Disclaimer: Not Mine.

A/N: So I'm really, really sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've just moved into my dorm and everything so I'm been a little off centered. I hope you enjoy this chapter and hopefully, when my schedule gets a little bit more down packed I'll be able to update some more. Thank you.

I carried Cree up the stairs, her lifeless body draped unceremoniously over my arms.

She wasn't breathing.

Blood dripped from her body.

I forced my face to be neutral, blank as I stepped up onto the landing, all the gleaming eyes of the Death Eaters on me. My stomach cringed as they began to cheer. I passed by them all, still staying blank.

"What are you going to do with the body?" someone asked.

I allowed a smirk to grace my features. "That's for me to know and for you to find out."

Blaise followed me to the door, still grinning. "Need help?" he asked.

"No, I'll handle it," I told him. "This is . . . this is just something I need to do by myself."

Blaise's grin fell and he gave me a very sympathetic look, clapping his hand onto my shoulder. "I understand. Go on. I'll keep the others back."

I nodded at him, moving to step out of the boundaries.

I Apparated.

As soon as I reached my house, I rushed to the couch, setting Cree down on it.

I pulled out my wand, pointing it at her heart. "Revenerate," I whispered.

Cree's back arched as she sucked in a great gasp of air. I lifted her up into a sitting position, rubbing her back. "I'm sorry," I said, as she coughed. "I'm so sorry."

When she stopped coughing, I pushed up the sleeves of her shirt to see how bad the damages were. There were bruises up and down her arms, a couple of red welts around her neck. Under her shirt, her stomach was almost scraped raw and bruised and her back looked as if she'd been whipped.

I did my best to make her wounds look better with potions and healing spells, but even if the dark colors faded and the welts appeared less swollen, she still had the marks, on her body and her heart. She flinched every time I reached for her, shivered though it wasn't cold.

I sighed, getting to my feet and offering my hand to her. "Why don't you go take a hot bath? It'll make you feel better."

She gave me a small smile, which I returned before I took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She let go and walked toward the stairs, slowly and apprehensively, peering into the darkness. I stepped toward her, wrapping my arm around her waist while I used my wand to turn on the lights.

"I'm not going to let anything hurt you, Shadow," I told her. She gazed at me for a moment before turning and making her way upstairs.

I sat back on the couch, wondering what on earth I could do to help Cree. It scared me how vulnerable she seemed at the moment. The presence she used to carry seemed diminished.

Feeling completely useless, I walked into the kitchen and pull out my wand again, waving it at the cupboards and the stove.

A moment later, Cree came back down the stairs, wearing a large robe and a smile.

"Feeling better?" I asked from the kitchen as she went to sit in front of the fire I had just stoked. She nodded, her hair falling forward in front of her face as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

I picked up a cup from the counter, carefully walking towards the fireplace. I handed Cree the cup and sat down next to her. She took a sip, closing her eyes as she did so. "Mmm, hot chocolate," she said, her voice soft and hoarse. "I needed this. Thank you."

"It's alright," I told her, leaning back on my hands. "I remembered you told me you didn't like coffee or tea. Lucky the house elves stock up."

We sat in silence while she drank her hot chocolate. I couldn't stop looking at her, I realized after I looked back to the fire for the seventh time. I took in the shine of her freshly washed hair, her eyes as the flames of the fire reflected off of them, her heart shape face, the perfect curve of her lips. . . .

"Did you really mean what you said?" I watched the words pour from those lips like honey, mesmerized. "Mmm?" I said.

She faced me, her head tilted slightly to the side. She lifted her hand hesitantly to brush back my hair from my eyes, her fingers lingering just at my temple before trailing down the side of my face and stopping on my mouth.

"Did you really mean what you said," she repeated. ". . . In the cellar."

I swallowed and took her hand in mine, kissing her palm. Holding her hand in both of mine, now, I stared down at it, unwilling to actually look at her. I'd almost forgotten all that I had said to her, had wanted to forget, had hoped she had forgotten.

But as I glanced up, her haunting gaze was still on me.

"Yes. I did."

She was silent for a moment, her hand motionless in mine. "What on earth made you bring up Harry?" she asked suddenly.

My hand tightened slightly on hers before loosening. "I'm not sure, really. I just . . . I suppose that, starting your fifth year, I sort of felt you, slipping away from, though I must say you put on a good act. But still, some part of me realized that I was losing you. And then . . . to see you with Potter and how happy you looked with him and I guess – I guess I just got – jealous."

The last word came out as a mumble. It was such a hard thing to admit. Harder, even, than telling her I loved her. Malfoys did not get jealous of anyone. I mean, we had it all! The money, the power. . . . What on earth was there to be jealous of?"

This, I realized as Cree moved forward and pressed her lips against mine, was what would make you jealous. This, I realized as my eyes closed and my heart sped up, was what would make you jealous. I wanted this all for myself. And nobody, not Potter, not anyone else was going to take this away from me.

My hands slipped to the back of her neck, holding her to me as she leaned into me, her hands clutching to the front of my shirt. I could taste the hot chocolate on her tongue and I smiled slightly. I moved my hands to her waist, pulling into my lap. She gasped into my mouth before laughing.

"You, Draco Malfoy, are one stupid guy," she said, breathlessly. "Harry's a friend. A really good friend but more like a brother than anything else. There isn't anyone, I mean anyone else I'd rather be forced to live with. You have nothing to be jealous about. Geez, it took you forever, really, to figure out you had an interest in me."

I laughed too, leaning my forehead against hers. "Nine years isn't too long, you know."

"No, I suppose not." She lifted my face, quickly, kissing me again. "And it was worth it."