Hermione's skin was crawling. She looked around her and all she saw was darkness. There was a bang in the distance, she reached for her wand but it wasn't there. The bang was getting closer and closer until she could make out a familiar shrill voice. It was Bellatrix, saying nothing and everything at the same time. Suddenly Hermione was on the floor of the Manor again, pain coursing through her body like a whip, over and over again. She screamed and cried, but instead of hearing Ron's yells she saw Draco. His eyes filled with tears, begging his aunt to stop. Hermione felt overwhelming pain flood her body as Bellatrix cut through her skin. Her scream filled the entire space.

Draco was panicking. His father was on rampage, his wand whipping in the air. He had just found out that his wife had lied to Voldermort. She knew Harry was alive, but bargained a lie for him to make sure Draco was safe. Lucius cast a spell and Draco felt his whole body crumble. A searing pain ripped through him, as if it was trying to tear his body in half. Suddenly the pain stopped, Draco looked up to see why and the reason was worse than any pain he was feeling. His mother had stepped in front of him, herbody writhing with pain. He shot up and charged at his father who, with one swift motion pinned Draco against the wall. Draco tried with all his might to break free, but he couldn't . He was forced to watch his father torture his mother for what felt like hours . He suddenly heard a blood curdling scream coming from afar.

Draco's eyes shot open, panting heavily. Hermione was screaming, he got to his feet quickly and ran to her. She was asleep, thrashing around yelling. He approached her and put his hand on her arm, her eyes shot open. She was panting heavily, wiping sweat off her forehead.

"Nightmare?" Draco asked, and Hermione met his eyes. His face was as pale as hers, and his eyes just as haunted.

"Yea, you?" She answered knowingly.

"Yea…" He answered, blanching a little bit at the idea of his face giving all of that away. Hermione had tears rolling down her face, Draco instinctually wiped them away with his hand. She froze at his touch, but didn't pull away. There was a long minute of his hand lightly touching her cheek before he spoke again. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, his figure hovering over hers. She patted the spot next to her and his hand fell down as he took the spot.

"Mine's always the same. The manor, back when…"

"Bellatrix" Draco seethed.

"Yes. Can I ask you a question?" She asked and he nodded. "Were you telling her to stop?" Draco paled. He didn't think she could see him, she was kind of involved in other things at that time. He was indeed telling his psychotic aunt to stop, and he remembers being extremely upset. Draco nodded again, unable to find the words. "I saw that in the nightmare just now, but I didn't see it then. Isn't that strange?" She asked, her eyes filled with sadness.

"Maybe you did see it, but you didn't pay attention to it. You were a little distracted." He answered awkwardly. Hermione nodded, rubbing her left arm slightly. "Can I see?" He asked, knowing it was a bit invasive.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Hermione said, a twinkle coming back into her eyes. Her eyes scanned down to his left arm. He shifted uncomfortably but then started to roll up his sleeve, she did the same.

His left forearm was much more muscular than it used to be, and where the dark mark used to be was just a scar. Hermione ran a light finger over the scar and felt Draco relax under her touch. A long moment passed and then she continued to roll up her own sleeve. On her left forearm was what looked like a botched tattoo that said mudblood. It was faded but still ever so prominent. Draco mimicked Hermione's gesture and ran a light finger over her forearm. She shuddered under his touch, not out of disgust, but out of emotion. She never much thought about her arm, nor has anyone touched it. Draco looked at her for the first time, and she could see the same emotion he had in the nightmare in his eyes for a brief second. He blinked and his eyes were back to steely gray once more.

"You didn't deserve this. You should have it removed." Draco said, hand still on her forearm.

"I've thought about it…"Hermione started, placing her own hand back on his scar. She looked up at him innocently. "...but the people who gave us these scars don't deserve one more second of our energy." Hermione stated firmly. They sat there, hand on each other's arms, not even an inch apart for a few silent seconds and then Hermione did something that surprised them both. She kissed him.

Draco's surprise was evident, as he froze completely. The kiss was short and sweet, but they both felt the sparks. Hermione pulled back, looking rather embarrassed but Draco reached his hand out to the back of her neck and pulled her back towards him without hesitation. The second kiss was much different, passionate and long. Draco's second hand flew to her waist, pulling her even closer and Hermione's hands wrapped around his neck. Hermione's warm lips fought against his cold ones as if trying to win some sort of argument. He removed his hand from her neck to brush back loose strands of her hair, and she tightened her hold around his neck. Draco broke the kiss, pulling back ever so slightly, staring into her eyes.

"Hermione…" He started but she cut him off by leaning into his embrace. He didn't need her to verbalize it, he knew she didn't regret that.

Draco woke up hours later with a weight on his chest. His eyes fluttered open and he saw Hermione's head was resting on his chest. He smiled softly and stroked her hair as she slept. That was the first time in years he was not only able to fall back asleep, but sleep through without a nightmare. He laid there with her for a few minutes before carefully sliding out and making his way to the kitchen. He started the coffee and then left with POP only to POP back in minutes later with a grocery bag.

Hermione woke and automatically checked for signs of what happened last night. She turned over to find the bed empty, and the sheets tangled and moved as if Draco had been laying there. She replayed the kiss in her mind a few times, wondering how it was even real. She was hit with the sudden realization that he might not feel the same way as her, maybe that is why he had left the bed. She racked her brain for ideas of how to handle the situation when she suddenly smelted breakfast. He was making breakfast, how sweet of him. She couldn't help but smile, this was the first time in a long time she felt genuinely happy.

