Draco's POV:

My grip on Lizzie's waist tightened tremendously at those three words that Yaxley spoke that night. I felt her muscles clench under my hand.

"T-that can't be," she whispered. "My dad was a muggle."

"I'm afraid not. Where do you think your magic came from?" Yaxley smirked. I wasn't feeling this conversation to begin with, but now I just wanted to hex the bloke into next year.

"My mum said he was a muggle," Liz's voice shook. "My f-father is a muggle."

"I hid my powers from her."

"Y-you left us." Now not only her voice shook, but her body began to tremble as well.

"What was I supposed to do? A pureblood runs off with a muggle and has two muggle kids. Not exactly the kind of story to tell around the dinner table," the man deadpanned.

"My mum had to work three jobs just to keep us alive. She raised us on bread and crackers because you left her with nothing," Lizzie seethed.

Bread and crackers? Liz was raised on bread and crackers when I had a full meal three times a day? I suddenly felt very spoiled.

"It's not my fault the old crow went and got pregnant," he laughed. I noticed that Lizzie's fists were in balls by her sides. If I knew anything about my best friend, this man was in danger of getting hurt.

"How. Dare. You," she sneered with more ferocity than I had ever seen before in her. She took a step towards Yaxley and stared him straight in the eyes. "How dare you speak of my mother that way. You abandoned your own family. You left us with nothing more than a memory. Barely even that. I had to grow up without a father. How does that make you feel? I only had my mum to read me bedtime stories or teach me to ride a bike. Grayson had to grow up without his dad too. He didn't have anyone to wrestle with or to play catch with. You broke our hearts and you have the audacity to call my mother an 'old crow' to my face?"

The people around us had frozen and began to watch the exchange. Tension sparked through the air like electricity, making my hair stand on end. Lizzie was angry. Very angry.

"There was no way I was going to stay with a muggle. Your mum was just something fun to pass time after my time at Hogwarts," Yaxley retorted with a smirk. He was enjoying seeing Lizzie so angry. He wanted to see her burst.

Lizzie's bicep clenched and I knew what was coming before it happened. She drew back her fist, but before it could connect with Yaxley's jaw, I caught it swiftly. The sound of our skin connecting resounded through the air around us.

"Alright, Liz. I think we've spent enough time down here. It's time for bed," I grunted, dropping her fist and wrapping my arm around her waist. I began to lead her away from Yaxley.

"Yeah that's right, go run off with your ickle boyfriend. Merlin knows you're just his something fun too," he cackled behind us. Lizzie twisted around like the speed of light and lunged at Yaxley viciously. My arm remained wrapped around her waist and held her back.

"Lizzie, no," I dictated firmly.

"Let me go, Draco," she growled, struggling to free herself from my grasp. She sure as hell was strong, but I was stronger. She pried at my fingers to try and break away from me, but I was holding on to her tight.

"No. We're going to bed," I stated as I walked away with her.

"Just one punch," she argued, still writhing in my arms.

"No. You aren't punching anyone," I muttered. More people were staring.

"You heard what he said!" she snapped.

"I did, and I also know what is best for all of us, and that is you going upstairs." I led her through the doors of the ballroom and up the stairs to our bedrooms.

"The goddamned nerve he had," she mumbled as I opened her bedroom door.

"I know," I replied. I snaked my arms around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly. "Just ignore him, Liz." She buried her head into my neck and remained silent for a few moments.

"That's the thing, I can't ignore him. He is my dad," she choked. "This is going to haunt me forever."

"We don't know that for sure. He could have been lying just to get a reaction out of you." I knew it was unlikely, but Liz needed consoling so that was what I was going to do.

"How did he know mum and Grayson's name, then? My mum's a muggle, it's not like wizards know her," she sighed. I could sense the anger from downstairs ebbing away, turning into despair.

"I don't know, but I'll find out," I promised her. When I released her, I placed a kiss on her cheek. "I'll leave you alone to shower and change."

"No, don't leave me, please," she begged, grabbing my hand when I began to walk away.

"We both need to change," I noted. There was no way I was going to spend anymore time in this suffocating suit than I had to, and I assumed Liz felt the same.

"Fine," she said. "You go change and get your bum back over here as fast as you can." She folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at me. I couldn't help but laugh at the image.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes." I turned from the girl and shut the door behind me once I exited the room. Leaning my back on the solid wood, I let out a huge breath. We avoided what could have been a huge fiasco down there.

My shoes clicked dully on the wooden floor as I crossed the hall to my bedroom. As I promised to Lizzie, I swiftly changed from my suit to a simple white shirt and pajama pants with little thunderbirds on them. I knew it would cheer her up, she loves Wizarding World animals.

As I approached Liz's door, my footsteps were silent, so I could hear the noise from the party still going on down stairs. I tapped my knuckles on Lizzie's door and waited for a reply.

"C'm in," she grumbled from inside. She was perched on her bed in her pajamas that consisted of Slytherin green silk shorts and a grey t shirt. "Took you long enough."

"I wanted to make sure you had time to change, too," I defended myself, taking a seat on her bed.

"Fair enough," she noted. The room was then lurched into a silence that allowed the chatter from the ball drift into the room. I sat looking at my feet and attempting to think of something to say.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her quietly. We both knew what the 'it' was that I was referring to.

"Do I look like him?" she whispered almost inaudibly, staring at the floor.

"Let me see," I replied. She picked her head up and turned to face me. I studied her for a moment with the image of Yaxley in my mind. "You have his eyes." It was true. Lizzie's eyes were the same shade of dark grey as Yaxley's, but the rest of her face greatly resembled her mother. When I shared this with her, she visibly relaxed.

"I can't believe it. I spent my entire childhood dreaming about what kind of man my father would be. I convinced myself that he was a king of some distant country and he had to leave us for our own safety because he was being hunted by an enemy country." She chuckled and fell silent for a second, reaching for the chain around her neck. "Instead I get a disappointment."

"You don't deserve this, Liz," I told her honestly. "You don't. I wish your life was easier than it was, but there's nothing we can do except play the hand we are given." I placed my right hand on her thigh. She looked at my hand and placed hers on top, sighing. I rubbed my thumb in circles on her leg.

"Thank you," she whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, as if shaking thoughts from her mind. "How was your Christmas?" she asked with a smile.

"It was fine. Just your average Malfoy Christmas. Thank you for the pocket watch, by the way. I love it," I smiled at her.

"You're welcome. And thank you for the necklace," she answered, indicating to the necklace wrapped around her neck.

"You are very welcome."

"What does it mean?" she asked, looking down at it. I glanced at it and smiled at how cliche and sappy I had been. It was a small, bronze compass attached to a gold chain.

"I'd be lost without you," I chuckled.

Her gaze flashed back up to my face and with all seriousness said, "I'd be lost without you too."

It was as if I had been struck by lightning, for every hair on my body seemed to stand on end and my stomach churned feverishly. I suddenly became very aware of how close we were sitting. My thigh was resting against hers, our faces a mere feet apart. Her eyes bore into mine with a new type of perplexity that I admired. She had taken her hair out of the hair-do she had done for the ball and it now fell in loose curls that rested on her shoulders. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap my hand in it.

Before I was aware of what I was doing, I leaned forward and placed my lips upon hers.