When someone writes (and I quote) "AH! NO! I can't wait that long!", "Update soon!", and "add the last chapter soon!" I tend to buckle myself down and write. This has been tweaked, the details have been written in, and now it is ready. Here it is…the very last chapter.

Disclaimer: Does anyone on this site own Harry Potter? No.

Last chapter: Parvati and Lavender dress Hermione up for a special "meeting" with a special boy. Hermione leaves a note for Harry to find when he awakens in two hours. Then she goes out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to wait. 

This chapter: What will be become of Hermione? What does Draco want with all around good guy Harry Potter? Will we ever find out!? Yep! Move your eyes down a few lines and you can begin the end!

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Draco, with the cover of his invisibility cloak, moved down the stairs to the Hogwarts grounds. His gray eyes moved across the area, searching for Hermione. When he spotted her he thought she was crying. Her hands covered her face and she was hunched over. Something inside of him tweaked. But he didn't show that tiny inkling of that new emotion on his face. Instead he kept it deep within himself.
Pulling the invisibility cloak from his face, he approached her. He put one hand, still invisible, on her shoulder. Hermione jumped and looked at him. She had not been crying, but her face was red. She was shivering beneath his hand. Was she scared or just cold? Draco couldn't tell either way.

"Lets go," Draco said gruffly.

Hermione's lip quivered. She didn't want to go. She didn't want any part of this. A section of her mind screamed, willing her to scream as well. Another section cried, willing her to cry along with it. But she did neither.

"Draco, please just let me go. I don't want to be here."

"Nor do I. Let's go."

Hermione stood up. She felt very weak suddenly. Hermione held Harry's invisibility cloak in her arms. The hand on her shoulder squeezed tightly. Draco started to walk and Hermione followed his lead. He was walking toward the Whomping Willow. Their feet crunched the frost, dead leaves and grass. Eyes in the Forest watched them. The sky was littered with millions stars. With the right telescope, even Pluto might have been observed. The night was filled with the sounds of crickets and the tiniest of insects. Nothing larger than that in the Forbidden Forest dared to make a noise. It was as if all time had stopped for the two.

Hermione stole a look at Draco. His eyes were cold and heartless. Had he meant what he said about not wanting to be there? Something Parvati said floated to the top of her mind.

"Its just a meeting. Its not life or death. If you agreed to see him, how bad could he be?"

Was Draco that bad? She hadn't really agreed to meet him, but yet here she was. Did Parvati know something she didn't?

Draco kept his steely gaze forward, at the Whomping Willow. His insides were freezing. A tiny corner of him was screaming at him to stop, to turn around, and to return to Hogwarts. It was screaming that he didn't need this or Voldemort or power. But he pushed down that tiny voice, remembering his father. The last thing he wanted to do was get on his father's bad side. And so he had to get Hermione there. He had to lure Harry Potter there. All of this was pivotal on whether he could or couldn't follow directions. If he did, he would be considered the best thing to happen and yet the very worst. If he didn't he would die at the hands of the greatest Dark Wizard ever.

When they got close enough to the Whomping Willow, Draco released Hermione's shoulder. Hermione thought about running and escaping. Could she make it all the way to the castle? She would flee to the Gryffindor tower and wake everyone up. They would see her, abused and battered. Draco would be expelled. Hermione's eyes closed, her imagination wandering as she stood there for a moment. Then reality hit her. She had been ordered to leave her wand, so she was unprotected. Her feet did not move from the frosted ground she stood on. She was either too scared or too smart to run. Her brown eyes looked down at her feet and she wiggled her toes. A tiny grin came to her lips.

Draco watched her. His eyes narrowed. How easily amused the doomed tend to be. One hand reached out and gave her a rough push. Hermione stumbled, but stayed standing. She looked up at him. There was no smile on her lips.

Draco growled, "I didn't let go just to let you stand around and gawk at your feet. Go find a stick and press the knot."
Hermione nodded hesitantly, but she began to look. Draco crossed his arms as he waited. After a moment Hermione found a long enough branch and pressed the knot on the Whomping Willow. The Whomping Willow froze instantly, allowing for the two to pass. They went down the secret passageway and into darkness. Draco lifted his wand.

