The skin of her lips was cracked from the dry cold of January and her body ached from the strain of the walk from the apparition point to the house on the hill. There was nothing else for miles and she could feel the magic of the wards grow stronger as she neared the door. Unable to hold herself up any longer she collapsed on the threshold of the cottage and cried out for someone to come open the door.
She drifted off as she lay there, and it could have been seconds or hours before the door opened and he stood there. She reached her hand towards him, stretching - straining - for him to hold her and he did.
He dropped to his knees, pulled her to his chest and held her as they breathed together - his deep and slow, hers erratic and punctuated by sobs. The cold made its way under their skin and he lifted her off the ground, carried her across the threshold and placed her on the rug in front of the fire.
She felt warmth return to her bones, she didn’t know when she had closed her eyes but when she opened them she found him sitting on a chair next to her, his head in his hands, his fingers pulling at his hair.
She moved toward him and he looked at her with an expression that made her heart break. She stared up at him - how could she speak? It had been weeks since she had last seen him. Since she had told him about her mission, about the soul magic that the nascent New Order was experimenting with.
Since she had exposed the Order's plan to him and her role within it. Since he had stared at her as she explained the importance of his blood and his magic, how in seducing him she had won the race for the Malfoy piece of the puzzle. She remembered never seeing someone look as broken as he did in that moment, and the sound of her voice cracking as she tried to tell him that she had failed.
She had failed because she had fallen in love with him. He had already turned his back to her when she said this and he didn’t turn around again as he walked toward the cottage and shut the door behind him. She stood there sobbing quietly, hoping that he would at the very least let her say goodbye.
But he hadn’t, and as the sun set below the rolling Wiltshire hills she had wiped her eyes, squared her shoulders and prepared herself for whatever the Order needed - knowing that nothing that they gave her to do would hurt as much as seeing her betrayal register in Draco’s eyes.
It was he who broke the silence
“If you’ve returned to further injure me, to collect whatever piece of my soul remains mine. Do it quickly.” He paused and before he could continue she spoke
“I don’t know what remains of your soul, Draco, but I am no longer in possession of mine.” His eyes widened
“You didn’t Hermione, please tell me ….” worry etched across his features
She continued, bringing her hand up to stroke his cheek “My soul, my being, every manifestation of my love belongs to you Draco. I tried to let it go, but whatever our souls are made of - yours and mine are the same. Even if you refused to see me or speak to me from now until I die, this wouldn’t change. I’m…I’m yours forever Draco...I”
Whatever she had planned to say after this confession died on her tongue as he dipped his head and pressed his lips firmly to hers. It felt grounding, her life flowing from her to him, through his body and into the earth holding them both there together, but her heart became so light that it pulled against her chest in an effort to defy gravity.
She was stuck somewhere between heaven and earth. He gently pushed her onto her back and intertwined their hands. His body was protective above hers, shielding her from the world. It was the safest she had ever felt. She broke the kiss and looked into his eyes - they stayed like that reading each other's hearts, falling towards eternity. Whatever questions she had not yet asked his eyes answered in their entirety.
He sat back on his heels still watching her and pulled her to him, holding her firmly to his body, his chin resting against the crown of her head. “I love you” He whispered. “I thought I was going to die when you left, I’ve never felt pain like that. Not knowing if it had all been a lie, not knowing if I would ever see you again. I wasn’t sure I would survive” His voice shook as he spoke. She brought her hand up to his head and held him as he sobbed into her curls. Hermione didn’t know what would come next but whatever it was, she knew they would face it together.