by Black-Diamonds
 
 

Chapter 20
Velvet Curtain
 

Hermione awoke to find herself lying on a black crushed velvet lounge. She sat up briskly, her eyes
darting around wildly like a frightened deer caught in the head lights of an on-coming muggle car.

“Where is he?”

“Upstairs, my Lady.” A short and slightly over-weight young man bowed in front of her.

“How long have I been out? Why am I here and not with him?”

“Calm yourself.” Snape stepped forward and layed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She shrugged
out of his grasp and glared at him.

“Stop telling me to bloody well calm down! What. The. HELL. Is. Going. ON!?”

“Potter is coming.” Snape reached into his robes. “Draco...he asked me to give you this. I did not
open it, I realise it must be a personal letter for you.” Snape handed her a small black envelope lined
with a silver border. Hermione tore at it with her finger nails until it ripped and a folded piece of
paper fell out. With a sharp intake of breath, Hermione eyes scanned the page.

~
My Precious Hermione,

You showed me what it was to live and love. I love you,
and I will always love you, more than you will ever know.

Take my love into a world that I will never see.

Forever more yours,
Draco.
~

A tear fell from her misted over eyes and splashed on to the page, blurring the word ‘live’ in the
first line. From this moment on, living would be something non-existent for Draco. Gripping the letter
to her chest, Hermione dashed out of the room and up the dark stairs. She entered the room that
contained Draco, and a vicious sob rose from within her.

*

His pale form lay crumpled on the floor, surrounded by a pool of his own dark red blood.

“Draco - no.” The whisper fell from her lips as she stood strangely transfixed to the spot, her eyes
never leaving the body that lay before them on the floor.

“He’s dead!” Ginny, who had dashed up behind Hermione, held a hand up to her mouth, her eyes
wide open dramatically with horror.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake keep your wits about you, you foolish girl!” Snapped an irritated Snape.
“How would the Dark Lord die so easily...and when we left him not ten minutes ago?”

“By this...” Hermione knelt down beside Draco, and gently picked up his wand, its tip still glowing
from the masses of self-inflicting curses he must have cast upon himself. Blood was splashed on it
from the multitudes of deep cuts and gashes all over his pale lean frame. His clothes were ripped and
torn and blood-drenched. The face was the only thing that did not give any tell-tale signs of what had
happened. It remained almost ethereal in its beauty, framed by waves of platinum. Hermione gently
stroked one pale cheek, a tear falling from her face on to his. She took his colourless hand in hers,
tears streaming like little rivers of sadness.

“Is he...” Ginny began, but was obviously not able to continue the question. Hermione shook her
head.

No, his pulse was there, but faint, as if it were a candle flame, slowly burning out. When Draco
slowly opened his eyes, Hermione let out a gasp, shocked to see the eyes of ice and fire looking
at her with so much emotion it filled the emptiness around them. Her heart ached with the realisation
that this was probably the last time she would look at his eyes, twin windows of stormy weather.

“Hermione...” Draco whispered, his voice distant, hardly there. It seemed that he was almost gone
from the world, that this voice talking to her was actually that of a spirit, not a real person.
Hermione gripped his hand tightly, refusing to let go.

“Shhh...Draco, don’t talk...you’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.” She repeated, more determined. “You’re
the Dark Lord. Oh stuff that...I don’t care what your title is. I love you, and hell will freeze over
before I let anything come between us.” For his sake, she tried to remain strong, tried not to show
how very very afraid she was. His life was slipping from him like the waves from the shore, yet he
smiled up at her, a hand reaching up to touch her smooth cheek.

“A coward until the end, wasn’t I? A ferrety obstinate coward that didn’t want to die by someone
else’s hand. With me, dies our past. You’re safe now. You’re free.” He struggled with the words,
trying to hide how painful it was to move, to speak, yet failing.

“Draco...you are not giving up!” Hermione felt a strange anger surge within her like a breaking wave.

“You can’t leave me! I didn’t leave you...and you can’t leave me.” The words fell from her lips like
trickles of rain before a storm...they soon dissolved into an uncontrollable sobbing. She wrapped
her arms around Draco.

