Disclaimer: unfortunately, I am not JK Rowling and HP is not mine

A/N: Thank you to the awesome LadiePhoenix007, thatharrypottergeekychick16 and Grovek26 for their reviews.

To be honest, I'm not feeling overly motivated to continue. I do love writing but its frustrating when I'm super busy and I put time aside to write and don't get much feedback whatsoever. I really don't want to be one of those authors that begs for reviews but I'm just not sure if it is worth continuing! I'm trying to keep a couple of chapters ahead so that I won't fall back when exams come around but then again, I'm not sure if its worth pursuing. Please let me know what you think?

Chapter VII

Present Day

Potter Residence

Harry breathed a great sigh of relief when the memory ended – thankfully Hermione had been smart enough to make sure they didn't see the pair consummate their marriage. He looked to his right and saw his brother-in-law looking like he was going to regurgitate his breakfast.

Ginny had a rather amused look on her face. "Well that's a shame. Apparently we're not going to see any of the fun parts." She said with a wink, before leaving the room to get ready for the day ahead of her.

"Oh Merlin I think I'm going to vomit!" Ron exclaimed, scowling after his sister. Harry couldn't help but chuckle at how little the two had matured when it came to their sibling banter. Their strong relationship had always made him somewhat jealous that he was an only child; but the Weasley clan had pulled him in like one of their own and in a way he now had enough siblings to last a lifetime.

Shaking his head, the friends chatted lightly as they waited for Ginny to get ready. Harry had written to Hermione and had organised for the Weasley siblings to visit their dear friend. A half hour later, Ron was incredibly impatient. "Ginny! What are you doing up there? Get your arse down here!"

He raised his eyebrows as his sister came rushing down the stairs looking very well dressed in a pair of black slacks and her favourite blouse. She had applied a light layer of makeup to her face and her hair was styled in an elegant updo. "Going to a pageant, are we?" Ron commented, sarcastically.

Harry snickered as Ginny smacked her brother on the back of the head. "Oh shut up, you oaf. I haven't seen my best friend in years, and I'm going to make sure I look perfect."

"So another hour then?" Ron muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his head. Needless to say, he was promptly smacked again.

Malfoy Ranch

Hermione was anxiously pacing in the foyer of their sprawling home. She was a nervous wreck and her husband's futile attempts at calming her had failed miserably. He had given up a long time ago and was now feeding his children in the kitchen. He paused as he heard a knock at the door and then continued on; he would give Hermione some time with her friends before greeting their guests.

Within seconds, Hermione had thrown the door open. All she saw was a flash of red before being encased in a familiar pair of arms. "Ginny!" She exclaimed, crying at the joy of having her closest friend by her side. "Oh I am so sorry! I'm so sorry!" She murmured as the petite redhead sobbed in her arms.

Pulling back, she turned to her long-time friend. "Ron." She whispered as he pulled her into his arms. They had long gotten over their crushes on each other, becoming nothing but close friends in their sixth year. He was like her brother, always being fiercely protective of her.

"Draco! Oh you gave us such a fright!" She was startled from the embrace as Ginny rushed towards the blonde man who was leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. Hermione had to stifle a giggle at the bewildered expression on Draco's face as Ginny charged into him. As Draco was released from the tight embrace, she linked arms with her dear friend and lead her into the kitchen.

Ron was still standing awkwardly in the doorway, unsure of how to proceed. 'Trust Weasley to leave it up to me', Draco thought, extending his hand as he approached the man. "Welcome Weasley." He stated before directing him into the kitchen where the overly excited women were.

Ginny had squealed in delight at the sight of the three children, taking time to hug each one of them. Jackson and Emmeline had been thoroughly confused as to who this woman was but Liam, who had made quite a mess of himself, had gurgled happily and began poking at her face.

The redheaded woman didn't seem to mind the bits of apple baby food that were now down the front of her blouse and had goo-goo-gaa-gaa-ed at the young child. Ron had quickly moved the boy away from her, worried about the remnants of his sister's sanity before he too was taken by the adorable nature of the child.

"Kids, these people are two of Mummy's closest friends from home. This is Aunt Ginny and Uncle Ron." Hermione explained, before introducing her children to her childhood friends. The twins quickly warmed up to the motherly woman who was now seated between them, babbling on about their toys and playdates.

Ron smiled bashfully at the couple in front of him. "As much as I hate to admit it, you two have a beautiful family. This boy is adorable!" He joked, an expression of distaste gracing his smile. But to both Hermione and Draco, it meant the world.

