A Hard Year

21

A/N: Well here it is...the final chapter.There will be an epilogue so keep an eye out and I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing.

Hermione's POV

All I could hear were the lost cries of our child, before I was seized by the looming darkness that had been chasing me for many years. I could only just identify the warmth of Draco's hand on mine, but I could no longer see or hear the baby that I had been carrying for nine months. I wanted nothing more to go to him and Draco. I was a mother now; it was not my time to leave.

I fought with the little strength I had left to not let the feeling of Draco's hand on mine be defeated by the darkness and pain that were fast enveloping all of my senses. I did not want to leave them, I had so much to live for now.

I found it hard to believe that the person I would be in love with for the rest of my life had been right in front of my eyes all this time. As long as his hand remained with mine I would carry on fighting.

But within seconds, the anchor that was binding me down was slowly slipping away. No longer could I feel the warmth of his hand in mine and the impending darkness overwhelmed me.

How long I had been lost I did not know; but the fresh light of morning and new beginnings was seeping through my closed lids. My body somehow felt like mine again, devoid of all the previous suffering it had harboured.

I could feel a gentle weight on my chest slowly rising up and down in unison with my own breathes. Unable to defeat the exhaustion that held my eyes hostage, my hands reached up slowly to be greeted by soft curls and tiny fingers and toes. This tiny thing clung to me so tightly it almost felt as though we were one being. The sound of soft gurgles caressed the air as my tired hands moulded to the soft curve of a back draped in the softest of cotton.

The desire to see my baby was so strong it quenched the feelings of relentless exhaustion and my eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing that greeted my sleepy gaze were the soft platinum curls resting against my skin. I felt my heart begin to beat so quickly and my mouth went dry. Small hands were clinging onto the fabric of my nightdress and a platinum dusted head rested peacefully against my breast.

Then something happened, something that felt so foreign to me now I barely recognized it. I smiled. I could feel all the pain of these past 9 months cleansed by this one perfect moment but this one perfect moment was missing just one thing...Draco.

As my mind momentarily drifted away from the sleeping bundle of tangled limbs atop my chest, I noticed the slight weight that rested on my thigh. A hand lay protectively there, still and unmoving.

I smiled again when I followed the hand which belonged to a sleeping Draco, resting silently in an armchair pulled closely against my bed. He looked so much like him. My fingers slowly slipped inside his and I brought his hand closely up to my cheek, the coolness of his silver ring sending a quiet shiver down my spine. I kissed his knuckle once, twice, three times. I had missed him so much and I wanted to make up for all the time I had wasted. He slowly began to stir from his sleep, his eyes flashing open. Those pools of blue and grey were returned to me now.

Everything was completely silent.

"Hermione..."

I nodded, a now familiar smile adorning my lips and before I could even breathe his arms were wrapped tightly around me and his lips were on mine in a fit of desperation and relief. He was ever careful not to hurt the baby as he dusted my face with kisses and ran his hands over my exhausted body, as though he was memorizing me by heart.

"I" kiss "Thought" kiss "I'd" kiss "Lost you"

His kisses were so desperate and his touches so soft. I held him close, convinced that neither of us would ever let go.