Hello and thank you all for reading. This very last chapter culminates years of putting off finishing this story. I hope for the most part that you have all enjoyed bits and pieces, if not all, of the story. And if you haven't seen it, go rent "When Harry Met Sally." This last chapter is a good way to start off the New Year. Happy 2006 and thank you for reading. I am in the process of fixing my absolute favorite story, "Versacelf." My fanfiction resolution to get that up and running once more.

Please note that this chapter has a lot of flashback scenes. I will put the entire flashback sequence in italics just in case.

Again, thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

Kissy

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New Year's Eve had to be the most exciting time in the city for Draco. Everywhere you went there were vendors with silly hats and noisemakers, particularly tempting for the hundreds of tourists who were the keenest buyers.

The day started out well enough. Draco got up, stretched a bit, and had a small lump of goo that his new housekeeper had passed off as oatmeal. Ever since Hermione had gone AWOL on their friendship, Draco found that hiring people to do everything for him gave him a steady stream of companions with whom he made small talk with. It was highly unsatisfying, preferring the glorious banter that he and Hermione once shared, but difficult times called for hiring a housekeeper, a driver, a personal assistant, and a personal shopper. He was surprised at the number of witches and wizards who had made a living working as muggles in New York. He swore up and down that his new personal shopper had been an old date from at least seven years back.

As the morning drifted into the afternoon, it soon dawned on Draco that he had not RSVP'd to any of the invitations for New Years Eve gatherings that were still pouring in by muggle mail, owl post, email, and wizmail. Eduardo, his personal assistant, whose name Draco doubted, seeing as "Eduardo" had a slight cockney accent with a light Latin lisp was already at his wits end trying to convince Draco to attend something, anything.

"But dyou musssssss, Meester Draco! Eef 'dyo don' go, nobodeey weel ever wan' you at der party no more!" Eduardo did a slight finger snapping routine in Draco's amused face before stomping out of the study and into the small office Draco had set up for him. It was nearly five o' clock in the afternoon and Draco had dismissed his entire staff, including the agitated Eduardo who looked as if he was going to burst into tears when Draco claimed that he would be spending the evening watching Dick Clark on the telly and eating a tub of pralines and cream.

"All dat junk weel go rite to de thighs. Go ahead! Be all lonely! Me, Eduardo, I go dance all nite long!" After a dramatic flourish of his winter cloak and a slam of the front door, all that was left was Draco standing in the foyer, wistfully looking forward to a moment of quiet.

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Later that evening, Draco found himself splayed rather unattractively across his bed, a bowl of pistachio nuts sitting comfortably on his once toned stomach. He surely looked quite lumpy, lying there, staring at the television, its blue glare giving him a sickly glow.

'Hmmm,' Draco thought to himself as he watched some idiot popstar traipse across the stage in a micro-mini, knowing perfectly well that New York on New Year's Eve was never warmer than a mere thirty degrees. 'This really isn't so bad," he thought to himself, 'I've got Dick Clark, and that's a grand American tradition, I have pumpkin pasties, best treat of all time, and this lovely trollop prancing about the stage giving millions of lonely, middle-aged men like me views of a lifetime!'

Draco sighed, knowing perfectly well that those lonely, middle-aged men were the sort that he tended to make fun of, not emulate. He shut his eyes, the song blaring out of the television fading slowly as his mind drifted off…

Hermione and Draco twirled about the dance floor like they had been dancing together all their lives. Draco dipped Hermione and she threw her head back, letting out a loud laugh that made Draco smile every time he heard it.

As he and Hermione continued dancing, Hermione leaned in closer. "Do you think that the fact that we're friends is keeping us from finding someone," she whispered.

"Yes. So I think we should stop being friends, go home right now, and make love," Draco replied boldly, never meeting Hermione's eyes that were suddenly staring at him with an unreadable emotion.

"You don't mean that," Hermione whispered. "You don't mean that," she repeated, unsure of whether she meant for him to hear her or not.

Draco sat up quickly, his memory of last New Year's Eve spent with Hermione burning his head with thoughts that did not cheer him up at all.

'Air, I need air,' thought Draco as he rolled himself out of bed and headed towards the front door.

