Author's Note: I really wanted to get this up before exams, but I couldn't so please forgive me. I urge you to read this chapter carefully despite its length because it explains a lot of things. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

I sat on the floor with Delilah. We were about to do some of the usual after-meditation, which came post working out our inner energies. Even though it was day, the house and its immediate surroundings were gloomy so Delilah told me to light the fire. With one wave of my hand, and a thread of energy, the hearth was alight with flame. This was what we had been practicing today. Naturally, Hermione was at my level already because once she had touched her energy, she caught on to everything much easier than I did.

"The reason why I requested that we should be alone, Draco," Delilah began, "Is so that I can use the privacy to acquaint myself with your energy."

I had wondered briefly why she had wanted us to be alone, but I was not sure if it was for a purpose in relation to getting home, or if she just wanted to get me hot for her; it was hard to tell because the girl's moods were remittent. If however, it happened to be the latter, I decided on an effective way of getting myself out of her presence. Running for my life was going to look rather silly, though. Hermione, who had been quite put out by this request was outside with Dimitrian. He had suggested that he teach her how to shoot and she readily accepted. I tried not to notice that I had already promised to teach her.

She shifted so that our knees touched and said, "Close your eyes, hold my hands. Good. Now, keep your mind absolutely clear while, at the same time, your power at bay." When my mind was perfectly clear, I registered her hands on the sides of my face, her index and middle fingers pressing lightly to my temples.

It felt as though something was riffling through the newly discovered parts of my mind. The motion was not comforting, nut at the same time not as alien as it should have been. It was rather, dare I say, sensuous. She removed her hands and I opened my eyes. I almost vaulted upwards because of the strange vision I had just had. God alone knows how I came to have the vision, but I had to take care of it now. Unfortunately before anything happened, Delilah caught my eyes in her dark ones.

Aware of how close she was to my face, I stared back at her. The revulsion I had felt for her earlier had somehow evaporated and running was the farthest thing from my mind. She unconsciously leaned closer, and I could smell her. I felt trapped in her gaze. I couldn't breathe while she was looking at me like this. My eyes took in her dark lashes her curved nose, her coy and slightly parted lips. I noticed how her blond hair fell softly over her half exposed shoulders. Her beautiful skin just ached for touching.

Just then I realized just how hot it was. Beads of sweat were running down my chest. Delilah was so close now; my lips were inches from hers. I wanted to kiss her so badly, it almost hurt. And then she closed the space and put her lips to my mouth.

In that moment, I forgot everything. If you had asked me my name, I wouldn't have a clue how to answer, not remembering my name in the first place as well as having lost my ability to speak. It was amazing, and I knew that it was all I had ever wanted. I was lost in her exorbitant beauty and my desire for this woman was so fierce. I knew reason for my life now. I love Delilah…

Or so I thought.

As soon as these words entered my head, something sparked inside of me. Something was not right about the proclamation. I hostilely pushed Delilah away and watched her, while standing up, fall to her elbows backward with a thump. She looked utterly shocked and stared up at me with big brown, almost black, gold-flecked eyes.

I towered over her menacingly. "If you ever put those lips to me again, I will make sure that you won't be kissing anyone else anytime soon." And with that threat, I charged out the door to follow through with my earlier intents.

"Show me how you usually hold it," said Dimitrian, standing back to scrutinize. I nervously held up the bow and awkwardly stuck the arrow in and yanked back.

"That is one arrow no human will ever set eyes upon again," he commented as the arrow flew off into the forest somewhere.

"I'm really bad," I replied sheepishly.

"Get into position again," he instructed and came a little closer to me. "Your string arm is completely wrong. You are not trying to elbow the person abreast you." He came and reached his arm around me and straightened my elbow. Then he held the arch of the bow and straightened it. These actions led his both arms around me. I was uncomfortable until I felt him looking down at me. I raised my head and stared up at his intense eyes. I was all too aware of how close his debonair lips were to mine. His smell was intoxicating. My arm was pressed against the intricate ridges of his chest.

He moved with his sleek grace, pulling the instruments from my hands and dropping them on the ground. He intended to take full advantage of our compromising position. He placed his both hands on the side of my face and leaned in. His long, dark lashes brushed my cheek as his put his mouth to mine in a gentle but firm manner. Something flickered at the back of my mind, but I barely noticed it. Leaning in closer, I sighed against his lips; the kiss was mind-blowing.

