22. Second First Date

Hermione was anxious as she made her way back to her office after her morning of meetings. She was about to walk in to one whole hour alone with Draco Malfoy.

As she walked up the corridor towards her office doors, Harry and Ron appeared out of nowhere.

"Mione!" Ron said overenthusiastically, slinging his arm over her shoulders as they continued to walk "Tell, me what's your favourite defensive spell? Mine personally is Ginny's world-famous Bat Bogey Hex."

She was confused by Ron's question before Harry spoke playfully, "Remember Mione, if you must perform an Unforgivable Curse, make sure you really mean it."

She stopped just outside her door and looked confusedly at both of them. "What are you two talking about?"

Harry suddenly looked serious. He placed his hands on both of her shoulders and stared straight into her eyes, "Just keep an open mind alright Hermione?" She laughed nervously as she shook away Harry's grasp before they both walked off, taking a quick right turn into a room that Hermione knew was used to store brooms.

Shaking her head at their lovable stupidity, Hermione walked through her door, knowing that she had at least another 15 minutes to compose herself before she would see Draco.

But her wish to compose herself before his arrival was ripped away from her when she opened her door because, in front of her very eyes, her office had been transformed into a paradise.

Gently pushing the giant leaf of a towering palm tree out of her way, she slowly made her way deeper into her office, following the rocky path lit up by shimmering lights that hovered just off the ground. Looking around she saw trees upon trees, like she had just walked into the jungle. A beautiful purple butterfly flittered past her before exploding into a shower of silver sparkles. As she followed the path, she swore she could hear the tinkling sound of water running down a creek, around her, the most unusual animals scurried their way past her feet. She looked around in amazement, the beauty of what her office had been turned into took her breath away. She pushed one final leaf out of her way and stepped into the most beautiful clearing. Blades of grass shimmered in the breeze that didn't exist, and the most exotic flowers seemed to be growing out of the ground of her office.

Sitting right in the middle of the clearing, on the same picnic blanket he had used when he turned his office into a garden for her over a year ago sat Draco Malfoy. Hermione watched in awe for a moment, he hadn't heard her arrive. Polly was curled up quietly in his lap and he was staring at the kitten sweetly while he stroked its head. Hearing Hermione step into the clearing, he looked up at her, his eyes glowing with hope and happiness.

"Hi" he whispered gently, a cautious smile playing on his lips. She didn't move, still in shock by what he had done for her. Sensing her hesitation, he placed Polly on rug and stood up, covering the distance between them in just a few strides.

He looked down at her and her eyes met his. His heart filled with happiness. He raised his hand up to her face slowly and, watching her carefully, he gently tucked a stray stand of hair behind her ear, murmuring, "You look so beautiful Minister."

"Draco-" Hermione warned softly. Before she could continue, he grabbed her hand and pulled her further into the clearing, settling her down on the picnic rug with him.

They sat silently in front of each other. Hermione was nervously fidgeting with the button of her jacket as one of them waited for the other to break the silence. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't want the beauty of what he had done to her to get in the way of why they were meeting in the first place.

After carefully planning out her argument in her head she finally spoke, "Draco-"

But he cut her off, his eyes almost filling with tears as he spoke quickly. "Hermione, you are the most important person in my world. One year without you and I still thought about you every day. And every day, I've wanted to murder myself ten times over for hurting you the way that I did." He looked into her eyes intensely and leaned forward. "I know that it is too much to ask for your forgiveness. I don't deserve it. But just know that I have suffered every single day for what I did to you and, from the bottom of my cold, shrivelled, barely beating heart, I am sorry."

He finished his sentence with a sigh and his shoulders relaxed as the weight of the words he'd been planning to say to her for so long was lifted off. It didn't matter if she forgave him, that was her choice. He was just happy he could show her how sorry he was.

"Draco, you hurt me." She began. "You already know that. It wasn't you calling me a Mudblood that hurt me the most, blimey you've been doing that since we were kids! It was the fact that you made me feel worthless after spending so long making me believe that I wasn't."

He looked down at his hands in his lap, ashamed. "I have thought about that moment every single day since. Please Hermione, please just give me a chance to prove to you that everything I did up until that point was true. That was me. Not the arrogant toerag you saw at dinner."

Hermione smiled as she remembered the first time, she had called him that. They were just kids.

Draco recalled Harry telling him that all he needed to do was make her smile, so he took his opportunity. "Hermione Granger: the brightest witch of our generation, the youngest Minister for Magic in history, the most beautiful and smart and selfless witch in the world," Draco took a breath as Hermione blushed wildly from his ranting, "please, please, give me the chance to show you that I-"

Hermione looked at him quizzically for stopping suddenly. Draco fought hard with the word he was trying to say. He meant it with every ounce of his being but, after a lifetime of growing up without it, it was hard to admit that he felt it.

"-that I love you Hermione Granger. That I love you with every cell in my undeserving body."

Draco sat there, breathing heavily from his confession. Before he could muster up any more thoughts she jumped into his lap and pushed her lips firmly onto him. With the force, Draco feel back, holding onto Hermione's waist and bringing her down with him.

Laying in the grass, with Hermione straddling Draco, they kissed passionately. One year of pent up emotion now coming to the surface in one perfect kiss. He moved his hand slowly up her back, wanting to feel every inch of her skin as she ran a hand through his hair. There was nothing more than gentle love in the kiss. For the first time in a long time, both of them were happy.

Keeping his lips to hers, Draco slowly sat up moving Hermione into his lap. The kiss ended slowly and naturally and they both pulled away blushing and smiling widely. With one final peck on Draco's lips she held his head in both of her hands and whispered:

"I love you too Draco."