I Promise

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, though I would love to. Everything written here is purely for enjoyment purposes and not to be sold for any profit.

Summary:

What would you do, if the person whom you had once hated the most, sacrificed his life to save you? What would you do, if the only person you've ever loved, was about to die? In the most critical moments of her life, Hermione learnt that love can last a lifetime…and more. A Dramione one-shot. Set during the Final Battle in Hogwarts.

Rating: T

Rain drops splattered onto the ground, soaking everything they touched in seconds. The sky above was dark, almost black, and foreboding. It seemed to serve as a warning, signifying that something terrible was about to happen. Or rather, hadhappened.

Screams of terror and fear pierced through the air the air. Hundreds of spells rain down from above, as students and teachers alike ran for their lives, seeking for cover, escaping from the Death Eaters who were cruel and merciless in their killing. Jets of green light flew from the tip of their wands, as shouts of "Avada Kedavra!" filled the Hogwarts Grounds.

Hermione Granger stared at the battle scene before her, looking at the bodies strewn across the field, trying her hardest to blink back the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. Pressing a dirty, blood-stained palm to the deep gash on her face, Hermione shivered. Not because of the cold, but because she was scared. She had always put on a façade, pretending that she was strong and unafraid of anything that came her way. But deep down, she was scared. She was scared of dying, of fighting, of losing her loved ones in the war.

Sirius, Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Dumbledore. She had lost them all. She couldn't bear the thought of losing someone else dear to her. Not Harry, not Ron, not Ginny, Hermione pleaded silently, as her eyes moving involuntarily across the grounds, just to ensure that they were in fact, still living and fighting on.

And most importantly, not Draco.

"What's happening?" Ron asked, as he and Hermione approached Harry on the Quidditch field. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?" He pointed at Malfoy, who was wearing his Slytherin Quidditch robes, with a glare.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasel," said Malfoy haughtily as he smoothed down the folds on his robes.

Meeting Hermione's confused frown, Harry whispered to her in a low voice, his voice strained by anger. "Snape gave the them permission to train today, even though Oliver had already booked the field. And now Malfoy's extremely smug about being their new seeker, probably only because his filthy rich father bought broomsticks for the whole team."

Upon hearing that, Hermione shifted her gaze over to the Slytherins, and true enough, each of them was holding highly polished, brand new and gleaming broomsticks with gold lettering spelling the words "Nimbus Two Thousand and One". Even Hermione, who never took an interest in Quidditch, knew how superb these brooms were. She had heard Ron lamenting wistfully about them often enough.

"….Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too." She caught Malfoy saying, smirking as he looked pointedly at Fred's and George's brooms. "You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them.

The Slytherin team howled with laughter, and Malfoy smiled broadly, his cold eyes daring the Gryffindors to object.

Hermione had to refrain herself from lashing out at Malfoy. His smugness was too much, even for her. "At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," she commented sharply as she stepped forward, her brown eyes meeting his silver ones unflinchingly. "They got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat, the smugness fading fast from his face, replaced by a cold and disgusted look.

Hermione's brows furrowed at his words as she searched her memory for the word "Mudblood", not that she had ever recalled coming upon this term. Judging by the instant uproar at his words, Hermione knew at once that it must be something really bad. Fred and George were rushing towards Malfoy, looking outraged; Alicia was shrieking, "How dare you!"; and Ron was yelling at Malfoy as he plunged his hand into his robes, pulling out his wand and pointing it at the latter, whose eyes widened in panic.

Hermione had not known what that word meant back then. It was only afterwards, when he was vomiting slugs into Hagrid's bucket, that Ron told her disgustedly that Mudblood was the most insulting thing that one could ever call someone who was Muggle-born.

That was Hermione's first, but definitely not last, encounter with the word. Malfoy had personally taken it as his duty to call her "Mudblood" whenever they met. Hermione pretended she didn't care, but she did. And it did hurt, somehow.

"Morrer dolorosamente!"

