Draco tried not to think about what was awaiting him at home.

He just wanted to enjoy these last few days with Aurora; to spend as often as he could holding her in his arms, touching her soft porcelain skin and making blissful love to her.

And luckily the Room of Requirement was not being used for much else these days, so Draco and Aurora would spend hours in there at a time.

"I don't want to leave," Aurora whispered as they lay side by side staring up at the green and blue canopy of their bed. "I don't want to leave you."

It was the day before they were to return back to London on the Hogwarts Express and, having no classes, Draco and Aurora spent the whole day locked away together.

He rolled onto his side, taking her hand in his and bringing it up to his lips. "We'll be back together soon, though. I promise."

"Will you write?" She asked, looking up at him with large, blinking eyes.

"Of course," he chortled, pulling her to his chest, "I'll write everyday if you want."

He connected his lips with hers, sighing at the sweetness of her kisses.

He was going to miss this. He was going to miss her.

They left for the leaving feast together, walking hand in hand down to the Great Hall. The school was very quiet, Draco noted. There was a definite feeling of fear amongst the students - no one knowing what horrors the second war might bring to them.

Draco halted when he saw the approaching figures up ahead. Potter. Weasley and the Mudblood walking either side of him.

His lip curled in an automatic sneer.

Aurora's hand squeezed his as she too clocked the approaching trio. The golden trio. He had been fortunate enough to not have seen them since the night of his father's imprisonment.

"Draco, please," Aurora murmured furtively. "Just leave it be."

He looked down at her, pulling her close. He'd promised he'd look after her, and that meant not upsetting her. But then another voice made him wheel round.

"Oi! Draco."

Theo and Pansy were marching towards them from the other end of the corridor, followed by a sneering Crabbe and a snarling Goyle.

Draco grimaced. This wasn't going to be good. He stepped in front of Aurora making sure she was safely behind him, tightening his fingers around hers. He wished he could make them disappear right now.

"Aurora!" Potter spat, as the golden trio neared. "I'd have thought you would know better than to go crawling back to him after what his father did!"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" Theo bellowed, as they, too, neared. "You need to decide who's fucking side you're really on!"

Draco backed him and Aurora against the wall as they were approached from either end. Shit was about to blow - with him and Aurora stuck right in the middle.

The golden trio paused in their tracks, as did Draco's former Slytherin friends. Eyes bored into him from all directions as they all stood there demanding answers.

He felt Aurora trembling behind him, squeezing his hand tighter.

"You all need to back the fuck off!" Draco sneered, his eyes darting furiously between the two groups. "It's none of your business what Aurora and I do."

"Is this a joke?" Potter yelled. "Your father killed her mother! He also tried to kill her! That'd certainly be an interesting conversation starter at the top table on your wedding day!"

"Why don't you shut the fuck up Potter, and go back to blubbering over your darling dead Goddaddy!" Theo sneered.

"Get bent Nott, before Harry gets your father locked up in a cell next to Malfoy's!" Weasley hollered, as the Mudblood put a warning hand on his arm.

Draco was starting to get whiplash from his head snapping back and forth between the two warring groups.

"Draco," Aurora breathed behind him, "Please, let's go."

"Aww, is the ickle creature scared?" Pansy chided, her face screwed up in an ugly sneer. "Does she want her big, brave hero to protect her from the scary wizards?" She cackled, before her face darkened. "You do realise he's only fucking you because you're a filthy Veela."

"Just give it a rest, Pansy." Draco snarled. "You need to start accepting that I love Aurora."

"Oh, Drakie," Pansy tutted in a mock pitying voice, "you are surely deluded if you think you and the filthy halfbreed are going to have your fairytale ending."

"I've had enough of this," Draco spat, tugging Aurora's hand as he went to step past Potter's lot.

"You have no idea what's ahead of you back home, do you, Malfoy?" Theo jeered, making Draco freeze. "It will be enough to give your little creature a heart attack."

Draco's blood turned cold. He did not like the look Theo gave him one bit. He tugged again at Aurora's hand, suddenly desperate to get her out of there.

"Come on," he muttered, urgently pulling her with him.

"Aurora, I'd think carefully before associating yourself with Malfoy." Potter warned darkly as they swept past him. "Don't forget, his lot are the reason you have no family left."

Fury ripped through Draco's stomach. Dropping Aurora's hand, he turned and lunged angrily at him, grabbing fistfuls of his robes and throwing him against the wall.

"Draco, stop!" Aurora cried, at the same time as Pansy had decided to go in for the attack, withdrawing her wand and pointing it towards Aurora.

"Cruc-"

"NO!" Draco roared, leaving Potter sprawled against the wall and whipping out his own wand just in time to stop Pansy.

Her wand shot out of her hand just as Draco felt a blow to the side of his head, knocking him to the ground. Fucking Weasley had taken the opportunity of his back turned to deck him one.

Chaos ensued. It seemed that everyone had started to join in the brawl. Draco was being pummelled repeatedly in the face and stomach. He wasn't sure by who. He could just make out Aurora's cries but he couldn't see her through the thick array of flying fists and kicking feet.

Eventually managing to lift himself off the floor, after protecting his head, he was horrified to catch a glimpse of Pansy viciously pulling Aurora's hair as she snarled something in her ear.

"Actually, it's a good job he's fucking you again," he just about heard Pansy say, as he tried to pull himself across the floor to get to her. "Because soon you'll be revealed to be the skanky creature you really are - and then no one will want you! Least of all him!"

What the fuck was she going on about?

Clutching his side in pain, he shakily removed his wand from his pocket and managed to aim it at Pansy, blasting her away from Aurora. Aurora fell to the ground, tears of pain in her eyes as she clutched her head.

He crawled to her, glimpsing up at Crabbe and Goyle who were now in fist fights with Potter and Weasley; the Mudblood was crying - yelling for them to stop, and Theo was just watching it all happen, an amused expression upon his face as he leant lazily against the wall.

Draco gathered Aurora in his arms, cupping her face and kissing her hair. "Are you all right?" He asked breathlessly, his eyes searching her with concern.

She looked back at him in horror as they focused on his mouth. "Never mind me - Draco, you're bleeding."

He brought his own hand to his bottom lip, making him wince in pain. He pulled it away to see blood coat the tips of his fingers. Fucking Weasley.

There was a sudden loud bang as the remaining fighters were blasted apart. It seemed the Mudblood had suddenly remembered she was a witch and used magic instead of pathetic wails to stop the fight.

"Come on, let's get out of here before we get into trouble," Draco murmured, struggling to his feet, and helping Aurora up with him.

They managed to hobble away, the others all too preoccupied with their own injuries to care now.

And, as they sat together in the Great Hall, (much to the Hufflepuffs evident horror again at having two interlopers join their table) they listened to Dumbledore's speech about the war now dividing them.

"Pick your side carefully," he said sagely, "because once you've chosen, there may be no going back."

Draco swallowed as the Headmaster's blue eyes rested briefly, yet pointedly, upon his own.