Suddenly, he was ripped from me. A furious Draco lunged at him and sent his fist ploughing into Dimitrian's face. Dimitrian stumbled back, clutching his nose. Losing no time Draco jumped at him again. This time Dimitrian was ready. He grabbed Draco's shoulder and sent him reeling to the side.

"NO!" I screamed, "Draco, stop it!" I jumped forward and tried to stop Draco from lashing out at Dimitrian again. He would succeed in nothing but getting the both of them hurt. By the speed of Dimitrian, more likely himself.

"Hermione, please stay out of this," Dimitrian said without drawing his stare from Draco's. "This is between this swine and I." And on these words, Dimitrian ignored my presence and proceeded to ram himself gracelessly into Draco. The two of them went down with a large crash. There were arms and legs everywhere as they struggled. I rushed forward, determined to stop the fight before anyone was injured. One swift roll in my direction and the two of them were on their feet, but I was bowled to the side. They stood facing each other long enough for me to note that the only blood was coming from Dimitrian's nose. Then they were at it again. The punch Draco administered was dodged and Dimitrian used the closeness to unsheathe Draco's sword. One moment it was slicing through the air, the next it was at Draco's throat.

Dimitrian held it, smoldering, and Draco, even with a sword at his throat was still enraged. I could tell he wasn't backing down.

"Stop!" All three of us snapped our attention to Delilah, who was running toward us. "Stop this immediately," she cried sternly as she approached us. Dimitrian reluctantly lowered the sword. "This has gone much too far. It has to stop now."

Dimitrian's eyes widened. "I wasn't really…" he trailed off helplessly.

"I know you weren't going to hurt him," Delilah said.

Draco let out a harsh laugh. "Not going to hurt me? He had a bloody sword at my throat. What would he have done with it? Help me shave my stubble?"

"Be quiet." Delilah's voice was hard, unlike we had ever heard it before. "Take my word for it, that he couldn't have hurt you. Not with that sword."

Dimitrian looked at the sword in his hand. "Are you going to tell them?"

"Tell us what?" I asked in confusion. I moaned inwardly. What else could they possibly be hiding from us.

"Yes, I believe it is time that they knew." Delilah settled her eyes upon us.

I didn't think that anything they had in store for us could surprise me. However, nothing could prepare me for this shock.

Delilah closed her eyes and pressed her hand flat to her stomach. Blue ripples, just like the energy of the house and the deception web appeared. They travelled right through her body, changing everything they touched. Her blonde hair turned black at the roots and the black and grey flowed through the length, making its way to the ends of her hair. The creamy color of her skin erupted into a darker shade which flowed to the tips of her fingers with the rippling. Her face grew older and her nose more crooked. Her lips looked like dried prunes compared to the full pink ones she had before. The air around her flashed blue when the transformation was complete. Slowly, she opened her eyes. They were the only things that had not changed. They were still black with gold flecks.

I stared open mouthed in absolute brain-numbing ASTONISHMENT at what had taken place before my eyes. And suddenly it was as if someone had pressed pause, like in those muggle movies, and the buzz as the tape ran down was virtually heard. Draco let out a string of curses, the last one being so inflammatory that my cheeks flamed for him. All three of us were looking at him, me because of his swearing and them, probably because they weren't familiar with his words.

"Is that Irish Gaelic?" Dimitrian asked with a perplexed look on his face. He had forgotten about his nose, which had leaked blood all down his shirt, and was staring at Draco for his outburst at this unexpected time. I almost laughed at the absurdity of this situation, but kept it at bay. Because of a fight between Draco and Dimitrian, Delilah had turned into a wild haired old lady. Draco had started swearing for no reason and Dimitrian had mistaken it for Gaelic. The situation was decidedly laughable.

"Would someone please explain what the fuck is going on here?" Draco demanded.

"Perhaps a proper introduction would help a bit," Post Delilah said. "I'm Haaden and this," she pointed to Dimitrian, "is Nicorbis Dimitrian Reansis."

This only served to add to the incredulity of things, though I suppose it should have been obvious.

"So," I breathed finally, "You're trying to say that all this time, you've been Haaden in disguise as a girl. All this time we've had to put up with you while waiting for Haaden to arrive, while you were Haaden all along? All this time you've been lying to us?" My voice rose in pitch as I pieced everything together and articulated.

