Hermione knew it was going to be awkward but she hadn't expected this icy silence. As soon as they had reached her place, a stiff mask had come over Draco's face. His defences were well and truly up. Hermione knew it would take a lot of her energy to break through those defences, but she couldn't seem to gather the energy she needed.

She lingered over the coffee she was making before taking it out to the living room. Draco was sitting stiffly on her couch, adamantly not looking at her. The change in his demeanour since leaving Hogwarts was beyond dramatic, and his defensive mood wasn't making any of this easier.

Hermione put the coffee down onto the little table in front of the couch and simply stood there staring down at him. She didn't trust herself to sit beside him on the couch. The memory of what had happened the last time they shared the couch might just prove too much of a distraction.

'You were the one who said we needed to talk about everything…' In her own head, her words sounded like a petty accusation. She hadn't wanted to be the one to start the conversation, but the tense silence had gotten the better of her. 'When we were in the forest.' Her uncertainty and tension were evident in her shaky voice.

'It's hard, Hermione. Harder than I expected it to be.' Draco choked out in a bitter voice.

Hermione collapsed back against the one-seater next to the couch.

'You don't think this is hard for me too? I'm engaged, Draco. I'm engaged but I'm wearing another man's ring and…You don't think this is hard for me?'

'That's not what I meant.' He replied softly, still looking into the empty fireplace.

Her heart began to thud as the silence fell again and Hermione gritted her teeth in exasperation.

'I know about the ring…why you left. That's what Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about.'

Draco flinched at her words; then swept his hand across his face as if to hide his reaction. It was as if he'd been expecting her words, yet dreading them at the same time.

'So you know. What's the point of talking about it, then?'

Hermione was momentarily startled by the sudden anger she felt. It seemed to choke up in her throat. It had taken Draco mere weeks to break down ten-years of self-preserving defences and now that he had broken through, he was willing to simply back down. There was absolutely no way she was letting him slip by this easily. She deserved—no, demanded—an explanation, at the very least, from him.

'What's the point? If you're so ready and willing to give up on this…on us, then maybe there isn't a point to us talking things through. Nonetheless, you've put me off for long enough, but this time we're actually going to talk things through. Not just about why you left but about why you came back too.' She enforced.

As Hemrione drew in an angry breath, Draco appeared relieved. She knew he needed to talk about this just as much as she did. They both had a lot of things to say to each other before either of them could move on with their lives.

'I came back for you.' Draco said, finally looking her straight in the eyes.

Her anger seemed to give her mind astonishing clarity. She leaned back into her seat and folded her arms against her chest, shaking her head at him.

'Don't lie to me, Draco. I deserve better than that.' Hermione was surprised at the strength in her voice. Her previous nervous tremor had vanished. 'If you had come back for me, you could have done so a long time ago. Why did you come back?'

'I came back because of the ring.'

Even though Hermione had innately known the truth, she still hadn't expected it to hurt so much. She closed her eyes against the pain and stood up out of her chair. She would have walked straight out of the room but Draco reached out and grasped her by the arm to stop her. She certainly hadn't expected him to after what he'd said. Hermione clenched her jaw, begging herself not to break down and cry in front of him. She spun around to face him while tugging at the ring on her finger.

'If you wanted your ring back so badly you should have just told me. You should have just told me the truth from the very beginning. You didn't have to make me fall in—' Her voice trembled as she swallowed her words. This certainly wasn't how she had imagined herself expressing her feelings to Draco, in anger and fear. And once those words were out, they would leave her at her most vulnerable. She just didn't know if she could put that much faith in Draco. Not if he didn't feel the same about her. 'I was doing fine before you came back, Draco. Just fine. So you can take your stupid ring and just leave again.'

But no matter how hard she pulled at it, the band refused to be lifted from her finger. Tears of pain and frustration sprang to her eyes. Draco was shaking his head. With a sharp growl, he covered her hand with his to put a stop to her pointless tugging. Hermione simply shook his hand off before wiping the tears from her cheeks furiously. She cursed herself for being stupid. She didn't want to push him away, just as she didn't want to be such an emotional mess around him. All she wished for was for him to draw her into his arms and make her forget about anything beyond that embrace. Instead, she looked over his shoulder, determinedly avoiding his penetrating gaze.

