Thank you thank you thank you sooo much for the reviews! You guys have made me unbelievably happy! Best Christmas gift ever. :) (My birthday's on Christmas, by the way haha).

I'm so glad you liked the previous chapter. I wasn't sure how you'd like it, with Ron being such an arse and everything. I love Ron, I really do, but I knew that that was how he was gonna react to Draco and Hermione. And I could really see Rupert acting that scene out perfectly. XD

Chapter Twenty-Five: Jealousy

Draco woke up in the middle of the night, his heart racing and sweat drenched his shirt. Memories of his nightmare flashed before his eyes, sounds of his mother being tortured before his eyes pierced his heart.

"NO! Stop it, stop hurting her!"

"What did you say, Draco? Hurt her more? Okay then, if you say so." Bellatrix said.

Lucius pointed his wand at Narcissa and tortured her once more. Draco couldn't take it anymore; he could not bear to hear his mother scream in pain like that. Tears started to fall from his face as he cried out, "Please, I'll do anything, anything that you ask of me… just don't hurt my mother anymore. Please."

"Hmm…anything, you say?"

"Yes, I swear to Salazar himself! Just don't hurt her."

"I'll make you a little deal, Draco. I won't hurt both you and your mother if you agree to turn spy for us. Infiltrate the Order of the Phoenix and bring us news of their plans. In turn, I'll let you go."

The scene had changed slightly then, Bellatrix faced him, her face as mocking and sadistic as ever as she said, "Tick tock, my little nephew. I'm getting a bit wary of your lack of information. Do you think that I'd let you go that easily? Or have you forgotten that your mother is still here with me and that I could punish her anytime I want to?"

Draco took deep breaths to calm himself down. Bellatrix had actually been able to enter his dreams and use Legillimency on him! He shuddered; now he knew what Potter felt every time the Dark Lord entered his mind in his sleep. He felt disgusting…violated. He wanted to scrub his mind clear of the thought that Bellatrix had forced her way into it.

At the same time he grew increasingly concerned for the welfare of his mother. He knew that even though she was her sister, Bellatrix would never hesitate to torture Narcissa. And Bellatrix would certainly not hesitate to send him another nightmare to show how his mother was being tortured.

Draco almost punched the wall in fury, only stopping himself from doing so as Hermione was still sleeping peacefully on the bed. He was definitely at a loss; he had to protect his mother from Bellatrix's wrath! But how could he do so without going through with his mission of infiltrating the Order?

He made his way downstairs to the kitchen, hoping that a glass of water would help clear his mind. The dark corridor made him uneasy, portraits of ancient wizards decorated the walls, each of them looking down and sneering at him.

He recognized his distant relatives, Cedrella Black and Septimus Weasley amidst the numerous portraits. "Traitor!" they shouted, sensing his presence. Their shouts alerted the other occupants of various portraits, and they jeered and shouted at him as well. Draco covered his ears with his hands and picked up his pace; not wanting to hear the insults the ancient wizards threw at him.

Finally, he was at the kitchen. It was as dark and eerie as the rest of the house, sending chills down Draco's spine. He grabbed a glass from the counter and filled it up with water, nearly dropping it when a voice said,

"Couldn't sleep either?"

Draco turned around quickly, his wand at the ready as he squinted around the dark room. He sighed in relief when he realized it was only Arthur Weasley, sitting in one of the chairs at the corner, barely visible in the dark room.

"Are you planning to hurt me, boy?" he asked him.

Draco cleared his throat and lowered his wand completely. "N-no, of course not, Mr. Weasley." he said as politely as he could.

"Come, sit." he said, motioning to the chair across him.

Draco reluctantly sat down, his expression wary as he regarded Mr. Weasley closely.

"Is there anything bothering you?" he asked, concern creasing his forehead.

"No."

Arthur raised his eyebrows, not believing him. "Quite frankly, you looked terrified. Not to mention you're here at three in the morning. That's not exactly normal, boy."

"Just a nightmare." Draco muttered, not wishing to reveal any more information on what was truly bothering him. Thankfully, the older wizard got his hint and changed the subject.

"So tell me, young Draco, how exactly did you and Hermione find Bill and Fleur's whereabouts? Neither of you had told us exactly how you did it, and I assume that Shell Cottage has been placed under the Fidelius Charm, which makes it completely hidden from those outside of the immediate family. How, pray tell, did you manage to find it?" Arthur asked.

