A/N: THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE WITH THIS STORY. I'M SORRY THE UPDATES ARE TAKING SO LONG, BUT DOING TWO FICS AT ONCE IS HARDER THAN I THOUGH IT WAS GOING TO BE!

She turned, a handful of Floo powder slipping through her fingers. "I won’t be long, I promise. I’ve been in the Archives millions of times and I know exactly where to look."

He came to her and slipped his arms around her, embracing her tightly. "Be careful."

She closed her eyes, her head resting on his chest, and listened to his heartbeat. It was strong, but for how long? How much time did he have before it began to slow and then stop altogether? Would he languish for weeks or even months on the verge of death or would his light just one day blow out like a candle? She was determined to not find out the answer. She was going to save him, and that was that. There was no other option. "I love you," she whispered, tears beginning to flow again.

"I love you too," he said, and reluctantly let go. He watched her throw in the powder and step into the flames. "I’ll see you soon. Remember to be careful." She blew him a kiss, said her destination and then was gone, leaving Draco to ponder life, love, and destiny in the stillness of the empty house.

Hermione exited the fireplace, quickly made her way down the deserted halls and got into the elevator. Praying that she wouldn’t run into anyone, she was relieved when it let her off on her floor without mishap.

The only sound was her footsteps as she walked swiftly towards her office, looking behind her every once in a while to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Turning the corner, she came to a door with her name plaque on it, pulled out her wand, unlocked it, and then silently closed it behind her. It was pitch-dark inside and instead of turning on the lights, she simply lit the tip of her wand.

Her desk loomed like a giant black mass in the corner. She headed towards it, the sound of her breathing heavy in her ears. Pulling open a drawer, she took out her old briefcase and removed the contents, tossing the paperwork onto the desktop. This would make a perfect carrying case for the scrolls she was about to pilfer from the Archives. If she did indeed encounter anyone, they wouldn’t think it suspicious that she was carrying a briefcase.

Closing it, she stopped and listened for a second before slipping from the office and heading back to the elevator. The Archives were deep below the Ministry and it felt like forever before it stopped and let her off. It was a cavernous room carved right into the rock, lined with shelves of books from floor to ceiling.

This was one of her most favorite places on Earth. She loved the smell of the ancient dust, and the mysterious atmosphere that hung about the room like a shroud. She had spent many days and nights in here, devouring everything in sight. Pouring over the contents of anything she could get her hands on; it was the only way she could keep her mind off of Draco.

In the far corner, in a hidden room, was a glass case in which were kept the oldest and most fragile scrolls. It was to this case that Hermione went. Luckily for her, she was one of the few people who had access to the secrets that lie within.

Opening the lock on the case with her wand, she scanned the shelves until she found what she was looking for. There was a reason the whole Skadi/Heart of Winter sounded familiar to her; she had come across them in her reading. Carefully lifting the yellowed and crumbling parchments from the shelf, she tenderly carried them to the nearest table and went to work opening them. They were very delicate and the writing was so faded that it was almost unreadable.

After making sure she had the correct ones, she put them in her briefcase and exited the room, making sure to leave the room looking undisturbed.

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione jumped out of her skin and clutched her heart. She slowly turned around, her worst fears realized. Standing before her was Kingsley Shaklebolt, the Minister of Magic. "M… Minister!" she sputtered. "I… I didn’t know anyone else was here."

"Neither did I," he said. "I thought the storm would keep everyone at home, but I should have known that a little bit of snow wouldn’t keep you away from work!" He chuckled because it was common knowledge that Hermione was a workaholic. "How did you manage to use the Floo network? I thought it was down?" he asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "You haven’t been here the whole time, have you?"

Hermione’s mind was going at breakneck speed, trying to make a believable story. "I was at home, and Ron contacted me and told me that the Floo was going to probably be down because of the storm and… I suddenly remembered that I had this report that needed to be done and that I didn’t have the proper research materials."

Kinglsey looked over her shoulder at the door that now resembled just another part of the wall. "I see you’ve been in the hidden room. Find anything useful for your report?" He could not see how anything in that room could have pertained to any research she was doing for work. She was acting rather peculiar and although he was now Minister, his Auror training was still heavily embedded in his being. He was suspicious of everyone and everything and trusted his gut to tell him when something was not quit right- and this was one of those times.

