Lizzie's POV:

"They what?" he exclaimed, pulling back from our embrace and holding me at arm's length. "Who did? Who took your mum?"

"The Death Eaters," I choked out between gasps for breath. "They came in during dinner, she made meat pie, Grayson's favorite, and they started throwing spells everywhere. It took everything I could give just to keep myself alive, but then one of them disappeared-"

"Shhh, come inside and I'll get you a nice warm cup of tea and some dry clothes and a warm bath if you'd like, then we can talk about this." Draco cut off my ramblings and led me inside of his home. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood and nodded.

"Lizzie, darling, I didn't know we were expecting you!" Narcissa said happily from her chair. She really was a nice woman.

I wasn't expecting this either.

My breathing rate began to increase, to the point of my body beginning to clench up, not only from the cold outside, but from lack of oxygen flow. "Oh, are you okay, dear?" Narcissa asked, noticing the blood trickling down my face.

"We weren't," Draco growled, saving me from having to respond. "When Father gets home, tell him I need to speak with him."

"Alright, for what reason?"

"We'll discuss that later," Draco replied simply, leading me up the stairs and to his bedroom. Once the door was shut behind us, he didn't waste any time. "Winny," he called out firmly.

I was expecting it, though I still jumped when the house elf apparated into the bedroom. "A steaming hot cup of tea, please." The house elf nodded and disapparated. "Alright, love, through here."

Draco walked me into his toilet and drew me a warm bath. After casting a few warming spells upon the tub, he turned to me. "And now for you," he spoke sweetly.

"Hand me your wand." He held his hand out expectantly. I tried to move, but my body was so frozen I could barely move my shivering muscles.

"I can't move," I wheezed through clenched teeth, my jaw now locking.

"Okay, love, I need you to calm down. You're going into shock. Breath with me now, ready?" he said calmingly. "In," he took a deep breath in, and I tried to follow him, but my lungs weren't working. "And out," he breathed.

"I can't, Draco," I sobbed, a new wave of tears flowing from my eyes. My head began to pitch from the lack of oxygen and pain in the side of my face. The saltiness of my tears stung the gash on my cheek.

"Come here," Draco crooned. He held his arms out for me and I walked into them, immediately beginning to calm down. This was my home. Here in Draco's arms. "Okay, I need you to close your eyes, can you do that for me?" I hesitantly nodded against his shoulder, closing my eyes. "That's good, now I need you to picture yourself in that room where we had the picnic, do you remember that?" I nodded again. "Alright, good. Picture that meadow. Remember that blanket we sat on? The blue one. And the grass. I couldn't tell if it was real or not. It was so peaceful. Think of that." My breathing began to slow a bit. "Now breathe with me. In," he took another deep breath in and I struggled to as well. "Out," he exhaled and I did as well. "In. Out."

We repeated this for a few minutes until my breathing was close to normal. "That's it, love." Draco smiled and released me. He reached down to my hand, which was beginning to unclamp, but he still had to pry my fingers off of my wand. "Your fingers are ice," he frowned.

After he had successfully removed my wand from my stiff hands, he moved on to my sopping clothes. He carefully pulled my jumper over my head, then had me sit on the edge of the bathtub so he could remove my shoes, socks, and jeans. He struggled with this task, seeing as the clothes had become so soaked with water that they had seemingly become part of my skin.

My outer clothes were off, so he next removed my undergarments. Draco's fingers slid across my back until they reached the clasp of my bra and they gently unclasped it. I shakily stood up to help Draco remove my knickers. His fingers glided down my back to my hips and he hooked his thumb on the elastic band, pulling down slightly. The fabric fell down around my ankles and I stepped out of it.

"Your beauty get's me every time," Draco breathed, studying me for a quick moment before he helped me lower myself into the tub. "I'm going to check on that tea and get you some dry clothes, and when I come back I'm going to see about that cut on your cheek, alright?" I nodded as Draco turned and left the room.

