The next morning Jade awoke as the faint light of the new day started streaming through the high windows. She lay on her side and Draco was right behind her; his arm was slung around her, holding her tightly to his body. She felt the warmth of his skin against hers and the steady movement of his breathing. Slowly she stirred a little and turned around to face him and was taken aback a bit as she looked right into a pair of stormy grey eyes. Draco was already awake and was watching her abstractedly with his head propped up on his hand; his hair was a right mess, but in the light of the day he somehow looked even more handsome in his current undressed state. She huddled up to his chest and Draco raised his arm to tangle his hand in her hair. Jade simply loved the feeling of Draco's arms around her; it felt so safe. And he truly had nice muscles.

"We didn't sleep in and missed the departure of the Hogwarts Express, did we?" Jade mumbled, looking up at him and Draco shook his head. "No, it's still pretty early. We have three hours until the train departs. But I guess either way we have to get up soon. If I sneak into the Common Room at this time, I can still pretend I just fell asleep on an armchair last night."

He grinned at her and then let himself fall back into the cushions, pulling his arm away from her. Jade pushed herself up on the bed and took a moment to comb through her long mane of hair with her fingers. As she remembered that she still was only dressed in her underwear, she searched the room for her dress and saw it peeking out behind the little coffee table.

She started climbing over Draco carefully to get out of bed, when he piped up "Where do you think you're going?"

She turned to look at him and said, bemused "Out?"

He grinned mischievously "I don't think so!" And he quickly sat up and engulfed her in his arms, pulling her back in bed with him. It took quite some time until Jade had finally made it out again.

While Draco sat on the edge of the bed, sulking; Jade made her way over to the coffee table. The floor was currently littered with their clothes and Jade bend over to retrieve her dress, which had been caught on the edge of the table. As she stood upright again, she heard a silent cough behind her. She turned to look at Draco, who was wearing a roguish grin.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Oh.. I was just wondering, if you cared to do it again.. You know.. the bending." His eyebrows wiggled upwards and he let out a husky laugh.

Had he been checking out her bum? Jade shook her head disapprovingly, but couldn't suppress a grin either as she slipped on her dress. Seeing that Draco still hadn't moved from the spot, she started picking up his clothes; his bow-tie had miraculously made its way up to hang from the chandelier on the wall. Draco had followed her through the room with his eyes and the moment she put his things down next to him, he said "Well, I guess that's the least you can do.."

Jade looked at him quizzically and he went on, while putting on his pants ".. for keeping me up the entire night."

As she went to slip on her ballet flats, she heard him saying "And I'm not referring to any of the hot stuff. I'm referring to your ear-shattering snoring only."

Quickly Jade stood up straight. "I do not snore!"

"..like a troll, you do.."

Jade did the only thing, which came to her mind, and picked up her shoe and threw it at Draco. Her aim never failed her; and the shoe hit the top of Draco's head quite accurately.

Her mouth formed a silent 'O', she had expected him to duck or something. But apparently Draco was quite unfazed and picked up the shoe to inspect it further.

"You have ridiculously tiny feet." Was his final verdict.

Jade made her way towards him and tried to snatch the shoe out of his hands, but he was faster. "Give me that!"

"Well, you threw it at my head in the first place.. I think I'm free to keep it now."

"And I think it might have hit your head a little too hard."

Draco grinned at her and pulled her towards him. He took a few steps back and sat down on the edge of the bed again pulling Jade down with him to straddle his lap.

While one of his hands dug into her hair and pulled her in for a kiss; his other hand travelled down her back and pulled her closer. It travelled down even further. Apparently this boy was feeling quite cheeky today.

"No, Draco!" Jade protested against his lips. "We're supposed to get out of here now. If we wait longer, we're sure to get caught by someone."

She pushed against his chest and stood up from his lap. "And I do have something for you."

Draco's face lit up immediately. "What is it?"

Jade moved over to the side of the couch, where she had deposited her bag last night. She rummaged inside it for a moment and pulled out a neatly wrapped present and a letter, which was attached to it. The box was rather small and wrapped in pretty green paper. Draco had followed her to the couch and looked quite eager to see what she had in her hands.

