Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! And to end off the decade, here's a more Dramione fluff (and some angst, just because). I hope your 2019 has been great, both on and off Wattpad. Here's to the new year, I'm very grateful to have you in 2020.

x Noelle

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Counter-spell for lumos.

seventeen minutes for Draco to return back to the house.

Hermione counted.

Theo was with him, and his normally snarky façade had crumbled into one of utter worry as he dragged Draco across the living room. "There's something wrong," he yelled, almost desperately, "look at his arm."

Hermione was next to Draco in a flash, relief surging through her as she pressed a brief kiss to his sweaty forehead. But then her eyes travelled down to his Dark Mark, and she gasped in horror. He was bleeding, actually bleeding, like someone had driven a sharp knife through his skin and carved around the edges of his Mark.

Andromeda took one look at Draco and immediately began to give out directions. "Theo, Blaise, put him on the table. Pansy, take Ginny and Luna with you and make sure they sleep off their injuries. Harry, I need you to find blood-replenishing potions, and tell Grus to make more. Hermione, stay with Draco."

The group scattered to do exactly as Andromeda ordered. Theo and Blaise moved Draco up on the kitchen table, then stepped back as Andromeda murmured an advanced healing spell under her breath.

"What took you two so long?" Blaise asked Theo.

"I couldn't find him," Theo explained. "Bloody git had himself covered with a Disillusionment charm, and I didn't dare use the Revealing spell because I didn't want any of the other Death-Eaters finding him before I did. Good thing he was bleeding because that was the only way I could track him down. I found him hiding behind those bushes that the six of you were stationed at originally, and he was in too much pain to apparate himself back."

"So he dragged himself all the way there?"

"Probably. I had to stun him before apparating because he was hexing every which way at any noise he heard," Theo shook his head, his eyebrows knitting when Draco's Dark Mark continued bleeding. "What the hell is that? What's wrong with his Mark?"

"It's never done this before. Our Marks have been inactive ever since we defected."

"Not his," whispered Hermione. Her eyes remained fixed on Draco as she healed his other wounds; her fingers shaking as she smoothed the frown on his face. "His has been jet black all this time."

"Not faded?"

"No, never."

"It's a very dark spell," Andromeda said at last, pulling back from him. Her face was wrought with worry as she looked at Draco. Looked at Hermione looking at Draco. She didn't know which of them she worried more for. "I don't know what it is, and I don't know how to fix it, but he won't stop bleeding. I suspect it'll keep bleeding for awhile until it eventually ebbs away, but till then, just keep feeding him blood-replenishing potions. He's been hit with the Cruciatus too – several times, in fact."

Just then, Harry returned with a tray of potions. "This is all we have," he told Andromeda. "Grus is making more, but we're running out of ingredients."

"I'll get some," Blaise volunteered, as he climbed to his feet. "Theo?"

"Yeah, I'm with you."

"Be careful, both of you," Andromeda said, casting a worried glance at the two Slytherins as their bags to head out. "Get some chocolate too. It's a good counter against Dark Magic injuries, and we don't know what Draco's is."

Blaise nodded. "Got it. Take care of him."

The two of them apparated off, leaving Hermione and Harry with Andromeda. "Okay," Andromeda took a step back, pointing her wand at Draco. "I'm going to revive him, and you two, make sure you stop whatever spell comes out of his mouth."

Hermione took position next to Draco, with Harry on the other side. Andromeda nodded at them, then casted the spell. "Rennervate."

Draco silver eyes flew open the next instant, unfocused and almost delirious. A feral growl ripped from his throat as he hurled himself upright, summoning his wand silently and gripping it with a murderous look on his face.

"Protego!" Andromeda cast a protective shield on Harry and Hermione. "Stop him!"

"Ava – "

Hermoine's hands clamped down on Draco's mouth before the spell could be finished. Harry wrapped his hands tightly around Draco's wrist as Andromeda kept a protective shield on them, her eyes alert and frightened. She knew that her nephew had done his fair share of killing on the battlefield, but she'd never actually seen him in action before. He looked lethal, with killer instincts that rivalled Bellatrix's.

