Hey there everybody! Here I am giving you all another lovely chappie, because I love you guys sooooo much! And you know, I feed off the wonderful reviews you leave *wink wink, nudge nudge*. The title is inspired by Christina Aguilera's "Bound to You". She's quite a rolemodel to me actually, vocally and lyrically. And gorgeous too! ANYWAYS…Here's chapter 9!

Disclaimer: *whimpering* Harry Potter and the wonderful wizarding world that he lives in belongs to JK Rowling. I wish the stuff I thought up made as much money as hers did.

The distraught Slytherin prince looked up at the two Gryffindors with anxious animosity. Love had made him vulnerable this time, but he was ready to face anyone who got in the way of him and his lioness again; especially her so-called friends.

"What do you mean if she hadn't come back? You knew where she was this whole time? You been spying on us for Voldemort, haven't you?!" Harry screamed in a pained tone, seeing Hermione's lifeless body in the enemy's arms. Of course he would think this was about Voldemort and the war, Draco rolled his eyes.

"You stupid oaf! She was with me while she was gone. I took care of her! She only came back because she knew you guys needed her help. If Weaselbreath here hadn't gone and made her cry though, she wouldn't have almost frozen to death in the forest. She was safer AND happier with me." he retorted sharply.

"Why were you in the forest in the first place?" the fiery red head inquired with suspicion.

Draco's silence was immediately filled with Luna's whimpering that made every one's eyes dart to the bleeding house elf that lay in her arms.

"Dobby..." Harry was immediately stuck between a rock and a hard place. Looking back and forth at Hermione and Dobby made him want to break down, seeing his world slowly crumble around him. First Sirius, Dumbledore, Hedwig, and now Hermione and Dobby. He fought the tears back because of the presence of a certain Slytherin.

Draco stared at Harry, watching his internal struggle of shades of green in his eyes. He realized how much his former house elf meant to him, and how he didn't want to seem like he favored one over the other. The two caught eyes and Draco gave him a nod that told him that there was an understanding between the two. This simple gesture would be the beginning of a new friendship.

"I've got her; don't worry," he told Harry, and the Chosen One solemnly walked over to the lifeless house elf and fell to his knees, silently letting the tears fall. However, Ron wasn't fazed by Harry's ease of trust and seethed at the blond holding "his woman". Ron walked over to Draco and Hermione and gave a dirty look.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but the feelings are unrequited," Ron said to him matter-of-factly. Draco looked up and glared at red head, face flushing red at his ignorant cockiness.

"I didn't know the likes of you were capable of such difficult words, Weasely," he responded in a cool-headed tone as to not show his yearning to hurt the young man that stood before him. "What makes you think her feelings aren't the same?"

"I heard her talking about me the other night while she was on guard duty," he said proudly.

"Oh really? Then how come she ran away from someone who she supposedly loved? Why is it that for nights on end I heard her yelling in her sleep about much she regretted ever having feelings for someone who showed little to no reciprocation and on top of that degraded and ostracized her for looking for comfort in her time of grieving, which by the way, you caused that too."

"That's a lot coming from a pure-blood supremacist like you." He raged back, sticking his finger a little too close to Draco's face.

"I was under the influence of my father and the Dark Lord, which if you haven't noticed, I've changed the way I think to fit my maturity. What's your excuse?" Draco took Ron's tomato face as a sign that he won this battle. He went in his pocket and regretted grabbing their wands for them, but thought back and knew Hermione would want it to be this way. "Here," he threw the wands towards them, "You can hate me all you want," focusing his attention on Ron, "but I'm here to stay, for her. So shut it up and take it."

He stood up with Hermione in his arms bridal style and started walking towards the cottage by the sea that they landed on. As he finally was out of sight by the two Gryffindors, he let his tears rush down his face as the only thing that was on his mind was whether she was OK. Only time would tell.

A red head quite similar to the youngest male Weasley opened the door with a petite framed blond clinging behind him. His eyes widened when he realized who was in front of him.

"Oh my god, Hermione. What are you doing with her, Malfoy?" Bill tried to cover up the concern in his deep voice.

"Never mind me, I come in peace. Just please, is there somewhere we can lay her down? She's been out for a while." Tears stained his porcelain skin, as he tried to hold more from flowing.

"There is guest room up ze stairs to ze left," Fleur said in her broken English.

"I pray she's alright," Bill solemnly stated, leading Draco up to the guest room.

"Only time will tell," Draco whispered to himself.

Groggy eyes slotted open to take in the surroundings that she found herself in. High ceilings and wall were coated with soft floral wallpaper and separated by wooden beams. Simple wooden furniture was placed around the bed she laid and she decided that she was safe and wanted to crawl back under the covers. The sight to her right stopped her from anything else she planned on doing.

Platinum blond hair covered a scarred, sleeping face. He looked so at peace with the world while he lay there, despite his uncomfortable sleeping position. She placed a hand on her head due to the current throbbing and remembers how she got in her current predicament. The dried blood on her forearm covered the word that Bellatrix Lestrange decided to etch into her. Mudblood.

It's how all of this started anyways, right? Despite her blood status, she was a brilliant witch and decided to befriend the famous Boy Who Lived. She knew there were people out there that hated her, but she was too naive to care at the time. All she knew was she loved learning and was good at it, especially when it came to magic. It's why she was tormented for six years, why she ran away from the one she supposedly loved. Why she ran into him. Despite the pain, the struggles, the almost death experiences she's faced; she wouldn't regret her heritage. She wouldn't be here otherwise.

The tears ran down her face as she realized he had probably been sleeping there for quite a while, waiting for her to wake up. She wore a soft smile for the Slytherin prince. He hadn't even cleaned himself up from the battle they had escaped. And was that, sand on his clothes? They must be near some body of water, she thought. She's just glad they're alive and safe. Despite the anger she harbored for him before for being such a coward, she had fallen for him. As had he.

Softly placing her hand upon his, his eyelids fluttered open; steel grey eyes meeting caramel brown. He gave a thankful smile and let happy tears fall as she returned the greeting.

"I'm so glad that you're-" Hermione's sentence was cut off by warmth upon her lips. The shock wore off quickly as she fluttered her eyes closed and melted in this kiss. The kiss flowed through every inch of her body like warm liquid; rich, molten, filling every crevice. She found herself holding on to his arms for balance, and him pulling her even closer. Fervor and lust was driven into each tug of lips and stroke of tongue as their breathing got heavier; finally releasing each other's lips to catch some air. Draco placed his forehead against hers, tears still falling down his grungy pale face.

"I thought I lost you." He whispered with his eyes closed, making her feel every drop of sincerity he pushed into his words.

She hugged him tightly, allowing herself to cry as well, tears falling on his lobe as her soft shattered voice whispered in his ear.

"I thought you went back to your old ways...I'm glad...that you didn't. I don't know what I would do. I'm not going anywhere else without you." She never wanted to leave his sight again, and she was determined to make it her prerogative. Draco felt her smile creep up on the side of his ear and pulled away to get a better look at her, sweeping the side of her face with the back of his delicate fingers. He placed a kiss on her forehead and no sooner than that was done she pulled him down for another warming kiss.

Harry and Ron peeked through Hermione's bedroom as to not wake her; but when they were faced with the scene occurring before them, they could not help but make their presence known.

"Bloody hell."