"There is an indentation in the shape of you

Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo"

Narcissa hadn't let go of Lily's hand since they'd been escorted to Dumbledore's office. Even when Harry and Draco had been dragged, literally kicking and screaming about how they needed to go back and help, into the office by Severus, Lily had kept a firm hand on the small of her friends back.

Draco had rushed into his mother's arms, reminiscent of when he was younger and clung to her as he shook.

Eventually the boys, passed out - Narcissa couldn't blame them. She wanted nothing more to climb into her bed, keep Draco within easy reach and never leave it again.

The hours passed quickly, the moon setting and the sun rising - James, Sirius and Dumbledore all trudged into the headmaster's office with quiet, grim expressions. Lily gently nudged Harry's head from her shoulder and stood to greet her husband, whilst Sirius crossed the room and settled beside Narcissa and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently as everyone sat down; Draco was still sleeping between them.

"What happened?" she eventually asked, her voice no more than a whisper as she continued to stroke Draco's hair.

Sirius grimaced and nodded across the room to James.

"We found him" he started, shaking his head when Narcissa's mouth curved upwards into a cruel smile, "but the dementors found him first."

"No" Lily gasped, turning to look at her husband to determine whether he could be lying.

James only nodded.

"So" Narcissa began, her hands trembling as much as her voice, "they gave him the kiss?"

James looked away from his friend, "Worse."

"They fed on him" Sirius continued quickly, "they sucked out a little bit of his soul, piece by piece. He's" Sirius closed his eyes, "he's not soul-less but-"

"He's mad" Dumbledore interjected, speaking for the first time since they'd re-entered the room, "the aurors have removed him to St. Mungo's where he will spend the rest of his natural life under tighter supervision than Azkaban could ever manage."

James glared at the man for his thinly veiled comment against the ministry, but said nothing. Narcissa nodded dumbly, relieved and angry - she had wanted a go at him herself, now she'd never get the chance.

"What about the others?" she asked, turning to look expectantly between the aurors in the room, "have they said anything useful?"

Another look passed between the two men, a conversation only they were privy to, and Sirius squeezed her hand.

"Bellatrix" he murmured, wincing when her eyes widened in terror, "she was there apparently. Left them to their own devices mostly it would seem, but yeah" he sighed, rubbing a hand over his tired face, "she was there."

Exam results had been posted for every other class. She knew that it had been a full moon last night, but Professor Lupin had been a competent teacher for most of the year, and though she knew he'd been somewhat involved in the capture of Lucius Malfoy and most of the other Azkaban escapees, and would undoubtedly be tired, she still excused herself from the Ravenclaw table immediately after breakfast and made her way towards the defence classroom.

She was relieved to find him there, less relieved though at the disarray in his office and the belongings he was obviously packing.

"You're leaving" she murmured sadly, slumping into the chair he magically pushed towards her as he continued in his tasks.

"Unfortunately yes" he smiled at her, though Hermione could tell it didn't reach his eyes, "somehow, word of my condition has reached the Daily-"

"I never-"

"Hermione" he said slowly, smiling gently at her, "I know."

She nodded and stood, wringing her hands uncomfortably in front of her, Merlin knew she didn't want to bother the man with something as trivial as exam results when he was being forced to leave his job.

"Thank you Professor" she murmured lowly, turning to leave him to it.

A hand stopped her though, and she turned to find him standing there with her marked exam, "No. Thank you Miss Granger."

She shakily took the exam from him, beamed at the 96% score it bore and skipped out of the room brimming with excitement, leaving in her wake a very amused werewolf.

"Whoops. Sorry" Hermione said sheepishly looking up from her book and shocked to see it was Draco Malfoy she'd run into. No-one had seen a hair on his head since he'd gone missing in Hogsmeade only a week ago, and although Professor Dumbledore had assured them that he was perfectly safe and 'no he had not been murdered' by the escaped Ddeath Eeaters, as some rumours had crudely suggested, it hadn't stopped the gossip mill from turning.

"Dra- Malfoy" she said, tucking her book under one arm and getting a grip of her bag with her free hand, lest she reach the traitorous thing forward and run it over the cut that still looked fresh and was currently mar-ring his handsome face, "How are you?"

Hermione wasn't sure whether she had some extra muggle-born ability that let her know when other people were lying, but when Draco smirked at her, she knew he was fronting.

"I'm fine Granger" he said, leaning casually against a compartment door, "you?"

She didn't get a chance to answer, because the door he was leaning on slid open, Harry Potter's head poked out and Draco stumbled forward almost knocking her to the floor in the process.

"Merlin Potter" he grumbled, straightening himself and throwing a glare in Hermione's direction at her continued laughter, "are you blind?"

Harry looked at Draco, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he stared at his best friend before he slowly lifted a hand and pointed to his glasses, "yes."

"Morgana strike me down" Draco murmured to Hermione, who only laughed harder, "What is it?"

"I opened the letter" he said sheepishly, passing it to Draco, who snatched it out of his hands and started to read it, and finally noticed Hermione, "Alright Granger. Any plans for the summer?"

"Not really" she began, shrugging her shoulders, "my parents will prob-"

"He got them?" Draco gasped, grinning at Harry who nodded his head fervently, "I can't believe he really got them" he murmured quietly, rereading the letter and missing the questioning look Hermione threw Harry.

"Quidditch World Cup final tickets" he said, "best birthday present ever."

"I'll say" Draco chirped in, still not looking up, Hermione nodded.

"I don't really like quidditch" she shrugged, suddenly aware that they were still crowding the train corridor.

"But?" Draco started, finally looking up and frowning, "I always see you at our matches."

Hermione's blush spread across her cheeks so fast she was sure it'd become permanently etched on her face, but Draco seemed oblivious to her discomfort, as she quickly bade them goodbye and shuffled off down the corridor away from them.

"We'll write you" Draco called after her, "about the world cup" he went on, as she turned and gave him a grim smile before disappearing from view.

Draco sighed, then smiled down at the letter again.

"You're hopeless" Harry laughed when he finished stuffing his belongings into the rack above their heads and finally sat down. They'd long past Hogsmeade, clearly he and Granger had been talking for longer than either of them had originally thought.

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, completely clueless as to why Harry was acting like an idiot, but all he did was laugh.

Over the years, Helen Granger had built up a reasonable friendship with Lily Potter and Narcissa Malfoy, often joining them for lunch and occasionally shopping. Of course, she found it easier to meet up with and discuss any worries of her own about Hermione with Lily, simply because the red-head was much more amenable to meeting in a cafe down the road from the Granger's dental practise, but she enjoyed the company of Narcissa just as equally, which is why it wasn't that strange for her to be sitting between the two witches as they, along with Hermione and another young man called Neville, sipped tea and awaited the arrival of Draco and Harry.

Of course, it was slightly unsettling, to see two fully grown men each dressed from head to toe in sports paraphernalia arguing with each other about whether Ireland or Bulgaria were the better team.

"They're very enthusiastic" she said carefully, eyeing the two witches beside her as she took another drink of her tea.

"That's one word for it" Lily murmured over the rim of her cup, her eyes widening and a snort escaping her, when Draco and Harry skidded into the room, both of them also arguing about which team was going to win.

"Ireland is the bet-"

"Krum is the superio-"

"Bulgaria are -"

"Ireland are medi-"

All four men stopped arguing as they caught sight of what the others were wearing.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph" Hermione sighed, sharing a small smile with Lily who was grinning at her exclamation.

"BULGARIA DAD!" Harry fumed.

"Ireland Sirius? Really?" Draco sneered.

"BETRAYED BY MY OWN SON" James exclaimed.

"Always knew you'd look good in red" Sirius snarked at Draco.

Hermione shared a glance with Neville, who simply laughed at the expression on her face, "Why are we friends with them again?" he asked, popping another one of Narcissa's homemade macaroons in his mouth.

Hermione was still trying to figure that out when they suddenly all began to laugh.

Hermione would never admit it to anyone who asked, but she'd had a fantastic time at the match.

She'd cheered for Ireland making Draco scowl, then switched her loyalties and cheered for Bulgaria much to Harry's chagrin. She'd danced an irish jig with Sirius and teased Neville for his bewilderment regarding the french Veelas.

It had been amazing.

She'd grinned at Draco, when Krum, just as he'd predicted, caught the snitch then rolled her eyes in amusement at Harry's reaction because Ireland had still managed to beat them on points.

The four teenagers had hooked their arms together when they'd exited the stadium and were making their way back through the camp, Hermione tucked firmly between Draco and Neville, the former of which kept a firm grip on her arm and stopped her from stumbling forward over any of the numerous obstacles in their way.

They all entered the Potter family tent to find a party well underway, their former professor in attendance too. Hermione smiled brightly at him when he nodded his head in greeting before he turned back to a pink haired woman that was obviously his date.

"Here" Sirius murmured lowly, thrusting four bottles of already opened butterbeer into their hands, "don't say anything to your mums" he winked at them, before disappearing into the crowd. Neville, Harry and Draco all grinned and began to enthusiastically drink down their bottles.

"What did he mean?" she asked them, looking at Harry, who happened to be standing across from her, but Draco had already pushed the bottle towards her mouth and the liquid was spilled into her mouth. Immediately she began choking, "he spiked it" she gasped, covering her mouth and wiping the drink that had managed to escape, "but that's-"

"What uncles do" Draco and Harry said together, winking.

Hermione rolled her eyes, then took a smaller sip.

They were having an excellent time drinking, laughing and dancing, until a sharp scream sounded from outside the tent and the party suddenly stopped.

Hermione saw James and Sirius share a look before they both glaced at Remus, glared at the four teenagers (an obvious warning) and disappeared, along with a few other adults out of the tent's entrance.

Harry and Draco both made to move after them, Draco slipping out of Hermione's grasp from where they'd been dancing together, when they were both roughly jerked back by Remus, who'd caught them both by the scruff of their shirts.

"You saw what they said" he hissed at the pair of them, dragging them back further into the tent and out of sight of the entrance, "do you want them to get hurt worrying about you two?"

Hermione thought they both looked pretty contrite at the thought.

They'd barely been waiting for five minutes when Sirius burst back through the entrance. The screams were louder now and there was more of them, and as Hermione watched him slip through the crowd in search of them, she saw him stop a few times to say something to a few people, who immediately began to exit the tent.

By the time he'd reached them, she'd heard the words Death-Eaters and muggle torturing and fire - she clutched at the closest hand she could, which squeezed her tightly in return and thanked God, when she saw Sirius pass their former professor a comb and heard the words emergency portkey.

She stepped closer, pulling the hand that apparently belonged to Draco, with her and held on tight as she thrust their joined hand forwards to touch the comb.

She knew she'd never forget Harry or Draco's cry of anguish though, when they landed safely in the back garden of Potter Manor.

A/N: Hey. I'm really sorry that it's been a month since i updated, but now that they're getting older, alot more canon related things are happening and whilst i have this story planned out all the way to the end of seventh year, I haven't wrote down every in-between thing.
I love Draco and Hermione and i want to do them justice here without skipping over anything important.
So yes, i'm sorry, but thank you for sticking with me and them.
Alot is going to start happening - James and Lily might still be alive but there's still a pesky Triwizard Tournament and an even peskier Viktor Krum to deal with.