Author's Notes:

First of all, many thanks to the lovely Gemini Sister for proofreading this interlude! :-*

Secondly, surprise! I have an interlude containing a flashback... It gives us a glimpse into why Draco and Hermione have come to be where they are now. However, I will keep to my bi-monthly schedule with the full chapters.

Now, enjoy! (And do leave me a comment if you liked it!)

INTERLUDE: Floating Pieces and Shattered Hearts

Whenever that thought crossed his mind, Draco couldn't help but smile and briefly play with the little box in his suit pocket. Hermione was the love of his life, as unlikely as it had been when they first met as children. Yet now, after six years, he was considering taking the next step—asking her to become his wife, his equal, sharing the rest of their lives together. Not too long ago, he had taken the Malfoy engagement ring out of the family vault, just to get used to the idea of proposing. However, every time he took the little box out of his suit pocket to look at the ring, he felt his heart race and his hands shake slightly; he just couldn't believe he was planning to forge a bond for life with this incredible woman. One of these days, he was going to pluck up enough courage and finally propose to her; until then, he would keep fingering the engagement ring.

That evening he got home late after a meeting with his Development Department to discuss new ideas. The longer the Head of Department droned on, the more he had been looking forward to finally getting back home to Hermione, his fingers constantly toying with the ring box in his suit pocket. She had promised to stay up late to wait for him as they left for work that morning, even though she had looked rather solemn and tired; so he was now expecting her to be sitting up in bed and read while struggling to stay awake just so he could he give her a good night kiss.

However, whatever he had anticipated upon arriving through the Floo, it wasn't what he discovered. The air felt slightly charged, and he could hear sobs coming from their bedroom. Something felt off. "Hermione?"

"Oh God, no," he could hear her mutter before another sob swallowed the rest of her words.

He found her in their bedroom, shocked to see her frantically stuffing all her clothing and belongings into a trunk. She continued to sob as she completed her task, her eyes already red from crying. "Hermione? What's the matter?" he asked, stepping into the room.

"I... I thought your meeting would take longer," she replied, taking a step back when he approached her as he reached out to grab her hand. "Please, no. It'll just make this harder."

"What do you mean? Hermione, why are you packing all your belongings?" he asked, frowning. He took another step towards her, but winced when she again moved back, keeping out of his reach. This had to be a misunderstanding, a mistake! Here she was, obviously upset, and yet she wouldn't let him comfort her.

She wiped her eyes, and then continued to collect her clothing to hastily levitate them into the trunk; she was almost finished, but missed the trunk several times due to tears repeatedly blurring her vision.

Still confused, and starting to feel irritated, Draco picked the pieces of clothing up from the floor that had missed the trunk to return them back into their wardrobe. "Hermione, what's going on?" he repeated, now pulling her things out of her trunk, not accepting the terrifying idea slowly forming in the back of his mind

"Stop putting my things back, please," she said, pleading. "It's already hard enough–"

"What is hard enough? Why are you doing this?"

Suppressing another sob, she grabbed the things he was holding. "I-I'm sorry. I really tried, but I... I just can't take it any longer." She put everything she was holding in the trunk before turning around to leave the room to gather the rest located throughout the flat. However, she didn't even make it out of the bedroom as he held her back by grabbing her wrist.

"That's not true!" he burst out in angry disbelief. "You love me! You're lying!"

She shook her head, her reddened eyes wide. "I'm not," she whispered. "I... I can't bear it any longer. Please, let go, Draco."

"No." Tightening his grip on her wrist, he pulled her closer. "Don't lie to me. Don't act as if the past six years were for nothing."

"They weren't!" Hermione retorted, trying to take a step back, even though he immediately pulled her closer again in response. "I... I do love you, Draco. But–"

"Don't lie!" His words came out in a growl. "Don't you dare lie to me!" With his free hand, he pulled his wand from its pocket and pointed it at the trunk.

"No!" she screamed and pushed his wand hand down. "Please, no! I need to do this!"

"What? Breaking up with me and leave like a coward?" He still refused to believe that she was doing exactly this, that she was leaving him after six great years together. The thought alone was shattering his heart to pieces, devastating him. How in Merlin's seven hells could she do this to him?

"I need to do this; it's better for both of us... And please let go of me!" She finally managed to pry his fingers off her wrist, and immediately pulled away. "I just thought it would be easier to be gone before you came home," she added with a crack in her voice.

"Easier?!" Draco didn't care whether he was shouting now; he simply couldn't believe what she was saying. This wasn't just a misunderstanding anymore, this was the nightmare he had always feared would come crashing down on him.

Shaking her head, she rubbed her eyes once more before turning away to walk through to the living room. "I wish I could explain–"

"Try." He followed her closely, trying to get a hold of her hand to make her stop, but she kept pushing him off. "Hermione, I demand an explanation for your behaviour! We tell each other everything, why don't you now?"