Hermione's head whipped forward just in time to see a flash of blinding red flying towards her. Ducking down instinctively, the beam of light flew past her, just inches away from her ear. Raising her wand, she turned to face her attacker and shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" and was rewarded with a satisfying thud as the Death Eater fell onto the ground.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Hermione calmed her wildly beating heart. For a second, she thought she was going to die for sure.

Morrer dolorosamente. Hermione shuddered at the mere thought of the deadly curse. Unsurprisingly, Voldemort was the creator of this killing curse. Unlike Avada Kedavra, which would kill the victim on the spot painlessly, Morrer dolorosamentewas meant to torture the victim slowly before he dies. It was a combination of two unforgivable curses – Crucio and Avada Kedavra – which made it all the more worse.

"Look at him blubber!" Malfoy snickered as he watched Hagrid's figure hurrying back towards his cabin, Crabbe and Goyle laughing beside him. "How pathetic. And to think that he's supposed to be our teacher!"

At Malfoy's spiteful words, Hermione felt her own temper flare within her. How dare he insult Hagrid, when he was obviously the one in the wrong! Quick as lightning and without even thinking about what she was doing, she moved towards Malfoy furiously and slapped him across his face with all the strength she could muster. Staggering slightly but managing to catch himself, Malfoy stared at Hermione, looking thoroughly stunned.

What a total, complete idiot! She fumed inwardly as Malfoy and his companions retreated into the passageway to the dungeons, still casting backward glances at her.

"That was just brilliant, Hermione!" Ron commented, after an awkward silence between the trio, as he stared at Hermione with shock mixed with awe. "I didn't know you had it in you!"

Hermione laughed, albeit rather shakily. She was usually the calm, reasonable one who tried to stop fights before they even started. Who would have thought that she'd slap a fellow student?

She had to admit, Draco Malfoy was the first, and probably the only, person to have made her lose her temper this badly.

"Neville! Oh no, Neville!" Hermione gasped in horror as she saw Neville being hit in the chest by a flash of green light out of the corner of her eye. Shooting a Body-Bind curse impatiently at the Death Eater blocking her path, Hermione raced towards Neville, praying over and over again in her heart that he was alright.

Luna Lovegood was the first to reach him. Her face dazed and unbelieving, she sank down on her knees next to Neville, reaching out and cradling him in her arms. "Neville..?"

"No, this can't be right, Neville can't be dead!" The voice inside her head screamed at her as she stared at Neville's rigid and unmoving body. But there was no use denying the truth anymore. No one could have survived the Avada Kedavra curse.

"Luna! Hermione! We've got to move on. We've gotta fight. We can't let Neville die in vain!" Ron's urgent voice over the bellowing cold wind jerked Hermione out of her shock. She turned her head to see him fighting with Dolohov, and finally dismissing him with a Stunning Spell. Their eyes met as they exchanged a silent look, encouraging each other wordlessly to hold on and be strong.

"Ron's right, Luna. We have to keep fighting." Hermione said, her voice coming out in a hoarse whisper as she stared at her friend's cold, unmoving body.

That was when Hermione saw a look in Luna's eyes that she had never seen before. It was a look of determination, a look of hatred, a look of fury. Luna placed Neville gently down on the ground as she started running towards the Death Eaters, shooting spells furiously at them one after another.

Love makes people do extraordinary and astonishing things. So does death.

"Holy cow, did he just turn Malfoy into a…ferret?" Ron whispered, sounding impressed and fearful at the same time. Hermione was so stunned that all she could do was to nod, as she stared at the pure white ferret, which was at the exact position Malfoy was standing just seconds ago.

Professor Moody marched towards the squeaking ferret, his movements sharp and quick despite his limp. "It'll do to teach you a lesson, you stinking coward," he growled as he pointing his wand at the ferret, shooting it ten feet up into the air and felling onto the floor with a smack again, its legs and tail flailing helplessly.

That was more than what Hermione could take. She could barely hold back her laughter as she watched Professor Moody bouncing the ferret up and down on the hard, stone floor with his wand. Several students had gathered around the Entrance Hall by this time, and all of them were watching the scene, gaping and pointing at the ferret, looks of astonishment and laughter evident on their faces.