Delilah…or Haaden replied simply, "yes."

"And you! I don't suppose you're a girl disguised as a boy too?" Delilah…Haaden, I could take. After all, regardless of who Haaden was, Delilah, I was less than friends with. But Dimitrian? I had trusted him! How could he do this to me?

"Why?" I asked softly. The question was directed at Dimitrian. He kept his eyes averted.

"You have to understand Hermione," Haaden's voice had grown older and deeper too, I noted. Nothing like the bouncy tones she used, or the seductive ones either. "We didn't do this to torture you and Draco. I had to know you before I could teach you. I had to know the real people that you were."

"Couldn't you have done that in your true form?" asked Draco skeptically.

"Would you have reacted naturally to me, Haaden, a witch woman of remarkable powers and the ability to take you home or to Delilah Sabin, normal young French girl whom you had just met?" She ignored the nasty glare of understanding Draco sent at her. "Along with the fact that I needed to know you properly to be able to help you, I also needed to know for what reason I should help you. I don't offer my services to any and every one who needs it. I needed to know that you were worthy of my help, even though your reason for wanting my help seems pure enough."

"Well, how do you explain your attempts to ruin our marriage?" Draco asked with a distasteful expression.

"I had to know how much you wanted it. Because, the touching isn't the hardest part of it. What you have to do is more difficult than I've ever taught anyone. How could I be sure that half through your teaching you wouldn't tire and quit? The best way of testing you was to try to take away the object you each treasured the most." Her face softened at that.

"Each other," I muttered with a quick glance at Draco. Our eyes met for the briefest of moments and we looked away uncomfortably.

"We are truly sorry for the pain we have caused you, however if we had not done this, the consequences would have been greater. "

I looked up at Dimitrian who had finally spoken. His eyes were on me. But no, I looked away; he hurt me and I wasn't going to pretend that everything was okay. And then I realized something.

"How?" Draco asked quietly, taking the words from my mouth.

"How what?" Delilah/Haaden asked.

"How," Draco's voice rose and the anger in it was evident, "did you make deviate from each other?"

Delilah/Haaden replied quietly, "We used our energies at appropriate times to incite certain feelings in you both. We did not, however, influence your actions toward each other."

I glared accusingly at the two people standing in front of us. Basically, what they were say was that they messed with our minds to make us fall for them. My vision was clouded with tears. I couldn't take it anymore. Before I broke down and started crying in front of everyone, I whirled away in the other direction.

Sitting down on my favorite rock, I cried bitter tears. How could he do this to me? I trusted him so much and it turned out he was spelling me to make me love him. I didn't love him though. Of course not. There were certain times where I believed, with what little thinking ability I had, that he was all I wanted. This were the times, I would bet my bottom dollar on it, that he was inflicting his power upon my mind. I felt so betrayed.

Someone was approaching slowly. There were footsteps crunching in the grass. I looked up to see Draco.

He stood looking at me, not too close to my right, but far enough. I ignore him and stared into my lap, not sure what to do now.

"Hermione…" He muttered softly. "I'm so sorry." I stole a glance at him through my hair. He was looking directly at me with such remorse in his eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but he silenced me. "Please, let me speak." He approached, coming a little closer in front of me. "Hermione, you are my one true imperfection."

What was he doing? Had he come here to apologize or to insult me?

"Everyone who knows me believes that I'm blue-blooded. They all think that I'm haughty, contemptuous, arrogant, conceited, jaded, condescending. Some think I'm hateful, repulsive, odious, derisive, and disparaging. Some of them believe that I'm superior, lordly. The truth is…I'm all of that, in addition to being an all round bastard. But when you happened along… something changed. Around you, I wasn't any of these things. You brought out a Draco Malfoy who never existed to anyone, me especially. You ruined the perfect Slytherin, the perfect pure blood and the perfect Malfoy. Your ripped right through my cold demeanor and made me something that no Malfoy has ever been. Only when we were together. I cared for you; unlike I had ever done any other person. My thoughts we of you and not of something morbid, dark or anything to be expected of a Voldemort follower-to-be. Granger, you made me wild for you.

