Author Note: I appreciate all the wonderful comments I've been getting with this. Thanks to a little nudge from a friend I went outside of my comfort zone and created this. Hopefully this new chapter is to everyone's liking. Let me know what you think.

A Special thanks goes to: Guest, LightofEvolution, Girl from beyond, pgoodrichboggs, Kathrynrose42, Legolas' Girl 31, HarryPGinnyW4eva and Hanable-13 for the wonderful reviews.

Another special thanks goes to: lhbmac, sonnetStar, dramoinegingerlove, Girl from beyond, SerenityPax, MeBHop, ysl3as, Musicangel913, Burdge, Deidre1916 and Hanable-13 for becoming followers to this story.

Chapter 9:

December 7th, The Ministry of Magic

Harry sat behind his desk going through every single report when it came to the fire at Hermione's apartment and everything related to Janey Nissel. He was determined to find something that would lead him to the person who did all those horrible crimes. The argument he had with Hermione the prior night was also heavy on his mind. The hurt in her eyes dug right through him. The fact that Draco seemed to be the one to settle her emotions was like a kick to the groin and he was starting to regret asking him to help with the situation.

"Mr. Potter, a letter came for you." A sweet voice came from behind his closed door.

"Bring it in, Elena." He answered.

The door opened to reveal a young lady, who was probably just there a week as a project from whatever school of wizardry she was attending. She had freckles across her cheeks that was slightly covered by her glasses. Her auburn colored hair was pulled up neatly behind her head in a bun. "It was stamped in red so I thought you'd want it as soon as possible." She said crossing the room to hand him the white envelope.

"Thank you."

"I also wanted to say thanks for the opportunity to see this place. Today is my last day of my school project."

"It's been a pleasure to meet you, Elena. Hopefully someday down the road you will join us permanently."

"Most definitely."

She smiled and left the room. Harry sat alone with the white envelope in his hand. Breaking the seal, he pulled the parchment out to read the contents. His eyes widened as several photos fell onto the dark wood of his desk. The familiar face of Hermione plastered all over the images sent his anger to overload. His eyes read the words carefully, memorizing them.

"Janey will not be the last.

I will make her life a living hell.

I want her to want to die before I come for her swiftly and profound.

There will be no saving her from me.

By all means, keep trying.

It is amusing to see first hand."

Harry knew now that it had to be a death eater. No one else could be as sick as this. If he didn't know that Bellatrix was dead, he would say it was her doing this; but Molly Weasley had killed her in the war. There was no one else he could think of that would harbor such hate for Hermione. Closing his eyes, he leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. He had to figure this out soon or he would loose another person dear to his heart.

XxXxXxXx

December 7th, Draco's Flat

Draco sat at the counter with a cup of coffee reading the new newspaper that had come. Hermione still hadn't woken up or if she was, she hadn't emerged from his bedroom yet. Everything that happened the day before had been overwhelming for her and he knew it. The argument between her and Harry tore her apart, that much was obvious. The death of Janey had hit her even harder. He knew what it felt like to put the blame on himself for horrible things to happen to someone else and that was exactly what she was doing.

Sliding out from the counter, he stood up just in time to hear the click of the door opening from the hallway. He stood waiting for her to walk around the corner. When she did, her unbrushed hair was pulled up into a ponytail and was still dressed in the clothes he had given her to change into. The urge to encase her in his arms was nagging at him to move forward to do just that.

"Hey..." He said softly.

"Hi...aren't you going in today?" She asked awkwardly.

"No...I think you need my attention today."

"Draco...it's not really necessary. I'm okay..."

He took several steps closer, closing the gap between them. The white part of her eyes was mixed with red, making him understand that she had just got done crying. She leaned against the wall, trying to keep a little space between them. "I don't think you're okay, Hermione. I can tell that you were crying. You lost everything all in one night."

"I know...I...just don't know...where to begin mending things."

"You can start by allowing me to take you to get some clothes. I doubt you want to keep wearing mine...not that I would mind."

A smile curved his lips as a chuckle left his throat. Hermione shifted her eyes from the floor to meet his comforting face. She honestly didn't know what to say to his offer. It wasn't that she didn't have money, it was the fact that all her cards and cash had burned up in the fire. She could take money out; but the problem was that it was Saturday and the banks were closed. She didn't have a choice but to allow him to do what he wanted to do. "Why are you being so nice?" She asked softly, placing her hands against the smooth wall behind her.

