Last time:

My fingers caressed the engagement ring.

"Am I making the right decision?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, of course. You are doing what you know is right and good choice. I´m proud of you," my mind said.

And so I completely ignored my heart´s quiet response.

"No."

It was two days later and my mood was worse than I could imagine. Possibly because it was our one month anniversary with Draco. I should correct myself. It would be our one month anniversary. Now it was supposed to be a normal day I should have spent by planning the wedding. At least that´s what an engaged woman should do and not mourn about "anniversary" with her ex-boyfriend.

But I couldn´t help it. I just missed him so much.

I also couldn´t help myself to imagine what this day could be like, if I was still in Paris. Draco and I would probably already be after our morning cup of coffee and I would be preparing for a surprise he would have planned.

I crawled out of my bed and reached for a drawer. The drawer was full of my clothes, but it was also hiding a small box, which I wanted to find. I pulled it out and caressed the lid made of velvet. But I was too weak to open it.

Because it was hiding Draco´s anniversary gift.

Silver watch with small rubies around it. Silver for Slytherin and rubies for Gryffindor.

I was looking for an appropriate gift for days and now, when I had it, I couldn´t give it to him. I was wondering if he was in such a bad mood as I was.

I stood up and straightened. I still had couple of hours before I was supposed to meet Diana, our wedding counsellor to discuss the wedding dress.

I walked out of my apartment and wandered through the streets of London. I wasn´t looking for any particular place to spend my time in, but I soon found myself getting a bit further from London and before I could tell my legs to take me somewhere else, I was standing in front of the lake. The very same lake where I was standing several months ago, when I was saying goodbye with my parents. The most beautiful lake in the world. It felt good to be there again.

I sat on the nearest bench and absorbed the smell of roses in the park. I was enjoying the view on happy families with children, having fun on the first warm day after weeks of cold.

I have spent there an hour or more, just thinking about nothing particular. I didn´t want to think about Ron or the wedding. I didn´t want to think about anything. I just wanted to spend the few hours of this hectic day in quiet and peace.

"Hermione?"

I slowly stood up from the bench, but couldn´t bring myself to turn around.

By ... the ... Merlin.

"Love?"

The voice. It was so surprised, very pleasantly surprised. I could also hear tracks of sadness, caused by memories. But it was almost exactly the same second replaced with pure happiness. I am ashamed to admit that with the sound of that voice, my heart started to sing. I couldn´t help it. I just felt so...happy. When I was with Ron, it was nice, but he never caused me so much shivering, so many butterflies in stomach. Am I hallucinating? Then I realized I said those words out loud.

"No, my love, you´re not. Otherwise we would have the same hallucinations."

I turned around. Draco was looking at me like he couldn´t believe I´m real. Before I knew, he closed the gap between us. He was so close. Either he got more handsome or I never fully appreciated his looks. I saw every single detail on his face. His pervasive grey eyes, perfectly curved lips. God, how I missed him.

"Hermione, you are shaking. Is everything alright?"

"No, it´s not. I´m afraid..."

"What is it, love? What are you afraid of?"

"I´m afraid...I´m afraid I´ll stop having this hallucination."

Draco smiled and his eyes captured mine. I was hypnotized. I felt that every part of my body was happy to be with him again. I understood him, I trusted him and (oh, what´s the point of denying it?) I loved him. I wrapped my hands around his neck.

"Draco," I whispered just before our lips met. He reacted immediately. He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to his body. I felt his hand in my hair and the other one still remaining on my waist.

This wasn´t a hallucination. It was all real.

And it was perfect.

Our lips were moving in a perfect harmony. His light cinnamon scent hit my nose and I moaned in pleasure. We embraced closer, if that was even possible. My hand was exploring his body. I felt his heart beating as fast as mine, maybe even faster. His stomach muscles were straining, but at my touch, they relaxed. I was holding an angel, cold and stunning. This person, this amazing person was all mine.

