On New Year's day Lucius successfully managed to change the spell on Draco and Hermione so that Draco wasn't the dominant partner. With that part of the spell sorted he set about breaking the connection permanently and within days he was making progress. After casting a few spells on the pair they could now move even further apart and the pull wasn't as strong.

Despite being able to move further apart Draco and Hermione still stayed close to each other and they continued to share Draco's bed, making the most of the time they had left before school restarted. They both knew that once they returned to school and Dumbledore knew they could move further apart, they would be placed in separate rooms. They were aware that they had been sharing a room because of the small distance they were able to part but now they could easily have separate rooms that were close together.

They day before they were due to go back to school Draco and Hermione were lounging around in Draco's room. Neither of them were particularly looking forward to returning to school but they were doing their best to ignore what was happening the following day and enjoy the time they did have together.

Things were just starting to heat up between the pair when a House Elf appeared and informed them that Lucius wished to see them. Wondering if he had found the spell that would end their connection, Draco and Hermione got off the bed and straightened themselves out. Once they were presentable, and it didn't look like they had just been rolling around on Draco's bed, the pair made their way to Lucius's study.

"Come in, you two." Lucius said as the teenagers knocked on the door. "I've got something I wish to discuss with you both."

"I take it this means you haven't found the right spell to fix us." Draco said as he and Hermione settled into seats in front of Lucius's desk.

"Not yet." Lucius admitted. "I'm close, I just need a week or so to get things right and I'm confident I can separate you."

"But we go back to school tomorrow." Hermione pointed out. "And don't you need to keep testing things with us so the spell works?"

"I do." Lucius nodded. "That's why I'm proposing you both stay on at the Manor for another week or two. I'm confident in that time I can solve this problem."

"What about our schoolwork?" Hermione asked.

"If you agree to stay, I'm planning on going to speak to Dumbledore this afternoon, I can arrange for your work to be delivered daily. And I'm sure you're both bright enough to keep up and not fall behind in a few weeks." Lucius replied.

"I'm up for staying." Draco said, smiling at the thought of having Hermione in his bed for another few weeks.

"I'm not asking you." Lucius tutted at his son. "I can tell Dumbledore that I'm keeping you home for a few weeks, but I can't do that with Hermione. For you both to stay, I need her permission to speak to Dumbledore."

"Are you sure you can fix us in a few weeks?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes." Lucius nodded. "I'm on the verge of a breakthrough, I know it."

"And you can make sure we still get our work?"

"Of course, I don't want either of you missing out on your education."

"I'll stay." Hermione agreed.

"Excellent." Lucius smiled. "I'll go and see Dumbledore this afternoon then."

With the decision to stay longer at the Manor made, Draco and Hermione returned to his room. Draco was clearly thrilled at the idea but Hermione seemed a lot more hesitant about the plan.

"Why aren't you happier about this?" Draco asked, throwing himself onto his bed. "Don't you want to spend a few extra weeks with me?"

"Yes, but it might not happen." Hermione cautioned, sitting down on the bed next to Draco. "Dumbledore might not allow it."

"Dumbledore can't stop it." Draco scoffed. "Not when father is insisting we stay here."

"What if Dumbledore insists we return to school?" Hermione asked.

"I thought you would have realised by now that Malfoy men always get their own way." Draco smirked at his girlfriend. "Dumbledore doesn't stand a chance of going against my father's wishes."

"You hope." Hermione retorted.

"I know." Draco responded. "Now enough of arguing about my father and Dumbledore. How about we carry on with what we were doing before we went to see father." He suggested with a smile.

Hermione smiled back at Draco as she climbed onto the bed and straddled his lap. "I think I've forgotten where we were, you might have to remind me."

"It'll be a pleasure." Draco said before leaning up and connecting their lips.

As the kissed his hands began wandering over Hermione's body and within minutes the passion that was building before the interruption was present once again.


Draco had of course been right about Lucius getting his own way with Dumbledore. Over dinner that night Lucius informed Draco and Hermione that he had sorted things with Dumbledore and they would remain at the Manor for a few weeks. He also reassured Hermione that work would be delivered daily, so they wouldn't miss out on anything.

The following day a routine was set in place for the next fortnight. Draco and Hermione would do their schoolwork in the library during school hours, but they got their evenings free. As well as keeping up with their work, they also had to spend time with Lucius as he worked on breaking their bond.

With each passing day, Lucius seemed to make more progress and after the first week the distance they could separate was getting larger. By this point they could use the entire bathroom without the other person standing directly outside the door, everything was fine as long as the other person was in Draco's room.

Over the weekend following their first week, Draco decided to take Hermione to the nearby village. While it was still bitterly cold outside the snow had abated, meaning it was a relatively easy walk into the village. It wasn't the quickest walk however as the Manor was easily an hour away from the village.

The village in question was a small wizarding village, with only a few shops. After strolling around the couple of shops Draco and Hermione headed into a café for lunch. Hermione wasn't surprised that their appearance in the village seemed to be creating gossip, it was obvious that the locals all knew Draco and as such they knew he should have returned to school.

