Alright, first of all let me say I'm SOOO SORRY for disappearing for so long and not updating. I understand if y'all think that I am the worst fanfiction author ever for neglecting my loyal readers. But, never fear! I won't abandon this fic until it's done, no worries. And, to make up for my long hiatus, this chapter is nearly twice as long as the longest chapter I've ever written. So get comfortable, guys… haha. Thanks again to all my reviewers, and thanks for sticking with the story for so long. I'm thinking maybe a couple more chapters (for real this time, haha) and then that'll be it. Thanks again so much for reading!! Enjoy!
Chapter 18-The Heart of Everything
Stair after stair after stair loomed in front of Draco, daring him to turn back, daring him to succumb to the despair that threatened to consume him. On and on it went, endlessly, leading to the tallest tower where he knew Hermione would be kept. Each step was a hindrance, each step was an enemy in this epic battle of betrayal. Each step separated him from the love of his life.
His aching legs tried to drag him down, the weight of fatigue lay heavy upon him, keeping him from flying to Hermione's rescue like he wished he could. The invisible force of doubt clung to him, plaguing his mind with fears that he thought he'd dealt with long ago. His vision blurred uncertainly. After all this time, after all he had put her through, would she even take him back? Was it all for nothing in the end?
Draco shook his head, dislodging the doubts within. Even if it was all for nothing, even if she didn't take him back in the end, he knew what he had to do. Hermione was the talented hands on the piano of his life, composing a beautiful symphony out of his torn and broken keys. He had to save her, regardless of whether or not she wanted to be saved by one such as him.
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"Now, my dear, I'll ask you one more time. What have you done to upset my lord so?" The Death Eater asked a chained and bound Hermione, his voice ringing with malevolence.
"I don't know! Please, let me go!" Hermione struggled futilely against her steel chains. If she'd had her wand, a mere few links of metal would be nothing in the wake of her magic, but they had taken that from her even before they had fled Hogwarts.
"No matter. Lord Malfoy will be here shortly, and he will deal with you as he sees fit." The voice rang out again, the words carrying an invisible burden which the speaker knew nothing of.
Hermione's head snapped up in shock. Draco was coming? Draco was coming to see her? Her heart skipped a beat in a fleeting moment, glimpsing the beautiful memories of the past. But those days with Draco were long gone. Even if they were together in the end, nothing would ever be the same again. She would never recapture that feeling, trapped forever in a memory.
The horrid voice of the Death Eater jerked Hermione out of her silent stupor. "I expect Lord Malfoy will be more than anxious to know the contents of this." He waved a worn book just beyond her reach, a book that was so familiar and comforting it shouldn't exist in a place so dreadful and horrifying. Once a source of strength for her, the journal would surely mean her doom.
"Here he comes now. How proud of us he will be." The Death Eater said to himself, his ignorance of the situation threatening to destroy what shards of sanity Hermione clung to.
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"Let her go!" Draco shouted at the nearest Death Eater. Hermione was surrounded by three of them, chained to the wall, her feet bound uselessly on the floor. Seeing her after so much time apart sent a bolt of electricity through him, both painful and invigorating. She gave him spirit, she gave him life, but there was such deadness about her now that he wondered if she would ever be herself again.
"What do you think you're doing? Let her go now!" Draco bellowed, his voice echoing loudly throughout the stone corridors.
"My lord Draco, with all due respect, we think there is something you should know." A Death Eater said, trembling under the weight of his treason but determined nonetheless.
"Speak. This had better be good." Draco muttered.
One of the Death Eaters opened Hermione's journal, speaking aloud words that were never meant to be heard.
"From the journal of Hermione Granger.
'Dumbledore has asked me to spy on Draco, watching for signs of a dark plot or anything. I am repulsed by the thought of spending time with him, but I will do whatever the Headmaster thinks is best. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for yet, I suppose I'll know it when I see it. For now, I will simply watch, and record everything that happens.'"
Draco shook his head, frustrated. "Okay, it's a journal. I already know that she was supposed to spy on me. Just let her go and forget all about this!"
"My lord Draco, patience. You shall know everything in time." The death eater flipped through a couple of pages, skipping several days. "Ah, here it is.
'Draco showed me the grave where his brother is buried. Dumbledore will be thrilled with the news. Already I am working on a plan to exploit this weakness. This is a great weapon to use against him, we will be able to interrogate him if we hurt him with this first. Dumbledore commanded me to keep an eye out for things such as this that we could use against him.'"
No… no….
