CHAPTER 25: ALL THINGS CONSIDERING, THE UNIVERSE LOVES HERMIONE

Draco watched the owl fly off towards the Weasley-Potter residence with a frown on his face. He had advised against letting the she-Weasel know anything, but Hermione had insisted on telling her something or other. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, yelling at him that there was something she wasn't telling him, but he ignored it.

There wasn't any point in trying to convince her to reveal everything to him anyway, she was stubborn and determined and it was kind of hard to win an argument against her.

The woman in question was sitting on a dry patch of grass on top of the grassy hill they'd apparated to after leaving Kurt's house. Her form was relaxed and there was a small smile on her face, like she was thinking happy thoughts.

He sat himself beside her and sighed quietly to himself, wishing that they were here under different circumstances. It would have been nice to be here, next to her for the sake of it, and not because they were avoiding being tracked by a murderer and her best friend.

"It's kind of weird, isn't it?" He finally broke the silence, staring out over the sea visible from where they sat. Hermione glanced up surprised and frowned, "what's weird?" she asked, drawing her knees up to her chest and observing him sideways.

A small breeze played with a few strands of her hair that had escaped the ponytail, and the irreplaceable scent of oranges and cinnamon filled the air. Draco took a deep breath, not surprised when he found himself relaxing too. It had become such a familiar scent, one that he was beginning to realise that he'd been able to smell around here, even back at school. It was the scent he'd begun to associate with her that his body reacted to it without thinking.

"The situation we're in, Granger. It's weird." He answered simply. Hermione considered his words, biting the corner of her bottom lip in thought before she nodded.

"I agree, it's just like the battle of Hogwarts all over again, except this time, I'm the bad guy." Her tone was upbeat and the smile on her face wasn't forced, but Draco scowled at her words.

That hadn't been what he'd meant at all. Why did she always presume the worst case, even from him? why would he even mean that? He sighed, stubborn witch.

She played with the ring on her ring finger wistfully and he frowned, surprise that the ring on his own finger hadn't irritated him at all. It didn't feel weird or new, and he hadn't even noticed its presence in a long time either. Had its magic stopped working, then?

"Don't be so negative, Granger. I meant the fact that I'm enjoying such a day with you is weird. The last time we did something like this was before our graduation ceremony at Hogwarts and we got in trouble for being late for the Heads' speeches." He reminded her, trying to get her to forget about her earlier words.

At the memory of McGonagall's red face at their appearance twenty minutes after they were supposed to start, Hermione found herself grinning. "Oh yeah. Ginny was convinced that you and I were doing things we shouldn't be and everyone kept staring at us because we were such a mess during the speech. We kept mucking it up and laughing about it! I'm pretty sure that Blaise was smirking at me the whole time that day too."

"She-Weasel thought we were doing what? What are these things we shouldn't have been doing?" Draco inquired, intrigued at her words. He hadn't heard this side of the story before, though he was pretty sure he knew what the red-haired girl meant. She hadn't been the only one to notice the sceptical whispers flying around after they'd come to the Great Hall together for the ceremony, looking a mess.

The number of suspicious looks thrown around would've been enough to make any gossip queen reel with excitement, but he was sure that he and she were the only ones to know that they'd been in the Astronomy Tower that night, talking about the future and lost track of time and had had to run all the way there.

For some reason, he had found it seriously easy to talk to Hermione, even back then. She was a good listener and she gave him honest answers, unlike Blaise who liked to tease and make things up.

Hermione looked at him for a moment before flushing red and looking away, "um, nothing. She didn't say anything. Never mind that." She stuttered.

Draco smirked, she was so cute when she was embarrassed. "Okay, I'll let it go, but only if you promise to stop thinking about yourself as the bad guy in this situation. As someone whose known you since you were eleven, I think I have the right to tell you that not once have even I, thought of you as the bad guy. You've always been on the light side Granger, from the beginning. You haven't done anything wrong, this world is just kind of screwed up." He stated calmly, taking her hand in his.

Hermione glanced at their intertwined fingers, the ring on her finger and smiled, "you have such a way with words, Mr Malfoy." She muttered.

"That's not the only thing I have a way with, Miss Granger," he whispered, tilting his head and stealing a kiss.

Hermione leaned away and narrowed her eyes, "you're so full of yourself. You know one of these days, I'll resist you and your kisses and then you'll be screwed!" she muttered scrunching up her nose at him and making a face.

Draco smirked at her and stared at the sea, wondering if this was what it was like to be free to do whatever he wanted. It was so much easier to breathe around her, so much easier to talk and relax, and she was just so...

