What Lies Within

"Today's the day!" Hermione exclaims, grinning at her best friend who rolled her eyes and went back to packing up her trunk.

Today really was the day, the day she got to see her husband again, to kiss him, hold him, look at him, just ...be with him. These past few weeks proved to Sophie that no matter what is going on or what is said, Draco is the center of her universe, and she his. Every newlywed couple has a few bumps in the road, there's just happen to be mountains instead.

"We should get going, mum is driving us to Kings Cross." Hermione said. Sophie nodded and snapped her trunk shut. An hour later, she's in a compartment with the trio and Neville.

"How come you went to Hermione's? I feel like Malfoy would get pretty mad about that." Harry asked, looking across at Sophie who had been looking out the window, lost in thought. She turns and looks back at him, smiling softly.

"We just needed some time apart, is all. He wanted me to go and have a good Holiday. And I did." Sophie smiled at Hermione who smiled back. "Me and Hermione exchanged all kinds of secrets." Sophie winks, making the guys frown.

"This sounds hot, I wanna be there next time, kay?" Ron says, his mouth full of chocolate.

"Yeah, no." Sophie responds, making him pout.

"So everything's okay with you and Malfoy?" Harry says quietly to Sophie as Ron, Hermione and Neville get into a deep discussion about what girls really do at sleep overs.

"Yes, we're fine. Just stressed and needed to relax. I mean, we've spent every single second together since before Christmas Holiday. We haven't put any space between us since we've been together and sometimes.. you just really need that. He got me this necklace." She points at it, making Harry look down. His face slowly turns into a frown before he looks back up at Sophie.

"He treats you right... right? He doesn't.. hurt you?" Harry whispers, Sophie gasps quietly, surprised Harry would ask such a thing.

"Where is that coming from? Of course he doesn't. He doesn't lay a hand on me unless it's in a loving manner. Draco would never hurt me. Believe it or not, Harry, he does have a heart and cares for me. I don't need you to be friends with him, but you need to stop thinking he's the enemy... he's really not." Harry sighs.

"I just.. I've never trusted him and if... if he's doing anything to you, anything to upset you or put you in danger... I couldn't live with myself if I never did anything." Sophie gives him a small smile and reaches across to take his hand, interlocking their fingers together while she looked into his striking green eyes.

"I love you for wanting to protect me like that, but I promise... Draco isn't who you think he is. He's sweet, he loves me, and he'd never put me in danger. You have to believe that. If he hurt me, do you think I'd still be with him, and married him? I feel like I have enough balls to stick up for myself and get away from him if he wasn't treating me right." Sophie laughs, making Harry smile a little as well.

"You're right, you definitely stick up for yourself. Just know that if you ever need anything, anything at all.. you know where to find me."

"Where? Lounging around, not doing homework?" They both laugh loud enough for everyone to turn and look at them, shocked at their still interlocked hands. Sophie jumps away, smiling nervously. She didn't want anyone believing that her and Harry were having a... moment. It would definitely get back to Draco and she was afraid what he would do if he heard it."

"We're almost in Hogsmeade." Neville says quietly, trying to break the silence.

"Yay!" Sophie says, no longer worrying. She was just minutes away from seeing the love of her life. The thought made her smile uncontrollably and look out the window, waiting until the castle came into view.

"What's got her so excited?" Ron asked Hermione, all of them looking at Sophie. Hermione is laughing quietly.

"She's missed Draco pretty badly." She answers, still smiling. "And from his note on Christmas, he misses her just as much." Ron frowned so Hermione told him what the note had said.

"So Malfoy actually has a heart." He says, both of them laughing.

"They really are happy together. And I know it upsets her that Harry hates her husband so much. It makes it hard to be friends with him." Hermione mutters, frowning when she remembered the real reason she couldn't get close to Harry again. She knew a moment between them like that would never happen and she'll go back to not talking to him. Hermione agreed with it though, It kept her best friend out of danger. Well... somewhat.

"You know something." Ron accuses, narrowing his eyes. Hermione laughs.

"I just know how much she cares for Draco and Harry but sometimes... you have to choose love or friendship. And that's a hard decision to make." Ron looks back at Sophie who was still excitedly looking out the window.