Draco's spirit disintegrated at the cold words. Something so personal, something that he had told only her… she had so readily betrayed him. All along he had known she was spying on him, although thinking about the true implications of that was something he didn't see a need to do. Something so close to his heart, something so close to himself… and she'd even said she loved him…
Maybe it really had all been a lie.
The death eater hesitated his reading at the sight of Draco's pained expression. The words hurt him, but these were words that had to be said. Once Draco understood everything, he would be able to see clearly again. He would be able to see what a fool he had been all along. Draco would thank them for this one day.
The death eater flipped a few more pages. "Ahem, continuing…
'Today Draco promised me that he would defend me against a thousand men! When the final battle comes he will be forced to acknowledge this promise, a wizard's promise is not one that can be easily ignored. This is also a great asset to our side. He will be so caught up in protecting me that he won't have a chance to attack, or command his forces. This is almost a guarantee that the final battle will swing in our favor, and on top of that we can thoroughly exploit his past concerning his brother. I think I've already found a way…"'
Suddenly, Draco could no longer handle the doubts that were plaguing him. "How could you? How could you, Hermione? Everything I ever told you, everything I ever said? Did you keep anything to yourself? I can't… I can't even look at you, Hermione, I'm so disgusted."
Hermione concentrated on a rather peculiar looking stone on the floor, trying desperately not to think about his words. She avoided his gaze, knowing that if her sight was to fall upon those pristine orbs then she would be completely lost within them. She couldn't let herself go so far again, she would never again give herself completely to anyone like she had to him.
Never again could she love Draco Malfoy.
"My lord, what shall we do with the mudblood?" One of the death eaters asked.
Hermione looked at him in terror, realizing that her fate rested in the hands of the most powerful dark wizard alive. The words of the journal had only served to fuel his already flaming temper, he was capable of anything now. He could snap his fingers and her life would be snuffed out, nothing more than a memory. She was completely at his mercy, begging for forgiveness from the greatest deceiver of them all.
Draco turned to her, his blue eyes as cold as death, struggling against the immediate life and warmth he saw in her mesmerizing dark ones. She had played with his heart, hurt him in ways that even he had never experienced. She deserved to suffer, she needed to feel what his broken heart had felt when all her secrets were revealed.
She would know the pain that had ripped the last dregs of his soul apart.
Draco opened his mouth, prepared to give the sentence.
The spiteful words were lost when the wooden door exploded in a glory of splinters. Many of the death eaters cringed, Hermione tried to shield her face. Draco calmly stood in the midst of terror, and turned to face the intruders. In the doorway stood a very disheveled yet furious Harry Potter, his chest rising with the pulse of adrenaline. Ginny stood proudly next to him, displaying unusual courage for someone who was facing the very group she had betrayed. And lastly, standing rigid, his veins throbbing with unbridled hatred, stood Fred Weasley.
A wide grin spread across Hermione's face. She was saved!
But do you want to be saved? The thought struck her like a bullet to the chest, catching her off guard. Do you want to live the rest of your life away from the one man who you have ever truly loved? The only one who makes you happy?
Hermione pushed away these thoughts, focusing only on the reality before her. Draco was evil, she was good. Nothing could exist between them ever again, it was too risky.
Love is always risky…
She forcefully shook her head, finally dislodging her doubts. Soon, shouting filled the room, leaving no space for idle thinking.
"What have you done to her?" Fred bellowed.
"What are you going to do about it, Weasley? What if she wants to be here? What if she would prefer a glorious mansion such as this to a dingy stint such as your own!"
Fred recoiled as if he was recovering from a blow. He was nearly immune to jokes about his poor status by now, but bringing Hermione's preference into the mix caused something within him to snap. It was something primal, something that never should be unleashed in any human being.
It was the desperate, undeniable need to save the one he loved the most from the one he so vehemently hated.
"Don't talk about her like that! You don't know what she wants!" Fred contested, bravely stepping forward into the ring of dark wizards.
"Fred!" A startled voice called from behind.
Fred turned around, shocked that anyone would dare interrupt his climax of adrenaline.
Ginny walked forward, red hair whipping behind her, carrying the incredulous stares of all death eaters nearby. She bravely commanded, "Stop. You don't know what they can do to you." She whispered furiously.
Fred's face fell just a little, disappointed that he couldn't follow through and kill Draco like he'd wanted to so badly. His eyes, however, just as fiery as always, remained locked on their target, never leaving Draco's deadly gaze.
