Disclaimer: Same as always

Chapter Four: A Knight in Shining Armor

After disapparating from Griffin's Park, Draco appeared in the familiar parlor of Zabini Hall. Draco had been coming to Zabini Hall since he was in nappies and the décor hadn't really changed much since then. Looking around the familiar room, Draco couldn't help but smile at all the memories and still couldn't help but be impressed by it. Moving towards the door, Draco called out to his friends.

"OI! Blaise, Pansy…get your arses out here. I've got some interesting news for you guys." Draco then went to his favorite chair in the room and plopped himself down in it, awaiting the arrival of his friends. A moment later, Blaise's head house elf, Blinky, appeared in the room.

"Ah, Master Draco, what a pleasure it is to see you. My masters says to inform yous that they will be delayed in coming down," Blinky said after bowing to Draco. "They is also saying that I is to offer you some refreshments while you wait for them and that they thank you for being patient."

Smiling at Blinky, Draco said, "Refreshments are not necessary. Thank you for the offer though."

Blinky nodded and gave another low bow to Draco before walking out of the room. Watching the elf, Draco couldn't help but allow his mind to wander to a certain witch who had trapped and ensnared his heart four years ago with her kindness.

Flashback: Four Years Ago

The carnage was what one would call horrific. Everywhere Draco turned, he saw one mangled and disfigured body after another. All around him, people were crying out in pain or crying over the bodies of loved ones. Unable to deal with it all anymore, Draco pulled himself out of his parent's arms and walked out of the Great Hall and onto the grounds, unaware of the pair of eyes following him.

Stepping out onto the grounds, Draco realized that the carnage inside was nothing compared to what it was like outside. Draco couldn't walk more than two feet without seeing either a dead body, someone who was about to die, or a random body part. The evidence of giants were apparent as were the use of extremely dark curses. Coming upon a bench, Draco could do nothing more than drop onto it, put his head in his hands, and weep.

Draco had only been on the bench for about five minutes when he suddenly felt someone put their arms around him and rock him back and forth in an attempt to comfort him. All Draco could do was wrap his arms around the person and continue to cry on their shoulder. After about twenty minutes, Draco felt calm enough to look into the eyes of the person who had helped in ways that they wouldn't believe. Looking up, silver met brown and surprise became evident in Draco's eyes. Draco started to look away, unable to bear the anguish in her eyes when he felt her hands on his face, forcing him to look back at her.

"Look around you Draco. Do you now see what hate does? Do you now see what prejudice and bigotry can lead too? When you have children one day, I want you to think of this day and remember all that has happened before you start preaching to them about the 'superiority of having pureblood.' Remember what can be lost." Moved by her words, Draco felt himself start to weep again.

Looking at him for a moment, she wrapped her arms around Draco in another warm and comforting hug and pressed her lips to his forehead. As she stood up, she whispered into his ears, "I expect great things from you Draco." Smiling at him, she turned and went back into the school.

As he watched her walk away, Draco had no idea of knowing that it was in that moment his heart sealed itself to anyone but Hermione Jane Granger.

End Flashback

Draco was so absorbed in his thoughts of that fateful night, that he failed to notice Blaise and Pansy when they finally entered the parlor, both looking thoroughly exhausted and randy at the same time. Blaise walked up to Draco and lightly hit him upside the head to get his attention.

"Alright mate. We're here. What is this news you have for us?" Blaise went to his favorite chair and sat in it, pulling Pansy into his lap along the way. Draco glared at Blaise for hitting him but smiled at the love between his two best friends. Blaise and Pansy's marriage had been arranged since birth and Draco found it truly wonderful that they actually had been able to fall in love with each other along the way. He cringed however at the way that Blaise was currently ravishing Pansy's neck in a way that Draco was sure would make her explode with pleasure.

"Ok, one: Stop having sex when I'm in the room, and two: we're going to Potter's for breakfast on Saturday." Draco sat back to watch the reaction of the Zabini's.

Pansy looked at Draco and said, "One: we aren't having sex, although we probably are going to when you leave-"

"Ok, too much info, Pans."

Pansy smirked at Draco and continued. "And two, what's this about we are going to Potter's for breakfast on Saturday?"

Draco launched into what had occurred only an hour before, starting with Hermione running into him and Harry, him telling her about rescuing Teddy, and ending with Harry's invitation to breakfast on the following Saturday.

Blaise found himself intrigued enough to stop kissing Pansy neck and enter the conversation.

"So, did you tell Granger about how much you like her?"

Draco felt his cheeks grow warm and knew that he was blushing. "No," he mumbled.

"Oh, my, god. Never in my life did I think that I would see Draco Malfoy so nervous about telling a girl that he liked her," Pansy said in a teasing manner.

"Oh shut it Pans."

"She's got a point though, mate. In all the years that I've known you Dray, you have never been this shy about liking a girl. You've always made it known right away when you like someone and it took you two years to tell us that you liked Granger," Blaise said seriously.

