A/N: That's the final chapter. The last one. I'm glad I'm finished, tomorrow school will start again.

Please do read the thing that's written after "the end", it's long, but important.

thanks: Barty(is that from barty crouch? I couldn't figure it out, but stay with dreamcatcher, I liked that one a lot more), raineblade-ace, Football Babe, Ami, super sycoh, jane air, butterfly, freaked-out,...

Hermione stepped in a huge room with large windows. Heavy, dark-green curtains hung down at each side of them, but they weren't drawn, so she could see the fields of Hogwarts in the darkness of the night.

She looked around her. There was a big desk, on which a lot of books were piled up. Hermione smiled, it reminded her of the library-desks, she loved so much.

Then she saw a wardrobe out of dark wood, there were some figures graved in there. There were two dragons on each side of the doors, surrounded by licking flames, but on the edges of the doors there were unicorns. First Hermione thought they would be attacking the Dragon, but then she realized that they were trying to calm the dragons down.

There was a door, maybe to the bathroom, but Hermione had no time to confirm it.

Her attention wandered to the four-poster at the other side of the room.

The same dark-green curtains she had seen at the windows, were also at the four-poster. But they, too, were drawn back.

Hermione stepped closer. The object of admiration lay on his back, all four legs stretched out and his eyes wide open.

Hermione walked up to his side, but he didn't move. No-one moved. There was not a single sound to hear.

Finally, Draco spoke.

"You've come here.", it should be a statement, but it sounded more like a question. His eyes were still fixed on the ceiling.

"Look at me.", she required softly.

He turned his head around and his grey eyes looked at her.

They weren't as cold as usual. Actually, they were full of emotion.

His face was still motionless, but his eyes reflected something, that Hermione never thought to see in them:

Fear.

Doubt.

But also hope.

And then she found something very well hidden, but to her it was as if the word would scream into her face:

Love.

Draco sat up and crawled into the darkest corner of his bed, drawing his knees to his chin and hugging them tightly.

He looked like a frightened child. Hermione had to be careful. She didn't want to harm him.

She had made up her mind for what she would say to him if she would get the chance. But now she couldn't bring herself to blame him. It was so much more difficult if she had to see his eyes.

She climbed into his bed, but didn't come nearer. They eyed each other carefully.

"What are you afraid of?", she asked silently.

His eyes pleaded her not to ask such a question, but surprising enough, he answered.

"I'm afraid, they'll get me. I'm afraid to be alone. I'm afraid to be hurt. I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid of my feelings for you.", his voice was merely a whisper.

"I won't leave you alone. And I won't hurt you. Why are you afraid of your feelings?", she asked after a while. What else could she say? He would surely flinch if she tried to comfort him.

"Because I never felt the same before. It scares me. It makes me do things I never thought I would be able to do. It makes me do things, I never wanted to do."

"Is it bad?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. Do you know the feeling, if it just overpowers you… I mean, you completely loose control… but… you don't mind."

Hermione smiled sadly. "I know it. This is what I feel when I'm near you."

Draco thought about it some time, than a new expression was shown off in his eyes. Regret.

"Hermione", he took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for what I said about the kiss. It meant something to me. It meant the whole world to me."

Suddenly Hermione was in front of his face. Just some inches away, he could see that her chocolate-brown eyes were full of tears.

She closed her eyes, and a tear dropped down.

Draco moved forward, so he could feel her breath on his skin.

Was he about to do a mistake? Or was it right? And why couldn't he stay the same cold person as ever in her presence?

But all those questions were drown in the sweetness of their kiss.

They met shyly, first, softly discovering the other lips, carefully testing the other ones true feelings.

The butterflies seemed to make them float above the ground, and their surroundings seemed to vanish.

Soon, the kiss got more passionate, and when Hermiones tongue stroked along his lips, begging for entry, he opened them slightly, and their tongues duelled a while.

Draco moaned out of pleasure, and the sound of his own voice seemed to snap him back in reality.

He backed away and stood up immediately, trying to get as much space between Hermione and him as possible.

"Wh-What are you doing??", there it was again. Fear. Doubt.

"What? I didn't do anything!!"