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A large mirrored ball in the middle of the ceiling above the dance floor was a bit tacky, even for a New Year's Eve ball. At least that was the impression it made on Hermione Granger, who was busy keeping her dance partner's hands off her bum and somewhere appropriately above the small of her back. He twirled her, expecting to get a small 'wheeee!' out of it, but it didn't even squeeze a smile on Hermione's face. Blaise and Ginny danced over to her, making Hermione even more furious to see the happy couple.

"I don't know why I let you drag me to this," hissed Hermione. She made sure that she said it loud enough for her soon-to-be-ex-dance-partner to hear. Apparently, she got through and he promptly disappeared, off to fondle other women's behinds.

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'Merlin, its colder out here than I thought,' mused Draco as he slipped into a dark alley and muttered a warming charm on his coat.

He walked down Madison Ave. peering past shop windows. He had been walking for nearly two hours, making it all the way past midtown and was heading towards Chelsea…Hermione's neighborhood. He turned on Sixth and continued to look at the displays of Christmas and revelry still dancing away at the shop windows that he passed.

'Well, this is good,' he thought to himself, 'New Year's resolution # 1: I really ought to take more walks. Just window shop. All the fun without the expense.' As Draco continued down the street, a couple ran past him, the woman throwing her head back, laughing at a joke that was apparently the funniest thing she had ever heard, if her laughter was any indication. Draco's mind began to wander again, to memories of Hermione, the ones that he cherished beyond any other memories…

There they were, standing in the museum. He remembered that day. It was the first time that Hermione had ever mentioned anything about dating after Harry. He wanted so badly that day to take her to dinner and see what would happen if they perhaps weren't 'just friends.' They were making funny accents, making the word 'pepper' sound like 'pey-pah.'

'I think you should wear skirts more. You look good in skirts,' said Draco.

'I do?' replied Hermione, looking down on her outfit and then checking her reflection on the large glass window behind her.

'Yeah,' Hermione heard Draco say. What she didn't see was the look of longing in his eyes as she smiled at her own reflection.

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"Oh, ha! That's really rather….erm…funny, yes, absolutely," lied Hermione. She was doing her best to look merry and bright as she accepted another drink from a man who Blaise introduced to her as 'Chip.' It bothered her greatly to have met a person named 'Chip,' but it bothered her even more to not be able to share the moment with Draco.

She felt so empty standing in a room filled with people. Among what was surely thousands of people, not one person had captured her with conversation even remotely close to what she would be having with Draco were he there with her. Ginny walked by, trying her best to be sly and listen in to the conversation. Hermione took the opportunity to grab her by the arm.

"Gin, look, thanks for everything, but I really think I should head home."

"Don't be daft, you'll never get a cab at this point, and best of luck finding an empty place to apparate. Just stay and try to have a bit of fun! You haven't given this evening a chance at all!" Ginny smiled and winked and walked off, leaving Hermione scowling next to Chip, who had launched into what was bound to be the worst joke in the world.

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Looking up, Draco realized that he was at Washington Square. He had stopped in for some ice cream on his walk, which was now causing his hand to go numb. He sighed. This was first New York landmark that he and Hermione had seen when they drove into the city.\

'Brilliant,' thought Draco as the feeling in his hand slowly disappeared, 'its ten degrees out with the wind colder than dementor's breath and here I am eating an ice cream. If only Eduardo could see me now.' He laughed at the sight of his new assistant screaming at him for dripping ice cream on Italian leather loafers.

Dumping the remainder of the cone in the nearest trash bin, Draco looked up at the arch. For a moment, he just wanted to go home, but an overwhelming pull was beckoning him elsewhere. He began to run uptown, running faster and faster, the winding pushing his hair out from its usual confines, leaving it in a state of absolute disarray. He ran and ran, for about five blocks before coming to a stop.

Shaking his head at the stupidity of his actions, he glanced around, pulled out his wand, and apparated.

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Hermione checked her watch. It was nearly midnight. Balloons were hanging in nets, waiting to drop along with the ball. The room began to tremble with excitement as the various party-goers watched on giant television screens as the ball prepared to drop. Not feeling the least bit excited, Hermione reached into her purse to find her coat check slip. Ginny eyed Hermione and grabbed her wrist.

