A/N: Unfortunately for anyone who has the displeasure to work with me, I have a habit of waiting until the last possible moment to get things done. When I first got the title from Twin Exchange, I was estatic! And I told myself that I would get started on it before school began. But then it (school, that is) started and I got so tied up and.. well... that notion was quite the bust, wasn't it?

Oh well, at least I'm getting it done now. That's what actually matters, I guess ^0^

Alright, without further ado, here is my installment for the Twin Exchange Title Swap Challenge! It didn't exactly turn out how I was originally planning on it turning out. Oops.

Shackled In My Embrace

Submitted By: xthegirl-withthebooksx

Summary: He know he'll be just fine as long as he's got her by his side.

Draco woke to the steady hum of the four fans, magically drifting aimlessly across the ceiling. Early morning sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating dust motes that swirled in an intricate dance around the room. He threw an arm over his eyes and tried to get back to sleep, but by now he knew better; the broad sun would be impossible to ignore and he wouldn't have been able to get back to sleep anyway.

He stumbled out of the queen sized bed after gently freeing himself from Hermione's arms. He dodged the oscillating fans spreading cool air throughout the room and making the temperature just above bearable- he had been in this town for two years and would never get used to the heat in the summer. He moved through the sleepy house and into the kitchen. He picked his wand up off the counter and flicked it; at once objects began swirling above his head. She hated it when he used magic for things as simple as brewing coffee, which is why he knew better than to do so while she was awake. He smiled and leaned his elbows on the counter in front of the sink.

Musingly he stared out the open window framed in an interesting shade of green that he tried to avoid thinking of as puke. By now the scene was a familiar one. The dawn light showed him the spacious front yard with the rust colored boardwalk wrapping around the house from the front porch with its benches that enclosed the roofed area. Maybe there had once been barbeques there. Not so much anymore.

Marigolds and sunflowers rose up against the side of the house and beyond the boardwalk were a myriad of sprinklers that sent miniature rainbows over the grassy lawn that he had nurtured back to life just for Hermione (without magic, he'd point out at every possible chance). A peach tree that looked like it would never be strong enough to climb and gave juicy fruit that Hermione made into a delicious crisp every year in its season guarded the gate on either side, long shadows stretching out to the west.

The cloying aroma of salt seeders and grass filtered through the window. The cheerful chirping of birds could be heard easily in the soft silence of the house. To Draco, though it was beautiful and he had painted it, it all seemed a little off, almost like it was a world within a world. Everything had a dusty quality to it, and even if he did have a green front yard that cost hundreds to keep in the summer it didn't change the fact that just beyond his property line was several miles worth of pure Mohave Desert with pale brownish plants that didn't rise above his shins. There was no familiar sound of traffic, which was more than a little strange since he had spent such a long time in the oh-so-active hurdle that was Europe.

Two years. He had been here in this town that was minuscule compared to London and small enough by anyone's standards for neighbors to run into each other at Wal-Mart, but large enough that it wasn't that sort of place where everyone knows your family history going back for decades and will know in ten seconds if you are late to church or step a single toe out of line for two years. Despite it all, this was home.

For the first time in months, Draco pulled up his sleeve to check and see if the mark was still there and he had just grown used to its slight burning sensation. He wasn't really surprised to see that it was still gone and sometimes he felt so trapped without it. Others, like now, he remembered that it didn't have it's hold on him anymore. And though the past could never be, the mark was gone.

When the war ended, he and his family were at a stand-still. They couldn't even walk out of their own front door without being stampeded by cameras and interviewers and furious mobs of witches and wizards... with reason, of course. It took quite some time, but eventually they could freely roam outside their home. But just as things seemed to be looking up, his father was attacked by a delirious wizard who had lost his family. And although Draco was sympathetic, his father was held in St. Mungos for months, and with how he couldn't even purchase new quills without someone trying to call the wizard police on him, he was beginning to feel as though nothing will ever be alright again.

But then it was.

Out of the darkness rose a shimmer of hope. The person he least expected to reenter his life. Hermione Granger.

From the news of his father, she was assigned to help sooth out the problematic citizens. Things were rocky at first. Of course they were. Neither were fond to be in each others' presence again. He may have switched to the Light's side during the war, but that didn't mean that he liked the people associated with it. Not that he ever, truly, hated her (other than that one incident in their third year, which he doesn't like to talk about, thank you very much), he simply went along with what he was raised on.

But after weeks and weeks of constant arguing and snarls, something changed. He won't be able to say when, or how for that matter, but suddenly Hermione wasn't the same bucktooth, frizzy haired, know-it-all nuisance that she used to be. Though her frizzy hair stayed the same, and Merlin knows her know-it-all attitude remained intact, she was suddenly the reason that he continued to smile. She made him happy, something that he always thought he was, but never realised how different happiness was in relation to making someone laugh, rather than cry. She gave him hope, something that he rarely experienced in his life, but was starting to build his foundations on. She made his chest tighten, something that he never knew he'd enjoy so much.. something he didn't even know he needed.

