Eighteen. Hermione
I wasn't quite sure what was happening. My feelings were jumbled around everywhere; one minute I hated him, the next I was about to kiss him. I couldn't think about it anymore, it was beginning to hurt my head. I wondered what it was I would usually do when in a predicament like this. But I realised what I would do I now couldn't. This would have been a perfect time to go down to Hagrid's for a drink and rock cakes. I laughed a bit, remembering how my teeth would almost snap when I bit into them.

So now I was stuck, I didn't know what to do. I tried reading a book but after reading the same page for about ten minutes I decided to give up. I jumped up off the bed and decided to go and give Harry a visit, I hadn't spoken to him properly all year, he was always so busy. I actually felt quite left out and slightly ashamed of myself for not showing more interest. So I hurried off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.

Swinging the portrait open I looked around to find the room quite empty, it was a Sunday morning, I supposed most people were still in bed. I was about to make my way up to the boys dormitories to wake Harry when I spotted him in the corner, tightly knitted together with a certain red head. I stifled back a laugh as I decided not to bother them and headed back out of the room. Well, I would have not disturbed them had a little black cat not been lying just behind me as I turned to leave. I stumbled forwards trying to keep my balance but it was no use, within seconds I had landed flat on my back bringing down with me, the table.

I was sorry for disturbing them; they hardly had time together anymore. Harry was always off looking for horcruxes and anytime he wasn't he was too worried to be near Ginny. The experiences he had on his searches made his want for them not to be together worse. But he loved her, and there was no way he could never be near her.

"What the..?" Harry had torn himself away from Ginny and drew out his wand, pointing it in my direction before he realised who it was.

"Oh guys, I'm sooo sorry. I tried leaving quietly but that stupid cat was curled up right behind me and I just lost my balance and fell. I…I'll leave now I just came to see you Harry but I can come back later." I babbled, turning to leave before I was called back.

"No Mione. I really need to get to the library anyway. I'll see you later." Ginny smiled at me as she left the room, although I could tell she was slightly annoyed.

Harry made his way over to me and I looked at him apologetically. He just smiled and ushered me to a seat.

"So stranger, what was it you need to see me for?" He said with a smile, which revealed a missing tooth and, as I looked closer I could see a deep gash just beneath his ear, which was still bleeding.

I gasped, "Harry, your bleeding."

"Oh," he answered. "Yes well, Ron and I have just come back from another search and I haven't quite cleaned myself up yet." I raised an eyebrow to this as I waved my wand over his cut which healed immediately. He said thanks and I instantly started questioning him about his quests.

"Well, last night we went to Godricks Hollow." My shocked expression made him laugh. "I know, we went there already with a failed attempt at finding the house but on our journeys last week we came across a very wise old man." The last time Harry, Ron and I had gone to Godricks Hollow we couldn't find Harry's old house. As Pettigrew was the secret keeper it was only if he told us where it was that we could find it. The whole place was a mess, rubble everywhere; that was the only remains.

"It was when we went to the Riddle's old house. I know Dumbledore had been there and destroyed that horcrux but I wanted the experience of being there. Anyway, just a little down from the manor is a village, where we stopped for a drink. Now this was a muggle village so you can imagine my curiosity when I saw someone sat in there with a cloak on, pulled up around his face and with a hood. The cloak was astonishingly blue and the man was drawing in funny looks so Ron and I decided we'd go check him out; just to be on the safe side.

So as we approach him he doesn't look up, Ron coughs so that he knows our presence there but all he does is put up a hand which was gloved. With the other hand he took a swig of his drink; still not showing his face. Eventually he tells us to sit down, which we did without question. Then he says "Harry Potter, may I ask how your quest is going?" Now obviously im in complete shock." He said as I clasped my hand over my mouth. "I turn my head to look at Ron, who's mouth is agape and just manages to stutter out, "How do you know?" He does a little cough which strangely reminded me of someone so I asked if he could reveal himself. He completely ignores the question and instead asks again how the quest is going.