"But she's technically already made it, hasn't she? Marrying the guy kind of says what side she's on." Hermione shakes her head, sighing.

"It's not that simple. There's so much more to her and Harry having friendship problems."

"You mean apart from him being in love with her?" Ron blurted out, Hermione looked petrified.

"He what?!" She whispers.

"I mean... no.. not.. not like that." Ron is tripping over his words and she knows he meant it exactly the way it came out. But what about Ginny? Was that just a cover up to make no one, especially Sophie, suspicious about his feelings? Relationships are just so... confusing.

Just then, the train stopped and Sophie was up on her feet.

"Come on, let's go!" She says excitedly. Hermione laughs when she grabs her hand and they run down the corridor, the guys following after them. "First carriage!" Sophie yells when she jumps into the mentioned carriage, the others following.

"I've never seen you this excited before, Sophie." Harry comments, laughing a little. Sophie can't seem to keep the smile off of her face.

"Love does that to you, Harry. Just the thought of being around them makes your heart race, and butterflies in your stomach, and just.. happiness. It's a marvelous feeling, honestly." She explains, turning to look back at the castle so she doesn't see Harry's face fall. Hermione does though and she vows to find a way to stop Harry's feelings for Sophie as soon as possible. It's not safe for either of them to be friends. Hermione just can't tell anyone that or why. "We're here!"

The next second, Sophie jumps from the carriage and begins to run to the front steps of the caste. Just as she starts running, Draco appears in the doorway and seeing her running towards him, began rushing towards her. They met in the middle of the stairs and she was back in his arms. He hugs her tightly against him, lifting her feet of the ground slightly.

"I've missed you so much." Draco whispers, his face in her neck as he breathes in her wonderful scent that he missed oh so much. "Don't ever leave me again." He pulls back to look at her. Sophie smiles and brings her hands up to his cheek. He smiles at her, happy to be able to look at her face finally.

"I love you so much, Draco." She whispers. His smile widens before he leans down, pressing his lips to hers forcefully. She sighs into the kiss, melting her body against his, her hands in his hair and his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"That was quite the reunion." They turn to see Pansy glaring at them from to steps down. Sophie can't help but laugh.

"Sorry that you don't have anyone's arms to run into." She says, smirking. Pansy gives a frustrated yell and stomps up the stairs and into the caste. The trio, who had stopped behind the couple, watching the interaction, were laughing as well.

"She's relentless." Draco mutters. Sophie smiles and turns back to him, their bodies still pressed close to each others. She didn't think he'd let her go, or she'd want to be let go, probably until the end of term. Sophie doesn't say anything except kiss him again before turning to her friends who were smiling, though Harry's seemed forced.

"Shall we go inside where it's warm?" She asks, making all of them nod. "Food!" She gasps, seeing the tables full of food, people coming and going as they pleased.

"Let's eat." Draco says, starting to pull her inside the large room but she stops and turns back to the trio.

"Can they join us?" She asks her husband tentatively, afraid of his reaction. Surprisingly he nods, smiling.

"As long as I get to see you, and touch you, I don't care who else is there." He responds, she giggles and gives him a soft kiss. She felt like they had just gotten together and everything was fresh and new. And in a way it was. Until tomorrow when term resumes and Draco goes back to the cabinet. Sophie was just going to enjoy this while it lasted.

"What to you guys think? Is it okay if we all eat together?" She asks her friends. Hermione instantly nods, Ron following, Harry shrugs. "Great, let's go." She starts to step away from Draco to go sit down but he stops her, smiling at her as he put's his arm around her shoulders and they begin to walk.

"I'm never letting you leave me again." He whispers into her ear.

"That's fine, I can't go more than at least a day without needed to see you and kiss you." She responds. He just grins as they sit down, the trio across the table from them.

"A whole day? Really? The second you left the room and said you were leaving I wanted to kiss you again already." Sophie laughs and shoves him playfully, making him grin. Oh how she had missed this side of Draco. The happy, loving, non stressed, Draco who cared for nothing but her.

She turns back to the trio as they all start to fill their plates. Draco's left hand stays on Sophie's leg the entire time.

"I say it's time to go... reconnect and talk about how you're trip was." Draco says, loud enough for the others to hear but he's leaned down, close to Sophie, his hand moving back and forth on her leg. She laughs and shoves him away.

