Hello, readers! This is written for The Houses Competition.

House: Hufflepuff

Category: Themed "Security – the loss of, the finding of the need for, how we act when security is shattered"

Prompt: "Under the bed"

Word count: 2876

Title: "Still wearing black"

Disclaimer: I did not write Harry Potter. Happy reading!

~Blue Rose

Hermione was opening yet another box of books with Draco and her son beside her. She looked around their new house, smiling a bit at the empty bookshelves just waiting to be filled.

She had recently moved with her family because there were multiple attempts to break into her previous house and harm Draco and her son, Scorpius. The house was too dangerous, so they moved.

Hermione had started to put up the wards, including anti-Apparition wards when her son distracted her and demanded she help put away the books.

Draco looked up from the box of books and swept his hair out of his face. His once cold, silver eyes had softened with a tender kindness. His hair now hung into his face, no longer slicked back. Hermione bit her lip as she looked at the man she loved so much, knowing how she would never stop loving him.

Hermione had tried to tame her bushy hair, but gave up when Draco told her he liked it. She had grown into a young, sweet mother. But she was still passionate and never gave up, and Draco loved her all the more for it.

Draco watched Scorpius run to the miniature chair in the corner, and stole a quick kiss from Hermione when Scorpius wasn't watching. Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled anyways. Draco winked at her, and she blushed a little.

She was picking up her wand to levitate the books onto the shelf when there was a loud pounding on the door.

"Draco Malfoy, we know you're there!" A voice came through the door. Draco exchanged a look with Hermione, paling. Had people really found them already? There was a loud bang on the other side of the door, and Draco quickly made his way to the window.

"Oh, my god," he breathed. "Hermione, there has to be at least fifty of them," he said. He backed away from the window and picked a confused Scorpius up from his chair.

"Expecto Patronum!" Hermione said, thinking of the day she found out she was pregnant.

It was like it happened yesterday. Hermione hadn't been feeling well at all for a few weeks, and Draco took her to St. Mungo's, fussing over her like an overprotective parent. She was taken to see Harry, who had become a Healer instead of an Auror. Harry ran the usual spells on Hermione, then broke out into a grin and called Draco in. He told the couple that Hermione was pregnant, and Draco had swept Hermione into his arms, crying and smiling so much she thought his face might split in two.

An otter burst from the tip of her wand, darted out of the house and went on its way to Harry and Ginny's house. Another bang went throughout the house, and the door shook on its hinges.

"We're coming in!" The person on the other side of the door announced. Draco's eyes widened and he picked up his wand, spinning to face the door.

"Go! Hermione, go! Take Scorpius and run!" Draco yelled to Hermione over her shoulder. She wanted to stay, to help Draco, but knew her two-year-old son came first. She shook her head, grabbed her wand and her son, and ran up the stairs of their home.

She could hear the shouts and explosions from the yard as she ran to the master bedroom. She turned and locked the door just in time to hear the front door come crashing in. She heard Draco shouting spells at the intruders, and she imagined him diving behind the chairs as the mob of drunk men fired spell after spell at him.

She wiped away the tears from her face, setting down her son as she knelt beside him. He was crying silently, clutching his teddy bear to his chest tightly. Hermione summoned her best smile, cupping his face as she placed a kiss on his forehead.

"Scorpius, baby, we're going to play hide and seek. Daddy is going to find us, like last time. We're going to hide under the bed, where the monsters can't find us. Only come out if it's Daddy, okay, honey?" Hermione asked, her voice low. The sounds of the duels were still echoing around the house, and the two-year-old flinched when he heard glass shatter. He nodded his understanding, running across the room to the bed.

He slid under it, and crawled to the trap door there. Hermione followed, albeit slower because it was a tight fit for her under the queen sized bed.

Hermione opened the latch in the floor, placing her hand on top of Scorpius' head so he wouldn't hit his head on the wooden bedframe as he shimmied into the small room there. It was only made for one, and Hermione couldn't fit. She cursed inwardly; she knew she should've cast the extension spell on the room as soon as they arrived.

It was a small room, shelves full of food and spare clothes. There was a lamp in the corner, and Scorpius eyed his surroundings.

"Mama?" Scorpius asked, his lip quivering as he looked up at Hermione. She reached a hand into the cupboard-like room. She smoothed his curly blonde hair back from his face. She was going to go help Draco, Scorpius would be okay.

"It's okay, baby. It's alright. Don't make a sound, or the monsters will hear you. I'll be right outside, and don't come out until I send in the glowing otter, or until Daddy sends in the glowing kitty, okay?" Hermione asked quietly. Scorpius nodded, and Hermione closed the latch over her son. She hoped he would remain silent, no matter what he heard.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, and crawled back out from under the bed. She stood, her wand poised expectantly as she faced the door. The house was eerily quiet, like the calm before the storm. She couldn't hear anyone. Not even Draco coming up the stairs to tell her everything was okay.

