Summary: Oneshot, based on the song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. Moments between Hermione and Draco, leading up to a very special moment.

A Thousand Years

Heart beat fast

Colors and Promises

How to be brave

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall

Watching you stand alone

All of my doubts certainly go away somehow

One step closer

I have died everyday

Waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still

Beauty in all she is

I will be brave

I will not let anything take away

What's standing in front of me

Every breath, every hour

Has come to this

One step closer

I have died everyday

Waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

All along I believed I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

…

It all started at the end of sixth year. Hermione, the ever dutiful prefect, was doing her rounds. Other than a couple of fourth years making out in the transfiguration classroom, it was a rather quiet night. She walked down the corridors, musing to herself and relishing in the cool spring breeze.

It was when she walked past Moaning Myrtle's bathroom that she heard crying. At first she brushed it off. It was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, after all. But as she continued listening, she noticed something odd about the voice that was weeping. It was male. So slowly, she pushed the door open and quietly made her way to the center of the bathroom. She hid herself behind the wall, and peaking around the corner, she saw a flash of white-blonde hair; the tell-tale give away of one Draco Malfoy. He was sitting against the wall, his arms holding his knees to his chest, and sobbing into his arms.

"M…Malfoy?" She asked cautiously, stepping back from behind the wall to show herself.

His head shot up, followed quickly by the rest of his body. He turned around, wiped his eyes and put his stone cold expression back in place before turning back to her.

"What are you doing here, filthy mudblood."

"I was on my rounds, and I heard…something in here. Malfoy, it's almost midnight, you should go to your common room."

He scoffed. "Or what? Goody-goody Granger's gonna take away points? As if I care."

She was quiet for a moment. "Are you alright?"

"What's wrong? I can't have some time to myself to let off some stress?"

"Why are you stressed?" She asked. She knew something was going on. She hated to think it, but she was beginning to believe Harry; that maybe he was behind everything going on at school…that he was a death eater. It really only made sense. Not to mention, he was looking paler, which was saying something, and much more frail.

"What's it to you, mudblood?" He sneered.

"Please stop; I'm just trying to be nice. You don't need to be such a jerk," she rolled her eyes and turned on her heal to leave. Why did she even try with him?

"You're right," a small voice said right before she opened the door. In shock, she whipped her head around.

"What did you just say?"

He said, slumping back down to the ground. She had never seen him look worse. Stressed, confused, sad…completely and utterly defeated. She almost felt bad for him. "You're right. I don't need to be so mean to you."

She walked over to him. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

"For the record, I really do not think you are a mudblood. Hell, you're a better witch than I am a wizard."

"That's not true. You're great wizard, Malfoy. In fact, until this year you were one of the top in our school, beaten out only by me."

"Yeah, well, that was then."

She sat next to him. "If you don't mind me asking…what's going on with you? Whatever it is that has you crying in the bathroom and being nice to me, it must be bad."

"I'm just tired of pretending. So much is expected of me, and I'm too exhausted to pretend. If I tell you something, will you keep it a secret?"

"Of course."

"I've had a bit of a thing for you since you punched me in 3rd year."

To say she was taken aback by his confession was an understatement. But it was then that she saw him leaning closer to her. In a split second, his lips were on hers. She didn't respond due to shock, and when she came to her senses, she couldn't decide whether to push him away or kiss him back. But when she made the decision to kiss him back, he pulled away abruptly.

"Shit," he muttered before pushing himself off the ground and running out of the bathroom.

She stayed there. She was unnerved by the fluttering in her stomach and the tingling on her lips.

She didn't see him again. He skipped classes the next day, and the next night he let the death eaters into Hogwarts.

…

The next time she saw him was that night at Malfoy Manor. She kept her eyes on him as his aunt tortured her. One part of her-the part that was in pain and afraid of being killed-was hoping that he would stop it; that if he ever felt anything for her, then he would help. But the other part-the logical part- knew that he wouldn't; that he couldn't. For doing so would surely kill them all. She didn't know that he was having the same battle with himself.