The first tear streamed down my face. In amazement, I realized that Draco was crying as well. I felt his tears on my tongue and chills ran over my body. I never had such a beautiful feeling during kissing. Not even with Ron.

Ron!

It took all my self-control, but eventually I managed to push Draco away. For a few minutes, I completely forgot about Ron. My FIANCÉ Ron!

"In my dreams, this kiss lasted a bit longer, but still...This was incredible," Draco breathed behind me.

"I´m glad you liked it," I hissed at him, suddenly filled with anger.

Draco gave me a confused look. "What´s gotten into you?"

I came closer to him. I finally made my decision and there he was, flawless as always, forcing me to change my mind. He perhaps didn´t know about it, but still.

"The second you find out about me being with other man, you have to come back to my life and try to change my opinion!" I yelled in frustration.

"What are you talking about? What other man?" Draco demanded an explanation.

My eyes narrowed. Was he making fun of me? I waved with my hand in front of his face. The diamond on the ring flashed and the spark reflected in his eyes.

"I´m talking about Ron, of course. My fiancé."

The last tracks of smile disappeared from his face. He went to the bench I was sitting on until now and sat on it. He put his head to his palms. He looked absolutely destroyed. I slowly sat next to him.

"You didn´t know, did you?"

Draco shook his head. It was a total image of desperation. My arm reached out to touch his shoulder, but eventually I pulled my hand away. We remained silent for a few minutes. Then, Draco turned his face to me, smiling weirdly.

"Congratulations, then. Although I feel a bit touched that I didn´t get an invitation."

"Draco..."

"It´s fine, love. Just let me ask. Does he make you happy?"

"Draco, I..."

He grabbed my hand. First, I wanted to pull away, but then I held it tightly.

"Just answer my questions and then I´ll leave your life forever."

"But first, I have a question, too."

"Feel free to ask."

"What are you doing here?" I wanted to know.

He almost laughed. "I thought you´d be happier to see me. Just for the record, I had no idea you will be here. I thought you moved somewhere to Alaska to finally be free from all the troubles and drama."

"Aren´t you avoiding my question? Why did you leave Paris?"

"Let´s just say that I had no reason to stay there anymore," he eyed me. So, I ruined his work and his stay in Paris because he fell in love with me. Great.

"And now you. Does that freckled face make you happy?"

I thought about that. Ron and I have been through a lot. He was my best friend since I was eleven. We may have fought many times but we always made up. He knew me and I knew him. I knew his flaws and he knew mine and we still remained friends. Every laugh caused by him flashed in my head. Then I finally spoke:

"Yes. Ron makes me very happy."

He nodded.

"When is the celebration?"

"Exactly in a week."

He gasped: "So soon?"

I nodded. I shared his thoughts. It was very soon, but I didn't want to have much time so I won´t change my mind again.

"Draco..."

"Do you love him?" he asked me quickly, as if it was the last thing that can make difference. It was the only thing he could depend on right now.

"Well, that´s a very hard question."

He laughed. I always liked his laugh. I never heard him laughing at Hogwarts, only when he was making fun of me. His real laugh was deep; it showed me the real Draco Malfoy. But this laugh was different. It was too forced.

"What? The brightest witch of our age doesn´t know the answer? Come on, it´s a very easy question. Either yes or no."

"That´s really none of your business. I´m out of here."

I stood up to leave, but he refused to release my hand.

"Draco, let me go!"

"Do you love him? Answer me!"

"Malfoy, I´m not joking. Let me go, now!"

He froze a bit as I called him Malfoy, but still held my hand tightly. He stood up and faced me.

"I´ll let you. Under one condition. Look me in the eyes and tell me you have no more feelings for me."

I gasped. That was completely against the nature. Of course I loved him.

I loved Draco Lucius Malfoy with every part of my being.

But for his own sake, he had to let me go. And the only way to make him to was to convince him I have no feelings for him.

I took a deep breath and took his face in my palms. For a second, I thought I couldn´t do it. I was never good at lying.

