I do not own Harry Potter, or it's characters. This is merely a work of fanfiction.

Fair warning, there is mild smut ahead.

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Draco held out Holly's fur-lined winter cloak for her. He placed it on her shoulders and turned her around. He fastened the gold snake clasp in the front. Draco's eyes were intense as he looked down into Holly's.

Holly reached up a hand to ghost over his jawline, and he leaned into her touch. He looked so tired. At least she had been allowed to rest for a few hours, but he had been up all night.

So softly it was barely a whisper, she muttered a glamor charm that would hide the dark circles under his eyes from the world. One side of his lips tugged up in a lazy smile as he wrapped his arms around her, and placed a kiss on her forehead.

He led her to the Hogwarts Express, where they fell asleep under the watchful eyes of Marcus, Crabbe, and Goyle.

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When they returned to the manor, Holly set down her things in her room, and made her way straight to Draco's bedroom. He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor blankly. His eyes raised to hers when she entered. Holly felt now familiar butterflies take flight in her stomach at his heated gaze.

She tugged at the fingers of her gloves, as she crossed the room. She pulled them off, and threw them on the bed behind Draco as she stepped between his legs. She removed the glamor charm, and traced a gentle finger over the dark shadows under his eyes.

"You need to sleep, Draco."

Draco raised his hands to grip her waist, and leaned his head against her.

"I need you. Everything else is secondary."

Holly ran his fingers through his hair, enjoying how he closed his eyes and tilted his head into her combing fingers.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

Draco peeked an eye open, and shut them back again.

"I will be if you keep playing with my hair like that. It feels amazing."

Holly climbed onto the bed behind him, kicking her heels onto the floor as she went. Draco laid down with his head in Holly's lap, so she could continue to play with his hair.

"I'm proud of you."

"I killed someone Holly."

"Do you regret it?"

"No. I'd do it again. I meant it when I said I would do anything for you."

She moved her hands down from his hair, to rub at his tense shoulders.

"You're a good man, Draco. You've saved countless students from torture.You protected your soulmate. You did what Malfoy men have done for centuries for those they love."

Draco opened his eyes to look at her. She had no judgment for him, just as he had none for her when she killed Dumbledore. They were who they were. Holly moved beside him, and began to unbutton his shirt. She pressed gentle kisses to his skin, until she reached his hips.

"I want to show you how much I appreciate you."

"Hols, you don't have to."

She paused, looking up at his intense gray eyes. She began to undo the buckle of his belt, and slid it free of it's loops. She tossed it on the floor as she was reminded of the day last summer when he had returned from St. Mungo's.

"What if I want to?"

The tension in the air melted as Draco nodded, "Alright then."

He laid back and watched her as she moved. She took him into her mouth, sucking and licking him in turn. His eyes rolled back in his head as she began to move her mouth up and down.

"Fuck Hols, that's perfect. So good."

Holly moved eagerly, encouraged by the praises and expletives she pulled from Draco's mouth so easily. His hips canted up towards her as she felt his body begin to stiffen under her. She swallowed as he spilled against the back of her throat.

She sat up, wiping some spit from the side of her mouth. Draco pulled her into his arms, as he tucked himself back into his boxers. He turned to lay on his side, so he could look her in his eyes. She was perfect, the most amazing witch he could imagine, and somehow she was his soulmate.

"Sleep now," Holly whispered with a smile.

"I should return the favor," Draco smirked.

"Another time," Holly assured him. "I just wanted to take care of you, for once. I love you."

Draco wanted to protest, but exhaustion was clouding his mind, making it hard to even keep his eyes open. He had been up for well over twenty four hours now. He squeezed Holly's waist, and pulled her closer to him.

"I love you too Hols, and I will be returning the favor. Soon."

Holly smiled and snuggled closer to his chest.

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Holly stood on a pedestal in what had been dubbed Blaise's sewing studio. It was a large room attached to the ladies lounge by an adjoining door, so Cissa could float back and forth while work was done on robes for the approaching wedding.

Draco had been banished to the Quidditch pitch with Theo, and some of their friends, while they did Holly's first fitting. Ginny sat in a loveseat, looking over catalogs. In just a few short years, it would be her turn.

