Truly, Madly, Deeply

by magical*little*me
 
 
 

* I'll be your dream,
I'll be your wish I'll be your fantasy *
 

I stood over Hermione's pale figure, lying on the hospital bed. She looked so weak and helpless, so unlike her. It scared
me to think of her that. Even more than when she'd announced to me, a year ago, those four horrible words

"Draco, I have cancer" she'd said, her eyes sad and haunted .

I'd been in shock. Hermione, have cancer? It wasn't possible. She never did anything that could harm herself, never did
anything that could be the cause of this.

I looked up at her. She looked so scared, so much younger than her seventeen years.

I pulled her into my arms. "Shhh" I whispered, just holding her. "It'll all be okay"
 

* I'll be your hope
I'll be your love be everything that you need *
 

But it wasn't okay. With each day, she got weaker. It didn't show as much in the first few months, but after, you could
tell. It became harder for her to walk, to go to her classes, even to eat. She just didn't have much energy as before. And
now...

I couldn't believe it had come to this. Two years ago, when we had started dating, she was always so healthy, so
vibrant. Her love of life had given me a whole new perspective, I saw everything differently than I had before.

The Hermione I knew wasn't at all like the person she was now. But even though the cancer had worn her away, though
the treatments she had had performed had lost her, her hair, she was still an angel in my eyes.
 

* I love you more with every breath
Truly madly deeply do... *
 

I remember when I had first told my father that I was dating her. It was the summer after fifth year. I brought her to
Malfoy Manor, to face Father together.

He had thrown a bit of a fit at first. He was outraged that I would dare to date a Mudblood. His anger clearly showed, he
threw some things around. But in the end, his love for me permitted him to see things my way, and he let me.

I'll never forget what he said to me then. "Do you truly love her?" he asked, leading me into another room.

"More than anything" I had replied.

He sighed, and I could hear a twinge of sadness in his voice. "Then treasure her, and don't let some little arguement get
in your way."

He smiled at me then. "No matter what you do Draco, I'll always be proud of you"
 

* I will be strong I will be faithful
'cause I'm counting on *
 

Later when we left, Hermione had confessed to me that Ron and Harry had had somewhat of the same reaction.

"They thought I was insane" she said, a smile on her face. "And Ron was smashing a lot of things. He would've thrown
his trunk on Crookshanks, if Harry hadn't stopped him."

I laughed. "But they stopped trying to protect you in the end?"

She looked at me, her eyes dancing with laughter. "Only after I threatened to turn them both into bouncing ferrets"

I turned pink at the mention of that incident in our fourth year.

She laughed. "But you hafta admit, you were rather cute as a ferret"
 

* A new beginning
A reason for living
A deeper meaning *
 

"Do you remember that, Herm?" I asked her softly, stroking the few wisps of hair she had. "We had a lot of fun together,
didn't we?"

A nightmare disturbed her peaceful slumber. Her body lashed violently and her face screwed up in fear. She awoke,
screaming, sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Shhhhh, it's okay" I comforted her. "It was only a dream"

She looked at me, still scared. Slowly she relaxed, taking comfort from her surroundings.

"It was horrible" she whispered, and fell back onto her bed. She couldn't sleep after that, so we stayed up, reliving all
the happy times we had had together.
 

* I want to stand with you on a mountain
I want to bathe with you in the sea
I want to lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me... *
 

"Do you remember when we went to the beach?" she asked. "And we just walked along the shoreline, a soft breeze
blowing by. I loved the sea, and you filled up a little bottle with some sand, water and shells, so I could keep it by me
always. I still have it" she added, pulling out a bottle on a chain from her neck.

"Yeah, I whispered, "and we had so much fun too"

"And as we left, the sun rose, sending the sky into waves of pink and blue. So we just lay on the sand and watched it
rise..." she trailed off remembering.

"And we went back, every month, just to watch it all over again" I finished.
 

* And when the stars
Are shining brightly in the velvet sky *
 

"And when we sat up in the Astronomy Tower all night" I started, a smile playing on my lips.

"We didn't mean to" she protested, "I was helping you with your homework."

"But we did" I told her.

"Wasn't it funny though?" she asked, laughing. Her laughs turned into hacking coughs, and I thumped her on the back
so she could get some air.

"Nobody knew where we went" she whispered hoarsly, "And they were all panicky..."

Her energy gave out once more, and she slept, just like a child.
 

* I'll make a wish
Send it to heaven then make you want to cry... *
 

I remembered that night perfectly. In the beginning, her intention was to help me with my homework, but after a few
minutes of looking at the stars, it was all forgotten.

"Make a wish" I told her, "on the biggest star you see"

She picked one, and closed her eyes, her lips moving and saying something that I couldn't hear.

"Wanna know what I wished for?" she asked when she was finished. She didn't wait for me to answer. "I wished that I
could be a dolphin, and just swim around, without a care in the world."

"Now it won't come true, since you told me." I pointed out.

"It doesn't matter that much. After all, the rest of my wishes already have." she said, and for the rest of the night, we
just sat there, enjoying the presence of each other.
 

