Chapter 21

Authors Note: So I am absolutely appalled by myself, these chapters are going really slow and I am having a hard time creating them and I even contemplated deleting the whole story and just quitting. I know its failing for expectations but I also know quitting is not an option so I will push through this writers block, I know what I want and its really a lot of filler right now and I am sorry but I hope it isn't too awful for you all. I am so sorry however for how awful it has been. Thank you for your dedication. Love you all it means so much to me review if you want if not thats cool too and have a great day :)

Hermione left the dining hall to head to the Head boy and Head girl dormitories, by herself because had wanted some time to think and comprehend. She tried explaining this idea to Draco but he just didn't understand, not that she blamed him he just wanted to make sure she was safe and alright. And she was for the most part, just exhausted beyond belief. It was going to be a strange rest of her seventh year. Missing most of it was bad enough, not only did she have to catch up on everything she missed but she had to deal with people who thought the worst of her regardless that they knew her their entire lives basically. There would be no way she could just ignore the stares and whispers of everyone else as she walked down the halls, proudly, with a Death Eater. Already she had received various comments about how she easily she got Head girl, that she didn't have to work for it and how lucky she must feel, or how dare she return without her friend; their savior, Harry Potter. Mudblood. Traitor. That's what she was to them, never mind all the times she had risked her life repeadedly for years helping Harry, trying to make sure everyone was safe from He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named as much as possible. All these people whom she had known for years, even called friends, turned their backs.

Seamus Finnigan had a rotten Scottish temper and had not hesitated to call her a traitor the moment he saw her and spit in her direction, but he had been known to turn on people in his past. Harry falling prey under that himself. Susan Bones stared shocked into silence at Hermione's new 'alliance' as people already called it. Lavender Brown was mumbling under her breath on how she could loose her 'Won Won' to such a traitor, oh how the list went on. Then there were the Slytherins who sneered at her and threatedned, but their threats were always cut off by an angry Draco, most knew his status as a Death Eater and wouldn't dare speak out again. What they didn't know was that he was part Veela and every time h got angry Hermione was scared he may sprout wings; he had a nasty temper when it came to her, but part of her craved for them to be put in her place.

And ever since getting off the train Hermione hadn't seen Neville or Ginny, and it was probably for the best if they wanted to stay alive. If something happened to them because of her she would never forgive herself. How confused the must be, their best friend trying to kill them, her being a Death Eater; granted they hadn't said too much about either subject so how would she know what was going on in their heads. Well apart from attacking and blaming Draco for everything, which come to think of it is probably what they were doing at this very moment.

Sighing Hermione reached the common room portatit, a man on a horse with a shield and sword drawn. At the foot of the horse was a snake and a lion looking ready to battle, all three of them looked rather fierce and protective to one another. The body language, the snakes body lifted to protect the lion, the lion crouched ready to attack and the horse with the man leaning towards the animals with his sword in a swinging motion; made it seem as if they were all very loyal to each other. It was rather beautiful and showed great house unity between the two.

Hermione muttered the password, 'Unometas' gaining the attention of the snake, lion and man who made eye contact with her and as the man swung his sword down the door opened itself. She walked the short hallway into the common room and came across a large square space. It was huge, the whole place was made of dark gray stone, a large black rug spread across the center of the floor nearly covering all of it, in the rug were swirl designs made of gold and silver thread, silver candle holders coming out of the wall and giving light to the whole room. There was a black couch with gold throw pillows on them and a plush maroon blanket thrown across the back, in the far corner of the room were five maroon cushioned chairs with silver pillows and golden designs on them, in the center a nice wooden table which donned a small center piece of a lion and snake together.

Across from the couch was a grand fireplace and within the stone was a carving of a lion again with the snake, except this time they were not separate, the snake was wrapped around the lions body lightly and finally ended at his should draping himself over it like a scarf, there was a soft expression on their faces but still a deadly one, as if they realized with each other they were happy and knew they were far more lethal together. It was beautiful, the house unity being portrayed, and it warmed Hermione's heart.

On the opposite wall of the entrance hall was an arched door way which lead to a stair well, going up the stairs led to a balcony that went around the whole room. The balcony was wide and windows lined the walls. By one window was a black and maroon chair with a small silver table in the middle of them, and a maroon rug went the whole way on the balcony, covering the cold stone floor. Going a little farther across the balcony you could see a little kitchen living space in another arched door way, with a little dining table in it, which Hermione thought was an interesting addition. Walking forward until about halfway across the balcony were three doors. Hermione walked to the first door, opening it and entering into a Gryiffindor themed room, a four poster bed with the maroon covers and canopy; a shimmer of gold in the soft fabric, the mahogany dresser and wardrobe set, and the full length mirror in the corner reminded her so much of her old dormitory. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the room.

To her right was another door, which led to a grand bathroom that attached both of the rooms. It was all stone, even the bathtub. There was a stall which held a toilet and sink on the outside of the stall and next to it a huge space that had six shower heads surrounding the wall and a glass door to the shower. The bathtub was at least half the size of a swimming pool and sunk into the ground with gold taps surrounding the right and left side of the tub. It was rather impressive, and there were cut out shelves in the wall that held towels, bath robes, soap, bath oil, bath powder, bath salts, shampoo, conditioner and hair spray. It was well stocked in everything and Hermione couldn't help but let her mouth drop. On one wall across from the tub, the whole wall was a mirror giving you sight to the whole room. It was breathtaking, and looking up the ceiling was charmed like the Hogwarts dining hall and there were candles for a ceiling which illuminated the entire room with a gentle glow. This is where she was most likely going to spend a lot of time reading, so peaceful and the smell of the bath soaps so calming, it would be perfect.

Smiling she walked out of the bathroom and back to her bedroom and went to go tackle all the junk on her bed. Her trunk full of clothes and then boxes of books, parchment, quills and ink. Although she had tried insisting to Draco that she only needed 2 quills and it would be the simple white ones but he objected and bought her the expensive black ones that had jewels attached tot he feathers, it would have lasted all year and been just fine but still he bought seven of them; which Hermione was furious about but he wouldn't stop smiling so she stayed quiet about it. Then her parchment paper had gold in the paper, actually in it! It made Hermione roll her eyes, why on earth did there need to be fancy floral designs in gold on a piece of paper that she would write on and then have thrown away later by a professor. Then her dress robes, good gracious what an odyssey that had been. She only needed 5 of them, and one pair of fancy dress robes; but Draco had insisted on three pairs of her fancy dress robes, which he had the blouse custom made of silk, and then got her 24 regular dress robes. And her actual robes that she would throw on over the dress uniforms he had her name sown into them. There was no way to argue with him about it at all.

Hermione opened the trunk to reveal her dress robes and regular attire. Taking out a pair of jeans she began to fold them and put everything away into its designated spot, hanging all the dress robe items in the wardrobe closet. It was moments like this where life didn't seem complicated, although everything was complicated. However, just the other day she felt five years old again with no care in the world, that she could be whoever she wanted, it was like when you were younger and everyone was your friend because it didn't matter. Those were the days. Now these days held darkness, death, rumors, betrayal and so much more. How things had changed indeed.

It wasn't as if she had asked for all this change, or that she had asked to be a Veela mate, but it was just how it was and people could either accept everything or believe the lies they told themselves. It would be a hard thing for people to grasp onto, she knew that in her heart the best things he could do was be kind to them and treat Draco like he is no better than anyone else but just human; prove that she hadn't changed and was still her just certain circumstances made her adjust her life to fit into those circumstances.

While putting a dress shirt on a hanger she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." She said.

The door gently open, "Do you like it?" Draco's voiced carried to her, making her smile.

Setting down the shirt and hanger she turned, leaning against the bed post, and looked at Draco. "I love it actually. I am rather surprised that it seems to have more of my house colors than yours, no green. Not that I am complaining, the green would have made it look a tad bit like Christmas."

Draco chuckled at her comment, "That would be my doing. I figured you missed your house and so I requested that it be decorated more to your house colors than mine."

"That means a lot to me. Thank you." Hermione walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. She would never get tired of touching him, holding him; the little intimate moments.

Draco pulled away from her smiling, "Wants help?"

"You don't have to, your company would suffice."

"Oh I would die of boredom then." He smirked going over to the bed and continuing hanging up clothes, Hermione just smiled at him.

By the time they were completely done it had been a little over an hour later, and Draco hadn't complained once. Hermione liked doing things the Muggle way and he didn't seem to mind, they would just talk, or sometimes stay silent and give each other little looks while working; quite peaceful. All her clothes were put away in the correct spot, jeans in one drawer, tanks in another , shirts in another so on and so forth. Her books were in alphabetical order on the bookshelf that sat next to her desk. On her desk held her parchment paper and a crystal cup that held all her quills, her purse hanging off the back of the chair. The room came together rather nicely, it was beginning to look like home. The only thing that was missing was the pictures of her family on the desk or bedside table like she used to have, but all those were in her purse; which had been missing since she had been dragged into Malfoy Manor. The thought made a lump in her throat, which she cleared quickly.

Draco smiled at her, "So after pulling a few strings and Severus being my God father and headmaster, we have all the same classes together. Now we can be together like we were all the time at the Manor."

"Good." Hermione said, offering a tired smile and sitting on the bed; leaning her curly head against the bed post.

"Good? That's it?" Draco asked appalled. "After all the trouble I went through and you don't even want to look at the schedule. Unbeleivable! Is there no end to your ungrateful wrath?" He sighed dramatically throwing himself upon the bed next to her and propping himself up on his elbow.

"I trust you with my schedule so stop the dramatics." She smiled. "Besides you are one of the smartest people in school and I doubt you would be taking classes that didn't challenge you, you have high expectations for yourself I have noticed."

"You know me so well." He smirked, tapping her on the nose. "What would you like to do?"

"Sleep. Big day today and even longer day tomorrow."

"I've noticed to you only want to sleep." He frowned.

"Look, you try getting at most 4 hours a sleep a night for months, running for your life constantly, not having hardly any food to survive on and then tell me you are not tired."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that, it just worries me sometimes. Regardless I am not letting you go to sleep just yet. I have a surprise for you." Draco snapped his fingers and a long sleek black box appeared with a silver bow tied around it. He held it in his palm and waited for her to grab it.

Hermione smiled back at him, her fingers gently pulling on one flap of the silver bow undoing the entire thing, then she lifted the lid to reveal an item so precious to her she stopped breathing. She had expected a neckalace or something but instead it was better, it was her wand; made of vine wood and dragon heartstring, it lay in the box at 10 ¾ length, a leaf design swirling around the grip at the end of the wand. It was calling to her, and with shaking fingers she grabbed it, almost screaming in excitement as she felt the power of her wand going through her veins. Draco's wand was good enough for her while she used it, it did the job, it just wasn't her wand. A witches and wizards wand is what makes said witch or wizard themselves its their identity. It felt so light in her hand but still held a nice wight to her, and her fingers just itched to do some magic.

"Thank you." She whispered, still in awe.

"You are welcome." Draco sat up, kissed her forehead and walked out of the room through the joined bathroom to give her some time alone. He knew the importance of ones wand and if he ever found himself without his, he would be lost.

Hermione sat for few moments still in shock, but shock wouldn't do magic. Jumping up from the bed she flicked her wand towards her body and instantly she was in her pajamas, which consisted of a pair of boxers and a t-shirt both given to her by Draco, and then she walked to the door. It was time to do something a little more challenging, like protection spells. She was safe as could be at Hogwarts , its just the charms were advanced and she wanted to feel that power go through her again.

Liftingup her wand she began chanting the Caterwauling Charm to make sure she would be warned of intruders, highly unlikely that there would be any; but knowing that once it was triggered the charm would send off a loud shreiking noise to warn her, she decided a Muffilato Charm would be useful so she wouldn't get awaken by the noise. She chose to to an Imperturbable Charm to make sure no one would enter the room, even though no one would any time soon but it was rather fun putting together all these charms again and using magic, it reminded her of her days with Harry and Ron; making sure they were hidden and safe by using charm after charm. She loved watching the blue and white light seep from her wand and guard her room, it was peaceful. And she rather fancied the idea of being able to not hear Draco get up in the morning because of the silencing charm, she could sleep in; which she didn't get to do because she would wake up to the loud shower at his house and then stay up, blasted noise.

Setting her wand on her night stand she curled into bed under the thick comforter with a smile on her face, yeah things were hard right now, yeah she had to deal with things that were a waste of time; but the little things in life are what counted now, the little enjoyments. Stealing kisses from Draco, holding his hand, getting a glimpse at her friends and knowing they were alright, in school learning again, being Head Girl, and having her wand; all these little things were adding up. And even though there were bigger problems in the world out there at the moment it was a good idea to try and remember the good things until the war hit the final storm. It was good not to loose all enjoyment from life, it was okay to feel happy despite her brain trying to guilt her by saying it was wrong. And with those final thoughts she dozed off into sleep.

Draco sat on his bed in a huff, it had been a long and presumtuously annoying day with everything that had gone on and despite his good attitude for Hermione he was angry still and just waiting to boil over. Yet something about her hadn't let him, he assumed it was the Veela in him, but at the same time it wouldn't make sense to blow up at her when she didn't do anything wrong anyway so he would just depend on his cronies to take his rage and deal with it. it. But so far, apart from stares and the couple of comments, their arrival at school hadn't been that bad. He just tried to keep Hermione engaged in conversation to ignore the looks and rude remarks, although he was fairly certain she heard them anyway.

Everything was different now that they were mates, but still things didn't seem completely right. Like once when you become one you are suppose to get along nearly all the time and not argue yet Hermione had no problem yelling at him, and the option of leaving one another, well it wasn't even suppose to be an option. There were curious things to their new found relationship and Draco suspected it had something to do with the myths that didn't turn out to be myths after all. Either way things were different and he was going to have to look at the library to get his questioned answered.

Draco was trying desperately to adjust to all of it and it was going rather well all things considered. He was even learning all his Veela traits, he had read about them but hadn't even put them in use. An example of sorts would be feeling what Hermione feels and being able to help adjust those feelings if they were too much for her. But again, he could feel what she felt but he couldn't change her feelings which pissed him off to no end. It would have saved a lot of arguments. He could get his fangs whenever he wanted, with poison or without was his choice, but his wings were another story. When he had given Hermione space to get into the common room and situated he attempted to make the wings appear but they didn't, even the tell tale sign of the shoulder blades burning before the change didn't happen.

But despite all the obstacles he was happy, life was horrible and the things that could go wrong did, but every little moment counted and made him happy. He would change everything for Hermione even though he didn't have to, as long as she smiled then he was doing his job. It was all a strange concept though, how much he changed and was so quick to turn on his family if they so much as hurt her. He was turning out to be nothing like his father for that matter, and he couldn't be more grateful.

Lucious Malfoy was Veela himself and his wife Narcissa was his mate, and over the years they were in love but they hid it well, it was like affection to each other in front of another was a sin. Draco didn't want to be like that, he wanted everyone to know that Hermione was his and that he loved her to the ends of the earth and back. After this war was over he was going to get her a dream house and a dog and marry her, it was going to be a big deal in the Wizarding World, her being apart of the Golden Trio and he being a Death Eater; they both came from different worlds and it didn't even matter.

Kicking off his shoes he laid back in a relaxed position, his hands locked behind his

head and eyes closed. For the first time in almost three years he felt like he was excited for class and to see Hermione in her element. Granted watching her read was entertaining, how she got so lost in anything she read; but he was looking foreward to seeing her excitement on learning and taking notes, the sparkle she was going to get from the new information. He could just imagine her scribbling away quickly and biting on the end of her quill, her brows furrowed in concentration even though she easily understood it. It made him smile thinking about it.