Arriving in the living room, she turned around to face him once more. She was trying to keep herself from shaking too much, yet still pushed his offer of comfort away; despite being angry about the whole situation, he couldn't stand seeing her upset like this. Without responding further to his words, she started collecting her things in the living room to levitate them to the trunk in their bedroom.

Draco fished several levitating items from the stream before he was able to grab her wand hand to make her stop. "I'm not letting you go, not like this!" Keeping his grip on her wand hand, he placed the caught items on the nearest surface before he made a step towards her, closing the space between them. With his free hand, he brushed the tears away that were still running down her cheeks and leaned closer. "Don't do this to me, please," he said in a whispered plea. "You'd destroy me, throwing everything we have away."

"I-I'm not throw–"

Not wanting to hear another evasive reply, he stopped her with a deep kiss in a desperate attempt to convince her to stay. He poured everything he had into the kiss, how much she meant to him, how much he loved her, despite the painful stab in his heart. It dared to make a jump when he felt her respond by parting her lips, her hands framing his head, with her wand pressing against his temple. He got lost in the feel of her lips against his, not wanting it to stop, but then he tasted the salt of her tears, and he realised that she was kissing him goodbye. In that single moment, he could feel his whole world fall apart and his heart shatter into pieces, so he held on to her even more tightly, afraid that she would slip from his grasp if he stopped.

But eventually, Hermione broke off, sobbing freely. "I'm... I'm sorry," she said between hiccups, slowly pulling away.

"Please, stay. You... You can't do this," he said, his own voice cracking now. Having let go of her wand hand during their kiss, he now frantically tried to get hold of her again. He couldn't let her slip away! "I... I lo–"

"Shh..." She put a finger on his lips, shaking her head. "It's better this way." With one well-directed wave of her wand, she let all her remaining belongings float up to the trunk in the bedroom, from where seconds later a loud thud was heard. After wiping her eyes, she walked back to the bedroom, Draco following closely.

"Stay, please. Whatever it is, we can find a way..."

Without saying a single word, she down-sized the trunk, then looked at him one last time with a sad smile on her lips. A single heartbeat later, she was gone.

Gone.

Gone from his life, taking everything with her.

Utterly devastated, Draco broke down. He was unable to breathe, feeling as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest in the most violent way he could imagine. After what felt like an eternity, he finally drew in a shaky breath, only to let out one long scream that matched his pain and anger.

The objects in his vicinity started to shake, even violently so, until he could no longer hold back, letting his magic burst out in one intense wave. This outburst of undirected, emotionally pent-up magic left the bedroom in complete chaos—the objects smashed to smithereens, littering the floor; the bed as well as other furnishings broken and threatening to crumble completely; even the window had shattered due to the impact of magic.

When able to breathe again, Draco attempted to get up, but it took him several tries until he made it back up on his shaky feet. He still felt as if he had been hit by a mountain troll, having lost everything he held dear in a single moment. He was broken, and he was furious. He wanted answers.

"Potter! Open the door!" Impatient in his hurt anger, Draco hammered loudly against the door of Harry's house, completely ignoring the late hour. "POTTER!"

"What?!" Irritated, Harry finally opened the door, only to be confronted with a fuming Draco, who burst inside.

"Where is she? Where's Hermione? I know you're hiding her!"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, closing the door again. "And please keep your voice down, people are asleep here!"

"She left!" Draco said with a growl in his voice. "She packed everything, and then just disappeared! Don't tell me you don't know where she is!"

Harry's eyes momentarily widened in shock. "Oh God, she did it," he murmured. "Look, she's not here, and I can't tell you where she went. Are you sure you didn't just have another argument, and she overreacted?"

"No. We didn't. Where is she?"

"I don't know! Now, please leave before you wake up my son! You don't want to face my sleep-deprived wife."

"I want to know where Hermione is," Draco retorted, glaring down at Harry. "No one leaves me without a very good reason–"

"Hey, what is going on here?" Ginny came down the stairs, her wand in her hand. "Draco!"

"I'm sorry for disturbing your night, but I'm looking for Hermione. I'm sure your husband knows where she is."

"She left him," Harry explained.

"She did?" Ginny looked aghast, shocked even to hear the news. "Oh God! I'm sorry to hear that, Draco, I never thought it would happen..." She came up to the two men, her wand lowered. "I'm really sorry. I'm sure Harry would tell you if he knew–"

"Why did she do this?" Draco asked, not lowering his voice; he glared at Harry. "You know something–"

"Draco, be quiet, please! I just managed to put James to bed, and you know how difficult he is. You don't want to face me if you wake the whole house up!"

Draco clenched his jaw, but nodded. Being angry at Harry helped to ignore the pain lingering underneath; he feared he would have another breakdown if he let go of his anger, not sure he would be able to get up this time.

Ginny noticed the strain on Draco, the tightening of his jaw, and her face softened. "Let's have a hot chocolate in the kitchen, and we can talk. I'm sure it's not as bad as you think, and she will come back."

She never came back.