I have to confess...I hit writer's block the other day. It was bound to happen, right? Right. So I spent the day racking my brain, trying to figure out why I was having a problem. After rereading my entire story, I realized that I felt like my characters were getting a little too comfortable, thus becoming boring. Ultimately, after going back and forth about it all morning, I decided to do what I did, in hopes that there is little retaliation. I have Chapter 25 nearly finished, and it'll probably be posted on Monday. But I will say this - if you hate it - I'll delete the chapter as if it never happened and try again. I feel like I have too many readers invested to send all of you off the reservation.

Ok. You can read now...

"You have a minute?"

Draco nodded, waving Harry into his office without bothering to look up. Harry shut the door behind him and sat down on the couch. It wasn't until Draco looked up from his desk that he saw Harry with a completely disturbed look on his face, holding his wand horizontal with both hands at his knees. Tossing his quill on the desk, Draco stared at his friend. "Everything ok?"

"Not even close."

"Is it Ginny? The kids?"

Harry quickly shook his head. "No - nothing like that." With a flourish of his wand, he threw a silencing charm around Draco's office. "I uh…I just came out of a meeting."

Draco was nervous at the sight of the silencing charm. "I've got to admit, Potter - you're kind of unnerving me right now."

"Well, I'm not much better," Harry confessed. "I uh, we had an interesting report cross the desk today in the auror office. Kingsley's office really - that's how it got to me - and I…I could hardly believe it at first. I honestly though Kingsley was yanking my chain."

"Harry. You're now scaring the shit out of me," Draco stated. "Just spit it out."

Harry looked up at Draco. "You're going to think I'm barking mad. Completely mental."

"Try me."

"The Ministry has received information that claims that your father might not exactly be dead."

"And by not exactly dead you mean - "

"Alive."

The room was silent before Draco's uncontrollable laughter cut through the air like a knife. Harry sat, stoically watching Draco as he doubled over, smacking a hand on the desk a few times for good measure as he wiped the tears away with a thumb and forefinger. "I've must tell you," he managed to speak in between chuckles. "If that's your idea of a joke then you need to spend more time with George. Hilarious, yes, but completely unbelievable."

Harry uncomfortably cleared his throat. "I wish I were kidding, Malfoy."

Draco's laughter died down, his eyes locking with Harry's, seeing the seriousness across his face. "This isn't possible. He died. At St. Mungo's. The man died. I was at the funeral."

"Did you see a body in the casket?"

"Of course not!" Draco screeched. "I wasn't even at the hospital. Mother was. She arranged the entire thing. I doubt she cried that many tears over an empty casket."

Harry swallowed hard before continuing. "The hospital report says that no one was in the room when he died. Your mother had stepped out to speak with a nurse - or - she was berating a nurse about something. When the healers rushed in to check on him and told her he passed, she refused to see him."

Draco vehemently shook his head, holding his hands up. "This is rubbish, Potter. There is no way my father has spent the last three years hiding. If he were hiding, he would have been hiding in squaller. It's positively beneath him!"

"I know this sounds insane - believe me. I spent forty-five minutes in the past hour saying all of this. But the raid - the one I was injured at - during the interrogations of some of the former death eaters captured, two of them mentioned Lucius Malfoy and that he wasn't dead. Ever since then, there's been a team looking into hit, and yesterday, well…they claim they found him."

Draco looked at Harry. "Where are they claiming they found him?"

Harry cleared his throat again. "A cottage in a secluded area of Normandy, France."

He felt like he'd been punched in the stomach, and it took everything he had to suppress the urge to vomit. His memory recoiled to a moment right before the rise of Voldermort, overhearing a heated conversation between his parents outside of their father's study.

"We can go to the safe house," Narcissa pleaded. "We can go to the safe house and take Draco with us until this is over."

"Do you honestly think that the Dark Lord won't find us?" Lucius spat. "He gets what he wants, Narcissa."

"My son is just a boy!" she cried. "Do not pull him into this nonsense - it's bad enough you're so far in - "

"You don't think I know that!" he bellowed.

"Lower your voice, Lucius. If you continue to yell Draco will know something is wrong."

"He's been assigned to kill Dumbledore, Narcissa. He's not a boy anymore. He's a bloody man and he will do as the Dark Lord wishes. Stop treating him like a child."

Narcissa gasped. "How…you promised. You promised Lucius! You promised to keep him safe!"

"Will you shut up your blubbering trap!" Lucius groused.

