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Chapter 23

Draco was silent. He had no idea what to do next. He knew how hard it would be, mainly on Hermione, if they were together. Aldon wouldn't approve and he knew how much she cared about her brother. And should Hermione really stay here with him? She would never see her home, her friends, or her family again. Could he really ask her to give up everything just to be with him?

If he somehow managed to convince Aldon to take him back with them, Draco would be leaving everything behind just to be with Hermione. And quite frankly, that freaked him out. He was scared to go to a whole new world or wherever Hermione was from. And from the sound of it, her home was VERY different. Arranged marriages, weird clothes, and most of all the VAMPIRES. From the few things Hermione had actually told him about her home, every powerful person was a vampire. And Hermione's family was the leader of everyone.

That was another thing! Hermione was heir to that powerful kingdom. She couldn't stay with him. He would have to go with her. And as much as he wanted to be with her, he wasn't sure if he really could do that. He loved her more than anything, so he should be able to give up everything for her. But…well that wasn't easy for a Malfoy. He was a rich kid and the thought of losing everything for a chance to be with someone sounded…stupid. After all, fairytale happy endings just didn't happen in real life.

So what it all came down to was…who would give up their lives for a chance at love? No…no there HAD to be another way. Some kinda loophole…some way for this to work…right? He couldn't give up his life, and he couldn't ask Hermione to give up her life…but he was NOT going to just let her go so easily.

"Draco?" Hermione asked to break the silence.

"Yeah?" he asked absentmindedly.

"What now?" she asked again.

"I…don't know…" he admitted.

"Maybe…we should just…forget it and pretend this never happened," she suggested.

"No!" he said angrily. He couldn't forget this. He couldn't pretend he didn't love her and she didn't love him. He couldn't just give up! No! NO!

"Draco…" Hermione said sadly. It's not like she wanted to either…there was just no other way.

"I can't…and I won't let you go so easily. No way," Draco said.

Hermione watched him carefully. She searched his face for any uncertainty, any hint that he wasn't serious or that he would change his mind. From the smile that spread across her face, Draco could tell she found none. That was good. He looked as serious as he felt. She nodded and smiled up at him. Draco pulled her into a kiss. He felt her tense for a moment in shock, but quickly relaxed and even got into it.

When they separated, Hermione looked over Draco's shoulder and instantly tensed. Draco turned his head and he could swear his heart stopped. Standing there….was Aldon. Right then, Draco knew he was dead. Aldon was seriously going to kill him. He knew it. Shit! This is not how it was supposed to happen!

"O-onii-sama," Hermione started. Since he was still holding her, he could feel her shake slightly. She was scared too. Well that made him feel SLIGHTLY better. At least he wasn't the only one who was freaking out. But then again…if Hermione was scared…there really was no hope for him. He was dead. Shit! RUN!

But no matter how much his head screamed for him to run, he couldn't even move. He was frozen. Just as he felt he could at least TRY to run, he felt Hermione's grip tighten around his waist. He looked down at her and felt all fear melt away. No. He couldn't run and leave her here. He couldn't leave her. He had to stay and defend her. He had to stay and defend THEM. He WANTED to stay. He was going to die, but he didn't even care anymore. He stood up straight and looked Aldon in the eyes. He couldn't find the words, but his look said everything.

"I see," Aldon said quietly. He turned and started walking away.

"O-onii-sama!" Hermione called after him. She released Draco and tried to follow him. Draco simply tightened his grip on Hermione and whispered "Don't" in her ear. She looked at him uncertainly for a moment before relaxing slightly and nodding.

"Is this…really the right thing to do?" Hermione mumbled into his chest.

"Probably not, but I'm not going to back down," Draco said.

"I love you," Hermione mumbled.

"Me too," Draco said as he kissed the top of her head.

"We should probably get back now," Hermione said with a hint of regret in her voice.

"Probably…but let's just stay here a bit longer," Draco said. She nodded and moved her arms up to wrap around his neck. Draco pulled her over to a tree and they sat against it, with Hermione between his legs. He buried his face in her hair. She smelt so good…like piña collada.

He stopped when he heard an...unusual sound. He listened carefully and noticed she was purring. He felt the grin spread across his face. She was just too cute. He started to pet her and her purr grew louder. He found the magic spot when he scratched behind her ear. She nuzzled his hand and purred even harder. He barely held in the laugh that threatened to escape his lips. He knew if he dead, he would completely ruin the moment and he was NOT going to let that happen.

But unfortunately, he lost the little bit of control he had when she said one word. That word was, "nya." He laughed and she stopped. She turned to face him and glared at him.

"What?" she asked angrily.

"You're just too cute for words," He said with a grin. He really had tried not to laugh, but he just couldn't help it! But she apparently didn't like this answer. She turned around and stood with an angry glare shot over her shoulder directly at him. She took a step away from him, only to be yanked back down into Draco's lap. He held her wrists together with one hand and held her waist with his other hand.

"Let go!" she demanded.

"No," he said with a growing smirk.

"Jerk," she said as she tried to yank her wrists free.

"But you love me~!" Draco said with that stupid smirk of his.

"Sh-shut up!" Hermione said with a blush.

"You're cute when you blush," he said barely above a whisper.

"Shut up," she said as her blush deepened and she tried to look away. Because of Draco's lack of hands, he decided to improvise. In one swift move, he switched their positions so that he had her pressed against the tree, successfully pinning her waist and wrists between his body and the tree. With his now free hand, he held her chin at a tilt to look him directly in the eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" he asked with feigned innocence.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help the small smile that crossed her lips. He was an idiot, but he was her idiot.

"I guess you could say…I don't like to lose," Draco said as he leaned down only centimeters away from her face. Hermione felt her cheeks heat up, but she didn't even care right then.

He kissed her and felt her relax again. Draco pulled away suddenly and he was sure he heard her whimper, but he realized what they were doing before all this had started. "Shit!" he said as he stood. He pulled her to her feet and started pulling her towards the school.

"What?" she asked as she stumbled around before finally regaining her footing.

"I forgot about Henry," he said with a sigh.

"Oh," she said with a tint of guilt in her voice. She forgot too. She hadn't meant to, she really didn't….

Draco rushed into his room, pulling Hermione behind him. "Henry!" Draco called.

End of chapter 23! Hope ya like it! Sorry it took so long to update, but I hope it was worth it! Please R&R! Luv ya! BYE~! =^^=