Chapter 15: fifteen years earlier

"'Mione?" Draco's voice interrupted the brunette frowning over her Arithmancy homework in the library.

"Hmm?" Hermione replied as she looked up, her eyes still clouded with study.

Draco paused as he tried to formulate his thoughts into words. It was February already. And he was in love with the most beautiful creature in the world. But he hadn't gotten up the courage to tell her so…or show her so. In fact, outside of studying together and talking for hours on end, they had done little more than hold hands or sneak a quick snog session when they thought no one was paying attention. But the time had come for him to tell her. He gulped around the constriction in his throat.

Hermione cocked her head and asked concernedly, "Is everything alright, Draco?" His silence worried her. They had been lucky, for a while she knew. Draco's father had been reported home the first of the year but had not yet managed to get to him. Lucius had tried, to be sure, but Dumbledore hadn't let him near his son. And yet…Hermione worried about Draco still. There were times she would find him in some dark corner or another, trembling ever so slightly. He would always claim to be thinking of his mother, but was quick to dismiss her worries as unnecessary. Still…she couldn't quite shake the nagging feeling each episode left behind.

But at this moment Hermione needn't have worried for Draco's silence was motivated solely by tongue-tying, stupefying, mind-boggling love. Finally… "'Mione, I was wondering if you would allow me the privilege of seeing you alone tomorrow evening?"

The formality of his request caused Hermione's heart to beat a little faster. The few times they had snogged he had first politely asked her permission. So politely, in fact, she kept expecting to receive an engraved invitation! "Certainly, Draco," she replied happily, mentally noting it would be Valentine's Day. "And what will we be doing?" she asked coquettishly.

"That's a surprise," he returned, grinning at her flirtation. "I'll meet you here at 7 pm sharp?" Hermione smiled again and nodded her assent. "Great," Draco seemed to relax immensely and turned to leave. "I've got things to do before then. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," she echoed. And she turned back to her studies, her eyes still clouded with Draco.

/-/-/-/-

At precisely 6:45 pm the following night, Hermione made her way from her room into the Gryffindor common room. Small pockets of students sat about playing exploding snap or sharing gossip. A few couples sat near the fireplace holding hands – among them Seamus and Ginny. Hermione had been so busy over the past few months she hadn't been aware of the blossoming affection they shared until she caught them sharing a kiss in an empty classroom on one of her patrols. Ginny had sworn her to secrecy and she hadn't said a word to Ron or Harry. But she needn't have worried. The happy couple hadn't remained a secret for very long. And both of the redhead's "protectors" had taken it rather well. With a war looming, Ron and Harry figured that having an extra set of eyes on Ginny would be a good thing.

Hermione scanned the common room again and wondered about Harry and Ron. She hadn't seen much of them lately. Harry was always busy training, but Ron? Honestly Hermione didn't know. He seemed to be avoiding her. With a final check of her hair in the nearby mirror she walked toward the portrait door and nearly right into Ron himself as he came through. "Hello, 'Mione," he said sadly as he looked her over. Merlin, she was beautiful!

"Oh, hello, Ron," she answered. "I was just thinking about you. Where have you been?"

"Busy with schoolwork and stuff," he answered, not too convincingly. "You're all dressed up tonight," he added, knowing in his heart he was losing her to Malfoy.

"Yes, well, I'm meeting someone and…" Hermione didn't know what to say. She and Ron had never had that talk last fall. She had tried to bring up the subject with him a handful of times. But each time he had changed the subject so quickly that she finally let it go. And after a time, she convinced herself that it wasn't an issue for him anymore. At least, she had hoped that it wasn't an issue.

"He's a lucky man, 'Mione," Ron whispered as he leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day." With a quick lift of his chin and a fortifying breath, Ron smiled at her then and left her to her evening.

"You too, Ron," she whispered as she watched him bound up the stairs to his room. "You too."