She took a deep breath, and that's when there was a thunder of footsteps coming up the stairs. She heard them open doors and come down the hallway closer to the room she hid in. There was a pounding at her door. She nearly jumped, but narrowed her eyes and gripped her wand tighter.

"Hermione Granger, we've gotten rid of that Death Eater scum. It's okay, now. He's gone, he can't hurt you anymore," A man slurred through the door. Hermione's blood ran cold, and her hand shook slightly. Where was Draco?

"Malfoy. My name is Hermione Malfoy," she said, her voice cutting through the air like steel. "And I demand that you leave my home," she said. She could hear multiple people chuckle on the other side of the door.

"Look, Miss Granger, you've obviously been put under some sort of spell. You were married to a Death Eater. You had a son with him. That's not something Hermione Granger would do. You're not in your right mind," another man said, exasperated. Hermione felt the anger boil through her. So these were the people that kept sending them love potion antidotes and dark spell removers.

"My name is Hermione Malfoy, and you are in my home. Uninvited," she said, her voice strong and powerful. She heard the men yell, and she started warding the doors.

"She's mental!"

"- not right in the head…"

"Needs to be saved, of course."

"-Poor thing…"

"She's just as bad as them!"

"There's no hope for her!"

"Gotta get rid of her!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's do it!"

"Guys, should we really take care of her? She's got a kid in there." a new man's voice cut through the others, the only one not slurred or unreasonable. Hermione hoped they would listen to him as she continued with the wards.

"The kid's just as bad as his parents. No doubt they raised him to be a muggle-hating, dark wizard," a man spat.

"He's just a kid!" a woman cried.

"Shut it, Ilene! We brought you because you asked to be here," the same man said. No one spoke, and Hermione prayed for a few more minutes to finish the wards.

"Alright, it's settled; we're going in," the man said. It seemed like he was the leader.

"That's Hermione Granger! She's best friends with Harry Potter! Have you ever thought about what happens if we do this?" the woman yelled. There was a scuffle on the other side of the door and a muffled yelp. Hermione winced slightly. It sounded like somebody was subduing the woman.

Hermione shook her head, scowling as she felt the spells slamming against the wards.

"Damn, she warded the door!" someone said.

"She'll get tired. These are temporary," someone else yelled. Hermione shook her head and sat on her bed. She took a deep breath as she felt a strong surge of power hit the protection spells.

Draco, she prayed silently. Harry, Ron, please get here soon.

She could've been in that room for only thirty minutes, but she felt so tired. She felt a crack in the protection when a powerful spell hit the wards, shattering them. Hermione shot up in her bed, and cast a quick glamour spell on the trap door under the bed.

The men burst through the door, and Hermione flung spells as soon as they entered her line of sight. She was ready to collapse when the last man slumped on the ground, blood oozing from his head. She couldn't recall what spells she had been using.

She looked at her room. There was blood splattered on the walls, and Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat as she counted the bodies. Twenty-four, and a quick spell she learned from Ron confirmed they were all alive, but unconscious.

Hermione glanced at the bed, wondering if her son had heard the yells and cries of the men that fell around her. He probably did, she didn't cast a Silencio. She sighed and made her way past the bodies, and accio'd the wands of the strangers to her. She was met with a surprise when fifty-seven wands flew to her feet.

She wiped a tear from her cheek, and walked downstairs after tying the invaders up and locking them in the guest room. She looked around the living room, her heart shattering.

There were so many bodies on the floor, and there was blood everywhere. The air was buzzing with magic, and there were singe marks on the walls and the chairs. She performed the same spell she did earlier, her stomach sinking when she learned that every man was dead, or in severe condition. That meant Draco was either dying or already there.

She searched the room for Draco, and a gasp escaped her when she found him. He was sprawled on the floor behind a bookshelf in a puddle of his own blood.

A sob escaped her and she threw herself on top of him, searching his neck for a pulse.

"Draco!" she wailed, pulling his torso into her lap as she rocked back and forth, leaning over his body as if to protect him from more harm. "Draco, my love, please. Please," she mumbled, tears cascading down her face and onto Draco's pale, unmoving one.

"Hermione!" Harry called, barging in through the door. Hermione looked up at him through her tears, still holding her husband's corpse. Harry gulped at the sight that met him.

"Harry," Hermione whispered. Harry's eyes shot to her, and he rushed over to her. He closed his eyes and knelt beside her.