Hermione was panicking. She needed to get back home and figure out a way to save Draco. There was no time to stand here and fucking jibber jabber with the Minister. "I was just…" She had no idea what to say. Kinglsey was standing there, looking at her in that way that always made her feel guilty even when she wasn’t.

"Taking papers home?" Kingsley asked, noticing her briefcase.

Hermione knew this was the end. She was finished. He was going to take the briefcase from her, discover that she was stealing manuscripts, and not only would he take them back, but he would probably fire her as well. "No," she said. "I was going to check out some books and use this to carry them in."

"Oh," he said. "What kind of books?"

What the hell was this? The Inquisition? She thought quickly and came up with a story. "I needed some information pertaining to the upcoming case with the vampire who’s been accused of trying to make an army of the undead to take over the world."

"I’d almost forgotten you were trying that case," Kinglsey said. "Did you need me to help you find…"

"No," she just about screamed. Realizing that she had shouted at the leader of the Wizarding world, who after all, was just trying to help, she quickly changed her tone. "Thank you, but I know exactly where to find what I need," she said, politely. "Have you forgotten who you’re talking to, Minister? It’s me, Hermione Granger. I live in the Archives, remember?" she added with a laugh.

"Even so, I think I’ll walk with you." He was taken aback by her strange behavior. The woman was definitely up to something, but what? "Did you say you had spoken to Ron Weasley?" he asked her as they strolled past the aisles.

"Yes, earlier," she said. She just wanted to bolt; knock him over and make a run for it. Time was dwindling down, and images of Draco lying on the floor of her kitchen dead with his tongue lolling out of his mouth kept popping into her mind. She wondered if he was dead already and if he wasn’t, what exactly was he doing?

After Hermione left, Draco sat down on the sofa for a bit, letting everything sink in. This was entirely his fault. He just couldn’t have left the damn orb where it was… he had to play macho and steal it. Now he was being pursued by two crazy Russians, he was magic-less, and was being blackmailed by a frozen bint inside a glass sphere who wanted to kill him. Although he was putting on a courageous face on front of the woman he loved, he was scared shitless inside. He didn’t want to die! He had to trust Hermione to find an answer to their problem; after all, if she couldn’t then no one could.

He got up and walked around the room, picking up various pictures and frowning at them. Weasley was in almost every one of them, smiling like a dork. The very sight of his face made him want to punch a hole in the wall. To think all this time Hermione had been sleeping with the weasel; letting him kiss her and touch her… it made him sick to even think about them having sex.

"You won’t be touching her anymore, you fucking red-headed freak," he said to Ron in the photo. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Weasley’s face when he found out his and Hermione’s secret. Sitting the frame face down on the table, he set about searching the rest of the house. He was curious about her life- not having been a part of it for so long.

In the kitchen, he messed around with the appliances, never having seen any of them before. He was really amazed by the toaster; pushing the lever down and making it pop back up. Too bad the electricity wasn’t working, he’d have loved to see what it did. After glancing in the well-stocked cupboards, he made his way up stairs.

Pausing in the doorway of the spare room, he happened to glance at the window and was shocked to see that some of the snow had receded; it wasn’t melting, it was just disappearing. Maybe it was because the Heart wasn’t being used? He had no idea; all he knew was that with the snow leaving, there was a good chance the Russians would come calling- or even worse, Weasley would be showing up in person.

After looking through the dresser drawers that contained nothing but extra towels, sheets and blankets and peeking into the closet where only her summer clothing was hanging, he left and went down the hall to her bedroom. His eyes lingered on the bed where they had been lying next to each other and he smiled. If he had his way, they would be spending every night there together. Now that he had her, he planned on never letting her go… unless he died. Trying to remove that thought from his mind, he went to her closet and looked in.

Everything was color coordinated, pressed, starched, labeled and organized. "How typical!" he said, laughing. He searched through her neatly folded drawers, pausing to take out some sexy, black lacy knickers from the top one. He closed his eyes, imagining her slowly removing them; how they would slide smoothly over her tender skin. She’d step out of them, one black, stiletto- heeled foot at a time, and with a devilish grin, toss them to the floor as she walked towards him, her eyes burning with desire.