I allowed myself to soak in the heat of the water that was burning my skin. It hurt but it felt so good. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, sliding my head below the water. My cheek stung but I chose to ignore it. It was peaceful beneath the water for a moment or two until flashes of purple and red began to swim across my vision. I heard my mum scream.

Launching myself back above the water, gasping for breath, I reminded myself that I was safe. Draco wouldn't let anything happen to me.

But what about mum?

I forced my mind to stop thinking, blocking every thought that attempted to slither its way into my head before it began to flourish, until Draco came back into the loo. He had a white mug in one hand, with a white shirt and sweatpants thrown over his arm, and his wand in the other hand. "Here you go, love," he whispered, handing me the mug of tea. I held it between both of my hands and sipped carefully, allowing the scalding liquid to burn my mouth.

As I drank my tea and sat in the water, Draco set about drying my clothes. He cast drying spells and warming spells on the fabric before hanging them on a hook on the wall. I watched him work. He had a frown set into his face, as if it were carved there and permanent.

For a moment, I allowed myself to put myself in his shoes. What if he had shown up on my doorstep during a thunderstorm saying that the Death Eaters took his family? I sure would have been cross, but I would have known he had handled the situation well. I would have welcomed him into my home and given him some of Gray's old clothes and a cup of tea.

I don't think Draco gives me enough credit for how strong I am. I think he sees me as something he has to protect, and don't get me wrong, I love that, but I can protect myself. I proved that tonight.

"Alright, let's see about that cut," Draco spoke, taking a seat beside the tub. He had rolled the sleeves of his white button-through up to his elbows and held his hand out for the empty mug of tea that I was still holding. Still shaking, I handed it to him and turned my body to give him full view of my cheek.

His hands came up to my face and gently cupped it as he studied the source of the blood dripping from my face. He trailed a forefinger above the cut, causing me to hiss in pain. "Sorry," he whispered. "It's not too bad, but it's most likely going to leave a scar." I chewed on my lip.

Draco lifted his and and pointed it at my face. "This might sting a bit. Vulnera Sanentur." I felt a warm breeze blow against my cheek as the gash began to seal itself up. "It's not the cleanest, but it'll do."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"It's no problem." Draco gave me a small smile and set his wand down on the floor beside him. "Are you ready to get out?" I nodded and allowed him to help me stand. He towel dried me carefully before slipping a silky, white shirt over my head and helping me step into the sweatpants he provided.

"I didn't even know you owned sweatpants," I muttered, causing Draco to chuckle.

"Don't tell Mother or Father. They'd have a fit." He took my hand in his and led me to his bed. As we laid down on it and he wrapped me in the duvets, he said, "Now, tell me what happened." I nodded and closed my eyes, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I don't know where to start," I whispered, taking myself back in time.

Mother had made meat pie. I knew that before she even called me to the kitchen for dinner. I would know that smell anywhere, because Grayson insisted that we have it every year for dinner on his birthday.

When she did call me though, I took a seat at the table across from her. As we ate, we talked about normal stuff. How work was going for her, how school was going for me, if Grayson was coming home for Christmas. I had told her about Slughorn, how hopelessly silly he seemed. She had laughed with me. Said she imagined him looking like a walrus and I told her that as exactly what he looked like. She laughed so hard at that.

I had almost finished my portion. It was so good. Just how Gray always liked it. And then there was a crack in the front room, like someone apparating in. I thought it was Grayson and so did mum. Gray always apparated home. Didn't like the London traffic. But he apparated to the doorstep and knocked on the door (even though mum told him he didn't need to). We looked at each other in awe before she called out.

"Gray? Is that you?" Her voice was shaking as much as I was.

I think she missed him. That's why she made the meat pie. He became a Death Eater, you see. Said he did it to protect me and mum. He told mum that he couldn't be seen around her.