He wanted to save her; to take her in his arms and take her to safety. He had told her that he had had a thing for her since 3rd year, but really, it was much more than that. He knew he loved her since he set eyes on her at the Yule Ball. And his love for her had only grown since.

So she watched him, and he watched her, and both hoped that it would be over soon.

…

They saw each other once again in the Room of Requirement. He had to admit to himself that these sporadic meetings were hard on him. He was used to seeing her everyday at school, and admiring her from afar. Now when they saw each other, it was nothing but bad. He found Harry all alone, and he silently sighed in relief that she wasn't there, because he didn't know what was going to happen. But then she appeared, and Goyle shot the Killing Curse at her. That scared him more than he would like to admit. So he acted cowardly and ran out, hoping his friends would follow. But then Goddamn Goyle had to set the place on fire.

And as Draco and Blaise watched Goyle fall to his fiery death, Draco thought he would burn up too. But he saw Hermione and her stupid friends get brooms and get out. He was at least glad for that. Then they came back, and once again he was terrified for her life. Why did she come back? She was safe.

…

As he was called to the dark side by his mother and father, Draco couldn't look at her. He wanted to turn around and apologize to her, but he couldn't. He knew that if he did all he would see in her eyes was hate.

Neville spoke, but he didn't pay attention to what he said, and next thing he knew Potter was alive and fighting. He couldn't believe that he was actually glad that Potter was alive. But if Pothead was alive, it meant she had a chance.

…

It was after the war had ended. The battle was over and Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat in the Great Hall. Hermione looked around her, and two people caught her eye; Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. They were sitting alone, awkwardly looking around them. And their blonde haired son was noticeably missing. Hermione stood, telling her friends she had to use the restroom and walked down the corridors.

It had hurt her when Draco joined his mother and father on the dark side. She wanted to yell for him not to and that he didn't have to; he could stay and fight with them. She knew there was good in him.

It was hard on her. She hadn't stopped thinking about him. Or the kiss. Or how it made her feel. He possessed her dreams. Now, she didn't know what possessed her to go looking for him.

She came to the familiar bathroom that belonged to Moaning Myrtle. She walked in and locked the door behind her. As she expected she saw a man standing at the sinks; a familiar face looking back at her.

"Why are you in here?" He asked.

"I didn't see you in the Great Hall. I assumed you would be in here. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"A little cut up, but I'll live."

They were silent for a few minutes before Draco spoke. "I'm glad you're alive. I was worried."

"You were worried about me?" She asked, a slight smiling spreading across her lips.

He blushed; he actually blushed. She smiled even more at that. "Yeah." Once again, silence. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not doing anything to stop it. At the manor, I mean."

"It's okay. There was nothing you could've done; I understand."

"No I could've…"

"No, you couldn't have," she interrupted him. "If you tried anything, you would've killed us all."

He nodded, looking at the ground. He finally looked up at her, and began taking steps toward her. She gasped as he took her hand in his. It was surprisingly warm, not cold like she had expected. He looked into her eyes, and she could've sworn she saw a slight amount of water in them.

"I love you, Hermione."

She gasped again, "Malfoy..."

But he didn't let her finish. He took the chance and crushed his lips against hers once again, and this time she didn't hesitate before kissing him back. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight against him. Her arms flew to his shoulders, seemingly on their own accord, and held him as tightly as he held her.

His lips, also warmer than she expected, moved deliciously with her own. His tongue scraped against her teeth and his fingers slipped beneath her shirt and rubbed her skin. She moaned into his mouth, and it encouraged him, slipping his hand further up and feeling the smooth skin of her back. She moaned again as his tongue explore her sweet mouth, and he sat down, pulling her onto his lap.