And for some reason, Merlin forbid, Hermione found something in him that made her want to be in his company longer than duty called for. And this only made his heart beat faster, because someone actually wanted to be with him, despite everything that he's done in his life. She called him out when he was being ignorant and she yelled at him when he was wrong and he didn't know that sometimes he really did need to be corrected and snapped at because honestly, he was a jerk. And she changed him for the better.

Her "crew" weren't all too pleased when they found out of their new companionship, hell, they still aren't entirely thrilled (despite how much time has passed), and the press had an absolute field day when word spread round, but she was finally there for him in a way no one else was and she could stay. When some wizards at the Ministry found a way to get rid of the dark mark once and for all, she was right by his side. It was no walk in the park, what, with the excruciating spells and time consuming antics, but with Hermione there it was almost like a mere scrape of the knee.

She stood up for him whenever people shot him daggers, or mumbled rude things behind his back. She introduced him to many muggle inventions and places that he couldn't understand how he ever went a day without. She showed him how to do things without magic, like cleaning, and folding. She even taught him how to cook- that is, if you call heating up a cup-of-soup on the stove cooking, which she did, and so he did too.

Sometimes he'd wake up in the dead of night to the sound of crying, and it would only take him a few moments to register the noises as Hermione's. He'd comfort her whenever she had nightmares, because she had them a lot and unfortunately that was all he could do for her, but she seemed to think it was enough. Though Draco would never see it that way, Hermione needed him just as much as he needed her. They were each others' anchors.

A year after they made their relationship official, Hermione requested that they move. She picked the first place that came to mind, which just so happened to be a place she vacationed at with her parents when she was younger; Nevada. Though Draco wasn't too pleased to move all the way to the States, he didn't have a valid reason to say no, and who was he to deny the girl who changed everything for him?

The kettle began to steam and Draco jumped out of his thoughts. He leaned away from the counter and flicked his wand again; two mugs floated out of the cupboard and onto the counter top. Soon there was only a distinct aroma of coffee in the air, and the stillness was interrupted by a soft yawn. Draco glanced up and couldn't help the grin that spread onto his face. "Well hello there, sleeping beauty."

Hermione yawned again, sending him an eye roll. "Hey there, lazy."

Draco rose an eyebrow, reaching for one of the mugs. "Lazy?" he questioned, holding the mug out to her.

She nodded, taking a sip of the coffee with a satisfied sigh. "You used magic to brew this, didn't you." She didn't even wait for him to respond before making her way to the bar stool and shaking her head with a soft smile. "Lazy. Honestly, Draco. It takes little to no effort to simply add water."

"Ahhh," mused Draco, tapping the rim of his own mug. "But you can't deny that it always tastes better when done with magic." He took the silence that followed at an agreement and smirked. Most of their mornings consisted of small bickering and eye rolls, but that's how they liked it. And as he looked at her: her eyes closed as she took another sip of her coffee, seeing the way her smile slowly got bigger, he couldn't help but wonder how he could be so lucky. How did he manage to be so totally in love with the woman sitting in front of him? And more importantly, how did he manage to have her love him as totally in return?

Hermione glanced up for a moment before gesturing for him to come closer. He obliged as he shuffled his feet over, placing his mug on the counter next to hers. She looked up at him and he looked back down at her. "Yes, love?"

She simply smiled and reached up, tugging his arm sleeve back down and then got off the bar stool with her mug and walked away. The gesture seemed a bit odd to any outsider, but watching her walk away, Draco's heart fluttered as it usually did. He decided right then and there that he would never check his arm again as he followed after her, his eyes glowing with a warmth that, during his school days, no one would ever have guessed he could produce.

Despite anything, from work to unjustified notions, he know he'll be just fine as long as he's got her by his side. She was shackled his embrace and he was shackled in hers. And he wouldn't want it any other way.

o_o

Well, to be honest, I'm cringing.

I suppose it isn't too terrible for not writing anything in... sometime after a year? But I feel like it could have been better. I'm going to post this and then I'm going to have to go back through it and fix some mistakes.

Eh..

WELL HERE IT WAS BOOM BAM I DIDN'T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TO MAKE THIS ABOUT BECAUSE THE TITLE WAS SO SERIOUS AND I REALLY WANTED TO MAKE THIS SOME SORT OF SERIOUS THING BUT IT DIDN'T TURN OUT EXACTLY LIKE THAT? LIKE? ALSO I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT PAIRING TO DO SO I JUST WENT WITH THE FIRST PAIRING TO POP INTO MY MIND WHICH WAS DRACO AND HERMIONE? AND? OKAY I NEED TO GO DO HOMEWORK NOW YES THIS TOOK ME LIKE AN HOUR TO WRITE OKAY I AM LEAVING

HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY YES OKAY BYE