Author Note: Vacation in Florida was amazing, now I'm back to cold weather in Pennsylvania. Hopefully since spring is here it will finally warm up a little. I want to thank all of you who still continue to read this crazy ride of a story. For those wondering how much is left...I can assure you there is still plenty inside this mind to write. Onto the next part and let me know what you think.

A special thanks goes to: Excaliber00, ItsNanna, ladytish, Blookluver132, jesskaiser, Smore4u08, XORENTXOX, Tfeltonismine, LadyKas, HHrbelong2gether, Lovetoread416, and Bbaillie for becoming followers to this story.

Another special thanks goes to: HarryPGinnyW4eva, Hanable-13, moraine9, Snowflake Dazzle, Malibu Baybreeze, LightofEvolution, Legolas' Girl 31, zoesheppard and BoredRavenvlaw620 for the wonderful reviews.

Thank you to the guest who pointed out my auto-correct error. This is the fixed version of the chapter.

Chapter 17:

December 17th, The Ministry

"Mr. Malfoy!" A voice yelled calling him back from the exit.

Draco turned to see Kingsley's assistant running through the throb of workers trying to get out of the building. His mind was a chaotic nightmare when the feeling of dread was the only thing circling through his whole being. She stopped a few inches away from him trying to catch her breath before her mouth opened to speak. "Miss Granger has been found."

"Where is she?"

"Kingsley left to retrieve her about an hour ago. I've been looking all over for you."

"So she will be brought here then?"

"Yes."

By the tone of the woman's voice, there was no need to feel dread anymore. The way it sounded Hermione was indeed alive and well. In his opinion, she was probably kicking and screaming about coming back to the ministry. A gentle hand was placed upon his arm, startling him back to reality. "If I may be so bold...you are lucky to know her. I've always wanted to meet her and thank her for helping to rid this world of Voldemort."

"I'm sure she would like to hear that." He replied stepping away to return back inside the building, heading straight for the only place that Kingsley would take her.

The infirmary. When he got there, a nurse was walking into the room. Kingsley was walking towards him with a stern look upon his face. It made him wonder what had happened in the process of bringing her back. Was he angry about the circumstances that shrouded the whole thing? "Minister." Draco stated in greeting.

"You are to keep an eye on her at all times. I don't care what you have to do to keep her safe; but you will do it, or it will be your job. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

The explanation was vague. Though, he never really expected there to be much of one. Turning the knob, he pushed the door open to see Hermione sitting up. Her eyes met his almost instantly, bringing his name to her lips softly. It had only been a couple days since they saw each other; but to him it felt like a lot longer.

The nurse noticed the tension fairly quickly and left to get some supplies leaving the two alone, giving herself a metal note to take a little longer so as not to be a part of whatever was going to happen between them.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked.

"I'm fine no thanks to Headmistress McGonagall's sleeping spell."

"She was doing the right thing by telling Kingsley where you were."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. He knew that she was angry and half expected her to yell at him; but she did nothing. Instead, she turned her head to break eye contact with him and slouched back down into the bed. Rolling his eyes, he proceeded to close the distance between them. He was determined to figure things out and wasn't going to leave until he got answers. "You can't avoid me forever, Hermione."

"It's safer for you if I did."

"Stop that. I knew what the dangers were the second I agreed to the mission."

"Doesn't make it okay. I've seen enough death because of me. I don't want to see anyone else die."

Draco sat down in the chair. Her hair hid her eyes from his viewing. He reached out to cup the side of her face, forcing her to look at him. She sucked in her bottom lip, struggling so hard not to look at his eyes. Her one weakness was his eyes. "I know you don't. I promised you that I would keep you safe and that's what I intend to do...not because my boss asked me to...not because Kingsley told me I'd loose my job if I didn't...but because I want to. I want you with me, Hermione."

"Draco..."

"Please...don't push me away. I need you..."

She could see the desperation written on his face. Her heart was pounding on the inside of her chest. His eyes were swirling with every truth he spoke and it made her own eyes burn with pending tears. He was fighting for her and that was something completely new to her. "It's impossible for us to be anything. I think you know that to." Hermione addressed trying so hard not to let those tears fall.

"In your mind it's impossible. In mine...it is. I want to see where this can go."

"Nowhere. Your family will make sure of that."

"You let me deal with my family."

His words were truly convincing; but there was still a low voice nagging at her to keep her distance that she would only get hurt in the end. She never got a chance to answer him when Kingsley and Harry walked through the door. The Minister's face was stern; but there was a hint of caring behind his eyes. Harry was full of concern that much was obvious.

Draco pulled his hand away from her face to rest it upon his lap, awaiting for the words of what was to come when it came to her safety. Deep down, he just wanted to take her back to his flat and let her rest comfortably. "Hermione, you gave us such a scare." Harry commented.

"Don't be daft. You know damn well that all of you are safer if I just went on my way." She snapped turning her head away from their view.

"You are stronger than this. You've always been the voice of encouragement for me over the years. Why don't you give some of that encouragement to yourself." Harry replied.

"He's right. You are one of the brightest witches I've come across in many years. We need you here and alive, so you may continue your work to help future generations." Kingsley injected.

She didn't want to die. There were still a lot of things she wanted to do with her life. One of them being the fact that she wanted to become the Minister someday herself. She wanted to change the magical word for the better. Somehow, she must have forgotten that dream along the way. Moving her head back to look at them, she gripped the sheet tighter in her clenched hands. "I won't run anymore. There are still things I want to do in my life."