"Professor Moody!" A sudden shriek made Hermione jerk her head to her right. Professor McGonagall was hurrying down the stairs, a look of incredulity on her face. "What are you doing? Is that a student?" She cried, pulling out her wand and casting a re-transfiguring spell that turned Malfoy back into his human form immediately.

Malfoy got to his feet, brushing his hair away from his face as he staggered. Humiliation and embarrassment were strewn evidently across his pale face. He threw a malevolent glare at Moody, who was having an argument with Professor McGonagall on "proper" ways to discipline a student.

The crowd dispersed just as quickly as it had gathered once Malfoy had been turned back to normal, students whispering to each other and giggling at what they had just seen.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" Hermione said scathingly, as she, Harry and Ron turned to walk away, laughing at Malfoy's infuriated expression.

The amazing bouncing ferret. That was what Ron had called it. But secretly, Hermione thought the ferret was actually kind of cute.

"Hermione, look out!" She whipped her head around, only to see a jet of shocking red shooting towards her at the speed of light. Her eyes widened in terror and disbelief, knowing it was too late even before she raised her wand to defend herself.

Suddenly, as unexpected as the spell had been, a dark blurry figure raced in front of her just as the curse was about to hit her.

Time seemed to stop as Hermione stared as Draco's body fell onto the ground with a loud thud, his face twisted with pain.

"Malfoy, d-did you just kiss me?" Hermione stuttered, unwilling to believe what had just happened. She was just walking back to the Gryffindor common room from the library when she met Malfoy alone in the corridors. She was expecting him to insult her, to snicker at her or even call her a 'Mudblood' as usual. What she was definitely not expecting was for him to grab her by her arms and kissing her on the lips without warning.

He shrugged calmly, as if there was nothing wrong with him suddenly kissing the girl he once hated –or so she assumed – so much. "Yeah, I did."

She wanted to feel angry, to lash out at Draco Malfoy, to slap him as she had done in their third year. But strangely, she could not bring herself to do so. Instead, all she felt was bewilderment, and perhaps, a little bit of curiosity. Which was why all she said was simply, "Why?"

"The war is approaching, isn't it? Who knows whether one of us will die in the battle? And if that happens, I won't get the chance to kiss you, will I?"

"Yes, but the issue here is, why did you even kiss me at all?" Hermione asked impatiently, resisting the urge to stamp her feet.

"You're pretty dense, Granger." He smirked, then his face changed as he hesitated slightly. "It's just…well, kind of – I don't know – cute how you're always an insufferable know-it-all with your head buried in books everytime I see you," He muttered, looking away from her searching gaze. "And how you always chew on your lip when you're nervous. Only kind of, anyway."

Silence fell upon them. Malfoy was looking at her now, his silver eyes locked on her brown ones. He was waiting for her reaction, Hermione realised a second too late. Her mouth opened and closed rather stupidly, but no words came out from her suddenly dry lips.

"H-have you been observing me, Malfoy?" Hermione asked finally, just to break the silence. But what she was really thinking about was the fact that he had called her 'cute'. Well, kind of.

"Maybe," He replied annoyingly, his eyes sparkling. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it does!" Hermione snapped with annoyance. "You're..you just kissed me, Malfoy, for god's sake! What happened to all the 'Mudblood' insults and acting like a prat? Why did you suddenly find me...um, cute," Her voice trailed off as she stared at the floor, her face flushing bright pink.

He looked slightly amused at her reaction, which made Hermione even more irritated. Finally, he sighed exasperatedly. "Do you really not get it? Granger, I'd have thought with an intellect like yours, you should have figured it out by now."

"Figured what out?" Hermione asked, perplexed.

Malfoy looked at her for a second. "Figured out that…that I, well, I like you," He answered quietly, with a slight raise of his eyebrows. "Does that satisfy your intolerable curiosity now?"

Hermione's jaw fell open as she stared at Draco, unable to believe what he had just said. She was so stunned that she didn't even notice his insult. All that registered in her brain was the fact that Draco Malfoy liked her. Her, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's best friend, Gryffindor, bushy-haired girl with large front teeth, Little Miss Know-It-All, founder of SPEW, was liked by Draco Malfoy?