"Draco!" Hermione cupped his face and forced him to turn to her. "Look at me! Look at me!"

It took about three seconds for Draco's attention to shift into focus. The glazed look in his eyes cleared and he blinked. "Hermione?"

"Yes, it's me. You're safe now."

"Fuck, Hermione," he exhaled shakily, reaching up to slide his palms against the smooth planes of her cheeks, fingers sifting through her hair. His eyes searched her face with a frantic desperation that seemed almost vulnerable from him. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and dragged in a deep breath. All him. She pulled away and eased him back down, even though he kept his grip on her hand, as though reluctant to let go.

Funny how the roles had reversed, and Hermione was glad to be the strong one this time.

"Draco, you have to drink this." Andromeda handed him a blood-replenishing potion, and transfigured towel into a pillow to place under his head. "Your Mark won't stop bleeding."

He silently accepted the phial and chugged its contents down. Once he finished, he looked around the room. "Where're the others? Are they safe?"

"Yes, they are," said Hermione, as she brushed his hair out of his eyes and handed him another potion.

"And Weaselette?"

"Ginny's fine, mate," Harry stepped forward now, gratitude in his tone as he nodded at Draco. "Thanks for saving her, I owe you one."

In spite of his injuries, Draco's lips twisted in a dry smirk. "You did save Granger. I had to reciprocate the favour."

Harry smiled, a flicker of mutual understanding exchanged between them as they stared at each other. "I promised, mate. Won't let anything happen to 'Mione again."

Andromeda smiled at them. "It's nice to see the both of you finally getting along."

"This isn't getting along," Draco said flatly. "I still think he's an aggravating wank."

Andromeda's mouth fell open. "Language, Draco! Teddy may hear!"

"Teddy deserves to know how much of a wank his godfather is. And on that note, 'Dromeda, I cannot fucking believe you chose Potter-wank to be Teddy's godfather."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's good to have you back, ferret."

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"Tergeo."

The last of the blood on Draco's arm vanished. Hermione leaned back, relieved that his Dark Mark had stopped bleeding. It had taken close to half an hour, and Andromeda had made sure that he'd enough potions to keep him from bleeding himself dry.

"Granger."

She looked up at him. When Andromeda and Harry were around, he'd been his usual snarky and arrogant self. Now that they were gone, he just looked exhausted. He plucked the wand from her fingers and set it aside, before pulling her close. She went willingly, stepping between his legs as he sat on the table's edge, and let him wrap his arms around her.

"You had a panic attack, didn't you?" he asked quietly.

"How did you know?"

"You're behaving the same way you did back at Godric's Hollow."

With a choked sob, she finally allowed herself to crumble. "I couldn't help it," she murmured, as she buried her face against his chest. "I thought I'd lost you."

His arms tightened around her and he was silent for so long she began to wonder if he'd heard her. But when he finally spoke, his voice was just as broken as hers. "Me too."

She stayed in his arms for awhile. Now that he was back, she didn't want to let him go. Sure, she was a lot stronger than she had been before, but there were times when fear still threatened to overwhelm her.

It doesn't matter, she told herself now, so long as he's here and I can pick myself up again.

A sudden throat-clearing made them look up, only to find Harry and Ginny standing by the doorway. While Ginny surveyed them with a general air of amusement, Harry seemed awkward, looking anywhere but at them.

"Malfoy," Ginny greeted pleasantly. "Just wanted to thank you for saving my life. Again."

"Death must be going crazy knowing that I helped you escape his clutches twice," Draco drawled, his signature smirk spreading across his face as he surveyed them lazily. "Well, you know what they say – third time's a charm."

"Draco!" Hermione elbowed him in jest, but when he let out a hiss of pain, she immediately gasped. "Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine," he muttered through gritted teeth. Shite. Her elbows were actually pointier than they looked. She picked up her wand to heal him, but he shook his head. "Don't worry about me, Granger, go talk to your friends."

"What, are we not your friends?" Ginny sounded so affronted that both Hermione and Harry had to stifle their grins.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Weaselette, but no."

"Pity. I would love to see my brother's face if I introduced you as my friend."