"You've done so much for me. Ever since I was a child, I knew that everything I would ever do, good or bad, would be for me. In that, I know I can never be a truly good person, Hermione. Why is it that you thought I was? You looked past the icy exterior and saw what? I don't know. You offered to help me, even when you really didn't know me. You almost gave up your friends for me." At this point he laughed scornfully. "For what? Some heinous Deatheater? You travelled back in time with me to save me from a curse that we weren't even sure could be broken. Am I to even try to list the rest of things?"

He was even closer now, directly in front to me my eyes steadily perched on him. I was confused. Should I let him finish his beautiful speech, or should I kiss him passionately now? Inside I was reeling with happiness. Then, he spoke the words that almost ended me.

"I love you Hermione. I always will. I believe that we are soul mates, if there is such a thing. But…"

There was a 'but.'

His voice cracked. "But… You love him. The marriage papers mean nothing. We can forget everything that happened between us," he choked out.

With every statement he made, it felt as though a knife was being mercilessly plunged into my heart. As he elicited the last painful wound, I thought my heart had exploded within my chest. Nothing the Cruciatus did could compare what Draco was doing to me now.

He got up from his knees in front of me and walked away dejectedly. I felt something wet on my face and I touched my fingers to the substance. I half expected to see blood. Some may have possibly spilled out through my eyes from the bleeding that my heart was going through. It was only tears though. Sliding off the rock, I sobbed uncontrollably, crying like I never had in my life.

I didn't know what to think. And who else but to help me out when my mind was in turmoil, but my two annoying friends.

Dimitrian is so handsome.

Draco is even sexier.

Dimitrian is sweet and kind. He would make the perfect lover.

Draco is already your love. Do you really think you could love someone like Dimitrian after him?

Dimitrian is the other half of you. He's smart, sweet, sensitive, funny, playful, and he cares about you so much.

Draco is all of these things when he's around you. Does it mean more that you met someone 'perfect,' or that someone with whom you shared a great hate with changed because of you. That you were able to have such a great impact upon this person, six years of animosity were transformed into love.

Dimitrian defied his sister to pursue you. Though he wanted you for himself, he was willing to patch up your marriage to make you happy. He comforted you when all Draco did was hurt you.

Draco sacrificed his happiness for yours. He was willing to watch you walk away with another man, whilst he lost the love of his life. Draco defied the world for you. He defied his lineage, his family, his blood, and most importantly Voldemort, for your love. He made mistakes, but he's not perfect. He was only trying to get you back.

Dimitrian never sacrificed anything for you. His 'sister' gave him instructions to act like he was going against her wishes to make it look like he had oh so deeply fallen for you. He lied to you. He tricked you. He perturbed your most precious possession; your mind.

Draco loves you…

What am I doing? I was on the ground, sobbing my life away while the man of my wildest dreams walked away in deject. What the hell was wrong with me?

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Merlin kicks it up a notch. When Delilah had announced that she had something to tell us, I was almost bored. However, I had not expected that this 20 year old woman was a God-alone-knows-how-old hag with wrinkles and the power to send us back home to top it off and Dimitrian Sabin turned out to be the disappeared protector of the very amulet I wore around my neck. Needless to say, I was positively floored. The worst though, was Hermione and Dimitrian.

Looking at Hermione, I saw the feeling in her eyes. I saw the way she looked at Dimitrian. And I saw the betrayal she felt when their eyes met. I knew what I had to do. But, God! I loved this woman so much. Could I bring myself to do it? I walked to where I knew she would be, silently gathering my courage.

She was crying. All the hurt that she felt was pouring through in those tears. But I was soon going to assuage that pain. I had to let her go. Then, there would be nothing left to do but convince her that Dimitrian did it because he loved her, as much as I hated to admit it. Once that happened she had either of two fates. She would remain here with Dimitrian or he would return with her. Whichever she chose, my fate was sure. I would grow old and die a follower of Voldemort. It didn't matter anymore. I wouldn't have anything worth fighting for the good side for. And if I just happened to die on some mission for Voldemort, then things would begin to look up. Anything would be better than living a life mourning the loss of my one true love.

"Hermione…" I muttered. "I'm so sorry." I deliberately displayed my feelings in my eyes, hoping she would see that I wasn't speaking lightly. Then, it all came out in steady torrents. I told her how much I felt for her, how she had bored a hole in my heart just for herself. I tried to relate how grateful I was for all she had done for me. Finally, I told her how much she meant to me. Somehow, I had broken my resolve to stay far from her and had ended up kneeling at her feet.