After another minute or two, Hermione got up and made her way to the kitchen. The distinct smell of coffee hit her as she entered, followed by the sight of Draco placing eggs, bacon, sausages and toast on two plates. She stayed silent on purpose, wanting to watch him for as long as possible. He seemed…happy. She lost her ability to observe when Draco turned towards her and their eyes met.

"Good Morning." Hermione yawned.

"Morning." Draco said as brightly as he ever did. There was an awkward moment where the two of them weren't quite sure how to greet each other, but then Draco strode towards her with her coffee in his hand, kissed her on the cheek and then walked back to the stove where some of the bacon was still cooking.

There was an unspoken agreement among them that this is just what it was now. They didn't need to talk about it, which was comforting. Draco finished the cooking and joined Hermione who had sat herself in her seat from the night before at the island.

"What are your plans today?" Hermione asked, thinking it was a normal enough question to start with. However, Draco's eyes went dark and his hands started to fidget again.

"I actually visit my mother on Sundays." Draco answered, swallowing hard.

"Oh that's nice. That's why Andromeda mentioned that she was free on Saturday." It was clear that Hermione was voicing her thoughts, and not expecting an answer from Draco.

"Yes. Aunt Meda is the only person who knows, besides Neville…and now you." Draco said, peering up at her to see her reaction.

"Neville saw you there, because of his parents." She said, not so much asking, but assuming.

"Clever." He said almost fondly. "He's a good guy, Neville. He saw me there that day and offered to accompany me, telling me he goes on Sunday's."

"So you go together?"

"Sort of." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "We travel there and back together, but I've never been to his parents room or vice versa, that's a bit…private."

"That makes sense. So your mom is in the same ward as Neville's parents?" Hermione asked and they both knew she had connected the dots already. Draco sighed heavily and put his mug down.

"I'm sure you've already figured it out." He paused, but Hermione stayed silent. "My father used the Cruciatus curse on my mother, and similarly to Neville's parents…it destroyed her." Draco's voice was almost hushed. Hermione took his hand and squeezed it. She didn't need to hear more, she knew for his mother to be in the same state as Neviile's parents, the curse had to be used over and over again.

"And you're trying to cure her?" Hermione asked, which took Draco by surprise. "The book you bought, the other book you are reading." She said as an explanation.

"Brightest witch of our age." Draco said admirably.

"I heard you were second in line." She said brightly, causing him to smirk.

"Heard that from my father did you?" He said bitterly but laughed. Hermione got up with her plate and walked passed Draco, who slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her towards him. She yelped lightly in surprise and he whispered in her ear "Let me" and grabbed the plate and mug from her hands swiftly. She huffed but allowed him to clean up. She left the room to get dressed, magicked his clothes washed and dried and put them on the corner of the bed.

"We should head back." Hermione said, coming out from the bedroom to see Draco had set the kitchen and living room back to its perfection it was before they slept here. "Do we need any more protections on the flat?" Draco shook his head in response.

"One problem. We need to get back the old fashioned way. I didn't send a letter to Minerva about my whereabouts, did you?" He asked, she shook her head no. "How do you feel about flying?" He asked and Hermione swallowed hard, which was all the answer he needed. "Did I happen to find the one thing that stumps the smartest witch of her age?" He teased, and she shoved him playfully.

"It does not stump me!" She said defiantly. "I'm just not a big fan of it." She finished sheepishly, and Draco took a step towards her and put his hand on her shoulders.

"What's the worst case scenario?"

"We die." She shot, and he laughed.

"Die how?"

"By falling."

"Off the broom?"

"Yes!"

"I know I'm not Potter, but do you really think I'd just fall off my broom?" Draco asked, amusement in his voice.

"No, I'll fall." She answered very seriously.

"I won't let you fall." His hand reached up to cup her face, and she leaned into his touch. There was a moment where he thought about kissing her, but he decided against it and took a small step backwards instead. He reached out his hand and his broom came whizzing from the front door. Hermione summoned her things, shrunk them and put them in her pocket, Draco did the same. "Ready?" He asked, leading her out the door. They triple checked the protective spells and that the door was locked and then Draco mounted his broom and waited for Hermione, who looked pretty uneasy. "Trust me?" He asked, and she nodded. "You can sit in front of me, maybe you'll feel more secure." He offered and she shakingly mounted the broom in front of him. "3…2…1…" He pushed off, and snaked his arms around her waist and on the handle of the broom in front of her.

Hermione put one hand on each of his forearms and squeezed until they were higher and steadier. She could tell he was flying much slower than he usually would have, and she appreciated that. They were so high that they were above the clouds, which is where they needed to be so that locals couldn't see them. Hermione knew this, but it didn't help her fear of falling. Draco took one hand off the broom and closed it around her waist, kissing the back of her head to make her more comfortable. They couldn't talk much because of the wind, but Draco warned her when he was descending and told her to close her eyes. After what felt like a long time, she felt her feet hit the ground and her eyes shot open. They were right where the train dropped the students off every year, it was a long walk but they didn't mind. The thestrals were always there, so they hopped in a carriage.

"So on the scale from fun to sudden death, how was the ride?" Draco asked, turning his upper body towards her. She grabbed his face and kissed him and he gladly returned the kiss. "What was that for?" He asked, a smirk playing on his face.

"You didn't let me fall." She answered with a smile and he pulled her close and kissed her once more.