They continued to kiss until the need for air became too much. They were both panting and staring at each other, and Draco didn't waste any time getting his lips back to hers. Finally he moved his lips away from hers once more to kiss and nibble at her neck.

The new flow of oxygen to her brain allowed her to think more clearly. It felt so good to have him kissing her, sucking at little spots on her neck. His hands were cupping her breasts through her bra. She didn't want it to stop. But she knew it had too.

"Stop," she said pushing his head away from her and quickly getting off of his lap.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Everything was better now, wasn't it? Voldemort was dead, they joined the light side, and they could be together now. Sure his parents wouldn't like it, but it was possible now. He didn't understand why she was stopping it.

"We can't do this. I'm with Ron now, Draco. And besides, it's you and me. Nothing could ever happen between us anyway."

Draco gritted his teeth together. She was with the weasel? He wasn't used to being turned down to begin with, but loosing the girl he loved to him? That poor excuse for a man? But he nodded his head. "Just do one thing for me?"

"Of course."

"Say it again."

"Say what?"

"My name."

Hermione smiled slightly. She walked up to him and cupped his face. She kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear, "Goodbye, Draco."

…

Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, best friends of Harry Potter and members of the Golden Trio, have announced their engagement. The couple haves been together since the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named over a year ago. Their wedding is to take place on September 30th and is an event that has attracted the likes of many important members in the Wizarding community. Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt himself is a rumored guest.

Draco huffed and crumpled up his copy of the Daily Prophet. He hadn't seen her since the war ended, but he hadn't stopped thinking about her either. Nor had he stopped loving her. He had to have expected it, he told himself. The Gryffindor Princess and Potter's sidekick; it was inevitable. He threw down some galleons for his meal and left the small café that sat at the end of Diagon Alley.

He treaded through the snow, the cold December air biting hard at his face. Draco pulled his jacket around him tighter as he made his way through the crowd of people. As he passed Flourish and Botts, he stopped in his tracks. Through the window he saw a familiar, beautiful head of curly brown hair. She was standing at a bookshelf by the window, with her face buried into a book. He smiled slightly at that. He watched her for a couple more minutes until she looked up from her book and noticed him. He smiled.

She smiled back. Slightly. She closed the book and put it back in its place. She walked out the front door, the bell ringing as she did so, and walked over to him. They stood in front of one another, not talking. Not knowing what to say.

Finally, "want to get a cup of tea?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"I don't think…"

"Please? I just want to talk."

Hermione stood there for a moment, before finally nodding. The truth was, as much as he had been thinking about her, was as much as she had been thinking about him. It had been a year, 8 months, and fourteen days since they had last seen each other. And ever since then, Hermione hadn't been able to get her mind off of his confession that day in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

They walked down a few shops to a tea shop. They relished in the warmth inside and took a seat by the roaring fire before ordering their tea.

"Congratulations, I suppose," Draco said after their tea was magically brought to them. "I saw the article in the Daily Prophet this morning. You and the Weasel are tying the knot, eh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Must you call him that? And thank you."

"Are you happy?"

"Yeah, I think so."

He nodded. He didn't know why he asked her to have tea with him. Didn't he realize that that would make it even harder on him? It'd be like losing her again. Well, not that he actually ever had her. That's when he made the decision. He would have her. And he wouldn't lose her.

"Come with me," he said, not waiting for an answer before grabbing her wrist and pulling her along with him,

"Where?"

He didn't answer her. He pulled her outside and down a deserted alley.

"Malfoy, wha…"

He interrupted her by pressing her against the wall and slamming his lips to hers. She savored the feel of his lips once again moving with hers. He felt so different than Ron. He was so much more passionate in his kisses, and she could read so much emotion in just his kiss. The only time he wore his emotions on his sleeve was when he kissed. He wasn't afraid to be rough with her either, unlike Ron who was so gentle like he thought she would break.

But she knew she had to push him away, just like before. "Draco, nothing has changed. We can't do this."

