Hi everyone. I have no excuse for my actions, but I have an explanation. I graduated high school a little while ago, I've been working, and I got sucked into the Avengers fandom (also, if anybody has any good Steve/Tony or Thor/Jane or Loki/Natasha fics to recommend, on here or on livejournal or on AO3, I'd appreciate it).

The school was unsurprised when Draco and Hermione went public. It took a few weeks, several heated snogging session and lots of ribbing from the rest of their group of friends, but the two finally let it be known that they were together.

The morning in the Great Hall when Draco publicly greeted Hermione with a kiss on the lips showed many Galleons changing hands throughout the student population. Harry was sure that he even saw Professor Trelawney hand over a few Sickles to Professor Flitwick, who chortled merrily and continued eating his bacon.

Draco, amidst the usual breakfasttime cacophony heightened by his and Hermione's actions, caught Snape's eye from across the hall. Being the accomplished Legilimens that he was, Severus was able to essentially project his inward feelings onto Draco. A definite sense of shock, a taste of "I should have seen this coming, shouldn't I?" and a feeling of foreboding hit Draco as he continued eye contact with Severus.

He thought back to all those times he had threatened other students in the school with saying that his father would hear about it. In light of the approaching war between the Light and the Dark, and the fact that Draco refused to hide his relationship with Hermione in the shadow like some sort of dirty little secret (plus the fear that Hermione would hex his manly bits off if he even suggested it), Draco was sure that his father would definitely hear of his relationship with a muggleborn.

000

Even with all of the breakfast madness, Hermione could feel that Draco was tense about something. Sure, he laughed with the rest of the group as Ron tried to virtually inhale a waffle in between two pancakes. He groaned with the rest of the group as Blaise and Neville got into a very bromantic discussion over a plant they were due to study that week in Herbology. Draco even managed to make a few quips about the bets that were placed on their relationship. But Hermione wasn't the brightest witch of her age for nothing. She noticed the tension behind his eyes as he had a brief, silent conversation with Professor Snape across the hall.

Hermione would bet all the Galleons in Harry's vault that Professor Snape had been warning Draco about his family. As much as she loved Draco, she was extremely apprehensive about his parents. They were Death Eaters, and she was a muggleborn, and now their only son was in a relationship with her.

She hoped that Lucius wouldn't take it upon himself to do something drastic. They weren't even out of Hogwarts yet, wouldn't be for several months. Hermione Jean Granger had some big plans for the Wizarding world, and she needed to be alive to put them into action.

000

Weeks passed without incident. Autumn was quickly thrust upon the students of Hogwarts, indian summer days disappearing in lieu of early mornings where the wind was biting enough to need a scarf and evenings where the beauty of the foliage was marred by a thickening load of homework. Halloween came and went. Peeves outdid himself that year, forging a brief alliance with a few trickster students (Hermione secretly suspected that Fred and George, with the permission of Professor Dumbledore, had snuck back into the school for one last glorious prank, one that wasn't aimed at taking Umbridge's regime down a notch) and managing to turn Filch's hair and tatty brown overcoat into a shade of the vividest pink.

It wasn't until halfway through November that anything remarkable occured.

The gang had been down at the Quidditch pitch in their normal positions-Harry, Ron, Blaise and Draco in the skies while Hermione and Pansy sat in the stands, foregoing homework in favor of cups of warm butterbeer-for nearly four hours before Draco took note of Hermione and Pansy's shivers and decided that they should take their fun to the Head dormitories. Waiting for them in the Head common room was none other than Lucius Malfoy himself, sitting on one of the comfier chairs by the fire and acting as if he owned the place.

The laughter that had only seconds before been ringing throughout the halls as Ron told a joke about Madam Rosmerta and Hagrid in a very compromising position during the last Hogsmeade trip-"I mean, bloody hell! I thought he was still into the woman who ran Beauxbatons but apparently Hagrid has a little siren blood in him in addition to the giant..."-died suddenly as everyone caught sight of Draco's father. Hermione, who had in one second been at the front of the group with Draco's arm thrown lovingly over her shoulder found herself one second later flanked on every side by boys that were at least eight inches taller than she was. It was flattering and unnerving at the same time. She could vividly remember showing all of them up at one point or another. Should push come to shove, Hermione was positive she could hold her own.

"So. It's true. I must say, Draco, I'm disappointed. I thought your mother and I raised you better than to lower yourself to engaging in a relationship with a Mudblood."

Hermione closed her eyes in resignation as the five bodies surrounding her reacted to Lucius' words. The palpable hum of magic as five wands were raised with five different spells at the ready was detectable even to a muggle at that point. If Lucius had wanted it to be a relatively peaceful encounter, he had chosen his words incorrectly.

"Father, in case you've forgotten, you also taught me to fight for what is mine and to refuse to let anyone take away anything from a Malfoy." Draco snarled at his father. Hermione was so shocked at the anger in his tone directed toward his own father that she forgot to be irritated that Draco had insinuated that she was one of his possessions.

"Lower your wands, children. I do not come intending to harm anyone. I merely wished to talk some sense into my son, but it is glaringly obvious that he is unreachable to logic at this point. And apparently everything that I have ever taught you about propriety is gone, seeing the company that you keep these days. Not only are you fraternizing with a Mudblood-" Five wands that had started to be lowered were raised again, and Lucius smirked, "-but a Weasley and Potter as well? Draco, son, come see me when you see sense once more. Over Christmas, perhaps?"

"I won't be returning to the manor if this is the way you insist on treating the people I care about, Father. You say that I have forgotten your lessons? Have you forgotten the years of manner and pureblood protocol instilled in the Malfoys from birth?" The tension in the room between the two generations of the Malfoy family could be cut with a knife. Draco glared at his father with an unrelenting steely gaze. After several silent and extremely tense moments, Lucius crossed the room to the portrait hole.

Hermione was sure he didn't mean to do it. Maybe it was her faith in humans, no matter how bad (with the sole exception of Voldemort), but Hermione would believe until she was proven otherwise that Lucius Malfoy did not mean to bodycheck her as he tried to leave the room. Nonetheless, Hermione was caught off-guard by the sudden weight on her side and stumbled to the floor.

The sudden firing of spells was unnerving. She couldn't be sure of who fired what-it seemed as if her friends had taken her tutoring to heart and finally mastered nonverbal spells-but the plethora of colors above her did not compare to staring down the danger end of Lucius Malfoy's cane/wand as he shot a spell her direction before being thrown out of the dormitory and into the hallway beyond the portrait by the sheer force of her friends' magic.

The last thing Hermione heard was the sound of Draco's shout as her head hit the floor and everything went dark.

000

Draco could count on one hand the amount of times in his life that he'd ever been really and truly terrified: The time when he was seven and he got lost in Knockturn Alley and some old hag tried to claim him as her own and sell her to a bloke who looked like he had consumed one too many potions gone wrong. The Quidditch World Cup. No matter what the best that money could buy was, Draco hated heights and the seats that his father had procured were up so high that his ears were popping for hours after the match had ended. Meeting Lord Voldemort for the first time during the summer before fifth year. Not only was he bloody powerful, the man smelled and Draco was afraid that his giant snake was going to turn on Draco on any moment.

None of those compared to seeing his own father cast some sort of hex on his girlfriend and watching said girlfriend's head hit the stone floor with a sickening, gut-wrenching crack.

Nobody was prepared for the sight that awaited them once the smoke and debris from the various hexes (and his father's removal from the premises) settled.

Practically swimming in robes that were far too large for her was Hermione, although that wasn't the surprising part.

Practically swimming in robes that were far too large for her was Hermione, who appeared to be no larger than five years old.

"Hi! Who are you?" Hermione asked, a smile with two teeth missing forming on the adorably tiny face of his de-aged girlfriend.

"My name is Draco. This is Ron, Harry, Blaise and Pansy. Hermione, do you know where you are?"

"No."

"Well, we're in a school called Hogwarts. Is it okay with you if I take you to the Headmaster?" Draco knew that Dumbledore would be the only one who would be able to sort all of this out. Plus, one of his students just got turned into a small child. Draco figured that the old man probably needed to know things like that.

"Okay. But only because you're pretty. And I'm tired, can you carry me? And can I have a book to read for when I'm there?-" Ron, Harry, Blaise and Pansy sniggered at this, because it was so typical for a Hermione of any age to ask for a book. "-Where are Mum and Daddy? Is this a castle? Are you a prince?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm a prince and don't let anybody tell you otherwise, alright Hermione?" Draco said, kneeling down to grab Hermione by the torso and deposit her on his hip.

"Erm, Draco? Can you put her down for a second?" Pansy said, smiling.

Draco only tightened his hold on Hermione. She was in this mess because of him. There was no way he was going to let any more harm come to her. "And why should I do that?"

"Because she's going to fall out of her clothes at any moment and then not only will we have a tiny Mione, but we'll have a naked and tiny Mione and something tells me that Hogwarts just isn't ready for that yet. I just want to shrink her clothes before we take her to Dumbledore."

Draco cursed Pansy and her logic, and then mentally kicked himself for not considering Hermione's clothes. The girl had to be uncomfortable. He placed Hermione on the floor just long enough for Pansy to cast a Shrinking Charm on Hermione's robes and then he scooped her back in his arms again, where she was safe.

"Come on, Hermione. Let's take you to the headmaster and see if he can get all of this sorted out."

"Okay, but if he can't, can I stay with you?" Hermione said in a small voice, flinging her arms around Draco's neck and burrowing her face in his neck.

"Of course. You can stay with me as long as you like."

"Or me." Ron interjected.

"Or me!" Harry said, lifting a mass of untamed curles from Hermione's head and smiling at her.

Blaise shoved Harry out of the way, a remarkable feat considering that they were all on one of the smaller stairwells. "Or me!"

"Or you can just ignore all of these icky boys and I can keep you!" Pansy said, ignoring Draco's glare.

By the time they all reached Professor Dumbledore's office and Harry had supplied the headmaster's password, each member of the group was valiantly fighting for the position of Hermione's favorite.

"Well, this is an interesting conundrum. Would someone like to do the honor of explaining to me why exactly Miss Granger is a small child?" Professor Dumbledore said after opening the door to his office to see Ron conjure up a bouquet of flowers and present them to Hermione, who refused to let go of Draco long enough to grab them.

"Headmaster, you see..."

Review please? And tell me what you think of kid!Hermione?

Also with the names of those Avengers fics?

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