Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except Graces Malfoy & Thomas Higgs, who are my own. I do not claim any ownership of the characters or settings contained within. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.

Author's notes: A very special thanks to my beta Denarii for editing this chapter!

Special thanks to Snakespur, noone297, spannieren, and Phoenix for their reviews! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to get them!

This is a small chapter, but I really hope you all enjoy it. I think it gives some more insight to Thomas' character.

~Timeline! ~

1st week of September

Chapter one- When Neville was just curious about Graces.

3rd week of September

Chapter two, three, and four.

Chapter three was Neville and Graces encounter in the Greenhouse.

4th week of September

Chapter five, six, seven, and eight.

5th week of September

Chapter nine and ten and eleven 12 13

1st week of October

Chapter 14, 15,16,

Please keep in mind how fast all of this is going. It really has only been like barely two weeks since they have slept together, so it's normal for them to still be up in the air. I promise I will have them more stable, but they still have some things to work out.

Chapter 16

Thomas was very aware of everything that went on around him. Not because of any particular interest in everyone's life, but because he had to be. His family had chosen to keep out of the war, but that didn't mean that they were closing their eyes to everything that was going on with it. Luckily for his family, Thomas saw and heard more than most. People tended to ignore younger years. Especially ones like him who were so quiet. He was so quiet that often he was missed entering a room or listening closely at a nearby table, but he was there and he noticed and heard everything. He noticed that the Malfoys seemed more on edge, as though they both were constantly expecting an attack. He noticed the way Nott watched Graces like lion stalking a deer. And he noticed that Neville Longbottom seemed to have an interest in Graces as well.

He had originally thought that Longbottom was just pining hopelessly after a girl far out of his league, in stature and beauty, but after the display today he wasn't sure what was going on. He did know one thing, though; Graces read those muggle books and Longbottom knew. He saw the way she had reacted when he had said, "Don't read Shakespeare, huh?" No one else heard in the hall, but he did. And he knew who Shakespeare was after Pansy came in still raving about how far the Longbottom family has fallen when their heir read Shakespeare. Graces at the time had laughed along with her and made the usual snide comments about Longbottom, but her reaction in the hall had given her away. Now that he thought about it though, Graces was always reading some book or other in a corner along the grounds, but never in the main room with everyone else.

He recalled that once in the common room Pansy had asked what she was reading, but Graces had just laughed and insisted it was nothing good. She then had proceeded to flatter Pansy on her new earrings. Gushing over how she was so lucky to pull off yellow goblin gold, and that she wished her skin wasn't so pasty. He now saw it all for what it was, a distraction. Graces read muggle books, and Longbottom knew.

He was aware that he should feel differently now for the girl. That he should consider her a blood traitor now. That she threatened his culture and should be exposed, but he just couldn't get his heart to feel that way. Even when he was in the hall, and had just realized what Graces had done, he couldn't bear the thought of her being cast out and ruined in their society, forever to be thought of as a blood traitor. How could he want that for the girl that had been his salvation? He remembered how nervous he had been as a first year. He knew that people were going to make fun of him. He knew that he was going to embarrass his family when he opened his mouth, revealing their deep, dark secret: that their son was incapable of normal speech. He had even thought he was prepared for it. But when the sorting feast was over and he entered the Slytherin dorm for the first time with all his new housemates, he realized how so unprepared he was.

At first he just stood quietly with the rest of the first years, but then the socializing had started. An older girl had been speaking to him, asking him if he knew his schedule, etc, etc. He was able to get by in the beginning with shaking his head yes or no, but then she had asked him what his name was.

"T-T-Thomas H-hi-higgs." The room had fallen completely silent. All the house was looking at him like one would look at a disgusting dish. A tall boy in the back had smiled maliciously at him, and had begun to open his mouth to make the first of a series of insults. Thomas remembered the feeling of dread pooling in his stomach so high it was seeping up into his chest, and then, before the insult was rounded out, someone called through the crowd.

"Thomas Higgs!" A shrill voice rang. There was such excitement in the way the name was exclaimed that everyone looked over to the pretty blonde girl pushing through the onlookers. That was the very first time he had ever seen Graces Malfoy in person. She was rushing towards him as though she had known him his whole life, before he could question anything she had brought him into a grand embrace. An embrace that made the whole room think that he was familiar with her. "Oh, Thomas, it's been so long! I hardly recognized you, darling! Look how big you are! Oh, you're going to drive all the girls here mad when you're older." She then turned breathlessly to the blonde boy sitting in a chair, two other boys on each shoulder, and exclaimed loudly. "Draco, dear, did you see Higgs? Look how big he's gotten!"

Draco had smiled at his sister, before getting up and shaking his hand. "Good to see you again, Thomas. How is your father doing?"

