remember me [dramione] ✔️

Chapter 44 || Year 7

Hermione's POV-

I sighed to myself as I walked down the stairs of the burrow and into the tent of the wedding's reception, feeling the soft silk of the lilac-coloured dress I was wearing against my legs. I looked around, my eyes locking with the emerald green ones of Harry, then finally finding the baby-blue orbs of Ronald Weasley. I gave him a small smile as he stood there, staring at me, but instead of feeling the blush on my cheeks and the butterflies in my stomach like the year before, I felt nothing.

I turned around, trying to avoid the people I knew would try to find me, but failing when I felt someone latch onto my arm as I reached the punch table. I turned my head slightly, seeing a mass of ginger hair of the youngest Weasley as she pulled me out of the crowd and around the other side of the burrow where not a single person was.

"Ginny, please tell me why you're dragging me out here when we should both be at your sister-in-law's wedding reception," I demanded.

The female Weasley huffed at the fact that the French brat was now a part of her family, but the eye-roll soon turned into a small smirk as she muttered, "You'll see."

She continued to drag me along the burrow's outskirts, nowhere near the house itself, when another figure could be seen in the distance.

"Ginny?" I questioned warily, but she pulled me next to her, placing one of her fingers on my lips, before once again taking me to wherever she had planned, only this time much faster.

It took us two minutes to reach the unknown figure, although I figured Ginny knew exactly who they were. The person was wearing a simple, black muggle hoodie and jeans - their back turned and hood on so you couldn't see any of their features.

"It's okay, it's only me," The ginger spoke to the figure, "And I've got her with me."

"Ginny..." I trailed off, my eyes widening in fear.

That was when the unknown human turned around - their steel-grey eyes that had locked with mine covered with thin strands of platinum-blonde hair.

"Draco," I breathed, choking on a sob as I sprinted up to him, running into his arms and placing my head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around me equally as tight.

"I've missed you," He sobbed, placing his head in the crook of my neck as I brought him closer to me, tears of my own now falling.

"As have I," I cried out, pulling back and crashing my lips to his, the both of us trying to contain our sobs as we kissed each other with strong emotion.

Ginny was long forgotten as we held onto each other, our lips not leaving each other's as we felt everything that the both of us felt.

Draco pulled back slowly, tears flowing freely down his pale, sallow cheeks. I pulled the hood down so it revealed his entire face - his light hair thinner than it was the last time I saw him, along with his body.

"Why are you here?" I asked as he held my face in my hands.

"I couldn't stand being away from you without knowing if you're safe or not. And I think he knows. The way he looks at me during some meetings..." He trailed off, his voice cracking slightly.

"Has he done anything to you?" I asked, my voice higher than normal.

"Well, I don't know," He whispered, "I woke up yesterday morning with these bruises."

He lifted up the jumper, revealing his stomach, although it was barely muscle anymore. You could see two long scars - one directly on his stomach whilst the other climbed up to his chest, due to the sectumsempra spell he had thrown upon him. But there, lining his torso the whole way up from his hip to his collar bone were deep, dark, blue and black bruises.

I let out a small gasp at the sight, and I could hear Ginny, a small distance away, give the same reaction, obviously catching the sight herself. But then the logical thought hit me, calming my nerves slightly.

"Draco, he wouldn't do something like that. He would kill you or torture you, not place bruises upon your skin. And if he ordered one of his other followers to do his bidding, it still wouldn't have been simple bruises," I reassured him, not showing my own fear.

He nodded, not letting his eyes leave mine, the colour still a dark grey. I sighed then, not being able to hide the upcoming truth from him any more.

"Draco, I'm going to hunt for his Horcruxes," I told him flatly, but my voice still soft.

To say Draco was shocked was an understatement. He stood there, his eyes wide and mouth agape, not sure what to say, fear also crossing his features, stuttering at first until he finally formed a sentence.

"What! You can't do that! Hermione, do you know how dangerous that would be, even with your best friends by your side?" He asked loudly, grabbing ahold of my shoulders with his soft arms.

"I know, but I have to do it. And the faster we do it, the faster this stupid war ends, and then we'll be able to see and be with one another again," I explained quietly.

Draco looked at me with a broken expression; his eyes filled with nothing but pure emotion, his face no longer a mask that was void of any affection, but every emotion that he was feeling was spread across his features for the world to see.

"I love you too much to lose you," He whispered, rushing forward and closing the small gap between us with his lips.

It would have been a good few minutes until we pulled apart again, tears once again streaming down our broken faces.

"I have to go now, before people begin to wonder where Ginny and I are," I whispered, not wanting to say it; not wanting to leave him.

Draco sighed and nodded reluctantly, pulling back out of our embrace, but not letting his hand slip from mine.

"I forgot to tell you," Draco mumbled, smiling slightly, "You look so beautiful tonight."

"And you don't look so bad yourself in that muggle attire," I chuckled weakly, the mood around us brightening ever so slightly as he smiled even wider than before.

"I love you, Hermione Granger, and don't you dare forget that promise we made months ago," He demanded, kissing me for the third time that night, although it only lasted a few seconds and the both of us knew that we had to get back to our families, whether we liked it or not.

"I would never forget, I love you too much to forget," I whispered, stroking his cheek gently.

"Goodbye now, Hermione," He sighed into the air.

"Bye now, Draco," I mumbled, reluctantly removing my hand from his face.

Draco took a small step back as he placed the hood of the jumper he was wearing back over his head, making his face look darker and more mystic in the night and environment around us, pulling out his wand to apparate away, when I stopped him.

"I just want to let you know that I don't hate you from that night like you thought I would. I told you, I could never hate you," I smiled softly, watching as his face lit up with gratitude and love.

He took in a deep breath before waving his goodbye, disapparating not a second later; his warmth still surprisingly lingering in the air as I found myself missing presence; the smell of peppermint that tends to radiate off his body not quite fading away.