Draco didn't know how to act around her anymore.

He was terrified she would see the knowledge in his eyes. He knew so much, and it killed him that he wasn't able to tell her.

They had two weeks of Christmas holidays ahead of them. No lessons. No distractions. He didn't know how he would cope.

He spent the next few days working tirelessly on the cabinet. It seemed Astrid had taken the hint that he didn't want to talk, and so she took herself off for walks as often as possible.

Except that he did want to talk - he was desperate to. But Snape was right - he needed to protect her. And protecting her meant her knowing as little as possible.

...

Draco had changed since the Christmas party, yet I had no idea why. And it broke my heart.

Not being able to stand his sullen silence, I spent the next few days walking around the grounds.

On Christmas Eve night, I found myself wandering the library, perusing all the weird and wonderful magical books as I allowed Draco to work on the cabinet in peace.

"Hey, Hufflepuff,"

I looked up, startled to see Blaise grinning down at me. I hadn't realised he had stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays.

"Oh, hi," I mumbled, "I thought you were going home for Christmas."

"Changed my mind," he smiled, flashing his brilliant white teeth, "thought it would be fun to stay on, especially given the company."

An uneasy feeling crept upon me as his eyes pierced wickedly into mine. I suddenly wished I was back in the Room of Requirement with Draco - even if he was giving me the silent treatment.

"Won't your parent's miss you?" I asked, fingering a book called 'Knowing When To Spot a Dangerous Wizard'.

"My mother has some entertaining to do," Blaise said bitterly, his eyes flashing, "I'm sure I'll be doing her a favour. Why don't we take a walk?"

My hand dropping away from the book, I shrugged resignedly, not knowing what else to do. "Okay, where do you want to go?"

I let him lead me through the castle as he told me facts about the history of each part. I couldn't help but listen in fascination, loving hearing about Hogwarts. It was a place I had come to love over the time I had stayed here.

We came to a stop at a tattered looking tapestry of what looked like wizards having a booze up.

I looked up at Blaise expectantly, waiting for him to tell me all about it.

"You're beautiful, you know," he murmured instead.

I felt a blush rise to my cheeks and I looked down not knowing what to say.

He took a step towards me closing the gap between us, placing his hands on my hips. I stiffened, wanting to step away, but his fingers dug tightly into me, keeping me firmly in place.

"This tapestry has a secret room behind it," he whispered hoarsely in my ear. "I thought we could give each other an early Christmas present."

And to my horror, he thrust his hips up against me, and I could feel something hard and throbbing pressing through his trousers.

I felt my blood turn ice cold and all of a sudden I was back in my bedroom, hearing the door creaking open.

I thought I was going to vomit.

"No," I said shakily, pulling away from him, stepping back suddenly in alarm.

His hands dropped, but his smirk never left his face.

"Come on, Hufflepuff," he drawled, his eyes glinting dangerously, "don't pretend you haven't been gagging for it."

Black spots flashed in my vision. My heart pounding fearfully, I went to turn on the spot without answering, but I felt a painful grasp around my wrist stopping me in my tracks.

"Let go," I gritted, trying to tug my arm away but his grip never slackening.

"Oh, you want to play that game, do you?" he chuckled, tugging me forcefully towards the tapestry as panic made me start to hyperventilate.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!"

Shocked, Blaise dropped my wrist, which I immediately cradled to my chest, desperately trying to soothe the stinging as frightened tears started to fall down my cheeks.

Draco was marching furiously down the hallway towards us, his eyes glaring savagely at Blaise.

"What the-"

But Blaise didn't get to finish his sentence as Draco's fist connected with his face.

"SHE SAID NO YOU FUCKWIT!" Draco bellowed as he crouched over Blaise's fallen body, repeatedly pummelling his fist over and over again in his already bloody face.

"Draco, stop!" I pleaded, terrified he was going to kill him.

Draco immediately stilled, looking up at me and then down at Blaise who was now cradling his face as he writhed and groaned on the ground.

"You touch her again and next time I promise I will fucking kill you!" Draco spat at him, before shakily standing up and stepping towards me.

"Come on," he murmured, wrapping his arms protectively around me, "let's get you back."

I allowed him to lead me away from where Blaise lay, clutching me tightly to his side, as we made our way silently back to the Room of Requirement.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed, collapsing into the sofa, feeling utterly ashamed.

"Don't," he growled, immediately placing himself down next to me, tilting my chin up to face him. Using the sleeve of his shirt with his other hand, he gently wiped my tears away. "You have nothing to apologise for. I'm the one who should be sorry."

I blinked up at him confusedly, not understanding.

His silver grey eyes stared down intently into mine, and he seemed to pause for a moment, as if there was something he was trying to decide to say or not.

And then, he took a deep shaky breath.

"Astrid, I love you. I've loved you for a long time and I should have done a better job of protecting you."

My breath hitched in my throat, not quite daring to believe what I was hearing.

"You- you... love me?" I trembled, my eyes searching his for clarification.

"Yes," he said solemnly, bringing both his hands up to cup my face, his lips mere inches from mine, "I love you, Astrid."

And before I could respond, his lips crashed down upon mine, immediately reigniting that fire inside of me.

Our tongues hungrily explored one another, dancing longingly and plunging fiercely into each other's mouths. Our hands grappled vigorously and urgently at the other, pulling our bodies in, trying to close as much space as possible.

We shifted our bodies so that he was on top of me, pinning me down along the length of the sofa with his weight. I instinctively wrapped my legs around him, desperately closing the space between us.

Draco let out an illicit groan into my mouth, before suddenly lifting his head, breathlessly breaking the kiss.

"Fuck," he growled, resting his forehead on my mine as he tried to steady his breathing, "I'm sorry - I'm being full on."

"It's okay," I panted, as my hands clawed furiously at his shirt, digging my fingertips hungrily into his back. I could feel the fierce pounding of our hearts pressed against each other as I silently begged him with my eyes not to stop.

"Astrid," he murmured, planting a kiss firmly against my forehead, "you've been through so much - please, let's take it slow. I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."

"So stay," I whispered, "please stay with me tonight."

He happily obliged, cocooning me in his arms as we laid together upon my bed.

"Say it again," I whispered as I snuggled against him, feeling the warmth flood through me as he pulled me fiercely to him.

He released a soft chuckle before planting a tender kiss upon the top of my head.

"I love you, Astrid. I love you."