Ok, this is a bit of a filler chapter, but there will be more action soon i promise! Thanks to everyone who keeps reading, would love to know what you think of the story so far.

The next few days seemed to hold a dreamlike quality to Draco. He was practically living with Granger in her muggle home, falling into an easy routine of sleep, sex, revision and food. Hermione's parents were due back on the Thursday evening, and Draco was dreading going back to his real life. He had gotten so familiar with her presence that it seemed to be natural to maintain physical contact with her; pressing her arm when they were sitting working, or tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. He discovered a triangle of freckles behind her ear that made her tremble when he kissed them, and she had a way of running her nails through his hair that made him want to take her straight to bed. The sex was incredible; she was getting over her shyness, and he was enjoying being inventive with positions that meant she didn't feel like he was on top of her. He even enjoyed sleeping with her, nestled together, and when he woke from one of his usual dreams the warm weight of her hand on his chest and the sound of her even breaths helped him rein in the feeling of panic and steady his thundering heart.

They were curled up together on the sofa on the Wednesday night when the inevitable discussion was had. Hermione was lying against him, his arm curled around her waist as they watched a movie about some historical battle, but it seemed to Draco to be just an excuse to watch a load of seriously toned shirtless men running around with swords.

"So, my mum and dad are back tomorrow." She began.

"Yes." Said Draco, knowing that this golden time with her was coming to an end.

"They wouldn't be comfortable with you staying here." She said apologetically.

"That's ok." He said, wondering if they had been comfortable with Weasley staying before he could stop himself. "Does that mean I shan't see you again until we are back at school?"

"Well, my parents will bring the car back with them, so I thought I would ask if I could borrow it on Saturday, and we could go for a drive. Get out of the city for a while. I thought maybe we could go to Windsor Castle for the day, I haven't been there since I was a child."

"That would be great." Said Draco. Honestly, he didn't really care about going to visit a castle when he spent most of the year living in one, but she could have asked him if he wanted to go searching for dung beetles with her and he still would have said yes if it meant spending more time with her.

"Shall I pick you up around 9 on Saturday morning?" she asked, looking enthused already about taking the trip.

"No!" said Draco, a little too quickly; the last thing he needed was his mother knowing that Granger was his girlfriend. He would never hear the bloody end of it! "I wouldn't know how to give you proper directions." He explained lamely. "Why don't I come here for 9?"

"O.k." she said, obviously not quite buying his excuse. "My parents will be here though."

"Don't you want them to know about me?" he asked, a little stung, even though that was exactly what he was doing with her.

"No, it's not that. It's just I haven't told them that me and Ron split up, and they will no doubt feel it is too soon for me to be dating anyone else."

Draco was a little unsure at how to respond; they were obviously in no hurry to get Granger married off and gone like most pureblood families would be. Not that it mattered anyway, Draco told himself.

"Anyway," she continued, "That doesn't matter. Come here on Saturday morning and they will just have to cope."

Draco couldn't stop himself from asking, "Did they approve of Weasley?"

She frowned. "I think so, they were always alright about me staying with his family and after all that happened last year I think they were pleased that I had someone looking after me."

Draco snorted. "More like you looking after him!"

Hermione smiled, her eyes drifting slightly and he knew that she was thinking of something that had happened whilst she had been on the run with Potter and Weasley. "I guess we looked after each other, it gets to a point when you have to make that choice doesn't it? There is a line that you have to decide whether to cross for the people you care about isn't there?"

Draco thought for a minute; this wasn't quite where he imagined this conversation going. He didn't want her to know how his line started with 'I won't do anything unforgivable', to' I won't kill', to 'I won't kill unless I have to', until it finally becomes 'I won't enjoy killing'. Not that he had killed outright, not by saying the words and watching the light leave their eyes, but he had certainly done things that he knew would lead to other people's deaths. At times he had even wished he could bring himself to kill, when he saw what some of the others had done to some of the muggle girls in particular, his being able to kill would have been merciful.

"Yes." He said. "You never know how far you will go until you have to."

She turned to look at him, and for a moment he thought she would ask him the dreaded question; had he killed? He almost willed her to so he could confess his sins and perhaps find absolution. Instead, her lips quirked up, and she murmured "Impervia concepta".