'I'm not going to be a little happy distraction for you. You may think you can waltz back into my life then waltz back out again once you're done with whatever you seek to do, but you can think again.'

She tried to pull her arm away but his hold tightened. Draco gently pushed her unruly hair back from her face. He tilted her face towards him to ensure he had her full attention.

'This is a part of why it's so hard for me to talk to you about this. I know that no matter what I say your lightning-fuelled brain will question it; then jump to the worst possible conclusion.'

Hermione opened her mouth to argue but Draco stopped her.

'And I can't say I blame you. I haven't exactly done much in the past to instil a sense of confidence. But I need you to let me explain, in my own time and pace. Just give me this one chance before you decide anything.'

It was all Hermione could do to nod her head. She needed this, needed to hear all that Draco had to say. Like Dumbledore said, it was time for her to move on: with or without Draco.

'I came back because someone's looking for the ring. I knew you had it and I didn't want you to get hurt if they realised where it was. I needed to be here to protect you.'

Hermione stiffened in surprise. 'You knew that attacker was going to be there that night, didn't you?'

'I didn't know precisely when or where it was going to happen. But I knew it was going to, sooner or later. These people will stop at nothing to get what they want.'

'Well then, thanks for taking the time out of your no doubt busy schedule to come and protect me.' She spat out sarcastically. This conversation was turning out too much as she had feared it would. 'You seemed to have done a great job of getting your point across since there have been no further attempts to get to me or the ring. I'd love to give you back your ring, so you can get back to whatever life you had before you felt obliged to protect me. However, I seem to be having some difficulty taking it off.' Hermione tried to shrug him off again but this time Draco pulled her towards him until there was barely an inch between their faces.

'I hate it when you get flippant. Why don't you ask me why I didn't come back for you all those years?' he whispered angrily.

He stared down at her and Hermione couldn't tear her gaze away from his piercing grey eyes.

'I stayed away from you for ten years, Hermione. And you think each and every one of those years wasn't torture for me? I stayed away from you because I knew you deserved better than me. I can't escape who I am. This evil, it's inside of me. You know what I'm talking about. Dumbledore would have told you all about the glory of the Malfoy family. I thought I could run away and save you. I ran as far as I could but I could never run far enough to get away from you. I lived off whatever crumbs I could get of you. Every time I heard something about you—the rising star of the wizarding world—it would pull me back. I knew the only thing I couldn't protect you from was myself.'

'But you did! Ten years ago, Draco. You ran away so you could protect me from yourself. Whatever good that did me. Maybe I don't want to be protected from you anymore. Maybe I want the man more than the martyr.'

Draco's grip tightened painfully on her arm as he clung desperately to her. She could see the uncertainty in his eyes, the fear. 'You know everything. About the ring, about my family and what we've done. How can you say that?'

'Because I love you, Draco. I did then and I still do now.'

Hermione felt the uncertainty lift from Draco's shoulders like a blanket of fog. He still looked at her incredulously but the tense mask he had locked on his face crumbled. A smile tugged at his lips as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

'Say that again, Hermione. Ten years I have longed to hear those words from you again. No matter how undeserving I am of your love, I need to hear you say it.' He breathed against her mouth, before resting his forehead on hers.

Hermione shook from the force of her emotions. All her fears, anxieties and tears were gone. Only happiness and her love for him remained. She lovingly rubbed her nose against his and drew his lips down onto hers. Hermione put every ounce of the love she felt for Draco into that kiss. She didn't want to hold back anymore. 'I love y—'

Hermione was startled by a slight choking cough behind her. Both she and Draco turned towards it. Hermione felt the blood drain from her face when she saw Greg standing at the threshold of her living room. He wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was glaring at Draco with a ferocity she would never have expected from him.

'Greg. What are you doing here?' Hermione finally managed to force the words out.

