Draco looked down at the beautiful dark haired girl stood next to him, hardly daring to believe she was still here and was not running away from him.

However, he thought guiltily, she looked as ill as he felt.

"Draco, can you please at least consider going to someone for help?" She begged, looking up at him; her hazel eyes wide with fear. "Even Dumbledore himself? He may be able to get you some kind of protection."

"No, Neve! I cannot risk the Dark Lord hurting my mother. And whilst my father is in Azkaban, the Dark Lord has been making his base in our home where my mother is all on her own. If I don't do this then he says he's going to kill all three of us. I cannot risk him killing my mother, I just can't!"

He could feel the panic rising and hardening in his chest. He found it difficult to breathe, convinced that his lungs were turning to lead.

Arms flung around him, and he sighed in relief at the feel of her; her touch, her scent, her everything calming him in an instant.

"It's okay," she whispered, her voice muffled in his shirt as he held her fiercely to his chest, "you've still got me. I'm here for you, Draco."

But this just made him cry harder. He was selfishly placing her in danger and he hated himself for being too weak to do this alone.

It didn't matter how much they loved one another, he should never be putting her in this position.

"Have you eaten?" she asked, confusing Draco with the question; he had just told her that he was on a mission to kill their headteacher and she was enquiring about his eating habits.

He shook his head, blinking down at her. He suddenly realised she was dressed as though she was off to a party. "Neve, why are you wearing a ballgown?"

"Oh!" She blushed, looking down at the white dress in surprise as if she'd only just realised. "Um... I had the dormitory to myself... so I thought I'd practice a bit of dancing."

Her cheeks went bright crimson and she looked away embarrassed. Despite the dire situation they were in, Draco couldn't help but find a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

"Alone?" he asked, curiously.

"Umm... with Trevor." She blushed again.

He didn't think it was possible he could fall any more in love with her. But in that moment, he did.

*****

The Katie Bell incident was all anyone talked about the next morning at breakfast.

"Malfoy did it." Harry said matter-of-factly, jabbing a sausage in the air as I took my seat next to Hermione.

Ron and Hermione both immediately moaned at him to give it a rest, and I found my heart hammering uneasily against my ribcage.

"Why are you so sure of that?" I dared asked, trying not to tremble as I spread butter on my toast.

"Oh, come on," Harry scoffed, energetically dipping his sausage in brown sauce. "It's so obvious, that he may as well get it tattooed on his forehead to match the one on his arm."

"Harry," Hermione sighed, "just because you saw him once in Borgin and Burke's doesn't mean he's a Death Eater!"

"TWICE!" Harry bellowed so loudly that I almost toppled from my seat in fright. "And that first time he was eyeing up a necklace!"

"Perhaps he thought it went with his eyes?" Ron shrugged as he shovelled scrambled egg in his mouth.

"YOU'LL ALL BE SORRY WHEN I'M PROVEN RIGHT AND YOU ALL WRONG!" Harry roared, throwing a filthy look to the Slytherin table where Draco was sat looking as white as a ghost.

I glanced sympathetically over to him, wondering just how much sleep he had ended up getting in the end.

I had stayed with him until late in the night, and I only left because he insisted I get back to the Gryffindor tower before curfew.

"You're not getting into trouble for me, Neve," he had insisted. "It's bad enough you know what I'm doing."

I couldn't bear leaving him, he was clearly so upset by everything, that I just wanted to stay in his arms and comfort him.

He had delved into his pocket and retrieved a handful of Every Flavour beans, which he placed in my hand. "For Trevor," he murmured, pressing his lips against my forehead. "Tell him I miss him."

Trevor had been over the moon when I fed them to him in bed that night. I promised I'd take him to see Draco the following day.

And that was exactly was how I was planning to spend my Sunday.

As soon as I finished breakfast, I hurriedly left the table where Harry was still harping on about Draco the Death Eater, and went running up to the tower to grab Trevor.

Draco was already on the seventh floor waiting for me by the time I got there. His face, which was looking pensive, instantly softened when he saw me approaching.

As soon as he conjured the door and led us inside, he pulled me into his arms, connecting his lips hungrily to mine.

"I've brought Trevor," I said, my voice muffled against his mouth. "He missed you."

Draco broke the kiss, his lips tugging into a smile as he looked down at me, his silver eyes twinkling in mine. "I've missed him too, I've missed both of you so much."

I felt my heart swell with love as Draco scooped Trevor out of my satchel, who had been poking his head out hopefully.

After getting his beans, Trevor hopped off into the depths of the room, no doubt to do some exploring, leaving Draco and I alone.

"Harry reckons he knows you're a Death Eater," I warned him as he took my hand, leading me over to the sofa by the cabinet. "He was telling anyone who'd listen at breakfast that you cursed Katie Bell. Don't worry," I added hurriedly when Draco look back at me in alarm, "everyone thinks he's completely gaga."

"That twat needs to learn to keep his nose out of my business," Draco snarled, throwing himself down on the sofa and pulling me onto his lap.

He started immediately to nibble at my neck, making me sigh blissfully as his arms tightened around me.

"Draco, shouldn't we- um... discuss what we're going to do?" I tried to say as his attack on my neck became more intense.

"Mmmm hmmm," he hummed against my skin, not even making an attempt to stop.

He started to push my back down on the sofa, his kissing getting frenzied as he connected his lips back to mine, shifting himself on top of me; pinning me down with his body.

"Draco-" I shuddered, half drowning in him, and half screaming in my head that this was probably not the best idea right now.

"Baby, I've missed you so much," he growled hoarsely, pressing his hips into mine, making me gasp out loud at the hardness straining through his trousers.

"Draco- stop!" I gasped against his mouth which seemed intent on devouring me.

But he continued, his kissing becoming more forceful as he moaned into my mouth, grinding himself harder against me.

With great effort, I managed to wangle my hands up to his shoulders and forcibly push him off me.

"Draco!" I gasped again, trying to control the heavy rising and falling of my chest.

He shook his head slightly, as if bringing himself to; his grey eyes flashing confusedly down at me. "Shit... Neve, I'm sorry," he panted breathlessly.

Climbing off of me, he sat forward, putting his head in his hands. "Shit," he repeated. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

Feeling flustered, I sat up, straightening out my very crumpled blouse as my heart raced uncomfortably in my chest.

"Draco, I'm sorry," I panted. "This is just moving too fast. After... after last time, I-"

"You don't have to explain," Draco said hurriedly, lifting his head to look at me; his face pinched in pain as he took my hands in his. "The way I treated you... it was wrong. And I'm so sorry how I hurt you."

"It's okay," I said, gently squeezing his hands in mine. "It's just that this time yesterday, I thought you didn't want anything to do with me. It's a lot to take in."

"I promise," he said solemnly, pressing his forehead down on mine, "that I will treat you like the princess you are, Neve... my beautiful frog princess."

I blinked, looking up at him. "What did you call me?"

"My frog princess..." he trailed off, suddenly looking embarrassed. "It's um... something I call you in my head. It's daft... I know-"

"It was you, wasn't it?" I said, realisation hitting me. "You sent me the Mimbulus mimbletonia."

Then what gift had Harry been going on abou- and I suddenly realised; the stupid badge!

"Oh Draco, why didn't you tell me?" I asked aghast after he had coyly nodded. "I thought Harry had sent it!"

"Because I'm a bloody idiot," Draco snorted, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me into his side.

"Actually, I think that's me," I laughed softly, nuzzling my face into his neck.

"Well, as long as we're each other's bloody idiots, I'm okay with that," Draco murmured in my ear, tightening his arm a fraction.

"I'm good with that," I whispered, lifting my face so that our eyes fixed intensely on one another.

And, as euphoria over took me upon his lips connecting back with mine, I could almost forget the Vanishing Cabinet looming down ominously over us; a dark shadow casting over our fleeting moment of happiness.

*****