Disclaimer: I am definitely not J.K. Rowling, so I definitely do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Slytherin-kittycat hands tissues to everyone who needs them after last chapter. I'm so happy that everyone seems to like the fic so much (even though many of you think it's sad). I'll just post a general comment so I don't have to write it over and over. I know that a lot of you think that Hermione was really mean in this chapter, but remember, love tends to blind people, and she's broken hearted. She really can't see the truth, and she doesn't know what the looks in Draco's eyes meant, so she's just trying to protect herself from getting hurt again. With that, thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews!

anIme-prYncess, jesska-14, fieryred20, Jaezi, Ginny-W13, Sayaku-chan, cardmajic, Sunflower18, Chantal J, Karma Chameleon – Thank you all so much for the reviews! I hope the update came fast enough!
SharkAttak – lol I've actually surprised myself with how I've depicted Ron in this fic, I didn't intend to make him so mean when I started it. But now I can honestly say now that he'll get meaner before the end of the fic, oh well. Anyway, I'm so glad that you like it, and I hope you like this chapter too!

I wish your heart was mine – ahhhh evil suspense dun dun dunnnnnn. lol thank you, I'm glad you like it so much!
Terretasha – lol well, judging by the fact that my kneecaps are still safely in tact, I'm guessing that the update came soon enough for you (at least I hope). Thanks for the review, and I hope you like the chapter!
LaurenJohnson924 – aww thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter!
Zuvalupa - :o) I'm glad you like the suspense so much, and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!
CB – Thank you very much, I hope the update came fast enough, and that you like this chapter!
elektra30 – no worries ;o) I'm so glad that you like the plot so much, and that you like how I've been portraying stuff. Despite what you are about to read in this chapter, in the world of fanfics I don't like Hermione going with Ron (although in the real books I'm all for it) but for the purposes of this fic, it's necessary that they get together. Gah, I'm really tempted to say more but every time I do, I feel like I'm giving stuff away, so I'm shutting up now. lol thanks for the review, and I hope you like this chapter!
Fire Angel – thank you I'm glad you like it so much! I hope the update came fast enough!

Now on with chapter 19!

Chapter 19: Goodbye

Hermione and Ron sat in silence together until the sun had just about kissed the horizon. By then, Hermione's primal need to do something productive took over. Ron walked her back to her common room, never once letting go of her hand along the way. When they stopped in front of the Founder's portrait Hermione made to remove her hand from his, but Ron held on. In fact instead of letting go, he took her other hand with his free hand and held them both tight. "I am always here for you," he said in a deep, mature sounding voice, "and I have always loved you."

Hermione felt the heat rise around her, but nevertheless, she smiled slightly and started to turn towards the portrait. But before she did, Ron leaned forward and lightly kissed her forehead, "always" he repeated in a whisper. Hermione stopped dead and stared at him blankly, she didn't know what to do or say, so she did nothing. After a moment, she blinked and looked into his eyes, now seeing them in a slightly different light. "I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered.

He smiled and finally released her hands as he turned away towards the Gryffindor common room. Hermione watched him walk away for a moment before she managed to turn her attention away. She gave Helga the password (neco spes) and dazedly walked into the common room.

Harry was sitting on the couch with his firebolt and his broomstick servicing kit. He was clipping the stray twigs to make sure the broom was as streamline as possible. The final quidditch match against Slytherin was coming up on Saturday and he was doing everything possible to make sure Gryffindor would win this year. However, once he saw Hermione he put it all down, and practically jumped to his feet, "hey!" He quickly crossed the room and gave her a hug, "how'd it go? How are you? Are you alright? "

Hermione smiled a bit, "slow down Harry, I'm fine."

"And?" Harry looked at her seriously, "how'd it go?"

For some reason, Harry's penetrating emerald eyes had a way of crashing through Hermione's defenses and reaching straight into her heart, in a way that nothing and no one else did. For the first time all day she was unable to stop herself from breaking down. She quickly turned he head away so that Harry couldn't see her cry. But Harry was not to be so easily put off, "Hermione please tell me what happened," he urged gently.