"I think you know why...and it has nothing to do with the fact Potter asked me to look out for you."

"Draco...I...I'm not good for you..."

"Like I'm perfect, Hermione...I've done a lot of shitty things in my life. You know this..."

He took another step closer, reaching with his hand to touch her face. With a sigh, her eyes instantly closed soaking in his comfort with every fiber of her being. The hand on her face moved down to the side of her neck and then to her shoulder. "If you get too close to me...you'll end up dead just like Janey did..."

"I'm a lot harder to kill. I'm a survivor, always have been."

Hermione tried to smile; but it came out pretty weak. Draco pulled her into his arms with the side of her face resting against his chest. She curled her lip inward, trying so hard not to cry once again. After what Harry told her about the death threat, she knew that she shouldn't get any closer to Draco or he would end being a target next. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of her. She just wished that she knew who it was that wanted her dead. "Then I will go get some clothes; but it isn't necessary for you to come with me." She said pulling out of his arms.

"Fair enough, I'll give you some money and I'll head into The Ministry for a few minutes to see how things are progressing there."

"Okay..."

XxXxXxXx

Draco walked into The Ministry while he waited for Hermione to get done buying some clothes to replace the ones she lost in the fire. He pushed the large doors open and took the first turn down the narrow hallway that lead to Harry's office. Before stepping forward, he felt like there were eyes staring at him from behind. Turning his head, he caught the gaze of a man a little older than himself with bright blue eyes and dark hair. He knew him as Stewart Lyons. He had transferred from the New York Ministry a year ago and ever since then he's had a strange feeling about him.

"Is there something you wanted, Lyons?" Draco asked sharply, not really in the mood to deal with anything at all at this point.

"Nothing, sir." He answered through clenched teeth.

Ignoring the way he had been spoken to, he stepped over the threshold and made a b-line for Harry's office door. His closed fist connected with the door and Harry's voice answered. Stepping inside, his boss looked up from the scattered mess on his desk. Draco stopped and closed the door behind him, not bothering to close any of the distance between them. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest. "A month or two, Potter. Really? You knew for that long and never said a word to anyone until a few days ago."

"You would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed."

"I wouldn't have, that's the difference between you and me. She deserved to know that her life was in danger. We might have been able to prevent Janey's death."

"I doubt we would have been able to prevent anything. This person is really smart and meticulous. There isn't any shred of evidence to link anyone to the crimes."

Draco knew that Harry was right. He had gone over everything in his mind and nothing stood out to him as odd. Even so, he wasn't about to let Hermione down. He would protect her as he was asked to do so. "How is she?" Harry asked looking away for a moment, swallowing his pride to see the letter that had arrived earlier that morning.

"She's withdrawn...as can be expected. She doesn't want to get close anyone for fear they would be the next target."

"That's probably a good thing. I received another letter this morning."

After those words left Harry's mouth, Draco closed the distance between them and immediately snatched the paper in his hand. He wasn't about to let his boss hide more information from him that would hinder his ability to protect the one person that had shown him any kind of kindness. Reading the writing, he tensed instantly. He couldn't believe how sick this person was. It was almost like a death eater was talking or Voldemort himself, which was impossible.

"At first, I thought it would be your aunt; but she's dead."

"It does sound like her...I'll look into it further to make sure she really is dead."

Draco returned the letter back to Harry and turned to leave the room. Harry sank back down into his chair, pulling the pictures out while doing so. He couldn't tell anyone about those, it would hurt more people if he did.

Draco turned to leave the 2nd floor when he heard his name being called. He turned to see Kingsley himself approaching. It was odd for the Minister to approach someone of his status within The Ministry. He lowered his head out of respect and the straightened up quickly. "I heard about what happened last night with Hermione Granger. Tragic to say the least, which is why I trust you will give this to her."

"Sir?"

"I know she's staying with you for the time being. It's okay, nothing wrong with helping a fellow witch in her time of need. I'm quite fond of her, as I know you are as well. So...I know this will make it to her."

"Of course."

Kingsley handed Draco the envelope in his hand. Nodding his head once more, he fled the building and stepped out onto the crowded sidewalk. Hermione should be more than finished with her shopping and would be waiting for him at the small cafe' near where her apartment building used to be. Sitting in the back of the taxi, he began to wonder when his attraction to Hermione became noticeable to everyone else around him.

He remembered when his attraction to her started. The first day she had shown him kindness.

