Disclaimer: All credit goes to J.K. Rowling! :)

A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story!

A special thank you to Kazfeist for motivating me! :)

P.S If you notice grammar and/or spelling mistakes could you PM me? My beta appears to be MIA! I was going to invite her down tonight to have a girly night in (parents are out, I'm all alone) but no such luck!

Anyway this is chapter 8! Please Review!

They stared at each other for a moment, both trying to come up with the courage to say something. Hermione had to remember to breathe. In and out. Slowly. Carefully.

She tried to remember what she was going to say. But no words reached her lips. All she wanted to do was to grab him and kiss him but she knew that wouldn't have been met with a favourable reaction. She knew she had to explain herself. To explain her side of the story. To tell him everything she had felt as she had left him five years ago. To tell him everything she had felt only two hours earlier.

She had to make him see that he was her everything. That he was her m'anam chara. That nothing would change that. Nothing. She would see to that. She wouldn't hurt him again. She couldn't. Leaving him had caused her the worst pain she had ever felt in her life. It tore through her. It never relented.

The pain was still there. She had learned how to act as if everything was perfect. She had learned to pretend that the never-ending dull throb in her chest didn't exist. Nobody else knew about it. But she did. And that was all that mattered. Her memories were still there to torture her. She didn't want to remember but she knew she was destined never to forget.

Every minute of every day she felt it. The ache. The pain. Every second she cursed her own actions five years ago. No words were strong enough to describe the distaste she had felt towards herself when she had arrived back to the encampment that night, all those years ago. Sure, she may have thought it was for the best but nothing could satisfy the pain she had felt. Nothing ever had completely.

She was here to make things right. She would beg for forgiveness if she had to. She would do anything to feel that happiness again. The happiness she had only ever achieved with Draco. She would do anything to make him happy again. She had put him through so much.

She knew now that she should have tried.

She knew that she needed him now more than ever.

She knew she wanted him, only him, for the rest of her life.

She knew that he was her m'anam chara and that she would strike down anyone who ever stood between them again.

She also knew that if Draco asked her to leave right now she would. If it was what he wanted. If he couldn't find it in his heart to forgive her. Then she would walk away. Even if it killed her.

She would die trying.

Draco broke the silence. He breathed deeply. "Cén fath go bhfuil tú ann?" he asked. His voice was low and rough.

(Draco broke the silence. He breathed deeply. "Why are you here?" he asked. His voice was low and rough.)

"Anois an t-am." She said. She tried to show confidence. To show determination. She looked him in the eyes. This was her last chance. She would have no more. This was her last shot at getting everything she had ever wanted. She wasn't going to give up. Not for anything.

("Now's the time")

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word.

"Caithfidh mé a rá…tá mé i ngrá leatsa freisin."

("I have to say…I'm in love with you too")

"Céard atá á rá leat? Éirigh as nó duitse is measa." He wasn't willing to put his heart in her hands. Not again. She had already crushed it twice.

("What are you saying? Stop or you'll pay for it.")

"Tá sé fíor. Nach bhfuil aon mhuinín agat agam?"

("It's true. Don't you have any trust in me?")

"Creidim thú…ach…" he murmured quietly.

("I believe you…but…")

"Ná cloisim 'ach' uait." She stepped towards him, holding her hand out as if to touch her cheek. "Tá mé i ngrá leat."

("I don't want to hear 'but' from you" She stepped towards him, holding her hand out as if to touch her cheek. "I'm in love with you")

He moved a step back from her. She dropped her hand. "Fuadach ort. Cailleach." He spat. "Céard atá uait?"

(He moved a step back from her. She dropped her hand. "Damn you. Witch." He spat. "What do you want?")

"Tusa" she whispered. Defiance showed in her eyes but he didn't dare to hope. What if she should decide that she didn't want him there by her side once again? He didn't want to go through that again. What happened between the two of them had left him guarded. He had built up a wall; one he thought couldn't be breached.

But when he heard about her engagement he knew he had to see her again. He had to know. He had to know if it had really been that easy for her to move onto someone else. Seeing her again had been hard. Difficult. Challenging. And most of all painful. She had rejected him again. Was this just some kind of sick game to her?

("You")

"Tá tú ag magadh fúm anois." He turned his eyes away.

("You're mocking me now.")

"An dóigh leat?" she questioned softly.

("Do you think so?")

"N'fheadar" he pinched the top of his nose between his thumb and fore-finger. He didn't know what to believe anymore.

("I don't know")

"Ní bréag é."

("It's not a lie")

He shook his head and turned away. He didn't think he could do this anymore. "Ní féidir a chur ina luí orm"

(He shook his head and turned away. He didn't think he could do this anymore. "Nothing will convince me.")

Hermione knew that she would just have to do her utmost to prove him wrong.

She wouldn't give up on them. The two of them. Together.

Not again.

They were meant for each other.

She knew that.

But did Draco?

Please Review!

Lots of Love,

Shadowdustxxx