Ron's, you know how hot headed he gets, temper is rising and he is clearly worried that someone random knows about this. He pulls his wand out and stood up pointing it down at the old guy. This obviously drew attention and the man, without a wand, made Ron's wand fly into his, which he caught in his left hand. Now I found this weird, Ron didn't notice. I know for a fact that everyone uses their right hand to hold a wand, so the clogs are twisting in my head but I soon forgot about them as he began to talk. "I suggest you try Godricks hollow once more, im pretty sure there's something there you will find," he said. Ron answered by saying something about a bunch of deatheaters now that he knows but, I couldn't help but trust him. There was something about him that made me want to listen to what he had to say, even though Ron was trying to drag me out of the Café.

So I told him about how we can't do that because there is nothing there and no where to search and he tells me, "Well I heard you were a smart wizard Harry. Have you not tried a quite simple spell to summon your belongings?" I stared at him in disbelief, I honestly thought he had something interesting to say and I couldn't believe he thought that would work."

"Oh my god Harry, why did I not think of that?" I scolded myself for not thinking of the simplest thing. Dumbledore always said with magic things are usually simpler than they appear.

"Shh, Hermione don't spoil my ending." He laughed. "Right, anyway, he laughed at me. He said that I should not underestimate things and that being taught under Albus Dumbledore I should have known better. So that was it, he mentioned Dumbledore and had me. I was certain now that it would work and, saying thank you we left him."

"And headed for Godricks hollow?" I asked excitedly.

"Well we would have had we not bumped into this man a little further up the road. He stopped us and told us to go straight back to school for now. He said that we are missing out on a lot of our education and being back in school for a week will give us rest because we had to be careful with this one. He said that finding this horcux would make it the last one before Voldemort himself and we couldn't be certain he won't try to stop us. Now this was the weird part. We said thanks once again but this time Ron shook his hand, his gloved hand. He had tried to pull away just before but was too late and as Ron grasped it and he pulled back the glove came off to reveal that he had no hand. His wand hand was completely amputated and upon seeing this he disapperated. Leaving us in complete shock as we too disapperated back to Hogsmade."

I sat there for a while, my mouth hung open until the appearance of Ron brought me back to my senses.

"Oh, it's just you two." He said as he instantly turned to leave. I immediately grabbed his arm and spun him round before he could walk out; he looked at my arm with a disgusted look on his face.

"Ronald, don't look at me like I am filth!" I shouted at him. He was being such a prat. He let out a chocked laugh before he attempted to leave again, only to be called back by Harry with a very stern voice.

"Listen mate, stop feeling all sorry for yourself because you were too much of a whimp to take a chance with Hermione. This is all your fault and you're taking it out on her, it isn't fair." I could tell Harry was really angry and was pleased that he stood up for me; he usually took Ron's side.

I smiled at Harry and Ron whispered something that sounded like a sorry before settling himself in a seat opposite us.

"Anyway," I continued giving Ron, who was examining his nails ashamedly, a side-ways glance. "Carry on Harry, what happened last night."

"Oh ye, right, well uhh… Ok so last night we went back to Godricks Hollow." He smiled at the excitement in my face and I heard Ron shuffle a bit in his seat, obviously getting ready to help explain. "We went under invisibility cloaks but when we got there we couldn't see anyone so removed them; seeing as it would be easier to move around that way. Anyways, bad idea; as soon as we pulled them off 20 or so deatheaters also removed invisibility cloaks. Seems they anticipated our ideas." He frowned slightly and Ron now decided to join in.

"Ye but there could have been 200 hundred and we would have taken them on easily," he said, "Isn't that right Harry?" He said, Harry looked at him confused.

"Ron, we barely handled the 20 of them, God forbid if there was anymore. We wouldn't be here to be telling you this." He said; the clear worry in his voice of what could have been. "The sight must have been amazing, green lights flying everywhere; well everywhere bar at me. They were all aiming them at Ron; obviously Voldermort wants me taken to him first still. I was quite surprised he didn't turn up."