"Yes, Ginny, you know all about that, don't you?" A haunting voice addressed her.
The voice struck her, digging through any words of love and happiness she had recently heard. It called her back to him, back to where she belonged. Comforting. A place where she was accepted and appreciated. Suddenly, in a heartbeat, she was there again. She had someone to serve, the owner of that mesmerizing voice, the call so beautiful, so tempting, how could she possibly resist?
She turned to meet his eyes, and lost all control of herself.
"Yes, Ginny. You remember what it was like, do you not? You know what happens to those who turn from us. Come back to where you belong." Draco said, his voice filling up the room with undeniable, sinister temptation.
Ginny tried to shake off his words, but they captured her once again. She was powerless in their wake. The curse was acting upon her, showing her that even the strongest will to change could not touch dark magic. As if she was in a daze, she walked over to him, never taking her eyes off of the salvation she now saw in him.
"Ginny, no! What are you doing??" Fred's frantic cries were lost to her, a part of a world that she had forsaken long ago.
"Yes, Ginny… come back… come back to the dark side…" Draco purred, his voice a beautiful symphony amongst ragged screams of hate. Who was she to resist such a call? How could she say no to such a secure future?
Finally, Ginny reached the side of her master, feeling all her memories swarming back to her. This was where she belonged. This was where she had always meant to be. How had she thought even for a moment that she could leave this place, how had she thought that a life away from him would be happy? This was the life for her, this was the way it had to be.
She could never go back.
"Ginny, no! No… not again…" Harry screamed, defeated, refusing to accept the fact that he had gotten so close to saving her only to fail in the end.
Ginny turned to him, the same, horrid, dead look in her eyes. She seemed to see straight through him, gazing at some other future beyond him, something more important than he could ever be. He had failed her, after all.
Ginny took a deep breath, hating herself for what she was about to do, but realizing that she had to do it nonetheless.
She swallowed her sorrow, opened her mouth, and laughed at him.
"You didn't actually believe that load of rubbish, did you?" She taunted. Harry's face went from dejected to shocked. "Honestly, Harry. It's about time you learned that some people who go to the dark side cannot be saved. Sometimes you lose someone, and there is no getting them back. You always had to believe in the good in everyone, and in the end it was your downfall."
"What…?" Harry ripped his gaze from Ginny only to realize that they were now surrounded by death eaters. The door was beyond their reach, all hope of escape was gone. Harry hated himself for being so naïve, blindly following Ginny straight to the death eater's lair without even questioning it. He had led himself and Fred to their doom, and he had failed in saving Ginny.
It was bad enough to die surrounded by death eaters, but it was worse knowing that you had brought others down with you.
Ginny tried to gather her composure, speaking lies that twisted and turned her own heart like a worn out towel. It was for Harry's own good, it was for everyone's good. She would put everyone in danger by going back to her old life after this. If her family suffered because of her… if Harry died… she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head violently. She wouldn't let that happen. Even if the rest of her existence was spent in the servitude of the most ruthless, cruel wizard on the planet, so be it. At least she would always have the knowledge that her loved ones were safe, and that was enough for her.
Ginny tried to muster the most heartless, cruel expression she could. Her eyes bore into Harry, convincing him of the fool he'd been all along.
"I never loved you, Harry."
The smirk on Malfoy's face grew even wider. His servant had been loyal unto the end, as he knew she would. Finally Potter had been reduced to ashes, groveling at his feet for mercy, the position he should have been in long ago. The great Potter, so revered above all else, stripped of everything right before his eyes. Draco reveled in the glorious feeling, appreciating it after years of work.
Harry's face fell even farther, the picture of defeat. He truly had lost it all, now what was he going to do? How was he going to save Ginny, after all of this? How could he pull her soul from such an endless abyss of darkness?
More importantly, how was he going to save himself?
Ginny turned away, averting her eyes from Harry's crumpled form. She couldn't stand seeing him like that, despite how many times she told herself it was for his own good. He looked so lost, so hurt, all she wanted to do was run to him and put her arms around him, telling him that it's okay. However, she stood her ground, resisting the urge to save the boy who was so caught up in saving others that he forgot about himself.
"My lord, you still haven't told us what we are to do with the girl." A Death Eater close to Hermione interjected, ruining Draco's moment of triumph.
Draco closed his eyes in irritation, and sighed. "Don't you see that we have Potter within our clutches? I don't care what happens to the girl."
Those careless words would decide so much more than Draco could ever know.
"Very well." The Death Eater answered.
