Draco watched as Tatianna she set her bags down and looked around his room. He was sure how he had gotten so lucky but somehow it had ended up that the two of them would be spending the entire summer at his manor, alone. His parents apparently had made plans to go on vacation at the beginning of the year under the assumption that he wouldn't find his mate until the following year. At first Tatianna had suggested that he go with them and she would just see after. That suggestion had quickly been shot down however, nobody wanted to think about what Draco would be like if he was forced to spend such an extensive time away from his mate so soon after he had found her.

In the end it was decided that Draco and Tatianna would stay at the manor while Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy went on their vacation. They spent the first week just lazing around and catching up on their sleep. Draco loved waking up to find Tatianna curled into his side. The house elves did all the house work and cooking so they could afford to do whatever they wanted.

It was a particularly sunny day when Tatianna suggested that they go down to the lake for a picnic. Initially he wasn't sure if he wanted; if he spent too much time outside he would burn. Having pale skin wasn't ideal when summer came around. However when he caught sight of her in her bikini he suddenly decided that it was one of the best idea's she'd had in a while. He ordered the elves to make a lunch for them to take with before he hurried up to his room so he could put on his swimsuit.

They spent the first few hours splashing around in the water. At first Draco had thought that splashing around was childish and bellow him but after a bit of coaxing he had conceded. He had to admit, he hadn't had so much fun in a while. His parents had pounded into his head that he had to act proper whenever he was out in public so he wouldn't ruin the Malfoy reputation. But acting his age with Tatianna made him realize that being a teen every once in a while wasn't a bad thing.

After swimming they sat down on the blanket that they had spread out to have lunch. The elves had made them two sandwiches along with a side of salad, grapes, and two slices of cheese cake for desert. Draco ended up lying down and resting his head on Tatianna's lap. Absentmindedly she started to play with his hair; he was just about to drift off to sleep when she suddenly jumped up. Startled he leapt up looking around for whatever had caused her to move so suddenly. Seeing nothing, he turned back to ask her what was up he was surprised when he felt her hand hit his arm. It wasn't hard enough to hurt him but it was obviously something she did on purpose.

"You're it!"

"What you mean, I'm it?"

Tatianna was stunned. She knew that Draco's parents had made him grow up fast but she couldn't believe that he had never gotten the chance to play tag. It was like some sort of right passage that every child went through.

"I tagged you so you're it. Now you have to tag me." With that she ran away from him. It took Draco's mind a minute to process what she had just said before he let out a somewhat astounded laugh before taking off after her. She didn't stand a chance, even when he purposefully went slower than he usually would it didn't take very long for him to catch up to her. He grabbed her around the waist and swung her around making her laugh hysterically before setting her down.

"Tag you're it." His voice was so playful and carefree that it took her breathe away. It was like she was seeing him in a completely new light for the first time. She was so distracted by her revelation that she didn't notice he had already run off in another direction.

Determined not to lose she took off after him. Unfortunately he had longer legs and was more athletic than she was meaning that unless she caught him off guard she didn't stand a chance at catching him. That said she devised a plan, she knew Draco would come looking for her when she didn't catch up to him so all she had to do was wait. Sure enough ten minutes later Draco came walking back towards the field calling Tatianna's name. She watched as he walked past where she was crouched in some bushes. And then with a mighty leap she tackled Draco down to the ground.

They rolled a few times before coming to a stop with her resting on top of him. They stared into each other's eyes and were about to kiss when Rascal appeared out of nowhere and pounced on Draco's head effectively ruining the moment. Tatianna laughed and gently picked up her beloved kitten standing up and walking back towards the manor a disgruntled and unhappy Draco following behind.

In the months that followed they spent a lot of time goofing around, one of their favorite things to do was go flying at all hours of the day. However Tatianna soon grew bored of doing nothing but goofing off and lazing around, to remedy this she started to make them meals every other night. At first the elves were against letting her work but after she had said it would make her sad if they didn't let her they grudgingly conceded.

It was a Friday night and Tatianna had decided that Italian sounded nice. She had decided to make spaghetti with garlic bread and some Italian salad. Everything had been going fine until it was time for her to strain the noodles. Apparently she didn't have a good enough grip on the pot because when she tilted it to drain the water she lost her grip. Scalding hot water poured over her hand which turned a bright angry red almost instantly. She let out a shrill cry without even thinking; her entire focus was on the pain in her hand. Instantly Draco was at her side trying to figure out what had caused his mate pain. When he realized that she had spilled hot water on her hand he calmed a little, at least he knew that no one was trying to purposefully hurt her. He then proceeded to call a house elf to finish making dinner while he picked her up and carried her back to the living room. He sat down and settled her onto his lap. He spent the next twenty minutes cooing over her burn and showering her with affection to try and make her few better.

After he got her to calm down they moved into the dining room, he pulled her onto his lap when she went to sit in the chair next to his. She didn't complain but she drew the line when he tried to feed her, even though her one hand was paining her, her other one worked just fine.

That night she went to sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Draco, however, stayed up. He simply lay watching her sleep while he pondered how he had gotten so lucky. Seeing her in pain had almost physically hurt him and he promised himself as he watched his mate sleep innocently beside him that he would do everything in his power to keep her away from anything and everything that could harm her. He would rather die than see her in pain when he could have stopped it. Gently, so as not to wake her, he leaned over and kissed her forehead before slipping off to sleep as well.

I LIVE! Sorry it took me so long to update I sort of just lost the will to write for a while, that and I had to study for my finals. But now schools out and I can spend more time on my stories. Thanks to CurLy QueEn SwiRl, ladybug213, sydneyswansafl, fantasyluver714, the crazy brit, amongthestarsx, . , and JJgirl9 for following my story/ adding it to their favorites.

To Er123: I'm glad you enjoy my story; Draco's becoming progressively more protective as the story goes on… Thanks for reading.

Thanks to all the 1,948 people who have read my story, you all are amazing. Please review!

-Ambercat999