But the footsteps didn't sound like his, and I knew his footsteps. I grew up hearing them for so many years. His were soft and steady, but these were rough and hard. And it sounded like more than one pair of feet.

Mum noticed too. Her face had turned white. So white.

I summoned my wand from my bedroom where I had left it and told my mum to go hide.

"These are wizards," I had whispered urgently. "You stand no chance against magic, mum. Go hide in my closet." She hadn't wanted to leave me, but knew that I wouldn't let her stay here, so she ran out of the kitchen.

I stood so that the table was between me and the doorway and pointed my wand in their direction.

There were two of them. A tall, slender one and a short, stout one. Both had masks on and were wearing dark robes.

"Where's your mother?" the taller one asked with a smooth voice. I knew that voice. I recognized it. But I couldn't place a face with it.

"That's for me to know," I spat. "Why are you here?"

"We are, quite obviously, here for your mother," the shorter one cackled.

"I am a follower of the Dark Lord, why have you come for my mother?" I asked, adjusting the grip on my wand.

"That's for me to know," the taller one repeated. "So, kindly show us to her, and we will be on our way. No one need get hurt."

"The only way to my mother is through me," I growled, threateningly. I wasn't going to let these fools get to my mother if it was the last thing I was to do.

"If you insist," the taller one drawled. They both drew their wands and I felt my hope falter. It was two on one and even if I was talented, they had the advantage. "Last chance."

"Stupefy!" I shouted, answering his question. He blocked the spell easily, sending into a cabinet nearby. My mothers best plates crashed to the floor and shattered. The duel ran full force. I blocked spells and sent spells flying towards them. I was giving it my all. Their spells were strong and almost knocked me over just from the force. But I held my ground. I was going to protect my mother.

"Petrificus Totalus!" The short one just barely managed to cast a Protego, but sent the spell back at me. It would have hit me too, if I hadn't blocked it.

Things broke all around us. One of the walls was on fire, the dinner table was splintered, the chairs were in different areas of the room, the cabinets were in different forms of disarray.

I was losing quickly and they both knew it. But I was going to protect my mother.

The tall one kept trying to cast the Cruciatus curse on me, but I kept dodging it. I had to hit the ground so hard, one time, I was sure I cracked my chin.

When I got back up, the tall wizard was gone. I didn't know where he went. But I continued to duel the short wizard. I was going to protect my mother.

"Expulso!" I pointed this curse at the wizard's feet, attempting to knock him over. And it worked. He didn't see how he could block it in time, so he leapt out of the way. The curse blew a hole in the ground where he was standing that knocked me backwards.

The wizard stood back up. But he had lost his mask in his attempt to dodge my curse. It was my father.

He gave me a sickly grin and shot spell after spell towards me. I blocked them all. But I heard my mother scream and when I turned to find her, one of the bastards spells grazed my cheek. The force of it knocked me onto my back and I hit my head so hard my vision went blurry for a few seconds.

I tried to get up, but I kept stumbling. I heard my mother scream once more. This time it was my name.

"Lizzie!" she screamed. Then there was the unmistakable sound of apparation.

"Mum!" I yelled back, tears and blood streaming down my face. I ignored the pounding in my head and the pitching of the room. "Mum, where are you? Mum, answer me!" No matter how loud I yelled, she wouldn't answer. That was when I knew they took her. I failed. I couldn't protect her.

I ran out the front door but no one was there. And I had to leave before the muggle police got there.

"So I ran. I ran all the way to the train station and I stole away on the first train in this direction." I discovered that a tears were, once again, leaking from my eyes. I reached up and rubbed at my eyes roughly, aggravating the gash.

"Everything's alright, now. We'll find you're mum. I promise," Draco whispered, kissing the top of my head. "In the meantime, why don't you get some sleep. I know you're exhausted."

"I love you, Draco," I replied quietly, snuggling into him.

I managed to hear him return, "I love you too," before I slipped into the sweet, sweet arms of sleep.