"Why not? Why can't it be me? Hermione, my feelings for you have not changed. On the contrary; I love you even more, Hermione."

"Draco," she sighed. "I know I feel something for you too, but…"

"But what? Everything he can give you, I can give you and more," he pleaded with her.

"Draco, I…"

"Do you love Ron?" He asked her suddenly.

"Of course, he's one of my best friends."

"But do you love him enough to spend the rest of your life with him?"

She froze, and for once was not sure of the answer. "I…I," she stuttered. "I love him. That's all I know."

"Hermione, the only reason your still with him is because he's a safe bet."

She pulled away from him even further. "How dare you make that accusation! You don't know me!"

"I know you better than you think, Granger. You're with him because it's a safe bet. And I understand that. After everything we've all been through a safe bet is rewarding. But I am asking you not to take it. You've already said you feel something for me. Take a bet on me, and I swear to you, you will not regret it."

Hermione just looked at him, not quite sure what to say. "Look, Ron went to do his own shopping and is meeting me back at the bookstore in five minutes. I have to leave."

"But, Hermione," He grabbed her by her elbow, willing her not to go.

"No, Draco. My answer is no. Please leave me alone."

…

Draco had had a plan to get Hermione Granger all to himself. But that plan was thwarted when she asked him to leave her alone. Those three words cut through him like a knife.

For the next 8 months, Draco tried to fill the hole in his heart with woman after woman, the way he did in school. He would pick up some witch in Hogsmead or Diagon Alley, and go home with her, only to bolt as soon as she fell asleep.

He focused on his work. He went out with friends. He did everything to keep his mind off of her. And every night as he lay in bed, he would try to close his mind. But the thought of the beautiful, curly-haired, know-it-all muggle born kept creeping into his thoughts and dreams.

No matter what he did or how much time had passed, his love for Hermione Granger did not wane.

And it was at one of these least likely moments that he saw her again.

It was nearly midnight as Draco returned home. He had spent the past three hours with Zoe Accrington, a Slytherin who was 2 years below him. Thankfully she fell asleep fast. She was the same annoying little girl she was in Hogwarts.

He lay in his bed trying to push away the thoughts of Hermione. When he could not, he got out of bed and padded sulkily to the kitchen.

"Master! What can Winnie do for Master?" Draco's devoted house elf came running up to him, leaving behind the dirty dishes that he was cleaning.

"Nothing, Winnie, go back to what you were doing."

"Are you sure Master would not like tea or cake?"

"No Winnie, I do not want tea or cake. Go back to what you were doing."

"Would Master like some butterbeer or,"

"I said no!" He snapped.

"Yes, Master, sorry Master. Winnie will go back to doing the dishes," and she rushed to complete her chores.

Draco felt bad. For the past few months he had been really good about treating his house elves with respect. And he knew that his feelings for a certain witch had something to do with it. He sighed and apologized, and his apology was of course met with fervent apologies from Winnie. He shook his head and rummaged through the cabinets before finding and old bottle of fire whiskey. He took it into the living room and plopped down on the couch and took a swig.

He was nearly asleep when there was a knock at the door. He didn't get up. Instead he called for Winnie to open it. He could hear muttering, but do to his half-asleep state, could not make out what was being sad or who was at the door.

"Master, Mistress Hermione Granger is here to see Master."

"Winnie, go away. Hermione is not here," he muttered and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Draco?"

He heard that all familiar voice. He turned his head, and when he saw her, he shot up like a bullet.

"Hermione?"

"Hello, Draco."

"Winnie, go to the kitchen," he ordered, and the house elf quickly left. Hermione looked disapprovingly at him. "I treat her well," he assured. "What are you doing here?"

"I was supposed to get married in a month."

"You weresupposed to?"

"We got into a huge fight. The wedding is off."

"Oh, I'm…I'm sorry. But why did you come here?"