"Well, uhm, I might have…used Legillimency on you." Draco said guiltily.

Mr. Weasley's eyebrows rose at his admission. "You did? And when was this?"

"Before you reported for work one day, at Muggle London."

Arthur looked at him with curiosity, rather than anger at his actions. "You're a rather skilled wizard aren't you, Draco Malfoy?" he said.

Draco didn't know how to reply at the man's praise and simply stayed silent.

"Much more talented than your father." Mr. Weasley continued. "He tried the same trick on me, you know, whilst I was guarding the prophecy at the Department of Mysteries. It didn't work, however, as I had already been trained by Dumbledore with Occlumency. But clearly you're a very accomplished Legillimens."

Again, Draco remained silent.

"Can I trust you, Draco?" he asked suddenly, taking Draco by surprise. "Can I be sure that you are nothing like your father, Lucius?"

"Of course you can." Draco replied defensively.

"Surely you know I need a better answer than that?" he raised his eyebrows.

Draco took a deep breath and said, "You heard what my father did to me and my mother…I have no intentions of becoming like that sodding bastard. I want absolutely nothing to do with him." he added a bit angrily, remembering his nightmare.

Arthur stared at him for a while longer, assessing his response. "Good." He said, and stood up without another word.

"Mr. Weasley!" Draco said, rising up as well. "I'm…sorry. For using Legillimency on you. But I deemed it necessary to find Potter."

"And why exactly did you want to find Harry?" his tone suspicious once more.

"Well, it was Hermione who wanted to find him, actually."

"And what exactly is your intention with our Hermione, Draco?" Mr. Weasley said, his tone fatherly.

Draco clenched his jaw at the fact that he was getting a 'concerned father' speech from Arthur Weasley. "I care for her." he said simply.

"I see. Your father won't be pleased to hear that."

"No, he won't." Draco sighed.

"He'll find a way to hurt her if he ever found out about you two." Mr. Weasley stated as a matter of fact.

"I'd never let that bastard lay a finger on Hermione. He's hurt her once; I'm not going to let that happen again." Draco said fiercely.

Arthur looked impressed with his reaction. He gave a smile and said, "I'm glad that you're nothing like your father, Draco. I'm…proud of you, for learning to stand for yourself."

Draco was speechless at the older man's words. He was proud of him. The only other person who had ever said those words to him was Florean, and Draco was surprised that hearing those words come from someone who knew his past meant more to him than he would've thought. He found himself wanting to prove himself even more, to banish all suspicions that he was like his father.

"T-thank you." he said, unsure of how else to reply.

Mr. Weasley nodded and left the room. Draco left as well, returning to his room and crawled back into bed, much calmer than he was before he left.

"Where were you?" Hermione asked sleepily.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Draco asked.

"No." she yawned.

Draco looked at her, his expression softening as he looked at her. She looked so innocent, almost child-like.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I just went down for a glass of water."

"Oh. Okay then." she said and moved closer to him, laying her head on his chest. She was asleep within seconds.

Draco buried his face in her hair, inhaling her vanilla scent. His hand rested on her back, and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead, marveling at her child-like innocence once more. No, there was absolutely no way he'd ever let Lucius hurt her.

"Granger? Wake up, Granger."

"Mmmm. Go away." she said, swatting him with her arms.

"It's nine o' clock, Molly will be knocking on your door soon, and I don't think she'd take it well, knowing that you slept here instead."

"Shit." Hermione said, opening her eyes and sitting up with a jolt. "No, she wouldn't take that very well. She's a bit old fashioned, you know."

Draco looked at her with amusement in his eyes. "Yeah, I guessed."

"Molly, huh?" Hermione smirked.

Draco's ears reddened. "She told me to call her that." he muttered.

"Oh boy, she's adopting you as one of her own already." Hermione laughed. "Well that's sooner than I expected."

"The Malfoy charm never fails." He winked at her.

Hermione couldn't help but grin at him, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Well you're in a good mood today, considering…"

"Oh…right." Hermione muttered, remembering yesterday's fight with Ron.

"Am I going to have to beat him up for you?" Draco frowned.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself, thank you very much." Hermione responded haughtily.

"Yeah, I remember quite well." Draco said, unconsciously bringing his hand to his nose.

"Well you deserved it." Hermione laughed.

"I deserved more than that, to be honest, with the way I treated you." Draco mumbled.

"All in the past." Hermione said.

"So what happened with you and Weaselbee?" Draco said, his tone jealous.

