A/N: Just an old little drabble I'm sharing. Not beta'd, so pardon any glaring mistakes.

Disclaimer: JKR owns the world and characters of Harry Potter, not me. I'm not making any money from the posting of this.

This Is How A Heart Breaks

Hermione broke the kiss. "We can't do this anymore." Looking down, she waited for her breathing to stop being so erratic.

"What?" His voice rang out, heavy with emotion.

Hermione tilted her head up, her brown eyes meeting his grey ones.

"This isn't right, sneaking around like this. Someone's going to find out," she said, trying to put some space between them.

Draco moved forward, trying to put his arms around her. "Let them find out," he whispered into her ear.

She shivered when she felt his hot breath on her neck. Hermione resisted the urge to moan. His lips connected with the soft skin beneath her ear, and she thought about giving in. He nuzzled her neck. She wanted nothing more than to let him ravish her, like he often did.

But that wasn't what she was trying to say. "No, Draco," she said, pushing her hands against his chest.

He allowed her to put some distance between them. His heart clenched at what she was saying. The thought of losing her was more painful than he could have ever imagined.

Hermione looked down, afraid to meet his eyes. She didn't want to see the pain she knew was there.

"But I love you," he whispered, his voice hoarse. He could feel wetness sliding down his cheeks.

Hermione looked up, pain in her expression. "It doesn't change anything, Draco; we can't be together."

"But I love you," Draco replied again, more forcefully this time.

Hermione wanted to say the words back, scream that she loved him more than anything in the world. But she couldn't. It just wasn't right.

"We can't be together, Draco. We both knew that when we started this…. Whatever this was."

"Is, Hermione, whatever this is. I'm not letting you go."

"Well, you have to, Draco!" She shouted at him, tears pouring down her face. "We can't be together, for so many reasons. You know that, and I know that."

"But we belong together!" He protested, taking a step towards her.

She held her hand up to stop him. "We can't be together. Saying that we can," she took a deep breath, shaking her head, "We're only fooling ourselves."

"But-" Draco's eyes filled with pleading.

"No!" Hermione said. She did her best to ignore the pain she felt in her chest as she pushed away the only man she had ever loved.

"You're a Death Eater, Draco! You have a job that you need to do." She cried out, motioning to the Dark Mark on his arm. "And I have a job that I need to do, too," she added quietly.

"Hermione, I love you. And you know I'm not a Death Eater. I didn't choose this!"

"And I didn't choose to be a Muggleborn, but I am. We just have to deal with what we've got Draco, I'm sorry." Hermione said, wrapping her arms around herself.

"So this is it then?" Draco asked, his voice now a mixture of hurt and anger.

Hermione nodded, her mind feeling numb. "We can't do this anymore. We can't be together."

"But I love you."

"We need to move on with our lives, Draco, and the sooner we do that, the better," Hermione said softly.

"And I'm supposed to sit by while you date boys and fall in love with someone else, get married...?" His voice tightened. "And meanwhile, I'll die a little bit more every day, watching."

Hermione took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Draco."

He crossed the room, taking her hands into his. "I love you, Hermione, please believe me."

She smiled sadly at him. "I believe you, but it just isn't enough." Swallowing her pain, she turned and walked away. She refused her urge to look back.

That part of her life was over.