I turned to look at Ron, "Oh my God you must have been so worried Ron? Did you think you were going to die, I would have. How the hell did you manage to stay alive?" I shot all these questions at him and he answered them happily.

"Oh yes." He said, puffing his chest out slightly and glancing at Harry before he continued. "I thought I was done for, to be honest. At one point a killing curse just flew past my ear, I swear my heart stop for a second from the power it gave off, being so close to me. I wasn't that worried though, I'm not afraid of death." He finished, lifting his head up high. Harry let out a chocked laugh.

"Not afraid of death?" He asked laughing so much he struggled to release his sentence. "Ron, you spent most of the time hid behind a wall muttering, "God don't let me die, I'm too young to die. I have so much to offer this world. Please, please, please let their killing curses hit all them so they fuck off!!" And that curse that just flew past your ear was my stunning spell because there was a deatheater right behind you." Harry and I burst out laughing and Ron, in a strop at being humiliated, again, stood and left the common room, slamming the portrait shut behind him.

I turned to Harry as our laughter died down. "God I've missed being able to do this," he said smiling. The truth was; I had to. Things had changed so much in the last year that I barely spent any time with Harry and Ron anymore. And it was a miracle if I saw Ginny for more than 20 minutes.

"Ye, me to." I replied, returning the smile. "So what happened in the end?" I asked, anxious to know why they hadn't got the horcrux.

"Well we had to apperate out of that place. Deatheaters were appearing everywhere; there was no way we could take them all on. I was also kind of worried that Voldermort would turn up. I don't think Ron's quite ready to face him yet, which worries me. You can guarantee he's going to go after him sooner or later." He looked down at his knees. "I also think you should be careful Hermione, I don't want him going after you as well."

I could here the worry in his voice, "Harry, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." I tried reassuring him with a confident smile, which just hid my fear.

"I know Hermione, trust me I do. It's just, well. Neville told me he's seen you leaving the castle a lot over the past couple of months. Now I'm not going to pry into your business and ask why, I just want you to know that I care about you. I've noticed you being a bit odd lately and if there's anything you want to talk about, anything at all, im here," he said. "And I won't judge. I just needed to tell you that, okay?"

I could feel tears threatening to fall. Harry was one of my closest friends and I felt awful hiding this from him. "I know Harry." I said, rising to leave. I hugged him and headed for the portrait where I stopped and turned, "thank you Harry, for everything."

I was glad he had told me that. Well, kind of. It made me feel better because I knew that I could probably tell Harry but, it made me feel worse because i felt guilty. He was so understanding; not trying to find out where I'd been going. I had to tell him, soon. I decided to write to Draco telling him I was coming to see him, I supposed I had to let Draco know my plan.

Seventeen. Draco
you just don't understand…
I had a letter from a familiar barn owl. The wind out side was blowing so strong it missed the window and flew into the wall instead. I read the letter and knew she would be arriving sooner than it said. The owl probably took longer than expected from the harsh winds so I was not surprised when there was a knock at the door and I opened it to see her stood there.

The wind wiped her hair around her and made her un-done jacket fly out behind her. She looked breath taking and unable to speak properly I motioned for her to come in. She immediately took a seat on the floor and after conjuring a drink, I sat opposite her.

"What is love?" She asked me, but before I could even think of an answer to this she carried on. "What does it define?" I cocked an eyebrow up slightly with a questioning look. "Who's to say and who's to draw the line?" I did not have a clue what she was on about.

"Hermione i…"

"In this world and all its fuss, who's to say it's love or just a crush?" I got it, she didn't think I loved her. She thought it was just a little crush. I was getting fed up with her not believing me.

"Do you know how confusing you are?" I asked. "You are the most confusing person in the world. Sometimes you confuse me so much I get confused about why I am so crazy about you." She looked down at her crossed legs and only when she had brought her eyes back up to mine did I continue.