In that moment, everything went wrong.
Draco turned on Harry, intent on killing his prey. He sent a spell blazing across the room, heading straight for Harry's head. Harry responded with speed that did not belong to those who were beyond all hope, but he fought back nonetheless. He blocked the spell expertly, and shot back one of his own.
As Draco and Harry engaged in their own fight, Fred headed straight for Hermione, determined to free her from this prison and bring her back to safety. Groups of Death Eaters stood in his way, trying to block him from reaching his goal. He pushed on with a strength he didn't know he had, driven by the need to see Hermione safe. Curses flew past him in a blur, not registering in his frantic mind. He only had one thought of his mind, one thought that consumed his existence.
Finally he saw her, surrounded by Death Eaters, all of them with their wands pointed at her. His eyes connected with hers, and he recognized the look of sheer terror on her face. She was helpless, completely at the mercy of the Death Eaters, only praying that someone would have mercy upon her and let her live the rest of her life. Hermione looked into Fred's eyes, and saw the desperation there, and she knew she could not escape without a price.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a jet of green begin to leave a Death Eater's wand. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized what the curse was, and realized what her fate would be if that curse connected with her. She frantically looked to Fred, desperately wanting to gaze into the comforting eyes of a friend before the darkness overtook her forever. His blue eyes lit up in recognition at the green light, and, in a split second, he lunged for her.
The spell connected with Fred's body instead of her own, and the life was stolen from him forever.
Hermione opened her mouth to scream, but the sound was lost. She couldn't hear anything, only the silence that now came from Fred's body. She couldn't feel anything, only the limp form of the man who had taken his own life for hers. She saw nothing but the horrifying, haunting death in his blue eyes. The eyes that had been so vibrant, the eyes that had been so caring, always joking, always bringing such laughter… Never to shine again….
In that split second she understood everything, and yet didn't want to know any of it. She existed in that moment only because of the selfless sacrifice of someone else, someone who decided that her life was more important than his. Someone who was gone from this world, never to know how much he truly meant to those who still lived within it.
Tears flowed from her eyes, falling unchecked with no regard to the world around her. Right now there was only her and Fred, her sitting uselessly chained to a wall with the body that had taken a curse meant for her lying on top of her. She was powerless, she couldn't even wrap her arms around his form, still warm with the memory of life. All she could do was scream, trying to release all the anguish within her, trying to console her inside heart with the sound of herself breaking on the outside.
"Fred…. Fred… why? WHY?" She screamed angrily, desperately wishing against hope that it would be loud enough to reach him, wherever he was. "Why now? There are so many things… so many things I never got to say! Why… Why…. Please, let me do it over… I'll do it better this time, Fred, I promise… you'll get the life you deserve… just please, PLEASE don't let this be the end!!"
All fighting in the room stopped. Even the soulless Death Eaters were floored by Hermione's sudden display of emotion, and Fred's display of selflessness and bravery. Such a thing they had never seen before, such love for another human being was something that didn't even exist in their world. This boy had given up his life for her, a girl who could give him nothing in return. He had given everything, keeping nothing to himself.
Even the heart of deepest evil was touched in the presence of such pure, perfect love.
"Fred?" A very small, weak voice asked. Hermione looked through tear-blotched eyes, recognizing the form of Ginny walking towards her. Her eyes were filled with just as much shock as Hermione felt, both of them connecting in that moment, recognizing that the other was feeling the terrible, awful, gut-wrenching hole of emptiness. The walls seemed to close in around them, and yet, at the same time, they seemed to grow farther and farther away. They were surrounded by people, and yet there was no one else in the room but Fred. She wanted to run, she wanted to scream, she wanted to kill….
But, more than anything, she just wanted to crumble to the ground and cry.
Ginny took his weak, lifeless hand in her own, clutching it for the last time, begging it to reveal any hint of life even though she knew that none was there. "It's a dream, it can't be real. It's a dream… it can't be… it can't be this bad…" She pleaded futilely, wishing that life would somehow return to her brother because of the presence of a few weak words. However, nothing was that easy, and she knew even then that Fred would never again walk home with them.
"You killed him." Hermione's broken voice disrupted Ginny's thoughts.
Draco's head shot up, his eyes meeting hers, a myriad of emotions conflicting between them. Hermione's thoughts were nothing but a blur of anger, hurt, sadness confusion, and an undeniable desperation for revenge. The Death Eaters had killed Fred, it was Draco's fault he was dead. He would pay for this mistake, oh yes, he would pay dearly.
