Hermione crept through the deserted corridors, Draco closely following behind her. At every corner she stopped to check for Filch and Mrs Norris. If she had known she was going to sneak through the castle after curfew she'd have taken the Marauder's map with her.

When they reached her broom cupboard she let go of the breath she'd been holding for so long and motioned for Malfoy to enter.

"What-" he said, a nervous glimmer in his eyes.

"Just do as I say, Malfoy," she hissed, a little tense. She could have sworn she had heard footsteps. Reluctantly, Draco entered. Hermione quickly followed him inside. It was a bit crammed and she heard some mops fall over behind Draco. With the stack of books he was holding pressing in her back, she closed the door.

"What are we-" Draco tried again but was silenced by a loud "Sh!"

Hermione knocked on the door seven times in a specific rhythm after which a little silver keyhole appeared. The key she wore on her necklace fitted perfectly inside and she turned it anti-clockwise. After hearing the 'click' of the lock she opened the door. They were no longer facing the dark corridor.

A small fire crackled in the fireplace, illuminating the room just enough to see shapes and shadows. Hermione waved her wand and the strategically placed candles lit up the room.

Draco gasped behind her and she smiled inwardly. He was the first person she had let in here, and his reaction was satisfactory.

She entered the room, which had now been decorated with a table, couch and well-filled bookcase, and turned around. She watched Malfoy slowly step inside, placing her stack of books on the table.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"I made it," she said and locked the door behind him, she didn't want Filch to wander through the broom closet and into her room by accident.

"You made this?" He sounded impressed. Hermione felt pleased with herself. She'd been wanting to show off her work ever since she finished, but keeping it a secret felt good as well. And somehow having Draco sound impressed made the feeling even sweeter. Malfoy, who had always sneered at her achievements, now stood gaping at her, speechless. Harry and Ron, on the other hand, would know what she was capable of, by now.

Her satisfaction quickly disappeared when she was reminded of what she had brought him here for.

"So, now we can talk," she said. Draco nodded, slowly, once again avoiding her gaze.

"I need you to reinstate those memories. You know, as well as I, that it is best done by the same wand who took them."

"And ... what if I don't?" he asked, hesitant.

"You'd never get out of here. We'd starve," she said, the corner of her lip curling up. She now had him at a disadvantage. The inside of the door was enchanted, as well as the outside, she'd created a loop which brought you from her room to the broom cupboard and back to the room again, never reaching the Hogwarts corridors. Unless, of course, you knew how to unlock the door.

He looked at her, trying to judge whether she was being serious.

"You would never miss class," he tried, but he did not seem confident, at all.

"Going to classes like this isn't worth it."

"But you don't understand, Hermione. I can't put it back," he pleaded. She noticed the dark circles underneath his eyes and the desperate look on his face. Draco had always looked a little unhealthy to her, like he wasn't getting enough vitamin D. Now his cheeks were hollow and his eyes had lost their sparkles.

A rush of anxiety flushed over her as she realised he looked exactly like he had done that day on the Clock Tower all those weeks ago, guilty.

"What did you do to me, Draco?" she asked, warily. During the silence he gave her several scenarios played through her head, one worse than the next.

"I kissed you," he muttered under his breath. Relief rushed over her, followed by disbelief, which soon turned to anger.

"You messed with my mind because you kissed me?" she yelled. Draco cowered underneath her blazing gaze and moved a little backwards, she took no notice of it.

"I didn't drive you to act like a forgetful idiot just because I felt like kissing you!"

"I- I'm sorry," he stuttered. Hermione's chest was heaving, she did not know what else to say, instead continued to glare at him. Draco sighed in defeat and motioned for his wand, "Give it to me. I'll do it."

A strange feeling of excitement fluttered in her stomach as she handed him his wand, he had kissed her. How would it feel to be kissed by him? She had been asking herself that question for the better part of three weeks. She had dreamed about it, waking up blushing and glad she did not talk in her sleep. Lavender and Parvati would never let gossip like this go quietly, once they knew.

He raised his wand to her face and she closed her eyes, not seeing the look of immense gloom showing on Draco's face.

"Reinstatio Remembrum."

For a moment everything around her withdrew. Leaving her alone, consumed by the immense void that surrounded her. She was no one, nothing mattered. Inhale. Exhale.

The silence grew louder, a throbbing in her body she had never felt before. Something was announcing its return. She grasped her chest and curled up on the floor, trying to protect herself against the force of the incoming tide.

Somewhere in her mind a barrier broke and, together with the rest of her reality, everything came flooding back to her, around her, through her. It was choking her, her lungs filled with facts. She grasped for breath but the serenity of oblivion was no longer there. Inhale. Exhale.

A scene played out in front of her. He kissed her, she kissed him. She felt detached, she could not feel the warmth of his body or the security of his embrace. She had been given nothing but data.

"Are you okay?" she heard a voice asking in the distance. He was still here. Decades had passed, time had become irrelevant to her, yet here he was. Opening her eyes she found she had not moved at all, and while she had felt timeless mere seconds had passed.

She looked at him, trying to see him like she had, before he had wiped her memories. His grey orbs, platinum blonde hair, dark circles underneath his eyes, they had all formed into a display of uncertainty. She moved her eyes to his lips, trying to remember what they had felt like, locked on hers. She did not know, he had taken that away from her.

Entranced she stepped forwards, placing her hands against his chest. Like always she felt the need to fill the emptiness with knowledge. She needed to know what it felt like, and there was no other way to go about it than to kiss him again.

She did not regard the look of surprise on his face nor did she think anything of his fastening heartbeat which she felt underneath her fingertips.

Warmth flushed through her and she felt like she had only just completely arrived in the physical world again. He touched the core of her being, like no one had before. And when he kissed her back, she knew he felt the same. All the previous hesitation dissolved.

He tugged at her shirt and she started unfastening the buttons of his, exposing his bare chest. Blindly they stumbled towards the couch. Draco fell backwards, pulling her on top of him. When she wanted to push his blouse off his shoulders he stopped her. "Leave it," he said, his voice hoarse. Hermione shrugged, it did not matter.

After a while neither knew where their own body started and the other began. They had surpassed physical confinement, meeting on a higher level. For a moment they became one entity, one soul.

After bodily limitation returned they lay on the couch entangled in an embrace, neither yet wanting to let go of the other.

Every breath she took, inspired by his smile. Every morning she would wake up, encouraged by the sparkles in his eyes. With him there was no questioning their happiness. When she thought of their future she saw only possibilities. Like a bulb - when nurtured carefully - their love could grow out to be a beautiful flower.

With his fingers he drew circles on her arm and she moved her head to look at him. She was quite certain he felt the same. But whether he was ready to acknowledge that feeling, she did not know.

Saturday morning arrived sooner than desired. The fresh daylight delivering Draco's doubt. Silence surrounded them as they dressed, yesterday's certainty washed away.

"Granger-" She flinched at the unfamiliarity with which he called her name, but did not show it. It was nothing like the way he had called her name mere hours ago. Yet, that seemed so distant in the past. There was no use in forcing her feelings on him. He needed time, so that's what she gave him.

He did not know what to say, with the absence of her warmth realisation had hit him. He had done the very thing he had promised himself not to, feed the hope, knowing that once provoked it would be very hard to extinguish.

"This can't happen again," he told her. She did not answer. "Don't you understand? You're a mudblood!" he exclaimed, exasperated. He touched his left underarm, the Dark Mark was still covered up but he could not help it.

"You'll be late for breakfast," she stated, standing next to the open door. Avoiding her eyes he walked into the broom cupboard. The door closed behind him and he stood in the dark feeling miserable. When he opened the door part of him wished he had returned to her room; to apologise, to return to the refuge of her heart, to tell her he loved her. But he could not.

How long could he keep on denying his feelings for her? Every breath he took without her pained him. Seeing her walk around, laughing at someone else's jokes, lightened a fire of jealousy inside of him. But having to leave her like this, fully aware of the hurt he brought her, the promises he had broken, made him want to kill himself. He knew he did not deserve her soft smiles, her kind words, her comforting embrace, but he had found he could not live without. He was like a monster trying to preserve a delicate bird, yet crushing it in the process.

Being without her killed him, being with her would eventually kill them both.

Did he love her enough to set her free?