My voice came out hoarse and strained. This had to be one of the most difficult things I had ever had to do. "But… You love him. The marriage papers mean nothing. We can forget everything that happened between us," I managed to choke out. I knew I couldn't speak a word more, so I got up. Through most of my tirade, I had studied her face carefully, but now I didn't dare look. I couldn't bear to see the look that I feared would be on her face. I walked away dejectedly.

I headed toward the other side of the house, where Haaden and Dimitrian were conversing. They looked up when the saw me, but I didn't spare then a glance as I made a beeline for the deception web, not far away. I stopped, something coming to my mind.

"Congratulations on being the better man" I said bitterly. Then I continued through the web. I didn't know where I was going; I just had to be out of there.

My eyes, straining, could no longer hold back their moisture. Something wet was trailing down my face. I let it fall, but it was the one solitary tear I allowed myself to shed. I heard someone come through the web behind me. I paused and rounded slowly on the person. It was Hermione. She stood there, breathing uneven, face blotchy and red with an unreadable look on her face.

"I… I hate you."

The sliver of hope that had appeared at the sight of her faded. I almost snorted. Yeah Love, one more name to add to the list.

"I can't believe you just gave up like that. Aren't Malfoys supposed to go after what they want?" And then she stomped up to me and slammed the hammer of her fist into my chest.

I felt as though every sliver of pain that was working its way up my chest was a new burst of life. With my heart racing, I looked down at her, searching her glazed eyes for what I prayed was there. Merlin!

She gave a watery smile and sniffed. "You must be the worst Malfoy in history."

"No I'm not." Then I took her by the waist and swung her around in utter exuberance. "I gave up going after what I wanted and it, or she, came running to me. I would say I'm pretty clever," it was the best I could come up with. I took her face in my hands and kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, but those have proven to be all the more dangerous. I didn't want to let her out of my arms. The kiss evolved into a lusty, passion-filled lip lock as I clutched her to me tightly. Suddenly hands were roaming hungrily everywhere.

I reached around to the back of her dressed and started tearing away at the cross ties holding her dress closed. She pulled away for two seconds to breathe onto my lips, "I love you, Draco Malfoy." I paused, soaking it in, and then crushed her lips to mine even harder than before.

No more words were needed. We both knew it.

I slid the entire string from the last two holes of the dress.

She was ready….

The lovers' scene had an ethereal feel to it. The night was dark, save for the occasional rays of moonlight that would come filtering through the trees. A man and a woman lay under a tree in a cozy little clearing that was bordered by logs. The mellifluous sounds of the forest played as the two slept on. Suddenly, the man awoke for no apparent reason.

Draco's eyes immediately flew to the warm brunette body in his arms, her face buried in his chest. He breathed in her scent and lovingly, albeit idly, trailed his palm slowly over the contours of her body which was clad in his shirt. Hermione stirred and cuddled closer to him under their cloaks. He smiled lightly, remembering the night before. Last year if someone had told Draco that he would be thrown a few centuries back in the past, he would have laughed. Last year, if someone had told him he would be lying under a tree after having made love to his arch enemy's best friend a few centuries back in the past…he would have thought they had adopted the sanity of his aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange. He watched her sleeping face for a few moments more before settling to finish his night's rest, having forgotten to find out what had woken him in the first instance.

He was soon reminded in a rather unpleasant way, unfortunately.

"Hello, Draco."

His blood immediately ran cold. He knew that voice. But how was it possible his father had found them?

Lucius Malfoy had found his pureblood son, lying in the dirt with a mudblood. But he was too pleased to care. He had been searching for days and finally yielded result. He would now teach the boy his lesson, once and for all. He smiled grimly at his son's horrified countenance, glad Draco didn't know he could see his face in the darkness.

Draco scrambled up, feeling for his sword. Damn! It was flung carelessly somewhere along with his wand.

"Draco?" Hermione stirred, feeling suddenly lonely and rather cold as the covering had been flung off. "What's going on?" Draco was on his feet. She turned her head and saw in the darkness, the regal figure of Lucius Malfoy. She got up slowly, moving closer to Draco, as the boy and his father stared at each other.

"How did you find us?" Draco asked while silently backtracking to remember where he had thrown his weapons.

"Elementary Draco. Just like found you the first time." And Blaise Zabini came into view. He looked disheveled and rather meek as he stood behind the diminutive Malfoy.

