Into the Cold

Well then I guess the very obvious attraction is going to go in a very obvious direction. Let the kissing begin!!!

For the next two weeks, different members of the order arrived and each had something new to teach them. Most of them were reluctant about having Draco apart of any of it but no one said anything once Grace made it quite clear that she wouldn't do as they asked unless he was there. She struck up the good argument that if Draco had risked his life, not only to visit her when he did, but also to get her out of there and (just recently) start joining on the walks Grace and Hermione took, then he surely wasn't one of the Death Eaters.

They had trained her with wands and, after a bit of research, had begun training her Elemental powers. It was hard to get them to come out when she wasn't extremely angry. They had to track down and capture a boggart and tell Grace to pretend that it was Voldemort. More often then not, however, it transformed into Lucius Malfoy. That little matter caused some questions as to why, if Grace was so terrified or most angry with the elder Malfoy, then why she didn't trust the younger one so much?

After a while, Harry and Ron, along with a few other members of the Order, went off in search for the hercruxes. Grace had grown to like Harry a bit so it was sad to know that she wasn't going to see him every day. Ron…well…with all the fights he started with Draco, she wasn't overly fond of him but she did like him just a little bit.

By the end of the second week it had begun to snow and so training times were cut short and the time spent indoors was becoming more and more. Draco still slept in the same room as Grace and no one had any objects to it since he was able to keep her feeling calm and relatively safe. So when Draco woke up one day to a snow storm outside and completely alone in the room, it was only right for him to feel a slight panic.

"Grace!" He called, hopping out of his bed and running out of the room. He searched the upper level but to no avail. Slight panic increased to mild panic as he ran down the stairs…

And froze as he saw her, unharmed and even happy looking as she walked around in the kitchen, taking different things from the fridge to add to the breakfast she was cooking on the stove. Draco breathed a sigh of relief as he walked into the kitchen. Grace looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and looked at the frying pan. Small flames licked at the bottom of it. His eyes turned to the dials that he had seen Hermione use to control the heat…only to find none of them on.

"Did you use a spell?" Draco asked.

"No." Grace said.

"Charm?" Draco asked.

"No." Grace said, her smile growing as she used the spatula to move the little sausages around on the pan.

"Then why is it cooking?" Draco asked.

"I think I'm getting a hang of this Elemental stuff." Grace said. Draco looked confused before he suddenly smiled, realizing what she was saying. She was using her fire power to cook up the meal.

"That's good then." Draco said.

"You realise we've been here for about three weeks and, apart from those few times the mark felt like it was on fire, there's really been nothing." Grace said. Draco stood next to her and watched her cook. She was right. It was almost as if they, as Harry had said, had fallen off the radar. Draco knew, however, that it was only a matter of time. Grace leaned closer to him to grab something and it was only then that he noticed he had put his arm around her waist. Either Grace hadn't noticed (highly unlikely though) or she didn't care. Either way Draco felt no need to remove it.

"Where is everyone?" He asked, suddenly noticing their lack of company.

"Hermione said she was going to headquarters." Grace said. "She said she'd probably be there all day. And Ron and Harry are already gone and will be for a while…"

"Oh so we have the place all to ourselves do we?" Draco asked. Grace giggled and nodded. "We should take advantage of this."

After breakfast they went out into the backyard and had a snowball fight. That stopped once Grace figured out how to use her Elemental powers to her advantage with it but accidentally hit Draco in the head with an ice ball. He didn't get mad at her though but decided that the fight should probably stop there. They retired into the house where, first Grace then Draco, changed into warmer clothes then lit a fire in the fireplace and sat together on the couch. Grace decided to read Hermione's copy of Hogwarts: A History to find out more about the school. Draco picked up the newspaper and read that for all of three minutes before he turned his attention to Grace. She was curled up against him. Her feet were tucked up under her and she was leaning against Draco as she read the book. He wondered if this was what she was like before Voldemort took her.

Then some cold terrible feeling hit him. What if they were playing right into Voldemort's hands? Sure…teaching Grace to use her powers and a wand was a smart idea but what if it was what Voldemort wanted? No one really knew the extend of his control over her. Draco could tell that there was some control over her, whether powerful or not, it was there. What if he could just snap his fingers and…

"Draco?" Grace asked, quietly. Draco shook his head and looked at her. She was no longer leaning against him but on her hands and knees beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just thinking." Draco said. Grace tilted her head. "You know you're looking good?" He ran his hand through her hair. "You…you look…umm…"

"Human?" Grace suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Draco said. Grace smiled and sat back down again.

"I feel like it now." She said. "I never thought I would ever again. But I do. And it's all thanks to you."

"Me?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. You were the one that was my friend." Grace said. "You vowed to help me. You vowed to protect me and set me free from there. So it's because of you that I'm…human."

"Oh…" Draco said.

"Thank you." Grace said, softly. She hesitated for a second before leaning closer and pressing her lips to his. She had never been like this, choosing rather to ignore the boys at school while she was there. She had only ever been kissed by two boys even though she had gone through more with the Death Eaters. Voldemort made sure to rid her of the one thing she valued so much at the time of her capture.

Her eyes flew open as she felt Draco move closer to her, pressing his lips gently closer as well. Her eyes closed soon after as her hand lifted up to rest on his cheek. Draco's hand moved across her body to her opposite hip. Neither of them heard the door open, the little gasp, and the door closing. They pulled apart and Draco looked at her uncertainly before Grace managed a shy little smile and Draco smiled back at her.

"When did you say Granger was due back?" He asked.

"I don't know." Grace said. Draco looked over at the clock then back at Grace and kissed her forehead.

"Should probably think up something for dinner." He said. He started to stand but Grace held him down and shifted closer to him.

"You don't sleep too much." She said. "Sleep now."

"I'm good." Draco said.

"Do it." Grace said. She leaned against him again. Draco sighed, figuring he had no way out of this. He closed his eyes after draping an around over Grace's shoulders. He was asleep pretty quickly and Grace soon fell asleep after.

Hermione opened the door carefully and peeked inside. She sighed in relief when she found the two just sleeping instead of kissing. She really didn't want in on that a second time. Closing the door carefully behind her, she took off her scarf, hat, mitts, coat and boots before walking across the room and going into the kitchen to start up dinner.

I know, it's short, but I couldn't really think of too much. I kinda don't want the fighting to start yet so I don't really know what to do next chapter.