This had become a euphemism for whenever one of them wanted sex. It started off with him teaching her the incantation and wand movement, but then quickly became something one would say to the other and they would drop whatever they were doing and head to the bedroom.

Draco got to his feet, before pulling her up to kiss her. They got into the bedroom and discarded their clothing, falling into the bed carelessly. There seemed to be a desperate quality to their coupling tonight; like they were both trying to escape from the darkness of the past by drowning in one another. Draco took her again and again, watching her burnished brown eyes hooded with lust, until physical exhaustion forced them to succumb to sleep.

He woke abruptly from a nightmare of his time as a deatheater, images of a muggle baiting raid still replaying in his mind. It felt so real that he could almost still hear the screams and he was drenched in sweat and trembling. He nearly leapt out of his skin when a hand stroked down his back; he must have woken Granger.

"It's alright Draco," she whispered. "It's just a dream." She let her hand drift to his hair and began to stroke the platinum strands as she knew he liked.

Glad she could not see the tears that had leaked from the corners of his eyes in the darkness, he apologised for waking her.

"It's ok," she said, "was it about him?"

Draco didn't want to discuss this one with her; it was too horrific. "No, he wasn't there. Sometimes it was better when he was."

It was true; sometimes it was better when the Dark Lord had been with them on raids. He was cruel and sadistic, but it usually served some purpose. His followers however had no such limits. The dream had been about one particular time he had been sent out with his father, his uncle Rabastan, Dolahov and Yaxley. They had been charged to cause fear and discord in the village of Gaddley, near Godric's Hollow, in order to keep the wizards who lived nearby in line. The house they targeted was chosen at random, and contained a muggle family of two parents and three children. The father tried to fight to protect his family, but didn't stand a chance. The two youngest children were killed straight away, and the mother soon after. It was the eldest child who was the unlucky one; an adolescent girl, younger than Draco. His uncle, Dolahov and Yaxley decided to play with her, raping her over and over until she had ceased screaming and just lay there lifelessly. They had offered Draco and His father a turn, but Lucius had just sneered and said he didn't want to defile himself. He didn't allow Draco to answer, instead said that Draco was soon to be betrothed and he didn't want the stench of muggle clinging to him. Draco was unsure if his father was saving him from having to answer, or saving himself from the embarrassment of having his heir do something foolish like vomit or cry instead of speaking. When they finally got bored, they left her lying on the floor before casually casting incendio on the way out leaving her to burn to death. That was one of many times that he wished he could just cast Avada and be done with it.

Turned out this was typical behaviour of his uncle and Dolahov, and from then on Draco avoided going out with them whenever he could. He had been pleased that his father hadn't partaken, thinking that maybe he wasn't completely morally corrupt, until he had some time later seen his father getting a blowjob from an imperiused half-blood daughter of Pius Thickness, indicating that it truly was disgust for muggles that held him back, not a sense of decency.

"I guess what we were saying earlier has just stirred up some things I'd rather forget. It's nothing really."

"Ok." She said, but didn't stop the comforting caress in his hair. Draco reached for her other hand and twined his fingers through hers; he needed to feel that he wasn't alone tonight. But a small treacherous part of him wondered if she knew the extent of the depravity that he had been party to would she still be touching him like this? Comforting the man who stood and did nothing to help others due to his own cowardice and need for self-preservation.

He lay awake long after Hermione's breaths had evened out again and she had drifted back into slumber. He was awake to see the first fingers of sunlight appear underneath the curtains and the arrival of Grangers enormous ginger fur ball of a cat that seemed to turn up every morning and keep vigil on the bed until they got up. He had grown accustomed to the weirdness of the cat; it seemed far too intelligent and seemed to actively watch him and his interactions with Hermione. Although oddly enough, it always made itself scarce when they had sex.

It skulked in around the door, and then came over to the bed jumping up on Hermione's side. Seeing that he was awake, it picked its way over to him, staring into his face with big yellow eyes.

"What, cat?" he whispered, then felt like a fool for speaking to it. It just continued to look at him before climbing onto his chest and settling down. Draco was tempted to shove it off, but the warm weight was actually rather comforting. He must have dropped off to sleep at some point, as he was woken by Hermione slipping out of bed to go to the bathroom.

