Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long! I discovered Downton Abbey and have spent all this time watching all of the seasons plus all the Star Wars to catch up with the new movie and to be prepared when the last season comes out on DVD in January.

Thank you to daniiibabiii, marianna79, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, and TheDarkLadyofSlytherin for reviewing I very much appreciate it. Thank you to d3d, piripipi26, VTesoro, IloveToWriteNowAndForever, luschaselfridge, Mama T, ItzelNox, mrskw999, , IrishMoonPrincess91, ElenRoux, daniiibabiii, and ariadnecho for following the story. And a huge thank you to ariadnecho, IrishMoonPrincess91, , mrskw999, and VTesoro for favoriting the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Hermione's eyes fluttered open and took in her surroundings. She saw the tree and the fireplace and smiled as she remembered the events from the night before. Stretching against the soft fur of the blanket she felt Draco's arms wrap around her as he nuzzled her hair.

"Happy Christmas." He spoke into her hair as she burrowed her face in his smooth chest.

"Happy Christmas." She responded smiling. The fire had died down overnight and the room was chilly. She burrowed deeper into the blanket and scooted as close as she could to Draco.

"What do you want to do today?" He asked her softly, playing with a curl of her hair. He felt her shake her head against his chest.

"I don't want to get out bed its too cold." She said. He laughed at her and rolled himself on top of her watching as her face grew pink and she looked everywhere but at him.

"Well if you're cold I know just how to warm you up." He smirked and suggestively rose his eyebrows. She laughed with him and reached up to pull him down to her.

That was how they spent the rest of the day and the next week after that. The only time they left was for a few walks around the grounds and a few trips to the library at Hermione's insistence. Students had started slowly making their way back to Hogwarts at the end of the break and finally it was time for classes to resume the following day.

Draco felt like the time had flown by and he was upset with himself for having so many 'Malfoy Meltdowns' at the beginning of the break. The past week had been amazing with no mood swings, interruptions or fights. Hermione had started a few arguments over them having different opinions of certain subjects but one kiss from him had her forgetting all their differences.

He was currently back in the Slytherin common room waiting for Blaise and Pansy to arrive. They had taken the train back along with most of the other students. He was already missing Hermione and wished that they could have stayed in the Room of Requirement for the rest of their lives forgetting everyone and everything else. His thoughts were interrupted when the Slytherin duo came through the common room doors followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Draco! It's so good to see you I swear if I have to listen to these idiots for one more second I'm going to scream." Pansy said while hugging him. Draco winced and gave a pained look to Blaise while awkwardly patting her back with one arm.

"Please don't." He said while moving around her to Blaise.

"Agreed." Blaise laughed with him as they patted each other on the back laughing. Falling back into his old routine wasn't hard for Draco to do. He was genuine friends with Blaise and while he only really tolerated Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle, he still felt that this familiarity was the closest home he had away from home. His mind wandered back to Hermione and he wondered how she was getting along now that the rest of the Golden Trio were back.

Hermione paced nervously back and forth in the Gryffindor common room waiting for Harry, Ron, and Ginny to arrive. She had exchanged letters with Ron and Ginny over the break but had received nothing from Harry except a short thank you and happy christmas for the gift she had sent him. She was used to Ron and Harry getting into fights where they didn't speak for a while but she wasn't used to being the one on the outs with Harry. She certainly didn't like it.

The portrait door opened and students started filing in. She politely made small talk with most of the students in her year answering their questions of how it was to stay at the school over break alone. They couldn't be further from the truth.

Finally she spotted Ron and Ginny's red hair making their way through the entrance. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as she saw Harry come through. They locked eyes almost immediately, his eyes scanning the room looking for her. He smiled at her and she felt a wave of relief settle over her. She rushed to hug her friends and welcome them back. When she got to Harry she hugged him a little tighter than she did the others.

"We need to talk." He whispered in her ear. She nodded softly in understanding.

"I'm not mad anymore though. And I did get you a Christmas gift I just wanted to wait and give it to you in person." He smiled. Hermione laughed hugging him again. She was relieved to hear he was no longer upset with her. That was all that mattered.

Later that night Hermione walked towards the Room of Requirement. She felt much better not having to hide from Harry where she was going. They had been able to talk earlier that afternoon when the others had all gone to lunch. While Harry still didn't trust Draco he trusted her. He didn't like the idea of it at all but he knew that once she had her mind made up there was no talking her out of it. She felt guilty not revealing exactly how far she had become involved with Draco. To Harry's knowledge she was just slowly befriending him. It wasn't like her to lie but for now Harry knew what he needed to know, and she could meet Draco without having to figure out how to hide them from the Marauder's Map.

