Lizzie's POV:

The tagliatelle that the house elves had made was utterly delicious, and Mrs. Malfoy, as usual, was so kind to me. While we conversed easily about my brother and Draco and everything else that wasn't related to the war, Draco sat brooding and pushing the pasta around his plate, only answering in one or two sentences.

When dinner was drawing to an end, Draco excused us, taking my arm and dragging me out of the room.

"Hey, where are we going? Your bedroom is that way," I asked, pointing behind us with a confused face.

"You are going home. You had dinner with us. You saw that there's nothing unsafe for me here. It's just a house. So you can go back to Grayson," he huffed.

I yanked my arm from his hand and stopped, crossing my arms over my chest. "No."

"No?" he repeated, whirling around with an angry snarl on his face.

"Yes. You heard me correctly. I said no," I drawled, holding my head high.

Draco closed the distance between us in one long stride and put his face very close to mine. "You are not spending one more moment in this house, Elizabeth. You are going to go out that door and you are going to go apparate yourself to your brother's flat. That is who you should be spending this break with."

"If the house is so safe, then there is no reason for you to need to force me out," I argued, raising an eyebrow.

"I never said-"

"You did. You said that 'now that I had seen that there was nothing unsafe for you here, I should go home'," I spoke, narrowing my eyes at him. "I'm not giving in, Draco."

"I'm not giving in either," he snapped.

"Hmph. Fine then," I said, turning on my heel and walking back to the dining room.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he hissed, hurrying to my side.

"Mrs. Malfoy?" I asked, when I approached the woman who was just finishing up her dinner.

"Hello, Lizzie," she smiled. "What can I help you with?"

"Don't you dare," Draco sneered, putting a hand on my arm. I shook it off.

"Mrs. Malfoy, would you mind if I were to spend the holiday here with your family?" I asked.

The woman frowned. "Well, you really should spend it with your brother."

"My brother and I had a rather major row. He doesn't want me in his flat at the moment," I lied, furrowing my eyebrows and making my eyes water as if I were about to cry to make the lie more believable.

"Oh dear," she whispered, placing a hand over her heart. "Of course you are welcome to stay with us. Our doors are always open to you, Lizzie."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Malfoy. Really," I smiled.

"You are very welcome, darling," she replied with a smile.

"Let's go, Draco," I smirked upon turning around. He was livid, which should have somewhat scared me or made me feel bad, but, instead, it made me feel my success even more.

I walked past him and up the stair that led to the bedrooms, hearing his footsteps storming towards me.

"You don't know what you've done, Lizzie," he growled, catching up to my light steps.

Ignoring what he said, I opened the door to his bedroom and held it open for him, then shutting it.

"I'm not kidding, Liz. It's not good for anyone to be in this building. You don't know what you've gotten yourself into," he flared.

I stomped right up to him and lifted my lip in a snarl. "No. I don't know what I've gotten myself into. But I don't care if You-Know-Who him bloody self came waltzing through those doors and Crucio'd me for hours because I would be here with you and that is all that I want. I am not going to let you stay in this house by yourself any more because I don't know what it's like here. You-Know-Who could be Crucioing you for all I know! I can't stand not knowing if you're okay or not. So I am not leaving this house, and if I have to bloody lie to your mum everyday, I will."

I stood there breathing roughly and staring into his eyes, refusing to back down. He lifted a hand and placed it on my cheek, running his thumb across my skin. "I just want you safe, Liz," he breathed.

"I don't need a hero, Draco," I replied, quietly but sternly.

"I know. I just... I have try," he sighed, pulling me to his chest.

"And I have to try to protect you," I muttered, burying my face into his neck and relishing the warmth of his skin on mine.

I felt the rumble of his chest when he spoke. "You're so stubborn."

I smiled into his neck. "I know."

-----

When Draco had finally accepted that I was staying, he helped me get settled, clearing out part of his wardrobe so I could clear out my trunk (which I had brought with me, shrunk) and hang my clothes up.

We spent the first three days of the break wandering through the Manor, spending a lot of time in the Rose Garden that he had introduced me to ages ago. Since spring was only just picking up, the blooms on the flowers seemed brighter and fuller than the last time I had seen them. I couldn't help but stop and smell them every so often, making Draco smile.

Life could have been perfect had it not for the war looming over us. We were reminded of the danger that we were in when Draco's father returned home from wherever he had been.

We were in the library that day, reading a book about a witch with green skin who makes an enemy of her schools headmistress and a wizard, who tells everyone that she's wicked. She has to go on the run with a man she loves, who ends up turning into a scarecrow.

We were enjoying our time together, and it was almost like the war wasn't happening. I guess we jinxed ourselves.

"Draco, darling, would you come out here?" Draco's mum called from the entrance hall.

Draco glanced at me with a wary expression and stood. "Erm- You should probably wait here," he muttered looking towards the door.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, at least for now," he replied.

"Okay I'll be here," I said, watching as he walked out of the room, then lying down on the sofa we taken up residence on. I placed the book on my stomach and put my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling.

What had made Draco act that way? Like he wanted me to hide under a bed?

What had his mother wanted?

Draco had hardly been out of the room for three minutes before he came hurrying in, his brows furrowed and his mouth drawn into a thin line. "Go upstairs, please," he said quickly.

"Draco? What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up.

"Quickly," he rushed, helping me off of the sofa. "Please."

"Tell me what's going on!" I demanded.

"Later, just, please-"

"Miss Samuels," a voice drawled from the doorway. Lucius Malfoy stood there in black robes, his hands folded in front of him. "How... delightful to have you here with us."

"Father-"

"Hush, Draco," Lucius snapped. "Miss Samuels, why don't you come join us in the Drawing Room? I do believe we have something that might be of interest to you."

"Father, I must-" Draco tried, stepping in between Lucius and myself, who had been walking closer with each word.

"I said hush, Draco," the man snapped, making Draco flinch.

"What would this thing that 'might be of interest to me' happen to be?" I asked, crossing my arms and looking to Lucius with an expression of loathing.

"Why don't you just follow me and find out?" he sneered.

"Lead the way."

"Gladly."

Lucius Malfoy turned on his heel and walked through the door with me and Draco on his tail. Our shoes clicked on the floor as we walked.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what I saw.

Because I saw Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger kneeling on the floor with snatchers standing behind them, their wands digging into their necks.