XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Chapter 18 -

It broke his heart to hear her cry. To be truthful, that was the real reason he sought her out today. She looked on the verge of tears during the entire ceremony, and something about her raw emotions touched him deep inside. Then, when he entered the chapel to see if she was still there, and he saw tears rolling down her face, that same emotion that she had awakened in him erupted and overflowed. As odd as it sounded, that was when he realized he loved her. Strange. He even thought so.

He apparated back to the bathroom, and picked her up from the floor. Silly little thing that she was, she didn't even look up to see who was holding her in their arms. He disapparated with her to the only place her knew they could truly be alone, without leaving the Burrow completely…to the roof.

He held her tightly in his arms, and sat down on the shale shingles, the slope steep under their reclining bodies. He held her over his legs, across his lap, and stroked her cheek. His hand was soon wet with her tears.

"Why the tears, Hermione? Have you finally realized that your dress is ruined, and you're mourning its loss?" he joked.

"No," she answered meekly.

"Are you crying because you realized that I had a bigger piece of cake then you did, earlier?"

She looked up at him and said, "Are you daft?"

"Are you crying because you stubbed your toe?" He was running out of inane things to say.

"Yes, Malfoy, I am crying because I stubbed my toe," she said sarcastically. She sniffed twice and then looked up from where her head was previously hiding in his chest. "Where are we?" she asked.

"The roof," he answered calmly.

She shook with fear, and grabbed his arms tightly, her fingers digging in his forearms. "Why are we on the roof?" she asked, closing her eyes.

"I needed to be alone with you," he said, thinking it was obvious.

"And of all the vast places we have been alone today, the only place you could think of was the roof?" she asked, terror filling her voice.

"Tell me, why are you afraid of heights?" he asked.

"Why are you crazy?" she asked.

"Mine's a real question," he said, bemused by her antics.

"Please, take me away from here!" She closed her eyes, and clutched him closer.

"I don't believe I will," he answered. "I rather like you like this, close to me and terrified. It makes me feel manly."

"You won't feel so manly when I castrate you!" she warned, with her eyes still shut.

He laughed and said, "Your threat might be more menacing if you didn't have your eyes shut in fear. Now, we are getting off track. Why were you crying in the bathroom?"

"Oh, Draco, I don't know, I don't even give a ruddy care right now! Please, please, I beg of you, take me down from this roof!" she whined. She opened her eyes, and looked at him right in the eyes.

"If I do, do you promise to name your firstborn after me?" he asked.

"Are you drunk, AND insane?" she asked.

"I like this rather asinine side of you," he said, grinning.

"PLEASE!" she almost screamed.

"Is that the way you sound when you're in the throes of passion?" he asked.

"If you keep playing games, and don't let me down from here, you will never know!" she shouted.

"Funny little Gryffindor," he said, hugging her tight. "You're a witch, take yourself down from here."

She felt so stupid. "Oh, yeah."

He laughed again and said, "Before you leave me, please, tell me why you were crying in the bathroom."

"How did you know I was crying?" she asked.

"I was hiding outside the window, in a tree," he said.

"Now I know you must be drunk, or suffering from lunacy," she declared. "Why were you in a tree?"

"To be truthful, you did hurt my feelings just a tad, with your little, 'I wouldn't marry Malfoy if he were the last man on earth', comment, so I hid from you, to scare you a bit, because I knew you would come to look for me. I wanted you to sweat for a moment. I was just playing around. I apologize," he declared.

"I apologize as well, although I don't think I said anything about not marrying you even if you were the last man on earth. If you were the last man on earth, I would probably marry you," she said, slyly.

"How sweet," he said, with fake disdain. "I told you my truth, now you tell me yours. Why were you crying?" He held her tighter, and nuzzled his nose to her neck.

"I felt stupid, because I thought I exposed myself to you today, and it scared you off, and you left me. Stupid, I know, but I felt a bit insecure, after everything that happened with Ron and me," she stated.

"Very stupid," he agreed, kissing her exposed neck. She relaxed in his arms. She sighed in contentment. He said, "You do still realize we're on the roof, don't you?"

"Are we? I feel so safe in your arms, that I forgot," she realized, adding, "just don't say anything dense for a while. I know that will be difficult for you."

"Ha! Granger thinks she's funny!" Draco lauded. He didn't care. She was smart, funny, beautiful, and everything in between. She could make fun of him all she wanted.

