A/N: Cute fluffy chapter alert! This is actually one of my favorite chapters so I hope you guys enjoy it. Also, I just realized how many people I have following this story: over 150! That's more than All's Fair and Old Friends combined! You guys are amazing! Thanks for all the love! Also, Happy Mother's Day! Have a great Sunday!

Tallyho!

Chapter 12:

The weeks dragged on as December came closer and no news of the rescue mission for Draco's mother came. He began to get irritable and could never sit still in one place for long. Even the piano, his sanctuary and escape for the last four months since he had arrived, could no longer ease his troubled mind. Hermione was able to keep him calm for the most part but occasionally, she'd drag Draco to a secluded room in the house where she would allow him to yell, rant, and punch all the walls he wanted without getting into an altercation with the boys.

After an argument between Draco and Ron almost came to blows one day, however, Hermione decided that letting Draco rant wasn't the best decision to keep him distracted. She took him to his (well, their) bedroom, locked the door and placed a silencing charm around the room; she turned to find him standing with his arms crossed and his breathing heavy.

"What are we doing in here, Granger?"

She stood up tall and put her chin out. "I'm going to teach you how to conjure a Patronus."

He scoffed. "Now?"

"Yes. Now. I've been waiting because I wanted to make sure that you were ready but you need a distraction and this is the best thing to distract you. Plus it also counts as training which we need to catch up on."

He stared at her, his breathing still heavy but slowing down. He remained silent for a moment before huffing in frustration and dropping his arms. "Fine."

"Good." she nodded. She walked towards him as he pulled his wand out of his pocket. "First thing's first:" she said as she put her hands on his shoulders and smiled as he immediately relaxed under her touch, "you need to be calm. Take a deep breath."

He complied. "Good," she said moving behind him but keeping her hands on his shoulders, "now you need to think of a good memory. A happy memory. Dementors hate light so the better the memory, the brighter the Patronus. Once you have that memory, put your wand out and say Expecto Patronum."

He closed his eyes as he thought of a memory that would be good enough for a Patronus. He thought of his childhood and of his mother teaching him to play piano. He thought of her smile and her hugs. Her soft humming as she wandered around Malfoy Manor and the way her voice sounded when she read to him as a child. Thinking about her made his heart hurt but he kept replaying the memories, hoping it would be strong enough.

Taking a deep breath, he extended his arm and spoke the incantation. "Expecto Patronum!"

A small sliver of light appeared from the end of his wand but it faded as quickly as it appeared. Draco groaned as he dropped his arm. Hermione's hands moved from his shoulders to his arms as she rubbed up and down them soothingly. "That was good." she said. "Not many people can get even a flicker on their first try."

"It wasn't good enough, though." he said bitterly.

She kissed the crook where his neck met his shoulder. "Practice makes perfect. If I may ask, what did you think about?"

He turned around and placed his hands around her waist as he pulled her close. He took a deep breath before responding. "My mother," he confessed. "I thought about… the good memories I had of her; mostly from when I was a child."

Hermione's eyes softened. "I'm sure those are beautiful memories." she said.

He merely nodded. She took a deep breath. "They may not be strong enough though. Maybe try something else?"

He nodded and took a deep breath before turning back around. Hermione kept her hands on his shoulders for reassurance. He closed his eyes again as he tried to think of another memory. He tried any memories he had of his school years but quickly pushed them away when he realized most of his school year memories involved bullying people; his girlfriend, most of all.

Suddenly, something went off in his mind. Just thinking of her in passing made him want to smile. So he tried the memories of Hermione: the Yule Ball during their Fourth Year when she looked like a princess, her smile, their first kiss, all the nights they spent tangled together, the way she looked when she first woke up in the morning, the way she bit her lip when she was concentrating, the way she believed in him and trusted him, the way she treated the Dark Mark on his arm as if it were nothing. The final reassurance for him was the small circles she was creating with her hands on his back at the moment. With a surge of strength, he took a deep breath and tried the spell again.

"Expecto Patronum!" he yelled.

Suddenly, a bright white figure appeared out of the end of Draco's wand. The light quickly took shape into a creature no bigger than Crookshanks.

A fox.

The small animal danced around the room as trickles of light followed it. Hermione smiled and laughed as the fox circled her and Draco. He stared at it in disbelief; he had done it. He had actually conjured a Patronus. A smile grew on his face as he stared at the creature in front of him. It stared back at him with wide silver eyes that matched the rest of its body.

He could understand why Dementors hated Patronuses. The little creature beamed with so much happiness, Draco's happiness, that any creature that fed off fear and negativity would be incinerated on site by the small animal and the positivity it was showing. Draco sighed in content as he waved his wand and the fox vanished.

He looked at Hermione who was beaming. "I knew you could do it." she said confidently.

He smirked at her. Grabbing her by the waist, he tackled her onto the bed. She squealed with laughter as he laid kisses all along her neck and on her mouth. Hermione ensured that the silencing charm was still in effect before tossing her and Draco's wands aside and succumbed to his kisses.

They found themselves tangled in the sheets once again, Hermione's head lying on Draco's chest as he played with her hair. He was humming quietly to himself as she was soothed by the steady beat of his heart. She sighed as she nuzzled closer to him causing a small smile to form on his lips.

"Draco."

"Hm?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you thinking about when you conjured your Patronus?"

His hand stopped playing with her hair for a moment before his fingers wrapped themselves in her curls again. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

She chuckled. "Try me."

He took a deep breath before answering. He wasn't sure why but telling her what enabled him to conjure his Patronus seemed… well, intimate. Not that what they had been doing for the past two months wasn't intimate but this… this confirmed that what he felt for her was stronger than just a basic attraction. He cared for her more than he could say and being away from her made him feel uncomfortable. She had become a part of him; she saved his life, cared for him, protected him, was his friend. No, friend wasn't the proper word. She wasn't just a companion nor was she just a lover, she was so much more than that. She was… there wasn't a word to describe what she was to him. She was just a part of him and his life and he knew now that the didn't want to let her go; he wouldn't let her go.

He knew then in that moment that he loved her. It wasn't any big revelation like in books; the world didn't change right before his eyes, his breath wasn't swept away from him, and his heart didn't start to beat so rapidly that he thought it would burst. Instead, it was just a simple realization, as if remembering something once forgotten. He couldn't describe it; he just knew that when he wanted to be the only pair of lips she ever kissed, the only one she ever made love with, the only one whom she would smile at with absolute trust and adoration. He wanted to be the one she woke up to everyday for the rest of their lives.

He wanted to love her in every way he could until his last breath.

And he would. Merlin as his witness, he would.

"You." he finally confessed.

She looked up at him. "M-me?" she asked confused.

He nodded. "Told you you wouldn't believe me."

She rolled onto her stomach and scooted to where they were face to face. "Why me?"

He smirked. "Isn't it obvious, Hermione?"

She blinked. He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. "You are the light in my darkness." he whispered.

She gasped and Draco's brow furrowed. Before he had a chance to speak, however, Hermione's lips met his. He didn't have to hear her words to know that what he felt for her was requited. Though neither had uttered those three little words that people waited their entire lives to hear, they knew that they loved each other deeply and passionately. This was no longer a simple crush between two teenagers; this was love between two people who would go to the ends of the earth to protect one another.

When they pulled out of the kiss for air, Hermione rubbed her thumb across Draco's cheek as one of his hands was tangled in her hair while the other lightly drew patterns on the small of her back.

"And you are mine." she whispered.