"Gray?" Blaise questioned.

Holly nodded her head emphatically. Blaise squinted his eyes, and tilted his head to the side as he pictured it. The fairy spun silk was pale white now. Once the house elves charmed it to a new color, it was best to leave it that way. Any more than once and it destabilized the sensitive fabric.

"What type of gray?" Blaise asked as he summoned a color wheel from beside Ginny.

"The color of Draco's eyes, with gold accents please. I love gold."

Blaise froze and looked up from his color wheel, a look of glee on his face.

"Oh Principessa, Draco is going to lose it when he realizes what color you're wearing! This is brilliant! Anything else?"

Holly told them her final idea. It had been playing on the edge of her mind for weeks. She knew Draco was possessive, no matter how nicely he forced himself to behave. This would drive him up the wall, in the best of ways.

"Oh my dear, that is perfect. You're a genius."

Holly beamed. She couldn't wait to be bonded to Draco.

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Holly ducked into an alcove of the Manor, dragging Draco with her. She pushed him against the wall, and kissed him harshly. She bit at his bottom lip before she let go, moving her lips down to his neck.

"What's gotten into you?" Draco asked through gasps of breath.

"I'm going to explode if you don't get me off soon. I mean it."

Cissa had been on a crusade to finalize all their plans for their bonding while they were home for Yule break. There was little time for anything else when there were robes to be fitted, lists to check over, meals to approve. It was an endless cycle.

"I can do that," Draco assured.

"Oh thank Merlin," she sighed.

He lifted her up into his arms, and pressed her between him and the wall. He trailed one hand up her thigh, stopping at the feeling of bare skin at the top.

"Thigh highs? When did you get these?"

"Last week."

There was a maniacal gleam in her eye.

"And I've just been walking around without this knowledge? For fuck's sake."

He pushed his hips into her. Holly's head tilted back, and her eyes closed at the sensation. Draco's hands moved up her thighs, playing at the edge of her lace underwear.

A cough was heard from the hallway. Draco withdrew his hand and groaned in frustration. He put Holly down, and poked his head out around the tapestry that hid the alcove.Ginny was standing there, trying awfully hard to pretend she didn't know what was going on in the alcove.

"Cissa asked me to come find you. Lord Shacklebolt is here with the rest of the Heirs, he wants to speak to all of us in the formal dining room."

"Fine. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Ginny nodded and rushed off. Draco turned around to see Holly had set herself to rights.

"Gin will stall them, if you want to-"

"No. Lord Shacklebolt wouldn't come here, like this, if it wasn't important. We should go."

Holly placed one last kiss on his jawline and left the alcove. Draco followed behind her by a few paces. He openly admired the way her hips looked in the green pencil skirt she wore. He let his mind imagine what those black thigh highs would look like against her pale skin.

Holly paused at the entrance to the formal dining room, and turned to look back at Draco. She giggled at the look on his face. He was clearly in his own world.

"Are you alright, Draco?"

He shook his head, and focused his mind back on the task at hand.

"I'm fine, love. Just daydreaming. Let's go."

He held open the door for her, and held out his arm to lead her to a seat. The tension in the room was palpable. This had to be about the investigation into Dumbledore. He led her to the seat beside Ginny. She would need her sister if this was half as bad as they expected it to be.

Draco nodded in greeting to the other Heirs, and their soulmates. Lord Shacklebolt looked tense, like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Maybe this morning, he did.

"I'm sorry to disturb your mornings. I'm sure you're all very busy. I appreciate you agreeing to meet with me on such short notice."

"Wasn't aware I had a choice," Draco whispered. Holly nudged him, but he merely shrugged in response. Lord Shacklebolt wasn't phased. He knew he had intruded, but he had a lot of people to talk to this morning.

"Thanks to your cooperation, we were able to find diaries that Dumbledore stashed within Hogwarts. There must be more somewhere, but we haven't found them yet. The man was mad, that much is clear. His writing becomes more paranoid and chaotic as the years pass. It's amazing he was able to keep it together in public."

