Time for Draco to finally accept a very valuable lesson...

Chapter 26

The following weeks slipped by almost in a daze, with only the occasional apparition lesson to break up the monotony of classes. Easter holidays came and went but neither Harry, Ron, Hermione, nor Draco went home for the short break, all of them choosing to stay in the castle.

The chance to spend more time with Draco felt like a blessing; Hermione knew that, with the approaching of the end of term, their time together was rapidly coming to an end. She could feel the date looming over her like a physical thing: a beast come to devour them.

At the moment, though, things felt almost…normal. A bit of a dangerous thing to think these days, when nothing was really normal anymore, but things were certainly quiet. Other than classes and schoolwork, there wasn't really much happening and for that, Hermione was grateful.

She had time with Draco in the evenings and, in addition to learning and practicing every type of advanced defensive magic that Hermione could find in the library, they spent it learning about one another. She learned that he loved apples, that he ate them at nearly every meal in some shape or form. It had made so much sense, considering the fact that he always smelled of apples, and she could taste them on his tongue every time she kissed him. She also learned, much to her amusement considering her parents' profession, that Draco possessed a horrendous sweet tooth. He loved pretty much every type of sweet, and always had, but his favorites were sugar quills. Hermione had relished in the surprised look on his face when she had informed him that the sugary sticks were also her parents' favorite wizarding treats; his shock at having something in common with Muggles had been rather amusing for her.

Draco in turn learned that Hermione rarely ate candies herself, a consequence of growing up with Muggle teeth healers as her parents, but she nearly always indulged in dessert after dinner when she was here at Hogwarts. He learned that she absolutely loved Butterbeer, as well, although she preferred hers with a bit of ginger.

They strove to keep things light whenever they could; both could feel the huge change that would come soon, something dark and ominous that was brewing just beyond the horizon. It was palpable, like the static that charged the air and made a person's hairs stand on end just before lightning struck. They both wanted to sit back and savor every single minute that they had together before the storm hit.

Both Draco and Hermione passed their apparition tests on the first try, not surprising for number one and two in their year, and they were nearly successful in forgetting that they were stuck in a game of life or death. The feeling wouldn't last for long, though…

Tuesday started like most of the days that had come before. It was cool outside, and nearly just as cool in the stone hallways of the ancient castle. Students walked from class to class with their house scarves wrapped warmly around their necks to keep them warm in the drafty hallways. Draco made his way to the Great Hall after his morning classes for lunch, feeling light-hearted and almost…content.

Taking a seat between Theo and Blaise, he joked along with the two boys as they filled their plates. The smiles that they wore at his mild-mannered teasing were proof of their relief at the glimmer of their once-jovial friend returning to them once again. Draco smirked as Blaise did a particularly good impression of Slughorn from class the day before. Although he pretended not to care, Theo was more than a little miffed at having been jilted from the Slug Club and, therefore, had decided that he was less than fond of their Potions professor. Blaise, while a member of the Club himself, really could care less about being in the group but his innate Slytherin cunningness at knowing the value of cultivating relationships for personal gain had convinced him to stay in the club, but he cared for the Professor about as much as Theo did. As a result, it had become somewhat of a running joke between his two friends to mock the Professor's strange tendencies and way of speaking.

Something quickly caught Draco's eye that wiped the smirk right off his face in the blink of an eye, though. He had just glanced up at the doors of the Great Hall at the same moment Katie Bell walked through them. Her friends in Gryffindor House surrounded her immediately, hugging her warmly and welcoming her back; after all, she had been in St Mungo's for over six months, and they were overjoyed to see her back, and fully recovered. Draco, however, was not; while he was happy that she was alive and well, the last place he wanted her to be was here.

Theo looked over, confused by Draco's sudden silence, to see that his friend had suddenly gone as white as a ghost.

"Drake? Are you okay?"

Theo was legitimately concerned that his friend might actually pass out right there at the table, so bloodless had his face become. Draco just nodded his head jerkily before looking down at his plate, not speaking for the rest of their lunch period. He didn't eat another bite, simply pushing the food around on his plate with his fork.

Draco could feel his emotions spiraling out of control. He spent the rest of the afternoon in a fog, not paying attention to a single word that was said by any of his professors. The only thought that he could focus on, that occupied every ounce of brainpower that he possessed, was of what had happened to her… because of him.

And what if she remembered? What if she saw him and somehow figured out that he was the one who had given her that necklace? He had used the Imperious Curse on her to force her to take the item to the Headmaster; they would send him to Azkaban for that, assuming his Master did not kill him for his stupidity first. He could feel himself spiraling into a full-blown panic, but he honestly didn't know how to stop it.

