"Harry!" Hermione flung her arms around him. Her bushy brown hair was all over his face. "What were you thinking?" she cried.
"I didn't want to see you so miserable anymore," Harry muttered.
"Well I'm glad they caught up with you before you did anything crazy..." Harry looked her in the eyes.
"We found him, Hermione." She looked at him sharply.
"Is he okay?"
"He'll be okay," Professor Dumbledore interrupted. They were in the Gryffindor common room. Remus and Tonks had left them once they had convinced Harry to come back to Hogwarts. Harry and Professor Dumbledore took the next train home. They had arrived early in the morning. Hermione and Ron were still up. Professor Dumbledore told Hermione almost everything that had happened since they had left them. He left out some parts like how Draco was tied to a chair. He did tell her how he was under the Imperius Curse but it was wearing off quickly.
"So... he said he's not going to come on our side?" Hermione said tentatively. Harry shook his head.
"He did say he wanted to say good-bye to you though," Harry added. Hermione looked at the floor. They could all see tears welling up in her eyes.
"I'm going to head back to my office and catch up on some sleep," said Professor Dumbledore. He patted Hermione on the back and nodded to Ron. He turned towards Harry and whispered in his ear,
"Take good care of her." Then he turned on his heel and left the common room.
"I'm tired," Hermione declared. "I'm going to head off to bed." She turned quickly, trying not to let Ron and Harry see her tears but they saw them. They flowed down her face and both Harry and Ron felt an emptiness in their stomachs. Ron looked at Harry.
"What was the house like?" So Harry told Ron in more detail what had happened. Ron shook his head after Harry had finished.
"You're absolutely crazy, Harry." Harry smiled slightly. They both decided to head up to bed.
They slept most of the day. They were excused from their classes. It took Hermione awhile to get back to her normal self, but she eventually did. She started to answer all of the teachers’ questions correctly, and continued to get amazing marks on her tests. It was a whole month before someone brought up Draco.
"I wonder where Malfoy ended up," Ron said one evening as they were all sitting in the Gryffindor common room finishing up homework. Hermione didn't even lift her head from her homework.
"I don't know," she said. "He's okay though." Harry and Ron both stared at her. She continued to do her homework. Ron shrugged at Harry and they continued their homework too.
Two months later, the workload increased, Ron got back together with his girlfriend, Sophie, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team one the Quidditch Cup. Hermione was walking to her Transfiguration class when she heard a very familiar voice.
"Yeah, Mother said this summer can go to loads of different places and she'll get me all these expensive stuff from Italy." Hermione dropped her books. At the end of the hallway was Draco. He was walking with Crabbe and Goyle strutting around like he used to. Hermione felt dizzy. It was like nothing had ever happened between them. Like the whole big thing had been a dream, a fantasy that Hermione had. Draco noticed her. He walked up to her.
"Geez, Granger. Dropping books just anywhere. People could get hurt." Draco started gathering her books. Hermione stared at him. She noticed him slip a small, folded piece of paper into one of her books.
"Be more careful next time." He looked in her eyes. They seemed to be trying to tell her something. He turned, caught up with Crabbe and Goyle and walked away. Hermione felt winded. She ran to the nearest girls’ loo, ran into a stall, dropped all of her books and took out the white piece of paper. She opened it slowly:
Hermione,
Please meet me at our spot tonight at 8:00.
Draco
Hermione clutched the note to her heart. Her heart started pounding and she had to sit down. Our spot... eight...
Hermione's legs were shaking. Harry and Ron didn't ask, but they had both noticed Draco at school today, so they could guess.
"I'll be back soon, I think," Hermione told them. She couldn't walk straight down the stairs to the Great Hall, her legs were shaking too much. She stumbled across the grounds to the bushes she and Draco had sat in so many times. She bushwhacked into the middle where she knew there was a small clearing. He was already there. He seemed to have been pacing.
"Hermione," he whispered softly. Hermione couldn't hold it. Tears started to flow down her face.
"Hermione," Draco said again. He reached his hand out to grab hers but she pulled away.
"You're on the other side now, Draco, "Hermione said. She looked into his eyes as she said this.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. Hermione felt her legs threatening to give out. And then they did. Draco dropped to the ground with her and embraced her.
"You don't understand, I need to... once You-Know-Who is..." Hermione nodded her head.
"I... think I understand." Draco continued to embrace her. Hermione leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. She forgot how much she missed him. They sat there holding onto each other for a long time, well into the night.