Draco shivered. He had left the comfortable warmth of his bed, of Hermione, of the kiss. Now there was only coldness left. This brought him back to his senses.

"What are you doing to me, Hermione? You make me loose my mind! Can't you see that you're confusing me? You make me forget everything! You make me forget the danger we live in!"

"But isn't it right to forget? You can't live your life in fear the whole time!"

"Do you think it is better to forget a moment and then regret it??"

"Draco, what would you regret? You can't regret if you're dead!"

"It's not about me!", he said desperately, "What would I do if I would loose you??"

Hermione frowned. About her?

"I could never forgive myself if I ever bring you in danger. And if you're with me, you would be in high danger."

"But… Draco… This is MY life! And I'm able to handle it by myself!"

"Then you've lied."

"What??"

"You said, you won't hurt me. You said, you'll never leave me alone. I couldn't stand it, loving you, thinking I've got everything I ever wanted, and then, you'd be taken away from me, and I would be left with nothing. I'm fine with watching you out of the distance. It doesn't make false hope."

Hermione was up to her feet now, and tried to get near Draco, but every step she went closer to him, he took a step backwards.

"Then, Draco Malfoy, you're a coward."

"You're not the first who said this."

"So what did you plan to do? What do you want to do the rest of your life? Hide? Here in Hogwarts? Maybe becoming such a greasy, embittered, rude teacher like Snape is? Waiting, 'til Voldemort or his followers get you? And that's now what you call life?", her voice was bitter, and disappointed.

"Yeah, I think that's what it was", he smiled at her sarcastically.

Hermioine rolled her eyes. How was she to help him if he doesn't even listen to what she has to say?

"You know, it isn't easy. It's not easy to to pretend as if nothing had happened, when Voldemorts followers are on your heels. What are you trying to tell me anyway? Are you really planning on staying here with me? Oh please, Hermione, you don't want to ruin your life because of that foolish thing you might eventually feel for me."

"Since when have you given up hope that someone might defeat the dark lord?", she said sadly, shaking her head in disbelieve.

"You would surely rather not know that. I just know one thing: They'll get me. You know, maybe they hate Potter, and Dumbledore, and all the good-ones from the Order, but there is something that they hate even more than the other side. And that's betrayal. So, they'll come and kill me, sooner or later. Maybe Hogwarts might give me some protection, but Dumbledore is not able to shield me forever. And I'm surely not staying here all my life. So, that's MY plan for my life. Maybe finishing school and then go outside and face them. Duelling a bit and then die a real death. A brave mans death."

"If it wouldn't be so fucking gravely, I would start snickering right now. A brave mans death? Hiding might not be the bravest thing to do, but you're a Slytherin, at last, and not a Gryffindor. I don't understand you guys! Always playing the hero. What about the people who wouldn't like to see you dead??"

"Do you know such people?"

"Yeah. What about Snape?"

"Snape's ok, he would understand it. He couldn't expect me to live the same life he did."

"What about me?"

"That, GRANGER, is the reason why you should have stayed with fucking Potter!!", he spoke loud and very slowly, stepping towards her and trying to stick the words in her head.

"Do you think that would have changed anything??", Hermione was furious.

"Yeah, of course it would! You could forget me! You could just move on with your life, and not being held back by me. And then, someday you'll read in the newspapers:

MALFOY DEAD, MURDERED BY DEATH EATERS, HIS OWN COMPANIONS.

And then you would be able to show it to your husband and say: that's what he earned. You've never been supposed to find out that I'm on your side, and so was Potter. And because you two couldn't stop your curiosity, my plan doesn't work."

"No, Your plan does not work because I don't love Harry, or Ron, or anyone else than you! And you should really start accept that!"

"No, I won't accept that! Why don't you just leave me if you really love me, because that's what I want!"

"I thought you said you're afraid of being alone? And even thought that's one of you're greatest fears, you're asking me to do exactly that?"

"Don't you see that it's the only right thing to do?? Leave, Hermione, please!"

There he was again. Weak. Tired.

But Hermione saw right through him, and he knew that. Even though his voice pleaded her to go, his eyes begged her to stay with him.