"And Remus' theories?" Holly asked.

Kingsley frowned at Holly and Ginny sadly. They looked so much like Lily and James. It was hard to look at them, but he forced himself not to show how affected he was. It was his burden to bear, not theirs. They carried enough already.

"He was right, about everything. Dumbledore set up Grindelwald, and then he set up the former Lord Slytherin. He practically drove Tom insane. Though Tom was never exactly kind, he held onto his sanity until his soulmate died. That's what really sent him over the edge."

Narcissa grabbed Lucius' hand under the table. The loss of her sister had been hard, but it had come in the midst of a terrible war. They had been losing people left, right, and center. She had never truly grieved for her sister.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this in a group setting. There are just so many people affected by this investigation. Mad Eye and Tonks are out talking to people as well. We each have several stops to make today. The Wizengamot will no doubt convene an emergency session once the news breaks, and they will be looking to you for guidance."

"Can you prove Dumbledore's direct involvement in many of the deaths?" Luna asked.

Lord Shacklebolt looked at her piercingly. He knew what she was really asking.

"Not many. He was careful. Most of the deaths are caused by his actions, but not by his hands. He had too much at risk to lose it carelessly. Your mother is one of the few exceptions."

Lord Black gripped the carved back of his daughter's chair. He had always wondered about the circumstances surrounding Pandora's death, but he never allowed his mind to dally on it for too long. He feared what dark paths it may lead him down. He had to be able to keep going, for Luna.

"Tell us," Luna pleaded.

"He had a portkey to Paris issued to him the day before your mothers death. He bought Dragon Blood in Diagon Alley the same day. It's a regulated substance. There was a record of it at the Ministry. The stated use was for Hogwarts lessons, but it never shows up in the inventories Slughorn kept. I believe he used it to destabilize your mother's experiments, thereby killing her."

"I knew she'd never make a mistake like that," Luna snarled.

Lord Black walked out the door that led to the garden. The sound of exploding shrubs and splintering wood echoed through the open doorway.

"Is there anything else I need to hear?" Luna asked. "My father needs me."

"There's nothing else that is pertinent to your mother's case.. I'm sure the others can fill you in on the rest later."

Luna curtsied politely and ran after her father, with Cedric trailing after her. He closed the door behind them, muffling the sound of Lord Black's rage.

Lord Shacklebolt looked over those left in the room. They were all affected. All had loved ones dead by malice, or pure neglect, on Dumbeldore's part. He turned to look at Lord and Lady Longbottom next.

"You know, of course, that Dumbledore dosed both of you for years."

Alice nodded her head, as she squeezed Neville's shoulder reassuringly. Their relationship was just now starting to get to a point of wellbeing. It took years to get to know their son, and repair what Dumbeldore's treachery had destroyed.

"The late Lord Longbottom was one of a wave of practitioners of the Olde Ways that passed under suspicious circumstances. The Malfoy's passed at the same time, as did the Potter's, and the Lestrange's. At the very least, Dumbledore somehow exposed them to the Pox on purpose. A mere letter with the virus on it would have sufficed. There's no way that many Pureblood Lord's, that spend all their time in their manor's, on different sides of the country, wind up dead with the same disease. It doesn't make sense."

"And my parents?" Holly asked.

Kingsley regarded her shrewdly. He looked at Draco. His posture was tense.

"Maybe we should take this conversation outside."

"Just tell her," Lucius drawled. "This room hasn't been redecorated in a good decade. If she destroys it, it will finally get a much needed update. We're all strong enough to shield ourselves if her magic flares."

"Alright then," Kingsley hedged. Hee saw the others preemptively pull their wands. He drew his from his robes, just in case.

"Dumbeldore kept journals during the year Lily was pregnant. He was obsessed with you, Holly. He began to believe his own lies about the Dark, about Riddle. He thought you could defeat him. He didn't even try to keep your family safe. He knew Pettigrew was a traitor. He convinced them to leave Potter Manor for Godric's Hollow, and let Riddle come for them. He believed you could ultimately defeat Riddle, and he didn't care what he had to sacrifice for it."

"He knew?" Holly asked brokenly.