"Trust me, Granger, don't hold your breath for that day; no one can resist my kisses, I'm simply irresistible!" He wiggled an eyebrow suggestively and when she laughed, he exhaled in relief.

She was so much prettier when she laughed.

"Your arrogance never ceases to amaze me, Malfoy. You should do something about that," she whispered to him, leaning her forehead against his gently.

"Yeah, but that's why you love me." He stated back, and then he kissed her again.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, her eyes shut tightly and her face red. Draco undid her hair, and ran his fingers through the silky locks, the strands rushing through his fingertips like water. She deepened the kiss, titling her head and sighing in contentment, and Draco felt his heart hammering in his chest. And her scent, her scent was intoxicating, pulling him closer to her. The ever-present smell of oranges and cinnamon that seem to diffuse from her and enclose him in a cocoon of warmth.

A sudden though entered his head and he pulled away, smiling with accomplishment when she groaned at him. At least he wasn't the only one that was affected. He caressed her face, tracing the edge of her jaw and the soft skin of her lips, before kissing her again.

"Just one question, Granger," he began, encircling her waist with his arms and pulling her closer to his side. She pouted but nodded her head, asking him to go on. "What the hell is that smell? It smells so damn good! Am I imagining things?"

Hermione stared at him in confusion for a second before her eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation of his words, turning her body so that she was facing him properly now, "what do you mean? How do I smell any different to the shampoo I use?" she asked.

Draco winced, not knowing if he was just digging himself into a stupid grave by asking all these questions, but it had been bugging him for a while now. "It's not shampoo or perfume or anything. I can tell when it's from a bottle. This is like...it's like wafering off your skin." He cringed at how cheesy and stupid that sounded.

What was he doing? He was ruining a perfectly good moment to ask her why she smelled good? Wasn't that on the list of questions you were never supposed to ask women or something?

He waited for her to laugh or ask him if he needed help, but then he saw the look on her face and he froze. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated in shock or excitement, he couldn't be too sure, her lips parted slightly like she was speechless before him.

She shook her head and licked her lips, holding up her hands like she was trying to stop an oncoming vehicle. She looked at him face to face and narrowed her eyes at him, leaning in close enough that their noses were almost touching. "Draco," she breathed, her voice barely a whisper, her breath warm against his lips.

Draco swallowed, painfully aware how fast his heart was beating. Was she doing this on purpose, teasing him for his mushy words? But the fact that he could hear her breath was ragged too, proved otherwise. No, this was more than making fun of him, he's said or done something right.

But, by gods, his name sounded so damn good when she said it like that.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy. Be honest with me, when did you realise this? Was it before or after I gave you the ring?" she asked.

He watched her lips move and licked his own, tempted to shut her up and kiss her once more, but clearly, this was important to her. "Um...before, like way before. It wasn't this strong in school, but maybe after I borrowed you for the first time." He answered, almost whispering.

She was so close to him now, that he could see the golden flecks in her eyes clearly. "You mean the first time you kidnapped me? Wait...back in school too?"

"Yeah, I mean it wasn't this strong, but during our last year, I could smell it. It was like this bubble around you, and Blaise always said that I was crazy, but I'm guessing by the look on your face I wasn't?"

"Even back in school? Why didn't you tell me before?" She asked him.

"Gee Granger, because I'm not regarded as weird enough already? What was I supposed to say "Oh Granger, you smell nice? What is that?" Seriously?" he muttered, rolling his eyes.

She took a deep breath and smiled again "okay, last question, this scent...what is it?"

He frowned, confused as to why that was so important, but he got lost in the specks of gold in her eyes, and shrugged it off, if it was important to her, then it was important to him, "oranges and cinnamon" he exhaled.

One second she was staring at him in amazement, her mouth dropping open in complete and utter bewilderment, and the next second she was crushing her lips to his, kissing him like the end of the world was a minute away.

Draco lost his balance and fell to the grassy bank, but she straddled him and pressed her lips to his. The world seemed to fade away around him, her lips were slow and soft, comforting and warm. She leaned away, her breathing ragged, her face flushed red, looking down on him with so much intensity that he was aware that there was a lot more to this than he knew.

He studied her face, and found her studying him just as carefully, as he was studying her. There was a tenderness in her eyes he hadn't seen before, and he found himself surprised that he wasn't afraid of it. Usually, such a look would have been the warning sign to leave a relationship, but now all he wanted to do was dive in, eyes closed and not care about the consequences.

"All things considering, the universe must love me." She whispered to him, smiling brightly.

Her cheeks were rosy, her lips together in a pout, her hair was falling into her chocolate eyes that were lit up in excitement. She looked beautiful, and his heart had never beat so fast in his life.

How did she do that to him? Make him immobile with just a smile?

"Care to explain?" he asked, pulling her on top of him so that she lay on his chest. She stared at him for a while, her face turning red. "It's a long story," she said, running her finger along his jaw line.

A long story? That sounded interesting, and with the way she was red, it was one that he wanted to know.

"Summarise it down for me," he smiled.

She licked her lips and bit the bottom one, trying to think of a good way to start off. It wasn't something that she'd thought she'd ever have to explain to anyone, especially Draco.

"Well...um...when we were in our second year, I was really into experimenting with spells and potions and stuff." She began, avoiding eye contact with him.

Draco tried to hide his smile, but it was hard to do so, when she was as red as she was, "that doesn't sound like you at all, Granger."

"Shut up Malfoy, I was a weird kid with a lot of time on my hands, okay? Ron and Harry...were always doing something stupid and I was alone most of the time, so I found this book in Snape's cupboard that listed ingredients needed for a potion..." she trailed off awkwardly.

He frowned, enjoying this far too much, "a potion for what, Granger?"

She buried her face in his chest, "um...a potion that would reveal to me my true love." She peeked at him with one eye to gauge his reaction, hoping that he wouldn't be freaked out by her words. If the roles were reversed, she knew for a fact that she would be a little freaked out for sure.

Draco started at her in bafflement, "true love, Granger? Really?" he muttered, grinning at her blushing face, but what she said struck in his mind.

Her true love...could it be?

"Shut up Draco! I was like twelve, okay? And kind of into romance and the idea of a true love for me was kind of...all I wanted. And this potion that I made and drank, it said that whoever could smell the two main ingredients of the potion would...well be my true love, that he was the one."

"And the main ingredient, I can presume are...?" he whispered.

She bit her lip again. "Oranges and cinnamon," she breathed before kissing him again.

Draco's mind hardly registered what she said, too preoccupied with holding her close once again, but he was aware of how much that meant though.

A true love potion working was rare enough, especially one made by an eleven or twelve-year-old, but for it register and work to him ever during school, did that mean that he's loved her since then? Had Blaise been right all along, had he been in love with Hermione Granger all he while he'd thought he hated her during school?

But by gods, he loved her so much, so much that it was hard to even imagine not being able to see her every day from now on. He was addicted to her, to her laughter and her kisses and her smile. Even the way she cared so much about even the slightest things. Even imaging not being able to see her anymore made it hard for him to breathe, and it didn't scare him at all. Any other relationship or girl, he would have broken it off, then and there, but with her, with Hermione, it was impossible to even consider breaking it off.

She was his.

"True love, huh? I knew you loved me Granger," he muttered. She smiled into the kiss and her fingers ran along his spine gently.

"Shut up, if anything, you love me." She leaned away and pouted at him, "well anyway, I guess that means that you're stuck with me forever and ever, aren't you, Malfoy? How are you going to survive?"

She stood up suddenly and pulled him to his feet, their hands intertwined tightly. Even with her hair undone, and little strands of grass caught in them, she looked beautiful. And she was his.

"Forever and ever," he thought about it. Hermione and him, forever and ever, "that doesn't sound so bad, Granger. And more importantly, I think it means that you're stuck with me as well."

Hermione smiled at him warmly.

She wished deeply that they could stay in that moment forever. It was so perfect. She was happy, and she was with the one man in the world that understood and seemed to love her too.

All these years of running and not knowing what the world had in store for her, only to end up with the him, even with everything going on, all the bodies and death and the fact that she was being hunted down by everyone else, the very fact that Draco was with her here and now, seemed enough.

She was so tempted, so tempted, just to leave the country with him and never have to face what was to come. Tempted to alter their appearance permanent and live with a different identity, with him of the rest of their lives, but it wasn't fair to him.

These kinds of things had a bad habit of catching up with people, and she didn't want to risk losing more than she already had by running away now. Tempted, but she wasn't a coward, and the only way to ensure that she had any chance of being happy with her true love, was to sort out this mess properly.

"Okay Malfoy, let's get this done." She told him seriously. Draco wiped the smile of his face and nodded tersely, aware that what was happening now had to be dealt with seriously, though that didn't stop him from holding her close to him tightly and kissing her as they apparated away.