September 1997

They moved in comfortable silence, packing their belongings into the small trunks they had brought along with them. The newlyweds had spent the last four days in a quaint cottage in rural England, enjoying each other's company. The information Hermione had found on the Golden Disciples had been true.

They had spent their wedding night consumed in passion and pure carnal ecstasy. Draco had been so gentle and yet ravenous as they made love for the first time. He had ravished her with such fervour that she thought she would never recover from the high she was feeling. But at the same time he had held her with such adoring tenderness, as if he were sure she would crumble under his touch. It had been more than she could have ever imagined happening to her; and yet it had, time after time. In those moments, the passion and hunger in his eyes had made her feel exquisitely beautiful and sensual at the same time. And since that night, their emotional bond had grown ever stronger. It was as if they were being truly united as one, both in the flesh and in the mind.

"Ready, my dear?" Draco was walking towards her, slowly puling on a shirt. She felt a growing lump in her throat as her eyes roamed over his muscular frame. She felt like a giggling schoolgirl, much like the ones that had always irritated her. Draco smirked as he noticed her lustful eyes and the deep blush that rose to her cheeks.

"It's time to get back to school." He reminded her, dipping his head to kiss her. She nodded at him, trying to shake the inappropriate thoughts from her head. After shrinking their luggage and tucking them safely in her pocket, she grasped his hand and waited for the familiar tug of the Portkey.

Hermione had always hated travelling by Portkey – though it wasn't as bad as the first time she had travelled by this method, a nauseating feeling was rising through the pits of her stomach. She opened her eyes and welcomed the familiarity of the Hogwarts' entrance. Dumbledore was standing in front of them with a wide smile.

"I trust you enjoyed your time away, Mr and Mrs Malfoy." He said, that ever present sparkle in his eyes. Draco smirked as a deep blush rose through his wife's cheeks. "I wanted to let you both know that I have managed to acquire a collection of Merlin's diaries. I shall pore through them and hopefully be able to give you both more information. Before we forget, I need to cast a rather intricate disillusionment charm on your rings."

He raised his hands and with mumbled words and twirls of his wand, he placed the charm over them. Hermione glanced down at her seemingly unadorned hand and was surprised to find that she was somewhat saddened that her ring was no longer visible, comforted by the sensation of the ring perfectly nestled on her finger. From the corner of her eye, she could see Draco frowning at his ring-less hand, running his thumb over the invisible metal.

"Ah wonderful!" The headmaster exclaimed, beaming at his two pupils. "Now, you'd better get settled in. The rest of the students will be arriving tomorrow afternoon."

The couple made their way up to their commons as Draco lightly teased her for her embarrassment. As they entered the room, they were pulled out of their banter as a blonde blur engulfed them in a rather smothering embrace.

"You guys are back! How was your honeymoon?" Sabrina squealed, stepping back from the couple.

Draco couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face, earning a knowing thumbs up from the dark haired Deputy Head Boy that was seated on the couch. And again, Hermione couldn't prevent that ridiculously persistent blush from overcoming her.

"It was wonderful." She answered, eliciting an excited squeal from her new friend.

With wide eyes and a knowing wink, Sabrina dragged the poor Head Girl away to seclusion demanding to know 'every single detail'.

Hermione had barely eaten anything that morning. The four Head students were the only ones in the Great Hall that morning. Anthony and Sabrina had watched with amusement as Draco somehow managed to scoff down an unbelievably large amount of food. Hermione, on the other hand, had barely managed a few bites of a piece of toast. The rest of the students would be arriving last that afternoon – including Harry, Ron and Ginny. She had barely seen them after the death of her parents and now she was married, for Merlin's sake!

She wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to act around them. She loved them of course, they were her dear friends after all, but so much had changed since their last year at Hogwarts – she wasn't quite sure how to reconcile the two parts of her life.

The train was due to arrive any moment and Hermione simply could not suppress the churning in her stomach. She glanced over at Draco and shot him a nervous smile, warmth spreading inside of her as he sent her a coy wink. He was leaning against the other side of the arch, his arms crossed over his chest. They had decided that it would be best for their secrecy if they acted civilly with each other but of course, not too close.

Hermione felt her breath hitch as she heard the train arrive and a swarm of students were soon spilling out of the carriages. She smiled warmly at the familiar faces that flocked past her, light carefree chatter filing the air.