With much effort, Draco raised his cold lips to her warm ones. His breath was strangely warm, as
he whispered;

“We’ll always be together Hermione. I love you.” He kissed her. “Thus, with a kiss...” Ironically
enough, a muggle quote from Shakespeare. “I die...” His eyelids fluttered shut with a gentle
softness like butterfly wings.

Sudden loud, angry voices drew nearer, a rumble of heavy footsteps, and a few smashes and screams.

They were here.

“If anybody dares to come near him I’ll rip them apart with my hands!” Hermione’s eyes glared
furiously towards the door shooting invisible daggers, as if challenging anyone to enter. “Nobody
will touch him. Do you hear me? Nobody!”

“They won’t have to...” Snape’s eyes met Hermione’s, his voice sounding twisted with pain. “He
is gone. I am sorry...Hermione” He turned his face away from the light of the fire, and a single tear
trickled down the sallow skin of his face. He did not make a move to wipe it away.

Hermione sank to her knees and cried, burying in head in her hands. Loud racking sobs, that made
her body shake with emotion. He was dead. The word seemed hollow to her. It made her feel
numb. It seemed an impossibility. He wasn’t dead. Couldn’t be.

But he was.

A strange peace had settled over his face...a peace within himself, and a peace with everything.
It was as if he was oblivious to every evil, every corruption in the world. His lips setlled into a
slight smile of innocence. The fire had died out, but silvery pale moonlight flooded in through a
high window, casting a celestial spotlight over the dragon who learned to love, and the girl who
lost her love to death’s pale flag.

He was gone.

Hermione desperately wished until her heart ached that in a moment his eyelids would open gently
along with those long silken eyelashes, and he would say something or do something. Anything that
would show that he wasn’t dead. A hand came down gently on Hermione’s shoulder, a voice
calmly talking to her.

“...should come back. Everyone at the ministry wants to see you...now that this madman’s dead.”

“He’s not mad!” She cried, throwing her arms over the lifeless form of Draco as if to protect him.
“He’s not...leave us alone Harry!” Her arm swung out wildly to fend off Harry and anybody else
who dared to step near them, her heart overcome by helpless grief.

More wizards from the ministry entered the room, the body and capture count on the ground
floor past the two-hundred mark. They all stopped and stared. Neither bad nor good were thought
about, as they froze at the startling scene that lay in front of them, like characters from a pantomime.

Ginny clung to Snape’s dark robes, unable to speak or move...unable to do anything but let the
hot tears slide down her face.

Snape did not put on the masks of indifference. He too, had droplets clinging to his cheeks.

But Hermione, who had found love and lost it...Hermione felt everything she had gained slip a
way from her again...trickle from her hands like grains of sand. The world blurred into greyness.
Everything was grey these days. And why should colour tint our emotions...when emotions are
something beyond distinction by reds and yellows.

A moment, suspended in time.

A timeless love that would never shift, never change and never die.

The stars outside the castle trembled with sadness, and shed their tears of sorrow over the lovers.

~A velvet curtain drapes over the scene, covering those who dared to love~
 
 

*fin*
 
 
 

THANKYOU:
Thankyou so much To every1 who has reviewed. You really really really make my day, and your ongoing
support, encouragement, and wonderful comments are very much treasured and appreciated.
A few comments from the Author-Who-Craves-Mint-Aeros:
Sorry for making it so sad if you didn't want it sad. But I felt this was the best way to end it. There will be
one last chapter(an epilogue)...and possibly a sequel(yes?)

Just a few more footnotes:
The spell thing was sort of like a sacred marriage thing, except for wizards - I made it up. Sorry for any
confusions.
Mariella: Sorry for doing it this way...I hope you understand. Thank.u. for your wonderful comment.
Lilyayl: If you don't mind me asking - why did you think Draco was an idiot. we all know he can be
obnoxious - in a cute way;), but...?>
To everyone who thought it was deep/intense/descriptive: Thanks...I try to make it that way. :)
To the people who wanted me to write more: Well, there ya go!
AND BASICALLY 2 EVERYONE WHO LIKES THE STORY: THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!!!
 

Back to Chapter 19
Epilogue