Hermione cringed at his tone, knowing he wouldn't like hearing what Ron had said. "Ron…well he didn't exactly take the news of us very well."

Draco snorted.

"He, uhm, said that he wasn'tgoingtogiveuponmejustyet." Hermione said, hoping that by saying it fast enough it wouldn't anger him as much.

"What?!" Draco roared. "That's bloody idiotic of him!"

"He said that he loves me." Hermione bit her lip.

Draco shot her a flash of fury. "So what now, are you going to ditch me and be with him?"

"You know I would never do that, I must've told you a million times already; I don't feel anything for Ron. Not anymore."

Draco said nothing, his jaw clenched in anger.

"You're acting real petty, you know that?" Hermione said.

"Yeah well that's me, petty Draco." he grumbled.

"I can't deal with this right now, Draco. Talk to me when you've grown up." she sighed exasperatedly and left the room.

Draco stared as the door slammed shut. Then he groaned in guilt. He really shouldn't have acted so jealously, but he couldn't help it. Ron had been her first crush; he'd always have a special place in her heart. And it didn't help matters at all when the redhead declared his love for his girlfriend. He had half a mind to go down to his room and beat him into a bloody pulp for interfering with their relationship, but he knew that would just reflect poorly on him.

How dare he think that he had a chance with Hermione? He'd lost his chance ages ago, probably around the time he hooked up with that Lavender bint. But if he were to be honest with himself, his jealousy sprouted from his insecurity. Insecurity that one day Hermione would realize that he wasn't good enough for her and leave him for Weasley instead. And Draco couldn't have that. No, he was going to prove himself worthy of her. Malfoys never lose.

He got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast, hesitating slightly before opening the door. Come on, Draco, don't be such a wimp. He berated himself.

"Ah, Draco! Wonderful to see you, dear." Mrs. Weasley exclaimed when he entered the dining room.

He was greeted by a multitude of red; all six Weasleys were seated at the table, gulping down food and talking animatedly. Of course, the chatter had stopped the moment he arrived, and all of the Weasley children looked at him, not quite sure how to greet him.

Hermione had saved him a seat, thank Merlin, but he was definitely not glad to see that Ron was seated next to her as well, glaring at him. Draco feigned a look of indifference and sat down to Hermione's left.

"You look a bit peaky, dear. Here, have some toast." Mrs. Weasley said, completely oblivious to the fact that the table had gone oddly quiet.

Draco took the plate from her and grabbed a bite. "Thank you, Molly, this is delicious." He said politely.

Hermione rolled his eyes at him, knowing that he had put his charm on to impress the Weasleys. Draco gave her a small smirk, followed by a look of contriteness. "Sorry." He mouthed. Hermione ignored him.

The tension in the room was unbelievable, the Weasleys still did not know whether they could trust him, and Hermione was still irked at him for being so jealous about Ron. Ron, on the other hand, was delighted by it all.

"So, how's the Dark Lord recently, Malfoy?"

Hermione slapped him on the arm.

"What?" the redhead said. Hermione simply glared at him.

"He's very well, thank you. Said he won't dare show his face knowing that you're alive and out to get him." Draco replied sarcastically.

"Sure he didn't just send his best agent to do us all in?" he countered.

"That's enough! Ronald, apologize to Draco!" Molly said.

"Why? He's a Death Eater, I don't owe him any apologies." Ron grumbled.

"Ron Weasley, if you have nothing better to say to him then you better keep your mouth shut. I did not raise you to act like this." Mr. Weasley said.

Everyone in the room turned to gawk at the Weasley patriarch. He had rarely admonished any of his children, opting to stay out of it and leave Mrs. Weasley to do all of the punishing. But when he did raise his voice, everyone knew they'd gone too far.

"That goes to all of you." He said, looking around the table and staring each of his children straight in the eye. "If you don't have anything good to say, then don't speak at all. I will not tolerate your attitudes any longer. Mr. Malfoy here is nothing like his father, and you are to treat him like one of your own."

"Hear, hear." The Weasley twins chorused.

Draco's ears reddened with embarrassment. He hated it when other people stood up for him, like he couldn't do so for himself. But Mr. Weasley's words seemed to have brought the Weasley children out of their stupor, and the tension seemed a hundred times less than it had been a while ago. Normal chatter ensued, and while nobody was speaking to Draco personally, no other insults had come his way either.

