Chapter Fourteen
(The End)

Overall, revealing their relationship went… mixed. Draco was still friends with Goyle, but Crabbe refused to speak with him. Theodore Nott took over as the most prejudice sixth year Slytherin, whereas Blaise was still a close friend to Draco. He didn't even have an opinion other than saying, "Granger's smart but she talks a lot."

They spent a large amount of time in the library, which surprised Ron and Harry to learn that Draco was almost as much of a bookworm as Hermione was. Little by little she was seeing her friends warm up to Draco… even if they weren't particularly chummy.

Mostly everyone just left them alone. According to Draco a few of the teachers were noticeably nicer to him during lessons, which bothered him immensely considering his intelligence hadn't changed, only his opinions of a certain Gryffindor. He still considered it unfair and biased, but Hermione rolled her eyes and insisted it was because he was also more kind.

Getting comfortable with one another was surprisingly easy. Despite the years of animosity they were able to fall into friendly banter that they both could keep up with. They often talked too quickly for people to follow clearly; Harry said it looked like a tennis match whereas Ron said it just looked exhausting.

They were playful but mostly in private. Draco was charming and funny, but had his moments of entitlement where he would express frustration about not getting his way. Hermione found herself a lot more relaxed around him, but was just as stubborn as always. Draco said she always had to be right and she nodded in unashamed agreement because usually she was right. (Draco would scoff at this not-so-humble admission.)

They genuinely worked well together and Hermione was so happy that they were able to find one other behind the preconceived judgments and biases they both had held onto for years.

During one of their most memorable meetings to date they had planned a wintertime picnic, creating an igloo-shaped bubble of warmth by the lake. They were laying on a charmed blanket cuddled up with one another and bluebell flames were floating around them. Hermione told him all about her parents and life as a Muggleborn. He was overall receptive, but somewhat skeptical. Hermione promised to take him to a hotel in Muggle London and although the suggestion cause his brows to raise he did agree to the date.

He was most interested when she started talking about airplanes and space travel. While wizards had already made it to the moon on their own, he was surprised the Muggles had figured it out.

"I've always wanted to go," he admitted. "As we know, magic originated with the elements here on earth. There are a lot of theories that the moon has different elements that can extract different magical responses. We just need to learn how to harness and tap into those elements. The goal is to adjust the elemental magic to be able to work here on Earth, too. I've read loads about it, I'll let you borrow some of the journals I have."

"I'd like that. Imagine our first vacation together is on the moon; not many people can say that," Hermione laughed at the idea.

"We could actually make that happen, you know?" Draco smirked and Hermione's eyes widened a little, some of the humor turning into awe.

"I would love to do that with you." Hermione eyed him carefully, wondering if he was about to turn this into a joke and laugh at her naivety.

"Well then I will make it happen," he said smugly. Hermione knew he was being pompous and definitely trying to impress her, which made her snicker a little to herself.

"Love you to the moon and back," she said with a small laugh before she realized the words that escaped her held a lot more meaning than the common Muggle phrase it was. The silence between them was tense and Draco was looking into her eyes, as if trying to gauge how truthful it was.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that, it just-I mean, I do like you a lot, and if I did-do-love you I didn't mean to say it like that," Hermione stumbled over her explanation, digging herself into a deeper hole with every word.

"Did you mean it?" Draco asked pointedly, putting her on the spot. Hermione's cheeks heated up and she sputtered, feeling quite panicked.

"You can't ask me that!" she admonished. "Who asks someone if they love them? That's just ridiculous. What a ridiculous way to express your feelings for the first time." She really, really needed to stop talking.

"I think," Draco said slowly and put his finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him, "that you meant it." He smirked devilishly and Hermione couldn't decide if she wanted to smack him upside the head or snog him silly.

"And what if I did?" she breathed, not breaking eye contact with him now. One of his brows lifted slightly and his face turned serious.

"Then I would have to tell you that I love you, too, and you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Every time I see you I feel like I'm where I am supposed to be, and you make me want to be a better person - you make me want to change. I lived for years watching you contradict every lie I was taught as a child, and you made me war with myself. But once I chose you, I was at peace."

Hermione blushed and lowered her head to his chest. She always got flustered when he started with his romantic declarations; they were so unexpected and genuine, she wondered if it would ever not take her breath away.

"Then I guess I have to admit it: I love you, Draco."

He wasted no time rolling to hover over her and snogging her until they were both breathless.