He sighed, wishing she were here right now so he could make his fantasy a reality. He stuck the knickers into his pocket and just as he was about to shut the drawer, he noticed the corner of a red leather bound book sticking out. Lifting it, he saw that it was a diary.

Standing there holding it in his hand, he was torn between respecting her privacy and devouring the pages as his curiosity wanted him too. It had no locking mechanism, but she had probably placed some kind of charm on it. He opened the cover just to see what would happen, and when nothing did, he was seriously tempted to flip a few more pages.

‘She won’t even know! A tiny peek won’t hurt anything,’ His bad side said. ‘It’s none of your business. These are her private thoughts. Don’t do it! She’ll never forgive you if you do!’ his conscience pleaded. Draco closed his eyes and gathered all the will power he had. ‘You can do it. Just put it back, close the drawer, and walk away. It’s as simple as that…’

He slowly and longingly placed it back in the dresser drawer and then shut it as fast as he could. He was proud of himself and wore a big grin as he left the room- only to turn around a second later and rush back in. He wrenched the drawer open, snatched up the diary, and flipped to the middle.

June 30th

Ron just left. We had a huge row and he accused me of being in love with someone else. Of course I am, but he doesn’t need to know that. I think I managed to calm him down and make him believe that it’s all in his head. I guess I said something in my sleep last night that made him suspicious. He refuses to tell me what it was I supposedly said, but I can only imagine!

July 15

I’ve been finding myself thinking about D. constantly to the point where I lock myself in my room and cry for hours remembering how it felt to kiss him. I would give anything to just feel his lips on mine one more time…

August 1st

I hate Ron! I wish he would die. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend to love him before I just come right out and tell him everything! The very sound of his stupid voice makes me cringe. I hate the way he laughs, I hate the way he looks and I hate the way he touches me. Most of all, I hate the fact that he is not D.!

September 26th

Woke up this morning crying. I had the most vivid, wonderful dream last night. I was back at Hogwarts and I was standing beside the frozen Black Lake and snow was falling. He was standing behind me, his arms around me tightly, keeping me warm. I could feel his body pressed against mine, smell his cologne, and he whispered that he loved me… I can’t even bear to think about it! I miss him so much. I just wi

The ink was smeared because her tears had fallen onto the paper and he couldn’t read the rest, but he was sure it said that she wished it hadn’t been a dream. How many times over the years had he himself wished for the very same thing; to hold her, to touch her and tell her that he loved her? It was a shame that all this time they had been longing for the same thing and neither was aware of it.

He flipped towards the back of the diary and read the last entry.

December 23

I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas! The weather seems to be cooperating; it’s been snowing all day. Nothing as pretty as a white Christmas, is there? Ron left earlier, he said he, Harry and the rest of the Aurors had something important to do. He was very mysterious about it all and it makes me wonder what’s going on.

On a more important note, I’ve finally made up my mind to stay with him. Even though my heart will always belong to D., I’ve realized that he and I were never meant to be and I’ve got to move on. I know it won’t be easy, but I refuse to spend the rest of my life pining for him when he’s probably forgotten all about me and is right now lying in the arms of another woman.

Draco smirked and closed the book. So, just yesterday she was intending on forgetting about him and staying with the weasel. My, how things change in a day! He placed the diary back under her unmentionables and slid the drawer shut. ‘December 23rd’, he thought. ‘That means today is Christmas Eve.’

Walking down the hall towards the stairs, he noticed a string hanging from the ceiling. He could tell it was some sort of way into the attic, but having never encountered such a thing before, he was beyond curious. It was pretty high, so he jumped and the second he pulled it, the trap door opened and the stairs came sliding down at break-neck speed; he narrowly missed being decapitated.

Slowly, he walked up the steps and found himself in a fairly large, dark room. The ceiling was so low that he had to walk around almost bent in half, and it was crammed with boxes and- big shock- books. Dim sunshine was streaming in from a small circular window, giving enough light for him to make out the titles of a few of them. "How to Embrace Your Inner Sex Demon," he read and tossed it aside. "Ten Ways to Improve Your Love Life. Mrs. Simmons and the Naughty Pool Boy. She must keep all her porn up here in the attic!" he said, laughing. He sat them on top of a box, accidentally knocking it over and spilling the contents. There were red and green glass bulbs rolling everywhere and he tripped over a string of tangled lights as he set out after them.