"Yeah, I think we should go. We need to get ready for term resuming tomorrow." Sophie says, standing up.

"If that's what you wanna call it... that's fine." He says. Hermione actually laughs, which was surprising, Ron cracks a large smile, but Harry just looks at the table, seemingly focusing on his food.

"Bye guys. Thanks so much for everything Hermione, I can't thank you enough. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Draco was already all but pulling her down the isle. Sophie laughs and blows the trio a kiss before she turns and rushes after Draco. "We really do need to talk, Draco. About everything before Holiday and... what's going to happen now... you know, about everything." Sophie says as he finally stops rushing her and they walk a leisurely pace, his hand warm in hers. Draco sighs.

"I know but... can't we just.. not until later?" He pouts, making Sophie smile.

"You might need to do some persuading." She jokes. He looks over at her and grins.

"Oh, challenge excepted, baby." Before she could do anything more than giggle, he's stopped and pulled her hard against his body, kissing her fiercely. She kisses him back just as enthusiastically but pulls away a second later, still giggling.

"I didn't mean here." She whispers, smacking his chest a little but he doesn't stop grinning. "We don't need to advertise to the whole school how in love we are."

"Oh but that's exactly what I want. I want everyone to know that every night I get to sleep with the most gorgeous, smartest, most kind, person in the world. And that I get to wake up beside you, getting to kiss you every second that I please. I want to show off how lucky I am to have you." He says. Sophie's heart melts. She was always so shocked by his words.

"Okay... that was pretty good persuasion." She mutters, not really able to find any other words to speak. Draco grins.

"Good." He then takes her hand and they continue their walk but now students are watching them as they pass after that very public display of affection. "Yeah, that's right! I'm the luckiest guy in the world, you're all jealous." Draco yells.

"Dray!" Sophie gasps but laughs at his smug smile. "Be nice. It's not exactly news that we're together. We have been for a year." Draco grins widely, and then Sophie grins just as big.

"One year today." He says quietly. "One year... it feels like a century." He says, making her nod. "I couldn't ask for a better person to be at my side for the rest of my life."

"Me either." Sophie mutters, looking up at him. He smirks at her and then stops as they'd finally gotten to the Room of Requirement. There was no one around so he quickly made the room appear and pulled Sophie inside. It was their bedroom. Oh how she had missed it. When the door is closed behind them, Draco pins her against it, kissing her. She kisses back, pulling him closer, loving every second of it. Draco pulls away and smiles at her. She just grins back and then the next second he turns and pushes her onto the bed. She pulls him down on top of her and it all feels like they are reliving the first time they did this, in this same bed. Well.. kind of the same bed.

Draco's touch was so soft, his kisses softer and filled with such love. The feeling of them reconnecting in this way again was fantastic. She didn't realize how much she needed this until it was happening. Draco was thinking the same thing. His wife was back, and he was getting intimate with her for the first time in weeks. He didn't realize just how much weight that took of of him. He has his bracelet on the whole time, checking to make sure it was still warm and red but that doesn't mean he doesn't worry about his wife, especially when she was so far away. Now, having her back, back in his arms, feeling her skin against his, hearing her soft moans, her chest heaving against his. Her lips still fit perfectly against his, just as they always had and he knew that he could never lose her. He would be lost, and ... worthless if he ever lost her.

They were then curled up in the blankets of the bed, their legs tangled. Her head rested on his bare chest, and his hand ran up and down her arm that rested on his stomach. They weren't saying anything, and they didn't need to. The moment was perfect. For the last hour they had escaped everything. There was no tasks, no murders to think about, nothing but them together, being the married couple that they are.

Eventually though, the silence needed to be broken. They had to get back to the real world.

"I want to stay here like this forever and pretend the real world doesn't exist." Sophie whispers. Draco kisses the top of her head.

"We can.. one day we'll be in our house, not having to worry about anything." He vows but she shakes her head.

"That's going to be ages from now. The only way we'll get that is if You Know Who dies. And that looks to be a little difficult to make happen." Draco sighs and nods.

"I know." Sophie sits up and untangles herself from Draco.

"We have things to talk about." She says as she stands up, finding her clothes and dressing. Draco sighs and does the same. She then sits at the end of the bed and sits in the chair, facing each other. "Have you made any progress?" She mumbles, not sure she really wants to hear this but knows she needs to.

"On the cabinet... a little. Things still don't come back yet though." He explains, making her nod. She watches as he runs his long fingers through his blonde hair. "And with Dumbledore... I think he'll be getting the poisoned mead soon, if he hasn't already."

"Do you really think he won't be able to tell that it's poisoned? This is Dumbledore, after all." Sophie asks. Draco sneers, he had never thought highly of Dumbledore but knew that she did.

"He's old and have you seen that black hand of his? It's only a matter of time before something kills him. Why can't it be that?" He asks defensively. Sophie sighs and gets up, going over to him and curling up in his lap, his arms go tightly around her. She looks down into the grey eyes that showed he was scared, but also happy that she was in here, and it showed the love for her she hadn't seen in his eyes in months.

"I really hope it works, you know I do. I don't want you to physically have to do it. I'm just thinking of the possibility that he knows its poisoned. How did he get it? Can they trace it back to you?" Draco shakes his head.

"Slughorn got him a bottle of mead for Christmas but he got really drunk on Christmas so I may have gone into his office and.. altered the mead a little." He explains. Sophie bites at her lip, thinking about it.

"What if he decides to get him something else and drinks the mead himself or worse, gives it to someone else?" Draco hadn't thought of that, but then... he didn't care as much as Sophie. It was just an attempt, a weak attempt just to show The Dark Lord he was doing something.

"What if I can't kill him, Sophie?" Draco whispers, seemingly horrified. Sophie looks at him but then looks away, biting at her lip.

"When He finds out I didn't do what he asked, stay close to Harry, he may just kill me no matter what you did. Without Harry, I'm useless to him, and you know it. He doesn't take people not following orders lightly." Sophie's voice was so quiet but in Draco's mind it sounded like she was screaming at him. Screaming that she was going to die and it'd be all his fault. He has to succeed, and do a perfect job, something the Dark Lord would be impressed with, at least enough to not kill his wife.

"Maybe you should talk to Potter more again." Draco mutters. "Staying away from him isn't helping.. If you stay close to Potter and get at least something out of him about how he's going about defeating the Dark Lord, or whatever it is that he's doing, he won't be angry and you'll be fine."

"I know but... I'm putting my friends in danger. I could well be the reason they die because I told that man something about them and their plans. And if that happens, I'd want to die anyway. I couldn't live with that."

"Okay.. I don't like talking about you dying. So even though He may do it... let's not think about it. Anything can happen in the next six months."

"Six months... that's all we have left.." Sophie whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. She hated crying so much. She hadn't cried since she was a toddler until You Know Who entered her life and killed her father. Now it seems all she does is cry.

"I'm going to do everything that I can to keep you safe. I'd sacrifice myself before I let him anywhere near you." Draco puts his hands on her cheeks, keeping her face towards his. "I love you so much and there wouldn't be a life for me if you weren't in it." Draco wipes at her tears. "I'm so sorry for how I treated you before you left." He whispers when she buries her face in his neck, his hand running over her hair.

"I don't care about that. I have you now and I don't want to spend anymore time getting mad at you or arguing. We need each other so we need to stop pushing each other away when we get stressed." She comments, making him nod. He kisses the top of her head before resting his head on hers, willing himself not to start crying as well.

"So.. I heard that apparition lessons start soon." Draco says, trying to change the subject to something that didn't involve death or anger.

"That should be exciting." She mumbles back, her eyes were closed and she wasn't thinking about anything for once. She just wanted to lay here in his arms for the rest of time.

"Or it could be wasting time that I could be spending working on the cabinet." He says, instantly regretting it as he feels her tense up. "Sorry." He whispers.

"We should go to bed, we have class in the morning." Sophie gets up and out of his arms. Draco stays seated, thinking how he got into this and why he couldn't have a normal life.

Later, when he was laying in bed with Sophie, listening to his soft breaths as she slept, he vowed to finish everything as soon as possible. He would skip classes, or at least the ones he didn't have with Sophie so she wouldn't know. He was so close, he could feel it. He then tried to block it out and just pulled Sophie close to him and while taking in her flowery scent, he fell asleep and luckily, didn't dream..