It was all so surreal. In reality Graces and Draco had never met him once in their lives, and their families were by no means close. Yet, here they were pretending they knew him intimately enough to be affectionate with him and using his given name to save him."H-he's w-w-w-ell."

"Glad to hear it," Draco nodded, a little half smile playing at his lips. "Why don't you come sit with Graces and I? We must catch up." He let the pair of them guide him over to a couch where they could sit in mock intimacy for show, but speak privately.

Graces had taken one of his hands in both of hers and was smiling at him warmly; while Draco sat back and watched his sister. "Higgs, no one here will make fun of you now. In here you can always speak without any worry of what people will think of you, but when you are not with Slytherins you have to be careful." She was staring so urgently into his eyes that he couldn't have moved away if he wanted. He remembered that she had such urgency in her voice, as though it were just as important to her that he succeeded as it was to him."I'm going to make sure you make it through Hogwarts, Higgs."

"W-why?"

Graces just smiled at first, and Thomas, who never believed in angels, was all of the sudden convinced that the being in front of him had to be one or at least the closest thing to one. "Because you are one of us, Thomas. You're a Slytherin, and I believe in taking care of our own," Graces declared softly, her eyes boring into his. "You're powerful, Higgs, I can feel it. It would be a shame for a powerful wizard like yourself to not live up to his potential because he was made to feel inferior."

Graces had been his salvation here at the school. She saved him from his peers and taught him how to behave so that no one would know his flaws. If anyone in his house was stupid enough to make a comment about his speech impediment, she attacked, tearing them up in front of the rest of the house, pointing out his assailant's every flaw and even at some points ripping their good qualities out from under them. She was like Devil's Snare, maintaining a bone crushing hold of her victim while she dragged their reputation through the dirt.

That's why when he realized what was going on earlier in the hall he put up the silencing charm. He wanted to protect her, she had after all protected him so many times. Even when he realized what she was, he couldn't bring himself to leave her side. He was going to help keep her secrets to protect her, just as she had done for him. And it wasn't because he felt he owed her that, he was doing it because he loved her for it.

"Thomas." He looked up from his book to see Graces sitting across from his desk in the library, he was so consumed with his own thoughts he hadn't realized she came in. He watched her from across the old wood, taking in her appearance. She had an unreadable expression on her face. It wasn't like any others he had seen on her before. She looked nervous, unconfident, but at the same time proud. He honestly couldn't tell what she was, but she seemed to be trying to decide something about him. He waited patiently, he was not going to speak at the table. He never spoke anywhere outside the dorms, Graces had told him to never speak in public. Even in classrooms he never answered a question. The teachers never asked him anything either. Graces had gone to Professor Snape and told him of the situation with his speech. She had convinced the man to tell all the teachers that Thomas was mute and to not bring attention to it. He learned non-verbal magic under Snape's supervision, at Graces demand, and now never needed to speak in public. Occasionally, when he knew without a doubt no one would hear him, he would speak in public, but in the library where people could be behind shelves he wasn't willing to take the risk.

"I wanted to thank you for earlier, Thomas. That was really… thank you." Graces seemed to be at a loss for words. Thomas had never seen Graces like this before. She was so human now, no longer a deity he could never reach. In the last few hours he saw more of her than he ever had before. She was vulnerable, frightened, and not at all perfect. He thought the realization would destroy his image of her, she would no longer be the picture of perfection he always saw her as, but it didn't. Instead it added to her. She still, with all her fears and vulnerability, did what she could for the more vulnerable in their house. "I wanted to well… I feel we should discuss what—" Thomas didn't let Graces finish. Standing up he took her right hand in his and lightly kissed her palm, before taking both of her hands in his and kneeling to the floor on bended knee. He stayed there touching his forehead to her knuckles, trying his best to appear like more of an adult than he was. He was aware it was a very old gesture, but he didn't want to use words to tell Graces how he felt of her. His words were awful, but this told her everything without words. He pledged his devotion and unfaltering loyalty to her on no other basis than he admired the person she was.

"Your family is neutral, though," Graces whispered in disbelief. Thomas continued to keep his head bowed at her knuckles. He wasn't pledging his allegiance to the Dark Lord, he was pledging it to Graces, the girl that had made it possible for him to be something more than an embarrassment to his family. Also, since he wasn't the heir it would just be his own devotion to her, his family had nothing to do with it. "Thank you, Thomas."

He then stood slowly and went back to his desk taking back up his book not wanting the conversation to go on any further. He wanted the subject of Graces' trespasses against their culture dead and he wanted them both to forget all this nonsense. I especially want to forget what she had done. He felt her gently kiss his cheek, causing him to blush crimson despite of himself, before leaving him be.

Please follow/review! As fun as it is writing all of this, it is much more worth all the time and effort when I know what you all thought.

Next chapter is the detention! Nev has some major apologizing to do…