They fell into their normal morning routine, shower then breakfast together, but it was distinctly quiet this morning.

"I've enjoyed having you here," said Hermione shyly, handing him a cup of the coffee she had just brewed.

"So have I" he replied; an understatement really seeing as he was dreading leaving here and going back to his dingy, lonely home. He took a sip of the coffee; he had acquired quite a taste for it over the last few days, although still preferred it with milk and sugar. Unlike Hermione who drank it black first thing in the morning.

She could sense his melancholy so chatted about mundane things, like being excited to see her parents, and that she needed to go and do some food shopping.

All too quickly it was mid-morning and Draco knew it was time for him to go.

"I'll see you on Saturday!" called Granger, after they had kissed for the umpteenth time on her doorstep and he finally started to walk down the path. The walk home seemed to take forever to Draco, and the past few days (and nights) with Hermione already seemed slightly unreal. Arriving home, he opened the wards and entered the tiny terrace.

"Hello!" he called, almost hoping his mother wasn't home.

"Draco!" she cried. "I'm glad you're back, I thought you might have forgotten!"

He walked towards the sitting room, racking his brain to figure out what she was talking about. He realised as soon as he entered the room; upon the hearth rug sat his chubby little cousin Teddy with a stuffed animal clenched tightly in one fist, and a handful of his mother's hair in the other. The child had transformed his own hair into a replica of his mother's long blond style, which apparently didn't taste as good as the real thing!

Draco just stared for a moment at the incongruous picture; he had never seen his mother sitting on the floor, let alone being manhandled by a toddler. He wondered if she had been like that with him and he just had no memory of it.

"Draco could you just…" Narcissa said, gesturing to the tiny fist tangled in her tresses.

"Of course." Said Draco, recovering himself and going over to assist. Once she was free, she conjured some bubbles to distract Teddy, then turned to Draco.

"I know you don't want me to ask, but I gather things are going well?" she began.

Draco barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Yes, mother. Very well."

"Good. Are you going back again tonight?"

"No. Her parents come home today, and they wouldn't approve of me staying."

"Oh!" said Narcissa, who had obviously been under the impression that he had already met her parents. "Well, that's good. They obviously want to protect her reputation, they must be sensible people."

With a smirk, Draco wondered if she would still say that if she knew they were muggles. "We are going out for the day on Saturday, so I will meet them then."

"Good! That will be nice!" He could tell that Narcissa was thinking that things were moving along nicely towards an engagement. "You could always invite her here for dinner if you like…"

"I don't know mother." He said, trying to think of a way to say no without arousing his mother's suspicion that he had no intention of letting them interact, ever. "I think I will wait a little longer, after all, she doesn't know where we live now…" he tailed off looking a little shame-faced.

Narcissa took the bait; "No, of course. You're right." Her face had fallen, and Draco felt like a total shit for making his mother ashamed of the best home she could afford them now.

They were interrupted by a shriek from Teddy; the bubbles had all burst. Draco quickly conjured some more, glad for the interruption so he could steer the subject away from himself. Throughout the day Draco watched his mother growing more confident with teddy, and wondered for the first time if it had actually been her choice to farm out his care to the house elves, or if she was bowing to convention at the insistence of her family and his father.

It was an odd kind of day having Teddy with them, he was no trouble really, but every aspect of the day seemed to revolve around him; He had a bottle at this time, then his lunch, then a nappy change, then another bottle. It was monotonous and exhausting all at once! If this was what having a baby was like then he was definitely not ready for it any time soon.

Andromeda came to pick Teddy up just after four, staying for a cup of tea before heading off. It seemed that time and separation hadn't diminished the way the sisters spoke to each other, falling quickly into the same patterns and using the same expressions.

Draco sat with his mother over dinner listening to her gush about teddy and how sweet he was and he wondered, rather depressingly, if she had ever been happy with his father. He thought of the past week he had spent with Granger, and wondered if every normal relationship started off with an easy, sex-driven affection that then slowly waned into monotony and indifference.

"Did you want to marry father?" he asked her suddenly, almost without meaning too. She looked shocked for a moment before forming a reply.

"Yes. I wanted to get married. Bellatrix was running her own home, and Andi had just eloped. I wanted to have a house and family of my own."