Hermione, on the other hand, had a hard time digesting what she just heard. Had Mr. Weasley just defended Draco Malfoy, the son of his longtime rival at the Ministry? The Weasleys and the Malfoys were never on good terms, with Lucius and Arthur hating each other's guts. While both were pureblooded, neither acted the same and both were disgusted at each other for their opinions on muggleborns. Hearing Mr. Weasley stand up for his rival's son had been completely unexpected.

"Hermione, dear? What do you think?" Mrs. Weasley's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry Molly, what did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to visit Harry today. What do you think?"

Hermione perked up instantly. "Of course I do! Can I visit him now?" she asked.

"Hold your horses, Hermione." Fred laughed. "Muriel's still with him-

"And you know she won't take anybody disturbing her well." his twin added.

Hermione glanced at Ginny, and she was surprised at how the youngest Weasley looked. She'd lost a lot of weight in a short span of time, and there were dark circles under her eyes, indicating that she hadn't been sleeping very well recently.

"How is he?" she asked gently, to no one in particular.

Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips and sighed. "You'll have to see for yourself, dear." she said, looking exhausted as well.

Breakfast was soon over, and Molly asked the girls to help her clear the table, not trusting any of her sons to do so.

"Hey." Hermione said, approaching Ginny. "You okay, Gin?"

Ginny looked at her tiredly and sighed. "I'm fine, 'Mione. Just tired."

"Have you been getting any sleep recently?"

"No, not really. Been sitting by Harry's bedside every single night, just waiting for him to wake up."

"I'm sorry, Gin. He'll get better soon enough though, I promise." she said, trying to placate her friend.

"But what if he doesn't, Hermione? What do I do then?" Ginny's eyes screamed in anguish. Hermione had never seen her friend look so defeated before; she had always been the carefree and energetic one between the two of them.
Seeing her now made her nervous about seeing Harry's condition.

"I don't know." Hermione said. "But you really should get some proper rest, Gin. You don't have to be at Harry's bedside every single hour of the day."

"What would you do, if it were Draco instead of Harry?"

Hermione gulped, suddenly picturing Draco lying on his deathbed. She shuddered. "I'd probably do the same thing you're doing." she admitted.

"So you understand, then?"

"Of course."

Hermione gave her friend a warm hug. "Hang in there, Gin. Things will get better."

Two tears fell from Ginny's cheek. "Bloody hell, I'm not usually this emotional." She laughed softly. "None of this, Ginevra, you gotta be strong for Harry." she scolded herself.

"That's the Ginny I know." Hermione smiled at her.

Hermione left the room after helping Molly with the dishes. Ginny had gone straight up to Harry's room, saying that it'll be best for her to come around noontime, when Muriel took a short nap. With hours to kill, she tried looking for Draco to try and make some sense of what had happened earlier at breakfast. Oddly enough, he was nowhere to be found.

"George, have you seen Draco?" she asked, running into one of the twins on the stairs.

"Uh, no. Sorry, Hermione." he replied.

Hermione nodded and sighed, turning to search for him at some other part of the house.

"Hermione, hang on!" George said. "I think I heard him asking dad where the library was."

The library? Why would Draco want to be in the library?

"Do you know where the library is?" she asked, earning a laugh from George.

"I'm surprised that wasn't the first thing you asked when you got here, to be honest."

Hermione stuck her tongue out. "Well if you recall, I was too busy keeping Ron from beating Draco into a bloody pulp."

"Ah yes, the unfortunate incident. Ickle Ronniekins took it a bit too far, I must admit." George said. "Anyways, the library's on the fourth floor, right next to the painting of Morgan la Fay."

"Thanks, George!"

"No problem."

Hermione made her way up to the fourth floor, unnerved at how silent this part of the house was compared to the first and second floor, where most of the activity had been centered. She entered the library and gave a short gasp at how huge the place was; there were more bookshelves than she could count at one glance, and there for several comfortable couches situated in every part of the room. It was every little bookworm's dream library.

She found Draco in a secluded corner, sitting comfortably on one of the plush couches and entirely concentrated on the book he was reading. She watched him as his brows furrowed and his jaws clench and unclench while he read, and was completely mesmerized by his appearance. His posture had lost its usual rigidness, and he was leaning on the couch comfortably. Seeing him, reading at a library, definitely turned her on.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to stare?" he said suddenly, startling Hermione.

She blushed, and approached him. "Not if you have something worth staring at." she smirked.

He laughed. "So you're talking to me again, I gather."

"What are you doing here?"

"Reading."