"It's nothing great; just a little something. Consider it a belated birthday present." She said smiling and placed the little box in his hands. His birthday had been earlier this month on the 5th of June, but they hadn't really gotten to celebrate the day together as he had spent it with his Slytherin friends. She had given him his real present back then, but had thought of this one only until a few days later and she really wanted to give it to him before the start of the summer holidays.

"Can I open it now?" Draco was beaming at her; apparently he quite enjoyed getting presents.

"No, please don't! Open it when you're at home." Draco's smile vanished, but there still was something else glistening in his eyes. Jade added "Don't even think about it, Draco. Actually I put a little spell on it, which you wouldn't enjoy too much.." Now Draco's face fell completely.

"Ah.. That's not fair. Now I can't stop thinking about what might be in there for the whole time!" He looked down at the little box as if he tried to melt the wrapping down by simply staring at it; then he raised it to his ear and gave it a little shake.

Jade chuckled a little; she had put a Silencing Charm on the box beforehand, seeing that her present would probably give itself away a little when shaken.

Now his view turned on the letter. "And what is this? Did you write me a poem?" he smirked at her.

"Not exactly. It's a map of our land. And a description, where you should go so I can find you... You know.. if you want to visit me over the holidays like you said."

Draco nodded and looked back into her eyes; he looked a little sheepish. "I'm kind of feeling bad now. I know your birthday is in a few days, too. If had known you were going to give me something, I would have.."

But Jade just shook her head. "Oh, no worries. Just come back to King's Cross station on the 1st of September unscathed and it will be present enough for me."

Draco took a few steps closer towards her. "Two months is a long time."

Jade nodded, looking up in his grey eyes. "It is indeed."

He lowered his head now and kissed her slowly. Jade replied, suddenly feeling strong emotion inside her. She knew she would be missing him so badly. The last night had been so wonderful and she knew she hadn't felt this happy in a long time. And letting go of him now suddenly seemed so hard.

So she snaked her hands around his neck and intensified the kiss. How she loved to kiss him.

As they broke apart again, Draco cupped her face with his one hand.

"Take care, will you Jade? Don't go running around with Potter again! Please don't get yourself in danger!"

"I'll try not to." she smiled at him. Jade didn't really know what was happening with her, but she suddenly felt so emotional. She looked at him and almost wanted to cry, just because she liked him so much.. and they had to part now.

And then she was so afraid that something might happen to him over the summer. That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did something to Draco or to his family. Or that something else might happen.. something that would tear them apart.

She felt her throat tighten and quickly buried her head in his chest. She loved how her cheek would always rest directly above his heart and Draco would place his chin upon her head. They were a perfect fit. A single tear rolled down her face. Apparently Draco hadn't noticed and he slung his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head. They stayed in that position for a moment, until the bright light of the day urged them to leave.

"Jade, I.." Draco started, his voice sounded as raspy as ever as he pulled away from her. He looked her deeply in the eyes now. And suddenly Jade felt the urge to tell him something; something of importance. But she didn't.

"I.. I really am going to miss you. You should leave first. I'm going to lock the room behind me."

Jade let her hands slide down his chest and nodded. "I'll see you in the train then." And with a smile she turned around, picked up her bag and left the room without looking back. She knew she couldn't have taken another look at him without running back into his arms.

Jade made her way through the silent castle. Even though a large clock, she passed on her way, told her that it was eight in the morning, most of the students still slept in. The train didn't leave until 11 o'clock; therefore most of the pupils wanted to enjoy a rather late breakfast. As quietly as she could, she made her way into her dormitory and saw that the other girls still slept. Quickly she grabbed the clothes, she had laid out the night before, and vanished inside the bathroom.

As she returned to her dorm, Katie was awake, sitting in her bed and stretching with her hair sticking in every direction. Leanne still was asleep; the curtains of her bed were drawn close.

"Morning Katie!" Jade smiled at the girl with the hazelnut brown hair. Even though she had shared a room with Katie for ten months, they never had become close friends. They liked each other and bonded over their shared love for playing Quidditch, but they never really talked about personal topics. Katie yawned now and let herself fall back into her cushions.

