chocolate when it's late and you're standing in candlelight. Brown like spiced cinnamon when you get that sweet little smile and laugh. Brown, Granger, Brown."

He breathed out heavily in relief and pressed his forehead against hers.

Hermione was shocked and stunned. She hadn't been expecting that. She hadn't been expecting her body to soften under his, or her hands to come to rest on his sides, or her lips to part or her heart to surge upwards, so big and full and-

Draco rubbed his thumb over her cheek a few times, catching his breath. She sat there, under him. Loving him. Draco…

Then he filled his chest and spoke. "I love you, Hermione Granger."

Her heart stopped beating. Or maybe it just finally filled to its bursting point and exploded.

"Please… give me a chance. I… I can keep you safe. With me."

No, her heart hadn't exploded because it was currently imploding, collapsing in and sucking her soul down with it.

Be with him? A Death Eater? And what about Harry and Ron? They were her best friends. She couldn't leave them behind to fight the war on their own. How was Harry going to find all the horcruxes on his own? They needed her and she… she needed them too. The three of them had been through so much together, how could she leave that all behind?

And for Draco? He felt remorse for the things he had done, but he had still done them. And he was planning on continuing. He had no desire to defect or change. He wanted her to give in to him. He had still lied to her even if it had been one of omission. He had plotted to kill Dumbledore. He had given Katie the necklace knowing it was lethal. He had Cormac beaten on his command after he had taken his own pound of flesh. He had almost killed Ron and tried to torture Harry.

It was wrong. So why did she feel so bad about this? Harry and Ron meant more to her than she could express. They were like brothers to her. And soon Harry was going to have to go up against Voldemort and she wanted to be at his side when he did. That was important to her too.

But so was Draco. On an individual basis alone, she wasn't sure if there was a single person more important to her. But ideas, beliefs, ideologies… those were important too. She wanted to fight in the war and fight for what she believed in. And she wanted to do it at Harry and Ron's sides. She couldn't give that up to stand at the side of a Death Eater.

Her voice was full of every emotion she was feeling. "I- I don't-"

"Yes you do," Draco's voice was soft but strong. Desperate. "I know you do. Sweetheart. My heart."

Hermione bit her lip to stop it trembling. "I don't want someone like you to love me."

He recoiled from her so quickly it took her a second to even realize he was gone. By the time she had pushed herself up he was already scrambling to his feet, pale face tight.

"You bitch."

She hardened her eyes on him and kept her wand trained in his direction. Everything about him had changed in a second; his stance, his expression, his eyes.

"I fucking bore my heart to you and you just throw it back?!"

Her own heart was tearing, ripping, crumbling. She didn't mean it, but she did! She couldn't make sense of any of this. He was Draco. He was Malfoy. She was Granger. She was Hermione. They were… they were… They were this. They had always been this. Burning. Freezing. Fucking. Fighting. Breaking. Building. It had all been building and for so long she wasn't sure what it was building to. It was this. It had been building to this.

"What do you expect me to do? Turn my back on everything else and be with you? Knowing what you are?"

"I fucking did." Draco towered over her, brows pulled together trying to hide the hurt in his eyes.

"Draco," her voice filled with all the emotions swirling around inside her.

"Fuck you."

Hermione pushed herself up.

"Draco-"

"I guess we finally found out what you really are, Hermione," he spat her name out like it was rotten. "Nothing but a Mudblood whore who likes sucking Pureblood cock."

He took his time on each word, driving them into her very soul. Hermione's whole body sagged. He hadn't turned his back on anything. Anything but her.

Her Gryffindor pride roared in her chest, wounded and stumbling, but still there. She raised up her courage and her wand.

"Get out."

Draco glared at her.

"Get out," she repeated. "Of my Library, of my life, of everything."

He leaned in slightly, eyes cold and hard like iron. "Gladly. Fucking used you up anyways."

Her spine was shaking, but her hand was not as she sent a red-hot stream of light at him, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him back a few feet.

Draco doubled over, gasping and clutching at his chest.

"Come near me again and I'll send the next one at your groin."

Draco pulled himself back up to his full height. She could tell he was trying to mask his emotions, but his jaw was clenched and his nostrils flared and his eyes were so full of rage and… agony. Smoking, storming, and staring right at her. A pale blue light fell over him from a floating candle, lighting up a circle in his silver blonde hair. She might have thought it was a halo, if she didn't know him for the devil he truly was.

"How many times do I have to tell you? This isn't over until I say so."

Something cold and solid ran down her spine, stiffening it. His gaze was so intense she could barely hold it but she didn't have the strength to pull away either. Then it was gone. All she could see was his black clad back and two seconds later even that was gone. Hermione stayed there, pinned to the shelves, barely breathing. Just like she had been on that night so very long ago. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth, trying to keep the sob that was shaking in her chest in.

And now she did know what she was. She knew it with every fiber of her being. She was in love with him. Despite everything. And that fact broke her heart more than any of the terrible things he'd ever said to her. She was his. She would always be his.

---

A/N: Oh dear readers… you beautiful, beautiful, people with your amazing reviews. To hear that you love the character development, and the plot, and my writing…

To all the guests and anyone I missed below- thank you thank you thank you. Your reviews make me smile and jump and do a little weird kick thing that honestly no one should ever see. And thank you everyone for your feedback on which scenes you prefer. I try and just go with whichever feels right, but I might have something special coming up for y'all.

Sunflwgranger - I KNOW, RIGHT?! Finally.

Cordiallyra- It's hard to write the heartbreak chapters. I can't tell you how many times I just had to close my laptop and walk away for a minute. Chin up, we'll get through this together.

MissyAndTheDocs- Yes, three (now two) more chapters and then… a sequel! And that's where it will reallyget fun, because we will be breaking away from canon. More on that later…

Lizzyrocks and Purple-Bee03- thank you both so much! I get so excited when I finally finish a chapter and can update it. Then I sit wrapped in a blanket like a creeper and obsessively check my email for reviews lol.

Monstera11- Your review made me laugh! And yes, they are both completely lost. In their feels, in each other, and in general lol.

Shamelessly Reckless- You… you just get me.

Mimisemily- I love writing from Draco's POV because he's so… visceral. And yeah, his smut scenes are fucking hotttt. I can brag on myself, it's fine.

DarlingHalcyon- I do feel bad for your coworkers, but not bad enough to make you wait another day for an update. Happy Friday, darling.

I know it's a lot to ask, but… get me to 300 reviews for my birthday?

xx, Ik.