"Hermione!" She heard her name being called, before a red bundle of energy crashed into her. "Merlin, I've missed you!" She chuckled as the vivacious redheaded girl crushed her with a fierce hug.

"I missed you too, Gin." She laughed, unwrapping herself from the restricting embrace. "I do need to breathe, you know." She admonished the girl, her amusement sparkling in her eyes.

"Mione! How have you been?" She smiled as Harry welcomed her with a quick hug, his eyes looking over her with concern. His brotherly worry made her smile widen; she had sorely missed her friends, the security of their familiarity flooding back to her.

"I've been good, Harry. How are you?" He eyes her suspiciously, before a grin broke out on his smile.

"Worried. But I'm a lot better now." He said, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.

Hermione noticed quite gleefully that Draco was watching them, scowling with each show of affection. He was eyeing the quartet of friends with jealousy. His envy and protective glances made her feel secure, and somewhat enlivened.

"Oh Mione – there you are! Why didn't you write to us? I was so worried about you!" Ron rambled, crushed her in an awkward hug.

Draco couldn't suppress the angry growl that erupted from his throat as Ron held his wife. It was a well-known fact that Ron had a large crush on Hermione. It didn't help that Hermione had revealed to him in one of their talks in the Hogwarts grounds that she too had shared that affection for him during their fifth year. She had assured him that this had well and truly passed, but he couldn't help the intense possessiveness that spread through him.

Hermione pulled away quickly. "Sorry…I was extremely busy; so much has happened lately that I just needed to process it all."

Ginny sighed dramatically before leaning in to whisper. "How have things been with Malfoy…you know, since then…? We all know he's deliciously handsome." She mischievously murmured, throwing her friend a wink.

Ignoring Ron's outraged protests, Hermione couldn't help but laugh at her friend's intuition. "Oh, we've had a fabulous time." She answered, earning a roar of laughter in response. "But in all seriousness, it has been quite good. I mean, he saved me; we've been quite civil."

Ginny linked arms with the Head Girl, joy emanating from her being. "We have a great deal to catch up about, missy! See you later boys!" She said, leaving Harry and Ron standing in the same spot staring suspiciously at the Head Boy.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy! You bloody idiot! Why have we barely heard from you these holidays?"

Draco winced at the anger on the face of the girl that was one of his closest friends. Many saw Pansy Parkinson as a frustrating woman who was infatuated with Draco but her insufferable crush on him had long passed and she had returned to the girl that had been like a sister to him since they were young children. Blaise Zabini, his closest friend, was standing with his arm around the dark-haired girl, watching Draco with an odd mixture of concern and ire. "Hey Pans." He muttered, weakly smiling at her.

"Oh don't you dare 'Hey Pans' me! We were worried sick about you and then your mother told me you had disappeared from the manor! I mean really! Lucius is still in absolute rage over Merlin knows what. You could have been dead!"

Draco felt regret washing over him. He had known he was risking a lot by betraying his father and rescuing Hermione, but he had never considered the impact it would have on those outside his family. His stomach dropped at the tears glistening in his close friend's eyes.

"Oh guys, I'm sorry." He mumbled, pulling the girl into a reassuring embrace. "I just…had a bit of a disagreement with Lucius."

Both Pansy and Blaise scoffed as she pulled away from him, raising a pristinely groomed eyebrow at him. Blaise crossed his arms in front of him disbelievingly. "Disagreement? Even I know that's putting it lightly. He was furious when I dropped by the manor to see you. This was different to your other disagreements. What happened, Draco?"

He wasn't quite sure of how to put it, pulling them aside to allow some privacy. "You'd better not utter a word of this to anyone." He warned them, earning fervent nods in response. "A group of Death Eaters kidnapped and tortured Hermione Granger after killing her parents. My dearest father is a tad upset with me seeing as I rescued her and took her to St Mungo's. Needless to say, I've been staying here since then."

Pansy and Blaise gaped at him blankly before the somewhat overly-emotional girl burst into tears and hugged him again. Blaise spluttered with shock. "Are they crazy? The whole freaking Wizarding world loves that girl – surely they didn't think they would get away with it!"

It was no secret that Blaise and his mother were not followers of Voldemort. Ms Zabini had always passively sat on the sidelines, unwilling to get involved in the politics of Voldemort and pureblooded nonsense. And though Blaise would never verbally admit it, he thought the whole thing was a waste of time.