She rushed into the room searching for Draco. He was sitting on the couch in front of the fire reading a book. She watched him silently for a moment.

"I know you're there." He stated after a few minutes, eyes never leaving the book. She smiled and went to sit with him on the couch. He finished his page and shut the book leaning over to softly kiss her on the lips.

"Hi." She breathed.

"How was meeting back up with Potter?" He smirked at her.

She smiled at him as she got comfortable on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her.

"He's not angry with me anymore. He still doesn't understand." She trailed off softly.

"Who cares if he understands or not." Draco frowned. Hermione frowned to match his own.

"Draco I care. He's my best friend-"

"And what am I?" He countered.

"What do you want to be?" She softly asked him. He looked back down at the book in his hands, he didn't really know the answer to his own question.

"Can we not fight?" Hermione asked gently. He nodded as she scooted closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and just stared into the fire. He felt like he was about to have another meltdown.

Three months passed and Draco was able to keep his meltdowns under control. He found it was better now that Blaise was back and he had someone to talk to. It was better on Hermione to not be left on her own during those times. They had spent almost every night together in the Room of Requirement until the early hours of the morning where they would slip away to their own rooms. Now that they were no longer hiding from Harry seeing them on the map, Hermione knew Harry wasn't on the lookout for them anymore, it was easier to only have to worry about getting caught together in the halls.

Draco knew if Hermione had it her way they would be together in public but he knew for her safety they had to remain a secret from everyone, except Blaise who somehow knew all their secrets. Blaise was like a girl when it came to Hermione, gossiping with her about everything and anything they found amusing.

They were all at breakfast in the Great Hall. He watched the way she laughed at something the Weasel had said and it made him frown. No matter what happened in the future he would never come to like the red headed boy who once had held Hermione's heart even though he never knew it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the owls coming in with the mail. He spotted his Mother's owl coming towards him dropping a letter on the table. He frowned. He hadn't received a letter from his Mother in a few weeks. Her letters were still coded urging him to finish his mission. Every time he got a letter from her he had come to expect the urgent pleas for him to finish fixing the cabinet. He opened it begrudgingly and skimmed over its contents.

Blaise nudged him as he stared at the letter. He barely noticed however as he was too busy reading the letter over and over again. It seemed his Mother wanted to meet him in Hogsmeade that weekend. She hadn't been to see him since the last time they had met for tea like they usually did whenever she came to visit, however this time she was asking him to meet her at Hog's Head pub. The letter told him which room to go to which he found extremely odd. It was very unlike her to be asking to meet him so secretively.

Blaise nudged him again hard enough to startle him out of his thoughts.

"Everything ok mate?" Blaise asked. Draco nodded and put the letter away in his robes.

"Everything's just fine." He said. He looked up towards Hermione again to find her watching him intently. He forced a smile on his face and was relieved to see her smile back at him in return. He didn't want to worry her. He didn't want her to know that he was worried.

From the moment Draco stepped into the pub he felt like something was off. He'd never really liked this particular pub always preferring Madame Rosmerta's instead. But ever since the incident earlier in the year with Katie Bell he had steered clear of Madame Rosmerta.

The pub was dingy and dark and there weren't many people inside so he quickly made his way through and up the stairs to the room his Mother had told him to meet her in. He knocked twice but got no reply so he opened the door figuring he would wait for her inside. As soon as he opened it however, he knew that there was something terribly wrong.

The blood in his veins grew cold as he locked eyes with the disheveled figure of his father. The door slammed shut behind him and he realized they weren't alone, there had to have been at least five Death Eaters there with them in the small room.

"Draco how nice it is to see you." Lucius drawled. Draco struggled to find his voice. He knew he looked frightened and it took him a few seconds but he composed himself and settled the mask he wore so well of the cold boy he once was.

"Father." He acknowledged. "I see your Master has finally found a way to release you from Azkaban."

"OUR Master has been gracious enough to free me. Only for me to find out that you are failing miserably and bringing dishonor to our family!" Lucius snarled.

Draco cursed inwardly at his slip up. He opened his mouth to respond when he was grabbed roughly from behind by two of the Death Eaters.