"Please," she begged. "Let's go to Normandy. Let me take our son to the safe house."

"What's done is done, Narcissa. Accept it. You'll only make it worse if you don't."

Draco peeked through the cracked door and saw his mother jab a finger into his father's chest. "If you aren't willing to protect my son, believe me I will find a way to do it myself."

"Narcissa, love, you aren't fooling anyone," Lucius mocked. "You can't save Draco from his fate."

"Watch me," she spat, striking him across the face swiftly with a crack. "I will find a way to protect my son."

"No one is going to bring him in," Harry clarified, pulling Draco out of his fog. "He's technically not done anything wrong at the moment. We just…when the aurors in the interrogation heard that he was alive, Kingsley asked for it to be looked into."

Draco scowled. "Couldn't leave well enough alone?"

"He's incredibly concerned about you," Harry replied. "He did it for your own good."

"Fucking hell," he muttered. He began to pace in his office, no longer able to sit still. "I don't understand," he said after a few minutes. "He was sick. Something about a curse that rebounded during the final battle…he spent nearly a year and a half after the war ended ill from it. I was specifically told that it was what killed him."

Harry sighed. "Like it or not, your father was - is a skilled wizard. If he wanted to fake his own death, he probably had people in place to help him pull it off."

"But why!" Draco boomed. "Why in the fuck would anyone do that?"

"That…" Harry said, his voice trailing off momentarily. "Would be a question only one person could answer."

He collapsed onto the couch next to Harry, his body bent so his head was between his knees. Harry gave him a reassuring clap on his shoulder. "You're sure he's alive."

"Yeah," Harry reluctantly replied.

"How am I going to tell my mother? Fuckin' hell - how am I going to tell Hermione? She will freak. What if she breaks off the engagement? She's never going to marry me now!"

"Whoa," Harry said, pulling Draco upright. "Give Hermione some credit. She's not going to abandon you."

"I would if I was her!" he exclaimed. "I'd fucking leave so fast that my own head would spin as I bolted out the door!" Slouching against the back of the couch, he forcefully dragged his hands through his hair. "What in the fuck am I going to do?"

Harry sighed. "I don't know. But under no circumstances are you to go and see him - alone that is. Do you understand me? Kingsley has already sent aurors out to your mother's house and to yours to add extra wards of protection as a precaution."

Draco looked at Harry. "Why the extra protection?"

"Like I said - Kingsley is just worried. The man was supposed to be dead and he isn't. Regardless of his intentions, it's still a bit unnerving." Harry stood up, shoving his wand in his pocket. "Look - only you, me, Kingsley, and two other high ranking aurors know about your father. If you want this left alone - it's your call. Kingsley and I won't say a word, and neither will the aurors."

He exhaled with frustration. "I want to leave this alone. I just don't know if I can live with knowing."

"I figured that'd be your answer."

"Can I just - just give me a minute," Draco stammered. "I need to think."

Harry nodded. "I'll be in my office. Find me when you're ready."

Draco sat in silence, not moving from the sofa for nearly and hour and a half. His mind was completely void of everything except for the one question consuming him. He didn't understand the motive. He didn't understand what could possibly make his father fake his own death. None of this made any sense, but he didn't want to ask the one person who could clarify it all. He was also terrified that Hermione would panic and leave him - and if she did, he could hardly blame her. Winning his mother over was one thing. The fact that Hermione was able to accomplish it and establish a real relationship was completing the impossible. His father on the other hand - it made him ill thinking about it.

Another half hour passed. The only thing changed was Draco's appearance - his vest unbuttoned, his tie undone. A knock on the door caught his attention. "Draco?" he heard Hermione's muffled voice. "Draco are you in there?"

"Yeah," he croaked out. He didn't bother unlocking it. Hermione was the brightest witch of their age. She'd figure it out. Two seconds later, she was inside, incredibly concerned as she look one look at him, wand in hand. "I feel like shit," he said, figuring it was the easiest half-truth he could come up with on the spot.

She frowned. "I figured something was wrong. You were supposed to meet me for lunch. I was concerned when you forgot. That's not like you."

He nodded. "I'm sorry."

Hermione sat down next to him, still eyeing him. He swiveled in place, lying down with his head in her lap. Hermione locked his office door back with her wand to give them some privacy as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Did you feel this way this morning?"

He shook his head no.

"You don't feel warm," she said, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead.

"It's not that kind of ill."

She frowned. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Draco shook his head. "I can't tell you."