"Lumos," he said.

His wand sparked and lit the way.

Draco put his hand back on Hermione's shoulder. He pushed a little and began to walk. Hermione walked next to him. She kept her eyes on the walls.

Soon they reached the little room at the end. Draco once again released Hermione. He sat down on the chair. He motioned for her to sit on the bed. She did as he implied.

Draco took the invisibility cloak off. He placed the shimmering fabric on the desk. Slowly, his eyes moved about the Shack.

"Suitable, I suppose. No one can hear a thing. A perfect grave for the perfect Potter." He was talking to himself, but Hermione cowered anyway.

When his eyes reached Hermione, who was shaking slightly with fear, he smiled.

"Don't worry, Granger, I'm not going to hurt you quite yet. We've only got about an hour, perhaps a little less, before Potter wakes up. I could do several things to you, but I think you should look basically unharmed at the moment."

Hermione couldn't help herself. What did Draco want with Harry? She began to cry. But her tears weren't for herself, they were for Harry.

"Why?" She demanded, "Tell me why you're doing this!"

Draco grinned and leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms. Legs crossed on the desk.

"I'm doing this because I have to, because I've been given two choices. I could die or I could finish a job. You see, Harry is essential to my plan. He had a secret as well, so secret that he doesn't even know what resides within his blood. Dumbledore won't tell him, he doesn't think Harry is strong enough yet. And he's right. Frankly, Dumbledore is good for one thing. That happens to be keeping secrets."

Hermione looked confused. There wasn't anything dark in Harry's blood. She waited for Draco to continue.

Draco stood up and walked around the room. He wanted to think of the best way to break this to Hermione. If Potter didn't know, then neither would the mudblood. He turned to Hermione, puffing up his chest.

"Voldemort wants Harry dead for two reasons. The first is quite obvious. So obvious even you could figure it out."

Hermione opened her mouth, hesitated and said, "Because how evil does someone defeated by a child look?"
Draco smiled.

"You are much smarter than you look, mudblood. But can you figure out the second reason?"

Hermione had no clue why else Voldemort would want Harry dead. It didn't seem rational that a powerful wizard would want a baby dead. Harry had said something about Voldemort not wanting to kill his mother. So did it have something to do with his father?

Draco sneered, "To hard for you mudblood? My father has told me this. To put this bluntly, Harry is the only living heir of a Voldemort's ancestor's rival. Harry is the living remnant of the Gryffindor family."

Hermione shook her head. This wasn't true. She couldn't be hearing this from Draco.

Draco laughed, loving the pain on Hermione's face, the doubt.

"Legend says Godric Gryffindor wasn't killed by Salazar Slytherin. Salazar couldn't kill Godric himself. He had tried and failed many times. Finally, he enlisted the help of many of his students. One student cornered Godric and killed him with one curse. A student of Slytherin killed Godric Gryffindor. Don't you see? History is doomed to repeat itself. And if the legend about the student is true, Harry is doomed to die."

She shook her head. This wasn't true. Not Harry, not loyal, just, and courageous Harry. No one could possibly kill him! In all the 7 years he'd been attending Hogwarts Voldemort had tried and tried again to kill Harry, but failed each time. How could Malfoy, on his first try, kill Harry? In a fit of anger Hermione flew at Draco. She landed one good punch. Draco fought back. He put his hands to her throat and pinned her against the wall.

"How touching, this is exactly how Blaise died. My hands slowly squeezing," his hands gripped tighter around Hermione's neck, "Her breath slowing. Her body dying."

He released her. Hermione fell to the ground and gasped for breath. Red imprints of Draco's hand encircled her neck. His fingernails had grazed the cut he had placed on her neck. Blood began to gush from it again.

A clock struck 1 am somewhere. The crickets had quieted down a little and the stars had hid themselves deep within the blue of the night. All of Hogwarts slept on.

Harry opened his eyes. Something had awoken him, yet he did not know what. There had been no dreams in his slumber that night. But Harry didn't find this odd. He felt as if he had slept for a million years and woken up fully rested. He reached over for his glasses. His fingers grazed along a scrap of paper that hadn't been there before. He put his glasses on and turned on his light. In the next bed, Ron grumbled and rolled over. Harry picked up the parchment and began to read.

Harry,

Please help me. Draco has taken me to the Shrieking Shack, via the Whomping Willow. I'm afraid he might hurt me. I'm so scared, Harry. I don't know what's going to happen. Please don't wake Ron. Please be careful!

Hermione

Harry didn't know what to do. The handwriting was shaky. It was noticeably Hermione's but it had been written in fear or nervousness. Harry looked at his night table. Hermione's wand was lying next to his. He picked up both. Going to his trunk, he quickly dressed. He searched for his Invisibility Cloak, but couldn't find it. Cursing his luck he hurried down to the Gryffindor common room and out the portrait entrance. He could only pray that Hermione wasn't hurt.

"Draco, why?" Hermione managed to get a few words out as she gasped for air.

Draco loomed over her. His arms were crossed over his chest. He whispered cruelly, "This is the only solution, Granger. You're weak. You and Potter are both weak. There isn't a soul in the school that can save you or Potter. The school will find you two and think of a lover's suicide. Romeo and Juliet. I wouldn't put it past them."

He reached into his robes and pulled out both the photo albums. He placed Hermione's next to his invisibility cloak. After setting it down he opened his. His long fingers traced around the gentle curves of the each of the girl's faces. He would flip a page and eyeball a picture, touching it gently, almost caressing each.

"The student you talked of that Samantha was dating, Thomas. As it turns out his parents are close friends of mine. His father is a Death Eater. A weaker fool I've never met. Only fit that he fathered a stupid boy such as his son. Thomas never had brains and he never will. I owled Thomas and questioned him about Samantha. He owled me a note she left to him before she killed herself. He never showed another soul."

Draco took out the note and read it aloud, "Thomas, The time we spent together had been the best time of my life. I was happy, confidant, and doing well in school. Life could never get better than the time I was dating you. I have found what everyone should before they die, true love."

He tossed the letter on the floor. One boot raised and lowered onto the note, crushing it.

"So you see, she killed herself because she felt her life was complete, not because you told her she was lost and she was broken. She was complete. She found what she called 'true love'. One question remains. Have you lived up to her standards?"

Hermione reached out for the note, but couldn't reach it. Draco stood fast and did not move his foot at all. All he did was drop his photo album in front of her. He leaned over and opened it to the last page. Next to the picture of the Ravenclaw girl was a picture of Hermione. She was sleeping, naked, in Draco's bed.

Draco whispered, "This will be the only marker of what truly happened to you."

She could not bear to look at the picture of herself. Disgraceful. And yet in its own way, beautiful.

The sound of running reached Hermione's ears. Someone was coming for her! Joy filled her mind, which was now feebly trying to grasp onto consciousness. Draco, hearing the footsteps, turned around. Harry Potter stood in the passageway, huffing and puffing. He had seemingly run all the way to the Whomping Willow and down the secret passageway.  In his hand was the note Hermione had left him and Hermione's wand.

He took a few steps forward.

"Malfoy! Let her go!" He demanded.

Draco faced Harry. His trademark smirk creased his lips.

"All in good time, Potter. Aren't you at all curious why I told Granger to do whatever it took to get you down here? Why I even want you down here at all?"

Harry couldn't help but admit that he was. He looked at Hermione. She was slowly slipping from consciousness. Harry ran to her, pushing Malfoy out of the way. He propped her up and supported her weight.

"Hermione! Can you hear me? Stay with me Hermione!"

Hermione didn't answer. Harry glared at Draco, clutching Hermione close to his body. The blood from her neck stained his robes.

"What did you do to her, you bastard!"

Draco shrugged, twirling his wand between his fingers as he said," She did it to herself."
Hermione scrambled for an answer. Had she done it to herself? Had she really strangled herself and inflicted such emotional pain? Yes…yes she had. Draco had tried to comfort her in his own twisted way. Hermione had been blind.

"Harry Potter, the Dark Lord will be triumphant tonight. I will wipe out the last of his obstacles as he has ordered me to do so for him."

Harry stood up and faced Draco. Hermione fell to her side. She was scared and could barely see the two staring each other down, both with wands out. Draco though seemed more relaxed, twirling his wand as if this was a game. Harry looked ready to kill.

"I am not the last! There is still Dumbledore, still Sirius, still Remus and still many more than I!" Harry shouted at Draco.

Draco shook his head. "That is where you are wrong, Potter. You are the last. The last of a certain lineage. Time repeats itself and rivalries go on for centuries. Isn't it a surprise to you that the Heir of Slytherin wanted you, 16 years ago, just a tiny baby, dead? There is reasoning behind such madness, Potter! You are the last remaining heir of Godric Gryffindor!"

Draco stopped twirling his wand between his fingers. His cold gray eyes fixated on Harry. He pointed his wand at him. Harry, having heard nothing of this before was too stunned to do a thing.

"Avada Kedavra!" Draco bellowed. There was a flash of green light. Harry Potter, the only person that could have saved Hermione, lay spread-eagle on the floor. The boy-who-lived had lost his life to save his friend. Hermione could feel tears well up in her eyes.

Draco approached Hermione. He lowered himself to the floor, almost sitting, but ready to stand. He didn't even check to make sure Harry was dead. He just knew that he was. His hands moved slowly to take down Hermione hair. He smiled a little, pulling the curls around her face.

"It looks as if you could be sleeping, Granger." His voice was soft, almost comforting.

The tips of his fingers traced around the slow slopes of her face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose. Draco could smell the death in the air. He stood up slowly and looked down upon his prey.

"Well Granger, this is the end of the line for you. Maybe no one will find you. You're already underground, already dead, already buried with Potter. So before I kill you, have you thought of the answer to my question? Did you live up to your friend's standards?"

Hermione whispered something. Draco leaned over to listen very carefully.

"Yes, in the unexpected. In y-"
Draco put a hand over Hermione's mouth. He didn't want to hear what she was about to say.

"Don't say it mudblood, or I'll let you live only to make your life worse."

He lifted one of her wrists. Her skin was the pale milky white that came with death. Yet, she still breathed, her heart still pumped, she was still mostly aware of her surroundings. Draco was slightly taken aback by this. He had said she was dead, but was she really dead before he truly killed her? The thought was erased from him mind. There was no time to be pitiful now. Taking a switchblade from his robe, he made a long slice up the length of her arm. The cut seemed to split apart slowly. Hermione's mouth formed a tiny 'o'. She sucked in air and held it, unable to believe what was happening. Draco lifted the other arm. He cut the same long slit, just a bit deeper. Blood seemed to spring forth from her veins. Hermione wanted to scream and cry and beg him to be merciful. But she couldn't find her voice. Hermione's eyes were wide with pain. Tears poured down her red face with the same force as the blood from her arms. Draco dropped the knife at Hermione's side. Without a glance back to his handiwork, he picked up his invisibility cloak and photo album. He lifted Hermione's photo album and stole one last glance at the picture of she and Samantha eating ice cream. To have a childhood as happy as that…he threw the album on top of Hermione. He then reached down and picked up the note Samantha had written to Thomas and the note Hermione had written to Harry. He left without a word and ventured back to the school.

Somewhere a clock struck 2 o'clock. The crickets had stopped their music. Not even the stars bore witness to that which might have been.