That evening, Hermione sat at the dinner table talking to Ron and Harry while they all ate. She had nearly finished her meal when, with an idle glance at the Slytherin table, she noticed that Draco wasn't there. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Draco hadn't missed dinner now in months, and she was instantly concerned. Why was he not there? What was wrong…

Her brain instantly supplied her with the answer when her eyes alighted upon Katie, who sat a few seats down the table from herself, Harry, and Ron. Of course…she finished the last bite of her sandwich, then grabbed her bag and with a quick wave at the boys, she excused herself from the table. As soon as she was out of eyesight of everyone in the Great Hall, she took off for the Room of Requirement at a near sprint. She didn't want to leave him alone any longer than he had already been; there was no telling where his mind was right now.

She paced the hallway in front the tapestry that had become so familiar she hardly noticed it anymore. Breathing heavily as she waited the interminable seconds until the door appeared, she burst through the portal that appeared in the solid stone wall as soon as it materialized. Draco sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace with a hollow, broken look on his too-pale face. His lips were swollen and red, as if he had been chewing on them for hours; she figured she probably had been. He sat in his white shirt and dress slacks, robes and green and silver scarf thrown carelessly in a heap on the sofa.

She walked over to him, dropping to her knees beside him, then nudged him until he turned to face her.

"Draco? Tell me what's going on in that head of yours."

"She's going to remember, Hermione," he said, so softly that she almost didn't hear him.

Hermione didn't need to ask who he was talking about. She knew that he needed to get it all out, though. Like poison in a wound, it needed to be drawn out in its entirety, or else it would fester.

"Who, Draco?"

"Bell…I cursed her, and then she almost died…all because of me. I deserve to die for what I did to her!"

His voice was hoarse and panicky but filled with absolute conviction. Hermione refused to accept it.

"Draco, that's not true. Yes, you did something wrong, something that could have ended horribly. But it didn't. Katie is okay; it'll all be okay."

"Are you really that naïve," Draco snapped at her, fire blazing in his eyes and turning them to a molten quicksilver that melted away the vacant emptiness that had been there upon her arrival in the room, "that you still don't see what I am, Granger? Why would you risk your soul by tainting it with this?"

He aggressively pushed up the sleeve that concealed his left forearm as he spoke to show her his Dark Mark. It was the first time that he had ever willingly shown it to her, and Hermione took a moment to examine it, knowing that to pretend it wasn't there would be foolish and detrimental to the point she needed to get across to him. His Mark was a very real thing that existed between the two them, but not necessarily in the way that he perceived it to be.

The skin around the black brand was red and angry looking; if it had been a Muggle tattoo, Hermione would have said that it was infected. Infection indicated that the body was fighting off something that didn't belong in the host's body, and that was exactly what Draco's body was doing to the brand on his arm. His body was fighting against its presence, and it was that point that Draco had yet to realize for himself. It wasn't the Mark itself that Hermione saw in that moment, but rather the rejection of the Mark and everything that it symbolized; that was what was important to her.

Looking back up into his mercurial eyes, she simply stared at him for a moment, letting him truly see her resolve. Then she reached out and took hold of both sides of his face in a gentle but firm grip so that he could not look away from her, making him her captive audience of sorts, while she spoke to him from her heart.

"I'm not sure how many times I've said this to you, Draco Malfoy, but clearly you have yet to truly hear what it is that I'm saying to you, so I'll say it again. There is nothing that you can do that would cause me to NOT love you anymore. No matter what happens, I will still be there by your side. Yes, what you did was wrong. Katie may never be able to forgive you for your actions, although knowing her like I do, I'm sure that she will understand that you were acting against your better judgement and never meant for her to get hurt in the process.

"I do forgive you, Draco, and I am proud to stand by your side. Do you know why?" she asked him, waiting for the shake of his head that she knew would follow before she continued speaking. "I am proud of you because you have CHOSEN to stand at our side, in spite of everything that has happened to you, in spite of the consequences that could befall you as a result. That takes more strength than you could ever realize.

"That is why I love you, and that is why I am here with you now and will continue to stay by your side no matter what. That is why you cannot give up on yourself. You are worth fighting for; the fact that you cannot see that for yourself simply proves it to be true."

She paused and stared at him intently for a moment longer before speaking again, more quietly this time.

"Do you love me, Draco?" she asked timidly.

One lone tear slipped down his pale cheek as he immediately answered her question.

"Always," he whispered brokenly to her.

"That is why I am staying," she said, a radiant smile lighting up her face as she leaned in to press a kiss to his lips. This wasn't a passionate kiss, no sexual undertones accompanying it and pushing for more. This kiss was full of love and acceptance, of healing. Draco could feel it all the way to the depths of his soul as it rushed through him and filled those vacant holes inside that he hadn't even known were there.

In that moment, he made the decision to finally try to forgive himself: even if no one else apart from Hermione could do the same. He couldn't change what had already been done, what he had done to others in the past. What he could control was what he chose to do from this day forward. It was time to stop punishing himself for his past and begin looking toward his future, whatever that future may hold for him.

Song Inspiration: Unconditionally – Katy Perry

It seems like our boy has FINALLY accepted what Hermione has been trying to tell him all along!

For everyone rolling their eyes at that now-cliche word that always shows up in HP fanfics, I'm sorry (not sorry) but I just couldn't help myself.

sbz