The final quidditch match of the season was upon them. While Hermione didn't follow the sport much, it was hard to ignore the buzz of the excited students. Harry and Ron seemed to be busy practicing at least six days a week, and the opposing Slytherin team was training just as hard. Hermione tried not to feel too put-out that all of the people closest to her were ridiculously busy. Although she was feeling much better about what happened, she still got nervous when she was alone in the corridors. Being away from her friends was forcing her to face her fears and put her courage back to the forefront, which was probably for the best even if it was uncomfortable.

It was Sunday and the game started at noon. At breakfast the excitement was palpable throughout the Great Hall. Every person in the hall was wearing either green or red, showing support for one of the teams. Hermione found herself in a mix of the two color: her Gryffindor scarf wrapped snug around her neck, with a green bow tying her hair back in an up-do. She also wore green earmuffs so her support for both teams were proudly on display. Although she wanted Gryffindor to win she wanted Draco to know that she wanted him to do a good job.

She, Neville, and Luna were making their way to the pitch together, casting various warming charms on their clothing as they walked outside and the chill took over their bodies. As it was with any other game day, Hermione tried to match the enthusiasm of the other die-hard quidditch fans but her heart just wasn't in it. Books and reading, fine! Sports and flying, not-so-fine. Still, she did feel a bit better when the three of them sat down next to Lavender and Parvati, because she was confident that she at least knew more about the game than they did.

During the game the snow started falling heavily. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the spectators to see the game, let alone the players themselves. But still they played on. Even Hermione could admit that the precision and focus it took to play in weather like this was quite awe-inspiring. She couldn't help but start drifting into daydreams about curling up in front of the fire with a book, mug of hot chocolate, and Draco Malfoy as soon as the match was over.

A whistle brought her out of her reverie and she saw that Gryffindor scored another ten points. They were unstoppable today. The score was 220 to 70 in Gryffindor's favor.

But her attention was diverted to a red blur shooting downwards when a collective gasp from the crowd drew attention to Harry. She watched as he darted through the air, bee-lining towards his goal: the Golden Snitch. But Draco was closer and already on his own path.

It all happened so quickly, Hermione wasn't sure how Madam Hooch was able to call both shots at the same time: Katie Bell threw the Quaffle into a hoop just as Draco's hand closed over the Snitch.

The crowd erupted.

"Did she score before he caught it?!" Seamus was yelling loud enough for everyone to hear, asking the question everyone wanted the answer to.

Madam Hooch's voice echoed through the pitch. "Final Score: 230 to 220! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

And the crowd erupted even louder this time.

Smiling, Hermione felt vindicated that for her first match rooting for her friends and Draco she was able to be happy for everyone somehow. Gryffindor won, but Draco caught the Snitch!

She hoped Harry wouldn't be too offended that she was extremely pleased by his own personal loss. But he had won enough Snitches over the years that maybe even he could be convince that Draco deserved at least one.

"Hermione!" Luna was suddenly poking her in the arm and she looked over, dazed and excited from her musings, to see that Luna was pointing ahead towards the pitch.

Hermione's head turned to follow her direction and she was surprised to see Draco slowing down and landing gracefully in the stands surrounded by red but directly in front of her. A few people watched them, still mildly curious about the new and unexpected couple.

"You did it!" Hermione said with a little clap of her hands, taking the few steps towards him that would close the distance. Draco hugged her openly, grinning.

"You're first one!" she said, delighted. "I'm so happy for you. I knew you could do it."

She leaned back and looked up into his eyes, smiling at the boy that, a year ago, she never would have imagined could make her feel the way she was feeling at that moment.

"I love that you believe in me," he leaned forward and whispered into her ear, the smile still on his face. She squeezed his upper arms and grinned back at him.

"Always," she nodded.

He stared at her and shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe that he ever thought he could do this without her. He couldn't believe that she was giving him this chance. He couldn't believe that she was his.

"I'm sorry for ever thinking you were less," he said it with such conviction it made Hermione's heart skip a beat.

"I forgive you," she said for the hundredth time with a small huff of laughter that showed as the frost in the air met her warm breath. "Now kiss me."

He smirked and leaned forward, capturing her lips with his for all the world to see.

THE END

A/N: I just had to include the big game. If you've seen A Cinderella Story, you know why this is a must-have scene heh. Thank you all so much for reading, supporting me, and giving me the encouragement to continue this over the years.

I wanted to end it here because this is where the story would just become too AU/big for me to handle. You can use your imagination for how these characters of mine could have fit into canon. I appreciate the support and reviews. Check out my other Dramione stories!