*****

A Short Epilogue that Sums Up What Happened Next Without Having to Write Another Chapter

Ron woke up slowly that morning to the sounds of the school roosters crowing. When he rolled over he noticed Harry's bed was inexplicably empty. He woke Seamus, Neville, and Dean. The three woke up the rest of the Gryffindors. When the girls awoke, they found Hermione's bed to be empty. They thought nothing of it at first, but when Harry and Hermione didn't come back after breakfast, people began to worry. That night Ron went down to the Shrieking Shack to see if maybe that had gone there. Ron would never forget the gruesome sight he saw. He found Harry lying dead on the floor, in the telltale spread-eagle look of the killing curse. He saw Hermione, dead, along the wall between the bed and the desk. By that time the red hands had faded from her neck. Hermione's wrists had been slit and her body lay in a puddle of blood. Next to her was a switchblade covered in her blood. Along her chest was a brown leather photo album. The scene haunted him for the rest of his life.

Dumbledore was alerted at once. Prefects flooded down to see what could be done. Among them was Draco. He acted as surprised and offended as the next. He was one of the few boys that carried out Hermione's lifeless body. Something inside of him boiled. Carrying his victim was not something that pleased him. A white sheet covered Harry, but Hermione had a black sheet. The red from her arms would have soaked through tainted the white sheets, leaving nothing to the imagination of the students.

Dumbledore once said, "What happened…is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows." That was as true when he first said that as it was the day Hermione and Harry were found in the Shrieking Shack. The whole school buzzed with rumors. But none came close as to what really happened.

With the sleek black dress Hermione was wearing under her robes, the school assumed Harry had gone down there to meet Hermione, but Lord Voldemort was waiting. He killed Harry with a single curse. When Hermione showed up, she killed herself. But before she died, people said, she gave her lover one last embrace. This explained the blood on Harry's robes. Stories of secret love affairs leaked out from people talking nonsense. People swore up and down that Harry and Hermione had been a couple since their very first year. A lover's suicide shook the soul of everyone at Hogwarts that year.

Of course, Draco burned the note Hermione had left for Harry. The missing piece to the puzzle was gone forever.

Draco Malfoy went on to gain rank in the Death Eaters. Draco had been right in what he told Harry. With the death of Harry Potter, last remained heir of Godric Gryffindor, nothing stood in Voldemort's way. Slowly but surely the forces fell underneath Voldemort's empowering crush.

Draco had his own crush of power to manage. He showed no mercy to anyone he confronted and killed. Friends and family were of no concern. Even his father was found dead in his study. Doctors believe that he died of old age. Draco always had a certain gift to find a way to put the blame on someone or something else.
But Draco never forgot the one that had tried to confess a love that never was.

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That's it. The end. This was the longest chapter w/ 7 pages. Seems a lot shorter to me, but I read fast anyway.

Final Author's notes:

I realize that there's no love between the Draco and Hermione mentioned in the first 7 chapters. But then Hermione sees something she didn't before. It might have been the same thing that everyone else obsessed with Draco sees: the untamable bad boy. Or it just might have been her failing mind floundering in what might have been a last chance to forgive what he did to her. Draco doesn't see quite the same thing in her. But he does little things that say he is comfortable around her. He tells her that he doesn't want to be there. He admits that he killed Blaise, something he didn't even admit to his own father. He does say, "no one will think it was [him]." But is that saying that he did it? Nope! He calls her "my little mudblood" from the very beginning, a close term of endearment and yet a ravaging insult. He goes as far as to find out if Hermione believes she had a good life, if she finished what Samantha believes everyone should. But with Harry, he states his reasoning and bam! Harry's dead. Then again, this is romance without the relationship, without the mutual feelings, and without the certain someone actually finishing their sentence.

Also, I know I really embellished on how evil Draco really is. Hermione isn't really all there either. Think naturalism, the character doesn't really know how to save him or herself until it is too late.

Thank you for reading! I enjoyed writing this story, believe it or not. It was nice seeing things from the other side of the fence. Thank you! You all were a great audience!

Did you read it all the way through? Think it was great? Think it sucked the big one? Review and let me know!

Lots of love to the underdogs of the world. Lots of love to those who write for other's enjoyment.

~PlasticShinigami~