"Draco will be assigned to be your personal guard at all times." Kingsley stated before leaving the room with Harry not far behind. However, before Harry left, he turned to smile at her.

She allowed herself to return the smile and then turn her head to smile at Draco directly. He held his out to her while standing up. Accepting it, he helped her to her feet and immediately pulled her into his waiting arms. Her scent waved under his nose and he couldn't help but feel the comfort in it. Smiling, she closed her eyes and listened to the beating of his heart. "Thank you..." She said softly.

"For what?" He asked kissing the top of her head.

"For not giving up on me."

"You never gave up on me...so I wasn't going to give up on you."

Allowing her out of his embrace, they walked out of the infirmary. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't anyone in the halls to stop them from leaving entirely. He wanted her to rest in the comfort of his flat where they could truly be alone to talk.

XxXxXx

Narcissa roamed the long hallway towards her husband's cell in Azkaban. She was worried about Draco. She felt that his attraction to Hermione was unhealthy. She hoped that Lucius would have some words of wisdom to share with her about what to do about the development. The guards on either side of her kept close, not willing to risk an escape this close to his trial. "Thirty minutes." The one on the left spoke before opening the door to the conference room.

Lucius sat across the table and only looked up when the door closed behind his wife. His once beautiful long blonde hair was now a darken shade thanks to the uncleanliness of the facility. It was pulled back into a low ponytail away from his face that seemed to have sunken in due to malnutrition. "Beautiful Narcissa...I miss you so." He said in a rough voice that was unlike his, almost foreign.

"I came because I'm worried about Draco." She said trying hard to ignore his advances.

"What about him?" He asked perking at the mention of his son's name.

"It seems he has taken a liking to Hermione Granger."

"That mudblood from Hogwarts that helped in the defeat of the dark lord?"

All Narcissa could do was nod her head. As much as she didn't like muggle born wizards and witches, she was never a fan of the use of the word 'mudblood'. She had seen her sister carve the word into the girl's skin when being tortured for answers about her vault. "You tell him that he needs to get away from that and find a suitable pure blood." Lucius barked gripping the table with his dirty hands.

"I've done that several times; but he insists on our views being outdated and pointless. I've never seen him so drawn to someone before. It's kind of like how..."

"You and I started out...before the darkness took over."

Lucius let go of the table and looked up at his wife with a solemn look. If he was honest with himself, the only two people that mattered to him was Narcissa and Draco. He had been a coward to follow the dark lord in both wars instead of fighting for the good of magic. Lucius also knew that one of his wife's sisters had taken a muggle born for a husband. There was always that chance that somewhere down the line someone would fight for equality. "What should I do?" Narcissa asked reaching across the table for her husband's delicate hand.

"Make him understand the importance of blood purity. He has to keep the family line pure."

"I will do my best to accomplish this."

Standing up, she looked her husband dead in the eyes. She silently told him that she loved him and then left the room. The two guards that accompanied her on the way down were still waiting for her on the outside. Narcissa replayed what Lucius had told her in her mind over and over again. She still didn't know how she was going to convince Draco that blood purity was necessary to keep the family line intact; but was determined to remind him of the importance.

XxXxXx

Draco opened the door to his flat, allowing Hermione to step inside first. The warmth coming from the entry way was a reminder that she was back in the place that had gave her some fond memories. He walked her bag back to the room he had given her and when he returned she was staring out the large window in the living room looking out at the view of the city. "How do we find how is out to get me?" She asked not bothering to look back in his direction.

"Don't worry about that tonight." He replied closing the gap between them to stand beside her.

"How can I not worry? Whoever is doing this won't stay quiet for too much longer."

"Hermione, look at me."

She turned her head to meet his gaze and found the sheer determination written all over his face. There was so much between them already that just begged to be explored. That is, if his family stayed out of it and if Ron didn't find out either. Ron, despite being married to Lavender, was still protective of her and would never approve of Draco in her life due to the history.

He took her hands and brushed the skin of her knuckles softly with his thumb. "I told you that I promised to keep you safe and that's what I'm going to do. Trust me in the task."

"I do trust you."

"Good, now why don't you get some decent sleep."

She giggled at his demand. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her without saying a word. "Okay." She said stepping passed him in the direction of the hallway before stopping a few steps in. Draco watched her closely wondering what she was doing and when she turned back around to look at him, he knew that answer just by the way she look at him.

Hermione bolted back to him, reaching behind his head to pull him down to meet her lips. There was nothing like the way his skilled lips took hers, diving his tongue through her parted mouth. She held onto him out of desperation. He reached down to pick her up bridal style, while breaking the connection of their mouths. "What are you doing?" She asked licking her lips.

He ignored her question and carried her to the room he had had given her. Gently laying her upon the bed, he leaned down to kiss her lips once more. "Goodnight, Hermione. You need rest, we can continue tomorrow; but tonight you need rest." He said standing back up away from her.

"But..."

"No! Rest now..."

Blinking several times, she comprehended that he was telling her to do. Nodding her head, she slouched back into the bed while never breaking the eye connection with Draco. There was a fear in his eyes that she had never seen before. It made her question as to whether or not he had that same fear all along and she had never seen it before or he had finally let her see it. "Goodnight..." She whispered just as he walked out of the room.