It couldn't…he couldn't…he's not supposed to like me! Even as she thought about it, her cheeks became warm and her heart pounded so hard in her chest that she thought it was going to explode.

She should have known.

Those moments when she had caught him staring at her, when she realised that he was picking on her lesser and lesser, when he had argued with Blaise when the latter had shown an unexpected interest in her, when he had looked at her with half-admiration when she answered the professors' questions brilliantly, when he actually, dare she say it, smiled at her when she looked in his direction.

Those moments; they were not just her imagination.

"Draco! No!" Hermione screamed as she ran towards him, dropping to her knees at his side as she clutched his still warm body desperately. "D-Draco, you can't…you can't die. Please."

"Now what do we have here? A filthy little mudblood crying over her beloved Draco's dead body?" The high-pitched and taunting voice of Bellatrix Lestrange sounded behind her as Hermione jumped up to her feet in fury, her eyes blazed over with anger as she glared at the person who killed Sirius and...Draco.

"Stupefy!" She screamed, pointing her wand at Bellatrix, who barely had a chance to defend herself as she fell back, disappearing from Hermione's view. Hermione hated Bellatrix, but she could never bring herself to use the killing curse on anyone, even if she wished that the person was dead.

"H-Hermione…" Draco's faint voice caught her attention as she turned her head, bending down beside him immediately, biting her lips in order to stop them from trembling.

"I'll go…I'll go get someone, Draco. You'll be fine, I-I promise. Wait here." She made a move to get up, but Draco caught her hand and held it tight in his.

"No…don't." He implored, "Stay with me…" He didn't finish his sentence as he suddenly doubled over, coughing violently. Hermione winced. It tore her heart apart to see Draco in such pain, but she could do nothing to sooth his pain.

"D...don't worry about m-me, I...I'm fine," Draco mustered, even as his face was contorted with pain.

"Draco…why? Why did you do it?" Hermione whispered suddenly, as she stared at his agonised face, tears welling up in her eyes. She tried to keep them from falling, but the tears wouldn't stop coming.

"Y-you really are completely dense, Granger." Draco managed to murmur, a familiar grin creeping up his face. "I..isn't it obvious...I wanted to protect you…I can't…you can't die in front of me."

"Hermione, I want you to know that I love you, and that I will always love you no matter what happens," Draco had said urgently as he stared into those warm brown eyes of hers, just a few moments before the start of the Final Battle. "And if I die during th-"

"No, Draco, please. Don't say that," Hermione pleaded, raising a finger to his quivering lips. "You won't die. None of us will."

Draco removed her finger gently, his silver eyes more serious and thoughtful than she had ever seen them. "Hermione, it is very likely that it will happen. All the death eaters are after me. I am, after all, a traitor to Voldemort. I have to say this. If I should die, don't cry for me, Hermione. Just take it that everything we've shared is a dream, a beautiful, long dream. And when you wake up, it's time to forget. Move on with your life and find someone better who deserves you."

Hermione's eyes welled up in tears as she threw her arms around him, hugging him close to her. "Please, Draco, be careful."

Draco smiled once again as he held her close, the smile that reassured her that everything would be fine, the smile that made her heart flutter once again like a young girl, the smile that told her he will always be there for her and protect her, no matter what.

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut tightly, hoping, praying that all this really was a dream, that Draco had not just been hit by the deadly curse, that he was going to die, and she had no way of saving him.

"Hermione…don't cry. I-I'm not worth it…" He reached up to touch her face, but was overcome with a coughing spasm as his body writhed in pain.

"Oh, Draco, please…please don't die. Y-you'll be okay," Hermione sobbed, not wanting to accept the reality presented before her as she held on to his hand tightly. She wanted to look away, to remove the picture of Draco's agonized face from her mind, yet she knew that this might well be the last time she could see Draco in full consciousness before he….No, he wouldn't. He couldn't die.

"W-why…would I die…Hermione? I…I'm not that w-weak." He smiled faintly, in a weak attempt to lighten up the mood around them.

Hermione had to smile, albeit a teary one.