"'Mione, look, its nearly midnight." Ginny pleaded for her friend to remain just a few moments longer.

"I can't stand the thought of not kissing somebody," lied Hermione, hoping that the excuse would loosen Ginny's grip.

"Big deal, I'll kiss you," replied Blaise, slurring slightly, thanks to the open bar their hosts had provided.

Managing a smile, Hermione grabbed her wrist back from Ginny, "Thank Blaise. But I really have to go."

"Two minutes Hermione! Just stay, for me," pleaded Ginny, her voice trembling.

"Sorry, Gin. Look, I'll catch up with you tomorrow, alright?" Hermione turned on her heel and proceeded to walk to the coat room when a sight stopped her in her tracks.

There, in the entrance to the ballroom, stood Draco, his hair askew, face flushed, and eyes searching the crowd until his gaze fell on Hermione. He walked towards her and stopped a mere inches from her.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, and before you get all puffed up and go, just listen. The thing is, I love you."

Obviously, regardless of the deafening screams of the crowd as midnight neared, Hermione heard Draco. "What?"

"I love you," repeated Draco, his face beaming.

"How do you expect me to respond to this," Hermione screamed out, hoping that Draco could hear above the crowds yells. Sensing that their back and forth shouting would only end up with sore throat, Draco muttered a small spell and soon all that Draco and Hermione could hear was each other breathing.

Draco smiled, "How about you say back, 'I love you too Draco Malfoy' and we can call it a night."

"How about, 'I'm Leaving," huffed Hermione. Turning on her heel, she walked in the opposite direction. Draco followed, grabbing the back of her arm and spinning her around. It was only then that Hermione realized that the spell Draco had cast was still surrounding them both.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Doesn't what I said mean anything to you?" Around them, Hermione could make out the faint sound of the crowd counting down and a chorus of the party-goers screaming 'Happy New Year!' Around her everyone was kissing and hugging, and she snapped her attention back to Draco, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What is it suppose to mean, Draco? I'm sorry. I know it's New Year's Eve and I know you're feeling lonely, but you can't just show up here and tell me you love me and expect that to make it all right! I mean, what am I suppose to say?" Hermione stifled a sob, staring intensely at Draco, whose expression was unreadable. "Great, Draco, you love me, that settles everything, now we can waltz off together, right? No! It doesn't work this way!" This time, Hermione didn't hold back. Rivers of tears smudged her make-up, and out of habit, Draco wiped away a tear.

"Well, love, tell me, how does it work?"

"I don't know, Draco, I just don't." Draco watched Hermione sob harder, and saw that there were people looking at the two of them, surely wondering why they couldn't hear them at all. Ushering Hermione to a small alcove, Draco turned her around so that she was facing him.

He took a deep breath. He practiced this speech on his three hour walk. He had practiced it since the first time he met her. This was his chance.

"Hermione, listen. I love how you get cold when its 62 degrees outside. I love the way your mouth turns down just a little bit, right there," he said as he pointed to the right side of her mouth. "I love how it takes you an hour and half to order a sandwich. I even loved when you used my sweater for a tissue when you had to blow your nose." His eyes searched Hermione's face for a sign that this was getting through to her. He took it as a good sign that she had at least stopped sobbing. In a softer voice, he continued.

" I love it that after spending the day with you I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. I love how you're the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. It took me eleven years to figure this all out. And I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

Hermione's reaction was not at all what Draco had expected. With her fists clenched, she punched Draco in the arm. She knew it actually hurt when she saw him wince.

"See, that's just like you, Draco! You say things like that and you make it impossible to hate you…..I hate you so damn much! I hate you! I hate you! I ha…"

Before the rest of the words could leave her mouth, it was interrupted by the most wonderful kiss either of them had expected. In the background, faint strains of 'Auld Lang Syne' drifted into the alcove where they stood in a tight embrace. Draco looked down and wiped a tear from Hermione's cheek.

"My whole life I have never know what this song means."

Hermione nodded in agreement, resting her head against Draco's chest.

"I think," murmured Hermione, "it's about old friends." She looked up and smiled.