A/N: Here's another one for you all! Thank you so much for the positive feedback and general comments. I love hearing from you all! I hope you are all doing well :) Now on to the story! Enjoy :)

I woke up to the soft smell of roses, and felt heat radiating from behind me. I rolled over to gaze at the witch lying beside me, still blissfully sleeping. We had been up talking all night after we almost hooked up. She told me everything that had happened with Weasley, about her time with Potter looking for Horcruxes, and a lot about her childhood and parents. In the muggle world, her dad was a dentist and mother was a shop owner. She was relatively well-off financially, and had a loving relationship with her parents. That must be nice... And everything she told me about Potter and Weasel was almost unbelievable. She had ridden a dragon for Merlin's sake!

In return, I ended up confessing my relationship with my parents, and how harshly Lucius treated myself and my mother. We also talked about the Dark Lord living at my family's house, and the horrible things I had seen there.

It certainly had not been a light conversation, but after finally getting everything off of my chest, I felt at peace. All these repressed memories, all the pain, were finally out in the open. I remember last night, she had looked at me with a face of such sorrow and sympathy. I finally felt validated, and it was because of her.

It was as if we were two vastly different people over the course of just a few months. Being as alone this year, as we both were, and put in the intertwining situations we had been over the last year, made me realize we weren't as different as I had thought for so many years.

The brunette beside me began to stir, and her eyes fluttered open. They grew wide for a second, surely from the confusion of waking up beside me,

"D-Malfoy, I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep while we were talking," she spoke quickly and sounded quite alarmed.

I rest a hand on hers and smile when she doesn't recoil. "You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you," I reply gently, taking my hand back and sitting up. The blanket slide down my bare chest and Granger's eyes wandered across it. "Like what you see?" I teased. Her cheeks went a tad pink, but she still nodded. Good.

I slipped out of bed and shrugged on my robe. It was Sunday so there were no classes today. Granger got out of bed as well and scurried past me towards the door. Before she could go through it, I caught her hand and twirled her around to face me. I pushed her up against the wall and collided my lips with hers. She was shocked for a moment before responding earnestly.

She kissed timidly, and softly. Making me really wonder about how much experience she had. I ran my left hand up her side and gripped her hair, tugging her head back till it rested against the door. I began kissing her jaw and neck, nipping at it gently. I didn't want to scare her off, but restraining myself was already posing a problem. The witch let out a soft moan at my touch, and I decided to do something slightly malicious. I stopped my kissing and pulled away from her, a smirk gracing my face.

"Alright Granger, that's enough for now," and I reached behind her and turned the door knob, pulling it gently forward. She huffed and stepped forward to allow the door to open before marching briskly through it. God, I felt like such a tease, I loved it.

I closed the door again and decided to change and head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I pulled on my emerald green knit sweater, and some dark grey trousers. I trekked through the common room area and out the portrait hole. The corridor was empty as usual, and I made my way to breakfast undisturbed.

As usual, the smell of bacon and toast wafted towards me as I neared the vast room. There were a few dozen people in hall, spaced out across the four large wooden tables. I took a seat in my usual spot, and quickly loaded my plate. As usual, I scanned lazily across the room. Lovegood was sitting with Longbottom, happily chattering away about something. Potter's girlfriend was sitting with some other girl I didn't recognize, but by her hand motions it appeared she was describing a Quidditch match.

Granger waltzed in wearing a burgundy sweater and dark blue jeans. She sat across from the Weaslette, with her back to me. That was a shame, I didn't mind the view when she sat across from me. I sighed in defeat and finished off my breakfast. As I stood to leave, McGonagall paced towards me from the front door.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm glad I caught you. We need to meet right away, I've learnt some new information," she spoke quickly and all I could do was wordlessly nod and follow swiftly behind her. As I walked through the doors, I glanced back and made eye contact with Granger. Her look of concern was the last thing I saw as I turned the corner and continued my march behind the Headmistress.

We arrived at her classroom and she ushered me inside. Kingsley Shacklebolt stood near McGonagall's desk, patiently waiting for us. It had to be a serious update if the Minister of Magic came all the way to Hogwarts for this.

"Mr. Malfoy, I have news about your father. You may want to sit down," his deep voice boomed out in the silent classroom. Heeding his advice, I sat in the chair nearest to him, readying myself for the worst.

"Lucius reached out to the Ministry last night... threatening to harm his wife, your mother, unless we give you to him."

The silence in the room was almost deafening. I sat there in shock, trying to wrap my head around it all. What did he need me so desperately for that he would threaten to harm my mother? I felt my chest tightening, and tried hard to focus on my breathing. My head felt like it was spinning.

"We're doing all we can to try and locate them both. We assure you, it will not come to having to give you to him," McGonagall interjected.

But what if it was too late and he harmed her? Regardless of whatever Hell awaited me with Lucius, I knew I couldn't live with myself if he harmed my mother. I swallowed the knot in my throat and looked up at the Minister. I stood up and walked the few steps towards him, stopping as I made eye contact with him. My jaw tightened, and before I knew it my mouth opened and said the words I knew I would end up regretting.

"Give me to him."

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for another chapter either tomorrow or the day after :)