"I…love you, Hermione…y-you know that…don't you?" He whispered, turning to face up at her, his beautiful face tortured by the pain the curse had brought. His fingers tightened around Hermione's hands as he brought them up to his pale lips and kissed them.

Hermione nodded fiercely, as she cried even harder, her eyes turning red and swollen. "I-I love you too, Draco. That's why you must stay alive. For me...please." Her voice trembled as she gulped, her sobs making it difficult for her to get her words out. Even as she said them, she knew that Draco was not going to make it. His breathing was becoming more laboured by the minute as beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead.

Draco attempted a weak smile. "Hermione…t-take care of yourself. I know…I know that Weasel will take care of you…more than I…could ever have done." He reached up with a shaky hand to wipe away the tears from Hermione's red, blotchy face.

"N-No, Draco. No one can replace you," Hermione whispered, shaking her head fiercely. "I love you." She repeated, clutching his hand tightly to her heart.

"We...we'll see each other again…I-I promise." He half-smiled, as he closed those beautiful silver eyes of his, for the last time in his life.

"Draco, NO! Draco!" Hermione screamed, her hands catching hold of his shoulders and shaking them wildly. "You're not dead, Draco, you're not! Wake up, please! You have to…you can't die…" Her cries died down to uncontrollable sobs, as she pulled Draco into her arms and hugged him close to her, wishing that all this really was a dream. A long, painful dream that would disappear when she woke up.

Harry had defeated Voldemort in the end, and the whole wizarding world was celebrating his success. But while one hero was being celebrated and commemorated, another hero was left in the shadows, his name forgotten by most, and only remembered by those who lives he had closely touched.

He looked peaceful, as if he was merely sleeping, Hermione noted silently as she kneeled beside Draco's white tomb, her eyes searching Draco's face, for a sign, any sign, that he was perhaps, not dead after all. She knew it was silly of her, clinging on to the impossible hope that Draco Malfoy was still alive, but admitting that he was gone, really gone, was so much harder to do.

She reached out and stroked the pale face she knew so well. Her fingers gently traced over the contours of his eyes, his nose, his mouth. A tear trickled down her cheek and fell onto her trembling hand, followed by another. Then another.

Finally, she stood up, as Harry stepped forward to close the tomb, shutting Draco's body off forever.

It had been a year since the end of the battle at Hogwarts.

Hermione's heart still ached, whenever she thought of Draco, of how he had saved her with his own life, of his brilliant silver eyes, his white-blond hair and his charming smile. Hermione had always prided herself on being a logical, rational person who managed to remain level-headed even during the most difficult times, but this was too painful, even for her, to handle. For a while after Draco died, it felt as if a part of her had literally died alongside with him as well. She cried every single day, wishing that things could have been different, for both him and her.

But then, Hermione realised that Draco would have wanted her to be happy, to move on with her life. She was thankful for everything Draco had done for her. He taught her about unconditional love, about forgiveness, about cherishing every single sunset you have lived to see, every second you have to spend with the people you love.

Hermione walked across the cemetery alone, her footsteps echoing loudly in the dark, gloomy cemetery. Ginny had offered to come with her, but she declined. She wanted to do this on her own, at least. Stopping before a grave in the dark gloomy area, Hermione bent down to gently place a bouquet of white flowers on the grave. The grave of Draco Malfoy.

"Draco, I want to thank you, for all the wonderful memories you have given me. Thank you, for showing me what love truly is. Thank you, for showing me that love doesn't end with death. And as long as I live, I'll never forget you," Hermione vowed quietly as she kneeled in front of the grave, her hands clasped together in a prayer. "I promise."

In the dark sky, a shooting star shot across the sky and sparkled brightly above them.

A/N: Like it? Hate it? Please review! This is my first attempt at a DM/HG one-shot. It's not my usual writing style, but the idea has been stuck in my head for a long time and I just had to write this. Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC or if the idea has been overdone, or the story seems too strange .

I hope it's not too weird, combining so many flashbacks into the story. For the flashbacks, I've tried to reword what has been said in the books. There may be one or two sentences that are exactly the same, though.

Anyway, do leave a review on what you think of this story! (: