Apologies for the wait but this one is a little longer. Enjoy Chapter 10.

Hand in hand, Draco and Hermione made their way down the steps of the Burrow. They walked slowly for Draco. Hermione was ready to catch him if he fell although he was too big for her to catch. When they got to the first floor, mostly everyone was either sitting at the table or in the living room on the couch just how Draco needed them for what he was about to say.

He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, Hermione right behind him still holding his hand. When all heads were turned towards him he spoke, "I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking care of me these past few weeks. I wouldn't be standing here without any of you and I can never express enough gratitude towards you all for that. I know that under the circumstances it was probably the last thing you wanted to do but you did it anyways because you are the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I know you didn't have to help me but you did so thank you again."

Molly Weasley walked over to Draco and gave him a hug. "We were glad to help."

They all heard a scoff from the corner of the room. It was George Weasley. "Yeah we're glad to save a bloody Death Eater." With that sarcastic comment he stormed out of the house slamming the door behind him.

"Apologies dear. Surely you can understand?" Mrs. Weasley spoke in her kind tone. "Would you like some stew?"

He nodded and made his way to the table where everyone but Ginny and Harry dispersed.

Harry took a sip of his tea. "So what now?"

Draco looked at him sternly, "Actually I think I'm going to try and reconnect with my parents or at least my mum." They all looked away awkwardly knowing that Lucius Malfoy was probably locked up in Azkaban right now.

"What?" Hermione was surprised. He looked towards her. "You never told me that. What exactly are you planning on doing? Owling them? Going to see them?" Her words came out quickly.

"I-I don't know exactly. I imagine I'll go see them."

Hermione looked away, almost shedding tears. Harry then spoke again, "Well that's wonderful timing because Hermione was just telling me how she wanted to go to Australia and find her parents."

Hermione shot a look at him that could have killed.

Draco had a surprised look now. "What do you mean?" With Hermione not speaking, Harry told Draco how Hermione had wiped her parent's memories and sent them to Australia in order to protect them from the war. He turned to Hermione and almost whispered, "How come you never told me that or that you wanted to go find them?"

"Um Harry come help me with that thing?" Ginny could sense that the two needed to talk so she got up and tried to bring Harry with her.

"What thing?"

"That thing I was talking about earlier?"

"No idea what you're talking about."

"Just come on." She pulled him with her out of frustration.

Hermione wasn't looking at Draco nor was she answering him.

"I need you to look at me and tell me what is going on." He sounded demanding.

She finally spoke, her voice shaky, "I just miss them a lot and had I known that you were planning on seeing you parents I would have reconsidered."

"You didn't tell me about your plans either, Hermione." She looked down. "Tell me what's really bothering you."

"I don't want to be away from you that long again."

He brushed her hair out of her face. "Then don't."

"But we both want to reconnect with our families."

"You are my family." He kissed her temple gently.

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Narcissa sighed. "Where is he? Where could my dear Draco be?"

"Cissy, he walked away from you for a mudblood. He doesn't deserve a welcome back." Bellatrix was comfortable with lying to anyone except the Dark Lord.

"Bella he is still my son. With Lucius gone and you in hiding, I need my family. I need my son." Not knowing that her sister had left her son for death, Narcissa confided in Bellatrix.

Bellatrix scoffed. "You're so thick, Cissy! He betrayed the Dark Lord for her! He betrayed you for her! He is not coming back." Trying to hide her lie, Bellatrix was now becoming fuming partly because she was worried Narcissa would find out and partly because Narcissa didn't agree with her.

"How dare you? He is still my son and if I want him back in this house I will get him in this house which by the way is mine so feel free to under stay your welcome." With that Narcissa stomped out of the room.

Bellatrix yelled after her. "He won't come back! He's going to ruin your pureblood name!"

Narcissa didn't care what her sister thought anymore. She stormed upstairs for a quill and parchment.

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"Draco what it is?" Hermione saw looks of sadness and relief on his face.

"It's a letter from my mum."

Hermione dropped the tea cup she had in her hands and it shattered to the floor. "W-what did she say?" With a quick wave of her wand the broken pieces were now forming back into a cup.

"She wants to see me. She wants me to come back home. She says she misses me and that she loves me."

Hermione cleared her throat, "Well you were planning on seeing her anyways."

"Yeah," He saw that she looked sad, "How about we do this? You go to Australia for three days, no more no less, to search for your parents and I will go see my mother in those days. If you don't find them within the three days then you come back and you and I will go to Australia together to look. We will leave tomorrow morning."