"May I ask you a question, now?" she asked, moving off his lap, and settling between his legs. He kept his arms around her body, as she relaxed her back into his chest. She leaned her head back on his shoulder, and looked intently at his face.

"I'm an open book, ready for you to read. Ask me anything," he stated.

"How do you know what you feel for me is real? How do you know you won't wake up tomorrow, and question your sanity?"

"Hell, Granger, I wake up every morning, questioning my sanity, but the truth is, tomorrow morning, when I wake up, and look at your beautiful face, as you lie beside me, I will feel the exact same thing that I feel at this moment," he said.

"Now you're the funny one," she said.

"How so?"

"You're funny, because you actually think that you're going to wake up beside me," she said.

"Where else will I be tomorrow morning?" he asked, seriously.

"We aren't sleeping together tonight," she said, stiffening in his arms.

He knew he must choose his next words wisely. "Yes we will," he said. Okay, he was never that wise.

She turned slightly to look at him and said, "No, no we won't."

"I beg to differ."

"I beg to agree."

"Well, you're wrong," he said.

"No, you're delusional," she argued. She forgot she was on the roof, and tried to stand up, but he grabbed her hand and sat her back down.

"Why won't we be sleeping together tonight?" He seriously wanted to know.

"I know you have this big date theory, and you think you're in love with me, and I know that I'm in love you, but I can't just hop into bed with you. I'm not programmed that way. I don't sleep with men after one date, if this day together even counts as one date." She looked away from him. He pulled her back toward his chest, and put his arms back around her as tightly as before.

"First, you have a point, for we really don't know each other as well as I thought, because you have just insulted me, and at the moment, I'm no longer playing games, or having fun at your expense. I am truly hurt, and the only reason I'm holding you this tightly, is to fight the urge to throw you off this roof," he said, seriously. He had not uttered a more serious statement all day long.

"What? What have I done? What have I said?" she asked, not looking at him. Her hands went to his, which were clasped together around her waist.

"How dare you say that I merely 'think' I'm in love with you, and in the next breath, say that you know you're in love with me? Why do you question my feelings, but feel so damn self-righteous to spout off your own?" he asked.

She felt somewhat ashamed, for he had a point. She turned her head to look at him again and said, "You're right. Damn, Malfoy. You are so right." She hung her head, shaking it, and said, "Why do you have to be right?"

"It's a gift," he said. He felt the mood lighten immediately. "Shall we get down from the roof now?"

"I don't know, I kind of like it up here," she said.

"Now I think you are the crazy one," he remarked, kissing her cheek, and running small kisses to her jaw, and then behind her ear. She closed her eyes, and relaxed against him. "May I make one more comment, before we go down?"

"Sure," she said, opening her eyes.

"If you seriously don't want to sleep with me tonight, that's fine, but I won't wait long," he said.

"Ultimatums?" she asked.

"No. Fact," he remarked, bringing one hand up from around her waist, putting it under her chin, leaning her face back toward his, and kissing her quite soundly.

When their lips parted, she said, "What if I don't agree? Are you going to leave me?"

"I will never leave you," he stated, "no, I will just get you drunk and take advantage of you." She frowned. He said, "So very gullible. I swear I shall enjoy making fun of you for the rest of my days." He kissed her cheek and said, "It's late. Should we leave?"

"The roof, or the reception?" she asked.

"Either," he said, "or both."

"Sure, let's get off this god-forsaken roof. We should go say goodbye to our hosts, and I want to find Harry. I have to thank him for something," she said. He stood up, and pulled her to stand beside him. She closed her eyes again. Standing was scarier than sitting.

He asked, "Why do you owe Pot-head a thank you?"

She opened her eyes, and put her hands around his neck. "He convinced me to come to the wedding today. He said I needed closure. He was right about one thing, and wrong about the other. He was right to make me come, for if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found you. He was wrong about one other thing. I didn't need closure. I already had closure with Ron. What I needed was a new beginning, and with you, I've found just that."

He smiled as he hugged her tight, and in that moment, he made a life changing decision. He just decided that he was going to marry this little witch, even if he had to wait a year, or more. He was never going to let her go. She leaned back from the hug and said, "What do you think about that?"

"I think that I'm going to marry you someday, Granger."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX