AN: Omigawd… I love this song.
Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from the Harry Potter books belongs to J.K. Rowling. This lovely song belongs to… eh? *shrugs* The Corrs and Alejandro Sanz performed it, so it's most likely the rights belong to either one of them.
Dedicated to: This certain young man, whom I'd love, but can't. And I'm pretty sure he likes me back. Oh well, I hope.
Let Our Dreams Collide
One more day, one last look
Draco took her hands in his, watching her from under half-closed eyelids. She bowed her head, and Draco drew her closer, wanting to drown himself in her scent of raspberries. He ran his fingers through her soft hair, his heart aching painfully. Her fingers remained entwined around his other hand, the warmth, the sensation…
Before I leave it all behind
Draco knew there was to be no more of this… the lingering looks, the stolen kisses, the furtive smiles. No more secret trysts, no more star-gazing… no more Hermione. This, all this beautifully secretive bliss, would be gone by the rising of the sun.
And play the role that's meant for us
"Do you really have to?" she asked, her voice soft, pathetic and wistfully sad. A twinge of pain shot through Draco's chest, and he closed his eyes, saying in reply: "You know I have to."
It was no secret that Draco was to be a Death-Eater. But his relationship with Hermione Granger was the most well-kept secret of his entire life… and it was the most beautiful as well. However, these two facts clashed with a striking of sparks bittersweet and painful.
"I'm a Death-Eater, Hermione… and you are Muggle-born." he touched her cheek softly, wiping away the lone tear that trickled down to her neck. "To love you is to kill you… you know the danger that you will be facing soon… if I let this all go on."
He touched his lips softly to her forehead. "We're just not meant to be."
That we'd say goodbye
One more night by your side
"What are you saying, then?" Hermione looked up at him, and he could see her eyes fill with tears. "That this is the last time we'll ever be… like this?" Draco closed his eyes against the painful emotions welling up in his chest. "One last night, Hermione…"
Where our dreams collide
And all we have is everything…
Her soft voice echoed through the dusky room. "This is too beautiful to lose, Draco. You're too special to say goodbye to." Draco held her close. "I know. When I'm with you, I forget everything else. You change me… and don't you know that that is most probably the best deed of charity you could ever commit?"
And there's no pain
And there's no hurt
There's no wrong
It's all right
Holding her, he held everything in the world that mattered to him. I could live like this… Draco thought as Hermione's head rested on his chest. Like this, pure happiness laced with a slight tang of danger and risk… something I've always loved.
It was as if nothing else mattered. He couldn't care less if Voldemort walked into the room right then, as long as Hermione was with him, the world revolved around them… just the two of them.
If I promise to believe, would you believe?
"One… last… night…" Hermione whispered, and when Draco gently tipped her chin up, he saw the rivers of moonlight on her face. "Hermione… please, don't cry. Let's just forget everything… everything except us. The world exists for us, and nobody else. Tonight is the only night that will matter, and the sun is thousands of miles away… we can make this last forever…" he smiled sadly at her.
"Just don't cry."
That there's nowhere we'd rather be
Nowhere describes where we are
"I want this to go on forever… like an unbroken moment… hanging in the air like the scent of your perfume…" he whispered, stroking Hermione's hair as she sobbed quietly into his robes. "Draco… whatever happens…" she spoke in a voice filled with tears. "I'll never forget this… I'll never forget you, us… together."
I've no choice
I love you
"Can't we… please?" The plaintive tone in her voice sent a rare tear into Draco's eyes. He screwed his eyes shut, willing himself not to cry, not tonight… but his voice betrayed his efforts. "We can't, Hermione. The danger is just too much. And my father… he always gets his way."
Leave you
Love you
Wave goodbye
"Draco, please! Don't go…" she clutched at his robes with a helplessness terrible to behold. Draco held her by the wrists, firmly, gently, fixing her gaze with his. "I won't. Not yet. We've got this night ahead of us… just this one night." Hermione's tears slid down her face. "But… I love you."
And all I ever wanted was to stay
And nothing in this world's gonna change
Draco stared at her, startled. Then, without a word, he pulled her into a hug, his eyes tightly shut against the sadness that threatened to overwhelm him. "I'd do anything to freeze this moment in time… anything. All I want is you, forever and ever…"
Never want to wake up from this night
Never want to leave this moment
"Let this last forever, Hermione… please." he murmured into her hair. "Impossible…" she whispered sadly. "But… you're the cleverest witch in Hogwarts. Isn't there some spell, something you can do?" his voice held a beautiful hint of desperation. He was imploring her to let this stay forever, he was confessing to her that he could do nothing… he was telling her that his love for her extended to the point of defying his father will, magic or not.
Waiting for you only, only you
There in the half-dark, with him in her arms, Hermione knew she would never forget him, never love another, never want to let him go…
But there was the bare truth, as painful as a stab in the chest… she was going to lose him, whether she wanted to, or not. She was powerless.
Never gonna forget every single thing you do
"I'm going to be with you forever, Draco…" she whispered against his lips. "And you're going to be with me… your scent of stardust and of the wind, the touch of your hands… like butterfly kisses." She reached up and touched his lips with a gentle finger. "The way you taste, like a cool, rainy morning, when the sun can't be bothered to shine, and when the sweet, green scent of grass rises into the air like incense."
She pushed back the silken blond hair that fell over his forehead. "The way you push your hair back unconsciously… Everything about you, Draco, will always be here. Right here." She took his hand, and pressed to her heart, in her eyes a sadness unspeakable.
When loving you is my finest hour
"Do you want to know what I am when I'm with you?" Draco asked her, wrapping his arms protectively around her slim waist, and pressing close to her. Hermione nodded quietly. Draco rested his chin on her hair, and began to speak in a far-away voice. "I'm kind… I curb my tongue, I forget my hate, my pride and my arrogance… I change… I'm in love… and I wish I could always be like this."
Leaving you, the hardest day of my life
"The sun is beginning to rise. Our time's up, Hermione. I just wanted you to know…" he pulled away, and looked at her with tears in his silvery-grey eyes. "Walking away from you, having to pull away from your hand, having to leave all this behind…" his voice trembled, and Hermione reached for his hand. "This is the hardest thing I ever had to do."
The hardest day of my life
He looked at her sadly… then, in the few sweetest seconds of Hermione's life, he pulled her into a kiss. A kiss that said everything unspeakable, everything that the Malfoy pride, and Draco's fear, held back. It spoke of everything they could never have… the kisses that would never be, a peaceful future, a life together…
Draco stepped back, avoiding her gaze for the fear of what he would see… the fear of what could happen if their eyes met one last time. "Goodbye." he whispered. And he Disapparated with the faintest of sounds.
But what you could almost hear was the breaking of their hearts.
I still breathe, I still eat
Days, weeks, months passed, and Hermione carried on with her life. Only the briefest of emotion flickered over her face when Harry blithely informed her about Draco's acceptance into the Death Eater ranks. "Maybe the Aurors will kill him off for us…" Ron smiled gleefully. Hermione nodded. "He deserves it, then." And she buried herself in her book.
Like that, she buried herself in the rest of her life, trying to pretend that nothing went wrong, and that it was a simple affair, just a kiss here and there, and meetings in the darkened classrooms where they furtively eyed each other from above bubbling cauldrons.
But she couldn't deny it… Draco was her life.
And the sun shines just like it did yesterday
It seemed like nothing changed… besides Draco's disappearance from the halls of Hogwarts, of course. But no one mentioned it that much to her. After all, what did they know? Nothing… Hermione told herself. They knew nothing… and they will never find out.
But there's no warmth, there's no light
Yes, life went on in it's little cycle. But there was something missing… something that was once so beautiful, so secret… that the wheel missing a spoke could not roll as well anymore.
I feel empty inside
She tried to love again. Ron smiled and waved her away, admitting that he thought they could never learn how to get through a week without fighting. And he was already eyeing a certain Patil.
On the other hand, Harry had been waiting for her his whole life. Though his love was sweet and simple, it lacked the conviction, the strength… the pure beauty of Draco's.
But I never will regret a single day
Hermione would think back to those days, filled with laughing secrecy and hidden trysts, secrets whispered in the dark, and kisses disguised. And she would smile wistfully. Those were the days of old.
I know it isn't going to go away
What I'm feeling for you
Old may those days be, but the aching in her heart, and the tears that would spring to her eyes were as fresh as ever. The pain had not lessened, and neither had the love that brought it in the first place. She still loved him, and somehow, she knew he still loved her too.
I will always love you.