So Hermione was right! Blaise Zabini had been following them.

"But enough small talk. No more stalling." And Lucius Malfoy raised his wand. Hermione slid her hand fearfully into Draco's, at a loss as to where her wand was. As an icy blue light shot from the wand's tip, Draco dove to the left pulling Hermione down with him. He searched wildly in the grass, praying that he would find it. Aha! His hand closed around a smooth piece of wood. No too far from which was the cold wiry hilt of his sword. He leaped up and threw his wand to Hermione.

Shiiiiiing! And the sword was out of its sheath. He swung it around to face his father, but was disarmed, sad to say, rather quickly. The sword went flying. Hermione screamed a spell and Lucius fell to his knees, unprepared for the girl's attack. Blaise rushed into the fight and kept Hermione busy while Draco fought with his father. Regaining the sword with Hermione's distraction proved to be quite useful as it countered the attacks his father sent flying.

"Lucius, what do you want from us?" Draco asked while his sword deflected a dark spell efficiently, sending it in another direction.

"Your lives," Lucius replied candidly. "Do you really think I would let my traitorous son's mudblood lover live?"

"Just looking at you sores my eyesight," Lucius' voice was filled with disgust. "And The Dark One is not pleased about his student's betrayal."

"Afraid that Voldemort'll fire you as his prime boot licker if you don't get rid of me?" Draco mocked.

His father's eyes flashed with anger.

Hermione was pounding Zabini, who, for all his Deatheater training, was no match for the witch. Suddenly, she uttered a spell at the same time as him. The sparks of light met and the result was explosive. Both of them were blasted into the air, Zabini, landing on Draco. Draco went reeling, as too did the sword.

The opportunity was greeted happily by Lucius, who used it to pull his signature curse. "Consternatio canis adsensio!" Draco recognized the flash of black/gold light. He recognized the spell. But something was wrong with the incantation. It was, as he knew it, 'Canis consternatum.'

Then the spell hit him. The entire atmosphere of the place darkened. The presence of evil was made evident. Everyone was in the same positions they had assumed as the spell hit him. But there was one more shadow. One more figure in the darkness. He knew it well, how could he not? It was his teacher to whom he was supposed to be a favorite student, his 'master' to whom he was supposed to be right hand man, the most evil wizard to whom he was supposed to be loyal to. Only he wasn't any of these things. And he knew he was going to pay dearly.

The Dark One stepped closer to him. Even though Draco had seen him many times before, the sight of the cloaked figure, even covering the snake-like face, struck a bolt of fear into his heart.

"How long have I awaited this?" Voldemort hissed.

"Such potential in a student, Draco. Such competence. You could have been great. You could have been the most feared man on the earth… The most wanted Deatheater… Riches and power beyond compare. It cannot be thought of why you threw it all away."

Draco saw the glint of his eyes under the cloak. Valiance that he didn't feel at all on the inside compelled him to answer, "Because I hate your bastard half blood ass."

He felt the tangible flash of anger that rippled through the air for a moment. Then, it was gone.

"You wonder why I anger not, young Malfoy." Draco could feel the smile appear on the Dark One's lips. He almost regretted his words, for when the Dark One smiled everyone knew that all hell was going to break loose. "Because, I will have you anyway."

And then Draco knew, he knew what was going to happen. He couldn't move his limbs. He could only watch frozenly as Voldemort floated over to a shell shocked Hermione. An unsheathed wand was pointed in her face. "Crucio."

She screamed and fell to her knees.

"What is your decision, Draco?" The Dark One looked over to him. "You can either surrender to me now and we'll end her pain quickly or you can watch her die slowly and then surrender."

Draco looked on helplessly. Either way, Hermione was going to die. The better thing would be to stall. He might have figured a way out with time; the one thing he didn't have. But he would have to watch her bear all the pain while there was a good chance that he would not be able to formulate a plan.

"Quickly, Draco!"

Hermione was convulsing more violently now. Draco was absolutely blank. The Dark One stepped closer and grabbed Hermione by the hair. He yanked her up and placed his wand at he smooth neck. Slowly, he drew it across leaving in its wake a thin red line of blood. Hermione gave a small gasping noise of pain. "Before I renounce my offer and kill you both…" The Dark One was growing decidedly impatient.