"I think it's time you've finished your mission Draco. But before you return to Hogwarts our Master has made sure that you leave with a reminder of who you serve and where your loyalties lay." Lucius grinned maniacally as the remaining Death Eaters closed in on them. Draco had never felt more scared in his life but kept his face stoic. Even as his arm began to burn so badly he thought it might melt away. Even as the screams threatened to tear from his throat. Even as his father laughed as his body wriggled in pain. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Draco nursed his arm back in the Room of Requirement. He had managed to slip back into the castle and remain unseen making his way up to the room. His arm burned, the Dark Mark bright on the flesh of his forearm. He would have to use a concealment charm to keep it hidden from everyone. He had been so foolish to think that he could have escaped his inevitable future. He should have known something was wrong when his Mother asked him to meet her at the pub instead of at the tea shop. His father must have Imperio'd her to write him the letter for it had been in her elegant handwriting. He worried what had happened to her but knew now that there was no way of him knowing if the words exchanged between them were real or cursed.

As soon as he had the concealment charm in place he threw his shirt and sweater back on and headed down to the Great Hall. He had been missing all day and he knew he was going to have some explaining to do to Hermione.

It seemed his luck had run out and today was just turning out to not be the greatest of days for him. He stepped into the Great Hall keeping his head down. He longed to cradle his arm but kept his fists clenched at his sides. He heard whispers all around the Hall and feeling guilty about the days events he felt like they were all about him. He raised his head to glare at some first years when he realized where they were looking. At the front of the Great Hall stood Katie Bell talking to Potter. He noticed Hermione was sitting next to the Weaselette a few seats down watching the exchange with interest.

He had frozen where he stood and couldn't seem to make his feet move. He touched his arm subconsciously and looked away when Potter looked around Katie and had locked eyes with him. The blood ran cold in his veins for the millionth time that day it seemed. He started backing up towards the door and when Potter pushed past Katie he turned and walked away as fast as he could. He could have sworn he heard Hermione yell after Harry in confusion.

Hoping she hadn't seen him he walked quickly towards the girls bathroom that held the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He had learned all about it year before from his father and had found solace in the empty bathroom on one or two occasions earlier that year. Knowing that it was never occupied, except by Moaning Myrtle, he went straight for the sink to splash water on his face. His breathing was labored and the Dark Mark on his arm burned horribly.

He pulled his sweater off over his head and splashed more water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror and for the first time in his life he felt sorry for himself. He had been tasked with an impossible mission. His father had made it clear to him that either he would die or they would kill his Mother. He couldn't believe that his father would stoop so low as to threaten his own Wife. Then again nothing his father did seemed to surprise him anymore.

He saw a movement in the mirror and looked up to see Potter standing behind him. He thought maybe for a moment he was going to simply try and talk to him. Something Draco wasn't exactly sure he would mind at that particular moment. But a split second later it looked like Potter was raising his wand towards him but it was as if his body had a mind of its own and Draco threw a spell at him first. His mind screamed at him to stop, to think of Hermione. But there was no time and before he knew it they were throwing spells back and forth at each other in the middle of the bathroom.

He tried to yell at Potter to stop so he could just talk to him but he found his pride wouldn't let him. Potter was a fool to think he could just follow him and starting casting spells at him. Hermione's best friend or not he had no right. Just the thought of it made Draco angry and he threw a Crucio towards the other boy. He saw him dodge the spell and throw one back at him he had never heard before. That was the last thing he remembered before he felt excruciating pain and everything went black.

Hermione paced the common room back and forth waiting for Harry to return. Ginny and Ron sat by the fireplace talking quietly. They had all watched Harry storm off after speaking with Katie but none of them knew why. They hadn't seen what he had been chasing after but Hermione felt like she had a pretty good idea. She hadn't seen Draco all day and even Blaise hadn't known where he had gone off to. She had searched the Room of Requirement and the Astronomy Tower while Blaise had looked at the Quidditch pitch and around the Black Lake. Neither being successful in their search. But she just had this feeling that when Harry had run out of the Great Hall it had something to do with Draco.

What seemed like hours later she was about to leave to look again when Harry finally stepped through the portrait looking as pale as a ghost. She rushed over to him quickly and led him over to the couch.

"Where have you been Harry?! What had you running out the Great Hall earlier? Was it something Katie said? Something she remembered?" She bombarded him with questions.

Harry looked into her eyes and saw her worry. Her worry for Draco and it made him feel like a horrible person. He recounted everything to her, Ginny and Ron. Hermione looked like she was going to throw up. Thankfully Ginny and Ron were paying attention to him and not her.

"You have to get rid of it." She sternly said. He nodded in agreement, Ginny and Ron voicing their agreement as well. He squeezed her hand but she pulled away from him. Tears threatening to fall down her face.

She couldn't bring herself to look at him. She had a bad feeling all day that something bad had happened to Draco but she couldn't fathom what Harry had told them. That he had used a spell he had found in that cursed potions book of his without knowing what it did. What if Snape couldn't heal Draco? What if he was seriously hurt or worse...dead?

Authors Note: Reviews = the loveliest of loves!