Waking up, Gwen Snape kept her eyes closed listening to the sounds around her coming in through the open windows. She heard the trickle of the fountains and the singing of the birds in the trees in the courtyard. She slowly opened her black eyes to the morning. She saw the sun shining through the white tulle hangings of her cherry-wood four-poster bed. She sat up, her long black, curly hair falling gracefully onto her back. Standing up, pulling the hangings away, she walked over to her closet and pulled out her black silk dressing robe. She put it on over her silver night gown and walked out of her room to the courtyard to the arched ivy-covered patio where her father sat reading the paper, eating breakfast. She sat down on the other side of him.

"Good morning, father. How are you?"

"Good morning, Gwen. I'm fine. How did you sleep?"

"I slept well." She started to eat a raspberry-raisin scone. "What are we doing today?"

"We will be going to the Malfoy's later today."

"Oh. All right." She finished her breakfast and excused herself. She went back to her room. She went into her bathroom and disrobed. She stepped into her shower and shampooed and conditioned her hair, as well as washed her body. When she was done, she turned off the water, and dried off with a large, fluffy dark green towel. She went back into her room and pulled out her outfit. She chose a black spaghetti-strap tank top with lace near the top, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of black flip-flops. She dried her hair off and left it down. She went down to the hall and met her father.

"Ready?"

"Yeah." She held onto his arm as he apperated as close to the Malfoy estate as he could. They walked the rest of the way up to the door. He knocked on the door, and a house elf came to the door to answer.

"Hello, Master Snape, Mistress van Helsing. Masters Lucius and Draco are expecting yous." He welcomed them into the large and grand mansion. "Master Lucius is expecting Master Snape in the study. Master Draco is expecting Mistress van Helsing in the library."

'Thank you." Gwen had been to the house many times before, so she knew where the library was. She made her way up the stairs and around the floor. She opened the door and saw him lying on the black, leather sofa reading a book.

"Hey." She said from the door after she closed it behind her.

He put the book down, and set on the coffee table, got up and went up to Gwen.

"Hey." He whispered to her. She closed the distance between them. They had been friends since before they could walk. She turned around in his arms so that the back of her head rested on his shoulder and his arms came around her waist. He kissed her cheek. "Let's go horseback riding." He whispered again into her ear.

"I'd love to. Let's go." She whispered back. They went out of the library, and went out to the stables. Draco walked over to two of the horses. One of them was black all over, whilst the other was white with a tan mane and tail. He helped Gwen up onto the white one, and then jumped up onto the black one. They turned their horses out towards the open meadows and took off. They galloped riding bareback through the fields of amber wheat and stopped an hour later at a little clearing near a stream. Draco got down off his horse.

"Let's dance." He said holding out his hand for Gwen. She took it and dropped down from the horse. Draco placed his hand upon her waist, placed her empty hand onto his shoulder, and started to dance a two-step with her, there in the clearing, without music or words. Gwen's head was laid softly onto Draco's shoulder, she closed her eyes. She breathed in his scent.

He smelt her hair. He could smell the light mint upon her soft locks of black. They revolved quietly upon the spot. They stopped and went over to the nearby tree. Draco laid down a soft blanket upon the grass, Gwen laid down on it and Draco went behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her. She fell asleep shortly after, feeling safe and peaceful.

Draco watched her breathe. He loved the way that her stomach rose and fell. He never wanted it to stop. He always wanted her chest to rise and fall the same way. He had always liked her and been fond of her, but now he realized that he loved her. He could vaguely recall the day that his father had introduced her to him. They'd been 4 years old at the time. They had played together throughout the years. But then when they went to Hogwarts, he'd been placed into Slytherin, and she'd gone into Gryffindor. Even though their houses were rivals, they had still managed to stay friends and had even gone together to the Yule Ball in their fourth year. They had always gotten together during their summers, relishing in the times when they did not have to worry about anything. They worked on their summer homework together at either Draco's mansion, or at her father's mansion. Gwen had in fact been adopted by Severus Snape, so she had inherited many things from her biological parents. They had been the last surviving members of the Van Helsing family. Now, it was just her. Draco decided that they were meant to be together. He'd ask his father if it was alright to ask her to marry him. Even if his father didn't approve, he'd ask Snape if he could ask her. He drifted off, still watching her breathing.

Gwen woke up a while later. She kept her eyes closed, savoring the warmth of Draco's body so close to her's. As she turned around, she opened her eyes so that she was facing him. Moving her eyes over his features that she had long ago memorized, she snuggled closer to him, her ear pressed up against his chest. She could hear the steady beat of his heart. She knew that he was the one for her. With his strong build protecting her, and his understanding, sometimes she marveled how well they knew each other. They could communicate without words quite often. They seemed to have developed a kind of unspoken language between them. They could sense what the other was feeling, just by looking at them. She looked back at his face, to see his sparkling grey eyes looking at her.

"Hello again." He said softly.

"Hello to you too." She replied.

"We should be heading back, dinner will be coming soon." They got up and sent the white horse back by itself. Draco climbed onto the black one and then pulled Gwen up behind him. They went back to the manor slowly, Gwen holding onto Draco the whole time with her head on his back. They felt peaceful and even though there were no onlookers to witness the event, if there were, they would have had to admit that no scene could ever be lovelier.