"You just don't understand do you?" I asked rhetorically. "Hermione I love you. I need you to believe me. No actually I don't need you to believe me I just need you to know. I need you to know how much I am hurting without you, how sad I am when you're not around. I know all this is my fault but I can't turn back time and if I could, trust me I would." I could tell she was taking it all in as her eyes began searching mine.

"I hate the way you can push me to the limits with the things you do." I held my breath and shut my eyes; I didn't think I could take another shot of her disbelief. "Then you know just the right time to say something sweet to make me fall in love all over again and I forget every little reason why I was mad." My eyes shot up to look at her but she wasn't looking back at me. Her eyes were staring up at the ceiling and I pleaded for her to look back at me, but she never. "Don't say you love me unless it's true because I might do something stupid like believe you."

With that she brought her eyes back down to look at me, her cheeks were tear stained. "Draco Ill always remember when I first met you. You had the most beautiful eyes. When we first kissed, even though I didn't know it was you, I could hardly breathe. So when I see you suffering I'm sad with you. I'm just afraid of falling in love with you, trying not to let myself get too close. I'm afraid I have nothing to offer you and I don't have the courage to try. I'm just afraid of falling in love with you. Perhaps one day I won't be able to hold back. Thinking of you just makes it harder. I just can't help falling in love with you."

I moved so that I was sat next to her and I took her hands in mine, staring into those beautiful chocolate brown eyes. "Hermione don't try and stop it. I know what you're afraid off but I am incapable of doing anything to hurt you."

I needed to hold her so much, to kiss her. I could feel her hands shaking in mine and held back my erg; there was no way I would do anything to upset her. So I just sat there, in silence. After a while she relaxed and her hands stopped shaking. Slowly she moved towards me and lent her head on my chest. I placed my hand on her back and eventually I felt her breath become heavy and I knew she was asleep.

I leaned back against the wall until I to fell asleep, but not for long. I soon awoke with the feeling I was being watched.

Nineteen. Hermione
I didn't even realise I had fallen asleep. The last couple of days had caught up with me. All the stress of finding out about Draco left me as I laid there with my head on his chest. It felt so right. His slow breaths made me relax so much, that I fell asleep.

I awoke after a short while, still feeling tired but ready to be awake. I lifted my head softly to look up at Draco. He had also fallen asleep but in a position that looked slightly less comfortable than mine. I looked at him for a while and found myself unable to look away. I had always liked him and never in my entire life had I expected him to love me. Looking at him there I saw him in a totally different light.

I had always thought he was attractive, fit as the girls at school would put it. But he just looked perfect, beautiful even. His flawless skin and platinum blonde hair made him unique in every way.

Just as I was enjoying the sight his eyes flickered open and I was greeted by his amazing blue/silver eyes. Instantly his mouth formed into a smile, I could get used to that smile.

"Morning beautiful," I said.

"Afternoon," he replied. "And it was I that was meant to say that not you," he added with a smirk which once made my blood boil but now, made my heart melt.

I giggled slightly but quickly stopped as I felt his eyes on me.

Eighteen. Draco
I love you…
She was the perfect sight to wake up to, I could get used to this, I thought. I couldn't hold back any longer and the moment felt perfect. I was sure she understood now and would not try to accuse me of hurting her.

I wanted to make sure I did it right, I needed her to see that I meant it. I looked into her eyes and instantly she looked back, she knew what was about to happen and didn't try to stop it; which was a good sign. I had never felt this way, my palms were sweaty and my heart was racing. I had kissed plenty of girls. So many in fact I had lost count; which made me even more certain that it was love.

"I love you," I said, moving closer slightly until our mouths were mere inches apart.

She smiled "I love you to." My heart raced frantically and although I couldn't see my face I could feel the stupid grin plastered all over it. The moment was perfect and I instantly pulled her into me kissing her fervently. Electricity ran through my body and she pushed her self needingly into me. Slowly I hesitantly pulled away, softly placing a few kisses on her lips before saying with a smile, "finally."