As he bent to pick up the Christmas ornaments, his eye fell on another, taller box in the dark corner. "Why how utterly un- English of you, Granger!" he said with a grin.

Yuri could here the woman screaming from behind the locked bedroom door. He could only imagine what Dmitri was doing to her and it sickened him. The husband had been tied up, gagged, beaten, and thrown down the basement stairs. Yuri wasn’t even sure the man was still alive.

"Oh, God! Please! Please just let me go…" the woman begged. Yuri covered his ears and went into the living room. Looking around to make sure Dmitri was still occupied and not spying on him, he took a handful of Floo Powder from his pocket and tossed it into the flames. Kneeling down, he whispered into the flames. Almost immediately someone answered.

"Yuri! How are y…"

"Please, I don’t have much time. Dmitri has gone mad! He’s torturing and murdering innocent Muggles right here in their own home!" There was a blood curdling scream and Yuri glanced over his shoulder, sweating profusely and twitching anxiously. "We have taken refuge in the house next door and we are almost positive that he is with the girl. We saw her drag him inside before the storm hit."

"You’re sure that he’s with her? Why didn’t you just apprehend him then?"

"Dmitri wouldn’t allow it!" Yuri said almost whining. "And what was I supposed to do? Blow my cover? I’ve been working under cover for years now and you would have me ruin everything just to apprehend the Malfoy boy?"

"Have you forgotten that it’s not him we are after, Yuri? He has in his possession a magical weapon capable of wiping every living creature from the face of the planet and he doesn’t even realize what he has. We must get that orb, and above all, we must protect them."

"What about Dmitri? What about the Black Lord?" Yuri asked. "Are we to just toss that case to the side to protect an arrogant treasure hunter and his girlfriend?"

"Yuri, the cases are intertwined. Just do your job. Go along with Dmitri and make sure you play the part. Make him think you want that Heart of Winter for the Black Lord as much as he does."

"But…"

"Yuri, trust me. We have a plan. Nothing will happen to you or to them. I can’t let it happen, Ron would never forgive me."

"Does he know that he is with her?"

"Not yet. The time isn’t right. If I tell him too soon, he’ll rush right there and blow the whole operation and we’ve worked so hard and come too far to have his stupid temper ruin everything," Harry said from the flames. "I’m not looking forward to telling him. I’ve kept their past from him all this time and I’m sure he’s not going to forgive me very easily."

Yuri suddenly realized that it was way too quiet and that couldn’t be good. "Potter, I have to go! I’ll keep in touch!" he said quickly and stood up. He listened closely and sure enough, he heard Dmitri’s heavy footsteps coming towards the room. He got a hold of himself, calmed his nerves and walked towards him.

"Yuri! Where the fuck have you been?" Dmitri asked, punching him in the arm harder than necessary. "You missed all the fun. I gave that Muggle bitch the time of her life!"

"I’m sure you did, you sick fuck," Yuri said under his breath. "Is she still alive?"

"Who the hell cares?" Dmitri said with a maniacal laugh. "She was just a Muggle!" He zipped up his pants and adjusted his balls. He saw Yuri looking at him with disgust and it found it amusing. "That was just an appetizer, Yuri. Wait until we get into that house next door. That tasty little morsel will be the main course! Oh the things I’m going to do to her…"

"Did Ron happen to mention anything about Draco Malfoy when he talked to you?" Kingsley asked as he and Hermione stopped in front of the Vampire section. He noticed Hermione flinched and she seemed to be shocked.

"N…no," she answered. All the spit had dried up in her mouth and it was hard to speak. "Why would he mention Malfoy?" she turned and pretended to scan the shelves looking for the book she needed.

"Well, since you and Ron are so close I was sure he would have told you that Draco is a wanted man. He’s on the run and has something dangerous in his possession. I’m sure Ron would have warned you- you know, for your own protection."

"Why in the world would I need to fear Draco Malfoy?" Hermione said with a tinkling laugh. "I’ve never seen a more cowardly man in my life! Plus, I haven’t seen him in years." Was her face bright red? It had to be because it felt like it was on fire. She was never good at lying, that was Ginny’s department.

