Draco's eyes slowly adjusted to the light in the room. He heard a gasp and looked in that direction. Sitting on a bed, was a young woman with flowing golden hair, and she looked straight at him with those emerald green eyes. Her mouth hung open in shock. Draco's heart started hammering against his rib cage. It was her. Slowly, he smiled at her. She didn't smile back.

"You," she whispered. "You've come to...to..."
He waited for her to catch her breath.
"Kill me. I..I can't…believe.." her breath hitched in her throat.
Wait, what?
"I won't let you. You won't get away with it," she started to ramble.
"Kaitlin," he said, frowning and moving into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Who said I was going to kill you? Thank God you're alive!" He walked towards her, but she moved back closer to the wall.
"He found out, didn't he? Now, he sent you to kill me. Lord Vol-."

Draco rushed over and covered her mouth with his hand.
"Don't say it," he said. "It summons his followers." She just looked up at him with wide eyes.
He'd come to rescue her, couldn't she see that?

"Now, I'm going to remove my hand and I will sit down in this chair and tell you exactly why I'm here. Do you understand?" he said in one breath. He was so relieved she was here, in front of him, alive, that he could barely think. She slowly nodded. He ran a hand through his hair and sat down in a chair at a table close to the bed.
"I was given a note," he said. "At first, I just thought it was a joke, but then I had a feeling the note was right," his voice shook slightly. "My parents found me and I ran off, explaining I had to go. The note flew through the air and I followed it. It led me to you."
She snorted. "How am I supposed to believe that? Where were you? Who gave it to you? Let me see it," she accused softly.

He handed her the note. "This is Hagrid's writing," she murmured, examining it.
"Fred Weasley gave it to me. Before...before-" he stopped there. Thankfully, Kaitlin wasn't really paying attention.
"Fred did? So, you were in the battle?" she asked as worry leaked into her eyes. "Are you hurt?"
"No," he sighed. Yes, a few scratches, but that was it.

"So you really thought I was alive?"
"When I had the note."
"So before, you thought I was dead."
"Yes. I saw you."
"No, you didn't. That was just a charm," she said, handing back the little piece of paper.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Draco asked, trying to hide his growing emotions. They were about to explode. The confusion, hurt, anger, relief, love; all of it.
"Your last concoction was perfect and it healed me, surprisingly. But Dumbledore knew that if I was still alive, your boss," she said meaning You-Know-Who, "would just try to kill me. Dumbledore knew that if you ran away with me, we both would die. So we faked my death and I've been here ever since." Tears were in her eyes.

After a few moments of silence, Draco stood.
"It killed me you know; the agony. You were gone and there was nothing left for me. Nothing. So I just went back to the way things would be as if you'd never entered my life, as if you didn't matter." Torment filled his eyes. He looked straight at Kaitlin, who was looking at the floor. When she brought her head up to look at him; tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Think of how, I felt, Draco. Leaving you, everyone, everything. All of it. I was forced to come. I didn't have a choice. I didn't want you to die, and I knew you would die for me if that's what it took. I've had to stay here for the past year, waiting, wondering, and worrying, if you were okay. If you'd forgotten me. If you even cared. Think about that, Draco. I did it all for you. Everything."

He was extremely grateful she hadn't been in harm's way. He kneeled down in front of her and she stared at him with sorrowful eyes.
"I thought about you every second. And it hurt more than anything, knowing you weren't there. I wouldn't ever be able to talk to you, hold you, kiss you, or hear your laugh. It was a nightmare brought to life. Then, I believed there was nothing for me. I decided to just do as my parents wanted and forget about anything else. I should've-"
"Draco, stop."
He closed his mouth and pursed his lips.
"That really doesn't matter. I understand. I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"And I'm sorry you had to stay here alone."
She shrugged. He placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Draco," she said softly as warmth and weariness filled her eyes.

***

He'd come to save her! He was here! It wasn't a dream. He'd missed her, grieved her. And now, he was right in front of her. She bent down and kissed him. They both stood up and Draco swooped her into his arms. As tears ran down her face, she kissed him again and then laughed.
"What?" he asked.
"You're really here! With me!"
"Yes," he chuckled, "I am." They moved away from each other.
"Draco, I want to see your arm," she said softly. She led him to the table and had him sit down. He pulled back his sleeve and she stared at the dark mark. She moved over to a self of potions, spells, and books. She pulled out two vials, a book, and grabbed her wand. She sat down at the table across from him.
She rubbed some liquid from one of the vials on the mark and he flinched.
"I'm sorry, but this might hurt."
"What exactly are you going to do?" he asked.
"Do you want to be a Death Eater?" she asked, her eyes growing dim.
"It depends."
"On what?" she asked, confusion clouding her face.
"Do you love me?" he asked gently.
She stared at him. "I...I..."
His face fell.
"No, no, don't think I don't, because I do. I'm completely in love with you!" she said quickly, stumbling over her words. Draco quickly got out of the chair and started kissing her. Slowly, he pulled away and sat back down.
"That's good, because I love you too," he smiled. Her mouth formed a perfect little O.
She started flipping through the pages of the old book until she found the page she wanted.
"So since we love each other what do you think we should do?" he teased.
"I don't know," she mumbled and tried to focus on the spell.
"Marriage, maybe?" She knocked over one of vials and coughed.
"Drink this," she said to him and he did. She waved her wand over his arm and the dark mark completely disappeared.
"I think...he's gone," Draco said after a moment.
"Who?" Kaitlin asked, frowning.
"The Dark Lord."
"Why?"
"I don't feel...chained anymore." He smiled and looked down at his arm.

Slowly, his arm began to turn a deep red. Kaitlin's eyes grew wide in alarm. Darker and darker, it quickly wrapped around his arm. Kaitlin watched his teeth clench and he closed his eyes.

She heard a snapping sound and it came from Draco's arm. Something was wrong. She mentally hit herself. Of course, something is wrong!

She rushed to the book. This was expected. All you could do was distract the person and wait about an hour. Then it would go away. A moan escaped Draco's lips.

"Draco," she said to him and realized he was shaking. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She held his arm in her hands. It was painfully hot. A few tears landed on his arm. He opened his eyes and looked at her. They were full of pain and regret.

He pulled her onto his lap with his good arm and buried his face in her hair. He shuddered every few minutes and Kaitlin smoothed his hair and rubbed his shoulders. After a while, the shuddering stopped and Draco's arm looked completely normal.

"Thank you," his voice shook a little
"You owe me," she said.
"Well, I do think I can pay you back," he began to tease.
"With what?" she asked, a little confused and worried.
"How would you like the Malfoy title?" he wrapped both arms around her.
She went along with his teasing. "I'd rather have young Malfoy himself."
"I can live with that," he whispered and kissed her.