A/N: For the record I started to write this chapter the day after I chucked up chapter 20 so it's been in the works for a while. This will be the final instalment of this story. I was going to write it like a song fic but have changed my mind because there are so many songs that fit it so well. So I'm going to tell you to down load the ones that came close…do this for me, possibly make a play list of all of them and listen to them while reading this chapter. While I'm typing this one up I've been listening to a play list I made to make sure this is romantic and beautiful, like the music.
So Close – Jon McLaughlin
Every Time We Touch (slow version) – Cascada
Last Request – Paolo Nutini
This Must Be Love – Phil Collins
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room – John Mayer (try for an acoustic version)
Won't Go Home Without You – Maroon 5
Songbird – Eva Cassidy
You Give Me Something – James Morrison
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic – The Police
Sound Of White – Missy Higgins
Disclaimer: As this is my last disclaimer for this story I was going to do something funny, but, as fate would have it I couldn't come up with anything funny. But if Harry Potter belonged to me Draco and Hermione would be well and truly together and the books would be called things like Harry Potter and His Incredibly Sexy Enemy Draco Malfoy…so obviously I don't own anything…and all the books are printed now so I have no hope of getting that in.
Last Chapter, at the house.
Hermione smiled from behind her half mask. It was dark purple and was covered in gold and purple sparkles in an intricate design Hermione had made herself. Dark mascara and black eyeliner framed her large brown eyes; her lips were ruby red and slightly glossed making them look huge and rather kissable, even if Draco only thought that to himself. Her dress was the same dark shade of purple as her mask; it fit tightly to her navel, where it flayed out like Cinderella's ball gown. At the top of the strapless fit there was some beaded detail accentuating the small amount of cleavage Hermione had allowed to show out of her attire. Her hair was out and fell down her back in elegant curls, her dark hair, dress and mask played against her white skin, giving her a gentle radiance. On her feet was a pair of gold slippers to match her gold drop earings and the sparkles on her mask. She smiled and held out a hand to Draco, who took it and led the way out to the Limousin, climbing in Draco felt he had to say something funny so in a stroke of brilliance he remarked, "Wow Granger you scrub up well, who'd have thought?"
"Well, I would have thought you Malfoy" Hermione answered rolling her eyes. But she knew that Draco was content just to be here, to be with her. She looked at him and saw the smile that had spread rapidly across his face, he was happy.
A comfortable silence settled over the car for the remainder of the trip both teens in separate thoughts, they were heading home tomorrow and they weren't the same people who left. This was especially true of Draco, not only had he spent weeks being completely civil to his most sworn enemy; he felt something strong for her. He was afraid of what would happen when they returned, he knew Weasley would want his head, even more than he had before; Potter had come around to the idea easily, though Draco suspected he wasn't exactly pleased, he respected Hermione enough to let her make her own decisions. Draco reached out and took Hermione's hand absent mindedly, interlacing his fingers with hers. He was happy to be with her for now, but he couldn't help thinking about the future and whether this thing they had could last or were they fated to fail?
Pulling up outside of the elegant motel where the mask was being held Draco was reminded of his house. The outside was ornate, small details could be seen in the stone work and there was a fountain in the middle of the round driveway. The doorway was large and white, fairy lights twinkled from behind the glass panels, reaching into his pocket Draco produced the tickets he and Hermione had purchased a week into their stay in Fiji, he looked at Hermione and led her through the door.
Inside there was an abundance of couples walking towards the ballroom, Hermione tugged a little on Draco's arm leading him in the direction of the doorway everyone seemed to be walking into.
Hermione uttered a gasp of appreciation when she entered the room; it was beautifully decorated in all sliver. There were couples tables situated around the outside of the immense dance floor, all of them were covered in silver tables cloths, and had 4 balloons floating up from the centre piece of the table. The soft glow of candlelight was the only light source in the entire room, giving it a truly romantic feel.
Draco and Hermione found a vacant table and put Hermione's handbag on it to claim it as their own. Taking Hermione's hand Draco led her onto the dance floor spinning her around and capturing her in his arms again. Leaning in his lips gently brushed against hers, sending a shiver down her spine. It was impossible to say how long they stayed like that before the tempo of the music changed and Hermione lead the way to the drink station.
Draco handed Hermione a glass of white wine, and offered his spare arm to her leading them to their reserved table. Hermione smiled taking a sip of her wine and allowed Draco to lead her to their table. The couple sat opposite each other, each staring into the others eyes intently.
"What's going to happen tomorrow Draco?" Hermione asked quietly, placing her forefinger on the edge of her glass.
"Let's not talk about that, let's just enjoy tonight, you never know what tomorrow brings. So, let's not worry about it until it comes, ok love?" Draco answered, knowing that if they discussed tomorrow it would taint the entire night. Hermione nodded in agreence and settled back into her seat.
