A/N: Chapter one, “At Night She Came To Me”, is already complete on its own.
This new chapter is more of a sequel only. I’ve decided to put in Hermione’s thoughts
in this fic. A few people asked me for it in other sites wherein this fic is also posted.
So here goes.

He Who I Never Knew

by bohemian vixen
 
 
 

This was it. My doom.

The enemy in front of me—a middle-aged burly man—had taken hold of my wand,
and now I was defenseless.

I closed my eyes in defeat, and I unexpectedly felt relief wash over me. I thought I
would be scared, but I was not.

It was because in the end, it would not be too terrible to die. In death I would at
least find peace and an end to all my misery. I would not have to fight a battle full of
uncertainties. In death I could join my dead colleagues and friends…and especially
my husband, who had been dead for so many years. The only regret I had was leaving
my children as orphans, and at terrifying and unsafe times like this, no less. In my mind
I saw them—little red-haired children who deserved to live in a time of safety and
happiness, and not a time of chaos and war. They were so young. They lost a father
and they could not afford to lose a mother. But right now there was nothing I could
do but wait and hope that whatever would happen would be for the best.

I was waiting for death to come to me, but I heard a voice say, “Expelliarmus!”

And quickly followed by “Petrificus Totalus!”

My eyes flew open. But I did not see him or anyone else. All I saw was the burly
man ow sprawled on the floor, unarmed and paralyzed.

I had heard that voice many times before. I always heard that voice whenever
I thought I would die. But somehow, that voice became my salvation. It was
almost a voice of an angel.

Almost.

I would have thought that it was an angel’s, if I did not know whose voice that was.

But I did know whose voice that was. Yet every time, I never saw his face. The
last time I saw him was graduation, and from then on, all I knew of him was what
he became of. I had never seen him again.

But I always heard his voice.

It did not make any sense. There was no reason for him to save me. If anything, I
knew that he would be more than willing to be the one to kill me.

Maybe, I was just imagining things. I would not be surprised if all of my grief over
tragic losses had taken its toll on my sanity.

Yes, I was imagining things. That could be the only logical explanation.
 

*~*~*~*~*

“The court finds you guilty of mass murder of muggles and magical people and being
an active Death Eater—among other crimes—beyond reasonable doubt. You would
be subjected to the dementor’s kiss without further delay,” the judge said with an air
of finality.

“Your constitutional right allows you to express any final words you wish to impart to
anybody, but you should do it right now, or else that right would be revoked, because
the dementor is now summoned and can’t be made to wait,” the judge continued. He
nodded at the platinum-blond man sitting at the front of the court room.

I looked at the back of the convict’s head. I remembered seeing him the first time
after graduation. It was during his arrest when I first saw him again, and he had looked
arrogant, proud, and remorseless. He surely deserved to be punished.

But I could not help but feel a bit sorry for him. Somehow, I always believed that
nobody deserved the dementor’s kiss. I didn’t think anybody aside from Voldemort
could deserve the dementor’s kiss.

The convict turned around and to my surprise, he looked straight at me. “Hermione,”
he said softly.

It was the first time I heard him say my first name. It was the first time he addressed
me without contempt and hatred, but with softness. And his eyes…his gray eyes were
not cold. They looked…resigned, tired.

“I have loved you ever since we were in fourth year. I never stopped, even though I
never told you until now. I see no point of hiding it any longer.” His voice was clear and
unwavering. He held his head with pride, something that he had always carried with him.
Yet his eyes held a sincerity and sadness I never thought he was capable of feeling. On
his lips was a not a sneer, but a sad smile.

I was stunned at this revelation, but then I started to understand. I understood why he
treated me the way he did when we were still at school. I understood why I was still alive
when almost everyone I cared for was dead. I understood why I heard his voice every
time I needed salvation.

I understood him; in that few seconds I saw his soul.

Yet it was all too late. A dementor swiftly entered the court room and swooped down
on him and gave him the dreaded kiss. The dementor left as soon as it came.

After the wave of coldness that swept over me because of the dementor’s presence,
I looked at the platinum-blond man. He was sprawled on the floor.

He was now worse than dead.

I found myself feeling a burning lump in my throat and a prickling feeling in the inner
corners of my eyes. I blinked back furiously. Why should I cry for him?  But the tears
fell down my face freely, needing no reason.

I was not just crying for him. I was crying for the man he could have been. I was
crying for the man I could have known.

He loved me…all these years, and I did not know it. I wondered if I could have
been the one to save him—not just to save him from the dementor’s kiss, but to
save him from what kind of man he had become. I wondered if things could have
been different. But now I would never know, and I could not do anything for him
anymore.

I would never see his soul again, because now it was not his anymore.

Goodbye Draco. I didn’t love you, but I think I could have…if only I had
been given the chance.
 
 

A/N: JK, if you can read this (yeah right), please give them the chance!!! *gets
down on my knees and begs* They deserve to be happy together…

Hey people, let’s start a movement… Society for the Promotion of Hermione-Draco
Romance (S.P.H.D.R.). Maybe JK will notice. *lol*

Okay, I’ve officially gone nuts. *lol* I wrote this fic but when I read it as a whole I
felt like crying.
 

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