Standing up and going to the window, Draco let out a frustrated sigh. "I know. It's just, that with her its different. We were enemies for so many years. I just don't know how I'm going to go about this."

Pansy stood up and went to Draco. She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. Stepping back to look at him, she smiled at him and said, "Don't worry Draco. If things are meant to be with you two, it will happen."

Blaise came up to stand beside his wife and said, "She's right mate. And if you want us with you on Saturday, we will definitely be there."

Draco smiled at his friends and wondered what he had done to deserve such good ones. "Thanks guys. You don't know how this means to me." He looked away from his friends to look out on the grounds and wonder what this breakfast was going to be like. After a moment, he turned to his friends and said, "Do you guys mind if I borrow your owl? I need to right a letter."

Meanwhile, at Hermione's:

"Oh my goodness, guys. I cannot believe that you guys actually tripped her and pushed her to the ground," Hermione said laughing, before taking on a more serious tone. "Seriously though, you need to be careful Gin. You know, with you being pregnant and all."

Ginny smiled at her friend and shook her head. "Trust me Hermione. I'm fine, the baby's fine, we are all fine."

Harry chose that moment to apparated into the room. He went to his wife hurriedly and placed his hand on her bulging stomach. "Is something wrong with the baby? Did something happen while I was gone?"

Ginny smiled and shook her head. "Nothing happened silly. Hermione was merely stating that I shouldn't fight while pregnant."

"Well, she is quite right," Harry said with a tone of mock seriousness, "We wouldn't want anything to happen to Daddy's little boy, now would we?"

"Keep dreaming, Harry," Ginny said. Her and Harry had been having these little play battles over the baby's sex since she found out that she was pregnant. Patting her stomach, Ginny said, "This one is going to be Daddy's little girl."

Hermione and Luna looked at each and just shook their heads. They both found the love between Harry and Ginny truly amazing and were sincerely happy for them. Hermione looked away from them for a moment and felt a lone tear run down her face. Before she could even wipe it away, she was engulfed in a hug by all three of her friends, which was quite uncomfortable since she had Ginny's stomach on her face, Harry's area on her forehead, and Luna's face was dangerously close to her nether regions.

"Don't be sad, Mione. We'll make it all better," Luna said. She had a pretty good idea what she was upset about and she was also sure that Ginny and Harry knew too. After removing herself from the others, Luna stood up and said, "Well, I better get going. Nev is probably wondering where I am. I'll see you all later."

Luna hugged Ginny and Hermione goodbye and kissed Harry on his cheek as she walked to the fireplace. She threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fire and stepped through the flames and was gone.

Hermione watched as Luna left and smiled. She looked at Ginny and Harry and said, "You know, I never in a million years thought that she would have ended up one of my really good friends. But now that she is, I'm really happy about it."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. "Trust me Mione, me and Ginny feel the same. Speaking of me and Ginny, we got to be going." Harry helped Ginny to her feet and went to the fireplace. Hermione kissed Harry and Ginny on their cheeks and watched as they left. As she walked back into the living room, she noticed an owl pecking at her window. She went to it and it flew into the room, dropped a letter on her table, and flew out of the window.

Intrigued, Hermione went and picked up the letter. She flipped it over a few times, wondering who might have sent her this letter and in the back of her mind, she was hoping that it wasn't Ron.

Before Hermione could open the letter however, there was a knock at her door. She went to the door and opened it.

"What the hell are you doing here," she said to an irritated looking Ron.

"I came to talk to you. Can I please come in," he asked while stepping through the door.

Hermione pushed him back out into the hall and said, "What the fuck do you think you are doing? I never said you could come in here."

Ron face flushed red with anger and he stepped closer to Hermione. "Let me in. We need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you Ronald." Hermione made to close the door when Ron slammed it open, stepped through the doorway and slammed it shut. As he stepped towards Hermione, she felt herself become very, very scared. She turned and ran into her room, with Ron hot on her heels, and locked the door with a locking spell that she knew Ron didn't know. She looked around for some parchment and a quill and quickly found one. She wrote a quick letter and sent it off with her owl to Harry.

Ron was now starting to pound on the door.

"OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR RIGHT NOW HERMIONE! DON"T MAKE ME SAY IT AGAIN!"

Hermione jumped at the roughness in Ron's voice and dropped to her knees and started crying. She sincerely hoped that her letter would reach help before Ron could make it through the door. Almost as soon as she finished that thought, the pounding on the door stopped and Ron's footsteps were heard walking down the hall. Hermione waited a few moments before going to the door and opening it cautiously. Ron wasn't around but Hermione wasn't too sure if he was still in the house or not. Unfortunately, Hermione had left her wand in the living room when she ran into her room. After a moment's hesitation, Hermione decided that she needed to go to the living room to get her wand if she truly wanted to be safe.