/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Can I take this silly thing off now, Draco?" whined Hermione as she felt him stop her progress.

Draco chuckled. "Just one more second, Hermione," he cajoled. "Be patient." No sooner had the words left his mouth than he gently removed the blindfold he had convinced Hermione to don only minutes before in the library. "Here we are," he smiled as he stepped back to allow her to take in her surroundings.

"Oh, Draco," Hermione breathed as she stood dumbfounded. She found herself standing in the absolute middle of the Astronomy Tower, surrounded by a sea of lighted candles. "It's beautiful," she said as she turned to him. "Thank you."

"It is you who's to be thanked, Hermione," Draco said as he stepped toward her and took her hands in his.

"Whatever for?" she asked him as she smiled.

"Hermione, you have been my friend and you have been my confidante. You have shown me patience when no one else would. You have shown me understanding when no one else could. And, most importantly, you have shown me my own heart." Draco swallowed his nerves as he pulled a silver necklace from his pocket. Dangling from the chain was a delicate heart with a rose inside of it. The sight of the fragile bauble glimmering in the candlelight made Hermione catch her breath.

"It belonged to my mother," he told her as she blinked back her tears. "She…she asked me to one day give it to the woman I loved." He stopped to unhook the chain and look into her eyes. "Hermione, I do love you. I think I've loved you since the moment you slapped me silly in our third year." Hermione's face shown with laughter as an accompaniment to her joyous tears. "I would be honored if you would wear this necklace as a token of my love for you."

Biting on her bottom lip, Hermione nodded. Slowly she turned and lifted her hair so Draco could clasp the necklace at her nape. And as he felt Draco's arms move down her shoulders to her arms, she spun to throw her own arms around him. "Oh, Draco," she sighed. "I love you too!"

/-/-/-/-/-/-

The air in the Great Hall was too thick with tension to enjoy the scent of the May flowers just beyond its windows. Standing gravely at the head of the room, Albus Dumbledore delivered his news to the quickly assembled group of teachers and older students. Inside sources had confirmed that the war would begin tomorrow – before first light. Voldemort and his followers were ready. The time had come. Reinforcements from the Ministry would arrive within the hour. The final choice was upon them all: kill or die.

Hermione felt her blood run cold at Dumbledore's words. For a moment she thought she would stop breathing entirely. But the warmth of Harry on one side of her and Ron on the other brought her back from the edge of panic. She turned to Ron and stared into his eyes. "Alright there, Ron?" she asked him bravely. At his nod, they both turned their attention to Harry.

"We're with you, mate," Ron told his friend earnestly.

"To the end," agreed Hermione as she embraced Harry. Knowing it was the last time she could permit herself the emotion, she allowed a few tears to fall. Soon, Ron had embraced her from behind, his gaze locked with Harry's, and together the golden trio formed a tableau of comfort, of resolution, and of strength.

"I love you guys," Harry said quietly before stepping back and putting on his armor of bravery. "I won't let you down, I swear to it." A brief moment of silence among the friends communicated the depth of their loyalty to one another. Then, as if choreographed, they simultaneously turned on their heels and went their own ways to prepare.

/-/-/-/-/-/-

Hermione hadn't seen Draco in the Great Hall earlier but assumed he had just missed the hurried summons. Now, however, was a different story. Dumbledore had let them go over an hour ago and the castle was buzzing with the news. Certainly Draco would have heard by now and made his presence known to her.

Knowing she had things to do to ready herself for the morning and resenting the delay she muttered to herself as she searched for Draco. "Where are you?" she wondered aloud as she checked their Transfiguration classroom. She hadn't found him in the library, the Potions classroom, or the Room of Requirement. The first-year Slytherin she had asked for help confirmed he was not in his common room. Resolutely she headed for the last destination on her list: the Astronomy Tower. "I just hope he is there."

And he was. Hermione felt a chill as she found him huddled in a dark corner and trembling. "Draco?" she asked as she approached him but he didn't seem to hear her. Rather, he seemed to be speaking to himself. She thought she heard the words love, forgive, sorry, and explain. But his voice was so low she lost the context of his sentences. "Draco?" she asked again as she put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Like a hot poker, Draco jumped to his feet from his stupor. "Hermione!" he cried as if he had just found her after looking for her forever. He crushed her to his chest and breathed deeply of her scent before, "I love you, Hermione. I love you so much. Merlin knows I love you."

"Draco, what's wrong?" Hermione asked fearfully into his chest. "I didn't see you in the Great Hall and I've been looking everywhere, and you were trembling just now and…oh, Draco, the war is to begin tomorrow!" She pulled back to look up into his eyes. Deeply, she felt the pull of his gaze in her soul. He needed. He searched. He found. And she felt him take her on an emotional ride she could not explain. "Draco?" she whispered.

"If only we had more time," he said with pain in his voice. "There is so much I want to say, so much I need to tell you." Quickly and deeply he kissed her then…so differently than before. Gone were the shy kisses of innocence. Gone were the playful kisses of flirting. These were the heated kisses of desire. These were the hard kisses of desperation.

Draco broke from her mouth to kiss along her chin, her ear, the column of her neck, and down the front of her collarbone. "Draco," Hermione managed to moan as her head swam and her blood heated. "Oh, Draco, I love you too."

"Please," Draco pleaded as they locked eyes once more. "Please let me love you tonight. Let me show you how much I love you. Just for tonight."

Without hesitation, Hermione gave herself over to him. "Tonight and every night, Draco," Hermione sighed as she felt his palm cup her breast gently. "For the rest of our lives."

/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Behind you!" Hermione shouted to Ron as she dodged a curse being thrown at her by yet another Death Eater. Realistically, she knew the war had only been raging for about an hour. But to Hermione it felt like weeks. All her years of study…all her months of training…nothing could have adequately prepared her for the heat, the smells, the blood, or the pain of battle. Seamus had chosen to fight with the other sixth years, rather than stay behind with Ginny. And he had paid the ultimate price. Lavender. Parvati. Dean. Hannah. Each time she stumbled over another of her friends she had to remind herself to breathe…to keep moving…to dodge faster…to work harder to guard Harry's back.

Slowly Hermione, Ron, and Draco helped Harry make his way closer to Voldemort. Reflexively dodging hexes and systematically stunning Death Eaters, they worked as a unit as promised. And what began as a Golden Trio emerged one man stronger – as of that fateful morning. Harry and Ron knew Hermione and Draco were in love. And though they hadn't taken great pains to welcome him into their friendship, they had not made it harder for their friend to be with him. They wanted Hermione's happiness as much as she did. And so, that morning, when Hermione brought Draco to them, they agreed to enlist his help in their sole mission of getting to Voldemort.

"Duck, 'Mione," called Draco as he stunned a Death Eater over her head.

"Thanks," she breathed heavily after noting how close a call she had just had. Quickly she scanned their surroundings. "We're nearly there, Harry," she said to him. And he nodded in reply. Hurriedly they made their way to the top of the ridge where Hermione, Ron and Draco set themselves as sentinels. And Harry went on alone to face Voldemort once and for all.

Asked later about the specifics of the rest of the battle, Hermione would only be able to recall a handful of details. She would remember watching in awe as the advancing Death Eaters fell one by one at the hands of the Light. She would remember seeing Harry engaged in what seemed to be a horrific battle with Voldemort playing out as if in slow motion. She would remember the way her ebbing energy kicked into overdrive as Lucius Malfoy appeared out of nowhere behind her to point his wand at Draco. She would remember turning to defend her true love from his father, the enemy – only to see that same true love Stupefy Ron. And she would remember, God help her, crying out to Draco in confusion and pain as he turned his wand on her and allowed his father to advance on Harry.