He suddenly heard Hermione's screams going through the air and immediately he shot out of bed and headed to her room, bolting through the bathroom door grabbing the handle on her own door and trying to jiggle it, but it was of no use it was locked. He tried unlocking it with his wand but it was rejected, running out of the bathroom and into the hall to her bedroom door he tried again. Nothing happened. He began pounding on the door like a mad man. The whimpers beyond the door were the same whimpers he heard at Malfoy Manor when she was tortured.

"I didn't steal anything!" She cried.

"Hermione!" He pounded again, shouting as loud as he could. "Wake up, its just a dream!" Then her broken scream happened again and his Veela went into straight panic, he felt her uneasiness and not being able to do anything about it made it all the worse. He kept pounding on the door, shouting spells to unlock the door or tear it down but everything was rejected and eventually his exhaustion took over and he slid down the door, leaning against it to wait it out. Her screams were ringing over and over in his head as he fell asleep.

The wand pierced her stomach and she could feel the ripple of dark magic pour through her, it was like her insides were on fire and she was ripping apart and healing only to be ripped apart again. And despite how gruesome the torture was everyone just stood and watched with smiles on their face. As she fell to the floor Bellatrix climbed on top of her.

"You should learn not to steal Mudblood." She hissed.

"I didn't steal anything!" She cried.

Hermione attempted to pull away as much as possible but Bellatrix proved to be heavy on her, and then the cold blade of a knife made her hold still as possible. The eyes of Bellatrix were black and wide, almost like a rabid wolves eyes, she looked ready to kill.

"This one never knows when to stop talking." She chuckled, smiling at the Death Eaters in the room, before quickly taking her blade and slicing Hermione's throat, blood splashing all over her face.

Hermione woke up with a start, covered in sweat and her body aching; her face wet with tears. The nightmare had been absoloutly dreadful, no Draco to save her this time. It was the first time she had dreamed the event in vivid detail, and the charm she set to wake her up from a nightmare had not worked of course. Now she was shaking from head to toe and all she wanted was Draco for comfort. She pushed back the comforter and took slow, shaky steps to the door opening it, only to have a groggy Draco be right in front of her on the floor for her to trip over.

Draco felt a slight pain in his knee and looked up to see a pale Hermione. He stood up immediately, not touching her but just looking at her sad face. "It was awful." She whispered walking into his arms.

Draco nodded his head in understanding even though she couldn't see it and held her firmly before picking her up in his arms and bringing her too his bedroom, tucking her shaky form into his bed while he took of his pants and shorts before crawling in next to her. He pulled her quivering body to him and kissed her head. "I tried to wake you up. Why did you put up those charms?"

"Nothing against you," She sniffed. "I just wanted to use magic, complex magic not simple magic like quickly changing out of clothes."

"I'm not angry with you. Don't do it again thought I couldn't stand not getting to you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." She said burying herself deeper into his chest.

"Hermione, tell me what it was about."

"No."

Draco leaned onto his side to face her, cupping her face in his hand. "I can't help you if you wont let me in."

"It was just a nightmare Draco, I don't need help with it."

"Tell me please." He whispered. "It will help eventually I promise, just open yourself up to me."

Taking a deep breath Hermione looked up at his face. "It was Bellatrix again."

"And?"

"I died." She whispered turning her body so her back was pressed against Draco's chest as she cried silently.

He didn't push her anymore, it was a lost battle with a slight victory. She opened up a little and that was a start, she had her own reasons for not opening up completely just as he had his own and if she wanted to talk about it he would be all ears, but he would wait for her to come to him. Occasionally trying to get her to talk of course because he was a Slytherin and well, they didn't give up that easily.

"Good night Hermione." He kissed her head one last time before closing his eyes and falling asleep, his heart content having her warm body next to his and finally tired.

Hermione wasn't so lucky.