The rest of winter passed quickly and un-eventfully. Soon spring came, and the warm sunshine filtered through the castle windows. Quidditch practice had started back up again, and Hermione saw less and less of her lover. Harry and Ron were also quite busy, but had afternoon or early morning practices, unlike the Slytherins who practiced late at night. That particular week, there was to be a game on Saturday morning, Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. There was no doubt that Slytherin would win, and Hermione had been anticipating the game very much. That morning, she woke up, still dressed in her clothes from the previous day, and had books surrounding her. She had been waiting up for Draco to come back, and apparently she had fallen asleep before he returned. Hermione checked her clock, saw that she had only one hour before lunch. She had promised Harry and Ron that she would meet them in the Great Hall, and to watch the game with them. Hermione showered, taking time to comb out her hair and scrub behind her ears. She got dressed in her favorite springtime robes (red, but just shimmery enough to catch the light) and spritzed herself with perfume. Her hair fell in light waves past her shoulders, and she shrugged at her appearance in the mirror once before leaving.

Harry and Ron waited at their table for a long time, before finally seeing Hermione enter through the doors. They sighed, obviously impatient.

"Oh leave me be!" Hermione said defensively as she sat down. "I'm a girl, aren't I allowed to shower sometimes?"

"Not if it takes you that long." Ron joked, and Hermione tossed a napkin at his head. "Hey! I was only kidding! Now hurry up and eat, or we'll be late for the match too." Hermione grabbed an apple and they left, finding seats at the front of Gryffindor's observation tower. The boys started babbling about quidditch, and Hermione turned to watch the players fly onto the field. Munching at her apple, she vaguely listened to the announcements of the Ravenclaw players, and watched as the flashes of purple darted by. When the Slytherin's were acknowledged, Hermione's ear perked up a bit, listening for that one name. In a flash of green, the Slytherin seeker flew top speed onto the field and did a couple of turns and twirls before hovering above Madam Hooch.

"I want a clean game! No bloodshed or foul play!" The referee blew her whistle and the balls were let loose. Draco flew high, scanning the field. The Ravenclaw beaters were desperately whacking balls towards him, but Draco easily avoided each one with a grace only he could master on a broom. She watched intently, then, as Draco dove towards the ground, the Ravenclaw seeker hot on his trail, but Draco picked up his broom at the last minute and avoided collision with the ground. Ravenclaw's seeker, younger and less experiences, had not been so lucky. Draco threw his head back and laughed, soaring back up above the other players. Three out of the four stands booed him, but he was too busy showing off for the other Slytherins. He swerved around a couple of his teammates and then started directly towards the Gryffindor stand. Hermione, once again nervous that he would crash into them, tried to sit back and feign disinterest. Howver, when she sat back, she started to hear a little whirring noise, and turned ever so slightly to notice the snitch fluttering right next to her head. Hermione drew in her breath slowly, and waited until Draco was meters away before leaning away from it. The snitch had other plans, and followed her, stopping right next to her cheek. Harry and Ron, as well as the rest of the school, had their eyes planted on her, then Draco, and then the snitch. Hermione dared not to breathe, and waited until Draco floated over on his broom. He leaned down and, discreetly caressing Hermione's face, captured the snitch in his hand. The stands around them hissed at Slytherin's win, but Hermione just sat there, thinking about how she had barely seen or spoken to Draco in two weeks. Frowning, she slipped down the stairs, away from Harry and Ron, and back up towards the castle, walking slowly as if deep in thought. She couldn't understand why Draco had suddenly become so distant from her. They were both busy, and she could excuse it away to that, but she lived in the same dormitory as him, and there were nights she knew he didn't come back to his room for. Hermione turned, without knowing it, and walked towards the lake. It was a sunny afternoon in mid-May, and the apple trees around the lake were in full bloom. Hermione picked a few of the blossoms and threw them gently onto the otherwise undisturbed lake. She sat beneath the trees, and didn't even hear when a certain pale, blond student lightly walked up behind her.

"Seeking refuge or silence?" Draco whispered. Hermione gasped at the sudden noise and looked up. Seeing who it was, she relaxed slightly. She smiled at the sound of his voice, deep and throaty, yet gentle all at once. He sat next to her and stared into her eyes.

"Just some place to think." Hermione said, and tore her eyes away from his captivating glare. She rested her gaze on the water, watching the blossoms she had tossed in the water float away from her.

"Thinking about what?" Draco questioned, turning her head to face him again.

"About how long it's been since we've talked…or even seen eachother. I know that you've been really busy lately, but we live in the same dormitory. I guess it's just…." Hermione didn't know how to say that she missed him or that she was just plain scared that he had found someone to replace her. "Maybe I'm just…." Hermione's voice trailed off again, and she found it hard to keep his steady gaze.