The two teens sat in silence for a while sipping at they're glasses and swaying to the rhythm of the music pulsing through the room. Hermione smiled as another masked dancer walked over and offered his hand to her, she accepted and was led to the dance floor where a fast paced song was playing. Draco watched, from his seat at the table, as Hermione danced wildly to the beat. He couldn't help but to feel proud that he had such an amazing person by his side, she was truly beautiful. He stood from his seat and offered his hand to another young woman sitting a few tables away from his own.
Both Draco and Hermione danced several dances with various partners and only made it back to each other when the next slow song began. All the dancers on the floor partnered up and a slow song came floating out of the speakers. The two 7th years swayed to the melody of the music. Draco leant close to Hermione's ear and whispered the words that he'd wanted to say for so long.
"I love you, Hermione."
"I love you too, Draco" she murmured into his shoulder, where her head was resting. She could smell his scent; it filled her nose, smooth, subtle and spicy, it was a smell she looked forward to waking up to every day.
"Well, isn't this lovely?" Came a very familiar drawl. Draco looked up into eyes that looked so much like his own; only, in his father's eyes he saw nothing but hatred. The music had cut out abruptly and a circle of masked dancers had formed around the confrontation.
"Father," Draco said, managing to resist the urge to physically spit the word out, "to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Do not tempt me with your insolence Draco, the Dark Lord is already putting strain on our family for your behaviour" Lucius said evenly, the tone of his voice sending a shiver of fear though the crowd.
"I was not attempting to temp you father, I was merely behaving as you would, you did teach me quite well" Draco replied as evenly as his father but with more of a concrete expression than pure chill.
Hermione stood next to Draco, witnessing a miraculous change in his behaviour. It was undeniable that he was Lucius Malfoy's son, their mannerisms were mimicking each other as one tried to stare the other down. In the end Lucius looked away first and a very familiar smirk appeared on Draco's face. He was victorious for now.
"I see yourself and the Mudblood are enjoying each other's company" Lucius said glaring white-hot pokers Hermione.
"The politicly correct term is Muggle-born father, and I don't believe that it should be an issue here" Draco growled, casting a short glance at Hermione.
"You," Lucius hissed, "need to learn to control your tongue."
"I, don't need to do anything" Draco replied, cocking an eyebrow in challenge.
Lucius smirked and raised his wand to his son and, as calmly as if he had taken a sedative, said in a dead tone voice, "crucio."
Draco's body fell to the floor contorting in muscle spasms that brought tears to the eyes of many of the spectators. Draco remained completely silent, not wanting to give his father the satisfaction of hearing him scream. There were few things that Lucius Malfoy took pleasure in, one of the few was the pained screams and pleadings of his victims.
When Lucius removed the curse, Draco took a couple of deep breaths and pulled himself to his feet breathing heavily. There were unshed tears shining in his eyes and a small drop of blood sliding down his chin from where he had bit his lip to stop from crying out. Hermione stared on in disbelief but did not make a move because it would show weakness for both herself and Draco in Lucius' eyes, weakness was something Lucius could work with; she refused to give him the ammunition.
"What about you? Are you not meant to be the brightest witch of your age? Why are you not speaking, or fighting me? Not got your friend Potter's stupidity for speaking up inappropriately?" Lucius said turning to his attention to Hermione.
"Me? Bright witch of my age, you say it like it's a bad thing. Don't feel bad that a Mudblood has beaten your perfect pureblood son; it's not really your fault. And as for Harry speaking up inappropriately, well, I don't know about that, he merely states facts that Voldemort finds unnerving. Does it bother you that a 17-year-old boy unnerves your "Dark Lord"?" Hermione said staring intently at Lucius, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Unnerves the Dark Lord? Oh, you silly, silly girl, nothing unnerves the Dark Lord. And it is certainly not Potter or any of his little friends. But you shall feel the power of the Dark Lord…CRUC…" Lucius fell to the floor screaming in pain as Draco wielded his wand over his father. Hermione had seen strong magic but this was unbelievable.
"Don't you ever, EVER, raise your wand at her, ever" Draco was yelling at Lucius as he howled in pain. "What was it you always said to me? Oh yes, you have to mean it. Well, I suppose this is what you meant, I mean it."
On each of the last three words there was an extra surge of power coursing through Draco, causing an animalistic sound to escape his father's lips. Then abruptly he pulled his wand up and removed the curse. Lucius lay on the floor breathing heavily, covered in sweat, in the foetal position. Rolling over onto his hands and knees, he coughed and took a deep breath, before pushing himself to his feet and rounding on his son. His eyes were still a little groggy with pain but they zeroed in on Hermione and summoning all his energy he pointed his wand at her.
"AVADA KEDAVRA"
There was a flash of green light and then a loudly audible thud as a body hit the ground. The room was eerily silent, then it exploded into applause, the muggles all around them believing this was merely part of the festivities. Hermione feel to her knees, gripping the front of Draco's jacket, willing him to wake up but knowing that he never would.