Weaving through dozens of people just to get to the elevator that would take him to the 2nd floor was not high on Draco's list that morning. Only his third month as an Auror and he was already irritated by the increased amount of traffic in the hallways. Everyone stared at him, remembering him from the war. In which, he sat at the table of death eaters under the rule of Voldemort. The scar left behind by the mark on his forearm still stung certain days.

He knew that it wasn't a smart decision to join The Ministry; but he wanted to be separated from his family and lead a different path in life. Once he made it to the elevator, the door was sliding closed until a hand stopped it.

Meeting her chestnut eyes again only brought back all the horrible memories of the name calling and her screams on the foyer floor at the manor. She smiled at him warmly. "Good morning, Draco." She greeted as he stepped inside.

He silently pushed the number two button and remained still with his back to her, hiding the smile forming on his lips. The ride seemed to be taking longer than usual and the whispers behind him were getting louder. All he could hear were the words 'death eater' and 'spy', all other words were invalid to him. "Oh for the love of Merlin, can all of you just forget the past already. He's already been proven innocent and wants to start over in life. I think all of you should just give him a chance to prove that he isn't a bad guy." Hermione snapped just as the elevator opened to the second floor.

He stepped out into the second floor, not bothering to look back at her. Her act of kindness was unexpected to say the least and knew that he would never forget it.

Draco opened his eyes as the vehicle stopped at his destination. He had never thanked her for sticking up for him that day. Paying the driver, he exited the car and found Hermione standing outside with a large bag in hand. She was dressed in clothes that weren't his and he found himself admiring her assets a little more than he should given the circumstances of today's informative trip to work. "Did you find everything you needed?" He asked.

"I only got what I needed to get by. No need to go overboard when I have no place to put the stuff yet." She replied taking steps beside him.

"Maybe tomorrow we can look into a new place for you, I highly doubt you want stay with me too much longer."

Climbing the stairs that would lead them to his flat, she ran through everything that was said this morning in his kitchen over again in her head. She didn't want to get close to him for obvious reasons; but the more she tried not to, the more she wanted to. He'd already done so much for her and there was no way she could ever repay that kind of kindness.

He unlocked the door and allowed her entry first before closing the door behind them. Shrugging out of his coat, he hung it up beside the door and waited for her to take hers off. She turned and handed him the item with a smile. "Thank you."

She watched him put an envelope on the counter just as he was closing the small distance between them. "Come with me." He stated taking a hold of her hand gently. Hermione followed him down the hall to the closed door across the hall from his bedroom. Her opened the door and pushed it across the floor. It revealed a second bedroom. Plain, undecorated, only a single bed against the wall; but perfect for her short stay there.

"You can stay here for as long as you need to, Hermione. No rush for you to leave."

"Thank you...for everything you've done, Draco..."

"No...thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"For showing me kindness that day two years ago."

Hermione knew exactly what day he spoke of. Letting go of the handles on the bag, it dropped to the floor with a thud. She reached up to touch his face with just the tips of her fingers. He sucked in a surprised breath of air. "There was no reason not to show you any kindness. You've been tormented enough over the past and you deserved to be able to start over." She answered softly.

He wanted to kiss her, so much so that it was painful to think about. Reaching up to take hold of the hand that was currently touching his face, he pulled it down so it was between them. "That envelope is from Kingsley for you." He said letting go of her hand.

"That can wait...there is something I need to do first."

"What's that?"

She leaned up, resting her hands on his chest. Wetting her lips a little, he took it upon himself to finish what she seemed to be heading towards. His lips captured hers with a desperation to be even closer to her. He sucked her bottom lip in, then licked it before plunging his tongue into his mouth to explore.

A soft moan escaped her throat, curling her fingers around the material of his shirt. He pressed into her, sending her back against the wall into a position she was familiar with. "Draco..." She whispered against his lips.

"I know..." He answered breaking their connection, knowing it wasn't the right time for anything more than that what had just transpired between them.

"You know...I could really go for something to eat."

"Go set up that room how you want and I'll heat up that food in the fridge."

He kissed her lips one last time just as she slipped inside the room with the bag of clothes in hand. Making his way back out to the kitchen, he reached into the refrigerator for the pan of food just waiting to be eaten. Shifting across the room, he turned the oven on to the proper temperature. Draco licked his lips, slightly tasting her unique lip gloss. The woman really was going to be the death of him, because he found himself liking every second she was around.

End Note: I was considering changing the name of the story in honor of the song that's inspired this little piece of writing. What do you think?