"Jade! I hadn't even noticed you coming in last night." She sounded very tired. Apparently the end of term celebrations in the Gryffindor tower had lasted well into the night. Katie closed her eyes again. "How much time do we have left until the train leaves?"

"I think we have two hours and then we really need to be outside the castle." Jade told her. Smiling, Katie turned around again, pulling her covers up and murmuring "Well, that means another hour of blissful sleep."

Jade shook her head, smiling. Their room was a mess. Actually she was the only one who had already packed her trunk yesterday and the room still was littered with various belongings of the other two girls. A silent snore came through the curtains of Leanne's bed and Jade was reminded of something.

"Katie? Do I snore?"

Katie's answer was quite muffled, as she mumbled it directly into her cushion. "No.. You don't. You sleep like a dead person. Thank Merlin."

Jade knew it. He had just wanted to tease her. Quietly she made her way out of the room and down to the Common Room. A very welcome sight greeted her: Hermione sat on one of the armchairs, reading a book. That girl wouldn't even stop studying when the term already was over, Jade thought with a smile.

As Jade sat down in front of Hermione, the latter clapped her book shut.

"Soo.. how was it?" Hermione grinned at her; she had been the only one Jade had told about her nightly date with Draco. Actually they had talked quite a lot about Jade's relationship during Hermione's stay at the Hospital Wing. And Hermione had been so bored in there that she had started to anticipate Jade's date as much as if it had been her own.

"Oh.. it was.. " But Jade was lacking words to describe it appropriately. Hermione's grin was still firmly in place.

"Did you..?"

"No!" Jade shook her head. "No, we didn't. Like I told you yesterday, I'm not ready yet. It's something I really don't want to rush.."

"And you shouldn't!" Hermione nodded her head decidedly. "And he didn't pressure you, did he?" She added a little warily.

"Well, I know he would have gone further, if I had let him. To be honest I think he would have slept with me on our first evening together. Boys will be boys. But he never did anything I wasn't comfortable with last night. I know I can trust him in that way."

Hermione smiled. "That's good to hear. I did worry a little about you last night.. All alone.. with Draco Malfoy.." Hermione took a moment as if she considered something. "Well, actually I have to say that Malfoy was a lot more bearable this year. The occasional 'Mudblood' here and there, granted; but especially in the last few weeks he really was very silent around me."

Jade looked down on the floor, feeling ashamed. She hated that Draco called people that name. And she hated how Hermione said it as if it was a simple banality. It wasn't. It was a very bad word; condescending, discriminating and the disdain behind it could lead to disastrous outcomes.

Jade got up from her chair. "Shall we go down for some breakfast?" Hermione nodded and the two girls made their way to the Great Hall together.

They took their time at the breakfast table, waiting for Harry, Ron and the others to join them. Over at the Slytherin table Draco was sitting with his friends, too. From time to time they would look at each other and although both of them were engaged in conversation, in these moments the clanking and clattering within the Great Hall seemed to fade away and only the two of them existed.

Soon enough everybody sat in the Hogwarts Express as it made its way back to London through quickly changing landscapes. Jade realized that both Ron and Ginny treated her a lot warmer ever since their journey to the department of Mysteries. She had the feeling that she had somehow proved herself to the two of them by following Harry in there and fighting by his side; and especially by getting Draco's father arrested. But Harry himself still was a little distant and Jade had the bad feeling that it wasn't 'only' Sirius' death, which made Harry brood. The Prophet had written more and more about their trip to the Ministry; all of their names had been printed and the Prophecy had been mentioned as well. Several journalists now claimed Harry to be the 'Chosen One', meaning that he was the one, who had the power to ultimately face You-Know-Who. Jade had spoken with Hermione about it and both of the girls did not really have too much of a doubt about the fact that Harry and You-Know-Who's fates were somehow linked. And maybe Harry knew more about this than he admitted.

Jade was lost in thought for a great part of the journey. Outside of the window high mountains interchanged with thick forests and green hills and as the afternoon drew to a close they finally neared London.