"That is tempting, but unfortunately, I make it a rule of thumb not to get well acquainted with anyone during a war," Draco's face was impassive, but there was a hard edge in his tone, one that warned her not to push.

"Ginny and I will be headed back soon," Harry said, tactfully switching the subject. "Since we'll be passing by headquarters, we could pass the documents we retrieved to Shacklebolt."

Hermione followed Draco out to the living room to retrieve all the documents he'd collected. "Speaking of heading back, Harry," she said, "where do you live?"

"The Burrow," Harry replied. "It's just a couple of miles from here. It was destroyed after the war but Ginny and I fixed it."

"You are aware that a burrow is a bloody hole dug by small animals like rabbits, aren't you?" Draco muttered, not looking at them as he scanned through the papers.

Harry rolled his eyes and ignored him. "Ginny and I have lived there for some years now," he explained to Hermione. "Ron and the other Weasleys are scattered among the Order's bases."

"They do a lot of fighting, get into a lot of battles," Ginny sighed. "They say it's easiest to live with the other Order members. The Burrow reminds Mum of Fred, and she tries to stay away as much as she can."

Hermione watched as a shadow crossed Ginny's face briefly. Obviously, Fred's death had wrecked the Weasley family. She couldn't help but wonder how Ron was coping.

Leaving the other three to sort through the papers, she reached for her bag and took out the quill. Draco glanced over at her and she smiled. "Could you reverse the transfiguration spell on this?"

He cast a wordless spell on it and the quill instantly reverted back to its original form. His eyebrows shot up. "Where did you get that?" Something in his voice told her that he knew exactly what it was.

"In one of the rooms. I figured it was important since it was locked tight."

"Step away from that."

She immediately moved closer to him. "What's in there?"

Draco cast a swift glance around, noticing the way Harry and Ginny were staring at him with matching expressions of confusion and curiosity. Then he looked at Hermione and sighed. "Fine," he held his wand up, muttering a complex incantation underneath his breath before drawing his wand in the shape of an eight. "Morsmordre."

The Mark on the box lit up and the catches unlocked. Draco's lips twisted in a half-hearted smirk as he noticed the horrified look on Harry's face. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Potter. There isn't a Dark Mark floating above 'Dromeda's house."

"Then why did you use that incantation?"

"Because this incantation cacn do many other things besides conjuring Dark Marks," he returned flatly. He pushed up the lid to show them the array of potions within. Ever eager to learn, Hermione summoned Blaise's potion book from the shelf nearby and flipped through it.

"Regeneration Potion," Ginny read the label on one of the phials. "What's that for?"

"Ask Potter, he knows best."

At Draco's words, everyone turned to Harry, who bit his lip, his green eyes stormy with memories of the past. "It's for wizards who've suffered bodily damage. This restores them back to full form."

"Then the Order definitely needs this." Ginny reached for the potion, only for Draco to grab her by the wrist.

"Don't touch that." His voice was low.

"Yeah, Ginny, don't," Harry hastily concurred, reaching over so he could pull his girlfriend away. "It's a Dark potion. You-Know-Who used it to return to his full form when he tried to duel me at Little Hangleton graveyard. During my fourth year, remember?"

Ginny's eyes widened. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't realise."

Draco shut the box and locked it up again. "We're not giving this to the order," he said, ignoring the surprised look Ginny shot him.

"Why?"

"Because these are all Dark potions. There's a Rudimentary Body potion in there that contains the venom of Nagini. Do you really want your friends in the Order to be drinking that?"

"So you're going to keep it?" Ginny eyed him suspiciously.

"No," he returned mildly and got to his feet. "Granger's going to keep it, since she's our Healer anyway. Is that safe enough for you, Weaselette?"

Without waiting for her reply, he headed up the stairs and went straight for his room. The day's activities had exhausted him. He kicked his shoes off and flung himself down on the bed.

Several moments later, the door opened with a soft creak. Hermione stepped in tentatively, shutting the door behind her and murmuring the incantation for a muffling charm under her breath. Then she set her shoes aside as well, shrugged out of her jacket and curled up on the bed next to him. He draped a lazy arm around her, pulling her in close.

"I'm sorry about what Ginny said," she whispered at last.

He kept his eyes shut, even though his arm tightened around her. "It's fine, I'm used to it. You don't have to apologise for them."

"I just wish they wouldn't."

"I haven't exactly given them a reason to trust me. I used Morsmordre in front of them. You should've seen Potter's face, he looked horrified enough to haul me off to Azkaban. Just give them time," he added in amusement, and finally opened his eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be the sensible one."

"Oh, I am. But just because you use Dark Magic and know about Dark Potions doesn't make you a bad person."

He pulled her hand to his lips and sponged heated kisses across her knuckles. It was fire on ice; his lips hot on her cold hands. It ignited her veins and made her breath hitch accordingly. "I appreciate that," he murmured, looking rather satisfied when he saw how her irises darkened to an alluring, sentient brown. "But I honestly don't give a shit what your friends think of me."

"Good," she leaned forward and pressed her lips briefly against his, smiling when his fingers tightened instinctively on her hips. "Because you shouldn't."

He opened his mouth to reply when he suddenly remembered something. "Hold on. I've got something to give to you."

"What is it?"

"One second."

His hand left her hips and reached into his pocket. Hermione grinned, suddenly remembering a conversation she had with the three other Slytherins some days ago. "Draco, if you bring out an erection, I'm not going to be very impressed," she deadpanned.

Draco's eyes widened fractionally in sheer surprise before narrowing, trying to keep a straight face despite the fact that his lips were twitching in amusement. "Who taught you that?"

"No one. Gryffindors can be very mouthy."

"I can see that." He captured her lips in a heated kiss, and sank his fingers into her messy, wild curls. All she registered was his mouth on hers, swift and hot, as he completely stole her breath away. Not just my breath, she thought. But my heart. Me. Everything.

All too soon, he pulled away. His eyes darkened to molten heat when she let out a disappointed whimper beneath him. "But that statement was too crude and Slytherin for you," he continued mildly, as though they hadn't just spent the past minute kissing. "Was it Pansy?"

"Theo."

"I knew it." And then Draco blinked almost warily. "Why was Theo talking about me?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, even though her cheeks promptly reddened. "He wasn't talking about you. He was just telling us what he did to one of his slags. Apparently, he told the girl that he was going to show her – and I quote – 'a prized jewel like none other', and she believed him, so he went ahead and unzipped his pants."

Draco groaned and wished he hadn't asked for an explanation to begin with. "For Salazar's sake."

"Apparently, it worked really well too. She was really drunk though, so I think that might've been a contributing factor," Hermione added, with a faint wrinkle of her nose. "Okay, so what did you want to give me?"

Draco's mood immediately grew serious as he reached into his pocket. He found the stone that he'd nicked from the room back at the Ruins earlier and placed it into Hermione's hand, closing her fingers over it.

She slowly unfurled her fingers, and her eyes widened when she caught a glimpse of it. "Is that...?"

"The Resurrection Stone?" He nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on the silver piece. "I didn't realise what it was when I picked it up. But when I was fighting the Death-Eaters earlier, I remembered what you showed me in the book that 'Dromeda sent you for Christmas."

"Wait, so the Peverells already had this?"

He sighed. Ever since he'd defected, he hadn't bothered about the Peverells. Knowing that the Cloak was safe with Hermione was enough, because that meant the three Deathly Hallows would never be united. "I think so. The room that I found it in can only be accessed by Death-Eaters closest to the Dark Lord. Bellatrix and I have full access, but so do MacNair, Dolohov and a few others. Since MacNair's one of the Peverells, he probably placed the Stone there for safe-keeping."

"And now we have two out of three?"

"You have two out of three. I gave you the Cloak, now you have the Stone."

Hermione bit her lip. "This isn't safe, Draco," she murmured, sounding rather anxious. "The book said that whoever possesses all three becomes the Master of Death. Why don't you keep the Stone, since I already have the Cloak?"

"Can't," and he shut his eyes briefly. His voice was barely inaudible and Hermione had to strain her ears to hear him. "The Stone brings back people from the dead. And I have too many dead people I want to see alive again."