"What are you reading?"

"Nothing in particular."

"Why?"

"You're asking so many questions, Hermione." he laughed. "Are you jealous that I'm in your domain?"

Hermione's cheeks turned red.

"No."

Draco laughed once more. "Plenty of room for you to sit, you know. You don't have to keep standing there. Unless, of course, you like the view." he smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You incorrigible prat, you are so full of yourself." she laughed and sat down at the far end of the couch.

She stared at him as he tried to continue his reading, to no avail.

"Spit it out, Granger. I know you're itching to ask me something."

"Why did Mr. Weasley defend you earlier at breakfast? You two don't exactly have the best history, considering what your father did to him." she asked curiously.

"I apologized to him."

"When?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Last night, when I was getting a glass of water for myself. Mr. Weasley was there, and we got to talking. He asked how we knew where to find Bill and Fleur, and I told him I used Legillimency on him and apologized. He asked me whether he could trust me, and I think he was satisfied enough by my answer."

Hermione regarded him, amazed by his actions. He really had changed a lot from the boy she knew at Hogwarts.

"I'm sorry, you know. For being so jealous of Weaselbee." Draco said, his voice low.

"Are you ever going to stop calling him that?"

"No way in hell."

"Oh, I suppose he deserves it. He's been rather horrid to you. Besides, as I've told you a million times before; I want you, Draco, not Ron."

"I know. I'm sorry I was too jealous."

"I forgive you."

"You do?" he said in a startled voice.

"Of course, you idiot. It's rather cute, actually, how you're so jealous of him." Hermione said.

"Malfoys are never called cute." He pouted.

Hermione laughed. "Dashing, then, if that suits your ego better."

He smirked. "It does."

Hermione gave him a small peck on the lips, finding him so adorable at the moment. Not that she'd call him that to his face, though.

She was about to sit back when she felt Draco grab her wrists and pull her onto his lap. "I'm going to snog you senseless now, Granger." he said, and kissed her.

Hermione melted into his arms and deepened the kiss, and things heated up pretty quickly. She felt his hand come up and cup her cheek, and moved to cup the back of her head. His other hand grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him. Hermione relented, losing herself in the kiss and weaving her fingers through his soft white-blond hair.

He groaned, shifting his hips upwards, showing her how much he wanted her. Hermione could feel his hardness rubbing against her. Unable to take it any longer, she unbuttoned his shirt, itching to feel his smooth chest. He mimicked her actions and tried pulling her shirt above her head, but Hermione slapped his hand away.

"No, we're doing this my way. It's my domain, after all." she smirked.

She unbuttoned his pants and took it off, kissing the hard planes of his chest as she did so. She kissed his neck gently and sucked, leaving an angry love bite there for everyone to see.

His hands started roaming on her body, eager to feel her skin, but Hermione slapped it away once more.

Draco groaned, "Merlin, Hermione, you'll be the death of me. Stop teasing, please."

Hermione smirked in success. Never in her life had she imagined that Draco Malfoy would be reduced to begging. "As you wish." she said, chuckling and removed her clothing.

"You sly minx, you've actually made me beg for you." he said, realizing her actions.

Hermione smirked once more. "It worked, didn't it?"

Draco quickly pulled her down onto his lap once more and kissed her hard on the lips. "I'm going to make you pay for that, Granger." He whispered in her ear.

"Make me."

The two lay in bliss afterwards, thoroughly sated. Hermione felt Draco's arms wrap around her waist, as he gently sucked on her earlobe.

"I've wanted to do that to you for years, you know. Every time I saw you working in that goddamned library alone." he said.

"Hm. I don't think I ever saw you in the library." she commented.

"Well I wasn't going to show myself to you, was I? You probably would've hexed me into oblivion if I approached you."

Hermione laughed, recognizing the truth behind his words.

"You won't believe how many times I had to take a cold shower after watching you in the library." Draco whispered in her ear.

Hermione felt an odd sense of satisfaction knowing that she had such a great effect on him, even back when they were at Hogwarts.

"Malfoy? Hermione? Are you two in here?" Ginny's voice called out from outside of the library.

Interrupted by Ginny again! XD Hahaha poor Draco and Hermione.

Anyways, I really hope you guys like this chapter! Please please please leave a review? Comments or suggestions? :)

Btw, this might be my last update til' after Christmas, since I'm going on a little vacation. So I know this is early, but MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you! Thank you so much for sticking with this story. I love you all. :)