Draco merely shrugged in response, unable to pry himself away from the still sobbing girl. Blaire sighed and patted him on the back before extracting his girlfriend off of the blonde boy. "Either way, I'm proud of you mate."

Hermione had to stifle a laugh as she watched the two Weasleys consume a rather unimaginable amount of food. It was a long-running joke amongst the Gryffindors that the whole Weasley clan had an uncanny knack for consuming an ungodly food in a somewhat less-than-graceful manner.

Dumbledore had given a rather touching speech after the new students had been sorted, emphasising the importance of unity and friendship in the dark days that were to come. He had spoken of overcoming rivalry with determination, love and courage, what she thought was a rather obvious reference to Draco and herself. His words were resonating in her mind and she had most definitely noticed the meaningful glance Draco had sent her way.

She only hoped that Harry wouldn't let the stress of this year overwhelm him. He had always let himself be engulfed in the responsibility he felt towards defeated Voldemort and this year would be no different, especially as he was unaware of the help he would have in Draco and her. Her gaze fell on Ginny. She had wished she could just smack Harry on the back of his head and tell him to man up. He had avoided acknowledging his strong feelings for the Weasley girl, worried that a relationship would place her in danger. She understood where he was coming from but it was rather ridiculous – denying his feelings wasn't going to deter Ginny from getting involved in the Order of the Phoenix.

And finally, her gaze fell upon Ron. She had once yearned for his affection but had soon realised that her feelings for him were nothing but a close friendship. She could only hold out for him to realise that as well.

"Don't look now Mione but Malfoy is staring at you." Hermione's head shot up, wincing as the sudden movement caused a pang of pain to shoot up her neck. Draco was indeed staring straight at her. He flashed one of his heart-stopping smiles at her before turning back to Blaise who was giving him an avid account of his holiday in France with Pansy.

"Merlin, he's dreamy!" The redheaded girl exclaimed, dramatically fanning herself with her hand, earning a burst of giggles from some of the other Gryffindor girls. "You two would be bloody gorgeous together! I swear I can just see it written in the stars!"

Hermione hid a knowing smile, turning her attention back to the plate of food in front of her. 'If only she knew how true that was.' She thought wryly as Ron interrupted their conversation.

"What's written in the stars?" He cut in, earning a scowl from his sister. Hermione opened her mouth to answer him but Ginny beat her to it.

"It's none of your business, Ronald. But if you must know I was telling Hermione that she and one very good-looking boy are destined in the stars." She ended, poking her tongue at him. Harry couldn't help but sigh; the redheaded girl was always trying to get a rise out of her brother, and he was the one who always had to deal with it afterwards.

"What? Do you have a boyfriend? Who is it?" He asked, earning a scowl of annoyance from Hermione.

"Honestly, Ron, I don't have a boyfriend." She replied. Technically she was telling the truth – Draco wasn't quite her boyfriend after all, was he.

"Ugh, I can't believe my fool of a brother actually thinks he had a chance with you. I mean, you're bloody brilliant and absolutely gorgeous…and he's…well he's Ron!" She murmured to her, earning a soft chuckle from the Head Girl.

Hermione was attempting to finish the contents of her desert bowl when a familiar, smooth voice came from behind her. "Hermione, Professor Dumbledore wants us in his office. He wants to discuss something to do with…our situation…as Head of course." He added hastily, not wanting to cause a fight that would upset Hermione.

She flashed him a smile and nodded. "Sure, just let me finish my desert."

Draco grinned slyly, unable to let the opportunity to annoy the rest of the Gryffindor Musketeers pass. "Well, how about I help you there, miss?"

Hermione looked up with surprise as her bowl was pulled from her hands. "Draco, I dema-" She was suddenly cut off as Draco pushed a spoon into her mouth.

Ron slammed his fists onto the table and stood up angrily, drawing the attention from the occupants of the Great Hall. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" He demanded, spitting out the name as if it were a disease.

Draco cocked his head to the side mockingly. "Hmmm…let me see. I'm helping Hermione here finish off her food, seeing as she takes the smallest bites I have ever seen." He stated as if it were quite normal for him to be feeding the Head Girl before jerking his head to where McGonagall was somewhat impatiently waiting for them. "Come on, we don't want to keep McGonagall waiting."

Hermione nodded in agreement, scowling at her damned husband before following him to the Head of Gryffindor. He really couldn't help but be a bloody prat at times.

A/N: Please review!