Kinsley watched her take a book down from the shelf and noticed she was blushing. She was definitely nervous and hiding something. "It’s not Draco himself that you need to fear, Hermione, it’s the object he has stolen that you need to be cautious of- The Heart of Winter. It has powers beyond anything you can imagine."

She could imagine. "I’ve never heard of it, but I’m sure Ron and Harry are doing their best to find him, and you know as well as I do that their hatred for him is probably making them work ten times as hard."

"I’m sure that’s exactly what’s going on," Kinglsey said. "If anyone knows the hatred between those two and Draco, then we certainly do, don’t we?"

Hermione opened her briefcase, making sure it was turned so that the Minister didn’t see the scrolls. Gently placing the book she really didn’t need inside, she closed it and smiled up at him. "I want to thank you for keeping me company, Minister, but I need to be getting back home if I’m to finish this report on time."

"I’ll walk you out."

Hermione knew it was a waste of time to refuse him, so she let it slide. "That would be nice, Minister."

As soon as Kinglsey saw Hermione safely off, he went straight to his office and try to contact Harry. The Floo was acting up again and he couldn’t get though. "Damn it!" he said. "It was working fine when she left only a few minutes ago!" He sat back in his swivel chair, his fingers under his chin, thoughtful. There was something going on and he was certain it concerned Hermione and Draco Malfoy. She had said that she had never heard of the Heart of Winter, but he knew for a fact that those scrolls she just stole pertained to that specific legend.

He had just left the secret room when she came into the Archives. Hiding behind the shelves, he had seen her enter and take them. How curious that she had stolen the very items he himself had been reading only minutes before! "What could she want with them?" he asked himself out loud. The obvious answer was she knew where Draco was, maybe she was even hiding him, and she needed to know everything about the Heart. But that was crazy! She hated Draco… just like her friends. Why would she risk her own life to protect him? It was all very curious and as soon as the damn Floo was up again, he was going to find out!

As soon as Hermione was home, she placed the briefcase on the table and yelled for Draco. She was sure he would be waiting right at the fireplace for her when she came back, and when he wasn’t, she panicked. "Draco!" Not in the kitchen. "Are you here?" Not in the bathroom. "Damn it! Draco?" She walked into her study and saw him. "Oh my God!" He was lying on the sofa. His arm was thrown over his eyes and his skin was deathly pale. ‘He’s dead! I’m too late!’ she thought.

She ran over and fell to the floor next to the sofa. "Draco!" He looked as if he wasn’t breathing and as she lifted his arm to take his pulse, he jumped and his eyes flew open.

"What?" he asked, a little disoriented. "Hermione? When did you get back?" He tried to sit up but she had thrown herself on top of him and was crying hysterically. "What the hell are you crying about?"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" she wailed.

"Not yet," he said and she looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. "I was just tired and needed a nap. I feel fine, so don’t worry your pretty little head about me."

"Tired?" she asked. "Tired from what?" She couldn’t imagine what he’d been up to to make him look so exhausted. There were blackish-purple smears under his eyes, his hair was rumpled and he just looked… well… like shit.

"In case you haven’t noticed, I went up to the attic, drug your fake-ass Christmas tree down, spent an eternity trying to figure out how to put the damn thing together, went back to the attic and brought down boxes and boxes of lights and ornaments…"

Hermione was astonished. There in the corner of her study was a beautifully decorated tree. He had chosen only the white or clear ornaments, had wrapped a glittery-silver ribbon around it and had even made a perfect bow on the very top of the tree. She was more than impressed, she was amazed. "It’s beautiful!" she said, sobbing again.

"There are white lights on it, but since the electricity isn’t working, you can’t see them," he said as she walked over and admired it. He thought he did a good job considering he had never even known there was such a thing as a fake Christmas tree. "I just thought that with everything ugly that’s going on, you deserved something beautiful," he said, putting his arms around her and squeezing.

She could picture in her mind how pretty the tree would look all lit up and sparkling like the winter sky filled with millions of twinkling stars. "Draco, I don’t even know what to say."

"Don’t say anything. Just…" She felt him jerk as if someone had given him an electric shock, and then he was on the floor, screaming and clutching his head.