"You can tell me anything."

"I can't tell you this!" he snapped.

"Draco," she whispered soothingly, an arm of hers draped across his chest, a hand on top of his heart. He looked away from her, but grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with it. "Whatever it is - we can fix it."

He closed his eyes, practically hugging her arm as he continued to face away from Hermione. Draco wanted to just absorb as much of her touch as he could, fearful it could disappear the moment he found the nerve to tell her. Hermione concern for Draco was mounting, though she was fearful to push the subject considering he'd snapped at her moments ago. So she continued to do the only thing she could, which was comforting him while suppressing the urge to beat whatever was wrong out of him. Hermione knew he was beside himself when he issued his mother an ultimatum regarding his relationship with her, but she'd never seen him like this.

Draco knew he had to figure out how to pull himself together - steel himself - before he told Hermione. He didn't know what her reaction was going to be, but the two of them could not be experiencing a meltdown at the same time. Neither of them were emotionally stable enough to handle that type of interaction. He hugged her arm against his chest tightly a final time before sitting up. He looked at her, reaching to hold onto both of her hands.

"Draco, you're scaring me," Hermione whispered.

He swallowed hard. "Look - I haven't even processed what I'm about to say to you yet."

"Ok," Hermione said, squeezing his hands. "Whatever it is - we can fix it."

"I'm not sure there is anything to fix," he warned.

She furrowed her brow. "You don't have some sort of illegitimate child running about that you just found out about do you?"

Draco couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "At this moment, I wish I was going to tell you that."

Hermione made a face. "Does this have to do with Harry avoiding me?"

"Harry's avoiding you?"

"Yes. All day. Kingsley too, come to think of it. I had a meeting with him this morning that he abruptly cancelled without reason. Though being the Minister, I suppose he doesn't need a reason," Hermione rambled.

"Hermione?"

"Sorry. I got off track."

"My father isn't dead."

Hermione froze. He bit his lips together, refusing to speak until she did. "But…he's…"

He felt her hands grip his harder. "Kingsley heard through some aurors after the raid that Harry was injured in that someone commented that he was still alive. They apparently just confirmed it. He's at a family safe house in Normandy. It's practically impossible to find."

"Oh my…Draco…" she said, her voice subdued. "No wonder you're a mess."

He gave her a weak smile. "I was more a mess about you than I was about him."

"Me?" she questioned.

"I don't want you to leave me," he said, his voice pleading.

Hermione looked down at her hands in his, then back to him. "You're certain he's alive."

"If Kingsley and Harry believe it, I do," was the best answer he had.

She sighed. "Should I be scared?"

"I honestly don't know," Draco replied.

"Are you scared?"

"Of Father? No. I don't think so. He's been off the grid for three years. I feel like if he wanted to do something, he would have. I'm only afraid about you. Losing you. I feel like this changes…everything."

Hermione threw her arms around him, catching him off guard as she hugged him tight. He instinctively wrapped his strong arms around her waist and choked out a sob. "This changes lots of things," she whispered in his ear. "But it doesn't change how much I love you."

"Promise?" he asked, trying to unsuccessfully stifle a sniffle.

"Promise," Hermione replied.

By the end of the day, Draco decided that Harry and Kingsley could tell his mother. He didn't have it in him to do it, and quite frankly - he had no idea how to even broach the subject. Instead, he stood along the wall in the living room, his hands in his pockets, while his mother sat on the couch, her back straight as a board as Kingsley explained the entire story later that evening. Hermione brought a tray of tea into the room, setting it on the coffee table separating Narcissa from the men. She poured Narcissa a cup of tea and dropped a lump of sugar into it - just how she liked it. "Here, Mother," she said quietly, handing her the cup and saucer.

Narcissa smiled sweetly at Hermione. "You called me Mother…"

Hermione let out a nervous laugh. "I did? I'm so sorry - "

"Don't be," Narcissa said. "I rather liked hearing it."

"You said it the other day," Draco added quietly, the only thing he'd said since Harry and Kingsley arrived at his house.

Hermione smiled, looking at Narcissa. "Can I get you anything else, Mother?"

"No, dear, but thank you," she politely replied. Taking a sip, she looked back at Harry and Kingsley.

"I must say," Kingsley said, appearing to choose his words carefully. "You're taking this…well."

"To be honest, I don't know what to say to this," Narcissa stated. "But I know what I'm going to do."

Draco looked over at his mother. "Mother, I implore you not to go."