At platform nine and three-quarters a large group of Order members were waiting for their arrival: Mr and Mrs Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody and her uncle. Oscar Heywood was a real bear of a man and currently heaving Jade's trunk out of the luggage wagon. He had been the younger brother of Jade's father; but from old photographs Jade knew that her own father had been much slimmer and smaller than his little brother. Oscar had a good-natured face with short brown hair and a strong jaw-line. As he caught sight of Jade his face broke out into a huge grin. He waved his wand a little and Jade's trunk turned tiny enough to be shoved into the pocket of his robes. Then he took a few large steps towards her and bellowed "Oh, come here, my darling!" And he gave her one of those typical Oscar-hugs, which always hurt her in some way or the other. Either he would hit her head unintentionally, squeeze her too tightly or scratch her cheek with his stubble, when he gave her a little peck. Even though Jade had to admit that she was sensitive about the way people touched her; he still was quite the clumsy fellow and Jade always had had the suspicion that it actually was this quality which made him become such a great Potioneer. Oscar was one of the best potion inventers, there were in the industry, and he had made quite a fortune with several recipes. And actually Jade knew for a fact that one of his prized potion recipes had been invented by sheer accident as Oscar had knocked over several of his test tubes.

He patted her head now, messing up her hair. "Oh, you're looking more like your mother by the day, Jade. She would be so proud of you. Going into the Ministry and kicking a few of those Death Eaters' butts. I'm so sorry I missed out on the fun." He let out a booming laugh. This was typical Oscar; there was probably no person on earth, who loved trouble more than he did. Although it did surprise her that he didn't scold her even a little bit. Usually he was much more protective. He lay one arm around her shoulders now and steered her towards the barrier of platform nine and three quarters. "You're quite the Heywood, kid.. quite the Heywood."

The first few days of the summer holidays were spent rather quickly. Jade had to tell her aunt and uncle everything that had happened that night at the Ministry about a hundred times and the rest of the time was spent with Blaise or with visits at the Burrow. But there was one thing that was aggrieving her a little. Jade's present to Draco actually had been a rather selfish one. It was one of those inventions her uncle had made at a time, when his wife was visiting part of her family in Australia for a month. It was a potion, which should be taken at night before going to bed and would ensure the drinker to meet another person in his 'dream'. Jade had added a little strand of her hair to the bottle, she had given to Draco; and had labelled it so that he knew what it did. If he drank it tonight, they would certainly see each other. Jade thought that it was a pretty clever idea for the two of them two meet as it would not place either of them in danger. Of course meeting someone in a dream was far from the real experience, but it would probably suffice for a while. She had used the potion a few times with Blaise and it really was very dreamlike. The vision of the surroundings was a little blurred and touches felt very different, but one could talk and see each other.

Feeling a little excited, she got into bed early the first night of the holidays. And awoke even earlier the next morning. Nothing had happened. Well, no need to be disappointed just yet; after all it had been just the first night. He probably kept the potion for a later time, when they hadn't seen each other just the other day... Although it had been plenty enough for at least ten nights...

Then another night came and went without anything happening. And another one. Almost a whole week passed and Jade did not dream at all. Why wasn't he using it? She had written clearly what it was, hadn't she? And she was positively sure that it had been the right potion. Had something happened to him? Or had it been taken from him? Or had he just not been thinking of her? There were a thousand possible reasons, why he could have not used it already. And somehow Jade quickly gave up her hopes that she might see him again soon. She knew that nothing serious could have happened, because by now she would have heard. There was much dreadful news in The Prophet these days. A bridge had collapsed and Muggles had died; Amelia Bones, who had been the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had been murdered in her house; an entire Muggle family had been killed and the Death Eaters had torn apart parts of the West Country.

It was not a time that should be wasted with worry about something so insignificant like the fact that a sixteen year old boy didn't drink a potion that would make him dream of his fifteen year old girlfriend. And Jade knew that. So she spend the first week of the holidays playing Quidditch with Ron and Ginny at the Burrow (Harry hadn't arrived yet), talking with Hermione for hours in the gardens of her house or going swimming in a lake nearby with Blaise. She truly enjoyed the time with her friends and all was well until the night of her birthday arrived.