Hermione sobbed and buried her face against Harry's chest; he allowed her a moment to calm her emotions before he led her to the couch and forced her to look at him. Hermione managed to get herself under control, and finally began to talk. "It was horrible. At first I couldn't even look at him. But then he practically begged me to defend him, so then I couldn't stop myself from looking at him, and it was like my heart stopped. He looked so desperate and vulnerable! Deep down I really wanted to help him, he said that he didn't do it willingly and I wanted to believe him Harry. I was dying to believe him, but my mouth was shouting things at him without me entirely knowing what I was saying. While I was there it was like all I wanted to do was tear him down and hurt him as much as he hurt me. But ever since I stepped out of that chamber I've been regretting it." Hermione stopped to control her breathing a bit. "What if he really didn't want to do it? What if I made a mistake?"

Harry had been silently listening up to this point, but as soon as he heard Hermione doubting herself, he had to interrupt, "Hermione, don't even go there. You have no reason to doubt what you did. You know what you saw, you know the truth. I know it hurts, but you did the right thing. And I'm proud of you for it. Ron's proud of you too."

Hermione sighed, remembering how Ron had held her hand practically the entire time they were together, "Thank you Harry. I don't know what I would do if it wasn't for you and Ron."

"Speaking of Ron, did you get to talk to him? I know he went looking for you after dinner."

"Yeah, he came and sat with me, but I wasn't in much of a chatty mood."

Harry nodded in understanding. A thick silence fell between them and Hermione was eagerly searching for anything that would occupy her mind. "You know," she said, attempting to sound cheerful, "we should really start thinking about the arrangements for the yearbook ceremony, and then practically right after that is the leaving ball and graduation. . ."

Harry could tell that she was just babbling to think about anything other than Malfoy, but he chuckled to himself anyway. Hermione was the other person he knew that took comfort in thinking about work. Harry let her talk; he heard her making all sorts of plans, although he listened to none of it. He was sure she would fill him in on what he needed to do once the time was right.

". . . and then of course we have to study for N.E.W.T.s. Speaking of which, I really should brush up on my charms. I haven't been mastering them nearly as quickly as I usually do."

"What are you talking about Hermione! You're the only one who actually got the spell to work last class!" Harry meanwhile not only did not master the spell, now he couldn't even remember what it was called.

"I know, but it took me nearly the entire period!" she answered incredulously.

"If you say so," shrugged Harry. "Tell you what, you go study charms, and I'll go do something else."

"You're going to regret not spending more time studying once the N.E.W.T.s come!" Hermione called to Harry's retreating back.

"Harry turned around to face her again, he highly doubted that he would seriously regret anything, nevertheless he decided to humor her. "Tell you what, when that happens, I'll let you be the first to say 'I told you so.'"

Hermione genuinely smiled and let out a small chuckle, "I'm holding you to that," she said before walking to her room. Her smile remained once she set down to work. She was so thankful to have a friend like Harry. He was always there to talk to and no matter what he could always cheer her up.

After working for quite some time on charms, Hermione finally forced herself to go to bed. As she laid her head on her soft pillows, an image of Draco threatened to take over her thoughts, but she refused to let it. In a desperate attempt to think of anything else, her mind wandered to the lake, where she and Ron had sat holding hands that evening. 'Things could work out with Ron' she told herself. 'After all, we've been friends for years, he's very sweet, and he truly cares about me, and that's what really matters right?'

- - - - -

Draco desperately stared at Hermione as she raced out of the chamber. He tried to meet her eye, and he was still silently shouting her name begging her to believe the truth. But she didn't look at him, not even one tiny glance. Once the doors had closed behind her with an echoing noise, he hung his head in despair. The first and only person he ever truly loved in the entire world had just walked determinedly out of his life forever.

He felt completely empty, like an emotional wasteland. He did not look up as the lead wizard began to speak again. "Well now that we have heard both testimonies, the Wizengamot shall deliberate as to your sentencing. Once we have agreed upon a sentence, the decision will be reviewed and approved or altered by the Committee of Magical Law Enforcement. Until that time, you are to return to Azkaban."

The now familiar feeling of cold swept through Draco's veins as the dementors led him from the chamber for the second time that week. At the moment, the only experience he was reliving was what had just happened in the chamber. He had never seen such hatred run through Hermione's eyes. Sure he had seen flashes of it over the years. For an instant in third year before she had slapped him, last year after she had caught him in his fake affair with Parkinson, but never had the hatred been so pure, and so unforgiving.

He stopped before touching the portkey that would take him to his Azkaban home. He turned his head and whispered "goodbye." It was more of a symbolic gesture of looking back on his life up until now than anything else, but it was something he felt he needed to do anyway. His eyelids closed as his head turned around again, he reached out his hand and instantly felt the portkey tugging him toward its destination.

He landed with a thud while the dementors continued to glide alongside him. Their boney hands grabbed his arms and for the final time, led him to his cell. As he walked passed the other prisoners he saw them as he had never seen them before. Now it was as if he viewed the world through an invisible wall he had constructed around himself. No emotion of any sort could pass through it either from him, nor to him because if there was one thing Draco had learned from this experience, it was that emotions caused pain, and Draco was tired of pain.

- - - -

The morning of the final quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was intense; both houses looked ready to kill each other. Breakfast had barely even started and already word had spread of three scuffles between Slytherins and Gryffindors. The Slytherins were all on edge without their star seeker, although they refused to admit their unease. Instead, for the past week they had showed their nerves by bullying stray Gryffindors in the corridors. With the exception of the Slytherins, everyone wanted Gryffindor to win so that Slytherin would finally be knocked off their high horse.

The entire house had become unbearable without the threat of Malfoy disciplining them around. The entire school had noticed the change, and they were not happy about it. Though no one had realized it before, the Slytherins were quite disciplined and bearable while Malfoy was Head Boy. Even though most people had always seen him as an arrogant bullying git, clearly he had been throwing his weight around to keep the Slytherins in line. Now however, there was no one to take charge, and the house was one giant free-for-all. Malfoy's old gang were the worst, but at least when Malfoy had been the one antagonizing people there had been some measure of wit involved. Now everything was nothing more than childish bullying.

From his position at the Gryffindor table, Harry surveyed his new competition. Slytherin had chosen a speedily built fifth year to take Draco's place as the team's seeker. Harry wasn't worried though because Dean and Seamus had gone to spy on one of the Slytherin quidditch practices and they both assured Harry that the new seeker would be no match for him.

The Slytherins stood to leave the Great Hall and immediately, their house's cheers were drowned out by loud boos from the rest of the school. Moments later, the Gryffindor team exited to exuberant cheers from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Hermione beamed at Ron and Harry and wished them luck as they left.

During the match, the Slytherins played dirtier than ever. It seemed as if their strategy centered on preventing Harry from searching for the snitch rather than trying to score points. Twice already, Harry had nearly been blindsided by a bludger, though luckily he had managed to avoid it both times. And the chasers, rather than chase the quaffle, were chasing after Harry. Yet as lowdown and dirty as their tactics were, they were definitely serving their intended purpose. Harry had barely had a moment to pause and search for the snitch all game. Thankfully the Slytherin seeker hadn't been able to see the snitch thus far either.

"Harry watch out!" Ron yelled.

An instant later, Harry heard a bludger catapulting towards him from behind. Harry dove and only just managed to avoid getting hit. It was so close that he could feel the rush of wind from the passing bludger in his hair. 'That was too close' he thought wildly as his eyes darted around for a glint of gold. Things were getting desperate, unless he figured out a way to avoid the Slytherin's attacks, there was a large chance that their seeker would find the snitch first, and that Harry would be practically killed in the meantime.

"I can't believe what they're doing!" cried Hermione from the stands, "they're going to get him killed!"

"I don't think that would bother them too much Hermione," reasoned Ginny worriedly. She was gripping the banister in front of her so tightly that he knuckles were white.

Hermione frowned because she knew that Ginny was right, "come on Harry!" she urged under her breath.

The crowd gasped as Harry narrowly avoided another bludger attack. The Gryffindors were doing their best to protect Harry, but the Slytherins were ruthless. So far it was a low scoring game what with both teams preoccupied with the dirty, yet not quite illegal, tactics the Slytherins were using. The score was tied at 60 points apiece, so it was anyone's guess as to who would win.

The Slytherin seeker thus far had remained far away from all the action, and he seemed to be enjoying watching Harry suffer rather than searching for the snitch. 'You wouldn't be so cocky if these bludgers were flying at you!' thought Harry venomously as he glared at his opponents' smug face. 'Wait! That's it!' Harry suddenly got an idea. He turned in midair and sped directly towards the Slytherin seeker. The boy panicked and sat frozen on his broom. Harry pulled to a stop a few feet away. The Slytherin recovered from his shock and put on a quick burst of speed, which Harry mimicked. Harry kept following the Slytherin seeker, matching every movement he made, finally once the Slytherin realized what was going on, he stopped and glowered at Harry. Harry's plan was to tail the Slytherins seeker because then, if the Slytherins decided to send a bludger at him, they would risk hitting their own, less agile, seeker instead. Harry's plan worked, the Slytherins knew he was the more skilled flier, and they didn't want to injure their own seeker, so they stopped using Harry as their target practice. Now that they were finally left alone, the hunt for the snitch went into high gear and the play down below became even more intense.

Harry made sure to continue tailing the Slytherin seeker while at the same time, keeping a sharp eye out for the snitch. Down below, Ron had demonstrated his hard work and improvement by making a couple of spectacular saves. The crowd was going wild with anticipation and several players on both teams were sporting some rather serious injuries, though they all refused to drop out of the game. In the stands, Hermione's attention remained on Harry for the most part, unless the play was nearing the Gryffindor goals. Then she focused on cheering for Ron.

Zabini had just stopped a Gryffindor scoring attempt when both seekers shot off towards the Gryffindor side of the field. Hermione gasped along with the rest of the crowd. Everyone was on their feet and holding their breath. Harry was in front with his arm outstretched, but the Slytherin seeker was closing in. "Come on Harry!" shouted Hermione. She and the other Gryffindors were cheering so loud that they were practically screaming themselves hoarse. Finally, Harry clenched his fist and spun out to a stop in midair. He landed, raised his fist, which held the winged snitch, and beamed at the crowd. The Slytherins slumped in disappointment and anger, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw cheered enthusiastically, but the Gryffindors went absolutely crazy. The team charged into Harry to congratulate him, and the rest of the house flooded the field in victory.

Hermione and Ginny pushed their way to the center where Harry and Ron were. Hermione gave Harry a hug then turned to Ron. He pulled her into a tight hug, and then without thinking he impulsively brought his lips to hers. Hermione was so high on excitement that she didn't even realize the awkwardness of it at first. Out of habit she returned the gesture, until reality hit her. She pulled away and stared at Ron wide-eyed. He seemed to have come to his senses too, and was looking incredibly uncomfortable. They were both speechless, and standing uncomfortably close to each other amidst all their cheering, oblivious housemates. Luckily, Dumbledore's magnified voice rang out over the pitch and took their attention away from each other and what had just happened between them. "Well done, congratulations to both teams on an exciting and very close game. Now if the Gryffindor team will please join me in the professors' box."

The Gryffindors cheered their team as they marched up to the box where Dumbledore stood waiting with the quidditch cup. Dumbledore's voice again boomed over the crowd, "Congratulations Gryffindor on a spectacular undefeated season!" The crowd cheered, "And not, it is my pleasure to present you with the quidditch cup!" As Dumbledore handed the cup to Ron, it was as if the volume of the pitch was turned up to the bursting point. Most of the Slytherins had already left the pitch, so there weren't even any booing to disturb the happiness. When Ron passed the cup to Harry, the crowd got, if possible, even louder.

Once each team member had gotten a chance to hold the cup, the team passed it to professor McGonagall, and then made their way back down to the field where their house was still waiting for them. Hermione and Ginny ran to Harry and Ron, they were both beaming wildly. Ron's ears were still red, though Hermione was not sure if that was from excitement, or embarrassment. She decided not to dwell on the kiss and instead enjoy celebrating Gryffindors win along with everyone else. She tore her eyes away from Ron's, and kept her face as unreadable as possible (which was surprisingly easy since she didn't know how she felt about what had happened).

"You guys did amazing!" cried Ginny.

"Yeah!" agreed Hermione, relieved to be talking. "Harry that was a brilliant idea to stay so close to the Slytherin seeker like that, and Ron some of those saves were amazing!"

Harry and Ron smiled at Hermione; Ron's ears were still red but he beamed at Hermione's compliment. "Well come on!" urged Ginny, "the rest of the house is probably already parting away!"

The group happily made their way to the Gryffindor common room; the adrenaline was still pumping high. The party was in full swing by the time they arrived. As soon as they entered, their housemates began pushing butterbeer and sweets at them. Over the course of the night, Harry was asked to retell what it was like having the bludgers constantly after him in the beginning of the match, he humbly answered, downplaying the excitement, much to the disappointment of his eager audience. Ron however was much more of a crowd pleaser. He willingly told and retold play by play versions of each one of his exciting saves. Hermione noticed that with each retelling, the saves got closer, and the situation more dangerous. No one else seemed to notice or mind, but Hermione quickly grew bored of it. She had never been much of a partier, plus, now that quidditch was over, she had to complete that section of the yearbook so it could be added to what had already been sent out. Figuring that no one would miss her, she maneuvered around her housemates and out of the stuffy common room. Hermione was relieved when she reached the peacefulness of the hallway; all the noise and people had been stifling her. She was walking slowly, prewriting the description of the final quidditch match in her mind as she went. She heard the sound of the portrait door opening and closing behind her, and she turned around to see who it was.

"Hermione!" called Ron as he jogged to catch up with her

Suddenly her head was so filled with thought of what had happened at the pitch that she could hardly believe she had managed to forget about it at all. She swallowed an invisible block in her throat; "yes?" she was pleased with how calm she sounded.

"I'm . . . I just wanted . . . . I . . ." Ron closed his eyes and took a breath, "I'm sorry about before, I really didn't mean to just kiss you like that, I don't know why I did it. I didn't want to, err I mean it's not that I didn't want to cause I did, it's just that I didn't want to do it that way." Ron's entire face was bright red, and even Hermione could feel herself blushing a bit.

It took Hermione a moment to go over all that he had said, but once she did a small smile came to her face. She was very relieved that he had come to talk to her and that he had been so honest with her right off the bat. Honesty . . . that was something she and Draco had lacked right from the start. As soon as her feelings for him started changing, she had started lying to and hiding things from her friends, two things she had never done until she got tangled up with the Slytherin Prince.

She wanted to have a relationship that she could always be honest about; someone who she knew would never hide things from her or lie to her. And Ron seemed to be the perfect person to provide her with that type of relationship. "It's ok Ron," she said finally, with a smile. "I admit, I was kinda uncomfortable with what you did, but I'm really glad that you came to talk to me about it."

Ron beamed at her, "do you think we might be able to try again?" he asked hopefully.

Hermione laughed, had Ron really just asked permission to kiss her? That was certainly something Draco had never done. "I think I would like that," she answered softly, gazing into his eyes.

Ron licked his lips nervously, their eyes were locked, and Ron looked excited and nervous at the same time. He leaned down slowly, and was still rather tense when their lips finally touched. Hermione kissed him back, encouraging him to relax. He finally did right before she pulled away.

Ron was gazing dreamily at her, and Hermione was wearing a guarded expression of happiness. She smiled and whispered, "well, you better get back, people are gonna notice your gone."

"Right," Ron took her hands in his, "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course," she smiled sweetly back at him before they both turned towards their respective destinations and walked away.

Hermione's guard was finally let down once she had closed the portrait door behind her. A cloud of disappointment hung over her head. She had tried, she had really tried. But kissing Ron was nothing like kissing Draco, and there was no question which she preferred. Draco's kiss was confident, full of emotion and desire. Ron's kiss was tense and unsure; it did not feel as if he had been striving to please her. Even though Draco had most definitely been more experienced of the two in terms of relationships, Hermione had always felt like his kisses and touches were meant just to make her happy. Hermione could still remember their first kiss. She had been so shocked when it happened, but she could still remember the taste of his lips and the flow of emotions that consumed them both. She closed her eyes, licked her lips and could almost feel it again.

But then she opened her eyes, and thought about the kiss she had just shared with Ron. With Ron she had felt no emotion or desire. She had wanted to feel it; she had tried to feel it, but her heart just didn't seem to be in it. Her eyes wandered to Draco's old room, "damn you," she whispered through gritted teeth.

Slytherin-kittycat thinks that she may need to put a shield charm around her to deflectany objects that her readers may feel like throwing at her after reading this chapter.

I know that was an incredibly long wait for a rather short chapter, but in my defense I had finals to study for and a major case of writers block to deal with. Anyway, I hope you liked it (even though I have a feeling that several of you may hate me for having them kiss). You have no idea how hard it was for me to write this chapter because I'm so eager to get to the next part of the fic that I wanted to just skip ahead. For example, coming up in the next chapter is the beginning of some stuff that I have been planning for months, and I've been dying to post it . . . . .That's all I'll say for the moment cause I don't want to give stuff away. I would love to get reviews from everyone and hear what you think (even if it's just to yell at me for the kiss lol ;o) )

Oh and FYI, the new password to the Head's common room is Latin for "to kill hope", just so no one thinks I'm making up words or something.