AN1: I was looking at the drop-down menu of all my chapters and got an overwhelming sense of pride. I haven't given up on this story yet! I'm more than halfway to one hundred chapters! Thanks for all the support that you guys have given me along the way. I wouldn't even be this far without you all!

Disclaimer: I own...nothing Harry Potter related...except maybe the odd piece of merchandise here and there.

NOTE: This is the third and FINAL, (read: FINAL) part of the Valentines Day trilogy.

GO BACK AND RE-READ CHAPTERS 45 and then 51. This is the one that follows those two. Okay? Just go! You won't understand if you start from here with no prior knowledge of the story. I promise you.

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Hermione stayed in her spot in the Astronomy tower, crying for what must have been at least an hour. She had heard the bell while she was up there and knew that she was missing Transfiguration, but at this point, she didn't really care. She was too miserable.

Meanwhile, in Professor McGonagall's classroom, the absence of Hermione had been noticed instantly.

"Where is Ms. Granger?" McGonagall addressed the class of Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Not one of them knew. They exchanged glances among one another and shrugged. The only two that looked remotely worried were none other than Draco and Harry.

"Erm, professor?" Harry said.

"Yes?" She glanced at him sternly over her glasses.

"Hermione isn't feeling well, she's very ill."

Professor McGonagall didn't look to have believed him, but she let it slide. "Very well then; see to it that she knows what she's missed." With that being the final say in the matter, she began to teach the class how to transfigure mocking birds into quills.

After class, Harry rushed out and waited outside the door. He gave Ron a flimsy excuse and told him to go on to Defense without him. Ron shrugged and went on his way while Harry waited. Finally, Draco walked out of the Transfiguration room. He did so with dread, for he knew that Harry would be waiting for him. With a sigh, he walked towards his fate in resignation.

"Potter," He said coldly to the boy waiting for him, as he so predictably knew that he would be.

"Malfoy."

"Do you need something?" He asked in a cool tone. He wasn't going to let on that he knew; he was going to make the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Annoy-Voldemort ask him what he wanted.

"Look, I'm going to get to the point. I know what happened and I know what's been happening. I am completely ashamed of both Hermione and of Ron, and I apologize on their behalves. I know for a fact that Hermione feels terrible."

"She should."

"Yes she should, and she does. I have never seen her more torn up in all seven years of knowing her. I ran into her on my way to class and she was headed the opposite way. And she was in quite a state. I think that she may have gone to the—"

"—Astronomy tower. Potter, despite the fact that I am really, really, good looking, I do have brains and I do know Hermione. Or at least I thought I did." He said the last part to himself in an undertone. The other boy heard and chose to ignore it. "But I know that whenever she needs to think or to get time to herself, she goes to the tower."

"So you'll go?"

"I never said that." Draco snapped.

"Please Malfoy, please go to her. I'm not asking you to forgive her; I'm just asking to make sure she's okay. I don't think she's the insane type to jump off the tower, but then again, I didn't think that she was the insane type to date a Slytherin either." He laughed slightly.

"Whatever. Just tell Professor Lupin that I had to take care of some business."

Harry sighed in relief. "Thank you, Malfoy."

The nodded curtly and headed for the Astronomy tower. Draco was at the foot of the stairs when he heard sobs from where he was standing. Without a second thought, he bolted up the rest of the way up. He—and Potter, he thought rather reluctantly—had been right. Upon entering the tower, he saw Hermione, huddled in the corner, her body shaking from the sobs she was eliciting.

Hermione heard the footsteps and looked up. She saw a blurry figure through her tears. "I must be hallucinating," she murmured to herself.

The figure approached her and crouched down to her level. Hermione stopped crying for a moment to see who it was. When she saw Draco, she burst into loud sobs again. "Now I know that I'm hallucinating!"

Even though, just mere hours ago, she had broken his heart, he couldn't stand to see her like this. To see the normally strong and fierce Hermione Granger crying in a corner would bring even the toughest person down. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered softly.

"It's okay, you don't have to cry. I'm right here."

She looked up and met his dark blue eyes thorough her tear-filled brown ones. It really was him. But...why?

"Why are you here? Have you heard what happened? Have you come to gloat and say that I got what I deserved?" Her voice shook.

Draco looked confused. "What do you mean got what you deserved? What happened?"

The story came out. How she caught Ron with Lavender, how she slapped him, what she heard Lavender say, all of it.

At the end of her tale, Draco was muttering various curses under his breath. Hermione laughed slightly and it turned to a hiccup.

"Why do you care?" She asked warily. "I ruined our relationship. I cheated on you. You should be laughing at me."

"Just because we're over doesn't mean that I can watch you cry and not want to soothe you."

The waterworks started up again, but this time, they were punctuated with laughs.

"What now?" Draco asked half exasperated and half amused.

"You're too amazing. I didn't deserve you when I had you and I definitely don't now,"

An awkward silence followed that pronouncement and Hermione silently berated herself for saying that. How was he supposed to respond to that? Well the fat was in the fire already, to stoke it wouldn't make it too much worse, she reasoned.

"Do you think that you could ever take me back?" Was the question that came from Hermione's lips. Little did she know, Draco was wondering the same thing. He never stopped loving her. He had wanted to, so much, the moment that he had seen her with Ron, but something about her had a stubborn hold on his heart. But that didn't change the fact that she had lost his trust and relationships are nothing without trust.

"I don't know, Hermione." He said honestly. "I don't know."

She had expected as much. She hung her head in shame. It was her fault that they were over and she had no right to try and get him back after what she had done. "I understand."

"No, I don't think you do."

The Gryffindor looked up in confusion. "What?"

"I know that I should hex you for what you've done to me, but even though I feel it would be fair, I can't hurt you. You still have a hold on me." His honesty surprised them both. "Look, I don't know if things can ever go back to how they were, but I do still care for you and I do want to mend things."

Hermione wiped the traces of tears off of her face and stood up with a small grin on her face. It wasn't back to normal, but it was certainly a start. And it was much, much more than she deserved. He slipped his arm through hers and together, they walked out of the Astronomy Tower to their next class, leaving the sadness behind and going towards what would hopefully be, a better day.

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AN2: Yay! The reviews for the last chapter were awesome! Thank you!! That's most of why I'm updating two days earlier than my plan!

If I stay on track with one chapter a week, then I should have eight chapters out over the course of the summer. So I should have, at the minimum, chapter sixty-four posted before I start school again. But my goal is to have chapter sixty-five, maybe sixty-six posted before I start school again.

Help me reach my goal by continuing to review! It really does help motivate me! Thank you!