"Yes…" Draco muttered weakly. "Just, stop hurting her." He couldn't bear putting her through this pain. But why had he just given up like that? It wasn't like him to give in to weakness and do something so stupid! Anything would have been better than her dying. Or had he hoped he could compromise for her life?

"Very well."

Hermione fell to the grass, breathing erratically.

"But you have to spare her life."

The Dark One laughed. A chilling infernal sound. "You are in no position to compromise, Malfoy. You either join willingly or under the imperius. But she will die anyway."

"What good will it do you to have me imperiused?" Draco asked. "I won't be able to think for myself; you might as well imperius some pathetic muggle to carry on your affairs. Will any of your expert training be worth anything then?"

"And if I were to let her live?" The Voldemort seemed to be open to compromise.

"Then I will come willingly. I'll marry Pansy and I would never set eyes on the mudblood again. We will wipe her memory completely." Inside Draco prayed, prayed that the Dark One would believe him.

"Swear it."

Draco was doomed. If he swore it, he would have to carry through. The amulet would disallow him to do anything he swore he wouldn't. "I swear." He surprised himself even. He wasn't sure he was lying even the first time. He was so desperate to save her life; it didn't matter that she would forget all about him and he would have to marry Pansy.

"Word by word…" The Dark One commanded.

"In exchange for Hermione Granger's life, I, Draco Malfoy, swear to…" Draco paused. Everything out of his worst nightmare was happening. Literally, he realized.

"Go on…" The Voldemort urged. "My patience is wearing thin. I may just kill her now and torture you into agreeing."

Draco remained silent, still trying to put together in his mind what he just realized.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Draco saw it all in slow motion. The Dark One pointed his wand at Hermione. The sinned words made their way out of his mouth. Draco lunged wildly but Hermione slumped to the ground. Draco could see her brown, glassy, dead eyes staring forward.

He fell to the ground howling as the binding spell was lifted. Everything became discolored. He was shaking ferverantly. A searing pain that he hadn't even known was there lightened from his chest as the amulet stopped glowing. Hands grabbed wildly at his face.

"Draco, please…! What's happening to you, it's not real! You're under the curse that makes you live your worst fear. Please open your eyes," Hermione screamed hysterically at him.

There was no Voldemort, but Zabini and his father were looking at him. Hermione was on her knees next to his shivering, crying form. She flung her arms around him when he looked at her. Tears were still falling from his face, mixing with hers as she pressed her cheek to his. Her hand stroked his hair profusely. He was too drained to even lift and arm.

This was when his father stepped forward. "That spell was an alteration of the Canis Constrnatum curse. It showed your worst fear, as well as what the Dark One wanted you to see. Perhaps it didn't go as planned for I've just received orders to kill you both. Well, son, I'm afraid you're expendable. He alone knows why he wanted you specifically. Now, I believe you may want to step away from your mudblood." To Hermione, he pointed and said, "I shall enjoy seeing the mudblood that led my son astray die."

There was nothing that could be done. The lovers had no means of defense. With Draco's last ounce of strength he moved Hermione behind him.

"Draco, no. Please don't," Hermione whispered. "You want me, Lucius. Leave Draco alone."

"Are you insane? We die together."

Lucius raised his wand, "Very well, Avada-" He didn't get to finish.

Zabini had been staring at the couple through their little spat. He had leapt forward and parted the wand from Lucius Malfoy's hand. Malfoy turned shocked and furious to Blaise, who only pointed at the two on the ground. Malfoy looked at them. They were holding each other tightly, eyes closed, knowing it was their last moments. They had fought to keep the other from dying but instead decided to die together because neither could live without the other.

What happened next was told in the bedtime stories of the many generations of Malfoys to come. The bad guy about to kill the very much in love heroes when, by a miracle, they were saved by compassion. Lucius Malfoy felt something that he had only felt once ever before in his adult life. That was when his first and only son had been born.

Draco and Hermione looked up in confusion. Draco was shocked at the look in his father's eyes. He had never seen such a feeling displayed by his father.

"Only anger will destroy it," Lucius stepped back, grabbing Blaise's arm. The two faded out of the century, leaving behind memories, tears and a slight shimmer that soon faded from the air.

Author's Note: Please review and tell me what you thought. I think the action-y scenes were done well, I'm proud of myself. BTW: The next chapter is the last of this story. There will also be a prologue. Don't expect as much from the next chapter as this one though. I'm all tuckered out. Heh

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