Making her way, cautiously down the hallway, Hermione was horrified to discover her living room smashed. Spotting her wand on her coffee table, Hermione started to make her way towards it when she was violently shoved to the ground. She turned around to see an irate Ron standing in front of her, a letter clenched in his hand.

"What the hell are you doing getting letters from Draco Malfoy? Who the fuck do you think you are? You embarrassed me today in public, and now I'm going to embarrass you," Ron said, while raising his fist high in the air and striking Hermione over and over again, ignoring her terrified screams of pain.

Back at Number 12 Grimmauld Place:

Almost as soon as Harry and Ginny stepped through the fireplace, it roared to life and the head of Draco Malfoy appeared in it.

"Hey guys, can I come on through?"

Harry looked to Ginny and she nodded her head. "Sure. Come on through."

A moment later, Draco stepped through the fireplace and into the parlor of Harry's home. He looked around and said, "You know, this place really is quite nice."

Ginny laughed and said, "Believe me Draco, it truly has come a long way." She turned the doorway as Kreacher the house elf appeared.

"Begging your pardon, Mistress, but an owl has just arrived in the kitchens."

"I'll be right there Kreacher. You can take the letter from it and give it some water before setting it free."

"Yes, Mistress. As you wish." Kreacher swept Harry, Draco, and Ginny all a low bow before heading out of the room to do what Ginny said.

Ginny turned to Harry and said, "I better go see what this is about. Must be important if it is coming this late in the morning." Ginny kissed her husband on the mouth, waved goodbye to Draco, and left the drawing room to go see about the letter.

Draco watched Ginny leave before turning to Harry. "She really is something special, mate." Harry smiled and said, "Yeah, I know. I'm lucky to have her." Harry went to his cabinet and got out a couple of butterbeers. He tossed one to Draco, who caught it in one hand, and went his favorite chair by the fire. He offered Draco the other seat and turned to him as he sat down.

"You know, Draco, at first when you told me about your feelings for Hermione, I was a little skeptical about it but after everything that has happened with Ron, I think that it would be good for her if you two tried dating. Especially after this afternoon. Getting her out of there like that I think will definitely help your cause," Harry said with a slight laugh. Draco smiled slightly and said, "I just want her to be happy. No matter what happens, all I want is for her-"

"HARRY! DRACO! GET IN HERE QUICK"

Harry and Draco tore out of the drawing room and appeared in the kitchen. Ginny was standing at the sink, with a letter in her hands, and a look of terror on her face. Harry took one look at the writing on the letter and felt all the color drain out of his face. Draco looked back and forth between husband and wife saying, "What? What's happened?"

Harry looked at Draco and said one word. "Hermione." With that Harry grabbed Draco's arm tightly and apparated to Hermione's front door. Standing outside the door, they could hear Hermione's terrified screams from the inside. Draco felt something snap inside of him and with a wave of his wand, blew the door off the hinges.

Ron, who was about to kick Hermione, looked up to see Draco Malfoy charge at him and tackle him as hard as he could. Before he could begin to pummel Ron, Draco was pulled off of him by Harry.

"Grab Hermione and get her back to my place. I'll deal with him," Harry said with a jerk of the head towards Ron.

Draco looked at harry and then looked at Ron. Unable to restrain himself, Draco punched Ron squarely in the face and gripped him up by the shirt collars. "If I ever in my life, see you anywhere near her again, I will castrate you. Don't touch her, don't look at her, don't even think about her. Do it, and I swear by all that is holy: I. Will. Fucking. Kill. You." Draco punched Ron in the face one last time before going to the broken and battered woman, who was currently unconscious, lying in a heap a few feet away.

Draco picked her up as gently as he could and cradled her in his arms. He went to the fireplace, threw some Floo Powder in it and appeared in the drawing room of Grimmauld Place. He gently placed the still unconscious Hermione on the softest looking couch in the room and went to the doorway.

"GINNY! Get in here quick and bring as many healing potions as you have." Draco started pacing around the drawing room when he heard someone call out to him.

"D-Dr-Draco? Is that you?"

Draco instantly went to Hermione's side. He dropped to his knees and grasped Hermione's tiny little hand in his own. Gently pushing the hair off of her forehead, he kissed it gently and said, "Don't worry, Mya, he won't ever hurt you again.

Hermione gave Draco a weak little smile and said, "Mya. I like it." She raised her hand to caress Draco's cheek. "You saved me Draco. You're my knight in shining armor."

Draco kissed Hermione's hand and said, "Likewise love. Likewise."

A/N: Ok, so this chapter turned out WAY different then I expected it to. When I orginally wrote it, I only had 1500 to 1700 words, but as I was typing it out on the computer, it became 3150 words. Ron beating up Hermione also came out of nowhere and was not in the original chapter. I got the inspiration for this turn of events while I was listening to the song 'Face Down'. I hope you all enjoy the chapter! Reviews are welcome!