"Ginny. Get these chains off of me." Hermione commanded.
Ginny, seeing that the Death Eaters who had once meant so much to her had killed her brother, wished for nothing more than to see them brought down to the same disgusting end. She obliged, whipping her wand a couple of times and muttering a charm, allowing Hermione to move freely. They both faced their opponents, more determined than ever to bring an end to this horrible tyranny.
Curses flew about the room, cutting through victims, snuffing out life as they breezed carelessly through the air. Hermione and Ginny fought desperately, their eyesight a blur of red haze, driven on by their need for revenge. Hermione hated them, they had taken an innocent life, something that should never be done.
Hermione hated Draco. She wanted to see him suffer for what he had done.
Within minutes, most of the Death Eaters had been incapacitated by the wand work of Harry, Ginny, and Hermione. Harry was still dueling a particularly stubborn Death Eater, and Ginny was tending to Fred, still vainly trying to coax any sort of life out of him, but Hermione's sights were on someone else. She walked towards Draco, her eyes ablaze with fury, the wand that she had stolen from a Death Eater ready to do her bidding.
"Hermione." Draco started weakly.
"Don't even try to reason with me, Draco Malfoy. It's much too late for that." Hermione said, shooting a curse at him. Draco blocked it, but he did not fight back.
"Hermione, please, I didn't mean for that to happen." Draco argued, knowing that his words would have no affect on her while she was so furious.
"Oh, you didn't mean for Fred to die? Just like you didn't mean to leave me broken-hearted, crushed, with nothing left to live for? Just like you didn't mean to accept the position of Dark Lord, just like you didn't mean to turn on all of us? It just sort of happened, huh?" Hermione spat venomously.
"No, Hermione… Hermione, please…" Draco said in the weakest, quietest voice that had ever escaped his lips.
Hermione shot another curse, but Draco parried with a shield. Still he did not attack her, still he did not fight back, even though his life was in danger.
"Why don't you fight me, Draco? You've shown us many times you're not afraid of hurting me. Why is this any different?" Hermione continued to rant, her voice like poison to Draco, flowing deeper into him with every heartbeat.
Draco shouted, "Because I love you, Hermione!"
Hermione's wand faltered, but not for very long. Her eyes showed a memory of the softness that they had once had, long ago, but they were replaced by the coldness that had so vehemently engulfed her life. "I'm not falling for your lies again, Draco. I don't care how many times you say it, I won't ever let myself go so far again. Your deceit might have worked on me then, but it never will again."
Draco plowed onward, his determination still strong even in the face of Hermione's doubts. "Hermione, it killed me when I left you! But don't you realize what they would have done to you, knowing who you are? By the time they were done with you, you would have been dreaming about a quick and painless death. It was the only way!"
"SHUT UP! Don't you dare talk to me like you're some kind of pitiful martyr! You did it all just so you could be the Dark Lord, a position you could give up at any time. If you really loved me, you never would have gone down that path." Hermione spat, shooting another curse at him.
Draco expertly dodged the curse, silently thanking his fast quidditch reflexes.
"Hermione, I made a mistake. Becoming the Dark Lord isn't just something I can go back on, something I can reverse. This is who I am now, but I'm still just as much the boy who fell in love with you as I am the Dark Lord. Please, please believe me." Draco begged, something that didn't come naturally to him, but he would do whatever it took for Hermione.
"Draco, there have been too many lies, too much deceit. We'll never be the same, so it's pointless to think even for a second that we can be."
"But you're saying you want to? You're saying that if you could, if there was a way, you would want to be with me?" Draco asked. The question lie heavily upon the room, everyone straining to hear Hermione's response, knowing that the words fighting to come out would decide much more than the mere victor of this battle.
Hermione opened her mouth, preparing another vicious retort, but it died upon her tongue. If all could be forgotten, if she could be with Draco again… would she? Part of her desperately wanted to say yes, but another part of her, the more skeptical part, understood that this relationship would never truly work out. More than anything, she wanted to hush that part of herself that spoke of doubts and uncertainties. For once in her life she wanted to believe in the part that so foolishly followed a lie, the one that claimed they still had a shot in this broken and desolate world.
But she knew better than that.
She shook her head. "I don't know, Draco. All I know is that I can't trust you."