"You´re doing this for his own good," I reminded myself. I stared in his eyes and then properly pronounced the biggest lie of my life:

"Draco, I don´t have any more feelings for you. I don´t love you anymore."

He took a few steps back, deeply wounded by my words. I had what I wanted. He let me go. I turned around, prepared to leave. I moved slowly, because my body was screaming at me to go back to Draco.

"You´re lying," he whispered behind me.

I turned around just in time to see, how Draco takes his wand out his pocket. I grabbed my own and shouted "Protego" at the same second as he shouted "Legilimens".

My mind was suddenly full of Draco´s memories. Strange was, that I couldn´t just see those memories. What Draco felt, I felt as well.

Draco calling me a Mudblood. I felt how sorry he was.

Draco watching me laughing with Harry and Ron. I felt how jealous he was.

Draco becoming a Death Eater. His shame.

Me, showing up in Paris. His surprise.

Our first kiss. His happiness.

And then, memories when I left France.

Draco was standing in Monsieur de Vitte´s office.

"I believe you have heard, Mr. Malfoy, that Ms. Granger has decided to end her job here in Paris," Minister said, sitting in his chair.

"Yes, I have heard," Draco said, trying to hold back his emotions. He was standing by the window, his forehead touching it slightly. I was wondering if he was remembering some of our experiences.

"And you don´t know why she actually left?"

"I know nothing more than you do. She left over night without saying goodbye."

His voice failed him, I noticed that. And I started to feel really terrible. I hurt him so much.

"I see. Well, even though I feel sorry for loosing such a great ambassador, this thing can´t ruin our cooperation."

Minister stood up and walked towards Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, meet your new partner. Ms. Ruby Crawley."

For the first time, I realized that Minister and Draco weren´t alone in the office. There was also a small woman with auburn hair and green eyes. She was very pretty. That made my heart skip a beat.

Draco, on the other hand, hasn´t seemed to notice it. He walked to her and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"No, no, it´s...it´s my pleasure," Ruby said, blushing. I felt a sudden urge to increase her blush with a slap.

Memory changed. I was confused. What was Draco doing in my apartment? I came closer. He looked like he himself didn´t know what he was doing there. His eyes were chasing every detail. Then his face turned into the anger expression.

"How could you?" he screamed and pushed a lamp on the table. It hit the ground and crashed into pieces.

"What have I done to deserve this behaviour?"

He threw away documents on my table. He was mad. He was running in circles around my apartment, destroying everything standing in his way. Once there was nothing left, he sat in the middle of the mess and finally began to cry.

"How could you leave me? I love you, Hermione!"

I saw enough, so I broke the spell. Both Draco and I fell on the grass. I was touched, shocked, confused. Draco and I have discussed Occlumency so many times and I knew he was a real master in it. Why didn´t he stop me? Either he was too unfocused or he wanted me to see it. The look in his eyes convinced me; he wanted me to see everything.

"So you know it now. Nobody has ever loved anybody as much as I love you. Whatever may happen, however you decide, my feelings towards you will never change."

With those words, he stood up and disapparated. I was lying on the grass, unable to catch my breath. Three words kept resonating in my head, over and over again.

I love you...I love you...I love you.

I got this chapter done kind of quickly, right? I´m still not very satisfied with it, because I wanted it to be better, but hey-ho, I decided to post it, so you guys won´t wait so long. It´s also shorter than the last one, but I wanted this chapter to be focused on the meeting with Draco and everything about it. We´ve got only one more chapter to go, can you believe it, darlings? Only one chapter and an epilogue but still, only one to go. I can´t wait to write it, but it might take a while, because I´m leaving on Sunday. But I will definitely write and try to post it as soon as possible. Perhaps one day, I will also re-write this chapter, so it will be as good as I want it to be. And for now, my lovelies, try not to torture yourself by imagining the last chapter of Decisions and enjoy this one. Write in reviews what you think about this chapter.
Betty xxx