"I didn't know where else to go. I went to a muggle bar down the street, and had a couple drinks. I didn't want to go home; Ron's there. I didn't want to go to Harry's and Ginny's. I'm not ready to explain everything to them yet. And for some reason, I decided I wanted to see you."

"Come on in, have a seat."

"Thank you."

She walked into his flat and took a seat where he had previously been sitting. She grabbed the half empty bottle of fire whiskey and took a small sip. "I've been thinking a lot. About you…and us."

Draco wasn't sure how to handle this situation. He was a bit tipsy, she was a bit tipsy, and now it sounded like she was going into deep conversation territory.

"What have you been thinking?"

"About everything we've been through. You calling me mudblood for the first time, watching Harry mess with you guys while under the invisibility cloak," she chuckled. "Slapping you, the time Mad Eye turned you into a weasel. Seeing you at the Yule Ball. You looked quite handsome, you know," she looked at him and he sat down next to her.

"Well of course I did. I'm a Malfoy, I always look quite dashing."

They both laughed, and Hermione scooted closer to him. "I remember when Harry thought you were a death eater in 6th year. But he was right then, wasn't he?"

"Hermione, I've changed. I'm not the person I was back then. And a lot of it has to do with you. I've loved you for a long time."

"And that night in the bathroom, before you let the death eaters into the castle. I must say, I was quite messed up after that little kiss in the bathroom. I wasn't able to look at you the same way anymore. You weren't just the Slytherin who called me a mudblood. You were a boy, who was going through some really tough things."

The more she talked, the closer to him she got. He could smell the liquor on her breath, and wondered if that had anything to do with what was happening. The old him, with any other girl, wouldn't have minded. He would've seen it as an easy lay. But this wasn't the old him. And this wasn't any other girl. This was Hermione. He saw her leaning in towards him.

"Hermione, I don't think…"

"I'm not drunk, Draco. I know what I'm doing," she said in the same self-assured tone she always used. That convinced him.

He closed the distance between them, catching her lips in a passionate kiss. She wasted no time in responding, kissing him just as fervently as he was kissing her. She swung one leg to the other side of his lap, straddling him. She started grinding against his crotch and he groaned. He kissed from her cheek to her ear, groaning into her ear, and she whimpered.

He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, laying her down gently onto his bed. She chuckled.

"What?"

"Green and Black silk sheets?"

He smirked. "I'm a Slytherin."

She giggled and pulled him back down for a kiss. His hands roamed up her shirt, soon taking it off. He kissed down her neck, down her chest, and pulled down her bra, kissing her breasts. He reached behind her and undid her bra. She reached in between them and stuck her hand down his pants, but he pulled her hand away. There would be time for that later. He was done with foreplay; he had waited long enough and he wanted her now. Both were quickly stripped of their remaining clothes, and soon, Draco was in her.

"Mmm…ugh," she groaned as his big dick entered her. As soon as he entered her all the way, he pulled out, and rammed back in, hitting that special spot. "God!"

He continued slamming into her. She lifted her hips and slammed them against his, developing a rhythm. She grabbed his ass, urging him to go faster.

It wasn't long before they came together. Draco didn't care it didn't take very long. He had waited long enough, and by the looks of it, they had plenty of time to go slow later.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this," he told Hermione in a soft voice.

She smiled. "I love you, Draco." And with that, they cuddled together and fell asleep.

…

Draco,

I didn't want to wake you. Last night was amazing. I will never forget it. Ron called early this morning. We talked for a while. The wedding is back on. I love him Draco, but I meant it when I said I loved you. That is why we will not see each other again. We both have to move on with our lives. I hope you find a girl who you love, and who loves you, and I hope you can forget about me and live happily ever after with her.

I love you, and I always will,

Hermione

…

They didn't see each other again. Not until 16 years later, on September 1st, when they both took their children to Kings Cross Station, and caught a slight glimpse of each other.

…

I promise my next one will have a happy ending!