* The tears of joy for all the pleasure
In the certainty *
 

I had to leave her bedside after that. I had classes to go to, and no matter how much I begged, they wouldn't let me
skip them.

"You'll be okay" I whispered, as I left, giving her a kiss on her forehead.

"Love you, Draco" I heard her voice, just as I was almost out the door.

I turned around, surprised. I thought she was asleep all this time.

"Love you, too" I whispered, and left.
 

* That we're surrounded by the comfort
And protection of... *
 

I couldn't concentrate all day. Whatever homework we were given, that was the only thing I got down, the rest just
whizzed by.

The last class of the day was Potions. We were assigned partners and instructed to make Truth Potions. My partner was
Potter.

"How's Hermione?" he asked as we worked.

"Not so good. She's getting weaker" I said gloomily.

"Oh. That's too bad. Can I visit her later?" he asked.

"Don't ask me. It's a free world." I dropped the rest of the ingrediants in the cauldron and watched as Potter stirred it all
together. Our potion exploded right in our faces.
 

* The highest powers
In lonely hours
The tears devour you... *
 

I wiped the green goo from my face and glared at Snape. "I'm guessing that was supposed to happen."

He didn't get a chance to answer. At that moment, Dumbledore walked through the dungeon doors. "Can I borrow Mr
Malfoy for a moment?" he asked.

Snape nodded and I left with Dumbledore. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Is it Hermione?"

"Yes" he said gravely. "She's gotten worse. Madame Pomfrey says that with her condition, she would've been gone this
afternoon. But somehow she managed to make it."

I bit back tears, and ran to the Hospital Wing, leaving Dumbledore behind. Bursting through the doors, I rushed to her bed.
 

* I want to stand with you on a mountain
I want to bathe with you in the sea
I want to lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me... *
 

"Draco?" she whispered, reaching out for me.

"I'm here" I assured her. "Don't worry bout a thing, you're going to live through this"

She smiled at me again, just like she always had, though this time her eyes were sad. "I'm not" she said. "I just couldn't
leave without saying goodbye."

She swallowed, and I could see that it was getting harder and harder for her to talk. With a grimace, she ignored the
pain she was experiencing and kept on talking. "I know my time has come."

"No it hasn't." I protested. "You're gonna live through this, and we'll always be together."
 

* Oh can't you see it baby?
You don't have to close your eyes
'cause it's standing right here before you.
All that you need will surely come... *
 

She looked at me, and I could see what she was feeling. "Don't you see?" she whispered. "Every minute I stay here, I'm
hurting more and more. Don't worry." She reached up and stroked my hair awkwardly.

"I'll never forget you. Goodbye. I love you, Draco" And with that, she fell back and her last breath escaped her.

"I love you, too" I whispered to her unhearing ears. How could this have happened?

I did the only thing I could think of. I cried.
 

* I'll be your dream
I'll be your wish I'll be your fantasy *
 

After a few days, I was all dried out. All my tears were gone, and depression replaced them. Everyone came by to pay
their respects to Hermione, but I ignored them all. They never lost someone that close to them, like I did.

My father came by and took me home, saying that I wasn't likely to learn much in my condition anyways. So I shut myself
up in my room, drawing countless pictures of her.

Father came up to talk to me, at about my fourth day back.

"I'm sorry" he said, sitting on my bed.

I turned to him. "You never knew her"

"No," he admitted, "but if you loved her, then she must've really been something"

"She was" I agreed.
 

* I'll be your hope
I'll be your love be everything that you need *
 

I made Father let me go back to Hogwarts a few days later. Sure, I wasn't really gonna learn anything, but I wanted to
graduate.

If only she could've lived a few more weeks. If she had, she could've been at Grad, along with the rest of us.

Everyone missed her. She was well loved among us all and Dumbledore made sure of telling everyone that.

Ron and Harry made speeches about her, saying how she was a good friend, a wonderful student. But that wasn't her at
all. Nobody knew her like I did. And I informed them all of that.
 

* I'll love you more with every breath
Truly madly deeply do... *
 

The day after, I got on my broom and flew up to the little beach where we had spent that dawn. I watched the sun rise,
just as we had, longing for her presence.

It was as beautiful as before, and I could almost see her beside me. Restless, I got up and wandered along the shoreline.
 

* I want to stand with you on a mountain *
 

A few feet out into the water, I could see a pack of dolphins frolicking about. I waded out to get a better look and one of
them swam up to me.
 

* I want to bathe with you in the sea *
 

She chirped happily and jumped about, finally stopping to let me pat her on the back. She reminded me so much of
Hermione.
 

* I want to lay like this forever *
 

I know it's strange, but then, I knew the dolphin was Hermione. Herm had always liked dolphins, and her wish had been
finally granted.
 

*Until the sky falls down on me... *
 

As I left the beach that day, all my grief left me. I knew that now, Herm was truly free.
 
 
 

A/N: Argh!!!!!! I hate this!!!!!! I really really really need to stop killing people off. And I need to learn how to write a non
sappy songfic. I've managed to write non happy stories, but not songfics. I'll settle for sad ones though. Review? =)