"Is that what it's going to take? Trust? Fine, I'll show you trust." Draco threw his wand away, putting himself at the mercy of Hermione. "You're the one with the wand, I'm the one who's weak and defenseless. Do whatever you want to me. Torture me, hex me, jinx me, curse me… whatever it takes. I know you're angry because of what I did to you, and I know that hoping for our relationship to be where it was is just naïve. But now, beyond the lies, beyond the deceit, beyond all the things we told each other that weren't true… you are the one with the power, you are the one that will decide. There are so many things I've never said, so many things I should've told you… but there's no time for that now. This is all I can do for you."
"You do realize that I can kill you, right?" Hermione pointed out.
"I do. But I trust you." Draco said simply.
Hermione gulped. Here was the Dark Lord, practically handing himself to her. She should kill him, end him now before he was allowed to continue his tyranny. Who knows what kind of evil things he would do if he was allowed to go free? It was her duty to kill him. She had to finish him. She had to.
She raised her wand hand, ready to kill the man she loved, the one who had caused her so much heartache. Only two words, two simple words, and it would all be over. She would never have to worry about him again. He would never hurt anybody, he would never hurt her. She would never again see those endless pale blue eyes, that breathtaking shock of white hair…
"Hermione. Don't." Ginny said, her voice small from crying.
"What? You should be the one who's encouraging me." Hermione pointed out.
Ginny sighed. "Hermione. We've already lost one person we love. There's no need to eliminate another."
"But… Ginny…"
"I read your journal, Hermione. I read the end. For once in your life, do what your heart tells you. Do what makes you happy. You've suffered enough, you deserve that much at least." Ginny offered. "And, Draco deserves to know the truth as well."
"The truth?" Draco asked, interested.
Hermione sighed. "You're right, Ginny… you're right." Hermione walked over to where the journal lay abandoned on the floor, picked it up, and handed it to Draco.
"Read the end." Hermione said simply, her voice so small the words could barely be discerned.
Draco took it from her, flipping hurriedly to the end. The fragile paper crinkled dangerously under his furious hands, threatening to crack and tear into nothing. He reached the page he had searched for, the last page of the journal, the one that would decide everything.
He read aloud,
"'Today is the day I am to deliver this journal to Dumbledore. So far the reports I've given are vague at best, telling him only that Draco's past is a dark, dark secret that we could perhaps use against him later on. I gave him no details, keeping them all in this journal to give to him in the future so he would have a written record for reference.
Draco looked at Hermione in shock at discovering this new revelation. All along he thought she had been lying to him, but in reality, she was protecting him. She betrayed her own alliances for the sake of his love.
Draco swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat, and continued reading.
However, something has happened in this relationship that serves to complicate things a tad.
Suddenly, I don't want to betray his secrets. The job I've been assigned seems so much harder now, the reality is so much more harsh than it was when I agreed to this task. I don't want this to drive us apart, I want… I want to be with him. I know now that I love him, and nothing is going to change that.
More than loyalties and divisions, more than wars fought over pointless feuds, more than the things I thought I knew so much of… more than that is love. I know now I cannot betray him, and I will tell Dumbledore so tonight. I don't know if he will brand me as a traitor, or just depend on the guilt of my conscience to be enough punishment for me, but regardless of that I've made my choice. I want him to be with me, every day, forever. I will do whatever it takes to keep his love, even if I have to fight to the ends of the earth, where the plague of war does not reach and the fingers of doubt do not choke out life. I will keep Draco's secrets, now and forever.'"
He looked into her dark, enchanting eyes, appreciating for the first time in his life the true beauty that lay within.
"I never betrayed you, Draco. All those times I said I would, every time I went to see Dumbledore… I never told him anything that would hurt you."
"Do you… still feel this way? Do you still love me?" Draco asked, looking deep into her eyes, begging to find some hint of acceptance there.
"Draco… I don't know. Nothing is the same anymore. I just don't know." Hermione answered, gazing longingly back at Fred. "All I know is that I can't talk to you right now. I just can't."
"But, Hermione-"
"Please, Draco. Just leave me alone. I have to be alone right now." Hermione answered, her thoughts wrestling for dominance within her mind, giving her a throbbing headache. She had to get out of this place, she had to sort things out for herself.
More importantly, she had to decide whether or not the words she penned so long ago were still true.
Hermione started walking away, more than ready to leave her heartache behind, but a hand on her arm stopped her. The touch sent a fire up her spine, igniting a chain of memories that had been repressed for too long.
"Wait- will I see you again?" Draco asked.
"I don't know, Draco. I just don't know."
She pulled away from the hand that had held her for so long and walked out of the room, desperately fighting the tears and distress that was threatening to overflow.