Greg dragged his gaze from Draco and looked towards Hermione as if seeing her there for the first time. The hateful animosity in his eyes disappeared and he looked almost apologetic.

'I knocked but no one answered. When I heard you yelling I thought something was wrong. I thought I'd check on you. The door was open…'

Hermione sighed inwardly. What was it about her that made these men believe she needed to be rescued all the time?

As Greg's mumbled explanation came to a halt, a tense silence filled the room. Hermione was very aware of Draco standing closely behind her. As ungracious as it may seem, she was desperate for Greg to leave. He really couldn't have chosen a worse moment to interrupt. She realised that they still had unfinished business—namely the returning of his ring—but she couldn't deal with it right now. She knew that now her true feelings for Draco had finally come out in the open; there would be no returning to Greg, no matter what happened between Draco and herself.

'I'm fine, Greg, really. I appreciate your concern, nonetheless.'

Greg stared at her for a moment looking as if he wanted to reach out to her. Instead he jammed his hands into his pockets.

'I came because I needed to see you, Hermione. We have a few issues we need to sit down and discuss. But if I've come at an inconvenient time, I can just come back.' He paused, waiting for her response, but Hermione hesitated. It seemed rude to ask him to leave outright, but she certainly didn't want him to stay. As she considered her words to Greg carefully, she felt Draco stiffen behind her. The grip that had remained around her arm loosened and his hand fell away. Hermione felt a strange sense of loss at his withdrawal.

Greg seemed to understand her silence. He turned and quietly walked out of her house. Hermione simply couldn't contain her sigh of relief.

'Why don't you just go after him?' Draco growled from behind her. 'It's clear you want to.'

'What?' Hermione spun around in confusion.

Suddenly, Draco looked so very tired and his eyes seemed so sad. He was clearly trying to hide this behind his anger, though, and Hermione could understand that. It was a purely self-preserving defence. What she couldn't understand was his sudden turn. She had felt his love and acceptance in their kiss. But now it was all locked up again behind this growling attack.

'You say you love me but then Greg waltzes in and you're clearly torn. You obviously still see him as the better choice. What is it with you? Out of sight, out of mind? And you certainly don't seem to mind when he comes over all protective. So why don't you just go after him?'

In that angry outburst, Hermione realised that Draco was acting out on his uncertainties. He doubted himself so much that even after she had declared her love for him, he still didn't believe he was good enough for her. He truly believed he was undeserving of her love and was willing to push her away to prove it.

Ignoring his stiff, defensive manner Hermione moved towards him. She slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.

'Because this is where I want to be, Draco.'

He resisted for only a second before he wrapped his arms around her. Draco's lips brushed against her ear as he whispered, 'I'm sorry.'

Hermione's eyes fluttered to a close as he swept his mouth against her cheek and rained gentle kisses over her face.

'I love you, Hermione. And I never want to have to walk away from you again.'

He held her tightly against him, tucking her head under his chin, and Hermione revelled in the feeling of his embrace. Draco chuckled when Hermione's stomach gave a loud grumble, spoiling the mood of the moment somewhat. She blushed but joined in laughing. Hermione could have stayed in Draco's arms for all eternity, but it had been a long day and her body was crying out for nourishment.

Draco lifted his chin from her head. He seemed equally reluctant to break the embrace. He smiled down at her, but his smile slowly faded into a frown as something seemed to come to his mind. Hermione gave him a questioning squeeze around the waist.

'Does Greg have a key to this place?'

'No, he's never really stayed over here. Besides, he said the door was open. That's how he got in.'

'If the door had been left unlocked or open, the security measures I installed would have automatically locked it or alerted you that the door was open. The only way he could have gotten in was with a key.' Draco paused, 'So what's Greg doing slipping into your house with a key he shouldn't have?'

A/N: DUN DUN DUN! (my pathetic attempt at dramatic music). I'm sorry peoples, I know this chappie is rather deficient (in terms of length and hopefully not in terms of story). You know me busy, busy, busy. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it and shower me with your views about it. HObYtlaH