I was trying desperately to get another chapter out before going in to work today, and I succeeded!

Hope you all like it!

Chapter 16

That evening, Hermione made her way to the Room of Requirement. Harry had received a letter from Professor Dumbledore earlier that day saying that they would be meeting that evening, so she knew that her time tonight would have to be short; she would need to be in the Common Room when Harry returned so that she, Harry, and Ron could talk through the newest memory together, as they always did. However, she had wanted to see Draco, even if only for a short while.

She spotted Draco as soon as she walked into the room. He was sitting on the floor with his legs drawn up and pulled tightly to his chest, arms locked around them, and staring morosely into the fire. He looked…vulnerable.

Hermione stood, unmoving, in the doorway for a few moments simply watching him; his only movement was the slight rise and fall of his back caused by the steady ins and outs of his breathing. She finally walked over to him slowly, sinking down onto the floor beside him. They sat there, side by side, the silence between them left unbroken.

Draco had been there for quite a while, an hour at least, before Hermione had arrived. He had sat in that exact spot, unmoving, simply thinking. That morning, when he had finally accepted how he felt about her, he had felt content: happy, even. As the day had worn on, however, he had realized exactly just how stupid and naïve he had been.

He was a fucking Death Eater, for Salazar's sake! He was sworn to the Dark Lord's army, and if the Dark Lord ever managed to slip through his defenses, even for just a moment, and find out about Hermione…

Just thinking about the kinds of torture that monster would inflict upon the brave, beautiful woman that Draco was growing to care for so deeply made him want to vomit.

How can I do this to her? He had thought, berating himself repeatedly throughout the whole day. How can I be so selfish, so self-centered?

And to top it all off, he was planning on letting his fellow Death Eaters into their school, into what was her home for most of each year and had been for six years. He didn't want to think about what they would do to her if they happened upon her while inside the school, but the horrific visions had flashed across his eyes every time he blinked.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the subject of his musings sat down beside him: the scent of flowers, peaches, and sweet vanilla drifted gently to his nose and swam through his senses. She didn't say anything for several long moments and neither did he, both sitting there in a silence only broken by the soft crackling of the logs in the fireplace in front of them.

Finally, Hermione reached out to him, grabbing one of his hands and threading her fingers through his. He looked to his left where she sat beside him; her legs were pulled up in a mirror image of his own, and the arm that was not holding his hand was lain across the shelf created by her knees, her head resting on top. She was studying him with an intense, solemn look in her beautiful, cinnamon-colored eyes.

"What are you thinking about, Draco?"

For a brief moment he debated lying to her but decided against it. Why not let her know the truth? Perhaps, if she knew just how dangerous he was to her, she would heed his warning and stay away from him. Salazar knew Draco wasn't strong enough to stay away from her himself.

"I'm dangerous to you, Granger," he said softly, voice full of conviction. "If a single person finds out that you've been helping me, that we are friends at all…"

Hermione sat quietly for a moment, staring into his eyes; he was certain that her gaze penetrated all the way to his very soul. Then she turned to face him fully. He watched as she reached out with the arm that had been supporting her head to grab for his left arm. He pulled away automatically, a hiss escaping from between his clenched teeth. She just shook her head wordlessly, reaching for it again and succeeding this time in grabbing ahold of his wrist in a gentle grip. She pushed up his sleeve with her right hand, baring his forearm to her gaze, before covering his now-exposed Dark mark with the same hand. The contact of her cool hand on his Mark, which had burned since his punishment from the Dark Lord, was like a soothing balm, and Draco let out a soft groan.

"Draco, look at me," she said, voice quiet but a vein of steel running through her words. When grey met brown, she continued.

"You are more than just this Mark on your skin. It does not define who you are. It's your choices now, your decision to be better now, that decides who you are, not a choice that was made for you under threat of torture or death."

He felt the moisture pricking at the backs of his eyes and tried to push back the tears that he knew were coming but realized that it was a losing battle that he fought with himself. He had thought, for so long now, that he was utterly irredeemable. To hear someone who was so pure, and light, and…good… tell him that he was not defined by the brand upon his body was indescribable, whether he believed the words or not.

He knew that she was wrong, though. It wasn't his actions, his choice to finally do the right thing for once in his life, that had made him come anywhere close to being redeemable. It was her. His eyes dropped to the place where her small hand covered the gruesome, hateful scar as she continued to speak.

"I have already chosen to stand with you, Draco, and I will continue to stand with you, regardless of the consequences. We are a team now, after all," she added with a small smirk. "I will not abandon you out of fear, whether that fear be yours or my own. You will just have to get used to the fact that you are not alone anymore."

He watched her hand leave his arm and felt her fingers under his chin, lifting his gaze to meet her own. Then she was leaning in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, and he ignored the tears that finally slipped free to trail down his cheeks as he kissed her back gently. Their kiss was unhurried, comforting, easy. It was also enlightening, because at that moment, he knew; he loved this witch. And he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

He also realized at that moment that he was still the same selfish bastard he had always been, because he would do whatever it took to keep her for himself. There was nothing on earth in that moment, other than his witch herself, that could make him let her go.

Song Inspiration: Heart by Heart -Demi Lovato

sbz