"Suspicious?" Draco growled, a little harsher than he had expected. Hermione's eyes filled with tears, and she turned, trying to hide them. But Draco had seen the hurt in her eyes, and the water threatening to spill from them. He turned her face back to meet his gaze and brushed the single tear that had fallen onto her cheek away. "Hermione, is that what you were going to say?" Draco said gently.

"Worried. I was going to say that I was worried you had found someone to replace me." Hermione's tears did spill as she finished her sentence. Draco pulled Hermione onto his lap, and embraced her shaking shoulders.

"Hermione, of every girl in this school, in the whole bloody world, I have never met one I was willing to risk half of what I've risked to be with you. I've given you the option to leave me, but know this: I will not leave you until you ask me to." Draco leaned down, kissing her past the last of her tears. "Now, do you believe me?"

Hermione didn't respond; she only kissed him again.

---

That night, Hermione sat very contentedly on chair in Gryffindor tower. Harry and Ron were playing Wizard's Chess, and Harry was losing badly. As Ron's knight bashed Harry's queen off the board, there was a light tapping on the window. A first year sitting near there opened the window, letting a warm breeze in and the black owl as well. The owl flew over to Hermione and landed on her shoulder. It dropped a small letter in her lap, nipped affectionately at her ear, and flew back out the window.

"You have a fearful owl? Those are from Solomon Island, in the South Pacific! And it's black…do you know how rare that thing is?" Ron said, stunned.

"It's not mine, I've never seen it before," Hermione whispered, but she had a good idea whose owl it was. She opened the letter and saw the crudely scribbled note:

Hermione- went to get something from Narcissa. Be back later; meet me in our common room at 11. –D.M.

Hermione frowned, worried about Draco. She knew he was taking a risk, going to his father's house. After their last discussion, the two Malfoy's hadn't been on good terms. Hermione sighed, attracting attention to her from Harry and Ron.

"Whose owl was it?" Ron asked eagerly, but receiving an exasperated look from Hermione, he thought for a moment… "Malfoy, right? Obviously; mysterious black owl…very rare…" Ron smacked his forehead with his palm.

"What did he want?" Harry asked quietly.

"Oh, just to meet me later. You know, to talk and such." Hermione stood up and straightened out her dress. "Dinner time, boys?"

"Checkmate!" Ron announced with a flourish. "Yeah, Hermione, I'm starved." Harry shook his head as he stood to go to dinner.

"Every time, mate. How do you do it?!" They continued their small talk all the way down to the Great Hall, but Hermione found herself too worried to eat. When had Draco's doings begun to affect her this much?

"You okay?" Harry asked quietly, while Ron was distracted by Seamus and Dean. "You seem so tense."

"Just worried is all," she said softly, finally abandoning the pretense that she was hungry. "Draco went to see his mother, and I'm worried. There's bad blood between him and his father." Harry squeezed Hermione's hand.

"I'm sure he'll be alright." Hermione tried to smile at Harry's words of comfort, but instead excused herself from the table and headed up to her rooms. Draco wasn't due back for another two and a half hours, but Hermione had hoped he'd be there waiting for her anyways. After trying unsuccessfully to read for a while, Hermione undressed and went to take a bath. The steam and the relaxing scents of lavender and vanilla lulled her off to sleep, but she was interrupted when a loud crash resounded from the common room. Jolting up, Hermione grabbed her bathrobe and rushed out.

---

Draco-

There's something I've found that I'd like to pass on to you. Come as soon as you can.

-Narcissa L. Malfoy

Draco, going through his mail after his quidditch match that day, smiled. His mother had no idea what Lucius had been planning, and certainly no idea how dangerous it was for Draco to show up, even if it was his own house. Scribbling a quick note to Hermione, and sending it off with his owl, Demon, he grabbed a handful of floo powder. He could miss dinner to see his mother. Narcissa was sitting at her own desk, in the East Wing study of the Manor.

"Oh, Draco!" Narcissa exclaimed, finishing another letter. She smiled up at him as she pressed the stamp into the wet wax. "I know you can't stay long…" she said, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him to down the hall to her bedroom. Draco felt a little uneasy in his father's personal territory, but he went anyway, brushing off the feeling. "Here," Narcissa said simply, and sat Draco down to tell him the story.

"Thank you," Draco said softly, fingering the box and putting it into his pocket. "They're beautiful." The door flew open then, and Lucius entered, his cane tapping the ground fiercely.