"But did you want to marry father specifically?" he pressed; wondering if it had been a love match, and if so how did they become so miserable?

"I didn't really know your father that well when we became engaged. I knew he was part of Bella's crowd, and he came from a good family. He was handsome, and I was very flattered when he courted me before the wedding. I couldn't really have expected anything more!"

That was still not a yes. "Did you ever think of marrying anyone else? Have a romance with anyone else?"

"Why are you asking this Draco?" she looked perplexed.

"I just want to know." He said, "I have been thinking about what you have been saying about marriage, and I think this may help me make sense of it." He wasn't really sure of the reasons why he was asking this.

"Well, I guess if there was no such thing as blood status, or fortune I possibly would have chosen another, but I doubt he would have wanted me anyway. I think he was in love with someone else, although I never found out whom. Anyway, he was half-blood and penniless, so it would never have even been an option."

"Who was it?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"That doesn't matter!" she said, "I don't see how knowing all this could possibly help you."

Draco sighed, "I want to know if you think you would have been happier with a love match rather than an arrangement." That was the bottom line. Should he pursue someone of his own choice who may not be suitable, or should he allow his mother to intervene? And if he was being brutally honest with himself, the only woman he could envision choosing at that moment was Granger. No matter how ridiculously impossible marrying her would be.

"That is a question that can't be answered. I have no idea what would have happened had I not married your father, I may have been worse off. All I know is that marriage gave me you, and that's what matters."

That didn't help at all.

Are you trying to make your mind up about your girlfriend?" she asked. "Are you unsure if you would want to marry her?"

"I suppose." He said. "I have been thinking about a lot of things. I think I will get an early night." He stood up from the table and went up to his room. He felt annoyed and unsettled, but couldn't fathom why. He sat on his bed and took out the last of his muggle money; he needed to replicate some more. Ok, technically it's wrong, he reasoned, but what do muggles expect? This paper stuff isn't like real money anyway; if they made it of a naturally occurring metal like wizard money then he wouldn't be able to multiply it. When he was satisfied he had enough for the next week or so, he put down his wand and lay back on his bed, still feeling something was off.

The next day he felt the same, restless and pensive. What he actually wanted he couldn't decide, and for some reason he was nervous about meeting Hermione's parents. What had she told them about him? Not only now but in the past as well. Did they know he had been a deatheater? Or that up until last year he had acted as if they and their daughter were scum?

He was in bed on the Friday night, struggling to sleep. He found himself cursing the new apparition law, as if it didn't exist he could have apparated into Grangers bedroom and lost himself in her for a while. He wondered if she was feeling restless like he was; if his presence helped her sleep like she did him.

He must have slept as he woke with the pale spring sunshine creeping around his curtains. It was just gone 7, so he would have to get ready quickly. A quick shower and shave, and he was downstairs eating breakfast before his mother had appeared from her bed.

"Good morning Darling. You are up early!" said his mother, still wrapped in her green velvet dressing gown.

"I've got to go soon." He replied, getting up from the table.

"Don't worry," she said soothingly, "they will think you are a charming young man."

"What?" said Draco, wondering where that had come from.

"Her parents. That is why you have been moping around all yesterday isn't it? You're worried about meeting her parents."

Again Draco wondered at his mother being so observant. "I guess. I don't know what's wrong with me really."

Narcissa smiled knowingly. "Keep thinking about it, I'm sure you will work it out."

Draco thought for a moment, "No mother," he said exasperatedly, "it's not like that."

"Honestly Draco?" she replied. "You have been with her for most of this week, chasing her for the past three months, and when you are apart from her you are moody and irritable. I think it is exactly 'like that'. You are in love with her." She sounded triumphant.

"That's ridiculous." He said, rolling his eyes. "I just enjoy spending time with her. I have to go, I will be late."

Narcissa seemed even more triumphant as he quickly left the room, "have a nice time!" she called as he slammed out of the door.

Draco was annoyed as he walked to the tube station, his breath fogging in front of him in the chill spring air. She's wrong, he told himself. I can't be in love with Granger. Although as he walked he found himself unable to give himself adequate reason as to why this was an impossibility. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny. In fact, the only thing wrong with Granger was her blood status, and he didn't care about that any more. As he walked he became more and more convinced that his mother was right, he was in love with Hermione Granger.