"Is he-" Harry asked, and Hermione nodded, sobbing over Draco's body.

"Scorpius- he's upstairs, in my room, under the bed," Hermione said, trying to regain her composure. She raised her wand and cast her Patronus. The otter bounded happily up the stairs as Harry followed closely.

Hermione looked down at the blonde, stroking his cheek.

"Draco, my love, I don't think I've told you I loved you recently," Hermione said quietly, brushing his hair from his face. She leaned down and captured his lips in a kiss, hoping that he might kiss her back. He remained still.

He made her feel so safe before. You'll never have to be afraid when I'm around, Draco had once told her. She believed him.

"So this is what it feels like," she whispered, blinking against the tears in her eyes, "to be afraid." She gazed down at his perfect face. White-blonde hair that turned silver in the moonlight, high cheekbones and velvety lips. Eyes she hoped he would open.

Draco Malfoy was declared dead in his home, May 2, 2002, exactly four years after the defeat of Voldemort. He had just moved into a new house in hopes of starting fresh when a group of fifty- seven drunken men and women invaded the house. Hermione Malfoy (nee Granger) fled to the master bedroom where she hid her son under the bed as Draco defended his home. The family received no warning and was caught off guard. Draco Malfoy killed thirty-three of the men before he was disarmed and hit with the leg-locker jinx, followed by multiple diffindos. He died of blood loss as his wife fought off the remaining twenty-four invaders, defending her two-year-old son, Scorpius.

Healer Harry Potter had been called by Hermione Malfoy's Patronus before the men were able to enter the Malfoy residence, and arrived to find Mrs. Malfoy cradling her husband's body in her arms. Healer Harry went upstairs and brought the frightened Scorpius Malfoy from his hiding place. The pair waited in the bedroom until the Aurors were called and arrived.

Draco Malfoy died to protect his wife, his son, and, unknown to both him and his wife, his second unborn son. He fought in self- defense, and we would not have the cure to the obliviate charm today if it weren't for his sacrifice, as his eldest son went on to make the Anti-Obliviate charm.

"I wouldn't be here today if Draco hadn't have stopped so many of them that day. I don't think I could've protected Scorpius and little Lucius if it weren't for what Draco did" -Hermione Malfoy, three years after the murder of her husband.

It is still unknown why the attack happened, though the Ministry suspects that the mob was drunk and angry because Draco Malfoy was given a light sentence. Draco Malfoy did not die an ex-Death Eater, nor did he die a Dark Wizard. He was a family-man, and a hero to the Wizarding community.

Hermione sniffled and cut the article out of the Daily Prophet. She gazed proudly at the picture of her son receiving an award for inventing the Anti-Obliviate charm. She put the papers in a frame, hanging it all the wall next to the first picture she ever took with Draco.

Draco had his arm draped over Hermione's shoulders, his hair slicked back. Narcissa Malfoy stood by his side, clutching his arm for support, smiling proudly at her son. On Hermione's other side stood Harry, grinning and flicking a strand of Hermione's rogue hair out of his face. All three of them stood in their graduation robes, diplomas in hand. On Hermione's left ring finger was the engagement ring Draco had given her hours before the picture was taken.

If Hermione squinted, she could see Ron talking to Pansy Parkinson, the pair glaring at Draco and Hermione's back. Hermione smiled softly as she thought of the two of them. Pansy would be married to Ron less than a year after the photo was taken, and they'd have twins eight months after their marriage.

Narcissa Malfoy was still alive and kicking, and was sending funds to S.P.E.W. and many muggle charities. Despite her old age, she managed to look thirty again, and had her own beauty care line.

Harry married Ginny, and the two of them were often seen at Quidditch matches for Ginny's old team, The Holyhead Harpies. Harry retired from his Healer job, and taught DADA at Hogwarts. Ginny managed to land a spot as the Charms teacher after Professor Flitwick retired.

Scorpius married Lily Luna Potter and invented the spell that reversed the Obliviate charm. He was expecting his first child, a boy, named Harry Draco Malfoy. He would never forget the day his father died, and he hid under the bed as he heard the thumps of bodies hitting the floor. He still had nightmares about that day, hearing their screams as his mother tore through them. When he first arrived at Hogwarts, he could already see the Thestrals.

Lucius Jr. was helping to run Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, much to Hermione's disapproval and Ron's glee. He was developing a new line of toffees that were supposed to change your appearance, with the help his distant cousin and close friend Teddy Lupin.

Hermione Malfoy had become Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Her wand never left her side, and she never felt safe again after Draco left her. She'd long since lost her sense of security, and that weighed on her, still. She never took off her ring, and she still wore black.

She was a married woman, after all.