"You can't force me to leave. And I won't. Stop fighting it. If you want to go out there, facing Voldemort and his Death Eater, please, do so, but I'll be on your side. And I'm not going to leave you until the end. And if you finally decide to stay here in Hogwarts, I will stay with you. And there's nothing you could do against it."

Draco sighed. He knew Hermione was stubborn, but whoever said this, had understated.

He took her hand and led the two of them two the four-poster, where they sat down.

There were so many still unspoken words in the room, and there was an unbearable tension between them.

Draco still wanted to held her back. It wasn't right to involve her in that. But he tried everything to convince her of that. Why should he say any more, if she didn't even want to listen to him?

Hermione already took a deep breath to say other words of persuasion, but Draco quietened her with laying a finger on her lips.

"I trust you. I don't know why, but I do. I hope you know what you'll probably going through. It will never be easy, at least not until Voldemort has been defeated. But I'm ready to go through it, with you by my side. Because I love you. And because you love me too."

Hermione was about to cry again, but she felt that enough tears were shed.

So they kissed each other, finally not stopping the emotions of overwhelming them, bound by the feelings they shared for each other.

~*~ The End ~*~

N/A. This is it.

Oh, I can't believe I finished it. I don't like the ending too much. it's a little too much romantic. But hey, this is a romance, and I really hate a dramatic ending, or I would have had it written in the summary ;-)

Maybe it comes a little to rapid, Draco's understanding. But deep down he knew that she would never leave him. aaaww, cute. So, I like Hermione a lot. Maybe you'll see at the role I gave her, that I'm quite a feminist. some bad tongues might call me a woman's libber, but I just like that girls don't have to wait ever and always for the man to take the first step. (Though I prefer it in the real world, because I'm a coward.) I like the fact that Hermione had to fight over him so much. It makes her a very strong person, which she is in the books, too, I think.

Maybe you don't like that it stops exactly here. I thought about it a long time. I thought about ending with Harry and Ron, or with Snape and Lily, or with the next day, or even not ending at all.
But that's not what I want this story to become.
This story is called "Snape's footsteps", and nothing else should be written in there than Draco stepping in his professors footsteps.
Properly considered, everything that belongs to the relationship after this final decision and acceptation of both sides to share their life with each other, is none of Snape's concern anymore.

And besides that, 24 chapters is a really good number to stop. Like a day has 24 hours, and christmas eve is also at december 24th. Perfect to stop.

Now, If you read this, I figured you've read my story. And I really hope you liked it. It was my first Harry Potter fanfiction that I actually finished. It's my first fanfiction I ever finished. ;-)

I know, there were some things you surely didn't like. So, if you don't mind, spend a little of your time making me a better writer in giving feedback. And if there was a thing you liked specially, please, don't be shy either and tell me, you just make my day in every way (how poetic!).

At the beginning of the story, there was a lot complaining about my grammatical and spelling errors. It's left on me to be ashamed of some things I've written, and believe me, I really am. To the end of the story, those comments stoped, because the people who couldn't stand those mistakes anymore, didn't read further. I thank those who went on reading it nevertheless, maybe clapping their hand to their forehead if they had seen another big mistake of mine, but not putting me down anymore. I thank you for that, and that you are so understanding.

But of course, I want to do something against making those mistakes. When I finally thought about a beta-reader, I wasn't far away from the end, so I thought it wouldn't be profitable. But as I love my story, I want to look at it sometime later and just enjoy the plot, and not the mistakes. So I wondered if maybe some of you would do me the big fat favour and correct it. It's a pleading, specially for those whose english is the first language. I can't pay you for it, and the only good thing you would have from it is that with the next story, maybe I'm able to do a better job. (and my english-teacher would be delighted)

So if you liked the story this much, you would be glad to see it without or at least with very less mistakes, or you just feel pity for a poor, not-very-talented-in-languages, girl, you just leave me your e-mail-address, and I would send the whole story to you.

And if you don't like correcting too much, please send me the last review nevertheless. Reviews is the most important thing of the story.

Thank you for wasting your time in reading this, I think I should finish a story more often, it makes me stoned! *lol* just kidding.

I hope anyone has even read this, because I always liked to digress of the topic.

~_baboon