"Ok." She was hesitant.

"But I don't want you to go to Australia by yourself. Harry can go with you. You two need some time together."

She smirked at him. "Since when did you become so thoughtful?"

He smiled back at her. "Oh since I first kissed you." He grabbed her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

The next morning they were both ready to go their separate ways.

"Harry? Harry, are you ready?" Hermione called up the stairs. She then turned to Draco.

"Stop worrying." Draco took her shoulders. "It's only three days. They will go by in no time." She smiled up at him. "I'll miss you."

She let out a deep breath. "I'll miss you too. Please be careful."

He kissed her forehead. "You too."

Harry came down the stairs with Ginny. "All ready."

"Ginny are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Hermione pleaded, feeling guilty for taking Harry away.

"No. I agree with Draco. You two need some time together and I need some time with my family." She looked so pleasant.

Draco opened the door, "Well I'm off." He offered his hand to Harry, "Please take care of her."

Harry shook it sternly, "Of course."

Draco looked at Hermione. She smiled sweetly at him. He gave her one last kiss and left.

"Ready?" Harry sighed.

"I suppose." Hermione strapped on her small purple bag. They both hugged Ginny and headed for Australia.

Draco shortly arrived at Malfoy Manor. He looked up at the large estate then took a deep breath and started walking towards the front entrance. It felt weird to him, entering the front door. He felt like a stranger now. He looked around at the high ceilings and black furniture but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Draco?"

He turned around. "Mum."

She ran to him and immediately engulfed him in a hug. "My baby boy I've missed you so much. How are you? Are you here to stay? Oh please stay. You've been gone for weeks. You must stay."

Overwhelmed with questions and afraid of how his mother would react to his answers he simply said, "I'm good now. How are you doing?"

"Well I'm," She stopped to think about her answer, "Oh Draco I'm horrible. With your father gone and your Aunt in hiding I just need my family. I need you. Oh I'm so glad you're back. I feel so safe again."

"Mum I can't stay here forever."

"What? Of course you can."

"No I mean I don't want to and what do you mean my Aunt is in hiding? Is Bellatrix here?" He suddenly became frightened.

"Draco you can't possibly want a life with that Granger girl."

"Answer my questions Mum."

"Well yes, your Aunt Bella has been hiding out here from the Ministry."

"Is she here now?" Draco was in pure panic by now.

"Well no. She said she had other business to take care of out of town and would be gone for a few days."

"When exactly will she be back?"

"I don't know. I assume by the end of the week. What is this all about, Draco?"

Deciding that he didn't want to ruin his mother's idea of her family, he didn't tell her of the incident with Bellatrix on the bridge. "Nothing. I'm just worried about her coming after Hermione is all." His mother gave him a look of both shock and sympathy. "What?"

"Tell me about her." She finally gave in.

"Hermione?"

"Yes." She led them to the living room and they sat on the couch.

"Why?"

"Because you turned your back on your family for this girl so she must be pretty special." She had a slight bitter tone when she spoke but was truly interested in the mudblood who tore her Draco away from her.

Three days later in a hotel in Australia, Hermione sat on the bed weakly. Harry came out of the bathroom and saw his saddened friend. "Hermione, it's okay. You will find your parents when you and Draco come back. Australia is a huge island. They could be anywhere. We would have been very lucky to find them within three days."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you for coming with me Harry. I don't know if I could have gotten through it all without you."

He sat next to her on the bed and put an arm around her. "It's going to be okay. I promise." He kissed her temple in a friendly way. "Come on. Let's go get some dinner before we head back."

They left the hotel room for the last time and headed for a restaurant only known to the wizarding world. They sat down at a booth and ordered.

"So how do you think things are going for Draco?" Harry asked.

"Um I'm not sure. I bet his mum was glad to see him."

They received their food and began to eat. As Hermione finished she spotted something out the large window.

Harry looked at her, puzzled. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just need some fresh air. I'll be right back." Not looking him in the eye, she left her napkin on the table and almost ran outside.

"Hermione! Hermione, wait!" He tried to run after her but he was stopped by many people who finally recognized him as Harry Potter, the boy who defeated the Dark Lord. "Excuse me. Please excuse me." He pushed his way out of the crowd and through the front door but he was too late. Across the restaurant, in a dark alleyway, he saw Bellatrix Lestrange holding Hermione by her neck with her wand pointed at her head. Harry started for his wand but with a loud pop they were gone.

Again, sorry for the long wait. Like I said before I was getting settled into college. Thanks for reading.