"If you're father is in that house, Draco, he has a lot of explaining to do," Narcissa snapped. "You might not have missed the man over the years but he was my husband! I demand answers!"

Hermione walked over to where Draco was standing, slipping an arm around his waist as he reciprocated the affection. "Mother," Draco said again. "I do not want you going there. Do you understand me? At least not alone."

Harry nodded. "I agree with Draco, Mrs. Malfoy. I don't know what you're husband's up to, but I don't think it's a good idea to go alone."

"Draco." Narcissa stated. "Draco can come with me."

"I'd prefer an auror," Kingsley said.

"Mr. Potter can come along then," Narcissa decided. "Either way - I'm finding him and demanding answers. After everything he has put this family through - he doesn't get to shrink away and hide like a bloody coward!"

Kingsley stood from his chair, smoothing out his blue robes with his hands. "Mrs. Malfoy, might I suggest I pay the man a visit, and instead, bring him to you. I believe an ambush on a man secluded for the past three years is asking for trouble."

"How secluded could he have been if someone knew he wasn't dead?" Narcissa asked.

"He obviously had help, Mother," Draco interjected. "Even he couldn't pull this off on his own."

Narcissa sighed. Hermione could see that Narcissa realized no one was letting her leave the house. Standing to her feet, she stared pointedly at Harry and at the Minister. "You have until noon tomorrow to bring him to me. I don't care what you have to do to do it - if he appears here black and blue then so be it. At least that way, when I get my hands on him, I can't do much more damage."

Harry and the Minister stood in place, staring back at Narcissa. "I'm not sure we can force him -"

She cut Kingsley off with a wave of her hand. "Either he comes here or I go there. Trust me when I say he'll come."

"What makes you think so?" Harry asked.

"Because he knows if I go there, he'll wish he really was dead," Narcissa simply stated. She moved towards Draco and Hermione, grabbing her son's hand in one and her future daughter-in-law's hand with the other. "This doesn't change anything," she said, focusing her attention on Hermione.

Draco couldn't contain his scoff. "This changes everything, Mother."

Narcissa vehemently shook her head. "This changes nothing. Do you understand me?"

Draco said nothing. Instead, he tightened his hold on Hermione and kissed the top of her head. Hermione on the other hand, nodded at Narcissa. "I can have Jori prepare a guest room for you and send her to your home for some of your things. I think we'd both like it if you stayed tonight."

Nodding, Narcissa agreed. "I think I'm going to go upstairs and draw a bath." She turned at looked at Harry and the Minister. "Noon tomorrow," she warned. "Or else I go."

Kingsley nodded. "We will see you tomorrow at twelve sharp."

Narcissa disappeared upstairs, and Hermione left to find Jori. Draco looked over at Harry and Kingsley. "I don't know if I want Harry going. It's nothing against you - I just can't face your wife if something happens."

"I don't think - "

"No offense, Harry," Draco said, cutting Harry off. "But you've not seen the full extent of what he is capable of."

Kingsley rocked back and forth on his feet, staring at Draco. "I will go with a team of aurors, but I believe Harry will be most helpful in getting him to come back. I won't let anything happen to him."

"Fine," Draco groused.

"Everything is going to be fine," Harry said.

"Everyone needs to stop saying that. You know how ridiculous it sounds? Everything is not fine," Draco retorted. "I wish this had never happened."

"It wasn't my intention to meddle," Kingsley spoke, softly but firmly. "But either we knew now and told you, or someday, you and your mother both would have been blindsided. Hermione too. I'm certain that would have been worse."

Draco sighed. "I know."

"Get some sleep," Harry urged. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Right. Sleep," he scoffed.

Kingsley exited through the floo, and Harry went around testing the wards a final time before bidding both Draco and Hermione good night. By the time Hermione got Narcissa settled in for the evening, she found Draco showered and in bed, clad only in a towel as he rested on top of the bedding, mindlessly flipping through the channels on the telly mounted to the wall. She took one look at him and sighed softly before retreating to the bathroom, shedding her clothes from the day and slipping into a white nightdress. Pushing her hair back with a headband, she scrubbed her face and brushed her teeth.

"Are you sure you aren't hungry?" she asked as she walked back into the bedroom. She was carrying a pair of boxers for him in her hand, tossing them onto the bed. "You barely touched your dinner."

He shook his head, dazed as he faced the telly. "I'm fine."

She crawled onto the bed, sitting on her knee so that she intentionally blocked his view of the telly. "Roll over," she instructed.

"I'm trying to watch - "

"You're not watching anything," she said. "Roll over."

"Hermione I'm honestly not in the mood."

She gave him a look, tilting her head as she stared. "You are so tense that I can feel it radiating in this room. You won't fall asleep like that - I know you. So do as your told and roll over!"

He grumbled out the word "fine," rolling over onto his back. Hastily, Draco grabbed a pillow and hugged it as he felt Hermione crawl on top of him, straddling him as her fingers began to knead into his stiff shoulders.

"Relax," she instructed, kissing the back of his neck.

Draco let out a sigh, loosening the hold he had on the pillow as he gave into the touch of her hands. He let out a groan every time her thumbs found a knot, wincing as she melted them away with her fingers. She inched her way down his back, shoving away her own emotions to the back of her mind as she took care of Draco. As many times as he'd taken care of her, it was her turn to do the same. By the time she was done with him, his back and arms were like jello, just as she had planned. She continued to massage his shoulders until she heard a shift in his groans, sounding less like pleasure and more like restraint. Climbing off of him, she grabbed his shoulder and pulled on it so he would roll back over.

She watched him as she removed his towel, finding him completely aroused. Hermione wrapped a hand around his erection and began to pump it slowly. Carefully, she nestled herself on her knees between his legs, placing kisses on his stomach as her hand continued to move up and down his length. Before he could argue, she wrapped her mouth around him, taking as much of his erection into her as she could, moving up and down as she sucked softly.

As her teeth lightly grazed against his sensitive skin, Draco grabbed a pillow and held it over his face, smothering his moans so that his mother didn't come barging in. Of course as he thought of that - he realized his mother walking in on Hermione with his dick in her mouth was probably the only thing that could make the day worse. Blindly, he reached for his wand, his hips involuntarily bucking as Hermione sucked harder. As he found the wand, he shot a locking charm on the door before his wand. Topping it with a silencing charm for good measure, he dropped his wand and moved the pillow. He let her continue, pulling her headband out of her hair and tossing it away so he could run his fingers through her hair. As he felt himself get close, he tensed up. "Stop, stop, stop -"

She paused briefly, letting her hand take back over for her mouth. "I'm not stopping."

"But I want you -"

"Let me take care of you," she said, staring right at him.

He sat up and grabbed her arms, pulling her up to him. Kissing her hard on the mouth, she held onto him as he snaked his hands up her nightdress. His tongue plunged into her mouth as he engulfed her and the taste of her peppermint toothpaste. She was without knickers, though he couldn't think of the last time she slept with any on, which only increased his desire to take her. "Nothing turns me on more than you," he whispered in between gasping for breath. "I can't live without you."

She peeled her nightdress up and over her head, tossing it towards the end of the bed. "It's a good thing I plan on sticking around then."

He rolled them over so that she was on bottom. "Roll over," he whispered, giving her enough room so she could rotate. Hermione did as she was told and Draco pulled her hips up so that she was on her knees. Caressing her bum, he kissed the small of her back as he touched her, excited as how ready she was despite trying to be completely selfless earlier. Propping herself up on her elbows, she gasped as he found her entrance. He was never behind her unless they were in the shower, but this new angle was enough to send Hermione over the edge sooner than she anticipated. She squeezed herself around him with each thrust, gasping as he hit her spot each time. Grabbing her hips, Draco pulled her into him faster as he sped up his pace. "Hermione!" he grunted as he heard her pant.

"Harder," she begged. "Please!"

She didn't have to tell him twice. He began to thrust into her so hard and fast that his movements went from fluid to sloppy, but he couldn't control himself. She screamed as she came, and Draco felt himself crash into her a final time, holding her hips tightly as he rode out his orgasm, pouring into her. He pulled out of her, muttered a cleaning spell, and collapsed next to her. With his toes, he grabbed her nightdress and bent his knee towards him so he could grab it and hand it to her before snagging his boxers. Once they were clothed again, Draco pulled them both under the covers. He wrapped his body around her protectively, kissing her shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere," Hermione reassured him.

He exhaled deeply, relaxing as she nestled her body against his. "Knowing what I have with you, knowing that what I didn't think was possible is…I meant what I said. I can't live without you."

She kissed the arm that held her in his cage of arms and legs. "I refuse to live without you."

As if those were the magic words, Draco hugged her close, his eyes drifting shut. It wasn't long before the two of them drifted into a deep slumber, neither of them sure what tomorrow would bring.