It had all happened so fast, it was only when Draco's body had started to fall that she had realised that he had jumped in front of her. She reached up and brushed some hair out of his eyes, which were staring at the ceiling un-seeingly. His face was still warm as Hermione kissed him on the cheek, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in his smell trying to give it a place in her mind. The tears now flowed freely from her eyes, heaving breaths racked her body. The term heartbroken finally made sense as she felt her insides squirm and right where her heart was ached and pained her as if someone had opened her up and ripped it out. She placed a kiss on Draco's forehead and looked away, her tears falling on her cheeks and sliding down as far as the top of her dress.
Lucius Malfoy stared in disbelief as the Granger girl moved on the floor; she kissed his son on the forehead and looked away, pulling her knees up to meet her face and she began to rock. Her voice came floating hauntingly away from her body choked by tears, she was singing. She was singing. Lucius looked at his son, horror was written all over his face and still the girl sang.
"Because your kiss, your kiss is on my list.
Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in life…"
At the end of this line her voice broke and her sobs were deafeningly quiet. The singular best thing in her life had been snatched away from her after only a brief month. This wasn't how it was supposed to end, not for her, for them. She looked up into the horror stricken face of Lucius Malfoy and pure hatred coursed through her body.
"YOU," she screamed shrilly at him, "you did this to him."
Lucius returned her gaze.
"How could you? How COULD you?" Hermione climbed to her feet and pulled her wand out of a pocket in the folds of her dress and pressed the tip against Lucius' chest. "I should kill you, but he wouldn't have wanted that for me, so I won't. You're a disgusting human being, with no respect for life; I hope you burn in hell."
Lucius Malfoy continued to stare straight into Hermione's eyes, not breaking contact. He lifted his hand to his head and ran his hands through his hair, a gesture Hermione had seen Draco do when he was upset or frustrated, this only served to make her more angry.
Hermione felt her blood coursing through her, pounding in her ears, her eyes became blurry and her breath caught in her throat. Then she was falling, collapsing forward, her wand clattered to the ground as Lucius struggled to hold her limp figure from hitting the ground. His grimace showed that it was an effort.
"I'll take her Lucius, if you'll just stay hear until some ministry officials come for you" Albus Dumbledore's voice rang out over the shocked silence of the room. Without a word Lucius handed Hermione's limp body into his arms and stood still, staring at his son.
There was a crack and Dobby the house elf was standing next to Dumbledore nodding at instructions, his tennis ball eyes looking in the direction of his former master and following the vector of his gaze to the pale figure of Draco lying on the floor.
"…now if you could do that quickly for me Dobby, that would be very helpful" Dumbledore finished.
"Of course Professor Dumbledore sir" and with another crack to house elf was gone again.
"Miss. Granger? Hermione?" Dumbledore poured some potion down her throat and Hermione slowly came to.
"Professor?" She asked groggily, "Professor, we just dancing and then…and then, he came and then they argued and then there was green light and…and…"
As Hermione trailed off she looked in Draco's direction fresh tears welling up in her eyes.
"He was just trying to protect me…" Hermione turned to the Professor and buried her head in his shoulder, Dumbledore did his best to comfort her, though he thought that Dobby's presence would bring him some help. As if on command there was another crack and Dobby ran over to Dumbledore pulling a bewildered Harry Potter after him.
"Professor Dumbledore sir, I have found Harry Potter" the elf bowed deep and stepped back.
"Harry, I apologise for inconveniencing you, but I feel Miss. Granger may need you" Dumbledore explained gesturing to Hermione as Harry sat down next to him.
Harry touched Hermione's shoulder and she instantly looked at him, there was a small, sad smile playing on her lips at seeing him. He took her in his arms and stroked her hair, listening as she rambled to him. He kissed the top of her head and looked at Draco's bluing lips and lifted Hermione to her feet, not wanting her to have to be here anymore.
"No" she yelled he had and physically wounded her, she broke away from him and was next to Draco before he'd even seen her move. She stroked his hair and smiled through her tears remembering the last few weeks, and then she was crying uncontrollably again.
Two men in Ministy Of Magic robes arrived to escort Lucius to his waiting cell in Azkaban. They each pointed their wands at him and lead him outside to a safe apparition point. Harry approached Hermione touching her shoulder again. She kissed Draco's cheek and stood up supported by Harry.
"Let's go home, Hermione."
A/N: And that's all she wrote, she being me of course. I hope that it was devastatingly good. I do love a good tragedy! So that's all there is for this story, it's taken me literally 2 years to the day!!!! So I would like to thank every reviewer, you guys keep me going and improve my writing…I'm going to miss you all but I think it's time we ended this…sorry. But you aren't off the hook just yet…you must review this chapter, if you favourite it or you've got it on alert now is the time to review…coz there shall be no more. Oh I almost forgot, the perfect ending to this story is the song Dreaming With A Broken Heart - John Mayer, now I'm not asking I'm telling you to download it and listen to the words...changing female pronouns to male ones.
I feel sad that it'll be the last time I say this in this story but,
Much Love and Later Dayz
Manda
XOXO
…bye…I really don't want this to be over…