Poison Apple | A Dramione FanFiction

Stone Heart

Hermione was still in the dark. Her mind was racing, and she could hear Mrs. Malfoy, still downstairs, bonding with her parents. She wondered how to break the news to them all; that the man she had trusted was possibly betraying them, or already had. How would she tell them, when she hadn't processed anything herself? It was as if hell broke loose and she was letting the flames eat her up alive. 
The doorbell rang and Hermione shut her eyes tightly, as if that was going to disperse the sound. She tried to think of a solution to every problem all at once while keeping composure. She was trying so hard but all of her thoughts got interrupted by knocking at her door. It got rapid, and intense, impatient. It wasn't any of her parents. Hermione tried to cancel the voice out. She had to think fast and hard, or else the situation would spread beyond anyone's control, darkness and chaos spreading like wildfire. 
'Hermione! Hermione, are you in there?' The voice asked, trembling. 
Hermione opened her eyes wide, shocked. Was she hearing things? She walked towards the door, turning the light on and opening the door. 
Draco's cheeks were flushed, as if he had just ran up the flight of stairs in a heartbeat. Hermione noticed his eyes sparkling with tears. 
'What in Merlin's-' before she could complete her sentence, Draco pulled her into a hug. He pulled her closer and closer to himself, finally letting his tears out and sobbing his heart out. 
She didn't understand, but she put her arms around Draco too, resting her head on his shoulder. 
'What's going on?' She asked. 
'I'm so sorry for leaving without an explaination. Please come with me, I owe everyone an account of what actually happened.'
Downstairs, the tone of rambling had changed considerably. Hermione could hear several voices she recognised including Kingsley, Ron, Mrs Weasely, Harry and Professor McGonagall. They both rushed downstairs as everyone's attention diverted to them. Mr and Mrs Weasely were there, and so were Harry, Ginny and Ron. The Minister of Magic and the Principal of Hogwarts stood right beside her parents and Narcissa Malfoy. 
Draco could feel all eyes on him. Before anyone could say anything Harry broke the silence. 
'What the hell, Malfoy! Where did you vanish off to? Where's Voldemort's hocrux?' 
Draco knew that was exactly what was going on in everyone's mind. Mr and Mrs Granger seemed confused while Narcissa gave Draco a surprised look.
Draco took a deep breath. 'The hocrux was cursed to destroy anyone who even participated in destroying it.'
He explained about the contents inside the ruby and how Voldemort had planned to curse anyone who tried to destroy it. 
'What did you do to it then... because you're alive, are - are you not?' Ron asked. 
'Yes, yes I'm alive. I flushed it down the toilet. The Chamber of Secrets was sealed when Hogwarts was rebuilt after the war, and so I'm pretty positive no one will find it there.'
Every one took a moment to process the information, and then Mr. Weasely added his thoughts. 
'That was very intelligent, Draco. I don't think anyone would have thought of that.' He smiled warmly at him. 
'Minerva, are the sewage systems linked to the Chamber still?' Kingsley asked. 
'Yes, we only sealed it such that no one can enter it any more. The pipes were reconstructed back into it.' McGonagall confirmed. 
'So that settles it? Is this the end of Voldemort?' Ron asked. 
Draco and Hermione looked at eachother. Draco could see tonnes of emotions welling up in her eyes. 
'We can only hope for the best.' Harry replied. 
The entire room, crowded with both people and feelings, lightened up. There was a lot of hugging, congratulatory words and then all the attention diverted to Draco. 
'Thank you Mr. Malfoy. We didn't think you'd show this level of commitment and bravery. How can we ever repay you?' The Minister asked.
'Actually,' Draco cleared his throat. 'I have something to say.' 
He turned to Hermione and held her hand. And then he did something no one was expecting him to do; he got down on one knee and pulled out a beautiful ring from his pocket. It was silver with small leaves holding a beautiful, sparkling blue stone. 
Hermione's eyes widened, her expression surprised. 
Every one was surprised and anticipated what Draco had to say to Hermione.
'When I was all alone, a few moments back, confused about what to do, I had a reason for not wanting to give up my soul. It wasn't lust for luxury, or for life itself, but for you. I thought about what I ever wanted in life, and you were the first to occupy my thoughts. And while we started off to a horrible start, and I was more than a monster to you, I hope you can give me a chance now. I still think I don't deserve any of your kindness or compassion, but I love you Hermione. I really do. Will you marry me?' 
Hermione immediately accepted and hugged Draco tight as the room erupted in cheers and whoops. Hermione could hear Draco's heart beating ever so fast as he kissed her after slipping the ring on her finger. 
'I used to think you have a stone heart, Draco. Now I know how precious that stone is. I'd love for us to be a part of each other's lives.' She said to him, squeezing his hand softly before they engaged themselves in conversation with the family of unique people around them. 

A/N Hi every one! Poison Apple is finally coming to an end. I hope you will support this book by recommending it to your friends on Wattpad. Your votes and comments mean the world to me and I'll be very happy to write back. You can even reach out to me in my inbox and I will get back to you immediately!
I hope you enjoy the last chapters of the book. This has been an amazing journey that started five years ago for me. And if there are any of you who have stayed long enough to see me fail at writing, building myself up, relapsing and finding the motivation to continue again, I am so so grateful to you for being here still. This book is a huge part of me and will always be special in it's own way to me. I dreamt of publishing my works some day, and that day does not seem far away any more. This platform has given me so much encouragement to write, but more than that, to believe in what I write. 
I will always remain grateful to every one who read this book, and even more so with those who engage with it and promote it. I love all of you guys so much!