She always suspected. She was almost certain, but to hear that he had written it down, had planned it out, was so much more sinister than she could have imagined. Kingsley nodded his head, answering her question.

"There was a letter from Heir Rudolphus Lestrange in Dumbledore's journal, tipping him off. He always had a soft spot for the Marauders, since they helped keep Pandora safe in Hogwarts. He didn't want to see your parents killed."

Holly stood to her feet suddenly. Even Death Eater's had been more loyal to her parents than Dumbledore. She held the Elder Wand in a white knuckled grip. Draco stood next to her, and put a hand on her elbow, filled with concern. Holly could feel her grasp on her magic slipping. It was too much.

"Pardon me," she whispered.

As she turned to leave the room, tears began to spill down her face. She only made it a few steps before she could no longer walk. She collapsed at the end of the long table. Draco caught her as her magic exploded out of her.

She screamed as fresh grief tore through her. She felt all the things she didn't usually allow herself to. She had lost her parents, her grandparents, and her godfather to Dumbledore's machinations. She had been through nearly a decade of abuse. Countless nights of starvation, of beatings, and for nothing but the paranoia of a madman.

Green flashed behind her eyelids, as she was drawn back into her worst memory. She could hear Lily's screams, her pleas for mercy that would go unanswered. She weeped as she watched her mother fall to the Dark Lord. She felt strong arms wrap around her.

"Open your eyes," a deep voice whispered.

Holly knew that voice. She knew the magic that was caressing along her skin. She was safe. She was always safe with Draco. She opened her eyes to be met with Draco's gray gaze. He bent down and kissed her forehead gently.

"It's over. I won't let anyone hurt you."

She allowed herself to relax in his arms. It was true. She knew that more surely than she knew anything else in the world. Draco loved her. He would gladly kill anyone that tried to harm her.

"It's not my fault," she whispered.

"It was never your fault."

Holly nodded slowly, and allowed Draco to pull her to her feet. Everyone looked fairly unscathed, thought the seats that Luna and Ceric had vacated were in splinters, and the wallpaper was singed.

"Now I get to redecorate this room," Cissa mused happily.

Holly smiled at her lovingly, "I'm sorry. It just hit me all at once."

"It's understandable," Kingsley sympathized. "I think you're handling it remarkably well."

"You need to tell Remus in person," Holly insisted.

"Mad Eye has gone to speak to him."

Holly nodded, "Good. That's good."

"How long do we have until this becomes public?" Draco asked.

"Two days. I wanted to get it out before Yule. Fudge was corresponding with Dumbledore while he was in hiding. Of course, it's incredibly illegal to aid and abet a fugitive, let alone collude against the Oligarchy. There's bound to be outrage. This way people have time to process before Yule."

"What will happen to Molly and Ron?" Holly asked.

"Banishment," Kingsley shrugged. "They'll wipe their knowledge of magic and release them as muggles. They're not powerful enough to do wandless magic."

"That's not enough," Ginny snarled.

"That's the law."

"You might want to prepare your dress robes. You're a good candidate for Fudge's replacement," Zach noted.

"You're joking."

"I'm not Lord Shacklebolt. You're fair, you're honest, you practice the Olde Ways. Though I haven't spoken to Lord and Lady Ravenclaw on the matter, I think I can safely say you'd have the full support of the Heirs."

Everyone nodded along with Zach. It was a flawless choice. He was seen as fair and honest by the public. He has an excellent record as an Auror, and was incredibly charismatic.

That he just so happened to be on friendly terms with the Oligarchy, well that simply worked out in both their favors. He would easily approve the re-institution of the Olde Ways at Hogwarts.

"Is that all there is?" Holly asked.

"For now. These things have a way of dragging up more dirt once released. People may come forward after the article is released. I ask that you not tell anyone until the article comes out. We would hate to have misinformation going around before the official findings can be released. It could cause a panic."

Holly nodded, and turned her attention to the door that led out to the garden.

"I think I should go talk to Lord Black."

Draco tried to follow after her, but she stopped him gently.

"May I talk to him alone for a moment?"

Draco looked confused, but nodded.