Hermione was afraid to breathe. Ron's voice had gone from reluctant to slightly accusatorial.

"Ron, Draco did want something more from me, but I couldn't do it." Ron relaxed somewhat beside her. Hermione turned and took his face between both of her hands. "I went to Brazil so I could collect pieces of you, Ron. Don't you understand? I didn't even think you were alive but I had to just see you one more time."

Ron looked quickly into both of her eyes and then grinned. His face flushed. "Oh, Hermione," he said, and pulled her close in a crushing hug. "I'm sorry, but I just thought-oh, for Merlin's sake-what was I thinking? You're even nice to Kreacher!"

Hermione pulled away and grinned back at Ron. "Now, Draco did save both of our lives. There's no reason for you to compare him to Kreacher."

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Haha…okay, so that's what Hermione probably would have done. But since all of you have a soft spot for Draco, this is the real ending (oh, and there are only nineteen chapters, not twenty, like I said before):

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Hermione was afraid to breathe. Ron's voice had gone from reluctant to slightly accusatorial.

A wave of guilt seemed to enter her body through Ron. "I…" she started but she really didn't know what to say. Ron's body had gone from somewhat stiff to ramrod straight and completely motionless. Hermione tried again. "You…he…he needs me."

Hermione watched Ron take a deep breath. "Okay. Hermione, I'll…I'll always be your friend," he choked out. Then he took another deep breath. "Why don't you go now, and when you come back, we can just be what we were before."

Hermione got up off the chair and stared down at Ron in amazement. He wasn't looking at her. He got up and went up to his dormitory, all without looking at her. Hermione had the sick feeling that nothing would ever be quite perfect with Ron again. Something else in her stomach, something like wobbly hopeful jello, was also making her feel somewhat nauseated.

If Ron had predicted it, maybe it should be. She had never bothered really caring for Draco, besides as a good friend. It would have been too much to deal with. He had been in league with Voldemort, a slimy git, and besides, he'd always been difficult to talk to, except, of course, in those few months in the library. She'd been almost too upset about Ron to notice that Draco had been trying to cheer her up-in his own strange way.

Hermione started for the library. He had to be there. It was one of the few neutral places he could go. On the way, Hermione alternated between a quick trot, with a huge smile on her face, and a slow, frowning walk. This would be so hard, and there was no way of Draco's ever being forgiven by her friends. He was right to ask her not to tell them about Ginny. If he had, Harry and Ron would have ripped him apart.

She stepped through the doors of the library and walked slowly towards the back, and the seat Draco normally took. "Hi," she said, and sat at the table, in the seat next to him.

Draco had been reading studiously when she came in, and when he looked up to see her, Hermione glimpsed a sketch in the voluminous tome he had open. It was a man, sprouting the hair and fangs of a werewolf. "Hi," he returned, looking at her composedly.

"Well, it's good you're researching werewolves." Hermione wanted to tell him about what Ron said, or at least what she thought about it, but didn't know quite how to bring it up. She didn't want it coming out like Ron had let her be his.

"Yes, I had better study up while I can. Next year, I probably won't even be allowed back at Hogwarts." Draco looked listlessly around the room. His mouth was pulling down into a frown.

"Ron says-here, look at this ring. It reminds me of you. A golden snake." Hermione held it up for Draco to see.

Draco's eyebrows scrunched together as he glanced at it. "Ron give you that?"

"Yes, but-"

"Still thinking of me as a snake?" Draco leaned forward in his chair, his voice reverting back to the angry drawl Hermione had known at the beginning of the school year. "I'm a werewolf now, remember? I've still got fangs, but at least they're not poisonous."

Hermione shook her head, trying to clear it. "No, that's not what I meant. This ring, Ron gave it to me as a friend, nothing more." She saw that Draco wasn't buying it. "I'm yours."

Hermione put her hand on Draco's chest, as she said the word yours, and he looked down at it with a frown. When he looked back up at her, one blond eyebrow had risen in complete disbelief. "Ha," he said dryly.

"It's true. I love you, Draco," and she was surprised by how easily those words came out. "I wish I had a chance to prove it by doing something for you the way you did for me."

Draco was still looking at her with that completely skeptical face. He hadn't touched her hand on his chest, or made any move to get nearer to her. "So what made the difference? Do werewolves turn you on? You didn't feel this way down in the dungeons, when I kissed you."

Hermione knew he must have been thinking this was a pity call. He thought she felt responsible for his turning into a werewolf, but Hermione didn't feel that way. If anything, it was his fault for being so stupid and not taking the potion. She took her hand from his chest and looked down at it in her lap. "That was different. When I left, to go get Ron, I thought I'd never see you again, and I was right, in a way. You're so different now-"

"Now that I'm a werewolf," Draco snorted angrily.

"Yes," Hermione admitted, "but it's more than that. That night, you were selfish and demanding and the same boy you'd always been at school. The next time I saw you, you were brave and strong and self-sacrificing."

"Yep, that's me, a complete hero."

"Listen," Hermione said sharply, "stop feeling sorry for yourself or nobody else will."

Draco's eyes widened. The cynicism suddenly slid from his face. Hermione felt a thrill of excitement run through her body as he jerked his chair quickly nearer her. "You mean you're not here to-" he stopped as Hermione shook her head excitedly. "And Ron, he's not-" he stopped again. He took her hand and pressed it flat against his chest, over his heart. "And this-" Hermione nodded emphatically. He reached out under her wild, bushy hair with one hand, and gently pulled her face closer to his. "And this-"

Hermione leaned closer and pressed her lips hard against his. It should have hurt him, but it was best way she knew to tell him what she meant.

Hermione squealed a little when Draco lifted her off her chair and placed her on his lap. "This is all okay?" he asked, pressing a little kiss next to her mouth.

"Mm…it would be, but we're in the library," Hermione said regretfully. She pulled away from him and sat back in her chair. To cover up the fact that her cheeks were flushing with excitement, she leaned forward and gave him a quick, innocent kiss.

She leaned back and looked at him happily. She expected him to smile and call her a tease, but instead, he took her hand again, and held it in his. "It would have been so hard without you."

Hermione felt her stomach flutter with guilt again. "I would have always-"

"I know," Draco said quietly, "but I would have always wanted this." He looked down at their entwined hands. Hermione watched him shift her new ring around so he could see the snake's face. "So I'm a golden snake?"

Hermione smiled and put her hand against his cheek. "I'd be dead, now, if you weren't."