"Ah, my boy, you've come for a visit, I see. Narcissa, give us some time alone." Lucius crossed the room and watched as his wife kissed Draco on the cheek and left. "Care to explain what brought you here today?"

"Mother sent for me…and I do live here, remember?" Draco drawled coldly, placing his fingers on his own wand much like his father was doing at the same moment.

"Yes, well, no matter. I was thinking of paying you a visit soon, seeing as we need to have a little talk about that mudblood love of yours." Lucius sat in a chair near the door, and continued very calmly. "Have you told her yet about our little plan? And what has she said about it?"

"Yes I told her about your plan. And she agreed to most of it. She doesn't think much of giving our child to Voldemort," Draco seethed through clenched teeth.

"Ah, well, it's not her decision to make. If the Dark Lord wants the child, he will have it." Lucius smiled sickly at his son. "I believe you should go now. Oh, and you will return this summer. Bring your little mudblood with you if you want, you can stay in the south wing. But I think the Dark Lord may have a use for you, and maybe even your girlfriend." Lucius sneered, leaving his son all alone in the bedroom. Draco turned, enraged, and ran out the door after his father. Lucius was still in the hallway, his back to Draco as he walked away.

"What does he want with me?" Draco called. His wand was now out and pointed at Lucius. "What does he want with Hermione?"

"Oh, you are naïve, boy. What do you think he'll want with your precious little lover?" Lucius smiled sickly, and Draco started to mutter a curse, or anything, but Lucius disarmed him before the hex was formed in his mind. Twirling both wands in his fingers, Lucius looked at his son, and laughed. Draco felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and he rolled his fingers into a fist and swung at his father, but Lucius was quick; he shot a curse. Draco's legs gave way beneath him and he fell to the floor, his mouth crashing to meet the cold stone beneath him. Draco could taste his own blood, and looked up to see that he was once again alone, and his wand was carelessly tossed across the hallway. Draco stood up and grabbed his wand, but made no move to pursue his father. He had what he came for, and it was time to return to school. He grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it at the fire in the bedroom. The flames turned green as Draco stepped in and growled his destination. The movement made him dizzy, and he fell out of his fireplace and onto a couch in his common room. Draco heard scrambling and the splashing of water, before he saw Hermione exit her room and run over to him.

"What happened?" Hermione said, rushing to Draco's side. Her hair was pulled into a bun, but the water droplets were streaming tantalizingly across her neck.

"Lucius and I had a slight disagreement…but I got what I went for." He smiled, and wiped the blood from his lip. "I'm going to go shower. Wait for me?" Hermione smiled and nodded.

About 20 minutes later, Draco exited his room and saw Hermione sitting in the exact spot he had left her. Draco was holding a towel and drying his shiny blond hair. Hermione smiled mischievously at him and made space for him on her couch. He was wearing a simple pair of black night pants, white tank top. He leaned down, running his lips across her neck and breathing in. She smelled lovely, and he almost forgot what he'd been planning to give her.

"Here," he said softly, sitting down and pulling out a black box. From it, he extracted a ring, which he slipped onto her right hand.

"What's this?" She asked, staring at the ring. It was a platinum band and had snakes engraved on the smooth metal. There was an emerald in the middle, surrounded by sapphires.

"A gift," Draco said simply. "It was an heirloom from my father's family. Centuries ago, when the Malfoy name was just starting to become powerful, an ancestor of mine, named Eamon, fell in love with a muggle-born girl. When Eamon asked his father if he could marry her, his father refused to let him, and threatened her life. Eamon, desperate for an option other than her death, went to his grandmother. His grandmother gave him two rings, one like that and the other like this," Draco showed Hermione his hand and the ring that was on his finger. It was also platinum, with snakes, and had stones on the back of each snake. "She put a spell, one that would never fade on these rings. A binding spell. Eamon gave that one you're wearing to his muggle-born lover, promising that he would return to her when his father died. Eamon finally did come back for her, but found out that she had died while waiting. Eamon also found out that she left the ring to him, to pass on to his descendants in hope that they might have more luck with it." Draco smiled, seeing the look of wonder on Hermione's face. "I gave the ring to you, because I don't know what may happen to us. We may be separated, but I want you to know that I will always love you. No questions asked, no stipulations, nothing. They're magic rings, which means, as long as we both choose to wear it, we're bound to each other."

Hermione looked at her ring, and then back at Draco. Taking a deep breath, Hermione spoke. "So you're saying, that as long as we keep wearing these rings, that I'll always love you, and you me?" Draco nodded, and Hermione smiled sadly. "You're sure about this?"

"I've never been so sure about anything in my entire life," Draco promised, and leaned in to kiss her once again.

xxxx

chapter eight revised!