"This place is nice." Hermione commented as they settled into a corner booth in the café that was relatively private. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Yeah." Draco responded. "There's not a great deal of shops around here, so until I pass my apparition test this is all I can reach from home. Unless of course I was going to floo to The Leaky Cauldron and visit Diagon Alley."

"Personally I prefer this village." Hermione said. "It's so nice and friendly."

"It is a nice place to live." Draco nodded.

"It is." Hermione agreed. "I've always wanted to live in the country, it's so peaceful."

"Where exactly do you live?" Draco asked, suddenly realising that for all their talking they had never discussed Hermione's life outside of being a witch.

"In a town not far from London. It's not a big city, but it's a lot more crowded than the countryside." Hermione replied, telling Draco about her life away from Hogwarts.

Hermione and Draco continued to talk about Hermione's life as a muggle while they were in the village. It was only on the walk back to the Manor that talk turned to school, and to their friends. Both Hermione and Draco had received owls from their friends and while Blaise, Theo and Daphne merely said they missed them and wished they would come back soon, Hermione's friends hadn't been as impressed. Harry had expressed his concern that Hermione was staying on at the Manor while Ron had suggested that Draco was planning something bad and she needed to return to Hogwarts immediately. Ginny was the only supportive one amongst the Gryffindors, telling Hermione she hoped to hear she had a boyfriend when she returned home.

"Are you going to tell your friends about us when we return to school?" Draco asked.

"Of course." Hermione replied. "I don't want us to be a secret. I want to be able to talk to you and kiss you whenever I want."

"They won't like it, though, will they?" Draco questioned.

"It's not their decision to make. If they really care about me then they'll come round." Hermione answered. "Although Ginny will be thrilled, she's been saying for weeks that we'll end up together."

"So I heard." Draco chuckled, telling Hermione about the conversation he had overheard in the library weeks earlier.

"Exactly how much did you hear?" Hermione questioned, trying to remember exactly what she had said to Ginny.

"I know that when I bribed you for a kiss you deliberately gave me a brief one so I would want more. I also know that you think I'm pretty impressive naked, which I'm very flattered by." Draco briefly paused and chuckled at Hermione as she blushed beside him. "But on a more serious note, I heard that you didn't think I wanted anything more from you than to get you into bed. You don't still think that do you?"

"No." Hermione said, stopping Draco so they could talk properly. "I think if all you wanted was sex, then you would have acted earlier and we probably would have done it before Christmas. But, you've actually shown me that you want me for me, not just for sex."

"I'm not going to lie, Hermione, when this first happened my first thought was wondering how long it would take me to get you into bed. But the longer we've been stuck together the more I've realised I don't just want you in my bed, I want you in my life."

"Good." Hermione smiled at Draco. "Because I'm not planning on going anywhere. Even when your father unsticks us, I'm still going to be around."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Draco smiled before bending his head and kissing Hermione firmly on the lips.

After a few minutes the couple parted and hand in hand in hand they returned to the Manor.


It was Wednesday afternoon of the following week when Lucius finally made a break through with the spell. As usual before dinner Draco and Hermione were in Lucius's study as he attempted to sever their connection. Lucius was trying a combination of several different spells on them and he had been confident it would work. Sure enough when he cast the final spell both Hermione and Draco felt their connection break.

"I think it's worked." Draco announced.

"Me too." Hermione agreed. "I don't feel the pull anymore."

"We need to be sure." Lucius said. "Draco go for a walk."

When Draco headed out of the study, Hermione confirmed to Lucius that the pulling she had previously felt was gone. Wanting to be sure Lucius sent Draco all over the Manor, while Hermione remained quite contentedly in his study.

"Does this mean we have to go back to school now?" Draco asked, once he had returned from walking around the large house as they tested the connection.

"Not just yet." Lucius replied. "I want to make sure the connection is gone for good. You can stay here for the rest of the week and as long as the bond doesn't reconnect itself I'll arrange for you both to return to school on Sunday evening."

"Do you think it will reconnect itself?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so, but I'd rather be patient and not jump to any hasty conclusions." Lucius said. "Anyway, I think for now it's time to head for dinner."

Lucius led the way into the dining room where they told Narcissa the good news. Narcissa was pleased that the spell was broken but she was obviously disappointed that it meant Draco would be returning to school. Hermione had quickly worked out that Draco and his mother were pretty close and that Narcissa wasn't happy that he spent so much time away from home at school.

"Now the spell is broken will I need to get an elf to make up a spare room for Hermione?" Narcissa asked.

"No." Draco answered quickly. "We're perfectly happy the way things are, you don't have to go to any trouble."

Both Draco and Hermione were glad when Narcissa merely nodded and changed the subject. On Sunday they would be back to normal and sleeping well apart so they wanted to make the most of their last few days together. Draco was already thinking of places where they could meet up, but he knew that it wouldn't be the same as sharing a bed and being able to spend the entire night together.